This Quest is for Winta who is striving to become a Rogue.
OOC ||. The quest prompt must be answered with a 2000 word reply (can be more). ||. Respond to the prompt given with an adventure of your own creation as long as it meets the requirements of the specific tasks. ||. NPCs may be used as long as they advance the quest in an interesting manner. ||. You cannot include any playable characters other than the quest taker. ||. Your responses will be graded on a letter grade scale. A grade of D or F will result in repeating the quest process, C or better will result in passing and possible rewards. ||. Questions about quests can be asked here.
IC
It was the middle of the night, but there seemed to be some commotion in the village. Something was going on in the town square and there seemed to be excitement on everyone's tongue. With the war looming in the not-very-distant future everyone is on the lookout for weapons. And it seems that this riot outside has to do with this.
Once outside, it is found out that there's a new weapon material that was found in Sauti near the mountains. It's a rare material that makes near indestructible weapons. It's almost too good to be true, but a young boy seems to have brought a sample back. All of the weapon makers and even those who aren't are scrambling to get their hands on more of this wonder material...
Quest Tasks ||. The quest is focused around a Tendaji "Gold Rush" and must include a trip to the Sauti mountains. ||. By the end Winta must have gathered some for herself and tested out the material, coming up with her own opinion of it. ||. This trial should test Winta's eye for crafting and metals, a material that is not at all common to Tendaji.
Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2014 6:02 pm
Part I The Gold rush. . . What is this?
Winta had been busy all morning inspecting a knife her grandmother had, trying to discern just how it had been made and trying to replicate it. Metal was hard to work with. She had a bit of practice working with metal due to her grandmother being a artisan, more specifically she worked with jewelry. However, working on a bigger scale with say a spear head or blade was a bit different. Not impossible but it was of course harder. Once night had descended on Vers, Winta tucked away the materials she had been using and grabbed the knife. It probably wouldn't be a good idea if she left it. Knowing Zoan, she was likely to throw a fit at learning of her granddaughter taking her knife that she only kept for the most dire of situations and not having the decency to bring it back when she was done. Winta sighed. It was a shame that she knew exactly how that fight would go down before it even happened. At least there had been some improvement with her grandmother though. Now Winta didn't have to hide the fact that she was going to the forge. Not to say that Zoan still didn't get upset about it but it was an improvement that Winta wasn't going to fight with.
"Doused the fire, check. Pointy objects put away, check. Knife in hand, check." She made sure to go through a checklist before she headed home. It wouldn't be good nor safe to leave the fire going or leave something lying around where someone could get hurt. And even worse to forget the knife. Winta kept adding that to her checklist until she finally left the forge. When she stepped outside she took a few inhales of the fresh, non-burnt air. The girl loved the smell of a fire but the night air was almost just as good and it was cleaning the ash out of her lungs. After a few moments of breathing in fresh, clean oxygen Winta began to head towards home but noted that there seemed to be a lot more people out and about. She of course assumed that it was a meeting about the impending war which had nothing to do with her. Okay, so it did. But she wouldn't be on the front lines fighting. She would be a safer distance back fixing the broken swords, making arrows and maybe making some wooden mouth pieces for the healers patients if need be. Winta was a little glad she didn't have to deal with the aftermath of a battle, let alone a war. They would all have their work cut out for them and she couldn't decide if she felt worse for the warriors or healers. Maybe it was an even battle. One side trying to end a life while the other is trying to save it. It seemed like an oxymoron.
