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 Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2013 9:05 pm
It all happened so fast from Ilmarinen's perspective. One day, he was playing music at the inn, just as he always did. The next day, it was suddenly packed full of travelers, all bearing ill tidings and whispers and everyone was gathering arms. It would've been nice, Ilmarinen reflected, if anyone could agree on what the rumors actually were. Every day brought another half-dozen entirely new stories: an entire village had been slaughtered by Wolves, no it was actually a man who had just gone mad, it was a plague that took everyone away.
The bard shivered and pulled his cloak closer and tried to focus on anything else. Snow crunched under his feet in a tempo. At least it had stopped snowing. Dark clouds far on the horizon hinted that it wouldn't last, but, for now, there was an opening. A chance.
A moment to get to Wardwood.
Shielding his eyes against the glare of the snow, Ilmarinen tried to guess how far away the forest was. It was hard to say; his life had always been with music, not mapology. But probably not too far. He could probably beat the storm clouds and he was always ready to try and beat the odds. He broke out into a brisk trot, his pack thumping against his back. Something sloshed inside.
No one went to the woods without leaving an offering. Before long, the young man's breath made puffs of fog on the air, brief little dances of crystals that quickly dissipated. Still, he was pretty sure the woods were closer now.
"Good sign, that. Mum always said it was a terrible sign if the woods are moving. Either that or she said it was a sign of too much drink, which Dad always said was a sign of a good party," he said out loud, for the sake of hearing his own voice.
It was so quiet out here, after the noise and bustle of the city. His ears unconsciously strained to hear the comforting noises of Pallisade: horses whinnying, people shouting, and even the occasional spirited attempt at murder (ok, so it wasn't comforting for everyone). Nothing out here though. Nothing but the crunch of snow and a young man's own voice.
"Should've made Annie come along," he grumbled, although he knew full well why the woman couldn't accompany him. Unlike him, she had a constant job and wanted to keep it. "What use is having a job if you're not alive to actually do it?"
yes, because tromping over snow and ice is so much safer than staying in a nice warm room in the city, a sarcastic and accurate voice hissed in Ilmarinen's mind.
"How does it go again? 'Now the lone hunters take heed, Upon the Great Stag we feed...' Hell, it's probably bad luck..." old stories, odds and ends, bobbed up at times like this. Ilmarinen liked to think it was the old blood fighting its way out.
Privately, he hoped it stayed in his veins. A dagger, which seemed like perfectly adequate protection in the city, suddenly seemed meager out here. Desperate to keep up his spirits, the young man started to hum in a clear tenor.
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Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 9:15 am
For himself, Eluf wasn't quite sure what to make of the gossip that was drifting about from town to town. Of course he was nervous, frightened perhaps, but he couldn't tell what was truth from what was fiction. So much of it seemed plausible, but then there were the parts that didn't quite match up... a man amongst wolves..? how was that possible? surely no man could survive in such a way... but there was talk of it being something different from a man... It was all simply very confusing, and unnerving.
The news did make the young man feel a bit... useless in the matter. He was no fighter, and his body was hardly built for it. Sure he was a decent opponent at fencing, but that wasn't true fighting, not in the way of feral beasts. As some my put it, it was more relative to a dance, of sorts. He was lithe, and rather delicate in most ways, that he wouldn't last very long from getting snapped in half by one of those colossal beasts. Of course... not without a fight from his trust guardian, who would surely fight to the death in such a situation. Axe... so protective and strong... he'd make a wonderful asset to the defensive forces.
But for now, Eluf decided to what he could. Perhaps it wasn't much, but... he at least wanted to try and be useful towards the cause. Riding atop of his impressive guardian, the young beauty rode through the town he usually frequented. Macaire would still be working right now, so this gave him a chance to make it to the woods further on... the soldier probably wouldn't approve of Eluf venturing out to it, for fear something may be lurking in the tree's, but... the honey green eyed man felt it was necessary for him to at least try to do his part in all of this. But Macaire... now he was someone who would be perfect for battle, already seasoned with the body crafted and blessed for justice.
Auburn curls bounced lightly as he cantered past the hustle and bustle of town, growing exceedingly closer to the wardwood. Axe's gait was fluid and didn't hesitate once. He was faster than any of the prized horses back home, and refused to leave the young mans side. Soon enough they were able to see the tree trunks clearly, as well as the various offerings that littered about the edge.
