B2-Chapter 16: Iron is the hand IV.
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Harsh and heavy winds blew off the mountain today as I prepared for the task ahead of me. Tehalis would be here soon. In the semi-darkness of the pre-dawn, I packed what little I would need and underwent the arduous wait. By the grace of the Gods Above, the harvest had been taken from the fields and stored mere hours before these stifling winds had begun.
No man would want to work in these conditions, nor should they be made to. Trees bent in the wind, branches ripped off and thrown across the barren fields. I would venture out into this minor maelstrom and settle whatever issue I came across.
Claymore at my side, pack on my back, I stood in the doorway and awaited the suns rise. Thick blankets of clouds withheld its light, the coming say only shades of grey.
Tehalis and ishila were nearly across the field before I sighted either of them. There was little discussion of pleasantries today as I nodded between the orc and her daughter. Tehalis, like myself, carried very little. Axes and a pack were all that I saw. Ishila gave her mother a hug and bade us both a safe journey. Both of us knew she longed to come, to help bury this problem.
Someone needed to stay behind. Fierce winds stung my eyes as we hoofed it over the empty fields and into the treeline. Even among the rampant undergrowth, the brewing storm above drowned away noise. Under the winds burden, the forest swayed to and fro, trees forced to bow before the pressure from above.
Conversation was scant as I followed behind Tehaliss rapid form. At a pace no human could hope to match, we cleaved through the thick maze of trees and brush, surrounded by shades fo green. Wildlife lay hunkered down today, shelter sought from the gale. Only the fools of fools would venture out on a day such as this.
Precisely why I had chosen to go today.
Branches being crushed beneath my hooves, trees and brush ripped aside to clear a path for my huge form, startled animals bolting from cover. All this was hidden beneath the maelstrom of wind and fear of the stormclouds above. Stealth had been a laughable notion in a green ocean where all eyes reported to the druids.
So we chose not to try.
Tehaliss familiar flew overhead, just underneath the treeline. Ghostly vultures and ravens relayed information I could not understand, just barely audible over the omnipresent wind. No words were needed as I followed in the orcs wake.
Focused though we were, the maelstrom briefly forced us to shelter against a sheer wall of overgrown rock as we descended into one of the many valleys around the Redtip. A sickly green trench swayed and moved before us, life and overgrowth as far as the eye could see.
I fail to understand. They have all this, but begrudge me my small speck of a farm far from where their interests lie?
Tehalis glanced over her shoulder at my words. A sharp laugh came from her, barely audible over the relentless howls around me.
You see it as rightfully acquired land. They refuse to recognize any such treatise.
Moments passed in the absence of words until the winds wroth faded momentarily. And then we were once more headed onwards, down into the deep valley. Hours slogged by at an agonizing pace, time crawling by despite our swift pace. Hours and hours after we had entered the massive expanse of green and brown and a dozen other colors one might deign to call a forest, Tehalis signaled to stop.
We draw near. She announced. My familiars have sighted their enclave.
How do we approach? With stealth?
They saw us coming long ago. Every eye, every ear of this place relays back to them.
Well that was comforting to know. Expected, however.
I have delivered you here. Now, anything that follows is of your prerogative. What plans do you have? The orcs voice was almost of serene calm, dead of emotion.
I will attempt to make peace. Should that fail, I will ensure the safety of my farm and my workers.
Little else was asked. Instead, I took one last check of my supplies and nodded that I was ready.
Slowly, carefully, I followed Tehalis down from the ledge we had sheltered on and towards our destination. The trees ended for a short while, and habitation rose before us. Plants twisted themselves into shapes of pillars, walls and roofs, all leading towards an arch of stone.
Hand upon the claymores hilt, I walked cautiously, noting the emptiness. Any scent I could have caught was ripped away by the howling wind, and my ears could pick up little over the gale. Watering eyes further deteriorated my poor vision.
Into this, I walked well and truly blind.
These plant structures swayed in the wind, flexible and adaptive under natures fury. To and fro they bent, empty and silent.
Further in we went, until a stone maw gaped before us. Plant life overflowed from the caverns mouth, stone barely visible underneath layers of creeping vines and flowers. Tehalis gestured, and I followed.
Instinct told me someone watched my every move.
What little light came through the grey cloud cover was further dimmed as we descended down into the caverns guts. Tinges of nervousness tickled my insides now. The settlement outside was empty, and the forest lay silent. Tehalis was certain they knew we were coming.
She was correct. We emerged from a stone corridor into a massive cavern that overflowed with life.
And here, they waited.