Just as Winta was about to turn away from the center of their town and down the path that would lead to her grandmothers tree, she noticed that there were a lot of people gathered around a man with a cloak who was holding some odd item above his head. There seemed to a huge commotion about whatever it was. Considering everything going on in their world it made sense that they crowd would be loud and crazed about, whatever it was. Then her blue-green eyes fell on her grandmother who was standing in the inner circle, closest to the boy. War didn't interest her grandmother. She had lost two children to it. Winta's parents. So why would she be apart of a meeting about that? The young boy holding a bright sand colored item above his head was also strange. Curiosity drove her to the outer edge of the circle until she managed to clear a path to Zoan. When she finally made it to the gray-haired woman's side she realized that the item the boy held within his hands was a lot brighter than she thought. It was the brightest sand she had ever seen. It was almost like he held the sun in his hands. What was it?"What's--" Winta began to whisper to her grandmother, only to be interrupted by the boy's voice carrying over the crowd. "I was trekking through the Sauti Mountains and found this bright, hard rock!" The boy exclaimed, raising the bright object to emphasize his statement. "This will help us win this war! It's the hardest rock I've ever seen!" Winta thought the boy was over reaching in his remarks but the crowd seemed to love it. She could hear the people on either side of her and her grandmother cheering. "When I went to the mountain I wasn't prepared to bring very much back with me, so I only brought as much as I could carry in my bag and arms." It was with that last comment that the crowd went wild. It took no more than a few seconds for the crowd to rush the boy and the bag he had on him. Winta and her grandmother clung together, trying not to be shoved down during the stampede of people. She could see out of the corner of her eye that some people were fighting over a chunk of the bright rock and the boy had disappeared. Thankfully Enki and Enlil made their way into the crowd and Enki called for everyone to stop. It took seconds for an eerie silence to sweep over the crowd.
Enki looked angry but knowing him it was likely he was just trying to scare the crowd. While he was a little temper mental at times he usually didn't take it out on his people. Err, well. Not unless it was needed. "What's going on here?" He asked, his voice was questioning and stern but he didn't sound nearly as angry as he looked. Winta was admittedly a little afraid of him so he always seemed a little scarier than he actually was. She wasn't scared easy but you didn't mess with the leaders. When Enki's eyes fell upon the bright rock that some of the earthlings were holding his facial features changed. Winta had never seen his surprised face, let alone his confused one so she couldn't say whether he was in awe of the rock or not. Enlil looked a little agitated, at least for him. With earthlings causing a huge fuss in the town center though it seemed prudent for him to be though. "Where did you get that?" Enki asked a man who held a very small bright rock in his hand. The man explained how he had gotten it from the boy's bag and that there were only a few pieces. One large one and about five smaller ones. When the man was done explaining Enlil was the one who spoke up next. "The Sauti mountains? Can it really do all that?" Again, Winta wasn't sure if he was skeptical about the claims or willing to bet money on them. However, if there was a way to make an indestructible weapon then Winta had to get her hands on some at all costs. Too bad there wasn't any left. She was pretty sure it would be impossible to snatch some from another earthling with these many eyes bearing down on her, let alone the fact that Enlil and Enki were here. Plus stealing just didn't sit right with her. Not with everything going on.
Once Enki and Enlil had been properly informed about the details surrounding the bright rock that was discovered by the boy who had seemed to vanish, they agreed to let the earthlings with a piece of the rock to try fashioning a weapon from it. Of course that left Winta out. "With the war looming over our heads it seems necessary to try using this metal in a small portion of our weapons." Enki told the weaponmakers in the crowd who had managed to obtain a piece. "If it does all it has been claimed to do, then we will use it in all our weapons and show our enemies no mercy!" This time Enki yelled out his answer over the crowd, which promptly cheered in response.
Winta and Zoan stood in silence for a moment to see if any more prudent information was shared and then headed home together. "If you're about to tell me you're going to go to Sauti and get some of that I might tie you up in your room until the end of the war." Zena said with a stern looked aimed at her granddaugther who just so happened to be standing with her mouth agape. Well there goes that idea, Winta thought to herself. "But just imagine what I could do with it! If it's indestructible then I could help improve the weaponry we have. It could be a turning point for us." Winta tried to argue with Zoan. If she could see reason then maybe there was a chance for her. Not that she could be stopped. However, it would be better if she could go to Sauti with her grandmothers blessing. Besides, weapon makers were just as important in a war as a healer or warrior. They needed all the people they could get. "Please." Zoan sighed in response to Winta's request. They both knew what her approval would do and what would happen if she didn't. Now it was just a matter of picking your battles. "Winta, this is stupid. You're a young, beautiful girl with her whole life ahead of her. You've chosen the path of a weapons maker but at what cost? Now you want to run off to the mountains for a rock that apparently is indestructible?" Zoan stopped and looked at her granddaughter with pleading eyes. She wanted her to stop now, to go home and stay. Winta knew this, but she couldn't. "Yes, I do. I want to go with your blessing but I will go without it too." Winta came clean. Again she heard her grandmother sigh and could see her fighting with herself. After several minutes though Winta got her answer. "Fine. But if you fall off a cliff or something I won't morn you." Zoan promptly walked off towards home without Winta. Despite Zoan being out of earshot Winta said "thank you."
