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Story Hour
Bitterness Overcome: (Now A Completed Story!)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nonlethal Force" data-source="post: 3043285" data-attributes="member: 35788"><p>Charis’ face nearly leapt with glee. It was an opposite reaction than Ischarus had expected. She kept her voice well under control in spite of her obvious excitement to the news. <span style="color: Orange">“Goblins? That’s great!”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus smiled, unsure of how to truly take Charis’ response. His eyes darted back and forth to Rhema and Semeion, but they were both on horseback and far enough away to not pay attention to the conversation. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Great? What exactly do you mean by that, Charis? I know that you know more about Quehalost than I do, but great?”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis laughed out loud. Perhaps she had laughed a bit louder than she should have. Semeion turned his head around to see what had caused the reaction. Somehow he hadn’t expected her to laugh given the seriousness that Ischarus had the last time he looked in their direction. Ischarus waved his look off and with a motion of his hands Ischarus instructed Semeion to continue to watch their path from behind.</p><p></p><p>Charis slipped the head of her pick into its leather covering and fastened the end of it back onto her belt. As she looked up, she brushed her long black hair out of her eyes. With the morning sun filtering through the trees, Ischarus noticed that her red highlights showed up strongly against the dark hair beneath it. Her hair solidly betrayed her heritage on this day. In truth, that was one reason he had decided to keep his hair short. </p><p></p><p>As Ischarus was noticing her hair she responded to his earlier question. <span style="color: Orange">“I say great because of two reasons. First, you could have found fresh dragon tracks, or demon tracks, or any other score of horrible tracks you could find. But instead you found goblin tracks. Goblins are far less scary than some of the other evils found in Quehalost!”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus couldn’t help break a smile at Charis’ logic. If nothing else her logic was sound. Goblins were a better choice than a huge wyrm of some kind or evil creature released from the hells of other worlds. Since her first reason inspired him so much, he couldn’t wait to hear about the second reason that goblins were a great find.</p><p></p><p>Charis continued, <span style="color: Orange">“Besides, I have a vague recollection of a goblin tribe that lived a fair bit east of my father dragon’s land. Sure, the goblin tribe wasn’t exactly right next door. But it does mean that we can’t be terribly far. A few days journey, perhaps.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus was pleased to hear that Charis was able to relate to her surroundings. Since none of them had ever approached Quehalost from the direction from which they had just traveled, it was good to hear that they were reasonably on the right path. At least they were headed in the right direction. His mind couldn’t help counter Charis’ excitement, however. <span style="color: LightBlue">“A few days walk through the territory of a great red wyrm and a smattering of goblins, however.”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis laughed again, and a huge smile crossed her face. This laugh was enough to signal to Rhema and Semeion that it was nearly time to go and they could come back from their posts as sentries. As they slowly walked their horses in towards Charis and Ischarus they could hear Charis’ reply to Ischarus. <span style="color: Orange">“That’s my great red wyrm, remember! It isn’t like we are sneaking up on some unknown dragon. I know that dragon intimately.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema couldn’t help but speak as she heard the talk about the red wyrm. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“You’ve found Dragon tracks, Ischarus? Are we that close already?”</span> Rhema’s voice embodied much of the excitement growing within her chest upon hearing the talk about dragons. </p><p></p><p>Ischarus couldn’t also help but laugh at Rhema’s conclusion. This conversation was not at all what he imagined it would be. It was supposed to be a serious warning to be cautious about goblins. From a perspective of seriousness it was headed downhill fast. Yet in the greater scheme of things the conversation didn’t seem to matter like it would have on earlier trips. It was good to laugh inside Quehalost. As Ischarus smiled, he replied to Rhema’s incorrect assertion. <span style="color: LightBlue">“No, Rhema. Not dragon tracks. Goblin tracks.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion raised a tone of alarm. <span style="color: Plum">“Goblin tracks! I thought that’s what I heard Charis speaking about earlier.”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis took the opportunity to calm down Semeion with the same observation that she had used on Ischarus. <span style="color: Orange">“Well, better to find fresh goblin tracks than fresh dragon tracks, right?”</span></p><p></p><p>Now Semeion knew why Ischarus had been laughing. Charis had struck again. The foursome broke into another round of laughter at Charis’ statement and enjoyed the laugh in the middle of Quehalost. The sun was warming the air and at this moment there was a peace about the land in a very small section of Quehalost. Even the trees seemed to enjoy the light-hearted moment as their branches swayed in the subtle wind.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly Ischarus raised his sword up from the ground where he had laid it when he checked the tracks. He slowly began turning around. Carefully he raised his sword to his chest level and extended it away from himself and the party. His eyes squinted through the neighboring foliage, but they could make nothing out.</p><p></p><p>Rhema questioned the action of Ischarus. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Another feeling, Ischarus?”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus nodded slowly, still examining the woods round them. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Yeah. Right then, when we all came together and laughed. I felt as though we were being watched once more. It was as if someone was participating in the laugh with us.”</span></p><p></p><p>The rest of the party turned their horses around and twisted in their saddles to peer through the leaves. Rhema confessed that she wasn’t in tune with Ischarus as she scanned the woods. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“I’ve got to admit that I didn’t feel anything.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion concurred, but mitigated as well. <span style="color: Plum">“I didn’t feel anything, either. But we just found fresh goblin tracks. You never know what could be out there.