To Golagd (1st of Brauph)
The journey was blessed, or cursed depending on your perspective. Itther, god of the nightborn, hung heavy and full in the sky and chased away the sun, while Hybenar and Iwdon skulked, only half present. By the favor of this light the six left the vampire behind and journeyed out into a savanna, sharp blades of grass brushing against those with flesh to feel it. The hulking forms of Larek, Hadius, and Thornwhip rose high out of the grass, and their feet trampled it into a matted trail. Alicia and the host followed close behind them while Shwarak nimbly picked his way through the crushed blades amongst their feet, though never too close.
The savanna was ruled over by mighty oaks which stretched above the grasses and stretched their canopies wide. The group approached the first tree they saw, and found worshipers of Brauph reveling beneath its leaves. A great snake, mottled with dark blues and purples, oscillated between this world and another as it slithered, coils disappearing entirely into consuming darkness before reappearing later in its body. Other dark spirits, their forms constantly changing, danced wildly beneath the tree. But rituals to Brauph were inherently solemn affairs, and soon a slim shade gained control over these flighty creatures. A flameling, a bright wisp-like creature beloved by elves, was brought to base of the tree, and the snake seemed to dive through it into the roots of the tree. Suddenly its light was extinguished and the spirits began their dance again, rushing at the group and trying to force them to join in. Soon more spirits poured out of the tree until the entire area under the broad tree was filled with a shifting blackness of overlapping voids. The group almost lost each other, and themselves, before they found a way out from under the tree. They resolved after that to dodge the tall oaks, and stick to the open grasses.
Soon, though, they found the jungle. One moment it was a blemish on the grassy horizon, and the next they were faxing down a thick wall of foliage. Thornwhip seemed to move readily amongst the plants despite his mass, and Shwarak was no less nimble, but the others had to fight their way forward against a jungle that seemed to repel them every step of the way. It was during this stretch that time began to lose meaning. Thornwhip kept them headed in the right direction, though his ability to fade in and out of the forest growth frequently left his companions feeling abandoned.
Suddenly Thornwhip became more visible, standing out in a slightly thinning forest which suddenly contained a fair amount of stone. Stone which the forest had reclaimed, to be sure, but stone nonetheless. Soon a rough street began to emerge, a pale stone walkway covered by vined growths. The walked past buildings which had been reduced to rubble, or perhaps had one or two sections of wall still standing. One building was held remarkably upright by a tree which had grown through its roof, and whose branches now supported it.
They were not allowed to wander the ruins of Golagd for long before a kobold with a spear came to greet them. When the small creature saw them it quickly ran off, and soon they were surrounded by the little lizard creatures, at least twenty. Not that a brood of twenty kobolds with flimsy spears could have actually held the group captive, but it at least made the kobolds feel better. When they mentioned settling the atmosphere lightened and the lizard folk walked off with them towards a small clearing.
It looked like a gathering site, a circular space with steps leading up to a center surrounded by pillars. In other ruins elsewhere in the world there would likely have been a well for people to gather at as they collected water. In these ruins, however, there was a small stone alter, and perched atop that alter was a kobold. In one hand he held a staff that was decorated with the a snake rattle, some sort of large nut from a tree, and an ear from something so monstrously large that the ear itself was bigger than the kobold’s head. In the other was a dead bird which the kobold held by its feet and gesticulated wildly with, occasionally causing feathers to fly loose. If this was a regular symbol of office than it must be replaced frequently in order for there to be any bird to wield. A mad shaman indeed.
”Visitors on the first day of Brauph?! But there is so much of you for the void god to send! Well, if the god has sent much flesh it must be without purpose. What will it be? Do you lack purpose, and are here, or are you not here for a reason?” The kobold’s speech suggested the bird may be both alive and a skilled ventriloquist, though a poor impersonator.
Author
Topic: The Nightborn [RP/RPG] (Read 10011 times)