The next morning Winta awoke earlier than usual and checked the bag she had packed the night before. The contents of the bag showed: jerky, a pair of thin pants, a scarf, small bowl, spoon, essential cooking items, carving tools and attached to it was a rolled up blanket for her to sleep under and a inside of it contained a thicker one which was meant for laying on. Unless the weather turned against her. Propped up against the bag was a pickaxe that was smaller than most but easy to tote around. If she was going to be carrying home a lot of of this new, odd, metal then she would need to keep her bag lightweight and make sure only the essentials were packed. Winta had a feeling she was forgetting something but tried not to think on it too hard lest she wanted to drive herself mad. The girl picked up her bag and the axe before heading out of her room, not bothering to stop before she walked out of the tree house. Her grandmother had said her goodbyes last night and as was expected it had been awkward. So needless to say there was nothing to keep her from just, well, leaving. As she stood on the edge of town her green-blue eyes scanned the trees before she turned and headed off in the direction of the Sauti mountains.
**This needs to be edited**
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~Kiana_Nala~
Romantic Raider
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~Kiana_Nala~
Romantic Raider
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Posted: Tue Jan 21, 2014 9:19 am
Part II Sauti Mountains Call. . . The town of Tind
Tales border was beautiful and just as vast as the land that laid behind her. The line between it and Sauti was blurred. From this point there seemed to be no difference in two, but off in the distance Winta could see the beginnings of the mountainous landscape which the land was known for. The teen allowed herself a few moments of deep breathing before she crossed the border. Her destination was the town called Tind. It was the closest town to her current location and she was in a bit of a desperate need of supplies. The last piece of jerky was currently in her mouth and the water she had with her was nearly gone. Needless to say she could either continue on to Dernd where the bright rock had been found and possibly die in the process or she could just make a stop in Tind and live. Winta liked the latter. Another good point of stopping was that she could get a map of Sauti. She had a bit of general knowledge about the area, well, the way to Zena anyways. The way from Tind to Dernd? Not so much. She could have opted to go backwards to Tale and then up to Dernd, going with the more familiar landscape and take longer getting there or she could take the shorter route that she had never traveled before. It had been a tough choice but considering how close the war was it only made sense to go the shorter and more dangerous route (at least for herself) with nothing but hope and luck on her side. "I’ve been through worse." It was very clearly a lie that she was trying to convince herself of but with little effect. Her heart was racing in her chest. It was exciting to go to new places and even if it was dangerous it was worth it. However, that didn’t mean that you couldn’t be a little afraid.
By the time Tind came into sight it was already dusk; Winta felt exhausted. Most of the merchants had packed up their wares for the night and went home or to their little camp sites. The approaching night air was cooler than she was used to but it was also refreshing. She had experienced it a few times before but until now she hadn’t ever stopped to think about how wonderful Sauti was in its own way. Unfortunately the girl didn’t have long to think about it due to the fact that there were more pressing matters at hand. Like finding shelter and food. It took no more than twenty minutes for Winta to find a very small rest stop for travelers. Both the structure and inside of the rest stop were not extravagant by any means but at least it had a roof and a place for her to lay her head. Winta apparently didn’t mind splurging on this luxury for a night especially since she could talk to other travelers and maybe even find out if what the boy had said about the gold rock was true. That would have to wait until the morning though since every time Winta blinked her eyes would stay shut for several seconds longer than they should. "I’ll find a map in the morning." The teen said to herself, yawning loudly as pulled her covers up over her chest. Her bag was placed next to her bed for easy access. Winta seemed to trust that no one would come sneaking into her room at night and steal her things but she decided to at least be smart about having the pack close to her so she could knock someone out if they were stupid enough to do something like that. The likelihood of that happening was so small it was almost silly that she had even contemplated it. It didn’t take long for Winta to fall asleep after she had gotten into bed and was comfortable. In fact, she was pretty much out like a light the moment her head hit her pillow.
