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Snowdrops
Richard Horthy
Master Bruce
Tlaloc
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Carlyle
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PrinceAlexus
The Journey - Part 2 - Unknown location outside the Umbral Woods - 6:37 PM
Penumbra, Custosa and Dahm recovered from the fight with the bandits and were finally outside the Umbral Woods. Their first fight was a hard one as they weren’t prepared and they haven’t escaped unscrapped.
While neither Penumbra nor Dahm knew anything about treating wounds, they bandaged Custosa’s eye to the best of their ability but even they could say with certitude…her eye would be lost forever. Custosa was, of course, not the only one injured. Dahm and Penumbra were as well but those were paper cuts in comparison to the loss of an eye.
“ Deep lines drawn gently;
A subtle but growing pain
Red stones fall gently down ” said Dahm, the Bard in a sad voice before starting to humm a sad song.
Custosa, who was in great pain and in general disliked Dahm, ignored her feelings about him and joined in, humming under her breath as a way to focus on something else than pain. Penumbra just walked a bit further away from the group, head down and a frown on their face. It was them that asked these two to join, it was them that led them on that path and of course, it was their quest. Their responsibility to keep them safe, a responsibility they failed to uphold.
Looking back at the two, Penumbra went through the list of their supplies that they still had. Food for a week, water for a few days but that wouldn’t be an issue for now but a major issue presented itself, they didn’t know in which direction to go. North and up the mountains, hoping to find a pass or closer to the coast but with more chances of danger. They still had some time until they would reach the point of no return for either direction and as such, Penumbra’s mind switched subjects of focus.
Level ups. Themselves and Custosa each got 4 levels up for their fight with the bandits while Dahm, got five levels for his instrumental role in the fight. In Penumbra’s mind, they ran through each person’s current and new abilities.
All these abilities meant that they should be more than ready for any kind of encounter in the future with bandits or whatnot. If something else doesn’t happen, of course. As they kept walking, light appeared in the sky. Blinding light at dawn. A bad omen. The group stopped to catch their breath and made camp, better to walk in sunlight in these unknown lands.
" What was…" started to say Custosa before wincing in pain. Penumbra replied before she could try again to speak.
" I don't know but that much light at this hour? Either some kind of beast or divine magic. One of Ashevelen’s siblings, the Goddess, wouldn't do something like that. Not without at least talking with her champion. We'll have to tread carefully. Bandits won't be the only threat we'll face in this quest…"
Before Penumbra could say anything else, Dahm the Bard used his ability [ignore pain] and started to sing.
" And if eternity is the time
And forever we must wait
Then we will wait all eternity
For even as the earth crumbles away
We are indestructible."
And the party ignored their pain and fell asleep soundly as Damh took the first watch, still singing their pain away.
" Oh pain, my mistress
Oh pain, why you court us so
Oh pain…oh pain.
The Journey - Part 2 - The edge of the Lightwoods - 8 AM
The party of 3 walked and walked through the unknown forest, deciding to keep closer to the coast than venture through the mountains. One their way there, Penumbra went into the Shadow Bazaar looking for Ashevelen, hoping for some divine aid but quickly found out that she wasn’t there. Either way, not wanting to leave empty handed, they bought some healing herbs from a stall and some food from some elves.
Applying the herbs wasn’t as hard as they thought initially but it was painful or would’ve been if Dahm wouldn’t have sung as much as he could to make Custosa forget the pain and stop struggling while the herbs were applied on her eye.
Eventually they arrived at the location where the light came from and they were amazed. A whole forest that shined with light in many different colours and intensity. Penumbra, ever the obedient servant, grabbed some plants and quickly discovered that the plants had teeth which they tried to use to bite them. “Killing” the plants quickly, they threw them into a shadow and uttered the words of the Goddess sending the plants into the Shadow Bazaar.
“ What is this place? Plants that have teeth and are carnivorous? The Dark/Umbral forests do not have anything of the sorts and neither have I heard anyone telling stories about them. ” asked Custosa, a perplexed look on her face.
“ Never seen something like this either. I’ve sent some in the Shadow Bazaar, when the Goddess is back she will come and check for sure. ” answered Penumbra.
“ How far must the honey bee roam
To find an elusive flower,
And return to his honeycomb?
How long must a tumbling stone
Through a lonely landscape scour,
To realise its conclusive home? ” sang Dahm, as elusive as ever.
Custosa turned towards him with a frown upon her face. Anger was clear in her voice. “ Dahm! I beg you in the name of Jeon and all the over divines out there, please start making sense. I don’t understand a word and you’re talking in my language. ”
Penumbra came between the two as they stared at each other and shook their head.
