DreamLyrics™ Play-by-Post Forums Hall of Fame - Latest Top 10 completed games HWD: The Heartwood HWD: Incident upon the Brementown Road

Kadri:

She avoids rolling her eyes his way. Just. Apparently whatever training he had had, speaking was not part of it.

". . thank you. That . . man. . was not going to let me go. Name is Kadri."

Now that he heard her speak, her speech had a definite accent to it - not from around here.

She turns her attention to the girl, intense and earnest, hopping down from Lisica

"You. . girl. . . I am Kadri. Is that long twist of the tongue your name? Can I call you Rhoman then? Who wants to make you marry? Marry who? Please, speak clearly. This could be very, very important."

Mikal

He steps back from the body in front of him and puts his hands on his hips in frustration. He glances back over to the others. It seems that Daxia, Kadri, Camelia, and Bekkah are dealing with the girl, Celi is busy with Stormrunner, and Darian and Cesare are busy sticking close to each other.

Looking to the newcomer he says, "Squire Dean?" He reaches down to his stuck short sword and starts to forcefully twist it back and forth inside the dead man's chest. The sounds of ripping flesh and sucking gore resonates in the small glade.

"Do you mind giving me a hand here? Damnable easterner seems unnaturally attached to my sword." He gives it another twist, and a rib pops and sticks up thru the flesh of the man's chest.

"I really like this sword, and it'd be a poor reward for it for me to leave it in this wretch's body any longer than necessary."

He wrenches once more, and some blood spatters into the air, but the sword doesn't come free.

"Squire Dean?" He asks again.

He then looks over to the man, and says, "My apologies. Name is Mikal. Now, any chance for a hand?"

The Girl

"Kadris?"

The Girl looked at the Amber lass with a slow tilting of her head.

"Names so short! How can tell who you ares with names so short?"

Her nose wrinkled, the tip seen from beneath her shadowed hood.

"Romanas. Romanas are Romanas are Romanas. And of course importants! Romanas are Romanas are Big Fish!"

The girl ... Romana ... held her hand up, vertical, fingers together and her thumb up. She waggled her hand then back and forth, a sinuous and swimmingest kind of motion.

"Father'shkahl wants marry. Father big, powerful prince, wants to be biggest powerful prince of all thousand towers! So says, Friend, you biggest and most powerful Friend of all Friends. I give you only Rhomahnishkahs, you be My Friend!"

Somehow, however, the intonation of the word "friend" is off, it is different ... as if it mean something other than a close acquaintance.

Daxia
with the Gang plus the Girl and Dean in the glade

As the Squire introduced himself... rather, made a long rambling attempt to introduce himself... Daxia stared for a heartbeat, then slowly her smile returned. By the end of his introduction, she was grinning. As Kadri dismounted and went to speak with the girl, Daxia strode towards the Squire, who seems so befuddled as to not have heard Mikal. She stopped at Mikal's side, but looked at the Squire, hands again on her hips.

"Very well met indeed, Squire Dean Marguard of Talesan. I doubt even Bekkah could have broken my foul mood so well. I thank you for that." She looked around at her companions. "And I suspect my comrades thank you as well. This is my Second, Mikal," she said, indicating the man at her side. "The Priestess of Attera is my sister, Bekkah. You have met Kadri; the other is Camelia, though the Eastern girl..." She shrugged and pointed to a couple... well, a trio, as the large ruff had returned to sit by the woman's side. "Cesare and Darian; the ruff is Longtooth." She looked around again, brows furrowed. "Celi is about somewhere.

"You may as well join us as we decipher what has happened here.

"And please... Daxia is fine."

Daxia tapped Mikal on the shoulder. "Dazi help. Let Squire get bearings, yah?" She placed a booted foot on the body and her hands on the hilt overlapping Mikal's. "Ok, we pull together, yah?"

[OOC I have not yet had a turn to post in the last 22 posts. If I do not post now I will miss the chance for presumably another 22... so I am posting.]

Cesare

He accepts Darian's hand with a grin, and pushing off with his other hand against the tree, gets to his feet easily. He looks up sharply up as Kadri returns, his stance at first defensive until recognition sets in, though there is a stranger in their midst.

