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Dear Mom - Mishap Adventures of a Mommy's Elf
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<blockquote data-quote="Lwaxy" data-source="post: 6028001" data-attributes="member: 53286"><p>New PCs - Elga, halfling hunter of evil things. Or so she claims. </p><p>Thalla the orc is likely going to be a permanent PC, too, after the gal playing her seems to have enough time to stick around and show up more or less regularly. </p><p></p><p>----------------------------------------------------------</p><p></p><p>The ritual room of the now dead wizard looked about as confusing as any others Flip had seen so far. Arcane symbols on the walls, floor and ceiling, strange items in holders or on tables and the scent of smoke and incense making him retch. It was not lit very well, just two dark blue everburning torches to the left and right of the entrance – presumably to be able to find it in all the smoke and dark – and a few candles around a pentagram in a standard magic circle. The circle was empty, and the halfling was definitely thankful for that. Getting dizzy from the incense, he was starting to look to light something with one of the candles and a way to get rid of the smoke. He knew that some of the materials used as incense could produce effects he didn't want to deal with, so he pressed a rag from his pocket to his face and hurried about it. </p><p></p><p>He found the switch to open a latch in the ceiling quickly, and slowly the smoke began to drift out. Grabbing one of the candles, Flip ignited one of his own, smaller torches, as he would not need the light that long. Just to see if there was anything of use he could grab – besides the everburing torches, dim as their light was – to make a little profit out of this crazy adventure. Or maybe there was something in here to stir his mind to remember who he was. By now, he remembered his name and a few unpleasant events seemingly coming from his early childhood, but anything else was behind a mental brick wall. From the way he could not even make himself to concentrate on his past he began to suspect someone had done something to him, like a spell maybe, to prevent him from remembering. Then again, maybe it was better if he would not remember. </p><p></p><p>Anything that looked like a potion and all the incense and scrolls he could find he bagged without hesitation. He could have them checked out later, in this big city Gurt had told him was nearby. Freeport he didn't remember at all, not even by name, so maybe he had not been there before, but he did have a feeling that he would do better in a city than in the wilderness or even the small settlements around here. </p><p></p><p>When he was done scavenging, he heard a polite cough behind him. Quickly turning around, all his senses alert as much as the still present smoke allowed, he stared into the eyes of a halfling woman not much older than himself. She had red, bushy hair and hazel brown eyes, and a slightly olive skin tone, as if her ancestors had been a mix of several halfling populations. Dressed in a green shirt and matching green pants with heavy traveling boots, she carried a backpack, a utility belt, a sling, a hunting knife and a short sword, and as he took another look he saw a crossbow sticking out of the backpack. </p><p></p><p>"Well, hello there," she smiled at him. "You look like you could tell me where I am, who has summoned the demon I just killed and why I was dragged along."</p><p></p><p>"Err... and who are you?" Flip asked, trying to get his senses together. </p><p></p><p>"Oh, pardon my rudeness, but the situation is a strange one, you have to admit. I'm Elga, hunter of demons and devils and other things that make the world unsafe. I was in the process of killing a wish demon when the thing was summoned, and as my knife was sticking out of him with me holding it, I was dragged along with the dying monster. I was in Derin, land of beauty, but this sure isn't Derin anymore."</p><p></p><p>"How can you tell?" Flip burst out, then he remembered his manners and blushed, holding out his hand. "I'm Flip. Sorry that I can't tell you anything about me, really, I recently lost my memory in some sort of accident or attack. My friend and me, with a little help of some locals, got rid of the dark wizard who did this. I'm afraid he's dead and couldn't send you back, but I don't think he would have anyway, you killing his demon and all. Oh, and you are on an island with a city named Freeport. I do not remember it either but I was told it is pretty well famous, so you have probably heard of it."</p><p></p><p>Slapping his offered hand in the standard halfling salute, the woman's smile turned into a surprised frown. "Freeport? Harbor of pirates and meeting point of lawless and righteous alike? For all that's holy, that's carried me way north and east. I've never been that far from home, ever." A bit of worry was in her voice, which was not a surprise considering the circumstances. "At least I do have most of my gear. I'm sorry about my tent and cooking utensils, though, and I fear my rations are gone, too."</p><p></p><p>"Nothing irreplacable, then," Flip grinned. The smoke was almost gone now, and he noticed that the draft must have blown out the candles. Moving to the everburning torches to take them, he asked if Elga had money to replenish her supplies. He himself had, as he had found out soon after he was woken up by Gurt, only a bit of silver and a few coppers and had thus hoped the wizard would have some coin he could claim, but at least he should be able to sell what he had found here.</p><p></p><p>"I got money, alright," Elga nodded. "Getting rid of dangerous things is a well paying business. You probably remember that much at least, as you look like the adventurer type to me, too. I don't usually go treasure hunting, I free the world from evil which is, in my opinion, less risky than delving into ruins and dungeons no one knows much of."</p><p></p><p>"Haha, could be, but don't you have to go there every now and then, too?"</p><p></p><p>"Yeah but only after someone else has already found something they couldn't deal with. Means traps and such have usually been dealt with and all that remains is to kill or send back what they called me in for."