The Wanderer's Quest

[The GrandMage]

Linden

He nodded, nd moved closer to the horse, opening one of the saddlebags. He withdrew a canteen, which e handed to her, and soted through the contents of the bag. He raised an eyebow, and pulld up a few small parcels, handing them to her.

"No bread, sorry. But here's some dried beef and beans. If they don't meet your approval, I could go out scouting for some tubers." He looked up the road They were comig to the turnoff tothe woods. Not much longer no until they'd be there. He turned suddenly, his fingers taking the ol moey pouch fromhis belt and tossing it lightly i the air before letting it fal in his palm.

"I've also got a little cheese. Not much, though."

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

Zeslakk did not even look at Talia, keeping his eyes on the road before them.
"It is nothing. I was thinking about something from my past, that is all. I do not wish to speak of it." he said, his voice cold now. He lapped into silence once more, trying to push back the memories that were now rushing unbidden into his conscious thought.

 

[Silhouette]

Koyuki

She shook her head, a lock of white hair brushed a pale cheek, as she gratefully accepted the canteen of water and parcels, “Nay, thank you, this is more than enough. Please, do not trouble yourself on my account.”

The small woman carefully handed back the parcel of dried beef, choosing the beans instead. She ate them slowly, one by one, as the horse plodded along.

 

[Lady Talia]

Talia

"As you wish" Talia said and moved a little way ahead. She could respect private pain.

 

[The GrandMage]

Linden

He shrugged, and took the dried beef. Instead of putting it away, he opened it, ripping into the beef and chewing it. He left her alone, and started walking faster. He looked around as he came towards the front of the group. The road turned away, a small path continuing on.

He chewed the meat thoughtfully, slowing down to look behind them. He raised an eyebrow, and stopped as the procession went on. He took another large bite of dried beef, glancing over to the left, and then the right.

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

Zeslakk was broken out of his thought as he looked up to see that they were reaching the point where the road diverted. He looked around to the other members of the group, before turning around to see that Linden was slowing down.
"Linden... is something wrong?" he asked.

 

[The GrandMage]

Linden

He glanced over his shoulder at them, squiting beyond them, into the distance. Reaching over his shoulder, he grabbed ahold of the hilt of his bastard sword. He turned to face the group as he drew it, looking back and forth, from the left to the right. He shrugged, and turned, looking behind himself and to the left.

"Well, I wouldn't say it's so much a problem, as it is question. You see, I've been around wild animals all my life. You get to learn things about them, and it's just unusual that......Nevermind, it's probably nothing.....But, ummm, you should stay on your toes anyway. Never know."

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

Zeslakk shrugged, carefully glancing from side to side. He then turned to the others.
"Just be careful for anything. I'm sure you've all heard the tales about this area." he said to them. "But there's no point worrying about it. Let's just keep going."
And with that said, he kicked his horse onwards.

 

[Silhouette]

Koyuki

Koyuki stayed near the back, keeping her distance from the others. The small woman took the opportunity to study the one called Zeslakk, a holy warrior of some sort. She frowned with worry. She was shunned by society already and for all she knew, that religious zealot of some unknown sect could hate her kind even more.

Though Linden had shown her compassion, she doubted he would stop his companions if they wanted to harm her. Koyuki tugged on her hood. It was vital to stay hidden. Suddenly, Zeslakk looked in her direction, as if he sensed her watching him. Koyuki quickly looked away and nudged her horse towards Linden.

She spoke softly so that only he could hear, “Sir, the horses are tired and thirsty. Is there water, a stream or lake, nearby?”

 

[The GrandMage]

Linden

He glanced away into the woods. He turned to the woman, keeping his voice low, so as not to alert the others "Yes, there's a good sized stream off to our right. But unless you have a great desire to die, I'd suggest to not worry about the horses until we get where we're going. They're watching us, keeping track of where we're going. As long as we stay on the trail until we get there, we should be fine."

He glanced over to the side, pulling up short. There, through the foliage, he saw one. It was impossible to tell if it was watching him, but he knew it was. It blended in perfectly. No one else would even know it was there, probably.

