Patreon LogoYour support makes Blue Moon possible (Patreon)

Forbidden Temple of the Great Falls

Status
Not open for further replies.
Tired. That's what he was. Tired. He had already eaten the chunk of meat earlier, and was not particularly hungry. The world around him seemed to swim, and navigating on four feet began to feel alien to him in a way that it had not before; his only thought now was 'bed.' He took on a stumbling, lurching gait rife with pauses as he made his way for the barracks; not through any particular insight, but simply because it seemed to be the building that most were heading for.

He approached the entrance, and while typically he would've lowered his head to get through it somehow seemed much smaller than other doors he'd been in; he lowered himself straight to the ground and drug himself through it on his belly, only standing up on the other side. He passed the entrance to the kitchen, and saw it: Stairs. Tricky under the best of circumstances, they looked like an insurmountable obstacle in his current state. Taking a deep breath, he put his right foreclaw forward on to the bottom step.

'kay. good.'

His left foreclaw came up on the next step.

'not as hard as it looked...'

He lifted his right hind leg, and midway through realized his forefeet would need to be further up the steps to accommodate his body length, so he lifted those too. And was suddenly trying to stand on only his left hind leg.

With a resigned skrawk he went sprawling forward across the stairs and slid back down into a feathered heap at the bottom. Swiftbeak could only give the malign architecture a stare of pure hatred before resting his head on the bottom couple steps and sprawling his body out as much as the hall would allow.

'comfy.' he thought as he blacked out, for some much-needed rest.
 
Private Surnem, calm as always, even while the gryphon crashed back down from the stairs, simply pulled a nearby chair over to himself, waiting to be served.

----------------------------------------------------

Private Herdpack, a large, but friendly, patronizing man, politely asked his 'charges', brother Zato and little Mary "So, you two hungry? Want to go eat? Zato, I can lead you to the barracks, really not much of a problem, it's right over there."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Carefully stepping over the sleeping gryphon, Morr and weibel Belatia sought themselves a table, taking their seats, ready to be served.
 
"Let's go Mister Zato" the small girl tugged on his arm as her stomach rumbled again.

"Come on... let's do what Mister Herdpack says."
 
"Alright, alright" Zato agreed, following the tug on his sleeve.

He soon found himself being seated on a bench, and felt the steam of a hot meal in his face. The soldier food was not quite as appetizing as what was usually served at the temple, but Zato still found it a nice change of pace from the dried food they ate while traveling.
 
Vanessa was quick on her feet serving everyone that took a seat. She also made sure everyone had a drink as well. She then took a plate herself and sat down to eat.
 
As the barracks was filling, the dinner was commencing quite normally, Morr's Hellguards mingling with the residents, exchanging stories and news, some together braving what appeared to be a ten year old barrel of Zato's strongest brew, though the sergeants watched out that not too much was consumed to hamper fighting capability too much.

One of the last to enter was sister Elia who, after throwing a glance at sister Vanessa who again had decided to slightly distance herself from the others, made her way over to where Morr, weibel Belatia and soldat Surnem sat, casting a short inquiring glance at the apparently unconscious gryphon.

Sitting down, her silent question was answered by weibel Belatia "He drank too much, Zato's mead seems to have had more of an effect than thought on him."

Staring at the down gryphon for another moment, sister Elia, while waiting for someone to bring her her food, turned her gaze to Morr who, as always when he ate in the presence of others, had merely lifted his helmet a little to allow for consumption "I must ask you, Morr, how much do you sleep? And eat?"

Pausing for a moment, Morr answered "Enough."

"Enough? Enough for what?" sister Elia continued, stubborn.

"Enough to serve adequately." he answered, as always with that slightly unsettling voice and tone.

"Serve what? Us?"

"The purpose." he merely summarized.

"The purpose of what?"

"Goodness."

She stared at him for a moment, when her plate with food was finally brought, her eagerly digging in, having not eaten much today due to being occupied with taking care of the wounded, though she resolved to commence this conversation, somehow, soon.
 
Vanessa watched as sister Elia looked at her then moved on. She finished up her food and feeling boxed in left the barraks. She stood outside staring off into the distance.
 
Mary sat kicking her small legs gently beneath the table and enjoying the first real meal she'd had in some time.

*munch-crumble-chomp-chew* the girl's face was one of pure delight as she ate, savouring each bite.

She was sitting next to Zato, the pair looking almost as out of place as Swiftbeak did (who was incidentally still asleep besides the stairs, despite Mary's best efforts to wake him up by prodding his downy form repeatedly with her index finger), they were flanked by the armoured forms of the Hellguard, a stark contrast to the elderly Monk and his young charge.

