Unfamiliar Roads (Travel Thread)

[Talib Zahir]

Was it all in his imagination? He felt pain now, and he was on his back. he could hardly move his leg. The cylindrical tower of flaming djed was a much less a stable burning liquid, and an almost solid, candle-like burn, and far smaller.

For a split second, Talib thought it was hopeless. He hardly noticed the cat's claws rip most of the muscles in his abdomen. Light faded for a moment, and time slowed. A paw came across his face and woke him from his trance. A scream filled his lungs, his throat, but not his mouth. It went right to his eyes, a rage, fearful rage. The cat's claws dug into his left shoulder, the one holding the weak flame. Over-giving or not, he would die here, and he would be damned if the cat didn't at least come with.

His hand shot into the flank of the beast, spreading the sticky, slime-like djed, across the soft and unprotected area. With the entire effort of his will, he lit the rest of the djed aflame, a force, even as weak as he was becoming, to force the cat to reassess where his attention was. If he was lucky, the flames would kill that cat. At the very least, it would be left with severe burns and hopefully no will to continue.

Nevertheless, he took as deep a breath as he could, and started filling his lungs with a vaporized Djed. He needed to be prepared, and such was the least exhausting way to manipulate the material.

[Ja'soth]

Talib was knocked down and attacked before he could complete the summoning of his Res so it never formed to be formed into a rod as it takes time to form res at his level and the cat was quicker. However Talib would know that the lungs were a risky place to summon djed for res formation after all it could spontaneously ignite and his lungs would be severely damaged. He is however able to summon enough Res to smear on the cat, however he would also know that he has to ignite the res before he releases it or it wont ignite properly. In his haste to get the cat off him he prematurely ignites the Res, causing it to burst into flames explosively between him and the cat.

The cat leaps back, with burns to its underside that cause it to give pause as to whether this morsel is worth the trouble. Unfortunately Talib also has suffered burns to his hands and arms where the Res ignited prematurely. It seems as if he will be meeting Dira this day and Ata is yet no where to be seen as he is staying away from the battle. Talib's vision becomes blurry and he can feel consciousness slipping from him, at least he wont feel it when the cat begins to eat him.

Suddenly he sees what he thinks must be a hallucination, a party of three creatures emerges from the forest it was as if they were invisible moments ago. These creatures are easily eight feet tall and 800 pounds. They resemble gorillas and they walk on two feet with their hands out in front of them. One of them, its green eyes shining reaches in a pouch and withdraws some kind of pod plant that is a bright violet color, its companions each withdraw one and squeeze, aiming them at the forest cat. The pods release an indigo cloud of dusty spores that when they reach the cat cause it to wobble and sway before collapsing on the ground unconscious. The green eyed one approaches Talib and looks at him, it speaks with a male voice that rumbles in common like thunder.

Well small one, you seem to have run into a bit of trouble, we need to get you to Kalla and Hreth as soon as possible They begin to bind Talib's wounds, smearing some kind of herbal paste on them that staunches the flow of blood. The last thing he can clearly remember is being lifted up in the creatures arms as if he was a feather.

When consciousness and awareness return to him, Talib finds himself in a room with glowing, yellow white walls that seem to be of some kind of shell, the room is an odd geometric design and he is in a hammock woven of living vines that grow from the floor and walls of the room. He is covered by some kind of fur blanket that seems also to be a living thing. His arm is bound to him by leaves of some kind that he cannot break and his leg is bound,he also feels that his face is no longer slashed but for some reason he is too weak to move yet. The room smells of flowers and herbs a sweet and earthy scent. He notices that another of the ape like beings is here, this one is smaller maybe 7 feet tall and 400 pounds and it is a brown color as the others were black or grey. The voice is softer and more female, but still it rumbles and is deep

Well little one, we nearly lost you, but Kalla has made you better and we will bring you back to health, I am Brulla and your name is?

