Dru's Storyhour
drnuncheon
Explorer
Okay, okay. I've been very bad about this. I will make a post today, I promise!
Drusilia Nailo
First Post
Whoops! That's one heck of a way to find out that Dr. N has been logging on to ENWorld on MY computer. He didn't log himself off, either! 
It is ME that has been bad about posting (there, I admitted it.) I will, as I promised earlier, post something today. See you then!
It is ME that has been bad about posting (there, I admitted it.) I will, as I promised earlier, post something today. See you then!Drusilia Nailo
First Post
****************Down to the Lake*******************
The tiny demon was not that difficult to dispatch for the paladin and the ranger. They stood there watching it dissolve into vapor, and then looked at each other with dismay. "I do not like this," sighed Aelric, and not for the first time since this quest had begun.
They, along with their druid companions, trudged back through the forest to Joyal, for a night of sleep and meditation in preparation for the battle that everyone knew had to come, and soon, if the two children were to be saved from the mermaid’s plot.
Morning came, and without much discussion, the men prepared themselves for a battle. They were just about to leave, when they heard a female voice, “Wait!”
Turning around, they saw the village Mother walking towards them, with a young druidess in tow. “This is Maera Bearfriend,” said the Mother in introduction. “She is from afar, and has not sworn the same vows to the lake guardians that the local druids have.” Her lips twist into a wry smile. “She is free to interfere with their business.”
Maera Bearfriend was dressed in furs, and had a layer of hide armor on over it all. She seemed to be armed, with a scimitar and a sling. With a quick smile, she looked from Ivae to Aelric. “I have heard many good things of the two of you,” she told them. “And hoped to offer you my assistance in this. I - we are afraid that you will need all the help you can get.”
Ivae nodded in approval. “Yes, I think it’s good that we have someone to come with us.”
Maera grinned. “Wonderful. I’m sure that you won’t mind if Ben comes along too,” she said. As if summoned, a huge black bear lumbered out of the bushes. He came up beside Maera, and studied the man and elf with a calm demeanor.
Aelric blinked for just a moment at the bear, and then shrugged. “Fine with me,” he said. “Let’s go demon hunting.”
They weren’t even to the lake yet when Ivae sniffed the air. Smoke. He frowned, and then held up his hand. “Wait here,” he murmured quietly. He crept through the trees then, keeping low to the ground and very nearly invisible to anything that could be watching. He didn’t go far before his diligence was rewarded... he started hearing voices talking. Moving in even closer, he saw that there was an orc encampment here as well. Except that this one... was filled with nothing but female orcs. Most of them weren’t armed, although there were weapons lying within reach. He watched them for awhile, wondering if the children were in one of the tents... but he heard no crying, and saw no tent that the orcs seemed especially interested in. Finally, he crept back to his companions, and told them what he had seen.
Maera frowned. “Maybe we should come back when we have the rest of this resolved. If the children are actually there, making them wait a little longer won’t hurt them. I have a feeling that they’re not, though.”
They began to creep down to the lake (at least, Ivae and Maera did, while Aelric crashed through the underbrush with the amount of subtlety that plate armor allows.) Some instinct made Ivae look up, and that’s when he saw them. Frowning, he froze, which made Maera and Aelric come to a quick halt as well. “Look!”
Everyone looked up. And what they saw were the most unlikely looking airborne creatures that they had thought possible. They were large, and seemed to have leathery wings, with wicked looking talons. Ragged looking spikes grew out of their bodies, making them bristle menacingly. Four of them circled the lake, in slow, lazy arcs. “Demons!” hissed Aelric, making the most logical guess.
Ivae, Maera, and Ben crept to the edge of the forest, readying their distance weapons. Aelric, not possessing anything with any range on it, shrugged, and stepped out into the open with drawn sword.
Shrieking their fury, two of them fired spikes at the paladin. One of them sunk into the meat of his leg, and Aelric nearly cried out with the pain of it... it burned! With the smell of sizzling flesh in his nostrils, he gripped his sword tightly, wondering how he was going to fight these creatures when he was down here and they were up there. Not knowing what else to do, he withdrew the church relic that was his to protect for his lifetime... a horn. Blowing into it, he summoned all of the protection against evil that he could manage, and formed it into a protective shield around him.
Ivae watched the spikes being hurled from the sky, and decided that staying in the cover offered by the trees was preferable. He nocked his bow, and let fly with an arrow. It flew truly, and struck one of the creatures in the chest. He could see Maera several feet away from him hurl a sling bullet skyward. It too struck its target, another one of the creatures.
Two more spikes were hurled into the paladin, making him stagger with the pain of it. He was perhaps too stubborn to die, though, because he waved his sword at these creatures of evil, daring them to come down to him. One of them, already injured from Ivae’s arrow, obliged, moving in to swoop down gracefully. Its talons extended, it prepared to rend the paladin’s flesh. The blows never came. Aelric’s bastard sword swung through the air, and cleaved right through the creature. It fell to the earth with a thump and did not move again. “Thank the Father, they can die!” Aelric breathed in relief as he prepared for another attack.
