Awoken suddenly from the sounds of his comrade entering the small hovel once again, Dalmar sat up and greeted his guide. Sh'lzzt's face was grim and filled with the matter at hand. "They've found Eravon's body. That was quick. We'll have to stay here for the day. We'll travel at night, and we'll need to do all this without lighting a fire." Sh'lzzt maneuvered his body to a sitting position across from Dalmar and opened the keg producing two apples.Tossing one to Dalmar, Sh'lzzt picked up one of the scrolls , opened it, and began reading it for a moment. Sh'lzzt smiled for a moment's instance, sparking Dalmar's curiosity.
"What's that you got there, Sh'lzzt?" Dalmar said.
"This tells of when my people moved into the valley. It was a long time ago." Sh'lzzt said. His face was blank with a sudden lonely stare as he rolled the scroll back to its original posture and laid it aside.
"Well, it seems we have a lot of time to ourselves. Enlighten me." Dalmar inquired. Sh'lzzt face grew into one of confusion morphing into a fatigued sort of unwillingness, and Sh'lzzt sighed.
"A long time ago," Sh'lzzt began. "Our people lived all across these lands, beyond the great lake, throughout the plains, and as far as the wind's howls were carried. There were two brothers, who after their king and father died, had to split the land between them. One was fair and just, the other was envious and suspicious of his brother. Each had their followers, and their relationship soon dwindled until conflict beset each. They fought, each claiming the lands and peoples of the other. The elder, fairer of the two, preferred to maintain the quabble among brothers between elves, but his brother enlisted the aid of men. The younger brother promised the men wealth and spoils and even technology, and therefore readily agreed to help. In time, the world of man encroached upon the Kroo, and drove them out of their homes and their land. The younger brother had won the lands over his brother." Sh'lzzt paused and took a sip of wine held in a small cask set on the soft, dry ground. He seemed a bit more relaxed now, and seemed not to mind Dalmar's curiosity as he continued. Dalmar listened intently and seemed to know what was to happen next, but kept his inquiries to himself as Sh'lzzt seemed to be enjoying himself, entertaining his friend in the shallow recesses of the tiny hole in the ground.
"The new king, indeed paid, the men handsomely for their help" Sh'lzzt went on to say. "But when he refused to give them the technology of the elf, to share their knowledge of things arcane, the men turned on him. The young king battled the men in their towns, on the plains, in the forests, and even in the mountains. But the men were too numerous, and soon his name became something of legends and his people were scorned. They were driven out of their homelands and into the dark parts of the forest, away from the sight of all men. The men were even more numerous than the armies of elves. It was because of their presence in the forests that they were given their name, wood elves. The Kroo are called valley elves by men, and have since become relatively ignored by men. But the stories of the devious king that betrayed them still live, the wood elves and man have remained at odds for all those years." Sh'lzzt paused again, sighing at the comclusion of his story.
"And what of the Kroo and the wood elves? Are they still enemies?" Dalmar asked with genuine inquisitiveness.
"They both recognize each other as brothers, once belonging to the same group of people, and many respect that bond. But there are those that still hold allegiance to the idea of the separation and are not to be trusted." Sh'lzzt raised an eyebrow slightly as he thought about this. Sh'lzzt began to fidget with a loose piece of wrapping on his leggings, and soon produced a small bag filled with bone needles and more strands of sinew. Looping the strands through the eye of the larger needle, Sh'lzzt began to stitch his legging together as sounds began to drift in through the small hole in the ceiling. Sh'lzzt and Dalmar both paused and listened to the sounds of men and dogs nearby. The yelping dogs sent a shiver through Dalmar's spine as Sh'lzzt gestured for Dalmar's silence. Within moments, for what seemed like an eternity, the sounds of elves passing nearby grew more distant and softer until they disappeared. "Sh'lzzt and Dalmar began to relax once again as they felt they were out of danger.
