Sælir!
Ég tók eftir því að einhverjir hérna eru byrjaðir að senda inn sögur og bakgrunna persóna sinna, svo að ég ákvað að slá til og leyfa ykkur að lesa bakgrunn persónu sem að ég er að spila í augnablikinu. Góða skemmtun!

Travels of Talant

The autumn leaves drifted in the cold wind. Their yellow and red colors were an odd contrast to the green forest floor. It was the twilight time, hunting time for most predators and carnivores. Talant found his way through the forest, one that he referred to as home. He had lived there for many years, learning the way of Mielikki. His mentor, the old human ranger Osfertin, had urged Talant to keep brisk pace.

As the pale moon rose above the highest trees, he found the grove where their camp rested. But something was not as it used to be. Some profound silence, some mournful existence floated above the grove. As Talant moved closer, he could see a great, white unicorn standing above Osfertins body. The unicorn turned to face him. An unearthly light shone of its muscled body and its gaze was hard to meet. It was like it could see right through Talant, see the very fabric of his soul.

Talant moved closer to Osfertin but soon realized that the old ranger was deceased. Sorrow filled his heart and tears his eyes. Nothing had prepared him for that. Suddenly soothing words appeared in is head, for he did not hear them, nor were they spoken.

“Osfertin is no more in this realm, I have called him to serve me.”

Talant looked back at the unicorn, understanding first then who it really was.

“Your destiny lies beyond this place, beyond this forest. You are ready now; you are one to serve me as a guardian on all that is green and natural. You are to be known as a ranger, as Osfertin once was. You are ready now, that were his last words.”

“But…but there is so much that I haven’t learned yet, so much…”

“Hush now, ranger and heed my words. You must seek a city in ruins, once a great city by a rolling sea, but now in ruins after a terrible dragon-war. There is a great evil gathering there and you must seek to prevent it. This is your quest, and I, Mielikki, assign you, Talanthases the ranger, to it.”

—
Talant woke with a scream. He wasn’t really sure where he was and he didn’t quite remember how he got there, but he knew where he was heading. Phlan, the ruined city. He put on his blue travel cloak and fastened his longbow to his back. He ran his fingers through his silver-colored hair. He took a quick glance at his reflection in a still and reflective pond. His almond shaped eyes were swollen from crying but still had their mesmerizing aura. He was strongly built, with a slender body and he was extremely agile. He tried to smile but didn’t do well, the memories of last night still fresh and painful.

He walked away from the pond and said farewell to the forest that had hosted him for the last decades and headed north, in Phlans direction.

—
The snowstorm raged across the Tormented Canyon in the Sunset Mountains but Talant fought on. The storm had slowed him down, and at some points he was forced to dig into it, just so he could find some shelter. He was very tired and desperate to find a place to sleep. He had battled against the weather for days now and soon his provisions would run dry.

Somewhere, high above the howling wind and sleet, a thunder rolled across the sky. He could feel the earth tremble underneath his feet.

“I got a bad feeling about this,” he said to himself. He didn’t even get a chance to finish off the last word before the snow began sliding down the hill. The avalanche grabbed him and suddenly all was black.

—

He woke up. All was black around him. He was enclosed inside the avalanche. He struggled to free himself but only managed to make a little room for himself. He was about to panic, but tried to focus on his goddess, Mielikki. Suddenly he felt warmth flow through his body and he gained new strength.

“Think, you have got to think”, he said to himself. “You will only waste your energy by shouting out, for nobody will hear you. No one lives around here, save for some yetis and polar-bears.”

After a while a plan had formed in his head. The only thing he really needed to know was which way was up. If he knew that he probably could dig his way up. The snow wasn’t so thick and hard to dig through, if you knew where to go. He managed to take off one of his winter-gloves. He let it fall from his hand. He then searched for it in the darkness and figured that he lay with his head almost sideway to the direction he wanted to dig.

He tried to roll over but a searing pain flashed through his left leg. Something must have got broken in the avalanche. Trying his best to ignore the pain he lay on his side and began to dig through the snow. He didn’t know how long it took, for in the darkness minutes were like hours and hours like minutes, but he finally got through the snow.

