Nonlethal Force
First Post
The rest of the night passed quickly, and in spite of the promises of safety made by the life energy within the cave they continued their watch rotation. The sun rose well into Semeion’s shift, although nothing had even dared to enter into the cave with the earthen guardian standing watch. When the sun rose, the guardian melded once more with the wall and vanished from sight.
Ischarus stood and stowed his sword. He had kept it out beside his bedroll after fending off the assault from the wolf and the first earth guardian. “I suppose we should be headed out of the cave while the morning is still young. If the frove was any indication, we may be getting closer to the druid’s grove.”
Rhema sat up and stretched before rising further and speaking. “The presence of the cave is a good sign as well. I’d imagine even a misaligned druid would see the importance of having a place for communing with spirits of the earth. This is the kind of thing that would attract a druid – or so I’d imagine.”
The party quickly prepared to leave and organized their equipment. As it was, they didn’t need to travel far in the morning. They each only managed about ten steps out of the cave before spotting a man standing amongst an eclectic mixture of animals. Immediately to the man’s right stood the frove from the previous night. On the man’s other side stood the ape and baboons from the attacks in the previous day. The animals appeared to have been treated and healed of their wounds.
The druid wore a cloak made from the hide of a frove. The frove’s hide had been large enough to encompass the man’s frame entirely. The hide from the front legs had become sleeves and the frove’s head rested above that of the druid as if it were the hood of a traveling cloak. The hide of the frove was long enough that the legs had been able to be removed and still allow the end of the cloak to trail along the ground. The tail had remained attached to the hide and it trailed along the ground as the druid walked.
Charis paused in mid step as she saw the druid’s cloak. “It’s strikingly beautiful!”
Rhema nodded in agreement. “I’d personally have it without the head on top, but the fur on that cloak is gorgeous!”
The long dark hair of the frove hide was thick. It was as though the frove had been well cared for its entire life. There were no scars or marks where the hide might have been violated by tooth or blade. As the druid lifted up a hand to signal to the party, the hair along the cloak moved like leaves being blown gently by the wind.
The druid spoke in a deep rumble. “You have violated my territory, abused its protectors, and you still come to challenge me directly?”
Semeion smirked at the greeting. “Well, so far so good. At least we’ve made an impression.”
Charis chuckled at Semeion’s sarcasm. Ophee glanced to Semeion out of the corner of her eye and rested her hand upon the hilt of her sword. Semeion’s face was solid in its reflection of his inner confidence.
The druid continued to speak when it was clear that the party was not going to offer up a reply. “My children around me tell me that your skill with your weapons is admirable. But do not think that your weapons can overcome my abilities. The magic coursing through these trees and my body will surely devour you.”
Ischarus lifted his voice in reply as the spokesman of the party. “Are you not impressed that your animals can tell you anything at all? You should note that they were allowed to return to you. They could have been slaughtered entirely, but we allowed them to live. We do not seek their death – or even yours. There is no reason that death need to be experience even on this day.”
The druid’s face told of a moment of confusion within the druid’s mind. “If you do not seek my death, then why have you intruded upon my domain?”
Charis spoke next, shifting the druid’s attention from Ischarus to herself. “I once came from Quehalost and I once thought like you. But now I have learned a different way. There can be more to life than power and conquest, mighty druid. I have been taught the ways of other lands.”
The druid laughed. “You speak of the civilized lands? Do you know what the civilized lands would do to my children? They would label them as freaks of nature and hunt them down. They would hunt them because of their prowess and ability to protect themselves. Your civilized lands fear the minds of my children.”
Charis spoke again. “Not all of us. These three have taught me to be different. I do not dispute your claim for all the people of the civilized lands, but I do dispute it as it pertains to us. We fear the minds of your crea – children. We fear their minds because it enables them to be more powerful opponents. But we do not fear them so much as to kill them. We fear them enough to respect them.”
Ophee spoke, adding her voice to the weight of the party. “I can attest to these words, master of this land. When we were first attacked, my associates made it a point not to kill because of the heightened intelligence of your children. They respect life, although they fear it enough to defend themselves when necessary.”
The druid smiled and replied with a mocking tone. “Is that so? Did you respect the life of the earth guardian that you destroyed last night?”
Rhema smiled and returned a reply. “The spirit in the cave gave us no choice! The spirit in the cave told us that the guardian must be dispatched before we could earn its favor.”
The druid nearly replied, but Semeion managed to beat him to the punch. “Come now, druid. You do not think us foolish, do you? I know that your knowledge of the earth and its elements far surpasses my own – and likely the collective knowledge of my friends. But even I know that earth guardians are never destroyed when encountered here. Earth guardians are sent back to their own place of existence. If we wanted to truly destroy the earth guardian, we would have needed to meld with the stone and chase the guardian to its place of origin. Only then could we truly destroy its essence.”
The druid lowered his hand and nodded in agreement. “Perhaps there is more to you than I thought. You understand and respect the powers of the land more than most intruders into my domain. You have earned a chance to speak further.” As if the animals surrounding the druid could understand the druid’s declaration, they all howled and grunted in response. It was clear that the animals were not in agreement with the druid allowing the party more time to speak.
