Private Tales Lost To Stone and Snow

[Weylin Kyrel]

Lake Crobhear is the single largest body of fresh water in the enter world. It held all kind of wonders, dangers, and secrets. Ships the likes only seen on the open seas sail upon its surface. How is such an impressive marvel able to exist? The Spine. The tallest mountains filled full of snow that rose higher than the clouds fed water into the innumerable creeks and rivers that fed into the lake.

It was here that Weylin found himself. The Spine was his home. It always had been and always would be. The Lake area was new to him, but the mountains were not. So after he had spent some time around the lake and the dwarven settlements there he had gone back up higher into the slopes. He wanted something familiar and so the trees and snow and stone was where he went. However he had forgotten that it was winter in the Spine. He had been hunting for hares when a sudden snowstorm caught him and White, his large mountain dog, by surprise. The winds in the Spine always were shifting direction and growing in strength.

The storm was starting off slow at first but Weylin knew from experience how fast it would turn from snow slapping you in the face into a curtain of angry white so thick you couldn't see your hands before your face and so violent you couldn't keep your footing. So he quickly went from his hunt for more hares to finding shelter. There was nothing but trees and snow that he could find at first. He hoped the trees might have a hollow space under their roots, but no luck. Eventually in the side of a cliff face he found a cave with an overhang above it. He and White quickly took their prey and went in before the storm picked up too much.

The inside was empty thankfully. Weylin didn't want to run into a bear. The cave was deep. Very deep. He didn't like it, but it was better than being shallow. He needed to make a fire. All the wood for it was outside. A frown crossed his face. He set his gear down in a half hidden corner and looked to White. "Stay." She protested a moment but didn't move. He patted her head and then headed back out into the storm to collect tinder and wood. He hoped this didn't end badly for him.

 

[Kay]

What began as a harmless snowstorm quickly transformed into a wintery, white wall of unmatched intensity.
How did Kaeda end up here? One moment she was taking the 'road less traveled,' to further her research on the species and climate in the region, and the next she was stranded in an impossible blizzard. Her instincts barked for her to take cover; she couldn't navigate her way back in this level of chaos.
Scanning her surroundings, she luckily spotted a cave in the distance. It sat peacefully on the side of a cliff, and Kaeda began her way towards a form of asylum. She questioned her odds of an aggressive creature residing in the cave on the long trek over, thus preparing herself for a combative encounter. With the storm covering tracks too quickly, she couldn't deduct anything from the ground. She was going in blind and unprepared, something so blatantly opposite of her usual self.

"Here we go," she muttered under her breath while approaching the cave, sword-in-hand. What she found inside was not what she had expected. Instead of a bear, a large, white mountain dog stood alert at the entrance to the cave. Kaeda couldn't tell if the animal was a stray or had an owner, but it looked taken care of. Although she had a connection with nature and animals, she knew to be careful in this sort of situation. Animals backed into a corner can be extremely unpredictable and aggressive, but this specific one wasn't attacking her. At least, not yet.
"Easy," she plead, "I'm not going to hurt you, beautiful creature."

 

[Morgan]

Many stereotypes exist in the rivalry between city slickers and country bumpkins. Some might say that folk from the big cities are untrustworthy and lacking in principles, while others will argue that those out in the countryside lack sophistication or wit.

One things is for certain, though; Nothing could have prepared one particular Allirian kid for the winter he chose to face on The Spine.

Morgan cut a haphazard trek up the mountain, sullenly cursing his own name in quiet tones that couldn't hold a candle against the growing howling of the storming winds. A heavy cloak of woolen fabric was pulled tight to his body, but it did little to keep the biting cold from coursing through every crack and parting fold in his outfit. The weather should have been clear, or at least so said the merchant back at Crobhear. Oh, the dwarf was a shyster and Morgan knew it; he never should've trusted the man's promises. Regardless of what regrets he may have had, the half-elf traveler knew the quickest way to feel quite a fair bit better about the terrible circumstances in which he found himself. This method was, of course, both damning the gods while also quite sincerely requesting some divine rescue-rope to be thrown his way.

"Come on then, Tychan! No respect for a fellow diplomat?! No savior to be sent my way?! I mean, sure! I'm no innocent, but I didn't even get a chance at Martyrdom yet! And what of you, Metisa?! Sure, I'm no wizard or scholar, but-- Ah... Well, if you can create the four magical rules or what have you, I'd imagine you could get some poor blighter out of a jam!" And so it went on and on as he made his way helplessly towards some odd cliff with a suspicious overhang, hoping to find some shelter and making quite a ruckus along the way. Even with the wind roaring as it was, his shouted condemnations could be a heard for a good hundred meters away, being more than loud enough to reach the wayward wood-hunter.

