Greetings From The Green Isle

[gimchi]

Appearance:
A tiny elf woman with a coldly beautiful face.
Age: 120
Height 5'1"
Weight: 90lbs
Eyes: Brilliant green
Hair: Dark brown, usually pulled tightly back.

Personality Profile:
Serious, slightly reserved, conservative, and tightly bound to her customs and culture.
Deeply compassionate toward children and the innocent.
Intolerant of fools and the ill-mannered.
Inclined to be abrupt and demanding at times.
Dislikes crowds and busy places.


Greetings From The Green Isle

The ship was foundering. All that way safely across the Trackless Sea and here the voyage was ending in disaster, less than a half day's sail from the Sword Coast. Kyree Lharast'Taure crouched in the cabin hatchway, clinging tightly to the door frame and watching the mayhem. The Happy Maiden juddered and shook like a mortally wounded beast while howling winds and torrential rain hammered and tore at her endlessly. The sky was almost pitch black, but great sheets of lightning cracked and split the air, burning a series of stark images in Kyree's mind. On the deck in front of her a handful of desperate sailors struggled to cut away the rigging that had fallen and fouled the last of the lifeboats when the mast had snapped and come crashing down. They appeared and disappeared as frozen moments in time, backs bent, hands grasping gleaming hatchets and arms raised high or driving down. Captain Garutt was still roped to the wheel, as he had been for the last four or more hours, his mouth open and screaming commands unheard over the fury and tumult of the storm. The little trade ship heeled hard to the port and a wall of black water poured across the decking. When the sky blazed with light again all but two of the sailors were gone.

She turned and plunged back below, making her way down the narrow stairs and into the thigh deep water that sloshed to and fro as the dying ship rolled heavily with the waves. She moved as quickly as she could, pushing the debris aside, all the bits and pieces that had torn loose and now floated in the cold and semi dark. Ahead of her a lone lantern still swung from side to side, illuminating the door that sealed the small forward hold where Daigers had been quartered.

She could see a body floating face down in the water, bumping and scraping against the door, and as she drew closer she realized it was the ship's cook. The back of his head had been crushed somehow and Kyree looked away as she grabbed him by his belt and heaved him aside. She pushed the door open, struggling against the weight of the water behind it and stepped through. Daigers was destroying the boxes that lined the walls, and huge splinters of timber flew through the air then splashed down amid the tangled bolts of cloth that he had ripped free. She raised her voice and called his name once, then twice, and on the third time with a mighty squeal of fear and fury, the great boar spun around to face her.

She called him one last time and held out both arms toward him. "Come my love. We have to go. We have to go now."

He raised his massive head to look up at her and then his whole body shivered in the way it often did when Kyree ran her hands gently down his spine. Something more than simple animal intelligence shone in his eyes for the briefest of moments and suddenly he was moving forward. She braced herself as his huge snout butted hard against her leg, then she swiveled and led the way back into the main hold.

The ship almost seemed steadier now as the sea continued to pour in. The rolls were becoming more sluggish and the shuddering of the ship reduced a little as more of the vessel settled under the waterline. Deep in the hold the sea swirled higher around Kyree's waist and as she looked up toward the double hatch battened closed against the weather, she lost her footing and fell into the murky water. As she splashed back upright she recalled how Daigers had originally entered the hold using the livestock ramp, but there was no possibility of setting that up now. The ramp had been lashed against the starboard ribs and a mass of crates containing fine elven chain armor had been stacked below the hatchway after his entry. Sixty two of them if she remembered the cargo manifest correctly. They were stacked roughly five high and four wide in a solid block and held in place with heavy rope netting. Beneath her feet the deck began to tilt as the stern of the The Happy Maiden slid deeper into the icy waters. They were running out of time.

Kyree screamed once in frustration then drew her scimitar and swarmed up the netting. She slashed down, hacking and chopping the webbing of rope away. Daigers joined in and attacked the crates, hooking his tusks into the planking and tearing sections loose. She ignored his raging, dropped the blade and concentrated hard on shifting shape. Her outlined blurred and wavered for a second or two, and then a concussive burst of energy shook the hold with divine power. The tiny elven woman had assumed the powerful form of a full grown bear.

She roared a warning to her companion below, then used her enormous strength and size to drag and tumble crates down in a rough heap. She half reared on the remains of the upper row and struck blow after blow at the hatches, until they splintered up and whirled away in the raging winds. She clawed her way out onto the deck and she felt more than heard Daigers scrambling up the makeshift staircase behind her. Lightning flared again and she saw Captain Garutt pressed to the starboard rail and gesturing to the boiling sea. Her claws scrabbled and gouged at the decking as she circled then bullied Daigers overboard with her bulk. As she bunched her hind quarters to make the jump she looked sideways once more and saw the captain leap out and into the darkness.