"Glad you are safe Kadri."

He nods to the newcomer, a wary welcome. Taking Darian's hand they move to regroup with the others. And it would appear that they saved the girl but what most draws his attention is initially the writhing wall which gives him a real feeling of disquiet.. and then Celi's companion. Now he better understands what she had said to him back in the inn. He smiles at her.

"Stormrunner.. impressive. Has he been following us since we left the town?"

[Sorry. Your PM guidance was for Stormrunner to remain afeared until Kadri returned, which I thought I had duly waited for. I will delete the post and remain in the briars until you say different. Regular communication with Stormrunner would eliminate these issues, IMHO, so a little help there would make my job easier.]

Mikal

When Daxia comes over to help he nods to her comment. It is probably a good idea to let the man take a few minutes to absorb the scene and the people around. He cast another glance to the briar patch where Celi and Stormrunner are concealed, hoping she stays there for a bit, and comes out alone.

He then turns back to Daxia, an odd feeling coming over him as her hands wrap around his. A slight flush coming to his face. He focuses on the sword to cover it up, places his foot on the chest of the dead man for stability, and says, "On three, yes? Ready? One, two, three.....!" And he pulls straight up and out as strongly as he can.

Darian

She gives Cesare's hand a squeeze but drops it to look around some more, especially the horse she felled. She kneels at its head and speaks with out sound. She regrets having to have killed it and a decision needs to be made with what to do with the remains...

Daxia
with Mikal in the glade

Together, they managed to yank the shortsword from the dead Easterner, Daxia stumbling slightly into Mikal at the sudden release. "Sorry," she said, releasing the sword to his sole custody. Then she furrowed her brows at all the blood on his tunic. "You hurt bad? Bekkah fix, yah?"

Kadri

"I could give you a longer name. But that longer name has nothing in it that I would consider mine any more, so I will not use it. You see. Someone . . . wanted me to marry when I did not wish to. So. . . I went elsewhere, kept the part of the name which is mine, and left behind that which is not. And they can keep it."

Cesare

Glancing back at the writhing wall, he looks at the others who were in the clearing during the fight, mainly Daxia and Mikal.

"What is that?"

He points to the wall.

"And what happened here?"

His gesture is very general, encompassing the glade, the girl, the bodies, the tattered flag..

Daxia
with the Gang and Dean and Romana in the glade

Still concerned about Mikal's injuries, Daxia turned to Cesare. She glanced at the wall and then back to the Rhoni, shrugging. "Illusion, magic. Meant to frighten Dazi, maybe." She let out a harsh bark of a laugh. "Coward underestimate Dazi.

"What happen? Fight Easterners... easy to say." She looked at Romana. "Girl? Maybe Bekkah, Kadri find out, yah? She very scared of Dazi." That thought put a troubled and puzzled look on the Dayalan's face. "Starry-bred killer? 'Starry-bred' understand, yes... Dayalan. But Dazi only kill bad people."

Then she looked out over the glade, stared for long moments at the tattered flag of her home. "About banner Dawnview Vale... not know what happen. Hope to learn. NEED to learn.

"Need to learn," she whispered.

Bekkah

She kept a hold of the girl keeping her calm.

"Those stories of Starbred, not true. Honorable warriors. Never hurt kids, never innocent. Only other fighters like them?" she said pointing to the bodies that they had dispatched.

"We tell our young same kinds of stories of Easterners. But you're safe with us. Starbred is my sister. She's good."

"So you were to brought back for marriage. Now what will you do?"

Darian

She stood from her place by the horse and came to stand once again by Cesare, casting a glance to the newest arrival. Her expression was a bit troubled. She slid her hand into Cesare's again and entwined the other in Longtooth's scruff.

"How can help, Dazi? Should burn bodies, man and horse alike, otherwise make glade sick...more sick."

Daxia
with the Gang and Dean and Romana in the glade

She tore her gaze from the banner fluttering in the occasional breath of wind, and looked at the Hunter. "Search for... why banner here. Think find wagons... people..." Again, Daxia's gaze was drawn to the center of the glade; she seemed transfixed, haunted, tormented by the sight. "...important people, long dead. Need find them, proof who they are."