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The snowstorm was still building and growing as Weylin pushed through the snow towards where he remembered some trees were. He needed some dry tinder and wood to get a fire going then he could let it melt and dry some other wood. That was not going to be easy however as he didn't have to time to properly search right now. So as soon as he got to the trees he began to go through the snow and dug out what he could from below the evergreens.

While Weylin was away, White stood guard over the cave. Her human had wanted her to do that so even though she knew it was better she stay with him in case he did something not smart she stayed guard over the cave. It was not long after her human had left that she picked up a sound and scent unfamiliar to her. A female approached the cave from the snow flurry outside. White began to growl as she kept in place. The female seemed cautious and wasn't getting closer once it saw her. Good. Then the female began to speak and called her a beautiful creature. Of course she was beautiful. She knew that already and knew the flattery wouldn't work. She just stayed on guard as she growled at the intruder. If the female tried to get any closer before her human returned then she would defend their shelter.

The wood and tinder gathering had a windfall as Weylin searched. He was barely getting anything at first worth taking, but a freshly fallen branch had protected some dried wood and tinder from the snow. He pushed it over and then began to load it up with wood and tinder. After he had more than enough for the night, he began to drag the wood laden branch across the snow. It was faster and easier than trying to carry it all by hand back to the cave. What sounded like someone screaming had reached his ears while he was dragging his branch, but he ignored it. It was likely just a trick by some snow spirit. The spirits of the Spine liked to play tricks on those lost in her wilds.

As Weylin came close to the cave entrance he heard the growling coming from White. He let the branch drop just inside the overhang so it wouldn't be completely lost to the snow and drew his hatchet. He looked to see a woman with pointy ears. An elf. What was she doing out here? He didn't know nor did he know if she was a threat or not. He said as he kept his eyes on her, "Declare yourself. I will not speak twice."

Kay Morgan

 

[Kay]

Kaeda listened as the creature’s growling echoed through the cave before being interrupted by a male approaching, wood in hand. She mentally pieced together the puzzle as he demanded answers. Understandably so, she was standing in front of his animal, sword-in-hand, in the middle of nowhere.

“Kaeda,” she said cautiously, “searching for shelter in the storm, no harm intended.” She paused for a minute and continued to explain her defensive stance.

“My sword is drawn for protection, I was unsure if your friend,” she said while nodding to the mountain dog, “was very friendly.”

 

[Morgan]

The excitement within the cave may have drowned out the approaching shouts of a lost and forlorn traveler, but the opposite was not true. Morgan's keen ears picked up on the tension within the cave even over the wind at his tail, quieting his shouted 'prayer' to silence as he slinked stealthily towards the shelter's entrance. He tried ineffectively to blink the snow blindness from his eyes as he made his approach to the overhand, but the adaptation from the stark white light of the storm to the darkness of the cave proved slow. As such, the half-elf found himself stumbling blind into the growing argument, with the first thing coming into sight being the faint glint off of the nearest stranger's newly drawn hatchet.

The new entrant to the shared shelter looked between its three other inhabitants, starting with the man nearest him and working his gaze further into the cavern by focusing for a moment on the tall elven woman and the stark white dog that stood further within. There was no blood spilled yet, and all of the strangers seemed relatively unharmed; "Good," he thought to himself, an easy and trained smile spreading across his features, "This may be deescalated, yet."

Morgan gave two quick coughs from where he stood a few feet behind Weylin, both to clear his throat while also making his presence abundantly clear. "Hey, there! I think we're all looking for the same thing here, friends. Now why don't we all put our sharp things away and talk this out like the rational people we are?"

The person who spoke to Kay and Weylin was a bit hard to make out against the silhouetting backdrop of white at his hind. The hunter could see that the man was of a somewhat slender build in spite of the added bulk of his padded cloak, but the hood was pulled over his pointed ears and potentially concealed his half-blooded heritage. Kay, on the other hand, could tell that this new stranger was just a touch too large in build to be an elf, especially given the light stubble of facial hair that sat across his friendly features. Regardless of the individual interpretations of his appearance, one fact was clear enough to both of his onlookers; Morgan was very clearly unarmed for the moment, with any of his own so-called "sharp things" sheathed away safely under the protective mass of his cloak.

