The Trees

[Relym]

He accepted the fruit back, took a slow bite (the nectar of the gods, surely) and answered. "Me? Well, I'm not sure to be honest. I don't know what goes on inside of the council hall. The mayor called all of the men into his home and they came out confident that I was the one. I don't know what they saw in me, but a little adventure never hurt." He smiled, but sub-consciously glanced at his shin where the red skin was beginning to turn white.

"So, have you ever heard of a 'Wandering Wizard'? Darien, I think his name was?" He asked casually as he set up a spit for the pot to hang from over the fire. "I ran into him in the woods, just moments before you came along." His mouth was half-full of fruit, which made his speech a bit slurred and hard to understand.

"The wandering what?" S'kedra asked, in disbelief. The Wandering Wizard? There was no way. The Wandering Wizard had left the country decades ago, it was rumored that he was killed by his rival, Jaxis; what was he doing meandering through these snowy woods?

"The Wandering Wizard," Henry finally gulped down his mouthful of fruit. "He said his name was Darien. Ever heard of him?

[Woo]

S'kendra swallowed, trying to fight the lump in the throat. It was a loosing battle. She nodded, bringing back the old stories from her childhood spent sat in Pa-Jasari's hut in the middle of the village. The wise old Shaman had told stories of the world outside of the village. Tails of the King and of knights, of Maidens becoming hero's, being rescued by heros, and of maidens just being maidens. Stories of dragons and wizards and madmen and theifs. And the Wandering Wizard.

"I know of him, he is legendary. Don't you?" She was almost as suprised at his asking as she was at his seeming to have contacted the wizard.

[Relym]

"Erm... well, yeah. Just this morning. Why?" Henry seemed a bit disconcerted. "How do you know of him?" She explained the stories she had heard, and he seemed to understand.

"That doesn't really connect to what I've seen of him," He said, after hearing about his heroic deeds. "He seemed like a grumpy old man to me. Not heroic at the very least." He handed S'kedra the last of the fruit and filled the pot with snow, which began to melt immediately. "Do you think he has anything to do with the weather?" He asked after a short silence. "If it really is magic that's causing it, then couldn't he help?" He gasped. "Or couldn't he be behind it all?"

[Woo]

She shook her head, although the doubt was already spreading in her mind. "No, he would never... He could never do a thing like that!" She had always heard stories of his heroic deeds, of the good he had done for the Empire and for the lands beond. In her mind, this man could do no wrong. She took the fruit in her hands and sat looking at it, unsure if she would be able to take another bite. "He would have no reason... It must be Jaxis! It must..."

[Relym]

Henry felt a bit uneasy at her fretting, and she was speaking near-jibberish to him. "Listen, S'kedra," He said as she stared nervously into the distance, looking scared. "I don't know this Darien guy, but I'm sure it's nothing important. We ought to get some sleep." To confirm this, he pulled a thin blanket out from his bag, threw it over himself and rolled over, his back to the fire.

[Woo]

She sat on her bedroll, looking deep into the remaining embers of the fire. Shivering from head to toe from the cold. S'kendra took a small bite from the fruit, but found she was no longer hungry. She swallowed the delicious fruit with little enthusiasm, and pulled her threadbare jacket tight around her shoulders. Other stories had begun to crowd her memory, voices chattering from a million markeplaces she had viseted and temples she had stood, awestruck, and admired. She shook her head to get the voices out, and shuffled closer to the fire.

After a short while, S'kendra found that her eyes had slipped from the glowing embers to Henry's sleeping form, huddled under his thin wool blanket. She was sure he must be freezing. It was so cold out here. She pulled her socks up past her knees, cursing her luck at having lost her own blanket during that run-in with the town guards at Del-Tadurn. It had seemed a good traid-in at the time, but it wasn't worth the weight of cured venisin she had managed to make off with. At least she still had some left, and it was good quality.

[Relym]

After a somewhat restless and bitterly cold night's sleep, Henry awoke just as the first few rays of sunlight peeked over the mountains on the horizon. He wasn't totally rested, but after living on a farm for 12 years of his life, his body would no longer allow him to sleep later than that. It couldn't have been later than half past four, which was perfect for the fruit farming. Getting the image of fruit out of his craving mind, he rolled over to see if S'kedra was up yet.

