Trust Building Exercise!

On the Redrige Mountain Trail, near the Deluge Mines;

The Aesir man in his studded leather armor doesn't look exactly out of place, here in the mountains, but he doesn't look to be exactly in his element, either. He looks about with a curious eye, examining some plants closer than others, picking up certain rocks and tucking them into a pouch at his belt. As he meanders along the path, sometimes an unfamiliar bird might catch his eye, and he'll cock his head to one side to listen to it, then make a poor effort at mimicing its call.

Of course, trails like this attract all sorts of lunatics. Sitting on a boulder in a lotus position, a strange oruch woman sits there, silent and unmoving, long hair trailing behind her as the wind blows.

Catching sight of the woman, up the trail, Folkmar stops a moment. He's seen oruchs before. Fought a few of them, even. Maybe more than a few. As he sees this one on the boulder, he quietly slinks down to one knee, moving his earthbreaker to his left hand, his right extracting a throwing axe from his bandolier. He narrows his eyes, for a moment, and simply watches.

GAME: Folkmar rolls stealth: (17)+9: 26

GAME: Moonshadow rolls perception: (9)+12: 21

Moonshadow doesn't move at all. She remains in the lotus position, as if unaware of her current danger.

The Aesir stays low, which is quite a feat for the tall man. But he seems rather adept at walking with his knees almost touching his chest, crouched like a leopard. Slowly he may move, but quietly indeed as he creeps closer and closer to the Oruch woman, breathing in through his nose and out through his mouth in an effort to assure not even his breath gives him away.

GAME: Folkmar rolls stealth: (19)+9: 28

GAME: Moonshadow rolls perception: (10)+12: 22

It's right about now the woman moves. Unfolding herself from her Lotus position, she seems to take the time to stretch out her legs upon the large boulder as well, She still seems unaware of Folkmar.

Seeing the woman move, Folkmar stops his prowling. He hefts his axe, testing the weight of it in his hands. He flips it over once, so the haft rests in his palm, then whips his hand back and sends it hurtling forward, whistling.

"whubwhubwhubwhubTHUNK"

The axe flies end over end, until it sails right between the woman's legs, embedding itself in a tree some paces away.

Moonshadow looks towards the Axe embedded in the tree, then tilts her head, then turns her head, upside down, to look at Folkmar. "Do you attack everyone you don't know?" She seems to be a bit too calm to have just been attacked.

"Ha!" the Aesir replies as he stands up to his full height, gesturing towards the throwing axe. "If I were attacking, I wouldn't have missed." Folkmar states with a mischievous grin. He waves a dismissive hand, "It's a game my people play, in the north, when they are young. To show our prowess. We sneak up on our friends to let them know we /could/ have killed them. It is a good way to build trust."

Moonshadow says, "You have strange ways of building trust." She takes a few moments to finish stretching before rolling off of the boulder and landing quite nicely upon her feet. "But, then again, I've been told I have strange ways too." She's not carrying any weapons either, none obvious anyways."

"What is strange about it?" Folkmar inquires in earnest. "If you know a man can kill you, but chose not to, you must assume he does not want you dead." He shrugs, "Further more, you know that you can rely on his prowess when you fight beside him, or with your back to him. These are important things to know."

Moonshadow says, "Not everyone sees things as you do." She then shakes her head. "You must be an Aesir, since you're not much shorter than I am." She says a little flatly."

Folkmar laughs, "Oh, so only Aesir men can be tall? You must not have seen many Dranei. While I admit I am not short, they are taller yet!" he tilts his head to one side, "But however one sees things, fact is fact. If I'd wanted to attack or harm you, I could have. The fact that I didn't should demonstrate to you that I mean you no harm." And with that, the man walks around the woman towards the tree with his axe. He doesn't step too close, but neither does he make

Moonshadow says, "I don't know much about the Dran, honestly. The last time I ever encountered them was in the Sky Curtain Mountains, where I grew up. Even then, they didn't even pretend to attack us. They were cordial." She chuckles a bit as he gets his axe from the tree. However, as he gets his axe from the tree, she resumes her stretching. "Either or, you've voiced that you do not intend to do me any harm." She says as she pulls her arms to stretch out the muscles....."

Looking over his shoulder with a grin, Folkmar nods. "Not today, at least." He gestures, "You don't look like you've much coin about you, and nobody else is paying me to do you harm. However, if I'd merely walked up to you, sitting on your little rock there, I might have frightened you, or given you the wrong impression."

Moonshadow says, "Or you could've waited patiently." She then chuckles. "Patience isn't everyone virtue though." She then looks down at her hips and her hands. "Nah. I don't need much coin. And if someone's paying you to do harm to a servant of Eluna, then you should consider who is hiring you." She then taps a rock near where she is standing."

Folkmar frowns, "Why?" he asks quite simply. "I mean, why consider? I am not an assassin, mind you. I don't normally take coin to kill someone. At least, if I do, it's not personal." He considers, "Though, I guess I've taken coin to kill lots of someones."

Moonshadow says, "It's quite personal. You'd be paid to take someone's life. Professionalism or not, you're going to take someone's life. That's as....personal as you're going to get." She then shrugs. "I've been paid to take people's lives too, mostly clerics of Gunthakr though." She says putting her hands behind her back."

Folkmar grunts, then lays his earthbreaker on the ground, leaning against it, "Truth be told, most people of the 'Explorer's Guild' have been paid for the ending of someone's life, at some time or another. Doesn't make them an assassin. Perhaps a mercenary." He grins. "That's more what I think o' myself as, anyway." He lifts his chin, "You too?"

Moonshadow says, "As much as I dislike the term of mercenary, yes. I've worked with the explorer's guild before. Mostly to stop Gunthakr's destruction of Alexandria and the world and a few other odds and ends." She then looks towards Folkmar. "I'm assuming that you're working with the Explorer's guild currently?""

Folkmar shrugs, chuckling, "I work with whoever pays me. Explorer's Guild, Adventurer's Guild, Dockworker's Guild, Sailor's Guild. It's all the same, to me, so long as there's coin involved."

Moonshadow smiles a bit. "You should get out of that way of thinking." She says with a smile. "Some some may say doing good is it's own reward, others may not think the same way. However, there are causes that some take up that they will do for free." She then smiles. "Find a cause that you will willingly work for, other than greed or power, and you may see people come to you, asking for help....then offering things to assist you."

Folkmar frowns, "Why would I ask for people to assist me? If I need assistance, I will pay for it from what I have earned." He guffaws, "Having someone do something for me for free? I would not trust the quality of the work."

Moonshadow chuckles a little. "You don't get it." She then turns to look up towards the mountains. "Kindness is like the snow on top of the mountain. In time, the snow melts, and delivers water in the form of springs. With it, it brings refreshing water towards the plants near it's base, which provides food to nearby animals." She then looks to Folkmar. "One act of kindness gives birth to another act of kindness." Folkmar frowns, "In the north, a little snow on the top of the mountain can cause an avalanche, which can kill an

entire village that is too close." The Aesir frowns. "I am not saying I do not believe in kindness. There are times.." He shrugs, vaguely, as though he can't really think of one, "When I can see the benefit. Perhaps. But, I would still rather see good coin for hard work. That is all."

Moonshadow chuckles lightly. "Like I said, not everyone sees it that way." She then shrugs and looks up the mountain. "I'd better get going I guess. I did say I was going to at least get to the next trail up." She then waves quietly......then LEAPS into the air to the next boulder, then to the next one up, then the next.....