Fantasy Uncertainty and Unease (Paused)

[ArcticFox]

"Nice to meet you... Louisa." Orrian raised an eyebrow, not sure what that was all about. But, when she asked a question, he moved to continue their path over the rooftops. "It begun slowly. A couple of corpses rising from the unmarked graves in the woods, some strange sightings of an eerie looking woman roaming the forest at night. No one believed that it was nothing serious. We dealt with the first few corpses, not giving in much thought. After all we often get attacked here, by bandits or wolves in winter, fighting skeletons was not that different. Until the graves in the town started unloading." He clenched his teeth. "They killed so many and when we buried the newly dead, they only rose again the next night. It was a nightmare."

"We sent letters and riders to Torhen asking for help, but it looks like none of them reached it. After a month the town was a graveyard. People either ran or died. I stayed behind to make sure everyone got out, but I got trapped inside my own home. I've been in that basement for weeks."

• Say something.
• Continue in silence.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Listening to his story made Louisa realize the gravity of the situation. While she knew the undead were likely victims of some vicious attack, she now looked at them differently. Instead of enemies hellbent on taking a bite or two out of her flesh, they were Orrian's neighbors. Possibly his friends. Once upon a time Louisa would have cared about the people in her hometown. Had anything like this happened she would have been devastated. She wanted to ask how Orrian fared emotionally in all of this, but figured it neither her business or place to stick her nose. Plus, considering he stayed to help survivors spoke enough. He cared.

Instead, her mind latched on to something he'd mentioned moments before. "An eerie woman?" Louisa tried to imagine what she'd look like and, for some reason, kept seeing Idris' face. The goddess wasn't exactly eerie looking at first glance but after Louisa's experience, she'd always be associated with creepy, terrifying things. Gazing out at the sea of undead below them, Louisa considered magic as the cause. Pursed her lips. "What did she look like? Actually, a better question would be where in the forest was she seen?"

Louisa didn't exactly have the time or patience to deal with hunting the woman down, much less dealing with her if she was behind the risen corpses, but if the undead reached Torhen that would be a problem. An ounce of prevention was worth a pound of cure, after all.

 

[ArcticFox]

"I'm not sure. I have never seen her myself." Orrian answered, eyes to the ground as he carefully watched his footing. He was starting to get a bit unsteady, perhaps the exhaustion was kicking in finally. But they only had a couple of roofs to jump over to get to where the group was. "All I know is that people would say they have seen a black clad young woman walking through the woods, talking in a foreign language. But this is a small town, people love rumours. Loved rumours." He frowned. "I've been around the same people for five years and now I don't know if I'm ever going to see their faces again."

Before Louisa could respond, they reached the group and were down on the ground again. Nyv was the first to approach. Actually he did not approach, more so ran up to Orrian and jumped into his arms, almost toppling him over. But then, as if remembering himself, he moved away, clear his throat and extended a hand to him to shake. Orrian laughed, taking his hand.

"I'm glad to see you too, my friend." He spoke aloud.

"We are all very glad to find you in health, Orrian." Rob greeted then with a polite nod, to which the elf answered with a smile and a nod of his own.

"Hey guys!" Terry called out from on top of Sullivan. "You ought to see this! Quickly!" She was poitning in the direction of the trees, just outside the town.

There was a figure there, peeking out from behind a tree. As soon as it heard Terry's shout and saw her point it seemed to jump up in alarm and sprint into the forest.

• Go after the figure horseback on your own.
• Go after the figure on foot on your own.
• Go after the figure on horseback with someone.
• Go after the figure on foot with someone.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Having noticed Orrian's slightly unsteady footing, Louisa watched him like a hawk as they proceeded to meet with the others. She wasn't about to let him fall off the roof. She hadn't the mind to respond to Orrian - she did not know how to comfort him, much as the town's downfall bothered her - so found herself glad when Nyv quite literally threw himself into the discussion. Louisa quirked a brow at their exchange, lips twitching into a smug little smirk. Acquaintance, huh? Her tone was teasing and, while she wasn't sure her thoughts had projected, she hoped they had.

