Cel's Ascention ch. 1 & 2

Part 1: Cel's Discovery
Chapter 1: Meet Cel
Cel was exhausted. The last few weeks had been unusually stressful with the upcoming festivities, but that wasn't the only thing on her mind. It was the dreams... thats why she was exhausted. She worked from can till can't to try to keep the dreams away.

The upcoming festivities had the whole village abuzz, with traders and farmers in town from several day-steps* in every direction. The village had its share of troubles during the Spring from the mild breadth of water passing through the quiet village. During the Fall everyone reaped the rewards of the down stream flow taking goods to market. The Mayor of Aryn looked tired but very official as he shook hands at the entrance of the new (and much sturdier) bridge just completed by the townspeople.

Oden's Inn, for lack of a better location, was the place where a great deal of trade took place, Rafters hiring out their services over a watered down ale, Farmers selling to anyone so they could get home immediately after The Burning... a celebration held at equinox to cast off the woes of the passing year and warn off more unpleasant occurrences like pox or raiders.

This activity was what kept young Cel occupied while she easily avoided her Dreams. There were her 2 younger brothers Ean and Elan to boss and pinch as she kept them busy and out of the way. Oden certainly enjoyed the benefits of his Generosity when tasks needed done, or someone was approving of his kindness, taking in the orphans as he had. But Evenings the till didn't balance out, or to much of the ale found its way into Oden they found his kindness somewhat lacking. He was a heavy fisted rounder well past his better years, but could still hoist a full keg of the cheap ale onto his shoulders with little effort, and more than once the boys had lost their grip on Tera* after incurring his Wrath.

Keala the tough old cook kept Oden and the boys in check most of the time. He was more the father of the motley crew than any of them ever had, including Oden. He had fit so easily into the then doomed inn and helped it run smoothly ever after that night he came in sodden and looking only to sleep by the fire. Today he whistled a little tune as he limped about the cramped kitchen calling for fire and flour, keeping the boys busy, sometimes only to return the brought items after inspection. The boys didn't seem to mind, always eager for a scrap of attention from the quiet old Giant. His few words seemed to be full of encouragement and wisdom, but his eyes always seemed dark and distant. No one knew what those eyes had seen, and he never paid anyone who asked him about his past another moments attention, as if they ceased to exist upon asking.

With a few hours left until sunset Cel knew she had little time to slip out and meet the the Daughter of the seamstress, Gayne for the clothes she had ordered. Her and the boys had only rags and rude clothing she had formed for them over the last 3 years, and she was still a few copper shy of being able to pay in full for the 4 suits of clothes she had ordered, but Gayne was kind and went on about needing the practice. The least Cel could do was not keep her waiting, so she peeked into the Main room of the inn and saw everyone including Oden busy with “business” and proceeded out the back way to try and make the appointment without being missed.

*day-steps- A day-step is on average 12 miles, or as far as you can walk in a day.
*Tera- The ground... or the whole planet, Tera is their “Earth”

“Ean, Elan, come here,” and as the boys gathered expectantly looking up she continued. “I am off to quickly see Gayne, stay close to Keala and make no trouble or noise.” The boys nodded, and Keala smiled, and she gathered up her prized cloak and a bundle of herbs she had gathered hoping to trade out the last of the debt for their new wardrobe and headed out the door as the boys turned their eyes to the Giant and waited for their next task to prove their worth to the one so many thought “simple”. She knew better.

She remembered the night Keala stopped Oden in a moment of rage she thought would end Elan. Oden had struck the Elan who had done some simple mischief at the wrong moment and was about to strike again until Keala covered the room with a single stride and caught up the large innkeep by his wrist and held him above the terrified child. Simple perhaps his message, “No” in a calm voice, and set the Respected but intoxicated tavern owner down away from the boy. Oden looked very harshly at Keala, but they never spoke in that silent exchange, and it had been quiet since. No one, especially Oden would have expected the Frail giant of possessing enough strength to lift the child with one hand, but to dangle the rotund Oden was beyond the powers of belief. In the time between none of them had ever spoken about it and that fueled the disbelief that it ever occurred.

