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The Rise of Felskein [Completed]
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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 4237452" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p>Session 4, Part 4</p><p></p><p>-Note: I wrote up most of the last part of the session almost a week ago, then accidentally closed the browser window. Few things more frustrating than working on something for an hour-and-a-half and then having to sit down and redo it. Hence the no write-up for the week.-</p><p></p><p>The five elves were subdued as they ate, their exhaustion obvious. That didn't stop Harold from boldly walking up and taking a seat at their table in the deserted mid-morning tavern.</p><p></p><p>"Greetings, from where do you hail from?" Harold said in elven.</p><p></p><p>There was a long silence as the elves looked at each other and the intruder on their privacy. Suniel walked towards the table and was about to say something when one of them finally spoke.</p><p></p><p>"We hail from far to the south, likely beyond your ken," the elf said. "If you'll excuse us, we have traveled a long way in pursuit of our quarry and lost many on the way. We are simply here to eat and rest before the long journey home."</p><p></p><p>"Quarry?" Harold said.</p><p></p><p>Suniel walked to the end of the table and bowed. "I'm sorry my companion is bothering you, we are sorry for your losses and wish you a safe journey." </p><p></p><p>He nudged Harold with his foot and got an annoyed look in response, which he ignored. "If there is anything me or my companions can do for you, we are yours under the Tree."</p><p></p><p>He began to back away, but Harold wasn't getting up. Instead, the archer opened his mouth again. "I am from the south as well, from the Crystal Towers. I'm sure you've heard of us. If there is anything the Crystal Towers can do for our elven friends, we are at your service."</p><p></p><p>The elves exchanged another inscrutable glance and the same one that had spoken before spoke again. "Perhaps there is something you could do. One of our companions' mount was injured in our pursuit. Wild with its pain, it carried him off into the hills and we have not been able to find him. Our mounts are even more worn than we are and we fear it will be-"</p><p></p><p>"Done," Harold said and shook the startled elf's hand. "We'll find him and bring him back safely."</p><p></p><p>Suniel realized his mouth was agape, mirroring the elves at the table. Suniel shook his head and smiled slightly. <em>These are not used to the abrupt hastiness of humans</em>, he thought. <em>Then again, I'm not sure I am, even after all these years.</em></p><p></p><p>He bowed to the table as Harold walked out, then followed.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>"Wait, where are we going again?" Ming said after a couple hours of near-silence, squinting in the July sunlight as they walked through the Ragged Hills. "Why don't I have time to get my boot fixed?"</p><p></p><p>"It speaks! Last time I tried to talk to you, I thought you were going to bite my head off," Ilsa said. She stared at huge woman's boot and chuckled again. A couple loops of twine were all that held it around Ming's still-bandaged foot. </p><p></p><p>"You were the one who wouldn't stay behind to finish healing when we went out," she said. "Hey, maybe axe-split boots will go into style while we're gone."</p><p></p><p>"Ha ha," Ming said, glancing back at the dusty hills - roughly the direction of Laketide - and rubbing at the raw bald spot on her head. "You were the one that told me what Laris said after I killed that Kellin pig."</p><p></p><p>"More like a wild boar than a pig," Ilsa said. "Pigs are more civilized."</p><p></p><p>"What did Laris say?" Suniel said, adjusting his robe for the long walk ahead.</p><p></p><p>"He said that the Kellins were a large family and, if the using the law didn't work for them, they were just as likely to work without it," Ilsa said. She looked ahead towards where Harold walked a hundred yards ahead of them. "Is he going to get us lost again?"</p><p></p><p>Ming grunted. "I don't think he can since we don't have a destination. We're just looking for... what are we looking for again?"</p><p></p><p>"An elf on a 'raptor.'" Suniel said.</p><p></p><p>"Lizard, not bird," Ilsa said.</p><p></p><p>"I'm not <em>that</em> stupid, I heard Suniel describe them before," Ming said. She looked ahead at Harold as well. "He can keep us lost in the hills for a couple days for all I care, maybe the Kellins will lose my scent."</p><p></p><p>Ilsa leaned close, sniffed her, and wrinkled her nose. "Not likely," the dwarf said and stepped quickly out of Ming's reach.</p><p></p><p>"Harold's stopped and is motioning to us," Suniel said, quickening his pace. "He might have found something."</p><p></p><p>"Probably another ambush," Ilsa said, half under her breath.</p><p></p><p>Ming grunted.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Harold searched the area again, looking for any sign of the distinctive three-clawed tracks. A moment later the others arrived, quickly took in the situation, and plopped in the shade of a large dead tree nearby, pulling out waterskins.