Yet, much as she wanted to pick on Nyv, she couldn't. Not when Terry announced the presence of another person. Before she had so much of a chance to even consider bringing someone along, much less her horse, Louisa had taken off towards the trees on foot. Only when she actually reached the forest did she realize that, maybe, she should have chosen a different course of action.

 

[ArcticFox]

Nyv either did not hear Louisa's jibe, or, more likely, was pretending that he didn't. Either way, he did not respond, instead taking a chance in Terry's interruption to change the subject.

"It might be a survivor- Hey!" He was quickly cut off by Louisa's take off. "What are you doing!?" He shouted after her, but she was already gone.

--

Louisa was running through the forest. The figure was not in sight, but she knew that she saw it running that way and she stuck on the path. The trees were growing closer to each other as she went further in and the light was dimming. The day was coming to its end anyway, but in the thick forest she would lose the light even faster.

No one from the group had come after her, or at least she could not see or hear them. But she did see a path. A small goat trail curving through the forest. It had to lead somewhere.

• Follow the path carefully.
• Run along the path.
• Wait to see if someone from the group would catch up.
• Call out to the survivor.
• Turn back.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Considering the mass scale of destruction, Louisa hadn't even considered it to be a survivor until she'd heard Nyv mention the idea. Regardless of whether the stranger was friendly or not, she needed to find them. Fast. Louisa's skin crawled as the light dimmed around her, forest growing denser.

Shit, the dark!

Feet crashing onto the forest floor, she sprinted along the path, nearly stumbling twice in her haste. Stealth and subtlety had become her best friend over the years, but she couldn't count on them to beat the sunset. "Hey, wait!" Louisa called out, "I am trying to help!" Even if it were a hostile - she had a feeling there was a killer mage on the loose - Louisa figured addressing them would result in at least a confrontation of sorts. If not, well, she'd just have to run faster.

 

[ArcticFox]

Louisa ran as fast as she could. Until her feet tripped over a branch and she fell onto the narrow path, hitting the round hard. Her clothes were stained and her knees grazed as she tumbled with the moment a couple of feet further. In the dimming light she could make out what exactly it was that so abruptly stopped her advance.

A disembodies arm. There was a low guttural sound when the body that belonged to the arm was stepping over the tree roots toward Louisa. It was on top of her before she could move, its one arm reaching for her throat, its teeth about to sink into her cheek.

• Try to get its teeth away from your face.
• Try to push the creature off.
• Try to pry off its clenched fingers.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Spitting what dirt had grazed her mouth in the fall, Louisa hardly had time to register anything before an undead was on top of her. With a cry her knuckles connected with the creatures jaw, an instinctual attempt to it's head away from her face. "Get off of me!" She did not want to get bit; did not want to look at her reflection and remember this moment for the rest of her life, should she survive. She already had one scar - one horrible memory branded in her mind - and she did not need another.

 

[ArcticFox]

The undead was too strong. Even if it was just a sack of bones, even with one hand it pushed on, fingers bruising her throat. Its jaw snapped so close to her face and she had trouble keeping it away.

But in the next moment the skeleton was lifted off her and tossed aside with such force, that it slammed into a tree, limbs shattering, head rolling off its snapped neck. Louisa needed a couple of seconds to be able to breathe again. As her vision cleared and air entered her lungs again, she saw her saviour.

And it was a creature she had never seen before.

• Greet it.
• Thank it.
• Run away.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Staring up at the person - or... creature? - that had saved her, Louisa did little more than gawk. Curiosity eventually outweighed fear. Slowly, she sat up. "Thank you." Was this creature magical? She'd never seen anything like it, so assumed as much. Funny; she thought she'd gotten over that little obsession. Apparently not. Following the survivor or bloodthirsty mage, whichever it was, had been tossed to the back of her mind.

Like with the giants, an experience she would never forget, Louisa yearned to speak with this creature. "Can you speak? I am... Louisa."

