Into the Peaks (IC, Lost Ages, PT/Fantasy, Closed)

[Honorisia]

The sun rose over the peaks in the east, drenching what remained of the City of Kush in a golden light. Several pillars of smoke rose into the night sky, marking parts of the city still fighting against the government forces. A small stocky man, dressed in full battle armour with an axe that was as long as he was tall, shouted to a young man astride a roan charger. "My lord, we must leave at once. Once King David realises that you are no longer in the..." "Shut up Ruttledge!" shouted back crown prince Oliyan. "My city, my home... It's gone. All gone, and it's my fault." The prince gazed over the city, his eyes reflecting the fires still burning. Ruttledge smashed the haft of his axe against a rock with such force that it shattered the rock in two. "Be that as it may, you must lead the people that escaped to safety. Your father will have them executed as an example to the rest of the country." The young prince turned towards the people camping in the valley below him. "Gather what troops remain and meet me at the eastern edge of the camp." Ruttledge rushed off to obey his orders, leaving Oliyan alone on the hilltop. Oliyan jabbed his heels into his horse's flanks and headed towards the jumble of people in the valley below.

Two hours later

Prince Oliyan stood atop a rock that protruded out of the side of the valley, overlooking the people that had left their homes in the city that now burned across the ridge. "People of Kush, we were forced from our homes by my father. He wanted to force us too submit to his will, he wanted us to obey the rule of a harsh king. We did not submit and instead left our homes to seek refuge from his armies. But they will not stop at nothing to crush our spirit. His armies will chase us across the land and will follow us anywhere, except for one place. There is one place that nobody will follow us. The Dead Mountains. We must take refuge among the peaks of the dead and bide our time until we have the strength to return and reclaim our rightful lands. Now men, women, people of Kalrush, follow me!" With this he turned, mounted his horse and, followed by hi people, began the journey that would take him to the deepest reaches of a place no man had set foot before.

[Honorisia]

Three months after fleeing Kush

The entire column of pilgrims abruptly came to a halt, with several of the forward gaurd shouting for the Prince. Two men on horseback, one short and stocky and the other tall and muscular, rode along the side of the column. The entire population of Kush watched as their prince and his advisor dismounted and inspected the cause of their panic.

"One of the scouts that didn't report in M'lord. He was sent to find a pass that branched off from this main valley." Ruttledge's voice trailed off at the sight of Oliyan's distraught face. "M'lord, what is it? Is something wrong?" Oliyan stood up and glanced at his lifelong companion, "These wounds are arrow wounds. He was murdered by someone." Ruttledge looked up at Oliyan and said "Nobody lives in these mountains M'lord. We are..." "If We are so alone the who shot this man!" Ruttledge looked around warily and motioned to his Prince, "Tell the men to set up camp. I need to speak with you in private."

[Honorisia]

A small city of tents stood in a rocky mountain pass, a council of 9 men stood around a fire in the largest tent. Oliyan looked around at the assembly of men before him. "Well then, Ruttledge had something to tell me. What was it?" Three of the oldest men, sporting white bushy beards, ganced uncomfortably at Ruttledge. "M'lord, thirty years ago the men that stand before you served with the Royal Scouts. Your father sent an expedition of fifty men into these mountains to explore and map them. The nine of us are all that returned. We made it as far as this valley before being attacked." "Then why bring us here?" "Because they let us go. They sent us on our way with a letter tied to an arrow warning us not to return under the king's banner. My best guess is that they hate the king as much as us." Two crashes of thunder sounded on the walls of the pass. A sound of rolling thunder boomed down the camp. "Let us hope that I have not doomed us all."

Women ran screaming to the center of the encampment. Men scrambled from their tents donning armour and swearing loudly. At both ends of the pass rocks had fallen from the sides of the past and blocked the only routes of escape. Men, armed with massive recurve bows and wearing the pelts of various animals, stood atop the piles of rubble with the bows drawn. Four massive men climbed down the pile of rubble leading deeper into the mountains. The largest of the men wore the fur of a massive bear. Oliyan walked towards him, "Who are you and what is your purpose here?" The man paused and hesitated for a second when he saw Ruttledge. "I thought we warned you to never return." Ruttledge strolled towards him, "Not exactly true. I take it you are the one who sent the letter?"

[Honorisia]

Oliyan, Ruttledge and the man with his companions entered the command tent in the now enclosed encampment. There was silence for a few moments then the bear-coated man spoke. "I assume you have a good reason for braving our warning and not returning." Ruttledge replied to him "I assume you have a good reason for not simply killing us all. I will explain our presence if you will." The bear-coated man hesitated before speaking, "You have tresspassed into our home, I see it better manners for you to explain your actions first." Ruttledge glanced over at Oliyan, who gave him a nod. "Five months ago, on the coastal plain of Kalrush, King David had come with his army to collect taxes from the people. They stayed the three days to collect, as was the norm, but they discovered that one of the poorer men had cheated the King out of a large amount of money. The King, as an example, covered the the man in pitch and set him on fire. He burned, screaming all the while, as the King laughed over his body. The crowd watching attacked the King and his bodyguard in outrage. That day ninety-seven men were killed because of the King's sadistic action. The King decided that the city was holding back more money and decided to squeeze it dry to serve as an example to other cities that had thoughts of... I don't know. The King seemed a bit odd that day. So the next day young Oliyan here decided he had had enough. We gathered up what was left of the city guard and fled the city with the people who were not yet captured by the King's forces. We left the city while the King burned it. Naught is left but ashes now." Bear-cape's eyes did not waver from Ruttledge as he told the story. "Your people will find a home in these mountains with us. We do not have much but it is now yours. What I am most interested in is why you returned to us." Oiyan nodded in agreement, so Ruttledge began to speak again "I guessed from your letter that you share no love for the King. On top of that we really had nowhere else to go." Bear-man nodded and said "We do not share love for the King, we also would not have harmed your women and children unless they fought us. So come, pack your belongings and follow us, we will clear the path to our village."