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus let out a low growl as he kept his sword pointed towards the forest. <span style="color: LightBlue">“I know that something is out there, I just can’t see it. But I can feel it looking deep within us, almost as if …”</span> His voice trailed off into silence. </p><p></p><p>He had left room for Charis to finish his sentence for him. <span style="color: Orange">“Almost as if it can search our souls, right? I feel it now, too. I can feel the presence as if it were able to look deep inside. I agree, Ischarus, something is out there.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion didn’t like where this was going at all. Only a moment ago the conversation had been light-hearted. Now it was deathly serious in nature. Of course it had started with Ischarus, but then Charis was affected. It was one thing to have knowledge of invisible assailants; but nothing that he was aware of could search one’s soul. Nothing that he was aware of could even try hard enough to give such a feeling to the one being observed. His logical training kicked himself into a defensive posture. <span style="color: Plum">“Come on, guys. The more we allow ourselves to succumb to the paranoia the more and more we’re going to feel it spread. It’s just a feeling, and we’re all probably still tired from our journey through the tunnels. We’re in Quehalost and we just found fresh goblin tracks. We’re bound to be a bit jumpy.”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema found wisdom in Semeion’s caution since she was unable to feel anything remotely close to what Ischarus and Charis had described. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“Yeah, I agree. Let’s forget chasing shadows and feelings. This is Quehalost. Things aren’t going to be right in this place anyway. We could chase feelings and shadows forever and never accomplish anything. We’ve got a significant task at hand. We’ve got to save Charis’ people from the dragon.”</span></p><p></p><p>A warm breeze of air blew through the party and rustled the leaves on the trees that surrounded them. Rhema stopped her speech short. Ischarus’ and Charis’ breathing grew shallow as they focused on listening and peering through the trees in the direction that the wind had come.</p><p></p><p>Semeion sighed at the unfortunate luck of the warm air blowing at precisely the wrong moment. Rhema and Semeion had almost convinced Ischarus and Charis to forget their paranoia. <span style="color: Plum">“Rhema is right, guys. Let’s plan to move forward. Charis’ people are at stake. But the first thing that we’ve got to figure out is what to do about these goblins. Surely we want to avoid them, right?”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus snapped back to reality. Semeion’s words convinced his mind to force the feelings of being watched to subside. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Right. The last thing that we need to add to our plate right now is taking on a goblin tribe.”</span></p><p></p><p>Another warm breeze of air rustled through the party as soon as Ischarus finished speaking. Semeion grew frustrated at their luck. <span style="color: Plum">“Of all the stupid times for the air to warm up in the sunlight!”</span> He sighed in exasperation as he saw that the breeze of air drew Ischarus’ attention back into the woods. However, after a few seconds both Ischarus and Charis had turned around and focused on the task ahead. The party needed to get to Charis’ village and leave the goblins behind.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus began to talk strategy. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Now, if we can take the direction of the tracks to imply a general direction of their tribal village at one end or another, these tracks are going in the same general direction that we are headed. But if we bend our path a bit more towards the mountains we might be able to slip between their destination and the edge of the mountains.”</span></p><p></p><p>Charis replied quickly. She knew that goblins were not the most logical creatures in the world. <span style="color: Orange">“That is assuming that goblins walk in straight lines to where they want to go.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus smiled at Charis’ point. <span style="color: LightBlue">“Well, yes. But if we are going to get anywhere we do have to make some assumptions somewhere.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion piped in his opinion. He was pleased that they were now headed in the right direction with this conversation. <span style="color: Plum">“I agree. If we head more towards the mountains we’ll be less likely to run into trouble. Rhema, do you have any thoughts?”</span></p><p></p><p>Rhema nodded. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“It sounds like as good of a plan as any. Ischarus, are you still leading the way?”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus nodded and lifted himself into Elistra’s saddle. Once he was settled and his gear was aligned for riding properly, he turned Elistra in the general direction that he wanted to head. He guided Elistra past Abijou and then between Thana and Shauvry. </p><p></p><p>Once he was clear and all alone, a strong head wind picked up out of nowhere. The wind was so strong that Elistra could make no headway and Ischarus had to tuck his head and close his eyes tightly to avoid the sting of the breeze. With his hands on the reigns he gently gave Elistra the command to retreat and step backwards. The wind ceased immediately. The rest of the party had only mildly felt the effects of the unusual current of air. Yet there was no denying what had just happened to Ischarus. They had seen the wind blast Ischarus and create mayhem with Elistra’s mane.</p><p></p><p>Semeion’s mind raced as he tried to come up with any kind of explanation. <span style="color: Plum">“Try it again, Ischarus.”</span> He was no longer speaking out of frustration, however. His curiosity was now tapped by the strange gusts of wind. No longer could he explain the happenings as chance. Now they were clearly the result of some outside force. Semeion mumbled to himself as his mind continued to think. <span style="color: Plum">“At least so far it’s been benign.”</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus turned Elistra back along the route that he wanted to go and as he encouraged her forward the strong gale picked up again. Once again the wind hardly affected anyone else in the party except Ischarus. Having enough of the wind, Ischarus pulled Elistra back and the gale wind ceased to blow.</p><p></p><p>Charis’ mind was also searching for an explanation. <span style="color: Orange">“Here, let me try.”</span> Charis lead Abijou in the direction that Ischarus had tried to move and she was likewise met with the same resistance of wind. After a few seconds in the wind she and Abijou had both had enough. It was clear that the horses were beginning to become spooked.