Chapter 3c: Band of brothers, men turned runners

[Khiera Meneris]

((OOC: Please visit the main site and read the entry on the Auturian Woods))

The intense, leafy green foliage within the woods had an almost soothing, hypnotic quality. Exotic sounds of birds, bugs and beasts cloaked the woods in a faint shroud of mysticism, with the light morning mist adding an esoteric gleam to the tongues of dawn's ray streaming through the heavy, overhead branches. The faraway gurgle of a stream was deafening against the backdrop of the calm silence of the woods.

Today the woods had received an unexpected entourage of visitors that, for some reason or another, were drawn to a similar spot in the woods at this particular point in time. The woods itself could care less about the sojourners through its domain, but there are those here who let no word and no act pass through unobserved.  

[Morcaanan]

"You hate me, don't you?"


The shout bounced off the silence of the forest with a rebounding intensity, a silence broken only by the swish and clop of the horses hooves as it trotted away. Jeharaid stared after the horse as it left him. The beast suddenly kicked up its heels with a joyful winny and took off, and was soon out of sight.

Morcaanan glared after the now disappeared horse with disgust. The creature had bucked him and his small pack off not two seconds before, after he had told this unusually uncooperative animal (unusual for him, it was rare that a horse would not obey him - he hoped it had a guilty conscience over that, at least) that it would be adorning a spit above the fire that night if it didn't do as it was told.

Naturally, horses being the very intelligent (or very stupid, depends on your religion it seems) creatures they are, it didn't take kindly to this evaluation of the value of its flesh in edible weight and decided to seek a better climate - without the help of its very disgusted rider.

The mercenary pulled himself off the ground and sent another glare  where he last saw the animal's hairy brown rump, then turned on his heel and continued on his journey into the woods.

(OOC: Gave it my best shot for an opening, hope someone can do better than I to really get us going...)

Edited by: Morcaanan at: 7/25/05 4:30

[Thraz the Mighty]

Thraz rode his pony through the Auturian Woods as he searched for the famed Kaierian Warriors. They believed that they were the toughest warriors in the world of Caelereth. Ha! They had yet to meet Thraz the Mighty! He knew the elves were watching him from above as they hid in their precious trees. He could feel their cowardly eyes upon his back as he rode Mortil, his pony, through their domain. He yelled into the trees in order to get their attention.

"Cursed elves! I know you're watching me! Come down from those trees and fight a true warrior!"

Never in a thousand years would Thraz have expected to get a reply, but in the next moment he heard someone shout in the distance.

"You hate me, don't you?"

That was not an appropriate reply to a challenge, and Thraz dismissed it, for surely it was only a lunatic that was lost in the forest

Thraz reined Mortil to a halt as he noticed bushes thrashing about to his right. So, they thought they could sneak up on Thraz the Mighty? His axe would soon teach them differently. He slid off of Mortil and pulled his fang-axe out of his belt. He stood ready for a battle, and he would fight no matter how many elves charged out of those bushes. A brown horse suddenly leaped out of the bushes and flew over the head of the dwarf. It was such a surprise for Thraz that he fell down and landed squarely on his rear. Only his pride was injured and he shouted as loudly as he could.

"Foul creature! I'd skin you myself if my legs weren't too short to catch you!"

It took every bit of strength that he possessed to lift himself and the pygge of armor that he was wearing off the ground. The horse had been wearing a saddle, and surely belonged to the lunatic that had shouted earlier. Thraz felt pity for such a pitiful creature that was stranded without even a mount. He climbed onto Mortil's back and rode in the direction from which the horse had come.

[Faulse Nightshadow]

Standing beneath a giant urban tree Faulse went about polishing one of his matching shamshirs, a slow and easy going manner to his mood. He was glad to have finally made it to the Auturian Woods after such a rough journey from the Istarin Forest. Perhaps if he hadn't opted to cross over the mountains it might not have been so rough.

His long elven ears then perked up at the sudden outburst of a gruff voice. From where Faulse was standing it sounded not to far off, and much like a challenge directed towards his elven kin. His curiosity perked he sheathed his blade and made his way about creeping along the forest floor to get a closer look at the would be challenger to the great Kaierian Warriors.

