04-04-2018, 05:30 PM
Gilveradin Windrunner opened his eyes and only saw white and brown. It took only a few seconds before the wind blew, and he realized he was on top of a mountain. Taking a quick survey of the area, he found a note that was clearly left for him to find. The elf read through it quickly, and his eyes widened.
“"Welcome to Alterac, pup.
You have 24 hours. There are 3 targets hidden in the highlands, each one accompanied by 3 locations and 3 arrows. You have to find the arrows, find the locations, and hit the targets with the requisite score.
No, you don't get to know what that score threshold is.
No, you don't get a second shot at each target.
Yes, I'll know if you make the shot from a spot other than the designated area, and yes, I'll know if you miss or cheat - the arrow's gonna break if it hits anything but the target.
Don't worry, I color coded the targets and arrows for your convenience. Match the colors or you fail. If any of King Prestor's men even breathes the word 'elf' or 'farstrider,' you fail. You talk to anyone, speak to anyone, let anyone see you? You fail.
24 hours. Find me at my camp at Slaughter Hollow before your aunt finds you. Don't worry, she'll give you a 12-hour head start. I'm sure you'll be fine. Just be sure to avoid the bears, harpies, trolls, kobolds, gnolls, troggs. You get the picture. Hope you brought your winter cloak, pup.
I'm sure the rumors of black drakes in the high mountains were just that.
Good hunting.
~N”
“Well,” the young elf sighed. “Standing around is only going to get me killed.”
With that the farstrider-to-be got up and took stock of what he had with him.
“Bow, quiver, twenty arrows, three knives, basic gear. I’m not too worried about food.”
The elf soon took off. First thing was to find something to keep him warm so he didn’t die from hypothermia.
He moved up higher, hoping to see signs of a settlement somewhere nearby. An hour went by before he came across a hunting lodge. A quick assessment told him it was empty. Gilveradin snuck inside and retrieved a cloak--enough to get him through the next twenty odd hours.
“Less, probably, if Aunt Alleria is the one coming after me.”
Gilveradin searched the area for any sign of tracks. He only found ones from whatever hunters used the lodge. Human from the look of it, though Nathanos was the only human he knew of that could successfully hide from an elf. Without much else to go on, he decided to follow the tracks to wherever they led.
Another hour passed. It crawled by as the boy moved carefully to not leave any tracks of his own behind. It paid off quickly as a trio of hunters grumbled about an escaped bear up ahead.
“I tell you what though. That one had the strangest arrow in him. Bright red. Angry thing. We were lucky it didn’t see us. Shame it missed the trap we set for it though. Always tomorrow I guess.”
Gilveradin smiled to himself, waiting for them to pass. He followed their trail until he could pick up the tracks from the bear they mentioned. He grabbed their bear trap as he passed through, plus two or three more.
The tracks themselves were easy enough to follow. The bear was bleeding enough to leave a trail as it went. Soon enough, the beast was dead ahead of him trying to reach the arrow with its teeth.
The elf moved slowly and carefully towards him.
He started speaking to the bear. It was a low, soft voice. “Hey there big guy.”
The bear turned its attention to Gil, and its hackles raised as a deep growl enemated from its throat. Gil kept his slow approach, letting his magic start to build around him in the hopes it would calm down. “I just want that arrow that’s bothering you.”
He spent a few minutes doing his best to soothe the bear. After a time the bear seemed more concerned about removing the arrow than it was with Gil. He then reached up with one hand and grabbed the arrow shaft. The other hand he placed around the base of the wound and pushed magic into it to numb the pain. Another minute later, he had his arrow and the bear didn’t have a scratch on him.
Gilveradin, not wishing to push his luck any further, quickly left and started to follow the trail the bear left until he made it to the point where the wound was made. He meticulously searched the area looking for any indication that Nathanos had been there. The arrow hadn’t been deep. Not to mention where it was placed meant he would have only been able to make the shot from higher up. Factoring in the direction the bear was standing in he made his way over towards a cave. As he looked at the entrance at the corner of his eye he saw it, just barely off towards the side: a red target. Gilveradin lined up the shot with his new arrow and made a perfect hit.
Not having many other leads, and wanting to get out of the wind for a short time, the elf made his way into the cave. He wasn’t far into it before he started hearing voices up ahead speaking in what sounded like incredibly broken common. He snuck his way up to where the voices were coming from, and saw two troggs arguing over who gets to keep the “pretty gold arrow.”
Gilveradin watched for a few minutes before he rolled his eyes and shot an arrow at the back of the cave far behind them. The troggs swiveled their ugly heads towards the source of the noise, and left the arrow behind as they left to investigate. The elf moved swiftly to retrieve the arrow and left before the troggs could return.
