Tourists, Attractions, and Fallen Empires (xGM please)

[Jacques de Lamont]

OOC: If anyone is up for it, just looking for a fun adventure. Surprise me =)

Timestamp: Midday, 42nd Brightening of Augustus in Era XV -PF

Numb was the best word. Not from cold, though, thankfully due to the warming suns and the waning winter. Well, partially from the cold... it was the mountains. From walking. Monotonous silence, and the many failed attempts to quiet a roaring fury and incessant urges to find a farmstead to steal life from, had beaten down Lamont's mind to a point of what seemed like exhaustion. He was tired from walking and all the loneliness, thinking, and boredom it entailed. It hadn't been a short time, either. Frigid River was quite a distance away, and he'd been hoofing it for what seemed like a month, all because he needed to visit the bank in Prime to retrieve the money he'd left there five eras ago. It was far too long, and he was far too poor to let that go to waste. The only worry was a possibility of being taken to the gaol for going AWOL... but a risk he was willing to take.

But where was Jacques now? He paused and scanned the horizon, looking toward the suns and figuring his direction. Facing east. Khardran Mountains. Khardran... Wasn't that some sort of empire in the annals of history?... The large dracon saw a large boulder half buried in the snow, then moved over to have a sit down to rest his legs and consider his options.

I have plenty of time on my hands, Jacques mused. Time... Nothing I have to do... An Empire. Somewhere, or everywhere, in these mountains, were the remnants of an Empire. Jacques' lips pulled back revealing a sinister grin and a hunger for adventure and exploration. Must be the vigor of youth come back...

With a grunt, he was away, off to the highest point he could reach on this average mountain, using the easiest pathways and tracks. A good vantage point to search by sight and launch to glide... As he walked, Jacques moved his wings forward and back, warming up the muscles for their workout. Who knew how long he'd be up there, and cold muscles meant cramps, pain, and, from this height, death.

After a good amount of strenuous effort clambering up the side of the mountain, Jacques reached a flat outcropping, perfect for inspecting the horizon and getting a much deserved rest. And so he set to his task, looking for any unnatural shapes in the view, any off colors... anything to add some interest to the boredom, to cut into the bleak, barren trip.

[Trinity]

oocHi Jacques! Anne gave me the go ahead to moderate for you. Lets have some fun. And yeah, forgive me, it's been awhile since I've modded. I'm a little rusty. ;)

There was something to be said about the sheer majestic beauty of the Khardran Mountains. Nestled to the west of Aelyria Prime, they overlooked a great deal of the province... if anyone could get to the summit of their tallest peaks. The rainfall was heavy on this side of the mountains, giving way to dense foilage that covered the mountains in a blanket of dark green trees (and likely grass, though, from the peaks it was hard to tell) and provided a nice habitat for an array of wildlife. The air was wet - the humidity of spring hung daintily in the air, weighing the clouds down heavily on the particular brightening that Jacques de Lamont found himself climbing into the foothills of this stretch of mountains. He was close to the middle of the range longitudinally, but only crossing the very edge of them from west to east. There were of course easier ways to cross this particular stretch of mountainous terrain, but Jacques was not exactly next to it.

As he took a rest at the upper portion of the particular mountain he was at, Jacques beheld a vast sea of mountains in front of him, towards Aelyria Prime. To the north, another sea of mountains, though they seemed to taper off a bit and were both less thick and reached to lesser heights than the middle of the range. To his south, in the vague distance and through the dense clouds, Jacques could make out the figure of the Costantine Colossus - an enormous statue of the late Emperor Constantine that acted as a beacon for the conventional way across the mountains - Charisma Pass. From this height, nothing could be seen, though many people passed through it for business and transport, as it was the easiest way to access the rest of the Empire on the other side of this wall that nature had erected adjacent to Prime Province.

It seemed eerily quiet at the summit of this smaller mountain upon which the Dracon was perched. Too quiet. Although, since silence cannot exist for too long, something akin to a vicious, guttural howl bit through the still, thick air in the distance. Somewhere to the northwest, where the howl had come from, a flock of black birds took flight, screeching as if in fright. Another howl - or was it a growl - echoed again through the hollow depths of the Khadrans from the same direction. It was the same dreadful voice. Nothing else moved for what seemed like an eternity. The stillness was split again by a scramble of rocks that toppled out of their holdings somewhere in the distance, closer than the howls had been. The sound had come lower in the horizon, in an area of the mountains that looked odd - the trees were broken down in some sort of circular shape, and large slabs of stone shot out at odd angles from the opening in their tops. The expanse of this circular area was quite sizable - probably enough for a remote village, or the ruins of an abandoned mining establishment. From where Jacques was, if he looked towards the origin of the sound where the clatter of falling rocks still resonated softly, coming to a stop somewhere further down, he could see that the area was not entirely flat. The base of the break in the trees revealed flattened land, but it sloped up starkly and at odd angles with protrusions that didn't look entirely rock-like.

