HEROIC REALMS

A deep serenity can be achieved by merely simply letting oneself spend long amounts of time in nature, to become a part of nature as much as one can. Tabris had felt this way for a very long time now. However, it wasn't until he had set a watch over the portal that he realized just how long it had been since he had been able to do so. But for the past moon, most of his time had been spent off the beaten path (which nearly ended in disaster that one time he almost failed to notice that one cliff...), finding various locations for him to survey the portal from, and the quickest paths to it from any point in the stronghold, on the off chance he wasn't nearby if something were to happen. All in all, it had been a very rewarding experience for him, getting to be in touch with nature, and getting to know his surroundings much better.

In particular, he had often spent his time amongst the trees, offering his prayers to them in return for lending him a strong trunk to lean against, and, on a few occasions, sturdy branches to climb to get a better view of things. In addition, he had visited the ent circles (excepting the one where the undead tree ent dwells), offering prayers as well. It would seem that, as a result, Laroon had offered her blessings to him, and endowed to him the gift of being able to communicate more deeply with the ents, and indeed, nature in general. ((Acquired: Commune with nature))

Tabris had also spent plenty of nights on watch, using only his keen senses and the dull, unnatural light of the portal to guard it. However, he could always see the stars above him, and found himself studying their patterns more. It was surprising how fast he had grown used to the positions of the constellations, but then again, he had a lot of free time on his hands, and felt almost as his time spent in the stronghold had served to give him more... capacity to learn, as strange as it seemed to him. ((Acquired: Astrology))

And he had been learning quite a good deal of things. At one point, he had come across a small group of Toromites attempting to slaughter a doe as a sacrifice. After doing the Toromites a great service by giving them that which they desire most ((:twisted:)), he spent some time trying to nurse the wounded doe back to health. He succeeded, and in the process, felt as if he had learned quite a bit in the ways of aiding the injured. ((Acquired: Tend wounds))

Of course, he had also spent plenty of time honing his combat skills as well. He noticed that he hadn't had too many opportunities to use his throwing knives lately, so he spent a lot of time training with a sword. After his encounter with the Toromites, he knew that this had definitely paid off. ((Acquired: Critical strike and weapon proficiency))

At present, Tabris was slowly wandering the path by the druid circle, lost in thought. While it was true that he had spent a lot of time on his own, he never seemed to see Artha during the times when he was with the others. He had been very concerned for the mage ever since had apparently lost the ability to speak. There was just something... unnerving about it all.

Just then, he was stirred from his thoughts by a loud bellow from Hanz, something which was far from rare for the ranger. Without even clearly being able to make out the avenger's words, he smiled and said, "It would appear that Xollio has returned." Tabris decided to finish his rounds by the portal, and then go to the garrison, knowing it to be the most likely place that Hanz would take the alchemist.

((I know, its not really crucial, but I thought this was an interesting idea. Since Tabris has been on his own a lot lately, I figured this would be a good insight into what he's been up to. And once I figured out a way to explain all the new abilities he's gotten from leveling up, I figured it would be neat to include it as well. I hope you all think it was as neat of a concept as I did...))