Dragons and Magic II: The Hunt for DreamWeaver

[Dracona]

Ona lifted her head and listened, tuning out the murmurs of her companions. The woods around them had gone silent, even the wind seemed to have gone still. She cursed to herself for her inattention, lost as she had been in her own musings. She wasn’t even sure what she had heard, only that something had disturbed the peace of the night and caught Bardo’s attention. She felt his wariness and knew he too was listening. He might not be the brightest of creatures but he had a knack for self preservation.

Slowly she rose up onto her knees and reached out to lightly touch Idrial’s forearm, drawing her attention. She locked eyes with the elven woman for a moment then sought O’Bonn’s gaze as well to see if they had also heard. Something was out there in the dark….whether it be friend or foe remained to be seen.

 

[AmenRa]

O'Bonn's senses were tuned to the forest as well. After speaking, he became silent, and turned his head to better train his elven ears into the night. He heard nothing, yet he felt it...a presence...something was there, watching them. Its distinctiveness was not that of the Fay, but something else.

O'Bonn reached to his side and set his hand upon Talon, the inward curved scimitar given to him by the dragons. He felt its warmth, and knew it was ready to serve in battle if need be.

O'Bonn looked to Ona, his raised eyebrow answering her question of if he felt the presence and offering one of his own.

What was this thing?

 

[rengadeirishman]

Cormac felt the change in the others, and sensed what he imagined they were sensing, he felt Eoghain perk up and look towards the woods, staring intently at the treeline. Cormac slowly rose from the ground and pulled an axe off his belt, drawing his sword slowly so as not to ring the steel. He nodded to the left and Eoghain silently padded over that direction as Cormac started walking toward the woods, silently, as if tracking deer, his weapons in a guard stance. He thought he saw movement, or was it just a trick of the firelight?

 

[Mantra]

Draken

Draken stepped up to the man whom he thought might be a leader. An older man who was at least dressed appropriatly for the snow. Like all the rest, he simply pointed South while watching Draken approach. Draken simply reached out and snatched away the hammer the man was carrying and shoved him back towards the way he pointed.

The man stumbled and fell but did not do any more than look up at Draken while he sat in the snowbank.
"You wish to follow us..." he whispered, dreamilly. "Yesss...then follow..."

He slowly rose and wandered back the way he had come. The remainder of the mob seemed oblivious to their passing. Hehind them came a sharp, whinnying cry and the sound of a large body rushing away through the trees.

They walked for some ten minutes until they came to a small hamlet. It was rather ordenary looking to be sure. A handful of thatch and mud cottages in the middle of nowhere, slowly being covered with snow.

DRaken and his guide made their way to one of the cottages, neither larger nor any different from any other house nad entered. Inside, it seemed a cozy little home, except there was no one present save an old woman, settled in a thin chair near a fire.

"Welcome." she almost hissed, in a dreamy state similar to what Draken's guide had sounded like.
"You have a touch of darkness to your soul. You may be worthy of attention...would you be willing to serve us for a price? .... "What do you wish from us? Gold? Power? Women?... It may all be yours..."

 

[Mantra]

Borgus

"Our plan is simple really." Doorna said. "We unite with a common cause. It is finding leaders strong enough to hold together the many clans that is hard."

"We have a plan, to raise two forces, one we send South to hold the Dead Ones at bay and subjugate the forests to our cause. This we do to protect our homes and destroy the support and allies of the demons who would surely resist us. The other army we sent to assail the mountain itself. If we can drive the demons from their caves and win the mountains, then surely their power and wealth will be ours."

"We need strong war chiefs, those who know the ways of battle and can keep the clans united. Gumbad is capable to be one, perhaps you could be the other."

 

[Mantra]

Ona, Cormac and O'Bonn

The warriors crept through the woods as silently as possible. The scent of burning wood and cooking meat began to make itself known as they approached as well as other bits of sound from before them. Finally as they neared the camp, for a camp it was, they notices three wagons set up in a rough triangle around a cook fore. Some 20 to 30 people, male and female, were mulling about, seeming to be going about their business.

 

[Bladesman]

"You have a touch of darkness to your soul. You may be worthy of attention...would you be willing to serve us for a price? .... "What do you wish from us? Gold? Power? Women?... It may all be yours..."

