- Joined
- Jan 5, 2011
- Messages
- 2,151
- Reputation score
- 310
Nelanorah: HP = 65, PP = 48, EP = 51, Status = Fine.
There were few more certain allies in Donevrion than a common blade.
A common blade could never be bribed. Its interests would never malign with those of its wielder. It would never question its wielder's competence and flee them. It would fight until it shattered and then, if its wielder was clever enough with it, fight some more. Some sentient weapons might not be so resolute, but a common blade's loyalty always laid with the one who wielded it.
Nelanorah's blade was one of the few allies that remained to her, and the only one at her side at the moment. Her defeat at the hands of of the knights had seen her lose most that would support her bid to be acknowledged as a skilled warrior in her own right. It was the nature of Winter. The Winter Court held much in common with the season it shared its name with: it was cold and unforgiving. Humans might see the behavior of abandoning those who had failed as betrayal or feral savagery but little of the Winter Court's cruelty could be described as entirely without point, it simply did not coddle. The strong and able survived and the rest were left to eventually vanish under the snow where they had fallen, and Nelanorah had fallen.
Nelanorah, however, had gotten back up. Her reasons were entirely her own but through them she might yet show her true worth to her court and, at the same time, claim her revenge. It was in pursuit of that revenge that she found herself in a valley at the edge of a small forest.
An entire field of trees stretched out in front of her reaching so high into the sky that they nearly blocked the sun even though not a single leaf could be seen on their branches. Each one was covered in frost so thick that it may very well have been a permanent fixture, frost that was visible from the highest tip and spread down every inch of bark only to disappear under a layer of snow which had grown so high that it completely obscured the roots. More snow fell even then, adding layer of the white powder already so deep that Nelanorah might have found it impossible to navigate were she not a faerie of the Winter Court. It was quiet and still, as if all the wildlife that had once inhabited the forest had been frozen and buried. The cold in the air might have been the end of the faun too if it weren't for her origins. All of these qualities made the forest in front of her a perfect hiding place for a knight of Winter.
Indeed, from what Nelanorah had discovered, one of the knights that she owed revenge was in the forest in front of her. She had learned that he had recently gathered a small warband of fey in order to launch raids on local mortals who were encroaching on the Winter Court's territory and was using the forest as a staging ground and a fallback. The mortals would find the valley difficult to access and inhospitable once they were there, but the fey had no such issues. Moreover, even with the visibility offered by the lack of foliage on the trees there wasn't a sign of life in the forest, though Nelanorah knew well how her kin could hide themselves if they deemed it necessary. If she entered, she would certainly find him, or he might find her.
The knight himself was among the cruelest of the ones who had attempted to break her spirit, he was certainly the most arrogant. Though he was proficient in several weapons, he had favored the longsword when they faced off. She had been exhausted by the time she faced him but he had still gone to great lengths to humiliate her. His defenses had been exaggeratedly lazy and he had taken his off hand off of his weapon more than once to lash out at her rear with it. The only time he acted lively during the fight was when he flourished his weapon in order to make a spectacle of his final blow against her.
A chance for revenge was ahead of her, but how Nelanorah would pursue it was up to her. The knight's warband would surely be prepared for invaders, though she didn't quite qualify as an invader. If she felt brave, or perhaps reckless, enough she could simply march forward until she found the knight and then demand a duel in front of his subordinates. Of course, that brought the obvious risk that her would-be opponent would make full use of his command to see her unfairly beaten again, so if the faun had some alternative plan for approaching the situation it might be wise for her to employ it.
Hopefully enough to work with and not too presumptuous on any count. SWORDFAUN TIME.
Last edited: