As you stare at the place where the road ends and the great wild begins, your companions question your judgement. "Is it all worth it?", "What if we don't find our way out?". You look back, and offer a smirk. They do trust you, they are just frightened at the thought of the wild. You take your first steps off the path, your friends closely behind.
You begin your search. For years and years, you and your companions search, facing harsh winters and bare bones living conditions.
You will then find your target, who dons a long beard, heavy jacket and pants and a soot covered face, probably because of the now smoldering campfire. He is sitting on a makeshift chair, beside what appears to be three skeletons, sprawled out on the snow covered earth to the left of him, a fourth one impaled through the chest on the ground just in front of him.
You charge at him with your broadsword, impaling him through the lower body. You look at your grievously wounded opponent, feeling a surge of rage like no other. He took years from you. He took away your friends and your family back home. You were framed for his crimes. The reward no longer mattered. You pull out your copper slicing knife, now slightly rusted from the exposure to the elements. You plunge the knife into him, over and over, slicing his fingers off, spilling his guts, ripping out his heart. You then plunge the knife into his skull, leaving it embedded in his flesh.
You look at your opponent's mutilated corpse, and you turn to your companions, a look of magma boiling in your eyes. You are then covered in the blood of your friends, lying in the snow, also painted red. The smell of miasma is slowly filling the air.
You whisper ,"I have failed you Armok.", and then scream the same words as you wander into the wilderness, no longer fit to live in normal society.
Then, an aspiring adventurer sees your image in a local tavern, the description says you, and several friends, had been wanted for several years for suspected murder, and are supposed to be in the great wilderness to the north. The adventurer picks up his silver short sword as his two friends wait at the door. The adventurer asks the bartender what the reward is. "100 gold coins, lad. If you're lucky enough to find him!". The adventurer could buy his village a new set of farms with that, he could make a difference. He yells to the tavern, "I'll get him good!". All he gets in response is a glare from the customers.
But there is one who doesn't glare. Tears spring into her eyes as her love heads to the door. He turns back, looks at her, and mouths the words "I Love You.". She only offers the same words and a sad and worried look.
The bartender yells to him before he leaves, "Tell him Ol' Axearm says 'Hello'!"
The silence is overwhelming as the door closes behind the adventurer, only interrupted by the sounds of weeping, which is being comforted by people nearby.
It is a solemn reminder to the patrons of the tavern.
The circle is never-ending.
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Topic: The Search (Read 572 times)