Draken arched one of his eyebrows slowly. "What power could you have to offer me a prince of a drow city and wielder of forbidden magic? Tell me what you have to offer and what the task is and I will decide whether I will fulfill a service for you. As far as your gold and women go, if I wanted them I would take them with or without your permission."

His right hand rested on one of his sentient falchions, ignoring it mental prompts for him to attack the old woman and kill her. But he Left the falchion in its sheath for the moment, waiting to hear what she was offering him for power.

 

[Ithica]

Aranel curled up closer to the tree to make herself less of a target. As the others disappeared into the forest, she opened the metal jar that was at her hip. She looked into it at the dark water as it caught the firelight and was comforted. She calmed herself and listened closely to the horses and for other sounds that would alert her if anyone approached.

 

[Mantra]

Drakon

Both the old woman and Draken's guide smiled a thin, mirthless smile.

"...You could not handle our women... nor would you long for our gold if you value them so little... Still, ... you speak of princedom and forbidden power as if you actually understand these things..." The woman said finally in her slow, whispered voice.

"...You are prince of outcasts,... undesirables. Ironic that they loathe you...almost as much as they themselves are loathed... Where they plot your death for succession... Your death is assured, be it tomorrow... or a century away..."

"...We offer you more to rule;...this world. We offer you true power;... immortality.... We offer these things...to do that what you wish to do most...."

"...Kill..."

 

[Bladesman]

"...You are prince of outcasts,... undesirables. Ironic that they loathe you...almost as much as they themselves are loathed... Where they plot your death for succession... Your death is assured, be it tomorrow... or a century away..."

Draken began to laugh. "Well said and well met. It is true, we drow are loathed and hated almost most above anything else. I know full well that there are other drow planning to kill me sooner or later, but then again it is through chaos that drow thrive in."

He looked at the old woman. "You need killing done? Who, why and what do I get in return?"

 

[Optimas]

Borgus thinks

"We need strong war chiefs, those who know the ways of battle and can keep the clans united. Gumbad is capable to be one, perhaps you could be the other."

"Borgus fights for A better life for clan." Borgus looked at the cat man in front of him. "Me not sure If good enough at tactics but my hammer is yours, for the good of the clans," Borgus looked down and waited the answer.

 

[Mantra]

Khan's Entry Post

Khan had been seeking for years, more years than he really cared to remember really. For a cure, a release, a way to break the curse and be free. At long last, he had heard of a possibility, a chance, however slim that there might be a group of mages who might, just might, know about the old magics that damned him.

He had learned about a group of elusive and rare Moon Elves, who were reputed to live deep in the woods, close to the delta which drained out into the marshlands below the forests. Moon elves who were known to study the arts of shape canging and body alteration as well as the magic of nature. Moon elves were reclusive even for elves. Stories described them as lithe, wispy, thin, almost feminine in appearance, even for their males and as pale as the moon they were named after. It had taken months to learn where they might be, more time to travel and seek them out. Now, finally, he had arrived in the heart of their village, perhaps the last such village on this continent, maybe even this world....

...and they were all dead, ... gone, ... lost.

Even in ruination and abbandonment, the village was beautiful and artistic in an alien way. A great battle had been fought here. The signs of violence were everywhere, but there were very few bodies to be found. Some were indeed present, mutilated to almost beyond recognition, but here were many others, a multitude of decaying forms littered the grounds. Goiblins, orcs, humans, lizardmen, humans even other elves but all were severly decayed and decreped. They did not seem to fit the battlefield but they were clearly a result of it. Worse still, Khan could not tell if the Moon Elves had been routed, exterminated or had simply abbandoned their long hidden habitat.

Close, so close....and now, he was in a foreign land, chasing a wisp of a dream, and left standing in a graveyard.

 

[Mantra]

Draken

"Look..." The old woman said, motioning towards the fire. As Draken neared the smell of over cooking stew became much more noticable, bubbling from the half empty metal pot hanging over the stove. As he watched though, the haze and glow from the embers seemed to thicken and coalesse, taking shape until the image of a young woman appeared. Her face was somewhat impish and youthful with short brown hair. Draken had never seen her to be sure and she wore strange orange and brown clothing. The girl seemed rather happy, unaware of her situation.

"She ... shall be the first ... for you to send to ..... oblivion." She drew the final word out almost like a caressing whisper. Behind Draken, the other man whispered the same word; 'oblivion' as well.