He turned away, and started walking again. At least they were keeping their distance. He'd obeyed the rules last time through, and they didn't seem too judgemental, but you never knew what they'd take offense to.

 

[Silhouette]

Koyuki

Her grip on the reins tightened nervously as she glanced into the shadows of the trees. She couldn’t see anything but from Linden’s pose, he did. Though her eyes betrayed her fear, she maintained her façade of calm and continued to ride silently next to the man.

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

Zeslakk glanced to the side and noticed that they were now entering the worst of this forest. For a while now, the landscape had slowly been darkening, from green, to now almost black, the trees growing more withered and dead-looking as they continued. He noted also that animal noise was beginning to thin out. And, above everything else, there was an evil feeling about the place... a feeling which made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
He glanced around for a brief moment, making sure nothing was there, before he lapsed back into thought.
For a while it came to his attention that he and the others were slowly walking into unspeakable evil to save the world. And yet, they knew barely anything about their task. Where was little Lyskall? He was the one that had got them into this mess, and they had followed his bidding. But, now, where was he? Not helping the group of adventurers, that's for sure.

 

[The GrandMage]

Linden

He breathed a sigh of releif as they passed the line into the dead zone. He looked back, noticing a large tree in the middle of the path they had taken, it had definitely not been there before. He glared at the aging treant, feeling the look being returned. They guarded the old wood, but stayed out of the area of dead trees, where worse things lurked.

 

[Zircon]

Altalus

The path had suddenly turned from being alive to a deathly calm. Unnerving to say the least. But the troop resolutely trotted on, with ever-watchful eyes following their every move. Just watchful for now, although Altalus was ready for something, even as he felt what the others were feeling, apprehension.

The smell of the path was none too pleasant. It seemed that the rot had permeated the earth and scattered in the wind. It smelt like the dark dungeons of the Temple of Posttur. He for one was as glad as the others when they saw the end of dead zone.

Then Altalus was caught unawares as he felt a mighty tug in the reins of the packhorses. The animated tendrils of the solitary tree in the middle of the path had caught one of the packhorses that were trailing behind. The jerk turned into a tug of war, and Altalus was thrown from his horse. Twisting in the air, he landed on his feet, as he did so many times before. The other packhorses were thrashing around madly, and Altalus had to jump and dance to avoid being trampled. With no other choices left, he cut the reins, releasing the single packhorse to its certain death. With yells, the packhorses that were still left bolted at top speed.

Not contented with a simple kill, the tendrils that seemed to have a life of its own, reached for Altalus. A blur of his hands and feet suggested that Altalus was fighting for his life. Deciding that he had enough of this game with a tree, Altalus made a final slash and ran. He had hoped that the tendrils were not faster than he could run.

Yelling with the top of his voice to the others, ‘RUN…’

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

Zeslakk glanced backwards, confused, as he saw Altalus leave the saddle of his horse in a hurry. He saw the brief scuffle between the tree tendrils and Altalus, but, before the cleric could react, Altalus had broken free and was urging everyone to run.
Zeslakk had waited too long, and the horse under him suddenly moved under him, sending the cleric to the ground. He rolled safely forwards, but turned in time only to see the horse, a tendril around one of its back legs, being dragged towards the treant. It flailed madly, its eyes nearly bulging out of its head, but it only managed to tangle itself further in the treant's long, powerful appendages.
Desperately Zeslakk glanced around, trying to gauge whether the others needed help, but he had to worry about himself first, dancing aside as the treant tried to grab him.

 

[The GrandMage]

Linden

He rolled his eyes as they battled with the plant. At least it wasn't a treant. Of course, not that their predictiment wasn't bad, a tangler could rip a man to shreds in a matter of minutes. But a treant, with the grat limb like arms, would have crushed them already.

He pushed his large coat to the side, unhooking his battleaxe. He heard it, in the distance, coming closer. A cry of outrage as he readied the weapon. Treants hated axes the most of all weapons. He moved forward, but a great Treant appeared from the woods. It was like a tree, the two legs, which could stand together to form a trunk, were planted in the ground, roots pushing at the loose soil. Thick wooden branches reaches out as great arms, the face wooden and unfeeling, barely recognizable for what it was. An odd chanting in an angry tpone came from a mouth shaped like an open hallow. Great eyes, the only truly animal feature, were open wide as it looked about, settling on the axe. It had to be at least thirteen feet tall to the top of the leafy braches growing from it's body.

