Private Tales Above the Mountains

[Talus]

Talus glanced around slowly, frowning for a brief moment as he peeked around the corner and peered Into what appeared to be a bedroom.

As Finn called out to him he didn't immediately answer. Instead he moved into the room and began to look around. It was a quaint enough living space, large enough for two people to be comfortable. A desk sat in the corner, an odd sort of shelf there with books.

He stepped forward and squatted down, reading over the spines.

The letters were odd, but close enough to a language that he knew; Abera. A version of common that had originally been spoken in the far East. He frowned, then pulled the volume free. "I think I found something."

He called to Finn.

"A journal I think." Talus said as he flipped open the book.

 

[Finn]

Finn frowned and put the boots back on the shelf. She eyed the pelting rain one last time on those glass windows and stood. "Coming." Something still felt...off. But not like with the demon village. Something...different.

She dipped into the hallway and stopped at the threshold of the bedroom. Shopkeeper must've lived here too. Made sense. Most folk did that. But usually shop downstairs and living quarters up. She crossed the well-kept room and knelt down next to Talus, looking at what he had plucked from the book shelf.

"What is it?"

 

[Talus]

"Not sure." He said flipping through the book. Some of the words were foreign to him, and he could really only catch every other one in a sentence.

The structure of it all was strange, and of course it didn't help that he had trouble reading in both Common and Anirian. He frowned for a brief moment, glancing at Finn and then moving the journal in his hands so she could see too.

"I think it's a daily journal." He stopped on one page that held an odd drawing of some sort of Ogre like creature. "It's hard to read."

Though the words were close to Abera, it wasn't exact. He guessed it was some sort of precursor language but he simply wasn't scholarly enough to know. "I'm not exactly the beast reader."

Talus admitted quietly.

 

[Finn]

She leaned in a little closer, focus down at the pages and the words and drawing within.

"That's okay," she said without looking up. "You're in the company of someone from Elbion. I can read," she finished quietly. That's the thing with growing up on a town centered around one of the top colleges in the land. Even the lowliest of street rats could read and write somewhat. Made for better cons. Still, she'd learned more because she'd had to. Because she'd wanted to. More scrolls to discover for more inventions.

"May I?" She would reach over and take the journal if he offered it so she could get a closer look, sitting back on the slightly, dusty wooden floor.

"Hm," fingers carefully flipped the pages. "You were right. Definitely a journal. Looks like there used to be a lot of monsters here. But...," she flipped further. "whoever lived here seemed to have a pact with them."

 

[Talus]

He perked an eyebrow. "Monsters?"

That would make sense, he knew that ogres and the like made their home in The Spine. There were reports that an entire city was buried deep somewhere within the mountains, a place that even the Dwarves didn't know how to reach.

Was this that city?

It seemed unlikely. The Architecture was far too nice and there were no signs of killing or sacrifice. That didn't mesh with what he knew of Ogres.

"Turn to the last page." He suggested. "Maybe it'll say something about what's happened."

 

[Finn]

Fingers traced along the pages. She frowned. They felt different than normal parchment. Both palms cupped the backs of the journal and she weighed it, lifting it slightly above her nose.

"Just feels different," she caught the strange look Talus was giving her from the corners of his eyes.

Fingers traced along the edges of the text and she flipped the pages until she got to the end. Blues widened.

"The page. It's missing," index finger traced the hastily ripped edges. Shoulders shrugged as she looked to Talus. The rain was steadily pounding on the roof now. Could be some hail, too. "Whelp. We've got some time to look around a bit. Maybe I can find more if I take a bit to study more of the pages. Good find." Easing back to her feet, she took a seat on an armchair near the window in the room.

 

[Talus]

Talus looked around the room and shrugged.

He wasn't really a sleuth or anything, investigating was most of the time left to the specialist. Still, the House was quite large, and he imagined poking around would net something eventually. With a frown he peered at the rest of the desk.

"I have a house now you know." He offered as he opened some of the drawers.

"Well." Talus corrected. "It's not really mine, but the Guard lets me live there."

It was the first time he'd ever had his own space.

 

[Finn]

Finn crossed one gangly-limb over the other, ankle and foot kicking in the air as she flipped the page of the journal on to the next one. Pale eyes glanced up at the dreadlord.

"Oh?" A flip of the page and a look back down.

"Do you like it? I mean, was it what you hoped it would be?" She didn't know if this was something Talus had always dreamed of having. And if he felt satisfied that now he had it. Or, if he was letting her know almost as an invitation to come visit a friend.

