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Kalanna Rai
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 Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 12:35 pm Post subject: |
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Humm...Ridgegate...you people want to see violence and heroics...okay then..
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Chapter Ten: No Sure Way
Inthas mounted Balefire, just because he was closer, and looked at Horefrost with a thoughtful expression. Xsyle walked over to him with two leaves and a twig in her hand. "You're going to go to Ridgegate...I can already see it in your eyes." Inthas turned to ask her how she could see anything...then thought the better of it. Something he just didn't want an explanation for.
Slowly Xsyle concentrated on the small objects in her hands. There was the bright flash of magic that momentarily dazzled Inthas, and when he looked back she held a pair of sturdy green boots in one hand and a soft, sturdy rope in the other. With deft movements she handed him the boots and looped the rope securly around Horefrost's neck.
"These will come in handy for you on your journey." Slowly Xsyle returned to where the map was spread out on the ground. She knelt over it again. Inthas couldn't resist asking the question that had been on the tip of his tounge since he'd first seen the map.
"Xsyle...how can you read that?" He saw a smile quirck the side of her mouth.
"The map is magic if you havn't noticed, a very special type of magic. I can feel it's every eddy and whirl, it's every line and conture. Thus I can read the names and landmarks just by brushing my fingers over it like so." To prove her point she traced her finger over the word Ridgegate, following every arc, whirl, and curlique exactly.
"I knew were you were tapping because you have a magic about you Inthas, comes with being one of their Paladins. You left a bit of it on the map each time you touched it, allowing me to find where your fingers had been, that and the fact that every time you tapped you created a sonic ripple that mapped the surrounding surface for a few feet. Once I knew where you were talking about I simply supplied my own knowledge of the place."
"You mean you've been to Ridgegate." Xsyle's smile faded as she rolled up the map and tucked it away. Slowly she wandered back and swung up on Horefrost's back. The stallion snorted and danced under her and she ran a soothing hand down his neck. "Thought you said you didn't need a horse."
"I don't but this way I can keep my level of 'desturbing' down to a minimum. The less magic I use, the fewer ripples of effect I cause, the lower the chances I'm detected. I'm not wandering around in a shade state because I like to you know." Inthas nodded. When you were the last surviving member of your race...it made sense to take precautions. He coughed guiltily.
"The gifts you just gave me then..." Xsyle chuckled.
"Don't feel bad. A pair of decent Healing Boots and an Everope are hardly major arcana...unlike the spacial displacing I'd have to do to keep up with a flying horse." With that she patted Horefrost on the neck and the stallion took to the air, Balefire right behind.
Inthas had never flown before, having never mastered any of the levitation magics taught in his Advance Arcana course during his knightly training. It was amazing, to have the wind rushing past you at amazing speed, the chill bite of the air telling you this is living. The ground benith you rushing past at terrifying speeds that were both fearful and exhilerating.
Too soon Xsyle directed them toward the ground well enough away from Ridgegate that no one in the small town could possibly have seen him. With a happy air he trotted into town. People on the streets stopped and stared open-mouthed as he passed them, a stranger in well kept clothing with not one but two flying horses.
He practically reeked of magic. He stopped his horses outside the towns general shop and wandered in, the bell over the doorway tinkling merrily as he entered. "Good day young fellow!" The man called in Pharlese. "Can I help you?"
Inthas wandered over and laid an arm on the counter. He was amazed that the man couldn't see Xsyle, who stood right next to him with her head cocked to the side, using the echos of the simple greeting to 'see' the inside of the store. Turning on his polietest smile Inthas nodded. "I sir, am an Adventurer from the northern side of Wight Mountain. I've recently come down off the mountain with plenty of plunder but precious little in the way of supplies."
The man behind the counter nodded. He was the big jovial sort, used to rebuffing any offense with a warm smile and meaty handshake. His belly jiggled a bit under his homespun wool shirt and plain leather vest. "Ah so it's victuals and the like your after eh...what did you say your name was again son?" Inthas had never lied in his life yet it didn't seem prudent to tell the man his real name...thus he used his childhood nickname.
"Name's Thatz neighbor." He offered a hand which was only slightly bigger than the meat hook that clasped it.
"I'm Jhodivar young Thatz, inkeeper and shopkeep here in Ridgegate. I know how to outfit you for any kind of travel to any kind of land, spent time as a trader in my youth don't ya know." Inthas nodded politely. The man's eyes sparkled. "But seeing's how you're a noble adventurer there's only one direction you'll be traveling from here...up the Escarpment no doubt."
"Why yes I am. It seems like a good route to other lands...a road less traveled. I didn't want to take the caravan route because I hadn't been off the mountain a minute when some nifle of a theif tries to steal one of my horses. Those beasts'll fetch a pretty penny in southern markets I wager." Jhodivar nodded.
"Ah so then you didn't come to slay the Grappion?" Inthas shook his head.
"Nope, can't say as I've heard of the Grappion. What is it." Jhodivar shook his head.
"Northerners...no offense intended but you lot are about as observent as an ox. It's not a what...it's a who." For a moment he glanced around nervously, then his smile returned and he began to bustle about the shop piling up all the goods, including journy food, that Inthas would need. When everything had been parcled up Jhodivar turned and smiled at Inthas. "There you go young Thatz...three silver dinna's a bargain for you!"
Xsyle nudged him sharply in the ribs. "Bargain him down to two and you'll have a good price for the goods...don't settle for more than two dinna's and three copper nu's. Oh and incase you didn't know ten nu's equals one dinna." Inthas looked up at the man.
"I may make my way adventuring Jhodivar but that dosen't mean I wasn't raised around trade. I'll give you a dinna and a half for all that." Jhodivar reeled back.
"Ah! I couldn't even buy them that cheaply and I still have a family to feed. I couldn't do less than two dinna seven nu." Inthas took his head.
"A dinna and eight."
"Two and four."
"Two dinna and that's my final offer. I could always take my money somwhere else." Jhodivar was sweating at the thought of loosing a customer. Besides he wasn't really loosing on the deal...he just wasn't getting as much cream as normal.
"Two dinna it is young Thatz and may I say you drive a hard bargain." When the coins were poored out Jhodivar gave him a raised brow over their antiquity. Then, remembering Inthas was an adventurer fresh off the mountain, he took them. Inthas gave him a slight smile and left the shop with all his parcels in hand...or in his arms as it were. He then encountered his second problem, tack for his horses.
Jhodivar looked up at him as the bell tinkled again. "You know if there's a saddler in town that can make something for flying horses?" Jhodivar shrugged.
"Old Amous is the leatherworker...don't know if he can do exotic work though...you can always ask him. His shop's next to the stables down the street." Inthas gave Jhodivar a friendly nod and told the horses to guard his packages while he went in search of tack.
He found Old Amous finishing the stitching on a vest when they walked in. "Excuse me sir. Jhodivar down the street said you were the man to see about tacking up my horses." The old man didn't speak, merely jabbed a thumb at the wall of saddles and bridles that lined one wall, most of them built along the lines of the Mascarellian Military.
"I don't think you understand me sir...they're rather peculiar horses...they can fly." With great care the man put down the vest and turned to Inthas.
"Flying horses you say? Are they here now?"
"Just down the street sir. Infront of Jhodivar's shop." Amous stood and grabbed his knarled cane and a measuring tape from where they sat next to him. He motioned for Inthas to follow him. Xsyle walked up beside Inthas and whispered in his ear.
