The Cold Road (18+ sexy and violent)

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mr duncan
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Posts: 502
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2004 7:36 pm

The Cold Road (18+ sexy and violent)

Post by mr duncan »

On a marshy riverbank, in a backwater town, sat an unhappy young man. This young man stood out from the villagers not only because he was a northman, a savage from the cold north... but also because his blood was not entirely of this realm. The young Teiflings brooding mood suited his somber gray skin.

At least its better than Luskan... I think. I need to figure out a way out of here. Money for a ship, or money to gear up for an overland trek.


He was working on drinking one of the poor quality ales sold in the swampy town. The tiefling was in a town called Rivermoot, it was just inside the borders of the Silver Marches. He was on the edge of the commonwealth because he planned to escape it as soon as possible... maybe even tonight, and supplies be damned.

The young tiefling had been on the run, in near constant motion, for weeks and he was at his wills end to run further. Now sure that he was outside the reach of Luskans slavers, he had lost some of his drive to go further. Exhaustion set in, the young mans thoughts turned in directions he didnt like.

But back in Luskan was the only folks that took the horns for something good. Climb the ranks, pay for your freedom... be a slave master, not a slave

Forcing down more of the local brew, he silently raged at himself for considering wearing someones leash in return for acceptance.

Reliance on slaves diminishes the self, and breeds weakness. A willing slave is even worse.

This land wasnt anything like what he had expected, it hadnt gone well for him. He thought of his only real friend so far.... and was sure the man, Ix, was using him for some sort of gain for himself. Ix was as oily and underhanded as any city-man he had ever seen but Ix was very accepting of his strange appearance. He said he understood, being a halfbreed and an outcaste... but Ix just seemed like a liar to the Teifling.

Cant just call a fella a liar... but I guess theres a reason everyones says you shouldnt trust city-folk. That reason is people like Ix.

He hadnt known Haren for too long either, but was pretty sure the rough mercenary wasnt any more trustworthy than Ix. Haren was very skilled with his blade, and the tiefling wanted to respect that... but when asked about his gods, the man became even less hesitant to speak than he normally was.

Shouldnt serve anything you are ashamed to admit to serving.

He thought it reflected some failure on himself that his companions were so civilized and untrue.

Is being alone really that bad?


********************************************************

A little boy was locked alone in a small space. It was a space under stairs.

For some reason, while he was locked alone in here... he thought of the rest of the village outside. There were very few wooden houses like his in the village. Most of the village lived in tents, and resented the presence of the burnt husk of a houses much as they resented its inhabitants. The little boy, alone in the dark, thought living in a tent would be better. There were bound to be less places to be locked away in a tent.

Now was sleep time. He could hear his old crone of a mother scuttling around the ruined house, muttering. She made an unwholesome sound, a one-legged cripple shuffling about on her crutches.

It was a tough choice he had. If he could keep quiet and eat bugs... mother would leave him locked up till she needed him for something. If she heard him... she would take him out. Being out usually meant getting to go fishing, but it almost always came with a beating for some reason or another.

Anything to get outside... A thousand beatings are worth a moment of wild freedom


**************************************************


"My name is Dawn Shiningeye, servant of Lathander" It had taken the pretty blond girl no more than a moments hesitation to dismiss her fear and offer both her name and a handshake to the tiefling.

It took the young man more than a few seconds to respond, people didnt just walk up to him and offer to shake his hand. It simply wasnt how people behaved. Whats more, this wasnt another savage girl... she was pretty, not like anyone from his village. The young tiefling was intimidated by these things, but managed to stammer out an answer and return the handshake.

"I am Xujja, of White-Pines"

*********************************************************

"Xujja.... my dear little monster... mothers little monster is awake" the old woman coughed between words.

The noise she made as she hobbled to the door was almost as bad as the torments to come, almost. The repeat beating of the crutches on a creaky wooden floor, and the way she dragged her one remaining foot. The squeak as she put her weight on one crutch and leaned down to the door.

But its my fault she only has one leg.

Light seeped in and the gray-skinned boy saw the wrinkled haggish face of his mother. For a cripple, the old bitch was pretty strong. In an instant the boy was snatched out of the hole by his ear.


**********************************************************

Xujja looked at his hand, the wound that had been there was gone. The girl had called out in a strange language and healed him with a touch.

Shaman

Xujja had been prepared for the worst, he knew foreign shamans were often a danger, but she seemed so uncaring of what he was. He had stood still for the prayer. A Prayer to the Sun.

*********************************************************


Finally free of the confines of the house and crawlspace, Xujjas feet crunched through the snow. Out to the frozen lake he went, hungry for some fish.

He was out away from his mothers home, his home. He thought about running every day he was let out, but he never did.

His mother kept promising to tell him of his father, but when the boy mentioned him, it always resulted in a severe beating.

The old hag never showed him love, but still he hoped if he caught enough fish she might praise him one day...Or at least stop nailing his hands to the floor when he came home with none.

The little tiefling boy knelt over a hole in the ice... waiting for a hungry fish.


*****************************************************


Best to be alone, healthy. Even if it means not knowing who you are, or your ancestors.

He was just about done with his ale.

No... I changed my mind. Id rather someone show up... even that steaming-mad screecher.

There were footsteps behind him.

I spoke too soon.

After his run-in with the unpleasant guard... Xujja was pretty sure the effect would ripple. One guard would bitch to the next, and pretty soon they would all be worked up. Steaming angry like that girl that always seemed to find him when he was taking a moment to catch his breath.... worked up like the girl that had just walked up behind him.

Beshaba provides.


It was her. Xujja didnt listen to her greeting, he was planning on saying all the mean things he had been thinking about her. The last time they had talked he had actually managed to make her stomp off angry.

This time ill just tell her what kinda bitch she is... might as well enjoy myelf

When he refocused on the conversation, ready with some venom the words he tuned into made him pause.

"Come with me" she said.

"Lass, I already talked to your commander here... so if you became a guard with like.. plans to arrest me an such, its a lil late." Xujja replied.

The woman repeated her words in much the same tone she had used the first time. "Come with me"

Xujja had learned the civilized peoples art of sarcasm from this girl, she had put the annoyed roll into his eyes. Interaction with her caused that reaction now as he spoke. "an why would I get up from my seat to follow you anywhere?"

Clearly Xujja had not been surprised enough today, as he was not at all prepared for her answer.

"You want some answers...? get up and come along and youll get what you want."

Xujja did as she said, his mind felt ready to burst with the pressure of all the questions that stirred up from the offer. From the person least likely to speak to him at all, he would get his answers.


__________________________________________________________

























Thanks to everyone who read my first page, and thanks those who made these events happen.

J
Last edited by mr duncan on Sat May 02, 2009 6:09 pm, edited 2 times in total.
mr duncan
Owlbear
Posts: 502
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2004 7:36 pm

Post by mr duncan »

You're late...

It was late, being so deep in winter and living so far north as they did, there had been a lot less daylight to work with. A lot less time to fish. The little gray boy had stayed out past sunset peering into a hole in the ice. He stayed there, watching for fish, hours after the rest of his village had gone in for the night. He stayed there long after the light and warmth of the sun had abandoned him and the tundra.

He stayed until he caught a fish.


***********************************************************


Xujja rarely had to deal with disappointment so great as this one. He didnt even know the girl lying dead in front of him, but the great need he had to know her had made him feel like he was finding the remains of a long lost friend.


***********************************************************


"You're late..." His mother said with an ominous tone.

"But I have fish!" The little gray boy said as he entered the burnt husk of a home he and his crone-mother shared. The boy had a large fish in fact, he held it up for inspection.

The boy detected the swooshing sound only a second before the terrible old womans cane connected with his head with a massive explosion of golden sparks and terrible pain.

The crone had been a powerful warrior in her day, and while her youthful vigor had gone she still had more than enough rage. Enough to give the small boy a good beating with her crutch.

She kept hammering the crooked wooden crutch down on the limp form of the gray child till she lost her own balance and fell in a crippled pile of angry old woman. Moments later the boy managed to crawl off, he pulled himself to the door under the stairs and closed himself into that tiny black hole.


I should have ran away today


***********************************************************


"Clumsy bitch went and got herself killed" Said the untrustworthy man, Haran.

Xujja had a sinking feeling in his heart, he wasnt sure how he knew... but he knew the dead woman they had walked upon was the woman he had been looking for.

He reached out a hand to the body and rolled it over.

***********************************************************


The little boy looked at his hands, mother had made him place them flat on their rickety old table. He had been very bad.

They didnt have a fire going, not even a candle. Xujja guessed it was because they were poor... or his crazy old mother liked stumping around in the dark. Black house or not, he could still see the old crones leering angry face. He could also see the two nails and the hammer she had in hand.

Disobedience such as testing his mothers limits was never tolerated. He would have to sit still all day now, mother said it would teach him obedience. It didnt make much sense, she had sent him to go fishing... he had only been a little late in catching them. He knew however that there was nothing to be said, he wouldnt escape his punishment. Blood stains on the wooden table, stains from his previous punishments, were a silent testament to what was to come.

His mother readied a nail and raised her hammer. Xujja held his hands very still.

He would spend the whole dreary dark day here, at home, with his hands nailed to the table.


**********************************************************


Haran handnt looked to pleased that Xujja wanted to carry the strange blue and white body back for burial. The rough thug of a human kept muttering about how he would have left the body to rot. When they got out of the hills, Haran took off for the city while Xujja walked towards the Rivermoot cemetery.

Xujja set the body down on the grass and sat cross legged, looking down at it. She had sharp, inhuman, features... and her skin was blue on white. There was no color in the dead womans pure-white eyes, just as the city-folk had described her.

They called her a "Genasi". It looks like she was born from a storm.