The following morning Winta woke up, stretched, checked her bag--just to be sure it was still there—got dressed in the pair of pants she had packed and then headed out of her room. Of course she made sure to leave it in the condition she had gotten it. The next task Winta set out to complete that morning was stocking up on supplies. Her pick axe was strapped to the side of her bag for easy access but also to keep it out of the way. It probably wouldn’t be good if it ended up in someone’s foot on accident. Winta quickly located a stall which had jerky, various fruits and meats. Considering that Winta had no way of storing the meat she once again opted for jerky but she did allow herself to take a couple pieces of fruit. Once her supplies were in her bag the teen moved onto the next stall which was, of course, full of weapons. The reason why she had gravitated to this stall next was pretty obvious. She just wanted to revel in the craftsmanship of the stall owner. However, there was another reason why Winta had ended up at this one. Travelers needed weapons, this was the only stall that would fill that need and more often than not travelers were known to trade stories with whoever would listen. Winta was one of the latter. For the first hour that Winta was there she found that not many seemed to be interested in the weapons this seller had to offer—which was mind boggling to her—until a large bulky man appeared next to her, asking about a bow. In his hand he carried a beautifully crafted bow that had unfortunately had a large split near its grip. It was possible that it could be fixed with the right tools and crafter but apparently the man seemed eager to replace it. She couldn’t really blame him. The wood of the bow seemed weathered and upon further inspection Winta realized that it more than likely cracked from a long time of love and use. As a prospective weapons crafter Winta felt a swell of pride and respect for the man. "That is a wonderful bow you have there. It’s a shame its unusable now but it looks like you used it a lot." Winta began. Most people would probably start off with a greeting or maybe with a question. Winta was an oddball. If there was a way to start off a conversation about a weapon she would surely find it. Not to mention having a conversation entirely about them. Despite this fact the teen tried to shift the conversation in a direction to where she could not only learn about the area and pathways to her destination but to hopefully hear some mention of the bright rock. The man had been more than happy to talk to Winta about his bow and when she tried to ask him about the area he obliged. Apparently he was as much of a weapons lover as she was. Okay, so no one was a big of a fan of weapons as she was but he was a close second. It took him about an hour of explaining and drawing on a small scroll before Winta had almost all of her questions answered. When she mentioned the bright rock to the man he simply shook his head.
"Maybe no one’s heard of it here yet because the towns so small. I don’t think they get too many travelers." Winta told herself as she inspected the map once again. By the time Winta had gathered everything she needed, both in supplies and information it was just about noon when she finally got back on the road. Despite wasting away a good chunk of traveling time, it had all been useful information that she could use. Apparently the roads between Tind and Dernd were relatively safe so long as the person traveling them was observant and wasn’t afraid of heights. Admittedly Winta wasn’t very observant about most things—unless it was something that interested her—which only meant that she would have to try that much harder. Heights on the other hand? Well it was pretty easy to assume that since she lived in trees she wasn’t afraid of heights. Not that everyone in Tale was comfortable with heights, but Winta seemed well acclimated to them. "So I need to head north-west." She said, tracing her finger along the map the man had drawn for her. "He said that I could either cut back through Tale or go through Iory. . . I wonder which one is the fastest route." Winta pursed her full lips as she contemplated which path she should take. The path that would lead her through Iory seemed to be the longer route since she would have to go north-east for a while. Not to mention this terrain was something she wasn’t used to. "The only way to get used to it though is to do it." She further added. Which was true. It wasn’t an instant thing and it was doubtful that after this trip she would be any better at navigating Sauti or its mountainous terrain but it was the first step. That seemed to be a plus. Winta sighed when she realized she couldn’t make a decision. Luckily it would be another day or two before she would have to take one path or the other. There was still time to make up her mind. That seemed to take some of the pressure off. As the girl walked she would sparingly sip at her water which had been a habit instilled in her by her parents before they had died. Many a time they had told her that when you were travelling water was never a guarantee. You could live without food but not water. It was a lesson she had carried with her every day and even now she found herself unable to break the habit even when water sources were not as scarce. Sauti apparently had a great wealth of springs in the mountains, however, unless you were a native to the land or had trekked through it enough to know how to locate one or already know where one was you