The Shivering Woods

[Khiera Meneris]

As you approach the edge of the Shivering Woods, a sense of grim, foreboding dread envelopes you. The slender trunks of the Larkentir trees with its silvery leaves stood densely together. There was no sound to be heard -- no birds singing, insects chirping – except for the faint rustling of the Larkentir tree leaves with each breeze. You try to peer into the woods from afar, trying to catch a glimpse of what lays ahead inside the woods, but all you could see was the tall, seemingly fragile Larkentirs swaying against each other in the wind.

You wonder what awaits you inside the woods, besides the reputedly evil and bloodthirsty dark elven tribe of Tsváen’mol’khár – if you decide to make your way into the woods.

[Kiushapo]

Finally! Kiushapo felt a child like giddiness sweep over him. After all this time they had finally reached the woods. If he'd been by himself, he might have come here first And gotten myself killed . This thought was reinforced by the ominous silence, very strange and depressing to his ears, used to the constant creaking and whining of a ship at sea.

Looking to Mina, he had to thank her for making them ask questions along the way. He just hoped he had more of an idea of the big picture than he did. Despite all their knowledge, he still had no idea what had happened to the Princess.

Humming softly to fill the void, he touched a nearby tree, trying to see if he could get a sense of the place as he waited for his companions, suddenly recalling the advice the two little boys had imparted back in town and determined to bring it up before heading into the woods.

Simple answers to life's questioning. T'would be a greater magic that I have ever been seeing.
Kiushapo's Story

[Mina]

Mina was wondering about the mystery for most of the duration of their walk to the Woods.  They had quite a bit of information, but not enough to know how they all fit together.  The best Mina could do was to try guess how they should be pieced together.  

The old man Caradol obviously had quite a bit to do with the princess' disappearance, but how was he involved?  And why were there guards after him?  Was he somehow responsible for the disappearance?  Yes...that could be it...Elric said that the prince will be coming here personally because of some big discovery...perhaps Caradol's reappearance here is that discovery.  But what's his motive for this?  And how is Arialle involved in all this?  An accomplice?  Or did she have Caradol make the princess disappear out of jealousy?  Or as part of some plan to return her to the king's side?  And what of Elric?  He seemed not to know about the relationship between Caradol and Arialle, but was he merely putting on an act? She glanced at Elric.  It didn't look likely, but she decided it was still better to be careful, just in case.  

Now that they had reached the edge of the Woods, Mina felt somewhat hesitant.  Still, she had decided that there was no better alternative, save giving up on solving the mystery.  But a little procrastination couldn't hurt too much...

Turning to Elric, she asked, "Um...Lieutenant Dorrum said that you know the usual precautions.  Perhaps you should tell what they are.  So we don't accidentally endanger ourselves or something."

((OOC: Not quite what I suspect things really are, but that's the best I could come up with with the information available to me IC.    ))

There is no emotion; there is peace.
There is no ignorance; there is knowledge.
There is no passion; there is serenity.
There is no death; there is the Force.

Edited by: Mina Aylwin at: 1/30/04 16:36

[Fluffy Ramblers]

"All right then," - said Manymeals to his followers, accepting the inevitable: "After the boy! - he waved with his paw in direction of Yerun: "He will... uh... clear the way for us." - and he ran into the shadows of the trees.

Sparky shrugged his shoulders. Well, at least the whole thing was funnier than the every day's business. He made a sign for the Ramblers and they joined Manymeals.

-----
Squee! Squee!
The rat story

[Cacunai]

Cacunai had completely forgotten about the rats by this time, and did not even notice the huge amount of ratpower gathering until they streamed off after Yerun. This is a proper shambles, isn't it! She thought. So much for my grand plan! The seer in her whistled tunelessly. Come on then Cacunai, up we get. After the boy! Her legs flew into motion and she stepped smartly forward without a backward glance to Kestrel. The part of her that was just a normal elf sighed. You know, she's still got that bit of cloth. The ranger in her swiftly dealt the normal third, or maybe fourth (O_o), a cuff to the ear. It doesn't matter now! Just shut up and run! A fourth bit cut in temporarily. Oh, all of you shut up and focus on the task at hand. Remember those boys in the market? Well, we've lost our rearguard. Maybe it would be better to just desert the rats and the boy. I for one don't want to go along making enough noise to raise the dead. These trees are already flailing around enough. Cacunai as a whole listened detachedly to the quarrel going on inside her mind. She just ran swiftly and silently after the boy. Her life as a Rover aided her now.

"Seek then speak, that is the way of the witchwoman.."

