[IC] Promise of Riches - Tranditional Fantasy Adventure

[Kelewen]

"Run!" Alya had yelled suddenly and Edwina turned to see her travelling companion slip from her saddle. She hesitated, not sure if she was willing to leave the elf to whatever fate awaited her. It was only a few moments, but it was long enough for one of the bandits to grab her steed's bridle. She had gone for the short sword that hung from her hip, but the brigands had two much of a jump on her and she barely had it out of the sheath before she was being pulled to the ground.

--

"He speaks the truth," Straw chimed in, but taking a small step backwards and away from the elf with her bow trained on Hugh. "If it wasn't for us happening upon you, the brigands over there might have been slitting both your throats right this second," he said, intentionally leaving out the part about how the woman still on the ground might have suffered no worse than a stolen purse had it not been for their intervention. As it was, her eyes were closed after the magical healing, but her color looked much healthier and her breathing was deep and steady.

[Driananium]

Alya took into account all the evidence set before her. True there were many attackers. She surely could not recognize them all in the short time before she had been conscious. But come to think of it their stance and body language seemed to be of concern for Edwina. She lowered her bow, and made a gesture with her hand. The direwolf relaxed and laid at her feet licking her paws. "Then I suppose thanks and apologies are in order. Thank you for your help. It seems I was a bit hasty. I apologise. You did not deserve to have my bow trained on you. No less twice. However..." she popped the brute on the head with the limb of her bow. "You do deserve that."

"My name is Alya." she said with a bow "At your service."

[Warrior in the Shadows]

After finally hearing the answer Hugh was waiting for, he began to stand up, getting off his stressed knees. Unfortunately, upon his rising, he felt something he was not waiting nor wishing for, which came in the form of getting popped on the head with a wooden bow. The elven woman gave him words along the lines of "You do deserve that", Which prompted Hugh to respond with "It's quite possible", followed by a slight grin.

Now standing at his full size, Hugh gave a hearty greeting, "Salutations, Alya", he said, slamming his right fist to his heart. This was a sign of respect in his long forgotten culture and being all around popular as a salute for many peoples, mostly humans. The more civilized human kingdoms had much more formal salutes as opposed to the more barbaric kingdoms that Hugh held allegiance to.

"I am Hugh Van Halder. Simply call me 'Hugh'." He introduced himself, dropping his salute after finishing his words.

[Kelewen]

Edwina opened her eyes and slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, softly touching the place where the arrow had been, but a blood stain and a hole in her shirt seemed to be all that remained. She still felt a bit weak, but was recovering quickly and sent a smile of thanks toward Alya. "It seems I am in your debt," she said as she started to her feet. It seemed she had chosen a good travelling companion.

"And in yours," she added, looking toward Hugh. Straw, who was standing nearby, put out a hand to help steady the woman until it seemed she was okay on her own two feet. "Sir, have you seen our horses?" she asked him.

"Nope," he replied, eyes giving a quick scan of Edwina, then of Alya and seemed pleased by what he saw. "They didn't come our way," he said, gesturing back toward the direction they'd come from. "But you're more than welcome to travel with us until you find your steeds," he offered, looking between the two woman.

[Driananium]

Alya took a step back seeing Hugh's full stature though quickly felt at ease with his grin. "A pleasure to meet you." Her attention was quickly diverted by her traveling companion. She smiled, thrilled to see that Edwina was conscious so soon. "Speak nothing of debts dear."

The elf was having her own conversation while the two were speaking of horses. "Saskia. Auta i' roch" ((Go find the horses)) The wolf ran ahead tracking the horses. "She will find them, but until then," she and Edwina exchanged glances "a ride would be most appreciated if your steeds can bear the weight. Where is it you're headed?"

[Warrior in the Shadows]

Everyone around at the moment seemed to be shorter than Hugh. He recalled many years ago, when he was always with men of equal strength and stature and shorter humanoid races were an oddity to him and his comrades. Now, since the decades after the loss of his civilization, he towered over most creatures. He felt just slightly out of place, but he was accustomed to it, these days.

The barbaric looking Hugh gave off a good impression of friendliness, with the hope of having a few new friends. He never really cared what they were like, whether they worked well with him or didn't work at all, he always pulled his own weight around and took care of others as best he could.

"Hopefully he will find them in time. Otherwise, you might be on a quest along with us." Hugh quipped.

[Kelewen]

"Oh... ah," Straw fumbled momentarily. He hadn't been offering a ride, as he was on foot himself. "Might be able to make 'nuff room on old Ajax to carry one of you," he figured either of the women were light enough to not overburden the pack animal. "Hugh, think yours would even notice one of these ladies sitting upon him?"