He made not a sound as he manuvered around loose fooliage and fallen branches, well apt to staying quiet in the forest while tracking. As he reached another large urban he shot a glance behind him having heard another voice call out in the opposite direction, only to see a horse with no rider charge past him and into the bushes. The leap through the bushes would be followed by a scene he indeed could see from where he was standing, that was to say after the bush had gave way to the horse.

A gruff dwarf lay there cursing and grumbling, having been knocked down by the horses charge. Faulse let out a chuckle as he leaned against the urban, his huge arms folded over his muscular chest, towering in height above any other elves most had ever scene. As the dwarf approached on his mount Faulse called out to him in a calm manner.

"Not fond of us elves I take it? Well I may not be from these woods in particular, but I am an elf, and a warrior at that. What do you say there friend dwarf?" A smirk played upon Faulses lips. He wondered if this dwarf was to proud to back down or if he would charge into a fight. He knew this fellow wasn't expecting an elf that stood at 2.3 peds. He merely was feeding his curiosity now.

[Thraz the Mighty]

"Not fond of us elves I take it? Well I may not be from these woods in particular, but I am an elf, and a warrior at that. What do you say there friend dwarf?"

Thraz once again dismounted from Mortil as he heard an elf call to him. He was skilled with his fang-axe, but he could not fight from the back of a pony. He readied his axe as he searched for the source of the voice that had challenged him. It seemed to have come from above the short dwarf, so he scanned the trees for the cowardly elf that hid among their foliage. Thraz had nothing against elves in general, but he wanted to fight these Kaierian Warriors for he loved a challenge. The elf claimed that he was not from these woods and would be even less of a challenge to the mighty dwarf than the Kaieran Warriors that lived in this forest. His helm slid over his eyes as he walked around, searching for the elf. He walked into Faulse without even seeing him and yelled.

"Who put a tree here? If only I could get this infernal helm off my eyes, then I might be able to see something."

He staggered back a few steps after the collison with the elf, and lifted his helm off his eyes to see the strangest elf he had ever seen. The elf was at least a ped taller than the dwarf, and had an odd hairstyle that left two sides of his head shaved. It would only take a quick stroke of his axe to cut him down to size, but Thraz only fought those that disrespected him or those that would provide a good challenge. This elf would need friends in order to be a challenge to the dwarf.

"Ah, there you are. I never expected to meet an elf of your stature, though I once defeated a troll even larger than yourself. My name is Thraz the Mighty, and I have no quarrel with you. I am here to fight the Kaierian Warriors, but they appear to be too cowardly to face me. I was on my way to discover what poor soul lost his horse when you intercepted me."

Edited by: Thraz the Mighty at: 7/26/05 15:46

[Morcaanan]

Morcaanan had heard a good deal of shouting, and had come back to investigate.

"I was here to fight the-" This was where Morcaanan could have sworn the dwarf had said 'Korweynite Warriors', "-but they seem too cowardly to face me."

Morcaanan's jaw dropped. Too...cowardly?? To face a midget dwarf?

"I was on my way to discover what poor soul lost his horse when you intercepted me."

"Why?" shouted Jeharaid. "So you can kill me on foot instead?" He stepped forward menacingly, glowering at the dwarf threateningly.

Edited by: Morcaanan at: 7/26/05 15:59

[Faulse Nightshadow]

Faulse chuckled to himself as the scene before him unfolded. He had to admire the dwarfs quest for a challenge as well as his confidence in battle. As the human approached Faulse stepped away from the tree and into his view to come to stand behind the dwarf, towering over the dwarf to create a comical sort of view in size difference.

Brushing back stray strands of his red mohawk Faulse called out to the man, "Calm down sir, I feel that none of us here have quarrel with one another." He chuckled lightly. "This one here looks to challenge the great elven warriors here while I search them out for training. What might be bringinig you to these fine woods, sir?"

[Morcaanan]

"Certainly not under-sized, over-bold dwarves or over-sized, over-curious elves" he growled, feeling slightly embarrassed for having misunderstood the dwarf and trying to hide it. "I am merely passing through. As for my horse, he had...er, other plans."