</p><p></p><p>Rhema’s mind was trying to figure out what was going on. <span style="color: PaleGreen">“I hope that we have not willingly fallen into some kind of trap. The goblin prints we found here were kind of obvious. Maybe the design was to get us to stop so that the trap could be properly set up.”</span></p><p></p><p>Semeion shook his head from side to side. His mind was coming to a conclusion as he searched the magic around them. <span style="color: Plum">“Wait. The earlier gusts of wind only happened when we spoke of our mission. The first one came when we mentioned freeing Charis’ people. The second one happened when we mentioned avoiding the goblins. It was when we acted on trying to avoid the goblins when we met the greatest resistance. Ischarus, follow the path made by the tracks slowly. If you can make it, keep going. We’ll fall in line behind you.</span></p><p></p><p>Ischarus used the reigns to turn Elistra in the direction that the tracks had been heading. By this point, there had been enough horse traffic over the prints that they were difficult to see. However, Ischarus was pretty sure that he was headed in the right direction. As Elistra stepped forward, she was met with no resistance. The party stepped forward one by one in line with Ischarus and slowly followed the goblin tracks. The pleasurable moment of laughter that they had enjoyed only a few minutes ago was past. For some reason, the elements of Quehalost had seemingly decided to get revenge on their laughter by forcing them into conflict with the goblins.</p><p></p><p>[Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section]</p><p>Charis’ face nearly leapt with glee. It was an opposite reaction than Ischarus had expected. She kept her voice well under control in spite of her obvious excitement to the news. “Goblins? That’s great!”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus smiled, unsure of how to truly take Charis’ response. His eyes darted back and forth to Rhema and Semeion, but they were both on horseback and far enough away to not pay attention to the conversation. “Great? What exactly do you mean by that, Charis? I know that you know more about Quehalost than I do, but great?”</p><p></p><p>Charis laughed out loud. Perhaps she had laughed a bit louder than she should have. Semeion turned his head around to see what had caused the reaction. Somehow he hadn’t expected her to laugh given the seriousness that Ischarus had the last time he looked in their direction. Ischarus waved his look off and with a motion of his hands Ischarus instructed Semeion to continue to watch their path from behind.</p><p></p><p>Charis slipped the head of her pick into its leather covering and fastened the end of it back onto her belt. As she looked up, she brushed her long black hair out of her eyes. With the morning sun filtering through the trees, Ischarus noticed that her red highlights showed up strongly against the dark hair beneath it. Her hair solidly betrayed her heritage on this day. In truth, that was one reason he had decided to keep his hair short. </p><p></p><p>As Ischarus was noticing her hair she responded to his earlier question. “I say great because of two reasons. First, you could have found fresh dragon tracks, or demon tracks, or any other score of horrible tracks you could find. But instead you found goblin tracks. Goblins are far less scary than some of the other evils found in Quehalost!”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus couldn’t help break a smile at Charis’ logic. If nothing else her logic was sound. Goblins were a better choice than a huge wyrm of some kind or evil creature released from the hells of other worlds. Since her first reason inspired him so much, he couldn’t wait to hear about the second reason that goblins were a great find.</p><p></p><p>Charis continued, “Besides, I have a vague recollection of a goblin tribe that lived a fair bit east of my father dragon’s land. Sure, the goblin tribe wasn’t exactly right next door. But it does mean that we can’t be terribly far. A few days journey, perhaps.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus was pleased to hear that Charis was able to relate to her surroundings. Since none of them had ever approached Quehalost from the direction from which they had just traveled, it was good to hear that they were reasonably on the right path. At least they were headed in the right direction. His mind couldn’t help counter Charis’ excitement, however. “A few days walk through the territory of a great red wyrm and a smattering of goblins, however.”</p><p></p><p>Charis laughed again, and a huge smile crossed her face. This laugh was enough to signal to Rhema and Semeion that it was nearly time to go and they could come back from their posts as sentries. As they slowly walked their horses in towards Charis and Ischarus they could hear Charis’ reply to Ischarus. “That’s my great red wyrm, remember! It isn’t like we are sneaking up on some unknown dragon. I know that dragon intimately.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema couldn’t help but speak as she heard the talk about the red wyrm. “You’ve found Dragon tracks, Ischarus? Are we that close already?” Rhema’s voice embodied much of the excitement growing within her chest upon hearing the talk about dragons. </p><p></p><p>Ischarus couldn’t also help but laugh at Rhema’s conclusion. This conversation was not at all what he imagined it would be. It was supposed to be a serious warning to be cautious about goblins. From a perspective of seriousness it was headed downhill fast. Yet in the greater scheme of things the conversation didn’t seem to matter like it would have on earlier trips. It was good to laugh inside Quehalost. As Ischarus smiled, he replied to Rhema’s incorrect assertion. “No, Rhema. Not dragon tracks. Goblin tracks.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion raised a tone of alarm. “Goblin tracks! I thought that’s what I heard Charis speaking about earlier.”</p><p></p><p>Charis took the opportunity to calm down Semeion with the same observation that she had used on Ischarus. “Well, better to find fresh goblin tracks than fresh dragon tracks, right?”</p><p></p><p>Now Semeion knew why Ischarus had been laughing. Charis had struck again. The foursome broke into another round of laughter at Charis’ statement and enjoyed the laugh in the middle of Quehalost. The sun was warming the air and at this moment there was a peace about the land in a very small section of Quehalost. Even the trees seemed to enjoy the light-hearted moment as their branches swayed in the subtle wind.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly Ischarus raised his sword up from the ground where he had laid it when he checked the tracks. He slowly began turning around. Carefully he raised his sword to his chest level and extended it away from himself and the party. His eyes squinted through the neighboring foliage, but they could make nothing out.</p><p></p><p>Rhema questioned the action of Ischarus. “Another feeling, Ischarus?”