Ischarus turned his head to observe the many animals that had come with the druid. In addition to the ones that they recognized from the prior day, the druid had a collection of large cats, bears, and froves. It appeared that the druid also was followed by normal wolves, although the difference between an adult wolf and a sub-adult frove was hard to tell from a distance. Most of the animals gathered around the druid appeared to be yearning for combat.
Charis breathed in deeply and continued the parlay. “We have come for a root, and that is all. We do not wish to take any life, and even the plant who offers to give up its root we are willing to respect and take only what will it can grow back without difficulty. As Ischarus said earlier, nothing need see death this day.”
The druid lifted his hands out to calm his menagerie. “Tell me, what root do you seek? How do you know that I have it?”
Ophee grinned. “My master is highly trained in the art of gathering knowledge. There is little that he desires to know and cannot discover. He knows that you cultivate this root in your forest. We seek the Black Arum. You may know it as the Stink Lily.”
The druid’s face contorted with curiosity. “I did not realize such a plant has come into popularity, especially given it’s periodic smell.”
Rhema curled her lip in disgust. “Smell?”
Even across the span of the twenty or so yards between them, the druid heard Rhema’s rhetorical comment and laughed. “Yes, smell. Most plants spread pollen by way of smelling sweet to attract birds, beetles, ants, and even butterflies. But not the Black Arum. Its pollen is spread by flies. In order to attract flies, one must smell of dung or rotting garbage. When the plant is flowering and spreading pollen, it raises a slight stench so that flies come to it. That is why it is called the Stink Lily.”
Ischarus appreciated the lesson, but wanted to keep the conversation headed in the proper direction. “Can a sample of roots be drawn without killing the plant?”
The druid nodded in the affirmative. “It can be done. I keep the plant around my grove because of its odd appearance; and as your master certainly knows, I keep it for its medicinal usefulness. It is currently dormant, so a sample should be retrievable. But the sacrifice of the plant will require a sacrifice of your own.”
Semeion pursed his lips in disapproval. “Isn’t there always a catch?”
Charis spoke more loudly to the druid. “Tell us your terms. I am sure we are prepared to meet them.”
The druid’s face took on a menacing appearance. He looked as though he were a frove descending upon a wounded deer and drawing out the kill out of sheer enjoyment. “What you are asking of me is akin to removing an appendage to several of my plants. I ask of the same sacrifice. If you want the root, one of you must be willing to sacrifice an appendage.”
Each of the party members except Ophee balked at the suggestion. Semeion called out loudly, “You want us to do what? You want us to give an arm or a leg for this?”
The druid licked his lips in anticipation. “Precisely. Either that, or I will release my children upon you and you will all be torn limb from limb. Either way, it makes no difference to me.”
Ophee stepped firmly toward the druid. “Take my left arm, druid. It is my master who is being served, I will make the sacrifice.”
Rhema and Charis both objected in horror, but it was Ischarus who yelled the loudest. “No, Ophee. We don’t need to listen to this brainless demand! No root is worth an appendage! The plant can grow its root back, but you cannot!”
It was too late. The baboons fell upon Ophee as soon as she moved. They dragged her to the druid. In an instant the druid parted the flaps of his furry cloak and slipped the edge of a falchion between her left arm and her body.
Ophee bit her lip in expectation of the coming pain. The blade surged upward and severed her arm completely. Blood spurted out from her shoulder, and the froves standing at her feet quickly licked it off the ground as soon as it fell. Ophee cried out in obvious pain. The druid motioned to the ape, and the beast clamped his mighty fist down hard upon Ophee’s shoulder. The compression of the ape’s mighty fist helped to slow the bleeding.
Ophee soon collapsed from pain and blood loss. As she fell into the body of the phrenic ape, she could hear the growling of the froves. Charis had run toward Ophee to help her with a spell of healing, but the froves quickly perceived her approach as a threat. They instinctively encircled their druid master and snarled until she backed away. The rest of the party stood in shock at the proceedings, unable to move.
The druid turned and began to walk away. “I will go and collect samples of Black Arum root of an equitable weight to the sacrifice. That should appease your master.”
Ischarus drew his sword as the druid turned to walk away. “I’m going with you! There is no way we can trust you to keep your word after what you demanded from Ophee!”
The druid turned and smiled. “You are welcome to join me. But my bears are under the command to attack any who follow me. Defeat my bears, and you may come to the private sanctity of my grove.”
Ischarus looked on in horror as the bears began to move to intercept any route that he could take. These bears were large even for the rough wilderness of Quehalost. Many of them were taller than Ischarus even while still on all fours. Ischarus was helpless, and now he was cut off from Ophee even further.
Semeion approached him from behind and spoke softly over his shoulder. “Something despicable has happened here, Ischarus. But as evil and misaligned as the druid is, we must believe that he honors his word. We cannot fight and win. Ophee knew that. You know that. She has served us better than any of us could serve ourselves. She was more willing than any of us to give.”
Ischarus grimaced at Semeion’s words. “That sacrifice was not worth it!”
Semeion nodded, although Ischarus couldn’t see the gesture behind his back. “And I agree. Rhema and Charis agree as well. But Ophee felt it important for her master. To argue the necessity of the sacrifice at this point only detracts us from what is to come. The sacrifice is done. We must move forward and ensure that the sacrifice gets back to the wizard.”
Rhema joined the conversation as the bears finished moving into position. “I agree. Let’s get home and be done with this wizard. I haven’t trusted anything that has happened since we approached Eberdeen and Ophee tried to affect the guards. From that point on, this whole trip has gone from terrible to ghastly.”
[Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section]
The rest of the night passed quickly, and in spite of the promises of safety made by the life energy within the cave they continued their watch rotation. The sun rose well into Semeion’s shift, although nothing had even dared to enter into the cave with the earthen guardian standing watch. When the sun rose, the guardian melded once more with the wall and vanished from sight.
Ischarus stood and stowed his sword. He had kept it out beside his bedroll after fending off the assault from the wolf and the first earth guardian. “I suppose we should be headed out of the cave while the morning is still young. If the frove was any indication, we may be getting closer to the druid’s grove.”
Rhema sat up and stretched before rising further and speaking. “The presence of the cave is a good sign as well. I’d imagine even a misaligned druid would see the importance of having a place for communing with spirits of the earth. This is the kind of thing that would attract a druid – or so I’d imagine.”
The party quickly prepared to leave and organized their equipment. As it was, they didn’t need to travel far in the morning. They each only managed about ten steps out of the cave before spotting a man standing amongst an eclectic mixture of animals. Immediately to the man’s right stood the frove from the previous night. On the man’s other side stood the ape and baboons from the attacks in the previous day. The animals appeared to have been treated and healed of their wounds.
The druid wore a cloak made from the hide of a frove. The frove’s hide had been large enough to encompass the man’s frame entirely. The hide from the front legs had become sleeves and the frove’s head rested above that of the druid as if it were the hood of a traveling cloak. The hide of the frove was long enough that the legs had been able to be removed and still allow the end of the cloak to trail along the ground. The tail had remained attached to the hide and it trailed along the ground as the druid walked.
Charis paused in mid step as she saw the druid’s cloak. “It’s strikingly beautiful!”
Rhema nodded in agreement. “I’d personally have it without the head on top, but the fur on that cloak is gorgeous!”
The long dark hair of the frove hide was thick. It was as though the frove had been well cared for its entire life. There were no scars or marks where the hide might have been violated by tooth or blade. As the druid lifted up a hand to signal to the party, the hair along the cloak moved like leaves being blown gently by the wind.
The druid spoke in a deep rumble. “You have violated my territory, abused its protectors, and you still come to challenge me directly?”
Semeion smirked at the greeting. “Well, so far so good. At least we’ve made an impression.”
Charis chuckled at Semeion’s sarcasm. Ophee glanced to Semeion out of the corner of her eye and rested her hand upon the hilt of her sword. Semeion’s face was solid in its reflection of his inner confidence.
The druid continued to speak when it was clear that the party was not going to offer up a reply. “My children around me tell me that your skill with your weapons is admirable. But do not think that your weapons can overcome my abilities. The magic coursing through these trees and my body will surely devour you.”
Ischarus lifted his voice in reply as the spokesman of the party. “Are you not impressed that your animals can tell you anything at all? You should note that they were allowed to return to you. They could have been slaughtered entirely, but we allowed them to live. We do not seek their death – or even yours. There is no reason that death need to be experience even on this day.”
The druid’s face told of a moment of confusion within the druid’s mind. “If you do not seek my death, then why have you intruded upon my domain?”
Charis spoke next, shifting the druid’s attention from Ischarus to herself. “I once came from Quehalost and I once thought like you. But now I have learned a different way. There can be more to life than power and conquest, mighty druid. I have been taught the ways of other lands.”
The druid laughed. “You speak of the civilized lands? Do you know what the civilized lands would do to my children? They would label them as freaks of nature and hunt them down. They would hunt them because of their prowess and ability to protect themselves. Your civilized lands fear the minds of my children.”
Charis spoke again. “Not all of us. These three have taught me to be different. I do not dispute your claim for all the people of the civilized lands, but I do dispute it as it pertains to us. We fear the minds of your crea – children. We fear their minds because it enables them to be more powerful opponents. But we do not fear them so much as to kill them. We fear them enough to respect them.”
Ophee spoke, adding her voice to the weight of the party. “I can attest to these words, master of this land. When we were first attacked, my associates made it a point not to kill because of the heightened intelligence of your children. They respect life, although they fear it enough to defend themselves when necessary.”
The druid smiled and replied with a mocking tone. “Is that so? Did you respect the life of the earth guardian that you destroyed last night?”
Rhema smiled and returned a reply. “The spirit in the cave gave us no choice! The spirit in the cave told us that the guardian must be dispatched before we could earn its favor.”
The druid nearly replied, but Semeion managed to beat him to the punch. “Come now, druid. You do not think us foolish, do you? I know that your knowledge of the earth and its elements far surpasses my own – and likely the collective knowledge of my friends. But even I know that earth guardians are never destroyed when encountered here. Earth guardians are sent back to their own place of existence. If we wanted to truly destroy the earth guardian, we would have needed to meld with the stone and chase the guardian to its place of origin. Only then could we truly destroy its essence.”
The druid lowered his hand and nodded in agreement. “Perhaps there is more to you than I thought. You understand and respect the powers of the land more than most intruders into my domain. You have earned a chance to speak further.” As if the animals surrounding the druid could understand the druid’s declaration, they all howled and grunted in response. It was clear that the animals were not in agreement with the druid allowing the party more time to speak.
