An Ominous Feeling [Haeli]

Venturing into the Misty Peaks is not exactly a good idea, especially at night.

(This is a thread from Mizahar's fantasy role playing forums. Why don't you register today? This message is not shown when you are logged in. Come roleplay with us, it's fun!)

The Diamond of Kalea is located on Kalea's extreme west coast and called as such because its completely made of a crystalline substance called Skyglass. Home of the Alvina of the Stars, cultural mecca of knowledge seekers, and rife with Ethaefal, this remote city shimmers with its own unique light.

An Ominous Feeling [Haeli]

Postby Rorugir on October 16th, 2011, 8:16 pm

26th Fall 511 A.V.


By the time Rorugir entered the Misty Peaks, the dark had settled over the Misty Peaks, cuddling up intimately with the forest like a pair of lovers. The sun, having set only a hour or two ago, had nonetheless given over completely to Leth's domain, leaving the mist-bound mountain in shadowy ominousness. While Lhavit, only a few stone-throws away, was alive and bright with the strange night-fever that seemed to possess it's inhabitants, the Misty Peaks were a study in contrast; everything was soft and peaceful, with most of the things that moved by day having long settled into their various resting places, and those who moved by night only beginning to rustle them from their daytime naps.

There was one, however, who belonged to neither categories and thus was unbound by either of their unspoken guidelines. This, of course, was one particular foolhardy Isur; Rorugir moved freely within the trees, his heavy feet crunching leaves underneath. A black hand, silver veins standing out against the dark skin, rose and brushed the beads of sweat that formed on his brow, then dropped to his side once more. Eyes, dark as the night that now ruled the sky, moved back and forth as it watched the half-obscured surroundings.

The Isur took the moment to rest against a stone half-buried within the ground, sitting on it with a sigh. A noise sounding like a howl sounded in the distance, and Rorugir looked up warily. Perhaps it hadn't been the best idea coming here, at this time of day. But ever since hearing about the Misty Peaks from one of the Lhavitian natives, Rorugir had wanted to know more about it. To experience it firsthand. His inquisitve nature, being what it was, compelled him to do so, and before he knew it, he had set off at the reasonable time of midday to get here. And, four hours later, Rorugir had finally made it through the treacherous streets to get...here?

Now, Rorugir was beginning to understand why people would say 'curiosity killed the cat'. This place seemed a bit too dangerous for simple recreation. A howl sounded again, this time much closer, and Rorugir stood up, his hand instinctively going down to clutch the hilt of his battleaxe. Time to get out of here Rorugir thought. He took a step forward, and then stopped. But how to do that?

Rorugir groaned out loud. Was he seriously lost? It was the Unforgiving all over again. This time, however, he doubted there would be any convenient caravan to come and find him.

Was it this way? Or that way? Rorugir honestly had no idea, but he couldn't just stand here like an idiot and wait to be eaten. Uncertainly, he began walking forward, in what was hopefully the way back to Lhavit.

He had only taken a dozen steps before a noise stopped him in his tracks. It wasn't a howl, but neither was it far away; it was indistinct, yet very close by. Rorugir nervously examined the leafy trees that stood around him. His hand clutched tighter around his battleaxe as an ominous feeling appeared in the pit of Rorugir's stomach.

"Hello?" Even to Rorugir, his voice sounded hoarse and uncertain. "Is anyone out here?"

The noise came again, and this time it most definitely sounded like someone approaching. Taking a sharp breath in, Rorugir unhooked his battleaxe from his belt and waited.
This is Rorugir's speech when he speaks in Common...
...And this is Rorugir's speech when he speaks in Isur.
User avatar
Rorugir
Lost child of Uluth.
 
