Running from Shadows (thetwo)

[SilentSilth]

Katie was one of the few Descendants that has traveled outside the village; but, ever since she and her sister ran from their past lives, she's rarely left the confines of her new home, always afraid there was... something following her around. However, when she heard rumors that the village was in danger, Katie knew what she had to do, and followed the crowd to the elder's...

[Current Position: Village, 0,0]


[As this is an open-world game, there's not much direction in the beginning. Make sure to check the Village thread for quests and resource pools.]

 

[thetwo]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

Katie listened to the Elder's speech, looking around nervously at the people around her. She already knew things were bad, but she knew better then most how much worse they might get. She had never really integrated with the village after she and Laura had fled their old home, but she would offer what help she could to prevent that happening again. She didn't really feel like the descendant of a god, though she couldn't come up with a better explanation for an ability to do magic, but she would have done what she could even if she'd been completely ordinary.

After the speech was clearly over, she was one of the first to leave, the thought of talking with the other descendants about how they might work together never really occurring to her. She had seen the various things the Elder wanted done, and it was clear where she would best fit in.

Hunting monsters... no, not if she could avoid it. There were some things out there that could kill even the most powerful descendant in a second, and even if it was something she could handle it would mean hunting and deliberately killing something. Katie felt that she could probably kill a beast or even a sentient being if it was trying to kill her back, but deliberately setting out to hunt something down didn't feel comfortable even if there was a good reason.

Capturing a goblin was a little better. At least she wouldn't be trying to kill it. But she wasn't sure how well she could do interrogation. And for that matter while she had practiced extensively with her bow and arrows, that wasn't the best weapon for taking someone alive.

But finding other friendly factions that seemed to be roaming the nearby forest, that was something she felt she could handle. She could deal with people when she had to, and these would be as much strangers to everyone else as to her. Not like in the village where everyone had grown up together except her and her sister. Katie grumbled slightly as she reflected that even her sister seemed to fit in with the rest of the town now that she'd gotten married. Maybe if she did well here, opened up trade with a new town, she could...

She'd worry about that when it happened. In the mean time, she strapped on her bow and quiver, made sure her light armor was secure, and started off towards the woods. Immediately she felt the hairs on the back of her head stand up, but she refused to look around. There was nothing following her.

 

[SilentSilth]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

[I moved Katie towards the West, as I don't remember seeing a direction.]

Katie went towards where the sun would set, taking one of the paths that other Descendants had made during their many foraging operations. It soon lead into the forest, and, even with the sun out, the branches and leaves quickly cast the entire landscape into shadows, with little rays of light shining through every few hundred meters. The shadows seemed to move and curve around the woman, reaching out to grab her; Katie did her best to keep her wits about, looking about for any sort of true danger... and that's when she she spotted it.

Off the beaten trail, through a thick gathering of trees, Katie spotted a small hill, rising up from the ground. She wouldn't have paid any heed to it - but there was a small amount of light that seemed to come from the hill. Stepping carefully, she walked towards the mound of dirt, making out a small hole on the side, the source of the light; even though it was covered up by strands of moss, the light was still able to shine through onto the forest floor below. Looking in, she'd have to crawl for at least 4 Meters before the path opened up, allowing her to walk; there seemed to be light coming from deeper within the cavern, even though she could make out a wall 16 Meters in front of her.

[Cavern Found. Unknown size.]

[Current Position: -1, 0]

 

[thetwo]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

Spoiler

I didn't choose a starting direction, nor did I have any reason to. West is as good as any.

The trees in this part of the wood were, Katie decided, not quite dense enough. If it had been an open field instead of a forest, everything would have been fine. Sunlight, easy line of sight to anything that was coming towards her. Not exactly free of danger - the long line of sight worked both ways - but comfortable.

And if this had been a very dense wood, that would have been fine as well. A sort of soft green light filtering in through layers of leaves, enough light to see by only once you got used to it. She wouldn't be able to see far, but it would easy for her to hide if she thought someone was coming. That was how forests were supposed to be, in her mind. But this in-between state, with the sky not visible but with the trees shifting in the breeze just enough to let spots of light through, was terrible. Shadows danced everywhere as hundreds of branches shifted in the wind, seeming to race across the ground until it seemed like hundreds of unseen beasts were about to pounce on her.

