Hazardous Times - Part III

[mistral4543]

OOC>>> Good to see you back, 250 Yes, I think we can safely say Osprey and Katrina have either gone insane due to the body-swapping or suffocated to death [img]tongue.gif[/img] If you still want to join us here, create another character and join either of the 2 active groups above

I've having a terrible time over here... too busy to post for the moment (except for that last post at It Began In A Restaurant, which we did over email much earlier). Sorry to all [img]graemlins/crying.gif[/img] ... will try to post later, whenever possible ...

[Galadria]

OOC>>Geez, Mistral, sorry to hear you're having a rough time. Let me know if I can be of any use. Well, since Delita didn't rescue Eliza like I planned on (sighs), I guess Britomart is going to get to have her bloody way.IC>>
BRITOMART(smiles evilly)"Perhaps not, pretty bard. But, how would you like to live, and not be able to use that voice of which you seem so proud?" (forces dagger into Eliza's mouth, makes a small slice on her tongue. Blood fills her mouth with its salty, metallic taste. A vision passes before her eyes of an existence without speech, without song)"Think on that. Now,(tightens her grip on Eliza's neck) tell me, which way did that Torm-tormented sister of mine go? And when?"(Presses her knife against Eliza's side, so that she can feel the prick of the blade)"Why are you hiding this, when you could be free in a trice? Is she plotting agaist me? Are you her lover?"

GALADRIA
(nods understandingly) "Yourtrue name? I know you lack it. Certes, I should hate to go through life, lacking the knowlege of my parents and my upbringing. But, again (remembering hers) perhaps you have not lost so much. Perhaps your family was as mine, hellish older sister that delighted in torturing me, demanding father who never showed any love for any of us, mother dead of the plague before I ever knew her. By Helm, I like it better as I am, wandering the world on my own, alone but not lonely, my horse and the full moon in a starry sky the last thing I see before my rest, knowing that I will not awaken bound, while my sister and her friends are there to torment me. Often, like now, I have found chance-met comrades who are better for me than my family."

[ 01-07-2002: Message edited by: Galadria ]

[Legolas]

"If childhoods were easy, would we be on the road this day? They made you who you are, brought you here. The alternative would be working on a farm all day, or vending goods on the market. Maybe being pampered, and bored, to death. The road can be hard and long, but there are new wonders around each corner. Indeed, a remarkable poet sang about that."

But I won't be singing about the road until the tension lessens

"Jaime, you go ahead if you like. But if you somehow 'lose your way' and can't find us again, we'll be coming after you rather than the killers."

He was going to have to find some way to have Galadria tell him where she got the elven supplies. As far as he knew, none of that was made in these parts, Lembas and Miruvior were only made by the elves of Middle-Earth, most of whom had gone west, over the high sea. If she'd tell him the place, he would have to go and see for himself. They were his peoples after all.

[Larry_OHF]

Jaime

"Great! You won't be sorry! I will find out all I can, and be back to meet you at the Tavern, the Broken Anchor. It will take me a couple of days. Do not worry! I shall see you soon!"

With that, the thief spurred his horse, sending him off in the direction of the upcoming city, in which by normal travel, would be less than 5 hours away. Jaime would be there in 2 if he rode hard.


[ 01-07-2002: Message edited by: Larry_OHF ]

[Galadria]

GALADRIA
(That evening, around the campfire, having been asked about the items)
"Well, since you ask, fair elf, in my sojurn in the Elf kingdoms, I was fortunate enough to encounter an aged man in a gray cloak. I peformed a small task that he requested of me, and these, as well as my horse, were my reward. Perhaps if your travels take you there, you may meet him, too. I cannot, for the life of me, remember his name. He seemed to think that I should know it. I have used the lembas in forced marches, in recovering from debilitating fevers, and when lost in a trackless tundra. This is my last packet, but I feel our little friend needs them more than I. I was blest with a robust constitution, if little else, and do not feel fatigue easily."
OOC>>Mistral, I'll leve poor Eliza in Britomart's clutches until your net post.

