Tavern by the Creek IV - Terror roams the Land

[Cyril Darkcloud]

This is the fourth installment of the Tavern by the Creek thread.

All are welcome to join by writing themselves into the story. But it would be helpful to read at least some of the previous threads to catch up on the details of the plot. Please feel free to PM TAOwolf with any questions about joining the adventure.

Feel free, as well, to simply stay at the tavern or to use it as a starting place for your own adventures in the area. Just treat the tavern staff with respect, they’ve been through a lot.

Our story so far:

The First Thread:

• A group of goblins lead by an iron golem attacked the tavern and was destroyed by a small group of adventurers.
  
• After healing KayLisa, Neb contracted some form of mind sickness and disappeared into the forest, afraid he was losing his sanity.
  
• A huge storm had blown into the canyon and KayLisa and Cyril disappeared, riding the winds of the storm.

The Second Thread:

• Cyril and KayLisa discovered that not only are they both cursed but that somehow their curses are intertwined with one another.
  
• A terrible evil from Cyril's home land known as the Devouring Wind attacked those at the tavern.
  
• Neb returned to the tavern quite mad and intent upon killing KayLisa. His mental powers drew the attention of the Devouring Wind who has invaded his mind and is using him as a host for its power.
  
• During the storm a powerful being known as the Fay're was released from its ancient imprisonment and traveled the seeking the release of three other powerful beings.
  
• Those left behind in the tavern struggled to rebuild and put their lives back in order.

The Third Thread:

• At the waterfall, KayLisa purified the place of the Fay’re’s former imprisonment and warded it against her return.
  
• The Devouring Wind sent the still deranged Neb on a quest to a tomb in the distant hills.
  
• The Devouring Wind then attacked KayLisa while she sat in the clearing.
• Cyril disclosed his background more fully.
• The Fay're released the other three Forsaken.
• KayLisa told Cyril that she is pregnant.
• Those in the tavern have continued with the rebuilding.
  

Once again: Welcome! And happy adventuring!

[ 04-05-2002, 01:10 PM: Message edited by: Cyril Darkcloud ]

[Cyril Darkcloud]

These are the last posts of the main characters in the previous thread:

NEB

Neb used his powers to brighten the area as he entered the large room. It's walls were made from red marble, blood-red. The disconcerting effect of the white marble skulls that were piled around the room didn't touch the Psionic in anyway, he was heading directly for the raised marble alter in the center of the room.

As he set foot on the first step of the dais reaching to the altar he felt slightly scared, a weak rumbling went through the ground. As he advanced upwards the feeling grew stronger, only his madness and the Dead Wind was keeping him from turning around and running.

On the altar lay a skull in a pile of ash, it seemed to have lain undisturbed for a long time....
____________________________

CYRIL

It becomes a game for the two of them, this hunting of game for dinner. This aggressive playfulness of the pup is how it learns and so they play, the two of them, but a different game with different rules of movement and waiting than those played in the clearing among the others of the pack. He learns quickly, this youngling called Grounder who plays so easily and so well. It is a small and simple game they play in their hunting, one easy to learn and easy to remember.
_____________________________

KAYLISA

KayLisa sits on a log, a simple robe tucked between her thighs out of the way, her braided hair following the curves down her back, as she sticks a pan between her tanned legs. The setting suns soft rays gently wash over her as she picks up a knife, and begins peeling roots and vegetables, preparing a stew mixture.

She glances over at Star, and smiles watching her watch the heavens. ~Soon, my sweet one, you will be trained to follow those stars, and retrieve something of great value. Your name will be sung among the wolves with great honor~

She hears commotion in the brush, and chuckles softly, wondering what kind of trouble Grounder is getting Cyril into. She hopes Grounder will be a good teacher for Cyril about wolves, and about her pack in particular. She raises an eyebrow upon hearing a loud crash, and whispers "Tis easier to catch game without all that noise".

