Windborne Wanderer: A Sky Captain's Tale

[EpicKetchup]

Table of Contents:

[[To be edited and beauty-fied, once I figure out how to link to posts. xD]]

'Earth Mother stick a cactus up my ass.. I did not think that anything could top above-ground sentry duty in terms of boredom, but this… this is by far the champion of boring duties. Vlit.' Rhasa thought to herself as she padded along a half-built room, taking care not to step onto the ghostly image of the wooden planks and take an unwanted shortcut from the top floor to the bottom floor in less than 4 seconds. 'I at least hope that Locklear has found something to do… that boy and his "errands", honestly...'

She took a swig of spring water from a wineskin attached to her belt, wiping away the perspiration that beaded on her forehead. 'What a curious atmosphere… it is hot, much like Zekrah, but it is so… what was the word used again? Humid?' She nodded to herself absentmindedly and continued to have a mental conversation with herself, her eyes slowly scanning the sun-dappled jungle foliage atop her precarious perch. A faded, almost ethereal chunk of stone vibrated before her eyes and she calmly took a step backward to allow it to fully coagulate into this plane of existence. Rhasa reached out with a hand and pressed firmly against it, testing its solidity. The stone was smooth and cool under her hand - wherever it had came from, this manor was most definitely not of a jungle-origin. Perhaps a nice, cool tundra-esque environment?

A harsh barking broke her train of thought and without thinking, she pulled a slim, thin dagger with an ornately carved handle from its sheath on her thigh. She turned her head at the noise just in time to see her faithful wolf take a flying leap at a chicken. "Bismuth! F'nar stad fuul!" she called out as she shook her head. "Vro xa-ir…" The wolf in question gave a plaintive whine, but left the chicken (sans a few feathers) alone and obediently laid down in the centre of the courtyard, near the bubbling fountain centre piece.

She went up to him and gave him a comforting rub on the top of his head, ruffling the trimmed fur with her gloved hands - it turns out that shears work equally well on wolves as they do on sheep. "Vo kanin… Tihk au madr, jahk?" Bismuth gave a soft 'woof' in affirmation and turns his head towards the entrance, tail wagging contently. What a good dog… they don't make dogs like they used to. Out of the seven she had woo'd to her side with various treats and crooned words, Bismuth was the only one that was loyal enough - and smart enough! - to survive this long by her side. Why do the wolves here have a tendency to jump out of airships when it has reached maximum altitude? Why not wait for the ship to finish descending first?

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, Rhasa smoothly slid off the half-finished wall and begins to pad through the manor, her footsteps ringing loud and clear on the solid, thick wooden planks that tile the floor. Earlier today, her left eye twitched and she previously dismissed that as a side-effect from being in the jungle for so long, but as the day wore on and morning turned into afternoon, her twitching became more prominent and increased in frequency. She knew she had some degree of arcane talent, but not to the extent that Halsey or other more 'magical' beings such as elves and demons hold.

At least, not anymore.

But that glorious chapter of her life had been abruptly closed by a decision she had made and she will bear her punishment with honour and dignity.

Her twitching had led her to the barely completed library, the bookshelves empty and barren - the stone encasing had only pulled itself together very recently. But a single tome lay on its side and Rhasa was immediately drawn to it. Curiousity overcoming her, she padded over to the aforementioned book and placed a hand on it. Although her grasp of the arcane arts was severely limited, she still had enough raw talent left to at least feel if there was a protective ward. There were none and she flipped the book's cover, expecting pages and pages of barely legible writing on some obscure element of the arcane arts.

Instead, it was completely blank. Sheet after sheet of slightly yellowed paper, just waiting for the black mark of words to be written on them. She took the book with her as she sat down on a half-completed chair, leaning on the completed side as she tapped a blank page thoughtfully. The manor was silent; only the crackling of burning torches could be heard as well as the ambient sounds of the surrounding jungle. Perhaps this was a sign of mercy and pity from the Earth Mother? Was this a suggested way to amuse herself in order to prevent her from doing something stupid to stave off boredom?

