Journal of Lali Sareveesala, Padfoot:
First Entry
In the years since my exile from the tower, I've made a home for myself on the savannahs in the Whimsical Fields, on the far northwestern edge of the of the Occulet Contentients. Hrm ...
Maybe I should explain first, as whomever finds this won't know my history. I'll flat up and say it; I'm an elf. you know one of those "tree-huggers" that people love to hate. Except, well ... I wasn't raised an elf. You know how goblins love to snatch babies, right? Well, guess what my childhood was like; you know, you are living with your parents, learning the druid ways. Then one day, a bunch of short smelly dudes come, and snatch you away under your parents eyes.
Can't say I remember much of my "first" home, even now, its foggy as hell. Its clear on the otherside of the world anyway, on the Ashen Continent I think; don't remember too much about the trip here. Oh, incase you were expecting "politically correct" elven, think again. I've spent WAY too much with humans to even bother with that crap anymore. Yeah, after the goblins, I lived with the humans. I know, I know, but let me explain.
So when those babysnatchers come, they tell us kids that they're there to save them. You know, from a life of hardship, accidents, you know. They even say they're saving the dwarf youngings from "daycare". Not sure I believe it, but I've heard some DAMN weird things about dwarfs. Hard to know whats true vs. what's not you know?
Right, anyway, on with the story (and no, I'm not a wordsmith by any stretch of the imagination, so don't expect some epic story). So the goblins got me right? They had me hauling goods, playing with the other ones, dealing with accepting the horrors that come with day-to-day goblin life. Then I was traded to another clan, and then again, making long trips across land, across the seas, and through the worst the lands could through at us. Never did see anyone from the retreat after that. You know, looking back, it wasn't all that bad; they never abused me or mistreated me as long as I did what I was told. Even had a few friends, right up until the siege.
You see, the last tower was right on the border with a neighboring dwarven kingdom. And well, after years of being sieged, the dwarves decided that they were going to give the goblins a taste of their own medicine. Pow, boom, down went the front door and 30 angry drunken brutes began slaughtering everything in sight. You might have heard of them so-called 'martial trances?'. Yeah, well, I guess seeing a bunch of kids in rags was enough to send them over the edge. Before I knew what had happened, the militia commander had ordered some of his solders to scoot us up and bring them back to their fortress.
They took back their youngings, and arranged with the humans to send an envoy to bring back their kids. You'd never know it looking at them, but dwarves have some sorta code of honor, even went through the trouble of making sure the other children, you know, the non-dwarven were at least going to be with their own kind. Well, except me.
Whatever corner of the world I was in, there were no elves. We were as far away from any retreat as we could possibly be. I was, what, maybe 10 or 11 at that time. Elves grow slower than everyone else, and in no way in shape to be able to raise me til my adulthood. So they thought, well, aside from being hippies, elves are similar to humans, right?
After a few "offerings", the humans took me with their own back to their town. Don't even remember what its called. I think the idea was to have me travel with the merchants, maybe find a retreat they could kick me off at. That's when I met my human dad, Roger Farnsworth, yeah, I know, funny name for a human. The warlord ordered him to take me on his route til they reached a retreat, and kick me off.
Well, it didn't quite work out like that. Having been separated from elfs for so many years, they said the "stench of goblins, mixed with the blood of dwarves and humaned marred me", or some such bullshit. What a stuck up bunch of idiots. Well, Roger, he was a good man, wasn't willing to abandon me, so I became part of the cavern. People came and went, but Roger was with me the whole time, used to say we'll find a place for me yet, and took it upon himself to teach me the ways of the world, how to watch for stuff and the like.
Well, the years went on, and we just kept travelling together. Fortresses, towns, even a retreat or two, it all blurs together. See, elves, we don't have a concept of "old age", we just keep living til something kills us, but humans? They're lucky if they see 100, 110 tops, and Roger was no spring chicken when I first met him. As the years went on, his time was running shorter and shorter. Soon, he was talking about retiring you know? Find a nice hamlet or something, and build a house, right? And we'd live there together, at least until he passed.
Before we built our home though, we had to make one last load, one that would "set you up for life", as Roger said, to the far corner of Occulet Contentients. So we set off, crossing the vast nothingness between Dinnerwandered, and Combinedtrims, a human fortress. Never made it though.
A vampire, Pena Fernutter, had taken to hunting caverns crossing the desert, and set his sights on us. I remember he went through the freaking guards like they were butter. So I did the only thing I could do.
I ran.
No, I'm not proud of it, but there you have it. Near dead, armed with only a small dagger, and a spear I grabbed before I took off, I made my way across those unforgiving wasted. I had no idea what I was doing at first, but staving, I finally managed to make a kill, and eat something.
Now my elven 'brothers' would claim such an act as barbarian, a disgrace, you know? But you know, in those wastes, I learned something. Its all just a part of life, sometimes you live, and sometimes you become dinner. I chose to live.
I made my way to a hamlet that was supposed to be a stopping point for the wagon, Mirrorstabbed. The local doc helped nurse me back to heath, and in return, I stayed, to do whatever I could to pay these people back. Elves are at peace with wildlife you know, so whenever something ugly came along, I'd take care of it.
I soon earned the nickname "Padfoot" from them, guess they thought it was funny or something.
Eventually went back into the desert, found Rogers body among the corpses, and buried him on a hillside by the river. Figure he might want to have a view.
I soon learned the truth of the horrors that attacked us ...
I swore to kill whatever killed us, but I'm no warrier. Just a hunter on the edge ...
Though I must admit, I've learned a thing or two since I ended up here.
Its been a few years since pops died now. And I've started having the weirdest dreams. Not really sure what of, but I feel like I'm being drawn back east. Dunno why, but the damn feeling becoming unshakable.
One problem though, crossing the wastes is tandiment to a death sentence. Between here and Dinnerwandereds is a WHOLE lot of nothing. And I thought there was no way in hell I would do it. Except well, fuck, here I am doing it. Or will be shortly. Something tells me that I might find peace, answers, or some sorta nonsense in those far off lands. I've been talking to the few travelers that come through these parts, trying to get some idea what I might find. Eventually, I found someone who had just recently made the trip, and had settled in Mirrorstabbed ...
Tonsgrace. The name sounded familiar; its possible we may have even visited once so many moons ago, you know, me and Roger. Still, the talk of demons gives me pause. The traveler marked it on my map. That is to say, he made an X so far off the map that it might as well been on air.
Still, I'm determined to see this dream, or vision out to its end, whenever it may be. However, to cross the vast nothingness, I need supplies, and I need help. There is a town not far from hear, maybe a two days walk where I can find shopkeepers, and hopefully find vials to store water in. While I intend to walk along the shoreline to prevent dehydration, food and hunting may require going far from the waters edge as we cross, and I best be prepared ...
OOC: I'm not the best writer, but I hope you enjoyed that. Also, Kromgar, what the hell did you do at Tonsgrace! O_O; (I was tempted to explore it, but elves and demons don't usually mix).
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Topic: The Museum: Adventure mode succession world (DF 34.11) (Read 819285 times)