What's an R between F(r)iends?

by Arkadius Farcleaver-Hogg

The forest was dark, dense and unnaturally silent. The only noise that could be heard was the soft crunching of branches underneath Arkadius' feet. He had been walking for a solid two hours, and was now well and truly out of his comfort zone. Having never stepped foot out of the town limits previously, he was well and truly the furthest from Fallford that he had ever been.

He'd been seeing regular movement out of the corner of his eye, a figure similar to that near the tavern in Fallford flitting between trees in the distance. He’d not been paying it attention, and hadn’t been able to see for definite who or what it was. In his mind, he wasn’t even sure it was anything, just his imagination playing tricks on him. Nothing was for certain at the moment. He was shaking, and starting to become exhausted, but something within him was urging him to continue, to not stop until Fallford was far, far behind him.

"Well, kid. You actually did it," said an all-too-familiar voice from behind him, soft and almost blending in with the unnatural silence in the forest. Arkadius stopped in his tracks immediately, twirling around gracefully to face the voice, bolstered in newfound energy. He'd never felt so acrobatic and athletic before, marvelling in his head for a split-second at how well he maintained his balance, before focusing on the voice. There, leaning on a tree, as casual as you’d like, was the Visitor from last year. "I mean, I know you’re a coward, I saw as much last year. I just didn’t expect it to take quite this long. Neither did She. We started getting impatient, thinking you’d never show, and She wanted to cut you off and move on to the next in line. But here you are, proving us wrong!" The Visitor clapped his hands with a smile, punctuating his sentence very audibly.

Arkadius was surprised by his sudden appearance, but not all that shocked. "I thought it was you, nipping here and there out of the corner of my eye. You’re nimbler than you look," Arkadius smiled at the Visitor. "I had to make preparations to leave Fallford, I couldn’t just disappear overnight, unlike you. I had to make it look… natural."

The Visitor shrugged. "A year though, kid? I suppose better late than never... I should actually properly introduce myself, lest you keep calling me ‘The Visitor’ in your head… nice touch, by the way," he held his hand out for Arkadius to shake, which he did promptly. "My name is Jornos, I will be your… Hmm. How best to put this? Consider me your travelling companion for the rest of time immemorial. I think that’s how long we will be together. I’ll be your guide for what is to come in the world, I will be your friend at times, but remember I am also Swan’s Representative. Until such a time as you prove yourself worthy of Her direct attention, that is. If that happens, which… we have no doubt will happen in time. Well, we had no doubt before, not so sure now."

Arkadius raised his eyebrows, but didn’t question anything. He felt there’d be plenty of time for questions in the future. "I’m here, I followed Her call. The incessant whispering voices. I want to prove myself to Her. Prove that she made the right judgement," he paused for a moment, letting the silence hang, before smiling back at Jornos. "So, if we’re to be together for a while, where are we going first? We can’t be standing around in this forest all night. How about this Kantas place you mentioned, where is that? The story you told was… unbelievable."
Jornos chuckled for a moment. "Relax, Arkadius. Kantas is far away, both in time and location. We have many a long journey ahead of us before we even consider making that particular trip. And that story you don’t believe? That’s not any kind of fake, made-up story, it’s your story. Your future. Your real, hard-earned future. Heed Her words, and our future will be in your hands."

Arkadius snorted. "If I am going to have to put up with you for a while, can you at least knock off the pretentious twaddle and just have a normal conversation every so often?"

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The Incident: Part 1 of 4
25th of Tarsakh, 1483

The Incident: Part 2 of 4
26th of Tarsakh, 1483

The Incident: Part 3 of 4
27th of Tarsakh, 1483

The Incident: Part 4 of 4... for now
28th of Tarsakh, 1483

Bidding Farewell to Fallford
30th of Flamerule, 1484

What's an R between F(r)iends?
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The First Sign of Power
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The Path to Waterdeep
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Five Years of Waterdeep
Greengrass, 1492

The End of Life in Waterdeep
Greengrass, 1492

Return to Kundar
3rd of Flamerule, 1496

In the Shadow of Kundar
15th of Flamerule, 1496

Golden Hour
17th of Flamerule, 1496

A Simple Job
22nd of Flamerule, 1496

Reminiscing
13th of Elesias, 1496

The Old Temple
16th of Eleint, 1946

Case of the Still Missing Person
25th of Eleint, 1496

The Naming of the Weasel
28th of Uktar, 1496

Revisiting The Incident
30th of Uktar, 1496

Help Us Hope
1st of Nightal, 1496

The Reappearance of Alocasia Zebrina
14th of Nightal, 1496

Amorphophallus Titanium
8th of Hammer, 1497

Losing a Friend
9th of Hammer, 1497

Return of the Prince
30th of Hammer, 1497

Aerial Delving
3rd of Alturiak, 1497

What's in a Name?
10th of Alturiak, 1497

Hunting for Trouble
25th of Alturiak, 1497

Doing the Right Thing
14th of Ches, 1497

Here and Back Again
15th of Ches, 1497

The Sharp End
22nd of Ches, 1497

Triumph of the Vanguard
7th of Tarsahk, 1497

Pre-Birthday Shenanigans
30thnif Tarsakh, 1497

What's an R between F(r)iends?

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