Another howl - well, this time, definitely a howl, echoed off the range in the distance for the third time in a few minutes. Something was strangely off about it's tone. It wasn't any old wolf or coyote, that much was for sure. The retreating birds seemed to pick up their flight speed and passed some fifty feet above Jacques head. As they ripped past him, their caws and screeches reached his ears, intermingled with the patter of a literal flurry of wings. Something had spooked them pretty good. Who knew if it would soon confront Jacques, should he venture along a path he chose himself? Perhaps there was a reason the majority of travelers chose to go through Charisma Pass.

[Jacques de Lamont]

Already in the air, and already coasting forward on the wind, Jacques was met with a feeling of freedom, of peace, of serenity. His eyes closed and he smiled, automatically appreciating the greatest of gifts that the demons had given him and his people. The wind, the sky... it was his, it was theirs to have and to experience in all of its vastness and glory. He banked lightly to the left, to the right... A small dip down to gain speed... With a small flap of his wings, Jacques kept himself alight. It was still hard to use them for their most important purpose, but at least he was getting there. All it would take was time, practice, and some weights to lift with while he was on the ground. Grounded pretty soon, the sky would be his not just when he stood atop a skyscraping peak, building, or cliff... Soon he would be free to fly wherever the wind would take him...

A sudden, jarring howl let out into the cool, wet air over the mountains, shocking Jacques out of his reverie. He was barely able to distinguish between the roar of the wind and this new audio, but it was there, definitely present and definitely sticking out like a soar thumb. Red globes scanned the valleys of the range, searching for the source, finally resting on the place where a flock of birds had taken flight and heading in his direction. As they shrieked their way over his head, Jacques banked toward the circular clearing, noting the stones and the embankment of the area. Something to do to pass the time, that much was true...

The smile returned, this time accompanied by a look of near-murderous intent. Interesting... he thought as he faced the clearing directly. Time to have some fun... He turned his body some more, facing somewhat away from the circular gouge in the trees. Landing uphill from the site was the best course of action... Such a position would provide better sight lines for reconnaissance and a decent escape route. Just needed to find a small opening in the trees to set down and stay far enough away from the clearing to prevent being seen...

[Trinity]

The mountain-side clearing, upon further investigation, had many fallen and broken trees, as if a Giant of fairy-tale proportions had stomped on this side of the natural obstruction and crushed everything beneath his massive girth. All of the trees were broken in the same manner, and naturally all broken trunks faced down as gravity would merit. Now being quite a deal closer to the clearing, Jacques was able to make out what the odd protrusions from the nearby mountain were - crudely formed, wooden spears. Upon some of the lower ones hung the tattered remains of cloth, though it was hard to discern from the time it had been hung to the time Jacques was looking at it how old it was or what it might have been. Perhaps clothing, perhaps flags of a tribe of sorts, perhaps simply where someone had slipped from above and gotten caught, only to starve to death with no way down. Whatever the case, these wooden spikes and their occasional material heralded an opening in the base of the mountain. The rocks were supported by wooden beams, as if it were a mine shaft. No lights came from the inside; for all intents and purposes - if it was a mine - it was abandoned.

There were bigger things to be concerned about than the existence of an abandoned mine, though - something in the southern part of the clearing, opposite the misshapen cut in the mountain's side moved. There was a cracking of branches or pieces of wood snapping underneath the feet of a creature Jacques could not find in the underbrush. For a long time, it made no vocal distinctions of itself, though the Dracon could feel he was being watched. A long pause gave way to the sound of hurried movement in the same direction, and the edge of the clearing shook in disturbance. Instead of a howl, the mysterious entity produced a deep growl. More branches cracked under something else's weight, and without any warning at all, a humanistic creature stumbled backwards out of the woods in the south.