The two refugees stayed in the small hole for the rest of the day, bringing little conversation into the silence of the forest. They listened to the sounds of the forest, and the elves returning from the hunt back to their homes. As Dalmar and Sh'lzzt sat in their hiding place, their confidence in their seclusion grew, and they knew they would soon be free of the fear of discovery. As the day progressed, the sun moved across the sky, bringing with it momentary beams of light that shone through the forest floor and warming the small cave. Soon thereafter, the moon rose and the sounds of the nighttime forest overtook the day. With the first owl's call, Sh'lzzt stirred, half in a state of reverie - something that Dalmar did not understand.
"Don't you ever sleep?" Dalmar asked sharply of his friend.
"Elves don't sleep, we..." Sh'lzzt seemed to be unable to find the words to describe his intent. "we...if we choose to, rather, we take part in a waking dream. The elves call it reverie." Sh'lzzt seemed unwilling to discuss any details, and suddenly became distracted by the sliver of moon that was visible through the top of their refuge. "The moon is up, let us leave this place. It's time, Dalmar." Sh'lzzt scooted himself into position to drop into the water of the pond once again, and let his body slide into the cold black water slowly. Following behind his friend, Dalmar did the same, appearing at the surface of the water to quickly return to the land. When Dalmar reached the surface of the embankment, Sh'lzzt crouched on all fours and scanned the forest. Satisfied, he stood up and offered Dalmar his hand. "It's clear" he said as he pulled Dalmar to his feet.
"Which way?" said Dalmar, unsure of the path that lay before them.
"North. We can follow a shallow stream that run about an hour from here. It will hide our tracks as we can use ot to wade through." Sh'lzzt responded. Darting through the forest, Sh'lzzt took a relaxed, quickened step. Dalmar followed closely behind for some time. Each were careful of their surroundings, and only once felt the need to stop and listen for the presences of others. Within time, they reached a loudly running stream of algae covered water flowing in the southwesterly fashion that was only about ankle deep. The footing in the water was precarious at times, and Dalmar, on several occasions, found himself falling into hidden trenches of shallow water. Sh'lzzt seemed to not mind the noise that Dalmar made, and even took the time to laugh at his friend's clumsiness in the water. Seeing this, Dalmar also laughed at himself. Soon, their spirits were higher than they had been all day, and their faces and gait reflected their easiness. They followed the stream for most of the night, and when the moon began to touch to the dark horizon, the trees parted at the base of a large mountain atop which set a large outcropping of ruined stone structures. Dalmar's eyes widened and he gasped at the site of the moss and ivy covered stones of the old buildings that lay in ruins about the ancient terraces.
"What is this place?" Dalmar asked in amazement.
"These are the ruins of Alvaress. This will be a good place to rest, but we still need to be on guard. There's really no telling who will appear in these parts." Sh'lzzt answered as he began to traverse the sloping face of the mountain base. Soon an eroded pathway of stone revealed itself under a thick bed of greenery. The two adventurers, careful to not alert any onlookers, crept up the side of the dilapidated wall until they reached a flat precipice overlooking the forest. Dalmar looked at wide space on the mountainside and marveled at its majesty. The ground was carved into a circular pattern and beared the markings of intricately carved granite of three concentric circles. Around the edges of the large open area were a series of stones contructed one on top of another, and a small alter of shattered alabaster lay crumbling in the center. Breathing hard, Sh'lzzt and Dalmar stood at the edge of the great overlook looking down upon the land that stretched for what seemed to be forever, and marveled at the beauty of the morning horizon. "We'll rest here for now" said Sh'lzzt. "This should give us a pretty good view of the areas around us. Now, let's get something to eat. A little later, we will go find the old well inside." Sh'lzzt sat down on the edge of the cliff face, and dangled his legs over the side with child-like enthusiasm. Within moments, each had regained their energies, and their stomachs began to complain in lieu of their emptinesses.