He stared at her body a long time, as if she might still have some answers for him. The sun set, the moon rose and passed overhead. He was still staring when Haran came back outside the next day.

********************************************************


He didnt usually feel the cold like the pink villagers did. He never shivered, even when he thrust his hand into the icy water for a fish.

But it was very cold in the space under the stairs that night. Maybe it was because he had bled so much, or maybe because he was so very hungry. He couldnt stop thinking about fish, and he couldnt stop shivering.

There was a terrible blizzard tonight. At least the howling wind covered up his mothers wheezing, muttering coughs and that terrible gurgling noise she made while asleep.

Cold, hungry, and with wounded hands... it was still one of the better nights sleep he had ever gotten.


*********************************************************


Haran came to the graveyard the next day, he looked dissapointed in the young tiefling for having sat there all night. He muttered something about coming into town later and walked off.

It was more than simple disappointment. Xujja had been looking most of his life for someone that was like himself. This girl wasnt exactly like him, but she was the only close thing he had ever seen. She was a lot more like himself than any other people he had seen before.


********************************************************

Morning never came. The storm lasted for two days. The little boy was too hungry and hurt to move. The howling wind outside was muffled some but still louder than his mother. As he listened to it, the wind sounded like wolf song at first. Later, as he drifted into the sounds, he was sure he heard a woman singing.

It was the prettiest thing the boy had ever known. His belly was so empty that it hurt as much as his pierced hands but the sounds of the womans voice, the sounds of the storm, lulled him back into a restful sleep.


*********************************************************


Haran had come and gone, so had the sun. Now there was another person watching him and the dead genasi. The stranger was a giant of an orcblood. The hulking brute looked on with what seemed almost sympathy.

He wanted to know what happened. Did Xujja know the girl?

"No.. I didnt know her. I was out in the hills lookin for her... and found her body like this"

"You went in the hills to get her body?" The brute asked.

"No, when I went to look for her I thought she was alive"

"Oh... so you were late."

Xujja wasnt sure he could possibly feel like more of a shipwreck and failure than he already did, but the orc-bloods helpful words made him feel exactly that way, worse. The teifling gave sigh that echoed his defeat and frustration.

"Aye.. I was too late."






___________________________________________________________










Thanks to everyone reading so far.

J
mr duncan
Owlbear
Posts: 502
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2004 7:36 pm

Post by mr duncan »

"Its all an act, friend." The refined noble said. "Believe me, Xujja, I know these people better than you."

Smooth and silky was the half-elven noble, Ixazix. Usually Xujja mistrusted anyone of the city, but more than once now he had discovered that Ix was right about a good many things.

As the pair walked down the open road towards the village of Rivermoot the tiefling was showing his doubt, and Ix attacked it.

"What are ALL the rest of them like? Why would one be so different from the rest? Dosnt that strike you as... odd? Just a little?"

"She makes her own mind, and dosnt wear a leash?" The tiefling said with fading confidence.

"If she was such an individualist, why is she always in the company of those who openly scorn you. She is just one of them, a smart... pretty one, friend. I know their self-righteous type."


I guess like knows like.


********************************************************


"Hello again, Xujja" said the pretty blond girl.

The young tiefling was intimidated by the smiling beauty looking down at him where he sat in the grass. He had only seen the girl once before, but he had thought about her every day since then. Many times he had sat bored at the rivers edge and wished she would happen along to talk to him. Now that she was here, he realized he didnt have anything to say that would interest her anyway.

"Hail and wellmet lass"

********************************************************


"...and the snowy-haired girl you mentioned... that one too. Theres nothing different about any of these faiths."

A bit further down the road, and still Ix was eating away at the young tieflings doubts over his claims.

"But I dont think Lathander is anything like that stupid girls god"

"Torm?" The nobleman looked like he had caught Xujja finally in a trap of logic. He waited for the gray skinned man to explain himself.

"Yeah.. that one. Thats a god of a human idea. Honor... and few agree on it anyway. But the Sun is natural"

"Oh? You think so?"

"Yeah"

*********************************************************


Dawn Shingingeye stepped closer to him, her smile never fading. Xujja expected her to leave after offering him a greeting and asking how he had been. She didnt leave, instead she kept talking.

"Do you mind if I sit with you?"

The tiefling was dumbfounded. He was forced to pause, unsure she had even asked. She spoke again before he did, quickly adding more as if she might have offended him with the question.

"I mean... if you're not busy. I wouldnt want to intrude"

I dont think she is teasing me.

"Uh... no lass. Sit if you like, ah've been pretty bored lately... your company is a welcome change"

Dawn took a seat in the grass, she didnt keep the distance most people did, about five paces. She sat right up close to him, not even an arms length away.

Xujja was embarrassed at the closeness. He drank a big gulp of his rum to chase away the annoying tremor of fear in his belly.

*******************************************************


The half elf laughed. "Xujja! That means she is the /worst/ of them."

"What? Howso... she healed me. She /saw/ Aurils snowflake on my head and still healed me with her sun-magics."

"If the whole world were honest savages like you, yes. But city girls are MAKING FUN of you when they act sweet to men they will never really give a damn about. It is a cruelty beyond any of the other villagers fearful reactions."

Xujja stopped walking. The half elf stopped also and turned at him, still talking.

"At least the angry girl is honest. She hates you for what you are, she said so and gives you space to live because... the law says so."

Xujja just nodded. He didnt have words to compete with sharp-spoken half-elf. No matter what Xujja said, Ix told him why he was wrong. The half-elf spoke again.

"Im just trying to keep you from stepping in a bear trap. If anyone can see bad luck coming... its me, and that girl is bad news."

Still the tiefling hesitated.

"Like I said mate... if she was a barbarian like you, I wouldnt think she was lying. YOU know city people are usually liars"

Xujja knew she was a city girl, but he wasnt ready to be wrong yet.

"Dont know where she is from"


******************************************************


"But you never know if you can trust me... I am a city girl after all" Dawn winked at Xujja as if sharing a joke.

The statement pulled the rug out from under him. He had worked up the confidence to be honest with this stranger, and then she outright told him she wasnt trustworthy. Xujja didnt know what to say, but felt like he should say something.

"Oh..."

He hesitated, he really didnt have anything to say. He just hoped she didnt say something else like that. She had been so nice to him.

"Dont say that."


*********************************************************

"and if you think they arent arrogant because the sun is natural...." Ix said.

Ix hadnt found a way to convince the teifling that lathanders church wasnt as right and natural as his own goddess, but it wasnt for lack of trying. Finally Ix had given up on that angle but had just found something that bit deep. Ix kept talking as they walked.

"How many of them offer proper tithes to your goddess on /her/ day? Or to mine?"

"All of them?" Xujja would have said that with confidence, but he had been on the loosing side of the argument for a long time now.

"Not like these farmers.... /they/ are good folk. They thank Chauntea for their crops, Lathander for the summer, then half a year later they offer wine or sweetbread to Auril for a good safe winter."

Ix looked right at Xujja.

"But I bet half the cult of Torm dosnt. Full of Zealots... and the fanatics in the Suns church are just the same"

"Dawn dont seem all crazy... she is sweet."

"Right, that goes back to what I was saying about being /fake/."



*******************************************************


They had talked all night. Xujja was finally a little comfortable in the girls presence. His comfort had only been tested once again, when she asked to touch one of his horns. He always made jokes about letting angry people touch them, but hadnt ever had anyone actually ask then go through with it. She had smiled wide when she did so, no one smiled at his horns.

As the sky began to lighten Dawns eyes were pulled eastward to search the sky. Xujja guessed her intent.

"You look eager towards the arrival of your lord?"

Dawn smiled again and answered. "Yes. Would you like to see how I start each day, Xujja?"


This was it. That terrible test. He was worried. Xujjas worry was overcome by the fact that the sun would rise and she would ask again, so he spoke.

"Well.. maybe. I think I have a question first"

"Alright, what is it?"

"On midwinters day... do you give gifts to your friends in hopes they dont freeze to death during the winter? Do you leave wine or sweetbreads out for the white queen? or even leave a window open on her night?"

She might as well have kicked him, he had built up such a perfect ignorant confidence in her that he actually felt physically struck. Her answer was "No, I do not"

He locked his eyes on the grass to make his words easier, he declined her offer.

"Nay... Im sorry but if you cant at least honor the other parts of the cycle... I cant. I cant join you in prayers to the Sun."

Dawn could only nod her understanding, but Xujja wasnt looking. It was a lot easier to stare at the grass in his own disappointment then to look also at hers.

"This dosnt mean we cant be friends does it?" She asked.

Xujja thought about a bear trap, and what Ix would say. Still, she was so pretty and so nice. He still wasnt sure it was an act, maybe she was really the only person in the world like this.

"No... we can be friends. I-I like you a lot. I just cant go pray with you."

Dawn looked like she wanted to say more, but the sky was turning orange... she had to go pray.

_________________________________________________________







Thanks again to everyone who has been reading so far.

J
mr duncan
Owlbear
Posts: 502
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2004 7:36 pm

Post by mr duncan »

"So just wot do you know about bewitchments and folks being enchanted?" Xujja asked his knowledgeable friend.


"Well theres certainly a lot to say there, about those things. Why do you ask?" Replies the halfbreed noble, Ix.


"My thoughts arent really my own. Do you always know when its being used on you?"


"Certainly not. The best mind-benders do their work to you and youll think they are your own ideas." Ix chose his words carefully, knowing the tiefling would take mind-bender in the worst possible way.


"Damn, that is sorta wot I was expecting you to say.


*********************************************************


Xujja watched Dawn leave town. He couldnt get Jared Westlakes words out of his head as he watched her go.


You certainly have a power over men. Thats what he said about her. Power... over men.


Despite his paranoia, he still watched her go. There was a tug in his chest, the urge to get up and follow her.


No. Just stay seated, if you can let her walk off without being curious... then you are probably in control of your own mind

She disappeared, out into the wilds.


She didnt put on no armor, nor take a weapon... maybe I should just go look.


Xujja hesitated.


But maybe thats the bewitchment working on me, forcing me to my feet. I know shamans make slaves of demons and such... maybe my blood would make me an easy slave?


********************************************************


The drink in Xujjas hand was much more expensive and nice than any other he had ever had. "Winter Wine" it was called. Xujja felt it was a lucky name. It was also his first real luxury. While he felt safe drinking simple brews, this was a decadent drink made by city people with too much time on their hands.

Ix bought it for him, as a gift. He drank it as he listend to Ix.


"I think I remember saying something about a bear trap, no"

Xujja nodded, drinking more.

"Well, tell me what exactly is going on... you say your thoughts are affected?"

"Aye, after the day I met her... I havent been thinkin straight."

"You find it hard to focus?"

"No, well.. sorta. I think about her, a lot."

"Mhmm... go on friend. Say, you like that wine?"


Xujja nodded, his first taste of decadence wasnt as bad as he expected.


*********************************************************


Xujja stood from a far off distance to check on Dawn. She was just seated in the grass looking up at the waterfall outside Rivermoot.

He felt better thinking she wasnt bumbling off into the wilds without her gear. Still he felt the urge to go sit with her, but kept his place.


No, cant go over there. Prove you can resist the lure.

Still he didnt take his eyes off her.

Besides, she saw me in town. If she is out here, she came to get away from the folk in town. Im one of those people she is avoiding right now.

*******************************************************


"... and I even when saw her today walk out of town today... I followed. I even sat there and /told/ myself not to get up and follow."

"But you did anyway?" Asked Ix.

Xujja drank down more of the winter wine. "Aye. I followed along even while I was askin myself wot the hells I was up to."


Ix smiled.

*******************************************************


"Say fella... you seen a pretty blond lass in red robes, real friendly lass?" Asked the stranger.

Xujja was glad the fellow hadnt seen him looking down the road at her as he made his reply.

"Aye she is up that slope a bit, I think she is praying"

"Well shortly we will see what good those prayers will do her."

Xujja watched the man go off in the wrong direction, up a different slope. As he did so, the man drew his knife.

Damnit, Now I have to go back there and talk to her.


********************************************************


"I was gonna kill a man for her too, today.... just before you walked up on us"


"Oh... so thats what was going on. I never thought you would go back on killing someone once you decided to kill. Did the other man cower or something?"

"Well sorta.... he were a coward, thats for sure."

"If he didnt cringe... how can you call him a coward?"

"Cause if you pull a weapon, you use it. He drew steel on Dawn... then pussyfooted around till it were too late to strike."

Ix nodded as Xujja repeated his sentiments.

"He had the chance to jump, a few times... but stood there spewing words while threatening with steel. Cowards talk like that when they are frightened but acting rough.... and really, he ended up skulking off babbling about how he wasnt weak."

Ix smiled wider as the tiefling kept talking.

"If you have to declare loudly as you retreat that you are not weak... you are indeed the weakest of worms"

"But the mans flaws dont mean anything to your worries about bewitchment"

"No, but some of the things he said do... and I guess what happened does too."


********************************************************


"It figures a priestess would have a devil here to be used as a guard" The man with the spear said.

Talking shows his weakness. I doubt he will strike... still, if he steps more than once close to her, off with his head."

Xujja forced all of his muscles to keep relaxed, loose and ready to jump in any direction. He avoided looking at the man, instead watching the mans feet in the grass. A persons body might be full of tricks and distractions, but their feet would always show the direction of their attack.

The worst part of the scene was that dawn wouldnt leave. He had stepped in the other mans path, if she wanted to go she could have. She stayed and talked.

Xujja didnt want to tell her to go, it would require a shift in attention. Best to stay ready and cut the fellow if he stepped the wrong direction.

She dosnt want to go, she will probably use her tricks on him as she does me.


*********************************************************


Ix spoke when Xujja finally fell silent. "Well friend... no one can be for sure, but this smells odd to me. Especially considering who it is we are talking about"


Xujja drank more, expecting this response. Ix spoke again.


"How did she handle the man? Did she talk him out of his rage?"

"Yeah... and he even said something about wondering what kind of trick of the mind she was using on him. Like he knew just what I was thinking... like it had happened to him before."

"Well it might have, Xujja. It just might have. I really dont think you need any more reasons to distrust this girl."


*******************************************************


Xujja came back to full focus on the world as the man with the spear backed off into the hills and took off running.

There had been another man with them, the black cloaked shaman of the graveyard. As soon as the tension was over, they walked off leaving Xujja to stand on the slope wondering just what exactly had happened to him.

Everything he said was like a warning to me. Did he know what I was thinking and used it as a way to distract me? ... or has he suffered bewitchment before himself?

He stared out towards the waterfall but did not see it. His mind was turned inward and working overtime sorting out his paranoia.

I was just about to kill someone I dont know, for someone else I dont know.

*******************************************************


It would have been easy for Ix to explain infatuation to the tiefling. All to easy to tell him that he was an outcast and she was pretty... nothing more. He could have told Xujja it would fade with time and had nothing to do with the girl who was probably innocent of all these suspicions. Instead he let Xujja keep on talking.


"I guess I owe you an apology. I doubted you... but something she slipped up and said made it all to clear to me that you are right."

"Oh? whats that?"

"She said she left the town because she was lonely."

"Yeah, that dosnt make much sense... she acts like your friend but then when lonely choses to be alone rather than talk to you.... so you were around when she left?"

"I think so, I know she could have seen me... but I was trying to avoid looking at her, worried about being spellbound."

"Wise of you."

Xujja couldnt explain why, but he felt like he had lost something like an argument or a game of dice. He couldnt place the feeling exactly, and wanted to be rid of it. He asked his next question with reluctant acceptance of Ix's theory of mind control.

"So...how can I overcome it? A counter rite from another shaman?"

"If it comes to that... but most of these spells wear off over time."

Xujja nodded as Ix kept talking.

"Just avoid her. Dont follow her if you can and keep your conversations as short as possible. If you dont forget her in a few weeks... then we might want to look into some counter-spells.


********************************************************


It was Ix that snapped him out of his daze.

"Xujja, what the hells going on? Why is Dawn down the hill crying?"

When he heard she was crying, he almost went to her. He had to force his feet into place.

I dont really understand what happened to me. My mind isnt my own.

Ix spoke... "Well if whatever it was is over, lets go get to digging for some loot"

"I... I gotta... get out of here" Was Xujjas answer as he walked off.

Ix came stomping up behind him.

"Xujja... whats going on?"

"I aint right... my mind aint ready for cuttin and looting. I need to go clear my head."

Ix looked on quizzically as Xujja kept talking.

"I need.... to go fish. Yeah, I need to eat something and have a bit of rum and then ill be ready for work.. Im sure."


"Well alright Xujja. Take your time I guess. Ill catch up to you later and we can talk about it if your head is clear then."

"Aye. Ill be sharp later, find me then."



__________________________________________________________




thanks again to everyone reading.

J
User avatar
kiyoti
Frost Giant
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Location: The Swamp called Florida

Post by kiyoti »

always love reading your work man! keep it coming!
PC
Bozwell "The Dragonheart" of Clan Blackstone, Explorer, Scholar, Knight Draconis

Gamespy: BigDaddyBones
mr duncan
Owlbear
Posts: 502
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2004 7:36 pm

Post by mr duncan »

It was the day before the Equinox. Xujja had lost track of the time of the year, but he could tell now by seeing a few villagers taking down the remnants of the decorations from the last greengrass festival. It was terrible luck to leave out greengrass decorations as late as the Equinox.

That meant winter would be here in a handful of months. Maybe something good would finally happen to him.


*********************************************************

He knew the sound of feet in the grass was Dawn. Xujja had barely managed to escape another encounter with her only moments earlier. She and that Westlake fellow had stopped him, offering friendly words and even an offer to sit and drink with them.

Xujja had escaped that time but now he was cornered out by the water. He thought about jumping up and running away in order to save his mind from this vexing bewitchment... but he couldnt. Running in such a manner would be embarrassing, especially in front of all these city folk.


Her first words to him werent a greeting, nor a request to sit with him. She wanted to heal his bruised face. She wanted to use her magic to fix him, again. Xujja wasnt ready to accept more of her magics, so he answered her question with a question.

"Why did you heal me the day you met me?"

"Because you were hurt." Her reply was full of sweet innocence, still Xujja couldnt accept it.

"The angry girl, the one you were with that day. She told me shamans, like you, heal folks to fill their heads with good impressions of their god."

Dawn didnt want to have to agree with that, but it was at least partly true. "Thats certainly true. Some do it for that, Some will even expect payment, and still others just want to help."

Xujja found himself looking at the ground, it was easier to watch her boots in the grass than to look up at her. She apparently noticed his gaze, because she commented on it.

"Im up here Xujja. Ill sit if you want... or ill go if you want."

Xujja wasnt sure how to answer, he was a little thankful she decided to keep talking, attempting to add a bit of humor to the conversation.

"But the last time I left here someone followed me with intent to kill... might not be the best idea."

"Right. I was trying to warn you about that when he walked up on us."

"You were?"

"He uh... told me he was gonna hunt ya down, right after I was dumb enough to give him directions to find you."

Dawn offered him an impossibly big warm smile. "And you came... to protect me?"