"Be careful of this one. He's got elvish blood in his veins. Wouldn't be surprised if he knew something was walking with you two. He'll be able to make you your tack alright, might even magic it a bit, so don't cheat him and don't bargain...just give him what he asks."
Amous looked over both horses, something close to a smile stealing over his sour features. Bring them to the stables boy and be sharpish about it! With that he turned and ambled down the street, leaving Inthas to bring both stallions and his packages to the stables. Amous joined him shortly after he finished his final trip.
"Right this one here's got fire in him while this one's got ice...that means they both need special harnesses just for them, harnesses that double for riding and packing since it don't seem likely you'll be carrying all that stuff by yourself. Now be you be having any armor boy...I need to see you in it to get the measurement's right."
Xsyle only shrugged when Inthas covertly glanced her way and tapped his 'cloak pin'. A moment later he was covered in armor, head to toe, and holding his massive sword. Amous looked at him for a moment and something stole into his eyes. One palsied hand pointed to the emblem engraved on Inthas's chest.
"The Order of the Skyeye Rose! But...you're all supposed to have perished years ago!" Inthas made a shushing gesture with his hands and again glanced at Xsyle who was shaking her head.
"Old man for the love of the God's keep quiet!"
"You're on a quest ain't you! Well I'll make your tack alright, the best tack ever seen! But in return you'll have to do something for me."
"What?"
The old man's eyes went steely and his face set. "Kill the Grappion! Slay the beast!"
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Inthas felt next to naked as he scrambled over the rocks at the foot of the Escarpment. The huge wall of solid earth reared above him a thousand feet high. A steep trail had been cut into it's massive face, more steps than any man cared to count. And here he was, in the dark, about to face some terrible menace with only his armor, sword, wits, and a very unwilling Xsyle.
She moved gracefully, hopping rock to rock though she might have glided right through them. Her humming was nearly inaudible over the gentle night breeze and Inthas found her choice of a lullabye rather appropriate. He hopped down from the last boulder and onto the first landing on the stairs where Xsyle was already waiting for him.
"Amous said he attacks farther up, around the tenth landing. Should I rest or should I go?" Xsyle said nothing, only cocked her head further to one side. "Fine then we'll keep going." They moved onward, each of his steps echoing against the raw stone like a horses hoof on a chariot track.
The muffled thuds stirred outward on the breeze, drifiting upward to the concealed crevass where something unspeakably evil stirred. It's long snout poked out into the wind and took three long sniffs. Satisfied that it's prey was approaching, the Grippion oozed out of it's diurnal dwelling and into the cool shadows of it's hunting time.
Xsyle must have known where it was but she gave Inthas no warning. He almost didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. The thing seemed to drop out of the stars and land all around them with sticky, pus covered legs and the stench of death covering them. A tounge as stout as warf rope, thick as a tree limb, and slimy as most innards are descended to wrap around Inthas's neck.
He hacked about him ineffectually with his sword, the bespelled blade barely denting the thing's gooey hide. He did managed to strike a heavy blow on the tounge and spared himself the fate of suffocation. He made the mistake of glancing upwards though, looking into a maw filled with six circular rows rotting, yellow fangs, black boiles, and three long toungs that led to the belly of the beast.
A stench like nothing he'd ever known before made Inthas rech as his stomach heaved and his eyes water, blurring his vision. He raised his sword again and felt the beasts maw close on his arm like a vice, the teeth grating shrilly on his armor. Legs, too many for one creature to have possession of, gripped him with their chipped, green claws, as the pus slathered his armor, making him stick within it's grasp. "Xsyle help me!"
She shook her head. "I can't! The Grappion is a Tainted Wirinia. Wirinia are only vernerable to powerful magic!" Inthas groaned as he felt the bones in his arm snap. Great and he'd never finished his Advanced Arcana lessons! Even the sword, enchanted both by man and Gods, and he hadn't a clue how to use it's powers.
"Maybe you should have taught me magic then!" His leg buckled under him. He tried to call on the Lord...to no avail. "This things sheilding me!" Xsyle glumly nodded as a talon passed through her.
"Mabye I should have but you must try Inthas...you must try. Surely you know a spell that might defeat the monster!" Inthas racked his brain, trying to both resisted the beast and summon the ability to cast. "I'm not a wizard Xsyle! You have to help me! You can't let me die here!"
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What do they do?
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"Music makes you braver."
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LordoftheNight
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| Posted: Tue Apr 25, 2006 2:59 pm Post subject: |
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Umm..die?
Reload from the last saved point?
Get cheats from the internet?
Buy a new game?
Realisitcally though - or as realistic as a story can be - could she fuse with the creature in some way, and try and control it? Or at least withstrain it long enough for him to summon something up?
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Ravenwing
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| Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:22 am Post subject: |
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Well if Inthas can't do magic, how is he going to summon something? It was Xysle that called forth the flying horses.
Is there a possibility of having the weapons magiked or something? Would that work?
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Kalanna Rai
Assassin for Hire
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| Posted: Wed Apr 26, 2006 11:21 am Post subject: |
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His sword's already got uber enchantment's upon it Rave...unfortunately he hasn't gotten to the point in his lessons where he knows how to use them.
But the fusing with the creature thing is an interesting possibility...I could do some good twists on that...
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"Music makes you braver."
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Sun Apr 30, 2006 7:53 pm Post subject: |
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Okay poll's up...do some vote casting!
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Smee
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| Posted: Mon May 01, 2006 11:37 am Post subject: |
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Hey Kalanna,
Good to see the Hero being tested a bit.
I voted for summoning the horses - time we see what they can do.
Happy Writing 
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Ravenwing
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| Posted: Tue May 02, 2006 9:17 am Post subject: |
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I agree with Smee. Surely these mystic horses can do something more than fly.
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Stories
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Sat May 27, 2006 1:36 am Post subject: |
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Right, well I can't leave you hanging now can I? Time to get moving on these chappys...
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Chapter Eleven: A Loss of Guidance
For a moment Xsyle stood there as if paralyzed and Inthas feared, more now than ever, for his life. The wretched creature above him gave a gods awful shriek before bearing down with it's full weight. A tear leaked out of his eye as the bones in his broken arm first ground together then punched through his skin to scrape the inside of his armor. Starbursts of pain lanced across his vision. "Xsyle!"
The Wirinia suddenly backed off and gave a terrible shriek as a large boulder landed on it. Xsyle, perched on a jutting rock just above them leaned out and whistled shrilly. Inthas felt the rippling of magic again, just like he'd felt it on the mountain when she'd summoned the horses for the first time. Wirinia felt them two, it's mutilated head whirling around to search for the source of the magic.
"Inthas, get away from it now! I'll keep it distracted until the horses arrive!" Inthas didn't see the point in calling the horses, other than to make a quick escape, but he was more than glad to try scrambling away from the putrid Grappion. Yet fate was not with them. The moment Inthas moved the rattle of his armor alerted the creature that it's wounded supper was escaping.
It spun viciously, lashing out with it's spare legs, and knocked Inthas off balance. He only just managed to catch hold of the rock, digging steel clad fingers into the solid stone, before he hurtled into space. More boulders rained down upon the Grappion as Xsyle scrambled across the rock face, nimble as a squirrle, and kept pelting the distracted creature.