She whispered to herself "Shadows can't hurt me," but it hardly made her feel any better at all. Still, she pushed on, trying to spot things that were actually important and wondering if maybe she shouldn't at least have talked to her sister before she left. A little late for that now.

So when she saw the little hill issuing forth light, the brown-haired descendant was intensely relieved. It wasn't exactly what she had been looking for, but at least it was something to focus on. Light issuing out from hills wasn't natural, someone had made it happen. Possibly some stranger from another village. Also possibly a gnoll, or goblin, or a slaver. And even if it was a stranger, there was no certainty that they were actually friendly. Still, if she was going to ignore such an obvious sign of an intelligent being in the forest, then what was she doing out here?

Actually walking inside seemed like an unwise way to proceed. She would be nearly helpless while she crawled, and that wouldn't end well if the thing inside was hostile. And even if they were friendly, they'd probably assume she was hostile. And even if she got safely inside, her bow would do her little good at close quarters likely to be found inside a cave. Instead, she got down on her knees to look inside again, putting her bow on the ground next to her for easy access, and called out. "Hello? Is there anybody in there?"

 

[SilentSilth]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

There was no immediate response to Katie's inquiry. She starts to get nervous, a tree branch snapping distracting the human. Taking a quick glance back into the forest, some movement catches her eye - back, further away from the small clearing... It looked like it had been a person, but...

"Oi!"

Her attention is quickly diverted back to hole. Poking it's head around the corner, his face covered in dirt, is a goblin - larger than most she had seen before. He looks up at Katie, squinting.

"...'ow da hell did yew know I wuz 'ere?" He asks. The question seemed somewhat obvious to Katie, but when she heard another branch snap behind her - much closer this time - that didn't quite matter. Trying to get safe was important.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

Of course it was a goblin. She had come out here after specifically deciding not to deal with the blasted things, so naturally that was the first thing she ran into. And a particularly stupid one too, from the sound of it.

A second branch breaking drew her attention away from the thing, though. Shadows didn't break branches. Nor did a gentle breeze. Animals rarely did, and would be unlikely to come towards the sound of her voice. A person had done that. One who was trying to sneak up on her. Poorly. She grabbed her bow and knocked an arrow as she clambered back to her feet, moving off to one side of the goblin hole so that it and her stalker were in the same direction. At the same time she answered the goblin, hoping to keep him distracted while she searched. It wouldn't do to forget about him and end up getting taken from behind. "Hills don't usually glow unless someone lives there."

She focused intently on the wood, trying to catch sight of him. At which point another thought occurred to her. What if the obvious person trying to creep up on her was just a blind? There could be two people trying to ambush her, with the one in front of her just drawing her attention away from the stealthier one! She stopped focusing so much on the direction of the noise and tried to pay attention to the rest of the woods as well, even peeking behind her once. Part of her recognized that she was perhaps being a little paranoid, but she still felt like there was something right behind her, about to grab her and... do whatever exactly it was that they did to young women found alone in the woods. Presumably something to do with sex - she wasn't an idiot - but the exact mechanics of it were still a mystery.

She stopped thinking about that and started scanning the woods again, looking for one or more possibly-people who may or may not be trying to sneak up on her. She had drawn her bow at some point without realizing it, and let the string relax a bit. Keeping the bow drawn all the time was bad for it.

 

[SilentSilth]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

Silence.






That was all that greeted the frantic Descendant as she listened intently to the forest around her. Birds chirped, and insects buzzed... but there was nothing out of the ordinary - including branches that were deliberately snapped to get her attention. As she slowly lets the tension in her bowstring go, she sees some movement, in the direction the sounds had been coming from. She squints, trying to make it out again...

"Oi." The voice comes from right behind Katie; she jumps, spinning around, to see the Goblin sticking his head out of the hole, having crawled all the way up, his head at level with her crotch - but eyes respectfully leveled up to her face.

"I 'aven' much, but come in an' see if there's somethin' yew wan' ter buy, innit," He says, starting to crawl backwards down the tunnel, before stopping.

"...Friend'a yers?" He asks, nodding past Katie. Taking a second to glance back, the human is surprised to see a cloaked figure standing further in the forest, it's clothing dark and blending into the environment. She couldn't make out it's face, the cowl shadowing the thing's head. As Katie stared, the figure starts towards her, seeming to float above the ground...