“ Easy there. Easy. Calm down, Custosa. What Dahm means is that we are far from home and that we don’t know when we will be back. I think he said something about not knowing if the Goddess will find us alive when she’s back but not sure. Did I get that right, Dahm? ” explained Penumbra while looking at Dahm for confirmation. A tiny nod was all the answer he gave and all that was needed.
After some more bickering between the confused Custosa and Dahm, they started their journey through the forest and it wasn’t an easy one. Howls, grunts and movement kept everyone on their toes add to that the occasional burrowing dino that literally kept everyone on their toes as they would be biting at their feet before coming out in a shower of dust and gravel to swallow the party whole.
“ I don’t like this forest. People back home were afraid of the shadow monsters when your Goddess transformed the Umbral Woods but they don’t compare to this. Dahm, stay close to me. As much as I’d like you to stop singing every 2 minutes, I wouldn’t want to see you eaten by whatever lives in this forest. ” said Custosa as she saw Dahm lagging behind the group for a few steps.
“There's a sad loneliness about my heart,—
A deep, deep solitude the spirit feels
Amid this multitude. The things of art
Pall on the senses—from its pageantry,
Loathing, my eye turns off; and my ear shrinks
From the harsh dissonance that fills the air.” sang to the yet-again annoyed Custosa, Dahm, before nodding at her, pointing around them and then made a shhh sound.
Custosa shook their head and she realised something as well. It was too quiet. Too quiet for a normal forest and way too quiet for this forest. Penumbra, who led the group and was just further up from where they were using their pre-existing abilities to the full, came back running.
“ There’s something out there. The wildlife ran away which means that whatever it is…it’s the apex predator of this forest. No more scouting, we keep close…very close. I’ve seen something moving in the canopy above us, stalking us. ”
Custosa took a sharp breath and focused on her passive ability [Enhanced Hearing], closing her right eye. Sure enough, the sounds of the forest could still be heard but farther away…and then thum. thum. thum. thum. a rhythmic beat. It continued and continued until it stopped for a few seconds, only to start again faster and in their direction.
“ Get ready. Whatever made everything hide is closing in fast on our location. ” said Custosa while she got her spear ready in the direction of where the sound came from.
Penumbra hid behind a tree, activating their ability [One with the shadows] ready to jump from behind and attack the new foe while Custosa would keep it focused and Dahm would sing his songs at it. Alternating between support and attack abilities.
Just then, a towering monstrosity burst through a nearby thicket, its head an oversized version of the chompy plant that had tried to bite Penumbra,its body thicke as three tree trunks, its legs stomping the earth and its tail ending in yet another mouth.
It roared loudly upon somehow spotting them with its far too many eyes despite the party's stealth skills. It skid to a halt before it simply trampled over them and ducking its head low as if it were about to try and bite them. Instead of this however, this bow revealed upon its back a lounging figure: Jeon, the god of forests and adventure!
He gave them a casual wave and a “Sup”
As soon as the monster spotted Penumbra and approached its head to bite them, Penumbra vanished and appeared just above them in the trees. Their whole arm, a spear pointed at the head of whomever was riding the creature, ready to use their [Shadow Javelin] skill. Custosa let out a shout to them and dropped to one knee almost immediately while Dahm, for once in their lifetime, was quiet and watched the divine with caution.
“ My prince, it’s an honour to finally meet you in person. I am Custosa, the one above is Penumbra, the champion of the Lady of Trade and Shadows and this…Satyr is Dahm. A bard. ” said Custosa, reverence in her voice clear.
Penumbra jumped from the trees and offered a friendly bow to Jeon and threw a coin in their direction. A sign of respect between the Umbra.
“ Greetings! The Lady of the Trade and Shadows offers her regards and wants you to know that she’s saddened that you haven’t yet met but would be more than happy to host you in the Shadow Bazaar at any time. ”
The god snatched the coin from the air, gave it a raised eyebrow, before giving a little grin and joking “Well I’ll have to do so, now that I’ve got some spending money” before tucking the coin into his pocket.
“ I am unsure if you know how to reach the realm. Look at any shadow that may fit your size, think or say that you wish to barter with the Lady of the Trade and then throw your offering in the shadow. A portal will open and take you over there and when you wish to leave, just wish it and you’ll be transported back to where you entered. ” explained Penumbra.
“Good to know,” the god replied with an appreciative nod. He had know already, but didn’t seem to feel it necessary to put down their helpful instinct
“Now then, up up all of you, that’s enough respect showing for one day” the god baid them, slipping off the back of his monstrous steed so he could stand evenly with them… or, well, shorter than them, as two thirds of the party stood taller than the divine, not least of all the Custosa, who towered thanks to her elven physiology. It was the elf that he addressed next, saying, “and lovely to meet you at last too, Custosa, I’ve heard so much about you after all” with a wink.
“ I hope you’ve heard only good things, prince. ” replied Custosa sheepishly, trying to hide her missing eye with her long hair.
