Fantasy Lands of Roh- The Giantslayers

[K.O.D]

The cold chill began to bite again into the wardens gathered at the training camp as the orders to douse the flames spread throughout the camp. The veterans knew why this day was important. The lord warden herself was delivering the deployment orders on her way to Therious by way of the coastal road through Delphor. Veteran Commander Sylus Nelfair had long since grown accustomed to the cold as he was a northsman and had grown up along the frigid coasts. He genuinely felt sorry for the southerners who were probably suffering in this abnormally cold winter season, nonetheless it was needed as wardens were dropping all over Roh. Part of him felt as if they were still in the calm before the storm and that there was a lot worse coming in the future. His eyes shifted to a commotion at the western gate, a decent sized caravan of horses had arrived probably the supplies for deployment. Yet something drew his eyes beyond them to hill just before the horizon where he saw a unmistakable silhouette of a mounted warrior with massive amounts of hair and an equally massive weapon slung on her back.Raising his index finger and thumb to his lips he let loose a loud whistle, and the guards on either side of him each took two large steps back. For good reason it seemed as a few seconds later Commander Sylus’s Griffin landed in front of him and he climbed upon its bare back and whispered “en quillios” Elven for “hello brother”. Then with a nudge of his heels the winged beast took to the air and a tug on its feathered head had it streaking towards the hilltop where he landed beside the Lord Warden, dismounted, and lifted his left arm in a right angle as if flexing his muscles and placed his right fist curled over his heart heel side to the chest, the Wardens salute. Rae inclined her head as she also dismounted and Sylus ended his salute. “A cold winter season this year, hopefully you’ll be sending me somewhere warm.”
***
Rae’Ghan

Rae watched with amusement as the griffin dismounted a cliff and dive bombed the camp. She had seen sylus’s mount move many times but it was always so graceful that she didn’t mind seeing it again. Moments later it rose from the camp and flew her direction landing gently and graceful enough that her Boar only snorted in surprise but did not jump. The Old Ranger dismounted and tossed up the wardens salute which she quickly acknowledged, even after four years it felt weird having her allies salute her and stiffen at her approach. “Sorry Sylus, you’ve got another batch coming, they should be here by tomorrow. But I promise you after this last one I’ll station you in Zoda for an entire quarter.” She said her piece as she dismounted and embraced her old friend who in turn replied with “I’m going to need that in writing ma’am, something to look at when the Whelps start getting on my nerves.” The two shared a hearty chuckle followed by a silent moment where the two watched the camp. “It’s not looking good Sylus...we’ve lost another seventy one in jouktan, twenty three in Baham, thirty in voaton, and even in Zoda we just lost six. We’re falling faster than we can recover...” her somber tone was obviously laced with worry for the recruits in the camp, but still the sorrow at the loss could not be more clear.

The commander was silent for a moment out of respect both for the fallen and for his leaders grieving but eventually he spoke up “It sounds like what we need is a new batch of very capable young wardens. Luckily for you I just so happen to have about three hundred of those down there.” He turned and cracked a hopeful smile at Rae’Ghan who responded with a slight smirk of her own, that man was so damned stubbornly optimistic it was hard to argue with him sometimes. “Do we have any special cases in this batch?” she said with a tone that sounded like she knew she had made a mistake by the last word. Sylus seemed to get deadly serious immediately and he said “With all due respect Lord Warden, Every warden I let graduate from my camp is a special and exceptional warrior in their own right...that said...I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like these recruits in all my days. There are some truly mighty heroes down there, some who will one day rival all of us, of that I have no doubt.” Rae smiled as he spoke knowing that he had said a similar thing when she was graduating from his camp all those years ago. “Come now Lord Rae, words can only do so much justice to my art, and it would do the New blood some good to meet you. You have a long ride ahead of you should stick around and eat anyway.” Rae was thinking about his offer before he patted his griffin sending it on its way and grabbed the leads of her own mount with one hand and her hand with his other removing her decision from the equation and taking the she-orc and her boar towards the camp.