Straw considered the elf's last question, but decided there was no harm bringing the women in our their "quest" should they so desire to join. "We're headin' north. Past Tarkin's Point and up into the Hurst Forest. Lookin' for the ruins of a city up there."

Edwina perked up and Straw could tell he had her interest. "Isn't it dangerous?" she asked.

"Oh, a bit. But safety in numbers, right? You two interested in joining?" he asked.

[Driananium]

Embarrassed Alya dropped her head. She had failed to notice that the man hadn't been riding his own steed. "Oh erm no need for that. I can walk.Edwina should probably ride if you don't mind Hugh." She'd had a horse beneath her since she was scarcely a year old. Walking always did feel a little awkward, but nothing she couldn't deal with.

Edwina's eyes lit up at the mention of adventure. She and Alya exchanged glances. "As long as you are careful not to have any more near death experiences on my watch we can go. I certainly wont let you go alone anyways." A far gone memory crept into her mind. She quickly stuffed the thought back in the cage she had long ago built for it.

[Warrior in the Shadows]

Hugh was more accustomed to using his own legs then that of an animal, so offering up his own horse was not something he disliked entirely. "I hope you're good with big horses. He can be a sweety, but don't get used to it. Always remember that he is a warhorse." He said, giving the introduction. His horse stood next to him, putting its nose in his chest. "You can hope on and take the reins. Tell me if you need a boost."

[Kelewen]

"Wouldn't dream of it," she said to Alya, excited that her traveling companion was open to the idea of a bit of adventure.

Still feeling a bit unsteady from being brought back from the brink of death, Edwina was grateful for the leg up onto the large horse. "Please," she said, giving a large warrior a good-natured smile as he helped her up. She settled easily into the saddle and give the warhorse a scratch on the neck as she gathered the reins. Her feet didn't reach the stirrups and she looked tiny upon the draft horse, but despite that seemed comfortable enough. "What's his name?"

-

While Straw and Hugh were getting acquainted with the two women, the others had gathered their horses and had dragged the bodies of the highwaymen off the road. "Looks like we're ready..." said the elf. "Should be able to make it to Tarkin's Point by nightfall if we hurry a bit."

[Kelewen]

Three days later, wilderness north of Tarkin's Point...



"Should be gettin' close, I think," the old man said, pausing for a few moments to rest against the remnants of a stone archway that told of a structure, perhaps a church or an outpost, that had stood here once upon a time, evidence of the civilization that had once populated this now wild territory.

Edwina, fully recovered from the ordeal on the road with the highwaymen, dismounted from her horse so that she could get a closer look at the structure. "So the stories really are true!" she said, excited to finally see something to confirm the rumors that there were perhaps hidden riches yet to be discovered. She had been starting to doubt they were really going to find the ruins of the ancient city, but now it felt within reach.

She looked back at her companions, now just Straw, Alya, and Hugh. The others had parted ways back at Tarkin's Point before she had really gotten to know them. "Any of you ever delve into ruins before?" she asked, wondering how to even begin looking for treasure.

--

The drow sat very still, examining the new arrivals from his dark, well concealed hiding spot. He was taking note of each traveler and the weapons they carried as well as speculating on what price each might fetch at the slave market.

[Warrior in the Shadows]

Edwina came at Hugh with a question after he gave her a boost onto his horse, wondering what the horse's name was. "Honestly, I just call him 'Horse'." Hugh tersely replied.

--

Hugh leaned against the remnants of an old structure, running his hands through his beard and looking around. The place was quite vacant. He wondered if he had been here before, possibly some battle at the sight when it was no less a collection of rubble and ruins. He didn't think there was much on the side of riches, as the ruins weren't exactly on the extravagant side, but his thoughts were not immune to flaw.

Edwina had sparked a question on the others experience with ruins, and Hugh recalled only making them or fighting among them. This caused him to wonder what the old cities of his people looked like, now. Probably not as overgrown and decaying as this rubble before him, now, though no less vacant.

"If you count making them." He gave a little grin at making that comment.

[Kelewen]

"I don't doubt that," Edwina said, returning his grin. It wasn't that hard to imagine the large warrior crushing a wall somewhere and making a building come crashing down. Even though they hadn't run into any trouble since the highwaymen on the road 3 days past, traveling with a warrior such as Hugh gave her a sense of security and she found herself letting her guard drop.

"Let's find somewhere to make camp soon," Straw said. "Then we can get an early start looking for ways down into the ruins."

"We've got a few hours of daylight left yet," Edwina said, looking at the older man, wondering why he wanted to make camp so early. "Might be able to find it today."

