Closed A Risky Return (Nirvesca)

[Traverse]

20th of Summer, 515 A.V.
Somewhere along the Zavkhan, South of the Kalean Border

The jungle was hot. It had not been hot at first, not up in the cloud forests, at elevations still low for the Symenestra, albeit still familiar in scope. But once she had climbed down, following the massive fast running river she had no name for that seemed to lead straight into the heart of the region, it became very hot indeed.

This was the time of the Summer monsoons, nothing was ever dry, even in the spare few moments when it wasn't raining. Makutsi blessed Falyndar every Summer with such abundance, but outsiders might not see it as such, and left the land perpetually humid, muggy, and sopping.

The river was a tempting thing, perhaps in better circumstances Nirvesca could have ridden it down to wherever it led, but because of all the rain, it was more danger than it was worth, its waters muddy brown and able to conceal all manner of rocks that would dash those not skilled enough to pieces in its newly formed rapids, so it provided a marker, a winding weaving path leading her in the general direction of where she wanted to go, and at night the safety of the trees sheltered her from...most dangers.

That being said sometimes the biggest dangers an explorer could face were hunger. There was plenty of fruit to be found in the jungles, but not all of it was edible, and the creatures here as Nirvesca was learning were well adapted to survive in the wilds, either through camouflage, keen sight, or their swiftness, and all were wary of her.

It was just after dawn when she woke with a hunger in her belly in the lee of a tall tall tree. Another day in this strange new world. As she adjusted to the waking world she could hear noises below her. Vibrations she could feel through the tree, snorting, scratching, and...chewing?

If she peered over to look she would find her resting place had been surrounded by 3 large creatures, that were grazing happily in the early morning.

[Nirvesca]

It had been weeks since she waved farewell to her father, mother, and brothers at the entrance to the under-cavern, in Kalinor. There had been a harvest moon in the cavern ceiling of the world that night of her departure. A good omen. Nirvesca recalled how full and heavy the moon was that night, and not a cloud to her name. If it had been a blood moon, that would have been fortuitous indeed. She had settled for a harvest moon, though. She was reluctant to wait even a night longer in fear that her father would decide against her trek.

That had felt like months ago now. What had started as a young girl's fanciful idea of adventure had turned into an inhospitably harsh reality. She had loved the rain, once upon a time. The rhythmic pattering of raindrops soothed her and had eased the nagging pressure at her temples whenever a headache was nigh. But the farther south she got, the more wet she became. She was soaked so often, it seemed a strange occurrence to be dry.

Then there were the bugs. The always-buzzing swarms of midges that kept her swatting, day or night in whatever tree house she had claimed. At higher elevations, nearer to her homeland, the flying insects had not been very numerous or bothersome. But as with most of her suffering, the farther south she went, the larger the population of blood-sucking bugs. Her creamy pale flesh was now a blotchy mess of insect bites where her soggy chitin armor did not cover. Her hair had once been so silky and black as to shimmer in the moonlight. Now it was an inky, greasy, nest of tangles with an assortment of leaves, twig, and jungle muck. Every part of her was dirty actually. She was sure her odor was so fierce, that a beast could smell her a mile off.

Still, Nirvesca was determined if nothing else. She would traverse miles and miles of jungle until she found the fabled city of the Dhani. She would laugh in the face of a million of the airborne pests if that's what it took. Anything less would be unimaginable. To return home, empty-handed with nothing to show for her intellectual harvest save some bug bites would be an utter embarrassment. Her cheeks would burn with shame and she was sure her brothers would laugh and offer her their arrogant 'told you so's' before she was relegated to brew poisons beneath the earth for the rest of her years like an obedient little cave spider.

It had not all been sheer misery though. For one thing, she found herbs and plants grew in sporadic abundance in the wilds. Some leaves and flowers she recognized, many more she had little understanding of. Harvesting many of those for future sampling and experimentation.