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus nodded slowly, still examining the woods round them. “Yeah. Right then, when we all came together and laughed. I felt as though we were being watched once more. It was as if someone was participating in the laugh with us.”</p><p></p><p>The rest of the party turned their horses around and twisted in their saddles to peer through the leaves. Rhema confessed that she wasn’t in tune with Ischarus as she scanned the woods. “I’ve got to admit that I didn’t feel anything.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion concurred, but mitigated as well. “I didn’t feel anything, either. But we just found fresh goblin tracks. You never know what could be out there.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus let out a low growl as he kept his sword pointed towards the forest. “I know that something is out there, I just can’t see it. But I can feel it looking deep within us, almost as if …” His voice trailed off into silence. </p><p></p><p>He had left room for Charis to finish his sentence for him. “Almost as if it can search our souls, right? I feel it now, too. I can feel the presence as if it were able to look deep inside. I agree, Ischarus, something is out there.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion didn’t like where this was going at all. Only a moment ago the conversation had been light-hearted. Now it was deathly serious in nature. Of course it had started with Ischarus, but then Charis was affected. It was one thing to have knowledge of invisible assailants; but nothing that he was aware of could search one’s soul. Nothing that he was aware of could even try hard enough to give such a feeling to the one being observed. His logical training kicked himself into a defensive posture. “Come on, guys. The more we allow ourselves to succumb to the paranoia the more and more we’re going to feel it spread. It’s just a feeling, and we’re all probably still tired from our journey through the tunnels. We’re in Quehalost and we just found fresh goblin tracks. We’re bound to be a bit jumpy.”</p><p></p><p>Rhema found wisdom in Semeion’s caution since she was unable to feel anything remotely close to what Ischarus and Charis had described. “Yeah, I agree. Let’s forget chasing shadows and feelings. This is Quehalost. Things aren’t going to be right in this place anyway. We could chase feelings and shadows forever and never accomplish anything. We’ve got a significant task at hand. We’ve got to save Charis’ people from the dragon.”</p><p></p><p>A warm breeze of air blew through the party and rustled the leaves on the trees that surrounded them. Rhema stopped her speech short. Ischarus’ and Charis’ breathing grew shallow as they focused on listening and peering through the trees in the direction that the wind had come.</p><p></p><p>Semeion sighed at the unfortunate luck of the warm air blowing at precisely the wrong moment. Rhema and Semeion had almost convinced Ischarus and Charis to forget their paranoia. “Rhema is right, guys. Let’s plan to move forward. Charis’ people are at stake. But the first thing that we’ve got to figure out is what to do about these goblins. Surely we want to avoid them, right?”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus snapped back to reality. Semeion’s words convinced his mind to force the feelings of being watched to subside. “Right. The last thing that we need to add to our plate right now is taking on a goblin tribe.”</p><p></p><p>Another warm breeze of air rustled through the party as soon as Ischarus finished speaking. Semeion grew frustrated at their luck. “Of all the stupid times for the air to warm up in the sunlight!” He sighed in exasperation as he saw that the breeze of air drew Ischarus’ attention back into the woods. However, after a few seconds both Ischarus and Charis had turned around and focused on the task ahead. The party needed to get to Charis’ village and leave the goblins behind.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus began to talk strategy. “Now, if we can take the direction of the tracks to imply a general direction of their tribal village at one end or another, these tracks are going in the same general direction that we are headed. But if we bend our path a bit more towards the mountains we might be able to slip between their destination and the edge of the mountains.”</p><p></p><p>Charis replied quickly. She knew that goblins were not the most logical creatures in the world. “That is assuming that goblins walk in straight lines to where they want to go.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus smiled at Charis’ point. “Well, yes. But if we are going to get anywhere we do have to make some assumptions somewhere.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion piped in his opinion. He was pleased that they were now headed in the right direction with this conversation. “I agree. If we head more towards the mountains we’ll be less likely to run into trouble. Rhema, do you have any thoughts?”</p><p></p><p>Rhema nodded. “It sounds like as good of a plan as any. Ischarus, are you still leading the way?”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus nodded and lifted himself into Elistra’s saddle. Once he was settled and his gear was aligned for riding properly, he turned Elistra in the general direction that he wanted to head. He guided Elistra past Abijou and then between Thana and Shauvry. </p><p></p><p>Once he was clear and all alone, a strong head wind picked up out of nowhere. The wind was so strong that Elistra could make no headway and Ischarus had to tuck his head and close his eyes tightly to avoid the sting of the breeze. With his hands on the reigns he gently gave Elistra the command to retreat and step backwards. The wind ceased immediately. The rest of the party had only mildly felt the effects of the unusual current of air. Yet there was no denying what had just happened to Ischarus. They had seen the wind blast Ischarus and create mayhem with Elistra’s mane.</p><p></p><p>Semeion’s mind raced as he tried to come up with any kind of explanation. “Try it again, Ischarus.” He was no longer speaking out of frustration, however. His curiosity was now tapped by the strange gusts of wind. No longer could he explain the happenings as chance. Now they were clearly the result of some outside force. Semeion mumbled to himself as his mind continued to think. “At least so far it’s been benign.”</p><p></p><p>Ischarus turned Elistra back along the route that he wanted to go and as he encouraged her forward the strong gale picked up again. Once again the wind hardly affected anyone else in the party except Ischarus. Having enough of the wind, Ischarus pulled Elistra back and the gale wind ceased to blow.</p><p></p><p>Charis’ mind was also searching for an explanation. “Here, let me try.” Charis lead Abijou in the direction that Ischarus had tried to move and she was likewise met with the same resistance of wind. After a few seconds in the wind she and Abijou had both had enough. It was clear that the horses were beginning to become spooked.