Engill sat under a big branch, the rustling of the leaves above her as she flipped through the pages of a tome. The ink had begun to bleed, the margins of the parchment were worn and the paper crumbled but the marks were still legible. She used to like the stories of the relationships of plants and their mysteries, and today she got inspired by the most fascinating section of the book. The Thrystingr was one of the plants that was described to have the power to make an individual relax and. It was said to have a calming effect on anyone it was near, something she thought might come in handy.

Putting the book down, she stood up, straightened her clothes and took the book in her arms. She had made up her mind to look for Fadir. He was probably one of the few people who might know where to look for such a plant and, although always busy, Engill knew that the elf would not turn her down if she were to ask him for help.

When she was near his office, the sounds of the forest were masked by the low buzz of the activity going on inside the structure. Engill tapped gently on the door before entering the room.

"Fadir," she said softly approaching his desk. "Do you have a moment? There is a plant that they call Thrystingr. I was just wondering if you might have sometime to spare to help me locate it."

Fall 9, 124


Kage looked up when Engill entered. He'd been busy working on some plans which he folded when she approached. "Hmm, a hunt for some flora? That does sound like an adventure. Let me see..."

He got to his feet then cross the room to where White was kneeling in her cage. He opened it and pulled her out by her collar. "Do you know of this plant?" he asked her.

"Y… yes," she replied.

"How long do you think it would take to find?"

"They're located in the mountains at high altitude," she recited, "it will take some time. Days of travel or maybe weeks of climbing by foot."

Kage stroked his beard then shook his head. "I cannot dedicate that much time," he said to Engill, "I've got something else that's pressing and needs attending to. However, I can send White with you and I can provide you a chariot for transportation." He'd hand the leash to Engill then walk outside.

There, he started to create a large spider-like vehicle with some seats on top for White and Engill if they chose to use it. Assuming they got in, Kage would give the order to go to the top of the mountain that White pointed towards. It was a very vague instruction just meant to save them some time. He doubted the spider was even capable of climbing up a mountain.

232

The wind had risen as Engill and White traveled a long path from the basin all the way to the mountains that lined the eastern edge of the firelands. They could smell fires in the distant forests as the charriott moved in the general direction White had pointed in. The fires had spread further than normal, making even the mountains burn a little. Their tops were obscured by the smoke. The forest continued on for some distance, but they could see that it grew less dense the further up the mountain they would travel.

Eventually they would come across a large obstruction in the path. It was made of charred timber that filled the road. It would have been difficult to navigate through even if the fire's remnants were not present.

On the left and right, the mountain was steep, so any deviation from the path seemed dangerous. The path was clear: on foot. Their ride was not going to be joining them on the rest of their journey. The journey from here would be slower, much more dangerous.

OOC:

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Holding her hands on her hips, and staring up at the steep incline ahead of her with wide eyed anticipation of an adventure, Engill looked at the path ahead. The chariot had a hard time keeping going because there were burnt pieces of wood scattered along the path. She pushed a strand of her dark hair from her face and puffed out her cheeks.

She said to herself, "Well. We have to keep going."

The young aelf excitedly crouched down, excitedly creating aetumetal branches. She stepped up to the edge of the debris, taking a big exciting breath and started to grow aetumetal supports in the ground to walk over. There had been a bit of wobble on the first few steps.

She placed the branches just right and checked each step before she put her weight on them.

Happy and excited she stopped for a moment on a little ledge to take a big breath to enjoy the view. She looked to see white might not be able to keep up. She cared not about the faelnir but she was supposed to help so she was necessary.

"I'm gonna make it super easy for her," she thought. Engill hurriedly created little steps in the wood for White to step on.

White hated every minute of the ride. As usual she thought of little else other than someday escaping this hellish life as a slave. The good news was that Engill didn't seem to pay her any attention. Good, the less conversation the better. The trip was by no means short either. It would likely take days to reach the mountains. The spider didn't know or care. It would keep going on and on and on until it finally could not go further.

