The Denizens of Drevor

[OCC: This thread is closed for BriefcaseRonin and I. We hope that you enjoy.]


"And that is why we have need for some more soldiers to patrol the nearby lands."

Baron Karlight shifted enough to allow his to cross his legs. He had listened to the petition of the four village elders as they pleaded their case. At first he was bored with yet another request for more military aid, but as they explained, for once he could see the sense in what they said.

"Very well, I will assemble the troops to strengthen the defences of your villages. Of course, it will take some time to get them provisioned properly, and not all of them will be fully trained, but as soon as the new taxes are in place -"

"Taxes? My Lord, we are already paying much of what we make as it is."

"You want more troops from me. And I will have to pay for them. I don't have the money available to raise them on the income that I am provided. So, to pay for them, I will need to raise the taxes. If you are not happy with paying more taxes, then I suggest that you attract an adventurer or two to deal with it."

"My Lord, what could we offer a hero that would make them undertake such a quest?"

"That is something that I do not know. I have no knowledge of the wealth and treasures that your villages have hoarded. But if the taxes are not something that you can afford, then you will have to find another option. Take your time and think it over. If you still want the troops, then we will work out the taxes later. Until then, I will assume that your pooled wisdom will come up with a solution that will grant you what you desire most."

The four elders looked at one another, bowed to the Baron, and left his hall. None spoke until they left the Baron's keep.

"What can we do?" The Elder of Rack's Hill was the youngest of the Elders, barely past forty years old. "I don't know about you, but there is little coin in our village. We have food, and our bowyer and fletcher can make a ready supply of arrows."

"There's an idea," the bearded Elder of Snowhollow spoke. "We can offer to support and provision the adventurers that answer our call. We have a good blacksmith, who knows how to repair weapons as well as some armour. Does Hall's Place still have the healer?"

"Yes, we do. And she is rather skilled. Plus, she knows lots about the plants about and which ones heal people best and fastest."

"Then we can gather what coin we have, offer some to the adventurers, and then give them someplace to come back to in times of need."

"What if they bring trouble with them?"

The Elder of Snowhollow gave the Elder of Tuffnell a hard look. "Then we will have defend ourselves as best as we can. Most adventurers would die before bring the hordes of evil down on a village such as ours. What do you think of the idea?"

"Let's do it," Elder Rack's Place spoke up quickly to stave off any more discussions.

"Agreed," Elder Hall's Place added. "It is the least we can do for those willing to risk their lives for us."

"But who will come and help us? We are poor and the creatures that threaten us are many and strong."

"We will put up the offer, and if there are none that answer it, then we will return to the Baron, and pay more taxes to get the troops that he will supply."

"All right," Elder Tuffnell slumped, looking at the ground. "At least, we will have tried."

The following morning, the Elder of Snowhollow wrote a message that would be placed near the bailiff's office.


"May the Gods send us someone who is honourable and skilled."

Lady Emilia Ternice

It was within a week's time since the posting of the message that the paladin Emilia reached Snowhollow. She hopped down from her horse, walking beside it into the village as she headed for the nearest stable. She had heard rumor of troubles in the Drevor Forest, though nothing had been specific. But even vague rumors were reason enough to seek these villages out and aid them. She was, after all, a warrior of the holy order, charged with protecting the innocent and slaying the villainous. Though she was not as experienced as some of her fellow paladins, she was determined to bring safety and security to the villagers of Snowhollow.

Stopping at the stable, she handed off the reins of the horse to the stableboy, as well as several coins to ensure that Brightmane, her almost snow white war horse, was well taken care of. With that out of the way, she turned her attention towards the most pressing matter, dealing with the threats to Snowhollow itself. But to do that, she would need to learn a bit more about what they were faced with.

The stableboy did not have any trouble in directing her where to find the Elder of Snowhollow, and so she made her way to his home, knocking as gently as she could upon his door with her gauntlet covered fist.

Mellak was sitting in the larger of the two rooms of his home. Everything he needed to spend his waking days was located there. The large chair was well padded, and easy for him to rise from when he heard the strange sounding knock.

He opened the door to be greeted by a woman garbed in armour. Beyond her, he could see a few of the village staring at her, curiousity blazing clearly on their faces. He turned his attention to the hero who stood outside his door. He smiled to her, displaying a mouth with a declining array of teeth.

"Please, come in. Thank you for answering our humble call for help." He waited until the woman was well past the door before closing it behind them. He pointed to one of the more sturdier chairs as he made his way back to the padded one. "Please, sit down, my Lady. I am Mellak, Elder of Snowhollow. I hope your ride was not too hard for you."