Sh'lzzt hopped from his seat at the edge of the Alvaressian world, and removed his bow from his body. Seeing Sh'lzzt intent, Dalmar also stood up and followed Sh'lzzt back to the pathway leading up the side of the mountain and along the ruins. Large boulders of stone lay covering the pathway, and the decay of the area began to encroach upon the travel. Dalmar began to see the once-proud civilization as it may have been, and his eyes seemed distracted by the graceful solitude of the dying memories of an age forgotten. The rubble of the ancient buildings bore witness to a society that once stood proud, and each of them seemed to feel as if they were not alone, but rather a part of the missing people that was laid out before them. Still, time had come to this place abruptly as its mark was made. Trees grew through the rooms of old home, and the roots ate at the stone and floors of the tiny piles of moss-covered gravel. Remnants of fires laced the walls of the walkways, and bore witness to the destruction of Alavaress, and Dalmar began to wonder who or what could have caused these people to disappear. Dalmar paused at the base of a once-marvelous statue of marble, shattered and laying in ruin at the base of the a decrepit pair of gates in the side of the mountain. Only the legs of the statue remained as it and its matching base across from it seemed to beckon the weary in through the gaping, jagged hole in the mountainside. Dalmar found the scale astounding, and stood for several moments simply admiring the ruins of Alvaress. He was truly in awe.
"Dalmar, if we want to find that well, we will have to gaze upon the inside of the mountain rather than the outside of it." Sh'lzzt said startling Dalmar and releasing his attention from the grandeur of the ruined gateway. By the time they had reached to the front of the natural fortification, the sun had begun to shine with bright awakening, and the cool air of the corridors inside became inviting. "We've got to be quiet in here." Sh'lzzt's face became serious as he pulled two small torches from a backpack around his waist and lit them. Dalmar opened his own pack and showed Sh'lzzt his rope, nodding to him. "We shouldn't need that, Dalmar, but I will keep it in mind. Let's go." Sh'lzzt crept in with Dalmar on his heels, the head sof each swiveling from side to side as the glow of the torches softened the interior of the ruins. The large open foyer of the was covered with the bones and rusted armor of its long-since-dead guards, each dismembered or shattered in some gruesome way many years ago. The blackened stone gave rise to the fires that raged within the walls of Alavaress, and the flora of the mountainside crept in through the crumbling stone. Sh'lzzt gazed at the tall, broken dome of the room and to the corridor that stood in darkness before them about ten meters in the center of the wall. Sh'lzzt shivered as he stared at the cold, dead hallway that lay before him, but stood proud and firm as he and Dalmar skulked into its opening.
A stone stairway of unequal slabs of granite descended into the darkness of the ruins, cobwebs draping the path and singing at the contact from the torches. Tiny burning creatures popped as the billowing flames caught their tiny spider bodies afire. The bodies of fallen soldiers and countrymen littered the stairs - their bodies impossible to traverse without the occasional cracking of brittle bones or clamoring of falling debris. The echoes of tiny bones trickling down the stairs obviously annoyed Sh'lzzt, and he looked at Dalmar with a stern gaze. He dare not say anything to Dalmar for fear of creating more noise. When they finally got down to the bottom of the stairwell, a wide hall opened before them shaped in rectangular fashion. The tattered remains of tapestries - no more than fragments of textiles - hung on rotted wood staves upon each wall. From several points around the wide room, corridors lead off into the other parts of the fortress. Sh'lzzt surveyed the great hall, looking into each open passage as he put his hand over the light of his torch to shield his keen eyes from overexposure. Motioning to Dalmar, the two crept along the west wall until they came around to the third opening. Sh'lzzt wiped the spider webs away from the opening with the heat of his torches flame, and the burning embers of silk raced to the ceiling revealing a wide archway still covered with engraved runes. The air was musty, and smelled like earth and decay. Sh'lzzt wrinkled his nose, and he let escape a small noise of disgust. Dalmar peered into the blackness of the corridor and saw nothing. Dalmar's eyes had been fixed on the runes and the remnants of colors still slightly visible through the dust that settled upon these halls for what may have been centuries. But with Sh'lzzt's entering the corridor, Dalmar's attention was averted from the deathly beauty of the ruins.
