Lost in Fallien - P1 - Open

[Taskmienster]

Poof

In a cloud of rotten egg scented smoke I appeared, uninvited and unexpectedly. My body felt weightless for just a second and though my eyes were squeezed shut so tight i could feel tears at the edges, i knew i was no longer in Scara Brae. As i opened my golden orbs to see my surroundings i suddenly felt vertigo, and the horizontal horizon was shifting upwards.

Thud

I unceremoniously struck the ground, falling out of the sky. Immediately I rolled onto my side and curled into a fetal position. My skin was crawling like there were chigger bugs crawling under it, but from head to toe. It stung though like my funny bone had been hit, but everywhere. The last thing i remembered was my mom yelling for me to stop fighting, yelling for me to run, but it was too late. That priest or paladin that had come to town screamed something about banishing the evil and suddenly everything had gone black.

With muscles twitching occasionally and uncontrollably, and an overwhelming feeling of nausea, i opened my eyes to find out where i had been banished too. Under my long, slender fingers was soft sand that was warm to the touch. As far as i could see it extended that way, rolling and swaying as if the sand was an ocean that has been frozen in time. It if wasn’t for the overwhelming anxiety and fear of being lost that was quickly overtaking me I might have thought it was a nice sight.

“Where is this…” I sighed, backing up slowly into a small oasis behind me as I pulled my knees into my chest and tried to control my breathing.

[Lilithios]

A Black Hole opened up in the sky above and a demon like creature that appeared to be of Elven descent came out of it. The Black hole wasn't too far from the Oasis, But it still manifested in the sky. right where the demon it spat out DIDN'T want to be. she ended up falling into the water below and crawled out, flopping to her side as if the water wounded her somehow. She must have some element of flame if water could do so much as harm her. Regardless she laid there motionless for a good while before finally slowly sitting up to catch her bearings. At any rate, she APPEARED to be a female. But who can tell with anything remotely demonic in nature. One thing was clear however. The creature seemed to be an off worlder.

It took the woman a bit to catch her bearings. She has wings albeit one laid downwards and unfurled while she slowly pulled the other to her back. She grunted in pain as she muttered incoherent elvish phrases under her breath. She looked around dazed, lost, and clearly not in her home world anymore. But as she caught her bearings, she noticed another demon like creature at the water nearby.

She approached him cautiously, but quickly collapsed to the sand. Either the water weakened her, Or she broke one of her wings in the sudden appearance she made

[Taskmienster]

“...seven, eight, nine--” Suddenly my count to ten to calm my nerves was cut off abruptly by the sound of something smacking water. It did not sound so much like a splash, as it did when my goblin buddy Dustin back home belly-flopped onto a perfectly still pool. It was as if the surface of the water was a thin solid covering the gentle, caressing liquid beneath. I snapped my head towards the sound immediately and tried to push myself around the palm tree I had been resting against.

Out of the water emerged a creature, scary looking in a way. She had long, curled horns and odd colored hair. Back home, those religious travelers would have had a field day with her if they saw her instead of me… then I realized. “Why am I judgin’?”

I pushed my purple-black hair back from my brow and around the two small horns protruding from my own forehead. I had no place to judge some other person for their look. If the priest thought I was a demon, then this person was probably a demon too, and maybe she could explain what a demon was or where they came from.

As the woman slowly walked towards me I moved out from behind my cover and put my hands up to show I meant no harm. She collapsed and her slender form was covered in sand that immediately began to cling to the moisture on her hands and knees. “Ma’am, are you alright? You aren’t looking mighty fine right now.”

I was unsure if I should approach or not, so remained at a distance and waited.

[Lilithios]

The creature responded with a feeble attempt to lift herself off the ground, swiftly met by her slender form again flopping to the sand beneath her. That was likely a "no" But she didn't seem strong enough to vocalize the response. She must've taken a pretty rough hit when she landed. One thing was clear though, The creature, whatever the heck she was, clearly needed aid. She did not seem hostile though or at the very least isn't a threat

[Taskmienster]

I could see her move as if to respond, but then nothing. It was like a puff of air was exhaled and caused a small whirlwind of sand, but there was no vocalization behind it. I could see from her ragged breathing that she was injured and that she most likely needed help.