White disembarked and wondered if she would be asked to solve their little problem. Thankfully, Engill did the heavy lifting. White waited for permission to follow and then did so, looking back at the spider as she left. Sure it had helped them get here… but that didn't mean it would be any easier getting back home. It was going to be a long journey.

As much as White hated Fluffy, she wished that she had been included in this trip of theirs, as it would have at least given them a mount or something. But alas they were all alone. White smirked when she thought of the possibility of simply throwing herself off the mountain and "dying." Would anyone even look for her? She'd heard of people surviving great falls and if she could just survive then maybe… just maybe she could find her way back home.

She continued along, using the footholds that Engill created for her. That was one way to make it over all these obstacles. Engil craned her neck to see if she could spot where they actually needed to go. Any of these mountain tops could have the plant they needed, but she wouldn't be able to tell which one until they got a little closer. It was definitely going to be annoying to climb a peak and find out that there were no plants available or accessible.

She didn't speak her mind, knowing better than to speak without being spoken to first.

563

Ahead of them the mountain loomed, covered in smoke. For awhile the path beyond the debris was surprisingly simple. They would take an easy enough route through sparse patches of hardy vegetation that dotted the slopes. Ash would blow in their faces relentlessly at times.

It was grueling climb, but the slightly flat ground proved a nice rest. The trail was wide enough for two to walk side by side.

Slowly the mountainside moved from debris to vegetation. The first signs of danger appeared when the steepness started to increase. From the shadows came a low growl, so faint you could not tell if it was the wind or not. Another, louder this time ~~ a snapped a twig.

The travelers were not alone.

Out of the underbrush began to come creatures with black fur. Wolves led by a pack leader. They had found their next meal. They surrounded the travelers then leaped one by one to take a bite.

The wolves had come close to circling the pair, eyes staring at her and her companion, and now Engill's heart raced. She took a short step back. She hadn't expected this. Wolves were common enough in the mountains but she hadn't come here before. Their movements had an eerie precision, and they were too large. She swallowed hard as her mind raced trying to remember anything useful from her books about mountain predators.

She glanced at White and knew she would be useless. Engill's lips pressed into a thin line. She didn't have time for a mere human to save her.

A pack of wolves wouldn't stop her, she had come too far. Clutching aetumetal branches she took a deep breath and she reached inside, calling on the latent magic that coursed through her veins.

For as long as she had, her mind had worked with her connection to all plants. She now called on it with all the focus she could.

She stuck one of the aetumetal branches in the ground at her feet, planting it into the rocky soil. Her magic surged through the metal making the metal shimmer faintly, spreading the energy outward like ripples in a pond.

Engill closed her eyes for a moment, envisioning what she needed. Subtly the ground started to move beneath her and cause the ground to shake.

She ordered, "Grow."

The earth answered. Silvery roots began sprouting out from the ground from the spot where she had planted the branch twisting and curling as they appeared The roots were growing quickly, snaking down the rocky path and towards the predators.

Her gestures would make the metal bend and twist to ensnare them if she could.

"Are you going to do something? How close are we to the plant?" she asked White.

White trembled in her boots as the wolves got closer. She didn't know how strong Engill was, and she never went out of the house without either Fluffy or Kage to keep an eye on her. Around both of them she felt somewhat safe. Around Engill… well it was hard to say. They said she was ascended, but she looked too young to be capable.

White nearly feinted as the fight started, but it looked like Engill was at least making a good effort to keep them both alive. Roots burst forth from the ground and tried to ensnare the wolves.

When she was addressed, White stuttered, "what would you like me to do?" in a very submissive tone. She knew better than to talk back dismissively to an aelf. She also said, "we will need to move higher up, past these wolves."

It wasn't a promise that the plant lay beyond, but she would hopefully be able to tell by the animals and other flora whether they were getting close or not.