"You will kill for us.... Your payment..." she began again in her whispering speech. "Shall be as we have said.... If you wish to rule... when we are successful... you may have this world.... If you wish power, you will become ... immortal...."

She offered a twisted smirk. "If we are not successful...you will get ..nothing."

"Those are our termsss."

 

[Bladesman]

Draken moved closer still to the fire, studying the image of the young woman that had appeared within the stew. He watched her face for a moment, studying its finer details, like the way she had two dimples when she smilled and the unusual shade of blue that her eyes were.

"She ... shall be the first ... for you to send to ..... oblivion."

Draken looked at the girl once more. She was rather beautiful, so much so that it seemed a pity to kill her. He stroked his chin thoughtfully pondering what he should do.

"You will kill for us.... Your payment...Shall be as we have said.... If you wish to rule... when we are successful... you may have this world.... If you wish power, you will become ... immortal...."

Draken pushed back the hood of his cloak, turning away from the old woman and her companion. The glow of the fire making his shadow seem as if it there was a demon standing in his place rather then a drow prince. He stood like this for several moment while he considered the offer and then turned, the fire makeing his features seem harsher.

He spoke in the drow language for the first time "Ji zhal ol tlu. Nindyn nindel ph' yibin lu' nauxxizz zhal tlu slain a nindyn nindel ph' stronger." Or in common, "So shall it be. Those that are weak and helpless shall be slain by those that are stronger."

"I accept the contract. Now can you show me more of the surrounding area so that I may teleport in. I near to see the area around her or else I have no possible way I can teleport there bcause I have nothing to visualize. Also I need to know her name and everything you know about her."

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Khan in the Moon Elf town

The town was in ruin, and Khan's hopes were about the same. All that time, all that searching, all that work to find this place, and just to find it in ruin. He examined the bodies of both the defenders and attackers. Both had died brutal deaths, but it seemed that the attackers were more decayed than the defenders, almost as if they had died days before laying waste to this town. He found that very odd. After thinking on it a little, he came up with a theory; one he didn't exactly like. If his theory was right, then something was happening that hadn't happened in several human lifetimes. Of course, he had lived several human lifetimes, which was the reason why he was here looking for the Moon Elves; he was tired of living as he was. He wanted to be normal again, and eventually join the ones he had loved.

His thoughts drifted back to the here and now. Seeing that there was no one alive in the area, he decided to pick through the ruins in the hopes of finding something that might help him discover what exactly had become of the elves, for there were too few bodies for a town of this size. He hoped that some may have escaped, but to where, that's what he hoped to find.

 

[Mantra]

Borgus

"Excellent." Doorna purred. "Your strength and ferocity will be a great asset to our armies. You shall be give the honor of one of two battlefields, either against the Dead Ones or against the mountain. Either way, I do not doubt that you will achieve greatness."

He cocked his head for a moment in thought. His pointed ears twitching a bit before speaking again.
"Still, there is your banishment to deal with. If you could lead a force of beast men to victory and glory, I would be able to sponsor your position as War Chief before the Stone."

"It just so happens that I have a task force that I myself was going to lead, but I shall yeald that honor to you, that you may regain your favor."

"Do you wish to lead them in battle?"

 

[Mantra]

Draken

The woman's bony hand and arm slipped out from beneath her shawl and extended towards Draken, palm up.

"Give us your knife."

Draken hesitated but finally passed over one of his daggers. The woman looked odd carying it, as frail as she obviously was but she cradled it in her lap, like a miniature child and whispered, or more like hissed, quiet and alien words. Drakon's guide also came aroind to stand beside the old woman his lips moving in perfect rythem to the others words.

The flames in the fireplace grew, whipping and crackling but even then,m the warmth seemed to leech out of Draken's body. At the sound of those whispered, harsh words he immeadiatly began to feel a headache throb behind his temples. His scimitars practically hummed and vibrated in their sheathed, begging to be freed to resume their bloodletting.
Draken did not know the words or language, but could feel their power and vile nature as he heard them. Finally the woman stopped and her heal lolled to one side, gasping for air as blood dribbled from her thin nose. Beside her, the guide fell to his knees, coughing while spattering a mist of his own blood on the floor as he did. There was silence for a few minutes as all recovered. The guide slowly dragged himself up using the woman's chair and leaned over. The woman finally managed to hold up the knife, seemingly to require every ounce of her remaining strength to do so....
...and slowly slid the knife blade between the guide's ribs.