 

[ArcticFox]

"Of course I can speak, human." The creature snorted. It had a rumbling voice that sounded like it was coming from somewhere very deep. It also sounded offended. "I learned to speak long before your grandparents were born. Why does every one of you ask me the same thing?" It shook its head in disapproval.

"I am a Shepherd. My name would be far too difficult for you to pronounce, so you can call me by my title." It reached down and took Louisa by the arm, straightening her up. It was twice as tall as her. "Now, I have seen you running through my forest and I'm going to assume that you are too running away from Pella's Wish? Well, just climb a tree and wait. I am on my way to deal with the necromancer and you can all go back to your little town. I've had enough of you... fleshy things in my forest."

• Ask about others.
• Ask about the necromancer.
• Ask about Shepherd.
• Climb a tree and wait.

 

[Cartoonicat]

The moment the creature spoke, Louisa was hooked. She'd tried speaking to the giants before but they'd only reciprocated with kind gestures, not actual words. This was... this was different. Extraordinary! For a moment she felt like a child, entranced by the whimsicality of the unknown. She hardly felt shameful for asking a question the creature had, apparently, heard many times before. "Sorry... Shepherd," Louisa tried to sound sincere. To some degree she was - rather, would be had she not found herself so wildly intrigued. Especially when the creature lifted her to her feet. She had to crane her neck back to make eye contact.

Even when it mentioned Pella's Wish, the spell remained intact. "Not exactly," she said. Looking away to scan her surroundings was difficult, to say the least. Here she was, having a full-blown conversation with a mystical creature, and she was expected to remain on task? Specifically a task she didn't actually want to do? Leaving the necromancer - I knew I was right! - to Shepherd would be ideal, yet she couldn't bring herself to let slip this opportunity.

Louisa needed to know more, no matter how much her inner voice screamed at her to leave it alone. "I was chasing someone, likely the necromancer you mentioned, but now... What are you, exactly?" Realizing only then that she might be considered rude, she cleared her throat and took a step back. "Erm, if you do not mind my asking..."

 

[ArcticFox]

"What!" Shepherd's wooden face scrunched up into an offended grimace. "I am a 'who', I beg your pardon! How would you like me to address you the same I would a rat? Now I don't see much difference between the two, but you would certainly be offended, would you not? The insolence!" Once again it... he... shook his head and turned away from Louisa, to walk down the path. "If you do not want to climb a tree and wait for me to deal with the necromancer, then walk and talk, human. I've no time to waste."

• Go with Shepherd.
• Stay and wait.

 

[Cartoonicat]

That time she really did rethink her actions. It had been so long since she interacted with the giants but, certainly, she'd done a better job than this. After so long of disuse, her suave had begun to rust. Grimacing, Louisa let the creature lecture her. "Sorry, uh... I would be offended, yes," she agreed, reluctant to speak less she make things worse. When Shepherd began moving, so did she; almost immediately Louisa followed.

"I, um, I only was curious as to... erm... For example, I am a human. If I am a human and a rat is a rat, what are you?" She asked after some time. "I have never seen anyone like you before."

 

[ArcticFox]

"A Shepherd, I told you this already." He gave her a sideways look as she struggled to keep up with his huge strides. "A tender of this forest. Like a shepherd takes care of his sheep, I too take care of my trees. And apparently now a whole herd of fleshy, frankly a bit smelly, elves and humans." He let out a deep rumble that might have been a sigh. "Well, I have not grown tired for two hundred years, but in the last two months I am feeling completely exhausted. You two legged creatures are so needy."

It seemed that there was no end to Shepherd woes, since he kept on explaining in full detail how excruciating the pain of taking care of the town's populace was for him. He did not let Louisa get a word in, as his booming voice drowned out all other sounds. They did not make a very stealthy pair as they walked down the path and toward a rockier part of the forest. Shepherd then stopped abruptly. There was an entrance to a cave right in front of them

​

"I can sense the nasty mage's scent here." Shepherd spoke, pointing at the cave. "But I cannot fit through there without bending my branches far too much for my comfort. Good thing you followed along!" He looked at her with a wide smile. "Come now, go inside. Tell the mage thing to come here, I only want to talk." But as he spoke the fiery light inside his wooden body flickered quite ominously.

