Completed [Clay Mines] Chop The Night Away

[Xavior Silhouette]

Winter 19th 513 AV The night had grown colder as the moon’s light illuminated his true form of existence. His pants covered the long legs of his statuesque body and hid the sculpted flesh beneath. He wore no shirt as the stone carved torso glistened with sweat and shimmered with a moonly glow. He leaned against a long staff, at the top of it had a wide axe head used mainly to fell trees. But Xavior figured what worked on trees would work on enemies as well. The wooden handle was thick and sturdy, hardened by fire, it proved to be quite heavy. Yet the tall man seemed to handle it with relative ease as his hands drew the staff up and allowed the heavy head to fall toward the ground. It stopped before it could reach the soil as his hand caught the middle of the staff, the other positioned near the end. He bounced the wooden handle in a hand as he moved near a log that had been set ablaze. There were others that cracked and burned as the water within the wood boiled out and illuminated an orange glow in the cutting area. The sound of others in the distance as they busily hacked away at wood could be heard like a metronome that echoed throughout the forest. It was a song, the song of the woodsmen. Each measure of the dull thunks of axe into trees were ended by the crack and screech of wood as it finally yielded and fell to the ground below. The man who had made the mighty tree fall would always yell to the forest, “heads,” to which all who could hear the shout would reply with “thanks!” The moon’s light flowed between branches and energized Xavior as he moved toward a pine that stood erect and tall. He rubbed the bark as his eyes caught the fabric tag tied to a low branch, “here we go. Thank you for your gifts,” he smirked as he spoke to the tree before he smoothly began to back away. His axe in hand he adjusted the axe blade to be pointed toward the tree as he stood lightly on his feet. He took a step forward as he drew his axe up and behind his body before his arms once more unfurled and straightened. The axe moved slowly through the air until it lightly landed on the tree’s surface. He adjusted his footing some and adjusted where his axe head would strike. “An upper strike to sever the neck and head,” he thought to himself as his arms drew the axe back and back down with force. The hand at the back of the axe only helped as a fulcrum and pivot as his other hand pushed and flexed against the wood to gain speed. His arms added even more energy into the swing as they extended and added a whip like force to his long axe. With a mighty thump the broad head struck the tree trunk downward and dug itself into the wood. Immediately his body worked to dislodge the sharp axe from the tree and bring the long axe back. His strokes came at a slower tempo than the others in the darkened woods as his strokes were much longer than theres. However as his back and body flexed to swing the axe once more, a larger chunk of wood dislodged itself from the tree. The added length gave him power in his strikes at the cost of more strain to get a strike in. “a flattened swing to disarm I’d gather.” Xavior grunted as he adjusted his swing to come in more perpendicular to the wedge he slowly chipped into the wood. Xavior flicked his hair out of his eyes as it rolled over his shoulder. His muscles could be seen as they flexed and pulled beneath the surface of his skin as he continued to swipe in long heavy strokes. Perspiration formed like dew on his flesh as he continued to chip away at the wood. “Mix it up now an upper and then a side,” with each chant his body began to rock with each strike. The tremors that were sent up his arms quickly numbed them as a dull buzz rolled within them. He grunted with each mighty swing as the white of the wood had grown exposed enough for him to bury the axe head opposite to where he had been chopping. He switched his hands reverse of what they were before and again began to chop, slower than before. To lead with his left hand always felt awkward to him and his strikes had grown less accurate and slower. But soon his ears were rewarded by the subtle cracking and strain of wood. He watched as the trunk began to lean toward the ridge and begin to fall toward the darkness of the forest. “Heads!” He called triumphantly to the woods and listened to the others call back in acknowledgement. The tree flexed and slowed its descent toward the forest floor as the area that had cut out refused to snap and caused the tree to begin to pivot and swing back. Xavior noticed this and panicked as he brought his axe back up and began to swing at the cut he had made. The tree thumped against another with a mighty and resounding thud that shook the forest floor. As soon as his axe struck the strained wood it shattered and sprayed splinters across Xavior’s chest as it finally fell to the forest floor. The stump that remained was less than clean as jagged wood stuck from the tree’s stump like the mountain peaks of Lhavit. Xavior breathed heavily and pulled a few splinters from his body, the pine sap only made the pin pricks burn. A shallow cut on his arm bled his blood, the opalescent green fluid, flowed across his fair skin. “Ya alright?” Someone called, “say something if you ain’t dead!” There was a hint of sarcasm in the voice. “I’m fine,” Xavior called, “but I need new pants. I think I shyked myself!” “There is a creek nearby, we’ll name it shyke creek after you if you’d like!” Another voice called and made Xavior chuckle.