</p><p></p><p>Rhema’s mind was trying to figure out what was going on. “I hope that we have not willingly fallen into some kind of trap. The goblin prints we found here were kind of obvious. Maybe the design was to get us to stop so that the trap could be properly set up.”</p><p></p><p>Semeion shook his head from side to side. His mind was coming to a conclusion as he searched the magic around them. “Wait. The earlier gusts of wind only happened when we spoke of our mission. The first one came when we mentioned freeing Charis’ people. The second one happened when we mentioned avoiding the goblins. It was when we acted on trying to avoid the goblins when we met the greatest resistance. Ischarus, follow the path made by the tracks slowly. If you can make it, keep going. We’ll fall in line behind you.</p><p></p><p>Ischarus used the reigns to turn Elistra in the direction that the tracks had been heading. By this point, there had been enough horse traffic over the prints that they were difficult to see. However, Ischarus was pretty sure that he was headed in the right direction. As Elistra stepped forward, she was met with no resistance. The party stepped forward one by one in line with Ischarus and slowly followed the goblin tracks. The pleasurable moment of laughter that they had enjoyed only a few minutes ago was past. For some reason, the elements of Quehalost had seemingly decided to get revenge on their laughter by forcing them into conflict with the goblins.[/Sblock]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nonlethal Force, post: 3043285, member: 35788"] Charis’ face nearly leapt with glee. It was an opposite reaction than Ischarus had expected. She kept her voice well under control in spite of her obvious excitement to the news. [Color=Orange]“Goblins? That’s great!”[/Color] Ischarus smiled, unsure of how to truly take Charis’ response. His eyes darted back and forth to Rhema and Semeion, but they were both on horseback and far enough away to not pay attention to the conversation. [Color=LightBlue]“Great? What exactly do you mean by that, Charis? I know that you know more about Quehalost than I do, but great?”[/Color] Charis laughed out loud. Perhaps she had laughed a bit louder than she should have. Semeion turned his head around to see what had caused the reaction. Somehow he hadn’t expected her to laugh given the seriousness that Ischarus had the last time he looked in their direction. Ischarus waved his look off and with a motion of his hands Ischarus instructed Semeion to continue to watch their path from behind. Charis slipped the head of her pick into its leather covering and fastened the end of it back onto her belt. As she looked up, she brushed her long black hair out of her eyes. With the morning sun filtering through the trees, Ischarus noticed that her red highlights showed up strongly against the dark hair beneath it. Her hair solidly betrayed her heritage on this day. In truth, that was one reason he had decided to keep his hair short. As Ischarus was noticing her hair she responded to his earlier question. [Color=Orange]“I say great because of two reasons. First, you could have found fresh dragon tracks, or demon tracks, or any other score of horrible tracks you could find. But instead you found goblin tracks. Goblins are far less scary than some of the other evils found in Quehalost!”[/Color] Ischarus couldn’t help break a smile at Charis’ logic. If nothing else her logic was sound. Goblins were a better choice than a huge wyrm of some kind or evil creature released from the hells of other worlds. Since her first reason inspired him so much, he couldn’t wait to hear about the second reason that goblins were a great find. Charis continued, [Color=Orange]“Besides, I have a vague recollection of a goblin tribe that lived a fair bit east of my father dragon’s land. Sure, the goblin tribe wasn’t exactly right next door. But it does mean that we can’t be terribly far. A few days journey, perhaps.”[/Color] Ischarus was pleased to hear that Charis was able to relate to her surroundings. Since none of them had ever approached Quehalost from the direction from which they had just traveled, it was good to hear that they were reasonably on the right path. At least they were headed in the right direction. His mind couldn’t help counter Charis’ excitement, however. [Color=LightBlue]“A few days walk through the territory of a great red wyrm and a smattering of goblins, however.”[/Color] Charis laughed again, and a huge smile crossed her face. This laugh was enough to signal to Rhema and Semeion that it was nearly time to go and they could come back from their posts as sentries. As they slowly walked their horses in towards Charis and Ischarus they could hear Charis’ reply to Ischarus. [Color=Orange]“That’s my great red wyrm, remember! It isn’t like we are sneaking up on some unknown dragon. I know that dragon intimately.”[/Color] Rhema couldn’t help but speak as she heard the talk about the red wyrm. [Color=PaleGreen]“You’ve found Dragon tracks, Ischarus? Are we that close already?”[/Color] Rhema’s voice embodied much of the excitement growing within her chest upon hearing the talk about dragons. Ischarus couldn’t also help but laugh at Rhema’s conclusion. This conversation was not at all what he imagined it would be. It was supposed to be a serious warning to be cautious about goblins. From a perspective of seriousness it was headed downhill fast. Yet in the greater scheme of things the conversation didn’t seem to matter like it would have on earlier trips. It was good to laugh inside Quehalost. As Ischarus smiled, he replied to Rhema’s incorrect assertion. [Color=LightBlue]“No, Rhema. Not dragon tracks. Goblin tracks.”[/Color] Semeion raised a tone of alarm. [Color=Plum]“Goblin tracks! I thought that’s what I heard Charis speaking about earlier.”[/Color] Charis took the opportunity to calm down Semeion with the same observation that she had used on Ischarus. [Color=Orange]“Well, better to find fresh goblin tracks than fresh dragon tracks, right?”[/Color] Now Semeion knew why Ischarus had been laughing. Charis had struck again. The foursome broke into another round of laughter at Charis’ statement and enjoyed the laugh in the middle of Quehalost. The sun was warming the air and at this moment there was a peace about the land in a very small section of Quehalost. Even the trees seemed to enjoy the light-hearted moment as their branches swayed in the subtle wind. Suddenly Ischarus raised his sword up from the ground where he had laid it when he checked the tracks. He slowly began turning around. Carefully he raised his sword to his chest level and extended it away from himself and the party. His eyes squinted through the neighboring foliage, but they could make nothing out. Rhema questioned the action of Ischarus. [Color=PaleGreen]“Another feeling, Ischarus?”[/Color] Ischarus nodded slowly, still examining the woods round them. [Color=LightBlue]“Yeah. Right then, when we all came together and laughed. I felt as though we were being watched once more. It was as if someone was participating in the laugh with us.”