The Saga of Tammy [Archive] - EQ2 Forum Archive @ EQ2Wire

Kassabba

04-15-2006, 06:53 PM

<DIV> Tammy looked up at the large door to the Game Wardens office. Iron banded, twelve feet high, it looked like the doors to a barn rather than something as auspicious as the Game Warden for Everquest. Taking this as a bad sign of what she was going to find inside, she pushed it open and stepped into the relative darkness of the anteroom. The door swung slowly shut behind her, taking away what little light was flooding in from the street. Her eyes adjusted slowly to the small room until she spied a clipboard hanging from the wall, a quill and ink sat on a small ledge next to it. She glanced at the clipboard and saw names scrawled on the small lines that ran from left to right. They had all been filled and other names where etched in the margins until the whole thing looked like the wall in the privy in Sanctuary. While she was searching for an empty space to scrawl her name the quill squawked at her. "Name!" It shrieked. She jumped and the clipboard swung back into the wall with a bang, the parchment came unfastened and floated onto the floor. "Tammy." She said, bending over to pick up the paper on the floor. "Your kidding?" The quill asked, its tone rude and condescending. "No, just Tammy." She sighed, she had gotten a lot of that since coming to Norrath. "Tammy the lustful? Tammy the Brave, anything like that." The quill asked expectantly. "No, just Tammy, that’s all." If a quill could give a confused shrug, the one on the wall did. "Ok, just Tammy, sign the paper and wait in the chair." She signed the paper in a small corner that had just a bit of space left and then turned to sit. There were no chairs, not even a bench. "There’s no place…" She gave up. Talking to a quill was rather ridiculous in and of itself and she wasn’t going to complain to one. Leaning against the wall she waited patiently for something to happen. There was only one other door in the room, another banded wooden door, like they were expecting invasion at any time. She shook her head, it wasn’t like people were clamoring to get into Norrath like they were over near Azeroth. She pulled a small stick from her tunic and began to worry the dirt out from under her nails. The door opened with a bang, she heard the bottle smash and the quill give a muffled scream as the door bounced off of the wall. There was a tall man standing in the door way, covered in leather armor from head to toe. His face was partially hidden by a cowl that gave an attempt at looking like eagles wings. "You Tammy?" His voice rumbled in the small room. "I am." She replied, putting the small stick back into her tunic. The tall warrior looked her up and then down, a frown on his face. "Hmpf, well then better come along with me." He turned back into the hallway. She followed him in. "You have my name, might I have yours then?" She asked, not impressed so far with Norathian manners. "Kraknor the Magnificient." He said proudly. "Your kidding?" She asked. He spun around on her. "Why? What have you heard?" He said quickly, his voice a little to squeaky. "Nothing, really, I just have never heard of a name like that." He narrowed his eyes. "I’ve a double slayer rating in orcs and gnomes so don’t mess with me." He puffed up and continued down the hallway. She rolled her eyes in her head and continued on. The hallway turned several times, apparently to go around rooms that had been expanded. This was nothing like the glittering Blizzard hall or the simple Guildwars building. This seemed ready to fall apart at any moment, she was afraid to lean on the walls. The hulking thing in front of her paused in front of a door, he looked over at her and she wondered if she was going to have to remind him how to turn the door handle. From someplace in his finite intelligence he recalled how to do it and he turned and opened. She silently clapped for him, knowing how difficult that must have been, turn and open all at the same time. She followed him into the room, him clanking and banging his way through the door, her quietly moving behind him. The room was larger than the others, several wooden chairs ringed the walls and a small table stood at one end, a wizened old elf sat behind it, grey robes with little adornment covered him. "This is, uh, Tammy, from uh…?" Kraknor looked back at her. "Recently from Angmar." She said to the elf, trying to ignore the hulking warrior. The elf looked up at her and then back down to his parchment sheets on the table. "Have a seat then Tammy of Angmar." He pointed a wrinkled hand to the chair opposite him. Klaknor looked back and forth between the two of them. "You may go