[Spires Location]The Winding Way (New Arrivals Post Here)

[Secret]

The Winding Way As one makes their way through the massive trees of the Talderan forest, and manages to survive the massive beasts, the voracious insects, and getting lost in the mist, one might come across a winding dirt road. The dirt road is nothing extraordinary, no deep grooves from wagons, no guards patrolling, no signs designating direction. If one gets lucky enough to choose the proper direction they would find themselves on an incredibly long and winding journey. If one is paying close enough attention, they would see the trees getting taller, thicker, more massive as they went deeper. After one passes two particularly large trees, one on either side of the dirt road, they will get the uneasy feeling of being watched, but will be unable to find the source. Continuing along the road, one would begin to feel more eyes. Eventually they would, if paying close enough attention, see stairs winding around trees or knotted Slugsuckle vine ropes and ladders. It is quite possible to completely miss the city while walking along. One could look up to where the city was located but all that would be seen would be leave and branches, cleverly placed and grown to obscure all view of the hidden city from below. If you continued on, you would pass beneath the Inner and Outer Petals, pass over the Undercavern, and through the Foliage district, all without seeing anything other than nature. However, should one happen upon one of the staircases or Slugsuckle leads, and take that first step or first climb, they would be greeted openly by one of the Hahk'Shatara. These Jamoura guard the city and watch all passing through. However, the unspoken rule of nature states that they cannot assist you until you enter Spires properly. Once greeted, the Hahk'Shatara shall act as guide into the city, leading one where ever they would like to go. If one has a horse, it will be taken to the hidden stables in the Foliage. Most Hahk'Shatara will lead upwards into the Outer Petals. From here one could see most of the glorious hidden city of the Spires. OOCYou post here if you are entering the city for the first time and are not a native. You do not need to wait for approval, just write how you came upon the city and where you were guided. Welcome to Spires. Please enjoy your stay.

[Jason Alexander]

Summer 1 511

Jason walked along the path through the forest of looking for the way to the city. After minutes of walking he stopped and looked around, something wasn’t right. He looked among the Taldera Redwoods, trees he had only seen in books; a thought told him he would like to study them. But then he saw it, along the trunk of the tree was a well-placed, almost hidden staircase up.

As he walked toward the staircase, he started to climb once reaching it, half way up he was met with an image of a large Jamoura. Jason stopped and backed a step or two.. “I am a friend, I come to study and learn.” The Jamoura smiled, well it looked like a smile and spoke “Welcome human, I am known as a Hahk'Shatara, guardian and watcher of my people and our city. Come and I shall guide you.” Jason walked close to the Hahk'Shatara but still far enough that he could escape if he needed, he hoped.

Upon reaching the top, he was met with a site of aw and amazement, he had reached it finally. The Spires, the city of the Jamoura.

[Greth]

Summer 1, 511 AV
Greth trudged through the forest, his head bowed, his limbs tired beyond words. He had survived the forest only by hiding himself and his scent from the many predators that moved awfully quick through the blood red trees; trees that could be turning even more red if his blood was spilled upon them by one of those many creatures whose teeth craved flesh.

He wasn't noticing where he was stepping. He was just pushing forward, since now that he had set out towards the Spires, there would be no point getting back. This was why he didn't notice the trees getting taller and thicker. However, as he noticed a pair of two particularly tall trees, his head came up with the haunted expression of one running from something. He didn't stop though. Continuing on his way, his hair stood on end and the back of his neck tingled. He looked around, but there was no one watching him. He knew a lot of camouflaging himself, but if one were to camouflage himself, he couldn't find them, especially if the person in particular was a Jamoura.

As his eyes carefully scanned the surrounding trees, looking for the sign of an enemy, he noticed a rope around a tree to his left. His curiosity peaked, tiredness was forgotten for a moment as he started to climb the tree, and then, his eyes widened as he saw a Jamoura climbing down to meet him. Now that he thought about it, through the fog that tiredness had placed upon his thoughts, something surfaced. The rule of nature that every Jamoura abided by: do not let in a stranger, unless they take the first step. He was glad. He had somehow found the Spires, and he had taken the first step.

His left foot slipped as tiredness began to take its hold on him, and the Hahk'Shatara reached out to catch him. He was pulled up by powerful arms, and then, a smile broke over his features as he finally found himself face-to-face with a Jamoura.

