"Some times just survivin' be easier than trying to make something else."
Inside the forest itself, the atmosphere is not nearly as foreboding as it appeared from the outside. Though the ground is covered with brush and rock, making travel slow, the pines are further apart than they first appeared, meaning the open sky is clearly visible above. This is the wild, forested beauty Yoltzin remembered from her childhood and adolescent years.
From just a few yards inside the forest, it is hard to shake the feeling that you are being watched, though there are no obvious observers.
It is late afternoon when the party hears the sound of something lumbering in the trees and brush ahead. Branches snap and the squish sound of large feat draws slowly closer. Birds squawk and take wing. Suddenly, a loud splash echoes off water nearby. Then all is still again.
And then, there's that... old friend of yours or Momo's, Yoltzin? Djack's head scans back and forth.
"It's hard to say without seeing first hand..." She murmurs with caution, though considers the warning tales of her childhood.
Yoltzin considers for a moment. There are several large predators in the forest, though none were very populous. It could, of course, be another Green Dragon, though these were extremely rare. It could also be a large creature known to her people as dermodotl, a four-legged lizard with a large back fin and incredibly sharp teeth. Finally, most unusual, it might be a multi-headed beast known as a hydra.
Rocko doesn't want the horses to get spooked and run off (we did bring the wagon into the forest, right?) His first inclination is to grab a big blanket and throw it over their heads while brushing their necks and making soothing noises.
The horses are a little nervous, but fortunately they're not to the point of misbehaving...yet.
Soon after hearing the noises, the party comes across a muddy path approaching the banks of a small, but deep, river. Several large tracks are evident in the mud, leading right to the water's edge.
Examining the tracks, Rocko notes they are similar to those of the Dragon you recently fought, but rounder, and with less prominent claws. And closer together. They are partially obscured by something dragging through them, probably the tail of the same creature.
The stream lie ahead. It will have to be swam or forged at some point; you could investigate further, or you could travel up or down stream to try to find a better, and possibly less occupied, place to cross.
Would rather not mess with the natural balance of this place... let's be mindful. He gives a nervous smile.
Maybe protect ourselves but, not kill whatever comes for us?
She nods, having carefully lain out verily the options of death available to them. "I feel confident that however that it was a dermadotl, merely returning from its hunt of which we were thankfully apart from. Thiugh I can hold no certainty, only that we can avoid conflict by merely turning a different route."
Rocko nods "I be likin the 'not mess' choice. Best be ready all the same."
Rocko considers the obvious tracks left by the party, horses, and wagon.
"Might be good blurring our tracks a bit, play it safe like."
As you head away from the spot where the tracks stop in the water, you hear some splashing, but that's it. Perhaps the creature is just bathing. In any event, nothing seems to be following you.
The sun sets late in the day this time of year, and you easily have time to travel along the river until you find a likely place to ford.
As you prepare to cross, an arrow flies out of the treetops, sticking in the juniper just beside Rocko.
Several hoots and calls follow, and shortly, several green and brown clad Wild Elves drop from the trees nearby on silken ropes. Their complexion matches Yoltzin's.
"Halt! Who is it that enters the realms of the Grugachti tribe?" one shouts in heavily accented Espan. They carry sickles or curved swords, and shortbows strung across their backs.
Though she knows her companions well enough for them to not draw weapons, she holds her hand out low as a precautionary ward against it anyway. She tries to identify the leader of the scouting party, before speaking in her natural language. "<It is Yoltzin, a daughter of Luln. I guide these quicklings on a quest of exploration and curiosity, they seek not to conqure.>"
For the benefit of her those who know not her speech, her langauge shifts to Espan. In comparison to the elves who perhaps only have to communicate with a human once or twice a month, her own accent has been significantly softened. "We do not seek conflict with the Gragachti nor to plunder its territory of resources. I had mistakenly believed this as xitlapouki kuautla, open woodland."
As the Elves' attention is drawn to Yoltzin and Momo, there are several gasps and exclamations from younger members of the scouting party.
"You are one of the shamans of Xenxolotl!" the leader exclaims, gesturing to Momo. "Sacred be the mother of life and death!" The man, Yoltzin's elder by at least a generation, bows to the Elven priestess.
Amideo lets out a slight yelp before composing himself and raising a hand in greeting, "Hail and well met! As my companion says, we seek no conflict, and offer friendship, if you will receive it. I am Sir Amideo Caluzzo di Solva, rightfully licensed circuit judge by Viscount Deigon though, of course, your laws take precedence here."
"Your lordship!" the same Elf who just spoke to Yoltzin replies, using the wrong honorific. "Certainly with such esteemed individuals as an official of Espa and a shaman of Xenxolotl, we will not impede you!"
