As the sun sets over New York City, Jacob stands atop the rooftop of his apartment building…
And as the sun reaches the sea, his black wings reappear.
“Where Do I Belong…
Surely I Have No Home.
Removed From The Golden City…
I Look Upon The City Of Light
I Must Seek Out The Three…
The First Begins To Come To me.
Suddenly the roof door begins to open, and Jacob takes flight…
From out of the door comes Ella Strom, and Mark T.
“This is where it happened,” Mark T spoke as he stepped to the edge where he nearly lost his life.
“I jumped from that abandoned building, and a hand reached out and caught me just before I fell to my death…” explained Mark T.
Ella steps to the edge of the building looking down, “That’s quite a fall.”
“And you say you saw a dark silhouette of wings, and a hand reached out and grabbed your arm… And this hand had a golden glow around it?” spoke Ella as she peered around the rooftop.
“Right!” Mark T responded anxiously.
“So how much is this going to get me?” he then questioned.
“It depends…” replied Ella.
“On what?” questioned Mart T.
“On what kind of story this ends up being…” she looked at him, “…but don’t worry, it will be at least a couple hundred bucks.”
With this Mark T. smiled, then smacked his hand in excitement.
“You can’t be up here…” a voice came suddenly from behind them…
It was Bruno, the landlord of the apartment building… A semi heavy, short, big mustache, balding Italian fellow with a cigar in his mouth.
“We’re just leaving,” as Ella walked by Bruno, she handed him a $20.
“I don’t want this,” Bruno spoke, insulted…
…and Mark T took it out of Bruno’s hand, “I’ll take it.”
Ella smiled, the two left the rooftop.
Bruno stayed and looked around a bit, when he saw Jacob, his wings gone again, sitting on a far edge… Out of site from where the others were standing.
Jacob was looking down at the streets below.
“Hey, you’re that new tenant, right?” spoke Bruno as he stepped up behind Jacob.
Jacob’s golden white hair looking unnaturally beautiful…
…he wore all white.
“Yes…” with this Jacob stood, “The name is Jacob.”
Bruno took a hit off his stogie, and shook Jacob’s hand.
“Wow… That’s a firm grip,” Bruno spoke as a strong feeling of peace rushed through him.
He sighed, and forgot what he was doing for a moment.
“I heard what you said to those two… So, I’m not allowed on the rooftop?” questioned Jacob.
“Huh? Oh… No… It’s alright… You ain’t doin no harm… Besides, you live here… I just don’t want no strangers, and/or reporters fussen around up here,” explained Bruno.
“Reporters?” questioned Jacob.
“Yeah… The woman… I recognize her… She’s from the New York News… She’s a good writer, but still… I like things to keep pretty private in this building… These people liven here work hard.”
Jacob nodded, and Bruno stepped away.
“Nice meeten you bud…” and Bruno was gone.
Suddenly a little blue eyed, blond curly haired girl’s face appeared in Jacob’s mind…
“Angelice… We don’t have long,” his wings appeared, and he took to the sky.
“It Wasn’t Going To Be Easy… Obviously, I Wouldn’t Fit In… And Though The World Was Busy, And Vast… There’s No Doubt In My Mind That I’d Feel Alone
I Wasn’t Given Any Orders… Because This Wasn’t, And Isn’t, A Mission
No
The Fact Is I Didn’t Belong There… And I Don’t Belong Here
The First Order Of Business Was/Is To Find A Home…
Not A Easy Task…
But For Now I Began My Journey In A Small Apartment In New York City
City Of Lights
There Are A Lot Of Books I Can Read To Keep Myself Busy For A While…
Lots Of Movies, And Dare I Say T.V.
But Soon Enough I Will Find Myself Lonely
Three Friends…
That’s What I’ve Allowed Myself At Any Given Time
But Keeping My Secret May Prove Difficult
But No One Says I Have To…
In Fact, No One Says Anything At All…”
NEW YORK CITY
4:12 AM
Two young men make there way quickly down an alleyway.