The first thing I thought about was back home, back in the hamlet of Tastow, where I had seen a mare come back from pasture lame and in pain. She had been similar, trying to right herself but unable, steadying her breath but her heart beating heavily. There was very little option for an injured animal on the farm, and looking at this woman made me wonder what I could do to help.When this had happened in the past, I had to put poor Deliliah down and I had cried for days.

Instantly I felt the weight of my own heart. This was not an animal though, right, this was a being capable of coherent thought like myself… a someone and not a something? I looked at the jagged wing on one side and the furled one on the other.

“Ma’am… or missus?” I cautioned as I walked towards her with my hands outstretched, palms showing I had nothing to harm her with. “I ain’t gonna hurt ya’, just wanna’ know whatcha need or how I can help. I’m kinda lost myself…”

[Lilithios]

The creature glanced at him seeing he is clearly not a threat to her. Since he's offering help, She may as well accept it. She tried to muster enough strength to move, and managed just enough to take hold of his outstretched hand. It was clear she was in rough shape. Her breath was indeed ragged and shaky, But she did manage to hoarsely get a word out. The shortened version of her name "Lilith...."

Ok So her name's Lilith. That was a good start, But she still looked like she was on Death's Doorstep. though she seemed to be trying to hold out long enough to be helped. Suppose first and foremost, they're gonna need some kind of shelter

[Taskmienster]

The woman’s hand reached out and took mine. I could feel the rough surface of her skin beneath the gritty sand as her weak grip pulled on my fingers. As quickly as it was there her hand slipped away back to her side. I stood in front of her dumbstruck and unsure of what to do. It felt like my mind was racing over possibile actions for some time, though it most likely was a matter of seconds, before she spoke.

“Lillith, is that your name?” I squated in front of her, shifting the quarterstaff slung across my back so that I could get level eye to eye. She looked up to me for a moment as if to confirm with a yes that she had given me her name. “Well then, I wish we’d’a met under better circumstances, but my name is Valic.”

I looked around cautiously. Behind the woman was the small pool of water and the mat of lush green grass that had spread from it. Like blood flowing from the heart, the water nurioused the life around the little oasis we had found ourselves in. It was difficult to say how large the verdant area was, as I could not see through much of the brush and palms though. Behind me was the sea of sand. I stood and looked at the near cloudless sky to get my bearings.

“By my recon, it is either close to mid-morn or mid-afternoon. It’s hard to put a finger on and I haven’t much paid mind to the shadows since… well, since we got here and you in your state and all.” As I spoke I moved back towards the first tree on the edge of the oasis that I had started at. “How about this,” I begun gathering palm fronds and other sticks and twigs I could find, “I’ll slap together a fire right quick and you can rest by that? A little warmth aught to help dry you out quick and maybe the smoke will signal someone to come help us too.”

[Lilithios]

Lilith nodded showing she was coherent enough to understand what was being said. She was still very weak in that state and unable to right herself. She began to think on how best to communicate since her feeble condition didn't leave her with much more option then fragile whispers from time to time. Surely her condition can't JUST be the impact could it?

[Taskmienster]

After some time, and considerable effort on my part, there was a small fire going. The palm fronds that were dry caught fire immediately, but the ones I had lopped off the branches were slow to burn. There was a mixture of black, tar-like smoke that was coming from the fresh flora and a sickly-sweet scent that was in there as well. I could only guess that the sweet smell was from the jagged bushes with the small spikes on them, those had little pastel blue fruit on it.

“So you haven’t said nothin’ in a while…” I cautiously moved the embers and tried to build a base to put more kindling on. As I was working on the fire I noticed that the shadows were getting longer to indicate that it was approaching night. From what I could tell, I would have to be tending a fire and a wounded demon for the night. “Do you mind telling me where you’re from?”

