A Jaded Life

A cold wind was blowing through the forest, as we repositioned, hidden by concealment-spells and waiting for Lenore to give more information on our enemies’ reaction. As the mist was cleared away by the wind, I heard Lenore make a surprised noise, and was told that the clearing was empty. Nothing was left from the splattered remains of the sylvan, his corpse was just gone. Did Traveller-Corpses simply despawn?

And the other three, either all three of them had very good concealment or they had escaped by simply logging out. It was a good tactic, if you are attacked by unknown forces, retreat and come back another day. Especially if not all of them logged out, the leopard had looked like some kind of stealth-class so I'd guess that he was somewhere hidden nearby making sure that the coast is clear. Anyway, they were gone and there was nothing we could do about it but to put distance between them and us. A short look to my log told me that I had gained some EXP for killing the sylvan, approximately as much as I'd gained for a nymph on the same level.

“Any ideas?” I asked the other two.

“They are... gone?” asked Adra “How can they be just gone? Your partner was watching from the air, wasn’t she? I refuse to belief that they were able to get away that easily.”

“I guess that they are Travellers. We are just guests to this world and we can leave as we please. They can simply stay outside this world as long as they want, they might even use other forms of communication to call for support. I don't think that they have allies nearby but I honestly don't know.” I explained.

“So they will continue to hunt us? Has either of you an idea how to get rid of their tracking?” asked Sigmir through gnashed teeth.

I could only shake my head, slightly disappointed with myself.

Adra spoke up “It depends. If the tool is made by a normal spellcaster, simply get a better spellcaster to destroy the connection between you and things that could be used to link to you. Sadly, I don't know the needed ritual, it's not part of my abilities. However, if the tool is system-made for a quest fully defeating it is next to impossible. To end the tracking you would have to end the quest, probably by killing the one who put it up. For now, I don't think we can do anything here.”

“I agree. We should get to Neyto, maybe we can get help there.”

Once more, we mounted up, Adra turned into her strange goat-antelope thingy-form and we were off, heading towards Neyto. After we realised just how brutally an attack from ambush could devastate you, we turned cautious, not wanting to be on the receiving end. I recreated the Ice-Shields I had used in the dungeon, this time with ice-runes engraved into them so I could increase their size within moments, giving me the option to tank a couple of attacks as long as I wasn't taken fully by surprise. In addition, Lenore consented to flying reconnaissance every so often giving the way in front of us the once-over. Adra used search-spells as well - but as she put it, those kinds of spells were the most varied spells, as there were thousands of ways to search for a multitude of things, from the most simple life-force search-spell to more complex spells with higher range, better detection that looked for specific souls. In addition, she told me that while there were thousands of ways to find someone, there were thousand and one way to avoid getting found. No spell would ever be perfect, so we had to remain vigilant at all times.

With our heightened vigilance, I expected something to jump out any moment but the journey to Neyto was completely boring. Nothing wanted to mess with us out here, the predators looked for easier prey and we only hunted what we needed, mainly Adra did so as she was quite adept when it came to silent movement and stalking through the snowy forest.

During our night-rest, Adra was once more shaping her bow, slowly muttering under her breath in a way that reminded me of the few times my grandmother had dragged me into church, repetitive murmured prayer, over and over. I was curious about the greatly different style when it came to magic, mine was all concepts - expressed through runes - and mental imagery. However, both Kallista and now Adra used their magic in a totally different fashion, and what little I had found on the forums was all over the place as well. And her ability to change into animal forms, I hadn't the foggiest idea how to even start something like that.

There was so much I didn't know about magic and I felt as if I was playing catch-up with the world.

We also told Adra a bit about Neyto so she wouldn't be too surprised by the strange town or the nexus. I had a feeling she would feel it just as strongly as I did.

It was afternoon as we reached Neyto, two days after our run-in with the other Travellers. As we came closer to the white trees surrounding the village, once more a tree grew a face.

“It's good to see you back. Morgana, why don't you bring your guest to see me before going to the Grandmother in the morning.” said the tree-face and now, with a little creativity, I was able to see that it was Kallista's face and voice that spoke to me through the tree.

“We will do so, thank you, Kallista.” I answered and looked over to Adra.

She was still in her animal form, giving me no clue how she reacted to seeing her own face come out of a tree. We dismounted and watched Adra turning back into her own form. Part of me thought about the fact that her garments looked similar to the garb the nymphs in Tegi had worn, as if it was made out of leaves, bark and wood, changing shape with her without any trouble.

I looked her over after she was back to her normal form, at least what I thought as her normal form, and she looked shaken, either from the palpable magic in the air or because she had just seen her face in a tree.

“Sigmir, Adra, would the two of you mind if we go to Praxi first? I'd like to deliver the ashes he wanted.” I asked, trying to give Adra a little more time to gather herself before meeting Kallista.

Adra shrugged while Sigmir answered, “No, that's fine. It feels good to be back.”

As a group we walked over to Praxi's house before knocking on his door. I didn't want to risk another dose of his charm-effect and neither did I want Sigmir to get hit by it. So we waited outside for him. It only took a short moment, then the door opened for us.

“Ah, you are back. It's good to see you again, you have the ashes?” he greeted us with a smile.

“Yes, here they are.” acknowledged Sigmir, before handing over the gathered ashes. By now, they were in a small leather pouch.

Quest Completed

Ashes to Praxi...

You gained: 25.000 EXP

“Yes, very good. Thank you. Ashes to me and dust to dust. You already have the Brigandine I made for you, so I believe we are even.” He said with a smile. He looked at Adra for a second and almost opened his mouth but suddenly, he snapped it shut and almost fled back in his house. Strange behaviour for a strange guy but who knows. Sigmir and I exchanged a look and shrugged in confused unison.

“Let's go to Kallista. She has hosted us before and invited us.” I told the other two and we walked around the nexus-lake.

After knocking on Kallista's door, we were quickly ushered in. It was almost funny, looking at Kallista and Adra, they looked so much alike, without their different auras and their skin colours, they could be mirror-images.

“I see you did as I asked. Thank you.”

Quest Completed

Save the Sacrifices.

You gained: 25.000 EXP

“Yes, and look what we found.” I smiled and gestured to Adra. “Kallista, meet Adra. Adra, meet my dear friend Kallista.”

Kallista was still visibly shaken, maybe even more so than Adra. “Sigmir, why don't you and Adra relax a bit. Morgana, would you please help me in the kitchen?”

With that Kallista practically dragged me into her kitchen.