Completed The Journey, Ehktar Pass

[Shadyn]

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18th of Autumn, 515 AV


The full moon smiled down upon him through a clear sky with brightness rivalling that of the sun. Shadyn took that as Leth’s confirmation of a prayer for direction he had made the last night. Funny, really, considering it should not be a full moon right now. Actually, the correct term, he realized, would be miraculous. He had never considered himself particularly religious, but…something in him had changed.

Or had there really been a change? Had it not been the awakening of that part of him that had long lay dormant, subdued by the righteous corruption of the culture in which he had been raised. Whenever he had left Wind Reach, though, as much as he loved his home he had to acknowledge that his heart swelled and grew to match the great expanses around him. The moon had always been a friend to him and these reveries, and now in his journey it had continued to be his night-riding companion, his center-point of navigation and the marking of time...and peace. Could a cold, silvery orb high in the second heaven provide this? No, it had to come from the one behind it...Leth.

He regretted not having read more about the gods during his schooling, but it was too late now. He would have to work to change that. Still, from what he remembered, Leth was a great deal like himself, and he liked that. The turbulent and malice filled past, and then the shift towards a more peaceful and contemplative spirit. Quite admirable, really, and quite a large step towards the perfection of spirit and character that he so desperately sought.

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[Shadyn]

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They were directly over the highlands of the pass when Shadyn gave Xarrt the order to drop him off.

What? That dust haze down their will limit your vision to no more than fifty feet, and what's more, the Pass is known to be infested with Zith! And you want to go DOWN?!

Shadyn winced. Telepathic shouting was a painful experience indeed. "Yes, Xarrt, I do. I want to go down, because I want to get a taste of the battle, and Leth has given me the sign that I will be safe. Now, do as I say like a good Eagle, then go back up and wait for my call."

Though Xarrt had a good deal of grumbling to do about this, he still sailed down and let Shadyn climb off. He sailed off into the swirling clouds of dust without a sound.

It seemed as if he was standing in a fog, and he would have supposed as much had the air not tasted of stone dust...a taste he was quite familiar with from his time chiseling gemstones out of the cliffs of Mt. Skyinarta. He carefully unslung his tomahawk, and also unstrapped the latch on his waterskin. Then he began to whistle. The sound echoed back and forth on the steep slopes until it sounded as if there were fifty of him. The noise was deafening.

"Well, they've heard me now, that's for certain."

Sure enough, he noticed to large shadows closing in on him from his left. He started spinning his tomahawk, while still facing ahead to keep them thinking he was unaware of their presence. When almost upon him, he let the tomahawk fly directly into the skull of one, then drew a Talon sword with his left hand and thrust it forward. The beast's own momentum impaled it on the blade. It's mouth moved furiously, though Shadyn could hear nothing except an occasional rumble or squeak. Soon, though, blood filled its mouth and it went limp.


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[Shadyn]

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Shadyn slid the bloody blade back into it's sheath, removed his tomahawk for the other creature's fragile skull, and examined the dead Zith. They were both males, which was quite obvious when they were wearing no clothing. Though equal to him in height, they were much more slender, to the point that he could easily overpower one in hand to hand if he needed to...not that he wanted to test that theory. Their wings aside, however, their fur was not nearly as obtrusive as he had imagined, making them surprisingly human in appearance, especially at night in this haze.

The air around him was eerily silent, except for the occasional falling rock. Shadyn quietly unslung his bow and strung a barbed arrow. He glanced around, subduing his wavering nerves and focusing on keeping his senses acute. It was only a few chimes before more shadows appeared, moving faster. He shot his bow from chest height, firing his arrows with little attention to aiming. Only five out of twelve hit a Zith, and only two of those were actually lethal shots. Still, the other three attempted to pull the arrows out, which made the barbs cause much more damage than they would have otherwise, sending them writhing to the ground in pain. He hurried to re-sling his bow on his back before the another three Zith were upon him.

He barely had enough time to grab the handle of his tomahawk before the nearest one hurled itself upon him. It cunningly slid its claws under his thick katinu and dug them through his thin shirt into his right shoulder. Shadyn threw himself down and into the Zith, using his own weight to smash the it between his shoulder and the sharp rocks. It released his grip, and he swung his tomahawk into its ribcage.

Two more pounced upon him. Swinging wildly, he surprised himself by successfully slicing off the head of one. When the last one saw it was alone, it began to retreat. He threw the tomahawk into its back, satisfied to see it collapse dead.

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[Shadyn]

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A few chimes passed, long enough for him to gather his tomahawk, arrows...and wits. Executing the Zith he had shot was a speedy affair, requiring no more and a single stroke from the Talon sword's heavy blade. Suddenly, however, there was the sound of wings...many wings. He could see a veritable wall of Zith rushing up the narrow pass towards him. He tried counting them...thirty? Forty? Shadyn new he could not possibly fight them off. Still, before he used Leth's blessed water as an escape, he decided to try something out.

Hastily, he wound each bottom corner of his katinu around his sontavs, giving him the resemblance of wings. He then began spinning his tomahawk, and began running, arms outstretched and waving wildly, towards the Zith. He bellowed forth a continuous, maniacal roar in his deep, powerful voice.

They stopped.

Shadyn, too, stopped, but continued to swing his tomahawk and roar, each passing moment amplifying the sound of his voice into something more akin to the thunder of gods than a human's utterance. Another rumble joined in ahead of him. For a moment, he thought that the Zith were growling in response. Then he heard the unmistakable sound of tumbling rocks. The Zith began to look anxiously about, a few of them retreating. A thick could of dust enveloped Shadyn, but his ears distinctly heard the sound of rocks thudding into flesh.