New blood spilled down the knife blade and over the woman's hand. The man said nothing, only giving one deep and final sigh before crumbling to the floor, drawing his body off the blade as he did so. The woman offered the knife back to Draken.

"Use this." she said, her voice even raspier than before. "Balance it on one finger and it shall point to the one you seek."

Draken took the knife and the old woman all but collapsed back into her chair again but her eyes were still fixed on Draken.

"Kill her. ... She is to die ... because we wish it so. If you succeed, ...then there shall be ... others to send to oblivion."

"You must prove... yourself to us... You must find her .. kill ... or be killed..."

The woman smiled a sarcastic, wicked smile. " Nindyn nindel ph' yibin lu' nauxxizz zhal tlu slain a nindyn nindel ph' stronger." she whispered.

"Which ... will you be... We will be ... watching.... We are always ... near."

The last word was whispered out on a long sigh. The woman's head lolled to one side, letting a trail of blood dribble from the corner of her mouth and her rasping breaths stopped, but her eyes still stared back at Drakon silently.

Waiting.

Watching.

 

[Mantra]

Kahn

As Kahn looked about the ruins of the Moon Elf village, he did clocate several signs of places where a hasty defense was made...and overrun, but in many cases, these defenders often made retreats into the forests around them. All were persued, but not all the inhabitants had died, or at least not in the village anyway.

Khan neared the center of the village. Moon Elves seemed to build equally in the trees and on the ground equally with a heavy accent on beautifying their structures. What seemed to me a market square was set about in tatters. The smell of rotting food drifted from several stalls as well as colorful bolts of cloths and silks. Here and there, the glint of shiny bits glittered eerilly from the wreckage. The attackers apparently had come for slaughter, not plunder. There was also a sort of longhouse nearby, but upon entering Khan saw that the building had been plundered in another way.

Whatever furnishings and decor had once been in the large, open rooms had been swept aside to make room for six large, half-barrels. Worse still, six of the fair moon elves, their pale heads shaved, suspended head down over the barrels. Each had their hands severed and throats cut, allowing their blood to be gathered in the basins below their remains. Only the occasional drop fell, indicating that they had hung for some time. Behind the macabe display, stood some dozen other elves, all standing silently, unmoving, downcast and defeated. Only a moment after, another came into the room from the opposite side of the next room.

"Go outside." was all he said and the moon elves slowly began to move. It was then that the man turned towards the hanging remains and stopped short, obviously suprised at seeing another person.

"Who the hell are you?!? GET HIM!"

The moon elves halted mid step, turning towards Khan and moving forward.

 

[Bladesman]

Draken frowned to himself when she took his kukri, he wasn't pleased to see one of his valuable daggers being taken from his hands so lightly and enchanted with a location spell. He touched his hand to the more intelligent of his two sentient falchions asking the language.

"Master, it seems to be one of the tongues of the Demon race. Of which tongue I know not," the falchion replied in his mind. Draken nodded slowly, reminding the falchion to remember those words for when he returned to the city of Shadows he would seek out those that knew demons and find out which race of demon spoke that tongue.

"Use this...Balance it on one finger and it shall point to the one you seek.Kill her. ... She is to die ... because we wish it so. If you succeed, ...then there shall be ... others to send to oblivion." You must prove... yourself to us... You must find her .. kill ... or be killed..."

Then when she spoke in drow Draken reacted, his falchion leaping into his hand. The tip of the curved blade pressed between her eyes. "Never speak my language in my presence again!" He swung his arm around and the sword vanished back into its sheath. Draken then tucked the enchanted dagger into its sheath and looked around. He made several subtle hand gestures and spoke in Draconic.

A swirling black portal opened up and Draken stepped into it and vanished, the portal closing behind him. Moments later, the portal opens on the side of a large mountain and Draken slips out of the portal and into the darkness of night.

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Trouble in the Moon Elf Village

Khan wandered the village, examining the various places of defense that were made, looking for signs of survivors. When he reached the market square and found that the attackers had not plundered the area of goods and valuable items, but of inhabitants. He picked up a couple of pieces of what turned out to be jewelry. As a story teller, it helped to have something to remember your travels, whether they be good or bad. Besides, if the Moon Elves had been completely wiped out, someone had to protect some of their artifacts so they could be remembered.

