Old South Road - Dunland <<Redvyrne County>>(#6146Rnto)
You are close to the mountain peak named Methedras and you can make out greater detail in the crags and spikes of the rocks that cover the sides of it. Through this area, you can barely see your way because the road is faint and overgrown with grass. The only evidence that the road was ever here is that the grass is thinner and of a different variety from the surrounding plains. The trees are sparse off in the distance, but help to break the monotony of the horizon.
Obvious exits:
Southern Gate leads to Courtyard <<Crebain Keep>>.
SouthEast leads to Old South Road - Near Methedras.
Dunland Time and Weather Forecast
Real Time is: Wed Oct 23 01:51:47 2002
IC weather is: Wind: fresh - Clouds: sparse
IC Moon is: Not visible
IC time is: Dawn <about 5 AM>
IC date is: Sunday, Day 6 of August in the year 3027.
The first flush of dawn pales the northeastern horizon, bathing the jagged peak of Methedras in a rosy glow and casting long shadows over the travelling camp pitched near its foot. In the pale light, each dew-beaded blade of grass is a study in stark contrasts, pearly white moisture against dark earth.
Few in the camp are stirring yet, but one soul at least has already risen to greet the morn. The stonemason Barseg emerges from behind a clump of spindly bushes and turns to face the east, letting the new day's light illuminate features still bleary from sleep.
[Aylean(#28442)]
Few yet, indeed, but at least a bard did and with the same purpose, long ago - she doesn't look sleepy, on the contrary. The shape of the mason is noticed and Aylean quietly and silent paces towards him. "I didn't know that you had joined us too.." Her gaze rises to the mountains to welcome the dawn, but soon the black eyes turns towards the south. "We are so near from the Gap.. We will see what the future brings to us.." Aylean sighs.
[Traek(#15251)] About a small fire there do sit several figures, all clad in darkened cloth, all weary and squint-eyed at this eary hour. A rather large individual, known to many as Traek, rests upon a large rock in their midst; his axe, as ever, lies nearby. They appear to be in converse, the discussion ranging from matters of clanlessness to Forgoil.
Amber eyes blink sleepily at Aylean before Barseg responds. "Aye, I've been with the group since before we left Iolair ...haven't seen you for a few days though." He frowns slightly, then queries softly, "Was your family's farm near here?" Awkwardly, he looks away, but where Aylean's gaze turns southwards, Barseg's shifts northward towards the dark bulk of the Crebain Keep. "Looks strong," he murmurs as if to himself. "But will it be strong enough if they force us back? Or will we find those gates shut against us?" He shakes his head and starts to step towards the fire and the group gathered there.
[Aylean(#28442)]
"I have been.. busy." The bard manages a deep sigh. "Well, not so busy, I admit. It is only that to travel along this road is too painful for me, so I sought for some solitude. I wouldn't be a good company." Then she chuckles, almost for herself. "All right, I agree. I am not a good company even when I am not in a mood." To his query, she nods, slowly, and gestures to the north. "It is- it was there, some miles far from this place, northwards. Why you asked? The place is a ruin, now. Nobody took care of it since many a year." Nothing to add regarding the Crebain Keep, sudden distracted by the speech of those set round the fire. "Look, there is Traek.." She lifts a hand to wave him, perhaps he'll notice them?".
[Traek(#15251)] Traek grows silent for a time, his eyes shifting southward to gaze upon the lands so near to the Gap, so close to Rohan. At this he sighs, deeply. Yet, a swift nudge from a traveling companion brings him back from his thoughts and forces the man to look upon the approaching figure of Barseg and the somewhat curious image of Aylean waving in his direction.
"I only asked because I know what it is to have ... painful memories," comes Barseg's response to Aylean. Cleft lips press tightly together for a moment, then he offers, "But at least in a few days you will have a chance for vengeance."
Approaching Traek and his companions, he nods to the man he recognizes and gives a general "Good morning," the right side of his mouth lifting briefly, before he glances back southwards in the direction Traek had been gazing. "You've been in these lands before?" he queries the man. "Maybe you've tales to tell from past campaigns?" Right now he'll listen to any information he can get.
[Aylean(#28442)]
"Do you mean Iolair, perhaps?" The woman tilts gently her head. "Well, this is another, I am afraid. To lose the family and those that loved you. At least.. at least you are not alone anymore, as I am." Sadness reaches her eyes and nods. "Aye, perhaps we should move there and enjoy the fire and the company. It will be interesting to speak to him and to know what he has to tell us." Aylean asks while begins to steps towards the man following the mason. "Have a good morrow, Traek." The wulf bows briefly as she arrives beside the fire and reaches out her hands seeking for its warmth.