Nirvesca also had plenty of time to practice with her shortbow. She killed mostly small vermin or animals that looked feast-worthy without appearing too aggressive. She coated her arrowheads in a poison that drowsed her targets just in case her aim was off. Her aim was off more often than she would have liked too. That was the thing with moving targets in a place so dense as the jungle - they were a lot harder to hit. In Kalinor she had always had the distinct advantage of stationary targets and clear sight. That also, was a thing of the past. Still, she wasn't complaining. It was a challenge of sorts, and she found herself improving with each day that hunger gnawed at her. The harsh conditions made her more desperate, more cunning, and more experienced.

Such were the thoughts flitting through her head before sleep embraced her. The next morning she jerked awake, bumping her head on a tree limb with a muttered curse and rub. After a tick or two of irritation, she opened her amethyst eyes to the dappled sway of scattered light through leaf that was her present safe haven. Nirv squinted at the bedazzling light and quickly remembered what had caused her to awaken in the first place. Noises!

Nirvesca didn't bother strapping on her armor just yet, she did however grab her bone shortbow along with her quiver of arrows, the latter casually flung over her shoulder. Nirv skittered across the thoroughfare of twisted and gnarled branches, catching a hanging vine to swing lightly down to a lower bough. There she perched and drew arrow taught to string. She blinked and slowly lowered her bow. At the base of her tree were three strange creatures she had no name for.

They snorted, scratched, and ate small things in the undergrowth. Bugs? She was beginning to like these creatures already. Still, they did look rather appetizing. And massive! With large rippling club-like arms that she could easily imagine breaking her like an egg. She licked her dry and cracked lips in consternation. It wouldn't be wise to anger such creatures. Even if she could put one down (which she strongly doubted), the other two would likely assault her. She didn't even know if they could climb trees. Her appetite was something fierce though, offering a disgruntled rumble for reminder.

It wasn't absolutely necessary for her to hunt those beasts anyway. She had a small supply of soft fruit in which to stave off her hunger for the time being. Ten chimes later she stood in the same exact place she had earlier when scrutinizing the creatures. Now she wore her armor though, and carried her pack. Nirv sunk her venom emitting canines through the fuzzy skin of the yellow fruit and into the pulp, allowing her toxins to stew a bit to soften the fruit to a tasty drinkable nectar. Whilst she did this, she peered down impatiently at the grazing animals. Whatever it was they were eating down there made her hungry and just a bit jealous. Why hadn't they shared it with the tree's only Symenestra occupant? She fancied she could learn to like bugs even. If they were tasty enough.

"Hey you down there! Don't you have anything better to do than eat my tree bugs?" she said in her singsong voice. Waving her yellow fruit at them admonishingly, splashing some sweet fruit-venom down upon their heads.

NoteHad to edit heirloom bow to reflect CS changes.

[Traverse]

In almost perfect unison the Nandhai looked up at the Symenestra, their ears rotating toward the sound a fraction of a tick before their noses and eyes turned up towards her. One, the largest of the three, began to grunt and howl at her, not overly loudly, but certainly as some sort of warning. After a few moments of examining the girl, however, they went back to grazing, a few snorts her only reply to her inquiry, and every once and a while one of the three would check to make sure she was still there. If she watched a little longer, however, she'd notice one stop digging to pluck up a massive centipede before slurping it up, another was eating a collection of plants stem and all, though seemed to take more time on the flowers.

A few chimes later, whether continuing to observe them or not, the Nandhai ears pricked again, this time, rotating in an altogether different direction. One of them snorted, pawing the ground, and not in a way that was looking for food. The largest of them began to howl again, but this time it was louder, piercing Nirvesca's ears, clearly hostile. The other two joined the first, and soon the howls, shouts, and growls filled the small clearing the Nandhai and Nirvesca found themselves in.