For a moment, Inthas breathed a sigh of reliefe...then his fingers began to slide. As he trickled ever closer to his sealed fate, something, a tiny spark long dimmed by mis, and dis, use flaired to white hot brilliance. Reaching deep inside himself, Inthas sent out his own Call to Horefrost and Balefire. His own ethreal whistle to the flying steeds whipped out through the night, it's power drowning Xsyle's tenative whisper like a rogue wave a fishing vessel.
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Back in Ridgegate Amous's head pulled up at the same time the stallion's did, hearing a call no one else in town could have. He simply lifted the half finished harness off Balefire and nodded to the pair. "That's right boy's. Go help your master." Horefrost snorted, lipping the magical tack that adorned his snowy back. Amous shook his head. "GO ON! GET!!"
The stallions didn't need to be told twice. They lept skyward, massive wings churning the night air into mismatched eddys of hot volcanic ash and chilling winter snow. Townspeople stared out their windows in awe and more than one child that night ended his prayers to the Gods with 'and I want a magical flying steed when I grow up.'
Like star and it's shadow, they flew off, snorting smoke and freezing fog, ready to do battle with whatever it was that had the audacity to threaten THEIR master.
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"Xsyle...I...I'm slipping!" Xsyle lept off the cliff face, passed through the now completely befuddled Grappion, and gripped Inthas's arm in a vice. He stared at her white cloth bandage, desperately wishing he could stare into her eyes, because that was how the hero's in old legends always died, and realized that he really was about to die.
Xsyle's grip tightened as if she could sense his dispare. "Hold on Inthas. Don't give up the fight because the odds aren't in your favor." The Grappion shot out a leg, aiming for the magical disturbence around Inthas's hand and roared in frustration as it passed through Xsyle's intangible form once again. She kicked one of the many loose rocks at it and grinned when the creature clutched a wounded eye.
Inthas felt himself loose another inch. "Tell me Xsyle...what's dying like." The assassin, with a sever frown, reached down with a long leg, and kicked him lightly across the face.
"Only the weak die Inthas! Only the pathetic give up! The God's didn't choose you because you were weak and pathetic! Fight man! Find your will to survive!" Inthas tried, tried to use his broken arm as dead weight leverage, tried to haul himself up.
Whatever power had allowed him to summon the horses burned even hotter within him, seemed to blaze like a million suns. He felt it filling ever empty place in him, streaching the bounds of his soul to capacity. He closed his eyes and sought deep. For a moment the world went still as a God Chosen Paladin came into his own.
A million miles distant, raging in his tower over the loss of his precious pets and the slow going of his war, the Dark Lord felt this emerging power and glanced nervously at the pair of swords mounted on his wall. He relaxed only slightly when they didn't even quiver. "A Paladin...how charming." His laughter made his guards shiver and his smile would have done his master proud.
In Ascanda, the Lady congratulated the Lord on his fine choice for a mortal crusader. The Lord shook his head. "He only now opens his eyes. Don't call him a warrior before he takes his first steps." Behind them four sets of elemental eyes met, wondering how their mistress's spirit faired.
In a deep darkness many coils rustled and the Evil One himself stirred. Opening a pair of eyes greener than vile poison, he moved closer to the blood pool that allowed himself to view the Outside. He saw the face of the young Paladin, saw the shade of the assassin and chortled to himself. "My minion truely has his work cut out for him. Your move enemy mine..."
Kneeling on the cold stone of the mountain Xsyle swore as the Power flaired around her. Pure white light coursed up Inthas's arm and into her own aura. She gritted her teeth as the innocence of the man flooded her own corrupt system, feeling like a flaying knife slowly peeling her skin away inch by inch. Yet she would not let Inthas fall...she would not allow her grip to weaken. With an effort most living men could not have called upon, Xsyle pulled her feet under her and heaved.
Slowly she hauled Inthas onto the rock landing, standing herself up in the process. With unseeing eyes she saw a truer picture of the young warrior than either the Dark Lord or the Gods, both evil and not. She shook her weary head. "Boy...you've got trouble ahead...too much trouble."
A ringing neigh split the air followed by another. Twin jets of ice and fire poured out of the sky, targeting the Grappion, who'd been bliding and stunned by the waves of power pouring off Inthas. The beast gave one massive scream of pain before becoming little more than dust on the night wind.
A small jewel winked from within the pile of ash. Xsyle bent to retrive it and turned, holding the gem to Inthas. He reached out a gauntleted hand was surprised when he realized it was his broken arm that took the gem from Xsyle's palm. He stared at her. "But how..."
His question was cut short as the unflappable Xsyle collapsed to the ground, like a puppet who's strings have been cut, and seemed to fade. "XSYLE!"
"Go Inthas. Go to the Tower and find the Scroll. I'll meet you there I promise." Even as the frightened Paladin's hands passed through her form like sand through an hourglass, she smiled. "Go. I leave the Map to guide you. Make haste Inthas. The darkest hours are still approaching."
He knelt there for a few moments, staring at his useless, empty hands. The horses nosed him and stamped their hooves, worried and impaitent to be on their way. His sword lay a few feet away, glimmering with the first ray's of a cheerless dawn. Lacking any zeal or motivation beyond the fact he couldn't be without a sword, Inthas reached out and took it, consigning it, and his armor, back into the jewel with one beleaugered thought.
He stood, the weary stand of an utterly defeated man, and barely managed to haul himself onto Horefrosts back, strapping himself into the harness. The white stallion fixed him with one blue eye and gave a worried whicker as Balefire came over to nudge his hair. Inthas managed a worn smile. "I'm fine boys. Back to Ridgegate I should think. We'll plot our moves from there."
As the steeds took to the sky in the earilest rays of the new dawn Inthas felt the glow inside him. It had diminished now, from raging sunfire to single candle glow, and seemed as small and weak as a newborn kitten. He suddenly realized what a force Xsyle had about her, a presence and a power he was only now beginning to feel in it's abscense.
He rubbed his hands over his face and allowed a few tears of fear, shame, and regret to fall. "I cannot gain without losing, I cannot lose and continue to gain. How am I to use this power of mine if I don't know the first thing about it?" As Ridgegate came into sight, Inthas stared at the gem Xsyle had handed him.
"This is all that's left of the creature that nearly destroyed me. I wonder what's so special about it?" He looked from the gem to the town and back to the gem. Too many things were happening to Inthas, too many new problems. "Life seemed so simple when all I had to do was keep walking and plug my ears. Now what am I going to do?"
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What's Inthas going to do now folks?
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"It's not just about living forever...the trick is living with yourself forever..."
"Music makes you braver."
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Ravenwing
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| Posted: Wed May 31, 2006 2:08 pm Post subject: |
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Nice chapter, Rai. It was nice to have a new chapter to read after being away for so long.
Well I think we should listen to Xysle and head for the Tower.
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Sun Jun 04, 2006 10:01 pm Post subject: |
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Just read this entire story, its really addictive. I like it a lot.
Inthas should naturally do as Xsyle says and go to the tower and find the scroll. However I dont see it as urgent. He should go back to Amous, ask what the deal was with the Grappion and get his harness for Balefire. Then after he has rested, he can go to the tower.