[Traek(#15251)] "I have been here many times..." Traek says softly in response to Barseg's querry, "Many years ago." The former Stag pauses for a moment, lifting an eye to view Aylean as she steps forward and offers her greeting, to which he tilts his head, lightly. Turning back to Barseg, he continues, "A tale? You wish for a story?" He glances about, looking to each of those who have journeyed with him, "Very well, I shall tell of my first foray into the Gap, into the arms of the Forgoil..."
Barseg glances quickly back towards Aylean at her first words. A quiet "I am sorry," is all the comfort he can offer, but then he shakes his head and adds, "You are not alone. I fancy you would find several here who choose to call you friend." For once he tactfully avoids mention of Gyrla.
To Traek he responds, "Ah, a worthy tale. I've been this far south only the once, and that was half a lifetime ago, the memories have long since faded. So ... did you fight off a troop of them single-handed?" he winks at that, "or capture some of those damn horses of theirs? Or simply ... live, as others of us did?" He settles himself down by the fireside as he waits to hear what really happened ...
[Aylean(#28442)]
"Don't be silly! Do I look to have friends?" She grunts the words of Barseg and turns to Traek. "I would like to know that tale as well, no less than the mason, indeed. After all" the bard grins, "It is my job to know what it happened, to keep those memories for the future and to transmit them." The woman looks round her as if searching for a place to seat, but eventually shrugs and sits on the ground, legs bent to the chest embraced by her arms, ready to listen at the man.
[Traek(#15251)] Traek repositions himself, lifting a hand to wave dismissively at Barseg and Aylean, "You shall soon know..." He then leans forward and begins, "It happened many seasons past, when I was but a lad, enjoying the fruits of youth. I was still Stag, then a simple merchant. Donovan was my chieften, Wulf were an enemy, the Lord Hunter, Tet'Nak, still lived..." At this, one of his men manages something of laughter, "And in the Gap, much was the same as it is now...I had been in Redvyrne, a rather unpleasant place for Stag at the time, when word spread of an advancing Forgoil force, numbering some several hundred." He smiles lightly, "Truth be told, it was only about eighty. Despite still licking my wounds from a fight with a local man, and against my better judgement, I joined the party that was to waylay the invasion." He waves a hand southwards, "I had no idea what lay ahead of me..."
"You have one," Barseg murmurs quietly to Aylean. "If that offends, well ... too bad." One shoulder lifts in a half-shrug as his lip twitches in mirth.
As Traek begins his tale, Barseg leans forward to listen, cleft lips half-parted as he nods at some parts, mumbles to himself at others. 'Not the best time for Stag, no ... So what did you find?' Amber eyes are bright with curiosity as he asks the question that must surely be on Aylean's lips also.
[Traek(#15251)] "Now," Traek continues, "I had been no stranger to goblin-kind," he motions toward the twisted lump of skin that lies where once there was an ear, "And assumed, quite wrongly, that the Forgoil would be little different; the way our people speak of them, you'd figure they'd be kin." He shakes his head, "They are not the same, not in the least. They are men, like us, and thus they have great intelligence. But that is the only similarity...For where we tred upon foot, they ride as if attached to their beasts, their horses. Where we don hides and cloth, they wear armour of metal that would turn aside an arrow. Where we wield spears and axes, weapons for hunting and the sort, they arm themselves with weapons of war; great long swords, spears twice the length of a man, and bows that can loose arrows further and stronger then anything you have seen. Indeed, a formidable adversary." He leans back a bit before returning to speech, "Anyhow, enough of description, back to the story eh?" He leans forward again, "The journey went well enough, we had met no resistance as we ventured further and further southwards, far past here, far from the Keeps. We were getting pretentious, thinking word of our arrival had scared them off. Oh, how wrong we were..."
Barseg tilts his head thoughtfully at Traek's words. "Horses, yes - why we need long spears of our own." The right side of his mouth curls up in a half-smirk. "Our smiths will be busy up in the Keep forging spear- and arrowheads from whatever implements folk bring them. My own woman among them. And some of us have used the shiltrom spears before. Of course, if the Forgoil didn't have those cursed horses we'd have a better chance." He shakes his head in seeming despair, concludes practically, "But they do. And they did. Do go on. The Forgoil surprised you ...?"