When the black waters closed over her head she almost lost hold of the bear form, but she steadied her mind quickly then fought her way back to the surface. Her new body was remarkably buoyant and the thick layer of fat below her skin, and the dense undercoat beneath the coarse outer fur were potent barriers against the cold. She reached out with her empathy and felt Daigers close by. Strangely he was no longer fearful at all, but focused only on keeping his snout as far out of the water as he could. Kyree snorted loudly. He never had been fond of swimming and some things clearly never changed.

She struck out strongly in the direction that she had seen the captain take, confident that even in these conditions she could locate Daigers again anywhere within a half a mile. Their connection was so strong that knowing where he was and how he was feeling were as instinctive to her as taking breath. She swam several slow circles as best as she could in the mountainous seas, but found no trace of the man. She gave up the search and turned and powered in the direction of the giant boar. Kyree had always been practical, and wasted little time on things she could not change.

She drew alongside Daigers then swam closer until her shoulder pressed hard against his, and in the inky darkness she saw the gleam of one eye as it rolled to look at her then returned forward. She nudged him carefully in the direction she wanted him to go until they were both heading due west, toward the land she knew was out there somewhere. As they climbed the face of each massive wave, then slid down the trough on the other side she settled into an even rhythm, driving the water behind her with steady strokes of her legs, and Daigers followed suit.

They had just reached the crest of another huge swell when a stupendous burst of sheet lightning detonated above them, shivering the sky with great swathes of silver and a final fading gold. Almost miraculously the sky began to lighten and the howling winds and driving rain subsided suddenly into far less menacing gusts and scattered downpours. It was as though the terrible storm had been satisfied with the death of the ship, had accepted it's sacrifice and was content at last, and indeed perhaps that was true, for Kyree knew that the gods were found in the wildest places.

The moon made a belated appearance through the scattering clouds and in its wan silvery light she looked once more at Daigers cleaving determinedly through the water beside her. They were miles from the nearest land, farther still from their island home, and cast alone on the vast face of the ocean; but she knew without doubt that his body would fail before his spirit would ever cry mercy. She sent a wash of love to him.

We are together my sweet and nothing will ever drive us apart.

His ears flicked in acknowledgment of her unspoken message and she smiled to herself and tucked the warmth of their contact deep into her heart. Together they settled in to the long swim ahead.

[gimchi]

Greetings From The Green Isle 2

Kyree stood just outside the great stone walls and sniffed in disgust. The stench of the city had carried far on the winds, and although she thought as she got closer it could not get any worse, she had been wrong. Very wrong.

Here at the entrance to Baldur's Gate the effluvium of unwashed bodies, burning lamp oil, rotting garbage, ale, vomit, and the foul reek from the sewers beneath the streets combined with a hundred other smells from a typical human settlement, and rolled out between the city gates with an almost visible presence. Kyree's eyes watered as a particularly ripe gust swept over her, and she forced herself not to gag.

The hard-eyed guards watched her hesitation and one of them called out. "Are yer coming in, or are yer going ta stay there and lollygag all night?" She had no choice. She needed coin to purchase new weapons and basic supplies. No doubt about it, she was down on her luck, and she and her companion had arrived on land with only the things on her back. On the other hand, it could be argued that as the sole survivors of the ill-fated voyage, she and Daigers had been lucky beyond belief. Luck was often a matter of perspective, and like many events in life was best understood from a distance.

With an effort of will she made her jaw relax, then opened her lips a little and began to mouth breathe. This was always the fastest way to deal with unbearable odor. Kyree had an acute sense of smell; one that usually helped her hunt, or track down ripe fruit, or avoid danger. Now it was a curse rather than a blessing. She gave herself another minute, then she squared her shoulders and walked through the gates without acknowledging the guards at all. Her eyes focused on the first shop she saw, and she moved purposefully toward it. She would find work and pay if she had to knock on every door and ring every bell in this stink-filled place.

Her sense of hearing was almost as good as her sense of smell, and just before the babble of the city enclosed her, she caught the words of the gate guards behind.

"Bloody elves," one of them sneered. "Think they're better than anyone else. Lookin' down their arrogant noses at anyone what 'aint got pointy ears."

"And that one no bigger than me teenage daughter and actin' like she's a full grown hoity toity princess from an idiot faery tale."

The sound of their laughter followed his statement, but she dismissed it in the same way that she ignored the sound of whining insects.

Welcome to Baldur's wondrous city.

Kyree snorted in wry humor at her thought, then closed the distance to her goal.

She paused a moment to look up at the stone faces that flanked the entrance, then stepped quickly between the twin statues of wizards holding lamp-lit staffs, and pulled open the door of the Sorcerous Sundries.

"Excuse me Sir, do you have any honest work on offer?"

[gimchi]

Greetings From The Green Isle 3

Link to Elder Circle for this story: http://www.bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=1 ... 8&start=15