[Khiera Meneris]

@Mina & Kiushapo:

Upon approaching the fringe of the woods, Elric made the decision that they should enter the woods at a certain point ... probably for no particular or special reason, because each part of the fringe looked eeriely uniformed -- and so was the case with the slithery noise of the Larkentirs shivering againt each other.

"Um...Lieutenant Dorrum said that you know the usual precautions. Perhaps you should tell what they are. So we don't accidentally endanger ourselves or something."

Elric unsheathed his sword and shrugged with seemingly much discomfort at the prospect of entering the woods, though grim determination was written all over his face. "Make sure someone's watching your back all the time. Never step more than a ped away from the person that's watching your back. No sudden movements unless you are defending yourself from an attack. Always be prepared to run out of the woods." Elric paused, then added, "Though, i don't think the last one is an option ... for us."

Taking in a deep breath, Elric motioned for Mina and Kiushapo to follow, as he parted the branches of the willowy Larkentir before him, and stepped into the woods.

>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<

For all the frightful tales associated with its reputation, the interior of the woods was an array of endless Larkentirs brushing up against each other, and a continuous din of rustling from the Larkentirs. It was true that the only thing that could be heard where the rustling of the trees. The overhead sun seemed to decide that it liked staying shy today and frolicked in the company of the clouds, which didn't help in providing a cheerful atmosphere.

Elric swung around, his back facing Mina and Kiushapo, as he spoke in a cautious and wary tone, "We should all stand with our backs facing each other, so that we are all watching each other's backs at all times. We should proceed deeper into the woods this way."


Each of you should make one post, and then we move on

Hold me.
Soothe me.
Love me.
Save me from my RAGE.

[Khiera Meneris]

@Fluffy & Cacunai:

At Manymeal's gallant command, all the rats rushed forth, little thought bubbles of a paradise laden with mountains of cheese and food hovering above their furry heads. Most didn't know why they were following this odd rat that spoke with an accent, but half of them were secret admirers of SmoothFur and the other half were concerned parents of their lovesick ratlings, so one thing led to another and each tried to rationalize their not so rational actions by looking forward to food and more food.

And so the troop of rats scurried into the woods, and found themselves surrounded all around by tall shivering trees that caused the sound of someone scratching their underarms continously. The rats came to a halt as Manymeals surveyed the surroundings and pondered on which direction to head next deeper into the woods.

As the Great Mouphet was making his decision with SmoothFur by his side, the old, decrepit black rat sidled up to Teapot's side, and flashed an old, decrepit smile at her, trying to project the feeling of warmth and adoration as he squeaked old and decrepitly, "How about getting together when we get to paradise? You and I? You are so -- SKIIIITTTCCCHHHXXXXXXXXX!!!!"

That was the anguished and shocked sound of a rat's tail being stepped on. In this case, it was the feet of one slim female elf who had abruptly halted as she entered the woods as she saw the congregation of rats in front of her. Both parties -- rats and elf -- were looking for Yerun, who was no where to be seen, but only one side had tails to be stepped on.  

Hold me.
Soothe me.
Love me.
Save me from my RAGE.

[Cacunai]

Ech, sorry, she muttered. Rats. They couldn't even make their way around a wood well enough to keep out of a human's way. If there were elves in here, these rodents would not last long. Cacunai stepped gingerly around the group until she reached the head of the bunch, at which point she stood and looked down at them with a raised brow. After about thirty seconds, she snorted and turned away to follow Yerun's trail. This forest wasn't too different from most, except for the trees. Tracking him shouldn't be too difficult. She highly doubted any of the rats could speak, or understand her for that matter, and she did not recognize Manymeals, and the rest.

"Seek then speak, that is the way of the witchwoman.."

Edited by: Cacunai at: 1/31/04 3:54

[Evelaria]

Eve slowly entered the woods fully now, and suddenly the mood seemed to change. Everything became dark and dreary, something Eve hadn't quite expected. She looked around, hearing nothing besides a slight rustle of leaves in the distance. Eve's eyes could not peer through the darkness ahead of her, she could only see what was directly before her. Beyond that was a mass of blackness. She sighed, remembering the directions Thaetum had given her.

"If you can head SouthWest all the way without ...... without running into ... difficulties ... with the elves, you'll reach the Ring of Stones. It was around the vicinity thereabouts where i ran into the elves."

She closed her eyes, turning her head to where she believed was Southwest. Helli had helped her out earlier by telling her which way was North. A warrior should know these things, but Eve was more about battle than tactics and knowledge. She wanted someone near her, hopefully an animal would come by and keep her company. She lifted her axes from her back and held them close in her grip, ready to block anything that came flying her way. Opening her eyes once more she muttered a prayer.