[Traek(#15251)] Traek turns his head to peruse the array of tents and firepits that encompass the camp, "Yes, Barseg. We had set down for the night, much like this," He waves a hand and shifts back to the fire, "And were enjoying what food could be caught, rabbits mostly. There was laughter, there were tales...And then came the cries of war...A sentry, to the east, first saw them, though he lived only long enough to warn us. Very little time did we have to arm and prepare, for in but moments they were upon us, their heavy horse trampling the dirt like thunder. Men were screaming, arrows were flying this way and that," His arms flail about, "Both friend and foe were dying by the dozens, though for them it was less...far less. I faught as I could, spear in hand, and indeed managed to bring down a couple. Yet, there was one man, a leader of sorts I had gathered, that turned upon me with a fury that I could not match and I was struck...In the arm," he points to his left, "It hurt, a great stinging pain. Bloodied and outmatched, I continued. I was struck again, though lightly, but I still attacked, led by mere instinct. And then, just as I though I would survive, I fell, tripped upon a rock. My foe smiled, I'll never forget that look, like pure evil. He began to swing down," An arm is brought high and then lowered to repeat the motion, "Right for my neck when by the grace of the Hill Father, and like a bolt of lightning from the clouds, an arrow took his life; square through his heart I swear it." Traek looks to his chest, a hand indicating the area, "In the end, we carried the day. Some fifty Forgoil and their beasts lay dead amongst the grasses, while over a hundred of our kin had joined them. The rest of the strawheads had retreated, and for a time the Gap was safe." He smiles, quite broadly, "I returned to Laeg in time...But, I would return here to fight that enemy again all too soon...Though that is a different story."
As the story reaches its climax, there is utter silence from those gathered round the fire, all eyes on Traek as he speaks. When the Forgoil leader's fall is recounted, there is an audible sigh from the audience, and as the storyteller ends there are murmurs of appreciation, coupled with a few disappointed mutterings at the 'another story', while one man says roughly, "This time it will be the thieving Forgoil who take the losses!" A boast met with uncomfortable shuffling, for men can only hope ...
Barseg blinks at the mention of a 'Hill Father', but doesn't interrupt, the right side of his mouth curling in an answering smile at Traek's evident pride in the tale. "A fine story, indeed. Our thanks for sharing it." He spreads his hands wide to include all gathered there in that thanks. "May your arm bring down many more such foes." He tears his gaze away from the man and stares towards the flames ...
[Aylean(#28442)]
While Traek tells his story, the bard has remained in silence, all her attention caught by the words of the man - only a single and quick glance upon the mason as he interrupted the warrior with his words. But well, she knows that he likes very much to do such things, surely is not used to silence. As Traek ends, the woman bows her head in gratitude and speaks, "I think that I should seek for your company often, if you always are so eager to share your memories with a public that appreciate them. A fine tale and well related, indeed. Perhaps you should become a bard as well" Aylean adds, grinning "Although your blade will be more appreciate in the days that will come. But tell me, you mentioned the Hill Father. Have you joined this cult as well, I wonder? No offence, please, only my.. natural curiosity."
[Traek(#15251)] Traek leans back, allowing himself some semblance of comfort after his long-winded story. "You are quite welcome," he says to Barseg, though it is Aylean who draws his next bit of speech, "The Hill Father? Indeed...Though it is no cult, rather the one, correct path. If you knew the truth, you would understand."
When talk turns to religion the mason lapses into stony silence - so some topics at least will quiet him. Traek's words cause an arching of one dark brow, but he doesn't dispute the man. One god is much like another, after all ...
[Aylean(#28442)]
"Who knows where the truth lies, when people speak of Religion, Traek? I don't. You said that it is not a cult, perhaps I chose the wrong word to define it. But then, what is it? I have heard of those that follow the hunter since long ago, but I would dare to say that not too many people know of your.. vision. At least, the cult to Kiern is well know." Aylean states. "Anyway, I keep my own ideas regarding religion and, I am afraid, are too odd and won't fit in those.. groups."
[Traek(#15251)] "Believe whatever you wish to believe," Traek states, quite flatly. "Now then," he rises, "I have some things to attend to...I bid you all a good day." And with that he moves to leave.
Barseg watches Traek go, his own expression thoughtful. "Once I'd have said there was no such thing as Kiern - or the Hill Father, whatever you wish to call him," he murmurs to Aylean. "Now, I'm not so sure." A brief pause, then he adds to the bard with teasing tone and just the hint of a grin, "So when can we expect to hear this fine tale put into song?"
[Aylean(#28442)]
"Have a good day, Traek, and my thanks again." Aylean bows to the man before to turn to Barseg. "A very interesting man, Is he not? Well, I like very much to hear these tales. But you will need to wait to listen at my song. You know, I am so shy.." She chuckles. To his words, the bard cocks an eyebrow, but smiles. "His name doesn't matter really, you know. Kiern, Hill Father.. He is the same. But I would like to know why are you so.. unfaithful. And why you seem to be changing your mind right now." The woman gestures the road, southwards "I will take a quiet walk. Have a good day you too, Barseg". And the bard heads to the south.