He paused as he waited for her to settle. She was not what he thought of when he put up the notice, but she looked as though she knew how to handle a weapon, and her armour looked clean and well tended.

"I am one of four Elders that have called for help. In the nearby forest, there are bandits and other fell creatures that raid our farms, or the actual other villages within the forest itself. The Lord was willing to raise troops, but it would add more taxes, which are harsh enough. We will support you as we can with food, provisions, healing. We have some coin we can pay. But we have heard that there are creatures deeper within the forest that have gathered wealth over time. Anything that you find, we will not dispute your claim to. We will also keep anything of yours safe until you fetch it, so you're not too encumbered."

Mellak looked down at the floor, clearing his throat. "My apologies, My Lady. I am sure that you have many questions, and here am I babbling like a small child. Please, ask your questions." He raised his thin arm, the bony hand beckoning the Lady to speak.

Lady Emilia Ternice

The paladin took the offered seat, sitting down and resting for a moment before removing her helm. As she lifted it from her head, her hair spilled out in thick, curly, golden locks which almost seemed to glow in the light of the fire. Her beauty was striking, that golden blonde hair complimenting her pale skin and her vibrant green eyes. She offered a smile to the Elder and allowed him to explain himself, listening intently until he finished. She looked over his home, taking in all of the details before returning her attention to him.

"Elder Mellak, I thank you for your hospitality. You and your people have been welcoming, and I promise to do everything in my power to help you in your time of need."

"And yes, there is a great deal I need to know before I begin the.. likely arduous undertaking of freeing your village from these creatures. First, I must know exactly what it is that plagues your village. You mention bandits, but what else? What are these other beasts that prey upon your people. What are they and what is it that they have taken?"

Mellak eased noticeably at the questions the Lady put to him. She was wise enough to seek further information before embarking on her quest for them. He felt slightly ashamed that he saw her looks as a sign that she had no real ability with the blade. He would show greater respect to this woman who had come to assist them in their need.

"Well, apart from the humans," he spat the last word, "who raid us for what little valuables we have, we have proof of Goblins attacking us too. They come for food mainly, stealing anything else of value that they can grab. Though it has been many years, that have stolen young men and women. We have not seen them since, and have little knowledge of what happened to them. Some of the villagers have been killed or wounded in the attacks too. But it is the loss of livestock and planted foods that makes us suffer the most."

He bowed his head, taking a pause to compose himself.

"We have heard of other creatures deeper in the forest. Orcs, trolls and even some fell wizard. But we have not seen any of these creatures, and if the Gods are willing, we never will."

A slight look of shock came over his face. "Forgive me, Lady, but I do not know your name. How can we thank you properly if we don't know your name? Also, is there anything we can do for you, right now? We are eager for you to go forth, but we do not want you to leave us before you are ready, and properly provisioned."

The old man took the time to study the younger warrior. She seemed no more than a girl to him, but he could tell from her bearing that she was one who had been trained in the arts of warfare. He wondered what would have drawn such a lovely woman into such a profession. To his mind, such a woman would be a noble, with many men courting her favour to take her as wife. It would be a story he would gladly hear at some time later, after she dealt with the denizens of the dark wood.

Lady Emilia Ternice

"Hmm. I doubt the goblins will prove to be difficult. They are a cowardly lot. The bandits, however, will be more troublesome, but not impossible to deal with," She seemed to be thinking out loud, preparing herself for when she might encounter these rogues. She had learned much in the priesthood and during her training as a paladin of the faith. She was prepared to handle any foe that she might cross paths with in honorable combat, but it was unlikely that human bandits would fight with any measure of honor. She would have to be on her guard.

At the question, her attention returned to Elder Mellak, "I am Lady Emilia Ternice, Elder. And I require nothing of you or your people for the moment. For now, I should concern myself with ensuring that your village is no longer under the threat of these villainous creatures."

She stood now, lightly resting one hand on the pommel of her sword as she made her way to the door, looking back to the Elder once more, "I thank you for your hospitality, sir. With luck and the favor of the goddess, I will return with your village's safety secured."

Leaving the Elder's home, she retrieved her horse from the stable and placed her helmet back on. Taking a deep breath and looking over the village of Snowhollow one last time, she gripped the reins tightly and road off into the Drevor Forest.