“Now what do I have to go on?” The elf wandered towards the area Nathanos was supposed to be in. He spied a small settlement not far off. As he remembered the letter he groaned. “Nathanos you’re a total asshole.”
He circled the settlement stealthily, and almost gave up before he spied the dark green arrow sticking into the roof of one of the buildings. He suppressed a scream as he realized he was now on hour twelve. One of his aunts was already on the hunt for him. He waited for the sun to completely set before he quietly climbed the building and retrieved the arrow. He just barely saw the glint of gold in the center of the settlement on top of a lookout tower. Once again he released the correct arrow and watched to make sure he didn’t miss his mark.
Moving on he knew he’d have to move fast or his aunt would catch him and he’d fail. Still, he couldn’t just forgo stealth either or he’d might as well send up a signal to his location. He had one more target to find, and then he still had to get to Slaughter Hollow.
Gilveradin again attempted to find some sign of where Nathanos had been. He only just barely saw it. At the base of a tree--likely the one Nathanos had used to get the height required to launch the arrow into the building--the tiniest piece of cloth from a ranger cloak. Gil climbed up into the tree hoping to find a different sign when he noticed a small number of guards patrolling the area. They passed beneath the tree, talking to each other as he hid himself in it.
“The captain said if we can find a suspicious man sneaking around our mountain tonight we will get a hefty bonus so keep sharp!” One of the taller men spoke to the others.
“Yeah, plus there’s that weird target in our barracks now. Captain said to leave it alone, something about training.”
The elf just about fell out of the tree at their blunder. He scanned over the settlement again, looking for the barracks. Finding it, he kept to the shadows. As he moved he became more and more nervous about the amount of time it was taking him to do this task. Finally he found a window into the barracks and saw the dark green target. He looked around the area and inside. While he didn’t see anyone in the immediate area, he decided to cause a small racket just in case.
Gilveradin rigged up one of the bear traps outside of the barracks and tossed a good sized stone onto it--heavy enough to set the trap off. With the loud SNAP from it going off he saw two men leave the barracks to investigate. He fired off the arrow into the target and made his way out of town.
If he had his bearings straight, it wasn’t far to Nathanos’s’ camp, but it was twenty minutes of the most stress Gilveradin had ever felt in his life. Every shadow that moved was his aunt. Every snap of a twig was a clumsy human guard stumbling onto easy money.
However, he eventually saw Nathanos up ahead of him, standing there staring directly at him.
“Well, pup, you made it on time.”
“"Welcome to Alterac, pup.
You have 24 hours. There are 3 targets hidden in the highlands, each one accompanied by 3 locations and 3 arrows. You have to find the arrows, find the locations, and hit the targets with the requisite score.
No, you don't get to know what that score threshold is.
No, you don't get a second shot at each target.
Yes, I'll know if you make the shot from a spot other than the designated area, and yes, I'll know if you miss or cheat - the arrow's gonna break if it hits anything but the target.
Don't worry, I color coded the targets and arrows for your convenience. Match the colors or you fail. If any of King Prestor's men even breathes the word 'elf' or 'farstrider,' you fail. You talk to anyone, speak to anyone, let anyone see you? You fail.
24 hours. Find me at my camp at Slaughter Hollow before your aunt finds you. Don't worry, she'll give you a 12-hour head start. I'm sure you'll be fine. Just be sure to avoid the bears, harpies, trolls, kobolds, gnolls, troggs. You get the picture. Hope you brought your winter cloak, pup.
I'm sure the rumors of black drakes in the high mountains were just that.
Good hunting.
~N”
“Well,” the young elf sighed. “Standing around is only going to get me killed.”
With that the farstrider-to-be got up and took stock of what he had with him.
“Bow, quiver, twenty arrows, three knives, basic gear. I’m not too worried about food.”
The elf soon took off. First thing was to find something to keep him warm so he didn’t die from hypothermia.
He moved up higher, hoping to see signs of a settlement somewhere nearby. An hour went by before he came across a hunting lodge. A quick assessment told him it was empty. Gilveradin snuck inside and retrieved a cloak--enough to get him through the next twenty odd hours.
“Less, probably, if Aunt Alleria is the one coming after me.”
Gilveradin searched the area for any sign of tracks. He only found ones from whatever hunters used the lodge. Human from the look of it, though Nathanos was the only human he knew of that could successfully hide from an elf. Without much else to go on, he decided to follow the tracks to wherever they led.
Another hour passed. It crawled by as the boy moved carefully to not leave any tracks of his own behind. It paid off quickly as a trio of hunters grumbled about an escaped bear up ahead.