</p><p></p><p>"You make that sound easy." Flip motioned for her to leave the room first and bowed a little. </p><p></p><p>She threw him a smile again and left the ritual room. "It gets easier with time," she explained. "With experience."</p><p></p><p>Flip realized he was staring after her and hurried to follow. His thoughts went in circles and there were bees in his stomach. He might not remember much but his name about his former life, but he remembered the feeling. He was in love. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Krock the goblin was still waiting an the campsite when Lhess returned. Having seen the weird storm going over the building, he had already broken camp and packed everything, in case they would have to flee. Goblins, he explained, couldn't afford to leave resources behind. When he heard that the others were gone to whenever, his face fell. "Goblins sometimes goes in," he said. "To collect mushrooms and sharpherbs. One group not came back. Needs to tell them not longer to do that."</p><p></p><p>Lhess nodded. "I think the danger is all past now, but I don't know enough about the arcane to be sure. Let's find a way to get all the stuff back to the village, then you can warn your people while I warn the villagers."</p><p></p><p>As Lhess reentered the village, she could see cleanup was complete. Her orcish friend was waiting at their inn and jumped her with the news that at least 2 more merchants had been waylaid and kidnapped, and none of the survivors of the attacks had been able to identify the men except that they thought they were all orcish. Then she noticed Lhess was alone and inquired about the others, mostly, so Lhess noticed, about Uthas. </p><p></p><p>Quickly gathering to listen to the story, the locals were all in awe about a time rift, as Lhess called it – never mentioning the library the other elves had with them – and asked a lot of questions the paladin couldn't answer. </p><p></p><p>Thalla frowned when the paladin was done telling the story, staring into her tankard. "So, I take it you will go back to Freeport now, to find someone who can help you find your relatives?"</p><p></p><p>Lhess blinked quickly, a sign of her being nervous. "Not yet. I'm Lhess of the Moonwind, and I made you a promise. We will find your missing employer first and end the attacks on the road." And she would also have to find Flip. </p><p></p><p>The orc visibly relaxed. "Thank you. In return, I'll help you find someone to bring them back – unless maybe they need no help and can do it alone?"</p><p></p><p>"That's vaguely possible," Lhess agreed. "But we are talking about time here. If they would be able to somehow make their way back, doesn't this mean they would already be here, returning to where they came from?"</p><p></p><p>"Ah..." Thalla scratched her brows. "Maybe not. Maybe they had to go to Freeport, too, to get help, and are now waiting for you."</p><p></p><p>"Oh, right." Lhess knew that if that was the case, she would get a missive from their mom very quickly. As it was, she had no idea how to explain this to their mother. The moment she met them, they had gotten lost. While it wasn't her fault, it left a bad impression. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>"I have no idea how to explain this to mom." The prince ran a hand through his hair, trying not to panic. "She might even think we just went to run away from Lhess. The moment she arrives, we get into real trouble." </p><p></p><p>"We've been in real trouble before, but, yeah. This is really a mess." Nev's hand went to the sword on his side as he took in the surroundings. They were, no doubt, still in the same spot, but it must be a time long before the islands were settles. It was hot and humid, and the vegetation was so dense, they had had trouble to get out of the jungle just to get to the nearby shore. Which was not, as before – or later – over a broken off dune, but on a soft down slope. Animal sounds were coming from everywhere, including some that definitely belonged to predators. It was early afternoon, from what it looked like, and they both worried the real dangerous predators might come out after dark. </p><p></p><p>"So," Nev said as they went through the few things they had brought. Only he had bothered to grab his backpack at the camp, and some of it, mostly the rations, had been emptied out to make space for the library. "Looks like we are in the far future or in the far past."</p><p></p><p>"I wonder if the others still are where they should be, or at least close to our time," Orlath said. "If we are all scattered through the ages, it might be even more of a problem."</p><p></p><p>"More than being stranded in a time where there is no civilization, with little equipment and predators around? You don't say!" He sighed and put the backpack down. "Rope, canvas and some fishing equipment I forgot to empty out is the best stuff there. Not much to go by."</p><p></p><p>"If we find a quiet pool somewhere, fishing should be sufficient for a while." He paused and stared off into the distance, with his serious thinking face on. "Come to think of it, I doubt any of our group is in a time where they are alive."</p><p></p><p>"Why do you say that?" Nev pointed to a group of boulders a bit above the waterline and started walking. "This looks like a good place for shelter."</p><p></p><p>Following him, Orlath began a lecture on time theory. "You know how it seems easy to go back and forth in time just a few seconds or minutes with the right spell, but the further you want to go, the harder it gets, as if trying to connect the same pole of two magnets? It's because the universe resists your essence, being at two places at the same time. If it is just minutes, whatever law governs this will not notice there is two of you as your body hasn't changed much in that time. The more age difference, the harder it is to enter a time in which you are also alive on the natural time line."</p><p></p><p>"Oh yeah, I remember that somewhat from university," Nev nodded, checking out the view from their new campsite. "But the maths involved scared me off the topic."