Calistra Frostslinger

[williamfredrickson]

“So, this is the South,” said Calistra with a sneer as she stepped off the gangplank and onto the docks. The city of Baldur’s Gate lay before her, and she eyed it with evident distaste. She stood alone, being the last one of the travelers to disembark. Behind her, the ship’s crew shouted orders to each other as the prepared to launch and head back to the open sea, back to the North. Calistra starred at it wistfully. As the ship began to laboriously set sail, one of the sailors on board, a grubby man who said he hailed from Luskan waved at her. The damned half-wit had tried to converse with her for the entire journey, but she had been in no mood for conversation with the fellow, or anyone on the ship for that matter. Calistra narrowed her eyes as she watched the ship depart and turned away from the ocean.

The dockside seemed like a horrid place to her, but not drastically different than the docks she had seen of the settlements of the Ten Towns, albeit much larger. Laborers unloaded goods from various ships, supplies waited to be taken away to distant lands, merchants haggled for the best prices on exotic merchandise, and everywhere, crowds of people. There is much wealth to be had here, she realized slyly. If only I can somehow tap into it...

Hesitantly shouldering her small pack, she looked about the docks with apprehension, trying to decide where to head. A tavern perhaps? But where?

Scowling slightly under the glare of the sun, she lifted up the hood of her cloak to shield herself from the heat. Ironically, her cloak had a small enchantment on it which kept its wearer cool. A useful tool for an Aurilite, or anyone from the North for that matter who planned on travelling in the South. It had been a gift from one of the high clerics of her temple, high in the mountains in distant Icewind Dale.

Drawing comfort from her enchanted cloak, she took her first step into Baldur’s Gate, and her future.

[To be continued]

[williamfredrickson]

Calistra paced back and fourth across the length of a small cave she had found on the outskirts of the Wood of Sharp Teeth. Her pack lay scattered across the ground, and her scimitar and longbow had been tossed haphazardly aside nearby. Grumbling to herself, she settled down on a rock and pulled off her boots, tossing them to the cave floor as well.

What a terrible day, she thought to herself sullenly. Terrible! The Ice Mistress will not be pleased with me… I've made a terrible mess of things…

The previous night had been cold, colder than usual in these accursed southern lands, and Calistra had deemed it to be the perfect time to give a show of force to display just how strong Auril’s power could be. The shrine to Chauntea in the fields outside Baldur’s Gate was an ideal target. Close to a major throughway, and right near a field that could provide cover, Calistra had boldly approached the shrine in the middle of the night. It would make a good example, and many people would certainly see it once the morning came.

Uttering a quick chant, she called forth a brilliant beam of ice, sending it at the shrine and covering it completely in frost. Smiling at her work, she could feel the very air around the shrine growing colder.

As she admired her work, her victory was suddenly interrupted by voices down the road, and without another thought she plunged into the cornfield. Best not to be discovered, she had reasoned at the time.

Crouching in the midst of the tall corn crop, she remained motionless, trying to breath quietly. She could see the corn stalks moving somewhere in front of her, and she held her breath, desperately trying to be quiet.

It was all in vain though, and she was discovered by two women and a tall man. The three surrounded her and began to question her…

By Auril, she had been a fool! She could have played it much better… To her dismay, she had panicked, and somehow she had given herself away. It probably had been the frost on her gloves… Sighing, Calistra shook her head and starred up at the cavern ceiling. She would be more careful next time…

Luckily, some hapless traveler had wandered up to the group, and with the sudden distraction, Calistra quickly chanted up a gust of wind, buffeting the group and in the confusion she darted away, sprinting down the road. Someone had cast a spell at her, causing her feet to stick in some sludge for a moment, put somehow she managed to escape it and continue running towards the woods. She had only just got away.

I must learn to be more careful, she thought as she settled down on the cavern floor to rest. Or lie more convincingly. Damned Southerners… she thought again as she drifted off to sleep…

//Thanks for being good sports with my little player event, Sheritomo, Lyra and Noril =]

[williamfredrickson]

Calistra returned to the cave near the edge of the Wood of Sharp Teeth that she had discovered a few weeks ago. It was secluded, and out of the way, and a natural spring that brought fourth a generous trickle of cold water made it quite comfortable.

After carefully moving some branches and brush in front of the entrance to hide it from wandering adventurers or roaming monsters, Calistra took off her pack and set it down on the cave floor. She removed a large cloth bundle from the back and slowly unwrapped it. She smiled to herself as she revealed its contents, an exquisite longbow. It has highly polished, and the wood was of a whitish color. An icy aura emanated from it. Calistra traced a finger along the curve of the bow, taking comfort in the feeling. The bow was a Northwind bow… a powerful weapon of the followers of Auril.

In fact, too powerful for her… Calistra had aquired it from an armored man who called himself Flail. She had had no idea how he had come to possess it, but as soon as she saw it she had to have it. She was now several thousand gold pieces in debt to the strangely generous man, but it was worth it… one day, she would possess the proper devotion to Auril to wield it… She carefully rewrapped the bow in its protective cloth and set it aside.

