Farmer's Haven I

Dragonier.

It is a name uttered in whispers these days on account of its fall to the dark dragon know as Heth. It is here that you are traveling by airship to a place on its border known as the Twin Hearts Grove, a green space that has been protected from the environmental catastrophe of Heth and his wights through potent Magic's. The airship has been sailing for a couple days now, taking a circuitous route, and you're all pretty tired of being cooped up aboard.

Taleth has arrived.

Erakirak has been parked for quite some time now in the closest thing that the air-ship has to an open-air compartment, enjoying the feeling of the wind against his wings. He is impatient to come into his full growth and finally be able to fly, and has been for months now, but for the moment this is an almost-acceptable substitute.

To some the name of this land is one of danger, or fear. To Bhavrad, it is home. He leans on the rail of the airship, watching the plains roll by below. Beside him lays a giant ball of fluff curled into a ball. The dire llama lifts its head to look at its master, opening it mouth to let out a loud moaning howl into his ear. Swatting at the creature Bhavrad, "Shush you git! I know the air smells like home. Cause it is. Not stop yer wailing." The khazad stroked his beard before turning back to the view.

Baz da Ork arrives, singing as he steps into the high grasses. Bluebirds sing.

Baz da Ork has arrived.

Sark has left.

It's actually the first time that Lia has ever been on an airship and even if it's been a rather lengthy trip, she seems quite excited to explore the ship, or simply watch in fascination from the rails as the clouds speed by, eyes wide in wonder at all the sights and sounds.

The massive heavily armored Ork is standing bowlegged in the middle of the air ship's deck. His spike covered form rife with old blood and the remains of his last meal. He idly scratches at a point between his hip and abdomen protection. The motion causing his heavy shield and battleaxe ensemble to rattle against his back. Slowly the tusk rimmed snout turns upwards and sniffs the air a few times and shrugs. Finally the giant Ork resumes his leisurely squat of indolent murder-hobo-ism. Nothing about air ships or his fellow crew seemingly interesting him. Or perhaps he's simply indulging in the Guardsman's creed: rest when you can.

In the distance are the ruigged mountains that border Myrrdion's territories and Dragonier. You're crossing from the Kingdom of Sendor and its border with Bludgun and then up over the tall mountains towards Dragonier. There, arunning along the mountains, you can see a great blade of standing trees, shrouded in an early morning mist.

Erakirak enjoys the mountains... they are neither the peaks he was raised in, nor the peaks he has settled in, but he always feels more comfortable in the mountains than anywhere else, regardless. Still, everything in the vicinity of Dragonier feels tainted.

Both the llama and the red-haired dwarf spit over the rail, cursing the mountains that their people now lay stuck within. "We'll get you out," he grumbles as he pushes from the rail. Turning to the fluffy creature the dwarf pulls out a brush and starts to groom it. "Think we are gunna land soon?" He asks out loud to no one in particular. "Khazad were not meant to be so far above ground.

Erakirak is about to say something reassuring to Bhavrad about bringing him down safely when he notices that, though short, the khazad probably outweighs him by a factor of two... he's not sure he could _lift_ the man, let alone carry him in flight. The Wild Elf, more plausibly.

"Bah, last time I wuz air dropped in ta a scrap, was in Skald. Week long march through demons, tunnels, kobolds, gnomes, big walk'n mushrooms. Enjoy the cushy ride shorty. Nae one try'n ta kill ya up here." The big Ork grins and chortles. Then idly cracks his knuckles, the metal and leather creaking at the motion. "Kor says we gonna die, but he's a big asshole. Likes ta rile ya up so you put on a better show, ya?"

Liarora glances around at her companions, people she barely knows (some kinda scary looking) and flashes them a bright smile, still eyeing the passing mountains with excitement. "We have been in the air quite a while now, are we almost there?" she peers longingly at the fluffy llama, itching to pet the fur ball.

"We are," answers one of the sailors to Liarora. The fact that a llama came on the ride has been a matter of passing fascination from some of the sailors, a number of whom had never actually SEEN a llama before.

But you know, first time for everything.