Posts: 213
Words: 120916
Joined roleplay: September 25th, 2011, 1:02 am
Location: Sultros
Race: Isur
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Scrapbook
Plotnotes

An Ominous Feeling [Haeli]

Postby Haeli on December 11th, 2011, 4:50 pm

Image
She leaned back against the tree, communing with it, enjoying the long conversation she'd been having with it. Her appearance was dismissive. Ragged, hair tangled in knots and snarls one would have thought she'd been living feral for years rather than simply hours. She'd torn the shift she was wearing, which hardly covered anything anyhow. If it wasn't for the cold, she'd foregone clothing for they got in the way of a shifter like her anyhow. She was kneeling, not quite with her rump on the ground, back pressed into a alpine fir, arms flung back as if hugging it from behind. Her chin was pointed skyward and her eyes up until that point had been closed. They were debating, the fir and her, whether or not Zulrav's song had changed and if it were going to bring snow. Haeli wanted to see snow, but the tree had assured her that for her kind, snow was less than pleasant. The witch had laughed and claimed she'd grow taproots and enjoy it like the fir then. The tree had just shook its proverbial head and had delighted in the fact that the witch was even there, as unskilled as she was in the way of forests like the one the tree resided in.

It was already feeling better with her around, though not by any conscious effort on her part. She'd simply found the giant, alone because it had been somehow spared in the past from a lightening struck forest fire, and had payed it some attention distracting it from its vigil over the younger forest sprouting up around it. The younger trees were good conversationalists, but their stories were things the older tree had heard. Haeli held new stories of distant swamps and of cypress trees the alpine had never heard of but longed to entwine roots with. It had no awareness of trees that longed for water to flood their trunks and feed them nutrients washed away from other places. Haeli had told the tree of snakes and then shifted to one to crawl about the trees bark so it could wholly understand what she meant and live the story just as she told it. For a time, the homesick swamp witch had made the alpine aware of what it was like to be a mighty Cyprus and in return when she traveled home to gather supplies, she'd tell a cyprus or two about the alpine fir and its life - witnessing fire and the death of its kin - all while watching a new generation rise about it.

She loved the tree and would visit it often now, slowly doing the job of her kind by nurturing the surroundings and bringing hope and joy and peace within the high mountain forest. She was just saying her goodbyes, just promising a return soon, when the younger trees whose roots touched the older one sang of a stranger, lost and wandering even as the sun went down.

Haeli lifted her head, started listening with her human ears instead of with her Gnosis Mark and felt the heavy footfalls incredibly near where she was, almost on top of her. As they rounded the tree, she rose in one smooth motion and instinctively hissed at the stranger - a reaction Fang would have not Haeli - as he was suddenly not in her space then in her space.

He'd see a young human woman, barefoot and dressed in a dirty white shift that concealed none of her form as if she didn't know better that it needed concealing. She suddenly rose to her feet from where she was leaning her back against the trunk of a tree. Her eyes were a soft gold, as if brown had tried to form across her orbs, but the eye color in her blood hadn't quite made the commitment, being lazy as it was, and instead left her gaze more akin to honey than syna's light or the dark chocolate the gods had intended. She had a snarl of earthy blond hair, not brassy enough to be considered stunning, but lighter than the color 'dirty'. Summer wheat flowed down her shoulders, and it would have been pretty had she taken the time to brush it or in any way shape or form tame it. But she did not. Instead she simply let it run loose, tangling on anything and everything .

She blinked at the stranger, almost as if she hadn't just hissed at him, and then snapped back to herself abruptly. "To come so deep into these parts you must be lost." She said, knowing if he meant her harm there was only one escape and that was straight up. The man looked to stocky to be a good climber while the alpine would welcome her into its highest branches. Yes, she'd flee up if he looked threatening. But Haeli, being Haeli, knew there were a lot more monsters out in the world besides men. And once she'd spotted his arm.. which she had right away.. she was curious.

"You aren't human." She said, surprising herself and then blinking because she'd spoken the thought as she'd had it, which wasn't characteristically her way of doing things.
Image
Image
User avatar
Haeli
The stars in the sky have all the answers.
 