Blinding light shone into his eyes. The storm was gone. He crawled from the hole. His fingers were swollen and his nails torn and ripped off. He lay on the snow and let the sun warm his body. He tried to get up but the pain was unbelievable. Yet he fought on and got up. He looked around himself and saw that his backpack was not so far away. He limped over to it.

He walked on for a couple of days. His leg, fortunately, had not broken but it his knee was seriously sprained, but still it slowed him down. He hadn’t slept at all since the avalanche, eager to get out of the mountain regions. First he wasn’t sure weather he was heading in the right direction, but after days walk he found the trail again.

Late one day, couple of days after the incident, he realized that the slope was heading downwards again. He shouted in joy, for now it wouldn’t be long until he would find the “End of the road-inn”. The inn was the last stop before the caravans climbed up the Tormented canyon, over the Sunset mountains.

He walked all night and when the first rays of the waking sun lit the sky, he could see the three-store building. He hastened his journey and when the first guests were finishing their breakfast he opened the door. As soon as he had closed it again, he fell to the floor, exhausted.

—

“So, yer, goin´to the ruins of Phlan? Don’t ya know that they’re tryin´to rebuild it? Is no good, I tell ya, elf, no good. What dragons have once destroyed, no one mends and rebuilds again”

Talant stared the old, white bearded dwarf in the eyes. He didn’t really know how to respond. Dwarfs were alien to him. So proud and strong yet so big-hearted and humorous.

“Well, kind sir, if you are headed that way, I would really like to join your caravan. I can pay for my fare, in gold or service. I am an excellent archer and I know my way with a sword”.

“Bah, ha, ha. An elf that thinks of himself as a fighter. Boy, you’re greener than your looks give away. Everybody knows that long-ears are good with bows but your kin are no fighters. We dwarfs are fighters on the other hand. I and me axe have lived through a score of wars and millions of encounters with the goblin kin and I, me self, once killed a drow, what you say about that!”

The dwarf thumbed himself proudly upon his dented breastplate.

“No, elf, I think I better accept your gold for we can more than defend our caravan ourselves. Bah,ha,ha….know me way with a sword. You know what, elf, you ´re a funny one.”

—

“Well, boy! Here you have it. Phlan. If I were you I would try the Laughing gnome inn, they serve real dwarfen mead over there.”

“Thanks a lot, Baldr Munason. I will not forget you. You have been more than the help I paid you for.”

The elf and the old dwarf shake hands. For a moment they stand still, as if neither of them had anything more to say and didn’t want to spoil the moment. But after a while Talant moves on, into the crowded streets of Phlan.

It had been decades since Talant was last time in such a crowd. He didn’t fell at home, to many people were running into him and as a precaution he removed his gold pouch from his belt and into his backpack. After a while he found the inn and got himself a room. It wasn’t cheap but came with luxuries, such as mirrors and fresh water. After settling in he decided to have a look at the city. After all, it had taken him almost half a year to get here, and some points almost his life too, and he would be of no use if he didn’t at least see the city.

The atmosphere in this so-called ruined city was quite different from what he thought it would be. It buzzed with life and everywhere he looked he saw people. Obviously this city was trying to get back on its feet. He couldn’t imagine that evil forces were gathering here. Everybody seemed to be occupied and happy in his or her own worlds.

Well, the houses weren’t much, nothing like his elven-home, Calothisilanas, back in Aglarond. He was far from home now. Although he was young for elven standards, he had seen a lot of the world. His travels with Osfertin had been far and across the known world, Fearun. Osfertin had been a member of the secret organization Harpers, but Talant never took oath and joined Osfertin as a Harper.

Every now and then, some salesmen and women offered him goods or services but he politely refused. He wandered aimlessly for a while until he saw a tavern that looked friendly, at least friendly enough to step in and have pint of mead.

The tavern was dimly lit and smoke filled the common room. His eyes took a little while to get used to the illumination but he saw that most of the tables were full. The guests were mostly commoners but he could see that some carried swords and in one corner he saw a dark-robed figure with a staff, probably a sorcerer of some sort. He remembered the mages back in Calothisilanas and how everybody referred to them as powerful figures that could turn one into frog with a wave of a hand. He feared them as a child and some of that fear still lingered back in the dark alcoves of his memory.