"But please respect our laws. We've had some conflict with the settlers, trying to come into our lands and cut down our trees for their houses. You are welcome to pass through to Luln or where-ever you are headed, but please do not linger in our tribal area. Others may mistake your intention and cause an...unfortunate incident."
A rare blush tinted her cheeks as the elf schooled her face. Being addressed so formally by one older than her by at least a half century or more was uncomfortable. It's easy to forget while working with the humans of Albarra that there were many who held great respect for the Black Dog, and her by association. By technical matters, while she had completed her rites and trials, she didn't exactly... Fully enter the role of a shaman.
"<Sacred be onto the fires of fate.>" She responded in appropriate ceremonies, clasping her pendant and turning her gaze upward in reverence. The brief period of self-reflection was used to center herself, her hesitancy set aside by the time her gaze came back."We will not linger any longer than we must. If there are misgivings you are having with the quicklings, we may be able to pass messages or warnings on a return trip."
Rocko finds what turns out to be as good a place as could be asked for to cross the small river. It's near the lip of a 10' waterfall. The force of the water here is not too great, and the depth is only about 4' at it's highest point, making it an easy ford.
By the time you get to the other side, evening is approaching. the party has traversed only about 8 of the 30 miles, meaning they still have a good two day march ahead of them.
Mayum 25, Fourthday
The night, though full of the noises of the woods, goes by peacefully. The weather continues to be to be colder than normal; a thin layer of ice has formed on the edges of the river. In the second day of travel, the party begins to encounter Elven travelers. Some greet Yoltzin or gaze wondrously at Momo, but for the most party, they keep their eyes averted and get away from you as quickly as possible.
During the night, a misting rain begins to fall, that soon freezes to light flakes of snow which melt as they hit the ground.
Mayum 26, Fifthday
The following morning is still cold, but slightly warmer, as you begin what should be your last day of travel before reaching the Elven town of Luln.
By now, the paths are well established, some even paved with hewn stone. Though there are still groups of pines, you begin to see large groves of aspens, their golden leaves mingled together to form a sort of ceiling to the forest. Yoltzin's people knew secrets to grow the aspens tall and strong; creating a canopy above their villages. Some even resided in the trees themselves.
By late afternoon, you are within a few miles of Luln when a quartet of young Elves approach you from a stone building with a thatched roof; The Guardhouse, as the people of Luln call it, as if it were the only one.
Yoltzin recognizes one of the young Elves as Talcotan, her cousin.
She takes a calming breath, making another attempt at steadying a heart which just refused to slow the closer they approached her home. Talcotan was, someone she'd at least been on good terms with before her departure. Giving the young elf as amiable a smile as she could muster, "<Leaves sway, little acorn. I turn my gaze away for but a moment and already you've grown another inch. I fear if I was gone any longer, you'd have outgrown me.>"
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Amideo gazes up at the trees in wonder, murmuring to himself, "Like one of the fairy stories my abuela told me when I was a boy. This place is breathtaking, Yoltzin. Your kindred turn their homes into works of art."
"To us, the Yaxikicht is as much or if not more so a friend than our home. We care for it, and it will care for us in turn." Replied her with great fondness.
"<Not likely, cousin! I am now nigh on sixty falls of the golden leaf. Quite some years until I hit my final growth spurt! I shall stay this height until your friends here are old and gray!>"
The adolescent Elf runs up and embraces his older cousin tenderly.
"<But what's this? Did you raise your Returned companion yourself?>" Talcotan says, meaning Momo.
The gesture is returned, the comfort of family pulling loose the knotted unease of her heart. When pulled away, an easy smile is left on her face. "<I did. While wandering the great flatland beyond the earthen fingers, I heard the call of a beast whom could not yet bare to part hoof from ground. I called to him, and he- Momozhuani -answered."
The more fanciful aspects of her tale were given freely. He needn't know the tedious days and hours it took to actualy rejoin spirit to bone. She rested a hand against the bison's forehead, seeing in her mind's eye the beast as it once was, as it still saw itself to be. "<We shall be together for a time still. Yet- I am being rude.>"
Giving her human and gnoll companions a welcoming expression, she placed a hand on the younger shoulder. "This little sapling is Talcotan, son to my mother's brother. <These are friends I have found in the flatland beyond. Amideo, Djack, Rocko, and Zia.>"
Talcotan tells his companions to head back to The Guardhouse, and then escorts the visitors on to Luln.
The stone-paved road winds through a sea of aspen trunks, their white bark etched with time and their trembling leaves whispering in the breeze. Shafts of late afternoon sunlight slant between the trees, casting long shadows and dappled light over a quiet village nestled within the grove. Low stone pathways wind between graceful wooden cottages, some covered in moss and ivy, their doors carved with intricate patterns of serpents, sunbursts, and stepped glyphs. The scent of wild herbs and firewood lingers in the air, and somewhere nearby, a slow, melodic flute echoes between the trees.