now." The elf told him, he nodded and then clanked his way out of the room. "I am Mar’tial." The old elf said pleasantly as he shuffled some of the papers in front of him. "Ah here it is." He pulled a rather long sheet from the pile and ran his finger down as he read quickly. "I see that you have been around a good deal, but never in Norrath before." He stated, she couldn’t tell if it was a good thing or not. "Well, I was here a few times on a guest pass, but never stayed." He nodded as if he understood completely. "And now you wish to become a citizen is that correct?" He was tapping an old gnarled finger on the parchment. "Yes, I suppose. I have some friends that are in Freeport and I’ve decided to do some adventuring with them." He nodded again and she wondered if his head was on permanent spring, bouncing every time he tried to move. "And your chosen profession would be what? Wizard, Enchanter?" He had begun writing as he spoke. "No. Fighter." She said. He stopped writing. "Assassin, scout?" "No. A warrior, fighter, you know armor, swords and the like." He put his quill back into the ink well. "Your kidding? Women aren’t cut out for that sort of thing you know. The armor can get quite heavy. I do recommend you chose one of the light armor classes my dear." She tried not to roll her eyes as she looked at him. "I’ve been a fighter in more realms than you can imagine Martin." He winced as she mispronounced his name. "I can hold my own with the best of them." He shrugged and took up his quill again and began writing. "As you wish, Tammy, fighter, Freeport." He scribbled for a moment and then blew on the parchment to dry the ink and then handed her the paper. "Go through that door and you will be given a basic set of equipment before you are turned out to the island." She took the paper from his wrinkled hands and walked through the door that Klaknor had gone through. Another hallway presented itself, doors on both sides without marking. The elf hadn’t told her where to go so she began walking, assuming that she would run into wherever she was supposed to be. The last door on the left had a simple sign on it, "Newbie Outfitting", she shrugged and went through. Another large room, this one was filled with piles of weapons and armor, all strewn about the floor in a haphazard collection of gear and dust. A grumpy dwarf sat behind the counter, his eyes barely peering over the edge. "Name!" He grumbled. "And papers." She handed him the parchment scroll, he mumbled as he read. He looked up at her and then back down at the parchment a few times. "Som’tin wrong wit dis." He pointed at the paper. "Say fighter." "That’s right, fighter." She said again. The dwarf looked at her, staring at her chest, she bent over so she could meet his eyes. "Fighter." She said. He gave a snort and then began rummaging around in the pile, picking up a few things as he went. He came back with a small bundle of leather armor and a beaten up old sword, its scabbard was moth-eaten and looked like it would disintegrate at any moment. She picked up the armor and held the pieces out. "Where’s the rest of it?" She asked. The top was no more than a leather halter and the bottom was a leather thong with a small skirt attached to either side. "That’s it. Female fighter gear. Antonia Bayle design." She curled her lip up, she had underwear that covered more than this. "How am I supposed to fight in this." She twirled the thong around on her finger. "Don’t know lass, but that’s what’s on the list for you lady fighters." She snorted. "I’ll just wear what I have on." She started to put the leather armor back but the dwarf held up a finger. "Cant let ya do that lass, rules say that you cant take anything into Norrath from the outside. Your gonna have to shuck that stuff you got on now and leave it here." She wondered if this was some sort of joke but the grumpy little dwarf didn’t seem like he had much of a sense of humor. She asked herself again for the thousandth time if this was a good idea. Aknor and Stumph both said that this was a great realm and she had fought along side them before, but this all seemed so juvenile and stupid. She looked at the outfit that the dwarf had given her, not only couldn’t she fight properly in this, she would more than likely catch cold just walking around in it. "Fine! Where’s the changing room?" The dwarf indicted a curtained off room behind him and she stomped past him. She changed quickly, bundling up her old things carefully. She stood for a moment in the ridiculous outfit that the dwarf had given her, it was drafty and uncomfortable an she felt like a harlot parading around in it. She pulled the sword out of the scabbard and checked