Chapter 2 Trample Cel

Cel slipped out into the busy streets and disdained at the pavers under her feet. “The Mayor needs to stick to building bridges and avoid trying to turn the roads to rock” she mused out loud. The Debate over the project she knew to be very heated, and the spring mud sinking half of the hard won pavers secretly satisfied many of the townsfolk who agreed with her. The very notion of “Paving” roads was very big city, and that was often sneered at by the locals. They hoped this would put an end to such nonsense and he would quit wasting their town tithes on silly projects.

Mules pulled over burdened wagons down the wides lanes of the street, plenty wide for the two largest wagons to pass in different directions and still allow pedestrian traffic. Cel was of course the latter and didn't even notice she was her feet had found and was treading on solid pavers as she made her way up the street. The Smell from the Baker up on the north of town was maddening, and the colors of the various tradesmen and their flags flying above their tents on the Town Grounds was overwhelming. So much so in fact, she didn't notice when the next paver was tilted dangerously. She was trying to make out the emblem on a beautiful dark blue pennant when her feet betrayed her and dumped her unceremoniously into the busy street.

Then it was the Dream, or at least a little slice of it, head ringing, taste of blood, and the shadow falling over her. Her heart lept into her throat as she looked up, fearing what she would see as she should. A mailed horse rearing onto its hind legs threatening to toss the rider struggling to control it. Battle trained horses are not commonplace in Aryn or the lands around it, where this one came from she did not know, only that she was about to become pudding under its hooves if she did not react, but the Dream held her tight.

She could not shake the ominous feeling building inside of her. As the huge horse started its downward path to regain its footing she was sure to be trampled but strong hands grabbed her long hair and pulled as if to tear her head from its rightful place these last 14 years. Just in time she was free of the decent and her feet acted to regain her balance, as well as reduce some of the stress her neck had endured at the hands of her savior.

“Damn girl, watch yer step on these here flagstones, or ye'll make a tiny tub of hoof butter and be forgotten.” The one who spoke was not 5 foot tall, with over half of that matched in flaming red beard. He was probably Wider than Oden, which was saying something about any human or piece of furniture you wanted moved through a doorway. His head was as large as anyone's and face friendlier than most, but as she tried to straighten her ponytail without pain she noted his strength was not hampered by his height. As he bent and started gathering up her herbs she had dropped she noticed something reflecting inside his jacket, like a shiny shirt... Mail! A Bandit!! A DWARF!! Shocked she took a step back, into the rump of the just settling horse, causing it to side step and once again catching its rider off guard.

By now the Patrol that had nearly trampled her was half-circled around with the crowd at her back, and the nearly dismounted rider was suffering the jibes of his Brothers-in-Arms about his horsemanship skill as he reigned his horse back into control. “Will your run down old women as well as children?” a dark haired rider asked as he removed his helm and wiped the riding lather from his brow. “Are you plotting your next triumph before stabling your tired mount?” chuckled as others broke into peals of laughter. The flustered young soldier whisked his helm off and was about to retort then went silent as one last rider eased into the semi-circle around Cel.

The hammer dents of dozens of repairs on his armor and the respectful silence of his troop spoke more than the rank on his sword scabbard. “Are we accosting this child or just surrounding her for the safety of the village?” He asked in a level, almost serious tone. Unnoticed by all the Dwarf had silently slipped away, leaving Cel's herb bundle at her feet. She quickly scanned the gathering crowd but saw no sign of him, nor any sign the crowd saw anything more interesting than a muddy serving girl, much less a fully armored hated enemy in their midst. The faces of the soldiers seemed to sense her distress and scanned the crowd for some perceived threat.

The distracted soldier who had the misfortune of being the rider in her path recalled, as he began to stammer out excuses, that a young girl was nearly trampled and jumped from the saddle to check on her. The quickness of his reaction seemed to startle everyone except the Man with the battered armor, even Cel who had by now retrieved her bundle and straightened her pained tresses. “Are you alright, I truly apologize, I didn't mean to... you came out of nowhere... I almost...” and the last words just trailed away, everyone knew what Almost happened. “I'm Fine!” she said with a huff, very glad no one seemed to notice it was her fault that caused the whole scene. “Quite alright,” she amended more sheepishly as she recalled her station and whom she was addressing, “Thank you m'lord.”