The two creatures, Linden and the great treant, stared off as the tangler pulled it's captures closer, to where it would kill them and bury their bodies, letting them rot to help feed the tree.

The treant reached out, a wooden 'finger' touching bark. The tree went still, then relaxed it's tendril vines, pulling back. One of the horses bolted, but the other was already dead, strangled during the standoff. The tangler wrapped more vines around the creature, dragging the carcass closer to the wood.

Linden but his axe away, and the treant stepped back, raising a limb to point back the way they had come. The voice that came from the hollow was old, and powerful. With ancient authority it told them to leave, or die. Linden sighed, and turned to the others. "Really. Didn't I tell you all to stay sharp? If I knew I had to point out every dangerous plant and animal we came across, I wouldn't have come this far."

 

[Silhouette]

Koyuki

Her horse would have thrown her off had she not used her gifts to calm it. As such her mount stood still while the other horses reared and snorted in terror. Koyuki was thankful that no one had noticed what she did. The small woman watched nervously as Linden and the treant faced each other.

The majestic treant’s words rang loudly through the silence of the woods, both alive and dead. Clearly the small group of companions needed to continue into the dead forest yet in doing so, the treant would stop them. They, treants, were guardians.

Koyuki closed her eyes. The strangers had stopped to help her and now it was time for her to repay the debt. The others took no notice of the small woman as she dismounted from her horse until she was standing next to Linden. The man made a move to shove her to safety behind him but she quickly placed a small hand on his strong arm stopping him.

Her eyes bored into his intently before she looked up at the treant. Slowly the small woman pulled back her hood. Long silver white hair tumbled down her back as she gracefully raised a hand toward the ancient creature. Immediately the treant stopped it’s chanting. Koyuki looked once more at Linden, assuring him she knew what she was doing before stepping forward.

The great treant stretched out a limb twice the small Mejiro’s height and width. Koyuki reached up her hands and gently pressed her palms against the offered limb. Immediately the mark on her forehead flared brighter and brighter until she was encased in a strange white glowing yet soothing light.

The lights flowed from her and into the treant as time seem to still around woman and guardian...

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

Seeing that the others were fine, Zeslakk turned his attention to what he now could see was a tangler, not a treant. Of course, such creatures were unknown to him, and this was the first time he had seen either of the creatures.
He desperately dodged away from one of the tendrils which threatened to end his life just as it had done to his horse. He ducked underneath another one, unsure exactly how to fight the bizzare creature.
And then, Zeslakk's thoughts were cut off as he saw a brilliant white glow out of the corner of his eyes. He turned to see Koyuki, her hands upon the great treant before her. His eyes looked over her silver-white hair, and immediately he knew his thoughts were true: she was a Mejiro, just as he feared. The instant he saw her, awful memories of the last, and only, Mejiro he had known came flooding back to him.
His thoughts were interrupted once again as one of the tangler's vines snaked around his foot, instantly pulling him to the ground, landing on his back. He dug his heels into the ground, slowing his advance towards the creature, before he reached down and grabbed the tendril that had ensnared his foot. Desperately, he tried to wrench it off of his ankle, but it was holding on with immense strength, and soon he found himself fumbling for one of his dagger-like holy symbols. He managed to find one, wrenched it free, and then attacked down violently, the tendril withdrawing from his leg with a wounded scream. Zeslakk picked himself up, before turning to see whether the others had any ideas on how to stop the thing.

 

[The GrandMage]

Linden

He sighed, and stepped to the right, looking around. Obviously, no one was paying any attention to anything about him. He didn't know what the woman was doing, but it really wasn't nessicary. The treant had called off the tangler, and they only had to be aty the woods. The god hadn't said a word about going in.

This was getting far more complicated than it should be. Why did everyone have to go and complicate everything. He shrugged, and turned to gather the horses.