Then he came upon the longhouse. He had seen some grisly sights in his unnaturally long life, some of them of his making, but the site before him now was up there with the top five. It just wasn’t the elven bodies that had been bleed dry like livestock, it was the other live elves standing behind them that made it worse. Then he was spotted by another elf that had just walked in, and that elf sent the others after Khan.

Thinking quick, Khan spoke in elvish (which was good enough to tell stories in), hoping to convince the elves that anyone who spoke that tongue was not evil. He said “My sorrow goes to your losses. I mean no harm, and shall cause none. Give me a chance to show my good faith.” As he said this, he showed his empty hands as a sign of parley.

 

[Mantra]

Khan

Khan stepped out from behind the hanging corpses before the approaching moon elves, hands upheld and realized his words were wasted.

As they approached, he realized their defeated appearance was much deeper than mere appearance. Each elf wore not only the scars and wounds of recent battle, but each had lost the light in their eyes and will of their spirits. Their defeat had been absolute, they were dead.

Whatever had happened earlier, these elves had been robbed not only of their lives, but their remains had been transformed into puppet minions, shamblers, ...

Undead.

And now they moved forward with single minded determination, and Khan had litte question of what their intent would be when they reached him...

 

[Dracona]

The warriors crept through the woods as silently as possible. The scent of burning wood and cooking meat began to make itself known as they approached as well as other bits of sound from before them. Finally as they neared the camp, for a camp it was, they notices three wagons set up in a rough triangle around a cook fore. Some 20 to 30 people, male and female, were mulling about, seeming to be going about their business.

Ona peered through the shrubbery at the camp full of people and slipped sideways toward the others. With silent signs she volunteered to step forward and make herself known to the camp. Since she was to all appearances unarmed she might be more easily accepted. She knew that if need be the two warriors would cover her and give her a chance to escape back into the cover of the woods. Straightening to her full height Ona stepped to the treeline and took a deep breath before stepping out from cover.

"Hello in the camp!" Ona called out. She held her arms out from her body, palms toward the group, to show that she held no weapons and took a few steps forward. "I mean no harm. May I approach?"

A few more steps took her completely out of the shadow of the trees into the glow of the firelight. She generated waves of good feeling, peace and calmness in hopes that the people would feel it and be more at ease with her sudden appearance.

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Khan faces the undead

Khan noticed the undead appearance, and instantly realized that his theory had just been confirmed. He hated it when he was right about such things. If only he didn’t have so much life experience; he had too much, in his opinion. With a shrug, Khan decided to be quick. He hadn’t used his sword, Dukar, in centuries, but dispatching evil things such as these were what it was made for. As he leapt forward, he whipped out his ancient sword, and it glittered with a white light as it sliced off the heads of three of the undead elves in one stroke. With flourish, he spun around and cut down the other three just as fast. May your spirits rest in peace now, thought Khan.

Khan turned his attention on the leader, and in five steps, his blade was pressed against the man’s throat. “Tell me, what has happened here before I make death look inviting,” said Khan. He intended to get answers, and sweet talk wasn’t going to do much good here.

 

[Ithica]

Aranel heard a call far to her left and wondered if everything was alright. She braced herself against the tree, using it to get to her feet. Aranel turned her back to the fire and could barely make out where the horses were standing. She chided herself for having looked directly into the fire. Long ago she would have known better than to let the fire blind her. But that was another life and she closed her eyes to speed their adjustment to the dark.

Aranel kept herself from searching out into the woods, worried that doing so would not only weaken her further but would draw attention to herself. She started to wonder if whatever had followed them from the river had caught up with them. Finally, she opened her eyes and moved towards the horses. They were nervously pawing the ground and she settled herself in the dark nearby.

 

[Mantra]

Draken

Draken appeared on the hilltop, overlooking a vast swath of forest below. Pondering for a moment, he drew out his sword and held it aloft.

"Tell me more about the language." he commanded.

The words came to him like a whisper, even though they sounded in his head, not his ears.
"As I have said Master, they sound as one of the Demon Races. I do not know the language, but I know that it is old, older than any I have known. Within the phrases I heard many words of power and invocation used in demonic rituals and spells. It is strong though, Master. Strong and powerful."

Draken mused for a moment, then took out his newly enchanted knife. Holding as instructed, he checked the direction as it pointed to his target. He idly wondered about the language and what else might be learned from someone who knew such a language, but for now, he had to plan his next move...