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Wed Jun 07, 2006 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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Thanks Reg and it's nice to see a new face around H/A. Thanks all for the comments I'll see if I can't get a poll going over here soon...but first I've got chappys in other stories to write.
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"It's not just about living forever...the trick is living with yourself forever..."
"Music makes you braver."
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Ravenwing
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| Posted: Sat Jun 10, 2006 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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Well you did start writing a lot of stories, Rai. I guess they all just caught up to you. LOL. I will be looking for that poll. 
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Our greatest glory is not in never falling but in rising every time we fall.
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Thu Jul 06, 2006 1:10 am Post subject: |
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Hey guys, girls, and assorted mystical creatures out there I'm back from my too long forced hiatus! Here's your poll now start paying attention again...there's a few two part chappys brewin' if youse all will start voting.
*flies off to write more on other stories.*
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| Posted: Fri Jul 28, 2006 11:09 am Post subject: |
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Well this is a low point in the tale's life but it will continue...the outlook seems bleak though. Please dear readers return...
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Chapter Twelve part One: Unexpected
The whole town seemed to be waiting for him, roused from their beds by the surge of Inthas's power, called to stand in the square as their hero returned. As he landed on his shimmering white horse, the sun sparkling off his beautiful armor and sitting behind his head like a halo, they clapped, cheering his victory. He forced a smile and extended the jewel toward the townspeople. "I bring you proof the beast is dead!"
A gasp ran through the crowd as the sparkel of light in their eyes reflected the sparkle of light in the heart of the jewel. "Quite a treasure you've got there boy. It was merely a rumor that the Grappion had that in his possession." Jhodivar licked his greasy lips. Inthas held it out to him.
"Take it. It belongs to the village does it not?" Inthas was shocked when Jhodivar and all the villagers surrounding him recoiled from the gem as though he was offering them a vile poison instead.
"Nay young Thatz. That is your treasure now. We'd like to kindly ask you to take it an go." That really surprised him. Go? As in go before they became an angery mob and chased him out? The horses were becoming defensive and Inthas worried he might injure one of the townsfolk before he made good his escape.
"Just a minute now! I havn't finished the tack for that black beast of your's yet sonny! I ain't gonna have it laying around my shop until my bones turn to dust! You just get down off that white horse and come help me finish!" Inthas could have kissed Amous at that instant.
The cranky old man was standing there shaking a feeble fist at him. With a sigh of reliefe Inthas slid off Horefrost's back and politely excused himself from the villagers, who parted for him to pass, many making the ward against evil. With an angery snort Balefire followed, his hoofprints charred into the mud.
Once they were safely back in Amous's shop Inthas took the soft rag the old man handed him and began to buff his brestplate. After a few strokes the engraved insignia of his order reappeared. "I have to hand it to you Amous. That stuff really worked."
"Humph. I'm old not stupid. I know what works and what doesn't. Hold still!" The last bit was directed at Balefire who moved to nudge his master affectionately. "Hum, these two really seem to be fond of you. How'd you manage to do that? Most magical horses I've met in my lifetime would rather take your arm off than take sugar out of your hand."
Inthas opened his mouth and promptly shut it again. He didn't have a ready made explanation for where they horses had come from...nor why they seemed fond of him. It wasn't like he could tell the old man that he was the Lord's Paladin and the horses had probably sensed that and decided it was better to like him than hate him. "Speechless eh?"
"Well sir I don't rightly know how to explain it. I was just in the right place at the right time. I'm lucky you could say." Faster than an old man should have been able to move Amous reached out and caught Inthas's chin just as his armor vanished back into the 'cloak pin'.
"Luck has nothing to do with it boy. I knew from the moment I saw you you had an air about you. And I don't mean that spirit that was traveling with you. By the way, what happened to that?" Inthas watched the old man's gaze soften as he clenched his jaw to control his emotions. He might only have met Xsyle a few days ago but time had flowed much slower in the realms of sleep. Maybe she was unaffected but Inthas was rather attached to her.
Her loss hurt just like the loss of any dear friend. Amous's hand moved to pat his shoulder. "I'm sorry boy. Lemme guess. The spirit of a good friend hung around to help you after they passed on and the Grappion managed to dispell them?"
"Something like that. Only..." Amous didn't press him to finish. He merely went back to stitching the leather tack together.
"Hey, there's some warm cider on the stove in the back. A bit of bread and cheese in the cupboards too. I feel a might peckish myself and I've no doubt that the fight took quite a bit out of you."
"I can't take your food..."
"Eh, what's that? I'm a mite deaf you know. If you'll just get that food you could sit closer..." Inthas smiled. That old man could probably hear better than a rabbit. Gathering two wooden mugs, a pot of cider, a basket of bread, and the wedge of cheese he walked back into the shop. "That's better. Now sit and we'll talk while I finished the tack for this fiery fellow."
"I'm not much of a talker sir..."
"No you're not much of a liar. If I'm not mistaken you're normally an open fellow. However, the reason you're not much of a talker at the moment is because you have some secrets you don't want people to know and are afraid that any attempt at honest conversation is going to end up with you pouring out the whole story. You're also afraid that the cider is going to help."
"Don't miss much do you. She was right about that." Amous's busy eyebrows went up.
"She eh? So your spirit was a lady friend? Mother, Sister, Former Lover?" He winked and burst out laughing at the shocked expression on Inthas's face. "I'll rule out the third one then."
Inthas blew the steam off the top of the mug and took a slow sip. "She was my trainer. Taught me more than I had any right to know. Might have been a little rough around the edges but..."
"But aren't we all. Hand me that pin, thanks." Amous took a long look at Inthas's face and sighed. "Well I've got no secrets to hide so I might as well tell ye why I even agreed to make this tack in the first place." Inthas turned attentively, refilling the man's mug at the same time.
"Once I was young. I was also foolish, reckless, and did as I damn well pleased. I was a bit of an archer and knew how to track like no man's buisness. I didn't like my home much, was too keen on getting out and seeing the world. Half my family wasn't happy about that, the other half practically shoved me out the door." Amous's hands moved of their own accord, his eyes taking on a faraway look common to old men remniscing.
"I fell in with a rough crowd and, too soon, was so indebted to them that I couldn't have gotten away had I wanted too. I was in a mercinary company you see, a sniper for them, and they had enough dirt on my to have a nice fat bounty on my head at any time. I've long suspected the reason they never did was because of a friend of mine.
His name was Duliale and he was a Koshugon blade-mage. Not only was he the best blade-mage I've ever met it was rumored he was the kindred of the dire assassin Adara." At the mention of the name Adara Inthas felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He had sworn to end the life of that foul nightblade, been tracking her down when his mother had died.
"I see you've heard of her? Well even if he was related to her, although he wasn't the kind to lie about something like that, he was very different from her. He didn't want to be in the company any more than I did but he had too. He had a wife and kid, he had to feed them somehow. And as a rumored relative of Pharl's most infamous assassin he didn't get many oppertunities for work.
He saved my life you know. We were hired by a lord to bolster the strength of his garrison. What he didn't tell us was we would be doing that by being bait. We walked right into the enemy lines and were swarmed. I was up in a tree, fireing arrow after arrow until my quiver was dry and their archers were shooting back. One hit me, knocked me from the tree, and their knights surrounded me.