• Go get the necromancer.
• Call out for the necromancer.
• Wait in ambush.

 

[Cartoonicat]

That is not what I meant, she scowled away from him. Two hundred years was a long time to live but this tree thing needn't be so callous. Despite her irritation, however, intrigue kept her by his side. Kept her watching him as subtly as she could, if only to see a tree speak. A lot of what he said went in one ear and out the other the further they walked. Then, abruptly, they stopped. Louisa peered inside the cave, eyes flicking between the entrance and Shepherd.

Typically she'd wait in ambush, but now with a team to worry about Louisa felt obligated to speed things along. She let out a slight groan and double checked for her weapons. "Sure, a good thing," she murmured, "I am going to get jumped, I just know it..." Stepping inside the lip of the cave, Louisa took one last look at Shepherd before proceeding forward.

 

[ArcticFox]

The cave was not a huge one, yet it curved at a steep angle underground. It took Louisa great care not to slip down the scree and to see anything at all in almost full darkness. But it did not take long for her to see the faint light of a candle at the end where the tunnel spread into a cavernous room with a low ceiling that even she could barely stand upright in.

As she made to walk toward the light, she was intercepted.

The undead warrior stood in front her, bent in the tunnel, blocking her path.

• Attack the skeleton.
• Wait to see what happens.
• Run out.

 

[Cartoonicat]

After coming to a sudden stop in the dimly lit tunnel, Louisa instinctively reached for her concealed daggers. She paused halfway there. With fingers itching to grab the hilts and defend herself, she instead waited to see what would happen. Resisted the urge to swallow or make any sort of sound or movement. Wondered instead if it could even see her. Did it hear me approach?

 

[ArcticFox]

This undead warrior seemed to be different from the others. In fact, its hollow eye sockets seemed to track Louisa's movements like it could see her. It raised its two axes and swung at her, letting out a snarl.

• Duck.
• Jump backward.
• Dodge to the side.
• Block with your dagger.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Oh shite- Louisa jumped backwards immediately and retrieved her daggers. She did not like being caught in the tunnel with this creature, especially since it seemed so eerily sentient. Part of her yearned to use her bow - to keep distance between them - but if the light behind the undead flickered out for some reason and plunged them into darkness, she'd be far better off with her daggers than trying to aim an arrow.

 

[ArcticFox]

The warrior's axe slammed into the wall of the gave, breaking off stones that tumbled to the ground. The sound echoed through the cave.

"What is going on there? Tool?" A female voice from behind the creature and a sound of rushed footsteps. "What!" A surprised sound from a figure in black robes, though Louisa could not see her clearly. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

• Say you are there to talk.
• Say you are there to kill her.
• Say something else.

 

[Cartoonicat]

Eyes narrowing on the robed figure, Louisa reigned in whatever snappy retort she had at the tip of her tongue. Diplomacy. Diplomacy. Be diplomatic. "Just looking for a mass murderer," she said, unable to stop herself, "which I assume is you?"

 

[ArcticFox]

The female voice let out a small yelp after Louisa's words. Then she added. "Tool! Continue what you were doing!" And the undead raised its axes once more.

• Say that Shepherd is waiting outside.
• Say that you don't want to harm her.
• Attack her minion.

 

[Cartoonicat]

"Hey, hey, whoa! Wait a second!" Louisa took another step back. "I do not want to fight," she said. "I want to know why you did it."

 

[ArcticFox]

"Really?" The voice smoke again, a bit doubtful. "Oh gods, I do need some normal human conversation. No offence, Tool." The steps continued and out of the cavern, behind the undead, peeked the necromancer.

"You swear you are not going to attack? On your life?" She asked.

• Swear.
• Don't swear.