He dismounted the guardian a few paces off, noting that someone was already there, sparing a small fond glance to him. It was a nice sight to see, someone else giving their respects. It even made him feel a little more at ease. He wasn't raised to follow the Old Way's, and didn't particularly believe or not believe them. But at a time like this, that didn't really matter. He smoothed down his fine clothes, coat adjusted slightly, as well as his cuffs, cravat given a gentle tweak, before a hand swept along the side of his face to push back some of the stray curls that fluttered about freely. They'd escaped from the loose ribbon bow that kept the rest in a casual ponytail.. but this was always the case. He walked closer to the forest, small bag at his hip holding his offering, the large, muscular stag following close at his side. Axe stared at the man who was already present, golden gaze showing no sort of pleasure to see him, and even glaring at the undesired presence. But Eluf gave a respectful distance to the stranger, idly enjoying the lovely tune that was produced by him. His own earth kissed eyes gazed as deep into the forest as they could... almost waiting for something otherworldly to appear...
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Posted: Fri Jan 04, 2013 9:51 am
Ilmarinen snapped to attention as something emerged from the mists and snows, looking for all the world like some sort of deformed centaur. Four legs, but a torso that looked disturbingly human. The bard immediately studied the trees nearby, wondering if, perhaps, he could jump up high enough to just barely miss grabbing a branch. Strange things lurked in the woods...
Thankfully, this 'strange thing' happened to be just another rather pretty young man. The bard's breath became a puff of fog on the cold air, one of relief. Just another man and... what was that nearby? A horse? It had four legs and hooves. Ilmarinen's biology was another thing only loosely defined. Anyway, it didn't matter what the creature was, still half-shrouded in the snow. The young man was more interesting.
There was a certain kind of man who instinctively felt uneasy in the presence of certain other types of men. In Ilmarinen's case, the wealthy put him on edge. The younger man's clothes didn't just politely suggest wealth. They screamed it, all the while making pointed gestures. That was more Annie's thing; she was the one who served rich folks (or at least richer than her family had been, which wasn't exactly a difficult task). Ilmarinen's own clothes had been chosen for hard-wearing qualities; the sort of thing that could survive just about anything, short of a direct meteor strike. They weren't designed for looking good.
Well, that was alright. Ilmarinen would just avoid the rich man a...
"Balls and <********>, is that a Guardian?" he blurted out, as his mind had finally made sense of the stag glaring at him. Suddenly, the well-dressed young man was no longer so important. At least he didn't have weapons on his head. Ilmarinen nodded his head towards the stag and did his best to look like the exact opposite of a threat. Nope, he certainly wasn't a danger, his body language tried to say. He was absolutely not a threat to any other young men who, for whatever reason, might've been in the forest.
"Sorry, I just haven't seen one before. Not this close anyway," he said, trying to apologize for his rough tongue without actually apologizing. He took out his offering----a rough carved bowl----and filled it with sweet cream. It had been bought for his breakfast hours earlier, but he thought it would make a fitting offering.
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Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 6:44 pm
His parcel was unwrapped slowly, producing a lovely little loaf of bread that had been soaked in apple honey, and was even still warm. He smiled fondly at the little token he'd brought... Hopefully this would be acceptable. Kneeling, he placed the bread down before the edge of the forest, letting it nestle into the overgrown grasses, mentally giving a little hopeful wish of his own.
However... he was startled to hear the stranger give out a call of his own. Blinking over to the other man, Eluf stared with wide eyes, clearly not expecting to hear such a... interestingly posed question. But after the shock wore off, he let his usual gentle smile return, and looked to Axe this time... the buck giving a snort of disapproval towards Ilmarinen. He even moved himself to guard Eluf from the other mans gaze, making it quite clear he was not happy with the strangers presence. But the sweet young man shifted himself to standing, giving Axe a gently stroke along a powerful black shoulder, moving around to approach the bard curiously, "That he is." he replied, standing just a few paces off from the other man now, taking a look to see what he had to bring too. It was always interesting to see what sorts of things the spirits seemed to enjoy. A lot of it were things his buck liked too... how dearly Axe wanted to eat that honey bread...
Even now, the stag stared at the liquid cream that was poured into the bowl, golden eyes rather intently watching it slosh about, nostrils even flaring a few times to try and get a hint of the scent of it.
