Stalking Along the Woodland Path
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Wednesday 21 January 2009Chapter 1: Arrival (part 2)I originally come from the village of Icewater in the north, or to be more specific, my family lived on a small farmstead on the outskirts of Icewater, near the edge of a great boreal forest. The farmstead was only just productive enough to keep us alive most years. On the few good years we had, there were enough vegetables left to trade in Icewater but that stopped after the death of my father, who had been killed by bandits on the road. After that, my grandmother and I barely scraped through and it was only my grandmother’s knowledge of healing plants and skills as a hedgewitch, a healer, which generated enough income for us to survive when the harvests were bad. Icewater was remote and as a result, lacked a cleric to perform duties of healing and the like, and though welcomed when the need arose, my grandmother’s talent for healing lacked the potency of a cleric’s healing spells. However, there was a druid who knew, among other things, healing magic that lived in a grove in the forest, whom later taught me the druid ways. He would attend the sick when he was in the village and help when he could be found in the forest. He was in the forest the winter night when my mother gave birth to me, and when it became apparent to my father and grandmother that she was in difficulty, my father set out to find him, but he arrived too late to save my mother’s life, but that is another story. Like myself, the refugees flee the hordes of the undead created and unleashed by a necromancer seeking to gain control over the northern lands. Icewater has already been over run and I am the last of the druid order (that I know of) for that region. When it had become apparent that the necromancer was becoming a serious problem in the north, the druids that resided there, along with myself and my mentor, the elf Drysnn were called to attend a gathering to discuss the threat. The gathering was attacked by the undead hordes and Isa and I owe our survival to Dysnn and his leopard animal companion, Ina who sacrificed themselves so I could escape. I have come to Fardell with the intention joining the town’s militia and make a stand against the necromancer’s undead army, a path I take with reluctance because I am more interested in healing, than being a solider, that, along with only being a first level druid, meant there was little I could do to combat the undead that destroyed my order. ------to be continued------ Tuesday 20 January 2009Chapter 1: Arrival (part 1)Chapter 1: Arrival Isa was being stubborn. “Come on, Isa,” I said, and continued walking for some distance down the tree-lined road. I hoped that by going on my way, that Isa would give up lagging behind and follow, her wolf pack instinct that wanted to stay with her pack taking over from the caution that slowed her advance. When five minutes had gone by and Isa still wasn’t co-operating, I turned around to look back at her. Isa had taken a few steps forward, so she was following me, but it was only enough to keep me in sight and when I called her, she refused to come any closer and barked at me. I began to wonder if she’d been injured somehow – the road was stroon with rocks and pebbles, so I could see how she could have cut her pads on one that was particularly sharp. I started walking towards her so I could check her over. Isa, thinking that she’d won the battle of wills, yipped at me and play-bowed, wagging her tail at mid height as she did so. Her ears were almost flat, but not quite and her mouth, with her tongue lolled out, was open as though she was laughing. I shook my head and stroked her ruff, remembering that wolves didn’t like being patted on the head when I drew level with her. I knelt down beside her, laying my quarterstaff on the ground. She licked my face and I was forced to push her muzzle away with my hand. Isa stood still while I checked legs and paws, but I found nothing visibly wrong with her. Picking up the quarterstaff and using it as leverage, I stood and looked over my shoulder at the town of Fardell sprawled five miles in front of us. “You just don’t want to go in there, do you?” I asked, though I didn’t expect an answer as I looked back at her, my free hand scratching behind her ears. “I guess you don’t like large settlements.” Isa whined at me. “Come on – there’s nothing wrong with you and we can’t stay here.” Dark clouds rolling from in the west threatened to bring rain. Not wanting to get caught in it, I started walking again and tried to persuade Isa further but to no avail. I don’t like leaving her out on her own, but she’s always been shy of large gatherings of people, (other than druids), and that incident with the farmer shooting crossbow bolts at her and setting his dogs on us for fear that she was a threat to his livestock a few days ago, didn’t do much for her confidence around people either. However, she’s a wild animal and a wolf at that, so it’s only to be expected. Non-druids don’t view animals, particularly predators, in the same way that druids do. I can’t blame her for being cautious about entering the town and in the end; I left her the countryside outside it. Also, it would be wise for me to check the town out to see what the reaction the town’s people would have to a wild wolf – it would be unfortunate for me to lose her over a misunderstanding. The road was busy, mostly with refugees coming from the north to find sanctuary in Fardell, refugees like me. Several times over the past few days Isa and I had been passed by wagons containing families and others – all fearful, all who have likely lost much more than just their homes to the enemy they are fleeing from. Isa and I had also passed groups of people on foot, all fleeing in the same direction. Isa would melt into the undergrowth and standing trees that lined both sides of the road at such times, melting away into the shadows. I doubt anyone even knew that she was there. I encountered no other druids on the road. Normally I would have taken enjoyment from the countryside I was travelling through, but there was an atmosphere of foreboding in the air, a darkness that was soon to descend on the town of Fardell and it had nothing at all to do with the rain clouds building up in the sky. Thinking of the refugees caused me to ponder the reason why I had started this journey. ------To be continued------ Irieaga or Ira here...I've misplaced the password for this blog, so I'm having to use Sivrak's. I thought the best way to introduce myself properly would be to post the character profile