Gems Of Destruction

[Zorro]

Opening his eyes, Zorro takes note of Eown, and Thungarth speaking with......a mermaid? Zorro could not recall having seen a mermaid before, though he had heard about them. Getting to his feet he feels as though his outlook on the situation and the world in general has changed. He had a mission. It was true he may die trying to accomplish it, but that was better than running any more.

Walking over to the trio, his newly refreshed senses seem much more useful to him than they were previously and he wonders for a moment if his other powers have been increased slightly as well. He senses no evil in the mercreature, though she does seem quite sad. Giving his fellow travelers a slight nod to indicate that all is well, we walks to the waters edge.

"Miss I sense there is something more you know about the talisman that perhaps would be useful for us to know as well."

[dragonsjem]

ooc/ Sorry for the long break again. Working overnights, sister visited for a week and i started graduate school., takes a lot out of you. I'll try to DM when i can /ooc

She looks back and forth between the speakers, thinking for a moment.
"I ...I felt it as i grew close to you. I had felt a presence of magical power, not unlike my own but when i got closer, it.....it.....seemed to be trying to hurt me....." She moves away again as if a little afriad at the thought of the talisment. Diving underwater , she submergest and reemerges in a few moments.

turning toward the newest speaker, a confused look crosses her face. "I didn't know something like this existed except in the stories my people tell. The wise ones say the spell can tear our human souls and beings from the creatues we merged with " She visibly sudders at the thought *I believe I once heard them say the power came from an object, a incantation, and a good heart..or something like that. Most the stories of this came from the east., near a city by the mountains.. IMaybe you can find our answers there.*

lol nice

[Zappa Tenderlea]

"goodbye then"

not spending another second of tought nor effort on the merfolkthing, Thungarth turned east, and started marching

[Zorro]

Sighing, Zorro tried to reason that the dwarfs ubringing was more likely the cause of his lack of manners than anything else. In an effort to make up for his companions abruptness, he finds more formal words to bid farewell.

"Miss, I hope we have not intruded on your time too much. We bid you good day."

Bowing, he turns around and follows Thungarth.

[dragonsjem]

The creature smiles warmly and splashes her tail fin a couple times. "You have not bothered me at all. I only hope I have helped you. The dragon lady have turned people against our kind. I only hope you can stop her and even show others we are not the ones at fault." She goes to turn but stops, yelling out. "Don't forget. Head Northeast. But beware, you are heading right into her land. The rivers once ran through the mountains but they have frozen over since it became her realm."
With that she waves, yells once more "Follow the River!" and dives beneath the water, not resurfacing within your sight..

DM: As you make your way east along the river you spy normal level of smoke coming from chimneys to the north and south of your location. I leave it to you if you wish you continue into the woods or go to the towns.

ooc/ If you are following along on the map for shortening the threads sake you are cutting between the two small towns north east of the isolated clump of the forest. You will be following the river between the two through the woods again, which gets excessively thick for about a mile of trudging/ooc
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v2...ith_labels.jpg

[Heiro]

Eown shakes his head in disbelief.
Heading north easterly again; a starnge feeling indeed. To think, somewhere not that far away his family... was killed.
"I'm over it now." He says to no-one in particular... but the feeling of regret and pain of his loss still sting his facade wi th alarming regularity. Though there are some things that must be set right before he could even think about attempting to end the rule of the dark one.
Like retrieving his sword for one.
Killing the bastard who took his family the other.

Still, he would be with the dark one...

and things were getting closer to the climax, and the forest has begun to get that much more familiar. Somewhere around here was the clearing he met his wife, whilst training his agility through the trees...

"Hmm. No one would have imagined that I would dare walk back along this path. I've always been too much of a coward for it. Even in my youth..."

[Zappa Tenderlea]

Hearing Eown talking to himself, Thungarth slowed down his pace somewhat, to walk next to the old man, whom he had grown fondish of

"something troubles you my friend?"

[Heiro]

"Further along this road, a fair while yet if I recall, is where I spent my days before the dragonlady took a hand. My marriage, my children... my alcoholism all started here in a monastry and the village at its base. They were all killed."

Eown tries to retain his composure.

"Still, it's not like this hasn't happened to anyone else. God I need a drink!"

[Zorro]

Frowning, Zorro shakes his head at the old man. Looking off into the distance, he speaks perhaps more to himself than to anyone in particular.

"When my village was destroyed, my life changed. Not only in the sense that everything that I had known was gone, but in my behavior as well. I was driven to work hard, for the harder I worked, the less time I had to dwell on the past. That seems to be the nature of all living things, to hide from the things that hurt us."

Looking at Eown, he sees the pain beneath the old mans eyes.

"Everyone with a great emotional wound hides behind something else. Some with their work, some with music, and others.........with alcohol. My friend, I know it is not my place to lecture you, but how can we expect to defeat the dark lady outwardly if we can not defeat her inwardly?

I still struggle with the past within myself, but I have realized that my habit of trying to forget it happened does not make me stronger, but weaker, for when those memories escape my control and run through my head, I become a broken and shattered man, a mere shell of myself. You do not need the drink any longer friend. You used it as a support in the past, but now your support comes from sources who will stand by you till the end, rather than till the bottle is empty."

[Heiro]

"Ah son, I wish that was the case. But you're right, this stuff is doing my body no end of damage."

Eown takes a swig and then salutes, or at least seems to. The bottle disappears upward a couple of metres. Eown proceeds to let it drop, and step over the shards.

"Still, I should learn from the youth. Lead on, I'll tell you when we get close, I have something I want to retrieve. It won't take long, it was a gift from my wife."

A tear rolls down eowns cheek and for the first time in years he begins to cry, not dry sad tears, but warm, semi happy ones.
He had a family, and for the past few months he had been keeping himself from it. Now, the wave of uncompromising joy set about him, taking some of his burdens and tossing them away...