Billy, a Caucasian young man, twenty years in age…
…and his friend Mark, or Mark T, an African American, twenty two years of age.
“Come on man, did you see it?” Mark spoke with urgency to his friend as they quickly made there way down a dark alleyway.
“I saw… Something,” timidly replied Billy.
Mark T suddenly stopped, and brought down a fire escape.
BAM!
It struck the ground very loudly, then Mark T started to climb.
“Ah, come on man…” spoke Billy as he followed his friend.
“It hit the roof of that next building, I’m sure of it,” replied Mark T as he gasped, running out of breath.
The two reached the top of the abandoned building, only to see a faint yellow grey light emanating from the apartment building next to the building they were on.
“Can you see that man!” exclaimed Mark T.
“It’s going to be light soon T, I can’t afford anything else on my record,” spoke Billy in angst.
Mark T walked to the edge of the building, and tried to gauge how far the two rooftops were apart.
Billy looked at him like he was crazy, “No way man, I’m not jumping that.”
“It’s maybe 15, 20 feet,” spoke Mart T, not really paying attention to Billy.
“Try 25… I’m leaving man,” suddenly spoke Billy, and he turned and headed back to the fire escape.
“Do what you gotta do Billy!” spoke Mark T as he stepped many paces back, then ran towards the end, and leaped.
Just as Mark T neared the edge of the other rooftop, trying frantically to grab onto the edge, a hand glowing a light golden yellow grabbed his arm, and he blacked out.
Chemney, Odle, Vyle and Sparen (Last Shown In Episode XI) froze in ah as the sheep thrown by the Frost Giant struck the ground before them…
Surprisingly, Chemney was the first to react, quickly putting a stone in his sling, and hurling it at the Giant…
…but missed completely.
Sparen than thrusted both of her arms and hands forward, and spoke three magical words, “Wen Ple Sor”, and a flash of light struck the giants eyes, blinding him…
“AHHHH!” yelled the Frost Giant.
“Come On!” yelled Odle, who directed the group towards running around the Giant, with hopes of reaching the Kingdom of Tyr Forest before the Giant had regained his site…
Vyle ran quickly passed the Dwarf, as he wasn’t all that quick…
Meanwhile the Frost Giant continued to pick up sheep, and hurl them in the Parties general direction… but didn’t hit any of them.
Sparen didn’t move… She instead conjured a magic missile and sent it at the Giant, hitting it in the arm…
“Like Dog Men, They Came At Them With Ferocity… Not Dog Men… Gnolls.”
EPISODE XIII
Dane (Whose Journey Was Last Updated In Episode IX) traveled for nearly a week northward, without incident…
And as he entered the West most point of The North Land’s Mountain Region, the temperatures dropped easily 40 degrees…
Yes, it would be a very cold journey from here out…
But he must not fail his Village of Rona he thought to himself…
He merely pulled the hood of his maroon cloak over his head, grit his teeth, and pushed on…
By near night fall he had come upon a precarious valley… High were its’ peaks, full of sharp rocks both left and right as far as the eye could see…
He knew it was either go through it now, and arrive on the other side in the dark… Or camp here at its’ mouth, which was not a good idea at all.
And so he pushed on.
About half way through his chestnut horse Brehan nayed, and went back on two hooves, when suddenly an arrow whizzed by Dane’s head, sticking in the rocks to his left.
He grabbed the arrow from the rocks, and studied it for a moment, but was unable to discern from what manner of human, or humanoid it had come…
Suddenly a second arrow whizzed by, and that’s when he kicked the side of his horse, and it took off forward…
And as it did an arrow struck Dane’s back causing him to lose his grip on the reigns, and he fell off his horse…
…striking his head, it began to bleed.
Knowing that his short sword would be useless verses attacks from above, he instead pulled his shield off his back, and drew a Wand from his belt…
Two more arrows came, one hit the rocks, the other he whacked away with his shield.
He then waited…
Waited.
Until finally a Gnoll raised his head in order to see if the Warrior was still alive…
…of course… He was.