 

[Silhouette]

Koyuki - (Fin)

Koyuki opened her eyes and smiled at the treant before climbing nimbly up the branch. The creature placed her carefully up within its branches and turned to leave. The small Mejiro turned and smiled at the small group of wanderers. The treant had agreed to leave them alone since they had rescued her but most importantly because of what she was.

The ancient creature had revealed to her, knowledge of her people and offered to take her back deep into the forest where Mejiros now lived hidden away from the world and as guardians of what was left of the elder magics. Koyuki had accepted readily knowing that the treant would keep her safe and knowing that she would no longer endanger the group of adventurers.

The small woman raised her hand in farewell. As the treant slowly rumbled away, she called out,

"Good luck brave warriors. May you find success on your quest."

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

Zeslakk watched with confusion as the tangler retreated as fast it had come, quickly melting back into the forest. The priest stood up and brushed himself off, before turning to see where the Mejiro was now climbing onto the treant. Before Zeslakk could work out what was going on, the treant turned and lumbered off, Koyuki bidding the adventurers farewell as her small form quickly faded from view. Zeslakk and the others watched, until there was no more evidence of the treant or the Mejiro, and then they turned to each other.
"Well, that was rather... sudden." Zeslakk said after a moment of silence.

 

[Zircon]

Altalus

Altalus looked closely at Linden, with a wry smile crossing his lips. Koyuki averted the battle that could have raged. Her calming powers were an eye-opener for him.

The Tangler had retreated with the help of the tree-ant and Koyuki. Now, the reason for the ominous silence of this part of the woods became clear. No creatures would dare to venture forth. And such, with scant pickings, the tree-ant would look upon intruders as a welcomed meal. The packhorse was just another unfortunate victim, whom happened to be at the wrong place. We had crossed the domain of the Tree-ant, and so toll was exacted. A Guardian would not normally do this, which was why Altalus was not as alert as he should have been. As far as he knew, all the axes and such woodcutter’s implements were safely in packs, or tucked away, hidden from view. So there was really no explanation for the Guardian’s behavior.

Linden of course, had sardonic look on his face when he realized that Altalus and Zeslakk had let the guard down due to inattention. But then what would one expect of a ‘harmless’ Guardian. So something was wrong. Was this another sign of the troubles that the God Lyskall was referring to, thought Altalus.

They had lost two horses, and their adventure was just beginning. Now, the Mejiro Koyuki would be leaving with the tree-ant, insearch of her people, and safety, and ultimately happiness.

Altalus repacked and re-distributed the packhorse so that Zeslakk had a horse. He knew that the dead-zone offered scarce food, so the lost of stores from the packhorse would be noticeable if they had a long trek ahead of them.

‘Linden, are we in Jhaalen Woods proper, or just on the outskirts of it? I hope the Lyskall is not playing a trick on us and made us come all this way so that the Gods can have a good laugh.’

 

[Lady Talia]

Talia

The tree had been a problem but i had some how manage to rear my horse out of the way. The sudden departure of the girl was to say the least strange. I wondered at it but said nothing.

It seemed that from here the journey would be even more difficult. I breathed depply and released a low sigh of relief. I just wanted to melt away into nothingness, memories of my past life seemed to haunt me now as we stood in the darkness.

Linden had proved to be wise and I made a mental note to myself to listen to him more closely.

 

[Dark Warrior]

Zeslakk

Zeslakk shot an angered look at Altalus. "Altalus, please refrain from using such derogatory comments about the Gods. I consider it a grave offence, and this could be your only warning." he said, making sure that the warrior knew how serious he was.

 

[gohan18]

Feng

It was just getting light out when I woke up from my night long sleep. I gathered my things and headed out walking in the diresction I had gone. Life hasn't been good to me every since that day but I get by. I figure I will take a shortcut through the woods that lay just over the hills. After reaching the top of the last hill I can hear a man voice. I can barely make out what is said but I get the gist of it. I head in the direction were the voices are coming from and I notice it is a small group of people. I put my head down and walk over to them.I intoduce myself as Feng Brilam trying to keep anybody from looking up my hood.