Greybar
No Trouble at All
OOC thread.
History:
Long lifetimes ago, a secretive sect called the Abantines sought out a lake in the highlands to the north of the great cities of Haraiva. Some say they sought the place where Abanta shed tears over the strife between her divine sisters and the loss of the earthly city she had founded. In the middle of this lake the Abantines found an island, and settled there, far from the eyes of other men. The lake they simply called Highlake, and thus the island was simply Highlake island. A great magical veil was raised about the island, a wall of mist perpentually concealing the island from the shores. Those who sought to penetrate the mists often found themselves turned about or even emerging on the other side of the lake.
For centuries the settlers on Highlake remained isolated, peaceful, and secretive. They remained aware of the rest of the Haraivan cities through a network of spies and contacts with their fellow Abantine temples. When the invasion of the Dark Shores came, and the cities were devasted, the Abantines were faced with a choice. Remain secret and watch their brethren be hunted down and die, or try to take in those who they could at risk of being discovered. In the end, they saved who they could, were indeed found by forces of the Drahokralva, but have fought off numerous attacks with the aid of their orphaned allies. Now they are one of the two remaining homes of Haraivan civilization. Small villages have grown up on the outer shores of Highlake, beyond the protection of the Veil of Abanta. Some are exiles whom Highlake will not take in, some who wish to be independant of the mysterious Abantines who control Highlake island.
Background:
To the west of Highlake stands two unusually steep and conjoined spires. Taller than any other rise in the Haraivan highlands, their tips are covered in ice and snow year round, despite the generally temperate climate of the surrounding lands. They are only approachable from the east, where the elevation drops off less severly. Along this lap of the spires, an unusual berry grows known as "iceberries". The magical and medicinal properties of these berries makes them quite lucrative to harvest when they come to ripeness in midsummer. Harvesters must be well armed against the hostile and monstrous creatures that call the area of the spires their home. But the creatures are a known quantity and a well prepared group can bring back crates and crates of the valuable berries while often avoiding any fatalities at all.
But not this year. After landing, the harvested starting setting up camp, tents and firepits appearing along the lower shores while armed parties and harvested moved uphill. But then creatures formed of ice appeared and attacked the longshoremen and their boats, punching holes in their hulls. A terrible icestorm appeared in the middle of the camp, and warriors attacked in ambush. Warriors who fought in the same open-handed style only known to be practiced by the members of the Monastery of the Quiet Waters near Highlake City. A terribly huge bear devastated a scouting group, and was only just dispatched by a group of heroes.
And then the dragon came, and even the heroes fled...
Prologue:
The few survivors of the harvesters sent to pick iceberries have returned to Highlake Island, and rumors race ahead of them. Upon hearing the news, eldest monks order that all prepare to leave the Monastery, and sends a runner to the Keeper of the Open Waters. "Tell her the time of our destiny has come. We hope that we will again be able to call Highlake a friend in the future."
The monastery becomes a blur of activity. Food is packed up or boiled down into rations. The younger monks seem to have a mixture of excitement and apprehension, while the older monks are very serious.
The Keeper appears a few hours later: "What is the meaning of this?" She says, looking about the monastery.
Perlentus says quietly, "As I once told you, my name has been spoken
and our fate has awoken."
Her face is ashen, "Has my misspoken word caused this, then?".
He smiles thinly, "No, it is no fault of yours. Consider it merely a presaging."
"Are your brothers ready for this?"
"That is irrelevant"
There is a pause, and she bows in the old and proper manner. She turns and leaves with a solemn tread, and those sharp of sight see the tears in her eyes
- - -
An elder brother stands in a relaxed pose in one of the smaller dojos of the monastery. His simple robes are of a brown homespun, belted by a roughly tanned strip of leather. Only the sharp of eye would see the tiny characters burned delicately in long spirals around its girth. While he has a great presence of calm confidence about him, his appearance is unremarkable. Even long time students find it hard to describe the specifics of his appearance to others. Fortunately, they find this unremarkable as well.
Four students enter the dojo, and the brother turns with a peaceful smile. "Thank you for coming. As you know, the time for the end of our monastery has come. We go to face the destiny we all have trained so hard for. We must face the dragon which has awoken upon the spires, and we will do so together as one."
"You have been chosen to be our eyes and ears. We must find a landing place upon the western shore of the lake where all of us can bring ashore supplies. Several locations such are being checked. You are assigned to Icecreek, a village on the northwestern curve of the lake. Icecreek is a fishing village with sufficient docks and shallow waters for the entire monastery to land and swiftly unload. It is also notable for being independant and organized enough to fight off a Draho slave-raid early last winter, according to information the Abantines have shared. They have a strong leader by the name of Krolis Firebeard who lead that defense according the Abantine report."
"Your job is to is to see if Icecreek is a good landing site, and do what you can to make it a good landing site. The first part of that is just to make sure that the physical situation is good. The second part is to make contact with the villagers and see if they will allow the landing. If the landing takes place without their approval, they might well treat it as an attack like that of a slave-raid. You will communicate this information with one of us through this token."
The brother takes off a small necklace with a crystal on a leather thong, and hands it to <edit in Eric's character's name>.
"Once that determination is made, you will be ordered to either assist in the landing, move forward to scout further ahead, or undertake a new mission based on what the other scouting groups have found."