He didn't need to say any words as he was shown to the residential area, and his residence was shown to him. He squeezed the Hahk'Shatara's hand in appreciation, for he was the one that had done the most for Greth. Then, before his legs gave under him, he quickly went in, and, without removing his clothes, lay down on the bed. A few moments later, he was asleep.

[Vallosia Hortensia]

It had seemed like such an opportune chance. Scouring the great forest of Taldera in search of rare and odd poisons had sounded like an ideal way to start her life away from the Web. "Have no fear," they had told her. "Our soldiers are fully capable of handling whatever threats Taldera may throw at you." How foolish she had been to buy into such baseless talk. Those men had looked closer to wannabe adventurers than proper guards capable of fighting of dire beasts. The only good that they had actually served had been distracting the beasts from the rest of the group.

She could still hear the screams and cries as those grisly claws tore clean through armor and flesh alike. She could still hear the snapping of bones under immense pressure and bend in ways that they were not meant to bend. How unfortunate it was for good lives to go to such waste. Thus was the price of overconfidence, it seemed. Looking back on it, she had been foolish for agreeing to go on the trip with so little protection against the inhabitants of the forest.

How fortunate that one of her fellow explorers had related tales of a city hidden in the trees of Taldera while they had been trudging through the dense grass, shrubbery, and whatever else littered the forest floor. It sounded like something that could never be true, but it was all that she had going for her now. Your only chance at life is some child's fairytale. How comforting. But what was she to look for? She hadn't even any reason to believe that she was remotely near the city, if it even existed. Something about a staircase...a staircase. How could she have been so dense? She had passed the pair of particularly large trees like the man had spoken of. The only problem now was to climb.

Effortlessly she scaled the nearest tree, the microscopic hooks on her skin digging into the bark. Even if she wasn't luckily enough to stumble upon this fabled city, she was relatively certain that a bear of that size was not capable of following her up the tree, if it was even persuing her. She hadn't bothered to check behind her.

The gargantuan humanoids standing guard above told her that she had found the right place.

[Malia]

Timestamp: 75th of Summer, 511 AV


The Nuit didn’t know how she had survived the Talderian wilderness all the way from Avanthal to Spires. It had involved a lot of hiding, stalking and standing still to listen to the noises around her. She had moved on for the entire day and a good portion of the night, only making breaks when she felt she was overextending her body. She had also tried not to attract the attention of wild animals while at the same time keeping them away from her. The choice of lighting a fire had been a new one every night.

However, the changes were apparent. The temperatures rose, the vegetation grew greener and more colorful. The animals were still huge, but there were other species now. As far as she saw and heard, of course. All in all, the tundra of Avanthal was behind and the rainforest all around her.

And several bells after another night she started noticing things. Ropes and ladders made of thick vines, stairs lost in bushes and leaves. When looking up, however, she only saw greenery and tree bark. She continued, wondering if she had finally reached the place she had been looking for. The next staircase appeared to lead somewhere rather than fade into thin air. Adjusting the backpack, she climbed the first stairs and hesitated: a traveler in dark clothing, with red hair shining like an alarm signal. Suddenly she wasn’t alone anymore.

Her first impression was that of a large monkey. Then it looked at her, opened its mouth and spoke, and she understood. Jamoura. She had found Spires, the city in the rainforest. While she did her best to answer the Jamoura’s questions, they ascended. After a lot of steps and a feeling of weariness in her limbs, Malia stood on the first platform and stared. It was nothing like she had expected. It was a city built with and into the environment itself.

The Jamoura pointed her into the right direction as if she was just another traveler – was she, really? – and released her into the foreign environment. And Malia was intrigued, once again consumed by her search for something extraordinary.

[Wing]