</p><p></p><p>"It's as easy as traveling a few minutes to go to times where you were not yet, or aren't anymore, alive," the prince continued, waving his arms around as if that would help explain the lecture. "It just needs more advanced and difficult spells to determine when and where to go, but that's not related to the mechanics. Anyhow, with this wild time magic we saw, I don't think any of us caught in it could have been brought to a time where we existed normally. And for the two of us to travel together, it probably propelled us twice as long as it would have otherwise."</p><p></p><p>His cousin thought about this while fixing the canvas between the boulders, using the hooks he had also found. "So we are, when? Stone age? Close to the end of the world?"</p><p></p><p>Orlath shrugged. "How the 9 hells would I know? Too bad we can't just take out the library and try to research it."</p><p></p><p>"So, you think this is a permanent effect, then, not something that eventually dispels and drags us back to our own time?"</p><p></p><p>"Ah, could be both. See, even if it dispels in our own time after only a minute or 5, here it might mean centuries. It is very very difficult to time such things right, and even the time mages of the Realm could not make it more precise than a few days at best, usually weeks." </p><p></p><p>"Yeah, well, isn't that just great." Kicking the backpack, just a little so the library would not be harmed, Nev folded his arms and looked out at the sea. "Weeks? I don't want to be stuck here in the middle of nowhere for more than a few days. Maybe we are lucky and there are settlements here we just have not found yet."</p><p></p><p>"Maybe," his cousin said, but it didn't sound convincing. "But in any case, we need to build a real shelter out of this, find enough food sources,maybe even make some bows, and look for fresh water."</p><p></p><p>"Making bows with what? We didn't bring any arrowheads. And don't get me started on trying to make stone ones, none of us is good at that."</p><p></p><p>"I was more thinking along the lines of wooden ones. Magically improved, maybe." Orlath checked his spell components and sighed. "And we'll have to do a lot of rituals if we're here for longer, get alternate components or learn to do more spells without components at all."</p><p></p><p>"We'll see." Nev put his hands on his hips and looked at his work. "This will hold, now we should find some rocks to fortify the shelter, maybe some wood, too, and get wood for a fire. Then it's looking for water, as you said, and a place to fish at." As long as they kept busy, they would not think about their problem too much. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>The only one not stressed out too much by the situation was Uthas. For him, 4 weeks and 2 days had passed, and he had settled in well after getting better equipment and working on a farm for payment. He had worked on farms before, and he liked the easy enough work well enough. And it gave him time to find out more about the world he was in now. </p><p></p><p>Most of the recruits, who were kept here for a few month to prepare them, were barbarians of different origin. This was due to an upcoming battle between this country, called Principality of Grenkh, and a dwarf army trying to prevent anyone from coming close to some ancient city. For this battle, it was essential to find uneducated people. No one had been able yet to tell him why this was so, but the half-orc had decided that it was probably not a good idea to let them know he could read and write more than his name and count to more than 10. </p><p></p><p>He had been told that it would probably take half a year this time for the next batch of recruits to be picked up. This was partly because the battle commanders testing the recruits on a field outside the settlement had dwindled in number after an attack of some sorts, but the main problem was that the elven fleet had been waylaid by dwarven destroyers and now needed their remaining ships for other things than picking up new soldiers. Thus, everyone would go out the way they came in – by teleport and one unstable gateway only working for a few hours a day. Lack of energy, he had been told, although no one could explain what that meant exactly, either. As it was, there were not too many wizards able to teleport long distances with several people and arrive exactly as planned. </p><p></p><p>That was all well and good for Uthas, because he was doing what he had been told a million times by Nev and Orlath in case they got separated and he had to consider himself lost. Wait close to where he found himself. Good advice, too, because it had saved his neck a few times in the past. </p><p></p><p>Getting more and more recruits meant tents were springing up, cold weather or not. Uthas, who had still managed to secure a room in one of the few lodging places, knew this influx of people also meant that, after he was done with the farm work, which would be soon, he might have trouble finding other work if he was to stay close. Some mercenaries had temporarily left the town, escorting merchants or organizing hunting parties, but if the elves showed up, he needed to be here. If he wouldn't work, people would wonder where he had the money from. There was some tension in town already about supposed thievery and the lack of privacy the locals now faced. </p><p></p><p>Something he found a little troubling was that the tall hobgoblin he had noticed when he had first arrived was still interested in him. Uthas saw him around the farm, in town when shopping, around the hut he was sharing with a bunch of other recruits. He knew his name – Ratakar – but nothing else. He hadn't seen the woman again, the one the hobgoblin had been with when he saw him first. Not wanting to cause trouble, Uthas had left his stalker alone, usually pretending not to notice the guy. With some luck, he would be out of here soon. Time travel, he knew – and that was about all he knew – was a tricky business, and his elvish friends didn't have the experience with it. It would be somewhat funny if they would be old when they found him while for him not even