Next thing I knew Duliale was there, cutting through them like they were nothing. I remember he looked at me and said run just as a spear took him through the shoulder. I knew a death wound when I saw it and he screamed something in that language of his that I still don't understand to this day." Amous stopped what he was doing, his hands trembling.
"What I do understand is that the sky turned black, as black as pitch, and a storm whirled up from nowhere. The wind howled, the thunder boomed, and the lightning flashed. I was there, watching him, too stunned to move, when a figure just appeared beside him. Just one flash of lightning and the figure wasn't there, the next flash it was.
I was a woman, a beautiful woman, all in black armor. Oddest armor I've ever seen at that. Never seen anything like it, never could make anything like it, but it was beautiful. He whispered something to her, something I still couldn't understand, and I watched as a tear slid down her nose and she grasped his hands even tighter.
Why he didn't heal himself I don't know. Why she didn't try I can't tell you either. But I can tell you that that woman took the feild. When she walked out there there were nearly a hundred knights on their chargers and around fourty of me mates were still standing. When she walked off that field, not a soul remained."
"Adara." Inthas breathed the name. Amous could have been lying but something, something deep in Inthas, a sixth sense if you will, told him he wasn't. Amous nodded.
"I thought she was going to kill me when she walked back but instead she just picked him up, picked Duliale up like he weighed nothing and looked at me with those eyes of hers...those eyes..." Amous shook himself. " and she said the same thing he had...run."
For a moment there was silence, a long moment. "I'll be damned if I didn't. I ran, fast and hard, and kept on running, until I came to this little hole. I've hid here ever since boy." Amous went back to working, finishing the last touches on the tack.
"My spirit friend was right then. About you being an elf. Because the time of Adara was long ago...very long ago." Amous looked at him.
"And you were there too, just like I was. Those times were your times though I'll be damned if I know how you've managed to stay the hand of time. You were probably another one of those knights that was hunting her down weren't you." Inthas nodded. "Well boy I havn't stayed hidden all these years for no reason. It's said that Koshugon don't age, that they'll live forever unless something kills them."
"There are no koshugon anymore. They've all been killed." Amous looked at him.
"And there are no Knights of the Skyeye Rose yet one stands before me. It's written in the book of the Gods that the Koshugon saw the beginning of this world and that they'll see the end of it. It's my thinking that if any Koshugon could have survived long the scourging it would have been Adara." With a last pat Amous finished the Balefire's armor.
"So that's what made you help me? That I was a Knight of a long dead order?" Amous shook his head. He looked Inthas square in the eye, lock their gazes so tightly Inthas hadn't the heart to look away.
"What made me help you was the fact you look like a damn replica of Duliale."
----------------------
Don't you just wanna read part two?
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 4:04 am Post subject: |
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| Kalanna Rai wrote: | | Don't you just wanna read part two? |
Yes, yes I do! Quickly! 
By the way, that chapter could have used a spellcheck.
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Chinaren
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| Posted: Tue Aug 01, 2006 4:17 am Post subject: |
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Ooh, nice chapter there Rai, except the typos and a couple of grammar oddities. 
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Wed Aug 02, 2006 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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Hehehe...so the plot thickens...well keep your camo on Reg. I'' be getting there soon now that interest seems to have returned. I'll try to have it out before weeks end, it's Wednesday here in U.S.A. just to let you know.
And China...what would one of my stories be without typos? At least I'm spellin does right...
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| Posted: Sun Aug 13, 2006 12:41 am Post subject: |
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Right, now for part two. Enjoy
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Chapter Twelve part Two: Happenings
She was falling down, no being pulled down, dragged by a million unseen hands each as powerful as her own. She oozed through the rock, living essence, until something stopped her, absorbed her. For a moment there was a disjointed feeling, a feeling of weight, and then a skin slipped over her, fitting her just as it should. Her body, her flesh, whole.
This did not bode well in her mind. Yet before she had time to ponder it Xsyle hit a rock floor with a thud that might have killed a lesser creature or certainly shattered most of the bones in it's lower extremites. As it was she sprained her ankle and cut the soles of her feet. A curse slipped between her lips. Her spirit might have been armored with astral replicas of her armor and minor weapons but her mortal flesh was attired in little more than a sheer silk sleeping gown and the soft cloth over her eyes.
Not good if it came down to fighting, especially not here. After a moment of gentle kneeding with the tips of her fingers Xsyle stood. Head cocked to one side she cast about her with senses not possessed by the average person. She swore again. "You must admit that this time I have bested you A..."
"Do not call me that. Say nothing more, you've done quite enough." A dark chuckle swamped her hearing, so vast and encompassing it gave her no sense of where she was or what was around her. But she knew, as all creatures know, great evil ringed her...and she was centered in his coils.
"What, you don't want to know how I managed it? How I stole your sleeping flesh out from under your attentive Masters." She ground her teeth.
"I am not a dog to need a leash, nor a churl to bear mundane burdens. I have no need of masters as only you would dare call me a servant." There was a sound a thousand times worse than nails on a chalk board, yet it rustled like silk on rough planks or the flipping of a thousand old pages in a thousand old books. Evil was moving.
"I would never call you servant. I've never wanted to call you servant. All I've ever asked of you is simplicity itself. I made you, my perfect weapon, shaped you in ways no other could. Cursed you, yes, and blessed you. My weapons fail against your skin, my poisons burn from your blood, and my lies tear like silk before your eyes. Tell me, why have you turned against me?"
She smiled, a truely cold gesture that must have thrilled him to no end. "When you forge a double-edged weapon you must realize that, when you weild it, it may just as well cut your flesh as that of your opponant. I hate to say it but you are not skilled enought to weild such a weapon without injury."
Before another breath could escape her she felt her limbs each encircled by a stout coil as flexible as spiders' silk and just as strong. Scales shreeded the thin dress and bit into her skin, freeing blood to slicken the embrace. Slowly the coils moved, bending Xsyle into a position she might never have been able to obtain save that she had centuries of stretching behind her.
With the ease of a man with all the time in the world his claws, as long as your forearm and as sharp as chipped obsidian, traced along her throat and onto her face. "You dare speak out against me? Your creator?" She spat, aimlessly since she truely was blind at the moment, and was rewarded by a tightening of coils and an angery hiss from him. "Wench."
"You did not create me, nor did they. All of you have twisted me to suit your purposes but only as I humor you. Curse me, bless me, do what you wish but break me...I think not." The claws drug across her face, drawing cuts she knew would scar, marring her face even further. Slowly one caught the edge of the cloth binding her eyes and tipped it up, exposing the empty sockets to the fetid breath that caressed her face in the scent of carrion.
Two claws played at the edge of the sockets, the ragged edges healed by the march of time, reopening the wounds. Wherever the claws stroked came a felling of rot and decay even though she knew neither of those things touched her. The coils twisted her body yet again, causing her to grit her teeth. "A pity really. All these chains heaped upon you, holding you down." The claws pulled back and a forked toung stroked her face as if to make her feel the next words even more.
"Could it be that the one thing you fear is yourself?" The claws descended. She swore as she was thrust into, the claws exploring deeper into the hollows her eyes once occupied. For a moment he was content, then, as suddenly as he came, he withdrew from her. With a blood slick hand she reached up and pulled the cloth down about her empty eyes. Standing like a bent paper doll, she seemed to glide across the floor. "Yes come to me."