Pulling off her gloves, Calistra then set about preparing a small meal of wild berries and a fish she had caught at the river. As she gutted the fish and removed the edible parts she thought about the past day…

At the farms outside Baldur’s Gate there was a shrine to Chauntea… goddess of harvests and crops… Calistra had passed it several times previously, and each time she did her mind drifted to thoughts of Auril…

Auril had no great love of Chauntea, and Calistra believed that a perfect show of her faith would be to cover the shrine in frost. In the North, farmers didn’t pray to Chauntea… instead they offered praises and donations to Auril, and it the Ice Mistress was satisfied, she made the winters less harsh, thus allowing crops to grow and livestock to live. Those that didn’t… well… they faced the Ice Maiden’s wrath in the form of a terrible winter that destroyed even the heartiest crops. In the North, Chauntea was at Auril feet when it came to power…

But down in the South… Chauntea had no opposition… winters were mild.. Auril’s power did not reach that far… yet.

So, reasoned Calistra, Let Auril see that I don’t fear any retribution from Chauntea… let others see that the Ice Maiden is more powerful than a simple farmer’s goddess… let them see…

Determined, she launched an assault on the shrine, blasting it with icy spells.

However, after springing her attack on the shrine, things didn’t turn out as she had thought they would. She successfully coated the shrine in frost, but her victory was interrupted by two of the local farmers and a woman in a feathered hat. The trio had chased her, and the two farmers, to her surprise quickly caught up to her. One of then, older than the other, swatted her with his rake, while the second, a younger man charged right at her, yelling at for her to stop. Without thinking, she blasted him with a spell of cold. It didn’t do much good, for the farmer struck her in the jaw, knocking her out…

When she had awoken she found herself back at the farm, laying on the ground next to a bale of hay, surrounded by the two farmers and a couple of other people she didn’t know. Groggily, she began to answer their questions about what she had done… She considered lying to them at first, fearing trouble, for both the farmers looked very strong, but it turned out that they were not angered. She ended up telling them who she was and why she did it. In fact, the younger one, Roddy, was particularly kind to her. He treated her jaw and helped her recover, much to Calistra’s surprise. It seemed that he was extremely sorry about hitting her so hard… Calistra hadn’t really understood why they were not angry… but she eventually accepted it.

The elder of the two farmers even fixed her up a sandwich, which was surprisingly delicious. They accepted her apology and seemed genuinely concerned about her well being, although still a bit confused over her actions. Eventually, Calistra called upon Auril’s power to heal the younger farmer of the frostbite she had caused him, and later used her powers once more to chill a mug of water for him.

She got to talking to the two farmers, along with two other women and an amusing fellow who seemed to be on the wrong side of Tymora. Hesitantly entering the conversation at first, then laughing along with the rest of them, they amused themselves with the young man, Aoth’s antics. In fact, Calistra couldn’t remember the last time she had ever laughed so much.

After a few hours of amusing conversation the group began to depart as the day drew to a close. Still surprised at the attitudes of the farmers, Calistra had offered to help them with their crops one day… if ever the heat of summer became too much she would call up a small rainstorm or send a bit of frost their to help the harvest.

As a show of good faith, she even gave the younger farmer a small shard of enchanted ice that would never melt. With a smile she said he could use it to give a chill to his drinks whenever he wished.

It had really been a strange day for Calistra. Perhaps all of these Southerners weren’t as weak as she had thought before… At least not these farmers… They had been truly generous and extremely kind to her.

Perhaps she should rethink how she showed her devotion to Auril… freezing up shrines to other gods may not be the best way to spread Auril’s influence to the South… perhaps she could spread the faith of Auril by doing other acts… such as helping those farmers… she would have to think on it. But regardless, she believed she had earned a friend in the two farmers, Roddy and Willie. And she was glad that she had. She would definitely need to think on somethings…

With a sigh, Calistra went back to gutting the fish…

[williamfredrickson]

Calistra couldn’t help but chuckle softly to herself as her an her companion began to set up camp. They were near the Temple of Bhaal, and the stars twinkled brightly in the night sky. Calistra sat comfortably on her bedroll, and contemplated Zolf, her temporary bodyguard, as he called himself. He was busying himself with preparing a small meal. His back was to her, and she took the opportunity to study him freely.

Zolf was a large man, fully armored, and had a large falchion strapped across his back. It looked like he knew how to use it. Several wicked looking darts were thrust into his belt as well. We she had first met that morning on the Trade Way he had been covered in a fair amount of blood and flesh. She took him to be a hunter at first, but now it seemed like he was much more…



Somehow, Zolf had mistaken her for someone else… a women called Calise. Apparently, this “Calise” had sought out Zolf and requested that he arrange a meeting with someone for her. On the spur of the moment and sensing something that could be of an advantage to her, Calistra pretended to be this “Calise”

Zolf had had believed her bluff, and insisted on escorting her to the meeting place immediately for her own protection. She declined at first, but as Zolf insisted, she thought it better to reconsider. Something about Zolf’s stance, his countenance, his weapons… something told her that it wouldn’t be wise to decline the offer.

They headed southwards mostly in silence, and as they walked Calistra began to think that she had made a mistake… perhaps she should have just walked away… maybe this meeting wouldn’t be so prosperous for her. In the beginning she sensed that some profit could come of it to her, but now… now she wasn’t so sure.

As night began to fall and the air grew colder, Calistra gained back some of her confidence. Zolf, for all his arms and armor, wasn’t the most intelligent fellow… she had tricked him into believing her identity in the first place, and so far she didn’t think that he knew of the power granted to her by Auril. If things went poorly at this meeting they were going to, she could always just summon a great buffet of wind to blow him down and cover her escape. Or she could cast a spell to make him fall into a deep slumber…

As thoughts like this drifted through her head, Calistra drifted off to sleep herself…