Open Chronicles The Road to Hallenrul

[Rob Yew]

At last, the shouts from the brigand band roused Godfrey from his slumber. He rose from his bedroll, bleary eyed, and grasped his sword and scabbard from where they'd lain by his side.

Casting his gaze about, he could see nothing in the forest's dark, though he was but a few minutes ride from the rode. The smoldering embers of his campfire provided pitiful illumination indeed.

"Who goes there?" He called, but heard only the nickering of his horse. Perhaps the shouts had been a dream? But no, there they came again.

"I say, who goes there?"

 

[Erling Thenn]

Erling jerked awake, spasming awkwardly on the ground. His core felt frigid, like something cold and mean passed right through him. Even though the night air itself was hot and humid. It made for a funny feeling, and it only made him more startled and alert. His sword was cradled awkwardly in his arm, laying flat across his stomach, and he rolled himself just as awkwardly onto his feet.

There were no more battle sounds, but there weren't any bodies either. Fuckers must have run. Typical.

The Sculptor groaned and got to his feet, staggering in what he approximated was the direction of his campsite, only to stop dead in his tracks. A woman. A real life honest-to-ice women was seated at his campfire - dying now - and eating his foot. He didn't have much, just what one of the boys managed to hunt. Rabbit on a spit. The sheer outrage of it all was enough to send his head spinning again.

He growled, or maybe his stomach did. "Just who the hell are you supposed to be?"

Erling glanced around, as if remembering something else.

"Where's my Gnome?"

 

[Shabha Agloshk]

Shabha turned in a slow circle as she dispatched her last shade, looking to see if any others remained. As her turn took her vision towards the campfire, she saw the tall, fiery headed woman sit down at the campfire and begin to eat some food. Not having been around before, Shabha didn't know that this wasn't her fire, so Shabha approached warily.

Just then a crashing through the underbrush summoned Erling Thenn.

He growled, or maybe his stomach did. "Just who the hell are you supposed to be?"

Erling glanced around, as if remembering something else.

"Where's my Gnome?"

Initially wary as she approached the fire, her mind quickly worked through some of what likely happened. The fire haired woman must have stumbled upon the shades as she herself had. While the battle had been quick and chaotic, Shabha had a quick eye and a good memory, and she didn't remember this man fighting.

"I azzume yore gnome is roaming..." Shabha made a scurrying motion with her first two fingers as she sat down at the fire as well, nodding to the flame haired woman. Shabha's tusks were obviously hampering her command of the common tongue, but she didn't speak slowly at all, which likely showed that she knew it, just not well enough around her tusks. "Who are you?"

Maude | Thronebreaker | Velaeri​

 

[Maude]

Maude gave the man a hairy-eyed backward glance before advancing on his meal over the spit. A hare was hardly a meal for her, but it would do to sate her hunger well enough to make it to the next town. The woman pulled it from the fire and gave it a good sniff. Yes, it smelled good, though it was a bit overdone now that the fire had gone unattended during the scuffle. No matter.

"He went that way," hoisting a thumb over her right shoulder in the general direction of where she smelled the scent of gnome coming from, Maude dug into the hare with a hearty bite, crunching meat, bones, and all. No concern for man nor orc, no need for introductions just yet - the bear was hungry.

 

[Erling Thenn]

Erling blinked, because now there was an Orc woman in addition to the one that was eating his food. Eating? Devouring. Erling's right eye twitched in bewilderment at the sound of crunching bones. Sure, he had heard bones broken before. But generally not by a woman biting into an under-cooked rabbit.

"Who am I? Who the fuck are you people?" Erling had placed his sword back in its scabbard, but his hand fell back to the hilt. They certainly hadn't attacked him outright, but he didn't exactly find himself encouraged by their abrupt and unwelcome appearance. "You're in my campsite!"

Especially with the redhead taking huge, honking bites out of a whole animal. Erling could still hear the crunching of bones ringing in his ears. That ain't right. That ain't right at all.

 

[Maude]

"This campsite was abandoned by men who got chased off by Shades," Maude replied with a snarl, proverbial hackles flaring. The woman bit off a leg from the rabbit with a loud crunch, "so far as you're concerned, this is my campsite now."