Mary's little face beamed as she looked up at the Hellguard sitting next to her.


Feathers the had borrowed his fill from the livestock area, spilt seed made a good meal for a duck. He quacked slightly before fluttering up and onto the sleeping Gryphon's head where he curled up, ruffled his feathers, and fell asleep.
 
It was weibel Belatia, ever vigilant, that made him aware of sister Vanessa's sudden retreat from the building "I simply can't bring myself to trust her, sir Morr. Whereever we went or rested, she may have fulfilled her duty as a cook and may even have loosened the mood a little with her singing, but she always distanced herself from everyone else. If she has problems, they might hinder our progress. We can't allow that to happen. So, allow me to have a talk with her."

Looking at the exit where sister Vanessa had vanished into the darkness, Morr declined the weibel "It is not your duty that you are asking to fulfill, but mine. I shall speak to her." Standing up, the weibel remaining silent, Morr made his way through the tables, out the barracks.

Only a few paces further, he found her, staring off into nothing, it seemed. He knew this stare, had engaged in it himself when he had been 'younger'.

Carefully, so as not to surprise her, Morr approached "Sister Vanessa, I must ask, why do you prefer to distance yourself from the others? Why would you not mingle? Have... fun? Weibel Belatia has told me and I have noticed it myself, that you rather isolate yourself from others. Are you willing to answer?"
 
Valetni slowly ate, not bothering to taste the food. What did it matter to him what it tasted like? Meal time was better spent observing his erstwhile comrades. People never seemed to realize how much their body language could betray them, what information unknowingly given away to even the least observant person. Valetni liked to observe, to watch. People were like puzzles, how they fit together, what made them, all such as that. But that element of randomness that drove away the predictability was something that he despised. Plants, animals, chemicals, all predictable, logical, boring. There was no challenge. As much as Valetni disliked people, they were interesting, and ever developing challenges to be puzzled out and solved.

Apparently the Gryphon could not handle its liquor, discrete testing would have to be performed to determine whether this was restricted solely to alcohol, depressants in general, or all substances it ingested.

The knight, Morr, was a rather boring puzzle, easily figured out and unlikely to change.

The girl, well...Valetni shifted uncomfortably, he had always felt awkward around children, especially the excitable ones.

The cook, from what little Valetni had seen, was a strange bird, no doubt. She seemed to be hiding something, a secret, and rather poorly at that. At other times he might have been tempted to uncover whatever it was, but now it barely interested him. He had big fish to fry, so to speak.

Zato was another easy one, he appeared to care about only two things, Mary and his brew.

As for the apprentice of the healer, Elia...Valetni would be keeping a sharp eye on her, something about her, her behavior in his vicinity in particular, struck him as off. He wasn't quite sure why, his interaction with her prior to this had been extremely limited but...he would watch her nonetheless.

The big man, Irwin or Urkel or something, was simply an idiot. Valetni nearly snorted as he remembered how the man had been apprehended, the story had spread even to the infirmary.

Valetni idly stabbed something with his fork, lifting it to his mouth without even looking down.

People were interesting, be a shame if they all died.
 
Mary had eaten a lot of her meal and picked up the large mug in front of her, it was filled with some of the Honeyed-Mead Mister Zato made, she always had liked honey, in any form, it was nice and sweet but most of all it made her little face smile.

The big mug came up to her lips and her eyes closed in delight as she tasted the liquid, her face formed into a smile as she took small sips, savouring it.

She placed the mug back down on the table in front of her, and after a few tiny hiccups escaped from her mouth she began to eat again, the sweetness of the honey remaining in her mouth and mixing with the food's flavour to create a unique taste, she beamed, delighted by the meal.
 
Vanessa this time did not turn to attack the person who came up to her. She knew by voice that it was sir Morr. She turned and looked at him saying "Do not know that meny to mingle besides so many do not trust me and Iam okay with that. " she turned away for a second then added "Iam used to being alone after all before I came to the temple I was ". She did not leave sir morr side or even asked him to leave. It seemed she did not mind the compuny.
 
Following her gaze, it might have been possible that she was looking at the memorial.

"Sister Vanessa, you need not be so lonely nor do you need to be used to it. Until now, I would say that you have a pleasant personality, you are still relatively young and your appearance does not disturb others. If you would attempt it, I am certain you can yet find the joy of friendship."

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Without any notice, Elia Parov had sneaked out of the barracks after Morr, listening in to the budding conversation.
 