Ivae smiled grimly when he saw the first of the demons fall, and shot another arrow high. It connected with the only remaining uninjured creature, lodging itself in its throat. It gave a strangled cry of rage, and began to circle Ivae, as if trying to figure out a way to get at him through the trees and the underbrush. Fortunately, Maera was quick to seize her opportunity, and slung a bullet up at it. Unfortunately, she was not such a good markswoman this time around. The bullet sailed harmlessly into the air, and then plummeted to earth again.
The battle seemed to stretch on for an eternity, but finally, four dead aerial demons lay on the beach. For the first time, the small group was at liberty to look around them. The crystal surface of the Maiden Lake stretched before them, its water glinting under the morning light. There was a small island in the center of it, that according to the stories, shouldn’t be there. And of course, there was the mermaid. She was watching them from the water near the island. Her green hair blew in the breeze, and her arms were folded defiantly across her chest.
The tiny demon was not that difficult to dispatch for the paladin and the ranger. They stood there watching it dissolve into vapor, and then looked at each other with dismay. "I do not like this," sighed Aelric, and not for the first time since this quest had begun.
They, along with their druid companions, trudged back through the forest to Joyal, for a night of sleep and meditation in preparation for the battle that everyone knew had to come, and soon, if the two children were to be saved from the mermaid’s plot.
Morning came, and without much discussion, the men prepared themselves for a battle. They were just about to leave, when they heard a female voice, “Wait!”
Turning around, they saw the village Mother walking towards them, with a young druidess in tow. “This is Maera Bearfriend,” said the Mother in introduction. “She is from afar, and has not sworn the same vows to the lake guardians that the local druids have.” Her lips twist into a wry smile. “She is free to interfere with their business.”
Maera Bearfriend was dressed in furs, and had a layer of hide armor on over it all. She seemed to be armed, with a scimitar and a sling. With a quick smile, she looked from Ivae to Aelric. “I have heard many good things of the two of you,” she told them. “And hoped to offer you my assistance in this. I - we are afraid that you will need all the help you can get.”
Ivae nodded in approval. “Yes, I think it’s good that we have someone to come with us.”
Maera grinned. “Wonderful. I’m sure that you won’t mind if Ben comes along too,” she said. As if summoned, a huge black bear lumbered out of the bushes. He came up beside Maera, and studied the man and elf with a calm demeanor.
Aelric blinked for just a moment at the bear, and then shrugged. “Fine with me,” he said. “Let’s go demon hunting.”
They weren’t even to the lake yet when Ivae sniffed the air. Smoke. He frowned, and then held up his hand. “Wait here,” he murmured quietly. He crept through the trees then, keeping low to the ground and very nearly invisible to anything that could be watching. He didn’t go far before his diligence was rewarded... he started hearing voices talking. Moving in even closer, he saw that there was an orc encampment here as well. Except that this one... was filled with nothing but female orcs. Most of them weren’t armed, although there were weapons lying within reach. He watched them for awhile, wondering if the children were in one of the tents... but he heard no crying, and saw no tent that the orcs seemed especially interested in. Finally, he crept back to his companions, and told them what he had seen.
Maera frowned. “Maybe we should come back when we have the rest of this resolved. If the children are actually there, making them wait a little longer won’t hurt them. I have a feeling that they’re not, though.”
They began to creep down to the lake (at least, Ivae and Maera did, while Aelric crashed through the underbrush with the amount of subtlety that plate armor allows.) Some instinct made Ivae look up, and that’s when he saw them. Frowning, he froze, which made Maera and Aelric come to a quick halt as well. “Look!”
Everyone looked up. And what they saw were the most unlikely looking airborne creatures that they had thought possible. They were large, and seemed to have leathery wings, with wicked looking talons. Ragged looking spikes grew out of their bodies, making them bristle menacingly. Four of them circled the lake, in slow, lazy arcs. “Demons!” hissed Aelric, making the most logical guess.
Ivae, Maera, and Ben crept to the edge of the forest, readying their distance weapons. Aelric, not possessing anything with any range on it, shrugged, and stepped out into the open with drawn sword.
Shrieking their fury, two of them fired spikes at the paladin. One of them sunk into the meat of his leg, and Aelric nearly cried out with the pain of it... it burned! With the smell of sizzling flesh in his nostrils, he gripped his sword tightly, wondering how he was going to fight these creatures when he was down here and they were up there. Not knowing what else to do, he withdrew the church relic that was his to protect for his lifetime... a horn. Blowing into it, he summoned all of the protection against evil that he could manage, and formed it into a protective shield around him.