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The woman with pointy ears said her name and mentioned she was lost in the storm looking for shelter. It was why Weylin and White came here. The reasoning was good enough for him to believe her but he still didn't like how she was holding a weapon out defensively. A dog was growling at her and his hatchet was still out, but it would make him feel better if she put her weapon away.

Weylin was about to say something along those lines when a new person entered. It was another stranger but a male one this time. Based on what he said and how he acted it seemed he didn't know her. The whole rational people claim annoyed Weylin annoyed him a bit. It was as if he was saying they were being irrational for being willing to defend themselves and making it clear they were. It was only natural to be guarded. Rational people talked? Foolishness. Liars talked. Con men talked. Story tellers talked. Words could be whatever the speaker wanted. Action was more true and revealing.

"Put your weapon away if you are truly no harm to us." Weylin said to Kay then turned his attention to Morgan . "Who are you?" He made a whistling sound and White seemed to calm down a bit. Her guard wasn't completely dropped but she did stop growling. Hopefully these strangers were not dangerous. He would rather not deal with that right now.

 

[Kay]

After noticing the absence of growling and taking a deep breath, Kaeda lowered her weapon and placed the sword into its holder. She turned to the side, not completely away from the man and his animal, but enough to get a better view of the male behind her. This was her first opportunity to scan both of the men. One looked comfortable in the area, appearing prepared and definitely more guarded. He was the same height as she and didn't appear to have any distinct features, suggesting he may be human. The other male was cloaked and mostly covered, so she couldn't survey him completely, but he stood only a few inches shorter than she. (Kaeda is 6'2).
He was more light-hearted than the other and had no weapon raised. She couldn't tell if this was a sign of confidence or stupidity.

Kaeda raised an eyebrow to the newest comer and added to the animal-owners question. "And were you the one screaming outside?"

 

[Morgan]

The figure of the half-elven stranger shifted slightly, the arms which crossed over his chest obscured by the thick woolen layer of cloak that seemingly encircled his entire body. A disarming smile played its way across his features with practiced ease, slightly crooked teeth glinting ever so faintly in the shade. "Well, sir, I could tell you all about myself, but I'd be much more comfortable doing so once that hatchet is put away and we're away from the wind."

A faint edge crept into his voice as he went on, taking on more of a sardonic tone rather than one of threatening. "On the other hand, if you're intending to take up axe-murdering sometime in the near future, I'd be careful." His head nodded off to the side, tossing a gesture in Kaeda's vague direction. "If she's half as good with that sword as she is charming, she'll get you only a second or so after you kill me."

He turned to address the woman from Fal'Addas, then, the very image of 'confidence with a hint of stupidity' she had been expecting. His features, sharp and hawkish, were still adorned with that heart-winning smile. "And, yes, that was me. I'd use the term 'shouting prayer' rather than 'screaming', but, well... Alliria, A-lie-ria, it's all the same in the end." He cleared his throat, then, shifting into his best attempt at the Elvish language, which isn't saying much. His syntax is slightly broken and his conjugations are far from accurate, but his meaning is probably clear enough to be deciphered; "Good day, respected woman. Today is good day I to have been meeting you in this..." He gestured about their surroundings inelegantly, trying to remember a word for 'cave' that he knew he'd heard at least once before.

"Ah, hell," he concluded, slipping back into the trade tongue with a slight shrug. "At least I tried. It's a pleasure."

He turned back to the hunter who smelled quite pungently of pine and podsol to his city-born nose, awaiting whatever response he'd have and half hoping the hatchet would be put away by then.

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

Whoever this stranger was, he wasn't a fraction as charming as he thought he was. Instead of taking some action to ease the situation he instead decided to taunt in a fashion that he probably didn't think Weylin would notice or realize. People from outside of the Spine were always so foolish and irresponsible out here in the wilds. When someone was on guard you didn't give them less reason to trust you and potentially enrage them.

So while the female did put her weapon away, which was what the male should have done, Weylin didn't put his hatchet away. Instead he just held onto it and kept his eyes on this newcomer. White was the same although still kept her attention on the female as well. He even spoke in some tongue that Weylin didn't understand which only made him more guarded and tense.

"I won't ask again. Who are you?" Weylin directed at Morgan. He was not feeling like playing games in this cramped up space while a snowstorm raged outside the cave. More and more powder was building and soon they might find themselves completely blocked in. He would rather see the stranger cast out sooner if he was going to be a problem so he had time to find another shelter than deal with him for hours.