He allowed her to sense now, to find her berings. Once again she saw him, or what she could with the imperfect system that served as her sight. She gazed up at him and, with the same lightning speed that had marked her every attack before, she moved, loosening one of the many chains the wrapped her blackened soul in spun gold. With the ease of long practice she looped the garrote around the neck of Sylidor, the dark god.
"If I fear my self, how much more should others?" The evil one gurgled, all of his vast power useless against this, a chain spun from the powers of the Twins themselves. "I could end this war now, destroy you here, in your own lair." Again the gurgles. "True, no god can be destroyed, but I can certainly scatter your power, leaving you too weak to try anything till Pharl is less than desolate."
She eased the pressure, swinging out of his grasp. Rubbing his neck the he chuckled. "You will see. The day will come when sight means more than honor, then you will accept my gift and see again. My Desciple certainly has his work cut out for him. Tell me again why you didn't kill him? If you could destroy me you could have scattered his soul to the wind." Seeing the turn of the conversation she began to search for a way out.
But evil has a way of cutting to the quick of your soul, of finding that which you dearly want hidden and dragging it to light. Truth is the ultimate double-edged weapon and evil may use it at will, as he did so now. "Could it be after all those lessons that you still neglect your master's first lesson? That love is useless? Come now don't tell me that you spared him simpled because he's your..."
The chain lashed cross his snout, cutting off his words like a knife might cut a cord. "Speak again and I'll finish what I started today. I would rather lose my honor than defile my blade. My master could do many things, beat from me the ancient customs of my people was one thing he could not. Now if you'll excuse me I've your downfall to instigate and your plans to ruin. Have a nice day."
With that Xsyle tugged the chain in her hand and only now did the dark god realize that the other end of the chain floated up and disappeared, a link with his hated enemies. As he reached out to her, Xsyle slipped through his talons like the shade she'd been only moments before.
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Inthas stared at Amous like you would stare at a three headed hydra. "What did you say?"
"I said you look like him, just like him." Amous squinted. "Well like him when he was passing himself off as human. You had a human mother if I'm not mistaken right? Duliale had a human wife, at least he always said so. I've waited years for this, centuries in fact. I've always wanted to repay what he did for me somehow and now I can."
"By making me tack?" Amous looked at him with the strangest mix of anger, horror, and disgust on his face.
"Is that all you think my life is worth boy? A couple pieces of tack! No! I'm talking help on your quest. Now don't bother telling me you're not on a quest, the half-blood son of a long dead blade-mage, wearing the armor of a long vanished order, riding steeds of legend, weilding a blade of divine might, and accompanied by spirits of great power is not on anything but a quest." Inthas shut his mouth.
"Now I'm obviously too old to go with you but if you're willing to make a slight detour on your travels, because I'm sure you're not going anywhere near this place, I can arrange for my niece to come with you."
"Your niece?" The image of a young woman with a broom in pesant garb came to mind. "What would she know of war? Of weaponry?" Amous smiled in the way Inthas knew, from long experiance with Xsyle, ment he was in for a mental adjustment.
"I'm sure you realize I'm not human. Bet you might even know I've got elven blood in me. Well what you don't know is that I'm a half-elf, or that my mother was the nobel Lady Triannnia. My niece is Illiriae Asaelor, I'm sure you've heard that name before." Inthas's jaw dropped.
"The Sypi Archer herself." Sypi was an ancient elven term meaning, to command magic, or to bend magic. Needless to day it wasn't given out often. Amous smiled even wider.
"She's always had a bit of a soft spot for me. I used to carry her around on my shoulders and give her sweets. Tell her stories and such. I'm sure she'd be willing to help you, if you're willing to treck to the Arelliniania to find her." With a sinking feeling Inthas pulled out the map Xsyle had left with him.
The Arelliniania was in the far west, well out of his way. It would add months to his journey. "How will you get a message to her." Amous rubbed his hands together.
"You leave that to me. I'll make sure she knows your coming." Inthas stared at the map again. Surely the God's were arranging this for him, repayment for losing Xsyle. Another mage, an archer at that. Yet if they truely wanted Illiriae to travel with him, couldn't they also arrange for her to meet him a little closer to his destination?
Perhaps Amous could send a message asking her that? Or would that be rude? Inthas didn't understand much about elves but he did understand that they didn't hurry...ever. Yet time was of the essence. What was he going to do?
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Well?
-------------
You like?
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:01 am Post subject: |
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Ask Amous whether it would be polite to send a message asking Illiriae to meet him closer to the destination. Also ask whether she is likely to agree without meeting in person.
If the answer to either question is "no", he should go to her, despite the detour.
If the answers are yes, send the message, being as convincing as possible, and go to the meeting point with all haste.
Powerful allies are always a good thing.
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dragon_fire372
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| Posted: Fri Sep 01, 2006 3:27 pm Post subject: |
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Wow, I finally caught up with this story. Very good, it is.
Anyway, I agree with Duk Reg. We need someone else to help us. She might even be able to help Inthas learn to control his magic better.
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 2:20 pm Post subject: |
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Welcome D-Fire and thanks for the comment. I'd nearly consigned this one to the collection heap.
I should be getting the new poll up in a couple of days so keep your eyes open.
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"Music makes you braver."
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Mon Sep 04, 2006 2:21 pm Post subject: |
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Welcome D-Fire and thanks for the comment. I'd nearly consigned this one to the collection heap.
I should be getting the new poll up in a couple of days so keep your eyes open.
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"It's not just about living forever...the trick is living with yourself forever..."
"Music makes you braver."
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Fri Sep 08, 2006 10:54 pm Post subject: |
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Right there's a new poll here too...Better hurry up and vote for the proper option...
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Thu Sep 14, 2006 10:54 pm Post subject: |
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Right I'm letting the poll continue for a few more days to try and get a few more people to vote. As it stands I'm indebted to one reader in particular, you know who you are, for keeping this story alive.
Thanks from the management.
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"Music makes you braver."
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 4:43 pm Post subject: |
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Okay sending off a message...Enjoy.
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Chapter Thirteen: A Cry for Help
Inthas looked at Amous and rubbed his chin. No offense sir but the 'quest' I'm on right now is of paramount importance. I cannot afford costly delays such as a detour to the elven wood. However, I am alone now on this quest, and can ill afford to turn down help of this nature. Would it be possible to send your niece a message asking her if she would come to meet me a little closer, and would she even agree to such a thing having never met me?"
Amous squinted at him in a most disconcerting manner. "Well you think like he did...weigh all the options then make the best decision you can. I can ask Illiriae if she would consent to meeting you...but she's going to want to know more about you and the nature of this quest you're on...If you cannot tell me such then I cannot help you."
For a moment Inthas struggled to come to terms with this. It was indeed a reasonable request, certainly he would have wanted to know more. Yet he couldn't tell Amous much...he still didn't know how the message was being sent. "I would like to know how you will get such a message across such a distence. The matters you seek to know cannot be transported if there is even the slightest chance my foes might get ahold of them."
Glancing around Amous cackled a bit, flexing his knarled old fingers. "Wait here boy." With that he stood and shuffled off into the dark back of the shop. Many minutes later he returned cradling something in the crook of his arm. Sitting down with a groan and the popping of old bones, Amous set a small velvet-wapped lump on the bench between them.