Ischarus turned his head to observe the many animals that had come with the druid. In addition to the ones that they recognized from the prior day, the druid had a collection of large cats, bears, and froves. It appeared that the druid also was followed by normal wolves, although the difference between an adult wolf and a sub-adult frove was hard to tell from a distance. Most of the animals gathered around the druid appeared to be yearning for combat.
Charis breathed in deeply and continued the parlay. “We have come for a root, and that is all. We do not wish to take any life, and even the plant who offers to give up its root we are willing to respect and take only what will it can grow back without difficulty. As Ischarus said earlier, nothing need see death this day.”
The druid lifted his hands out to calm his menagerie. “Tell me, what root do you seek? How do you know that I have it?”
Ophee grinned. “My master is highly trained in the art of gathering knowledge. There is little that he desires to know and cannot discover. He knows that you cultivate this root in your forest. We seek the Black Arum. You may know it as the Stink Lily.”
The druid’s face contorted with curiosity. “I did not realize such a plant has come into popularity, especially given it’s periodic smell.”
Rhema curled her lip in disgust. “Smell?”
Even across the span of the twenty or so yards between them, the druid heard Rhema’s rhetorical comment and laughed. “Yes, smell. Most plants spread pollen by way of smelling sweet to attract birds, beetles, ants, and even butterflies. But not the Black Arum. Its pollen is spread by flies. In order to attract flies, one must smell of dung or rotting garbage. When the plant is flowering and spreading pollen, it raises a slight stench so that flies come to it. That is why it is called the Stink Lily.”
Ischarus appreciated the lesson, but wanted to keep the conversation headed in the proper direction. “Can a sample of roots be drawn without killing the plant?”
The druid nodded in the affirmative. “It can be done. I keep the plant around my grove because of its odd appearance; and as your master certainly knows, I keep it for its medicinal usefulness. It is currently dormant, so a sample should be retrievable. But the sacrifice of the plant will require a sacrifice of your own.”
Semeion pursed his lips in disapproval. “Isn’t there always a catch?”
Charis spoke more loudly to the druid. “Tell us your terms. I am sure we are prepared to meet them.”
The druid’s face took on a menacing appearance. He looked as though he were a frove descending upon a wounded deer and drawing out the kill out of sheer enjoyment. “What you are asking of me is akin to removing an appendage to several of my plants. I ask of the same sacrifice. If you want the root, one of you must be willing to sacrifice an appendage.”
Each of the party members except Ophee balked at the suggestion. Semeion called out loudly, “You want us to do what? You want us to give an arm or a leg for this?”
The druid licked his lips in anticipation. “Precisely. Either that, or I will release my children upon you and you will all be torn limb from limb. Either way, it makes no difference to me.”
Ophee stepped firmly toward the druid. “Take my left arm, druid. It is my master who is being served, I will make the sacrifice.”
Rhema and Charis both objected in horror, but it was Ischarus who yelled the loudest. “No, Ophee. We don’t need to listen to this brainless demand! No root is worth an appendage! The plant can grow its root back, but you cannot!”
It was too late. The baboons fell upon Ophee as soon as she moved. They dragged her to the druid. In an instant the druid parted the flaps of his furry cloak and slipped the edge of a falchion between her left arm and her body.
Ophee bit her lip in expectation of the coming pain. The blade surged upward and severed her arm completely. Blood spurted out from her shoulder, and the froves standing at her feet quickly licked it off the ground as soon as it fell. Ophee cried out in obvious pain. The druid motioned to the ape, and the beast clamped his mighty fist down hard upon Ophee’s shoulder. The compression of the ape’s mighty fist helped to slow the bleeding.
Ophee soon collapsed from pain and blood loss. As she fell into the body of the phrenic ape, she could hear the growling of the froves. Charis had run toward Ophee to help her with a spell of healing, but the froves quickly perceived her approach as a threat. They instinctively encircled their druid master and snarled until she backed away. The rest of the party stood in shock at the proceedings, unable to move.
The druid turned and began to walk away. “I will go and collect samples of Black Arum root of an equitable weight to the sacrifice. That should appease your master.”
Ischarus drew his sword as the druid turned to walk away. “I’m going with you! There is no way we can trust you to keep your word after what you demanded from Ophee!”
The druid turned and smiled. “You are welcome to join me. But my bears are under the command to attack any who follow me. Defeat my bears, and you may come to the private sanctity of my grove.”
Ischarus looked on in horror as the bears began to move to intercept any route that he could take. These bears were large even for the rough wilderness of Quehalost. Many of them were taller than Ischarus even while still on all fours. Ischarus was helpless, and now he was cut off from Ophee even further.
Semeion approached him from behind and spoke softly over his shoulder. “Something despicable has happened here, Ischarus. But as evil and misaligned as the druid is, we must believe that he honors his word. We cannot fight and win. Ophee knew that. You know that. She has served us better than any of us could serve ourselves. She was more willing than any of us to give.”
Ischarus grimaced at Semeion’s words. “That sacrifice was not worth it!”
Semeion nodded, although Ischarus couldn’t see the gesture behind his back. “And I agree. Rhema and Charis agree as well. But Ophee felt it important for her master. To argue the necessity of the sacrifice at this point only detracts us from what is to come. The sacrifice is done. We must move forward and ensure that the sacrifice gets back to the wizard.”