[Katie has met her Nemesis! Congrats. :3 The Nemesis is 20 Meters out.]

 

[thetwo]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

Katie stared at the figure, momentarily frozen. There was actually someone following her! What.... who... there was no way to know, not without waiting around and asking them, which seemed like a terrible idea. She'd been gone from the village only a few minutes, and she hadn't told anyone! How could someone have known and followed her! She tried to take deep, slow breaths, but it was hard.

She glanced at the corner of her eye at the goblin, then back to the figure. Who was moving towards her. Right, not a time to panic, she could raise her bow and... it was floating! What if she missed? What if it wasn't actually hostile, as laughable as that felt? She could try a warning shot, but she only had 10 arrows. She glanced at the little cave again, and back to the figure. Still moving. Still moving towards her. Still couldn't see his face. Still obviously and malevolently evil.

The descendant was halfway down the tunnel before she realized what she was doing, and she forced herself to go the rest of the way. As she reached the part where she would be able to get up - at least somewhat - she realized that this might not be the best idea. There could be another two or three goblins in there without trouble, or it could even be an entrance to a much larger den, with dozens of the little things. She'd be helpless for a moment as she reached the end of the tunnel, or nearly so. She glanced backwards. On the other hand, the thing hadn't seemed especially bright. No way it could lay a trap that could catch her. Probably. Or at least not anything worse then what she feared lay outside.

She would have to leave, eventually, but Katie decided to worry about that when the time came. In the mean time, she had to deal with the little perv. The way he had avoided looking at anything but her face had made it perfectly clear what he thought of her. She tried to hide the nervousness in her voice. "So, ah, what do you have for sale?"

 

[SilentSilth]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

"Oh, Nirn!" The Goblin shouts, quickly scrambling down the tunnel backwards as Katie comes barreling down. As she stands up straight, she realizes the Goblin has rolled down the tunnel and is sprawled out on his back when she went to ask him about what he had to sell. Groaning, he slowly sits up, rubbing his head, squinting at her.

"Not much, gumdrop," He says, slowly getting up to his feet and walking into the cavern. Katie follows, and sees it's made up of three round rooms, all leading into each other; there were pickaxes of stone laying around, with some rope and other commodities. Near the South end of the cavern, where most of the light was coming from, she saw what looked like a bed, but was supported by wooden frames to keep the furs off the ground. Near it was a counter that the Goblin had probably built himself, some wooden signs hanging on the wall behind it, with some things laid out on the quivers. The signs seemed to show off a whole range of things, written in english, with an odd black mark next to it, and numbers next to the black marks.

The Goblin held his hands out in front of him, showing off a pickaxe; a hunk of stone; and a quiver, literally filled with arrows.

"Dis is abou' it," He grumbles, "Fer now, at least! See, I'm gunna be minin' out dis entire area, lawd above, and sellin' wot I come across." Wearing a shit eating grin, he looked up at Katie, "Don't rightly plan on takin' part in tha' battle between dogs an' greenies. Too messy.

"You uh..." He glances at Katie, nodding a little to the quiver on her back, " ...Look like yew could use a few mawer arrows there. Some wi' a bi' mawer kick, I'd say, know wot I mean?" The Goblin pulls out one of the arrows from the quiver, showing off the stone tip that gleamed in the light.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

Katie glanced curiously at the goblin, not quite sure what to make of his wares. The arrows might be nice, but she almost certainly couldn't afford them. Still, she could at least try. They might come in useful against... something she wasn't thinking about yet. "You've found... a rock, and a bunch more rocks which you've attached to perfectly good arrows. I suppose I could use a few more arrows if I'm to finish clearing the area of... no, you wouldn't care."

Another idea occurred. The village could certainly use stone, even if that was all he found. And while goblins were generally objectionable, this one wasn't too disgusting. And if she had understood his horribly mangled language properly, had distanced himself from the rest of his kind. Perhaps an exchange of some sort could be worked out. That could wait.

The third idea, right on the heels of the second, was that an estranged goblin might be just the sort of person to offer insight into the goblin/kobold conflict. Actually finding out if the missing girl had been taken by one or the other was unlikely, but she might learn something that others would find useful. She decided to tackle this first, and return to the arrows in a moment. "The goblins are fighting someone? Why?"