a year had passed. Or maybe not, as it might mean he'd not return to from when he had left. </p><p></p><p>The morning of the second day of his 5th week in town, he went ice fishing with the younger son of the farmer, a young hobbit – that's what the halflings were called in this time, as supposedly 'halfling' was an insult now – by the name of Alviel. An elven name, he had been told, because an elf rescued his mother when she was pregnant with him. They went to a forest pond they had been to before to catch a sort of winter carp which was, strangely enough, sleeping during the hot season. They were priced not only as food source, but the scales and the fish bones were sought out by mages and priests alike. Some also made magic gloves out of the skin, and the town witches paid good coin for the innards and eyes. </p><p></p><p>As usual, Alviel asked questions about barbarian tribes and clans, the philosophy of concentrating on what you really are instead of filling your head with a lot of non-essential information – a world view Uthas had long since ditched – and about the world, especially the plants and animals, of other places. Uthas wasn't sure if all of the things he told the boy about were still existing, but the kid enjoyed the stories and shared some of his own. Alviel wanted to be a druid, a path his parents supported as the older son wanted the farm anyway. </p><p></p><p>"Say, so you have hobbit blood in you?" Alviel suddenly asked. "I noticed your ears."</p><p></p><p>Looking into the mirror clean ice at his reflection, Uthas grinned. He had asked the same question before. Unlike humans, who seemed to be able to breed with about anything that could talk, orcs were more restricted. Asides of humans, halflings and dwarves were known to produce offspring with orcs relatively regularly. Offspring with other races were exceedingly rare. Something to do with inheritance Orlath had tried to explain to him once. </p><p></p><p>"I have no idea," he admitted. "My mother was a full orc, and she never said who my dad was. She was working in a whore house, you see, a job that paid well enough to get me and my siblings through life. My dad could have been anyone. But I'm rather tall."</p><p></p><p>"Maybe your father was a half-hobbit," the boy grinned. "That would make you a half-orc-quarter-hobbit-quarter-something else." </p><p></p><p>"Hey, don't you quarter me," Uthas stiffled a laugh not to alert the fish despite them sitting on a rock well above the water line. "I was once told that offspring between mixed breeds is rare."</p><p></p><p>"Yeah but not that rare if one is a full blood. We learned that at school."</p><p></p><p>"Interesting, but do me a favor and don't try to make me understand it." Uthas grinned back at him. "All I know is that I don't know, and my mom probably didn't know either and just doesn't want to admit it." He shrugged. "It makes no difference, as my orcish side is strong enough to keep up with my clan, and I can fight as well as any fighter trained my people who knew what they were doing."</p><p></p><p>"Have you been in battle before?" The boy looked at him sideways, not wanting to touch a bad subject. </p><p></p><p>"Not in a full out war, but battles, sure. Skirmishes, ambushes, sieges... lots of fighting. Don't always win, of course. But it feels good to smash in the skulls of evil people. Which, in my eyes, includes anything attacking me and my family."</p><p></p><p>"Yeah... if I get strong as a druid, I will protect my family, too, if needed, but most of all, the land around me."</p><p></p><p>"Druids," Uthas admitted, "confuse me. I get what they are doing, protecting the land and the plants and the animals, but sometimes they don't, really. I have seen some evil deeds gone unchecked by druids."</p><p></p><p>"Evil is in the eye of the beholder, as everything else, my mentor says," the boy explained. "And druids are supposed to be neutral. Nature knows no evil. And without the dark, there would be no light."</p><p></p><p>While it sounded like something Alviel had learned by heart and not thought about it much yet, Uthas nodded. He knew the basics, but he couldn't quite agree with them. No need to argue about it, though. "Hey, I think I saw the fish coming," he changed the subject, staring at the hole in the ice.</p><p></p><p>The clicking sounds the fish made when their hard fins touched the ice was faint, and Uthas realized it was not the sound he had heard first. He lifted his head and concentrated. There it was again, the faint sound of several feet on ice and snow, still a distance away. His experience told him that it was probably a group of 4 or 5 people in heavy boots. </p><p></p><p>Alviel heard it now, too, and he shook his head as the half-orc whispered the question if there were usually groups training out here. For some reason they both could not explain, they had a bad feeling about this and climbed off the rock with their fishing rods, pressing themselves close to the rock sides under a ledge just over the pond. With a weary look, Uthas eyed the ice, knowing that the hole might give them away if the strangers decided to have a look. </p><p></p><p>The steps grew louder, and they heard what was definitely a curse in a language Uthas recognized as dwarf. He understood only fragments of it – they were looking to capture an elf. By the voices, Uthas counted 4 people. After a while searching, luckily ignoring the ice of the pond, the footsteps vanished into the other direction. The two of them waited a few more minutes before emerging from their hiding place. </p><p></p><p>"That felt... evil," the boy said. </p><p></p><p>Uthas nodded. "They were looking for a young male elf, from the bit dwarf I understand. And for some reason, they had been certain they'd find him here."</p><p></p><p>Frowning, the boy waved for Uthas to leave, as he didn't feel sure about them not coming back. "That is strange. Very few elves in town, seeing as most followed the call to war. And even fewer of them male. Or young." Then he froze for a moment. "Or they were looking for me!"</p><p></p><p>"Why do you say that?" Uthas wondered. "You have little in common with the elves, save the ears."