Timestamp: Summer 15, 511 AV Wing woke with an uncharacteristic smile on her face. She had slept next to a tree after taking her walk with Greth and Jason the night before, two people she had met unexpectedly on the road. It had turned out to be a worthwhile meeting, as Wing was told of a secret city of people known as Jamoura. It was a place that would accept her with open arms, if only she could find it. She had a pretty good idea of where it would be, as well, considering she had just met two of it's citizens the night before and seen which direction they had left. She was close, and she knew it, but they told her she had to find it for herself. So with that in mind Wing climbed to her feet, stretched her wings, then set off in the direction she thought was probably the Spires. It didn't take her long before she got the strange feeling she was being watched. It was rather odd, truth be told, because she was usually the one doing the watching. Wing glanced about, and even up, but she saw nothing. These giants were stealthy, despite their size. Wing wondered what the spires would be like. Would they be a huge city with walls? No.. probably not, otherwise she would have seen the place already. But how was an entire city hidden anyway? These Jamoura must be truly skilled in some form of magic. Finally Wing noticed something strange. What looked to be a staircase of sorts winding up the base of a tree. Or perhaps it was just an oddly shaped vine? But then she noticed others, and she realized she must have found the place she was looking for. It was in the trees! Of course! She probably could have simply flown into the place, but then would they have been angry with her? Wing didn't want that, so she decided to do things properly and approached the stairs. She hadn't climbed very far before she was approached by another of the large Jamoura creatures. This one seemed just as friendly as the last she had met greeting her with a kind, "Hello." The Jamoura asked her a couple questions, warning her that theirs was a city of peace and learning, and when Wing told him that was exactly what she was looking for he nodded and led her up.

[Tiki]

21 Summer 511, along the road to Spires and then some, nearing dusk.

He was jogging…walking…some odd looking mid-way of the two as if to keep away from something, but not wanting to waste his energy. He came to a stop and wiped around. Nope, nothing there, and thus he returned to the path before him. His nostrils flared up a bit from a flurry of new smells, but one caught his full attention. He wondered over to the side of the beaten path and stared at the source of the wondrous scent. Shifting back to a human form he leaned down and took another deep breath and smiled. He plucked it from the jungle foliage, a little flower of vibrant color, and continued on his walk north-west. He stared into it, smelled it, and rubbed it against his nose and chin a bit; it was absolutely amazing how amusing the little flower could be. He strapped the pack over his left shoulder and player with the flower a bit more. He turned it up side down and made it dance, the petals outlining an elaborate gown of a beautifully formed woman. Her dress fanned out in the twists and turns.

Whoops! He had spun it too far and lost a hold of the flower. He bent over and grabbed the little piece and stood back up, but not before noticing a shake in the brush behind him. Something fell, maybe. He turned upward and continued along. He kept walking, the lovely lady in his hand leading the way. It was not long before he caught sight of an odd structure, a stair. He soon found himself looking in closer, before he even realized, he was climbing up, and inspecting by what strange means it had gotten there. It was then that he turned to see an even more astonishing sight, an ape.

His hand fell and the lady bowed. He too nodded his head in greeting, the Jamoura returning the action in a slower motion. The guard seemed to be keeping himself from laughter a bit. The kelvic so naively misread his gesture and extended his hand to pass the lady to her next escort. The massive fist of the Jamoura reached out and took it, then smelled it. Looking closer he saw the flower starting to wilt; the edges slightly battered from falling, and specs of dirt hanging on. He looked back to the kelvic. Tiki merely smiled.

“Welcome to Spires, little creature,” said the giant ape guard in a deep resonating voice, “and thank you…for this gift?” Tiki’s smile spread to a full grin, his teeth kept clean and white from the clean flesh he ate so often. He returned his gaze upward toward the stair case. “Go ahead,” the Jamoura said nodding, “You will find many inspiring things like this,” he said too gesturing with the flower, “within the nexus above.”

“Thank you.” Tiki’s words escaped weakly as he stood astonished at the wonder above him. I mean, certainly this wasn’t Windreach, it was Spiral…Spira…no, not quite, oh, Spires! And the giant apes! Who knew what else awaited him ahead? He continued his climb with ease, looking all around as he ascended the stairs. Meanwhile, the Hahk'Shatara watched him off and looked back to the flower. He couldn’t help but take another sniff of the beautiful flower. Maybe a piece of dirt went up his nose, or he was allergic, but the Jamoura sneezed and ripped the flower away from his nose. He looked back up for the boy, but he was already gone.

[Vidick]

Timestamp: 81st day of Summer, 511 AV, Morning Vidick had been loathing the traveling he had just endured. He had been away from home for awhile which meant a lot of walking and the forest wasn't helping much either. Hew as with a group of adventurers who happened to be going the same direction as him so he difured he would take the company. Vidick had the feeling he was being watched but he already had it before from being around all these people he was traveling with. He didn't really want it but it wasn't really a choice right now. Eventually one of his traveling companions had pointed out something. They saw a staircase which Vidick wouldn't have even noticed if it weren't for them. Though he didn't express any gratitude he just split from the group and began climbing the staircase. Soon a large Jamoura filled Vidick's sight. "Grettings and welcome to our village. Is there any place you would like to go?" The jamoura had told him. Vidick simply give a quick glare and nodded his head no and simply continoued walking into the village. He didn't know if he could do any service to Uldr here but it was too late to turn back now.