The road into Drevor forest was the one that connected the village of Tuffnull with Snowhollow. Tuffnul was the first of the three villages under Baron Karlight's protection that were within Drevor itself. Due to the proximity of Tuffnull to the edge of Drevor, there was normally little bandit activity on the road between Tuffnull and Snowhollow.

But as Lady Emilia Ternice traveled the road, there were a couple of enterprising young fellows from one of the small robber bands watching the road for passers by. As most men of their ilk, they wore shabby clothing that was barely performing that task, and carried hefty lumps of wood that they would use to bludgeon their victims. But unlike most of lawless ones, they were smart enough not to talk to each other while hiding in wait.

The older of the two tapped the younger one, cupping his ear and pointing toward the direction the paladin was riding. He held up one finger, then holding reins. The younger one nodded, and together they quickly scampered up two nearby trees. The younger one was positioned so he would see the back of the rider, while his 'leader' would see them riding up. The leader would start the attack, and the younger fellow would follow soon after. Their plan was simple. One or both of them would knock the rider off their horse, and then they would beat the rider senseless and steal whatever they could.

The leader was a little shaken when he saw the nature of the steed and the rider. What was first though to be some local, a richer one because of the horse, turned out to be a fully armed and slightly armoured knight. But the armour, and weapons would make a big boost to the band. They would have the element of surprise, and an armoured foe on their back was as good as down anyway. He looked at the lad and nodded. They would go through with the attack.

When the rider reached the right spot on the road, the older bandit jumped down, his club ready to bunt the rider out of their saddle. The younger bandit followed soon after with the exact same plan. Neither of them made any sounds, cries or words. They just dropped through the air, intent on robbery.

Lady Emilia Ternice

Lady Emilia rode through the forest, attempting to keep an eye out for danger. However, she had not been as careful as she had hoped. Before she could react, two brigands dropped down from the trees above her. She attempted to reach for her sword as they came into her vision, but not before one of their clubs struck her head against the helmet, making her ears ring as she fell from the horse and crashed to the ground with a grunt of pain.

Trying to push herself back up, she let out a cry of pain as she was hit again and again by clubs. Clearly, these rogues were not interested in letting her stand again. Falling back down, she decided to not fight against them until she had an opportunity to do it again. With no such opportunity visible now, she simply laid still, waiting for them to make their intentions known.

The two men were elated at the catch they managed. They had brought the knight to the ground, and managed to keep here there. It was followed ny a moment's confusion over what to do next.

"Gert, go grab the horse, and bring it back here. I'll make sure that the knight doesn't do anything stupid." While the younger man ran off, the leader kept pushing the knight back onto the ground.

"Now, then, little lady, you wont be needing this anymore." He pulled her sword out of the scabbard, barely controlling the heavy blade in his off hand. He thought he had disarmed her, not even thinking to check if she had any other weapons on her. "Of course, you'll be a good lass and get all that steel off you, and then you can thank us for being nice fellows and not killing you."

Lady Emilia Ternice

Emilia seethed with anger as she was disarmed and ordered to remove her armor. She was in position to resist the foul thieves, but every single moment that passed while she was under their control was nigh unbearable. Slowly standing, she began the lengthy process of getting out of her armor. Normally, in such situations, she would have had a squire to assist her in this task, but doing it by herself was much more difficult, though not nearly as difficult as attempting to put the armor back on.

It took some time, but she finally hefted the breastplate off and set it aside with the small pile of expensive and expertly crafted armor nearby. Dressed in thick padded clothing to protect from any cuts to herself from her own armor, almost humorous that she needed armor armor. But this was hardly a humorous situation. Turning, she looked at her captor, glaring at him, "Thank you, ser, for sparing my life. You have my armor, my blade, and my steed. Surely you will allow me to be on my way now, yes?"

Mel was certain that at any moment she would attack him while he was alone, and was doing everything in his power to keep that fear from showing. But to his surprise, and pleasure, the young woman did as he instructed and he saw her in the padded undergarments of a knight. He stood still, looking at her trying to think what he might be able to get her to do next.

"Thank you, ser, for sparing my life. You have my armor, my blade, and my steed. Surely you will allow me to be on my way now, yes?"

Mel snorted a short laugh. "Why of course, My Lady. My companion and I will even escort you."

Gert walked the horse back to where they had ambushed the paladin. Both the steed and bandit bled from wounds each had inflicted on the other. Gert's upper arm was still leaking a little, and the horse still had a slightly dazed look and a line of red running down it's nose.

"It bit me, Mel. I hit it one and it got the idea not to bite me again."