Well, anything is better than shuffling around the building waiting for the wall to build itself stone by stone. She wasn't going to look at a hundred and twenty-eight stone pieces fly together and reassemble themselves into a vertical wall. The only time she would have counted that high was to tally up her kill count - anything else… just not worth the effort.

As the chair fully materializes into the current dimension, she takes out a charcoal stub, opens the book up to the first page and begins to write in the cursive runes of her native alphabet. 'This feels like school again…'



Captain's Log: Entry 1: 25th Day of the Bismuth month

I do not normally carry books with me, but I was so bored and this blank book was just in front of me…it looked like if it were begging me to take it.

So I did.

Not like anyone would miss one single book out of the hundreds, even thousands that would be slowly taking a physical form. I might as well do something constructive with my time while I wait for this manor to slowly piece itself together.

The General, Halsey and I went relic hunting, the siren call of adventure too strong a pull for all three of us. Out of the shenanigans that happened during the last few weeks, we managed to pull some useful relics from the ruins of civilizations long past. Some tomes, engraved armour pieces, bladed-weapons imbued with arcane enhancements… your usual 'treasure' stashed away in the most well-protected room of a dungeon. We split up the loot evenly, of course. Each of us has our own agenda and wants and needs - the fact that we are cooperating like this will ensure maximum efficiency. Already Halsey managed to scrounge up a few books he is interested in. My First Mate has taken a liking to levitating them and reading them while he walks around the manor. I am just waiting for the day that he does not watch his step and fall down a level or two. Not that it will do anything to him, of course. I swear that armour of his can stop anything save a direct explosion from one of those strange green beasts - 'creepers' I heard they were called. Of course, there are disadvantages to walking in a large, metal shell. Fitting through door frames is one such disadvantage. During the first few days of camping here, Halsey has gotten stuck in a doorway several times. I think the manor noticed and decided to widen the doors for him. They were definitely not this wide when I first laid eyes on them.

Which brings me to my next point. Earth Mother bless us… what have we discovered? And more importantly, is it worth the crash my airship took to get here? I hate jungles. I wish I could light all the jungles in this land on fire and watch all the sun-blasted vegetation burn to the ground. But, no. I would probably be a wanted criminal and make some people very, very unhappy. So I will refrain myself from doing that… for now. Maybe one day, when I am old and about to pass away. I will go into a jungle with a burning torch, purposely trip over a protruding root and laugh as everything around me is consumed in flames.

I digress.

When we flew over this manor, it was nothing but a barren stone floor with small edges peeking out from the ground that formed a low-rise perimeter. As the days faded out into weeks, we saw the manor slowly reconstruct itself piece by piece. It is an awe-inspiring sight, so to say. We do not know who the owner of this manor is, but we have tentatively claimed it as our now base of operations - at least until my airship is fixed. But at the rate this excess arcane energy is gnawing at my own limiting wards, my ship will not be fixed for quite a while…

Halsey seems to be excited about what the manor holds. I can only assume that his arcane senses told him of a powerful relic or construction being hidden in this very building. And my guess is that the slowly forming intricate wards on the floor of the basement has something to do with that. But, until there is solid proof is presented in front of my eyes, all my assumptions and guesses will only be that - assumptions and guesses. Only time can tell just what exactly this manor holds.

Feh! Night falls. Has time passed on by so quickly? Contrary to the boredom I experience in the day, night is were all the action is - the arcane energy this manor exudes must be what is attracting all these beasts and creatures towards our humble abode. Well then. Time to show them just why we Zekrahians are feared warriors.

For my land!



As the chittering and clacking of the oversized spiders and animated skeletons reached her ears, Rhasa closed the book with a soft thump, tucked it into her satchel and whipped out her throwing knives, wielding one in each hand. She vaulted across the ghostly image of a table and threw herself into battle.

[Crashlander04]

((I hope you stay on Kiwike for a long time.

[geckosquid]

((You are a wonderful individual.))

[Gdp203]

EK I missed you dearly, i see this will be the Caelion for our little family, away from the scumbag i will not mention.