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KingofAesir @Juju Vol @Kitteh @Fluffykitty9000 @BiteSizedOtter @Neuro Vampire

 

[KingofAesir]

Finnik ​

Finnik could feel the cold seeping into her bones beneath the tightly woven wool of her cloak. She’d helped to make this very cloak herself, Finnik ran her thumb over the small silver clasp that was keeping the cloak fastened around her shoulders as she remembered helping Mam to dye the wool for the cloak. They’d taken the shells of green nuts and oak bark around their home and Mam had ground them together and let them rot for a few days and that’s what they’d used to make the black dye. They’d heated up water in the biggest pot they had and when they’d boiled they dye in it until it was well enough, Mam had let Finnik do the dipping. The wool that had once been a shoddy off-white came out of the pot after a few dips a deep midnight black. The silver clasp had been purchased from some merchant or another that had found himself in the city on one of their few trips there and Mam had fixed it on for her. This had been nearly thirteen years ago now and Finnik had grown at least another few inches since then so the cloak now only reached just below her knee where it had once nearly met her ankles. It felt odd to think about things so long passed, especially when they involved Mam. So many things had reminded Finnik of the woman who had practically raised her back home that it had almost felt as if Mam was still there. But now, now she was out in the cold freezing her ass off in Delphor. The air fogged around her face through the scarf over her face as she let out a hot huff of breath, the last embers of the fire they had just put out sputtered weakly and made her yearn for the flames that she could still remember the warmth of. Her home could get cold, and she was used to it, but this was a whole new place and a whole new kind of cold that she just wanted to escape as soon as possible, six weeks was far too long. Finnik hoped against hope that they didn’t keep her here or, gods forbid, send her somewhere hot. She shouldn’t complain, they were here to fight giants. Wardens were supposed to be heroes and she was fairly certain heroes probably didn’t weep about the weather.

The other recruits shuffled around her, speaking to each other or simply staring off into the distance just as lost in thought as Finnik herself had been a few moments before. Finnik pulled the red scarf that had been covering her mouth and nose down so that she could run a gloved hand over her mouth. The scar on the end of her mouth was somewhat newly acquired from a branch thwacking her in the face, a rather mundane way to receive a scar really, and it still itched sometimes. Green eyes cast up from the sputtering remains of a fire at the sound of wheels and horses clodding along caught her attention. She turned to see a caravan making their way through the western gate. Supplies. Finnik watched as a few recruits rushed to meet them. She was about to do the same when a flash of movement drew her attention elsewhere. Commander Nelfair dove through the air on a his griffin companion that even after being here for six weeks and seeing the thing on several occasions. He landed a ways away from the camp on the crest of a hill and that was where her eyes landed on the Lord Warden herself. Finnik had never actually seen the orcish leader of the Wardens, but she had heard stories and there was no mistaking the hulking mass of a woman, mounted atop a boar no less, for anyone else. They were too far away for Finnik to really make out any details but she could see the massive axe...or was it a hammer? Finnik couldn’t tell exactly what it was but it was strapped to her back and it was huge. The half-elf felt her hand clasp at the smooth wood of the longbow strapped to her back that somehow suddenly just felt like a twig instead of the elegantly crafted weapon that it was. That thing probably weighed more than Finnik herself did, and now she was imagining the Lord Warden swinging her around like a hammer. Hell. Finnik shook her head to dislodge whatever tangent she had just gotten lost in. The Lord Warden and the Commander were making their way back down toward the camp and that probably meant that the orc woman would be speaking to them, giving them their deployment orders perhaps. Finnik couldn’t help the small grin that graced her face, the Lord Warden herself was going to give them their orders? She couldn’t imagine how the other recruits felt about this, Finnik had hardly spoken two words to anyone the six weeks they’d been here but she knew that she was just ready to finally be rid of this place. To finally actually be a real Warden. To finally be doing something to help her friends back home. That thought did not bring on pleasant memories.

“Thatch? What are you doin here? The suns gone down a long time ago.” The white arm of the towering fungus man came crashing through the top of her door and straight at her, clipping Finnik’s side as she barely had time to dodge out of the way. “What the fuck?! Shit, shit, shit.”