[/Color] The rest of the party turned their horses around and twisted in their saddles to peer through the leaves. Rhema confessed that she wasn’t in tune with Ischarus as she scanned the woods. [Color=PaleGreen]“I’ve got to admit that I didn’t feel anything.”[/Color] Semeion concurred, but mitigated as well. [Color=Plum]“I didn’t feel anything, either. But we just found fresh goblin tracks. You never know what could be out there.”[/Color] Ischarus let out a low growl as he kept his sword pointed towards the forest. [Color=LightBlue]“I know that something is out there, I just can’t see it. But I can feel it looking deep within us, almost as if …”[/Color] His voice trailed off into silence. He had left room for Charis to finish his sentence for him. [Color=Orange]“Almost as if it can search our souls, right? I feel it now, too. I can feel the presence as if it were able to look deep inside. I agree, Ischarus, something is out there.”[/Color] Semeion didn’t like where this was going at all. Only a moment ago the conversation had been light-hearted. Now it was deathly serious in nature. Of course it had started with Ischarus, but then Charis was affected. It was one thing to have knowledge of invisible assailants; but nothing that he was aware of could search one’s soul. Nothing that he was aware of could even try hard enough to give such a feeling to the one being observed. His logical training kicked himself into a defensive posture. [Color=Plum]“Come on, guys. The more we allow ourselves to succumb to the paranoia the more and more we’re going to feel it spread. It’s just a feeling, and we’re all probably still tired from our journey through the tunnels. We’re in Quehalost and we just found fresh goblin tracks. We’re bound to be a bit jumpy.”[/Color] Rhema found wisdom in Semeion’s caution since she was unable to feel anything remotely close to what Ischarus and Charis had described. [Color=PaleGreen]“Yeah, I agree. Let’s forget chasing shadows and feelings. This is Quehalost. Things aren’t going to be right in this place anyway. We could chase feelings and shadows forever and never accomplish anything. We’ve got a significant task at hand. We’ve got to save Charis’ people from the dragon.”[/Color] A warm breeze of air blew through the party and rustled the leaves on the trees that surrounded them. Rhema stopped her speech short. Ischarus’ and Charis’ breathing grew shallow as they focused on listening and peering through the trees in the direction that the wind had come. Semeion sighed at the unfortunate luck of the warm air blowing at precisely the wrong moment. Rhema and Semeion had almost convinced Ischarus and Charis to forget their paranoia. [Color=Plum]“Rhema is right, guys. Let’s plan to move forward. Charis’ people are at stake. But the first thing that we’ve got to figure out is what to do about these goblins. Surely we want to avoid them, right?”[/Color] Ischarus snapped back to reality. Semeion’s words convinced his mind to force the feelings of being watched to subside. [Color=LightBlue]“Right. The last thing that we need to add to our plate right now is taking on a goblin tribe.”[/Color] Another warm breeze of air rustled through the party as soon as Ischarus finished speaking. Semeion grew frustrated at their luck. [Color=Plum]“Of all the stupid times for the air to warm up in the sunlight!”[/Color] He sighed in exasperation as he saw that the breeze of air drew Ischarus’ attention back into the woods. However, after a few seconds both Ischarus and Charis had turned around and focused on the task ahead. The party needed to get to Charis’ village and leave the goblins behind. Ischarus began to talk strategy. [Color=LightBlue]“Now, if we can take the direction of the tracks to imply a general direction of their tribal village at one end or another, these tracks are going in the same general direction that we are headed. But if we bend our path a bit more towards the mountains we might be able to slip between their destination and the edge of the mountains.”[/Color] Charis replied quickly. She knew that goblins were not the most logical creatures in the world. [Color=Orange]“That is assuming that goblins walk in straight lines to where they want to go.”[/Color] Ischarus smiled at Charis’ point. [Color=LightBlue]“Well, yes. But if we are going to get anywhere we do have to make some assumptions somewhere.”[/Color] Semeion piped in his opinion. He was pleased that they were now headed in the right direction with this conversation. [Color=Plum]“I agree. If we head more towards the mountains we’ll be less likely to run into trouble. Rhema, do you have any thoughts?”[/Color] Rhema nodded. [Color=PaleGreen]“It sounds like as good of a plan as any. Ischarus, are you still leading the way?”[/Color] Ischarus nodded and lifted himself into Elistra’s saddle. Once he was settled and his gear was aligned for riding properly, he turned Elistra in the general direction that he wanted to head. He guided Elistra past Abijou and then between Thana and Shauvry. Once he was clear and all alone, a strong head wind picked up out of nowhere. The wind was so strong that Elistra could make no headway and Ischarus had to tuck his head and close his eyes tightly to avoid the sting of the breeze. With his hands on the reigns he gently gave Elistra the command to retreat and step backwards. The wind ceased immediately. The rest of the party had only mildly felt the effects of the unusual current of air. Yet there was no denying what had just happened to Ischarus. They had seen the wind blast Ischarus and create mayhem with Elistra’s mane. Semeion’s mind raced as he tried to come up with any kind of explanation. [Color=Plum]“Try it again, Ischarus.”[/Color] He was no longer speaking out of frustration, however. His curiosity was now tapped by the strange gusts of wind. No longer could he explain the happenings as chance. Now they were clearly the result of some outside force. Semeion mumbled to himself as his mind continued to think. [Color=Plum]“At least so far it’s been benign.”[/Color] Ischarus turned Elistra back along the route that he wanted to go and as he encouraged her forward the strong gale picked up again. Once again the wind hardly affected anyone else in the party except Ischarus. Having enough of the wind, Ischarus pulled Elistra back and the gale wind ceased to blow. Charis’ mind was also searching for an explanation. [Color=Orange]“Here, let me try.”[/Color] Charis lead Abijou in the direction that Ischarus had tried to move and she was likewise met with the same resistance of wind. After a few seconds in the wind she and Abijou had both had enough. It was clear that the horses were beginning to become spooked. Rhema’s mind was trying to figure out what was going on. [Color=PaleGreen]“I hope that we have not willingly fallen into some kind of trap. The goblin prints we found here were kind of obvious. Maybe the design was to get us to stop so that the trap could be properly set up.”