“I tell you what though. That one had the strangest arrow in him. Bright red. Angry thing. We were lucky it didn’t see us. Shame it missed the trap we set for it though. Always tomorrow I guess.”
Gilveradin smiled to himself, waiting for them to pass. He followed their trail until he could pick up the tracks from the bear they mentioned. He grabbed their bear trap as he passed through, plus two or three more.
The tracks themselves were easy enough to follow. The bear was bleeding enough to leave a trail as it went. Soon enough, the beast was dead ahead of him trying to reach the arrow with its teeth.
The elf moved slowly and carefully towards him.
He started speaking to the bear. It was a low, soft voice. “Hey there big guy.”
The bear turned its attention to Gil, and its hackles raised as a deep growl enemated from its throat. Gil kept his slow approach, letting his magic start to build around him in the hopes it would calm down. “I just want that arrow that’s bothering you.”
He spent a few minutes doing his best to soothe the bear. After a time the bear seemed more concerned about removing the arrow than it was with Gil. He then reached up with one hand and grabbed the arrow shaft. The other hand he placed around the base of the wound and pushed magic into it to numb the pain. Another minute later, he had his arrow and the bear didn’t have a scratch on him.
Gilveradin, not wishing to push his luck any further, quickly left and started to follow the trail the bear left until he made it to the point where the wound was made. He meticulously searched the area looking for any indication that Nathanos had been there. The arrow hadn’t been deep. Not to mention where it was placed meant he would have only been able to make the shot from higher up. Factoring in the direction the bear was standing in he made his way over towards a cave. As he looked at the entrance at the corner of his eye he saw it, just barely off towards the side: a red target. Gilveradin lined up the shot with his new arrow and made a perfect hit.
Not having many other leads, and wanting to get out of the wind for a short time, the elf made his way into the cave. He wasn’t far into it before he started hearing voices up ahead speaking in what sounded like incredibly broken common. He snuck his way up to where the voices were coming from, and saw two troggs arguing over who gets to keep the “pretty gold arrow.”
Gilveradin watched for a few minutes before he rolled his eyes and shot an arrow at the back of the cave far behind them. The troggs swiveled their ugly heads towards the source of the noise, and left the arrow behind as they left to investigate. The elf moved swiftly to retrieve the arrow and left before the troggs could return.
“Now what do I have to go on?” The elf wandered towards the area Nathanos was supposed to be in. He spied a small settlement not far off. As he remembered the letter he groaned. “Nathanos you’re a total asshole.”
He circled the settlement stealthily, and almost gave up before he spied the dark green arrow sticking into the roof of one of the buildings. He suppressed a scream as he realized he was now on hour twelve. One of his aunts was already on the hunt for him. He waited for the sun to completely set before he quietly climbed the building and retrieved the arrow. He just barely saw the glint of gold in the center of the settlement on top of a lookout tower. Once again he released the correct arrow and watched to make sure he didn’t miss his mark.
Moving on he knew he’d have to move fast or his aunt would catch him and he’d fail. Still, he couldn’t just forgo stealth either or he’d might as well send up a signal to his location. He had one more target to find, and then he still had to get to Slaughter Hollow.
Gilveradin again attempted to find some sign of where Nathanos had been. He only just barely saw it. At the base of a tree--likely the one Nathanos had used to get the height required to launch the arrow into the building--the tiniest piece of cloth from a ranger cloak. Gil climbed up into the tree hoping to find a different sign when he noticed a small number of guards patrolling the area. They passed beneath the tree, talking to each other as he hid himself in it.
“The captain said if we can find a suspicious man sneaking around our mountain tonight we will get a hefty bonus so keep sharp!” One of the taller men spoke to the others.
“Yeah, plus there’s that weird target in our barracks now. Captain said to leave it alone, something about training.”
The elf just about fell out of the tree at their blunder. He scanned over the settlement again, looking for the barracks. Finding it, he kept to the shadows. As he moved he became more and more nervous about the amount of time it was taking him to do this task. Finally he found a window into the barracks and saw the dark green target. He looked around the area and inside. While he didn’t see anyone in the immediate area, he decided to cause a small racket just in case.
Gilveradin rigged up one of the bear traps outside of the barracks and tossed a good sized stone onto it--heavy enough to set the trap off. With the loud SNAP from it going off he saw two men leave the barracks to investigate. He fired off the arrow into the target and made his way out of town.
If he had his bearings straight, it wasn’t far to Nathanos’s’ camp, but it was twenty minutes of the most stress Gilveradin had ever felt in his life. Every shadow that moved was his aunt. Every snap of a twig was a clumsy human guard stumbling onto easy money.
However, he eventually saw Nathanos up ahead of him, standing there staring directly at him.
“Well, pup, you made it on time.”