Finnik shook her head for a second time again dislodging indesirable thoughts. Her side twinged with phantom pain at the memory and she found herself wrapping an arm around her waist. Gods damned giants. Finnik pulled her scarf back up over her face and started moving toward the supplies caravan at the western gate, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Lord Warden as she and the Commander rode through.

Mentions: Rae and Sylus K.O.D

 

[Solirus]

Howard

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Howard had sat down on a nearby rock which he had claimed his own for the time being, he was wearing nothing more than dirty old brown rags perhaps originally being another color but indistinguishable at this point. He wore no shoes or anything to protect his feet wearing only shorts and some surprisingly intact underwear, a normal sane man would have been freezing and dying at this point, but Howard didn't mind, in fact he seemed awfully happy as he began giggling to himself, holding his sword with right hand partially stuck to the ground.

He looked directly at his sword, "And you said we'd be lost forever" Howard broke out into a hysterical laughter catching some worried glances from other recruits. "Oh oh what did I tell you, not to mention all these lovely faces we have here!" he exclaimed to his sword with a silence following it, "WHAT?! how dare you say that... these people have found us and decided to bring us here, that is perhaps one of my favorite days ever, when they arrived it felt truly magnificent, I remember it like it was yesterday... wait... was it actually yesterday?" he asked still looking at his sword, "Nah you're right... I should ask around right? Yeah that's a good idea" Howard stood up from his rock hunched slightly forward and holding his sword tightly he walked up to the nearest pair of fellow recruits, with his other hand he began stroking his beard, "Greetings fellow individuals of LIFE... what day is it today?" One of the recruits was about to respond before having to quickly cover his mouth with the other recruits doing the same and quickly running away. "Huh... what's their problem?" Howard was met with silence, "What do you mean I stink?!" nothing responded, "C'mon I like showered 3 months ago!" Howard now angrily stared at his sword, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN that isn't a shower, It was a great shower... FINE have it your way" Howard finally gave up Placing his sword once more into the ground, crossing his arms and looking away.

His ultimatum of ultimatums was cut short by the arrival of what seemed to be very important people, how come? Well Howard quickly recognized that one of the individuals was very big and had an equally big weapon if it could even be called that, and the other... well they seemed to be confidently next to the big one so that meant they were also important. Howard slowly moved his view back at his sword, "Fine, I'm going to be the bigger man here and say you're right... I'll get a proper shower then ok?" Howard was met once again with nothing but silence. "DEAL, alright lets go have a closer look then!" Howard stated joyfully picking his weapon back up and making his way to where every other recruit was going to.

Mentions: K.O.D

 

[K.O.D]

Kul’Dias

The Orcish monk watched the pillar of Steam rise out of the hot coals as he doused the flames with a bucket of snow. His Skin though coated in goosebumps didn’t twitch or shiver, the cold was certainly uncomfortable and likely the worst he had ever faced, but it wouldn’t get very far beyond his skin. Those iron hard muscles were packed with enough energy that they generated their own warmth, this explained the steam that rose off of the orc himself however most would know nothing of this. Kul hadn’t exactly been one of the popular rookies here. The other orcs kept their distance early on, thinking his weirdness by orcish standards was on account of him being a shaman or something, however that idea was shattered when the second week magic tests occurred and Kul expressed zero magical prowess.he spent his entire third week dodging the orcs who had by then cliqued up and had begun to be a problem for the other students and even the instructors were getting tired of them. However brash as the orcs were they only needed to succeed once, and succeed they did, kinda.

They had managed to corner the loner and with only a few short words passing between him and the group decided to surround him and one of their leaders offered him an axe to duel him with. When Kul declined the weapon and the duel the orc got enraged and attacked him anyway. A back fist would swat the warriors blade aside and the left cross that followed floored the large orc and left him in a daze which set him up for a swift ko brought by a knee to the forehead. This did not go the way the group had wanted and in short order it became a free for all, with the leader taken out some of the gathered orcs had second thoughts, others considered them cowards and said as much...which is about the worst thing one can say to an orc and soon a frenzy ensued unfortunately with Kul being in the direct center of the madness. This wouldn’t last very long however as Kul managed to plow through another nine orcs in his effort to escape the thrall before the officers arrived and he got in trouble as well. Watazeek had thought him that people rarely saw beyond their initial impression. Luckily for Kul he did manage to slip out of the frenzy and away before the officers got there, unfortunately word would still spread and Kul would have several more run ins the orcish warriors who viewed him a coward and a cheater now, luckily he wouldn’t have to deal with such a large number of them again.