Finn wasn't sure and was mostly engrossed in the journal.

 

[Talus]

He shrugged. "It's not bad."

The house itself was small enough, only a single bedroom with two other rooms attached
It was isolated though, out near Vel Anir within the woods.

"Never expected to own a House." Anything at all really. "It doesn't fly though."

He smirked for a second.

The airship was still one of the most amazing things he'd ever seen. Talus had kept it a complete secret from everyone of course, but more than once he'd been tempted to go to the Archives and ask about such things.

It was a truly unique thing.

 

[Finn]

"Not all houses are meant to fly," she smiled up at the dreadlord and set the journal down across her lap for a moment. The freezing rain pelted the window behind her.

"I'd come visit you sometime. After this. If...you wanted me to."

Throat cleared.

"Friends should keep in touch."

 

[Talus]

"I'd like that." Talus said with a smile. "Though you'll probably have to land far away."

An airship around Vel Anir would be like sending a signal flare up in the middle of a city. She would have Dreadlords swarming her position in a handful of seconds, after that...well with her abilities he'd hate to even think about what would happen.

The Proctors would have a field day. "They should."

He agreed, though it wasn't exactly easy.

"Any-" Talus found his words interrupted by a loud racket below them, his hands instantly tensing as he stood and whirled around towards the door.

 

[Finn]

"Yeah," she agreed quietly and shut the journal, feeling like there wasn't anything else to discover. Though, she did tuck it into her bag. She rarely landed around metropolis cities. It was too dangerous. She knew people were typically greedy and they'd either want her or her airship.

Finn stiffened as well, sitting straight-up in the chair.

Widened-blue eyes like saucers flickered to Talus. She didn't have any weapons. There was another CRASH. Closer this time.

"Maybe we should hide?" Voice was a hushed-whisper.

 

[Talus]

Talus drew his sword, the ringing of the blade echoing in the room. "Just stay behind me."

He told her as he stepped out.

There wasn't much that he feared anymore. Devils, demons, monsters made flesh. Talus had seen it all by now, and whatever was below them he doubted that it would present much of a problem between the two of them.

Slowly he stepped out into the hallway, catching something skittering along the floor from down the stairs. He hesitated a moment, then quickly followed after.

The Dreadlord stepped into what looked to be a storage room, dozens of barrels and sacks lining the walls. Atop them was an odd sort of creature, furred and with wings that sprouted from it's back. The beast was the size of a large bird, though it appeared closer to a dragon with fluff.

 

[Finn]

Finn followed behind Talus, fingers clutching the strap of her bag tightly. She followed Talus but not TOO closely. Footsteps quietly slipped down the stairs. Pushing on tiptoes, the inventor peaked over Talus' shoulder.

A slow blink.

"What is tha-," the beast cawwwww'd and took flight, flapping around the room with a flurry of wings and fluff. But it didn't seem aggressive. More...scared?

Turning, it flew at them.

 

[Talus]

Talus quickly reached up with his off-hand, grabbing for the strange beast with quick hands in an attempt to seize it.

The thing flew faster than he could catch though, and before he could wrap his hands around it's body the thing ended up on his shoulder and proceeded to pounce further. It's odd dragon like form slipped past Talus and into the hallway.

There it landed on the ground, letting out loud squeaking noise as it violently flapped it's wings.

"What the hell is that?" Talus said as he whirled around, making no move towards the creature.

 

[Finn]

"I dunno," Finn ducked her head as the creature flew over her and up those stairs, into the hall. Spinning around on her boots, the girl walked cautiously back up. "Looks like a Floof," Finns scratched at her head. Animals weren't really her thing. She liked gears and gadgets and gizmos.

And voiding magic.

Taking out a piece of crusty bread from her pocket, she knelt on the ground and offered a chunk to the creature.

"It's okay," couldn't stop the quavering in her own voice. "We're not going to hurt you; not even the guy with the big pointy sword." The creature lifted its head and sniffed the air, trotting over to Finn to take a quick nibble. It hissed at Talus over her shoulder and Finn had to fight from keeping a strangled bubbled of laughter from erupting from her throat.

 

[Talus]

Talus grimaced, but decided to lower his sword slowly.

The beast, whatever the hell it was, truly didn't seem like it was much of a threat. There was still an odd set to it, and he couldn't quite tell why it was the only living thing here. "It looks like..."

He frowned.

"A furry Dragon." That was really the only way that he could think to describe it though there was something distinctly not reptilian about it. Slowly the Dreadlord crouched down besides Finn, glancing at her for a brief moment.