"Chaos, guide my footsteps like you have never done before. I want to see as you see, make my eyes a beacon of light to you, make my ears a tunnel of sound, let me hear my enemy before they see me."

[Khiera Meneris]

@Eve:

The lack of direct sunlight pouring into the woods on this day made the atmosphere dull and dreary. The only other constant besides the gloom was the constant rustling of the Larkentirs as they brushed and huddled against each other with every slight passing breeze.

Although the Shivering Woods was quite large, at the moment there seemed to be no trace of life other than Eve herself.

Suddenly, something zipped past Eve's right ankle, and the moment she hastily gazed down to her right see what it was, whatever it was had already vanished. That was when the same strange sensation zipped past her left ankle, and it was either cloaked under some form of invisibility, or it had the ability to vanish instantenously. The constant rustling of the Larkentir meant that the sound of the mystery object's movement could not be determined.

Eve's keen eyes though, caught a suspicious rustling in a cluster of low bushes right in front of her.  

Hold me.
Soothe me.
Love me.
Save me from my RAGE.

[Fluffy Ramblers]

"Now where did the boy run," - pondered Manymeals while standing  in the middle of the trees and bushes. He sniffed the air here and there and then slowly followed Yerun's scent trail. The boy was still nowhere to be seen.

The rest of the Ramblers mixed with the rat crowd. Fuzzytail talked to some of them, to study his future followers (he had no doubts that they would do everything for a friend of Manymeals) and found out, that they didn't really beleive in all that Mouphet-stuff. Which was bad, because fanatics were muich easier to manipulate.

Teapot meanwhile was trying to get rid of her admirer: "Get your hands off me! We don't even know eachother!...". Then suddenly there was that elf woman, who solved her problem with one step. Full of gratitude, she ran to Fuzzytail and asked him to say something to the elf.
"Hey, Big One!" - shouted the mouse: "Follow us, we will find the boy faster! We can sniff!

-----
Squee! Squee!
The rat story

[Cacunai]

Cacunai turned on her heel when she heard Fuzzytail's squeaky little voice and scanned the  group until she located him.

If you can sniff him out, my little friend, why are you all dawdling around here?

She shook her head and turned to leave, to find Yerun before the trail wore thin, but she did not move. Fianlly, she turned back and eyed the mouse disbelievingly. She waited for him to say something.

"Seek then speak, that is the way of the witchwoman.."

Edited by: Cacunai at: 1/31/04 21:19

[Evelaria]

Eve saw something flash past her eyes and she prepared herself to attack anything that jumped up at her. She looked around, her eyes catching the leaves in front of her rustling. She walked, cautiously up to the low bushes and reached in, not knowing what she would pull out. She had one hand in the bush and the other, stronger hand raised with an axe in it ready to strike out.

((Short posts...hate 'em))

[Fluffy Ramblers]

Fuzzytail ran to the elven woman before the other rats could hear what she was saying. It would be no good if they learn that Manymeals didn't actually command the Big Ones. "Well, of course you can try to find the boy on your own," - he said to Cacunai: "But I think that three times ten rats would do it faster. We offer you help, it's up to you to accept it."
"Besides," - he added: "Who knows what dangers await us in these woods? Wild beasts or wicked wood-people. Maybe even mages who throw lightnings at random! And we will protect you!"
"I mean, you will protect us," - thought the rat.

Then Fuzzytail abandoned the elf, went back and found SmoothFur in the rat crowd. "Hello darling," - said the mouse: "I think our Mouphet needs a little assistance. He's good at thinkin' an' stuff, but he needs a lot of time to sniff out someone. And those Big Ones can get lost so fast, when they have no rat to tell them where to go. Please, ask your pack to help Manymeals sniffing, would you?"

-----
Squee! Squee!
The rat story

Edited by: Fluffy Ramblers at: 2/1/04 15:53

[Khiera Meneris]

@Eve:

((OOC: Short posts ... they gotta hit someone sometime somewhere  NP!))

As Eve's hand reached into the suspicious shuddering bush, her palm reached something warm, furry, and squirming. And then, a familiar "voice" rang out from Eve's grasp, "Acorn Lady! You found us!"

As Eve raised her hand out from her bush, one of the three Kuatus she had encountered earlier on squirmed cheekily in her tight grasp, flicking its bushy tail around. A chorus of chittering ensued behind Eve, and when Eve turned around, it was the other two Kuatus hopping around gaily, greeting Eve, "Acorn Lady! Acorn Lady!"

((OOC: Well now, here are your "tour guides", until Thaetum or someone else shows up ))

Hold me.
Soothe me.
Love me.
Save me from my RAGE.

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