Worse still he was branded a trouble maker both for the many skirmishes he would get in and based upon his downright refusal to take a weapon in his hand during training. However on his fifth week it all seemed to relent when golem training began. The large stone and metal constructs from the Therious college served as giant simulations and would impress upon the students the need to dodge rather than block, and aim their strikes wisely rather than quickly. While many recruits struggled this was where the special cases were to be selected, and Kul shone brightly by not only managing to evade every blow but also was one of the few to destroy one of the golems, which while impressive earned him another chastising for destroying warden training dummies and not performing the expected maneuvers. Apparently however this was enough to convince the rest of the orcs that he was no coward but rather just a freak, so while they continued to insult him and shun him they were no longer quick to pick a fight with him.

Finally he was in the last few hours of being a recruit and soon he would have some semblance of his freedom back. Sure he would still be forced to follow orders, but at the very least he wouldn’t Be stuck in a frozen camp. Plus it wasn’t all bad, while most of his orcish brethren seemed to hate him the other recruits didn’t really seem to think to harshly of him. The loud whistle of the commander finally cut him out of his thoughts and he noticed the griffin swooping down and then back up and towards the hill. He made note of the orc on the hog but was far more interested in the supplies shipment. Making a quick beeline towards the western gate he would find a gathering of other recruits blocking his access and he would begin to mumble curses under his breath.​

 

[Vol]

BEHOLD, THE BEGINNING OF A TALE OF RECKOING

Location: Camp Keep
Mentions: Commander Nelfair K.O.D / Howard Solirus / Finnick KingofAesir
Interactions: N/A
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"That's a convoluted way to tell a joke, don't you think?"
"It would've 'een betta if the dog weren't there in tha first place, tha two horses were enough."
"What, so ya wanted me to say to the horse, 'why the long face?'" Lohar barked out a laugh and fresh puffs of steam billowed from his mouth. A few fellow recruits that huddled with him chuckled in resignation, not minding the terrible punchline, while some scoffed and buried their cold-bitten noses into the palms of their hands.

Lohar was freezing. But a round of smiles and idle chatter could stave the threat of frost bite and eternal slumber any day. Well, to an extent.
Though it was 'biologically' easier for halflings to get warmed up from their small body surface area, the thief only had his thread bare hood and cloak, and his faded red scarf. The clothes on his back and some rations "generously" given to him by his Guild were all he had on his trek to get to this winter wonderland.

Some shouting piqued his interest and he eyed the ginger-haired man from afar. The smile he had put on earlier reformed to a little sneer as he appraised the man -- a man that physically has his head but must've left the important parts somewhere along the way. Too bad he did not have anything visible of worth to offer, not even warm clothing, to Lohar's surprise. Except the sword. Not much the halfling would do with that heavy hunk of metal though.

Whispers of 'Commander's back', 'Nelfair's here, are things going to start up now?' had the thief looking up at the bleary clouded sky and caught a glimpse of the said authority landing by on their griffin mount.
"I wonder what that kind of beast would taste like." Lohar idly remarked as his gaze travelled from the sky, to the top walls of the camp's barricades, then to the slowly congregating crowd of recruits by the western gate.
"Chicken, obviously." A dwarf actually responded to him.
"A woman of fine culinary taste, ya are." He trailed behind the rest of the recruits.

As his curiousity grew, he began to weave between and underneath legs of others to catch a better view of what was happening. Most likely something important -- maybe even a chance to get a move on from this wonderful keep they had set up. Lohar ended up sidling next to a tall figure with a similar scarf get-up like himself, but rather than covering the lower half of a face, Lohar's head was wrapped fully in its embrace -- a little bit of a slit for his eyes.