Kay

 

[Kay]

Kaeda tilted her head in intense expression at the man's attempt to brokenly speak Elvish, obviously further aggravating the hatchet-wielding dog owner. Although impressed with Morgan's composure in the situation, she shook her head in dismay. The two surrounding her were polar opposites of personality and she couldn't see them getting along well in a bar, let alone a small space.

While he directed the same question, she looked to the guarded animal. The creature was focused on her in the interest of protecting her owner, but she took the moment to analyze. Due to her size, she deduced the animal to be female. Her coat was thick and semi-maintained and her teeth previously bared were white and in tact-suggesting that this mountain man took admirable care. Kaeda wished to clarify that she was of no threat to either of them, especially the white creature, but decided to stay silent in wait of the smiling man's response.

- Weylin Kyrel & Morgan -

 

[Morgan]

The already quite unarmed half elf releases the inside of his cloak and pushes his arms through the central opening part in the fabric, splaying his fingers and keeping his hands far from his body in a nonverbal display that he means no harm to the jumpy huntsman. With the cloak parted for the first time since the stranger's entrance, his clothing and equipment are revealed. He wears a series of quilted layers to keep out the elements, and a bandolier of various supplies is slung sash-style over his shoulder, containing a few glass flasks as well as a small hunting knife of some sort. Also revealed by his opening gesture is the sabre which is held tightly at his hip, peace-tied into its sheath to prevent it from being drawn without the rope first being cut or arduously untied.

"Well, clearly we've started off on the wrong foot, and I'm at least partially to blame for that. On those grounds, you have my sincerest apologies." Morgan tried to keep a cool smile, but the hunter was truly starting to pain him. "If telling you my name means that you'll join us in being temporarily weaponless, then by all means I'll let that little secret loose."

He calmly rolled his fingers shut into a fist, placing it slowly over the left side of his chest before bowing his head in a slow, well-meaning manner. "I am Morgan, and you've probably never heard of me; reports of my fame are often exaggerated, or so I've been told." His fist floated carefully from his quilted jacket, unfurling it into an upraised palm and offering the peaceful gesture towards the anxious man. "And how about you, my friend?"

Morgan cast a brief glances to his right, checking on the yet unnamed woman to make certain her silence wasn't accompanied by anything that might provoke bloodshed. He secretly felt smugly superior that he didn't need to threaten someone with a hatchet to get their name, but he knew for a fact that voicing this opinion wouldn't help his situation in the slightest. So it was that he kept his expression and body language upbeat, giving few hints as to his own internal jest at the absurdity of the entire situation.

Weylin Kyrel

 

[Weylin Kyrel]

The newcomer just kept on speaking. That wasn't really a problem as Weylin did enjoy good conversations. The problem was they very much had the notion in their head that they were somehow superior to everyone and everything. That was irritating but at least he gave his name and showed his weapon. It was tied up, which was a horrible idea out in the wilds, but it meant he wasn't about to draw it suddenly on them.

So with that information now done, Weylin didn't put up his hatchet or give his name. He just got his branch picked back up and drug it off further into the cave where it wasn't so exposed to the weather outside. On his way he passed by Kay but kept enough distance they weren't about to touch one another. White just stood guard and continued to watch the others as he did this.

Once far enough inside the wind and chill of the snow wasn't reaching him, Weylin dropped the branch covered in more firewood. He got a circle of stones made and began to work on getting a fire set up. The entire process of this, getting the needed tinder and wood put together, and the fire going was very quick and efficient. Clearly he did this every day. With flames going and some warmth available, he put up his hatchet that he used to prep the wood.

White had stood guard in her spot the entire time and didn't move. It wasn't until the fire was made and her human made a whistle command that she finally turned around and joined him. Weylin said from the fire, "Join if you like. No reason to freeze to death."

Morgan

 

[Kay]

Kaeda directed a shrug towards Morgan as the mountain man passed and began his obviously well versed activity. As he called them over, she followed behind the white animal. “Your kindness is appreciated,” she complimented towards the mysterious man while setting herself a place.

Now sitting at a comfortable distance, still basking in the warmth of the fire, her intense shivering finally slowed: previously due to the fall of adrenaline and the brutal weather. The elf removed her sword from her body and placed it beside her. Morgan and the other seemed alright, but not worth complete trust just yet. In attempt to reduce any remaining tension, she cleared her throat and spoke with a friendly infliction. “I don’t think we caught your name,” she said, then switching into a playful tone, “mountain dweller.”