It was hard to discern what race, age, or even gender this new sentient being was as it toppled backwards out of the woods in what seemed to be quite a fright. Jacques could almost hear it wimpering, footing lost in the broken timber and consequently landing with it's back across the rotting trunk of a very large piece of tree. It was wearing a tattered brown cloak, hood up (but slipping), darker brown pants that were frayed and cut at the edges in many places, and seemed to be barefoot. Presently, it's arms were up in front of it's face, recoiled in some sense of horror at whatever else happened to be wandering around the Khadrans in the middle of the month of Augustus. The figure's arms did little to block the onslaught of a giant rock which was quickly hurled out after it, landing only inches from the tip of it's head. The velocity threw off the cloak's hood, revealing the mangled hair of an Air'riela Gypsy. Considering both sexes tend to pull their hair back with ties though, it was still hard to discern who or what Jacques was watching be assaulted by something that was likely very large - considering it chunked a small boulder after the Gypsy laying prostrate on it's back in the clearing. Whatever the second creature was, it apparently wanted to smash the long haired vagabond... and well, all around didn't seem to be a pleasant person to interact with. Who wanted to have tea and crumpets with something that would very well crush your bones to make its bread, after all? That wasn't the type of company most people kept. Unless you were Giants, or really enjoyed an old fashioned game of roulette with a boulder and your head.

[Jacques de Lamont]

Jacques sat among the trees in mild surprise, watching the events transpire before him... First, a person staggered out of the woods, which was shocking in and of itself. The sounds that had erupted from this hole in the landscape could not have come from something so small... Granted, the person could be a very powerful mage, but Jacques didn't seem to be able to entertain this idea with a straight face. He continued to watch, noting that when the hood fell there was a human underneath. A gypsy to be more precise... but it was definitely running from something but what?...

The boulder erupted from the trees and fell to the ground with a flat thud. For a moment, Jacques heart jumped, thinking that the human's head had been crushed, but no such misfortune had befallen the bedraggled escapee. Something big was chasing it... something very big...

Jacques moved around the edge of the trees, looking toward the spot where the boulder had come from. He had to get closer to the human, maybe save it if there was the possibility... Avoid leaves and branches on the floor he told himself. Stealth wasn't quite his area of expertise, but... when something could chuck a rock of that size that close to a small thing like a head, you did have to be particularly careful. Jacques reflected that he was rather allergic to death... and it wasn't a reaction he wanted to experience anytime soon.

[Trinity]

As Jacques moved around the perimeter of the clearing, the Gypsy's struggle with the as of yet, unseen beast, continued. It staggered to its feet once more, shielding its face with an arm (as if this would provide any means of protection at all from something that hurled giant boulders) and began to move backwards into the opening again. As the Gypsy managed to back up a few feet, it's assailant rustled the edge of the tree line, the presumed head sticking out from the edge of the trees, quite a deal up into the air. Though the creature's appearance was rather odd - from what the Dracon could see, the head seemed to be dog-like in appearance, ravaged and mangled as if it had been beaten many times. It had a wild streak in it's one visible eye, which also bore intricate tattoos into the skin. The fur was missing from most of it's head, though even if it wasn't there was no way the creature was a dog - it was standing on two legs, hurling boulders at gypsies, and roaring with a voice that would shake loose rocks from their tentative hold on the mountainside. A stand of grotesque drool lingered at the front of it's slightly opened mouth, attached to the front canine of the creature. However, in the oddest of manners, when it's foot crossed the treeline, it stopped. The hind quarter held no weight, as if testing the imaginary waters of the clearing. It's head reclined into the air and began to sniff. The gypsy took this moment to run headlong towards where Jacques was (though, they didn't see him), and dart into the trees for safety, panting profusely.

Diving down into the underbrush of the mountain's treeline, the gypsy put its hand's over it's head and attempted to lay flat with the dirt, twigs and partial remains of leaves that covered the ground. Jacques was very close to the gypsy when it dove into the ground in an attempt to hide, but for the moment he was being ignored having successfully not made any noise. The wolf-monstrosity pulled itself out into the clearing, boulder in it's malformed fists, and scanned the area for the creature it had been chasing. Finding nothing, due to the lack of movement and having not seen where it's prey was going, it dropped the boulder into the earth with a loud THUD!, hunkered down on it's haunches and walked into the clearing. Taking a seat, the vicious creature howled the same type of howl Jacques had heard previously before he'd made it to the clearing. It sent the gypsy trembling. Back in the clearing, more odd markings were etched along the creature that now was sitting like the dog it seemed to have been and in reality could not possibly be. They were strange markings - not necessarily markings of war, and not necessarily any language known to any creature on Telath. They resembled nothing any ordinary mind could connect them to or associate them with, and appeared to be simply an array of swirled lines and dots in odd patterns that looked kind of interesting from a distance. Perhaps they heralded a forgotten city or kingdom and were the means of identifying it's warriors. Perhaps this was a wild, bewitched dog, angry at the person who bewitched it.

