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Registered: 12-2005
Location: Ottawa, Canada
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Re: Running with Wolves


Meanwhile, far away...

Evelyn dreamed...

The place of her captors was distant, as were any comforts of civilization that might come with them. The wind was chill, sharp as a razor, and it would have cut her to the bone were she not draped in a cloak that seemed to be made of the skins of beasts she had slain in her life. It was a heavy weight, yet it gave her some reprieve from the biting wind, even if every step in the deep snow brought pain to her bare feet.

Ahead of her, a faint light glinted. It was like starlight peeking through the trees, a blue twinkle in a distant subarctic forest. In her dream she followed the light through the pain and the cold.

The trail was littered with the broken remnants of her life. Her sword and armour were poking out of the ice. Her chains were broken and dangling from tree tops. Once, she thought she saw Ren dancing in wolf form through the snow just off the trail...

As she moved, a muscular man of savage dress was hunched in the snow ahead with a stealthy hunter's posture. He was gazing off ahead, the glass-like point of a mirror edged spear lowered to the snow to avoid giving away his position. Hair of a pale blue flowed down his back in a long mane, ever tugged by the wind, and a glorious crown of antlers grew from his head.

The herculean fey lord turned toward her slowly, his eyes revealed to be the source of the distant faerie fire she had been following. He held out his spear toward her, as the sound of the distant slave market drifted past him to her ears. Upon his forehead was a circlet with a crescent moon forming horns that were centred between his antlers.

"Your prey have chosen their fate. All that is left is the hunt."

---
Creator of A Tale of Bone and Steel.

Cloak and Dagger
9/22/2014, 4:58 pm Link to this post  
 
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Re: Running with Wolves


Ren tilted her head to one side in interest until the topic of kidnapping the children came to be. She bared her fangs a little bit as her fur stood on end. The wolf's posture grew more defensive as she shook her head slowly in response.

"The children have earned a least a little respect from me, do what you wish to the parents, but leave them out of it, or else I will sink my fangs in goblin flesh today.."

Normally she wasn't so imposing or rash but being stuck in her wolf form for so long had made her a bit more wild in nature. She hated this family, every single one of them except for the two kids. Until they proved otherwise she would at the very least keep them out of goblin hands for now.
9/22/2014, 7:24 pm Link to this post  
 
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Re: Running with Wolves


In Evelyn's dream...

She nodded once to the fey lord, and a few stray bangs of her ragged hair fell across her face, while those Astrothian eyes crept from glassy spearpoint to snowy treetops. For a time, only the market's far-off cacophony could be heard.

"I know what must be done." Her reply came slowly, resolute in its meaning, and yet, "I don't know that I have it in me."

Suddenly the dream shifted. The world itself seemed to be in upheaval, the ground beneath and the horizon beyond turned over on its side. A powerful sense of vertigo gripped her. Eve fell to her right, fell into the sky. There was nothing to hold onto, so she continued falling, falling away from the placid fey lord, who had not moved at all except to watch her.

"They're coming," she thought she heard him say.

In an instant she was back on the ground, in the snow, only now she was instead lying beside the hunter. Bitter cold made itself known. Her clothes were soaked, and the cloak of hides was gone.

"Now is not the time to doubt yourself." These were his final words to her just before he adjusted his posture, held the spear high, and thrust the point into her ribs. A sharp pain spread through the woman's side.

She couldn't breathe.

Darkness closed in, the dream fading from view, until only the haunting eyes of the hunter remained. Then even those were consumed by the void.

Was she dead?

Another sharp burst of pain exploded in her side. "Get up!" a man shouted angrily.

Quite the contrary.

Her eyes snapped open, and she remembered. The scent of brine, the sway of the floor she had moments ago been resting on, and the impatient brute who now towered over her. She was on a ship bound for gods-know-where up north, of all places to go while the weather turned colder.

Her auctioneer had found her decidedly unfit for sale to his wealthier clientele as she wasted no time in demonstrating how crude and unruly she could be, despite the beatings suffered for it. In the end it was the captain of a ship, or perhaps another slaver, who put a bid on her. No one argued when he finally took her away to join the oarsmen of his ship.

A third swift kick wrenched her from her thoughts.

"I'm up," she croaked. Sitting up, a burning sensation around her wrists reminded her of the ropes binding her.

"About bloody time. This isn't a treasure cruise, princess. You can forget about your rations for today since you decided to sleep in. Captain's orders. Now get moving."

With an indifferent stare at the man, she shrugged, popped her back, and stepped past him on her way to the oars.

