Lord Sheriff Takari wrote:for much of the overnight period
Evermithe silently monitors the camp, drifting through every so often to keep the fire going so there will be plenty of hot coals to cook with come morning
and covering Lady Mirabell with his cloak
he'd overheard the conversation about the girl between the others and Ornia and their concerns regarding Henry
there is little he can do right now about it so he ponders the possibilities as the night creeps on
Big Tim listens to the conversation with interest, but he soon grows very tired. He is soon fast asleep while the others converse.
Fore tries to object to Ornia's insistence that Lady Mirabell will not be going to Hwen Hold,
"no mater what."
Nerisha plays peacemaker and suggests they all get some sleep and discuss it in the morning. That calms Ornia down, although she looks at Fore and Siliarilas with a look that is cool, at best.
Soon everyone but Evermithe is sleeping. He silently enters the clearing several times in the night. And hour before dawn, a heavy fog rolls into the region. It's not unusual for such fogs to roll in at night, but something about it feels strange to Evermithe as he covers the human girl with his cloak. It is not eerie. The fog is simply, odd, in his mind. He feels as if something has changed but he doesn't know what it could be. Perhaps its the girl's Fate that has him on edge.
As he heads back out of camp, Evermithe feels a strange warm sensation rub against the back of his neck. It causes him to turn, alert. Lady Mirabell is sitting upright and she seems to be nodding her head at someone, something, unseen. Evermithe finds he cannot move, as his vision begins to swirl around him. The young girl looks at him and mouths the words 'it will be all right, Sir Elf. Rest now.' She then smiles and lays back down to sleep.
No sound came from the girl's mouth, but, now, Evermithe can clearly hear words being spoken in his head.
"You will forget Tymbeck Valencia, Evermithe Woodshadow. He has another destiny. Another like him sleeps now in his place. Axel Runo is your companion now, war wizard. As far as you will remember, he has been with you this whole time. The others will remember this as the truth, as well. But the girl will know.
Now sleep and wake with the dawn!"
Evermithe manages to stumble into the bush before 'being settled' at the base of a big tree. Sleep claims him, as the fog deepens. When the morning comes, he remembers the fog but nothing else.
ShadowJak wrote:OOC: <Well now that my name is out of the way let me introduce myself
I'm 8' 453 lbs really big beat stick with a nasty hatered for orc
I hale from the land of [Mystara]
Blackwood Hills area my mother is ogre a beloved shamen
My father was her human play toy a gift from my grandfather
They died during a raid on my encampment by the local Baron's soldiers who were trying to cleanse the land from our kind
I decided to pick up my grandfathers war club to defend our people but was knocked unconscious and left for dead I awoke 3 days later to the burning smell of my parents this cause my mind to slip and the only thing left was Pankake she helped nurse me back to health so I tried to track down these vile evil men to seek revenge I learned how to swing Pankake with her help we have had many adventures together>
"Axel Runo, hear me!"
Axel hears a voice in his head but it doesn't sound like Pankake.
"No, I am not your grandfather's war club," the voice seems to be speaking in darkness. Then Axel notices that he cannot see anything. Everything is black.
"We are in your mind, Axel Runo."
Axel tries to stand. He must have hit his head. Only Pankake speaks to him, but he cannot hear her. Why? He finds he cannot stand or even move.
Where is Pankake?
"You are not awake, Axel. And, no, this is not a dream. I have need of your services as a warrior. There is this girl... pay attention!"
Axle's mind wanders and the darkness begins to lighten, slightly. Then Axel sees his parents. They are alive and standing in front of him. But, no, they are dead.
"Pay attention, half-ogre! You are not in the Blackwood Hills anymore. You are a place called Vrocia, which is worlds away from the Seas of Mystaros. You are needed to help protect a young woman. She is important to Vrocia's future."
Vrocia? Axel thinks to himself.
Never heard of it. Mystaros, that name he knows, but his people call it something else.
"If you help the girl, it will benefit you greatly. The gods will be with you in your hunt for your parent's killers."
That got Axel's attention, causing his mind to focus. The darkness fades and he is now standing with Pankake in his hand in a mountain valley at the edge of a lake. There are green fields and forests in the distance. Beyond are high mountains covered in snow.
"You are still in your mind, Axel." The voice is closer. Axel turns to see a tall woman made of wood standing behind him.
"I am Gacrena. I am one of Vrocia's guardian spirits, and I need your help. You must take the place of another of your kind who has been spirited away to another world. He was an important protector. There is a human girl, Mirabell Littlechild, who needs to be saved from those who would do her harm. Like you, she has been taken from her family, but she has a chance to return to them. She will need your help for this to happen."
The goddess Gacrena shows Axel a clearing in a wooded area. There is a warm fire and several people are sleeping around it. There are several pointy-eared elves, a hin, a frail looking human, and a human child who looks like she would break in half should a pebble hit her.
"That is her," Gacrena says.
"You and these others must protect her with your lives, and in return, I promise to help you gain your revenge on the men who killed your family."
Axel sees someone else sleeping by the fire. A half-ogre, like him.
No, wait, it is me! But it shouldn't be me! He thinks.
"When they wake, they will believe you have been traveling with them all this time. They will know things about you but not everything. But you will know the truth of where you come from and how you came to be here. If you tell them, they may or may not believe you. It would be best for you not to burden them with this knowledge. The truth will come out, eventually."
Axel watches as another elf enters the clearing. He doesn't seem hostile, but he does seem tough, well, for a elf man. The elf quickly moves around the camp tending to the fire and covering the girl with his cloak. Then he begins walking towards the woods. The goddess steps towards the human child and taps her gentle on the shoulder. The child sits up and looks directly at the goddess. The two of them seem to speak to each other but Axel cannot hear their words. The girl looks towards the elf walking from the glade. He abruptly stops and turns. He sees the girl but not the goddess. The girl nods and seems to say something to the elf man. He wobbles away towards the woods.
"He will not remember any of this, Axel." The goddess is now standing next to him and next to the girl. At the same time. Axel's head hurts.
"The girl will know who you are and who you replaced. Her mind is already too strong for me to erase. And I cannot blank your mind. It is alien to me. So chaotic. I'm sorry that you will be burdened with this secret. Now sleep, Axel. Sleep and wake with the dawn."
With that the darkness engulfs Axel once again and his mind goes dark, as if he passed out from too much drink.
Dawn...
The clearing is covered with a slight frost, but the embers of the flames have not yet gone out. Sun glints through the trees. There are wisps of fog above the treetops but the ground is clear. Dew has settled on the leaves and grass.
Fore turns over in his sleep and rolls into Axel. The big half-ogre is soon wide awake. The little girl is awake and holding her hands over the smouldering coals. She still has Evermithe's cloak, wrapped around her.
"Good morning, Axel," Mirabell says quietly, as not to wake the others. "How are you feeling this morning?"
The halfling snorts and then keeps on snoring. The girl giggles. The elf named Fore yawns and stretches. He almost kicks the coals out of the fire and onto Ornia.
Axel knows them. He knows their names. He knows some of their stories. The goddess hadn't mentioned that to him. So, it hadn't been a dream. It had been real. He was somewhere else, worlds away.
"Try not to think about it too much," Mirabell suggests in a whisper. "It will just make the situation more confusing. I promise you we will tell them the truth, eventually. And I promise that the goddess will help you find the people that killed your family." She pauses. "I am sorry that happened to you."
In the treeline, Evermithe wakes up at the base of a tree with no idea how he got there or how he fell asleep.