“So, I totally have not been stalking you, I just happened to see you in the area and thought I'd ask something of you” the god said to them all, before stopping himself and instead saying “oh but first, where are my manners? How is your journey going?”
Penumbra stepped forward as Jeon asked his question, ready to answer.
“ We’ve had a few ups and downs but we’re getting better. Not my first adventure, as you might’ve heard that the Goddess ordered me before to establish peaceful relationships with your subjects. Either way, we are good for now. What is it that you wish to ask?”
“Well, you need to get better at storytelling if you want to impress anyone with tales of your adventures buuuuut that’s fine” Jeon derided their lack of rendition of their story before getting on with it “So, here’s the thing, there’s this settlement about, oh, a few days travel thataway” He pointed generally westwards “and it needs your help. I’ll mark it on your map”
There was a pause.
“I’ll also give you a map” he added, before pulling out a big leaf and rapid fire painting a picture of the landscape onto it using elven paints before handing it over. As the map consisted mostly of forest, it wasn't exactly the most informative, but it did give the lay of the coast line, and a few notable landmarks, notably a dot where this settlement was, sitting right on the western edge of the forest, where it met a vast yellow expanse they’d come to learn was a desert.
“See, there’s these things called Cortex Flowers, looks like a seed pod the size of a shed growing out of the ground, and they can control animals in order to get them to hunt for them. Now this settlement’s set up just, way too close to a big ol grove of those, so what I need you to do is head on over there, meet up with the locals, and then go deal with that big plant for or with them. Then after that they should be safe-ish, and I’ll just bet they’ll be helpful when it comes to the next leg of your journey. You do not want to go into a desert unprepared, trust me” the god explained, adding a little drawing of the cortex flower to their map next to the settlement as he talked.
Penumbra and the party listened closely to Jeon’s words and as soon as they finished talking, Custosa started to accept the quest but got interrupted by Penumbra almost straight away.
“ Apologies prince but this doesn’t seem like our problem and if you’re offering a quest, then what do we get in return? You wish to trade with an Umbra after all. ” swiftly said Penumbra, remembering their Goddesses teachings.
“And a quest needs a reward as well, so don’t you worry, I’ll make it worth your while” the god replied with a grin, before hopping up onto his monstrous steed, grabbing a big leaf based bundle that had been tied to its side but that had gone unnoticed up until now, and then said “promise to do this, and I’ll give you the gear to do it” as he laid the contents out on the ground before them
For Custosa: a bronze helmet, a full set of chain mail, a scale mail chest plate to go on top as well as a set of pauldrons and a reinforced tower shield and a battle axe
For Dahm, well, he got a lute. That, a foppish hat with a big father in it, a short sword, a short bow, and finally some light chain mail of his own.
“Now you, you’re tricky” Jeon said to Penumbra, “but I think this might just do the trick”, as he gestured to a gambeson made of shadow cloth. What might be considered the poor man’s armour by a layman, the fact that it was made from the Umbra’s own shadowy material meant that it wouldn’t interfere with the [champion]‘s own skills while also offering an impressive degree of protection given that it was, well, cloth. It also came with a nice sewing kit as well for repair proposes. Finally it also included a set of glass vials containing poisons that would not harm the shadow, but would harm their biological foes quite badly.
Before Penumbra could say anything, Custosa tapped them on their shoulder. A begging look on her face. “ I said I’m going to follow your lead until this divine quest is ended but I beseech you, please accept this side-quest. It…means a lot to me. ”
Dahm soon followed-up with a song of promise of aid and help of his own.
“ Lend a hand to one another
In the daily toil of life;
When we meet a weaker brother,
Let us help him in the strife.
There is none so rich but may,
In his turn, be forced to borrow;
And the poor man's lot to-day
May become our own to-morrow.
Caught between a good offer and the requests of their party, Penumbra nodded.
“ I accept your trade, Prince of Adventures. Just keep in mind that the Lady of the Trade will eventually hear of this and I hope that you’ll explain the need for delays in her quest. ”
“Then I’ll be sure to tell her that it’s not about the destination, but the journey and experience you earn along the rode” Jeon replied, before leaning in just a little and adding ominously “and trust me, the way you’re you’re going, you’ll want all the experience you can get”
Then he stood up, flashed them a grin “now then, I must go away. Godhood’s a busy life, and I’m sure I’m needed elsewhere” he said before hopping back atop his steed “I look forward to hearing of your tales of bravery, so don’t let me down now!” he told them, then gave them a two finger salute and a “toodles” before thundering away into the woods once more
Armed with new weapons and armour which fitted perfectly, the group started walking towards the village they were meant to protect. Penumbra kept the map close and would hide it within their form when creatures would appear.
…..To be continued