Rhema joined the conversation as the bears finished moving into position. “I agree. Let’s get home and be done with this wizard. I haven’t trusted anything that has happened since we approached Eberdeen and Ophee tried to affect the guards. From that point on, this whole trip has gone from terrible to ghastly.”
[/Sblock]
Ischarus stood and stowed his sword. He had kept it out beside his bedroll after fending off the assault from the wolf and the first earth guardian. “I suppose we should be headed out of the cave while the morning is still young. If the frove was any indication, we may be getting closer to the druid’s grove.”
Rhema sat up and stretched before rising further and speaking. “The presence of the cave is a good sign as well. I’d imagine even a misaligned druid would see the importance of having a place for communing with spirits of the earth. This is the kind of thing that would attract a druid – or so I’d imagine.”
The party quickly prepared to leave and organized their equipment. As it was, they didn’t need to travel far in the morning. They each only managed about ten steps out of the cave before spotting a man standing amongst an eclectic mixture of animals. Immediately to the man’s right stood the frove from the previous night. On the man’s other side stood the ape and baboons from the attacks in the previous day. The animals appeared to have been treated and healed of their wounds.
The druid wore a cloak made from the hide of a frove. The frove’s hide had been large enough to encompass the man’s frame entirely. The hide from the front legs had become sleeves and the frove’s head rested above that of the druid as if it were the hood of a traveling cloak. The hide of the frove was long enough that the legs had been able to be removed and still allow the end of the cloak to trail along the ground. The tail had remained attached to the hide and it trailed along the ground as the druid walked.
Charis paused in mid step as she saw the druid’s cloak. “It’s strikingly beautiful!”
Rhema nodded in agreement. “I’d personally have it without the head on top, but the fur on that cloak is gorgeous!”
The long dark hair of the frove hide was thick. It was as though the frove had been well cared for its entire life. There were no scars or marks where the hide might have been violated by tooth or blade. As the druid lifted up a hand to signal to the party, the hair along the cloak moved like leaves being blown gently by the wind.
The druid spoke in a deep rumble. “You have violated my territory, abused its protectors, and you still come to challenge me directly?”
Semeion smirked at the greeting. “Well, so far so good. At least we’ve made an impression.”
Charis chuckled at Semeion’s sarcasm. Ophee glanced to Semeion out of the corner of her eye and rested her hand upon the hilt of her sword. Semeion’s face was solid in its reflection of his inner confidence.
The druid continued to speak when it was clear that the party was not going to offer up a reply. “My children around me tell me that your skill with your weapons is admirable. But do not think that your weapons can overcome my abilities. The magic coursing through these trees and my body will surely devour you.”
Ischarus lifted his voice in reply as the spokesman of the party. “Are you not impressed that your animals can tell you anything at all? You should note that they were allowed to return to you. They could have been slaughtered entirely, but we allowed them to live. We do not seek their death – or even yours. There is no reason that death need to be experience even on this day.”
The druid’s face told of a moment of confusion within the druid’s mind. “If you do not seek my death, then why have you intruded upon my domain?”
Charis spoke next, shifting the druid’s attention from Ischarus to herself. “I once came from Quehalost and I once thought like you. But now I have learned a different way. There can be more to life than power and conquest, mighty druid. I have been taught the ways of other lands.”
The druid laughed. “You speak of the civilized lands? Do you know what the civilized lands would do to my children? They would label them as freaks of nature and hunt them down. They would hunt them because of their prowess and ability to protect themselves. Your civilized lands fear the minds of my children.”
Charis spoke again. “Not all of us. These three have taught me to be different. I do not dispute your claim for all the people of the civilized lands, but I do dispute it as it pertains to us. We fear the minds of your crea – children. We fear their minds because it enables them to be more powerful opponents. But we do not fear them so much as to kill them. We fear them enough to respect them.”
Ophee spoke, adding her voice to the weight of the party. “I can attest to these words, master of this land. When we were first attacked, my associates made it a point not to kill because of the heightened intelligence of your children. They respect life, although they fear it enough to defend themselves when necessary.”
The druid smiled and replied with a mocking tone. “Is that so? Did you respect the life of the earth guardian that you destroyed last night?”
Rhema smiled and returned a reply. “The spirit in the cave gave us no choice! The spirit in the cave told us that the guardian must be dispatched before we could earn its favor.”
The druid nearly replied, but Semeion managed to beat him to the punch. “Come now, druid. You do not think us foolish, do you? I know that your knowledge of the earth and its elements far surpasses my own – and likely the collective knowledge of my friends. But even I know that earth guardians are never destroyed when encountered here. Earth guardians are sent back to their own place of existence. If we wanted to truly destroy the earth guardian, we would have needed to meld with the stone and chase the guardian to its place of origin. Only then could we truly destroy its essence.”
The druid lowered his hand and nodded in agreement. “Perhaps there is more to you than I thought. You understand and respect the powers of the land more than most intruders into my domain. You have earned a chance to speak further.” As if the animals surrounding the druid could understand the druid’s declaration, they all howled and grunted in response. It was clear that the animals were not in agreement with the druid allowing the party more time to speak.
Ischarus turned his head to observe the many animals that had come with the druid. In addition to the ones that they recognized from the prior day, the druid had a collection of large cats, bears, and froves. It appeared that the druid also was followed by normal wolves, although the difference between an adult wolf and a sub-adult frove was hard to tell from a distance. Most of the animals gathered around the druid appeared to be yearning for combat.