</p><p></p><p>"No but I have an elven name," the kid explained. "If they had been told to look for a boy called Alviel, they would assume it was an elf, if they had not been told I was a hobbit."</p><p></p><p>Uthas growled. A bunch of grown men after a young man almost still a child? Just the bunch he'd like to beat up. "If you are right, what do you think they could possibly want with you?"</p><p></p><p>"I have no idea, but if I am right then my family might be in problem. But my dad will know what to do!" He started walking faster, and Uthas followed him. He had a feeling where this would be going, and he didn't like it.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lwaxy, post: 6028001, member: 53286"] New PCs - Elga, halfling hunter of evil things. Or so she claims. Thalla the orc is likely going to be a permanent PC, too, after the gal playing her seems to have enough time to stick around and show up more or less regularly. ---------------------------------------------------------- The ritual room of the now dead wizard looked about as confusing as any others Flip had seen so far. Arcane symbols on the walls, floor and ceiling, strange items in holders or on tables and the scent of smoke and incense making him retch. It was not lit very well, just two dark blue everburning torches to the left and right of the entrance – presumably to be able to find it in all the smoke and dark – and a few candles around a pentagram in a standard magic circle. The circle was empty, and the halfling was definitely thankful for that. Getting dizzy from the incense, he was starting to look to light something with one of the candles and a way to get rid of the smoke. He knew that some of the materials used as incense could produce effects he didn't want to deal with, so he pressed a rag from his pocket to his face and hurried about it. He found the switch to open a latch in the ceiling quickly, and slowly the smoke began to drift out. Grabbing one of the candles, Flip ignited one of his own, smaller torches, as he would not need the light that long. Just to see if there was anything of use he could grab – besides the everburing torches, dim as their light was – to make a little profit out of this crazy adventure. Or maybe there was something in here to stir his mind to remember who he was. By now, he remembered his name and a few unpleasant events seemingly coming from his early childhood, but anything else was behind a mental brick wall. From the way he could not even make himself to concentrate on his past he began to suspect someone had done something to him, like a spell maybe, to prevent him from remembering. Then again, maybe it was better if he would not remember. Anything that looked like a potion and all the incense and scrolls he could find he bagged without hesitation. He could have them checked out later, in this big city Gurt had told him was nearby. Freeport he didn't remember at all, not even by name, so maybe he had not been there before, but he did have a feeling that he would do better in a city than in the wilderness or even the small settlements around here. When he was done scavenging, he heard a polite cough behind him. Quickly turning around, all his senses alert as much as the still present smoke allowed, he stared into the eyes of a halfling woman not much older than himself. She had red, bushy hair and hazel brown eyes, and a slightly olive skin tone, as if her ancestors had been a mix of several halfling populations. Dressed in a green shirt and matching green pants with heavy traveling boots, she carried a backpack, a utility belt, a sling, a hunting knife and a short sword, and as he took another look he saw a crossbow sticking out of the backpack. "Well, hello there," she smiled at him. "You look like you could tell me where I am, who has summoned the demon I just killed and why I was dragged along." "Err... and who are you?" Flip asked, trying to get his senses together. "Oh, pardon my rudeness, but the situation is a strange one, you have to admit. I'm Elga, hunter of demons and devils and other things that make the world unsafe. I was in the process of killing a wish demon when the thing was summoned, and as my knife was sticking out of him with me holding it, I was dragged along with the dying monster. I was in Derin, land of beauty, but this sure isn't Derin anymore." "How can you tell?" Flip burst out, then he remembered his manners and blushed, holding out his hand. "I'm Flip. Sorry that I can't tell you anything about me, really, I recently lost my memory in some sort of accident or attack. My friend and me, with a little help of some locals, got rid of the dark wizard who did this. I'm afraid he's dead and couldn't send you back, but I don't think he would have anyway, you killing his demon and all. Oh, and you are on an island with a city named Freeport. I do not remember it either but I was told it is pretty well famous, so you have probably heard of it." Slapping his offered hand in the standard halfling salute, the woman's smile turned into a surprised frown. "Freeport? Harbor of pirates and meeting point of lawless and righteous alike? For all that's holy, that's carried me way north and east. I've never been that far from home, ever." A bit of worry was in her voice, which was not a surprise considering the circumstances. "At least I do have most of my gear. I'm sorry about my tent and cooking utensils, though, and I fear my rations are gone, too." "Nothing irreplacable, then," Flip grinned. The smoke was almost gone now, and he noticed that the draft must have blown out the candles. Moving to the everburning torches to take them, he asked if Elga had money to replenish her supplies. He himself had, as he had found out soon after he was woken up by Gurt, only a bit of silver and a few coppers and had thus hoped the wizard would have some coin he could claim, but at least he should be able to sell what he had found here. "I got money, alright," Elga nodded. "Getting rid of dangerous things is a well paying business. You probably remember that much at least, as you look like the adventurer type to me, too. I don't usually go treasure hunting, I free the world from evil which