</p><p></p><p>"I think we're close," Harold said. "Just give me a minute to find the tracks again."</p><p></p><p>"You said we were close two hours ago when you first spotted the tracks," Ming said and emptied half her waterskin in a few huge gulps.</p><p></p><p>"I said I thought we were close, now I really think we're close," Harold said, looking back to the dried creek-bed. He searched around for several more minutes, frustration mounting. "It's tracks couldn't have just disappeared here."</p><p></p><p>"Maybe the elf was riding a giant bird after all and just flew off," Ilsa said.</p><p></p><p>"Maybe you just breached some form of elven etiquette and they sent us out on a wild raptor chase as revenge," Ming said. Harold glared over at her and saw her glance in turn to Suniel. The elf shrugged.</p><p></p><p>"Well, I'm all for taking a little early-afternoon siesta in the shade of this here tree," Ilsa said. "Maybe some time after-"</p><p></p><p>She cut off in mid-sentence as a high-pitched shriek echoed through the hills. A moment later everyone was on their feet and running along the creek-bed towards the source of the sound.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Ming winced as she ran, her still-injured foot shooting spears of pain up her leg. She was the last one into the wide, dead-end gully.</p><p></p><p>At its center an elf with a drawn sword and empty quiver stood next to the body of a mottled black lizard that lay in a pool of blood. Around them were three giant six-legged creatures, their bodies covered with reddish chitin, their mandibles huge, jagged, and drizzling green slime.</p><p></p><p>Harold wasted no time putting two arrows into the nearest of the creatures and Suniel summoned and hurled a ball of fire at it. Ilsa ran ahead with a dwarven warcry and Ming followed into the fray close behind the dwarf.</p><p></p><p>They paired up against another of the creatures, Ilsa circling around one side and Ming around to the other. It reared up and bit into Ilsa's shield several times, leaving smoking pits in the heavy wood. Ming leapt into the air and brought her sword down on its back, slicing through the hard chitin and into the yellowish goop inside. It sprayed out in a gout, nearly blinding her and gagging her with its acrid stink.</p><p></p><p>The thing wheeled about, swept Ming's feet out from underneath her and bit, its mandibles crunching into her breastplate. It clomped on her several times as she battered at it with the pommel of her sword until it reared up and jerked the other way again to face another of its attackers. Ming wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and stood, seeing the thing - one leg severed at about dwarf-height - pressing Ilsa back against a rock and struggling to pull the dwarf's shield away with three of its good legs, mandibles wide and ready as the shield was slowly forced down.</p><p></p><p>Ming slammed hard into the thing, causing the wound gape open, and drove her sword into the creature with all her might. It sank in into the hilt and she felt it punch out the other side. The creature thrashed and arched back on Ming as she tried to pull her sword free. With a jerk, it came lose and she staggered back, just as the creature's mandibles clicked rapidly, snapped open, and a green sticky glob shot straight at Ming's head.</p><p></p><p>She turned her head away and raised her arm reflexively. The sticky mass splattered all over her, from head to toe, and saturated her long glove. For a second she was merely disgusted, then her body registered the pain as the glob eating through her glove and seeping through her chain reached skin and her arm exploded with pain.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Harold put an arrow into the last one and walked right up next to it as it thrashed, burying an arrow into its head at point-blank range. It stopped thrashing and lay there twitching. Harold grunted, glanced at the bite marks in his tunic, and downed a potion. A moment later the pain was gone, though he'd still need to get his uniform washed and mended again when he went back to town.</p><p></p><p>He glanced over to the first one that Suniel had pretty much blown apart. The wizard squatted next to it, spreading out his hand to measure its mandibles and jotting down notes on a scrap of something, apparently oblivious to the bite-wounds in his arm.</p><p></p><p>Ilsa was helping a smoldering Ming to her feet and throwing dirt on the spots that still smoked. </p><p></p><p>The foreign elf was leaning heavily against his dead mount, arm clutched against his body. Harold walked over and saluted.</p><p></p><p>"The Crystal Towers sends its regards, friend. We thought-"</p><p></p><p>The elf raised one hand to Harold's mouth as he sheathed his sword with the other. </p><p></p><p>"This is some sort of colony that I've stumbled on to," he whispered in elven, motioning a dozen large burrow holes in the hills surrounding the gully. "I'd suggest you save the pleasantries until we are safely away."</p><p></p><p>Although annoyed at being cut off, Harold nodded. He motioned for Ilsa and Ming to head back down the stream bed and pulled Suniel to his feet. Suniel had the tips of two of the thing's feelers on his pointer fingers and wiggled them at Harold with an impish smile. Harold just glared at him until the wizard shrugged and walked off, still playing with his strange acquisitions.