[Lilithios]

Lilith nods having regained SOME of her strength at the very least "My world is actually a cluster of worlds thrown together.....So it's hard to get a clear cut name on it....." She coughed clearly not strong enough yet to form full on conversations, But she was trying at least. It's progress

[Taskmienster]

A cluster of worlds, it was an odd way to describe a world I thought. I was not sure exactly what that meant. My understanding of the world was only what my mom had taught me, or what I had gleaned from the small hamlet of Tastow in Scara Brae growing up. As far as I knew, there were islands of people and multitudes of different races of people. Some were nice and some were mean, but it was hard to tell which and it did not quite matter on the race as much as the person. Up until a week ago, I had never even been more than twenty miles away from Tastow.

Then the priest and paladin came to my home and called me evil and tried to take me away. They had treated me like I was a bad person for being alive, but I didn’t even know them. The last thing I remember is accidentally having magic spring from my hands to defend myself. Then my mom yelled for me to escape and as I tried to escape my body was wracked by pain and suddenly I was in a world of heat and a sense of anger, then in a desert.

I shook my head to try and get rid of the thoughts of my mom reaching out for me and instead clenched my teeth hard enough for my canine’s to dig into my lips. With a sign I looked back to Lilith. “What about yer backgroun’? Surely you can remember whatcha were doin’ before ya got here?”

[Lilithios]

Lilith nods "That i do remember....I was flying trying to escape my own kin. They're the kind that treats you poorly if you don't give up absolutely anything that made you different.....Then i got hit by one of them and fell through some kind of Black hole. Next thing i knew i belly flopped into a pool of water. Side note, Illidari don't do well in Water" (I literally don't know how else to describe the demon hunters as Both the demon hunter and illidari are mentioned in wow)

[Taskmienster]

“Your kin didn't like ya for who you were, an' attacked ya?” I was dumbfounded. I stared at Lilith and tried to picture where she came from. Maybe it was the same world of crimson light and flames that I had been before appearing in the desert. My experience was similar, not being wanted in that fiery wasteland and being spat out like a wad of chew into a spittoon. “That doesn’t seem very polite or hospitable at all.”

I stood up and grabbed some more vegetation I had gathered, bigger pieces. These chunks of wood sat on the embers as if immune for some time before finally giving way to flame. It was almost as if the husk of the palm trunk gave up and accepted its fate. The fire was beautiful, full and brilliant. It flared for all of a half-second before the delicate hairs across the outside of the palms were burnt away and the wood was slowly sizzling.

“Back where I come from, my home… we don’ treat our family like that. And my family don' look nothin’ like me.” I leaned in towards the light of the fire and pointed towards my horns. “These started when I was a youngin'. Never mind you the red skin, no. But my momma, she’s an elf, she is the nicest woman. My best frien’s a goblin, he’s Dustin. And I work fer a halfling named Mr. Tumlin - he can be stric' but…”

I took a second as I realized I was rambling. A tear welled up in the corner of my eye, remembering all the good friends and people I considered family back home. I wondered if I would ever see them again. “I don’t even know where we are now,” I admitted, poking the large log with a stick, “But I just wanna get home. You would like my home though, its full of good peoples.”

[Lilithios]

Lilith nodded in understanding. She used to be an elf too before she became. Well a demon. She wanted to go home too but in her case that just didn't seem to be an option. She had no way back to her world. But maybe She could help him

"I may not be able to return to my world..." She began "but perhaps I can help you get back to your home?" She offered

[Taskmienster]

I nodded politely to Lilith, smiling at the kindness in her response. Despite losing her family, though they seemed hostile at best, she was willing to help me. It was nice to find someone who I could see eye-to-eye with. Granted, it was also nice to meet someone else who had horns for that matter.

The fire was slowly dwindling, so I had to put more lumber on it, but otherwise it was a quiet night. Overhead the stars were beginning to glow like diamond pinpricks across the pure violet streaked background through an assortment of wispy clouds painted an auburn hue. The sun was setting and the winds were shifting from dry heat to a bone chilling cold.

