Sarraq Celene, pinup Northman

[Kasmir]

A new face in Suzail, this man is about 5'10" with tousled auburn hair and pale blue eyes. His skin is lightly tanned suggesting he has spent plenty of time outdoors in a warm climate.  His face is handsome and youthful, an impression only heightened when he graces new acquaintances with a ready smile and twinkling eyes. On closer inspection you might surmise that he is in his late twenties.  Those who hear him speak would note that his accent hints at a Northern Cormyrian heritage, and while far from being illiterate his use of language marks him as having been raised in a rural community.  His clothing is unremarkable if a little colourful and uncoordinated.  He wears a golden chain about his neck but if this chain bears a trinket it is hidden beneath his shirt.

Introducing himself simply as Sarraq, he seems very approachable and a friendly sort.  The only other thing notable about him so far is that he has become a magnet for the various stray cats in the district who like to come and sit on his lap as he drinks his pint.

[Kasmir]

Sarraq approaches the patrons gathered outside the Dragon's Jaw Inn one evening, some scrolls held in his hand.  He clears his throat and smiles at the few present, before launching into prose...

"Joyful customers of The Jaw. I am Sarraq Celene, Sar to my friends and I have now had a bit of time to view the splendours of your fair city. The nearby lake caught my attention today and I would like to share with you the thoughts that entered my head on seeing such beauty..."

*He clears his throat and rather theatrically holds out his right hand, palm upwards, while he reads from the scroll in his left*

"When the dogs go bark...
And the sun's lost it's spark...
when the trees go sleep
and the drinks ain't cheap...
That's when the lake does shine
The moon makes it so fine...
Yes it really does shine
Shine shine shine....shine"

*He sighs and beams round at the patrons expectantly*

[Kasmir]

*Most of the patrons simply ignore Sarraqs prose. A few just gaze at him open-mouthed then move a way. a couple titter under their breaths and one even claps - then realises he is the only one doing so and stops abruptly.

Sarraq sighs and smiles.*

"Needs a lot of work I know. By The Lady's grace I will improve!"

[Kasmir]

*Sarraq's latest attempt at prose concerned the body of water outside the Dragon's Jaw.....again.   Perhaps thankfully the ever positive priestess of Sune, Elisabeth Lyonson, was the only one in earshot...*


"The water today looks so serene...
I use it in my bath it gets me nice and clean...
when I lower my head beneath its surface I am unseen...
but if I try to sell any it's not worth...a bean!"

*It seems he may actually be getting worse, despite his insistence that he has now consulted with the bard Ravial concerning his technique.  He also maintains that he will not give up trying to express his feelings for the beautiful and wondrous world he observes around him*

[Kasmir]

*Sarraq once more calls for a few customers to gather round him at the Jaw with Elisabeth Lyonson, priestess of Sune looking on.

When they realise he's about to regale them with another of his 'works', most shake their heads and start to look away...*

"Please, dear friends, hear me out..." *he smiles* "for now my prose concerns a person, and I think, though I do say so myself, I have managed something a little less awful" *grins*

"He then turns to face Elisabeth and, with his eyes twinkling mischievously, delivers the following poem...


"A warm glow,
A brightening light
the firehair comes
she clears my sight.

The way she talks
she enchants the air
The way she walks
oh should I dare...?

Closer now,
Her scent so fine
and I am blessed
with a smile divine.

Oh flamehead sweet
please stay with me
and make my day
as blessed as thee."

*He lets out a sigh then looks up at the faces of the patrons and Elisabeth expectantly*

[Kasmir]

*Sarraq sits at the edge of the lake, idly skimming stones as he stares into space. The ripples shatter the mirror-like surface, causing light to cavort and caper over the folds of his burnished breastplate.  Unusually a smile does not play about his lips yet he does not appear melancholy, only lost in thought...*

"They were lost, my dear friends Airy and Elisabeth and I couldn't save them. I fell...and all was darkness. I awoke in a dreamworld, riding atop a majestic unicorn through an endless moonlit glade...then the scene faded...a searing light in my eyes and the pain so vivid, and the face of my rescuer Rourke.

