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Rediscover (PatricioINTP & Anne1981)

Perlin

Perlin

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Aug 5, 2010
When the barrier went weak and collapsed, Perlento knew he had a race on his hands. The elven kingdom was a constant mystery and tease to them, as the barrier has been up for several centuries at least. There were some elves on their side when it happened, but for whatever reason they claim they have no idea why or what caused it. Now the language and knowledge of their relm is found only in books and personal interviews of older elves. And the mystery surrounding the barrier and time itself put all of that into question.

Yesterday the barrier seemed to be weakening. So that night Perlento gathered what things he could. Sword, shield, trail rations, backpack, rope, map making materials, writing material, sleeping roll, leather armor... all check. He made a call for an elvish partner, but those who know (or use to know) of the place were much older and they had their own, more elaborate plans. The younger elves wouldn't be much more useful than humans. He woke up early in the morning after a restless night to find it about to finally disappear. Despite his desire for sleep, he push forward, and waited for it. He was one of the first as far as he knows. He charged forward, not knowing what to expect.
 
The deer looks of from the grass she was eating. Did she hear something? Suddenly she jumped and run away. Minutes went by and after a while something moved in the shadows at the edge of the clearing where the deer was grazing just a while ago. Out of the shadows came a woman. She was Elvish, but with unusual dark hair and skin. Even though she looked unusual she clearly had the bright blue eyes of the old race.

In the middle of the clearing she knelt down and looked at the patch of grass the deer was eating. It has been a while since she last saw wildlife in these parts of the forest, and if she looked at the trees she knew why. The whole forest radiated the sickness caused by the barrier. Trees where bleak, and wildlife stayed away. She had been tracking this deer for two days now and felt reluctant to move even closer to the cause of this decay At the same time she knew she couldn't live on berries, roots and nuts alone for much longer. She really needed the meat the deer would give. Her clothing could use some patching too, so the hide wouldn't go to waist as well.

Careful Anyana stoop up. She was a young Elf. Looking like she was about 20, wish meant she must have been at least a hundred years old. Still a youngster for the Elvish folk, but apparently old enough to be out hunting on her own. She lost her parents in a horrible attack on their clan, and was living alone since that day. Being forced to tace care of herself made her an excelent hunter and tracker. Many Elves knew about her., even though she didn't know about them. Somehow she became every Elven womans daughter, and every Elve would secretly help her as much as they could. But that was all unknown the the young Anyana. All she knew was that a deer was running towards where she expected to be the source of the great decay that has been hurting the forest for as long as she could remember. And she needed to follow it.
 
After walking several minutes into the unexplored land, Perlento noted how poor the flora was. While the town he came from was fine, the land here was not. He got down and dig out some dirt, wondering if he might find some clue. If it was magical and not natural, he could not tell. Though the wall itself, while obviously magical, he himself couldn’t divine much about it. In hindsight, that could be the first signs of it decaying.

Perlento sat down beneath a tree, knowing now that he got his first impression, he should not be wondering aimlessly. Taking a deep breath and clearing his head, he triggered his FarSight spell. Being in a calm state was needed as he was planning on moving fast and did not know how far he would go. It did left him open to attack, but as far as he can tell there was no immediate threat. And if he did go quickly, it won’t take that long. His mental vision swung in a large arc, moving quickly, hoping to find a village or, if not that, sentient life. Then, when swinging back to his left side, he spied on a elven female. His mind quickly stop, and spied on her following a deer. Unless, like him, she is able to detect magic, she would not know he is seeing her from... who knows how far.

As he ended the spell, and the start of a reasonable headache, Perlento noted she is in front and to his left of his current location. Better than nothing. He gets up, making sure his nose was not bleeding, and moved on. He did not bother with the fact he was making some noise. She was his only lead and hoped she will notice him as he went toward her direction.
 
When she suddenly felt a strange itch Anyana looked behind her. Did someone see her? Is some predator stalking the same deer she was? When she couldn't find any trace of a predator or someone in the bushes she decided to follow the deer a bit further into the woods.

