[Flashback] Uprooted

[Talen Stirling]

Secret : Permission to write this thread was given by Paragon 33rd Spring, 512 AV The crack of ropes and the snap of sails in the wind was the loudest sound upon the Denval fleet, rivaled mostly by the sound of the oceans waves and drowning most of what hushed and melancholic conversation was being had amongst the Denvali. They had been upon the sea for three days now. For Talen that alone was terrifying. The fact that he did not know why and was in doubt if they would ever return made it even more so. The seemingly endless expanse of the ocean-blue stretched out ominously, empty of anything resembling home. His lonely lighthouse of hope came at night where the light from the skyglass spire atop the Chapterhouse of Radiance could occasionally be spotted over the southern horizon. At least when black clouds and darker still ocean waves did not cover the horizon, despite the powers of their Stormwarden the seas had been in a rage, spitting furious foam and ice-cold jets of saltwater across the ship at the command of the winds buffeting the ship. Outside of Augus' stormwarden powers the storm raged even harder. The vast majority of the Denvali were not the most able of sailors, and although disciplined lacked experience with sailing and storms. Talen was no exception. You couldn't slice the wind with a blade or command the waves to lie down and surrender. In the face of the elements it seemed only possible to persevere, and take his turn bailing out endless amounts of saltwater from the ship's hull. His thoughts kept returning to his little red house, the apple tree in his family garden and the sparse furniture he'd left behind to be consumed by whatever doom was gathering in the south-west. In times of despair he tried to cling to duty. He'd smile at people even if he felt only confusion and fear. He followed orders from sailors as swiftly as he'd ever followed the captain's, because on the sea they held a newfound authority that they didn't have on land. There was little to do for someone whose only talent was the sword, but simple work like moving cargo and shoveling water out of the ship had his arms burning with fatigue and stomach growling with hunger. A break in the day's work left him looking over the darkening horizon towards his home. At least he thought it was that direction, it was hard to know where you were on the sea when all there seemed to exist in the world were dark skies and dark waters. He wanted to go home. The familiar streets he'd walked and ran, the fields his family worked and the turf upon which he'd fought and played with his kinsmen and women. What would happen to it all? His melancholy was shattered by the sound of a childs laughter echoing from the ship's hull and he looked behind him for the source. Perhaps his home was with him after all. A blinding light exploded behind him, it's reflection and appearance in his peripheral vision blinding him and causing him to throw up his arms in front of his eyes. To hide from the flash that would consume his world. __________________________________________________________________ Back in Denval Four-red walls and a caved in roof stood like blood-drenched bones at the edge of an abandoned village. Talen's house was no masterpiece in woodwork, and the old roof had not been able to handle the earthquakes and stormwinds that had caused even the Denvali to flee. The wind howled through his ancestral home, playing an eerie dirge upon the carcass of the house his father had built. Debris was scattered throughout the garden, with dozens of branches from the old but apparently sturdy apple-tree still standing guard in the face of the elements. And then the world ended. Fire, Djed and stone was hurtled into the air and through the ground, the walls that Talen had always covered behind torn into splinters and shattered, the tree that he'd grown up with uprooted and scattered to the wind in a brave new world. Secret : Permission to destroy Talen's home: http://www.mizahar.com/forums/topic19400.html

[Paragon]

Talen Stirling

Experience

Skill	XP Earned
Observation	1
Bodybuilding	1

Lores

•	Lore Earned
•	Denvali Refugee
•	An Explosion of Light over Denval
•	Keeping Busy on the Journey
•	Leaving Home for Good

Legend Becomes Reality

This was beautiful, I think you captured the retreat from Denval perfectly! If you have any questions or concerns regarding your grade, please send me a PM and we can work from there.