"That was a very lovely song you were singing." the man spoke, "I hope we did not interrupt it for you." he would have liked to offer Axe to be introduced, but.. at the moment, the buck was still too riled up... and in general, a petting from a stranger didn't often happen.
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Posted: Sat Jan 05, 2013 7:32 pm
Welp, that did it. Ilmarinen was pretty sure that the next words the young lordling would say would be something along the lines of, 'my goodness me*, poor people can speak? No wonder they make such horrid noises whenever I crush them under the wagon wheels!' Alright, that was probably an exaggeration. All the same, Ilmarinen expected a Look that fully captured the feeling of being a bug under someone's shoe. What he got, instead, was a smile. Well, that was considerably better and the bard relaxed just a bit. Or as relaxed as he could get while he was being eyeballed by a very large animal with four sharp hooves and what was essentially a set of knife blades attached to his head.
At the snort, Ilmarinen immediately lifted his hands into the universal gesture for, 'look, I'm not carrying a big deadly weapon'. Hopefully it translated into Deer as well as Human. Then again, maybe for deer the gesture meant 'haha, look how big your mum's arse is!'. How was Ilmarinen supposed to know? He didn't know any Guardians and that was an actual Guardian right there, holy s**t! There was no way Mum would believe it. Much bigger than normal deer. It was more like... like...
"The essential spirit of a deer," Ilmarinen decided out loud. It was, more or less, what you got when you took away the 'deer' but left everything that made up a Deer. The spirit of the woods. As the buck's nostrils flared, he immediately took a few further steps back from the offering. Who was he to argue with a very large beast about what he drank?
Besides, the bard could smell that bread. Oh god, it probably came out of the oven just a half-hour ago (which definitely meant that the Guardian was fast).
"What? Oh, that. It's just some old song. Probably dates back to those old stones. Course, that doesn't mean it's not true. You'd think that it wouldn't survive this long if there weren't some grain of truth in it." Ilmarinen scratched his cheek and his voice took on a slightly different tone. "Seems to me that the stories and songs of the old hills have got to have some truth to them. Little bits of truth, like seeds, see? I suppose you could say that the fruit they bear is good advice. Like leaving offerings, never going into the woods after dark an... right, I'm rambling. Thanks for the compliments."
Hmm... far be it from Ilmarinen to actively try to get employment with the rich. After all, he was naturally a scrounger who was quite proud of never taking employment from the rich. But, on the other hand... if he could afford bread like that and sacrifice it...
"Did you want to hear the rest of it? Or at least the bits as I can remember them?"
*Clearly, 'my goodness me' was the strongest language a lordling could possibly use. Or perhaps, in moments of extreme stress, one would spout, 'goodness gracious', but then he'd certainly be thrown out of the lordishness club for being too excitable.
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 11:08 am
There really was no sort of gesture that the other man could have made to make Axe feel more at ease... asides for leaving.. The buck wasn't going to back down for the slightest moment, and allow a window of opportunity for this stranger to strike! perhaps he was overprotective, but.. that's just the way this guardian was. Especially over someone so innocent, and delicate as Eluf. Macaire would be proud, surely.
Eluf however remained curious and engaged with the stranger, smile remaining light on his gentle face, watching the cream being presented as offering to the spirits. He heard the murmur from the other man, causing him to walk a little more around Axe so as to be able to hear better, surprised to see the man retreating from his little bowl! Glancing up to the powerful stag, Eluf let a dainty hand stroke the sturdy, thick neck, trying to soothe his protector, and help to not frighten the poor man!
Though now.... Axe's attention was flickering slightly from bowl, to stranger...But while the deer kept to his post, Eluf listened intently as the explanation was given for this choice song, showing some clear interest. It was often he got to hear of a songs tale! but this one was very relevant to the situation that Sunderland was now plagued with... it made his earthen eyes flicker over to the mystical woods... Hopefully these offerings really would be accepted by the spirits.
Looking back to Ilmarinen, Eluf smiled a little bit more, "I would very much like to listen to the rest, but I do not want to impose upon you, sir." he gave a subtle bow of his head in respect, certainly a polite and thoughtful young man, and certainly not one to force anything out of anyone.
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Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 7:13 pm
'Don't want to impose on you, sir'. To Ilmarinen, that sounded like Lordish for 'I'm interested'. Even the simplest of phrases had to be all wrapped up in diplomacy before anything could be said. Lords and ladies. However they got around was beyond Ilmarinen (then again, judging by the general prettiness of the lord, he probably never got punched in the face. Maybe there was something for this diplomacy stuff after all...)
