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Small Beginnings - Final Update 6/18/04, ITEOTWAWKI, AIFF!
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<blockquote data-quote="Enkhidu" data-source="post: 300857" data-attributes="member: 351"><p>Hi all!</p><p></p><p>We've got a fairly long update today, from a slightly different point of view than our friendly neighborhood halfling. I hope that it's a pleasant change of pace!</p><p></p><p>By the way, this may be the only update over the next week: I'll be writing and posting my portion of the ENWWC Story Hour. Our writing circle test run is going strong over there, and you should head over to take a look at it if you haven't - lot's of creamy story time goodness with a number of authors - some of which you might recognize as authors of other story hours! So hop on over to that thread (and shame on you if you haven't already!) - the link is in my sig...</p><p></p><p>As always, the Small Beginnings Story hour has SPOILERS from the Sunless Citadel, so be warned.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Well, without further ado...</p><p></p><p>*****</p><p>The feloine tested the knot in the rope secured tightly around his weight, and then looked back at his traveling companions. Wordlessly, he walked over to the edge of the cliff. He looked back at his friend Ander and the aging priest Theo; they had taken up the loose end of the rope and stood braced to take his weight. Then Ashrem slowly walked backward over the side, the rope tight against his body. As he did, he caught sight of Pack’s nervous face. In an effort to put the halfling in a better mood, he smiled, licked his lips, and winked: then he dipped below the rocky edge and was gently lowered to the grass below.</p><p></p><p>Ashrem sniffed the air as he untied the rope and walked around the landing. The feloine saw no tracks but he could smell the fresh scent that the halfling had left, and there was something else in the air that gave the panther pause. It was musky and foul, like the smell of a mammal that had died in the hot sun after being trampled by a horse. The smell was like acid on his sensitive nose, and the feloine’s eyes had started to tear up. He quickly moved to edge of the landing near the stairs, where the breeze lessened the smell. Once he cleared his senses, he tugged twice on the rope and began tying the end off to the iron staircase. </p><p></p><p>Ashrem watched until he saw Ander’s lean frame sliding down the rope, and then he turned his eyes back to searching for Pack’s little rat friends. Crossing over the grassy plateau, Ashrem gracefully slid the silver short sword Ander had just given him out of its scabbard and once again delighted in its masterful balance and feather-light weight. The feloine knew that his debt, as well as his respect, to the woodsman was deeper now due to this amazing blade. With the weapon, Razor, poised ahead of him, the feloine crept forward to glance over the edge of the landing. </p><p></p><p>The acid stench assaulted his senses once again, but this time Ashrem was prepared and pulled his beggar wrap back over his mouth and nose. It didn’t eliminate the smell but it did make it bearable. Once at the edge, Ashrem noticed a thick tangle of brown vines that were clinging to the cliff face like scaling ropes from an invading army. The vines covered the entire side of the plateau and disappeared down into the heavy fog where the feloine could faintly make the outline of what appeared like a castle wall. </p><p></p><p>Behind him, the feloine heard Aurora and Pack slide down the ropes and touch ground. Ashrem started to turn and greet his companions, when he heard a slight rustling coming from the vines. Putting his weapon point first into the vines, he gentle brushed aside the top layer of thick growth. When the vines were pulled back far enough for the feloine to see, a huge shape of fur and teeth erupted towards him clawing and gnashing at his face. </p><p></p><p>A surprised growl erupted from Ashrem’s throat as he tucked his sword and tumbled backwards to avoid anything more than a surface scratch along his forearm. When he stood once again, Ander was beside him with his walking staff in a defensive position protecting both the woodsman and the feloine. </p><p></p><p>“See I told you, See I told you! Oh No, Now there are four of them!” Ashrem heard Pack screaming, and the feloine could imagine a pale faced Aurora beside the halfling, both of them backing toward the stairs. </p><p></p><p>It was Ashrem who was surprised though, as twin energy dragons flew over his shoulder and exploded into the lead creature leaving scorch marks on its furry hide. The feloine was equally surprised that the creature was still moving toward the companions after being struck by the energy missiles that had killed kobold raiders with just one, not two. Ander struck next: leaping forward toward the lead rat, the woodsman did an overhand smack that dropped the rat to its belly, but once again Ashrem was amazed that the creature merely growled and got back up. He stepped forward to strike at the beast’s head, but the creature was just as agile as the feloine and managed to avoid the quick thrust. </p><p></p><p></p><p>The large rodents once again surprised the agile scout by breaking their charge and rushing back into the sanctuary of the vines. Ashrem held out his arm to stop Ander from rushing headlong after them. A purring laugh softly buzzed from his mouth, and the feloine winked at the woodsman as an idea sprang into his head. Taking a few steps backwards the feline scout yanked a torch from Pack’s overflowing backpack. While he tried to light the wooden