#salisun

I have been blessed by @hansaera. This is an absolute dream come true. She has given me my crew, my gang of misfits, that travel together in Where the Lightning Strikes. They honestly look even better than what I imagined in my head. Seeing them artistically interpreted is...moving, truly. Words can't describe how in love I am with these people.

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“Do you really think this is going to work?” Kellam asked skeptically, arching a brow and watching Salisun as he untied a small bundle, grinning widely.

“Look, I wasn’t sure at first either,” he replied, scratching at the small bit of scruff on his face. “I’d heard it from someone in a small village not long after we left Ridgeway, but I didn’t believe them. I’m pretty sure they could tell I didn’t either. Some older man who looked like he was ready to laugh at me on the spot.”

“Have we just not hunted since then? How come I haven’t seen you do this yet?”

Salisun pressed his lips together as he thought. “I think I’ve done most of the hunting alone. Ruk came once or twice.”

Kellam hummed shortly. “I suppose we’ve all been...adjusting.”

“You were never as much of a fan of hunting, anyways. Once you realized you were good at it, you spent more time tending to your gar-”

Kellam’s pale blue eyes glowered at Salisun. “Aren’t you done yet?”

Salisun chuckled and grinned, shaking his head slightly. He held the unbound bundle for a moment, then knelt down and dumped its contents on the ground. “Alright, we just need to keep bringing a bit of acorns for a couple of days and it’ll start drawing the deer out.”

“What happened to corn for being bait for them?”

It was Salisun’s turn to raise his eyebrows. “Wouldn’t you rather keep that for yourself? We can find enough acorns around in the forest.”

“...I suppose.”

“You’re just being skeptical.” Salisun laughed again. “Just give it a couple days. You’ll be surprised.”

“If you say so.” Kellam shifted his bow from one hand to another, glancing at it as he did so. “Since Kiya’s the better shot than either of us, shouldn’t she give this a try?”

“Ah, yeah…” Salisun trailed off. “We tried. She, um...didn’t care for it.”

He shrugged. “Okay. That’s fair. I guess that doesn’t really surprise me.”

“Alright, done!” Salisun stood back up and gestured with his hand. “Let’s head back. We’ll check back early two days from now and see if they’ve been messed with.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go, then. Maybe Ruk helped Kiya out with her water issue.”

“Oh, yeah. That would be nice.” Salisun looked sympathetic. “It seems pretty serious, so I’m sure it’ll be a slow process.”

“Yes, but as long as she knows that we aren’t pressuring her, maybe that will help.”

“Oh?! Sounds like you like her, Kel!”

He sighed, as if annoyed. “She’s a comrade. Of course I want her to be comfortable.”

“Still-!”

“Come on, weren’t we heading back?”

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The strange group that had recently come together - an elf, a half-dwarf, two humans, and a half-elf - wandered through the woods, eyes peeled and observing their surroundings with great attention to detail. Not too far away was the gentle trickle of a stream, but it wasn’t currently visible through the foliage. The sun was breaking through parts of the canopy, the beams of light warm and inviting. Aravae enjoyed the feeling of the amount of pure, unspoiled magic that flowed through the ground. This was definitely a good spot.

“How much further should we go?” inquired Salisun. “We don’t want to be too far from the villages. I’d say we’re in a decent halfway point.”

“I’m inclined to agree.” Ruk paused in his stride to look around once more. “This is well off the beaten path and would be hard to come across by accident.”

Kiya tilted her head and pressed her lips together. “I suppose I still don’t understand why we feel the need to have to come all the way out here to build our own place when we could easily just stay in one of the villages. They probably wouldn’t even charge room and board! Not only are you all well at fighting, I’m a healer! Villages would kill for a healer.”

“We can’t impose on them like that,” Aravae explained. “Not to mention, if we place ourselves in just a single village, if there are anymore attacks, it wouldn’t be hard for them to figure out where we are at. What would stop them from changing tactics or just bypassing us to go to another village? If we are a little closer to the border and we patrol enough, that may help discourage them.”

“But surely they’ll send a large enough group to overpower us,” she pointed out. “We’re only five people.”

“Leave that part to me.” Aravae sounded very confident and not at all concerned about that point.

“I know you’re a powerful mage,” voiced Kellam, “but how many can you even stop on your own?”

“Enough.”

“...That’s a vague answer.”

“Hmm. I suppose it is, isn’t it?” She arched a brow. “What, do you want a demonstration? That would very easily give away our location and possibly even set the forest on fire. Just trust me. I have many tricks up my sleeve that I can pull off before I run out of magic.”

Salisun glanced towards her. “I assume you’ve had a long time to practice.”