Then all was still. He waited nearly thirty chimes as the cloud returned to its usual foggy state. Wings and arms protruded from a huge pile of fallen sedimentary rock. None of them were moving...a good sign. His time harvesting gems with Arrmal had not been wasted, after all. He had noticed the amplifying effect of the pass when he was whistiling, and had remembered what Arrmal had taught him about loud sounds and rockslide and avalanches. He also had not been a fool...he had run forward to bluff them, indeed, but mainly because he had noticed that the area where he was now standing was located at the base of secondary ridges, not slopes, and thus would be safe from any rockslides he managed to cause.

Out of the fog, though, he heard a smooth, husky, perhaps even erotic female voice call out to him to common. "Who....are...you? What are you, oh mighty one?"

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[Shadyn]

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Shadyn had heard that there were a few Zith of at least basic education, but he was nevertheless surprised to hear common spoken so...well. Still, he kept his tomahawk in his hand as a lone approached him. She had her wings wrapped around herself in a sort of shawl or robe, and he wondered if she had spent time in a city...maybe Alvadas, since they were notorious for welcoming nearly anything into their walls. He decided that it was probably best to stick with his bluff. Adrenaline...and the yelling...had made his voice deep and husky, adding to his aura of power...or at least that's what he hoped.

"I am Shadyn, he who courses through the skies, laughs at storms over seas, and makes the very rocks tremble, blessed with mystic from the Leth, god of the Moon. Who are you, O woman of the Zith?"

She paused for a moment, as if processing what he had said. She drew nearer tentatively, circling around him slowly, her face showing that she believed every word. He smooth, low, lilting voice had a distinct tone of awe. "I am the one they call Anathema. Are you...going to call down the mountains upon me like you did the rest of my clan?"

It was extremely hard for Shadyn not to smirk. He waited long enough to make sure his voice did not betray him into laughter. "Not if you come peaceably. What is it you seek from me?"

Another pause, then she stopped circling and drew closer. "I am curious about the one who holds such powers." Her eyes darted down to a small pocket on his shirt's hem. "Why, you even have moonlight coming from your side!"

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[Shadyn]

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This actually startled Shadyn as much as it had her. Casually, though, he sheathed his tomahawk and then reached down into the pocket and produced a handful of Lunatite pebbles that he had stowed there several nights ago when he needed some light to eat his mid-flight meal. It must have been near or only shortly past midnight, because the stones were glowing at their brightest. Her dark eyes widened, the stone's glow reflecting off of them, giving them an almost divine appearance. For the first time, Shadyn noticed that Anathema actually possessed what would be considered remarkably fine features, beautiful even through the almost imperceptibly thin layer of silken fur.

"That is...marvelous. You have captured the light of the moon, sentry of the night, in your own hands...we who have mastered the night have never achieved such a feat. With such powers...you are the greatest being we have ever seen!"

Being the object of such admiration -- misplaced as it was -- was not in the least unpleasant to Shadyn. She looked up from the stones into his eyes, slowly lowering her wings. Though he held her gaze with his own intense and unfathomable stare, he did focus a great deal of his attention into his peripheral vision...

Then she took another step closer....

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It took him only thirty minutes to reach the top of the mountain from where he was high in the pass. At that height, the dust cloud was thin enough for him to see Xarrt perched atop another peak nearby. He hailed him with a short Nari call. He winged over and settled down beside him.

I haven't heard the sound of battle for some time now. Wait...before you climb on, let me look at you. Your shoulder is bleeding, but otherwise you look fine. Oh dear....there are long, raking claw marks all over the back of your katinu. A bewildered pause. Why did that comment make you start smiling stupidly? What WERE you up to down there for all this time after I heard the rockslide, hmmm?

Shadyn massaged his shoulder, washing it with a bit of water from his drinking supply. He then mounted the saddle. "Oh...just a bit of...social interaction. I had to give SOME sort of blessing to the poor mortal creature."

As he took off, Xarrt looked back over his shoulder. What on earth are you talking about? You aren't a god.

He sighed. "No, but thanks to Leth's guidance, tonight I met with such success that I myself was presumed to be a god...hehe...and I have to say, being a god is quite enjoyable. Now, let's see if we can make up the time I spent here, shall we?"
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[Brandon Blackwing]

SHADYN

XP Award:

• Leadership+1
• Weapon: Talon Sword +1
• Weapon: Tomahawk +2
• Tactics +2
• Weapon: composite longbow +1
• Disguise +1
• Intimidation +1
• Rhetoric +1

Lore:

• Tactics: Feigning ignorance to catch enemies of guard
• Disguise: Zith wings
• Tactics: Causing an rockslide
• Anathema: Impressed Female Zith

Notes:
Well, while this was certainly entertaining, keep Shadyn’s skill level in mind. With just 3 points in Talon Sword, you wouldn’t have much control over the weapon, which would make killing a Zith in a single blow quite difficult. Actually, Zith are surprisingly hard to take down, because of their mobility and speed while flying. Not to mention the can see in the dark while a normal human can’t. Perhaps Shadyn could have taken down one Zith, with a lot of effort, and tactics, and his tomahawk, but not an entire group. Not even with his bow (since he has only 13 xp in that category). So yeah, keep that in mind while playing.

I know the feeling of wanting to do badass things such as taking down Zith by the dozens, but with novice and competent skills that is just impossible. Especially when fighting alone.

Please edit or delete your request in the request thread.
Also don’t forget to track your new (and your old) xp and lore in your CS
Comments, questions or concerns regarding your grade? Why not send me a PM?

credit goes to Adelaide Sitai