shaft with flint pulled from his belt, Ashrem peered over and nodded at Ander. The feloine smiled when the woodsman nodded back and began unstringing his bow. </p><p></p><p>“Pack, Aurora,” Ander called “get ready with slings and spells. This should all happen pretty quickly.” </p><p></p><p>Ashrem felt the fire’s breath against his face as it sprang onto the alcohol dipped torch. As he lifted the torch, the feloine could hear the whistling of a small sling as it whirled round and round behind his back and the even whispers of Aurora’s voice as she calmed her nerves and prepared her spells for the attack. A purple haze interrupted Ashrem’s concentration and the cat turned, along with everyone else, to see the source of the mysterious aura. To the feloine it seemed as if Aurora’s body was encased in a glowing suit of armor, complete with helmet. The image outlined the young sorceress’ body for just a few heartbeats and then faded away, leaving a determined Aurora staring at everyone. </p><p></p><p>“Just getting ready.” She squeaked somewhat embarrassed as a red tinge flushed onto her cheeks. Ashrem’s only reply was a short snort and then he turned and launched the torch high over his head and into the awaiting vines. The torch bounced once and went over the cliff’s edge into the thick of the tangled growth. Smoke poured up as the dried foliage quickly caught the flame and fed it, creating a spreading wall of death. </p><p></p><p>“What’s all this?” Theo’s voice crashed down from above as the aging cleric clambered down the rope to join them. The saddlebags of supplies that Theo had strung over his back impeded his armored form as the priest attempted to hurry his descent. </p><p></p><p>A shrill squeaking followed by the soft twang of a bow snapped Ash’s head back toward the blazing vines. A flaming rat had rushed from the inferno, only to have an arrow from the woodsman’s bow lodge in its head. As the feloine watched, more of the bulbous rodents charged from the smoke towards the awaiting companions. With the swish of a sling a silver bullet was propelled over Ashrem’s left shoulder, while dragon headed energy bolts winged over his right shoulder. Missile after missile flew forward from bow, sling and wand at the grotesque rats, but the furry beasts took the hits and kept surging forward, pushing the companions back toward the stairs. </p><p></p><p>Ash’s foot stepped back and the cold clank of boots on iron metal stairs greeted his ears: the feloine knew that they had to make a stand. Launching himself forward into the midst of his foes, the nimble cat warrior roared and slashed out with Razor’s keen edge. The sword sliced home at one of the rats that was swarming toward Ander as the woodsman tried to switch from bow to quarterstaff. The blade slid through the scabrous hide of the creature as if it were a ghost; the spraying blood was the only indication that the blade had found its mark. The lifeless rodent hit the ground, its body nearly cut in half, but Ashrem saw that his friend was covered with the creatures each biting and clawing at the woodsman as he attempted to bring his staff around to protect his body. Thin streams of blood covered the human’s body as bite after bite found his soft flesh. The feloine began to circle the woodsman looking for a way to aid his companion, but the booming voice of Brother Theo brought new events to his attention. </p><p></p><p>“Ashrem!” The priest bellowed as he finally planted his feet on the plateau, “Look to Pack and Aurora, I will help Ander!” With that the priest dropped the saddlebags to the ground and yanked his flail from his belt, charging into the mass of fur and flesh and bowling the rats away from the distressed woodsman. </p><p></p><p>Knowing that Ander had received aid, Ashrem turned to help the small halfling and fragile young sorceress. Three of the rats had the two companions cornered on the opposite edge of the battlefield. Pack was crowded behind Aurora madly searching through his immense pack. The sorceress was swinging at the three rodents with her wand as they bit and snapped at her frail form. Ash was amazed that each time the beasts raked teeth or claws at the female human, a shimmering field shaped like armor hardened around the sorceress’ frame. </p><p></p><p>As Ash moved in behind the sorceress and her foes, the feloine visibly saw a look of relief on the young maiden’s face: he could tell that she had been biting her lip, agonizing over her predicament. The panther feloine angled his blade at the rat’s backside and made a silent promise that he would protect his innocent companions as best he could until they were all once again safe. As Razor once again found its target, the feloine swore that he would do for these companions what he was unable to do for his squad during his military service in the Demon Wars. Anger seized the feloine as he buried Razor up to the hilt in another of the pock-ridden rats. He would protect them and rid himself of the nightmares and demons that haunted his dreams and plagued his memories. </p><p></p><p>The rage fed Ashrem and the battlefield became a blur of color, sound and smells, none of which registered to the feline warrior as he focused on his last target. The creature was running and the fleet footed feloine was hard pressed to keep up. The stench of smoke and disease faded and the sounds of battle were replaced by the scraping of boots and claws on the metal landings of the stairwell. Ashrem quickly snapped from his fury as the stairs shifted under his momentum and weight, nearly pitching the feloine and his prey off into a dizzying fall. The nimble scout glanced around analyzing the situation and