---
Evelyn Kaltherz - Mercenary
Yrsa Skuggdottir - Vagabond
9/25/2014, 12:34 pm Link to this post  
 
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Re: Running with Wolves


Gone was the aid of the Goblin King as the wolven elf declined to hand over the children. The mistress was cruel and heartless but the kids were still innocent in the eyes of Ren. Thus the night turned to day and days turned to weeks, weeks into months. Each day she would endure harsh words and punishment as one would expect in such a situation. Yet each night she would gather her strength while using her fey magic to conceal her true shape and power. Patience was a key factor and a few times she almost acted too soon against the evil witch of a mother.

Evening crested on a particular evening as a full moon lazily rose into the inky black sky. Stars awoke from their slumber and winked to life. Cool night air filled her lungs as she felt it stirring around her. It was time to finally be free of this horrible place and that horrible woman. Her thoughts were interrupted as if on queue the mother stepped into the room brandishing a whip and a smug smile on those thinly drawn lips.

"Alright lil' pup I grow weary this eve so you will dance for me." That cruel smile widened a fraction of an inch as she raised the whip threatening.

Something akin to a feral rage started to boil deep in the pit of Ren's stomach. It had been a long time building and it was bubbling to the surface now. The woman took the arctic wolf's silence as disobedience and brought her arm up in a striking motion. In a flash of white fur and fangs blood blossomed from the woman's wrist. Ren bit into the skin deeply while blood trickled into her maw filling her mouth with an iron like taste to it.

The noblewoman screamed at the top of her lungs, the shrill noise echoing through the halls. It was not long as guards flooded into the room aiming pikes and crossbows at the snowy white wolf. Ren kept her mouth clamped onto the woman's wrist. There was some kind of shouting done as they were probably telling her something akin to letting the !@#$ go or else. There was a snap twisting motion of the wolf's head and a sick cracking reverberated throughout the room. Bone stuck out of her forearm as Ren let go reluctantly.

The guards closed in on the arctic wolf only to halt in their advance as Ren's form started to shift and transform. Glamour faded away from her wolf body as muscles shifted under her skin and her body grew larger and larger. When finished she stood nearly as tall as most of the men present. A chill silence filled the room as a fair share of the guards lost the steely nerves they had shown moments before. No longer were they facing a pup but a giant arctic wolf, a beast of honor and strength.

Ren lowered herself as the muscles in her legs tensed and she let out a feral, beastial growling noise from deep in her throat. She pounced onto one of the closer guards, a man with a boyish face and a disjointed nose from being set wrong when it was broken. Large fangs sank into the soft flesh of his throat and with a sickening tearing noise the man's life was cut short. The few guards that weren't bugeyed and staring in disbelief lunged at the large wolf with their pikes. Some of the blades bounced from Ren's hides and those that pierced her skin didn't find their way deep.

Ren yelped in pain and turned to face her attackers with a vicious growl. She leapt into the mass of guards thrashing with fangs and claws beared. Her mighty jaws clamped onto a guard's arm and with a vile popping and tearing noise of flesh and sinew his arm was severed at the elbow. An earpiercing scream echoed the halls as the arctic wolf was like a feral monster driven by vengence. Blood matted her snowy white fur and oozed out of the wounds she was sustaining and yet the guards were no match for the wolven elf. When her thoughts ebbed back into her head she was greeted by a masterpiece of death and destruction.

Crimson was sprayed about in the room with abandon and lifeless corpses littered the pools of blood. Regret hit her deep in the stomach but she left the mother alive which was more than she deserved. Ren's golden eyes caught movement at the door it was the brother and sister, wide eyed in terror over what had happened. Guilt crossed her mind but she had no time to dwell on it or to console the young cubs though she wished that was not the case for the later. With a mighty bounding leap she crested the wrought iron fence and sped into woods.
2/8/2015, 4:44 pm Link to this post  
 
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Re: Running with Wolves


Trees and underbrush zipped past the fleeing wolf as she was like a winter white streak to the human eye. It was the fastest she had ever ran before and it was quickly draining her adrenaline fueled sprint. Ren's lungs burned as she huffed and puffed at the cold frigid air.

her run was cut short as she hit something solid. Looking up expecting to see a tree, she was shocked to see a towering figure looming over her. Ren leapt back and got low to the ground as her ears flicked back and her tail tucked between her legs. Fangs glinted in the pale moonlight. What gave her pause was the man before her was obviously not human. It was an elf and a powerful spirit at that. He stood bear eleven feet tall and wore robes made out of what appeared to be a living robe of moss, ivy and vines. Two large stag antlers protruded out of the top of his head surround by long locks of green hair. In his hands was a massive longbow that practically oozed with enchantments.

His face was angular and yet held a soft, warming glow to it as he smiled down at Ren with a gentle smile. He chuckled before he spoke, the sound was rich and full, almost reverberating throughout the entire forest. "Hail winter cousin, what brings a wolven to my little slice of paradise?"

Stunned for but a brief second the wolven girl could do not but stare at the majestic sight. Her form shimmered and changed into her humanoid state. It had been such a long time since she had enjoyed such a form, therefor the smile the other elf gave her was contagious. Her own cupid bow shaped lips curled into a tired, but overwhelmingly joyful grin.