The airship begins to descend towards the edge of the great trees, seeking a safe open space to land.

Indeed, the trees themselves seem to /part/ for you, creating a clearing in which the small airship can land. It is also clear that this is not the first time these sailors have seen that particular effect.

The khazad raises an eyebrow. "You are aware that up here we are closer to Heth and his brood, right?" His head shakes in disbelief as the brush makes a scraping noise through the llama's fur. Noting the Silvanori's attention, he motions a rough hand to the llama, inviting her to feel free to pet the beast. "Still, whatever can be done to aid Dragonier. I'll do. So thank you for coming on this trip." Bhavrad grips the side of his dire llama, supporting himself against its bulk as the ship landed. "Stupid airship."

Erakirak regards the khazad curiously. "You have a personal connection to Dragonier?"

"Augh, deploy inta da woods. Time ta get walk'n." The big Ork says as he ambles over towards the edge of the ship and scrambles down the side. His thick fingered hands and powerful muscles letting him simply use the ships own protrusions to get to the ground. Once down he shifts his shield onto his left arm and swings up his battleaxe with his right. A few quick practice chops to seat his hand before he turns his attention to sniffing the air for unusual scents and scanning the woods for dangers.

Bhavrad scratches his chin and purses his lips. "Tis where I am from," he replies to Erakirak, before he starts strapping a saddle onto his companion. "Not that that means much anymore." Giving the llama a whack on the backside, the khazad moves to follow the orc. "Lets go see what this fancy wood is about. Not one I've traveled through before."

Liarora smiles, watching the woods part. "Seems the trees are happy to see us." she comments, before her gaze wanders towards the Khazad and his words, which cause her smile to fade briefly, pondering, "I'm sure it'll be okay. I'll do what I can to help!" she ends on a cheerful, hopeful note, Aqua eyes brighten and she reaches a cautious hand towards the llama, petting him gently. "Awwe Soo soft.." she croons.

Erakirak nods and joins the trek, thinking about losing one's homeland.

Fabris has arrived.

Fabris looks back at the airship longingly, then strides forwards into the glade. He looks around, ready for... something. Whatever it is, though, he's got his hands on his hips and he's ready!

Thoom.

Thoom.

Thoom.

The trees continue parting, yes, as something quite large is coming towards you.

The sailors remaining on the ship don't look comfortable but perhaps not as frightened as one would think.

"They're opn their way. That's the welcoming commitee."

The trees further part and out walks a man made of bark and root, a trunk like a tree.

But humanoid. Very humanoid.

It stops dead about twenty feet from the airship.

"WELCOME," it rumbles.

"WE ARE PLEASED TO SEE YOU."

Yes, it's talking in Trade. It's a treant.

Erakirak squawks in delight. He's never seen one of the tree-folk, and never thought he would, but he heard a great deal about them from the ranger who trained him.

Fabris's mouth opens a little, then lifts his hand. "And we are pleased to be here!" He smiles broadly, eagerly, even. It is as if the cheerfulness of dour dwarves was harvested, distilled, and administered to Fabris earlier onboard the airship.

"Oy, up dere, send down some trail packs, we gonna need some moar supplies if this wood is as weird as it seems. The damn tree huggers and spirits might not let us hunt. Then dere is.." The Ork turns and hefts his axe as the Tree-man lumbers into the new clearing. ".. yeah, talk'n trees. Dat." He slowly lowers his axe and shakes his head. "Kor, whut happened ta da big fights? To da wars? Why is it always mushrooms and trees?"

Liarora pauses as she hears sounds from deeper in the woods, tensing slightly. But what comes next has her smiling broadly. It's not her first time meeting a Treeant, and she bows briefly to the one that speaks, "Very pleased to meet you! I hope we can be of help.."

"We speak for the Twin Hearts," replies the treant.

"The ressurrected seek the aid of humanoids like themselves. Come. Follow me and you shall see them." The treant then proceeds to march past you, moving deeper into the woods tha t seemed to flow around its large body, clearing a path for you to follow.

The sailors will remain here with the ship for you.

"Resurrected?" Rak echoes, confused, as they follow the treant.