collecting his thoughts. He was nearly halfway down the stairs and his companions were shouting at him to wait. His rat prey had slowed in front of him, as if waiting for him to give chase again: almost like it was leading him to an ambush…</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Enkhidu, post: 300857, member: 351"] Hi all! We've got a fairly long update today, from a slightly different point of view than our friendly neighborhood halfling. I hope that it's a pleasant change of pace! By the way, this may be the only update over the next week: I'll be writing and posting my portion of the ENWWC Story Hour. Our writing circle test run is going strong over there, and you should head over to take a look at it if you haven't - lot's of creamy story time goodness with a number of authors - some of which you might recognize as authors of other story hours! So hop on over to that thread (and shame on you if you haven't already!) - the link is in my sig... As always, the Small Beginnings Story hour has SPOILERS from the Sunless Citadel, so be warned. Well, without further ado... ***** The feloine tested the knot in the rope secured tightly around his weight, and then looked back at his traveling companions. Wordlessly, he walked over to the edge of the cliff. He looked back at his friend Ander and the aging priest Theo; they had taken up the loose end of the rope and stood braced to take his weight. Then Ashrem slowly walked backward over the side, the rope tight against his body. As he did, he caught sight of Pack’s nervous face. In an effort to put the halfling in a better mood, he smiled, licked his lips, and winked: then he dipped below the rocky edge and was gently lowered to the grass below. Ashrem sniffed the air as he untied the rope and walked around the landing. The feloine saw no tracks but he could smell the fresh scent that the halfling had left, and there was something else in the air that gave the panther pause. It was musky and foul, like the smell of a mammal that had died in the hot sun after being trampled by a horse. The smell was like acid on his sensitive nose, and the feloine’s eyes had started to tear up. He quickly moved to edge of the landing near the stairs, where the breeze lessened the smell. Once he cleared his senses, he tugged twice on the rope and began tying the end off to the iron staircase. Ashrem watched until he saw Ander’s lean frame sliding down the rope, and then he turned his eyes back to searching for Pack’s little rat friends. Crossing over the grassy plateau, Ashrem gracefully slid the silver short sword Ander had just given him out of its scabbard and once again delighted in its masterful balance and feather-light weight. The feloine knew that his debt, as well as his respect, to the woodsman was deeper now due to this amazing blade. With the weapon, Razor, poised ahead of him, the feloine crept forward to glance over the edge of the landing. The acid stench assaulted his senses once again, but this time Ashrem was prepared and pulled his beggar wrap back over his mouth and nose. It didn’t eliminate the smell but it did make it bearable. Once at the edge, Ashrem noticed a thick tangle of brown vines that were clinging to the cliff face like scaling ropes from an invading army. The vines covered the entire side of the plateau and disappeared down into the heavy fog where the feloine could faintly make the outline of what appeared like a castle wall. Behind him, the feloine heard Aurora and Pack slide down the ropes and touch ground. Ashrem started to turn and greet his companions, when he heard a slight rustling coming from the vines. Putting his weapon point first into the vines, he gentle brushed aside the top layer of thick growth. When the vines were pulled back far enough for the feloine to see, a huge shape of fur and teeth erupted towards him clawing and gnashing at his face. A surprised growl erupted from Ashrem’s throat as he tucked his sword and tumbled backwards to avoid anything more than a surface scratch along his forearm. When he stood once again, Ander was beside him with his walking staff in a defensive position protecting both the woodsman and the feloine. “See I told you, See I told you! Oh No, Now there are four of them!” Ashrem heard Pack screaming, and the feloine could imagine a pale faced Aurora beside the halfling, both of them backing toward the stairs. It was Ashrem who was surprised though, as twin energy dragons flew over his shoulder and exploded into the lead creature leaving scorch marks on its furry hide. The feloine was equally surprised that the creature was still moving toward the companions after being struck by the energy missiles that had killed kobold raiders with just one, not two. Ander struck next: leaping forward toward the lead rat, the woodsman did an overhand smack that dropped the rat to its belly, but once again Ashrem was amazed that the creature merely growled and got back up. He stepped forward to strike at the beast’s head, but the creature was just as agile as the feloine and managed to avoid the quick thrust. The large rodents once again surprised the agile scout by breaking their charge and rushing back into the sanctuary of the vines. Ashrem held out his arm to stop Ander from rushing headlong after them. A purring laugh softly buzzed from his mouth, and the feloine winked at the woodsman as an idea sprang into his head. Taking a few steps backwards the feline scout yanked a torch from Pack’s overflowing backpack. While he tried to light the wooden shaft with flint pulled from his belt, Ashrem peered over and nodded at Ander. The feloine smiled when the woodsman nodded back and began unstringing his