 

[SilentSilth]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

The Goblin scoffs, rolling his eyes, at her suggestion that the stone-tipped arrows were useless. "Lissen, dese 'ere arrows ain't wort'lis - yew and I both know dat, lass. Yew jus' dun have da Sausage and Mash, I'm guessin'. Dun worry, I'm sure I can take a bit'a diff'rent payment dis time." He says with a shrug. When she asked about the Goblin and Kobolds, he shrugged again.

"Oh yah, we Gobbos an' 'Bolds'a been at dis fer a while yet. Dey do sum'in and git us all riled up; we rile'm back. Jus' a lil Regi Blinker we run wit 'em. Only..." The goblin leans onto his counter, glancing about like he was checking to make sure they were really alone, before starting to whisper, like there was some grand secret she was about to be let in on.

"Rec'ntly, it's gotten real sirus. A'for, it was jus' us nappin' a couple few 'Bolds, an' dey'd nap a few'a us, innit. But now, lawd above, we's fightin' bad. 'Bolds and Gobbos from all around bein' called to dis area 'ere, ready to wipe the other out." He leans back off the counter, dusting off his hands and shaking his head, "But not me. I got oudda dere. Gave up da collarin' and enslavin', and went inta bis'ness myself." He grins, looking rather happy - but only for a second as his smile fades, "Bu', uhh, not quite open fer bis'ness yet. Always willin' ta make exceptions fer da pretty ones!"

[Katie has found that relations between the Goblins and Kobolds have soured to the point they've brought in other Dens and Holes to help out.]

 

[thetwo]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

Katie found herself trying to mouth the goblin's words in an attempt to figure out exactly what it was he was saying. She thought she got most of the individual words, but some of it was very nearly another language. The part about being a slaver came in loud and clear, though, and started setting off warning bells. He may have "put away" his collars, but that didn't mean they were out of reach if he decided to start again. Between that and calling her pretty, she'd... just ignore it for now, and hope he left it at that.

"No, I suppose those arrows aren't completely worthless. But I don't have anything I'd be willing to give you for them, at the moment." She paused for a second, trying to save her plan. It never had a very high chance of success, but she had to try. "I mean, if it turns out that I don't have quite enough arrows to finish clearing them out of this part of the woods... well, we'll be safe in the village for a few more days until someone else has time to come out, I suppose."

Katie paused for a moment, then changed topics. "Who do you intend to trade with, anyway? Surely not the goblins and kobolds if you don't want to get involved in their fighting."

 

[SilentSilth]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

The Goblin purses his lips, watching Katie. He seemed... agitated, as she tried to trick him into thinking there was -something- in this part of the forest. His hand drifts below the counter, and, for a moment, the Descendant wonders if he's going for a collar... but as he pulls out a smaller quiver, filled with arrows, she relaxes - just a bit.

"Awright geeezzaa! I know there ain't anythin' in deese woods ter be afraid of. Even yahr friend 'asn't come down 'ere ter say 'wotcher cock'. How abaht I just give yew a few mawer arrows, an' yew make sure ter brin' yahrself back, an' spread some word fer me, 'uh? Sorted mate."

[20 Stone arrows gained.]

I 'ad planned ter trade wiv yew 'umies. Hopefully yahr village 'as da Opols ter pay fer some ov deese goods! And, 'opefully, I'll come across some mawer shiny rock ter find aaaht what that's all about. Know what I mean?" The Goblin asks with a big grin.

[Translation Notes:]

Spoiler

Apparently 'Wotcher cock' means 'hello'.

 

[thetwo]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

Katie found herself smiling as something finally went right. She wasn't sure exactly what he'd said, but if he was offering her arrows for telling people he was here... well, all according to plan. Or, well, close enough. She accepted the quiver.

"I'll tell the others about you, then. I'm sure we'll be able to come to some sort of arrangement." She certainly wasn't sure what Opols were, but the others could probably work out their usual barter arrangement.

She looked out the way she'd come in. Nobody crawling along the tunnel... staying in here longer wouldn't help anything. "Then, um, I guess I'll be going..."

If the goblin didn't object, she'd do her best to crawl sideways out of the little goblin hole, keeping a close eye ahead of her while also making sure the miner didn't try anything funny from behind. Once she was clear, she'd study the forest for a minute, making sure her 'friend' wasn't still about.