Ivae watched the spikes being hurled from the sky, and decided that staying in the cover offered by the trees was preferable. He nocked his bow, and let fly with an arrow. It flew truly, and struck one of the creatures in the chest. He could see Maera several feet away from him hurl a sling bullet skyward. It too struck its target, another one of the creatures.
Two more spikes were hurled into the paladin, making him stagger with the pain of it. He was perhaps too stubborn to die, though, because he waved his sword at these creatures of evil, daring them to come down to him. One of them, already injured from Ivae’s arrow, obliged, moving in to swoop down gracefully. Its talons extended, it prepared to rend the paladin’s flesh. The blows never came. Aelric’s bastard sword swung through the air, and cleaved right through the creature. It fell to the earth with a thump and did not move again. “Thank the Father, they can die!” Aelric breathed in relief as he prepared for another attack.
Ivae smiled grimly when he saw the first of the demons fall, and shot another arrow high. It connected with the only remaining uninjured creature, lodging itself in its throat. It gave a strangled cry of rage, and began to circle Ivae, as if trying to figure out a way to get at him through the trees and the underbrush. Fortunately, Maera was quick to seize her opportunity, and slung a bullet up at it. Unfortunately, she was not such a good markswoman this time around. The bullet sailed harmlessly into the air, and then plummeted to earth again.
The battle seemed to stretch on for an eternity, but finally, four dead aerial demons lay on the beach. For the first time, the small group was at liberty to look around them. The crystal surface of the Maiden Lake stretched before them, its water glinting under the morning light. There was a small island in the center of it, that according to the stories, shouldn’t be there. And of course, there was the mermaid. She was watching them from the water near the island. Her green hair blew in the breeze, and her arms were folded defiantly across her chest.
Jon Potter
First Post
Drusilia Nailo said:
Well... mermaids are typically portrayed as going topless, so maybe she's just being modest.
They can hope so, I guess.
Nice update. I'm really interested to see how this story plays out.
Drusilia Nailo
First Post
The druidess is just an NPC. I decided to throw her into it, just to give the characters a little bit of help. (Aren't I nice?)
Horacio said:
Yes, of course your nice
And you will be even nicer if you post another update soon
This is really just a bump in the hopes that Dru updates soon. It's been ages....although I've no room to talk since my own story hour languishes away on the third page. But I like to get fan bumps, so I'm sure you do, too.
Great story, Dru....keep up the wonderful writing.
--Morgaine
Drusilia Nailo
First Post
The Island
The mermaid swam closer to the shore, but still kept quite a distance from it. She called across the water, “You shouldn’t interfere with this! The children have to die, and that is final!”
Aelric growled, and waded out, up to his knees into the water. “Don’t you know that the demon is using you,” he half-demanded of the mermaid.
“Never! Arust loves me!” she cried out.
Aelric snorted. “Has it occurred to you that he’d gladly take the lives of the children, along with yours, to ensure that he would become a god? Why should he share that power with you?”
Meanwhile, Ivae exchanged glances with Maera, and motioned for her to wait. He then began to sneak around the perimeter of the lake, towards the side of the island that was not being guarded by the mermaid. Maera’s bear knew no such subtlety, and plunged into the water to swim for the island.
Fortunately, the mermaid’s attention was riveted upon Aelric. “But...” her voice trailed off, plaintively. “No! He loves me! I will be a goddess, I don’t care what you say about it!” She started to chant, and the water of the lake lept upward, forming into a surprisingly solid looking blade. She began to swim towards Aelric with deadly purpose in her eyes.
***************************************************
Ivae ran, leaping over logs, and dodging bramble bushes. He didn't want to be stuck here in this dead forest any longer than he had to be, not when there were the children to save... once he got out of the mermaid's line of sight, he broke out of the forest completely, and waded into the lake. With an anxious glance towards the front of the lake where the action was, he began to swim.
***************************************************
Aelric sighed, drawing his own blade. “It doesn’t have to come to this,” he said, wearily. “You have not gone past the point of no return... with the Father, forgiveness is always possible.”
The mermaid hesitated after raising her blade above her head. She hesitated just long enough.
From the banks of the lake, Maera, forgotten up to that point, had been chanting and pleading with the forces of nature and of the Mother to aid her in restraining the enemy. The water of the lake began to seethe and seemed to boil as aquatic plants erupted from the bottom, surging for the top. They became hard as rope, and just as unforgiving, as their tendrils wrapped around the mermaid, entrapping her arms, legs and torso. They began to drag her down, so that only her head remained above water.
The mermaid spluttered, and her blade dissolved back into lake water. And then all of the fight went out of her. “I’m sorry,” she said plaintively, looking at Aelric with widened eyes.
The old paladin stood watching her for a moment, and then called back to the shore, “Let her stay like that. It will give her some time to think...” He began to wade back out of the water, onto the shore. “Come, horse,” he said to the yet unnamed paladin mount, leading it into the water.