She followed the trail, until she suddenly heard a faint noise coming from far ahead. Without hesitation Anyana left the trail and went straight into the bushes. She moved far away from the path she was taking and tried to find out what was making the noise and what path it was following. After a couple of minutes she knew someone was coming her way. It was to noisy to be an animal, and even en Elf would be ashamed to make that much noise. She never heard of a human getting past the barrier, but she couldn't imagine anything else.

Anyana was sure a human in these parts of the land was up to no good. She moved quickly and managed to get into a tree, a couple of hundreds of meters away from the train the noise was following. It would be clear within range of her bow, but well clear of that what was coming. Then suddenly she saw a man emerging from the bushes. It appeared he was following a trail that was long ago abandoned. Silently she pulled back the string of her bow, aiming the arrow at the throat of the man. Without knowing why she couldn't bring herself to release the arrow. That man didn't look all that dangerous, and she wasn't a murderer. She kept silent, and watched as the man followed the trail.
 
“I think I saw this when I went out”, Perlento mumbled to himself as he tried to find out where the girl was. He knew basic survival and tracking, but just enough to get by. He saw the deer tracks, but keeping with it he was not confident in. (Or figuring out who made such tracks for that matter) He tried to look for ones that might have been made by the girl, but couldn’t as he moved on. If he does not find this person, he could be wondering these forests not knowing he is going in circles. “Okay. Stop and think. You were there. You came to here.” There was enough twigs and other natural stuff in the ground that he made an arrow showing where he came from, just in case. Checking quickly there was no one, he used FarSight again to view ahead. There was the deer, still but cautious. Returning, holding his head, he figured if he follow the deer, maybe he will find her. Otherwise, who knows. He needs to find someone. And taking the time to use FarSight without one guarding his body or in a closed locked space was a no-no.

“I should have learned a detect life spell. Jack of all trades and master of squat.” He moved further toward the deer. Once he believe he is getting close, he will slow down and if nothing else take it for himself instead.
 
From her high vantage point she could see clearly what the man was doing. Suddenly he froze in his steps and looked unconscious. That was when Anyana realized this man was using magic. She got out of the tree and moved closer. As the man began to walk again she followed him silently. She could see he wasn't used to the woods, as he was clumsy and noisy. Even though she knew he was able of handling magic Anyana still felt no danger in the man she was following. Letting him go alone felt like a bad idea. She knew he would end up in a trap sooner or later. Either by wild animals or bandits. And no matter how good he was, even a mage could be killed by a simple arrow.

She cam within a hundred feet before releasing her arrow, pinning it in a tree just a couple of yards ahead of the man. Quickly she put on an other arrow and aimed carefully it the mans head. "Kva tash ni tau Haman" she called out to him, not realizing he probably wouldn't understand her telling him not to move. Now she got his attention Anyana wanted to know what he was doing here. Still not realizing he might not speak her language she just asked: "Tres di naos Haman, tri lit soltre mira. Then she just stood there waiting for him to respond.
 
When the arrow hit, Perlento immediately got his shield ready and then pulled out his sword. He heard the words and while he thought he understood it, the dialect was a little off from what he use to with the elves on his side. Once it seems he was... sort of safe... he moved closer to the tree with the arrow and said in her tongue, “The barrier is down. I am a scholar. Other elves planning to come.” He kept it short and simple, he hoped, while he quickly took his short sword in his shield hand just long enough to pull out the arrow. “Exploring. No harm intended.”
 
His voice sounded strange to her. Anyana recognized the words, but his use of the Elven language sounded...ancient...to her. It was like she heard an Elf talking who had been dead for over a hundred years. At that moment she realized what he was saying. "Other elves planning to come", there where more people coming through the woods. The barrier must be gone then. One man could never have gotten through the barrier on his own. This sounded so unbelievable to her. The barrier had been there for as long as she remembered. As far as she knew there wasn't an Elf alive that had lived before the barrier. For something so big and stable to suddenly disappear, it made her scared deep within. What had caused the collapse, and what would happen now? Would there be a war, could Humans and Elves live peacefully together?

