Descendants of Heroes

[Viper]

Anora nodded and crouched low to the ground, letting the fog hide her from view. As Talric charged fearlessly at the monster Anora climbed a nearby tree and began firing arrows at the giant, jumping from tree to tree in order to keep him from finding her. After getting one arrow deep into his nose the giant had finally had enough sense to ignore the man at his feet and swing his mace at the trees. With a single swing he broke off the tops of a bunch of trees, almost hitting Anora but thankfully she managed to fall to the ground without injury before she was crushed under the mace or the falling branches. Talric knew that he would have to take greater measures in order to keep the giants attention so while the giant was distracted he ran at him, climbing on top of the giants foot and stabbing him deep in the heel. The giant fell on to one knee and so as it was recovering from the wound, Anora pulled back her bow and fired an arrow directly at the beats eye. The arrow dug deep into the eye ball, only the feathers visible now, and although it was small in comparison to the beast, he still screamed in agony and placed a hand over his injured eye.

 

[TheChosen]

While the giant was down and worried about its eye Talrics ran up and stabbed his sword through the giants hand and into his other eye. The giant screamed and swung his left hand and knocked Talrics right in the chest and sent him flying to the forest. Tarics flew past the first few trees then hit a tree back first. He fell to the ground breathless and his chest pounding. He felt his chest and stomach and felt like he may have a few broken ribs. Talrics stood up and went to go back to fight the giant but the beast was now blinded and in rage so it swung madly left and right. The beast lost its sense of direction and had its back towards both Talrics and Anora and went the other way swinging away trying to get the two. Talrics stayed low until the beast was out of sight. Talrics stood up and walked back to the road and then Anora came out of the woods on the other side of the road bow still in hand. "Weill i think we did it, it cant see us and went away, unfortunately my sword is still in his hand so lets hope we dont run in to anything else." Talrics said as he rubbed his side as it started to hurt now.

 

[Viper]

Anora hurried over to Talric and knelt down. She lightly touched his side and he gasped in pain, "This doesn't look good and we are far from any healers." Anora thought for a moment before telling Talric to wait for her. She ran into the forest and gathered a few herbs before returning, 'Here eat these, it should decrease the pain. And I think that I have... here it is!" I held up some bandages, "Take off your shirt and I'll wrap up your waist, we don't want it moving a lot and getting worse." I helped Talric out of his armor and shirt before tightly wrapping the white cloth around his body, apologizing every time I pulled the bandages to tightly. When I was finished I helped him to his feet and we began our slow trek around the ruined road and towards Varclis. I looked at my quiver and sighed, "So you have no weapon and I only have 4 arrows left... Our adventure is starting out strong." I said sarcastically, holstering my bow.

 

[TheChosen]

"Well i have a dagger but if we run in to another giant not only will i be no use but i doubt a dagger would do much. Should we rest for the night in the woods not only does my side hurt the more i walk but it is getting dark. You could make more arrows cant you as well from stuff around the forest or not." Talrics said shifting his bag on his back so it was more comfortable and not so heavy on his side. "We have about maybe one week and half to Varclis should we just go to somewhere closer, i dont know if i can make it to Varclis."

 

[Viper]

Anora agreed, "The closest village or town we cross, we will stop and get you to a healer." I nod my head in the direction of the road, "I know a small clearing not far that way, I've spent the night there a few times." She led Talric about a mile down the road before entering the tree line. Just out of sight from the road there was a small dirt circle with a ring of stones in the center that served as as fire pit. There was a single large log not far from the pit and she forced Talric to sit there as she went to gather tinder and firewood. When Anora returned it was nearly dark out but thankfully she managed to get the fire started quickly, so they were not left out in the dark. The green eyed woman sat down next to the warrior and help out her hands to the flames, not cold but just enjoying the heat. "So Talric, tell me about yourself. We will be spending a lot of time together, we should get to know one another."

 

[TheChosen]

The flame felt nice, it was a small fire so it just gave off a nice amount of heat. The clearing was decent sized and well hidden which was good. "About me. Well I was born in Varclis. My father was a magician there for the kings guard. My mother i really dont know much about her. She dies giving birth to me. I lived there till i was 6 then my father retired from the kings guard and we traveled. Along the way my father taught me basic magic but that was it he didnt ant me getting to involved with magic he said since it only caused trouble. Me and him traveled till i was 14 then we found the village i lived at till now. My father had been shot by a arrow and which had some kind of poison on the arrow tip. He was very ill and i drove the cart till the horses where almost dead but lucky i found that village. I got my father help and in 2 weeks he was better. My father fell in love with the healer lady and thats when my father said we where staying there. I got a job at the blacksmiths and the farm my father started so i would have something to do. When i turned 18 my sister was born and we where all happy. That didnt last long, my father and second mother died while taking a walk in the woods. There bodies where found 4 weeks after they vanished. My sister was 1 at the time so she really didnt notice. So i kept working and taking care of my sister. In my spare time i trained with the sword with the blacksmith and got really good at it. Then 2 years later, this the village gets attacked and there all dead." Talrics said as he picked up leaves and ripped them apart and let the pieces fall. "What about you? Tell me about yourself."

 

[Viper]

"Well I was also raised by my father but thankfully he had my older brother to help him. My father is a seamster, he makes everything from clothing to traveling bags using skins and the like. Unfortunately, he often had to make house calls and go to the market place so he left me alone with my brother who is five years older than me. We grew rather close since we spent so much time together, he is... was my best friend." Anora's smile fell as she remembered that her family died, "He was a so charming and funny, all of the village girls were in love with him. He was campaigning to be the leader of our village and I bet he would have won if this didn't happen. I bet your wondering where my mother is in all of this, well I never knew her. She left when I was very young, all I remember is short blonde hair that was almost white. My father always said that she had something important to do away from home and that she wanted us to grow up normal, but he swore by the Gods that she is still alive. I still think that's true" I get up and stretch, starting to get emotional, "My father always stressed the importance of knowing how to defend yourself so when I was ten he taught me how to shoot. I loved it so much that I soon surpassed him in skill, it was then that we realized that the married life was not for me. My father convinced some of his friends to take me with them when hunting and it was only a few years later that I started going off on my own. It worked out for the best, I got the alone time I needed and my family got to eat for free. I honesty had no real complaints about my life." I look up into the trees and see an owl watching us with interest, "Life changes like the tide doesn't it?"

 

[TheChosen]

"I don't have compliants either, know that its gone i realized that the life i had was perfect and i wont get it back." Talrics said then slid of the log so he could lay down since it hurt to sit and bend his stomach. "What do you want to do now, i mean we could go after who did this but if we survived we wouldn't have to. We could start over and live new lives somewhere. Me, i am still going after these people or what ever they are but the way we are now do we stand a chance. They took out 2 entire villages and left no bodys of theres or any foot steps. What good could we do?" Talrics said conjuring a tiny flame from his finger tips and swirling them around.

 

[Viper]

"Obviously I'm going after them, I wouldn't still be with you if I didn't plan on going to war." She said laying down on the log comfortably. "Who knows? I don't really expect us to win, we are just two people, but I would rather die in the name of vengeance than live a lifetime only to find them unpunished." Anora yawned as she looked up to the sky, "We should rest now, it has been a long day and I didn't sleep well last night." The hunter closed her eyes and started to drift off to sleep, the sounds of the forest acting like a lullaby to her, "Good night Talric"

 

[TheChosen]

"Good night Anora i will see you in the morning." Talric said and looked at the stars waiting to get tired. The fire slowly died down and then it was dark. Talric feel asleep after a few minutes and fell in to a deep sleep.


Talric was in a city, it seemed empty and sounded empty. Talrics walked around trying to find out where he was. Talrics ran in to a traveling vender. He was thin and looked as if he hadn't eaten in a long time.


"Take this and your vengeance shall happen." The veder said. He held out a sword hilt but the blade was missing. Talrics grabbed it and visions of war, death and power flashed through his head.


Talrics woke up and it was morning already.

 

[Viper]

Anora had already been up for about an hour, she went hunting and gathered a few edible plants. When Talric awoke he could smell meat roasting over the rekindled flame. He opened his eyes to see Anora leaning over the flame, holding two squirrels directly over the flame. They were fine specimens, full of meat and almost cooked to perfection. To the right of the fire, sitting on a stone, were a few herbs that would serve as seasoning for he meal and more of the pain numbing herbs. "Oh, good morning Talric" Anora said, barely even glancing at him. Instead she stared at the squirrels intently, as if her gaze was enough to keep them from burning. Once finished Anora handed one of the steaming sticks to Talric, "Don't forget to eat those herbs, we have a long day ahead of us." Anora stares off into the distance as she takes the first bite of her breakfast.

 

[TheChosen]

Talrics awakes to a sweet smell, fresh roasted meat. He slowly sat up. "Morning." Talrics said and reached for the herbs. He ate all the herbs and chewed them down. Talrics then took a bite of the squirrel and juices from the meat flowed in his mouth. "This is amazing. Have you always been a good cook?" Talrics asked as he took another bite.