bow. “Pack, Aurora,” Ander called “get ready with slings and spells. This should all happen pretty quickly.” Ashrem felt the fire’s breath against his face as it sprang onto the alcohol dipped torch. As he lifted the torch, the feloine could hear the whistling of a small sling as it whirled round and round behind his back and the even whispers of Aurora’s voice as she calmed her nerves and prepared her spells for the attack. A purple haze interrupted Ashrem’s concentration and the cat turned, along with everyone else, to see the source of the mysterious aura. To the feloine it seemed as if Aurora’s body was encased in a glowing suit of armor, complete with helmet. The image outlined the young sorceress’ body for just a few heartbeats and then faded away, leaving a determined Aurora staring at everyone. “Just getting ready.” She squeaked somewhat embarrassed as a red tinge flushed onto her cheeks. Ashrem’s only reply was a short snort and then he turned and launched the torch high over his head and into the awaiting vines. The torch bounced once and went over the cliff’s edge into the thick of the tangled growth. Smoke poured up as the dried foliage quickly caught the flame and fed it, creating a spreading wall of death. “What’s all this?” Theo’s voice crashed down from above as the aging cleric clambered down the rope to join them. The saddlebags of supplies that Theo had strung over his back impeded his armored form as the priest attempted to hurry his descent. A shrill squeaking followed by the soft twang of a bow snapped Ash’s head back toward the blazing vines. A flaming rat had rushed from the inferno, only to have an arrow from the woodsman’s bow lodge in its head. As the feloine watched, more of the bulbous rodents charged from the smoke towards the awaiting companions. With the swish of a sling a silver bullet was propelled over Ashrem’s left shoulder, while dragon headed energy bolts winged over his right shoulder. Missile after missile flew forward from bow, sling and wand at the grotesque rats, but the furry beasts took the hits and kept surging forward, pushing the companions back toward the stairs. Ash’s foot stepped back and the cold clank of boots on iron metal stairs greeted his ears: the feloine knew that they had to make a stand. Launching himself forward into the midst of his foes, the nimble cat warrior roared and slashed out with Razor’s keen edge. The sword sliced home at one of the rats that was swarming toward Ander as the woodsman tried to switch from bow to quarterstaff. The blade slid through the scabrous hide of the creature as if it were a ghost; the spraying blood was the only indication that the blade had found its mark. The lifeless rodent hit the ground, its body nearly cut in half, but Ashrem saw that his friend was covered with the creatures each biting and clawing at the woodsman as he attempted to bring his staff around to protect his body. Thin streams of blood covered the human’s body as bite after bite found his soft flesh. The feloine began to circle the woodsman looking for a way to aid his companion, but the booming voice of Brother Theo brought new events to his attention. “Ashrem!” The priest bellowed as he finally planted his feet on the plateau, “Look to Pack and Aurora, I will help Ander!” With that the priest dropped the saddlebags to the ground and yanked his flail from his belt, charging into the mass of fur and flesh and bowling the rats away from the distressed woodsman. Knowing that Ander had received aid, Ashrem turned to help the small halfling and fragile young sorceress. Three of the rats had the two companions cornered on the opposite edge of the battlefield. Pack was crowded behind Aurora madly searching through his immense pack. The sorceress was swinging at the three rodents with her wand as they bit and snapped at her frail form. Ash was amazed that each time the beasts raked teeth or claws at the female human, a shimmering field shaped like armor hardened around the sorceress’ frame. As Ash moved in behind the sorceress and her foes, the feloine visibly saw a look of relief on the young maiden’s face: he could tell that she had been biting her lip, agonizing over her predicament. The panther feloine angled his blade at the rat’s backside and made a silent promise that he would protect his innocent companions as best he could until they were all once again safe. As Razor once again found its target, the feloine swore that he would do for these companions what he was unable to do for his squad during his military service in the Demon Wars. Anger seized the feloine as he buried Razor up to the hilt in another of the pock-ridden rats. He would protect them and rid himself of the nightmares and demons that haunted his dreams and plagued his memories. The rage fed Ashrem and the battlefield became a blur of color, sound and smells, none of which registered to the feline warrior as he focused on his last target. The creature was running and the fleet footed feloine was hard pressed to keep up. The stench of smoke and disease faded and the sounds of battle were replaced by the scraping of boots and claws on the metal landings of the stairwell. Ashrem quickly snapped from his fury as the stairs shifted under his momentum and weight, nearly pitching the feloine and his prey off into a dizzying fall. The nimble scout glanced around analyzing the situation and collecting his thoughts. He was nearly halfway down the stairs and his companions were shouting at him to wait. His rat prey had slowed in front of him, as if waiting for him to give chase again: almost like it was leading him to an ambush… [/QUOTE]
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