"Do you have any questions?"
History:
Long lifetimes ago, a secretive sect called the Abantines sought out a lake in the highlands to the north of the great cities of Haraiva. Some say they sought the place where Abanta shed tears over the strife between her divine sisters and the loss of the earthly city she had founded. In the middle of this lake the Abantines found an island, and settled there, far from the eyes of other men. The lake they simply called Highlake, and thus the island was simply Highlake island. A great magical veil was raised about the island, a wall of mist perpentually concealing the island from the shores. Those who sought to penetrate the mists often found themselves turned about or even emerging on the other side of the lake.
For centuries the settlers on Highlake remained isolated, peaceful, and secretive. They remained aware of the rest of the Haraivan cities through a network of spies and contacts with their fellow Abantine temples. When the invasion of the Dark Shores came, and the cities were devasted, the Abantines were faced with a choice. Remain secret and watch their brethren be hunted down and die, or try to take in those who they could at risk of being discovered. In the end, they saved who they could, were indeed found by forces of the Drahokralva, but have fought off numerous attacks with the aid of their orphaned allies. Now they are one of the two remaining homes of Haraivan civilization. Small villages have grown up on the outer shores of Highlake, beyond the protection of the Veil of Abanta. Some are exiles whom Highlake will not take in, some who wish to be independant of the mysterious Abantines who control Highlake island.
Background:
To the west of Highlake stands two unusually steep and conjoined spires. Taller than any other rise in the Haraivan highlands, their tips are covered in ice and snow year round, despite the generally temperate climate of the surrounding lands. They are only approachable from the east, where the elevation drops off less severly. Along this lap of the spires, an unusual berry grows known as "iceberries". The magical and medicinal properties of these berries makes them quite lucrative to harvest when they come to ripeness in midsummer. Harvesters must be well armed against the hostile and monstrous creatures that call the area of the spires their home. But the creatures are a known quantity and a well prepared group can bring back crates and crates of the valuable berries while often avoiding any fatalities at all.
But not this year. After landing, the harvested starting setting up camp, tents and firepits appearing along the lower shores while armed parties and harvested moved uphill. But then creatures formed of ice appeared and attacked the longshoremen and their boats, punching holes in their hulls. A terrible icestorm appeared in the middle of the camp, and warriors attacked in ambush. Warriors who fought in the same open-handed style only known to be practiced by the members of the Monastery of the Quiet Waters near Highlake City. A terribly huge bear devastated a scouting group, and was only just dispatched by a group of heroes.
And then the dragon came, and even the heroes fled...
Prologue:
The few survivors of the harvesters sent to pick iceberries have returned to Highlake Island, and rumors race ahead of them. Upon hearing the news, eldest monks order that all prepare to leave the Monastery, and sends a runner to the Keeper of the Open Waters. "Tell her the time of our destiny has come. We hope that we will again be able to call Highlake a friend in the future."
The monastery becomes a blur of activity. Food is packed up or boiled down into rations. The younger monks seem to have a mixture of excitement and apprehension, while the older monks are very serious.
The Keeper appears a few hours later: "What is the meaning of this?" She says, looking about the monastery.
Perlentus says quietly, "As I once told you, my name has been spoken
and our fate has awoken."
Her face is ashen, "Has my misspoken word caused this, then?".
He smiles thinly, "No, it is no fault of yours. Consider it merely a presaging."
"Are your brothers ready for this?"
"That is irrelevant"
There is a pause, and she bows in the old and proper manner. She turns and leaves with a solemn tread, and those sharp of sight see the tears in her eyes
- - -
An elder brother stands in a relaxed pose in one of the smaller dojos of the monastery. His simple robes are of a brown homespun, belted by a roughly tanned strip of leather. Only the sharp of eye would see the tiny characters burned delicately in long spirals around its girth. While he has a great presence of calm confidence about him, his appearance is unremarkable. Even long time students find it hard to describe the specifics of his appearance to others. Fortunately, they find this unremarkable as well.
Four students enter the dojo, and the brother turns with a peaceful smile. "Thank you for coming. As you know, the time for the end of our monastery has come. We go to face the destiny we all have trained so hard for. We must face the dragon which has awoken upon the spires, and we will do so together as one."
"You have been chosen to be our eyes and ears. We must find a landing place upon the western shore of the lake where all of us can bring ashore supplies. Several locations such are being checked. You are assigned to Icecreek, a village on the northwestern curve of the lake. Icecreek is a fishing village with sufficient docks and shallow waters for the entire monastery to land and swiftly unload. It is also notable for being independant and organized enough to fight off a Draho slave-raid early last winter, according to information the Abantines have shared. They have a strong leader by the name of Krolis Firebeard who lead that defense according the Abantine report."
"Your job is to is to see if Icecreek is a good landing site, and do what you can to make it a good landing site. The first part of that is just to make sure that the physical situation is good. The second part is to make contact with the villagers and see if they will allow the landing. If the landing takes place without their approval, they might well treat it as an attack like that of a slave-raid. You will communicate this information with one of us through this token."
The brother takes off a small necklace with a crystal on a leather thong, and hands it to <edit in Eric's character's name>.
"Once that determination is made, you will be ordered to either assist in the landing, move forward to scout further ahead, or undertake a new mission based on what the other scouting groups have found."
"Do you have any questions?"
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