Nirvesca saw something, a shadow flitting by in a tree at about her height, but farther away, on the other side of the Nandhai. Suddenly the familiar whirring of an arrow shot through the trees to land in the middle of the Nandhai. As soon as it came into contact with the ground it made several harsh popping sounds. Two more followed it in swift succession and the Nandhai, unsure where or whome these noises were coming from, seemingly surrounded, began bolting through the wilderness away.

A loud triumphant woop followed, and Nirvesca heard, though did not see something rustling through the treetops.

[Nirvesca]

Nirvesca offered the three beasts a full smile that showed off her pearly fangs to their fullest effect. She watched them with curiosity whilst she suckled her fruit juice. The burliest of the batch startled her with a grunt and howl that nearly toppled her from the tree. But it seemed to her, more a warning than any prelude to eating her. They were, after all, gorging themselves on insects and foliage. She believed herself relatively safe, though she wasn't quite up for putting her hypothesis to the test just yet. What if they were to suddenly decide that a gourmet breakfast wouldn't be such a bad idea after all? Hadn't she herself nearly resorted to trying a bug or two if it was spiced up just right? Best to be safe and keep her distance....for now.

She was keen on continuing her trek to find the city of Zinrah and meet the serpent people that lived there. At rare times when she had a moment to let her mind drift away, she thought of the Dhani and how it must be to live as they do. Then she would find her ruminations led her back to her own people and their need for harvests. It was a sad thing to her, that her people could not survive on their own. The Symenestra required female hosts to keep their dwindling population afloat. She wondered at that, and who her mother had been. A Dhani perhaps? Rare were the times when she could get any answer at all from her parents. Those responses she did receive were vague and brief. Nirvesca was told the woman was fertile and strong. That she had excellent biological traits that would explain why they had such an intelligent and dutiful daughter that never allowed her curiosity to get the better of her. That was fair warning that she'd pried far enough. But now she would find answers, that was what this entire adventure was about.

The Symnestra splayed various plant roots out along the massive tree branch that she had collected for her poison brewing. She planned to ask the Dhani about what they knew on the subject. No doubt they had names for a few of the strange herbs she had gathered in the jungles as well as the properties inherent in them. Nirv carefully replaced each root bundle to a pouch whilst her attention frequently drew back to the odd creatures munching down below.

She paused with her stowing away herbs to bubble out musical mirth when she chanced on one of the animal's slurping up a rather gigantic centipede. The centipede whipped back and forth as it met with its eventual end betwixt the beast's slavering jaws. Even the centipede looked decidedly yummy to eat. Oh how she tired of fruit. If she was forced to never eat another petching fruit it would be too soon! If her stomach complained just once more, she would try her hand at bug catching down with the creatures if need be.

The big one began to howl again, but this time she was prepared for the discordant noise. Nirv rubbed at her temples, wishing it would stop with all the racket. "Must you with the noise? I shall be leaving you to your feast soon enough..." said Nirvesca before trailing off when she noticed she wasn't the object of their disquiet. They were clearly focused on something outward that had gotten their attention. One began to dig at the earth in a threatening sort of way. There was further proof of incoming danger when all three began to howl in unison, piercing her ears and causing her head to throb.

Nirvesca scanned the tree line, looking desperately for whatever it was that had caused the beasts to stir. She saw nothing amiss at first, but after a short few ticks, her eyes fastened on a flit of movement in a tree opposite the gurgling river. Her eyes widened in dismay. Whatever it was, it climbed well! That was not such great news for her. Nor did she very much like how skillfully stealthy whatever it was managed to traverse the tree.

After the familiar noise of arrows being loosed and the unfamiliar popping sounds that issued upon their hitting the ground, the howling animals bolted in fear. She tended to agree with their assessment of the situation. It was time to get the petch out of there! Nirv thought she saw other rustling movement amid the verdant canopy of branches and she imagined the trees filled with some savage hunters of a kind. The sort that were cannibalistic and weren't particularly opposed to eating pretty arachnid humanoids if they must. A part of her was glad that whatever these predators were , at least they could be reasoned with and weren't reliant upon instincts alone....she hoped.

