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The Great Western Mountains

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Aiden:
The Great Western Mountains
Few speak credibly of the splendors of the West in this Age of the Nexus. It is a distant place to most, one of rugged hills leading to impassable cliffs seemingly set to bar the way of unfit travelers. Those who so cleverly sought to pass them by the waters of the Great Divide, to move against its currents and seek its source, are crushed beneath falls at least a thousand meters high. Only mighty heroes, powerful magics, or recent advances in aviation technology permit exploration of anything more than the foothills of these tremendous peaks and the wonders they hide within. Even they find limits to what they may reach before the great mists of the mountains, known as the Mountains’ Mantle, consume all sense of space and time.

Tales that have been spun from the memories of the ancient and adventuresome speak of forgotten magics, terrible monsters, and lost artifacts dating back to the earliest histories of the Nexus. It contains places of power long sought after by countless expeditions from the Citadel of Sorcery and other various figures of wealth and influence: the Black Forge within whose fires any item might be wrought; the Temple of Ages, where one can witness the truth of times before and after; or the World’s End, where the restless shades of the First Chief’s companions are said to stand vigil against horrors left over from the Third Age.

What is spoken less by the wise are stories of the people who live in these hills and valleys: the glory of their lands, and the hardships that have endured since their migration to the Great Western Mountains long ago. Below is listed but a fragment of their struggles.

Some Notable Areas
The Land of Forever Fall, Endien, is a magical kingdom inhabited by the long-lived elven Highborne, their half-blooded commoner children, and a small minority of humans lurking at the fringes. Their Great Houses practice traditions of craftsmanship, martial arts, and musical magic built over thousands of years in isolation. They are the inheritors of a long exile from earliest form of the Citadel of Sorcery, the descendants those who refused to abide slavery and dark magic and were willing to fight to free those who were victims of those very things. Unfortunately they have spent the last several thousand years in a state of conflict with the descendants of the very beings they rescued from bondage, refusing to allow them entry to the rest of the Nexus to finish their vengeance.

The Land of Neverending Night, Vinyë, is a land of choking ash and fiery rain. Separated from the wondrous hills of Endien by a range of volcanoes and a series of fortress gates, the monstrous inhabitants crave vengeance for ancient sins. The Highborne, their children, the sorcerers of the Citadel, anyone and everything that supports their power - all of it must satiate the hatred that dwells in their hearts. Orcs, goblins, and other savage creatures compete with one another for scarce resources and hone their fury for every war to follow. And yet now they have grown quiet, still, for in their bones they can feel the weakening of the seal preventing their great ancestor, the Dark Lord Yaru, from rising again. Their time is near once more.

Aiden:

--- Quote from: SINIB on February 02, 2021, 09:56:06 PM ---Thorra

"You dragons sure do huff and puff a lot. I guess habits stay around through the shifts between different forms, huh?" Thorra got off her, and began following close behind her into the mists.

--- End quote ---

Sage

Sage stiffened at the comment, and brought a hand up to touch her dainty little nose. "Huff and puff...?" She began to slowly turn her eyes back to Thorra, and appeared uncharacteristically lost with wide eyes. "I-Is it really that obvious? Have I been giving away tells of my true nature the entire time?"

She ignored for a precious moment the mist clinging at the edges of their sight, and turned her attention to the thorny brush nearby. "Have the beasts of the wild merely humored me all these many seasons, allowing me to believe my impersonation is adequate?!"

The dragon was almost whining, her hands clenched together and held down past her waist.

SINIB:

--- Quote from: Aiden on February 03, 2021, 11:02:57 PM ---Sage

Sage stiffened at the comment, and brought a hand up to touch her dainty little nose. "Huff and puff...?" She began to slowly turn her eyes back to Thorra, and appeared uncharacteristically lost with wide eyes. "I-Is it really that obvious? Have I been giving away tells of my true nature the entire time?"

She ignored for a precious moment the mist clinging at the edges of their sight, and turned her attention to the thorny brush nearby. "Have the beasts of the wild merely humored me all these many seasons, allowing me to believe my impersonation is adequate?!"

The dragon was almost whining, her hands clenched together and held down past her waist.

--- End quote ---

Thorra

"It's cute. I'm sure your princess would agree with me if she were here, too." Thorra shrugged her shoulders and ran her eyes down Sage's exotic form. Even though she still felt rather bad about what she'd done, she felt that once this task was completed, she'd be able to put it behind her. It was exciting. So she wouldn't allow herself to fall into depression and keep walking forwards, growing her legend and truly becoming something more.

Plus, Sage had the curves in all the right places. It was hard not to look at the lithe, swaying hips that followed her every step.

"I wouldn't worry about it too much if I were you."

Aiden:
Sage

"E-Eh? You truly believe so?" Sage looked herself over again, and in a manner most certainly not bearing any semblance of deliberation managed to present instead a side profile to Thorra rather than one entirely from behind, or frontal. "But should I not aim to be most believable in my appearance? Yet you say this is the sort of thing other females like..."

She pursed her lips, and exhaled through her nose again. Then her eyes traveled down to between Thorra's legs, as if uncertain of something. It lasted but a moment, and then she was turning abruptly around again and clenching her hands together.

"No matter. Let's keep going!"


The mist was certainly getting worse. What powers the two explorers were capable of bringing to bear against its inevitable encroachment amounted to little, for these could scarcely be an ordinary phenomenon. It would hang, heavier than air, lurking at the edge of their twosome like a pack of wolves waiting to pounce at the first sign of weakness.

Thorra could only see clear the path immediately around herself and Sage. They were fortunate enough to have that bit of grace, which was clearly centered around the great druid, as if her rapport with nature itself could only go this far with it. Even Sage had to pause at times to orient herself, and took long and frustrated breaths in those periods.

Were it only the mist serving as a barrier then these pauses would amount to little. But there was all too clearly something hiding just beyond sight with ponderous tread and slavering breath.

SINIB:
Thorra

There were many powers Thorra was aware of which would have been able to aid in the dragon's search. Unfortunately, the hammer possessed none of them. It wasn't her role, and never had been part of her design philosophy to be a tracker. She was a weapon, and she stood strong.

The frigid, whipping winds bounced off of her iron body as if it were a part of the mountains themselves. She kept close to Sage, both for her own safety and to protect her charge in equal parts.

She reached out and gripped Sage's hand with her own. "Something's coming." She said quietly. "Be prepared for a fight."

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