[/Color] Semeion shook his head from side to side. His mind was coming to a conclusion as he searched the magic around them. [Color=Plum]“Wait. The earlier gusts of wind only happened when we spoke of our mission. The first one came when we mentioned freeing Charis’ people. The second one happened when we mentioned avoiding the goblins. It was when we acted on trying to avoid the goblins when we met the greatest resistance. Ischarus, follow the path made by the tracks slowly. If you can make it, keep going. We’ll fall in line behind you.[/Color] Ischarus used the reigns to turn Elistra in the direction that the tracks had been heading. By this point, there had been enough horse traffic over the prints that they were difficult to see. However, Ischarus was pretty sure that he was headed in the right direction. As Elistra stepped forward, she was met with no resistance. The party stepped forward one by one in line with Ischarus and slowly followed the goblin tracks. The pleasurable moment of laughter that they had enjoyed only a few minutes ago was past. For some reason, the elements of Quehalost had seemingly decided to get revenge on their laughter by forcing them into conflict with the goblins. [Sblock=Color-Free Speech Section] Charis’ face nearly leapt with glee. It was an opposite reaction than Ischarus had expected. She kept her voice well under control in spite of her obvious excitement to the news. “Goblins? That’s great!” Ischarus smiled, unsure of how to truly take Charis’ response. His eyes darted back and forth to Rhema and Semeion, but they were both on horseback and far enough away to not pay attention to the conversation. “Great? What exactly do you mean by that, Charis? I know that you know more about Quehalost than I do, but great?” Charis laughed out loud. Perhaps she had laughed a bit louder than she should have. Semeion turned his head around to see what had caused the reaction. Somehow he hadn’t expected her to laugh given the seriousness that Ischarus had the last time he looked in their direction. Ischarus waved his look off and with a motion of his hands Ischarus instructed Semeion to continue to watch their path from behind. Charis slipped the head of her pick into its leather covering and fastened the end of it back onto her belt. As she looked up, she brushed her long black hair out of her eyes. With the morning sun filtering through the trees, Ischarus noticed that her red highlights showed up strongly against the dark hair beneath it. Her hair solidly betrayed her heritage on this day. In truth, that was one reason he had decided to keep his hair short. As Ischarus was noticing her hair she responded to his earlier question. “I say great because of two reasons. First, you could have found fresh dragon tracks, or demon tracks, or any other score of horrible tracks you could find. But instead you found goblin tracks. Goblins are far less scary than some of the other evils found in Quehalost!” Ischarus couldn’t help break a smile at Charis’ logic. If nothing else her logic was sound. Goblins were a better choice than a huge wyrm of some kind or evil creature released from the hells of other worlds. Since her first reason inspired him so much, he couldn’t wait to hear about the second reason that goblins were a great find. Charis continued, “Besides, I have a vague recollection of a goblin tribe that lived a fair bit east of my father dragon’s land. Sure, the goblin tribe wasn’t exactly right next door. But it does mean that we can’t be terribly far. A few days journey, perhaps.” Ischarus was pleased to hear that Charis was able to relate to her surroundings. Since none of them had ever approached Quehalost from the direction from which they had just traveled, it was good to hear that they were reasonably on the right path. At least they were headed in the right direction. His mind couldn’t help counter Charis’ excitement, however. “A few days walk through the territory of a great red wyrm and a smattering of goblins, however.” Charis laughed again, and a huge smile crossed her face. This laugh was enough to signal to Rhema and Semeion that it was nearly time to go and they could come back from their posts as sentries. As they slowly walked their horses in towards Charis and Ischarus they could hear Charis’ reply to Ischarus. “That’s my great red wyrm, remember! It isn’t like we are sneaking up on some unknown dragon. I know that dragon intimately.” Rhema couldn’t help but speak as she heard the talk about the red wyrm. “You’ve found Dragon tracks, Ischarus? Are we that close already?” Rhema’s voice embodied much of the excitement growing within her chest upon hearing the talk about dragons. Ischarus couldn’t also help but laugh at Rhema’s conclusion. This conversation was not at all what he imagined it would be. It was supposed to be a serious warning to be cautious about goblins. From a perspective of seriousness it was headed downhill fast. Yet in the greater scheme of things the conversation didn’t seem to matter like it would have on earlier trips. It was good to laugh inside Quehalost. As Ischarus smiled, he replied to Rhema’s incorrect assertion. “No, Rhema. Not dragon tracks. Goblin tracks.” Semeion raised a tone of alarm. “Goblin tracks! I thought that’s what I heard Charis speaking about earlier.” Charis took the opportunity to calm down Semeion with the same observation that she had used on Ischarus. “Well, better to find fresh goblin tracks than fresh dragon tracks, right?” Now Semeion knew why Ischarus had been laughing. Charis had struck again. The foursome broke into another round of laughter at Charis’ statement and enjoyed the laugh in the middle of Quehalost. The sun was warming the air and at this moment there was a peace about the land in a very small section of Quehalost. Even the trees seemed to enjoy the light-hearted moment as their branches swayed in the subtle wind. Suddenly Ischarus raised his sword up from the ground where he had laid it when he checked the tracks. He slowly began turning around. Carefully he raised his sword to his chest level and extended it away from himself and the party. His eyes squinted through the neighboring foliage, but they could make nothing out. Rhema questioned the action of Ischarus. “Another feeling, Ischarus?” Ischarus nodded slowly, still examining the woods round them. “Yeah. Right then, when we all came together and laughed. I felt as though we were being watched once more. It was as if someone was participating in the laugh with us.” The rest of the party turned their horses around and twisted in their saddles to peer through the leaves. Rhema confessed that she wasn’t in tune with Ischarus as she scanned the woods. “I’ve got to admit that I didn’t feel anything.” Semeion concurred, but mitigated as well. “I didn’t feel anything, either. But we just found fresh goblin tracks. You never know what could be out there.” Ischarus let out a low growl as he kept his sword pointed towards the forest. “I know that something is out there, I just can’t see it. But I can feel it looking deep within us, almost as if …” His voice trailed off into silence. He had left room for Charis to finish his sentence for him. “Almost as if it can search our souls, right? I feel it now, too. I