"It has been a tiring journey my kin, for an evil noble had kept me as a pet.". The wolven elf nearly spat the word out as it was disgusting to even utter the state she was in.

The large elf gave a deep frown and placed a big hand upon the seemingly short girl's head. A soothing energy trickled into her body removing the aches and pains of her recent wounds and the quick retreat. It had been so quick she didn't even notice the collar they used to imprison her had broke off during her rage-filled transformation. The thought chilled her that she had gotten so used to the collar.

"Thank you kind sir, but I must be off I have a home to return to and friends to track down, it has been too long since I last seen them.". Ren spoke as her bushy white tail wagged rapidly behind her.

"Mmm, well the undead make the night dangerous and not to mention the other monsters that stalk the night.". The elf lord rumbled and mused while rubbing his chin.

The bow in the lord's hand glowed with a brilliant white light and shrunk in size. Slowly he brought it forward, pressing it into Ren's hand. "Take this child of winter and use it well, its name is Zar'nith and it has served me reliably through my long life.. May you find your den and with it a life that was once stolen from you."

Ren was shocked beyond belief as the power radiating from the bow alone made this gift seem surreal. "But why?" Was all she got out before the elf before her vanished in a cloud of blue songbirds which shouldn't have even been here in this wintery land.

This was not a time for hesitation. Making a sign of good will and fortune with her free hand she darted South into the woods bow in hand. The trip would be long and exhausting but she would do a anything to get home.

*******************************************
The trip took a few months time as she stayed far from roads and the human stone woods. Though there was exceptions as humans were very interesting to the spirit girl. It was one of the reasons she materialized afterall.

There had begun stories of a mysterious white wolf that would aid caravans and the like that entered the woodlands. Given that she never stayed to talk afterwards these people were given no name, therefor she was simply known as the White Wolf. She had a promise to keep, one she had given to her master in arms back home. To protect those that could not protect themselves. Ren was still cautious though and refused to show herself as this White Wolf. It was better this way after all. However this too could not last as legends and myths are something hard forgotten by people.

It was the last leg of the journey and she had decided to travel with a wandering caravan of bards. She wanted to trust people again and the bards were thrilled to have an elf tag along. Ren fascinated them and they seemed like a merry bunch. They commented on how her tail reminded them of the White Wolf. They claimed she must know the wolf legend then. She shook her head and they regaled her with the legend.

It was worse the she could ever imagine how big stories can get. Like the time she apparently saved a merchant from a horde of one hundred walking dead. This was simply untrue, it was more like twenty or so ghuls. They spoke of how the wolf fought tooth and claw against lich that had threatened a village. It wasn't a lich but a powerful necromancer, but Ren guessed they were close enough to the same thing. The tales were plentiful as the wolven spirit had in fact been quite busy on her journies.

Before they could finish however the caravan lurched to a stop. Peeking out of the covered wagon Ren's eyes widened in horror as the driver was slumped to the side dead. Arrows jutting from his torso. It didn't take long for the caravan to become surrounded. They were all wearing furs and carried makeshift weapons. The calling cards of bandits or slave traders she could never tell the difference.

The children in the wagon with Ren who had been listening to the stories gawked as the elf started to shimmer with magic. Leaping from the wagon high into the air she turned into the great arctic wolf form. The huge snowy colored canine landed on one of the bandits ripping his throat out with her fangs.

Arrows peppered against her flank but the flimsy projectiles could not pierce her hide. The kids started to cheer from the wagon as the myth became living legend. The large wolf turned her massive head to the rest of thr bandits, who were almost pissing their leggings at the sight. They apparently had heard the legends too. With a mighty howl she caused the bandit group to rout and flee the ambush.

After they ran off, Ren looked to the rest of the caravan as they wooped and hollered their praise. "Long live Ren, the mighty White Wolf!!". Embarrassed but grateful that the bards were mostly okay save the drive of her wagon, she turned and walked into the timberline. The bards didn't stop her as they knew she had to get home. They spread the tale and that was the day Ren the myth became Ren the Living Legend. To this day she still aids those that cross into her domain in the woods. She has started to show herself in the cities again. Ren now works to live up to all the stories backed by the legendary bow, Zar'nith.

Last edited by pieman102, 3/1/2015, 12:48 am
2/27/2015, 12:42 pm Link to this post  
 


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Welcome to a world of heroic fantasy. Nerthus is a realm where a rebirth of chivalry is caught between the decadence of crumbling civilizations, and the barbaric brutality of the savage wilds. It is a realm where spiritual forces are everywhere, where the bold may quest into realms of dream or of death. It is a realm where an ancient evil wakes, and with it, the dead no longer sleep quietly in their graves.