[Honorisia]

The three thousand refugees trudged slowly through the mountains. Ruttledge, Oliyan, and the Bear-man led the convoy through the rocky canyon among the giant columns of rocks. "These are the great Pillars of Rangvar. They have stood here since time immemorial, a gift from the Sun, Ka." The convoy moved slowly past the massive pillars.

A while later, the refugees were wading their way through a waist high river that came down from one of the great peaks. The sound of the water falling from the sky drowned out the sound of everything, save for a low groaning noise. The group passed by the waterfall, but the low groaning continued. The noise grew in volume until it dissappeared completely. Ruttledge yelled at the Bear-man, "What in all the fiery pits of hell was that?" "That was either a cave troll or one of the ancient ones. Either way we'll find out soon." "And why will we find out soon?" "Because whatever it is will find us soon." Ruttledge turned to the men, "PREPARE FOR BATTLE!"

[Honorisia]

A rock came tumbling down the mountain, landing next to the line of town-guard. "Where is it?" "UP!" The troll landed in the center of the spear-wall, scattering the line of soldiers and sending the soldiers into a frenzy. Ruttledge was mounting his horse, "MEN, Reform on me." The line of soldiers scrambled out of reach of the troll's massive club, save for the two men that had been crushed by the blunt edge of the club and the one unlucky man that was having his head crushed between the troll's two massive forefingers. They reformed around the feet of Ruttledge's battlehorse, making a bristling line of spears. The troll turned to face them, then charged the shield-wall. It took two swipes at Ruttledge, toppling him from his horse. The wall converged on the troll, spears centred on the mass of flesh. It charged again and forced itself onto the wall of spears. It toppled onto a soldier then attempted to rise. Bear-man leapt atop its chest and brought his axe down into the troll's head. "How many dead?" Ruttledge stood atop the corpse of his horse. "Seven down M'lord. Three definitely dead." Ruttledge strolled back to Oliyan and said, "We must rest here for the night. Next time you should step in and help, before you let three of your men die." The small stocky man stormed off towards the soldiers, leaving the prince alone atop his horse.

[Honorisia]

The former prince lay on the ground. He thought about the events of the day, his mind a boiling pot of emotions and thoughts all discordant and competing for his attention. He had frozen with fear, that was it. "It happens to all men, there's nothing wrong with that." said one voice ,"You're the leader of these men and women. You have to be strong." said another. The strongest voice, almost drowning out the others, growing stronger the longer he waited there "You aren't competent. You can't keep them safe. You need to end this whole escapade. Too many people are at risk for you to be responsible for their deaths. You need to turn yourself in." Oliyan lay there thinking deep into the night. The voice continued to grow in strength, "Ruttledge will take care of them. You need to draw the King off the scent of this group of refugees. Go back. Go back Go back Go back Go back Go back Go back Go back GO BACK GO BACK GO BACK GO BACK GO BACK GO BACK!" Oliyan rose silently, woke his horse, mounted it and rode off towards the Kingdom he had abandoned. By the time he heard shouts of his name he had resolved not to return.

[Honorisia]

Ruttledge's face burned red under the bushy mass of hair that covered much of his face. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S GONE!" "I mean that he rode out ten minutes ago." Ruttledge stood up and dismissed the soldier. Only Bear-man remained, "Where do you think he's gone?" Ruttledge sighed and said, "Damn, noble, idealistic, moron. He went back." "Why would he go back? They will kill him." "I know. He thinks that if he apologizes for leaving the kingdom his father will welcome him back with open arms. It doesn't matter, we can't go back. We break camp in an hour, ready yourself."

One hour later

"RUTTLEDGE!" The Bear-man stood atop the ridge overlooking the camp. Ruttledge scrambled up the hill, then gaped awkwardly at the assembly below. "Who are they?" "A war council." replied the Bear-man. "We decide whether or not to throw our strength against our common enemy." Ruttledge gaped at a group of men so large that they eclipsed even the size of the man-mountain next to him. The Bear-man clambered atop a rock and shouted to the crowd, "Men of the mountains, today we decide. Do we hide in the rocks or do we fight like MEN! Decide now! Fight or hide like small cowardly animals, FIGHT FOR FREEDOM FROM TYRANNY! FOR A FREE KALRUSH! Decide now!" A defeaning roar broke from the crowd. Soon the fate of the Kingdom would be decided.

[Honorisia]

Bear-man climbed down off the rock, "We will fight to defeat the king. We'll fight alongside you." The two men walked back up the hill, "The women and children will stay here, at our main village. A small force of our warriors will stay to defend them. Muster your troops, we move out in two hours." Ruttledge turned to face Bear-man as he walked away, "May Ka, bring you good fortune." Bear-man laughed and said with finality, "Obviously you've never seen my people fight, or you wouldn't wish us luck."

Oliyan walked alone, horse lagging behind warily. "Come on girl, there's nothing to be afraid of." The horse winnied and stopped abruptly. Oliyan tugged the rope he was leading his horse with, still the horse didn't move. Instead her eyes grew wide, her ears plastered themselves to her head and she tore the rope from Oliyan's hands. Oliyan stood and watched as his fearless battlecharger turned tail and ran from nothing. He turned slowly, looking for the cause of the fear. He saw nothing, but heard a faint beating of drums. Slowly, cautiously, he continued on his way out of the mountains. He knew he was still days away from the Kingdom, far from hope of help. He had to be cautious; for he was now well and truly alone.