Stril (Aero Blue & Nemopedia)

[Nemopedia]

North of the western kingdom Yll...

To the north of the western kingdom Yll a nameless village can be found. It is a small settlement that even the tax collector often overlooks, forgetting to collect the tributes for the king. An unmemorable place that can't even be found on the map of many travellers unless a finger is placed somewhere to the right of the forest that is ominously named 'The Black Woods'.

The Black Woods isn't named because it is such a dark and scary place. It isn't named for its morbid legends and myths that plagues the village and the villagers. In fact, The Black Woods is the main source of income for many in the village. It is filled with light and life, thick with vegetation and with trees that climb as high as they are old, with the tales to accompany them. The 'Black' in the name rather refers to the trunks of the trees, commonly shaded a dark brown to black for some reason or another that no one has ever bothered to find out. It is the reason why the houses in the village are all coloured black, making it easy to recognise and to remember despite its lack of a map presence.

It was thus why it was so distressing to the villagers when one of their neighbours disappeared into the forest. Priding themselves to know the vast grounds of The Black Woods like the back of their hands it happened rarely that anyone did not manage to return. After all, what pride was there left for them if they got lost in their own forest?

At first the villagers thought a bear must have attacked, but it had been a long while since they had sighted any bear or animal for that matter. This had been strange enough by itself, but they dismissed the detail deciding that it was probably the season being wrong. After all, the weather had been strange and twisted as of late. Then they believed that their lost neighbour must have been in an accident that left him unable to walk, or worse, move. It wasn't until nightfall that someone pointed out that there was a light coming from the forest. It was dim, suggesting that it was either weak, or far away, but also that there was life. Convinced that this must be their lost man the village soon had a search party set up.

As the search party dispatched days went by, then the days turned into weeks, and the weeks bled into months. Surely it couldn't take this long to find one villager with so many capable men? As The Black Woods started to become less profitable the story became more frightening to the villagers, turning into the sort of morbid and macabre that did do justice to the forest's name. The animals stayed away, leaving only the trees and the plants below as even the birds had stopped singing, which left the mornings eerily quiet. Something was wrong with their beloved forest as more men started to disappear between the trees while the light grew brighter. At the end of their wit the village decided to apply themselves to their king.

King Salomo of the western kingdom of Yll had a hard time recalling the village up to the north of his kingdom. His kingdom was large enough by itself, and the patches of lands outside that paid homage to him stretched even further. For a man born into the prestige of royalty and sheltered for most of his life it was hard to imagine a village so small that it didn't even carry a name. Despite his ignorance the king still felt sympathy for the villagers and he was quick to send his own men.

Though they weren't his best they were reliable servants of the kingdom. It was thus to everyone's surprise ---everyone but the villagers'--- when the men didn't return after entering the forest, chasing the light. Another handful of men were lost to the forest with no one any the wiser but the date when they had entered The Black Woods. Still, the light grew all the brighter; by now illuminating the forest as a whole and visible even at day.

Unwilling to sacrifice any more of his own men king Salomo made an unorthodox decision. An action of impulse for which he was widely known. Trusting as the king was. Still curious to what it was lurking within the The Black Woods the king promised a reward to whoever dared and could solve the mystery. He did not discriminate between who or what, neither did he limit himself to only his underlings. Everyone was welcome to give it a try and that is how this story starts.

@Aero Blue

 

[Aero Blue]

Orissa made a mistake. Orissa was making a mistake. The tense is just about interchangeable when it comes to Orissa, the truly hapless, who has made a mistake in each day of her life and would surely make another come the following sun.

If pressed to identify a single mistake as the 'primordial mistake' or the 'mother of mistakes', Orissa would likely say 'answering the king's call'. In actuality, Orissa's mistake-the-first was most likely failing to temper her insecurities as a young, magicless member of the Ma'archy leading to ailments such as crippling depression, a hazy worldview, suicidal impulsiveness and-. A digression. Orissa made and was making a mistake and mistakes, and that is all one needed to know and needs to know.

Tense, it turns out, is not to be played with.

Having been called upon -- not specifically, mind you, for Orissa has never been so important, or important at all -- to solve the mystery of the light in the Black Woods, Orissa decided, firstly, to find the nameless village north of the western kingdom Yll. This was a mistake because of the twenty or so senses Orissa possessed, the sense of direction was her second weakest, besting only her sense of taste. She did not know, precisely, where the Western kingdom of Yll was, and certainly did not know where it was west in relation to. It then followed that 'northern village' was equally unhelpful to her, be it north two or twenty or twenty thousand paces.