Above, suspended among the upper branches, are elegant structures of curved timber and pale canvas, connected by rope bridges that sway gently with the wind. Lanterns—made of silver wire and glowing crystal—begin to flicker to life, casting soft light across the forest canopy. A pair of elves pause their work in a high garden to observe the visitors, while a child runs barefoot along a walkway of woven branches. It is a village in harmony with the forest, where every beam and plank seems grown rather than built, and every sound feels like part of a song that has been playing for centuries.
If he was impressed before, Amideo is truly awestruck now, "Yoltzin, by the gods, the care and skill that your people have for life alongside the land is astounding. This place is a work of art."
The praise while warm had begun to feel rather stifling, as if Amideo had ceased to see the inhabitants of home less as people and more of an exotic sight to gawk upon. She knew he was genuine, but the unease was present all the same. She spoke in order to help dissuade him even if just a little, "To us we are merely living alongside the Yaxikicht as the gods decreed we must. There is beauty in that, yes, but it is no different than the people of Albarra. I've seen much passion and innovation over the past year and more, we all contribute to the extravagant tapestry of life in our ow ways. Each thread has its purpose."
Soothing th front of her smock, she turned towards where the familiar temple jutted from the forest floor. "If you would to prepare the offerings. I ask that you do not touch anything without permission, and to not stare at things you might find strange or even unsightly. I... Did not exactly mention where I was going or for how long. My welcoming there may not be as pleasant as that of my cousin's."
At the very center of Luln, in an open plaza with a magically enchanted fountain, stands the Wild Elf temple to Xenxolotl. Its well-maintained walls are of chiseled stone set with obsidian inlays; walls are carved with canine images alongside those of dancing skeletons and spiraling glyphs from ancient times when man was still mastering fire. A stepped pyramid forms the heart of the complex, its summit crowned by a shrine draped in banners and crowned with carved skulls of stone and silver. Offerings incense line the base of the steps, their smoke curling upward like prayers.
Two warriors stand in ceremonial armor before the doorway into the Temple. They seem rather astounded by Momo's presence, but quickly recover their composure.
"<Yoltzin, you are bid enter so that your companions may be judged for their worthiness. Your animals must wait outside, and your weapons.>"
Djack starts calmly removing his weapons.
Zia, following Djack's lead, removes her sickle and crossbow. Hesitating for a moment, she draws her Wand of Magic Missiles and leaves it in the pile, as well.
Yoltzin bows her head as she enters, her offensive tools left in the company of her companion. Strangely her heart finally settled once in the grips of the temple's spiritual aura, a fountain of her God's faith and worship. Her connection to the diety allowed it th play her heartstrings as if strung within a harp. The serenity of inevitability centered her completely.
She stepped forward, presenting herself in prostration. "<Master.>"
The priestess, robed in turquoise and ash, stoops where Yoltzin has knelt, and touches a bit of the earthen floor to her lips. It is weird, the rest of the group thinks; this woman, presumably Yoltzin's superior, doesn't look much older than Yoltzin herself, though she obviously was her elder. The lifespans of Elves were long indeed.
"<The student returns from the lands of Man, with ephemerals, no less. Since you know they cannot be allowed to stay long among us, I assume they must have accompanied you for a different reason.>"
Another Elf, this one obviously older, though still appearing no more than 50 in human years, stood nearby, wearing a teal cloak and headdress. The village elder.
Her words held no dirrect malice to them, and yet still they felt heavy. It was always so hard to read the older woman's emotions, and today was no different. "<They come seeking knowledge. Not of our secrets, yet secrets clutched by the Yaxikicht itself. Their predecessors came to the woodland only a few centuries prior, and never left it's embrace. The ephemeral want to learn of their fate, and if possible, what they might have discovered."
"<Ah, yes, the 'Lost Expedition.' It was the reason we moved from the old location. I was much younger then, a mere child. But I lived, briefly, at the old village of Luln.>"
"<Many human soldiers in shining armor, there to explore, they said. They stayed only a brief time in the village, before traveling on. They were a haughty and disruptive. We were glad when they left.>"
The Elder, an Elf named Itzakun, breaks into the dialogue.
"<As far as their fate, none here will know. Not exactly. They traveled further into the woods. We were a smaller village then, and wanted nothing more to do with human problems. We never heard from them again, not a one. But things began to happen in Luln. Things unexplained. People disappearing.>"
"<Our patrols that went to look for the disappeared, disappearing as well. I was part of the last patrol that left, barely a man of 120. We found the previous patrol, what was left of them. Their leader was missing, and a couple of others. The rest were killed by Elven weapons. It was surmised the leader himself, may he be cursed for eternity, had murdered them all.>"
Itzakun continues.