Daxia was silent, almost seemed to be in mourning, for fullhands of long heartbeats.

"Yah," she said, nodding. "Then need burn bodies."

Mikal

His blush deepens as Daxia leans on him while straightening up. He then glances down at the bloodstained sleeve, shrugging towards her. "I am fine. Mostly thanks to Lady Bekkah." He bows towards Bekkah. "My sincere thanks, and apologies for their lateness in coming."

He wipes the sword off on the dead man's tunic, inspects it briefly for any bad nicks, and then sheathes it.

Turning to Daxia and Bekkah he adds, "It is all a matter of where you stand. If you grow up with stories and real events of an enemy who comes and kills you and yours, naturally they are 'killers' to you. The fact that enemy believes you and your friends to be evil and they are only protecting their own is a hard concept for a young girl to grasp......, it was hard concept for me to grasp." He finishes more softly. "Still is."

Daxia
with the Gang and Dean and Romana in the glade

Daxia looked quizzically at Mikal as he blushes, but then nodded at his comment. "Ok, good. Contract not up. Dazi not let you out by die, yah?" she said with a grin, clearly teasing him. Tilting her head, she simply 'hmmmms', and was quiet a moment. "Is ok, Mikal. Take time, yah? Dazi know Jvrillians not so bad," she said with a smile. "Maybe Squire Rames not so bad. Maybe Eastern girl not so bad. Dazi find out!" She punched him lightly on the shoulder in a comradely way. "Dazi not cobble-block. Dazi only say 'this is this' when she know for sure, ok?"

She looked again towards the banner in the glade. "Dazi search now. Must." She looked back at her companions, then over her shoulder at the Squire still sitting... dumbfounded? confused?... astride his horse. "Any want to help, Dazi not say no."

Daxia walked towards the glade, but stopped at the brier patch into which Celi had crawled. She crouched down and spoke only loudly enough for Celi to hear her. "Celi," she said with a warning tone. "You behave when you come out. Shy farm girl. No bragging. And NO CAT." She paused for a heartbeat or two. "Dazi know who you are. Others? Not want to know. You behave. Celi can have friends if she want friends, but not if she act like... someone no one like, yah? Dazi know, Dazi not care. But Celi not behave, then Dazi care because Celi put all in danger. You think, Celi. You remember Dazi watch you. Dazi thump Celi head when Celi not behave... like Dazi teacher once do to Dazi." Again, there was a silence of a few heartbeats. "Hope cat feel better soon."

Without waiting for a response, she stood and walked into the glade. Starting at the tattered Dawnview Vale banner, she began searching the ruins... the shards of splintered wood, the bits of rusted metal... digging in places with her dagger or, if necessary, her sword. The mounds... those, too, must be investigated.

Dean

Startled to realize people have once again been addressing him and he has been reacting not unlike a rock to the wind, Dean leaps down from his horse. He starts toward toward Mikal, but seeing that his help was no longer needed, moves towards Daxia.

"I'm sorry...it's just that I've never seen anything like this."

Not noting any response from her, and realizing that none is necessary, he moves to her side and starts helping her dig through the wreckage.

Daxia
with Dean, digging through the wreckage in the glade

She remained silent for the space of two fullhand of breaths, picking carefully through the rubble. "Dazi not think..." She snapped her jaws shut, and sat back on her heels. "I'm sorry. I have only recently been convinced that my Dawnview country way of speaking is not always... effective." Daxia gave him a shadow of a smile. "I have never seen Easterners before today, though I have heard the tales of how they killed nearly every Dayalan on the Heartwood at the end of the First and Second Ages. I have never been in a pitched battle before today. I have never seen a mage before today. I have never seen, nor fought, a demon before today.

"There is nothing to be sorry about, Squire. I have never seen anything like this before, either. The shock of it hit you immediately. For me, it will likely all come crashing down on me long after Her setting; my training will not allow me to become unnerved by all of this until then."

She paused, pulling a larger piece of wood from the earth, examining it and setting it aside.