is, in my opinion, less risky than delving into ruins and dungeons no one knows much of." "Haha, could be, but don't you have to go there every now and then, too?" "Yeah but only after someone else has already found something they couldn't deal with. Means traps and such have usually been dealt with and all that remains is to kill or send back what they called me in for." "You make that sound easy." Flip motioned for her to leave the room first and bowed a little. She threw him a smile again and left the ritual room. "It gets easier with time," she explained. "With experience." Flip realized he was staring after her and hurried to follow. His thoughts went in circles and there were bees in his stomach. He might not remember much but his name about his former life, but he remembered the feeling. He was in love. Krock the goblin was still waiting an the campsite when Lhess returned. Having seen the weird storm going over the building, he had already broken camp and packed everything, in case they would have to flee. Goblins, he explained, couldn't afford to leave resources behind. When he heard that the others were gone to whenever, his face fell. "Goblins sometimes goes in," he said. "To collect mushrooms and sharpherbs. One group not came back. Needs to tell them not longer to do that." Lhess nodded. "I think the danger is all past now, but I don't know enough about the arcane to be sure. Let's find a way to get all the stuff back to the village, then you can warn your people while I warn the villagers." As Lhess reentered the village, she could see cleanup was complete. Her orcish friend was waiting at their inn and jumped her with the news that at least 2 more merchants had been waylaid and kidnapped, and none of the survivors of the attacks had been able to identify the men except that they thought they were all orcish. Then she noticed Lhess was alone and inquired about the others, mostly, so Lhess noticed, about Uthas. Quickly gathering to listen to the story, the locals were all in awe about a time rift, as Lhess called it – never mentioning the library the other elves had with them – and asked a lot of questions the paladin couldn't answer. Thalla frowned when the paladin was done telling the story, staring into her tankard. "So, I take it you will go back to Freeport now, to find someone who can help you find your relatives?" Lhess blinked quickly, a sign of her being nervous. "Not yet. I'm Lhess of the Moonwind, and I made you a promise. We will find your missing employer first and end the attacks on the road." And she would also have to find Flip. The orc visibly relaxed. "Thank you. In return, I'll help you find someone to bring them back – unless maybe they need no help and can do it alone?" "That's vaguely possible," Lhess agreed. "But we are talking about time here. If they would be able to somehow make their way back, doesn't this mean they would already be here, returning to where they came from?" "Ah..." Thalla scratched her brows. "Maybe not. Maybe they had to go to Freeport, too, to get help, and are now waiting for you." "Oh, right." Lhess knew that if that was the case, she would get a missive from their mom very quickly. As it was, she had no idea how to explain this to their mother. The moment she met them, they had gotten lost. While it wasn't her fault, it left a bad impression. "I have no idea how to explain this to mom." The prince ran a hand through his hair, trying not to panic. "She might even think we just went to run away from Lhess. The moment she arrives, we get into real trouble." "We've been in real trouble before, but, yeah. This is really a mess." Nev's hand went to the sword on his side as he took in the surroundings. They were, no doubt, still in the same spot, but it must be a time long before the islands were settles. It was hot and humid, and the vegetation was so dense, they had had trouble to get out of the jungle just to get to the nearby shore. Which was not, as before – or later – over a broken off dune, but on a soft down slope. Animal sounds were coming from everywhere, including some that definitely belonged to predators. It was early afternoon, from what it looked like, and they both worried the real dangerous predators might come out after dark. "So," Nev said as they went through the few things they had brought. Only he had bothered to grab his backpack at the camp, and some of it, mostly the rations, had been emptied out to make space for the library. "Looks like we are in the far future or in the far past." "I wonder if the others still are where they should be, or at least close to our time," Orlath said. "If we are all scattered through the ages, it might be even more of a problem." "More than being stranded in a time where there is no civilization, with little equipment and predators around? You don't say!" He sighed and put the backpack down. "Rope, canvas and some fishing equipment I forgot to empty out is the best stuff there. Not much to go by." "If we find a quiet pool somewhere, fishing should be sufficient for a while." He paused and stared off into the distance, with his serious thinking face on. "Come to think of it, I doubt any of our group is in a time where they are alive." "Why do you say that?" Nev pointed to a group of boulders a bit above the waterline and started walking. "This looks like a good place for shelter." Following him, Orlath began a lecture on time theory. "You know how it seems easy to go back and forth in time just a few seconds or minutes with the right spell, but the further you want to go, the harder it gets, as if trying to connect the same pole of two magnets? It's because the universe resists your essence, being at two places at the same time. If it is just minutes, whatever law governs this will not notice there is two of you as your body hasn't changed much in that time. The more age difference, the harder it is to enter a time in which you are also alive on the natural time line." "Oh yeah, I remember that somewhat from university," Nev nodded, checking out the view from their new campsite. "But the maths involved scared me off the topic." "It's as easy as traveling a few minutes to go to times where