She was still sleeping peacefully on her bedroll, facing the glowing embers of the fire. It had not snowed at all during the night, but the wind had blown in some stray flakes which had considerably weakened the warmth in the tent. He sat up gingerly, trying desperately but unsuccessully not to make any noise. The frost crunched beneath his feet and several times, S'kedra's pointed and angular face would twitch, as though blinking away a mosquito. Finally managing to extract himself from his tangled blanket, he threw it over his tent-mate, whose shivering softened slightly, and emerged into the slowly illuminating landscape.

As freezing and exhausting as it was to be woken so early, Henry always appreciated the beauty of the early morning. Even in the winter, there were still birds chirping in the leafless trees, and the post-maturely star-strewn sky was becoming a light purple on the edges. He walked around the large clearing a few times, getting his blood pumping and his body functional. Taking a deep, refreshing inhale, his lungs filling with the chill, clear air, Henry returned to the tent to procure some breakfast.

[Samuel]

"Just admit it, Alehammer, we're LOST."
"BLACH! We are NOT fucking lost, shut the hell up laddy, I know where I be goin'!"
"That's what you said when we meandered the desert for weeks on end."
"Agh, tha' was different, ye asshat! Jus' shut yer fuckin' trap and follow me."
The voices echoed from the distance before two figures emerged from the woodwork. One of them stood a stocky four foot eight, with a long graying beard and eyes so brown they were nearly black. He wore plate armor, which bore the colors of Acrello, a dwarf-city state that was now under martial law from its conquerors. This was Jaggery Alehammer, or, as almost all his friends called him: "Sergeant Son of a Bitch", and he got by as a mercenary, who was currently under the hire of Sam.. He aimed his crossbow around, ready to put a bolt into the first thing that moved besides Sam. Sam's full name was Samuel Bladesong, and he stood at 5'11, wearing a chainmail hauberk over leather armor. His was a quest to resurrect his sister, and he was willing to defy anyone and anything, which was for the moment his parent's wishes, to see her alive again.
"A tent....we're not alone out here.."
"NO SHIT, YA TALL BUFFOON!"
"...remind me why I keep you around..."
"Are ya FIRIN' meh!?"
"No! But you're getting on my nerves. Now shh. Just let me do the talking." Sam approached the tent, eager, DESPERATE for someone to talk to besides his foul-mouthed short-tempered mercenary.

[Woo]

The heavy crunch of two large pairs of boots on the early morning frost, and the outraged rumble of a dwarven voice echoed through the clearing, getting louder and more painful to the ears with every repetition. The unexpected and unwelcome sound was the last straw for the sleeping S'kendra, who ran on autopilot for at least 15 minuits after waking. She growled softly, slid a hand down her leg and into one of her boots, and withdrew a long, sharp dagger. She then pushed herself up out of the tent, still pretty much asleep and muttering something along the lines of "I did nothing and you can't prove it either way." before her foot snagged on the blanket and she fell into the snow.

Henry had already spotted the new arivals, as he had been awake for a while already for about a half hour. Though he had been looking in the direction of the two figures, he turned when he heard a soft "thump" and saw S'kendra kneeling in the snow, looking confused but alert.

[Relym]

Glancing frantically from floored S'kedra to the two newcomers, Henry stuttered. "Uh- uh- hello, there." He managed to blurt out as he shuffled over to help the poor girl up, and slapped the knife out of her hand and into the snow before the angry dwarf could see it. "I'm Henry, and this is S'kedra." He said, pointing to his companion. The two men surveyed them skeptically, appraising their somewhat unsatisfying first impression.

The dwarf, who was apparently named Alehammer, began swearing under his breath, but the taller, kinder looking one stepped forward to shake their hands. "I'm Sam," he said, smiling weakly and apologetically at his partner's behavior. "This is Jaggery. I'd tell you his nickname, but I'm afraid that-"

"It's Seargant Son of a Bitch Alehammer, to you, laddies." He piped in from behind. Sam sighed and released his grip on S'kedra's hand.

