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Aphonion Tales (New posts 6/13, 6/15, 6/19)
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<blockquote data-quote="Cerebral Paladin" data-source="post: 2098968" data-attributes="member: 3448"><p>From Ecsilias, the road runs south about 20 days' ride to Forktown, where it splits in three, with each road leading to a different pass through the great mountain range that divides the North of the continent of Drucien from the South. Each pass has different advantages and disadvantages. One pass is overrun with monsters and would pose no risk of discovery but a high risk of becoming wyvern food or the like. A second pass is heavily haunted. While many of the undead in that pass have relatively positive reputations, only fools are overly eager to deal with the undead. The last pass runs directly through the City of the Pass-- a substantial city and the standard route of trade caravans, but a city mostly known for its corruption and crime lords. If Ecsilias's poor quarters were any indications, the city ahead would be crawling with would-be bounty hunters and assassins. Still, it seemed the best of a bad mix, so the travellers planned on making for that road.</p><p></p><p>They rode hard to get safely into the countryside south of Ecsilias. During the third night after they left the Archbarony, a terrified wild boar burst into their campsite, scampered away from the light of the fire and charged further off into the woods. Kit and Alistair were on watch but ended their quiet conversation and cuddling to warn the rest of their companions. They couldn't be sure why the boar was panicking, but it was certainly troubling. Dame Brionna and Mahler each grabbed their sword in one hand and a flaming brand in the other to deter any more animals. Less than a minute later, the reason for the boar's flight became clear: a large wolfpack followed its trail straight into the camp. All of the wolves but one veered away from the fire and the guards. The lead wolf, however, stared directly at each of them and shifted shape into a partially humanoid form. The werewolf glared at the group, and then shifted back to wolf-form and charged after its pack, howling at the moon as it ran. The travellers spent the rest of the night fearfully watching for any signs that the werewolf and its pack were returning, but morning came safely, and they were all glad to be back on the road on horseback.</p><p></p><p>The next 10 days passed without further problems. There were several additional instances of odd animal behavior, as a family of bears searched for food and seemed to view the presence of humans as a sign of safety, rather than danger. But none of the travellers were experienced outdoorsfolk, and they assumed that it was normal for bears.</p><p></p><p>On the 15th day of travel, an enormous caravan from the Empire of Mask passed by. The travellers simply yielded the entire road and allowed it to pass, as the nobles leading the caravan casually assumed was their right. Once they were clear that the riders were not bandits and did not presume that they were the equals of the lords in the caravan, the traders ignored them completely. The travellers paid rather more attention and noticed a pattern that might explain why all of the free-born people in the caravan carefully wore full masks that entirely covered their faces: many, perhaps half, of the slaves and porters working in the caravan had horribly disfigured faces. When the caravan had passed, the riders resumed their travels south.</p><p></p><p>Several days later, a mere day or so north of Forktown, the group left the road to make camp again. As they prepared to make camp, a boar piglet, about a foot long, dashed into the middle of their camp and began pressing up against Delbon, as he sat by the fire, for comfort. The piglet appeared to be healthy but utterly terrified. Dame Brionna confirmed that it was not evil, and they all noticed that it's behavior seemed oddly intelligent. Once they reassured the piglet and gave it a little of their food, it looked off into the woods, walked forward a bit, and then looked back at the group. The piglet clearly wanted to go somewhere but was afraid on its own. Delbon shrugged. "I guess we should see what it wants..."</p><p></p><p>The group followed the young boar into the woods. It clearly mostly knew the way but not entirely. It stopped several times to look and sniff around before resuming its trail, and even looped once or twice, but finally entered a clearing in the woods and rushed forward. The piglet rushed across the clearing towards a small house, oinking happily. An elderly woman rushed out of the house and scooped up the piglet in her arms. "Oh my dear. I was so worried... you know you shouldn't run off like that."</p><p></p><p>While the travellers watched in confusion, the piglet shifted form and became a small human toddler, cooing happily in her grandmother's arms.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cerebral Paladin, post: 2098968, member: 3448"] From Ecsilias, the road runs south about 20 days' ride to Forktown, where it splits in three, with each road leading to a different pass through the great mountain range that divides the North of the continent of Drucien from the South. Each pass has different advantages and disadvantages. One pass is overrun with monsters and would pose no risk of discovery but a high risk of becoming wyvern food or the like. A second pass is heavily haunted. While many of the undead in that pass have relatively positive reputations, only fools are overly eager to deal with the undead. The last pass runs directly through the City of the Pass-- a substantial city and the standard route of trade caravans, but a city mostly known for its corruption and crime lords. If Ecsilias's poor quarters were any indications, the city ahead would be crawling with would-be bounty hunters and assassins. Still, it seemed the best of a bad mix, so the travellers planned on making for that road. They rode hard to get safely into the countryside south of Ecsilias. During the third night after they left the Archbarony, a terrified wild boar burst into their campsite, scampered away from the light of the fire and charged further off into the woods. Kit and Alistair were on watch but ended their quiet conversation and cuddling to warn the rest of their companions. They couldn't be sure why the boar was panicking, but it was certainly troubling. Dame Brionna and Mahler each grabbed their sword in one hand and a flaming brand in the other to deter any more animals. Less than a minute later, the reason for the boar's flight became clear: a large wolfpack followed its trail straight into the camp. All of the wolves but one veered away from the fire and the guards. The lead wolf, however, stared directly at each of them and shifted shape into a partially humanoid form. The werewolf glared at the group, and then shifted back to wolf-form and charged after its pack, howling at the moon as it ran. The travellers spent the rest of the night fearfully watching for any signs that the werewolf and its pack were returning, but morning came safely, and they were all glad to be back on the road on horseback. The next 10 days passed without further problems. There were several additional instances of odd animal behavior, as a family of bears searched for food and seemed to view the presence of humans as a sign of safety, rather than danger. But none of the travellers were experienced outdoorsfolk, and they assumed that it was normal for bears. On the 15th day of travel, an enormous caravan from the Empire of Mask passed by. The travellers simply yielded the entire road and allowed it to pass, as the nobles leading the caravan casually assumed was their right. Once they were clear that the riders were not bandits and did not presume that they were the equals of the lords in the caravan, the traders ignored them completely. The travellers paid rather more attention and noticed a pattern that might explain why all of the free-born people in the caravan carefully wore full masks that entirely covered their faces: many, perhaps half, of the slaves and porters working in the caravan had horribly disfigured faces. When the caravan had passed, the riders resumed their travels south. Several days later, a mere day or so north of Forktown, the group left the road to make camp again. As they prepared to make camp, a boar piglet, about a foot long, dashed into the middle of their camp and began pressing up against Delbon, as he sat by the fire, for comfort. The piglet appeared to be healthy but utterly terrified. Dame Brionna confirmed that it was not evil, and they all noticed that it's behavior seemed oddly intelligent. Once they reassured the piglet and gave it a little of their food, it looked off into the woods, walked forward a bit, and then looked back at the group. The piglet clearly wanted to go somewhere but was afraid on its own. Delbon shrugged. "I guess we should see what it wants..." The group followed the young boar into the woods. It clearly mostly knew the way but not entirely. It stopped several times to look and sniff around before resuming its trail, and even looped once or twice, but finally entered a clearing in the woods and rushed forward. The piglet rushed across the clearing towards a small house, oinking happily. An elderly woman rushed out of the house and scooped up the piglet in her arms. "Oh my dear. I was so worried... you know you shouldn't run off like that." While the travellers watched in confusion, the piglet shifted form and became a small human toddler, cooing happily in her grandmother's arms. [/QUOTE]
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