[Xavior Silhouette]

Chop, chop, chop Xavior continued to fell as the wood chips flew through the air with each swing of his heavy axe. Three trees had fallen to the forest floor below as he continued to chip away on a fourth. His body shook as his muscles strained from the heavy strokes and firm rattles that reverberated up his arms. The sounds of the axes continued on through the night as Xavior continued to swing. He dug his axe into the wood and paused to wipe his brow of sweat. “Though the night is cold, I sweat as if it is summer,” Xavior chuckled and bathed in the muted rays of moonlight. He fetched his water bladder from his waist and drank from it greedily. Whether it was an instinct stilled into his mortal body or whether he felt genuinely parched was something to question another day. “The night is growing old, I need to finish up five more trees before the night is out.” Xavior breathed a deep breath of air before he gripped his axe once more. Again the rhythmic chops restarted as each blow rattled his bone in an almost painful way. Soon that wonderful, euphoric, feeling of strenuous work began to ease his mind of the pain as his body almost seemed to move on its own. The thumps of metal began to be his pulse as he smiled pleasantly and continued to chop in the cold winter’s night. “Leth, how long will you forget me?” He began to say outloud between labored breaths. “Eternity? How long will you hide your face from me?” He continued to sing in rhythm with each slam of wood. “How long will I store uneasy concerns,” he gasped as a thick chip of wood cracked and ruined the wedge that he had started. “Within me, sleeplessness in my mind everyday. How long will my dreams dominate me?” His stance changed once more as he began to chop from the opposite end again. A renewed vigor sunk into his mind as he continued to chant his song. Consider me and answer Leth my Father. Restore your light to my body. Otherwise, I will never wake. My dreams will say, “you will never achieve me.” and my foes will rejoice because I am... “Shaken!” Xavior shouted in anger as he slammed his axe into the tree. “How am I to bring unity to Sunberth, to make it a great city like Lhavit? I am one man, I should never have left home. It was a fools dream to believe this city could be something more, maybe it was not Leth who had guided me and just a delusion!” Xavior continued to beat at the tree as his cuts grew sloppier. Soon the tree began to creak and squeal as it began to fall and left Xavior stood where he had grounded himself to breath heavily and gasp for air. His eyes closed as he shed a tear unsure of where the sudden outburst manifested from. The wood of his axe landed on the ground and imbedded itself into the earth just as the tree thudded onto the stone and soil. The log torches around him had begun to burn with less intensity and like the sun’s ray began to yield to the moon’s light. The light seemed to appear brighter behind closed lids and drew him to open his eyes once more. The tree had fallen and opened a clearing in the sky, the stars were bright but the moon was brighter. It shined bright in the sky and bathed him in unfiltered light. His breath grew deeper no longer in exhaustion alone but with excitement. It had been a month since he had witnessed a full moon in the night sky. The clouds as the season changed had caused the moon to be veiled from his sight. Xavior’s violet eyes glistened in the moon’s light as he looked upon it with great reverence. “Forgive me, if I misspoke,” Xavior choked out as he brought his axe up only to bury it into the stump before him. He reached to his belt and once more produced his water bladder and uncorked it. Gently his tall body sat onto the ground and crossed his legs in a relaxed position. He took another swig of water before he extended the opened spout toward the moon’s light.He held it above his head as if to offer it to Leth himself. His head bowed as the various ornaments that hung from his horns struck the glasslike surface. They chimed softly as Xavior began to finish his song in a sovereign and sorrow tone and pace. But I have trusted in your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in your deliverance. I will sing to you Leth. Because he has treated me generously. “Leth my father, I need your faith in me. I thank you for your gifts, safe passage over this harsh land, the merciful landing in a equally merciful city. But my curiosity has shown me this city I reside in now. It has been nearly two years since I’ve last spoke with you in this manner and I was in a better mind then.” Xavior lowered his waterskin to his forehead mostly to rest his numb arms. “But I could not stay there with Christy and Evan, their lives had been changed with a loving daughter. My room was hers and I could not ask them to take me into their lives once more. Worst of all I could not live in that city knowing there was another that needed your, our, help more than there. I see a spark in this land that only needs kindling to be thrown onto it to light the fire I know it can house. I am praying, asking you to give me your faith and your strength to carry on, to seek my dreams and achieve them.” Xavior lowered the waterskin and tipped some of the water into his palm. The light of the moon glimmered across the surface as Xavior peered at it. “Like your presence in the lunar pool of my home, be with me here as I drink in your light,” he waited a moment before he brought the water in his palm to his lips. “I ask that you keep me safe for whatever lays in my future that only Tanroa herself would know.” Xavior brought his waterskin over his head again, “cleanse me of ill thoughts to take my life and return my soul to you prematurely. I know you have sent me on a mission and I will not return until that mission has been accomplished.” He tipped the waterskin up and began to trickle the water from it onto his head. The water though fiercely cold felt warm on his skin as the droplets shimmered silver in the light. It trickled down his body as the warmth seemed to fill his body and quiet his mind once more. “I am reborn in your gift of light. Thank you my father.” Calloused and blistered palms throbbed as the last tree fell. Xavior chucked his axe over his shoulders and draped his arms across it. The fire logs strained to keep the light’s glow As Xavior lethargically lowered a wrapped berch torch it. The wood smoldered for a long moment, and the thick smoke burned his lungs before fire leapt from it. The torch lit the path that was cut as he began his trek back to the campsite. “Sleep will come easy tonight,” Xavior smiled to himself.

[Vanari]

Xavior Silhouette

Observation	+1 XP
Weapon: Axe	+2 XP
Praying	+2 XP
Philosophy	+1 XP
Body Building	+2 XP
Socialization	+1 XP
Singing	+1 XP

Lores :

• The Song of the Woodsmen
• Lumberjacking
• Prayers to Leth

Notes :

Nicely done.

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