The Beauty
and The Beast
Part 6 –
Nocensuus' Life Story
Groaning
unhappily as the growing brightness of the sun began to wake her up,
Nocensuus eventually rubbed the sleep from her eyes and got up out of
her bed. Her bed was made of some green branches that Nocensuus had
trimmed from some tall trees from a nearby Dryad's territory with
permission. On top of the branches was a collection of furs that she
had gathered from hunting trips or had skinned off of recently dead
creatures she had disc

The Beauty
and The Beast
Part 5 –
The Real Beast
After hearing the Beast's roar, Bella could feel the serenity she
had always felt while playing music starting to crack under an almost
overwhelming fear that she couldn't understand. At first she thought
is was fear over not getting a chance to hear the Beast's story
before the others killed it, but then she realized that she was also
more than a little afraid of dying to the Beast herself. Later on,
she began to have a little trouble picking

The Beauty
and The Beast
Part 4 –
The Hunt
Early the
next morning, Bella was very unhappy to find herself being woken up
by Randu making a loud commotion. Going out to find the squirrely man
beating on a large pot like it was a drum, Bella put some serious
thought into taking one of the wooden spoons that Randu was using
like a drumstick to pound some common sense into his skull. Much to
her relief, the camp cook beat her to the punch, but Bella actually
felt sorry for Randu when he was sent

The Beauty
and The Beast
Part 3 –
Insidious Infection
Having
spent most of a week getting to know various thieves and murders
around the camp, Bella almost gave herself a headache from memorizing
all the details from each story. Even more strange than the way that
the band of thieves took her in, or how their group seemed to reflect
her old lifestyle while she lived at her aunt's tavern, was how the
twins had warmed up to her. When they weren't helping the camp cook
or helping with hunting do

The Beauty
and The Beast
Part 2 –
Fool's Errand
Having
walked for a couple of days, Bella now had a hunting bow and strong
hunting knife, which only made her even more lethal to any
would-be-robbers. Thanks to Hank, however, Bella already had a very
large collection of stories memorized and spent most of her money on
gear or other weaponry. Unfortunately, as Bella got closer to the
territory of the Beast, she started learning that a band of thieves
had taken up residence inside the woods at t

The Beauty
and The Beast
Part 1 –
Humble Beginnings
Walking
into a tavern, a haggard old bard partially stumbled over to the bar
stools with heavy feet, “Ale, please, something strong too take
away the pounding in my head...” He requested of the bar tender in
a voice much smoother than what his appearance should have allowed
him to use. “Drinking away your pain will eventually kill ya,
Hank.” replied one of the barmaids who was tending the counter in a
tender tone. “Bah, you're too