Gristle dripped down her chin but she was too hungry to care. The rabbit was finished with short work and not a single piece was spared. Hadn't been much, but her nose told her there was a carcass due east she could clean up in the morning. First, though, a drink would be good, and a bit of shut-eye.

Maude wiped her face on the back of her gauntlet, collected her Solstal swords and sheathed one of them across her back, leaving the other at the ready in her right hand before turning to the posturing man with a hint of distaste. Humans.

"I am Gemaudelene of the Frozen Halls of Nordengaard," no need to add a title. For those that knew about the Frozen Halls knew that anyone reporting from them was likely royalty, nobility, or something very closely related. For those that didn't... it likely it meant nothing to them. Nordengaard was, after all, nearly three continents away. How her Uncle had gotten this far she could only guess.

 

[Erling Thenn]

Erling blinked in surprise, then a grumble rose in him. Nordengaard. And here he had hoped moving this far away would mean he'd heard the last of any Nordenfiir business. One of the few things he was happy to leave behind, since they were generally shitty business. Between the shades and the gryphon, this was starting to look like a bad week in general. Should've known better than to rob a witch and leave her alive all those months ago. He probably got himself cursed.

Curse or no curse, curiosity got the better of him. "The Frozen Halls? That's rich. What's a princess of the bear-shaggers doing down here? Run out of decent folk to terrorize?"

Those few times at home he'd dealt with the neighboring shape-shifting hegemons, it had not been a pleasant ordeal, and he saw no reason to try and make it one. Erling had no idea whether or not she was actually a princess, but anyone throwing around Nordengaard and the Frozen Halls had to be of enough nobility to make adding the honorific of princess at least a little condescending.

Then again, how royal could she be if she'd been kicked out of home so far she had to wind up out here? Could be a liar. Maybe not about being a Nordenfiir, though. The whole rabbit-eating-thing was proof enough.

 

[Maude]

Well that was a bit of a surprise. Maude sloughed it off with a sniff, taking no offense to the offhanded Princess bit.

Or the terrorizing bit.

Nordens weren't ... or at least hadn't been particularly threatening or savage. Their late King Iordahn had been wise, gracious, and curiously open to trade with the whole of the world. The Frozen Halls had never played host to so many foreign dignitaries before his time, nor had they seen such variety of goods from far and wide. Be that as it may, the old addage of "never poke a Norden" still stood. They were an honorable enough people until you managed to offend them - and then you usually wound up losing a limb ... or a head.

"Seems to me I'm saving witless folk from being terrorized by shades. You're welcome, you ungrateful fuck."

 

[Shabha Agloshk]

Shabha sat, watching bemusedly as the two human looking people sparred verbally. Her staff lay across her knees as she sat before the fire. While it looked like she was focused on the two verbally assaulting each other, her ears were focused on the forest around them, twitching as she heard sounds approaching.

"Girthy man who sleeps through his own camp being invaded." Shabha said by way of attracting the attention of Erling Thenn. "I believe either some of your slightly less cowardly men are returning...or a satyr is in heat, they tromp through the forest similarly."

She nodded her chin behind Erling and Maude. As the noise came closer, their hearing would be able to start picking it up. Shabha kept her hands on her staff, but her eyes and shoulders sat relaxed. A hunter knew that sitting in a stressed state did nothing to aid the hunt, remaining relaxed often allowed the hunter to react more quickly.

 

[Erling Thenn]

Ungrateful fuck! Girthy man!? Why he oughta... Erling was considering it, but then the Orc lady didn't move on and had herself a seat at the fire. Seemed everyone got to have a go at Erling's lodgings except for him! A Nordenfrig and an Orc were not good odds to go up against - not with his mates having high-tailed it out of there already. So he did as impotent and angry men often did: huffed indignantly, gave a nice snarl, and spoke with the common courtesy most becoming of a bandit of his remarkable caliber.

"Fuck the both of you!" Erling hissed, right before turning and stomping off in a proper fit.

What had the Orc said? Like a Satyr in heat. Yeah. He stomped off just like that. He already had the Gryphon blood, he didn't need all this sass to wash it down. Ebblemeyer would find his own way. Probably. And even if he didn't, he'd be alright. Gnomes liked forests anyway.