With a gentle touch he flicked the folds of the cloth open, revealing an emerald stone the size of a grown man's fist. It was polished smooth, light sinking into it's surface, patterns like leaf and water rolling in it's heart. "Behold and elven loliedra one of the great speaking-stones." Inthas stared, enraptured. He'd heard of such things but they were so rare that few other than powerful elf-folk could have ever seen them.
Yet here was one, close enough to touch if he dared. He reached out a cautious hand, reaching for the liquid seeming surface, only to have Amous rap his hand across the knuckles. "Ah, ah. Can't have you touching it...who know's who you might talk to. This stone let's you speak with kindred only. Useful for elves since all elves are descended from the same family, but for you..." Amous stared at him.
Inthas could understand. If he truely was Duliale's son then he might very well end up speaking to Adara...and that was not something Inthas felt he'd relish doing...considering that the dark mage he was up against might well command her loyalty. "So you will speak to her using this?"
"And you will as well boy. She carries a stone on her at all times, making it possible for us not only to hear and see each other, but for our companions to as well." Inthas frowned, if anyone was around the Sypi archer when he spoke to her then they would hear the message as well. Guessing the train of his thoughs Amous remarked, "You'll have to trust my niece to be prudent."
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Back in Ascanda Xsyle landed at the feet of the Gods with a bone shattering thud. Above her THEY conferred, their conversation not reaching her ears, it was not ment for her. Above her a drake, her drake, called out in both exclamation and relife. She'd returned, safe, but far less sound than she had been when she left. Taint oozed off of her now, like poison oil.
Her body was alternately hot and cold, pain wracking her and leaving her shuddering. And, of course, there was still his latest 'blessing' something she wanted like...well like she wanted to be dead. A weight pressed on her back.
We should destroy you now! The weight increased and Xsyle panted feeling the breath driven out of her. Her ears started ringing as her lungs labored for breath. Then suddenly the weight vanished. But we won't. For now you still serve a purpose...For now. There was a sudden feeling of being torn in two and suddenly her spirit and her body were seperate again.
"Does this mean you want me to go back to chaperoneing Inthas?" The weight returned. "I guess not?"
We don't want you Tainting him. She felt like laughing but wisely didn't.
"How am I supposed to Taint him? It's not like I can suddenly transfer my misfortune upon him..." There was a sense of THEM mulling it over. She didn't feel it was prudent to point out that if they had kept her better protected she wouldn't be in this situation.
We have decided. She looked at them. You may return...when he has reached the Tower. Xsyle spluttered.
"But...but..." The weight returned.
That's final. The Presences departed and Xsyle, in a childish moment, stuck her tounge out at them. So she was stuck here until Inthas reached the tower? Setting herself infront of one of Ascanda's many pools she trailed her fingers in the water, summoning a vision of a shadowy figure.
"Who...oh it's you...What's with the headgear?" Xsyle smiled.
"Nevermind the new look...interested in a little excitment?"
"What did you have in mind?"
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Back at Amous's Inthas swollowed hard. All of Amous's arguments were sound, especially the point about trust...but Inthas was new come to the job and sorely lacking guidance and training. Any help would be welcome but not at the cost of damning Pharl.
He turned to Amous yet his decision was stuck in his throat.
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What should he do?
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Well I've left you with another DP, sorry the chappy didn't move things much but everything you heard was of importance....Make informed decisions.
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"It's not just about living forever...the trick is living with yourself forever..."
"Music makes you braver."
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dinranwen
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| Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:31 pm Post subject: |
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Greetings dragoness. Came in because well to blunt I was bored, and the title lurred me into reading five pages. Let me say even though my eyes are killing me right now, it was worth it.
The title definetly seems to fit, and if this continues the way it does, it will be a great story.
As for the DP, I would say to accept the help offered. You may not know the girl well, or even who's near her, but right now I think our paladin is going to need all the help he can get. Plus there's the added bonus that if the neice agrees, our paladin may be able to convinence her to help train him in using the new magic he has gained.
The cons of not accepting the help far outway the consquences of accepting it, therefore take all the help you can get, cross your fingers and hope for the best.
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 8:53 am Post subject: |
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Welcome to Pharl Din...glad to see you jumping on in. As for your eyes hurting...sorry. Hope you enjoy the rest of the ride as much as you enjoyed the first five pages.
P.S. Con you who me?
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"It's not just about living forever...the trick is living with yourself forever..."
"Music makes you braver."
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Wed Sep 20, 2006 5:21 pm Post subject: |
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| Kalanna Rai wrote: | | P.S. Con you who me? |
Kalanna Rai cons like a pro. 
Bad puns aside, I am still in favour of getting help. A powerful ally is worth the risks.
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Tue Sep 26, 2006 1:17 am Post subject: |
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New poll.
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Fri Sep 29, 2006 3:13 pm Post subject: |
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Right the people have spoken and Inthas must be trusting. Enjoy.
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Chapter Fourteen: Ride the Wild Wind
Inthas cleared his throat once, then twice before staring into Amous's eyes. The old man had been trusting enough to tell him the secrets of his past and offer Inthas the key to Pharl's future, Inthas could not afford to question motives. "All right. I'll tell her, tell her everything I know."
Amous's eyebrows twitched upwards. "Everything you know...you mean you don't know it all?" Inthas shook his head, he didn't even know the half of it.
"No, the spirit traveling with me was my guide. She knew everything, or more than she told me at any rate. All I know is what I will relate once you've got that loliedra working." Amous nodded before taking the stone in his bare hands. He closed his eyes, humming ever so slightly.
A glow gathered, like morning dew, on the stone. Slowly a vapor of pure light arose, swirling like a phantom mist in the air, until it formed a circular window. The ageless face of a beautiful elf maid appeared in the pulsing fog. "Uncle Amous! You shouldn't strain yourself so." Amous grinned.
"Ah you always did scold me so Illiriae." The Sypi Archer smiled and then seemed to notice Inthas for the first time, Amous glanced at him. "Oh pardon my rudeness. Illiriae this is my friend Inthas. He has a quest of great importance that he needs your help on."
The elf maid raised a scornful eyebrow. "You seem well enough...what quest is so important or so dangerous that you seek my aid?" Inthas nodded to the lady in the smoke.
"My name is Sir Inthas Jurrsonne. I am a junior knight of the Skyeye Rose. Over four hundred years ago I was sent on my Quest to gain seniority in my order...I volunteered to track down the assassin Adara. I had not been gone long when word reached me that my mother died. By the time I arrived home she'd already been interred in the Wight Caves."
Inthas took a calming breath. He hadn't talked about himself in a long time, it didn't feel right. He also still dreaded having to say the real reasons of his true quest. He owed them both background and explaination but he didn't feel comfortable giving them either.
"I went up to the Wight Caves against the advice of others to see her. The wights captured me and held me in an enchanted sleep until very recently. Then..." He stopped for a moment, gathering his courage and realizing how this was about to sound. "Then Light awoke me. Brilliant light that shone through the mountain it's self. The Gods spoke to me, gave me a new quest and a new Calling."
If the elf maid had raised one eyebrow before she now raised two from what he could see. The smoke mirror was a little distorted now that Amous's hands had started shaking. "A spirit, the spirit of the Gods Champion, a Koshugon called Xsyle, traveled with me. She trained me as we slept, taking me to a dream world where time stretched so that I might learn more fighting skills. Enought to keep me alive in newly dangerous times."