 

[Viper]

"Not at first but when you spend 90% of your time out in the forest, you learn a thing or two about how to make even the most crude of meals edible." The pair continued to eat in silence but once they were full they once again began their trek. There wasn't much conversation, Anora wasn't known for being a social butterfly yet it didn't make her feel awkward in the least bit. In fact, since she was walking in front of the injured warrior, she often forgot she even had company until Talric broke a branch or skidded in the dirt a bit. The pair continued like this for a while until they slowly came upon a large village, Varclis, the city of magic. "Well, here we are." Anora sighed, not very happy about being here. She had only been to a city like this once before and she hated every moment. Just looking at all of the people in such a cramped area was concerning and almost disgusting to Anora.

 

[TheChosen]

Varclis came in to view and Talrics gave a sigh of relief. Now he could find a healer and then be ready to go again. "Yeah finally we are here. Luckily we didnt run in to anymore trouble on the way."Talrics said admiring the village. It had changed a lot since he was last there. Buildings 10 stories tall had been built and could be seen all around the city. The Magicians tower was still located in the center of the village and was still the tallest building there was. Smells came from the village that he only guessed came from the market square where all the shopping stands had been set up for trading. Talrics and Anora entered Varclis and stumbled by people trying to fit through the huge crowd of people. "We should go to a inn and rest and get something to eat then find me a healer." Talrics said dodging a group of little kids running after a cat.

 

[Viper]

"Uh... okay" Anora said uncomfortably, taking a step through the gates. It took some time but eventually the pair found an inn and piled in. The man sitting at the counter looked at the county folk with a strange gaze but when he saw the gold Anora was holding he quickly warmed up to them. They got a simple room with two beds, the window looked over the streets and gave a perfect view of the tower. "Well, this will do I guess. At least the walls are thick, I can barely hear all of the noise outside. So..." She started as she threw down her bag of traveling items, "Where do you want to go eat? I think we should just walk down the main road towards the tower and enter the first tavern we find which makes food, cause I do not want to cook again." Anora normally liked cooking but cooking for two, three times a day, for seven days, was quickly taking the enjoyment out of the action.

 

[TheChosen]

"Well i said i would do the cooking once in awhile it just wouldnt taste as good as your food" Talrics said and then put his bag on the bed he would be using. He pulled out a small coin purse and put it in his pocket. "Sounds good to me, that way we wont get lost on the way to the tower and just get straight there after. Talrics took his shirt off to change shirts because the shirt he was wearing was worn and torn and dirty. He put his new shirt on and grabbed his bag and hid it under the bed. "Im ready to head out if your ready. If your going to change i will wait down stairs for you."

 

[Viper]

Anora nodded and waited for Talric to leave the room before removing her shirt. Once she was changed into an outfit a bit more suitable for the city she sighed and moaned out loud, "As if I didn't want to kill them enough for attacking my village, now there is no way I'm forgiving them." Anora returns downstairs and heads out of the inn, finding Talric waiting for her just outside. The pair walk down the crowed streets until they see a sign in the shape of a cauldron with the words "The Twisted Tavern" scrawled in a deep purple. There was a spicy smell creeping from the open door so with a nod Anora motioned towards the tavern and entered.


There were only a handful of people inside and they looked average enough, but behind the bar counter was anything but average. Standing there was an unnaturally tall and bulky man covered in tattoos, they looked liked random shapes yet upon closer inspection three was a pattern, as if it was a long dead language. Anora approached the man and asked him for two of whatever that smell was, throwing some coin on the counter before sitting down a few tables away from the other customers to wait for the meal.

 

[TheChosen]

Talrics sat across from Anora and looked around. It was a simple tavern. Eight tables where scattered around the tavern with four chairs at each table. Paintings covered the wall of landscapes, some beautiful an some filled with war and death. The tall man from behind the bar walked over with a tray with their food and set it down. "Your food enjoy." The man said and walked back to the bar. In front of Talrics was a meat platter. Pork,ham,chicken and ribs lined his plate with some fresh bread in the middle to top it off. The man also brought a pitcher of water and two cups.


Talrics dug in and savored every bite of the sweet juicy meats. He finished the entire plate and the man behind the bar came back over. "May i take your plate sir." he said. "Uhm yes please thank you sir." Talrics said and handed him the plate. The man left to the back of the tavern with the tray. "What are those tattoos mean do you know?"

 

[Viper]

"I have no clue" Anora said, "I never cared for reading, let alone other languages." I ate the food greedily, enjoying the taste of domesticated meats as well as proper spices. "Do you know anywhere where we can find a healer? I bet the tower will have some sort of alchemy or healer mages. Your the one with broken bones, you decide where we go" Anora said absentmindedly, head in her hand, trying to savor her food yet it quickly began to vanish from her plate. She had never been to such a large place and so Talric, whose father used to live here, had the best chance at knowing a good place to go for healing at a reasonable price.