[ 01-07-2002: Message edited by: Galadria ]

[Legolas]

Legolas

He furrows his brow as he searches through his memories. If it was indeed true that the other elves had left to a place in the realms, leaving Vilya, Nenya and Naryain a place where they could be taken by people, the world was not as safe as he had imagined it to be almost twenty years ago. But surely the elves would not be that careless?
Yet, if he were right, this horse could hardly be any other than

"Shadowfax? No, that can't be. Mithrandir would never part with him. Or would he?"

Does it recognise me? I should ave payed it more attention
"Tell me, Lady Galadria, in what direction lie these Elf kingdoms you speak off? And what of this man in grey? What did he look like?"

While he waited for an answer, the elf retrieved a wooden flute from his backpack, turning it around in his fingers and looking carefully for any cracks.

[Galadria]

The night is clear, the moon and stars shine down. There is a little chilly breeze, but the fire offsets that. Sorsha is asleep in her bedroll. In a dreamy voice, she answers:
GALADRIA
"That name I do recall, but that was the old man's steed. A magnificent beast, indeed, as I said from the first day that I saw him. Nay, Gold Top is but one of his get. She has been my fast friend since that day, better than many of the humans that I have met on my travels."
OOC>>Actually, I swiped Gold Top from your part of the world. I read that Gold Top was the horse of Heimdall, and that he came whenever called, and could change color at command.
"Far to the west and north do the Elf kingdoms lie. The old man was above normal height, with keen, piercing gray eyes. I have said that he wore a gray cloak, and a broad-brimmed hat. A mage of might, I deemed him. He sent me to retrieve a ring, which he described as one of the lesser rings of power that a lord of a neighboring kingdom had obtained. 'For, Galadria,' he told me,'they are still dangerous to mortals. When you find it, keep it safe and keep it secret, and above all, do not put it on.' I went and retrieved the ring, a small matter that can wait for another day. As I had been told, I met the mage at a small inn in the spring of the year, and gave him this perilous artefact, though to me it seemed no more than a silver ring with an amethyst in it. The old mage examined it, and fixed me in his eye. "Did you put it on?" he asked me, accusingly. I remember how his eyebrows bristled. I denied it stoutly. After a while, he released me. 'I see no lie in you, as I feared.' he said then, shaking his head. 'You pass the test. Come here.' I went with him to a paddock in back, and there stood Gold Top, with the very harness that she now wears on her. 'This horse is your fee," he said with a sweeping gesture. "She is a mare of Shadowfax's get, and promises well.' He then gave me the lembas and the flask that you have seen, and told me somewhat of them. Then, he took the ring,put in his scrip, mounted Shadowfax and was off, without another word. I have not seen him since, but would, willingly."

[ 01-07-2002: Message edited by: Galadria ]

[ 01-08-2002: Message edited by: Galadria ]

[mistral4543]

OOC>>> Not much better today, I'm afraid... sorry Another long day awaits; probably my only long post for the next few hours [img]graemlins/crying.gif[/img] By the way, it's okay to kill her off or mime her, Galadria. Seriously I want this to be as realistic as possible, and this is one stubborn brat we're dealing with here [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img]

IC>>>
Eliza

She is not her father's daughter for nothing, and the more dangerous the situation, she now gathers increasing courage ~ A life without a voice... ~ "I've told you that violence doesn't work on me!" ~
And spits at Britomart.

Before any of the others can respond, the door to the inn crashes open and several men charge into the room; the four men in the first row brandish their blades, while the second row of archers aim at Britomart. In the chaos, the air fills with magical fumes as two magi teleport in at the back of the room, tucked safely away from the warriors.

Wielding a magnificent sword, the leader strides over and addresses Britomart ~ "I would show more courtesy to Her Royal Highness if I were you." ~ Then turns to Eliza ~ "My apologies, Your Royal Highness. If you should die, be assured that we will avenge you... those were your father's orders."