The stone corridor lead the intruders upon the ruins for another ten meters before it revealed a crumbling archway leading into a small place of worship. The idols had all but been removed from this place, and oly fragments of statues remained. The altar, however, was intact and stained black with the old blood of its victims. The air was thick and humid. Dalmar smacked his lips and tasted his own perspiration in the air and smelled the earth that littered the floor as the small roots of plants crept in from the belly of the mountain. A second passage lead adjacently from this semi-circular room at a right angle. It, too, was crumbling, and Dalmar began to question its integrity as he surmised the precariously strewn chunks of stone that held it upright. Dalmar put his hand on Sh'lzzt's shoulder and pointed at the brittle archway. Sh'lzzt looked at the archway and nodded at Dalmar. He then leaned closer to Dalmar's ear and whispered, "The well is this way. There is no other way." Dalmar began to muse to himself in his mind that Sh'lzzt was quite the traveler. But Dalmar was uneasy about the archway despite his agreement to proceed. He trusted Sh'lzzt, and Sh'lzzt had more than proved his willingness to help Dalmar in the times before this. From the very beginning when he first saw Sh'lzzt, right up to this point in time. He was honorable and clever. Sh'lzzt's graceful elven step swayed no impending boulder to move, and Dalmar, looking at the atrociously hanging pieces of stone, managed to squeeze through the small opening without incident.
Another stairwell soon revealed itself as the corridor itself turned away from the descending staircase. Sh'lzzt moved his torch in a direction opposite of his own vision, and peered nto the darkness below, and then down the continuing passage. Motioning to Dalmar, Sh'lzzt began to descend downwards, deeper into the recesses of Alvaress. As he stepped on each stair, the light of the torch revealed to Dalmar the tiny vermin that still haunted the halls. With each step, a speckled brown and black rat squealed as it scurried away from the blazing torches and careless footfalls. Their shrill alerts rang through the ruins, and Sh'lzzt's face grew ever more worried with each step. As the two crept deeper into Alvaress, the rats grew in number until they seemed to be grouped end to end, each of their pink tails wriggling like the whips of tiny demons. Dalmar grew frustrated and nervous at the site, and furiously waved his torch at the ground around his feet. This made the rodents squeak even louder, and soon a frightened mob of rats raced downwards into the darkness. Sh'lzzt turned to Dalmar quickly, and whispered angrily "What are you doing?!"
Whispering back Dalmar exclaimed, "Rats bite and spread sickness. There's no glory in dying by rat bite." Dalmar's face was both comical and serious as he said this, and the sarcasm flowed from his softly uttering lips. Dalmar had tried to give proper tone but found it difficult to do so while whispering. Sh'lzzt's face immediately changed from one of anger to one of comedy as he tried to keep from laughing at Dalmar. Sh'lzzt put his hand over his mouth and let out a whimper escaping from his own chortle. Catching himself out of character, Sh'lzzt then returned quickly to his usual temperament.
"Ahh, yes, and then beside your funeral pyre we shall have to say 'Oh, Dalmar, brave and true, adventurer extraordinaire, killed by rat' ! " Sh'lzzt stared at Dalmar, but then seemed overcome slightly by his own wit as he covered his mouth again and let out another whimper of comedic expression. Dalmar was not impressed by Sh'lzzt's ill-timed wit.
"Fine. Let's just get to the damn well and get out of here" whispered Dalmar frustratedly.
"Indeed." Sh'lzzt said smiling as began to creep down the stairwell once again. The two men slid their feet along the ground rather than making large steps to sweep the small bodies of rodents aside as they walked through the dark recesses of Alvaress. Sh'lzzt knew that the presence of so many rats was an oddity, and forwarned of something that happened recently. After all, Sh'lzzt knew that rats rarely were found without a reason and usually in favor of water or food, and rats loved the taste of death and decay. Finally, the two reached the bottom of the stairwell, and a powerfully foul smell of death hit them in the face like a god's hammer. Dalmar gagged and Sh'lzzt coughed slightly as the smell of rotting flesh saturated their breathing. The humidity of the well in the center of the room compounded the effects of the massive dead body in the center of the room. The green figure covered in the stench of its own putrescence moved as a single unit over itself as if it was boiling with rats. The sounds of the tiny vermin and their claws made a squishy noise as the body of the giant beast-man lay in ruin, a large ballista-sized spear jutting from its ribcage and buried in the stone of the floor. One half of the room had been destroyed and lay in mounds of rubble, revealing an opening into a natural cavern leading into the belly of the internal foundations of the mountain itself. Dalmar and Sh'lzzt stood in awe as they peered through the gaping hole where another stairwell once stood. Several small ledges were visible through the darkness illuminated by their own torches at the other side of a monstrous chasm revealed before them. The entire internal structure of the rest of Alavaress had been destroyed. Everything Sh'lzzt knew of the ruins was gone except for the pathway they had just traversed. Sh'lzzt looked at the well, the Ogre's rotting arm floating in the water of the well. Sh'lzzt knew that the water would be foul as the air in this small area.