were sort of out of luck. This didn’t seem to bother Winta too much since she probably wouldn’t need to stock up on water again until Dernd, maybe. More than likely it would be out of precaution as opposed to necessity. While she walked she had more time to contemplate what the bright object the boy had held in his hand would be like. Seeing as how she hadn’t even been able to touch a piece of it she had no idea how heavy it was or what it felt like. She was fairly certain that she would know it when she saw it but all she had to go on was what her eyes had seen. She further contemplated what it would be like when she brought it back home to the forge. What would she craft it into? A sword? A spear? An arrow tip? The possibilities seemed endless but the reality was that until she held it in her hands and played with it a little she wouldn’t know what would be the best weapon to craft from it. Despite all this, Winta was most worried about not being able to find it—as opposed to what she would do with it once she did. It would have been spectacular if she could have talked to the boy on a one-on-one level or found someone in town who knew about the new discovery. The latter was a bit of a double edged sword though considering the fact that the more people who knew about it, the more would be searching for the odd material. Winta hated to admit it, but she was glad no one in the small Sauti town of Tind had heard of the rock the boy had put on display for her town of Vers.
Posted: Sat Feb 01, 2014 12:17 am
Part III Sauti Mountains Call. . . The journey begins
The mountains of Sauti seemed never ending. There were mountains both large and small and Winta found that she had a hard time telling each one from another. In fact, she wasn’t sure if there were multiple mountains or just one never ending one. When Winta stopped to look at her map again it gave her no further insight as to what laid ahead of her in that regard. Just what paths were usable or not. Mountains were far more dangerous than one might guess. Winta had nearly fallen off the edge of one because the cliff side fell off while she was walking. Her heart was racing for nearly an hour after that. She also noticed that there were weird plants growing along the mountain pass and she wondered which ones were safe to touch let alone eat. Would they eat her instead? Tale had a treasure trove of plants that could be ingested, if you only knew where to look and had some basic idea of what plants were edible. Winta’s blue-green eyes scanned the horizon which was alight with varying colors as she reached the highest point of the pass. Daybreak was beautiful from the peak of the nameless mountain. The way the colors mixed with the sunlight, it was breathtaking. The teen closed her eyes, taking in a large breath of the fresh morning air, allowing the sight to soak into her body. She carefully etched it into her memory so that it could be savored like it deserved. A sight like this though? There probably wouldn’t be enough time in her life to fully enjoy it. When she returned home to Vers she would have to tell her grandmother about her little adventure, especially this sight. Then again if it wasn’t something about Tale then her grandmother was unlikely to listen or care. Oh! Maybe she could tell Ruelash. He would surely enjoy it if she described it right. The red hues could easily be blood. Yeah, he’d like that.
Once more Winta looked at her map and traced her finger from her current location to the fork in her path. She estimated it would be another hour before she would finally reach it. Although, before the teen had made it to this point she had been struggling with which path would be the better option. The one that led through home and more familiar territory? Or the vast unknown that was Sauti? As it turned out Winta quite enjoyed the idea of traveling through Sauti a bit more. The sights she had seen while here had been some of the most breath taking she had ever seen. Besides, it never hurt to know more about the paths she should travel just in case she ever had to come to one of the Sauti towns for work. Or the mountains for materials; like she was now. It was a bit of a shame that it had taken her so long to really travel Sauti considering she passed through it often in order to get to Zena. Winta decided that she once the war was over she would make a point to visit every town across the land. Well, any that she could. She had a hard time imagining the Alkidike’s allowing her to go into the heart of their land. Which was okay with her. That wasn’t to say that she wasn’t incredibly curious to know more about them or the area in which they lived. Since she couldn’t really go too far into their lands she wondered if it was possible to ask that one she had met before. The one who couldn’t see but shared the same love of weapons. What was her name? Winta shook her head. She was allowing her thoughts drift from what she was supposed to be doing which was going to Iory and then traveling the small distance to Dernd and finding the odd object the boy had shown everyone. The whole time she had been a little skeptical of the rock but she held out hope that it would work. That she would be a part of this important discovery. How awesome would that be?! A grin spread across her lips at the thought. "YEAH!" She yelled out to the wind, feeling rejuvenated and continuing on down the mountain pass. Apparently going downhill on a mountain was supposed to be harder than going up. "I guess I’ll find out." Winta shrugged.