I died...could it be true?  I was already riding the fields of Arvandor?  For sure, I had come close, many times before but death was always cheated, always one step away round the corner, to be cajoled out of gripping me with his icy fingers...

*He skims another smooth stone across the lake*

"where is The Lady's wisdom in this for surely there must be some?  Life is precious, but now even more so?  Is this the lesson I must learn?"

*His brow furrows as he recalls his next excursion with those he would call friends*

"and the gnolls - so mindless, so contorted with animal rage, and torturing those innocent souls for no reason but to placate their Beast God Malar!  Such a perversion of the wonder of the intelligent beasts The Lady presided over. No! They must be stopped. Those who would bow down to the Beast Lord must be shown the error of their ways - or be stopped from harming others...permanently"

*He strokes his chiselled face, pondering this new feeling.  Was it resolve? Certainly something he'd not really felt before. He sighs, gets up, breathes deeply and then smiles broadly. Normal service is resumed. The day is getting long..surely there is a great party to go to??

As he wanders off he briefly glances back at the lake and his smile fades just a little*

[Kasmir]

*The party had been going so well...

Music, dance (though no wine it seemed - a serious oversight), a beautiful moonlit evening on the beach. The festival of the moon Goddess had been going so well. Sarraq had made his offering with many others and had been having a generally good time. He had danced the night away with the beautiful Kiarie and seemed to be getting on famously with her. This was the kind of party he had been waiting for!

Then a strikingly handsome priestess started the ritual. It was soo beautiful, her words...the light...a vision of perfection started to form.

Then it was all shattered. Sarraq barely had time to mutter a few protective incantations when some of those present revealed themselves as agents of some villainous God. Shadovar, he later learned.  He made himself ready to stand with the others when horror rained from the skies and he and those close to him were gripped with a biting cold. Sarraq felt those protections he was so confident about torn aside in seconds and then the cold ate into his soul.   A few more seconds and the intense pain reached his core.

Then numbness...

Then blackness...

He woke once more to a scene of devastation. The dead and dying lay scattered about and only a handful of more experienced souls stood, presumably having won some kind of victory against the darkness.   Sarraq did what he could to tend to the wounded once he himself had been restored.


His smile turned to a grimace...These enemies easily bested him and put his friends in peril. Perhaps he should work harder in the service of his beloved goddess Lurue so that if this happened again, he would be able to defend them?

His grimace transformed into a smile once more at the sight of Kiarie, seemingly only with minor injuries. Once his work was done, he went over and held her hand, leading her from this vision of destruction to a safer place...*

[Kasmir]

*The boy had been so unlucky. Playing in a tree, as small boys will, he had slipped on the icy boughs and fallen headfirst, snapping his neck in an instant. His poor father seemed unable to comprehend that his son lay dead in his arms, covered in Sarraq's cloak.

Could he do it? A little perspiration adorned Sarraq's brow as he thought it through. He knew his Lady Lurue, the deity he served, could grant him such blessings now. Softly he prayed for the divine magic to bring this boy back from his untimely death.

Laying his hands on the boy's chest, he muttered the magic words that came so easily to his mind. His hands started to shake, then tingle, then grow warm, the warmth spreading into the now lifeless body.

And then, Could it be? Was it a dull thud he felt through the boy's chest? Yes, and then a cough, and another.

The boy opened his eyes.

Elation coursed through Sarraq's veins, a feeling so overwhelming that tears of joy started to run down his cheeks. As he stood tentatively and rather shakily, the father hugged his boy, but the thanks and appluase of the gathered crowd seemed distant to Sarraq as his mind floated in the aftermath of what he had done. Leal, the powerful druidess, then fully restored the boy, fusing his broken bones and healing him in seconds.

Sarraq bowed his head, and uttered a small prayer of thanks to Lurue, for making him the vessel of her power that could bring such joy where minutes ago the ultimate sorrow had been felt...*


//thx to DM_Archer for a really fun mini-event!//