Sh'lzzt turned to Dalmar. "The water is poisoned with this death. It's all for naught, Dalmar. We've got to get out of here now!" Sh'lzzt dashed past Dalmar and back onto the stairwell. Dalmar, alarmed, followed quickly behind Sh'lzzt. A unified series of squeals rang out into the cavern as the rats ran out of the way of the charging elf and man up the stairwell. Sh'lzzt paused and regained his senses. He slowed his ascent and cautioned Dalmar to do the same. Together, the two continued until they reached the top of the stairwell. There, they stood and breathed easy for a moment. Dalmar peered down the untraveled corridor and listened for the presence of others. The silence of the blackness became unnerving to Dalmar for the first time. In the beginning he was simply excited to discover the inner chambers of the ruins. Now, he was unsure of his decision. He looked at Sh'lzzt as his friend stood there and listened intently.
"What is it, Sh'lzzt? What do you hear?" Dalmar asked in a breathy whisper.
"I hear..." Sh'lzzt paused to listen closer. "I hear the sounds of bare feet, falling upon cold stone. Someone's coming, Dalmar. We've got to leave!" Sh'lzzt dashed once again in the direction of the small common temple area. As Dalmar chased after, he began to hear the bellowing of a small horn echoing through the stone passage of the ruins. The horns ominous tone drove itself like a stake through Dalmar's chest as his heart began to beat with furious anticipation. As Dalmar and Sh'lzzt reached the rickety stone archway once again, Dalmar tripped falling forward into the stone of the archway and falling to the ground with a thud. Shaking the off the fall, Dalmar turned over on to his back as Sh'lzzt and he both, simultaneously, looked at the weakned archway above him. Pieces of small rubble began to find their way trailing downards to the floor, and then larger pieces of stone. A great creaking rang out of the runed archway. Dalmar's eyes widened and his adrenaline shot through his body. Dalmar rolled out of the way as Sh'lzzt back into the hallway. The archway cam crashing down into the hallway filling the small passage with a cloud of thick, gritty dust traveling through the ruins. The sound of the falling rock caused a thunderous commotion shaking the entire corridor. Dalmar and Sh'lzzt paused and waited for the sounds of more falling stone, but none came. Once again, the horn sounded, burying its tone into the brains and telling of the oncoming carnage. "You wanted glory? Well, Dalmar of Morguon, it looks like you got your wish!" Sh'lzzt said as he darted to the turn of the hallway to peer around the corner, pulling his blade from his sheath. Dalmar sprang to his feet and followed. "Back to the archway! We don't want them to get behind us!" yelled Sh'lzzt, now no longer worried about being heard.
"Who's coming, Sh'lzzt? What is it?!" Dalmar said feverishly as he backed down the hallway.
"I'd gather its either goblins or hobgoblins, Dalmar" answered Sh'lzzt as he joined Dalmar at the end of the hallway. If we're lucky, maybe there will only be about twelve of them."