[Jehriko]

62nd Day of Summer, 507 AV

Jehriko was tired. He had wandered for days now, luckily not getting swallowed by Talderan beasts. He had had to shift several times to fight or run. Suddenly, he heard a loud, deep noise that startled him quite a bit. It was his stomach. Jehriko grabbed his belly and moaned. He hadn't eaten in days, and he got hungry when he would go without food for even a bell. Jehriko looked around. The trees were getting bigger and bigger. He saw flashes of...something among the treetops. He continued walking until he noticed winding staircases around the trees. Stairs mean people... people mean food...! He hoped they would accept a hairy Kelvic dressed in torn rags.

Jehriko put a big grin on his face as he barrelled up the stairs. He noticed the stairs were quite durable and easily handled his weight. He charged on up the stairs until he was at a dizzying height. Vertigo hit him like a brick. He swallowed hard, closed his eyes and shoved his back against the tree. This was terrifying for the bear, who was used to the safe ground. He held his arms out against the tree, slowly inching forward. He was shaking like a leaf. Then, he felt a hand bigger than his. A big hairy hand clamped down on his own.

Jehriko tried to pull back his hand, but this new hand was powerful. He opened his eyes and saw a massive creature attached to the hairy hand. Its face was intimidating, yet its eyes seemed strangely concerned. Jehriko would have to shift to fight or run. Before he could, though, he heard a deep, slow voice coming from the creature. "Do not fear. You have come to The Spires. You are...safe." The words ran through Jehriko and filled him with a sense of peace. Every word this creature spoke meant much more than Jehriko thought words could mean. It must have noticed Jehriko's confusion. "We are Jamoura. You are welcome here. Let me help you."

The creature guided Jehriko up the staircase into a beautiful city. Jehriko's eyes widened as he beheld structures the likes of which he had never seen. Suddenly, his thoughts turned to food. His common wasn't very good, but hopefully this creature would understand. "I am hungry, have traveled long." The Jamoura nodded and pointed him toward a place he called "Grath's Rest". It sounded interesting, so Jehriko trodded off toward the direction the creature gestured.

[Fela Meason]

(Flashback)67th Day of Fall, 509 AV Fela shivered in the late fall air, her fingers curled around Salida's as they made their way further north. They had traveled days and days in the wild lands between Karjin and their current location. It seemed everywhere they had stepped they had encountered danger: creatures of massive stature, bandits, quicksand, madmen and trees with attitudes. One spot of land seemed to be a living breathing thing, no matter how hard they tried to break off dead branches to throw in the fire they just grew back. Where ever they stepped footprints vanished, not that this was a bad thing, and as they slept grass had grown over them and they had to fight their way out of roots in the morning. The women approached a winding road carved into the earth. They looked haggard. Their clothes were dirty and torn as was their flesh. Cuts both healing and fresh decorated Fela's arms from where she had defended Salida against the wild creatures of the Talderan wilderness. Their pack was almost completely devoid of food and each one felt the strain on their sanity as the hunger grew. Out of the trees another great beast appeared in their path. Fela tensed all her muscles ready for another fight when she noticed the creature's friendly smile, if a monkey could smile. She approached with caution. The beast spoke in a low rumbling voice, Fela's bones reverberated with the low notes. Welcome to The Spires my young friends. We are Jamoura, this is our home and can be yours as well. Fela relaxed and sniffed the air. This Jamoura did not smell like any primate she had ever met before. He, she assumed it was a he, smelled much cleaner. The scent of honey and exotic fruit clung to his fur and tickled her nose. Fela had heard of the Jamoura before from Salida's family but her never had the pleasure of meeting one. Fela's good humor returned all at once and she pulled Salida closer to her. Thank you for the welcome friend. We have traveled far and are in need of rest. Could you please help two lost souls looking for a place to rest their bones? He nodded to them and led them up the winding path and to the outer petals of the city and to a place named Grath's rest. Sounded just like the place for two tired wanderers to put their feet up and forget all about the last few days.