 

[SilentSilth]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

The Goblin blinks, watching as Katie crawled up the tunnel awkwardly. About half-way through, he gave her a little shout:
"Lawd above! If I wan'ed yew as a slave, I would 'ave taken yew already!" There was probably much more truth in that than Katie wanted to admit...

Outside the cavern, Katie didn't see any menacing figure floating towards her... Scanning around, even looking on top the hill the Goblin had built his little shop into, she didn't see any trace of the thing that had been following her. The birds chirped, and insects buzzed, and the forest seemed... much less darker than it had before...

[Current Position: -1, 0]

[No reason to roll a Perception check, since the Nemesis was gone. Where to?]

 

[thetwo]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

With the forest suddenly a much friendlier-feeling place, Katie pressed onward to the West. The goblin had been... well, not exactly nice. He was a former slaver, and while he didn't seem about to pick up that line of work, well, the thought had clearly occurred to him while the Descendant was crawling out that she might be a target.

Still, she'd tell the village elder about it, and he'd tell anyone else who needed to know. Or maybe she'd tell her sister. It didn't matter. Times weren't great as far as excess trade goods went at the moment, but if any of the other Descendants came up with something, they now had a way to turn it into stone. And possibly eventually ores, if the goblin found any.

She also wondered if that... person... had been hanging around the her in the past. The creepiness of the forest earlier had been pretty bad, but not the general feeling seemed to have been with her almost as long as she could remember.

 

[SilentSilth]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

Katie heads towards the west, leaving the Goblin's little cavern/shop/mining excursion behind. The trail became sparse, and much harder to see, so she abandoned it all together, wandering through the trees. Her former village hadn't been nestled in a forest like this one; they were out on the plains to the North, far from the many forests that dotted Pekol.

Katie's thoughts were interrupted as she came across a deep, sparkling pool of water. She quickly scoops it up, happy to deliver it to the village.

[Katie finds 6 Water.]

[Current Position: -2, 0]

 

[thetwo]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

The pool of water was a nice diversion, and she would gladly top of the village stores, but it didn't seem like quite the sort of thing that would make the risk of the trip worthwhile. Katie took a moment to appreciate the natural beauty of the pool before continuing onward. This was the significantly further then she'd been from the village on her own, but she supposed that once she was out of screaming distance it didn't really matter. She was fairly confident that she could find her way back before dark. A little further west before setting back home wouldn't hurt.

Spoiler

Continue West

 

[SilentSilth]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

Katie strikes out through the underbrush, heading onto the edge of new territory. The Kobolds and their lands mainly laid to the West of the village; she was already seeing the markings of the small canine-people: Their den markings were scratched into random tree trunks; traps were laid neatly for small, woodland animals; and, while the paths were hard to see, she could tell their own little trails through the forests that they considered 'safe'. She stuck to a small area of trees that had been cleared, however; and while there wasn't a beaten trail per say, the tall grass was much easier to navigate compared to moving in and out of the trees.

It wasn't long before she came across life once more. Four Kobolds, standing along the path, probably as guards. While the grass only came up to knees, it went up to the Kobold's waist; one of the tinier ones had the grass going up to his chest. As she approached, the Kobolds all became a bit wary, as a taller, wirey one slowly began to back away.

"Halt!" Barks a taller Kobold with a rusty fur color, his armor much thicker than the smaller two around him, "What bisness you have here with the Dirtpups Hole?"

[The kobolds currently aren't hostile, but just so you know:

Kobold Hunter (Rusty) is 5 meters to the West of Katie; the Kobold Soldiers flank his sides. The Kobold Scout is lingering 3 Meters to the West behind the Hunter.

The 'pathway' they're standing on is 9 Meters across, with Katie in the dead center.]

 

[thetwo]

Re: Running from Shadows (thetwo)

Great. Kobolds too. Katie scanned the grass to make sure there were no signs of others. If it could come to one's chest, it could easily go over another's head, especially if they were kneeling or sitting, or laying down. Then again, nobody ever called the Kobolds especially intelligent, so maybe it wasn't that dangerous. Unless the four she could see decided to attack a lone human. Still, they were at war with the goblins, so maybe they'd not go picking more fights.

"I'm just looking for information. Have you seen something unusual about the woods recently?" They probably didn't know anything. She'd just ask to make sure, then move on. In a different direction. North, maybe. Katie didn't feel like there was someone following her, at the moment, but the dog-like beings were so... strange.