 

[TheChosen]

"Well the tower would be the best place to go but that is actually not true. The tower does have the greatest mages ever but since so many people go there for there help they charge a crazy amount of coins in order to get there help. Thats why there one of the most leading influences on the world with now is for there power and money."Talrics said drinking some more of the water. More people started to flood in the tavern and take seats. "There is a place i know where i can get the healing done for free. When every you are ready i will lead the way there."

 

[Viper]

"Yes please" The pair stood up from the table and walked out from the tavern back into the streets. Anora grimaced as a band of children pushed past her, dodging the legs and carts as if it was second nature to them. Anora followed Talric through the streets to the best of her ability, almost loosing him during their trip through the winding and never ending streets. "I'm surprised you remember the way around here so well, didn't you say you were young when you left here?" Anora was growing frustrated with the people and tall buildings until she came up with a comparison that made this easier to deal with. Running through people was just like running with a herd of animals or around a crowded forest, and the buildings were as tall as trees, so all she had to do was think of these annoyances as 'cousins' to her forests back home.

 

[TheChosen]

The two left the tavern and it must have just hit the busy hour. People flooded the streets ledt and right. Talric could tell Anora was getting annoyed, a forest to a city was a big change. "I was but i was always out in the streets playing around. As a kid here you had to memorize the city to get home or run away from creeps." Talric turned to a smalled alley with no people in it and led the way though back alleys to avoid the crowd.


Talrics led the way to a alley with a single door and a sign above it that said "the old hag". Talrics walkes up to the door and knocked. "Well we are here. Inside here is the best healer in town that i know of." The door opened as Talrics finished speaking and a old lady about 90 stood there. She was hunched over and wrinkles covered her body making her look like she was being sucked dry. She wore a night gown and a jacket with some black slippers. "Well well well if it isnt Talrics." The old lady said in a rasp harsh voice. "Madame Gelzara its a pleasure to see you again." Talrics said and bowed. "Well how is your lovely girlfriend over here Talrics." Ms.Gelzara said turning to you.

 

[Viper]

"We're not" Anora immediately snapped, only realizing how rude that was a moment later, "No offence to you, Talric. I just don't date" Anora said with an apologetic smile. She turned toward the old women and addressed her, "I thank you for your compliment Madame, but we are not here for a social call. Talric and I have only known each other for a week now you see, yet fate has decreed that we must travel together. We originally came here to visit The Tower unfortunately Talric was injured by a beast we encountered on the way, he is in need of healing." Madame Gelzara sighed and waved Talric over to a chair which he sat on as she began to work "I did my best to keep it still and the swelling down, I fed him Meadowsweet when ever we could find them and tightened those bandages twice a day. "

 

[TheChosen]

"You did very well, with a little training and teaching you could be a great healer." Madame Galzara said as she worked on Talric. Her magic healed him in a matter of minutes. "Your amazing as always Galzara, here i know you heal for free but i want to give you this." Talric said then handed her a silver coin. Madame Galzara sighed and took the coin. "Very well, now im sure you have some business somewhere else to take care of so i wont keep you here." She said the walked back to the door and opened it. Talrics nodded and walked out. Once Anora walked out Talrics said goodbye and turned the way they came down from. "Alright so lets head to the tower and see if we can find out anything about what happened to our towns."Talric said then walked back the way they came.


Once out of the alleys they saw the streets where even more crowded then before. All the shop stalls where open and people scurried the roads looking and shopping. Talrics stayed to the side of the roads near the buildings to make the walking easier but still it was slow going and a struggle. After 30 minutes of pushing through the crowd the tower was right in front of them. It was 15 stories tall with hundreds of rooms and windows. The door to enter was a large oak double door with a symbol of the 4 elements carved on each door. Talrics put his hand on a small square in the center of the door and pushed and the doors slowly opened.

 

[Viper]

The inside of the tower was dark, the only light coming from blue flames scattered about the room. The magic fire seemed to dance, raising and falling, depending on the needs of those around them. The entrance hall consisted of doors strategically placed on the walls to the right and left, each with a different symbol embedded on the face of the door, and in the center of the room was a large set of spiraling stairs that seemed to never end. It was unearthly beautiful and clearly expensive, even the colored robes the other disciples and mages wore seemed to be made of the finest of material. "Fancy..." Anora whispered into the near silence of the tower. Yet even her small voice seemed to echo through the walls and get the attention of one robed figure.


She wore a green robe and grinned when she saw the pair, "Welcome! I'm Feria, a class 2 witch. Do you have an appointment or need help finding something?" Anora would have said that this was the girls job if it weren't for the pile of books she was holding, it turned out that this Feria was just a helpful soul who wanted to assist some visitors.