"Twelve is being lucky?!" blurted Dalmar surprised. "I'd hate to think what being unlucky would be." Dalmar eyes became adhered as Sh'lzzt's down the hallway watching the corridor as the sounds of jingling armor became apparent. The noise grew and the sounds of bare feet became apparent to the Dalmar as it once did to Sh'lzzt. The air of the corridor was still filled with the dust of the cave-in, but Dalmar was still able to see well enough down the passage as a large creature raced across the passage's end towards the stairwell that lead to the dead ogre. Another one appeared with a third as they raced down after their brother. A fourth trotted a bit slower in front of the passage towards the stairwell, and stopped turning to gesture towards more of the wandering horde. Suddenly, he turned, and as his yellow eyes briefly gazed down the dusty hallway he paused and looked more intently at the dusty passage. The creature's eyes grew wide with fury as he lifted a horn to his lips and blew. Like water made of pudgy, muscular beasts poured into the tiny passage, each bellowing strange, malevolent gurgles of rage and deviance at their foe. Dalmar stepped forward of Sh'lzzt, and in a flash, picked up a large stone that had fallen from the ceiling. As the mob raced towards them with all manner of weapons aimed with ire's intent, Dalmar hurled the huge boulder down the hallway striking the first hobgoblin square in the chest and sending him hurtling backwards into the creatures behind. As the blood of the beast sprayed from his mouth upon the dusty walls, the beasts comrades seemed to be unaffected as they were soon upon the two warriors trapped in the hallway. Two by two, the hobgoblins slashes and sliced at Sh'lzzt and Dalmar, making little way in their barrages of defense swordsmanship. Dalmar quickly impaled his first foe, and seemlessly moved on to the next, parrying the creature's forward strike. Suprising the hobgoblin with his adeptness, Dalmar raised a mighty foot and kicked the hoboglbin in the chest sending him backwards and off his feet. The fine elven blade usurped from the dead Eravon's corpse proved to be true as Dalmar buried the blade into the breast of the fallen foe. Another slash whisked through the air above Dalmar's head, and Dalmar pulled the blade from the dead hobgoblin's body slicing the next creature through the bottom of its jaw. As it stood there dazed by the fluid strike, Dalmar grabbed his hilt with two hands and pluged it through the throat of his enemy, sending it to the grave.
Sh'lzzt seemed to fare less favorably than Dalmar in the fray as the strength of the large creatures seemed to cause problems of balance for him. Sh'lzzt's speed was no match for his foes, however, as he moved with superior elven grace and continually dodged slash after slash only to bring his blade home. The walls ran red with the blood of their enemies. They were careful not to let their opposition gain multiple advantages, and soon only two remained, Dalmar and Sh'lzzt. In all, ten hobogblins lay dead and dismembered before the two warriors, blood gushing from several clean wounds from their arms and legs. The smell of blood was heavy in the dusty air as the two leaned against the wall and laughed with hysterical resolve. Their breaths blew aside the dust in the air causing it to swirl about before them, and they slumped to the floor to catch their breaths. It had been a trying test of both their wills and abilities. As they looked at the bodies of their enemies, Sh'lzzt stood and placed his blade sequentially through the breast of each before them. Dalmar turned towards the fallen debris where the archway once stood, and he surveyed the collapse. "I think I can get us out of here, Sh'lzzt." he said.
"Please do" said Sh'lzzt as he wiped his blade on his leggings and placed it back into his scabbard. Dalmar rose to his feet and felt of the boulders that blocked their exit. Indeed, the boulder could be moved with his strength, but he was unsure of the repercussions of doing so. Dalmar was not about to entertain the idea of the meeting more hobgoblins today, and tried to move the boulders anyway - one at a time. As he pushed his body against the largest boulder first, it fell through into the common temple. One by one, Dalmar broke the stones free, rolling them into the common temple until, at last, the corridor was open for travel. Sh'lzzt smiled in disbelief. "There is more to you, my friend, than meets the eyes, methinks." Sh'lzzt patted Dalmar on the shoulder as they breeched the common temple. "Come on, we need to get out of here before more of those things find their way to this place" Sh'lzzt continued. Dalmar took a final look at the dead hobgoblins in the rubble-filled hallway, trying to find some sense of the battle that had transpired. He then noticed the glint of a longsword that lay by itself, and he stepped through the portal once again. He picked up the sword, wiped his own blood from the blade on his pants leg, and fed it through a scabbard that he tied to his waist. Stepping back through the broken archway, he rejoined Sh'lzzt as they journeyed to the entrance of the ruins of Alvaress.
Invino Veritas
8/7/11
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