Xujja had felt like he had no choice but to go save her, and that thought darkened his mind. He couldnt tell her the truth, admit that her magic trick had bent his mind. Since he couldnt tell the truth, Xujja did something he had never done before. Xujja told his first lie.

"No. Maybe I was just trying to give you a good impression of the cult of Auril."

"Well if thats was your intent, It worked." Dawn spoke as she settled down next to him, without permission. Xujja had never lied before, she couldnt have had a difficult time seeing through it. She dug at the issue one more time.

"Is that why you came to save me?"

"I dont know"

"Its funny how we do things without knowing why sometimes. Still you came to save me, I owe you a favor."

Xujja tried to shrug it off, to convince her it wasnt a big deal to protect someone from a coward. While he was doing this, she came up with a very unpleasant line of thought. Xujja didnt want her to know that he had followed her, but she was quickly doing the math and realizing there was a part he was leaving out.

"But the fact that you were out there in the first place begs a question.... what were you /doing/ out there?"

The young tiefling wasnt about to tell her that he was following her because he had no choice. Xujja looked around for an escape, someone else to distract Dawn or maybe something else to talk about, anything.

His answer came from Dawns own deity, Lathander. For it was that very god who was now pushing his Sun-disc up into the sky. Xujja had found his escape even as Dawn was repeating her question. Xujja spoke over her instead of answering.

"There comes your lord on the eastern sky, waking up from the night and demanding his morning adorations"

Dawn looked to the sky, she must have known Xujja was using it as an escape of some kind but she couldnt ignore her daily prayers. She spoke as she rose to her feet.

"Well I still do owe you a favor for protecting me."

"If you say so"

"At least let me heal you for your next search into the hills"

Xujja managed a shrug and nod of acceptance. This time when dawn healed him, she didnt reach out a hand towards his wound like the first time. No, this time she leaned close and whispered a prayer... then kissed his bruised cheek. Though all magic usually impressed him, it was the kiss and not the magic that stunned him and left him unable to speak. No one, and certainly no one as pretty as Dawn, had ever placed their lips to his flesh.

While Xujja was still stunned, dawn took off towards her prayers. As she did, Xujja thought of Lathander, the god who let him off the hook. Lathander, the sun god who had shown up just in time to save him from an uncomfortable question.

Well damn... praise Lathander. Thanks

Xujja saw a couple of his more regular companions, the rough and unpleasant people he had gotten accustomed to adventuring with. He decided that tossing himself into a cave full of blood and gold was just what he needed now.

*********************************************************


Abelia was a sour girl, mean spirited and always quick with an insult. she disliked other women almost as much as she disliked men. She probably would be a prettier girl if she tried, but she liked looking hostile and mean. Xujja was comfortable with her for these reasons, her threatening behavior was so much less frightening than Dawns sweet smiles.

Abelia was with Tock. Tock was another of Ix's allies, and a frequent member of their warparties. Though a tiny hin, Tock was a violent little killer.

Xujja understood these people, they reminded him a little of his own tribe. Uncertainty had left his mind and the tiefling was looking forward to getting to something he could understand, murder and loot.

"You two look about ready to get some work done."

Abeila answered. "Thats right. We saw some goblins outside the dell caves, figured it might be a good time to look inside for more."

Xujja nodded, the bloodlust was already welling up inside him, replacing the questions spawned by Dawns sweetness.

But it was just then that he noticed Tock staring past him, turning to see what was the matter he saw her... Dawn, on the Rivermoot bridge. She was getting ready to head out for the city. He had heard her saying that earlier.

He felt that tug again, to go after her. Could he let her walk to the city alone? His companions were there, watching him in his moment of indecision. He looked back at her a long time, watched her go.

"I should... I think I should go talk to her." Xujja told his companions.

Abelia usually didnt like anything she saw, and she didnt seem to like this reaction in him any more than anything else. Her voice always dripped with uncaring sarcasm and now was no different. How she could seem so condescending with so few words always impressed him.

"Fine... Suit yourself"

********************************************************


She wont outpace me, Dawn is a soft city girl... city folks walk slower than slugs.

As he expected, it wasnt long before he caught up to Dawn. She wasnt walking however. Dawn had stopped at the falls again, and was looking up into the cascading waters.

Xujja hadnt expected her to stop. His plan was to walk behind her, just barely where he could keep her in his sights and follow her to the city like that.

Seemed none of his plans were turning out as he expected today. He stepped behind one of the bushy evergreens on the road. He would resume following her when she got back on the road.

Why did I even follow her out here? Its like I no longer command my own damned feet.

While Xujja was busy thinking, Dawn was coming closer.

She is alone on the road, no one will be here to save her from me. Ill force her to let go of this spell... or ill find a way to kill her and set myself free.

As she got closer, he knew he would be discovered or maybe had been already. He stepped out from behind the tree as she spoke.

"Is that where you were hiding yesterday, Xujja?"

The tiefling didnt answer, so Dawn kept talking herself.

"Were you following me?" She raised her eyebrows and added more. "Or were you looking out for me?"

It took him a while staring at the grass to find his answer. "I was just making sure you got to the city."

"Thank you... again."

"I guess." Xujja added, still looking at the grass.

Dawn started talking again, she invited him to walk with her. He couldnt go into the city but maybe he would walk as far as Rauvinwatch keep with her? Her words were distant echoes to him, his own thoughts forcing their way up his throat as a question.

"Why do I-" He stopped. Perhaps it would be better just to let her talk. He regretted confronting her.

"Why do you what?"

"Ill walk to the keep with you" He said, hoping his offer would deflect her question. Really, he wanted to walk with her too.

Her smile was so disarming, the fact that she almost whispered her next sentence also put him off balance. "Id like that..."

The words and the soft tone pulled his gaze up off the grass and to her face again. She was smiling wide. As he looked at her in that moment all the thoughts he had kept of her seemed to crowd his mind at once. He took a step backwards even as she stepped forward.

This was happening so fast, the thoughts and doubts spun around in his mind like two dogs chasing each others tails. He stammered out his next question with all the determination and anger that he could muster.

"Wot... wot did you /do/ to me?"

It looked like he had slapped her. The smile faded in an instant, replaced by a face that Xujja took for somewhere in between shock and hurt.

"I didnt do anything to you, Xujja."

"I /seen/ you control others. It... it wont work on me lass, not forever. Im a wild-man, no chain can hold me permanently.... and if you dont let go of this spell on me now, when I break free on my own.... Ill kill you."

Again Dawn looked confused and a little hurt, but it was not the threat to her life that she responded to.

"Spell? What spell do you think I..."

"Dont make FUN of me!" The tiefling snapped. "I aint no shaman, but I can /tell/ when my mind has been touched. I mean it... whatever hold you have on me, you let go. I cant even think of anything without you in my head. This is your chance, free me of the spell or ill find another shaman who will undo this."

"Is that why you mistrust me, avoid me...why you keep calling me a shaman?"

Xujja kept his eyes on the grass again. "I call you a shaman cause thats wot you is."

"But if I have a spell on you.. what is its purpose? To sap your strength? To make you smile? To control your heart?"

It made Xujja angry to be condescended in such a way. He considered his blade, and just ending it there...but he couldnt. His sword hung at his side, as useless as a fat city persons cat just watching mice eat its masters grain. The piece of steel he had trusted to so many times to protect his life was now a useless weight on his belt.

"You know why I followed you... because I couldnt stay behind. You know thats the reason I followed you today.... and yesterday. I know shamans trap demons"

Dawns eyes turned red and wet with tears. Xujja felt his resolve melting. She spoke while wiping the wetness from her face.

"I will undo it... if I can, If you want to stop thinking about me. That is what you want... IS IT?" she asked. She didnt seem like a shaman in control of the situation, she seemed vulnerable now. Again Xujja found himself off balance. If it wasnt a spell, and she wasnt even sure she did it or could undo it.... what was it?

"I don- why... why cant I stop thinking about you?"

Her answer hit him with a force that he could only compare to an avalanche happening inside his head.

"I dont know Xujja... probably the same reason I havent stopped thinking about /you/ since that day either. Dont you even know... I /like/ to look at your horns?"

Many times since entering the civilized world had he been disoriented, lost, and outright dumbfounded by the things that had happened to him but none were like this moment. He felt stupid as he looked for his words.

"So you.... really... dont know? This... isnt... some spell you cast?"

He looked back to her, forgetting to be afraid of her gaze he searched her face for a clue as he spoke again.

"You really... didnt do this then?"

She was still crying as he looked to her for an answer. Seeing her face like that pulled him closer, he took a step towards her.

"I didnt mean to do anything to you, Xujja" she replied, also stepping closer to him as he came towards her. "But I think I know a way to tell if there is something affecting you."

"You know a way to.. check?"

"perhaps" she said as they both took another step closer to one another.

Curiosity was replacing his fear now, he hung on her next words.

"Tell me Xujja... are your thoughts your own?"

"No... I dont think so. I think they are your thoughts."

"Why do you think that" The two came another step closer as she asked him that.

"Because... you are in them all. When I sit to drink, or wait idle at the riverside. Even when I am in the caves looking for blood and loot... I think that perhaps I should have stayed in the village in case you came along looking for me."

Dawn smiled through her tears. "But those arent /my/ thoughts... those are thoughts /of/ me."

"Im not sure I know the difference."

They were close now, about an arms length away as dawn spoke again.

"If your thoughts were mine... you would know what Im thinking, what I want so much right now."

"Wot do you want right now?"

"You dont know? Then your thoughts are your own."

She added more while Xujja tried to absorb all this. "If I had control of you... you would be doing right now what I wanted. Since you arent, I must not have any special control over you."

The words pulled Xujja that last step closer to her, she was still talking.

"You are free to do.. as you will."

That second seemed frozen in time for a thousand years. It was dusk on the equinox. The time right between Summer and Winter, that time between night and day.