Whatever the case, something was definitely not right about the creature, and the gypsy seemed to expound that sentiment through the trembling now coming from beneath a tattered cloak, the same color as the dirt it attempted to hide in.

[Jacques de Lamont]

Fething magic... The thought inched it's way out of Lamont's brain as he sat in a tree, observing the events that unfolded in the clearing before him. Nothing he had ever heard of was made in such a way, and it could only be through magic that such a creature existed... He shrugged. Just another complication in this world of webs, pitfalls, and booby-traps. The markings were interesting, and for a time he studied them in an attempt to discern what they might mean, but he was no expert in ancient symbols, or even modern symbols. It was a fruitless waste of valuable time, so Lamont abandoned the effort and began slowly working his way down the tree, trying to keep as quiet as possible so as to not alert the monster.

Once at the bottom, he inched toward the gypsy on the ground, trying to make some noise to alert the gypsy but not enough to attract the ears of the beast. It would be quite a balancing act between noise and silence... Leaves rustling instead of branches cracking, dirt getting scuffed... little noises that would cause the human to look up and notice that it had backup in this situation. The dracon had no idea who this person was, why it was here, and why the monster was chasing it, but it didn't matter. This could prove to be interesting, and interesting times are always fun. What was it they said? Violent outbursts and confrontations with strange creatures are like the delicious croutons in the salad of life? Probably not, but it worked well enough for Jacques.

[Trinity]

OOCOmg, I totally didn't notice this one pop up in need to reply, Sorry sorry. *hugs*

As Jacques inched towards the gypsy, two dark blue eyes peered up at him, stricken with fear. Out of the fray and into the hands of another monster - a Dracon. He could tell through her facial features that she was now, in fact, female. The gypsy seemed to have reservations about accepting the help of something that looked as foreign and possibly as terrifying as the several stories tall monster in the clearing. She crept softly up to him and darted behind his wings. No notion that the creature in the clearing had heard Jacques' signals nor the movement of the gypsy occured - it sat in stoic silence, as still as a statue made of stone. Not even the one visible eye blinked. The head did not turn. The only occasional movement was the rise and fall of it's enormous chest, and the hairs that were caught in the breeze, rustling this way and that across it's ragged body.

The gypsy was quite a bit shorter than Jacques, and appeared to be middle aged. Her hand was grasping something behind her cloak, but she leaned over to Jacques and touched him lightly on the wing to grab his attention. In a barely audible whisper, she finally made use of her vocal chords. "Shhh..." A finger met her dusty lips. In the clearing, the creature closed it's eyes for a moment's time, continued to be as still as death itself... and then before both of their eyes, disappeared as if he was a nightmare they had both dreamed into life.

A sigh of relief left the woman's lips and she flopped down on the underbrush near Jacques. "Nice of you to drop in," the girl breathed, "I... I have no idea what that ... thing was, but it sure didn't like me being near some abandoned hunk of castle or whatever it was up here. Must've been guarding something of value, ya think?" She pointed a grubby finger off into the distance, the way she had previously stumbled out of the forest. Then in just as quick of a motion, she extended the shaky hand to the Dracon, obviously not realizing that shaking hands with something that bore claws would obviously hurt. And hurt a lot. "Suppose I should introduce myself. Serale; Akira."

A broken down castle, a beast that vanishes into thin air after chasing and attempting to kill this "Akira" woman, and the probability of something valuable to be ... stolen? What more could Jacques ask for, really? Oh yeah. Maybe to not have his head torn off by this vanishing, vicious dog-beast. That would be a reasonable request. Akira though, seemed to want none of it... and... well, getting to her feet again, this woman was proving to be a bit crazy. The way she moved her body, dusted off her feet, pulled a few dead leaves and twigs out of her hair, and generally acted as if she was about to head right back towards this point of disaster - wherein logic would follow that this dog creature would spawn again and Akira would be playing roulette with her life once more - all exemplified the notion that she was once one of those children that ran down dark alleys because they were curious, or that stole the beautiful crystal out of the neighbor's cabinets because of the way they caught the lights. A thief, a vagrant, a woman. What was Jacques getting himself into? He should've helped the monster instead.