 

[Finn]

Giving one last gulp of bread and a smaller growl at Talus it hopped up on Finn's shoulder, its paws perching gently as its fluffy tail wrapped around her neck. Finn giggled as it tickled her skin.

"I suppose we've made a friend. Erm, maybe just me." Finn turned her head. "Where'd you come from little guy and why were you left behind?"

The creature yawned at Finn's question and blinked at her before closing its eyes.

Finn shrugged toward Talus.

"At least it sounds like the hail has let up. Should we continue onto the tower up the hill?"

 

[Talus]

Talus sheathed his sword finally, glancing over towards the strange beast with a shake of his head. "I guess."

There was no reason to fear the creature, but it was the only living thing that they had actually managed to find across this entire ruin. That alone made him wonder where it had come from, why it was still here among...well, the vast nothingness of it all.

It didn't seem a threat though. "What do you think it is?"

Talus asked.

"Don't think it's a Dragon." He peeked out of the corner of the shop, watching for any weather before stepping outside.

 

[Finn]

Finn followed Talus, giving their shelter one last look. This city was very...strange. "I dunno. Wolf-dragon? Pup-dragon? Berny?"

She smiled.

The creature's tail twitched around her neck. Her own head swiveled side-to-side, taking in the massive, abandoned citadel. "You always know how to take a girl on an adventure, don't you?" Eyes tracked back to Talus as she hugged her coat closer to her thin and gangly form. While it wasn't as cold as where they'd been in the air - it was still cold.

Boots crunched along the frozen hail that still littered the ground.

"I hope this artifact you're looking for is still here."

 

[Talus]

"Well, it doesn't look like anything has been taken from this place." Talus commented as he glanced back towards Finn.

The odd thought of this being an adventure was an intriguing one. In his head this was a mission, another thing to complete, but perhaps Finn saw it in a different light. He supposed it was a tad healthier to look at it in that way.

He frowned briefly as they walked closer to the grand building.

Statues now came into view, armored men who towered over the streets and held swords. Talus peered up at them, pointing to their heads. "Elves."

He noted as they began the trek up a massive step.

"The ears." He quickly clarified.

 

[Finn]

"I see," she said quietly.

"Strange that they're up here. I would've expected dwarves. Orcs even. But elves?" Most elves preferred the forests and trees. She had to wonder if Vel Anir had forced the migration of elves further from their ancestral home of the Falwood.

She decided not to bring that point up to Talus.

The steps were tall and seemed to be made for taller beings. She found herself already out of breath halfway up. Neck craned. "Lots of steps," she huffed. The wolf-dragon stretched its wings and leaped off her shoulders, flying up ahead to land on the massive, iron handle of the door at the top.

"Show off," she muttered with a smile on her face.

 

[Talus]

Talus knew of a few Elven cultures that had sprouted out and away from the Falwood. A few months past he had met an Elf from the Ixchel Wilds. She had told him there was an entire tribe there that had grown for centuries at the least.

Yet the Spine was all together different.

More often than one expected to see Dwarves here, even Ogres or Orcs were far more common. He frowned for a brief moment as they climbed the steps, his fingers still resting on the hilt of his sword as they reached the top of.

"This place was certainly built to last." He commented as he looked at the massive columns.

Before then lay a huge hall, large enough to fit more than a thousand people and all contained within the great building. In the distance he could just make out a set of double doors at the end of the hall.

The furry dragon creature seemed to stop at the entrance of the hall, shaking suddenly before starting back towards Finn.

 

[Finn]

"Yeah. And at least we're out of the wind, now." Finn stopped at the set of doors. It was clear the handle was made for much taller beings. She had to push up on her toes to reach it. Looking at Talus and giving a shrug, she pulled down and then tugged at the long, narrow door.

With a loud groan, it swung open, inwards. Inside was a well lit room but the light didn't come from windows but from above. Neck craned upwards.

"Sky lights," she murmered.

 

[Talus]

Talus stepped inside first, glancing towards the odd furry beast for a moment.

He had once been told that animals had a sixth sense of sorts. They could tell when something was wrong. The creature didn't seem to like this place, so the Dreadlord moved quietly inside. His fingers furled around the hilt of his sword.

"Look." Talus said as he motioned towards the room.

It was circular, with dozens of grooves cut into the ground. All of them seemed to loop around in strange symbols until eventually meeting in the middle in a single circle.

"It reminds me of..." He paused for a second. "A sacrificial hall."

Talus had seen them before, on a mission that had dealt with a rising cult in Vel Anir.