Randomly decided to check in after years and see talk of Doordie and Amel. Lots of fun memories! Arguably my first long time character, Narwyn, ended up closely aligned with Amel as his protege.
Doordie was one of the best RP's I ever played with. His stories, with his character Amel, were amazing. Rich, deep, complex. I hope Doordie is doing well! You have a really great Uncle!
Registered Member #1029
Joined: 11:45:04 am GMT 04/18/07
Posts: 732
Today was the first day she had acted openly, and as she had done so she had felt the power surge within her. The spirits had approved and she dared to hope again that she would be deemed worthy to become hathran. Looking down on the dead bodies of the filth she retraced in her mind her journey to this point.
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It was over a year ago that she had set out with Pelgat as her protector on dajemma. She was to travel into the the far West and obtain passage over the ocean to reach the island of Thain. There she was to learn the truth of the rumors that the Thayans had reached even that foresaken place and were spreading their lies and poison at the very edge of the world.
The journey had been hard but uneventful until one fateful night when they were traveling the roads just west of Teziir. They had crossed the sea of fallen stars and come ashore on the south coast of the Dragonmere and were still finding their land legs when they were beset by bandits. She had barely survived, and only because Pelgat had bought the time she had needed with his life. She had grown very fond of him and his death had hit her hard. She blamed herself for having been too eager to push on West. After preparing and burning his body she had stood over the ashes of his pyre and sworn to the listening spirits that she would complete her dajemma alone to honor his bravery.
Months later she had found herself arriving on this island and it had taken months more to become somewhat familiar with the land and its peoples. She had learned of the Thayan enclave on the southern coast and had traveled there to spy it out. It was too big and well guarded for her to destroy as yet, but she was becoming more powerful and perhaps with help that day would come. Meanwhile the Thayans walked the roads of the land with impunity. Once she had asked the guards of the Crossroads why they tolerated the presence of such as they, but they had merely looked between a Thayan and herself and shrugged. Even here some knew of the red wizards and what they had done to her country but no one seemed willing to act against them.
Recently though, she had learned of another outpost of the Thayans in the place that was called the Watch of the Raven. Some had said it was a mere trading post, but when she had mentioned her intent of attacking the place others had warned her it was heavily guarded and it would be death to attempt such a thing. She had had to find out the truth of the situation anyway. In the event the mercenary filth that the Thayans had put their trust in were no match for one who aspired to the wychlaran. She then took her time to wander around the place, destroying rather than taking anything of value that took her eye. It was interesting she mused, that unlike her own people the Thayans seemed to place such worth in trinkets and baubles.
Finally she briefly considered setting the place to fire but instead fell to thinking how it was that such a place would be tolerated by the law of this town. Maybe her next task should be to find the answer to that question and to consider whether she should extend her vengeance to those who would knowingly support the Thayan filth, just as she would lay low those who wore the red cloaks.
Registered Member #1029
Joined: 11:45:04 am GMT 04/18/07
Posts: 732
After her visit to the trading post, Arenne was puzzled as to why so obvious a Thayan presence was being tolerated at the Raven's Watch. She had already evaded someone who claimed to represent the law of that place and who had attempted to take her into custody for acting against the outpost. She had told the person that she had no quarrel with the people here, only with the Thayans but that she could not allow herself to be arrested.
Afterwards she spent some considerable time learning about the Raven's Watch and the more she saw the less she liked the place. A mixture of questions and threats eventually led her to discover the name and whereabouts of the leader of the town, and after due consideration, she thought it proper that she should present her case openly to him to give him the chance to avoid further confrontation.
Registered Member #1029
Joined: 11:45:04 am GMT 04/18/07
Posts: 732
Arenne knew that if she was to move ahead in her plans to attack the main Thayan enclave in the south, that she would need a fang to lead and defend her whilst she brought her magic to bear. If she was back in her homeland she would have had her choice from amongst the young warriors but here was different. Much though she loathed it she would have to look to recruit sell swords to her cause.
She had tried to explain to the people she had met that it was in their own interests to remove the Thayan poison from their midst before they became too powerful but very few stepped forward. True, a few had offered words of encouragement but even they had been cowed by thoughts of Thayan retribution if they raised against the Thayans and failed. Could they not see that the poison was already having an effect on their thinking; a dog beaten too many times will yelp at the sight of a stick, there is no more need to strike it.
Well, since Thayans placed so much faith in gold, a weakness her own people thankfully did not suffer, it seemed right to use such trinkets and baubles against them. During her time here she had acquired a fair amount of what these people saw as wealth and so she could afford to be generous in their terms. A nice round sum of 10,000 gold coins per sword should attract some interest and she would ask those few people here that she felt she could put her faith in to judge the trustworthiness of those who offered their services.
She had thought it best to pay a professional scribe to produce several copies of a notice rather than rely on her own penmanship in a script she had had little practice with and looking at the results she was impressed with the results. Her first visit was to the proprietor of the trading post that many of the local mercenaries seemed to use as their base.
Registered Member #1029
Joined: 11:45:04 am GMT 04/18/07
Posts: 732
OOC: Arenne does not yet fully grasp the significance of the stones; the attachment of people's spirits to the rune stones and how death can be cheated in this way. Krel's continued existence will come as a nasty surprise to her...
Arenne had set off on her way north that morning in cheerful spirits. She had been informed a few days earlier by a hin at the Crossroads fire that the Thayans were indeed making preparations to withdraw their outpost from the Raven's Watch and pull back into their enclave in the south. Apart from the convenience of having all the Thayans in one place it also meant that she would not have to make good her threat to the leader of the town with who she had no direct quarrel and to who she bore no enmity. Her mind would not be settled regarding the matter, however, until she had seen evidence of the Thayan withdrawal with her own eyes, and besides, she felt a duty to thank Krel for his assistance and good sense.
It therefore came as an unwelcome surprise when on passing through the gates of the Watch she noticed the trading post much as she had last seen in and with no sign of goods having been removed. A brief inquiry confirmed her suspicions. The look on her face as she entered Krel's house was enough to stop his minions impeding her progress and soon she was standing in front of him. Briefly she closed her eyes and sought the strength for what she had to do. Such taking of life was distasteful to her but a hathran has responsibilities that could not be shirked. She explained her judgement as briefly as she could and executed the punishment quickly so as to cause the minimum of suffering. Then turning quickly in the stunned silence she concealed herself so that the others there would not be tempted to strike back at her and have to suffer the same fate as their master. It was to be hoped that whoever succeeded him would learn from his mistake and the Thayans removed as a matter of urgency.
[ The Island of Thain ]
Dajemma