Fabris follows, eager both to see, and also so that he stays in the cleared path. He does /not/ want to get lost in the woods around here.

Shouldering up some more equipment, the big Ork grunts and shakes his head. Then follows after the group, working as rear guard so he's far enough away from the stomping tree-man to try and keep an eye and ear out for anything unusual. Well more unusual then moving trees, flying ships and talking tree-people.

Setting a boot into a stirrup Bhavrad swings up onto Caurak's back, the beast's oval head turning to glare at the khazad until it is given a treat. Its fat lips flap as it chews, stretches its neck, and begins to follow the treant. "I wouldn't put too much thought into it. Dragonier is full of things beyond explanation, now. Treant won't steer us wrong. Well, not most of them anyway."

The treant does not answer the eaglerin's question. Rather, it marches forward.

This takes a while. An hour passes. Then two.

Then three. Your legs are getting a little tired, but up ahead, you finally make it towards what appears to be a rather large home built on a small rise. It looks like it was designed to house multiple families, from the way it's sized and shaped.

It definitely seems out of place here.

Erakirak sighs as they walk. "We couldn't have landed closer?"

"No," rumbles the treant.

Fabris surges along on his stubby dwarf legs, still eager, especially eager now not to get left behind and lost in the woods. "This feels like one of those mysteries that has an answer," he notes to the egalrin. A gesture at the back of the treant. "See?"

Erakirak laughs. "I like questions with simple answers."

"No, we could not." Bhavrad grumbles. "The brood hunts those on the ground for sport. Most places are hidden from the air. We would put sod atop our carts to hide our caravans. Any closer and we might have given this location away." He pats the dire llama's side, the beast having saved his legs the trip. "Though I am sure we'll get more answers."

At the stop the Ork rifles one of his packs and pulls out a water skin and quickly takes a pull on it. "Wot, mystery and answer? It's a house. In da woods. Da tree man brought us to a house." The Ork pauses and listens to Bhavrad then shrugs. "We hear ta kill the brood ya? Why not just bang da drum and get the fight on wit. Back dere a bit better. This place too clear for da house, back in the trees harder ta fly in."

The door opens and out walks a half-elven man with red hair, way too many freckles and deeply bronzed skin.

"Oi," he calls out to you, "You the ones from Alexandra, then?"

The treant stops, then turns and begins to walk away, apparently intent on leaving you to discuss matters with your fellow fleshy ones.

Liarora bites her lip as she ponders many unanswered questions. Still, she trails along after the others at a brisk walk, seeming to enjoy the scenery as she hums softly to herself. She smiles at Fabris and nods, "But I do love a good mystery.." She glances at the Ork's question and shrugs, "It's been a long flight, perhaps they're just being hospitable?" Glancing to the half eleven she nods. "Yes, that's is. We're here to help!"

"Close enough," Rak agrees. The distinction between the predominantly human City of Alexandria and the nearby Aerie where his people live doesn't seem likely to matter to these people. "Are you the resurrected?"

Fabris nods back to Liarora, and straightens up. "We are! And as she says, we're the helpers!" Mr. Rogers was a dwarf, honest.

"Great," replies the half-elf.

"Name's Sharmak Coi, formerly of Dragonier, formerly of Heth thereafter," dry tone, "and now a resident here in the TWin Hearts Grove. We're doing well here, but we're running into some trouble and we could use some help. Y'see, every now and again, Heth's wights try to burrow their way in. The grove stops 'em. They're nor allowed in. Being here hurts them, but it doesn't stop them from /tryin/,."

Erakirak blinks. It's a startling gesture from his wide-set, too-large eyes. "I hadn't known that those of Heth could be reclaimed." He shrugs one wing. Magic. Whatchagonnado? "So. If the grove stops the whites, what do you need us for?"

"So ya want us ta go and clear out a nest? Which way ta da fight'n?" The big Ork asks, then takes another pull of water. "We get on wit dis soon enough I can get back ta town and see me daughters 'fore it's too late."

Fabris is also given pause somehow. "So, what is it that you wish us to do? Clean out a nest, as you say?"

"Well, it's more complicated than that."