He now focuses his attention on Britomart, waiting to see her reaction.

[Galadria]

BRITOMART
(Her left arm is around Eliza's waist and her dagger at her heart) (sneers)"Well, then, you would be well-advised, Whoever-you-are, to tell your litle minx to answer my questions. I fear you not, and you you should tell those soldiers to lower their weapons, which, if I may point out, will pierce her long before they try my armor. If you want this baggage not to feel my steel, get away from me. If you do defeat me, an unlikely event, you will but have a pretty little corpse to bear home to your master.(She presses the dagger through the skin into Eliza's ribs, causing her agony)
ELIZA
"AAAH! That hurts! Stop!"
BRITOMART
(twists the knife, while switching her grip to her throat) "Ooh, I guess that doesn't feel so nice, does it? Talk!"
Eliza
(shrieks in agony. She has never imagined such pain. Her chest feels like it is caving in. Her breath comes in ragged gasps, impeded by the cluching arm around her throat. Her very consciousness seems slipping, and she realises with a glimpse of clarity that she really does want to live. Her broken heart seems a vestige of a remote past before this terrifying present. She searches frantically through her memory. She had, in fact, not paid much attention to where the party went, being in a sulk at the time)"Captain Pemberton, tell your men to lower their weapons. This madwoman will kill me! (to Britomart)"Yes, damn you. I saw her and talked to her. They left not six hours ago, to the west, I think. I tell you, I know no more. Let me go! Take that damned knife out of my side."
BRITOMART
(relaxes slightly)(chuckles, with an evil smile)"Well, why didn't you just say so? Tell your worthless little would-be rescuers to GET OUT OF HERE, and I MAY let them, and you, live."
ELIZA
(draws a clear, deep breath for what seems the first time in hours)(glares at Pemberton)"Well, you heard her. Leave at once!" (to Britomart) "What are you going to do to me?"
BRITOMART
(lets her go, and smiles, humorlessly. Sheathes her dagger and draws her sword. Eliza, her spirit broken, trembles)"Well, first off, we are going out to my horse. If he is all right, you have a little time left in the world. You are going to be my hostage for your father's soldiers' good behavior, and we'll just see if you are right about my dear sister's going to the west. If you're not, they may find a pretty little dead princess hanging from a tree, some place."(ties a noose around Eliza's neck) "Let's go, pretty puss. All the right noises, now, or you're going to sleep the big sleep."(They go out to Britomart's horse, which, luckily , is unharmed. The soldies and mages stand around, impotently. They both mount the horse, Eliza before, and ride off unmolested)

[ 01-08-2002: Message edited by: Galadria ]

[Legolas]

Legolas

So it was true. His ancestors had travelled the seas just as he had, and ended up on the same continent. The wizard could hardly be any other than whom he suspected. He had to go there.

But he could not leave Sorsha and the others now. He had promised her he'd help avenge her family, and by now he was so caught up in what was happening that he wanted to know what was going on. Reason told him the elves would still be there later on. Passion would not let him stay.


When he finally reached a desicion, both humans lay in a deep sleep. The ranger left the camp to climb a nearby hill, and put his hands to his mouth.
It was not long before he could hear a howl in response to his. It was not long before a creature emerged from the bushes near his side, moving sometimes on four legs, sometimes on two.

As it strode out into the open, moonlight shining on it's body, it rose up on it's hind legs.
It was male. And humanoid. His eyes seemed to shine brightly, green. He was muscular, yet cautious. He wore hardly anything at all, and what he did wear was torn and dirty.
Legolas welcomed his fellow ranger.

"Rrang, I am glad you could come. I don't know how much you've seen and heard already, but we need to talk. I must leave this.. pack.. now. The woman closest to us can take care of herself. The other, the one smelling really nice, cannot. I want you to look after her, at least for a while.
Don't be shy, they're both good people. No need to shadow them from the roadside.

Here. Lie down and I'll tell you all I know about this matter..."