The beautiful girl he was staring at seemed perfectly poised, waiting for... something.

His hand reached to her face, gray fingers touched a perfect pale cheek. Xujja caressed her ear. Any other time he would have been surprised to see her lean /into/ his touch but now it seemed right, so very natural, as she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek back against his hand.

The Equinox. It was on that perfect day when neither Chauntea nor Auril ruled the seasons, it was in that perfect moment when neither Lathander nor Shar ruled the sky... it was in that most perfect, cosmic, moment that...

Dawn and Xujja had their first kiss.




___________________________________________________________




Thanks again to everyone reading.

J
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Mick
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Post by Mick »

Way cool! I am having so much fun with this story. :D
Talk less. Listen more.

Current PCs: ?
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pangolin
Shambling Zombie
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Post by pangolin »

this just gets better and better
"...And when they catch you, they will kill you.
But first, they must catch you..."
Richard Adams
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dergon darkhelm
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Post by dergon darkhelm »

the love that dare not speak its name ;)


((great story))
PCs: NWN1: Trailyn "Wayfarer" Krast, Nashkel hayseed

NWN2: ??

gsid: merado_1
mr duncan
Owlbear
Posts: 502
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2004 7:36 pm

Post by mr duncan »

The little gray boy ran trough the knee-deep snow with a fish in hand, though he ran with everything he had he never let his grip on the fish slip.

The other five boys that were also running were not his playmates, in fact the little gray boy had never had a playmate. These children were intent on taking his fish.

Usually the other children avoided him, fearful of the demon-spawn, but it had been a poor day for fishing... any of their parents would be proud to see them come home with food for the family... Xujja had the only fish they had seen all day.

Xujja felt like he was a match for any two of the other children, but probably not five. He had made this mistake of running a direction that would take him further from home, if he had headed for home he might have avoided this.

His legs were cramped from kneeling over a hole in the ice all day, waiting for that damned fish. He waited all day for the meal in his hands but all that waiting would be for nothing now.

He could hear their feet just behind him, catching up to him. The first of the children caught him, a hand on his elbow and then a club to the back of the head. He was only partly conscious as he hit the snow, seeing the fish flop out of his hands and into the cold white powder.

Dropping the fish didnt stop the attack There were five of them and he was one. It was the perfect time for a beating.

He could still see out of one of his eyes. With the eye that wasnt full of sparks, he could see clearly the bright red stain on the snow. One of the boys landed a particularly hard blow onto his side, he felt his ribs crack, but even as they beat him his mind was on the red stain.


Its so pretty. The red blood on the white snow like that... I wonder if this is the last thing ill see.


Another stick came down on his head, everything went black.


***********************************************************

Abelias cold blue eyes fit perfectly with her scowl. The scowl was no surprise, as long as Xujja had known her he had never seen her smile. Despite her constant foul mood, Xujja found that she was a reliable partner and nearly as bloodthirsty as his own people.

The two shared a dry spot under a willow tree, keeping out of the rain. Their search for loot out in the hills had been almost as dismal as the weather. They usually kept their words to a minimum, but the mood was strange that day, and they were crowded closer together than usual with the rain forcing them under the shelter of the tree.

As with most conversations it started easy, with subjects like rum and the frustration of being poor. After a rather long awkward silence, Xujja couldnt help but ask her about his situation.


"You think im being a fool... dont you? about Dawn"

"Im thinkin that you are about ready for a rude awakening."

Xujja had expected something unpleasant from her, but he also expected that his situation was going to be a difficult one and perhaps a sour girl like Abelia would have the answers.

"What do you mean? She isnt who she seems to be?"

"This is how it will work. Her superiors will hear about this, and they will sit her down for a little chat and she will be given a choice. She will chose them, not you."

Xujja was quiet for a long time, just staring at his bottle of rum. Abelia didnt move either, still standing with arms crossed, scowling out at the falling rain. It took him a while to accept what she said, even though he knew it for truth.

"Yeah, you are probably right. I guess... Well, she should chose them over me anyway."


*********************************************************


They were drinking Winter Wine again. The thick expensive wine was the most decadent, civilized, thing that Xujja had ever tasted. The name seemed lucky, but that didnt seem like enough of a reason to return to it. He could feel the taint of the city staining him much like the wine would stain linens. Still, he kept drinking.

"I think the only sane folks in this kingdom are the dwarves" the tiefling said to his companion.

"Yes, Id noticed you seem to get along relatively well with them... I guess they relate well to your honesty and violent nature"

"That fella, Ironbeard, he said he that scowling jackass had overstepped his bounds.... I think he said he was gonna say something to him about it... but its so hard to understand him."

"So it turned out to be some real feelings, eh? You really kissed that cutie, Dawn?

Normally the question would have embarrassed him but the drink was strong in his belly.

"Yeah, I sure did. Aint nothin like that ever happened to me." The teifling shrugged. "Never thought it would"

"Why on earth not? Xujja... horns or not, girls love a big thug. If you wanted, you could have a dozen of them."

"I think your confidence comes from your pink skin, you fit in."

"No... really, girls love the alpha male thing. Its only your own shyness thats held you back from tasting all the pleasures of the flesh."

Xujja still looked doubtful as he took another swig of the sweet Winter Wine. Ix kept talking.

"Its about time you stopped thinking of yourself as less than these people... these dirt-dwelling farmers, guards, and sellswords. They are /nothing/ friend... yet you accept their judgements of you without a word of argument."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean they tell you that you are a freak... and you swallow it."

"So you think its not true.... but you are one person. Dosnt the crowd decide what /is/ normal?"

Ix laughed before responding.

"No Xujja... let me teach you about the planes..."

"Plains? wots grasslands got to do with this?"

"Not grasslands, other /worlds/ beyond our own..."


********************************************************

It was still raining, and Abelia still hadnt moved nor compromised her scowl. Xujja wondered if she enjoyed giving him this unpleasant advice, but then he reasoned she probably never enjoyed anything. Still here words made sense.

"And guess what? When she /does/ ditch you for her faith... it will mean she /never/ really gave a damn about you at all. She just thought she was supposed to be sweet to you, thats all."

"So you think she is just acting? But... if she is doing it because she is supposed to... then why do most people seem surprised by it?"

"She is just doing it to seem noble. Being kind to someone that everybody calls a freak and such. Trying to show how /wonderful/ her god is... but she dont care, not really."

It was then, looking at Abelia scowl and speak unpleasant truths that he realized how much she seemed like a younger version of his mother.

******************************************************

The little boy expected a beating for coming home without a fish. That however was not the reason he was beaten by his mother when he got home.

No, he was not beaten for the loss of the fish. As the leather strap came raining down on his head, shoulders, and the arms he put up to protect his face... she yelled at him for... losing a fight.

A terrible beating as punishment for receiving a terrible beating.

When she was exhausted from beating her son, Ingriss of White-Pines dragged her child to the remnants of the houses stairs and locked him in the tiny space under them. Her son had lost his first fight, and he had to be taught that failure was not acceptable. Only victory or death.

Three days locked in a tiny lightless hole should do the trick. Even after the door was closed and the bolt slid in place he could still hear his mother bitching.

"Five boys.... Five, and you didnt kill one of them. What kind of son am I raising here?"


*********************************************************

They had been drinking a while now, but Ix had stayed focused on the subject rather well. Xujja failed to grasp a lot of it, but he was starting to get the gist as he listened to his half-elf friend.

"And those /lower/ planes as they are called are home to demons, and devils. The source of your horns, coloration, and fangs."

"You explained it well enough I guess... but it dosnt stop folks from hating me."

"Thats not the point im trying to make, not at all."

"Then what do you mean?"

"They dont hate you... they /fear/ you. The frightened dog barks the loudest"

Xujja was silent, listening as Ix kept talking.

"Demons... are much greater in power than these stupid jackasses. When these ignorant sons-of-farmers narrow their eyes at you... they only want you to THINK its hate. Its just fear, weak, spineless, fear."

Still Xujja didnt speak, and still Ix went on.

"These people are accustomed to being on the top of the food chain. They dominate the goblins and orcs... but to a demon, they are as sheep quaking in front of a hungry wolf."

Xujja drank more. What Ix was saying felt good to hear, but he was always hesitant to believe something he wanted to believe. Ix was still talking.

"Like that stupid guard that stared all angry at you... he /already/ knows who you are... he had his fill of questions your first day here in this hole of a village. If he had no fear of you, he wouldnt have such a reaction."

"I thought it was because he was jealous that Dawn kissed me."

"There might be a bit of that too... but no, it goes deeper than jealousy. He fears the powers of the lower planes... just a sheep hoping to make enough noise to scare the wolf."

Ix looked right at Xujja, and pressed his point.

"You are not a freak... nor an omega wolf, you are /better/ than these shit-kicking bumpkins in shiny armor. They can put on their pretty suits, and march around with a thousand weaklings calling them heroes... but their blood is as common as the dirt their farmer fathers toil in."

Xujja only nodded, still listening as Ix kept talking.

"But you... have the blood of immortals. Demons, Devils and other inhabitants of the lower planes. Now you listen to me, I could find any one of a dozen idiot sword swingers for my crew... they are a copper for a dozen... but a Tiefling? No... you are something better than your sword."

Ix noted the Tieflings frown of doubt.

"You still dont believe me? Let me remind you of this... you have already admitted the dwarves you admire so much here treat you with a modicum of respect"

"Yeah"

"Thats because most dwarves are rugged warriors that dont scare easy. THATS why they can talk to you like a normal person... because they arent about to piss their pants because of your fangs."

That last point made sense to Xujja. Ix hammered his point home one more time.