</p><p></p><p>When he turned, the other elf had a hand on the dead raptor's neck, eyes closed.</p><p></p><p> "Good bye old friend, may I find another your like when we return to the Black," he murmured in elven, his voice so low Harold had to strain to hear him.</p><p></p><p>Then he opened his eyes, nodded to Harold, and they walked quickly out of the gully.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 4237452, member: 60965"] Session 4, Part 4 -Note: I wrote up most of the last part of the session almost a week ago, then accidentally closed the browser window. Few things more frustrating than working on something for an hour-and-a-half and then having to sit down and redo it. Hence the no write-up for the week.- The five elves were subdued as they ate, their exhaustion obvious. That didn't stop Harold from boldly walking up and taking a seat at their table in the deserted mid-morning tavern. "Greetings, from where do you hail from?" Harold said in elven. There was a long silence as the elves looked at each other and the intruder on their privacy. Suniel walked towards the table and was about to say something when one of them finally spoke. "We hail from far to the south, likely beyond your ken," the elf said. "If you'll excuse us, we have traveled a long way in pursuit of our quarry and lost many on the way. We are simply here to eat and rest before the long journey home." "Quarry?" Harold said. Suniel walked to the end of the table and bowed. "I'm sorry my companion is bothering you, we are sorry for your losses and wish you a safe journey." He nudged Harold with his foot and got an annoyed look in response, which he ignored. "If there is anything me or my companions can do for you, we are yours under the Tree." He began to back away, but Harold wasn't getting up. Instead, the archer opened his mouth again. "I am from the south as well, from the Crystal Towers. I'm sure you've heard of us. If there is anything the Crystal Towers can do for our elven friends, we are at your service." The elves exchanged another inscrutable glance and the same one that had spoken before spoke again. "Perhaps there is something you could do. One of our companions' mount was injured in our pursuit. Wild with its pain, it carried him off into the hills and we have not been able to find him. Our mounts are even more worn than we are and we fear it will be-" "Done," Harold said and shook the startled elf's hand. "We'll find him and bring him back safely." Suniel realized his mouth was agape, mirroring the elves at the table. Suniel shook his head and smiled slightly. [I]These are not used to the abrupt hastiness of humans[/I], he thought. [I]Then again, I'm not sure I am, even after all these years.[/I] He bowed to the table as Harold walked out, then followed. *** "Wait, where are we going again?" Ming said after a couple hours of near-silence, squinting in the July sunlight as they walked through the Ragged Hills. "Why don't I have time to get my boot fixed?" "It speaks! Last time I tried to talk to you, I thought you were going to bite my head off," Ilsa said. She stared at huge woman's boot and chuckled again. A couple loops of twine were all that held it around Ming's still-bandaged foot. "You were the one who wouldn't stay behind to finish healing when we went out," she said. "Hey, maybe axe-split boots will go into style while we're gone." "Ha ha," Ming said, glancing back at the dusty hills - roughly the direction of Laketide - and rubbing at the raw bald spot on her head. "You were the one that told me what Laris said after I killed that Kellin pig." "More like a wild boar than a pig," Ilsa said. "Pigs are more civilized." "What did Laris say?" Suniel said, adjusting his robe for the long walk ahead. "He said that the Kellins were a large family and, if the using the law didn't work for them, they were just as likely to work without it," Ilsa said. She looked ahead towards where Harold walked a hundred yards ahead of them. "Is he going to get us lost again?" Ming grunted. "I don't think he can since we don't have a destination. We're just looking for... what are we looking for again?" "An elf on a 'raptor.'" Suniel said. "Lizard, not bird," Ilsa said. "I'm not [I]that[/I] stupid, I heard Suniel describe them before," Ming said. She looked ahead at Harold as well. "He can keep us lost in the hills for a couple days for all I care, maybe the Kellins will lose my scent." Ilsa leaned close, sniffed her, and wrinkled her nose. "Not likely," the dwarf said and stepped quickly out of Ming's reach. "Harold's stopped and is motioning to us," Suniel said, quickening his pace. "He might have found something." "Probably another ambush," Ilsa said, half under her breath. Ming grunted. *** Harold searched the area again, looking for any sign of the distinctive three-clawed tracks. A moment later the others arrived, quickly took in the situation, and plopped in the shade of a large dead tree nearby, pulling out waterskins. "I think we're close," Harold said. "Just give me a minute to find the tracks again." "You said we were close two hours ago when you first spotted the tracks," Ming said and