“There now, no danger requiring a full troop, lets move along men. We still have to find somewhere in this mud hole to bed down for the night.” The Grizzled old warrior eased his mount forward and the others did the same, some muttering “yes sergeant” others still sneering in good humor at the dismounted soldier. Her attention returned to the young man in front of her. Yes... he was the one from her dreams, she almost shrieked as he reached out and touched her shoulder. His mouth moved, but her mind saw him screaming in terrible agony, he was pleading to her to help, she could feel alternating waves of pain and evil washing over them both, and she couldn't help him, how could she? Just a child, just a poor orphan living off Oden's “kindness”. She felt a certainty that this would come to pass that she could not explain as the rider smiled at her kindly, then turned and began to remount.

The release of his touch and his attention she melted into the fading crowd, watching him. His smooth elegant motions as he swung upon the charger, the way he hand instinctively came to his front to grasp the reins missing his Sword hilt sticking out of its scabbard. A commonplace item he reacted to instinctively. His horse that had saved her as certainly as the short man by not just tramping on it way reacting to its rider as a respected companion. All of these told her instinct he was accustomed to this station, and capable, if young.

She wondered if he was indeed the man in her dreams, and is if on cue he turned and surveyed the crowd giving her a profile that would haunt her forever, but replacing the terror and pain on his face in her dreams with his good natured smile to his pals ahead as he spurred his horse forward. He was the man in her dreams, and he certainly faced great danger, that she supposedly would witness or could prevent. She wanted to call out to him, warn him, ask his name... ask how she knew him... ask if he dreamed.

Well... duh, she knew the answer to that. No one dreamed. The Sayers have told us since the Re'Conning Dreams brought only madness, and no one dreamed unless they were going mad. Some learned to deal with their madness and became like the crazy old Rila. Rila was one of the “survivors” of the madness. She still reported to have “visions” and tell fortunes, as well as less savory things like concocting love philters and poisons. The latter two being considered deceitful and criminal in order. No one liked or trusted Rila, but she had been there for everyone during the winter sickness, even Ean, and she had never asked for any payment, just rudely barking orders and making everyone wash their hands. Some lived, some died, at least one had a mind burned up forever from the fever, but no one thanked Rila. No one trusted Rila. Rila trusted no one.

Dorne HammerHand formerly of the clan Hammerhand was stunned, but his befuddlement over the the girl didn't affect his reflexes. Over 80 yrs in the subterfuge of royal court hadn't left him and he quickly melded into the crowd. His cloak had an unnatural ability to adjust in shade and color to match its surroundings, his mannerisms were the result of many many years of Psych-training in the unit on how to avoid attracting attention. As he slipped through the crowd humans avoided meeting his gaze. The all did that as a reflex. Only the authority figures would look into your eyes, everyone else looked away to avoid seeming to stare. An interesting fact in itself, because the little girl (young woman, who could tell with Humans) clearly recognized him as a dwarf. Her reaction, the fact she looked down to him.

Now that he noticed, thats exactly what was so odd about the sensation. His new ring made him seem to grow, so he actually looked humans eye to eye when the magic was working. And until that moment it had worked just fine for several months in fact. The the lil runt he went out of his way to save somehow made his world warble, ya, thats the best way to describe it. Everything was unstable and his vision seemed to be stretching this way and that. He was lucky to scramble out of her sight before the patrol organized, and where the hell had they come from, anyway?

Ever since discovering that magnificent sample of mythril northwest of town things had been ... rushed. One event happening faster than you could, Ohh No! The Rock!, he quickly patted himself down to no avail. It must have come dislodged during the tussle in the street, he thought desperately. He was up a bit in the hills west of town and turned to try and see the location the tussle had taken place, and the street was clearing out. The Young rider was just catching up to his buddys, so he didn't have time to grab it, no one was milling about in the location over another stone in the street. Then he saw the dark blue cape that swallowed the little girl. Could she have found it, how did she see through his ring's magic, and before he could ponder either though, she looked up and locked eye's with him.

He eased back while pulling his cloak forward and slipped behind a rock. He would have to meet this young human and see if she had his rock.