"Dwarves are a people superior to humans, and so are you"

"Why are you telling me all this?"

"Because I dont have sheep in my pack, just wolves. You keep being drawn to being more and more human... but that is the /weak/ half of your blood. Im telling you this because I want you to wake up. Wake up and embrace your heritage."

Xujja did indeed feel like he was waking up from a long deep slumber.


**********************************************************

Dawn made her excuse to head off for some rest in the village, before she went she gave him another hug, and kissed his cheek.

Xujja usually shrank from the presence of pretty girls, but Dawns unrelenting sweetness always made him feel comfortable. He hugged her with one arm and returned the kiss.

It wasnt even embarassing that the Dwarf Garlus saw them, in fact it made the tiefling a little proud that she would so openly embrace him in front of others.

*********************************************************

His mother left the house rarely, and even more rarely did she take him along.

Xujja walked very slowly, keeping behind her all the way to the villages gravesite. There she started showing the boy different headstones.

"That one there... and that one... oh, and that one" the old crone said as she pointed out grave markers. She must have singled out two dozen, almost half the graves.

She asked her son "Do you know what all these grave have in common?"

The boy just shook his head and waited for his mothers answer.

"I killed them all... before I was twenty"

It didnt surprise him one bit. His mother was a terror even as an old crippled crone... she must have been a fierce warrior in her prime. The old woman kept talking to her gray-skinned son.

"Twenty men before I even left home to become a real killer."

She hobbled over to one of the grave markers for a better look.

"Now son, if your mother, a woman, can do this to twenty men... dont you think you deserve to be locked up for a while as punishment for losing a fight?"

"Yes mother."

"You are an ugly little monster of a boy, and no one will ever love you. Do you understand? Do you grasp what this will mean in your life?"

"I think so mother."

A swooshing sound preceded her crutch hitting the side of his head.

"You dont 'think so'... boy. If you are attacked by five boys... you have to be as fierce as SIX boys."

Xujja swallowed and nodded, his mother went on.

"Your weakness is an embarrassment in the face of my war-deeds. If I am raising you just to run off and die to the first gutter-dweller with a knife that you meet... well then I might as well drown you myself and save our ancestors the embarrassment of having such a worm in our family."


"I understand mother"

"You do? So if you lose another fight without breaking someones arm or killing one of your attackers... you wont cry when I drag you out to the lakes to drown you?"


"No mother"


"Im glad we had this little talk, son. Im headed home now, you go out to the lake.. and dont come back without a goddamned fish."




___________________________________________________________




Thanks again to everyone reading.


J
mr duncan
Owlbear
Posts: 502
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2004 7:36 pm

Post by mr duncan »

Outside the walls of Silverymoon, sat a young man with horns and skin the color of a dark cloudy day. He was dressed in ratty armor with bits tied together of a dozen other suits of armor and animal skins. This horned creature didnt seem the contemplative type, but deep thinking was just what he was doing as he stared into the sky watching clouds race across the starry night.


To the simple savage wearing ratty armor, thoughts of absolute truths and the purpose of creation were certainly a luxury. The last few years had been pretty busy and he'd had other things on his mind.



********************************************************

Will those sons of bitches ever finish eating?

The Lumber camp to most Faerunian eyes would have resembled an orc fort. Indeed that race dominated the camp, but it was for the city of Luskan that the slaves here toiled for, and it was for that dark city that the lash beat. Being a port city with a massive navy, Luskan had a huge appetite for lumber.

Xujja was sixteen now he reasoned. After a year of being chained up as a lumberjack in this camp he had grown tall and thick of arm, in a gang of nine slaves chained in order of size, he was now the fourth slave. Two gnolls had the enviable position of being the biggest two slaves in his gang and thus were chained up first. Between him and them was a half-orc, a Luskanite like the whipmasters, but one who had lost his freedom to gambling debts. Xujja wanted to identify with the gnolls, they had been born free like him... but they ate all the food. He looked on with growing rage as they not only ate all the meat off the bones but now were about to crack them open and gnaw for the marrow.


The whipmaster was watching closely but while he would always step in and break up fights between two gangs, he never protected anyone from their own gang. This was a tool of control. You feared your gangleader, and did what he said.. and he in turn feared the whipmaster and made sure his gang got the lumber.


The young tiefling was so angry he started to get a headache. His forehead felt almost as bad as his belly. Xujja felt like he might lose control and become a raving madman, he wanted to hurt something. He glanced at the half-orc shivering in the cold next to him and then right back at the second gnoll in line. The bastard was using his rough tongue to lick a persistent scrap of meat from the giant deer bone.


He bit down on his lip as he often did when forced to dwell on a thought he didnt like. As it had many times in the last year, one of his newly-grown fangs drew blood as he clamped down on his lip with it.


It was the taste of blood that made him snap. He didnt even know what he was doing till he had grabbed ahold of the gnoll and sunk his teeth into its neck. By the time the pain hit him and he felt his first shiver of fear, it was too late. He was pretty sure the gangleader would help the other gnoll, but it was better to die fighting than die of hunger.


*********************************************************


Over the green grassy hill came a lucky man wearing an unlucky color. It was one of the few people he would call a friend now, Xujja realized he was starting to relate to some city folk. Ix was a shaman, and seemed to the young tiefling to be able to sniff out victims and their loot. Thats probably why he was able to collect a decent crew of adventurers.

Ix wore a velvety red coat over his chain shirt. He had the city-sickness, and it showed in almost everything the young noble did. From his perfect manicure to his scented hair.

"Well well, my horned friend... you sir are in a most unusual spot."

"Aye, didnt expect to see you either."

Xujja was sitting outside the walls of the city of Silverymoon. Over a hill and away from the guards, but close enough to see the city. He had been sitting there all night watching clouds roll in from the north and west.

"What are you were for anyway? Someone buying you supplies?"

"No. Im just waiting to see if Dawn comes back out of the city."

"If?"

"Aye. She went in with intent to talk to the head Sun-Shaman. Just gonna ask him wot he thinks about bein told about us."

"Oh my... thats right. You said that guard wrote to him, tattling like a little sister."

"Aye, somethin like that"

"And you think she isnt coming back out?"

Xujja Shrugged. "Thats what Abelia said would happen, and really... no one should chose someone over their faith. Why would she come back?"

"Then tell me why you are sitting here again?"

"In case she comes back?"


*******************************************************


When the sound of his own blood pulsing in his ears subsided enough, he could hear the sounds of cheers and rough laughter. His ribs hurt, but they had been broken before plenty of times by his own tribe...in the end the gnoll hadnt given him a beating any worse than what he had lived through before.

The gnoll had died as Xujja crushed its throat in his fangs. It had furiously punched at his sides but in his rage the barbarian just bit harder and tried to hold off the punches with his hands. He had only survived because the half-orc was as hungry as Xujja, and had decided to attack the leader when he saw the tieflings own display of violent rage.

The other nine gangs in the camp had moved closer to watch the fight, as had the whipmaster and his guards. As his eyes came back into focus Xujja realized that the fight was still going on. The gnoll in his grasp had gone limp and dead but right next to him the other two were still struggling. Xujjas first instinct was to get as far away from the fight as the chain connecting them would allow.

Reason returned to him quick enough however, Xujja had his first lesson in mathematics. He glanced behind him at the rest of his lumber-gang. A bunch of humans shivering in the cold night... they were standing as far behind him and the fight as their chains would allow.

Theres no way that half-blood orc can eat as much as the gnoll.

Even as a numbing exhaustion from his first fight set in, broken gray fingers clamped down on a sharp shard of the deers femur. The gnoll was starting to win the fight, rolling atop and strangling the green skinned Luskan. Xujja took a few steps forward and started stabbing his gang leader in the back with the sharp end of the bone. This time he could hear the crowd cheer and howl very clearly.


*****************************************************


"Xujja my friend... you could baffle even the greatest of minds, Im sure of it." said the over-dressed nobleman.

The tiefling only shrugged. Ix was smiling and curious now, he kept talking as he settled to sit against another nearby tree.

"So spell this out for me. Youve... been spending time with this girl, and you like that, wich isnt all to suprising to hear a man say... but you, dont expect to see her back? AND you are still still waiting.. in case?"

"Why not?"

"She must be an awfully good kisser" Ix seemed to be enjoying this.

Xujja laughed. "I guess so. Yeah"

******************************************************


Dawn and Xujja walked down the road under the dark cloak of Shars starry night. Dawn stopped to watch the sky, and her companion also looked upward.

They had stopped on the road to talk several times now, as if not wanting to reach their destination. They were going to Silverymoon, and Xujja was sure she would be forbidden from seeing him again. He was looking at the sky with Dawn, but it was Abelias words that echoed in his head.

Thats life for you, the further you get your hopes up, is exactly how much worse you make it when you are finally let down.

Abelia was right, but that didnt mean he wouldnt go. It would hurt pretty bad in a three or four days he reasoned, but he did want to go with her now. The suffering later would just be more suffering, he was pretty good at that he reasoned.

*********************************************************


It was the Whip-master that spoke now, usually he only raised his voice to decide who was to be lashed, or killed. It seemed odd to Xujja to hear him laugh as he spoke.

"Banes Black Fist! Them boys is fierce!" He nodded his head to one of the guards, and a few scraps that had been destined for the guard dogs was tossed to the tiefling and the half-orc. The whipmaster walked closer to them as the guards started pushing the other gangs back to their own places. He looked over Xujja and spoke to him directly.

"Maybe twelve gold was worth the price for you after all. You know thats a little more than twice what I paid here for your new gang leader?" the whipmaster nodded to the halforc who was as busy stuffing his face with deer scraps and bits of goblin as Xujja was. The grizzled orc whipmaster continued as the two ate.

