Solo A superficial map of The Outlands

[Irowyn]

3rd of Winter 512 AV

Irowyn looked up at the great, protective walls of Nyka. The city was nice. He had found it nicer after having lost his travel partners. Still Intrepid beyond the walls of the city reminded him of the fact that he very much provided this side of the walls. The sun was just rising over the city but Irowyn was more focused on the dry landscape around the city. The day hadn't completely warmed just yet. A strong, crisp chill still lingered from the previous night. Later in the day, his flaxen coat would have to be stored in a saddlebag. For now, it was draped over his simple shirt and armored pants. Sure, he was only on a simple mapping chore but he was leaving the city limits. Outside of Nyka's gates, he wanted to remain prepared.

By the time that Fall had ended, Irowyn was beginning to feel a bit strapped for cash. He had stayed in Nyka for a longer amount of time than he was accustomed to staying in a place. Furthermore, a large amount of time had passed since he had gone anywhere and done anything of any real value. He needed some cash.

Along the years of his travels he had met a multitude of people who were important to the world of Cartography. Obviously, the profession was well organized in the Sylira region. He naturally thought of them when he considered possible sources of revenue. Today, he was aiding the larger effort of an updated map of Sylira.

He found himself traveling in the direction of the Farmlands today, having just mounted his horse and traveled through the gates of Nyka.

[Irowyn]

Irowyn had passed a multitude of pastures and cattle pens as he circled around the city. The benefit of having functioning farmland situated so close, as to enable routine monk patrols, was obvious. Irowyn was impressed by the sheer number of resources that had existed outside of the city walls.

Especially to the eye of a cartographer, it was a beautiful sight. The various berry bushes were tucked just between the spans of cattle pens and the walls themselves. Those pens, Irowyn surmised, were where this awful, pungent, swampy smell was coming from. It was a uniquely unpleasant smell, comprised of the combination of farm animals, animal waste and stagnant, muddy groundwater.

Not many people tended to travel this far from the road South of the city. After all, there was nothing out here but farmland and all of there ilk were familiar with one another. Cattle bandits and interpersonal disputes were a legitimate threat to their livelihoods. For this reason Irowyn was not surprised at seeing various farmers had cast him weary looks as he traveled. Especially intimidating were the glances from the shepherds and the burly farmhands who oversaw the safety of the cattle.

He meant them no harm, however. None at all. If anything he harbored a healthy respect for these men and women who lived beyond the city limits. He led Intrepid onward to travel around the city's border. He veered off along the western limits. His destination was the Nykshela Quarries.

He traveled for about twenty minutes, allowing Intrepid to travel at an eased gallop. There was absolutely no need to rush anything about this job. Irowyn had planned to be out here for the entire day.

As Intrepid happily clopped along, Irowyn began to notice a shift in the landscape. Where small game and cute little bunnies scurried about, there were now none. Where the patches of grass and foliage had been eaten away and scarce, the plant life, here, was largely undisturbed. There didn't seem to be much activity around here and that was odd when just a few minutes ago The Outlands looked to be teeming with life. It was possible that the sight was simply a coincidence created by the specific moment that Irowyn had passed through.

As the seasoned explorer also knew, however, it was also possible that this was the hunting ground of some fearsome group of large nasty beasts. Irowyn glanced around warily but allowed Intrepid to press closer to the mines.

[Irowyn]

By this point, the sun was high in the sky. The western quarries were visible in the distance. There wasn't much to mark their location other than a subtle disruption in the otherwise uniform horizon. Intrepid was beginning to show the signs of weariness and frustration. It was in the midst of this heat induced fatigue when Irowyn had seemed to hallucinate a brownish white blur disappear behind a small hill.

He shrugged it off as having been out here too long. They'd document the distance and the positioning of the Nykela Quarries and then circle back home after stopping there for a good rest. It was during one of these planning sessions when he saw a second blur. At this point, he realized that this was no hallucination. He and Intrepid were being stalked. Prairie wolves. Coyotes. It was clear, now, that they had been so for the last few minutes.

With a suddenness which even Intrepid had not been prepared for, Irowyn clicked his heels and commanded the horse to speed off into the distance. He was trying to evade two coyotes that had appeared from his left side. Up ahead, however, three were waiting for him. He ushered Intrepid sharply to the right. The directional change would have irritated the horse except that Intrepid now understood what was going on. This was not a novel situation for either member of the duo. They had been in worse situations but danger was danger regardless of how acquainted one had become with it.

The ever agile coyotes were more than ready for the direction change. Although Intrepid had a slightly faster running speed than the coyotes, the pack had the advantage of surprise and positioning. Right away, they were just behind Intrepid's hoofbeats, hungrily snapping upward at the horse and his human.