"I am looking for anything that might be of Allaine or Kierkegaard origin. Do you know their colors?" She pointed to the tattered banner above them saying, "That is the banner of Dawnview Vale, of the Allaines. It is faded, it is worn..." Her voice broke, and she paused yet again. "We are black and silver and red. The Kierkegaards are blue and green and black." She shook her head. "I think there is... something... a missing piece of a puzzle here. I... I cannot leave this place until I have either confirmed or disproved my suspicions." She gave him a long look, and then turned back to the task of dislodging a piece of rusty metal from the ground.

The Heartwood
Just past Midday on the Brementown Road
Hasday, The Twelfth Day of the Month of
Crown of Ice, 2623

Daxia, Mikal, Darian, Cesare, Bekkah, Celi, Kadri, Dean, Camelia and the Girl

"How can you give aways names? Romanas not understand ... cant get heres without being theres first?"

Her words were broken, as the stranger chattered back to Kadri, definitely curious and a bit confused. Save for the odd conversation there was very little left to disturb the glade. With a shimmer in the air the arcane wall flickered, lost whatever cohesion it had and faded like a bright cloth left out in the sun far, far too long. Also hidden, wherever Celi had vanished to, there was a rustling in the shelter of the thick brambles.

"Only kills bad people ..."

The black haired girl looked between the elder Priestess and the younger Dayalan, her arms still wrapped protectively about herself.

"Romanas not want kill ANYBODIES. If it good for Romanas killings, then fair fine to kill Romanas, and Romanas do not like that one little tinny tiny bits."

The glade itself took a good long while to search; tearing away the underbrush, digging through years of fallen and mulched leaves - revealing insects and worms and other little scurrying things.

" ... eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeewwwwww."

After watching, oddly silent, wrapped all up in her cloak, once she saw what was going on Romana bit her lower lip and helped too. Manual labor did not seem to come easily to her, but she tried anyway, even if it meant tugging at a vine with both hands and landing in a sprawl when it snapped. She'd just frown, adjust her hood and try some more.

Though it was apparent she wasn't too pleased with worms or centipedes.

Just before sunset, the history of the glade, its story began to be pieced together.

There were the remains of four carts, which were once perhaps fine; the largest having had an all rounded top and tall wooden sides. It was big enough to provide a room of sorts on wheels; broken crockery, rotted cloth, bits and pieces of jewelry were found all about it. The carts themselves were purposefully arranged, in a circle about the ragged banner. It was a tragedy, however, whatever happened here; because once the leaves began to be disturbed, once each small mound poked through, the more bones were found. Most were about the circumference of the circle; and these were armored. The armor, however, was now beyond useless; rusted and pitted, broken and shorn, pieces missing, pieces mismatched as if this was not the first time the dead had been disturbed.

Probably by the victors of this old combat.

Most of those near the carts seemed to share a similar mantling. Most bore tabards broken into horizontal bands of dull greens and blues and black; and this was odd. The glade bore the banner of different heraldry and yet no skeleton found wore a matching tabbard. One area looked to be the focus of the carnage, there a handful of skeletons protectively encircled a singular one.

Of the others, those who won the glade, there was no sign; as if they had taken their dead with, leaving no hint to who staged this ancient attack.

Mikal's search included those more recently felled. The brigands wore little beyond their distinctive mis-match of armor; mostly courboilli or leather with heavy studs; a few pieces had metal rings sewn into them. The saddlebags upon the fallen horses contained oddly cut clothes and various and sundry bits of food; it was apparent they were foragers and had been claiming their meals from whatever or whoever they had run across. It wasn't until he turned back to join the others that he tripped and fell.

And discovered the last body, a final skeleton.

But this one wasn't with the others; it was as if he had fallen and tried crawling from the field of death, only to get lost in a tangle of large, twisted roots.

It was a warrior, like the others.

Except his faded tunic was all the shades of gray.

"Poor horsie ..."

The blackhaired girl softly petted a long, white skull. She then looked back to Bekkah and nodded.

"You asked what Romanas want.

"Romanas want to live."

Daxia
with the Gang in the glade

Daxia sifted through the bones and the tattered, disintegrating cloth around and under the skeleton that had seemed to have been the most protected. She sought... anything, anything at all... that might give tangible proof of the body's identity. Something, anything that could be returned to a grieving father.

Kadri:

She looks at 'Romanas" slightly askew and grins.

"Good. It means. . we share a goal then. I want to live too."