[Talib Zahir]

Talib struggled to keep his eyes open. His body wanted to keep sleeping. Though it hadn't earned sleep, it had failed him miserably, his body deserved a complete work over, pushed to its limits and beyond to widen the shores of his abilities. He was a failure; couldn't even travel between cities without disgracing himself.

"I am Talib," he said, disappointment thick in his voice. "I apologize for intruding, and thank you for mending my wounds. I guess its my own folly that I thought it would be smart to travel alone through here."

[Ja'soth]

Brulla simply smiled a toothy smile and sighed before speaking it was obvious that this one would hold himself responsible for making a mistake, yes that mistake could have cost him his life, but making a hasty judgment would further endanger him, especially if it led to more foolish behavior. She thought carefully before she spoke to him and so her response seemed to take several chimes. Her voice gently rumbled

Ahh Little one, you mustn't blame yourself, Many underestimate the great Taldrean forest. The Valterrain did many awful things here, things were given great size and power so one must not travel alone,usually most travelers get in with a caravan. You were fortunate the attack occurred with in the Jamoura lands, one of our patrols found you and brought you here to The Spires. Where was your destination small one? I mean Talib

Talib would begin to understand that the term small one was not derogatory but descriptive when compared to the giant Jamoura, Talib was a small one indeed.. Brulla began to remove the bandages that were actually living leaves of some kind and was inspecting the wounds that the cat left behind. They were clean and the fluid seeping from them was clear, which ,meant that the wounds were clean of infection and would heal normally. She applied some kind of sweet,earthy smelling paste to the wounds before bandaging them.

Your wounds are healing well Talib. Kalla healed the worst of your injuries and your face, the rest she decided to let Caiyha heal by her own remedies. We are skilled in the arts of Herbalism and Herbal Medicine. We will have you well and strong again in no time She made no mention of Ata or any of Talib's supplies at this point.

Soon she brought him a steaming bowl of some kind of broth and said
Eat, get your strength back so you will heal.

[Talib Zahir]

Talib sat up slowly and held the bowl in front of him. The thought of eating wasn't unappealing, but he didn't have much of an appetite. "And what of my friend and supplies?"

Having made sure to get the cat's attention and getting Ata away was important to him. But it would mean nothing if he suddenly lost his only friend to the wilds.

[Ja'soth]

Brulla seemed to be in deep thought for several chimes, it was as if she were hesitant to answer Talib. The reality was that she was considering and reconsidering whether or not to directly answer his question. Her answer could affect his recovery and that was something she dared not risk, but neither would she lie to him as that was against her own moral code. Jamoura were long lived beings and they tended to take their time doing or saying things as they had it to take. She finally spoke with a deliberate slowness and quietness although quiet for her was normal loudness for Talib.

The patrol found no one else but you at the site of the attack, but neither have they found evidence that there have been any victims of Taldera either. It is possible that your friend may yet find it's way to The Spires with your supplies, but should it not return we will supply you with a new mount and supplies. I realize that is poor compensation for the loss of an animal you considered your friend, but it is all we humble Jamoura can offer.

She had not said Ata was killed, however he had not yet shown up at The Spires either. she sighed a soft rumble and said. You must rest and recover so that you might find your friend. We will help, but first we must know where you were headed.

[Talib Zahir]

Slowly, the young mage's heart sank. His horse was everything to him. More than just a beast of burden, more than a way for him to travel faster. Ata was a loyal friend. He set the bowl off to the side and rolled over, away from Brulla. "I was on my way to Avanthal, and from there, Denval."

He could feel the first tears forming in his eyes, the sadness overcoming any appetite he may have had. His soul was in pieces at the moment. "I'm.. Not very hungry right now. I might ask for a little time alone, though."

He felt the first tears dropping. The desire to be strong ang prove it to himself wasn't enough this time. It wasn't enough to hold off the flood of pain he was feeling. Nothing was.

