MorganaLeFay
Still Alive and Kickin
That would be another thing to help me with, @RedTeam Grif
My breath clouded in the air around my face in the darkness. I drew my thick woolen cloak tighter around me to ward off the cold, even though it did not bother me much. After living for years in the northern wilderness, the cold lost its effect. Clouds covered the moon, and even my heightened senses were having trouble guiding me through the dark forest on this moonless night.
I was on my way to a village, one that was plagued with some untold disease. Most likely one of the villagers had angered a witch or the like, and this was their punishment. It did not matter why the disease had come, I did not care about the whytos and wherefores. My only job was to eradicate the evil that had consumed this village.
If only I could find it.
The young man I had bribed to give me directions hadn’t been very thorough, and it was impossible to see landmarks in the pitch-blackness under the trees. It would probably be best to stop for the night, but I was too stubborn for that. So I kept moving, occasionally running into trees and tripping over roots and branches. Even though I was an elf, I wasn’t exactly graceful… After face-planting for the third time, and quite possibly breaking my nose, I finally gave up and climbed a nearby tree to sleep for the night.
I settled in on one of the larger branches, unslinging my pack and unstrapping my sword from my belt. As I lay down, I caught a glimpse of the crescent moon through the shadowed leaves of the tree. I sent up a quick prayer to the goddess Yssoi, the guardian of healers. Hopefully with her watching over me, I would still be alive when I woke up in the morning.
….
By the time the sun rose over the horizon in the morning, I was already moving towards the village. I was coming on the edge of the forest, I could tell from the distance between the trees. Yet something was wrong. Everything around me had an aura of danger… and death, but I didn’t know why. As I exited the forest, the village came into view. It was a quaint little place, with low stone houses bordering a slow-moving river. The odd thing was, there was no sound. No ring of metal as the blacksmith worked in his forge, no laughter of children, no shouts of wives to husbands to come home. Everything was deathly silent, except for the screech of carrion birds as they circled overhead.
I ran towards the silent stone houses, praying to all the gods I knew off that I wasn’t too late. But it was not to be. As I walked the path between the houses, I knew that no one had been spared. I opened one of the doors, and my eyes filled with tears. There, in the middle of the room, lay the bodies of a young woman and a child. The child was cradled close to the woman’s breast, its clear blue eyes still open, still looking at the world. It almost seemed accusing towards me. Why hadn’t I come in time to save them?
A quick yet futile search of the other houses just furthered my sorrow and guilt. Maybe if I hadn’t slept last night, maybe if I moved faster, someone would still be alive. Maybe, maybe, maybe. I knew that I was tearing myself up over this for no good reason. These people had been dead for days. The plague, whatever it was, killed faster than anyone could have imagined.
I wandered towards the river, lost in my thoughts. I had to get out of this death filled place. The water at my feet moved sluggishly, and it was a disgusting green-brown color. This water was unhealthy and not safe to drink. That made me take a step back and think for a moment. If not from the river, then where did the villagers get their water? I saw no wells on the way here, and I passed through the center of town, the most likely place a well would be. And I passed part of the river while in the forest. I was as clear as the noonday sky, yet it moved just as slow as this part did.
Now suspicious, I bent and dipped my hand in the river. When I pulled it out, little particles stuck to my skin. They looked like bits of leaf and dirt, nothing really unusual. Or at least I thought so, until my skin started to itch and burn. The water had been contaminated with a poison! I quickly washed off my hand with clean water form my canteen, and the sensation passed. My skin was red and irritated, even just from the few moments the water had been on my hand. If it did this to the outside of one body, imagine what it must have done to the inside.
These people suffered for hours, maybe days, as their innards were ravaged by this poison. I burned with fury. Every man, woman and child was dead, and for what?! Why would someone do this? Whoever did do it would pay for their crime. I would make sure of it.
I stalked away from the river, tamping down my anger. Anger was irrational, and would not help me now. Save it for when I found the person who did this. I went through all the houses and gave all the bodies their final rites, so that their souls could pass to the afterlife unhindered. After that, I took a piece of parchment from my pack and made a warning sign and posted it at the entrance to the village. Hopefully my words would be heeded and no others would consume the poison in the water.
Burdened with my emotions, I headed back for the forest. There was nothing left for me to do here, and I needed to find clean water to wash the stink of the dead off my skin. As I walked, I listened to the songs of the birds, and the rustling of the tree leaves as the breeze drifted by. The sound calmed me, or at least it did until I heard a a gruff voice singing a traveling song very loudly. Curious, I headed towards the noise.
The first thing I saw of the man was his red hair and beard, which caught the light and shone like fire. And he was short, so he was probably a dwarf, and the beard and the axe strapped to his back only furthered my suspicions. His voice, as I said earlier, was loud and gruff, though not unpleasant. He appeared to be heading the way I just came from. If he was travelling to the village, I would have to stop him. Hesitantly, I stepped out of the underbrush towards him.
“Hello, friend,” I greeted.
He jumped and cursed in surprise. “Who be you?”
I twisted my hand over my chest in the elven gesture of introduction. “My name is Tehlmar Eraonson.”