Guess we’ll find out? Oh, she found out all right. Going downhill on a mountain was absolute hell. Especially if you took the path that had at first appeared safer, only to see that the dirt was loose. Oh, yeah. That had been awesome. Winta had intended to walk down the mountain she had started off on that morning but apparently it hadn’t gotten the memo or had chosen another option. Instead Winta ended up slipping down onto her butt and scraping herself on the ground as she slid down the paths. By the time she was back on even ground her pants and legs were torn up. The rest of the journey would be painful and she wondered if it would be possible to even continue. The tear stains on her cheeks seemed to show just how much pain she was in after that little adventure. "I think next time I go through the mountains I’m going to use someone else’s body to scrape up." The girl said bitterly. Winta couldn’t really understand how the day had started off wonderful and yet somehow ended up like this. Was she cursed? It seemed like there had been a handful of times in her life where she had thought that. This was one of them. Maybe she had made someone really angry. The girl tapped her chin as she gingerly walked along the even ground while trying to figure out who she could have angered. Okay, maybe there were a lot more people she could have angered than she thought. Winta was a little too . . . Well most the time she worried about her needs before others but that wasn’t bad. "I am pretty awesome." She told herself confidently.
After some much needed ego stroking Winta finally arrived at the fork. The two paths were cut off from each other by not only brush but upon further inspection further down she could see that they eventually completely broke off. It looked like there was a landslide that had happened some ages ago that had caused the two break off into different directions instead of staying connected. The path prior to that landslide had probably allowed for a straight path to Dernd. Winta had to stop herself from sighing. That only meant that it would take two times as long to reach a destination that at one time or another may have been a shorter route. Winta was enjoying the scenery but the steep paths were almost too much for her to handle. "Its okay. Just a bit longer and I'll be on an even path that will last more than a mile." Once more there was some more confidence boosting required to continue. "Plus its only a couple days until I reach Iory." This realization brought a huge grin to her lips. Yeah, she could continue on this journey. Why give up when she was so incredibly close? Not that she would have given up anyways considering that just wasn't something she did. Besides, at least she wasn't thinking about how strange it was that she was talking to herself in the middle of nowhere with not a sole in sight for what had to be miles.. Rather -- its a good thing no one else was around to hear her talking to herself. Winta hopped a little as she walked on the path that veered off to the right and directly down the slope of the mountain. It wouldn't be long before she would have to tread carefully but at least for now she could try to raise her spirits before they were certainly dashed again by the harsh landscape.
~Kiana_Nala~
Romantic Raider
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~Kiana_Nala~
Romantic Raider
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:31 pm
Part IV Sauti Mountains Call. . . The Return of Iory
”Finally!” Winta said with a gleeful grin. It was about time that she had reached her second town in the land of Sauti and it just so happened to be Iory. The town was still small but when compared to Tind it was considerably bigger. When she had reached the edge of the mountain that had allowed her to peer over and see the town below she nearly screamed in joy. It took her all but three hours to make it down the rest of the mountain when it could have taken much longer but only because she ran down the mountain face—tripping and falling along the way—until she finally reached the town. When she arrived, Winta promptly got down on her belly and hugged the ground. She would have stated that she would never travel into the mountains like that again. . . but in all fairness it was worth it. Plus she still had to travel through a couple smaller ones in order to get to Dernd. ”Who knew that the ground could be such an amazing and taken for granted thing.” She said breathlessly and slightly tempted to actually kiss the ground. It was reassuring to know that she would at least have a night to herself on solid ground. It didn’t matter that she would be back on the road again tomorrow and once more facing the perils of the mountain. Winta laid there for about five minutes just taking in the smells that the earth provided; the grass, the dirt, and the staler air. Every muscle within her body was behind sore and each step seemed to take more effort than it was worth, but she had a time frame to work against and unfortunately that meant that there was no time to rest. Besides, she could rest when she was dead. Which was hopefully a long time from now so long as she got up! With a grunt and moan Winta finally rose up off the ground, dusted herself off and put on her brave face which didn't look all that brave. In fact it looked a lot like someone who had a thorn stuck so far in their foot it might need to be amputated. It wasn't like she couldn't be unhappy about having to move around, right?