What she should have done was ask for the forest with the strange light. Instead she asked for the northern something or another of the western something else and what have you, which added approximately sixty-seven hours and then some minutes to her journey.

As a whole, the village responded quite well to the towering figure from the Ma'archy. Part of it was that, save for her stature and pointed ears, she looked not so different after all. The white hair of the Ma'archy darkened into near blonde upon her scalp, and her eyes were dull and almost grey. The other part of it was that she carried a very, very large stick, and spoke in a guttural growl that reminded the villagers of, depending on who you asked, the feral dog that had bitten them in their youth, or their particularly abusive loving grandmother, or their particularly abusive abusive grandfather.

"I need someone to help lead me through the forest." She barked, voice full of char and smoke, "and also the absolute worst, cheapest pisswater someone can get."

 

[Nemopedia]

With the King's announcement and the light emitting from the forest strangers flocking by the nameless village were no uncommon occurrence. With no hostels, brothels, or any hospitality nearby the villagers felt obligated to house these so-called heroes in their own lairs, often resulting in clashes of character, and a disruption of the homely peace. It was thus no wonder that the new stranger was eyed with a certain degree of wariness, mouths pulled into a thin line.

"Fetch from the loo, that's the cheapest you get," a woman of unknown age hummed. On one hip she balanced her babe, its little hands grasping around in the air after a fly while the mother was trying to flock the sheep together. "Or I can hold the little one over you," she followed with a sardonic smile.

Pausing for a moment the female adjusted the child on her hip, a grimace on her face. Exhaustion could clearly be read on her face, accompanied with worry, and bitter resentment. "Just follow the light, or go with that duo over there. You won't find anyone in the village willing to go," were her last words to the Ma'archy before she turned away.

Near the border a dark duo stood, their faces contemplative as they examined the light from within. Both had dark hair, dark eyes, and dark clothes, though that was where their likeness ended.

One was tall, lanky, and pale-skinned; looking like he had never done a day of hard labour and could have leisurely eaten his days away, but instead spend it in the library poured out over the books. In all honesty, the man looked kinda pathetic; the type that would have been bullied by his peers for being weak which would have caused his seclusion.

"Ahjin," the tall and lanky one spoke to his companion, hand rubbing over his chin as if feeling if he missed any spots while shaving. "We are missing a meat shield," he continued eyes trained onto the humming light in the forest.

Ahjin was a shorter man, lean and trained with a yellow undertone that made him look considerably darker. Though this Ahjin had some muscle on him there was no way that he could serve as a shield at all. He looked more like the type to move fast and stealthy. Confident and bold in presence their height difference was impossible to notice unless the two stood next to each other like they did now, for the air Ahjin emitted was greater and more polished of the so-called nobleman's son that was his partner.

"Lyssander," the shorter man repeated after his companion with a simple smile, though a glimmer of mock could be seen in his eyes. "You worry too much. There is plenty of meat that we can hide behind," Ahjin gestured into the village as he said this, eyes unsmiling.

Though three groups had already departed into 'The Black Woods' since this morning there were still plenty of adventure-seekers that the duo could choose from. Some came in groups, others bravely marched forth alone. Though as there were already three groups scouting the forest a great many of them had decided to call it a day and see if the groups returned; hoping to gain more intel, or greater fame for the apparent bravery for entering even after more people disappeared.

Lyssander and Ahjin had no plans to wait, however. Determination was written all over their face, especially that of Lyssander who seemed to be rather selective in his choice of a new companion.

"That one looks easy enough to trick, and strong enough to last," Lyssander nodded towards a newly arrived Ma'archy.

Though Lyssander had tried to be polite by not out-right pointing at the stranger Ahjin had different plans. Too impatient to listen to the former's carefully formulated plan on how to recruit the newcomer the shorter male marched forward towards the fair Ma'archy.

"You," Ahjin spoke as he jogged over. "Are you looking for some company into the forest? We are short a man," the male followed, a thumb thrown over his shoulder towards an exasperated Lyssander who tried hard to compose himself.

"That one has been eyeing you for a while," Ahjin casually added, watching how Lyssander was struggling to hide the sudden blush that suddenly bloomed over his cheeks.

Though obviously not the intention the blush served Ahjin's purposes well enough.