Charis breathed in deeply and continued the parlay. “We have come for a root, and that is all. We do not wish to take any life, and even the plant who offers to give up its root we are willing to respect and take only what will it can grow back without difficulty. As Ischarus said earlier, nothing need see death this day.”
The druid lifted his hands out to calm his menagerie. “Tell me, what root do you seek? How do you know that I have it?”
Ophee grinned. “My master is highly trained in the art of gathering knowledge. There is little that he desires to know and cannot discover. He knows that you cultivate this root in your forest. We seek the Black Arum. You may know it as the Stink Lily.”
The druid’s face contorted with curiosity. “I did not realize such a plant has come into popularity, especially given it’s periodic smell.”
Rhema curled her lip in disgust. “Smell?”
Even across the span of the twenty or so yards between them, the druid heard Rhema’s rhetorical comment and laughed. “Yes, smell. Most plants spread pollen by way of smelling sweet to attract birds, beetles, ants, and even butterflies. But not the Black Arum. Its pollen is spread by flies. In order to attract flies, one must smell of dung or rotting garbage. When the plant is flowering and spreading pollen, it raises a slight stench so that flies come to it. That is why it is called the Stink Lily.”
Ischarus appreciated the lesson, but wanted to keep the conversation headed in the proper direction. “Can a sample of roots be drawn without killing the plant?”
The druid nodded in the affirmative. “It can be done. I keep the plant around my grove because of its odd appearance; and as your master certainly knows, I keep it for its medicinal usefulness. It is currently dormant, so a sample should be retrievable. But the sacrifice of the plant will require a sacrifice of your own.”
Semeion pursed his lips in disapproval. “Isn’t there always a catch?”
Charis spoke more loudly to the druid. “Tell us your terms. I am sure we are prepared to meet them.”
The druid’s face took on a menacing appearance. He looked as though he were a frove descending upon a wounded deer and drawing out the kill out of sheer enjoyment. “What you are asking of me is akin to removing an appendage to several of my plants. I ask of the same sacrifice. If you want the root, one of you must be willing to sacrifice an appendage.”
Each of the party members except Ophee balked at the suggestion. Semeion called out loudly, “You want us to do what? You want us to give an arm or a leg for this?”
The druid licked his lips in anticipation. “Precisely. Either that, or I will release my children upon you and you will all be torn limb from limb. Either way, it makes no difference to me.”
Ophee stepped firmly toward the druid. “Take my left arm, druid. It is my master who is being served, I will make the sacrifice.”
Rhema and Charis both objected in horror, but it was Ischarus who yelled the loudest. “No, Ophee. We don’t need to listen to this brainless demand! No root is worth an appendage! The plant can grow its root back, but you cannot!”
It was too late. The baboons fell upon Ophee as soon as she moved. They dragged her to the druid. In an instant the druid parted the flaps of his furry cloak and slipped the edge of a falchion between her left arm and her body.
Ophee bit her lip in expectation of the coming pain. The blade surged upward and severed her arm completely. Blood spurted out from her shoulder, and the froves standing at her feet quickly licked it off the ground as soon as it fell. Ophee cried out in obvious pain. The druid motioned to the ape, and the beast clamped his mighty fist down hard upon Ophee’s shoulder. The compression of the ape’s mighty fist helped to slow the bleeding.
Ophee soon collapsed from pain and blood loss. As she fell into the body of the phrenic ape, she could hear the growling of the froves. Charis had run toward Ophee to help her with a spell of healing, but the froves quickly perceived her approach as a threat. They instinctively encircled their druid master and snarled until she backed away. The rest of the party stood in shock at the proceedings, unable to move.
The druid turned and began to walk away. “I will go and collect samples of Black Arum root of an equitable weight to the sacrifice. That should appease your master.”
Ischarus drew his sword as the druid turned to walk away. “I’m going with you! There is no way we can trust you to keep your word after what you demanded from Ophee!”
The druid turned and smiled. “You are welcome to join me. But my bears are under the command to attack any who follow me. Defeat my bears, and you may come to the private sanctity of my grove.”
Ischarus looked on in horror as the bears began to move to intercept any route that he could take. These bears were large even for the rough wilderness of Quehalost. Many of them were taller than Ischarus even while still on all fours. Ischarus was helpless, and now he was cut off from Ophee even further.
Semeion approached him from behind and spoke softly over his shoulder. “Something despicable has happened here, Ischarus. But as evil and misaligned as the druid is, we must believe that he honors his word. We cannot fight and win. Ophee knew that. You know that. She has served us better than any of us could serve ourselves. She was more willing than any of us to give.”
Ischarus grimaced at Semeion’s words. “That sacrifice was not worth it!”
Semeion nodded, although Ischarus couldn’t see the gesture behind his back. “And I agree. Rhema and Charis agree as well. But Ophee felt it important for her master. To argue the necessity of the sacrifice at this point only detracts us from what is to come. The sacrifice is done. We must move forward and ensure that the sacrifice gets back to the wizard.”
Rhema joined the conversation as the bears finished moving into position. “I agree. Let’s get home and be done with this wizard. I haven’t trusted anything that has happened since we approached Eberdeen and Ophee tried to affect the guards. From that point on, this whole trip has gone from terrible to ghastly.”