Posts: 349
Words: 366819
Joined roleplay: July 2nd, 2010, 9:33 am
Location: Lhavit, The Unforgiven, Gyvaka Swamp
Race: Human
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 2
Trailblazer (1) Donor (1)

An Ominous Feeling [Haeli]

Postby Rorugir on December 16th, 2011, 10:05 pm

The woman was just as unworldly as the mist-haunted forests, appearing out of the trees with naught a word. She had been reclining around a tree when Rorugir drew his axe, sensing her presence; now it seemed she turned to face him.

She seemed wild, as befitting one that hissed at him. Long clumps of blondish hair fell down her back, snarled and unrestrained. They created a veil of hair around her face, obscuring but not shielding the shockingly honey-colored eyes that gazed out at him.

The woman's sudden change in demeanor startled him, and for a moment Rorugir wondered if she was insane. "Yes, I am lost." He said cautiously. "I'm trying to find my way back to Lhavit. Can you help me?" Asking an insane woman for help probably wasn't the best idea, but further conversation would ascertain if the stranger was crazy or not. He didn't have many other choices anyways.

"No, I'm not human. You are, but you certainly don't act like it." Rorugir said bluntly. "I'm an isur, thanks. Rorugir Steelrune, at your service." Ror offered his hand, until a staccato thought reminded him of the woman in front of him. She probably didn't know shaking hands was a courtesy, wherever she came from, which was certainly not the same place as Rorugir. He hesitated, than slowly withdrew his hand if his companion had not seized it by then.

"Who are you? What are you doing out here?" The words slipped from his lips, eager doves striving to be heard. The constraints of civility were completely abandoned in the madness of this situation. Rorugir had to know who this woman was before he went anywhere with her. That is, if she even offered to guide him at all. What if she just left him out here?

Rorugir shivered, than focused back on woman with a desperate intensity.
This is Rorugir's speech when he speaks in Common...
...And this is Rorugir's speech when he speaks in Isur.
User avatar
Rorugir
Lost child of Uluth.
 
Posts: 213
Words: 120916
Joined roleplay: September 25th, 2011, 1:02 am
Location: Sultros
Race: Isur
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Scrapbook
Plotnotes

An Ominous Feeling [Haeli]

Postby Haeli on December 23rd, 2011, 5:09 pm

Image
Haeli studied the stranger. She knew the word Isur, but had never seen one. "You dwell below, and to the north in Kalea. Like the Dhani you live underground. And yet, here you are, walking the surface. I'd never thought to see one of your kind. I have heard stories of your kingdom from the woman that raised me. Is it true that your kind master backbone stone like the Lhavitians master skyglass?" She tilted her head, blinked, and slipped closer. Approaching him she looked more normal, almost average, even if she was barefoot. There wasn't an ounce of movement that was wasted or unnecessary and she seemed wholly unconscious of her appearance.

He offered her his hand, and though she only stared at it a moment until he started to withdraw the offer. She seemed to remember something, blinked, then caught his hand with the wrong one, drawing it forward so she could take it with the right limb and shake it as was required. Her gaze was warm then, as if the greeting broke the ice and she smiled at him and then continued to stare. Her eyes roamed his form, unaware of the rudeness as she took in the texture of his skin, its hue, and the massive bulk of his arm. She thought him built like a rock, strong and steady, and liked what she saw in his eyes.

"You aren't so very lost. Its deep into these woods that you've walked, but you are coming full circle now and will soon be out of them again when full dark hits. The city glows, so when you wander too far its easy to wander back when the night falls and the city lights the way. But yes, I will show you so you do not have to wait past twilight." She agreed.

Haeli turned, moving back to the tree, and retrieved a pack on the opposite side which was hidden from his views.

"I came to be with the woods. It likes the company and it has things I need for the city." She half opened her backpack, showing him, and he saw there was an assortment of herbs and mushrooms and even some rare fall flowers tucked into her pack. "I am Haeli. I come from Lhavit. I'm an herbalist there." She said, shifting so that her bare toes dug into the duff from the pine needles at her feet.