He found a seat at the bar. He gestured the barkeeper, a fat and bald human, to bring him a pint. He noticed a small figure, a gnome, talking to a tall human. The human showed absolutely no interest in what the small gnome was talking about. He tried to hear what the gnome was saying, just for the sake of curiosity.

“So you might ask how I ended up here? Phlan, city of danger, all brave adventurers to die clearing the city from darkness, or live trying. Well, I’m not a gambling gnome, but I’ve decided to throw my dice. I’ve learnt a trick or two over the years, they might be able to earn me a bit more than the odd scribbling for some backward merchant who can barely tell which nation his gold pieces were minted. I find a group of adventurers who appear more likely to live than the average tin-box, help them out, make some money and live my life in luxury.”

To the obvious response the gnome replied, “Die trying. Good one, I haven’t heard that one before. “ With a roll of his eyes the gnome turned back to his drink.

The human turned away from the gnome and did his best to ignore him. But unfortunately for the human the gnome rambled on and on about his soon-to-be adventures. Talant smiled. Wonderful race gnomes, he said to himself.

—
After a nights sleep Talant walked out again. He was headed towards the market place again. Not that he was in need of anything but he needed to gather information. Why was he supposed to oppose and stop evil in this place of life? Though he didn’t like cities this one was indeed full of life and energy, like the woods his friend Osfertin had died in.

He walked on and stopped a few times to talk to the Phlan natives. Nobody had any evil to report. Everything seemed to be in order. As the sun rose high in the sky, he walked down a narrow lane and into another street. At the end of that street he saw a tall, gothic building. Gargoyles overlooked the street and the building had many menacing looking spires. Over the front door a huge symbol could be seen, a black hand on a triangular shield.

“By all that is good, they worship Bane, the black lord, in this place!” he said to himself. He could feel despair fill his heart. Was this really so, did they really worship the god of strife, hatred and tyranny here Phlan. Well, the city was not so far away from the evil Zhentil Keep, but still everybody really seemed nice.

“Why would anyone want to worship a god that teaches you to hate other beings and always to retaliate, whenever any does you wrong!!? Why here?” As Talant thought and questions raced in his minds, he walked on. He didn’t pay any heed to where he was going. He got back to his senses when he heard the rustling of water. He looked up and saw that he had walked out from Phlan and stood by a river. Behind him the walls of the city stood and the gate was open. Something deep inside him told him that all was not as it seemed.
As he walked through the gate a dark, mysterious figure stopped him. It was wearing dark robes with a hood that covered its head. Talant was about to speak out when it thrust a paper parchment into his hand and ran away. Talant was to surprise to yell or call after it.

The note was yellowed and old. It was crumbled and somebody had written on it in haste. It read: Meet me at the Bitter Blade tonight after sunset. The Bitter Blade was an infamous tavern in Phlan, that much Talant had learned these couple of days he had been there. Not the typical thugs tavern or the adventurers tavern, but one those dark, smoke-filled tavern where drunks; and people that didn’t want to be heard or found; went. “Seems that I have got a date!” Talant said to himself.

—
Talant stood in the door of the smoke-filled common room. His silver-colored hair flowed over his shoulder. He was wearing his dark-brown leather armor and some black trousers. His sword hung carelessly down his side.

He looked over the room, trying to spot the little cloaked figure. He noticed that others were also holding similar pieces of paper in their hands. He walked over to the bar and ordered some mead to drink.

The other persons holding the paper parchment seemed just as lost as he. He recognized the gnome that he saw in the bar the other day, but he hadn’t seen the others before.

He walked over to where this unlikely group was standing and said:
“I see that we have all been summoned here by the same person. My name is Talanthases, but in your language I am normally known as Talant. I propose that we sit down together at the table over there (and pointed over the room at an empty table).”

Talant bowed and walked over the table. The other followed, all just as insecure as he was, none really knowing why they had been summoned. They all found a seat by the table.

“Does anyone know why we have been summoned here? I didn’t get good look at the little cloaked figure that handed me this note. Though my curiosity is aroused one never can be too careful and I think that we should keep an eye on whoever that will come.”

The candlelights flickered and shadows danced across the room. Talants almond-shaped eyes sparkled and were almost alien in this light, for their violet color was strange in this town. So far he hadn’t really seen a lot of elves and he feared that there was a reason for this. This world was so full of prejudices.