that Emimar wrote up...This is nuts! The proper story should be starting soon (I hope...) Name: Irieaga Stalkingwolf Gender: Female Hair Colour: Brown Eye Colour: Green Race: Human (can't use the species prefix here but I almost did out of habit *laughs* Character Class: Druid Weapons of Choice: Quarterstaff, scimitar Armour: Studded leather Clothing: When not in combat, her normal clothes are travellers clothes which consist of boots, wool breeches, a belt, shirt and jacket, and a hooded cloak. Alignment: Neutral Animal Companion: wolf called Isa Spells: (at the moment - will change as she develops!) Level 0: Cure minor wounds Detect magic Detect poison Know direction Level 1: Charm Animal Entangle Level 2: Flaming sphere Special Abilities: Animal companion Woodland stride Trackless step Feats: Animal affinity Combat casting Toughness Skills: Concentration Diplomacy Gather information Handle animal Heal Hide Knowledge – Nature Ride Spellcraft Spot Background: Irieaga Stalkingwolf is a native of Icewater, a village to the north. Her mother got into trouble giving birth to Irieaga and her father, leaving his wife with Irieaga’s grandmother, left in search of the local druid who sometimes visited the village to cure people’s ailments as there was no cleric resident. The weather worked against him and the druid wasn’t in the village, so he had to go in search of him in the nearby forest where the druid had a grove which he’d made his home. Because it took such a long time to find him, the druid arrived too late to help her. Irieaga’s grandmother, who was a hedge witch a healer who’d specialised in plants and herbs, had managed to save Irieaga, but at the cost of losing her daughter. Shortly after, Irieaga’s father was killed by bandits on the road when he stopped to help a traveller they had ambushed. As a result, Irieaga was raised by her grandmother who taught her the rudiments of herb lore. Irieaga’s grandmother eventually succumbed to the effects of old age and the harsh, northern winter when Irieaga was 13. The druid who’d failed to save Irieaga’s mother feeling guilty at not being able to save her mother, took her under his wing. It soon became apparent that Irieaga had a natural affinity for animals and this, along with the knowledge that her grandmother had given her about plants, made the druid decide to train her as one of them if she wanted when she was 15. Irieaga accepted. Five years passed in which Irieaga underwent the necessary training for her to become a druid. One of the tests she had to pass was bonding with an animal companion, which turned out to be a she-wolf which Irieaga named Isa. However, during the years of her training, an insidious threat had been emerging in the north. A foul necromancer was gaining control of the north, wiping out towns and villages. The druids in the area were called to a moot, a gathering to determine what could be done about the necromancer threat. Irieaga and her druid mentor attended the moot. The necromancer learned of the gathering and launched a surprise attack on the grove where they had gathered with an undead army that overwhelmed the druids. Irieaga’s mentor and his animal companion held off the hordes just long enough for Irieaga and her wolf to escape – being a novice druid, there was little Irieaga could do in the battle. Fleeing south, Irieaga vowed to avenge her mentor and the druids and their animal companions who died in the battle, but to do that, she must first gain the experience and power needed to be able to challenge the necromancer responsible. Personality: Likes: Animals of all kinds. Horses and donkeys are sometimes weary around her because she smells of wolf, because of her animal companion. Dislikes: Undead rats! Cruelty to animals – she accepts some natural processes which can lead to the suffering of animals e.g. wolves preying on deer, but not others. For instance, if she finds an injured or sick wild animal she’ll try to help it. Most suffering caused by people on animals she doesn’t accept because much of it she sees as unnatural and pointless. She will accept people stealing as long as they can justify it to her rather than being out of pure greed! However, she won’t tolerate violent crime or that which ruins people’s lives. (People are animals too...) Needless to say, she doesn’t like necromancers! Destruction of natural habitats – she doesn’t have a problem with people exploiting natural resources as long as they don’t take too much and endanger the ecosystem. She wouldn’t tolerate the complete destruction of a forest, for example, if greed was involved, or for the purposes of war, and building new towns and cities. She’ll destroy traps, stop people abusing animals and free animals if she thinks they are being kept in unsuitable conditions. Farm/wild animals exploited for food she’s neutral on, but she’ll protect any animal in her care from such a fate. Family: Brol, (father), Enesa (mother), Byrid (grandmother), Drysnn (Druid mentor, elf) Drysnn’s animal companion was a leopard called Ina. Saturday 13 December 2008Thanks for the introduction, Sivrak. Though you sound a little jealous of me, don't you? I never meant to usurp your position and Emimar kinda created me on a whim...anyway, I've not got much to say for myself yet. You complain about Emimar abandoning you for me, but at least she gave you a background - she's not even worked on mine yet (and she keeps insisting on making me into a non-fighting character and then shoving me in the midst of battles where I can't defend myself! I got poisoned by undead rats - urgh, that really made me sick...and before that she made me go after a bunch of stringbeasts which wasn't much fun, either...ok, enough of that, or I'll end up spoiling any tale she wants to tell. Ok, Emimar, my author, has been neglecting me (and my stories) lately. She'll try to blame university work, but really it's not - come on, you can't hide the truth from me, Em, I'm a Jedi incase you haven't forgotten. (And her spelling has become atrocious recently!) Anyway, let me get on with what this post is all about...she's been playing Dungeons and Dragons with the freaks - er geeks she's met at uni and created a new character, Irieaga Stalkingwolf. I can't believe after nearly ten years of writing about me that she's left me and gone on to some other character! And the lazy git hasn't even finished most of the stories about me yet. So unfair! Anyway, I'll leave it to Irieaga to introduce herself. Urgh, I feel so...betreyed...My nephew Ryqik isn't happy with her either because she's not worked on his story for ages as well. Ok, over to Stalkingwolf! |