"How did you come to be lost? Did you walk to visit the woods as well?"
She asked curiously, then reached down to lift her shift all the way to her stomach and plucked off a beatle that had been crawling up her ribcage. Rorugir saw that she wore nothing beneath the loose garment. She set the creature on the nearest rock outcropping frowning at it. "I've been confused for a tree." She added absently, then scratched her belly where the beetle must have tickled her. Haeli was dressed in an underdress shift, never meant to be worn alone. She lacked the overtunic dress that should have covered the garment and made what she wore decent. And though her feet were dirty, he could tell the rest of her was clean and sweet smelling now that she stood next to him.

"This forest is old. It gets few visitors besides those that want to steal its wood. I don't understand the need to always have a fire. Lhavitians are so wasteful in that, even when the weather is warm. Do you know the why of such things?" She added, raising a wheat colored eyebrow at him.
Image
Image
User avatar
Haeli
The stars in the sky have all the answers.
 
Posts: 349
Words: 366819
Joined roleplay: July 2nd, 2010, 9:33 am
Location: Lhavit, The Unforgiven, Gyvaka Swamp
Race: Human
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Plotnotes
Medals: 2
Trailblazer (1) Donor (1)

An Ominous Feeling [Haeli]

Postby Rorugir on January 22nd, 2012, 10:53 pm

The cadence of her voice was odd, yet musical at the same time, forged of tree and ground and swamp. Despite his misgivings, Rorugir found himself unable to do anything than stand there and listen to her words. Only when she asked him a question was he able to find his voice.

"Yes. Everything you have said is true. My people, the isur, dwell below and to the north, and we master stone, though we also master many things more than that." the smile that passed across his face was fleeting. "You seem to know quite a bit about me and my people. The woman who taught you must have been quite smart." Rorugir had paused ever so slightly before he said 'swamp', as though that had not been the first word to come to mind.

He blinked in surprise when she took his hand. The handshake, meager though it was, brought home a very good point; don't draw conclusions about people before you know them. He smiled again, but this time the smile stuck.

"That's a relief," he said when she confirmed his position, and he meant it. "I thought I would be stuck out here past dark. Thank you." When she retrieved her pack and spoke about the forest, Rorugir found himself about to ask a question - but she beat him to the punch. "A herbalist?" he asked, in some surprise.

As soon as he said it, though, the surprise drained away from his face and once again rearranged into an impeccably polite expression. "That's a noble profession. I am Rorugir Steelrune, but a meager blacksmith." the other, more esoteric skills at his disposal were left unmentioned. Magic was not an issue to raise lightly among humans, he had soon realized. The bruises had helped him not to forget.

"In a way, yes, I did come to visit the forest myself." Rorugir agreed. "I wished to discover more about the Misty Peaks, but in my blind curiosity I lost track of where I was." he grimaced. "How curiosity killed the cat is becoming painfully apparent to me..."

The latter portion of his words trailed away as Rorugir saw her lift her shirt, his cheeks becoming tinged by a fiery red. He tried to keep his eyes locked fastidiously on her face.

"I understand what you mean." he forced out, still looking at her directly, not wavering in his glance. "People can't seem to bear feeling uncomfortable. They'll do everything they can to live in luxury, even if it comes at another's expense. Believe me, I know a lot about that."

He shook his head as though trying to shake water from his hair, though he was dry. A shadow passed in front of his face, but when he turned back to Haeli, he was still smiling.

"Well then," he said softly, "Shall we be off?"
This is Rorugir's speech when he speaks in Common...
...And this is Rorugir's speech when he speaks in Isur.
User avatar
Rorugir
Lost child of Uluth.
 
Posts: 213
Words: 120916
Joined roleplay: September 25th, 2011, 1:02 am
Location: Sultros
Race: Isur
Character sheet
Storyteller secrets
Scrapbook
Plotnotes


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 0 guests