"I have to do this. Just a bit longer." It took an extreme amount of effort to keep the girl going now. When she had decided to lay on the ground it was like all her energy had been zapped from her body. In fact, it was just her sheer determination to complete her mission that was keeping her from collapsing once more on the ground. Winta slowly moved her feet until she was walking towards the few stalls that were gathered around the center of Iory. There were a lot more travelers than she had expected for such a small town in what seemed like the middle of nowhere. Sauti seemed like a desolate place though so it wasn't too hard to stretch her already short opinion of the the land. Mountains were everywhere and there were oddly placed large stretches of land between them. Well, for the most part.
Winta realized that there was still some items that she needed in order to finish her journey, which unfortunately included food that would last for a long time such as dried meat. With a fit of frustration the teen scrunched up her nose and stomped her foot on the ground for several minutes until her anger subsided. Why couldn't things go easy from here on out? She was already scraped to death and might have a couple scars from wounds that were a little deeper than she had originally thought. It would probably be a good idea to stock up on some salve for wounds while she was here, but again, she had nothing she could trade. Deciding her only option left was to use her to work in exchange for items Winta quickly headed over to the weaponsmaker stall. With a bit of smoozing on her part and slightly underhanded tactics, Winta was able to convince the old man to allow her to work in exchange for dried meat and medical items. This would be accomplished by Winta taking on extra orders for the old man, while fixing and reworking some of his. . . . poorly made items. By the looks of him he didn't have too much longer until he would have to retire because his hands were so mangled from arthritis that any weapons he made would have to be simple and even then they were poorly crafted. It made her a little sad to watch the man struggle to even make a knife. No don’t think like that, she scolded herself.
It took Winta about a week to heal from her wounds, recharge, stock up on supplies and made contacts within the town. Later, when she had returned home she could send items or supplies back and forth which would prove to be quite helpful. Plus she found that not developing some affection for the old man was impossible. He had weaseled his way into her heart and now she felt responsible for him and needed to ensure that after he retired he could still support himself. She couldn’t help but mentally shake herself for her stupidity. Unfortunately it was too late to do anything about it and so she made herself move on from the town in the direction of Dernd where the gold had been found. Another bonus to sticking around was that she had a definite location for the gold now. Well, it was at least mostly supported by travelers that they had been there when the gold had been found. Winta waved goodbye to the old man and then headed on her way with far more supplies on her back than should have been wise, but she wanted to ensure she could get some gold and make it to the town.
Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:32 pm
Part V Sauti Mountains Call. . . Dernd, A Small World Of It's Own
Winta’s lips were beyond chapped due to lack of moisture. It was about three days prior that she had last had anything close to a drink and even that hadn’t been water. She was too weak to shudder at what it had been that had kept her going this long. She still had a great deal of supplies to her name that would enable her to trade for some gold should this truly be where it had been found. Finally, she found herself at the entrance to the small town of Dernd. In fact, when she reached the edge of the town, which was far too tiny, she noticed that huge chunks of it had been spread out in front of all the houses and shops. Winta’s now dulled green-blue eyes closed as she sent a silent thank you out into the universe. With a slight gait she moved further into town where she proceeded to trade for some water and paid for a place for the night. After a good nights rest which unfortunately led well into the afternoon of the next day Winta was ready to investigate the gold.
With far more luck on her side than she had the entire journey here, Winta managed to get rid of all of her supplies--except for the ones needed for medical treatment--in return for several chunks of gold. Again, far too much luck or maybe they took pity on the girl who looked like she could collapse at any moment the seller agreed to send the gold on the backs of several capramels. Winta thought it was mostly because they had some things they needed from the Tale area.
Winta stayed in Dernd for another week and a half, or so she guessed, making sure she had water for the long trip back. Once she ensured she wasn’t going to die in the mountains from lack of water and food she was once more on her way.