He muttered something under his breath. “Yagnoth Merryfell. Pleasure te’ meet ya.”
My breath clouded in the air around my face in the darkness. I drew my thick woolen cloak tighter around me to ward off the cold, even though it did not bother me much. After living for years in the northern wilderness, the cold lost its effect. Clouds covered the moon, and even my heightened senses were having trouble guiding me through the dark forest on this moonless night.
I was on my way to a village, one that was plagued with some untold disease. Most likely one of the villagers had angered a witch or the like, and this was their punishment. It did not matter why the disease had come, I did not care about the whytos and wherefores. My only job was to eradicate the evil that had consumed this village.
If only I could find it.
The young man I had bribed to give me directions hadn’t been very thorough, and it was impossible to see landmarks in the pitch-blackness under the trees. It would probably be best to stop for the night, but I was too stubborn for that. So I kept moving, occasionally running into trees and tripping over roots and branches. Even though I was an elf, I wasn’t exactly graceful… After face-planting for the third time, and quite possibly breaking my nose, I finally gave up and climbed a nearby tree to sleep for the night.
I settled in on one of the larger branches, unslinging my pack and unstrapping my sword from my belt. As I lay down, I caught a glimpse of the crescent moon through the shadowed leaves of the tree. I sent up a quick prayer to the goddess Yssoi, the guardian of healers. Hopefully with her watching over me, I would still be alive when I woke up in the morning.
….
By the time the sun rose over the horizon in the morning, I was already moving towards the village. I was coming on the edge of the forest, I could tell from the distance between the trees. Yet something was wrong. Everything around me had an aura of danger… and death, but I didn’t know why. As I exited the forest, the village came into view. It was a quaint little place, with low stone houses bordering a slow-moving river. The odd thing was, there was no sound. No ring of metal as the blacksmith worked in his forge, no laughter of children, no shouts of wives to husbands to come home. Everything was deathly silent, except for the screech of carrion birds as they circled overhead.
I ran towards the silent stone houses, praying to all the gods I knew off that I wasn’t too late. But it was not to be. As I walked the path between the houses, I knew that no one had been spared. I opened one of the doors, and my eyes filled with tears. There, in the middle of the room, lay the bodies of a young woman and a child. The child was cradled close to the woman’s breast, its clear blue eyes still open, still looking at the world. It almost seemed accusing towards me. Why hadn’t I come in time to save them?
A quick yet futile search of the other houses just furthered my sorrow and guilt. Maybe if I hadn’t slept last night, maybe if I moved faster, someone would still be alive. Maybe, maybe, maybe. I knew that I was tearing myself up over this for no good reason. These people had been dead for days. The plague, whatever it was, killed faster than anyone could have imagined.
I wandered towards the river, lost in my thoughts. I had to get out of this death filled place. The water at my feet moved sluggishly, and it was a disgusting green-brown color. This water was unhealthy and not safe to drink. That made me take a step back and think for a moment. If not from the river, then where did the villagers get their water? I saw no wells on the way here, and I passed through the center of town, the most likely place a well would be. And I passed part of the river while in the forest. I was as clear as the noonday sky, yet it moved just as slow as this part did.
Now suspicious, I bent and dipped my hand in the river. When I pulled it out, little particles stuck to my skin. They looked like bits of leaf and dirt, nothing really unusual. Or at least I thought so, until my skin started to itch and burn. The water had been contaminated with a poison! I quickly washed off my hand with clean water form my canteen, and the sensation passed. My skin was red and irritated, even just from the few moments the water had been on my hand. If it did this to the outside of one body, imagine what it must have done to the inside.
These people suffered for hours, maybe days, as their innards were ravaged by this poison. I burned with fury. Every man, woman and child was dead, and for what?! Why would someone do this? Whoever did do it would pay for their crime. I would make sure of it.
I stalked away from the river, tamping down my anger. Anger was irrational, and would not help me now. Save it for when I found the person who did this. I went through all the houses and gave all the bodies their final rites, so that their souls could pass to the afterlife unhindered. After that, I took a piece of parchment from my pack and made a warning sign and posted it at the entrance to the village. Hopefully my words would be heeded and no others would consume the poison in the water.
Burdened with my emotions, I headed back for the forest. There was nothing left for me to do here, and I needed to find clean water to wash the stink of the dead off my skin. As I walked, I listened to the songs of the birds, and the rustling of the tree leaves as the breeze drifted by. The sound calmed me, or at least it did until I heard a a gruff voice singing a traveling song very loudly. Curious, I headed towards the noise.
The first thing I saw of the man was his red hair and beard, which caught the light and shone like fire. And he was short, so he was probably a dwarf, and the beard and the axe strapped to his back only furthered my suspicions. His voice, as I said earlier, was loud and gruff, though not unpleasant. He appeared to be heading the way I just came from. If he was travelling to the village, I would have to stop him. Hesitantly, I stepped out of the underbrush towards him.
“Hello, friend,” I greeted.
He jumped and cursed in surprise. “Who be you?”
I twisted my hand over my chest in the elven gesture of introduction. “My name is Tehlmar Eraonson.”
He muttered something under his breath. “Yagnoth Merryfell. Pleasure te’ meet ya.”