"Youll have two less for a while, at least for a tenday. Less men, but I expect the same lumber from you, or its ten lashes for every stripped tree you fall short."

The half-orc nodded his agreement as did Xujja. He reasoned they would probably fall short, but he had been lashed a thousand times and a thousand times again. The important thing was that now he was second in line to eat.

He was gnawing on the same shard of bone that he used to kill the gnoll as they dragged the bodies of the two off to be added to tomorrows meal.



********************************************************


Ix adopted the tone of a curious friend. "Well how do you really know if she is the only girl youve ever kissed?"

"I guess I dont....but I like it."

"Not that youll get it ever again?"

"Right. I mean, I guess Ill go when I get hungry."

"How about when you get greedy?"

"Aye, I'll get back to work eventually. I guess my thoughts are a priority now, I wouldnt be focused anyway."

"Well when all this is over, you just remember what I said about dozens of girls, and big cutters, right? Theres plenty more girls besides Dawn in the world."

Xujja could only shrug and nod, thankfully Ix had gotten bored of not talking about himself. Ix quickly got back to important things.

"Oh... look what I found in the city!" He said as he produced a lute and began putting the strings on it.

"You probably dont know what teakwood is, Xujja. Its a very fine grained tree from far to the south. Excellent for making ships, but also valued for its use in the creation of fine instruments... its terribly expensive..."

expensive, thats the real reason he likes it. But then shouldnt a proper warrior have real battlegear? Is there a difference there? Am I getting sick?

Ix played a song with his new instrument, and talked about how nice it was for a while longer before getting bored and drifting off and leaving him alone once again. It was still dark, Xujja went back to watching the sky.

Attachment breeds weakness, Civilization is evil.

A few more clouds had joined the first one, high thin clouds that were spread wide blocking out most of the stars now. The gray and white of the clouds at night slowly showed a tiny glimmer of pink. He had been sitting thinking all night.

But I admit desire. I thirst for fine wines. I lust for wargear, dont I? I want Dawn so bad im sitting here just to maintain a fantasy till I get hungry and have to walk away myself. If that aint corrupt, I dont know what is.

He still didnt get up, the clouds were pretty and he wasnt hungry yet.

*******************************************************

The old womans chuckle would to most people be a terrible thing, raspy and with no small amount of cruelty, but the little gray boy with two bumps on his forehead liked what followed.

"Holy hells boy.... this might be the only time you never done failed so miserably."

It was midwinters night. The crones one remaining foot was bare, hanging off the porch into the snow. She had forced her son to sit there, naked, on the icy porch. Neither of them shivered from the cold though it was the deepest dark of winter in the tundra on the longest night of the year. His mother kept talking to him, almost sounding nostalgic.

"When I was a little girl... me and my brother stayed up all night like this for the holy night. Naked like you is.... ats how we lost em."

The crone turned her terrible visage on him. "You know why he froze ta death?"

Xujja felt a beating coming on.


To hell with it, just say it.

"Cause he was weak." Xujja waited, determined not to cringe... but the sound of the swinging crutch never came. Instead she gave him a terrible smile.

"Ats right boy. We both shivered like crazy that night... he got scared. He wanted to go back inside, but pa wouldnt let him. The men went out on their hunt... and we fell asleep. When the adults got back, he were froze an I werent."

The evil old woman was looking at her crutch, stained with the blood of her son, she smiled again and asked her son another question.

"You know I only beat you for weakness, and stupidity. Youd best be learnin while im whippin you."

"Is that why you didnt hit me just now?"

"A little. I decided not to hit you cause you aint shivering. You aint scared."

In the distance the wolf howls stopped, they had made a kill close to the village. Close enough for their snarling and messy devouring to be heard by the two on the porch.

********************************************************


He must have been hungry, his belly hurt, but it didnt hurt so bad as it had before. He kept sitting there.

It was hunger that made him think at first he wasnt seeing Dawn, he had been hungry enough to see things before, but not just from one day of not eating. She had to be real.

He felt sort of numb as they talked, like it wasnt happening. Dawn looked all normal and casual to the tiefling. He had to ask.

"So... how did that go in there?"

"Cayn was busy, but said that we definitely had to talk soon. He didnt look happy."

Xujja was lost on an unpleasant thought, Dawn Sat down with him.



********************************************************


Thats life for you, the further you get your hopes up, is exactly how much worse you make it when you are finally let down.


*******************************************************


Dawn looked surprised at where his thoughts had led, as if she had never even considered the things he had been thinking about.

"Well... he certainly can drive me out of matins... but /you/ are the only one that can keep me away from you." The girl said to him.

"I thought you shamans had to obey and such."

"I only have to obey Lathander. He knows my heart and he hasnt abandoned me. I knew on the day you saved me, my attraction to you wasnt pointless. "

"Dont you see how... eventually the will of light and warmth will turn on, or seek to erode the cold and hard?"

"I also see how on a clear day the sun can shine on snowy mountains and both exist at the same time."

Sometimes, like now, Xujja found her sweet optimism staggering. He couldnt resist it any more than the Winter Wine and like the drink it threatened to overwhelm his rational thought. He fought against it.

"I know you have met a lot of people who didnt want what was best for you, and lied. I am not one of those people. Like I said you are the only person that can pull me away from you."

Xujja found it hard to find words, he was looking at his hand on her knee. She set her hand down atop his.

Its been a long time since I was scared of something


**********************************************************

The little boy and the withered crone sat in silence at the wolves devoured some unknown thing in the snowy evergreens near their house. The sounds eventually faded a bit but could still be heard behind his mothers voice.

"That there son... you hear that? Them there tundra wolves live in the dark and cold that scares men. Thems is Aurils creatures, they is fearless cause they is wots feared."

The old woman was looking off into the woods towards the sounds as she continued her lecture.

"Why did you run that day you were beat bad?"

"I didnt want to lose the fish, It were a big one."

"You sure you werent scared of them boys?"

"No, I was hungry. I promise, mother."

"Good. You done saved yourself another whippin on this holy day. Cant no son of mine be motivated by fear. Hunger... thats acceptable, bein that I already gave you a good beatin for losin the fight I aint gonna beat ya now."

She leveled her gaze at him. "Them holy creatures know when to wait, and when to bite. They know that being controlled by fear an hesitation is the way to the bottom, to bein ate."


*******************************************************


"So what will it be? What will /you/ chose then Xujja?" Dawn asked as they sat hand in hand under the same tree he had been sitting at for so long now.

It felt almost like a trick, somehow he was just getting to decide what he wanted. She had been saying she wanted to be with him, and to see him happy. The image of snowy mountains on a clear sunny day had made an impression. There was some clear logic he understood in that. Being scared of the girl eventually turning on him wasnt nearly as pleasing or exciting as accepting this impossible gift he was being offered. Only a shivering weakling would turn it down.

The two walked hand in hand back down the road to Rivermoot after sharing whispered words and a few more kisses.


______________________________________________________









Thanks again to everyone still reading.

J
mr duncan
Owlbear
Posts: 502
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2004 7:36 pm

Post by mr duncan »

It was raining again. He couldnt help but be glad it was a different girl he was sharing a dry spot with, he didnt feel the same about seeing her upset and almost scowling like Abelia had been when she had been standing under cover from the rain with him. Abelia would frown and hiss rain or shine. Dawn never looked like that, except for now.

A strange sensation he eventually recognized as regret settled on him. Sometimes being honest was a terrible hassle.

Lies would have made everything so easy. Ix said honor is a lie, too bad I feel so guilty doing it. Honor is a lie? Madman.... lucky one though.


**********************************************************


At first Xujja took them for a good omen, being two blue stones and blue being such a lucky, blessed, color.

Omens from the city can be backwards though

Dawn was putting the stones in his hand. "He wanted me to give you these."

Xujja shrugged. "I expected this, you know. Well not exactly... but it was bound to happen."

"What do you mean" the sad little blond girl asked him.

"Well lass, Im lost on a lot of things... but some are even obvious to me." He said as he was looking down at the two gems. His first instinct once associating them with something unpleasant was to sell them off to a dwarf he knew.

Whoa... no! That old fella collects rocks cause he loves em... these is... cursed rocks. Damn, what to do with these rocks? So tempting to sell them though... I want some proper wargear. Cursed goddamned rocks.

*****************************************************


Sitting under a willow tree in the rain with Abelia.

Thats life for you, the further you get your hopes up, is exactly how much worse you make it when you are finally let down.


******************************************************

"Alright lass... suppose you are doin what I do... rootin around in caves lookin for somethin to cut an loot, right? An... you find a gem the size of your fist. A big ole diamond."

The pretty, yet sad girl nodded as she listened to him.

"Others is gonna wish they found it, some would want it... know envy."

The girl was still quiet, listening to the tiefling.

"Now, you consider that the willing sweetness wot like you bestow on me... youd have to struggle to measure that in sackfuls of fist-sized diamonds."

******************************************************

Ix and Xujja were eating a meal of raw salmon that the tiefling had caught. Ix brought the drinks.

"Xujja my friend... you have a passion for everything you do. But really, sometimes you can be such a bumpkin. Work on that will you?"


******************************************************

That news made the girls shoulders slump with defeat. Apparently the things thoron had said to her that shed been confused about fit, with Xujjas guess. After a moment of that she stood up, looking across the river at Thoron.

"I should go talk to him."

Xujja heard two women talking to him at once. As he was listening to Dawn speak, he was pretty sure he heard his mother snarling at him also.

Just cut that bitch loose, boy.

Xujja shrugged and offered an indifferent nod to the standing girl.

"If what you say is true, he is going to run off and do something dangerous."

Another shrug from the tiefling. "Probably. Seems a weak kinda thing to do though."

