The night before, during dinner...
The smell of quasi-chicken soup (only Eli and maybe Steffan knew the animals real name) simmered sweetly in the air as the fire was restocked with fresh dry wood.
Eli was feeling, perhaps a bit bold-and had ventured a story to the group. Steffan was the bard, but Eli had some of his own things to tell!
...
Between puffs on a long stemmed pipe, Eli spoke-weaving the tale as it had been told to him. Though he was unaware, he had adapted many of Steffans mannerisms when speaking to a crowd.
"I'll tell you the story as it was told to me, if you all will listen.
For those that believe in the Great Pantheon, you will know the story of the Creator God, Greek...he labored over the world for one hundred time one hundred years. He scooped up the ground to make canyons, and shaped the hills and mountains with his hands-he stomped flat the land with his feet to make plains, and the seeds that fell from his pocket made the forests and dales. From a great bucket he brought forth the oceans, rivers and lakes in great torrents. And when his labors were done, be wiped his brow...giving blood, sweat and tears.
The blood that fell brought about the Humans, Dwarves, Halfling-folk and Elves-among other humanoid races. His tears salted the oceans, and brought about the great winds, the storms and the waves and currents that all helped refresh the lands. From his sweat, however-sprung the six ancestral beasts we knew of, that would serve to protect and watch over the world he had made...they were the paragons of their kind, the purest forms of creations bounty.
First was the Great Wolf Angrim, protector of the Forests.
Second was the Lord of the Winds-the Queen of Birdkind, Yaethe.
Third came the great Dragon, Sansalodom
Fourth was the Dreadnought of the Seas, and what form he may come in we do not know.
Fifth was the King of Felines-the Great Cat...Sunudra.
And sixth, the Grand Serpent, Vorpill. He who coils the world.
One would take them only for legend, but we have seen two in our own history, that perhaps lends truth to the legend. Angrim himself fought in the ancient war of the Elven and Human Empires, it was said, and was slain-the Wildwood grew around his bones, and no one treads lightly there even today-Angrims children stalk the lands, hunting the unworthy. Angrim was the first lesson, and the hardest. That nature can be destroyed...but, it will always grow back stronger than before-and it struck hard enough, it may strike back.
Yaethe was said to have fled to the stars and become a constellation-the stars you can see above you right this moment-when the Worlds Cup mountains exploded in a great gout of fire and ash-so proud was the Queen, she nearly burned, rather than abandon her nest. A lesson on hubris...though Yaethe is said to return one day when the mountain and her temper finally cools.
Sansalodom, oldest and strongest of all the Dragons...well, you all know she fell in the war, fighting against the enemy...taking so many of their kind down in her death throes, some say we should have surely lost without her intervention. Sansa's ultimate lesson was to teach us the cost of sacrifice.
But of the three left, little trace has been found to this date. Dreadnought, if it exists, is spoken only in sailors songs. And those who live under the sea have nothing to tell us.
Sunudra and Vorpill may very well reside in lands far from are far from are own. Perhaps even these lands..."
He paused and smiled, for dramatic effect. Puff puff.
"Sunudra was supposedly shaped like a massive maned beast, like a lion...he was cunning and gifted, as well as strong-and the old legends say he could take many forms-as small as a house cat, or as large as a tower-and even to walk amongst Humankind in our own shapes, watching us. Sunudra's fate, as written in the book of Greek, is to wait and watch-that his claws are destined to change the world, to turn back the clock and bring back nature to the world. That is why the Rangers brotherhood called the Hunters of Sunudra stalk him to this day-hoping to slay this greatest of hunters, and avert the prophecy. Sunudra is said to test our strength, lest we be thrown back to try once again...though, I personally believe to merely best him, and spare the beast may be proof enough.
Vorpil is said to be a serpent so long his coils could stretch around the world. That he may even be sleeping under the hills or mountains or even oceans, unaware of all that goes on beside. Many heads he is said to have-for many times in history, has it been said that a head of Vorpil arises from the Earth, speaking prophecy and riddle-truth and lies. Seven times the serpent rises, and seven kingdoms have fallen-twice of Men, once of Elves, thrice of Dwarves and twice of Orcs. Vorpil's grand design is not change, however, but merely hunger. It is said the Great Snake seeks to dig to the center of the world, and consume the Worlds Egg-that which gives our world life and warmth. To divide and separate us so we cannot stop him. He does not do this in malice...but, it will be the end of Greek's creation, and his most tragic irony, if he should ever accomplish this. That is why we shun the snake, speaker of lies and servant of only hunger...
...
I myself have searched for them, as any ranger would. Could I slay them, if I had an arrow that would do the job? I do not know. What I do know is that there are many ancestral beasts left in the world...and Greek gave more than six drops of sweat when he created the world, of that we can be assured.
To merely see one of them in my life, and live to tell the tale would fulfill my duty to the Gods as a Hunter. I'd imagine it'd be quite entertaining for all of you, as well."
And at the conclusion of the story, he breaks out in broad, shaky grin. Nervous as the audiences reaction.
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Topic: D&D 3.5 PbP: River of Death: The RP Thread (Read 7774 times)