While Ilmarinen had the survival instincts of a particularly idiotic kitten, he wasn't entirely stupid. The idea of asking for a few coins floated across his mind. One look at the deer hurriedly dismissed such insanity. Plus, whatever else he had, the bard had his pride. It was just... well... pride wasn't easily acceptably coinage.
Plus, the lord was the only person he'd seen in a bit. Every bard needed an audience.
"Tell you what. I'll sing what I remember and you can pay me by getting your Guardian to stop glaring at me." Not that it was likely to work. All the stories said, more or less, that a Guardian was its own being. The stag would decide whether or not he'd stop menacing Ilmarinen. But, it certainly was a good test to find out whether or not the rumors were true...
Ilmarinen cleared his throat a few times and started to sing in a cool, clear tenor:
"Now the lone hunters take heed,
Upon the Great Stag we feed,
Blood for mead, his death our life,
Ends this strife, stirs this dried seed.
The old packs come together,
Ties that fear cannot sever,
Endeavor in pride to stand
In the Wolf Land, forever."
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 10:05 am
The payment was fair enough, and Eluf's gaze flickered right over to Axe. The stag seemed to glare harder at Ilmarnien... not liking the idea of being controlled by some... stranger. But he knew Eluf was probably wanting the same sort of thing. Snorting at the other man, the powerful Axe just barely lessened his gaze, only easing those golden globes closed as his chosen gently pulled that mighty head into his warm embrace. The buck nuzzled into the delicate mans chest, keeping mindful of his antlers, sighing heavily as he slowly relaxed. This was a common practice Eluf would do should his protective guardian maybe go too over the top.
With Axe now calmed, Eluf allowed himself to enjoy the lovely song, his already gentle features softening further, to where long lashes closed to veil his honey green eyes. It'd been so long since he'd heard someone sing~ And this man certainly had a gift of gold chords. Even the on edge stag managed to let his tense muscles twitch into relaxation, though his ears kept alert, listening for any sort of move the stranger might make in endangering his precious chosen.
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Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2013 10:49 pm
It was the dark type of melody that Ilmarinen loved. It didn't simply haunt minds. It was the sort of lilting tune that festered, taking nest in the hindbrain and jumping out when it was least expected. The rather creepy subject matter helped as well, especially given the current situation. By the time the last note hung over the trees, the goosebumps on Ilmar's skin had nothing to do with the cold and everything to do with the knowledge----the absolute certainty he held----that something was out there.
It was dark, brutal, violent... but, most of all, it was patient.
Aaaand the complete lack of a response was growing quickly awkward. Was this how the fancy folks behaved? Ilmarinen blinked in surprise and tried to peer more closely at the other young man without actually moving towards him in any way, an exercise that was rather futile.
Well. Uh.
Ilmarinen coughed awkwardly as the last notes finally died away in the woods. Ooookaaaay then...
"Right!" he said cheerfully. Still trying to look as little like a threat as possible, he sauntered to get his few items together. "I'll just be on my way now. No need to take up the gentleman's time. Still. It gives you something to think about, a song like that, given the current rumors. Course, a lord probably don't need to listen to such things."
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Posted: Sat Jan 26, 2013 11:38 am
The tune was eerily beautiful. Not what was usually sung, or played, but that didn't matter. It was gorgeous all the same. Eluf quite enjoyed listening to the man and his gifted voice hark out to the cool air, Axe snorting ever so often with protest of not being able to stare his dagger like glare into the bard while he performed...
But it was over soon enough, and those honey green eyes peeled open to look towards Ilmarinen, smiling gently, "You have quite a gift, sir. I am honored to have heard a piece of it." he replied softly, as if not wanting to ruin the mood the song had set. And as the other man prepared to leave, Eluf righted himself, and released Axe's mighty head, to dig a hand into one of his fancy pockets. A lord? he almost chuckled at that. He was nothing like that... at least so he thought. Pulling out a little purse, he dug in it to retrieve a rather generous amount of coin, and fluidly stepped to approach the bard, extending the hand with the token of gratitude containing the metal discs, "Please take care, sir." he wasn't going to stop the man from leaving, as that was his own choice to make, but he certainly knew the courtesy of appreciating the arts, and contributing to those who pursued such a trade.
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