NOW LIVE! Today's the day you meet your new best friend. You don’t have to leave Wolfy behind... In 'Pets & Sidekicks' your companions level up with you!

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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Funeris" data-source="post: 2031960" data-attributes="member: 22792">Chapter 9: Death in the Family ContinuedHope you guys & gals think I'm putting this whole lack of sleep thing to good use. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f600.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":D" title="Big grin    :D"  data-smilie="8"data-shortname=":D" />-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Motega passed the flask to the trapper.  The burly man took a great gulp, nearly draining the tin.  The man was rough, even for a trapper.  His beard was growing in scraggly and dark in patches across his strong jaw.  The black hair falling to his shoulders was tinged with silver and dirt from weeks in the woods.  A pungent, sweaty odor clung to his worn leather clothing and equally worn gear.  Two piercing blue eyes, ever alert, peered from underneath the silver-black mop of hair dancing over his forehead.  Motega had instantly liked the trapper Algach.  He had caught sight of the trapper moving on the edge of a wood just north of the town.  His pursuit had not gone unnoticed and eventually Algach had allowed Motega to catch up.  Algach had been hunting and trapping in the lands around Dun Moor for the majority of his life.  No one could outsmart him in his own forests and hills.The trapper, unlike many in Rhelm, held no racism toward this man from the Rornlands.  Algach felt everyone akin with nature was as a brother.  And so, he had allowed the Rornman to catch up with him.  Together, they had continued along the trail in silence, pursuing their prey and measuring each others skills.An hour farther along the deer-path, Motega split from the trail.  Algach had paused in surprise at the Rorn’s change in direction.  The tracks continued to lead north and the Rorn had broken off into the brush along the left side.  The trapper paused for a brief inspection of Motega’s new path but could find no reason to follow.  He paused, taking in the filtered sunlight passing through the heavy green leaves and the warm breeze flowing through the forest.  His curiosity peeked the trapper followed the Rornman’s new trail.Fifty feet further, just over a slight ridge Motega knelt on the dry earth, an arrow drawn.  Algach quietly moved into a position slightly behind and to the right of the Rorn, peering through the brush.  Not twenty-five feet directly ahead, a large buck and several doe lapped water from a sliver of stream.  Algach saw Motega’s bead on the buck and drew his own bow, taking aim at one of the larger doe.As one, the trapper and Rorn released their arrows.  A soft whistling sound pierced the canopy as the buck and doe were slammed by the wooden shafts.  The buck took two steps before collapsing onto the forest floor; the doe made it no farther.  The remaining deer began to dart away.  Algach stood but Motega had somehow managed to release another arrow; another doe fell.Algach’s mouth hung open as Motega stood, replacing his bow.  The Rorn then handed the trapper the flask of firewater.  Brother, indeed.Algach and Motega had feasted quietly on the buck.  The antlers had been removed, all of the deer skinned.  The meat that couldn’t be readily devoured had been salted and preserved enough to make the return trip to Dun Moor.  Once the feast had been finished, Algach turned toward the Rorn.“How did you know they were to the northwest?  The trail led north.”Motega grinned.  “I could smell them.”“Impressive.  My next question would be: Why were you following me?”“For information, friend.  Just some information.”</blockquote>

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