He glanced at the odd pair. One was so tall he had to look up at him, and the other he could have cut the head off beard and all, if it had stood a little further from the ground.

Edited by: Morcaanan at: 7/26/05 23:45

[Thaedras]

Thaedras was still not quite sure why he was wandering around the Auturian Woods. His ship, The Water Maiden, was hiding in a small port in the Gulf of Maraya. The Maiden has been surprised by a seemingly harmless ship, whose hidden ballistae proved it wasn't. Knowing the a gigantic Ballista bolt tended to arouse questions, Thaedras decided to get repairs in a place that was unknown to him, and thus he was unknown to them. Being quite bored of repairs, Thaedras decided to wander the woods for awhile, and sent Lia to find something interesting.

Lia had been watching the encounter between the elf, the dwarf, and the human, and although she could not understand what they were saying, she could tell through tone and body language that they were confrontational. The intelligent bird decided this was interesting enough for Thaedras, and flew off to find him, which she soon did.

She imparted to Thaedras that she through small signals that Thaedras, through years of companionship, could read that he should follow her. He did, and she took him to the scene, where he decided to hang back, and watch the action,

The wind in my Hair, The spray of the ocean in my face.
I love Life at sea.

- Thaedras

[Thraz the Mighty]

Thraz was beginning to get irritated as the elf and human spoke over him as though he were a mere child. The human seemed like he was spoiling for a good fight, and Thraz would be happy to oblige him. The insult to his height was blatant disrespect that he would not tolerate.

"Under-sized am I?" Thraz spoke in a menacing voice, "You insolent whelp, perhaps it is time I cut you down to size with the blade of my axe. Maybe then you will learn some manners!"

Thraz lifted his fang-axe from his belt and wielded it in his large callused hands. He held it over his head as he charged at Morcaanan. He charged as fast as his short legs could carry him, which was not very fast.

[Morcaanan]

Morcaanan was shocked. What did this idiotic dwarf think he was doing?
Still, he was not greatly disturbed by the charge. He merely stepped to one side and planted his foot in the little man's belly.

Jeharaid wasn't sure if the resulting crunch came from the dwarf's torso or his own hurting foot as it impacted the the armor. He yelped and bounced back, hopping on one foot gingerly and cursing himself for his stupidity.

Edited by: Morcaanan at: 7/27/05 21:17

[Thraz the Mighty]

Thraz laughed as the man hopped around on one foot. He had never seen a human behave this way before, and it was quite amusing. He slipped his axe back into his belt, for he wouldn't want to hurt someone that was this entertaining. His baritone laughter drowned out the sounds of the forest as he attempted to speak.

"I've never seen a man like you before," Thraz paused for a moment as another round of laughter seized him, "I could never hurt a human that is this entertaining!"

Thraz continued to laugh as he stood next to Morcaanan. He slapped the man on the back as hard as he could, even though the man was still jumping around.

[Morcaanan]

Jeharaid wasn't sure if he should feel complimented...or insulted. He sat down on a log to nurse his aching foot, sore back (from where the dwarf had slapped him), and bruised ego, all the while looking at the curious dwarf and elf suspiciously.

"Had enough of a challenge today? Because I'll need my other foot later, if you don't mind." He removed his boot and began to see if anything was broken. After a minute or so he was assured the damage was minor, and then he replaced his boot with an annoyed growl.

[Thaedras]

Thaedras was also unsure if the dwarf was friendly towards the now gfrumpy human, but he decided to make his presence known anyways.

You boys should learn to play nice. Someone is liable to lose an eye.

Thaedras then lifted his eyepatch and gave a grotesque wink with his missing eye.

The wind in my Hair, The spray of the ocean in my face.
I love Life at sea.

- Thaedras

Edited by: Thaedras at: 7/30/05 19:43

[Faulse Nightshadow]

Faulse cringed a moment at the odd introduction from the one eyed human. He wondered how long the man had been standing there and who he might be.

"Well now, these woods certainly do seem most busy with traffic today."

Faulse was now in solitare as he leaned against the tree just outside the commotion area as the group had migrated during the confrontation. He eyed the new arrival carefully, sizing him up in his mind as he watched him enter the area.

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