And thats one of the folk she said Id get along with? Eh, Tock does... only Tock aint cozy with a girl he wanted.

"What do you think I should do, Xujja?"

"I think if you are all that worried about it... you chose the wrong cutter and you should get on over there?"


****************************************************


Ix and Xujja had eaten almost half the sliced raw salmon and exotic wines.

"Oh... I was thinking of something I was wanting to try the other day... and I thought youd probably like it too, friend."

"wassat?" Xujja grunted between bites of fish.

"Its called Jhuild. Its a red powder that.."

Xujja had an immediate frown from the mention of the unlucky color.

"Listen to all the good parts first, my horned friend."

Xujja took a breath and waited for more.

"Alright.. alters your sensations sort of like your wines and ales. You inhale it as a powder into your nose. Now the people who usually like it... are warriors. Its from way out east, and you like new things... and there is no fire involved."

Xujja was quiet for a long while before speaking. "No fire... not even in making the stuff?"

"You know friend... I dont know. Ill look into it."

"I will too. I guess Ill try... whatever, as long as im not puttin fire or smoke in my body, like... for nourishment, or even entertainment. Bad magics there."

******************************************************

Dawn sat down. "I dont think you understand me."

"We had a talk about an apple tree...and always knowing, for sure that it came from an apple seed, and no other?"

"Yes, but you still arent listening."

The teifling shut up to let the pretty little blond girl talk.

"I understand when you said its not my fault... but it /feels/ like my fault."

Xujja waited for more from her.

"When my friends hurt, I really.... feel it."

The tiefling was a little surprised that she was still sitting there. He felt he had given her a pretty rough shove out towards the other male. It was a little bit of Abelia coming out in him he realized. A test, like tossing your child to a wolf, or nailing his hands to the porch on midwinters night. She really was a lot like his mother.

Dawn looked to him. "All this time Ive known him and I never noticed. I cant help but feel bad. Dont you have any feelings for anything... what about... me?"

Xujja didnt respond fast enough for her, she kept talking, so he let her.

"What if I... What if I found out my father had fallen?"

Xujja was still enough of a superstitious savage to reflexively make a warding gesture, and touch the snowflake on his forehead.

"Lass... thats unlucky to say such things. You tempt the Holy Black Bitch. The name you cant say."

Beshaba provides.

Dawn looked lost, their roles totally reversed for a while. Xujja had known what was going on, and she had bumbled. He decided that he wanted her to understand.

"Can I uh... tell you a story?"

"Yes" Dawn said with no hesitation.

"Do you know what a Carrion Crawler is?"


******************************************************

Summer in the lumber camp was the worst. It distracted him and made them make a stupid mistake.

Summer really was the worst time to cut trees. Carrion crawlers in a rotten tree, a tree they handt even checked the tree before trying to cut it. A stupid mistake and now he was lying paralyzed on the forest floor while a giant repugnant bug was trying to eat him.

I wonder if the guards will save me? Im worth 12 gold coins after all.

*****************************************************


"...so the half-orc got his belly chewed open and passed on there, but I were lucky. The whipmasters guards came stompin along and cut up the bugs an I only got my leg chewed on a bit.

Dawn was quiet now, listening to his story.

Anyway... that fella an me, went through a lot. I told you that story about the gnolls. I hate them... they eat everything.

Dawn nodded, she understood whenever Xujja got on the subject of gnolls he got upset. Usually he fumed a while and complained about how much they ate. She seemed to know enough to not ask about them, as it would only anger and sidetrack him if dwelt on.

"Even though he were a Luskan, I guess you could say he were my first friend. That halforc, and for a handful of months... my gangleader workin in chains for that black hole."

Dawns face now showed sympathy for him, a sad story. Xujja knew the tale was about to sink into an abyss. He felt sorry for Dawn while he was telling her these things... but he kept saying them. She had asked, and he had given her the chance not to hear it, but she hadnt backed down. She must have wanted to know.

"So... I wouldnt be sittin here today if that fella hadnt saved me a few times and I him...but I also wouldnt be here if I hadnt eaten him once he had passed too."

Dawns jaw dropped slighly, she recoiled as he had expected. He kept talking.

"If id have gone... two... three weeks being worked without eating, aye. I wouldnt be here at all.... and thats wot happens to slaves that fall on the job. They get chopped up and tossed in the pot, to save time on the guards needing to hunt... or spend money on meat for slaves."

He saw the shock and horror he had expected, but she also listened with rapt attention. An... acceptance of something so unwholesome. He wasnt sure how he felt about seeing that on her face.

"I was... never quite sure it were him.... but, you know... some of it /had/ to be... it were chopped up in the slaves stew... all mished with other things... so you couldnt tell, you know.. just by lookin. I figured after two weeks he was gone... an I stopped worrying about him."

The poor little blond Sun cultist looked defeated, and it was still raining. He wondered what made him feel so good. That she had heard that and was still sitting there? The slight hint of fascination she had displayed listening to the story he had thought would sicken and scare her?

She was impossibly pretty, all drenched in cold rain and with slumped shoulders. He thought about kissing her cheek, but she had sat to far away. He kept talking instead.

"So... a cutter that didnt want you enough to act over... however long you knew him..."

"A few months"

"Right.. that long. I think you have had a pretty soft life, if Im allowed to say that"

The girl nodded as he kept talking.

"I just have a different... perspective on whats of value. I dont get upset cause some cutter is jealous. Really lass... you didnt think a pretty girl everyone wanted to kiss on deciding to chose a fella with horns and fangs... and they would be all happy roses about it?"

Dawn slowly shook her head. "My father always said that to me, id be a heartbreaker"

Xujja shrugged, and nodded his agreement.

"I guess.. I want to you know you feel something... for /me/? at least?"

"You can rest assured."

"I can?" she doubted him.

Xujja found himself wanting her to be happy. There was really only one thing that he could tell her to make her happy now, and he was really not wanting to admit it. It was a secret that once exposed would lead to a lot of questions from Dawn. It galled him to give up such a secret, but he saw the sun coming up... and decided to tell her. He could always make it take long enough till he didnt want to talk anymore... then nag her about her prayer duties to shoo her away.

"Hey, you want to know a secret?" he asked the girl.

Dawn Nodded. The tiefling she was with had told her some very dark things tonight, but still she was able to listen for more.

"Twice now, since knowing his name... Ive offered a prayer to your Sun lord."

The change in topics took dawn for another surprise. "Really? she excitedly looked to the sky wich was now barely turning pink. "Come with me." she added.

Xujja knew that was the first of the questions to expect. He hadnt wanted to tell her that. When they had first met, she had claimed that she never offered a prayer to Auril once, not even on the great festival day. He wasnt about to actually pray to her god with her... till he had seen her praying to his Queen first. He didnt want to tell her that either.

"Aye... yes. Really. Twice, like I said, but I cant go with you to pray."

"You cant?" A little bit of defeat came into her eyes again.

"I dont pray a whole lot, just with reasons. Rarely... not just yet for that lass. You better get going, its time for your daily prayers. Hurry up now... you might have to run like last time."

"I might. I can we take a walk afterwards?"

"Sure, Ill be right here"

*********************************************************

Ah.... at one point in my life... I actually sold for less money than these two little rocks would sell for.

Xujja had figured out what to do with the cursed gems. It had come to him while he was watching dawn run off to the high bridge for prayers.

He moved closer to the river, and once Dawn was out of sight he prayed.

Great White Queen. These gems are awfully pretty... and layered with unpleasant thoughts of loss and woe. I can think of no other that would want, or deserve these as much as you. No mortal I know could survive carrying them anyway.

The tiefling held the sparkling gems tight a moment before letting them go into the river.

A sacrifice, for the midwinter maiden... if you can even hear me.

He sat back down and looked at the river.

Only Dawn should represent Dawn, if I have her I do... If I dont, I wouldnt need anything to remember her anyway.


*******************************************************

There she was, happy and renewed as she said she would always be. Dawn was standing on the far side of the river, waving her arm to beckon him to her.

When he got there, she took him by the hand and led him away from the village. She took him to the waterfall. The spent a while looking around from different perspectives before deciding to sit right up close to the falls at the banks. Dawn tossed her cloak on the grass.

"I wonder who that is? You think theres a goddess of waterfalls? or maybe... fresh water?"

Dawn smirked at him. "Im not sure Xujja... but theres something else."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yes, something I cant wait for any longer. I thought we might find higher ground... I hope no one comes along." Dawns impish grin was his first clue as to what was really going to happen on this 'walk'

No one came along, leaving the couple the rest of the day alone on the grass. Their roles had reversed earlier and so often proved to be drastic opposites... but now they met as exact equals. Both were young bumblers, but both also eager and excited.

Summer and Winter lay on the grass together till they passed out. Summer and Winter both left their virginity on the grass before the waterfalls, just outside a tiny village called Rivermoot.


___________________________________________________________









Thanks again to everyone reading.

J
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oldgrayrogue
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Post by oldgrayrogue »

Awesome as usual. I feel privileged to have contributed, even if just a little bit. Keep it coming, please.
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Mick
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Posts: 1946
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Post by Mick »

Wow. I've noticed that sometimes when you are writing a story, you don't appreciate just how good it is until you read it afterward.

Can't adequately convey how much I am enjoying being a part of this one. :)
Talk less. Listen more.

Current PCs: ?
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kiyoti
Frost Giant
Posts: 789
Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2004 11:23 pm
Location: The Swamp called Florida

Post by kiyoti »

I must say I love to read this story. I have to agree that seeing my PC’s influence on the tale is a great pleasure. Damn good writing D, keep it up!
PC
Bozwell "The Dragonheart" of Clan Blackstone, Explorer, Scholar, Knight Draconis

Gamespy: BigDaddyBones
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