Vanessa gave sir morr a slight smile and said "all in good time and I should applagize for drawing my dagger on you". She turned back to looking and starring ahead of her. "Tonight is a beautiful night with the stars out and the moon"she was trying to change the subject something she did when people tried to get the full truth from her. She also had a habit of talking to them when it was just her and one other person around and not a crowd.
 
"Worry not, over the years I spent travelling, I have become used to having weapons drawn at my appearance." Morr answered, while he lifted his helmeted gaze up at the night-sky. He merely saw an array of lights, countless in number, almost utterly indistinctive in form "The night is not a knight's ally. Many a villain used the night to escape from goodness's grasp and till this day the night continues to shroud the actions of those perpetrating evil. Sister Vanessa, I rather prefer the sun.

Besides such, if it is your wish not to answer the initial question, then I shall let you be. If you wish for mere company, then I can grant that here and now."
 
Urist had been all too quiet up to this point, for he was most vexed by these fellows.

He listened to the guards exchanging tales, occasionally interjecting into a story to call them liars, and made a number of claims himself, such as the time he took out six men with the blunt end of a spear.

He didn't trust the food, either, and downed the last of his own rations instead. The drink, however, seemed to vanish in somewhat unbelievable amounts when he got his hands on it.

"Ya' knows, I once drank a 'ole comp'ny o' men unner th' table, I tells ya'. Won m'self a good raise 'ere, I says m'self." he boasted, drinking down yet another mug.
 
Kaleed Muinatit crouched near his small fire, wearily watching the sun fade over the horizon. He rose, brushing the dust off his clothes. He cast a scrutinizing eye over his small campsite, and began kicking dirt over his small fire, eyes squinting as embers began dancing in the air around him. Satisfied that the fire would smoulder out, he paused for a moment and reached for his meal flask, dangling from his hip.

Working a straw into the corner of his mouth, he took long drawn out gulps. After a minute or two, his stomach was full. Tonight's meal was a mash that consisted some tubers that he had found, along with a small furry animal he did not know the name for. He had spotted a couple of them nearby, and after witnessing a bird swoop down and taking one for its meal, had decided they were good to eat. Catching one had been an experience, and after he was exhausted, and dirty, his white hair looking disheveled and messy. He had spent a few hours investigating the flora in the area, and managed to obtain a number of regents.

He secured his meal flask to his hip again, and stretched. Around him, he could hear birds and animals rustling, making their calls and getting ready for the night. Winged insects flew overhead, seemingly moving as one entity. He smiled slightly at nothing in particular, although his mouth managed to make the smile seem like a nightmarish parody. He knelt, and began packing his meager belongings into a small knapsack. He carefully secured his journals, small apothecary set, and camping tools so they would not jostle each other. Swinging it onto his shoulders, he then checked his waist, making sure all was as it should be. The hilts of two foot long daggers poked out from his waist, and a small leather pouch was secured to his belt. Fingering the pouch to check that its contents were still secured, he slowly trudged back to the trail he had camped next to.

He has been walking in this direction for a few days, following the trail that he had learned about at the small town he had visited. He made no attempt to hide himself, hoping that the scouts and sentries of the Hellguard outpost would see him coming well in advance. He figured he would arrive an hour or two before midnight, and already he could see the outpost far, far off in the horizon. Twilight had fallen, and he slowly made his way into the distance. His soft leather boots kicked up small clouds of dust with every step. He was glad he remembered to purchase a small black writing slab and chalk. Hoping that his arrival wouldn't be too difficult an experience, he was comforted at the thought of possibly sleeping in a real bed tonight. Most reacted negatively to his strange appearance. He slipped his hood up and settled it just over his eyes, and wrapped a warm grey scarf around his face to cover his mouth.

He still had doubts about the integrity of these Hellguards. After all, what sort of sane person would hunt demons and artifacts willingly? He did not wish to become another pawn of a power hungry leader but where else could he go? Kaleed pushed the thoughts out of his mind, and focused on the outpost that lay far far ahead in the distance. Hopefully tonight wouldn't be too much of a hassle. Far off the outpost loomed in the distance. Would it bring his redemption, or his damnation? He had no clue.
 
Pushing back from the table, Valetni said not a word as he stood up, leaving his plate on the table. He took two steps, then paused, turning to look at the dirty plate resting on the wooden surface. He looked from the plate, to the kitchen, and then to the exit. He stood there, thinking for several moments, before turning his back on the soiled silverware and stumping towards the exit. The crack, crack, crack of the heavy live oak cane on the stone floor announcing his presence from a distance. He placed a hand on the door, coughing, and pushed it open once he had recovered. He limped along the pathway, heading towards the barracks.