Slowly, they were gaining distance between themselves and the coyotes but Irowyn knew that Intrepid was growing tired. He had been wandering around the Outlands all day. He couldn't maintain this speed for long. As his mind reeled for inspiration, he saw the quarries off in the distance. He only had to press Intrepid a bit further. If they could come reasonably close to the quarry, maybe the heavily populated area would scare the coyotes off from their prey.

In a few paces, they had put about 50 feet between themselves and the pack. Unfortunately, Irowyn realized that his plan just wasn't going to work. They were going to be outrun. That's when he noticed something in the distance. It was a group of men on horseback. They appeared to be armed. Much to Irowyn's delight, he realized that he didn't need to make it to the quarry. He only had to delay the coyotes for a while.

He abruptly slowed Intrepid's gait. The wolves were quickly gaining distance but Irowyn hopped off as soon as Intrepid was going slow enough. The leader of the pack had set himself apart from the rest. By himself, this coyote was about 30 paces ahead of the rest. He immediately slapped Intrepid on the flank, sending the message for him to sprint toward safety.

Wasting no time, the pack leader lept toward Irowyn with a fierce pounce. Irowyn was ready. The pounce was part of his plan. He brought his greatsword downward in a diagonal sweep. He wasn't able to deliver a killing blow but he disrupted the wolf's balance so that its own leap didn't succeed. Irowyn even managed to deliver a nice slice to the coyote's rear hip.

After he swung he whistled a large, sharp, shrill call. Intrepid, though distance had formed between himself and Irowyn, heard the call and knew what it had meant. He turned around, racing back to rescue his rider. Unfortunately for Irowyn, the pain wasn't enough to drive the alpha leader away. Most of the force of his blow was a blunt shove from the flat part of the sword, not a nimble slice as with a thinner blade. This kind of injury wasn't sufficiently threatening to deter the beast. While it stared at Irowyn, halting only for the threat of another swing, the pack had caught up.

Another coyote launched itself toward him from behind and left of him. Irowyn was able to duck and roll out of the way but stood only to experience a painful scrape to his right shoulder as a third coyote initiated an aerial assault. He wasn't able to recover from the pain to swing toward another wolf. Up until this point, they were only arriving to the battlefield. Now, all 5 coyotes were here.

He had had the luxury of singular attacks up until this point but hew knew that the wolves would start to surround him. After that, their attack would be swift and conclusive. Irowyn had tried, and failed, to recognize this look in the coyotes eyes. He didn't understand why they hadn't yet started their feast. The answer came when he recognized the sound of hoof beats.

The coyotes were confused. The charging horse had made them question their ability to safely attack the human. As those hoof beats got close, Irowyn placed his faith in the horse and strapped the blade to his back. Swiftly, the horse arced its path behind Irowyn's path and he jumped onto the horse. His right shoulder was near useless but he used it to aid his left in keeping him on the horse. Sloppy and ungraceful as his form may have been, he eventually pulled himself up and into the saddle.

Intrepid took off once again, this time, a group of armed riders had been waiting to greet them. He heard a volley of arrows leave their bows. He didn't look back. He didn't know whether the riders had scared the coyotes away or if they had cared to kill them. He didn't care to look, he simply slowed Intrepid to a more comfortable speed and relished in the safety.

[Irowyn]

A few hours later, Irowyn found himself at a campsite perched near the edge into the deep quarry below. There were only a few more hours left before darkness so Irowyn wouldn't be able to stay long. Intrepid was hitched with the horses of some of the quarry workers. Both had been given time to rest in the relative safety of the dig site.

They stayed for a few hours. After thanking the riders for his timely rescue, Irowyn made a point to stay out of everyone's way.

An area foreman stepped forward after hearing Irowyn's gratitude. The sweat and the black grime on his face indicated how hard a day he had worked, so far. His brow was wrinkled and the blue on his overalls was barely visible from the soot and the dirt. He carried a pick in one hand and what appeared to be some sort of plans in another.

"Yea, don't think anything of it. Those damn coyotes have been getting bolder about humans. It does us good to have reason to scare 'em off."

"Well, all the same. That good scare saved my arse today so I'm appreciative."

Irowyn explained what he had been doing in the Outlands and had made it clear that he wasn't up to anything dishonest. He told them about his work and the map that he was attempting to create. Irowyn was, again, quite grateful when they taught him a far safer route back to Nyka. In his time of rest, he sat down and documented the data that he had collected. He wondered, as he brought his pen to the paper, if anyone would ever appreciate the danger, which he had come through, for this otherwise mundane bit of information.