you were not yet, or aren't anymore, alive," the prince continued, waving his arms around as if that would help explain the lecture. "It just needs more advanced and difficult spells to determine when and where to go, but that's not related to the mechanics. Anyhow, with this wild time magic we saw, I don't think any of us caught in it could have been brought to a time where we existed normally. And for the two of us to travel together, it probably propelled us twice as long as it would have otherwise." His cousin thought about this while fixing the canvas between the boulders, using the hooks he had also found. "So we are, when? Stone age? Close to the end of the world?" Orlath shrugged. "How the 9 hells would I know? Too bad we can't just take out the library and try to research it." "So, you think this is a permanent effect, then, not something that eventually dispels and drags us back to our own time?" "Ah, could be both. See, even if it dispels in our own time after only a minute or 5, here it might mean centuries. It is very very difficult to time such things right, and even the time mages of the Realm could not make it more precise than a few days at best, usually weeks." "Yeah, well, isn't that just great." Kicking the backpack, just a little so the library would not be harmed, Nev folded his arms and looked out at the sea. "Weeks? I don't want to be stuck here in the middle of nowhere for more than a few days. Maybe we are lucky and there are settlements here we just have not found yet." "Maybe," his cousin said, but it didn't sound convincing. "But in any case, we need to build a real shelter out of this, find enough food sources,maybe even make some bows, and look for fresh water." "Making bows with what? We didn't bring any arrowheads. And don't get me started on trying to make stone ones, none of us is good at that." "I was more thinking along the lines of wooden ones. Magically improved, maybe." Orlath checked his spell components and sighed. "And we'll have to do a lot of rituals if we're here for longer, get alternate components or learn to do more spells without components at all." "We'll see." Nev put his hands on his hips and looked at his work. "This will hold, now we should find some rocks to fortify the shelter, maybe some wood, too, and get wood for a fire. Then it's looking for water, as you said, and a place to fish at." As long as they kept busy, they would not think about their problem too much. The only one not stressed out too much by the situation was Uthas. For him, 4 weeks and 2 days had passed, and he had settled in well after getting better equipment and working on a farm for payment. He had worked on farms before, and he liked the easy enough work well enough. And it gave him time to find out more about the world he was in now. Most of the recruits, who were kept here for a few month to prepare them, were barbarians of different origin. This was due to an upcoming battle between this country, called Principality of Grenkh, and a dwarf army trying to prevent anyone from coming close to some ancient city. For this battle, it was essential to find uneducated people. No one had been able yet to tell him why this was so, but the half-orc had decided that it was probably not a good idea to let them know he could read and write more than his name and count to more than 10. He had been told that it would probably take half a year this time for the next batch of recruits to be picked up. This was partly because the battle commanders testing the recruits on a field outside the settlement had dwindled in number after an attack of some sorts, but the main problem was that the elven fleet had been waylaid by dwarven destroyers and now needed their remaining ships for other things than picking up new soldiers. Thus, everyone would go out the way they came in – by teleport and one unstable gateway only working for a few hours a day. Lack of energy, he had been told, although no one could explain what that meant exactly, either. As it was, there were not too many wizards able to teleport long distances with several people and arrive exactly as planned. That was all well and good for Uthas, because he was doing what he had been told a million times by Nev and Orlath in case they got separated and he had to consider himself lost. Wait close to where he found himself. Good advice, too, because it had saved his neck a few times in the past. Getting more and more recruits meant tents were springing up, cold weather or not. Uthas, who had still managed to secure a room in one of the few lodging places, knew this influx of people also meant that, after he was done with the farm work, which would be soon, he might have trouble finding other work if he was to stay close. Some mercenaries had temporarily left the town, escorting merchants or organizing hunting parties, but if the elves showed up, he needed to be here. If he wouldn't work, people would wonder where he had the money from. There was some tension in town already about supposed thievery and the lack of privacy the locals now faced. Something he found a little troubling was that the tall hobgoblin he had noticed when he had first arrived was still interested in him. Uthas saw him around the farm, in town when shopping, around the hut he was sharing with a bunch of other recruits. He knew his name – Ratakar – but nothing else. He hadn't seen the woman again, the one the hobgoblin had been with when he saw him first. Not wanting to cause trouble, Uthas had left his stalker alone, usually pretending not to notice the guy. With some luck, he would be out of here soon. Time travel, he knew – and that was about all he knew – was a tricky business, and his elvish friends didn't have the experience with it. It would be somewhat funny if they would be old when they found him while for him not even a year had passed. Or maybe not, as it might mean he'd not return to from when he had left. The morning of the second day of his 5th week in town, he went ice fishing with the younger son of the farmer, a young hobbit – that's what the halflings were called in this time, as supposedly 'halfling' was an insult now – by the name of Alviel. An elven