[Jacques de Lamont]

OOC: Lol, saright. No worries. How'd you do that with the OOC thing, though?

IC: An extended hand, being as it was, was not so much a bad idea with dracons. They could shake hands just fine, and keep their claws from penetrating skin. The problem Jacques was having at the moment was, first, coping with the fact of a disappearing monster, and second, wondering what in the Umblat was wrong with this woman. A beast comes barreling out of the woods after you, chucking rocks the size of carriages, and the woman seemed awful intent on heading right back into the fray!... And, if Jacques were being honest with himself, he'd note that he'd run right in with her. Some fun was in order, some excitement and some blood. Was crazy infectious? Who knew?

"Lamont," he spoke simply, a grin spreading across his scaly face. Instead of wrapping her small hand in his gigantic grasp, he extended a single finger for her to grab. If she looked, she'd have noticed the rusting blades that would be sure to cause terrible infections if cut. Following the direction she pointed, Jacques couldn't make out any castle or structure between the trees, but as it stood he was willing to give her the benefit of the doubt in this case. Again, fun, blood.. everything a common dracon could ever want and need seemed to be waiting just beyond the trees, a short walk away. If he could get a head to bring with him and maybe sell, or some pelts to pawn off, all the better. However, something that big could not be the greatest prize available. There had to be something more.

"I assume, by your attitude, you're going back. If you are... just lead the way." His grin still present, Jacques threw her a sly wink. A bad influence, maybe... but one that could definitely pan out to something better. And it was what he'd wanted, wasn't it?

[Trinity]

Akira's eyes scanned the Dracon who called himself "Lamont" over hesitantly, questioning his trust. She couldn't just blindly lead this stranger on to a site of possible treasure wherein he could simply slit her throat and take it all for himself! Greed was at the heart of Men, but was it at the heart of a Dracon? The gypsy folder her arms over herself, thin almost unnoticeable bracelets clinking together as she did so. Moving a messy piece of hair out of her eyes with a flick of her head, Akira finally sighed and decided that Jacques, trustworthy or not, would be useful to getting further than she had previously. "Alright then!" she said defiantly, "Mista Lamont, off we go. No funny business, though. Just because I'm female doesn't mean I can't break my share of necks!" Though in all actuality, Akira was more worried that whatever that monstrosity that had chased her away for the first time was would break both of their necks before she had a chance to break Jacques'.

Crossing the clearing again with Jacques seemingly in tow, Akira sidestepped the large indents that littered the open floor, all of which took on the shape of the dog like creature that had chased her out of the woods. The boulders that had nearly crushed her skull sat silent now, though deep claw marks from where the creature was holding them were etched visibly in their sides. This was no puppy they would be dealing with, and his bark was definitely not worse than his bite. Anything that left those type of claw marks in rocks would probably completely destroy a fleshling. Maybe not Jacques, considering he had scales, but then again those probably wouldn't serve as the best barrier either and would end with him being pried apart like an oyster from the depths of the sea. Akira's bare feet grazed the trampled grass and she hunched over slightly as she walked, attempting to remain as silent as possible upon their journey. They had reached the trees from which Jacques had first seen her emerge when she paused, looked back at him, and put a finger to her lips. After a moment's pause, the woman whispered, "Shh, Lamont. Strange things lurk out in this forest - I think these ruins are enchanted by an old elementalist or mystic or something. On my journey up to it this first time, I encountered many unnatural things. Stay close, hopefully we can bypass them together with more ease than I managed alone."

Akira practically tip toed back into the woods on the other side of the clearing now, motioning for Jacques to follow. As soon as the first few trees had been passed, a strange site met them up ahead. There were two large stones erected in the ground, a mist enveloping them on an otherwise clear brightening. No humidity surrounded the gypsy and the dracon, though it was very clear that something was causing the air to condense around these two obstructions in the trees. Akira shivered and peered off to the left, attempting to see if they could manage to avoid them all together. Nothing odd or threatening appeared to radiate out from them, but the gypsy's pause indicated she wasn't sure if they should get close to them or not. Perhaps Jacques' input would help her out. She didn't ask for it though, being the proud, adventurous person she was.... and she didn't want to alarm him either, by letting on that these two things weren't there the last time Akira had gotten this far into the forestry. The gypsy was pretty sure something was definitely wrong though, considering that something out of place had changed in the past few candlemarks. It was like the forest was alive, even though these weren't the dolwoods. Someone or something must be tampering with the path, because they were protecting their treasures of old! That was the only explanation... right?