The Symenestra got her gear together in a rush and skittered down the tree with a speed that seemed to defy gravity. Her hands and feet clung to the wood as she navigated the gnarled bark to a place in the branch where another vine hung low enough to catch in her grasp and swung herself the rest of the way to the ground, barely displacing the carpet of leaves, mushrooms and other debris as she hit the ground running. Nirvesca paralleled the river as she sprinted. Hoping whatever it was decided to leave her alone. She was hungry and her energy reserves were running low. It wouldn't be long before she tired out and had to hide.

Not very long at all.

[Traverse]

She could feel the ground shaking under her feet when she landed upon the ground, Nandhai were large animals, and their movement made an impact. Ferns, sharp leaves, and branches smacked against her skin as she went, but the more she ran the less the earth moved beneath her feet, and after a couple of chimes, well the jungle seemed to resume it normal noisy, yet peaceful demeanor.

It was hard to say what that entity had been, if it had been alone, but most likely, as far as she could see, there was a slim chance it would change its course from the large prey it sought after. If Nirvesca paused to gauge her new surroundings she would notice that nearby one of the massive trees that allowed her to hide so safely had tumbled, probably a long time ago judging by the rot and plant life gracing its bark and partially eaten away body.

Crawling over the moss was one of the large centipedes that she had spotted the Nandhai feasting over. Making their way over the log was a stream of army ants, their progress through the jungle creating a small worn pathway that broke the normal green overrunning the land nearby.

Somewhere a trilling bird call rang out not too far away, joining the music of the jungle.

[Nirvesca]

The jarring vibrations beneath her feet only sped up her hasty departure. To her it felt like the entire forest was alive with some nameless terror. Part of her was terrified, but another part of her wanted to laugh with the excitement of it all. She truly felt alive. Fate balanced on a thin thin thread and anything could happen at any moment. Her imagination painted an insane image of a gigantic reptilian beast crashing through the jungle, preparing to open its maw wide to swallow her up into the void. Nirvesca squealed with delight whilst she ran, weaving her way between trees and brush.

Eventually she slowed her pace to a light jog, and then to a brisk walk. Whatever had caused all that commotion was far behind her now. Nirvesca rested her long-nailed fingers on pale thighs, trying to catch her breath. The thrill that had coursed through her dissolved to the usual tedium of jungle noises, bug-swatting, and stifling humidity. She almost hoped whatever it was that had caused her flight returned and caught her. When again her breath was even, she noticed a huge tree had fallen in her midst. So massive that a section of it stretched out into the noisy river and many smaller shrubs and saplings had been flattened by its bulk.

Inspecting the bark, she found it was festooned with moss and much of it so decayed through that it burst open to the barest of pressure from her sharp fingertips. Accompanying the rot was a host of marching ants and another of the large centipedes she had watched the beasts devour earlier. She laughed as the centipede eluded her prodding finger and the flow of ants as it vanished out of sight on the other side of the massive bole.

Nirv doubled over to peer beneath the fallen log, her flexible body folding easily as she searched the moist space beneath for anything she might use in her poison brewing. She spotted a number of mushrooms growing out of the wood at just a few inches above ground level. They had reddish-brown caps and fibrous stems . These she carefully harvested and added to her collection of roots, spider venom and other fungi in her bags.

A bird called out from up in the trees, recalling her mind to the present moment and her escape from...whatever it had been to chase away those large creatures. She stood and followed the tree to where it twisted and lay partly submered in the rushing rapids of the river. The sight from the river's edge was beautiful. Nirv's eye followed the curve of the snaking river as it wound on for miles upon miles through jungle expanse. She felt suddenly so small. Like those ants, ever marching, but never getting anywhere. She let out a sigh that blew tendrils of black hair from her pale dirty face.