emptied half her waterskin in a few huge gulps. "I said I thought we were close, now I really think we're close," Harold said, looking back to the dried creek-bed. He searched around for several more minutes, frustration mounting. "It's tracks couldn't have just disappeared here." "Maybe the elf was riding a giant bird after all and just flew off," Ilsa said. "Maybe you just breached some form of elven etiquette and they sent us out on a wild raptor chase as revenge," Ming said. Harold glared over at her and saw her glance in turn to Suniel. The elf shrugged. "Well, I'm all for taking a little early-afternoon siesta in the shade of this here tree," Ilsa said. "Maybe some time after-" She cut off in mid-sentence as a high-pitched shriek echoed through the hills. A moment later everyone was on their feet and running along the creek-bed towards the source of the sound. *** Ming winced as she ran, her still-injured foot shooting spears of pain up her leg. She was the last one into the wide, dead-end gully. At its center an elf with a drawn sword and empty quiver stood next to the body of a mottled black lizard that lay in a pool of blood. Around them were three giant six-legged creatures, their bodies covered with reddish chitin, their mandibles huge, jagged, and drizzling green slime. Harold wasted no time putting two arrows into the nearest of the creatures and Suniel summoned and hurled a ball of fire at it. Ilsa ran ahead with a dwarven warcry and Ming followed into the fray close behind the dwarf. They paired up against another of the creatures, Ilsa circling around one side and Ming around to the other. It reared up and bit into Ilsa's shield several times, leaving smoking pits in the heavy wood. Ming leapt into the air and brought her sword down on its back, slicing through the hard chitin and into the yellowish goop inside. It sprayed out in a gout, nearly blinding her and gagging her with its acrid stink. The thing wheeled about, swept Ming's feet out from underneath her and bit, its mandibles crunching into her breastplate. It clomped on her several times as she battered at it with the pommel of her sword until it reared up and jerked the other way again to face another of its attackers. Ming wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and stood, seeing the thing - one leg severed at about dwarf-height - pressing Ilsa back against a rock and struggling to pull the dwarf's shield away with three of its good legs, mandibles wide and ready as the shield was slowly forced down. Ming slammed hard into the thing, causing the wound gape open, and drove her sword into the creature with all her might. It sank in into the hilt and she felt it punch out the other side. The creature thrashed and arched back on Ming as she tried to pull her sword free. With a jerk, it came lose and she staggered back, just as the creature's mandibles clicked rapidly, snapped open, and a green sticky glob shot straight at Ming's head. She turned her head away and raised her arm reflexively. The sticky mass splattered all over her, from head to toe, and saturated her long glove. For a second she was merely disgusted, then her body registered the pain as the glob eating through her glove and seeping through her chain reached skin and her arm exploded with pain. *** Harold put an arrow into the last one and walked right up next to it as it thrashed, burying an arrow into its head at point-blank range. It stopped thrashing and lay there twitching. Harold grunted, glanced at the bite marks in his tunic, and downed a potion. A moment later the pain was gone, though he'd still need to get his uniform washed and mended again when he went back to town. He glanced over to the first one that Suniel had pretty much blown apart. The wizard squatted next to it, spreading out his hand to measure its mandibles and jotting down notes on a scrap of something, apparently oblivious to the bite-wounds in his arm. Ilsa was helping a smoldering Ming to her feet and throwing dirt on the spots that still smoked. The foreign elf was leaning heavily against his dead mount, arm clutched against his body. Harold walked over and saluted. "The Crystal Towers sends its regards, friend. We thought-" The elf raised one hand to Harold's mouth as he sheathed his sword with the other. "This is some sort of colony that I've stumbled on to," he whispered in elven, motioning a dozen large burrow holes in the hills surrounding the gully. "I'd suggest you save the pleasantries until we are safely away." Although annoyed at being cut off, Harold nodded. He motioned for Ilsa and Ming to head back down the stream bed and pulled Suniel to his feet. Suniel had the tips of two of the thing's feelers on his pointer fingers and wiggled them at Harold with an impish smile. Harold just glared at him until the wizard shrugged and walked off, still playing with his strange acquisitions. When he turned, the other elf had a hand on the dead raptor's neck, eyes closed. "Good bye old friend, may I find another your like when we return to the Black," he murmured in elven, his voice so low Harold had to strain to hear him. Then he opened his eyes, nodded to Harold, and they walked quickly out of the gully. [/QUOTE]
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