Meanwhile, far away, Kage found some free time and he used dead sight to tap into the chariot he'd sent with the group. He was not surprised to see that it was stationary at the base of the debris. It was a shame that he hadn't afforded a soul star to it to change its shape. Still, he didn't see any point in having it stand there forever. He commanded it to try braving the debris and puppeted its movements precisely. He hoped that with more precise movements that it would be able to continue onwards and catch up to the others.

838

Metallic roots sprang out, writhing and dancing as they reached out for the wolves hoping to grab them. The shimmering tendrils intimidated the wolves who snapped at them. Their sharp teeth were useless against the metal. The roots moved too quickly, wrapping around legs and torsos, as others tried to leap back.

Roots gripped harder and snarls ripped through the air mixed with the sounds of strained metal groaning. Most of the wolves caught, and pinned to the rocky ground. For a moment it looked as if the tide might change.

Then a single wolf somehow escaped the writhing roots. It leapt up and then soared over the tangled mass, landing just past the trap.

White felt the wolf barreling into her and its weight knocked her to the ground with a dull thud. The impact sent a small cloud of dust into the air and she fell hard. The wolf snarled, and its great big body hulked over her.

The wolf's muscles tensed into readiness without delay and it lunged again, directed at Engill. It closed its jaws around her shoulder, and its teeth dug deeply into flesh as its momentum drove her back.

Kage's chariot scuttled into view from the distance but it was still too far away to intervene.

The wolf's teeth pierced her shoulder, and the searing pain shot down her arm and into her chest. Engill screamed. She gritted her teeth and refused to let the agony win. She summoned her magic, the full force of it that she hardly ever allowed herself to feel.

Her body erupted in roots, silvery and sharp edged, twisting and curling at unnatural speed. Her arms, her legs, even her wounded shoulder were covered in metal that wrapped around the wolf that clung to her.

Engill yelled and the roots pushed the wolf back from her tearing the beast free. The motion was sickening and a sickening sound as flesh was ripped from her shoulder leaving a wound. Her vision swam for a moment as the pain threatened to overwhelm her.

Engill put her hand over the wound and drew on her saol. Her palm gave off warm, golden light and knitted the torn flesh and sealed the wound. It wasn't perfect, the pain stayed with her, but it would have to do.

She turned her sharp commanding voice towards white, her face flush with anger. "Get up. We're not staying here."

She continued up towards the peak.

White carefully squeezed past the wolves and followed Engill. She knew now just how strong the aelf was. She would have offered to help tend to the wound, but it had been closed and to be honest it wasn't as if White was particularly skilled when it came to medicine.

Kage would control the chariot to keep moving along. If the wolves were still there, he would use the chariot's legs to try bludgeoning the wolves to death so that they wouldn't be an issue moving forwards. He'd then scuttle his chariot forwards to catch up to the women. He unfortunately hadn't added any speaking capabilities to the construct so he couldn't communicate. He also couldn't be assed to keep paying attention to what was going on, so he gave a generic 'follow and protect' command to the chariot while he turned his attention back to his work.

White would feel a sense of relief as the chariot caught up. The more protection the better. And eventually, she would hopefully be able to start pointing out which direction they needed to go to have a better shot at finding this legendary plant.

1030

They finally dealt with the wolves. After the chariot killed them, their snarls were replaced by the eerie quietness of the mountain path.

Unyieldingly, the group pressed on up the path, that could only become more treacherous and steeper from there. The altitude gnawed at their skin, the air grew thinner. But despite the gusting wind there was a strange beauty in the mountain once they rose above the smoke.

They would eventually round a bend in the path and a large wooden home became visible in the distance. The design was simple, it's walls made of sturdy logs and a slanted roof that looked as if it could weather the harsh mountain weather. A chimney smoked lazily and a few chopped logs were neatly stacked by the side of the house. It was alone at the edge of the trail.