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The rest of the night passed quickly, and in spite of the promises of safety made by the life energy within the cave they continued their watch rotation. The sun rose well into Semeion’s shift, although nothing had even dared to enter into the cave with the earthen guardian standing watch. When the sun rose, the guardian melded once more with the wall and vanished from sight.
Ischarus stood and stowed his sword. He had kept it out beside his bedroll after fending off the assault from the wolf and the first earth guardian. “I suppose we should be headed out of the cave while the morning is still young. If the frove was any indication, we may be getting closer to the druid’s grove.”
Rhema sat up and stretched before rising further and speaking. “The presence of the cave is a good sign as well. I’d imagine even a misaligned druid would see the importance of having a place for communing with spirits of the earth. This is the kind of thing that would attract a druid – or so I’d imagine.”
The party quickly prepared to leave and organized their equipment. As it was, they didn’t need to travel far in the morning. They each only managed about ten steps out of the cave before spotting a man standing amongst an eclectic mixture of animals. Immediately to the man’s right stood the frove from the previous night. On the man’s other side stood the ape and baboons from the attacks in the previous day. The animals appeared to have been treated and healed of their wounds.
The druid wore a cloak made from the hide of a frove. The frove’s hide had been large enough to encompass the man’s frame entirely. The hide from the front legs had become sleeves and the frove’s head rested above that of the druid as if it were the hood of a traveling cloak. The hide of the frove was long enough that the legs had been able to be removed and still allow the end of the cloak to trail along the ground. The tail had remained attached to the hide and it trailed along the ground as the druid walked.
Charis paused in mid step as she saw the druid’s cloak. “It’s strikingly beautiful!”
Rhema nodded in agreement. “I’d personally have it without the head on top, but the fur on that cloak is gorgeous!”
The long dark hair of the frove hide was thick. It was as though the frove had been well cared for its entire life. There were no scars or marks where the hide might have been violated by tooth or blade. As the druid lifted up a hand to signal to the party, the hair along the cloak moved like leaves being blown gently by the wind.
The druid spoke in a deep rumble. “You have violated my territory, abused its protectors, and you still come to challenge me directly?”
Semeion smirked at the greeting. “Well, so far so good. At least we’ve made an impression.”
Charis chuckled at Semeion’s sarcasm. Ophee glanced to Semeion out of the corner of her eye and rested her hand upon the hilt of her sword. Semeion’s face was solid in its reflection of his inner confidence.
The druid continued to speak when it was clear that the party was not going to offer up a reply. “My children around me tell me that your skill with your weapons is admirable. But do not think that your weapons can overcome my abilities. The magic coursing through these trees and my body will surely devour you.”
Ischarus lifted his voice in reply as the spokesman of the party. “Are you not impressed that your animals can tell you anything at all? You should note that they were allowed to return to you. They could have been slaughtered entirely, but we allowed them to live. We do not seek their death – or even yours. There is no reason that death need to be experience even on this day.”
The druid’s face told of a moment of confusion within the druid’s mind. “If you do not seek my death, then why have you intruded upon my domain?”
Charis spoke next, shifting the druid’s attention from Ischarus to herself. “I once came from Quehalost and I once thought like you. But now I have learned a different way. There can be more to life than power and conquest, mighty druid. I have been taught the ways of other lands.”
The druid laughed. “You speak of the civilized lands? Do you know what the civilized lands would do to my children? They would label them as freaks of nature and hunt them down. They would hunt them because of their prowess and ability to protect themselves. Your civilized lands fear the minds of my children.”
Charis spoke again. “Not all of us. These three have taught me to be different. I do not dispute your claim for all the people of the civilized lands, but I do dispute it as it pertains to us. We fear the minds of your crea – children. We fear their minds because it enables them to be more powerful opponents. But we do not fear them so much as to kill them. We fear them enough to respect them.”
Ophee spoke, adding her voice to the weight of the party. “I can attest to these words, master of this land. When we were first attacked, my associates made it a point not to kill because of the heightened intelligence of your children. They respect life, although they fear it enough to defend themselves when necessary.”
The druid smiled and replied with a mocking tone. “Is that so? Did you respect the life of the earth guardian that you destroyed last night?”
Rhema smiled and returned a reply. “The spirit in the cave gave us no choice! The spirit in the cave told us that the guardian must be dispatched before we could earn its favor.”
The druid nearly replied, but Semeion managed to beat him to the punch. “Come now, druid. You do not think us foolish, do you? I know that your knowledge of the earth and its elements far surpasses my own – and likely the collective knowledge of my friends. But even I know that earth guardians are never destroyed when encountered here. Earth guardians are sent back to their own place of existence. If we wanted to truly destroy the earth guardian, we would have needed to meld with the stone and chase the guardian to its place of origin. Only then could we truly destroy its essence.”
The druid lowered his hand and nodded in agreement. “Perhaps there is more to you than I thought. You understand and respect the powers of the land more than most intruders into my domain. You have earned a chance to speak further.” As if the animals surrounding the druid could understand the druid’s declaration, they all howled and grunted in response. It was clear that the animals were not in agreement with the druid allowing the party more time to speak.
Ischarus turned his head to observe the many animals that had come with the druid. In addition to the ones that they recognized from the prior day, the druid had a collection of large cats, bears, and froves. It appeared that the druid also was followed by normal wolves, although the difference between an adult wolf and a sub-adult frove was hard to tell from a distance. Most of the animals gathered around the druid appeared to be yearning for combat.