"We've been trying to reclaim as many wights as possible so that the Druids can reincarnate them to grow our numbers. But to do that, we need to expand the grove and grow a larger food supply. That's harder than you'd think. The forest provides, the treants provide, but we need agriculture, real agriculture, in balance and harmony with nature if we're going to claw back even a small amount of Dragonier. To this end, we'd set up some very small, discrete farms on the edge of the grove to try to refertilize the soil." Coi scratches the back of his head, seeming uncomfortable.

"Recently, we had a big set back. One of the wights found its way into the water wells and... toxified the whole damn run off for miles. Now, we cover the wells. T he wights usually don't care if there's nothing /living/ down there. So why did one climb into a well? Either they're smart, figuring what we're doing and something tried to stop us, or there's something alive down there and its life force was drawing them in."

Erakirak wonders if there's a collie who could help clarify matters. Also, if bringing food-drops into the grove would help. But all he says, somewhat incredulously, is "So. You need us to inspect the wells?"

Fabris nods slowly. "Then we'll find it." He pauses. "I've been down a lot of holes since I got to Alexandria -- why stop now?"

There's a snort from the Ork. "In a well?" He looks at himself, and spreads his arms slowly. "Hope it's a big well or I'm gonna just have ta wizz down it and hope dat kills anything in dere." There's a chortle as Baz shifts on his feet. Then shakes his head and rubs the back of his neck as the others are eager to help. "Ya, and I'll ask Kor ta clear da water too. Maybe he put little flowers around as well."

"Fate worse than death, I think," Rak observes, deadpan.

"The druids were planning to work on it, but if you can, so be it," says Koi to the Oruch.

"It's a.. difficult task, I know. There are twelve farms scattered along the edges, little more than modest huts with wells and grounds around them, spread out in a line. People sometimes stay there, s o you may encounter others of the Returned amongst us." He lets out a sigh.

"Fidn the answers. If it's a smart wight leading them, kill it and return the bodies to us. If it is something else... find out if its friend or foe."

Erakirak nods. Seems straightforward enough, if timeconsuming. "You'll give us a map?"

"The treant will guide you to the edge of the grove. From ther, you should be able to see thefarms and from there you /should/ be able to walk to each one i nturn. They're all along the edge of the grove, more or less. The goal is to restore the ground enough tht the grove expands, you see, ultimately, while providing additoonal foods and more." Koi lets out a breath. "There's no telling what you'll run into out there, for sure. WE only move at night. I suggest you do the same."

"Back heah? No trophies?" The Ork idly fingers the hooks around his waist with his left hand. "I was gonna get a pair of skullz for me girls." Shifting on his feet he slides the waterskin back into the back and looks around. "Right, night fight'n. Shouldn't be too hard, check the well, find out whats livin' in it. Make it live no moah, den go get the nest. Nae snack'n on the bastards we chop up." There's a sigh from Baz as he shoulders his pack. "Betta not be a damn mushroom."

Fabris nods slowly. "At night. That's interesting, but okay." He nods along, absorbing the instructions given.

Erakirak looks puzzled. Move at night when dealing with an undead threat? That's... strange. But: "All right."

Sennsing the puzzlement, Koi explains, "Wights have sharp eyes, but they aren't sensitive to light the way some undead are. Plus, they don't have any form of night-sight, so their vision is limited in the dark. They can sense life force, but you have a better chance at avoiding them that way. There may be OTHER undead out there, but the vast majority of what you'll face are wight packs and it's easier to avoid them in the dark."

Fabris nods slowly. "That makes a lot of sense." He looks around. "And I think many of us can see in the dark, as well." He laces his knuckles and cracks them. "Well, we have our task."

Erakirak nods. "All right." Not that he has any way of seeing in the dark either, but the others do. They'll work it out.

"Wot, we hidin from the fight'n?" The Ork makes a sour face, or well a face, his face. It sours other things by existing. Then he shakes his head and looks around. "Where we wait for da night at? I got sum food ta cook and lots of armor and weapons ta get ready. Den I gots ta knock on Kor's door see if he's gonna aid me arm tomorrow."