A figure stepped out of the door. It was an aelf, but he had a unique appearance. His frame was massive ~~ mountainous was the right word. He had broad shoulders and a thick muscular build capped by a wild mane of silver hair atop a weathered face. He had a huge axe resting on his shoulder.

With a deep voice, the aelf boomed at them. "What brings you to my neck of the woods?" He was curious not hostile.

He didn't need them to answer because his familiar had tracked them for miles so it didn't matter if they kept quiet or not.

"You have courage coming all this way but courage won't get you what you're after." He turned, and with a massive hand, pointed up the mountain to a distant peak hidden in mist. "The air is thin and the wind will tear you apart if you aren't careful. You can't walk to the top no matter how high you climb. That's not how this works. You will need to tie off anchors in case you fall. I suggest you rappel and even if you do get to the plant, it has a way of making you want to leave it alone."

His piercing gaze locked onto Engill and the aelf paused. "This is not for the faint of heart. Are you sure you're ready for this? You may leave your human and your treant with me if you wish." He could tell that it was not Engil's based on the tether leading away from the body.

Engill would have let White die if she was her owner but she didn't think Kage would be happy about letting his pet perish up here. So, she said to the large elf "I need her to come with me to help me find the right plant. I have never seen it before and I can't control that thing though so it will probably follow me. Thank you for the advice, I am in your debt."

She grew a layer of leaves and bark around her skin so she could be a little more warm then she pressed up the mountain. As she walked up the steep parts she started wrapping aetumetal around her waist and nearby rocks. Sometimes she had to send branches forward so she could pull herself up further. She was so ready to be done already but she still had further to go and then there was the rapelling part.

"Tell me when you see it!" she shouted over her shoulder.

White nodded in thanks to the aelf who'd helped them out. She couldn't help but be impressed by his size. Someone like that… well, she didn't need those kinds of thoughts in her head. She kept her mouth shut and followed along, not really keen on the rest of the journey. Aelves didn't generally dress very thick so her clothes were light and her skin started to get cold quickly.

White wasn't afforded any protections from the cold, but she wasn't used to being treated like a princess. She would press on and if she got hurt she would just have to ask for healing later. Besides, it wasn't winter yet. The temperature couldn't be that low, could it? Or was that just wishful thinking?

She thought of little else besides the cold as she climbed higher and higher. She managed to hold onto the various tethers Engill made and the chariot did the same, except it used a mix of the tethers and other large rocks to keep climbing.

Far away, Kage started to get a little nervous. He didn't like the idea of Engill going up to gather the plant. Why hadn't White warned him of how dangerous it was? If only he'd known he would have joined them in person. Now he was stuck trying to pilot this god forsaken chariot.

If White was able to spot the flower, she would communicate to Engill that she'd seen it. It didn't exactly stand out but being above the smoke would be a huge help when it came to spotting things at a distance.

1295

The biting cold would do them no favors. The higher they climbed the harder it was to breathe. Engill would be able to keep a focused mind because of her meditation skill but White would find it hard to catch up. She would not be able to catch up at all and neither would the treant. They would have to wait and let Engill tackle this final stretch on her own.

Her calls that she saw the flower were barely audible because of how far she fell behind. The plant was there on the face of the mountain. It was blue that stood out just barely from the icy wind. It was in a crack in the side of the rock. Engill would have to somehow get to it and dig her hand in to pull it out or bind to it.

Engill was not immune to the cold either. She would feel her skin start to frost bite. An easy remedy was to heal through it, but she was getting low on saol. She would begin to become more brash and irritable by the second.

The unforgiving mountain face rose steadily beyond her, but the wind was brutal. The air was icy, it bit at her skin regardless of her determination. She could feel the creeping numbness in her fingers and toes. Her clothes were not made for this and the plant padding didn't help as much as she hoped it would. She had never felt so cold. The mountain clearly enjoyed seeing how far she could be pushed.