"So, um..." Henry tried to break the awkward silence, but realized he had nothing to say. "Well, where are you headed? You seem to be going in our general direction," he noted, pointing out their footsteps in the snow heading directly West, where he and S'kedra were also traveling.

Sam shifted a bit, uncomfortable, because he truly did not know where he was going. "I understand, it's not my business." Henry said sympathetically. "We're headed to see the King. My village is in trouble, and I think some wizards can help.

"The King, eh?" Alehammer thundered as he waddled over to them. "Damn fool if I ever seen one in me life." He said, crossing his arms, waiting for the outburst that was sure to come.

S'kedra, who had not yet spoken, defended her leader. "The King is a great leader, and without him, you dwarves would have no place to go!" She took an angry step forward with every few syllables, pointing a long finger downward at the smug dwarf's face. He said nothing, but his satisfaction was quite visible on his bearded face. Only with great concentration did S'kedra allow Henry to move her a step backwards, thus removing the temptation to swing her fist at his slightly curved mouth.

"We can keep our opinions about the government separate," Sam said, also dragging Jaggery a foot or so backwards. "Right now, we have more important matters to deal with." If Henry and S'kedra were really going to see the King's wizards, maybe they could bring back his sister. That, and company never hurt when there were so many rogues and bandits about. "I say we all travel together, to see the King." He proposed, finally.

"What?!" Alehammer shouted, causing Henry to jump involuntarily. He blushed and looked at the snow at his feet. "I thought you said we were going to-"

"Shush," Sam whispered, kicking him in the shin.

As Alehammer winced and groaned, Sam looked between Henry and S'kedra, searching their faces for signs of approval. "Sounds good to me," Said S'kedra, shrugging, but shot a scathing glance at Alehammer while she did so.

"It's settled then." Said Henry, extending his hand again in an offering of agreement. Sam took it, and it was decided. They were all going together.

[Woo]

With the formalities out of the way, S'kendra turned and began to pack up the tent. She'd never had the patients to deal with dwarvs, and today didn't feel like the one to start repairing her relationship with the race. Of course there are exceptions, but this individual was not one of them. Having packed away the tent and her bedroll, she picked her knife out of the snow and slipped it back into her boot. She pulled a handfull of cured meat out of a pocket in her bag.

"Henry, would you like some food? I have some beef and venison. And some dried fruits if you would like some." S'kendra offered the handfull of asorted meats towards him, then glanced toward Sam and the Dwarf. "You two may have some too, if you've not eaten."

[Tobias116]

The tall, dark figure of Thanatos wandered calmly through the blizzard. He wore a dark purple cloak with black symbols on and a huge broadsword on his back, his face was obscured by the cloak's hood, but hair black as the night itself flowed down to under his shoulders, his red eyes peered out in the storm, again calmly to the point of boredom or sleep. But they were analyzing their surroundings. He reached out with his hand and caught a snowflake, ever so lightly. He watched it with intent and said in a quite deep voice - "This winter... is unnatural." He kept on walking through the blizzard, another thing that was weird with this entity was that the whirling storm of snow never touched his cloak, nor did he get cold.

Name: Thanatos
Age: 18
Class: Shadow Mage
Weapon: Huge Broadsword (it's 170 cm long, Thanatos is 185cm tall..)
Loyalty: Evil (More like an opportunist)
Bio: Thanatos parents got killed in an accident when he was practicing his magical powers and he has since then learned of his mistakes. He actually saved over half the books in the library which he studied in at his parents home before they died. The house was partly destroyed by the spell and he studied all the books he could that was still possible to read after the incident. Since then he has grown to become almost indifferent to most things, even murder. He has morbid humour and loves sarcasm, and is what some people referr to as a "Sleepy-head" which means he is drowsy most of the time, but gains alot of power when "awake", and is mostly only awakened by battles that require attention.


The black, the inside of his mind formed these words "If it was not for the spells, i'd be a frozen husk by now..." He heard distant voices, the harsh voice of a dwarf and possibly a human. He surged on through the blizzard. Again, the black of his mind thought "Maybe I should join them... Perhaps they could be of use of me, I have no food  " Thanatos walked gently on the brittle snow towards the distant voices. He kept coming closer, and closer, the more he walked the more of his footsteps disappeared in the snow until he was upon a camp.