“We’re going to either need a bigger fire,” I said as I looked around at the small oasis and shadow laden sands beyond, “...or shelter of some sort. It doesn’t look like there is any real shelter here though, except for maybe a small rock out cove? What do you think?”

[Lilithios]

Lilith nodded lightly and tried getting up, although she was still much too hurt to be moving around "Good call...I certainly don't want to freeze to death out here" She chuckles

[Taskmienster]

I shrugged and pointed towards the crags close to the entrance of the oasis, which faced inwards and seemingly away from the night winds. I plucked a large branch from the flames and tried to scoop up what kindling I could with my opposite arm. "We're going to have to move our fire into the area if we want to keep the warmth. Grab what you can and meet me over there, we'll just use this torch to start it."

[Lilithios]

She nods As she gathers the kindling and whatever she can And meets starts moving towards the area. She was still wounded however and forced to move slowly as a result. It wasn't easy for her to have to struggle like this.

[Taskmienster]

The two of us tucked into an outcropping. I dropped my pile of brush and small twigs a big haphazardly just inside the mouth of the cave, and placed the burning piece of timber onto it. I could see the smoke start to slowly seep from the fresh palm fronds. It looks as if the stick was glowing behind the frond, slowly causing it to change to an ashen color before eventually catching flame. I shuffled the other smaller branches over it and turned towards Lilith.

"Let me help ya," I said as I took the small stack of branches from her hands and offered a shoulder for her to use as support. "That mus' be one nasty wound ya got for it to still be ailin' you like that."

[Taskmienster]

By the time the fire was going the night had definitely gotten much colder, almost to the bone cold that I really didn’t like. The two of us sat quietly, staring at the flames. Every so often I would toss on another couple twigs and the thin branches I had found. It was pretty obvious that the fire wasn’t going to last the entire night though, not without constant maintenance.

“I’m gonna go look fer more,” I indicated towards the wood and stood up. After dusting the loose sand off myself I pulled my hood up and wandered into the darkness of the night.

I could hear the stiff gusts of wind whistle through the cracks of the rocky shelter we had sequester ourselves in. It was an eerie sound that was hauntingly irrithmic. In a foreign land, unsure where, I couldn’t help but feel my skin crawl in my discomfort. Yet in the distance, it looked like there was some sort of flickering of light.

“Wha?” I questioned aloud as I watched the dot of light swing hypnotically. “Hey! I see somethin’ comin’ this way!”

[Lilithios]

Lilith got up slowly to examine what she saw coming "Think it's friendly?" She asked

[Taskmienster]

The winds buffeted my sharp ears in waves of turbulence and calm, whipping underneath my hood and at times lifting it, at others pinning it to my cheeks. Through them I was straining to catch even the faintest of sound coming through the night from the swaying light. I was staring so intently at it I had not heard Lilith walk up next to me. With a start, I hopped to my side and snapped my head towards her.

“Oh dear,” I said with a heavy exhale. “You scared me. I didn’t hear you come up at all.”

I pointed at the light with a gloved hand and traced the pendulum-like motion of the light with my finger in the air. “I don’ quite know, ya know? I ain’t quite sure what we’re lookin’ at to be right ‘onest with ya.”

We stood in the winds, folding arms across chest and staring at the approaching vision. I had a strong suspicion that whatever it was, it was coming for the oasis in the desert we had found ourselves in. My geography lessons back home had not prepared me to regugitate the multiple known deserts of Althanas, but I had been thinking about it for a while since arriving.

“Ya know, I been wondering where we are, and I think we jus’ might be in Fallien. It coul’ be a number of others too, but hard to tell really. I’m jus’ thinkin’ that the trees ain’t quite right for another desert tha’ I know of…” my words drifted, rambling thoughts slipping from a distracted mind. “Less jus’ see what this turns out ta be, can ya’ fight if we need ta?”

[Lilithios]

Lilith nods and brings out her claws "Oh yes. I'm injured, but i can still put up a fight if i gotta" Lilith said as together with her companion, she walked closer to the light to see what it is. and observe of it's hostile