"<It was decided that whatever force could cause such a great Elven warrior to betray his oaths to his people was a danger to us all. We relocated the village, several miles away. It is forbidden to go there, even to speak of it's location, save by special order of the Chief Elder, myself.>"
Rocko doesn't want to be rude, but he's extremely curious as to what is being said.
A frown marred her face as she considered the tale, largely untold to her and others of their young generation. "<For a proud warrior of our people turn turn against the others so readily, with narrow a word as to why... The ephemeral and I have encountered such a madness before. Strange beetles of which carried a terrible curse, breaking one's mind and turning brother against brother. We sought out and destroyed its source. If there's even a chance such a madness could be spread amongst our own people...>"
She left the thought hanging for a second, before determination sat itself within her eyes. "I can not allow such a risk to persist. Not all who wander know of our village laws, they risk stumbling blind into danger and shaking a hornets nest of great size. Xenxolotl would not have led me home again without purpose.>
The priestess nods, as if in agreement.
"<There is still the matter of the ephemerals. Let them now be judged!>" she says, smacking her open hand with her other fist, for emphasis.
The old woman cloaked in the colors of turquoise and earth walks toward Zia, Djack, Amideo, and Rocko.
Standing mere feet away, she looks each in the eye, and begins chanting softly. She pauses momentarily before Zia, and longer before Rocko, staring intently as if reading his very soul.
After about 2 minutes' scrutiny, she nods. "<I see no direct threats here, though the magician shows a tendency toward disorder, and the Gnoll even moreso. They have no intentions of betraying us,>" The priestess reports to Itzakun, though loud enough the others can easily hear.
The priestess switches to Espan. It is heavily accented, but clear enough to understand. "You may stay the night in Luln before moving on. We will have a tent put up for you. Tomorrow you must move on. If you find the treasure you seek," she says, looking knowingly at Amideo, "Please return a tenth-share of it here, that we may compensate the families of those who were lost long ago."
<If I may... The young man speaks in Elven as he kneels, slowly opening his pack.
Your home lacks nothing but, we did not wish to avail ourselves of your hospitality, whilst coming empty handed.
We offer these gifts, in the house that their novelty some may find enjoyable.>
He unpacked the foodstuff, offering it with raised arms.
Itzakun comes forward.
"<Your Elven is quite good, human. Had I known, I might have watched my words more carefully!>" he smiles and laughs, a sound way more lyrical than human laughter.
"<On behalf of our village of Luln I accept your offer. I shall share these novelties with as many as I can.>"
With that, the party, except for Yoltzin is led from the Temple to a and down the same path they came by, but only a short distance. There, they find flat clearing about the size of a small yard, but with no house. The temple guard leaves, and returns quickly with four Elves carrying some poles and a large tarp, and they begin setting up a tent that can house all the party comfortably.
The guard, having gathered Djack speaks Elven, informs him "<Your horses will be housed in our stables for the evening. You may collect them in the morning. Yoltzin knowns the way.>"
Meanwhile, Yoltzin continues her conversation with the priestess.
"<You may, of course, spend the night at the dormitory, if you wish. Otherwise, your family took possession of your former quarters, I'm sure they've maintained it.>"
Horses in the stables... thank you. Djack speaks for those who do not understand Elven are informed.
<So, I will not be sleeping by my horse in the stables, then?>
Djack translates what occurred inside, with the Priestess and Elder.
Rocko nods at the summary. "They bein quite nice to us for people who not want us here."
Amideo nods to the priestess, "Your terms are fair, and I thank you for letting us stay amongst you."
He chuckles at Rocko's assessment, "That they are. Being a gracious guest goes a long way towards making others wish to be a good host."
A grimace twisted her face as the thought of having to be confronted by her family came into possibility. While the meeting with her master has proven better than she'd feared, she felt maybe another decade would be in order at least before she faced whatever wrath they might feel for her abandonment of duties. "<I shall stay in the dormitory. Thank you for your consideration, master.>"
She paused a moment, shifting from one foot to the other. "<I have... continued my studies, during my...> sabbatical, <the ephemeral call it. The spirits that wander the lands beyond our home are plentiful an hold many stories yet untold.>"
Hearing only the recognizable word sabbatical in the otherwise indecipherable Elven, Amideo gives Yoltzin a quizzical eyebrow before shrugging and heading outside to take Mahouf to the stables.
"<Indeed. Your abilities have grown more than I would have thought possible, else I'd be more angry at your having left so early in your studies. Please, continue learning. Whether you choose to return with your friends to>...Alb-arra" she mangles the pronunciation of Albarra "<Or stay here with us for more traditional study is up to you.>"