The soft murmur of voices caught his attention, and he glanced along the path to spy the figures of Morr and the Cook. The wind took the meaning of whatever words they exchanged before they reached his ears, so he merely continued his way towards the barracks. He had not figured the Knight and Vanessa for a pairing, one of those damnably interesting happenstances that made this great game so enjoyable. It apparently took a woman who was use to look at raw meat all day to accept a face like the Knight's.

But none of that was any of his business, just merely an interesting tidbit to be filed away, perhaps taken out of storage at a later time if it could conceivably gain him some advantage, but more likely to linger until forgotten or dismissed.

Valetni stopped walking, halfway between his destination and his origin, in one of the area's where the torchlight failed to reach. He took a deep breath, though not without some discomfort. In the semi darkness, he simply stood still, listening to the Music of the Night. He remained like this, simply standing with his eyes closed, drinking in his surroundings with his other senses. Feeling strangely refreshed, and with renewed resolve, Valetni continued his march onward to the barracks.
 
Vanessa this time turned to sir Morr saying "Alright I will tell you this much I used to trust people easy and mingle with everyone I could but then one night one person took it all way and left me with a bloody sight". She turned away to hide her tears she never cried for her family just pushed it back . She never cried for to let these people see her weak at anytime would only asked more questions or try to comfert her and to let someone get close could lead her to get hurt again. "As for you giving me compuny by all means do so but I can only be your cook nothing more Iam sorry" she did not even look at him when she said this.
 
Kaleed continued his approach to the outpost. The small collection of buildings he could see in the distance were not that far away now. A league at the most.

Kaleed wasn't sure what time it was, only that it had been dark for sometime. Suddenly, a thought struck him, and he wondered if there was a place to present himself. Obviously, walking right through the gates would undoubtedly lead to unwanted circumstances. As far as he could tell, no one had been watching his slow approach. The night was darker than usual, and moonlight barely pierced the clouds to give light to walk by.

Far off into the distance, he could barely make out the gates to the outpost. He made sure that his scarf was still tightly secured, and slowly trudged forward, putting one boot after the other.
 
"Yeah, right, you're on!" Benjamin Truckwell challenged Urist, raising his own mug, preparing to down the beverage.

Had it not been for the armored hand landing on his shoulder, making him stop, look behind himself to see the figure of his sergeant Belatia looming over him "That's enough, you idiots, I won't have you attempt to drink anyone under the table, not with even the faintest possibility of a demonic insurrection." her gaze wandering from the surprised soldier to the still drinking Urist, she added "Private Truckwell, escort Urist upstairs, I'm going to round everyone else up, we will leave tomorrow morning at the fastest speed we can muster for Pikewall. To do this efficiently, we need rest. Get to sleep, all of you."

Shouting her orders, a few of the Hellguards carrying the unconscious Swiftbeak, the hall slowly began to empty as the occupants prepared for the night. Belatia meanwhile went on to search for sir Morr, Vanessa and Elia.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Sister Vanessa, I need for nothing, for my purpose gives me all I can yet require. If you find fulfillment in being a cook, then you need for little else, I say. Besides that, I fear I need to remind you that tomorrow will be a long day, I will have to demand from all of us to keep going without pause. Take your time a little longer, after that, if you so wish it, I shall escort you to the sleeping area with the others." Morr stated.
 
Mary had finished her meal, she opened her tiny mouth and let out a large yawn. The girl's large eyes closing and her small nose wrinkling up as she let it out.

"Mister Zato?" she tugged on the monk's sleeve with her little pale hands.

"Is it time for bed soon?" she rubbed at her eyes with her other hand.

"...I'm sleepy..." the hand disappeared into her sleeve, which she pulled up to her mouth and commenced to chew it slightly.
 
Zato himself let out a yawn. He himself did not know the time, but traveling did make him tired.

"I think so, Mary. Shall we go then, Mr. Herdpack?" he asked the Hellguard assigned to them.

The knight soon led the two to a place where they could sleep the night away.
 
Vanessa nodded and with anymore talk watched the night. She turned to sir More and said "Iam ready to turn in for the night care to lead the way". She felt the pain and the fear die away from standing out here enjoying the night.
 
Rather disappointed by this turn of events, Urist followed his guards upstairs, walking slowly and purposefully.

Y'know, I bets I could take th' watch an' get outta 'ere, cos' I've a 'ammer 'an 'ey oughtta 'ave only a few o'em out fer th' night...

Urist realized he had a chance, and considered what he'd need to do.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top Bottom