~Kiana_Nala~
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~Kiana_Nala~
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:34 pm
Part VI The Return of Winta. . . The Journey Home
The return trip that would lead her back towards home was beyond torture. One time in-between two towns she almost died from dehydration. While the heat was no where near as hot as her homeland there were huge stretches of land between each town with very few opportunities to restock up on supplies. Her saving graces had been very small streams that had flowed down from the higher up mountains. She ended up so sick a few times that it was once again a surprise she hadn’t died before making it home. A few dangerous events happened just like they had on her way there and one that would stick with her forever, one she still couldn’t bring herself to think on for more than a split second. “No, don’t think about it.” Was something she frequently scolded herself on when the tears welled up in her eyes. It took way too long for her to make it back to the edge of Tale but as soon as she knew she had hit the border she wept with dry eyes and clung to the sand like it held everything she treasured within it.
After several days of travel Winta was stumbling into the leader’s tree with a promise that the gold should be arriving in a couple days. She had taken a tiny junk with her that she would be able to use as a spear head. Once she figured out how to smelt the stuff. A few steps more and she was home in her grandmother’s tree where they talked about her trip, cried and held each other. Zoan and her had never been closer than in that moment and their bond had taken on a form it never had before her trip. A few nights of sleep and she was showing some improvements at least to her grandmother. She didn’t cry herself to sleep anymore.
Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:34 pm
Part VII The Return of Winta. . . Home Is Where The Forge Is
It had taken the gold three days to arrive in her town after Winta had already begun working on the spear tip. She found that the heat needed to melt the gold was significantly higher than any other material she had worked with before. It took a long time before she was able to get the correct heat needed in order to even melt the gold so that she could mold it. It also proved to be a hardy material for weapons. The problem with is that it would be far too heavy for arrow tips which was not good since they were about to go to war. It would also take some extra training in order for even an experienced sword or spear wielder to lift the weapon just because it had quite a bit of weight to it. Not something that someone willing to devote the time to it couldn’t overcome but definitely not feasible for every fighter. When it was time for Winta to finally bring all her results to the leader of their town she couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed in the material that she had risked, well, everything for. In total it had taken her several days to figure out the pros and cons of the gold in the use of weapons.
~Kiana_Nala~
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~Kiana_Nala~
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Posted: Mon Feb 10, 2014 11:46 pm
Part VIII Gold Rush. . . To Be Or Not To Be
To say that everyone was disappointed with the results would have been an under statement. Sadly, all she could offer was that it could be used in weapons and be quite deadly, however, it would not be suitable for more people. In fact, her suggestion was that it be primarily used for decorative use in the home, etc., training purposes (because it was heavy and would build muscle and make the use of lighter weapons easy), and in jewelry. She managed to gain permission to give some of the leftover material to her grandmother and a few other artisans in the village and two other surrounding ones.
The night before the war was set to begin Winta stared up at the night sky and thought of the last month. Had it really only been that long? It felt like a lifetime had passed. She could feel herself changing inside from what she had experienced throughout the entire journey. The disappointment at the end hadn’t been helpful but she found herself for once, okay with it. Winta was not usually one who could handle failure. She would push herself to death until other results yielded themselves and in this case she found herself content with the results that she had found with the gold. Of course it was possible someone else may think they would have a bigger purpose down the road but she would leave it to them to figure out. She was done for now. Winta would help with the weapons in the war and then she planned on heading back to Iory to spend some time with that old man she had worked for. Something about him had drawn her in and she knew she wouldn’t rest easy until she went back and made sure that he would be okay. Her grandmother wouldn’t be too happy about her going back out after what had happened but for once, the old woman would probably understand. Again, another good point that had come from the journey from hell. A smile graced her lips for the first time in what felt like forever. Things would be changing from this moment on, she could feel it. Winta was not content with what her life was anymore, mostly who she was. That journey had set that in motion.
Posted: Fri Jun 19, 2015 12:16 am
DONE Like we had talked about in the pm a while back, I know the ending is kinda flat at least in comparison with the rest of it but I just wanted to be done with it. x....x