the blades edge, it was dull and nicked and would take quite a bit of work to get it back to fighting form, she slammed it back down in the scabbard, wincing as she remembered the poor condition it was in. Returning to the main room she ignored the leer from the dwarf as she walked towards him. She silently fumed, only a man could have designed this outfit and called it fighter gear. I’ll take that bundle then." He handed her a ticket. She looked down at herself and tried to find a place to put it, she finally had to tuck it into her top. The dwarf chuckled and she thought of bludgeoning him with the dull sword. "Go through that door there." He pointed at a blue faded door. "That’ll take ya to the ship to the Isle. Good luck." He grinned as she turned and walked away. She kept telling herself that she was going to kill Aknor if he so much as raised an eyebrow at her. The blue door opened to the outside, a cool breeze was coming from the ocean, she got goose bumps as the wind blew over her skin. A set of docks extended far into the water, a large ship was tied up alongside one of them and there were several people moving about near it. She sighed and started off towards the ship. She could see the stares before she got close enough to hear the comments. Sailors in the rigging had stopped working and the dock hands were all looking, making no effort to hide their obvious appreciation. A tall human stood behind a podium and she strode up to him. "Is this the ship to the Island?" She asked, annoyed because his eyes were no where near hers. "Hello." She said and banged her hand down on the podium so hard that some of the papers slid off and onto the dock. The mans head rattled for a moment and then he cursed and bent over to pick up the escaped parchments. "Now look what you’ve done!" He shouted as some of the papers drifted lazily down into the water. She glared at him and he huffed and puffed for a few more minutes. "I said, is this the ship to the Island?" She asked again louder. He opened his mouth and then shut it again, trying to look intimidating. "Yes, and you are?" "Tammy." "Tammy? What sort of name is that?" He took her parchment from her and looked over it. "Its mine thank you, now stamp it or whatever it is you do so I can be on my way." He scribbled on the paper and shoved it back to her and then took a long pole from the dock and tried to fish out his floating papers. She folded the parchment over and then remembered she had no place to put it so she curled it into her hand and strode off to the gang plank. The sailors were all staring and one of the deck hands was more than obvious in his ogling as she boarded the ship. "Best put this in order right now" She thought as she stopped in front of the young man. He was of average build, his hair tied up on a knot behind his head, he was shirtless and obviously thought himself quite the looker. "Enjoying yourself?" She asked as he looked her up and down. He grinned at her. She kicked him square in the solar plexus and he dropped like a heavy sack to the ground, groaning and holding his middle. She looked around the rest of the ship. "Any one else want a look?" She shouted and the sailors became busy doing other things. A burly man with a scar traveling the length of his face from forehead to neck walked up and looked down at the groaning sailor and then at her. "First mate Gurl." He said and offered his hand. She shook it, his grip tight and strong. "Tammy." She replied, expecting the same incredulous reply, she got none, he simply nodded and took the parchment from her hand. He quickly read it and motioned for her to follow. His eyes never left hers. Gurl went up a few notches in her book and she followed him below decks. The ship was cramped for all of its size, there were several state rooms, each with three bunks in them, he opened the cabin door to one of them. "Your cabin. Trip takes three days, meals at watch change three times a day, foods paid for so eat what you like. No showers or baths, fresh waters for meals only so you have to clean up in the salt water." Having finished his speech he lumbered off down the passageway. She looked at the state room, the three bunks were along the far wall, stacked on one another, the middle and bottom bunks already had some gear on it, so she undid her sword belt and tossed it onto the top bunk and then climbed in. So far Norrath had been a pain and thoroughly unenjoyable, she hoped that it would get better. She wasn’t sure what the Isle of Refuge was but she hoped in included something to kill, something to vent a little frustration out on or she was going to decapitate the next person that said ‘your joking’. </DIV>