She laughs again, the first real heart-felt laugh in the last 24 hours, and she firmly puts all doubts and thoughts in those lines out of her mind for now. There is too much to get ready, and training to do.

[Cyril Darkcloud]

ooc: NEB - sent you PM with some thoughts on how to proceed.

“No,” he whispers to the running pup, “not there.” He moves the wind just enough to startle the youngling and catch its attention. Kneeling, he sets down the rabbits and points elsewhere. He whispers, as much to himself as to the wolf, “Too much attentiveness to motion distracts one from movement.” He slowly sweeps his hand along the lines from the bushes where the pup sensed the motion to the place where the movement of frightened escape will take the small ground birds and drawing the line of their movement. “There is where they shall be.” Smiling, he lops a dead limb from a nearby tree allowing its crash to startle both wolf and birds. He guessed rightly, the young one’s aggressiveness overwhelms its surprise and it dashes forward with a clumsy swiftness, returning after a moment with a small quail held between its teeth. He laughs softly as the pup runs ahead of him toward the clearing.

[ 04-05-2002, 01:33 PM: Message edited by: Cyril Darkcloud ]

[TAOWolf]

She hesitates in the middle of peeling a root, the knife going slack in her hand.... ~I felt that! How did I feel that?.......I felt Cyril move the wind...~ She looks down at the new rune on her hand. She smiles, whispering softly, "We have become something more than just ourselves it seems"..........

Her thoughts are broken however by Grounder......... He plows out of the scrub, running straight for her, something dangling out of his mouth. He skids to a stop in front of her, falling on his nose, the small quail in his mouth saving him from harm. She puts a hand across her mouth, trying very hard not to laugh at the new hunter of the group.

He sits there, dropping the quail at her feet, and wags his tail madly, sending her a message in the garbled way of pups.....(Cyril pointing to the bushes) (a rabbit) (Cyril pointing to the bushes) (Cyril breaking a branch) (a covey of quail tumbling) (POUNCE) ..

She giggles and pats him on the head, "Well done, my hunter, Well done!! But we must have more than just one quail, don't you think? You could eat that by yourself, eh?" She snatches the quail up and lays it next to her, before he decides TO eat it.....

She picks him up, and as she turns him around so he is facing the forest once again, his little legs already churn, impatient to run back to Protector... She sets him down, and off he goes like a clumsy arrow heading straight for Cyril...

She now really lets the giggles out then sighs, and goes back to peeling the roots, glancing up now and then, watching the forest, and reaching out testing the strength of her power to find where Cyril is........

[ 04-05-2002, 03:47 PM: Message edited by: TAOWolf ]

[Neb]

As Neb approached the altar he saw something out of the corner of his eye, raw instinct commanded his body to jump and roll, this was the only reason that he avoided being fried by a lightning bolt hurled at him by the Night Hag that stood in a corner of the room.

She must have been invisible until he neared the altar. Despite his madness, and despite the wind, he shivered. Night Hags weren't easy foes, it'd probably take every ounce of his strength to defeat the creature.

Then the Wind flowed across his mind, soothingly veiling all of his fears. He smiled evilly as he began molding time and space with the power of his mind, the Night Hag was in for an unpleasant surprise....

[TAOWolf]

She watches Star as she finishes the roots, and starts on the vegetables....
"Watch the stars closely, and how they move. I know you know how to track and guide yourself by them, but you must learn where they are at all times.......Study them my sister, and I will help you more tonight. Protector has alot for you to learn also, and those will be the hardest to master, but you must and I have faith you can"

Star looks over at Fire-eyes her eyes blazing a bright blue, then returns her gaze to the evening stars... ~Yes, sister I will learn......~

[Cyril Darkcloud]

ooc: How's that for bonding? BTW - I trust several rabbits, a few quail and a deer will be enough food for one evening....*LMAO*