Her muscles burning, she began to take step after heavy step. There was less and less reliable ground on the rocky terrain. She healed the frostbitten parts of her hands and face while letting the rest of her body suffer for now

She could barely make out White's faint calls, but the direction of her pointing hand confirmed it: Here was the flower, hanging to the face of the mountain like a stubborn survivor. The flower was a tiny bluish speck. Of course, it had to be there, in the most inaccessible place you could imagine.

Her metallic roots stretched before her, reaching out further ahead so that she paid more attention to her climb, not even looking at what was up ahead. The wind pulled her at every step and threatened to unbalance her. The frostbite was creeping along her skin again. She drew on her reserves of saol and healed the worst of the damage.

At last, she got to a point directly over the flower. Engill steadied her feet, planted on her narrow ledge, conjured a branch of aetumetal. From her palm the shimmering silver material grew, swirled like a living thing in her hands, and swelled out into a sturdy platform.

Lowering herself onto the branch did a little to alleviate the strain in her arms and legs as she struggled to balance while the wind raged around her.

She tried to grab it but the thought ofeven touching the plant made her feel off. Her hand trembled as her mind struggled against the wave of docility that sought to take over. The plants magic was insidious, luring her mind to forget about her resolve.

"No," she said, her voice so low you could barely hear it over the wind. "You won't stop me."

Her other hand reached out again with her fingers stretched towards the flower. It took all her effort just to do so. Engill thrust her hand into the crack one last time. She grabbed it and started to pull even as her body shook from the strain.

Kage couldn't really see much of anything through his treant. It could only see life, and there was hardly any life up ahead. His treant had stopped next to White and all he could do was wait and rack his brain for any ideas that might be able to help. Alas, he was helpless. He didn't know how he would live it down if Engill actually died.

White couldn't help either. She couldn't see what was going on either. All she could do was wait and hold on for dear life. She couldn't feel her fingers or toes anymore. Hell, she didn't even know if her legs still worked. She was using every last bit of strength she had to hold onto the branches and roots that Engill had laid out.

And so time ticked by at an agonizing pace. If Engill didn't return, White would make her way back down the mountain to see if the aelf down there might be able to help retrieve her body.

1463

Engill had done remarkably well by pushing herself beyond her limits to retrieve the elusive flower. Unfortunately, her victory came at a cost. Healing the constant cold damage pushed her into a penalizing state and she fell unconscious. Her body grew limp then she dangled there with the plant slowly dropping from her hand.

Then, as if guided by some ancient will, a platform of stone emerged from the mountain beneath her, rising to catch her dangling form. The platform shifted and detached from the mountain, floating gently through the air like a leaf on the wind. The massive slab of rock carried Engill down, away from the perilous heights and back toward the path below. The mist parted as the platform descended, revealing the familiar figure of the towering aelf from before.

"You did well, little one," he said, his deep voice carrying a note of respect. "Few your age could have made it as far as you did." He knelt beside her to take the flower from her grasp. "But you've pushed yourself too hard. Rest now."

He carried her back to his house while she slept. "You should all stay with me for a while. She'll need time to recover before she can bind to this plant. And I'll keep it alive until she's ready. I could have simply provided the plant to her, as I grow some, but it's important for the young to learn their limits."

He pointed to the various pots in his home which all held very rare and powerful looking plants from the area that White would recognize.


Quest complete

Engill should post one more time to bind to the plant. The elf houses you for a week while you recover reserves and rest.

Engill faded in and out over the next couple days. When she woke she was sure to yell at White for not helping and to thank the masculine elf for his assistance. When she learned that she would have died without his help, she felt ashamed and childish.

Even if she felt bad, she had still succeeded. She spent days next to the plant she had retrieved. It was potted now and would die soon but she spent time with it to gain a closer connection and when she had enough saol, she bound to it. When she was finally able to safely leave, she would lead White back down the trail and all the way back to their home.

When she got back, she would give Kage a big hug and tell him all about her adventures. She couldn't wait to see what this plant of hers could do.