Nirvesca pondered scaling the tree down to the river and refilling her waterskin and washing herself off a bit. The tree looked unstable however, and the current dangerously strong. Perhaps had Nirv been a strong swimmer, she may of risked it. But she was not. The thought of thrashing about as the water smashed her against the rocky banks was not pleasant in the least. It wasn't necessary anyway, the constant rainfall had made it an easy task to leave her container out to catch precipitation. Nirv indulged in a couple of swallows from her waterskin before capping it and returning it to her packs.

"Traveling is thirsty work," she murmured to no one in particular as she started up her journey again. Hoping the Dhani city would appear out of the jungle mist any tick now. They would invite her inside their subterranean labyrinth with a delicious lunch prepared, all for her....

Hey, she was allowed a little wishful thinking to pass the time!

[Traverse]

What happened was not as dramatic as the Nandhai barreling back through the jungle and trampling Nirvesca, for an altogether more subtle event happened as she continued her journey into the heart of the jungle, following the twists and turns of the body of water she would someday come to know as the Zavkhan.

Another piercing bird call, similar to the one that had woken her out of her reverie struck clear and loud through the jungle foliage. There was nothing odd about it in particular, in fact it was probably the same bird except for the fact that approximately ten chimes later, making her way carefully through the thick greenery, she heard it again, almost the exact same call again.

Still, it was probably nothing to worry about, there were plenty of the same birds in these jungles, she had witnessed more than a few in her tree top sanctuaries upon her journey, and the number and variety of sounds they made were simply unfathomable.

Another ten chimes passed, and having heard nothing, at least not from that particular bird again, the mood lightened.

Then the sound of howler monkeys sounded, except if there was one thing Nirvesca knew about those noisy jet black monkeys by now, was that they loved to hang out as high as they could and taunt and jeer at everything below them, and the sounds, sharp howling guffaws, came from all sides of her...but not from in the canopy, which was empty, but from ground level.

That was when she heard the sound of forms rusting through the jungle, not from one side or the other...but all around her, the mysterious things (that probably weren't howler monkeys) presumably making their way straight for her. Whatever it was didn't shake the ground to be certain, but it could not be a good sign, regardless.

[Nirvesca]

It was turning out to be a very odd day in the jungle for Nirvesca. One that had started with the curious beasts at the base of her tree, carried on with bizarre and unseen assailants in the trees, followed by curious bird noises that had begun to get on her nerves to the current moment of insufferable monkey wailing and chortling. The echoing laughter was grating on her and causing her head to pound once more. The Symenestra felt a dizzy spell coming on as she paused in her walking to lean against a tree with a white papery bark that looked partly shredded as if something coarse had been dragged over it. With a shaky hand, she tugged free her waterskin and brought it to her lips for a drink.

Nirv wondered if perhaps the sudden and protracted physical exertion had caught up with her and made her a bit tired. She felt disorientated, and not just from the profuse monkey noises. The sunlight glinted and danced in a field of rustling green canopy when she directed her vision aloft. She had been kicked out of more than one tree house on account of the annoying black monkeys. But the branches above her were deserted. Not a monkey in sight. Nirvesca blinked, slowly lowering waterskin from her lips. The howling sounds, she suddenly realized, were not even coming from the treetops, but from ground level, seemingly all around her!

Nirvesca's back hit her tree, she glanced this way and that, trying to decide on a course to escape. There was none though, the entire jungle seemed to stir with activity as if the land itself rose against her. She quickly gave up any hope of running away. She doubted she could get away even if she hadn't felt sick and spent. She was completely surrounded by...something. She still had a tree though, and if it came to that she would climb it to the topmost branch if need be. But she didn't even feel like doing that. The dizzy spell had not left her still and her legs trembled with weakness. She felt as if a lethargy ran through her blood, making even the simplest of actions seem like a monumental task. Nirv idly wondered if she had eaten a bad fruit or something.

It took all of her energy to put away her waterskin and fumble out her bone shortbow and set an arrow in place, drawing the string taught, the fletching barely grazing her cheek. "Who's out there? I'll shoot you if I don't receive answer!" she yelled, trying to muster up the strength to sound more sure of her threat than she felt. "Show yourself!"