The group reconvened on the island, Ivae moving to join his companions. He looked around at the unnatural island nervously, and murmured to Aelric, “Of course, we have no idea of where the children are.” He shrugged, then, and began to move to the center of the island. “I imagine that we’ll find them.”
And so they did. They heard the sound of a crying child long before they found them, and the angry shrieks of another. Ivae broke into a run, into the direction of the cries, leaving the armor-clad paladin behind to catch up as best he could.
There were two small demons, standing next to two children. One of them was holding down the girlchild, somewhat roughly, although his voice was entreating. “Now now, you want to behave, don’t you? Please?” The girl was a little bruised up, and apparently, it was because of this. She was shrieking her rage, pounding her fists against the demon. “Hate you!”
The little boy seemed to be unharmed, but he sat there in the dirt and wailed.
Standing in the center of the clearing was the largest demon that either man had ever seen. He looked very humanoid, but was covered with glossy black fur. His eyes were red-rimmed, and he seemed to radiate evil. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was the Demon Lord Arust. He was looking straight through the bushes at the three crouching hunters, and smiled slowly. “Ah. I see you have come at last...”
The mermaid swam closer to the shore, but still kept quite a distance from it. She called across the water, “You shouldn’t interfere with this! The children have to die, and that is final!”
Aelric growled, and waded out, up to his knees into the water. “Don’t you know that the demon is using you,” he half-demanded of the mermaid.
“Never! Arust loves me!” she cried out.
Aelric snorted. “Has it occurred to you that he’d gladly take the lives of the children, along with yours, to ensure that he would become a god? Why should he share that power with you?”
Meanwhile, Ivae exchanged glances with Maera, and motioned for her to wait. He then began to sneak around the perimeter of the lake, towards the side of the island that was not being guarded by the mermaid. Maera’s bear knew no such subtlety, and plunged into the water to swim for the island.
Fortunately, the mermaid’s attention was riveted upon Aelric. “But...” her voice trailed off, plaintively. “No! He loves me! I will be a goddess, I don’t care what you say about it!” She started to chant, and the water of the lake lept upward, forming into a surprisingly solid looking blade. She began to swim towards Aelric with deadly purpose in her eyes.
***************************************************
Ivae ran, leaping over logs, and dodging bramble bushes. He didn't want to be stuck here in this dead forest any longer than he had to be, not when there were the children to save... once he got out of the mermaid's line of sight, he broke out of the forest completely, and waded into the lake. With an anxious glance towards the front of the lake where the action was, he began to swim.
***************************************************
Aelric sighed, drawing his own blade. “It doesn’t have to come to this,” he said, wearily. “You have not gone past the point of no return... with the Father, forgiveness is always possible.”
The mermaid hesitated after raising her blade above her head. She hesitated just long enough.
From the banks of the lake, Maera, forgotten up to that point, had been chanting and pleading with the forces of nature and of the Mother to aid her in restraining the enemy. The water of the lake began to seethe and seemed to boil as aquatic plants erupted from the bottom, surging for the top. They became hard as rope, and just as unforgiving, as their tendrils wrapped around the mermaid, entrapping her arms, legs and torso. They began to drag her down, so that only her head remained above water.
The mermaid spluttered, and her blade dissolved back into lake water. And then all of the fight went out of her. “I’m sorry,” she said plaintively, looking at Aelric with widened eyes.
The old paladin stood watching her for a moment, and then called back to the shore, “Let her stay like that. It will give her some time to think...” He began to wade back out of the water, onto the shore. “Come, horse,” he said to the yet unnamed paladin mount, leading it into the water.
The group reconvened on the island, Ivae moving to join his companions. He looked around at the unnatural island nervously, and murmured to Aelric, “Of course, we have no idea of where the children are.” He shrugged, then, and began to move to the center of the island. “I imagine that we’ll find them.”
And so they did. They heard the sound of a crying child long before they found them, and the angry shrieks of another. Ivae broke into a run, into the direction of the cries, leaving the armor-clad paladin behind to catch up as best he could.
There were two small demons, standing next to two children. One of them was holding down the girlchild, somewhat roughly, although his voice was entreating. “Now now, you want to behave, don’t you? Please?” The girl was a little bruised up, and apparently, it was because of this. She was shrieking her rage, pounding her fists against the demon. “Hate you!”
The little boy seemed to be unharmed, but he sat there in the dirt and wailed.
Standing in the center of the clearing was the largest demon that either man had ever seen. He looked very humanoid, but was covered with glossy black fur. His eyes were red-rimmed, and he seemed to radiate evil. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that this was the Demon Lord Arust. He was looking straight through the bushes at the three crouching hunters, and smiled slowly. “Ah. I see you have come at last...”
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