Grounder’s excited absence gave him a few minutes within which to scan the breezes of this place for traces of breath and movement within and against the wind. He smiles as he feels the hushed and uncertain breathing within a distant stand of laurels. Readying an arrow he moves silently along the seams of the breeze to a place where he might see the narrow gap in the bushes near the laurels. Holding one of the smaller rabbits in his hand he waits for the pup to draw near. From his concealed position, he tosses the rabbit in the direction of the laurels drawing Grounder’s attention and aggressiveness. The hint of a wolf’s scent drawing so close and the growling barks of the pup are enough to panic the frightened deer and it bursts out of the bushes only to be met by an arrow. Forgetting about the rabbit, the pup is biting at the deer’s legs even before it falls. Retrieving the rabbit, he smiles at the youngling wolf, “Well done, young warrior. It seems that both your playfulness and mine have had good results this night.” They return to the clearing together, Grounder helping to drag the deer.

[TAOWolf]

She finishes the vegetables and throws them into the pot of water set on rocks near the fire to cook. Reaching down into a pouch in her pack, she pulls out various herbs, crushing them with her hands, and putting them in the pot, the fragrant smells of the different herbs floating thru the clearing as they mix with the water.

As she stands up, she puts her hands to her back and stretches, closing her eyes.........

[TAOWolf]

The wolves hear Grounder and Cyril coming to the clearing, and all heads turn as one at the smell of blood.......

They move to the other side of the clearing, showing deference to their new little hunter and to Protector, his new teacher. The Alpha female sits straight, facing the pair as the emerge into the clearing, and gives an almost imperceptible nod to Protector in thanks......

[ 04-07-2002, 11:22 AM: Message edited by: TAOWolf ]

[Neb]

With his powers in effect time was flowing differently for Neb than it was for the Night Hag, he could do in one minute four times as many things as she. He dived off of the dias on which the remains rested and used it for cover as the creature sent another Lightning Bolt towards him.

He then set about tapping into her mind, an ardous and painful task, but he succeeded. The two were now locked in both mental and physical combat, as they fought in the physical world, dodging, feinting, blocking, attacking. So their minds fought, grappling with each other for the upper hand.

Both battles intensified, and Neb was the first to make a mistake. He took a Lightning Bolt to the chest that flung him across the room, and he struck the wall with an unpleasant combination of crunching sounds and a thud. This broke his concentration for the mental combat as well. As the Night Hag advanced to kill him however, something happened that the creature had not expected.

The Dead Wind left the Psionic and drifted into the Night Hag's mind throught the hole that Neb had been busy tearing into it. He was still weak, and the thing still had it's hooks dug into his mind, but he now had a few moments of freedom while it struggled to control the Night Hag. He would need an immense surge of magical power to free himself.

He looked at his sword, it was highly magical, but not enough. He looked at the skull on the dais, the Dead Wind wanted it for it's power.... He arose, almost screamed from the pain and walked up the steps of the dais. He lifted his sword, wobbling slightly under it's weight, and then brought it down hard upon the skull.

The resulting release of magical energy turned his blade to particles of dust and supercharged every single atom of his body with power. All was expended towards forcing the Wind from him, he succeeded, hearing a faint mental wailing scream on the far edges of his mind. He collapsed to the floor, he would have to leave, NOW. The Dead Wind would soon possess the Night Hag and then come to either repossess him or kill him.

He focused the last psychic power in his mind, he had spent a lot while fighting the Night Hag and merely staying conscious as he destroyed the skull required an immense expenditure of energy. He focused, twisted time, and moved..... He was no longer in the tomb.

Instead, he was somewhere else, he wasn't sure where. But the air was cool and refreshing, the sun was high in the sky, warming his body. He felt alive. He looked around him, warm soft grass surrounded him, he didn't care where he was, he liked it here and he was going to rest.

As he drifted off to sleep however, one faint care assaulted his mind, the woman who'd brought him near to all of this. The one who'd exposed him to the Wind, the one who'd tainted his mind with the madness that he knew would soon return.

As he lost consciousness he thought one word.... Revenge....

(OOC: Be afraid.)