Dane held up his wand which glowed a blue green, and three blue green glowing arrows appeared…
“Kill him,” he spoke, and the arrows took flight… all three striking the chest of the Gnoll…
It fell over dead, and dropped from the rocks, 55 Feet below.
All went quiet…
Dane could not do anything about the wound in his back, other then pull out the arrow, which he did, without breaking the tip off, which was good… Still, he was bleeding badly…
…both from his back, and the back of his head…
He began to feel dizzy as he tried to stay focused in case they should attack again.
Suddenly he jumped on his horse, and kicked it, “YAH!”
The Gnolls rose up, but their arrows would fall behind Dane’s horse, striking the rocks around him.
After about an hour Dane made it to the end of the valley, but felt very sick from the loss of blood.
He decided he could not wait, and dismounted in order to at least bandage his head, and try to figure out away to wrap some cloth around his back and chest in order to stop the bleeding.
As Dane wrapped his wounds, he decided to rest for an hour or so, and fell asleep.
Two hours later, in the pitch dark, two glowing blue lights seem to be approaching him… Were they Faries?
Suddenly his horse started to nay as they became close to it, and it fell to the ground in pain…
Dane, wounded, knew he wasn’t strong enough to fight whatever they were, so sadly had to leave his horse behind…
He ran for a half an hour, then fell to the ground, and passed out.
“Behold These Early Signs Of War… And All Its’ Discomforts”
EPISODE XII
Tora and Hannah continued their journey north through the South West Hills of The North Land’s Hill Region (Their journey was last posted in Episode VII)…
They passed many herds of local animals, but traveled without issue for several days…
They then came upon some Tribesmen from the Village of Shar, several days west of them.
Shar lays in the middle of a small forest on peaks dropping down to the Xoat Ocean.
There were 12 Tribesmen in all, carrying spears and wooden shields… They appeared to be being lead by a Cleric, or Druid, who was in front.
They approached on feet.
Tora dismounted from the back of Hannah’s horse, and approached the Tribesmen Leader one hand raised.
“Greetings… I am Tora… Keeper, and Paladin of the Fire Tree Order…” she then gestured towards Hannah, “This is my travelling companion, Hannah… A Curate Cleric, and Healer…”
“Greetings Paladin and Cleric… You’d best go back from whence you came… There is trouble to the North… And some of it is nearly upon us,” replied the Druid Leader.
Hannah then dismounted, and joined the conversation, “What kind of trouble… Do you speak of the White Orc Legions… Do you speak of Kor?”
“We have not time to concern ourselves of Kor… His allies are on their way, and they are not White Orcs,” replied the Druid.
Tora looked at Hannah, then back to the Druid.
Tora stepped closer to the Druid, “As a Paladin of Fire Tree, it is my sworn duty to protect those in need… How may I service you?”
“Go,” spoke the Druid, as he gestured for his Party to continue north, and they started to run off.
Hannah stepped beside Tora, and followed her eyes which peered upon the departing Party.
“We best abide their wishes…” spoke Hannah, who then placed a hand upon Tora’s shoulder.
“That Party of Tribesmen will surely perish if we do not aid them…” spoke Tora angstedly.
“We must respect the Druid’s wishes… They are heading in the direction that we are anyway… We shall stay back, but keep watch none the less,” stated Hannah, who remounted her horse.
Tora looked up at Hannah who had spoke wisely, “Agreed,” then remounted the back of Hanna’s horse.
Day turned to night, and the Tribesmen stopped and made camp, as they feasted and spoke of troubles ahead.
Hannah had also made a campfire, and was eating, and looking into the fire, when she took note of Tora, who was pacing back and forth.
“Come Tora… Eat something… Get some warmth… The cool winds of the North are upon us… These are not typical temperatures for the Hill Region,” Hannah spoke as she pulled her cloak over her shoulders.
“I want to ride ahead… Make sure the Tribesmen aren’t ambushed in the night,” Tora spoke.
“My horse,” replied Hannah.