name, he had been told, because an elf rescued his mother when she was pregnant with him. They went to a forest pond they had been to before to catch a sort of winter carp which was, strangely enough, sleeping during the hot season. They were priced not only as food source, but the scales and the fish bones were sought out by mages and priests alike. Some also made magic gloves out of the skin, and the town witches paid good coin for the innards and eyes. As usual, Alviel asked questions about barbarian tribes and clans, the philosophy of concentrating on what you really are instead of filling your head with a lot of non-essential information – a world view Uthas had long since ditched – and about the world, especially the plants and animals, of other places. Uthas wasn't sure if all of the things he told the boy about were still existing, but the kid enjoyed the stories and shared some of his own. Alviel wanted to be a druid, a path his parents supported as the older son wanted the farm anyway. "Say, so you have hobbit blood in you?" Alviel suddenly asked. "I noticed your ears." Looking into the mirror clean ice at his reflection, Uthas grinned. He had asked the same question before. Unlike humans, who seemed to be able to breed with about anything that could talk, orcs were more restricted. Asides of humans, halflings and dwarves were known to produce offspring with orcs relatively regularly. Offspring with other races were exceedingly rare. Something to do with inheritance Orlath had tried to explain to him once. "I have no idea," he admitted. "My mother was a full orc, and she never said who my dad was. She was working in a whore house, you see, a job that paid well enough to get me and my siblings through life. My dad could have been anyone. But I'm rather tall." "Maybe your father was a half-hobbit," the boy grinned. "That would make you a half-orc-quarter-hobbit-quarter-something else." "Hey, don't you quarter me," Uthas stiffled a laugh not to alert the fish despite them sitting on a rock well above the water line. "I was once told that offspring between mixed breeds is rare." "Yeah but not that rare if one is a full blood. We learned that at school." "Interesting, but do me a favor and don't try to make me understand it." Uthas grinned back at him. "All I know is that I don't know, and my mom probably didn't know either and just doesn't want to admit it." He shrugged. "It makes no difference, as my orcish side is strong enough to keep up with my clan, and I can fight as well as any fighter trained my people who knew what they were doing." "Have you been in battle before?" The boy looked at him sideways, not wanting to touch a bad subject. "Not in a full out war, but battles, sure. Skirmishes, ambushes, sieges... lots of fighting. Don't always win, of course. But it feels good to smash in the skulls of evil people. Which, in my eyes, includes anything attacking me and my family." "Yeah... if I get strong as a druid, I will protect my family, too, if needed, but most of all, the land around me." "Druids," Uthas admitted, "confuse me. I get what they are doing, protecting the land and the plants and the animals, but sometimes they don't, really. I have seen some evil deeds gone unchecked by druids." "Evil is in the eye of the beholder, as everything else, my mentor says," the boy explained. "And druids are supposed to be neutral. Nature knows no evil. And without the dark, there would be no light." While it sounded like something Alviel had learned by heart and not thought about it much yet, Uthas nodded. He knew the basics, but he couldn't quite agree with them. No need to argue about it, though. "Hey, I think I saw the fish coming," he changed the subject, staring at the hole in the ice. The clicking sounds the fish made when their hard fins touched the ice was faint, and Uthas realized it was not the sound he had heard first. He lifted his head and concentrated. There it was again, the faint sound of several feet on ice and snow, still a distance away. His experience told him that it was probably a group of 4 or 5 people in heavy boots. Alviel heard it now, too, and he shook his head as the half-orc whispered the question if there were usually groups training out here. For some reason they both could not explain, they had a bad feeling about this and climbed off the rock with their fishing rods, pressing themselves close to the rock sides under a ledge just over the pond. With a weary look, Uthas eyed the ice, knowing that the hole might give them away if the strangers decided to have a look. The steps grew louder, and they heard what was definitely a curse in a language Uthas recognized as dwarf. He understood only fragments of it – they were looking to capture an elf. By the voices, Uthas counted 4 people. After a while searching, luckily ignoring the ice of the pond, the footsteps vanished into the other direction. The two of them waited a few more minutes before emerging from their hiding place. "That felt... evil," the boy said. Uthas nodded. "They were looking for a young male elf, from the bit dwarf I understand. And for some reason, they had been certain they'd find him here." Frowning, the boy waved for Uthas to leave, as he didn't feel sure about them not coming back. "That is strange. Very few elves in town, seeing as most followed the call to war. And even fewer of them male. Or young." Then he froze for a moment. "Or they were looking for me!" "Why do you say that?" Uthas wondered. "You have little in common with the elves, save the ears." "No but I have an elven name," the kid explained. "If they had been told to look for a boy called Alviel, they would assume it was an elf, if they had not been told I was a hobbit." Uthas growled. A bunch of grown men after a young man almost still a child? Just the bunch he'd like to beat up. "If you are right, what do you think they could possibly want with you?" "I have no idea, but if I am right then my family might be in problem. But my dad will know what to do!" He started walking faster, and Uthas followed him. He had a feeling where this would be going, and he didn't like it. [/QUOTE]
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