can feel the presence as if it were able to look deep inside. I agree, Ischarus, something is out there.” Semeion didn’t like where this was going at all. Only a moment ago the conversation had been light-hearted. Now it was deathly serious in nature. Of course it had started with Ischarus, but then Charis was affected. It was one thing to have knowledge of invisible assailants; but nothing that he was aware of could search one’s soul. Nothing that he was aware of could even try hard enough to give such a feeling to the one being observed. His logical training kicked himself into a defensive posture. “Come on, guys. The more we allow ourselves to succumb to the paranoia the more and more we’re going to feel it spread. It’s just a feeling, and we’re all probably still tired from our journey through the tunnels. We’re in Quehalost and we just found fresh goblin tracks. We’re bound to be a bit jumpy.” Rhema found wisdom in Semeion’s caution since she was unable to feel anything remotely close to what Ischarus and Charis had described. “Yeah, I agree. Let’s forget chasing shadows and feelings. This is Quehalost. Things aren’t going to be right in this place anyway. We could chase feelings and shadows forever and never accomplish anything. We’ve got a significant task at hand. We’ve got to save Charis’ people from the dragon.” A warm breeze of air blew through the party and rustled the leaves on the trees that surrounded them. Rhema stopped her speech short. Ischarus’ and Charis’ breathing grew shallow as they focused on listening and peering through the trees in the direction that the wind had come. Semeion sighed at the unfortunate luck of the warm air blowing at precisely the wrong moment. Rhema and Semeion had almost convinced Ischarus and Charis to forget their paranoia. “Rhema is right, guys. Let’s plan to move forward. Charis’ people are at stake. But the first thing that we’ve got to figure out is what to do about these goblins. Surely we want to avoid them, right?” Ischarus snapped back to reality. Semeion’s words convinced his mind to force the feelings of being watched to subside. “Right. The last thing that we need to add to our plate right now is taking on a goblin tribe.” Another warm breeze of air rustled through the party as soon as Ischarus finished speaking. Semeion grew frustrated at their luck. “Of all the stupid times for the air to warm up in the sunlight!” He sighed in exasperation as he saw that the breeze of air drew Ischarus’ attention back into the woods. However, after a few seconds both Ischarus and Charis had turned around and focused on the task ahead. The party needed to get to Charis’ village and leave the goblins behind. Ischarus began to talk strategy. “Now, if we can take the direction of the tracks to imply a general direction of their tribal village at one end or another, these tracks are going in the same general direction that we are headed. But if we bend our path a bit more towards the mountains we might be able to slip between their destination and the edge of the mountains.” Charis replied quickly. She knew that goblins were not the most logical creatures in the world. “That is assuming that goblins walk in straight lines to where they want to go.” Ischarus smiled at Charis’ point. “Well, yes. But if we are going to get anywhere we do have to make some assumptions somewhere.” Semeion piped in his opinion. He was pleased that they were now headed in the right direction with this conversation. “I agree. If we head more towards the mountains we’ll be less likely to run into trouble. Rhema, do you have any thoughts?” Rhema nodded. “It sounds like as good of a plan as any. Ischarus, are you still leading the way?” Ischarus nodded and lifted himself into Elistra’s saddle. Once he was settled and his gear was aligned for riding properly, he turned Elistra in the general direction that he wanted to head. He guided Elistra past Abijou and then between Thana and Shauvry. Once he was clear and all alone, a strong head wind picked up out of nowhere. The wind was so strong that Elistra could make no headway and Ischarus had to tuck his head and close his eyes tightly to avoid the sting of the breeze. With his hands on the reigns he gently gave Elistra the command to retreat and step backwards. The wind ceased immediately. The rest of the party had only mildly felt the effects of the unusual current of air. Yet there was no denying what had just happened to Ischarus. They had seen the wind blast Ischarus and create mayhem with Elistra’s mane. Semeion’s mind raced as he tried to come up with any kind of explanation. “Try it again, Ischarus.” He was no longer speaking out of frustration, however. His curiosity was now tapped by the strange gusts of wind. No longer could he explain the happenings as chance. Now they were clearly the result of some outside force. Semeion mumbled to himself as his mind continued to think. “At least so far it’s been benign.” Ischarus turned Elistra back along the route that he wanted to go and as he encouraged her forward the strong gale picked up again. Once again the wind hardly affected anyone else in the party except Ischarus. Having enough of the wind, Ischarus pulled Elistra back and the gale wind ceased to blow. Charis’ mind was also searching for an explanation. “Here, let me try.” Charis lead Abijou in the direction that Ischarus had tried to move and she was likewise met with the same resistance of wind. After a few seconds in the wind she and Abijou had both had enough. It was clear that the horses were beginning to become spooked. Rhema’s mind was trying to figure out what was going on. “I hope that we have not willingly fallen into some kind of trap. The goblin prints we found here were kind of obvious. Maybe the design was to get us to stop so that the trap could be properly set up.” Semeion shook his head from side to side. His mind was coming to a conclusion as he searched the magic around them. “Wait. The earlier gusts of wind only happened when we spoke of our mission. The first one came when we mentioned freeing Charis’ people. The second one happened when we mentioned avoiding the goblins. It was when we acted on trying to avoid the goblins when we met the greatest resistance. Ischarus, follow the path made by the tracks slowly. If you can make it, keep going. We’ll fall in line behind you. Ischarus used the reigns to turn Elistra in the direction that the tracks had been heading. By this point, there had been enough horse traffic over the prints that they were difficult to see. However, Ischarus was pretty sure that he was headed in the right direction. As Elistra stepped forward, she was met with no resistance. The party stepped forward one by one in line with Ischarus and slowly followed the goblin tracks. The pleasurable moment of laughter that they had enjoyed only a few minutes ago was past. For some reason, the elements of Quehalost had seemingly decided to get revenge on their laughter by forcing them into conflict with the goblins.[/Sblock] [/QUOTE]
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