“Hannah… I’m sure you can feel it as I do,” insisted Tora.
“Nope… Just a bit cold here… No premonitions,” Hannah replied.
Suddenly out of the dark the Druid Party Leader appeared, causing Hannah to jump…
“By the gods you scared me Druid,” spoke Hannah.
“You wish to help?” spoke the Druid to Tora.
“Yes… We do!” quickly replied Tora.
Minutes later the Tribesmen, Tora and Hannah sat atop a large hill and looked to the bottom of the hill where a Frost Giant was sleeping, surrounded by four Winter Wolves.
“This creature should not be here…” spoke the Druid.
As the Party, Chemney, Odle, Vyle and Sparen (Last Shown In Episode VI) continued across the Southern Planes of the Mountain Region of the North Lands, they came across a couple Gnolls here and there…
Nothing too threatening, though being Chaotic Evil Beings, one would have thought they would attack the Party anyway…
But they did not.
“So once we reach these White Orcs, what is it we plan on doing exactly?” questioned Odle as he ate upon a large roasted bird leg.
“Our Grey Ring Order has requested that we visit the Kingdom of Tyr, and speak to it’s King, to determine what their defensive, or offensive measures are in regards to the rise of Kor…” replies Chemney.
“Do you really think the King of Tyr will see a group of wondering Clerics, and they’re Mercenaries?” earnestly questioned Sparen.
Being a friendly Mage, Sparen is quite inquisitive.
Vyle, however, struck Sparen’s shoulder lightly, as if to say, “We’re not paid to think…”
Sparen merely smiled in her direction in a “Actually as a Mage, I am” way.
Her attention then returned to Chemney, her dark brown eyes, soft black hair, and soothing voice inadvertently drawing the poor clumsy Cleric in.
“Well… I… I can not say… But it is the duty that has been thrust upon us, and we shall answer,” he replied in an energized, convicted fashion.
“Hmm… Exciting,” replied Sparen.
Vyle merely shook her head at the young Mage’s innocently fascinated disposition.
Vyle on the other hand, was much more cynical, and pessimistic about… all things really.
“Look there!” suddenly proclaimed Sparen, as she pointed high in the sky!
Above was a Great White Owl, simply monstrous in comparison to most…
“It’s a good omen,” spoke Sparen excitedly, as she opened her traveling journal and quickly jotted down several descriptive words.
Such as wondrous… And magnificent.
Vyle merely grumbled and road up ahead of the Party.
Meanwhile, Odle, having finished his bird, tossed the bone, looked back at Sparen, and then to Chemney.
“She’s a bit batty, aint she…”
Chemney smiled slightly, and held his finger to his mouth, as if telling him to stay quiet on the matter.
“You’re just afraid of magic,” Vyle then grumpily spoke back at Odle.
“I ain’t afraid of nuthen,” grumbled Odle, as he drank down some wine from his wine skin.
“I’m sure it will follow us all the way to The Kingdom Of Tyr’s outer walls! All is well I say, all is well…” spoke the young Sparen oh so pleased.
Soon they had reached the Hills south of the Kingdom of Tyr, and were only a hand full of days from their destination.
Along the first day they came across many herds of local animals, but all and all, the day went well…
…then came the second day
Chemney, Odle, Vyle and Sparen all sat on their mounts a top a high hill… In the distance they could not believe what they saw…
Cries let out from a herd of animals as a 15′ Frost Giant hurled his great axe upon them… More for his own pleasure than for food.
His skin was a hardened, snow white, and his hair was river blue, with traces of black.
The Party was paralyzed…
“Has he seen us?” spoke Chemney without meaning to.
“Not likely, or he’d be upon us,” replied Vyle.
‘I’m not afraid of a Giant…” spoke Odle.
“I should distract him, while the rest of you make your way around him,” spoke Sparen courageously, as she stared at the Giant with wonderment, and apprehension.
“It’s too late…” suddenly spoke Vyle as the Frost Giant picked up a sheep, and hurled into the air striking the ground before them, killing it.