“Just how old do you think I am?” she demanded with a mock gasp.

“I don’t know, because you won’t say!”

“Indeed.”

“Back to the task at hand…” Ruk raised his axe and gestured around with it. “What do we think about here? It gets some sunlight, it’s near a water source, the ground is relatively flat in this area over here. We’re in a forest, so hunting and gathering won’t be an issue. We’re close to the halfway point between two villages, so we can always go for trading or for merchants.”

“I personally think this will do nicely,” Aravae said, quickly turning her attention away from Salisun.

The others agreed, Kiya making an extra comment under her breath about them being ‘far enough away’. When asked what she meant, she didn’t clarify. Once they all decided on where precisely the house would go, Ruk gave a couple swings of his axe on a tree that would be in the way. “Okay. This can be our mark. Let’s head back and let them know we’ve decided.”

“How many people can say they’ve had a house built by order of a king?” Salisun grinned with excitement.

They do travel as a group, yes. Their relationship with each other is nothing short of family. Aravae is both the undeclared leader they follow and sometimes an instigator to things like bets or silly disagreements. Ruk is the exasperated dad trying to keep everyone in line. Salisun likes to force Kellam and Kiya to sing traveling songs while they walk. Salisun and Kiya like to bug Aravae for information on particular subjects - Salisun actually loves learning about how magic works and Kiya wants to know more about her elven heritage. Kellam will strike up conversations with Ruk that are a bit more serious; things like fighting, weapons, but he also likes to challenge the guys to certain things like who can catch something for meat for dinner the quickest. Everything gets a bit tense and quieter once Haldreithen joins, but he finds himself to be the outsider looking in once everyone relaxes a little more around him. He will suddenly get pulled into conversations, usually by Aravae or Salisun as a way to try and get him involved.

They are a somehow functional family. ^^

(pronounced sal-is-uh-n)

Human  /  Warrior  /  Twin swords  /  34 years old

Lucina (mother) - Deceased

Father (unnamed) - Alive

Cynric (older brother) - Deceased

Lydia (older sister) - Deceased

Messy dark brown hair, slightly grown out  /  Light rusty brown eyes  /  Goatee  /  Tanned skin

Art by @hansaera!

Salisun grew up in the mountainous city of Ridgeway, which was built at an entrance to dwarven tunnels that were carved into the mountains long, long ago. It was known early on to never wander into them, or else one would get lost and never see the sun again. However, Salisun, his siblings, and the other village children were curious and would sit just inside of the entrance, making up stories about where the tunnels led and how far underground they went.

Being the youngest of three, he adored his older siblings, but he also worked twice as hard, wanting to be just as good as them at things they were talented at. Cynric and their father were decent whittlers and were in the village’s militia. As soon as he could swing a wooden sword, Salisun was practicing day in and day out, fighting imaginary monsters and people. Sometimes, he would play soldier with his best friend, Kellam. From watching his sister Lydia, he learned great compassion and cooperation with people, as she had a heart of gold and offered help to those who needed it.

When he got older, his father trained both Salisun and his friend Kellam. They would sometimes go down the paths and into a forested area just below Ridgeway, where they would learn hunting and gathering skills. Though they went through quite a lot of training, they were so far up into the mountains that they typically had no troubles to deal with other than the occasional wild animal. There were two entrances to the village, one on each far side, but Ridgeway itself was the high ground on either side. Bandits rarely ever tried attacking. Life for them was peaceful.

That is, until the first massive attack came from habenti forces. It was sudden and with no warning. It was chaos as he drew his swords and tried to get to wherever his family was. He watched his mother herding the young children into the dwarven tunnels, but saw a couple of pursuers going after them. Cynric must have seen it too, because both he and Salisun charged towards them. Unfortunately, they were too late to save Lucina, who used her body to shield the children. The brothers avenged her and guarded the entrance to the tunnels so that the children would be safe. When the habenti gave up and retreated, there was quite the devastation left behind in their wake. Many had been killed - elderly, men, and women. Thankfully, thanks to Lucina’s quick work, all the children had been saved.

The poor girls had to get used to the men snoring, first and foremost. Aravae is a relatively still sleeper, but she sometimes gravitates towards the closest body when she sleeps on her side. Old habits.

Ruk is very still and tends to sleep on his side with an arm tucked under his head. When he rolls onto his back, his snoring can be loudest. Salisun and Kellam are both sprawlers. Kellam got a rough elbow in the rips when he got too close to Kiya one night. And Salisun and Aravae had an awkward morning when they woke up veryyy close to each other. Kiya is restless and sometimes she’ll wake up several times throughout the night.