Charis breathed in deeply and continued the parlay. “We have come for a root, and that is all. We do not wish to take any life, and even the plant who offers to give up its root we are willing to respect and take only what will it can grow back without difficulty. As Ischarus said earlier, nothing need see death this day.”
The druid lifted his hands out to calm his menagerie. “Tell me, what root do you seek? How do you know that I have it?”
Ophee grinned. “My master is highly trained in the art of gathering knowledge. There is little that he desires to know and cannot discover. He knows that you cultivate this root in your forest. We seek the Black Arum. You may know it as the Stink Lily.”
The druid’s face contorted with curiosity. “I did not realize such a plant has come into popularity, especially given it’s periodic smell.”
Rhema curled her lip in disgust. “Smell?”
Even across the span of the twenty or so yards between them, the druid heard Rhema’s rhetorical comment and laughed. “Yes, smell. Most plants spread pollen by way of smelling sweet to attract birds, beetles, ants, and even butterflies. But not the Black Arum. Its pollen is spread by flies. In order to attract flies, one must smell of dung or rotting garbage. When the plant is flowering and spreading pollen, it raises a slight stench so that flies come to it. That is why it is called the Stink Lily.”
Ischarus appreciated the lesson, but wanted to keep the conversation headed in the proper direction. “Can a sample of roots be drawn without killing the plant?”
The druid nodded in the affirmative. “It can be done. I keep the plant around my grove because of its odd appearance; and as your master certainly knows, I keep it for its medicinal usefulness. It is currently dormant, so a sample should be retrievable. But the sacrifice of the plant will require a sacrifice of your own.”
Semeion pursed his lips in disapproval. “Isn’t there always a catch?”
Charis spoke more loudly to the druid. “Tell us your terms. I am sure we are prepared to meet them.”
The druid’s face took on a menacing appearance. He looked as though he were a frove descending upon a wounded deer and drawing out the kill out of sheer enjoyment. “What you are asking of me is akin to removing an appendage to several of my plants. I ask of the same sacrifice. If you want the root, one of you must be willing to sacrifice an appendage.”
Each of the party members except Ophee balked at the suggestion. Semeion called out loudly, “You want us to do what? You want us to give an arm or a leg for this?”
The druid licked his lips in anticipation. “Precisely. Either that, or I will release my children upon you and you will all be torn limb from limb. Either way, it makes no difference to me.”
Ophee stepped firmly toward the druid. “Take my left arm, druid. It is my master who is being served, I will make the sacrifice.”
Rhema and Charis both objected in horror, but it was Ischarus who yelled the loudest. “No, Ophee. We don’t need to listen to this brainless demand! No root is worth an appendage! The plant can grow its root back, but you cannot!”
It was too late. The baboons fell upon Ophee as soon as she moved. They dragged her to the druid. In an instant the druid parted the flaps of his furry cloak and slipped the edge of a falchion between her left arm and her body.
Ophee bit her lip in expectation of the coming pain. The blade surged upward and severed her arm completely. Blood spurted out from her shoulder, and the froves standing at her feet quickly licked it off the ground as soon as it fell. Ophee cried out in obvious pain. The druid motioned to the ape, and the beast clamped his mighty fist down hard upon Ophee’s shoulder. The compression of the ape’s mighty fist helped to slow the bleeding.
Ophee soon collapsed from pain and blood loss. As she fell into the body of the phrenic ape, she could hear the growling of the froves. Charis had run toward Ophee to help her with a spell of healing, but the froves quickly perceived her approach as a threat. They instinctively encircled their druid master and snarled until she backed away. The rest of the party stood in shock at the proceedings, unable to move.
The druid turned and began to walk away. “I will go and collect samples of Black Arum root of an equitable weight to the sacrifice. That should appease your master.”
Ischarus drew his sword as the druid turned to walk away. “I’m going with you! There is no way we can trust you to keep your word after what you demanded from Ophee!”
The druid turned and smiled. “You are welcome to join me. But my bears are under the command to attack any who follow me. Defeat my bears, and you may come to the private sanctity of my grove.”
Ischarus looked on in horror as the bears began to move to intercept any route that he could take. These bears were large even for the rough wilderness of Quehalost. Many of them were taller than Ischarus even while still on all fours. Ischarus was helpless, and now he was cut off from Ophee even further.
Semeion approached him from behind and spoke softly over his shoulder. “Something despicable has happened here, Ischarus. But as evil and misaligned as the druid is, we must believe that he honors his word. We cannot fight and win. Ophee knew that. You know that. She has served us better than any of us could serve ourselves. She was more willing than any of us to give.”
Ischarus grimaced at Semeion’s words. “That sacrifice was not worth it!”
Semeion nodded, although Ischarus couldn’t see the gesture behind his back. “And I agree. Rhema and Charis agree as well. But Ophee felt it important for her master. To argue the necessity of the sacrifice at this point only detracts us from what is to come. The sacrifice is done. We must move forward and ensure that the sacrifice gets back to the wizard.”
Rhema joined the conversation as the bears finished moving into position. “I agree. Let’s get home and be done with this wizard. I haven’t trusted anything that has happened since we approached Eberdeen and Ophee tried to affect the guards. From that point on, this whole trip has gone from terrible to ghastly.”
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