[Woo]

Even before the figure of Thanatos was in sight, S'kendra felt something very strange and dangerous in the air. The hair on the nape of her neck stood on end and her breath caught in her throat. She hissed a "shh", but it was lost to the deep rumble of the dwarf's constant, noisy talking. Damn dwarf, if we die or I get caught it'll be your doing, she thought. Her hand shot to the blade in her boot, she withdrew it but hid it in her sleave.

Standing to her full height, just over six feet, she faced the direction of the disturbance. Henry seemed to notice her tension, but the dwarf rumbled on obliviously, and his companion was busy trying to chew his way through a strip of dry meat. He looked up in time to see the dark silluette materialize through the falling snow.

[Tobias116]

Thanatos looming presence had entered the camp, and he knew there was people there, but did not know where in they camp they were. He heard someone loiter around in his or her packaging and the scent of smoked and salted meat tinged the cold dry air. He was hungry, and that was the one feeling he couldn't stand, hunger. His spells had kept him going on, and on but to a price, though they repressed his feelings of hunger and thirst, it damaged his body, now he needed food. There was a certain lack of just that item, food. Water could be found anywhere and everywhere for the most part...

Thanatos decided to start rummaging around in the camp, looking for the people he knew were there. He expanded his aura to be able to detect beings within it. Another interesting thing about a shadow mage's aura is that inside it's "field", the mage can send attacks from any direction since that is his magical presence in an area. Thanatos noticed an odd tent, not quite from this place, and a campfire which had been aflame not long ago. Thanatos decided to walk to an icy clearing, when an entity flickered into and out of his aura. He made a quick U-turn towards the direction he had sensed the entity and walked across the snow, crunching noises sounding from his boots. He quickly formed a small spell in the depths of his mind, reading the incantation that was etched inside his head's deep "Azernu in adenum cratu." His fingers tingeled gently as he prepared to meet this entity. Just in case...

[Relym]

"Uh... Hello." Henry's voice wavered as he showed himself nervously. He was quite tense, all of his muscles prepared for fight or flight, depending on where this confrontation took him. Thanatos's stomach growled audibly, and Henry began to understand. "I'm sorry, we don't have any food, only enough to keep us until-"

He stopped, staring at Thanatos's hands. They were beginning to glow, the blue light reflecting eerily off of the snowflakes on the ground and in the air. He had never met a magician before, and Henry was frozen in shock. S'kedra emerged from the place where they had been previously hiding, sensing Henry's tension, and was also transfixed by the increasing brightness of his hands. Entranced, neither of them had time to react when Thanatos raised them and blue ropes erupted from his extended fingers and collided with their bodies.

Henry was thrown backwards into a tree and slid to the ground, the air forced out of his lungs. S'kedra was thrown backwards onto a frozen pond, spinning and sliding for several yards on the slippery surface. To this, Sam and Alehammer sprung into action. As Henry attempted to get back up again, eyes wide and mouth gasping for air, Sam strung an arrow to his bow and took aim at the place where he had estimated the attacker to be, and Jaggery yelled and raised his axe. Sam's arrow and Jaggery's charge were both fruitless, however, as the chanting Thanatos disappeared with a whoosh that stirred the dead branches of the nearby trees.

Sam, pulling another arrow from his belt, aimed his bow through the trees around him, searching for the attacker. Meanwhile, Henry had managed to get to his feet, and was trying to reach S'kedra's hand while she struggled to gain her bearings on the dangerously thin ice. "Where are you?" Sam shouted, pulling his bowstring somewhere around his ear. "Show yourself!"

The ice began to crack beneath S'kedra's feet, and Thanatos appeared on the opposite side of the pond. Raising a single hand, parallel to the softly cracking layer of frozen water, clenched his fist and the entire surface sunk half an inch with a horrifying crunching sound. "Let me leave without a fuss," Thanatos said calmly, not making eye contact with any of the others, "And I'll let her off."