Straw seemed strangely hesitant. "Think I might have tweaked my knee a bit ago," he said, still rubbing his knee with his hand. "Just don't want to strain it too much, then be useless for a couple days."

[Warrior in the Shadows]

"It is quite early to make camp, but I suppose we can get more sleep." Hugh commented, "I suggest four hour guard shifts." Hugh did like pulling guard shifts at times, as he found the solitude helpful to keeping his skills sharp and it let him think in peace. He never minded company on guard shifts, either. It was always nice to have someone to talk to when you were expecting to stay alone and bored for four straight hours.

The thing about just guarding a camp when you were simple travelers was that fewer people were actually looking specifically for you, with the intent of taking your life. Instead, it might be some annoying thief dead set on taking something of yours. The nice thing about thieves was that they were not intent on taking all of your stuff, just something valuable. Bandits would surround you in your sleep, or in the middle of the day, and take all of your stuff and send you off with maybe a garment or two to stay warm. Something about being with a group made people more confident.

The likelihood of them getting attacked appeared small to Hugh. But nonetheless, Hugh would probably take up two guard shifts for the others. Security was not something to worry about all too much at the moment, as they needed to set up a campsite.

"I think we should make our campsite right here, next to this archway. It could provide good shelter." Hugh said aloud.

[Kelewen]

Straw looked relieved that the group had agreed so easily to stopping for the day. "Here is good with me," he agreed. The old man sat resting for awhile longer and pulled out his pipe for a smoke. His eyes scanned the surrounding area as he puffed on the tobacco. Not too far away, the remnants of other structures were covered in varying degrees of vegetation, tempting Edwina with thoughts of the treasure left there by the denizens that abandoned the place long ago.

"Once we have camp set up, want to take a short look around?" Edwina asked Hugh, hardly managing to contain her excitement, as she started loosening her horse's girth to remove his saddle. "Maybe we can locate a few cellars to poke around in tomorrow..."

[Warrior in the Shadows]

Hugh gave a hearty chuckle and said "It would be my pleasure to accompany you!" He grabbed a hold of the saddle before Edwina tried to hold it herself. "I'll hoist it off, when you've removed its bindings." He signaled. Edwina was not exactly Hugh's height, so he would rather not allow her to be crushed by the saddle of a large draft horse. "You're either very excited, because of treasure or you enjoy old architecture. Perhaps both?" He said to Edwina, referencing her excitement.

[Kelewen]

Her cheeks flushed a little red as Hugh commented on her eagerness to explore the ruins. She'd never had much "adventuring" experience before and was finding that she quite liked it. She would be disappointed, surely, if they walked away empty handed, but would not consider it a wasted trip. "It might be both," she admitted, stepping toward the horse's head once the girth was loose so that Hugh could pull the saddle off.

"I can brush him down for you, if you'd like," she offered, giving the draft horse a pat on his nose. She'd grown fond of the massive horse over the past few days.

--

With cat-like grace, Ryltar quietly stepped down the crumbling staircase inside what was once a guard tower. The structure was still intact enough and provided enough cover to make the perfect place to keep a lookout for any visitors. Satisfied that the party at the edge of the ruins consisted only of the old man, two women, and a large warrior, he needed to alert the others so that they could prepare for tonight.

[Warrior in the Shadows]

Hugh smiled, "Of course you can. I'll help out, if we have an extra brush around here, somewhere." He said, rummaging through a few horse packs from his saddle he had just removed from his draft horse.

Continuing to search his saddle bags, he said "Honestly, it's just nice to be out on something of an adventure. It's not all about treasure." And Hugh meant that. He never had much money. When he had been garrisoned in towns or outposts, he did enjoy having a bed to sleep on in a barracks, but since he had more wartime experience, he was more used to tents and sleeping on the ground.

"Anyways, the real treasure is the memories you make on the journey." He finally commented. "Aha!" Hugh said, victoriously, pulling a brush from his saddle bag and holding it up. "Now let's get to work." He said, and tossed the brush to Edwina. A simple "Catch" was his only warning.

[Kelewen]

"Thanks," she said as she caught the brush against her chest a bit awkwardly. As she started on the draft horse's neck as she considered Hugh's thoughts on adventure. "Well, it is a touch more fun than going off to make coin mucking out a barn or serving ale," she smiled, working the brush back toward the horse's withers. "Have you ever found treasure though? I mean real treasure... not just a couple coins enough for a few nights of fun."

--

"... only three of them this time," Ryltar reported to the others. "A large and well armed human male, a human female, and an elven female."