[Ja'soth]

Brulla nodded to Talib and placed massive hand upon his frail shoulder. It was hard to lose a friend and though Ata was a horse or beast of burden he had become that to Talib and she could see that. I will leave you to your grief for now Talib. We have a patrol going to the Avanthal border in a week's time. They would gladly escort you to the border to make sure you get there all right. we will provide you with replacement goods and equipment as well as a replacement mount which will serve as beast of burden. I grieve with you Talib at the loss of your friend. she slowly lumbered off.

The week passed by quickly and Brulla took personal care of Talib helping him to get physically well all the while knowing she could do little to ease the burden of loss. The day came when he was to join the patrol going to the border. He was greeted by a Jamoura male who spoke to him

You must be Talib, please come with me and we will get you outfitted for the trip to Avanthal.

[Talib Zahir]

"Of course," Talib said, carefully standing on wobbly legs. He would be weak for awhile, having been bedridden for a week. His posture hung over like a withered flower. He lacked color in his already pale-tan skin, and his arms lay flat at his sides. The life was gone from him. Not even his thirst for magic and knowledge were present enough to motivate him. He just wanted to leave this place and try to forget what went on.

He followed the Jamoura closely, eyes on the ground. His balance was off, besides his spiraling depression. If he fell flat on his face right then, he wouldn't be able to find the will to stand again, let alone the energy.

[Ja'soth]

The Jamoura note Talib's condition and know that they can do nothing about it and if he is to survive it he must become refocused on the task of reaching Denval. Talib is lead through the city streets that are interwoven branches of the great bloodwood trees that appear to be one solid slab of living wood and down the great staircase that is a portion of the tree that is woven with the bodies of living creatures resembling large armored worms to the Main Gate and around the city to its back. They move slowly and with purpose, lumbering along as if they have all the time in the world, this is the Jamoura way.

Talib is lead to a series of smaller bloodwoods that have natural hollows in them like stables. There they are greeted by a smaller and obviously younger Jamoura who appears less used to dealing with non Jamoura. The older Jamoura converse with him and he goes to one of the stables and motions for Talib to follow.

Greetings Talib I am J'halla one of the caretakers of the stables. Here we raise the creatures that help make up our city also riding stock is raised here,I have one that has agreed to be your mount in replacement of the one you lost, perhaps in time it will become your friend

He motions Talib into the stable where a creature resides that stands seven feet tall and resides on legs built for hopping, the body is covered in a soft,downy fur of a ivory white and is muscularly built with two arms ending in five fingered hands with retractable claws. The neck of the creature tapers up for a foot and ends in a head with two jet black horns and a mouth with twin,sharply pointed fangs. The creature looks at Talib with deep golden eyes and in his head he can hear.
You must be Talib. I Tah'moor. I be your servant. We be friends some day. The creature was obviously not used to speaking yet but tried to convey its pleasure at being Talib's animal

J'halla smiled a toothy grin, Tah'moor is not yet used to speaking, but he will adapt to you and is quite intelligent, treat him well and he will serve you. He is capable of hunting his own food and withstanding the cold of Aventhal. He also will shed his fur in the summer,but I would not recommend taking him into the great desert as he would need too much water nor the great Jungle or sea of grass simply because they are more dangerous than our own forest. We have more for you to replace that which you lost

J'halla returned with a pack made from the shell of creature, it had been rigged to act as a pack an was a light as the pack Talib lost when he lost Ata. Within were the items Talib lost including a tent though they were a bit different than what one would buy in say Syliras or some other city. The tent was actually a living plant that when touched a certain way would expand into a living quarter for him. They also provided him with armor that was a chitinous creature that provided him with the same protection as a set of leather armor and a pack with a few spore plants in it,
The spore plants are not replaceable once used but they will paralyze an enemy should you be overwhelmed again giving you time to escape.

J'halla waited for Talib to respond,

OOCI will award XP after your next post sorry for being so long in responding