Now Inthas felt badly. He didn't want to recount the experiance with the Grappion. "When Amous sent me to fight the Grappion Xsyle came with me. We didn't realize what we were up against at first, or I didn't at least. Before I knew it I was dangling off the side of the cliff and Xsyle was pelting the creature with rocks. Don't blame her, she couldn't have done much else."
He realized that neither Amous or Illiriae believed Xsyle couldn't have done more than throw rocks but he'd go into detail later. The faster he said it the faster it would be done. "My magic awoke then since my life was threatened...but I've got not idea how to use it. Our lessons never got that far. Xsyle seemed to melt after the battle with the Grappion...I think she must have broken a rule or done something wrong and be taken back by the Gods."
"Now I'm alone on my quest and I think they've arranged this so that I'll have help in my first task. I have to find the Scroll of Vascaron." Amous nodded to him.
"You still havn't told us what your quest is yet lad but I'm sure I can guess...I has something to do with that Dark Lord who's taken over the eastern lands don't it?" Inthas nodded. "And now you've got no help?" Again Inthas nodded.
"Wrong." They both turned to face the portal. "My bow is at your
service Sir Inthas. I suggest you come to Arelliniania as fast as you can...infact I will help you. Uncle what kind of steed does Inthas have? A charger of good breeding I hope?" Amous smiled.
"He's got a pair of flying steeds Illi, good ones at that. They won't mind the kind of journey I think you have in mind." Inthas couldn't follow that. What did his horse have to do with anything...except how many months it was going to take him to get to the elven wood.
"Well then I'll send the wind for him." She turned and stared right at Inthas. "I'm looking forward to meeting you in person sir Inthas. Perhaps you'll tell me more of yourself over chava this evening?" Inthas nodded, spluttering some respectful words. How was he going to get to Arelliniania by this evening...and what did she mean by 'I'll send the wind'...
The smoke faded and the light mist returned to the stone as Amous replaced it in it's velvet wraps. "Well Inthas, it looks like we've got to get you ready for the trip. Help me fit your gear onto these brutes." Inthas stared after Amous shaking his head, watching the old man spryly leap around his shop.
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An hour or so later Inthas swung up on Horefrost's back, admiring Amous's work with the tack. "Remember the wind isn't gentle, it's ment to help you travel from one place to another very quickly. It's going to be up to you to steer yourself and keep the horses together. If you get separated most likely you won't see Balefire again."
"I remember. Goodbye Amous...I have the feeling we'll meet again." Amous gruffly shook his hand.
"Bye kid. Hope you keep yourself in one piece." The wind had just started to kick up when Inthas remembered the stone that had come from the Grappion. He'd tried to give it to the villagers but they hadn't wanted it. Maybe Amous would.
"Amous!" He shouted but by now the wind was howling. The old man leaned forward trying to hear before waving him off and vanishing inside. "Oh well, I'll just have to ask Illiriae about it."
The wind howled, no roared, and blurred his vision until he could see no more than his own tears and Horefrost's white mane. He felt the stallion wanting to spring into the sky, felt Balefire's tugging on the end of the Everope. As the wailing wind reached it's high point Inthas counted to three then urged the stallions into the sky like Amous had told him.
The moment they spred their wings they were whisked away like autumn leaves in a windstorm, hurtling through space at blinding speed. Inthas didn't know what he had too steer around until a large mountain loomed in his way. He tried pulling Horefrost around it but the stallion could not move despite his valiant efforts, the wind was just too strong.
At the last moment, just when Inthas thought he'd be getting an up close and personal look at the sheer sides, the wind flung them upwards so that Balefire's hooves just clipped the apex of the mountain. Then they were over the grasslands. Looking on in awe Inthas could see an ocean of green-gold waving grasses and, in the distance, the dark line that must have been the Escarpment. Behind him the western spine range loomed.
Slowly grass gave way to lush fields, then to the elven wood it's self. It spread like a dark sea across the horizion with some trees taller then mountain peaks. The wind was now no more than a guiding force and his horses were exhausted. Slowly Inthas felt Horefrost descending into the tangled canopy of the anicent wood.
Inthas felt the essence of life within these trees. They seemed to glow with health and vitality...and perhaps awareness, sentience. His eyes would pick out what he thought was a flicker of movement and he would turn to look but nothing would be there...then everything was there.
And entire elven city seemed to spring out of the trees, built in and on them as if the trees had grown into dwellings just so the elves could live there. Baubles hung in places, glittering in the filtered sunlight and unicorns grazed near the base of the massive trunks. Balefire and Horefrost called greetings and screamed weak challenges as other flying horses trotted along the branches to greet them.
Slowly the landed on a massive branch that had served as the main causeway of this city for many generations. Standing there, in green leather and felt, hand on bow, was Illiriae.
"Welcome Inthas Jurrsonne, to my home. The elven wood Arelliniania." Sliding off his weary mount Inthas rubbed their noses, inclining his head to the lady. She nodded back. "Ah I forget, humans know not our customs. I will instruct you later after we have seen to your fine mounts."
"Thank you Lady, we three are most grateful for your hospitality." She again inclined her head and began walking.
"This way to the stables. Normally we don't use them but visitors generally do. Once we've seen to your mounts I will show you the city...or would you rather discuss your quest in private with me? Or perhaps you would rather take some study in our library...you did say you lacked magical understanding...All possibilities are open to you...you only have but to ask."
---------------------------
What will Inthas do first?
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Hope you liked it.
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"It's not just about living forever...the trick is living with yourself forever..."
"Music makes you braver."
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Sat Sep 30, 2006 6:17 am Post subject: |
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They should briefly tour the city, but then I suggest they find somewhere private for Inthas to tell Illiriae more about the quest she will be helping him with.
If the topic of Xsyle and her disappearance comes up, as it no doubt will, Inthas should take the opportunity to show Illiriae the Grappion stone and ask whether it means anything to her.
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Wed Oct 11, 2006 10:45 pm Post subject: |
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Right a many choiced poll is up...couldn't wait any more.
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 2:38 pm Post subject: |
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I voted for getting down to business, as it was closest to what I wanted.
The poll has "Take the full tour?" twice, by the way.
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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Wow I was tired when I put that up wasn't I? The second one is supposed to be take a short tour.
I guess I must just want to really describe the city in detail  ...it's the first major settlement in Pharl you've seen after all...
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DukeReg
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| Posted: Thu Oct 12, 2006 7:44 pm Post subject: |
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Hmm... then I want to change my vote to option 2, short tour. Hopefully some more people will come along and vote this time.
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LordoftheNight
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| Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 4:33 am Post subject: |
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You've got a problem with the poll Rai. I voted for the short tour, and a vote came up for both short and long tours.
You'll have to get Smee to delete the poll, and make a new one.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news and all.
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Kalanna Rai
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| Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:18 am Post subject: |
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Dammit! Thanks Lordy I'd rather hear about the problem than just have it continue, I'll PM Smee right away.
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dragon_fire372
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| Posted: Fri Oct 13, 2006 6:03 pm Post subject: |
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Voted to get right down to business. Nice Chapter!
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| So what will they do? |
| Another round of questioning? |
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| Differences lead to battle royale? |
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| Uneasy alliance? |
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| Total Votes : 3 |
| Who Voted: dragon_fire372, DukeReg |
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