[Traverse]

When she cried out into the foliage, the shouting and hollering stopped quite suddenly. Though the noises had been piercing and annoying, their absence spoke of another mood altogether that settled into the jungle.

Foliage shifted, and then, slightly muffled, she heard a short barking laugh.

A tall, broad woman stepped out directly in front of Nirvesca, about 20 feet away. In unison two males stepped out slightly behind her, ten feet to either side of her, and out of the corner of her eyes she could spot two more entities, a male and female? They came with bows drawn out as well, and aimed straight for her.

"Very bad day for you, pale spider." The woman, who appeared to be the leader spoke, her voice deep and heavily accented, a smirk upon her lips. Her skin was a deep reddish brown, deep brown tattoos covering her left arm, whose hand was poised on the hilt of a strange short blade, fingers dancing over the hilt. All the individuals were massive, especially compared to Nirvesca, they had dark skin, long dark hair either braided or pulled back, and many had bone piercings and other adornments that only enhanced their savage appearance.

"Last words? Or will you shoot me before you die?" She spread her arms wide, waiting. The males to either side of her looked to their leader with varying degrees of alarm, their own hands going to their weapons. Nirvesca could hear the creaks of the bow strings to either side of her, straining to be drawn to the fullest extent.

[Nirvesca]

Nirvesca had been made the fool it seemed. She must have looked dumbfounded when the tall woman emerged from the foliage with her equally tall and well armed band, for the fierce lady laughed, the stinging amusement recalling her to her senses. She raised her chin proudly, insolently even, studying the speaker closely. She and her warriors looked to be robust of build and utterly savage. The leading female's arm was encircled with tattoo-work and Nirv thought it must be significant somehow, though she did not know why. The woman clearly spoke the common tongue, thickly accented as it was, she spoke it and that meant they could be reasoned with...and beguiled.

The Symnestra wanted to know very badly how she had been tricked with the jungle noises. But asking about such things presently did not seem a wise course. Instead she waited for her moment, watching them with clever amethyst eyes. It appeared the broad warrior-woman did not fear Nirv's bow being trained upon her. If anything, she openly dared her to shoot, though offering her a very logical prediction of what would befall her if she intended to go through with it. She briefly pondered opening fire and running for it, but that seemed sheer folly. She would likely be shot down before she got ten yards. No, she must resort to parley.

Nirvesca eased her bow down, her arm going slack as she released tension on the string. "No. Of course not. You called me spider, Lady of the jungle. Then you must understand that I am an emissary from Kalinor. I've come on an important mission to seek out the Dhani city of Zinrah. I mean you no harm. There could be a reward waiting for you if you ...spared my life. A great reward actually, upon my return to Kalinor when the Symenestra learn of your...helpful deeds," she said, a disarming smile curved her lips.

Nirvesca knew she probably looked a sight having been in survival mode for so long, but maybe her offer would entice these hunters and they would believe her tale. It was true, after all. Everything she had said had been the truth, if a little grandiose in delivery. It hadn't been some mission from her people, but her own aching need to know the world, to finally get her adventure. Well she had gotten it alright.

That desire seemed so petty a thing now. The elaborate beauty of her underground home, not such a dull place anymore, but an inviting place, a safe place. They might kill her and leave her to rot in the wild jungle. Her corpse picked clean by birds and other animals, even the ants and winged-bugs would feast upon what was left of her. Such thoughts flitted through her mind. Though she did not betray them to these jungle savages, she felt it in her gut and could feel the sickness and tiredness returning.

" I beseech you! Aid me on my quest. Show me the way if you know where to find Zinrah. Draw me a map even, if you please and I will offer you the gold in my possession for your help," she said. But even to her, she sounded more like a bratty child making demands than a dignified diplomat discussing terms. But Nirvesca was tired and pushed to her limits. She deserved something good to happen for a change didn't she?