There was no singular species that called themself druid, I found. My eyes and nose confirmed humans, tieflings, beastfolk in disproportionate numbers, halflings and even a few rare scaled Dreks. These were already dozen, and there remained even more life in here. Familars, I assumed as I passed over bear-like monsters, lean long wolf-things and mossdeer with large racks of horns than I had ever glimpsed.
A small army awaited me. I was almost flattered.
All this for a single minotaur? I broke the silence, amusement slipping into my tone in spite of my best efforts.
All this for surety. A voice barked back. A tall, lean beastman, fur covered in vines and a green tint to his eyes. We know your kind.
You have watched my farm for so long, and the first thing you expect is blood? Not that they were wrong, but I had genuinely thought my actions had painted a better image of me than some blood-addled savage.
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Barring any sudden surprises, I very likely could kill everything here and bury this place and the problems it presented.
On the surface, this is what it seemed. But the thing about pesky Levels and Skills and Classes was that they werent visible, so one never knew. It was as much caution as a genuine want for a peaceful resolution that stayed my hand.
To call myself a peaceful man, I needed to at least try.
With no wind to impede me, I could clearly smell the tension and anger in the air.
These people well and truly meant me harm. I was not simply a vague, far-off concept. They knew me. Had watched me through the eyes of their familiars. What had I done to arouse this much emotion in strangers?
What quarrel have you with me? The rumble rolled across the open cavern, blunt and on-point.
Desacrator. One of the masses returned flatly. Destroyer.
Murmurs spread, voices echoing these sentiments.
You hew away at natures beauty, align yourself with those that would see its freedom be trampled underfoot and its presence reduced.
Baron Ironmoor? I have made peace, nothing more. We are not aligned. If these are the assumptions upon which you make attacks on me and mine, then you are fools.
When I imagined druids, I had thought of peaceful beings in tune with nature. This was not what I saw.
You have made peace with a monster. Another druid hissed. A destroyer. There can be no mercy for those who lie with the wicked.
This a very, very rudimentary way of seeing the world. I cautioned. You speak in absolutes. And I know this was not the true reason. You harassed my farm even before I made any sort of effort to calm my relations with Ironmoor.
I wrought no injustice on you before your minions came to my door. Of this much I was sure. So, I ask again. Why?
Another spoke.
You are the symptom of rot. The underlying sickness that comes. First you come. Then you massacre the Stonemongers, and upset the ecosystem. You embed yourself on the mountain, hew away the forests for barren land that is contained to your desires. There was anger in her words, writ upon her face.
Tehalis twitched from behind me, her scent dead and filled with hard things. The orc lurked, ready to spring into action.
All of this. Is pure, untamed and unbroken nature. A paradise for those who want freedom from the chained, choked order of so many other lands. The you come, and invite more here.
Another voice accused, and I listen, stoic all the while.
You chop away the forest, choke the river and contain it all. Trap what should be free and wild.
A snort escaped me. Genuine amusement, mixed with incredulous disbelief.
I have become the symptom of disease for so little? almost guaffawed. Forests, valleys and wilderness as far as the eye can see, and my little plot of land, eked out so I may live in peace, is what offends you?
There was derision in my tone now, mostly unbidden.
I defended myself against stonemongers, slavering monsters that wrought naught but destruction all around them, and for that I am an enemy of nature?
They have their place in the wilds, among the ecosystem.
Oh, they had one. Until the attacked me. I returned, rare venom in my voice. Those gathered around me shifted, some with unease, others tense and prepared for action.
And where were you all when the dungeon erupted and threatened to destroy your precious nature? I accused them now. A quick jab to throw them on the back foot. I was the one who ventured within to stop the tide of destruction that would see this land reduced to nothing. I did not even realize you existed then, so well were you hidden.
The dungeon was natures defense against invasion from those like you. Another nameless druid hissed, eyes crackling with yellow-green energy. We would not interfere when the land is threatened enough to send out its final solution.
Gods Above. I mouthed after a moment. Youre zealots.
Only the strong of will and body can bear the burden of defending what is free.
This was spoken with pride as my stomach dropped. There was little reason these people would listen to.
You would begrudge me a small space to grow my crops and live without bloodshed, but sit back and let a ravenous tide of hunger consume all. Not a question now. You have little idea what the ArnThema even are, yet delude yourself to think they serve natures purpose.
Enough. Came the hiss. Talk has passed. You cam here today to die, minotaur.
I gazed around and sighed. Why must it always come to blood.
Are you so eager to bleed? I asked, my voice tired, I have cut down a godling, held off legions of Arnthema, overcome everything this world has thrown at me. What threat could you possibly offer that I have not already put back into the dirt?
Fate laughed once those words left my mouth. I should have know better, truly.
The ground beneath my feet gave way, just as I sighted the chained, slavering form of the Apex in the pit underneath me.
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