At this moment she had more pressing matters to attend to. There was this strange man in the woods, her woods. Even though he didn't look like a warrior and said he was a scholar, she couldn't trust him just like that. She didn't lower her bow, but did try to look less threatening. She wanted the man to be cautious, not scared. Carefully choosing her words Anyana slowly approached the man from the side. "Why carry shield if not come to fight?" she asked, trying to keep her sentences as simple as she could. "Shield not useful for exploring in forest".
 
“A shield is useful for protection.” Perlento put her arrow in his shield hand, and put away his sword in hopes it makes him seem less dangerous. He was far better with the shield than the sword anyway. Then, leaning against the tree, and to be sure there was no confusion, he talked to her without opening her mouth. *Traveling can be dangerous, especially in places you have never been.* More thoughts than words, Anyana knew exactly what telepathic message he sent to her. *Besides, it might have other usages.* Images then appeared in her head eventhough she was still able to see him. Him holding a shield over his head while walking under a waterfall. Him in a desert during a sand storm, protecting his face.

The images stopped. Perlento did not really need the arrow for that since he is able to see Anyana. But if he could not, then it would be useful. More so if she made it. “My name is Perlento. I just want to see what this place have to tell me. Nothing more.”
 
With a short scream Anyana jumped backwards at hearing the voice in her head. She somehow felt Perlento's magic touch her, but she was scared none the less. As soon as she realized who's words she was hearing she tried to hide the fact that he scared her. Showing any sign of weakness could be fatal in a world like this. She tried to close her mind for his words, but she could feel the magic still coming through. Suddenly the saw images. This time she wasn't afraid. She tried hard not to laugh. Seeing the man walk under a waterfall with his shield raised above his head looked so weird. And the image of him in the desert. She never saw so much sand. Why would anyone enter a place where there is no tree to climb and no bush to hide in. The images just looked stupid to Anyana, but she knew Perlento had no fun intended with them.

“My name is Perlento. I just want to see what this place have to tell me. Nothing more.” she heard him say. That was pretty clear to her. She was sure he would find out too if she let him continue as he was doing. For better or worse. "You want to know what this place has to tell you?" she asked "I can explain that easy enough. Either you be careful in the forest or you die in the forest. That is life in the wilds." To her it was clear he didn't know about the dangers that lured within these woods. Even with his "protective" shield he would be dead in a couple of days. She was sure of that.

At that moment her good nature got her over her fears again. She couldn't let this man go alone into the forest. She couldn't let someone who had done nothing to hurt her die just like that. She was sure she would hear his screams for years to come. Her dreams would be unpeaceful for a long time. So she lowered her bow and unexpectedly gracefully made a slight bow towards him. "Welcome to the Eihlavin forest Master Perlento. My name is Anyana, a woodland elf. Those woods are my home, and the elves are my people. You are a stranger to this place and a danger to your self. Would you be willing to acompany me for a while? I might be able to get you to some of the places you seek and then back out of the forest again."
 
Perlento returned the bow, glad that she no longer saw him as a threat but a visitor. “Much appreciated”, he answered. “A reasonable town and maps will be nice.” He waited for her to take the lead, then follow right next to her. “So what can you tell me in general about this forest? and more importantly, any idea why the barrier started to go weak and finally died off?” He also wanted to find out more about her, especially if she ends up sticking around him longer. But that can be done with the arrow when alone and without her knowing. Till then, he found himself demoted to a reactivate style. Once he learns more about this side, then he can start making decisions for himself. And that is what he rather do: be independent.
 
As she heard what he wanted Anyana shook her head. "These are the wilds. There are no maps for this place. Every Elf human goblin or any other forest dweller knows his place and the surroundings. We don't need maps." She said. Then she started walking along a small path that lay ahead of them. Anyana had decided to take him to to village of Enonglade. There was a small group of humans living there. That would be for this human scholar the best place to start. She knew of the human habit of getting lost, and therefor they always tried to make maps. Maybe someone over there managed to get a partly decent map of the surroundings of the village. If not she could always lead him to some of the ruins or other interesting places.
 
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