"Good. Tie it to the tree, and see if the woman had any rope. Marresh is going to want to see this one. It would not do us any good to keep him waiting. Well, not too long."

Gert rummaged through her saddle bags, pausing as he removed the icon of the Paladin's Goddess. "Mel, why would a knight carry somethin' like this?"

Mel looked at the icon, then at Lady Emilia, then at the icon again. His smile broadened almost painfully. "Just get the rope, Gert, and bind her hands behind her."

Gert hurried, finding the rope he sought on the other side of the saddle. He approached the woman, grabbing her hands and pulling them behind her. He quickly, and painfully, tied her hands behind her back.

"Well, if that doesn't just spoil all our fun. We caught ourselves a Paladin, Gert."

"So?"

"So... she's not be had by anyone yet, Gert. Marresh will pay quite a pretty amount of coin to have a woman where he's the first. Now, Gert, load all that steel on the horse." He turned to face the glaring Emilia. "Thank you, my Lady. You have made Gert and me rich men. I will remember you in my prayers. Particularly those to your beloved Goddess."

Lady Emilia Ternice

Emilia glared at the men, grinding her teeth behind her tightly closed lips. If she had the opportunity, she would have killed these men five times before they hit the ground, but now she was more helpless than ever. Of course, she cursed herself for not at least putting up some kind of resistance, but she didn't like her odds without her weapon.

Upon seeing the other thief return with her horse, her eyes went wide with horror. How dare these two villains strike her stalwart companion! More than ever, she wished death upon these putrid dogs, but there was nothing she could do. Not against two armed men who would likely have no qualms about killing her if she showed the slightest hint of being dangerous. Though every single fiber of her being yearned to lash out, she held back.

The paladin winced at the rough treatment, the rope wrapped tight around her wrists and constricting the flow of blood. No doubt it would leave bruises on their prize. She should have known better than to assume there was even a shred of decency in these curs. She was to be sold into slavery! It was unthinkable, and yet here she was, already being talked over as though she were just another good to be traded off.

Though Emilia felt the beginnings of panic rising up within her heart, she took a slow, deep, breath, trusting that the Goddess would not allow this injustice to continue for very long. She was certain that an opportunity would present itself before long that would allow her to turn the tables on her would be slavers. For now, though, perhaps it was best to try and learn a bit more about them and their would-be customer, "Who is Marresh?"

Mel couldn't believe his luck. A female Paladin. And just the two of them had brought her low, captured her and bound her. He was disappointed that he wouldn't get to have her before handing her over. Marresh always liked some idea of how sporting the woman was before he took her, but a virgin, and a warrior at that, was worth more coin than the fun he would get from her.

"Who is Marresh?"

Mel laughed. "Gert, you hear that? She doesn't know who Marresh is. He's going to be upset to hear that he's not known as widely as he thought." Mel grabbed the woman by her upper arm, dragging her closer to him. "He is one of the more powerful bandit chiefs about, and by and far the richest. He pays for his toys, and ways well."

Mel grabbed her face, his fingers and thumb pressing into her cheeks, forcing her jaw open. Maintaining the grip, he bent her over while he undid his breeches, letting them drop. His rapidly inflating member was aimed for the paladin's opened mouth.

"This is going to be a taste of what your life is going to be like." His snarled words echoed through the little clearing as he thrust his hips forward to get what little enjoyment he could from his prize.

Lady Emilia Ternice

Emilia struggled with the man at first, uncertain of what he was doing until she saw the man begin undoing his breeches. Her eyes widened at the sight of him, and she resisted as much as she could from her less than perfect position. Still, it was all for naught, and before she could stop it she found the bandit's manhood thrust into her open mouth. Groaning, the paladin tried to push away, she even tried to bite him, but found it near impossible to close her mouth now that the man had his grip on her.

It was humiliating, being used and violated for this foul man's pleasure. She wanted no part of it, and yet she had no choice, powerless and forced to watch as he took her in this fashion, the taste of him on her tongue nearly making her wretch in dispair. Tears began to form at the corners of her eyes before she closed them, trying to block it all out and hoping that it would be over quickly. Why did the Goddess allow this treatment? Surely, she would smite this villain where he stood for such brazen defilement of one of her servants.

And yet.. nothing. She was helpless, powerless, to stop this evil from occuring, and slowly all hope was beginning to dwindle within her.

Mel felt the mighty paladin struggle. He took some delight in the conquest of the noble warrior, but his joy was short lived. She struggles stopped as he continued to use her for his pleasure. He didn't care that she was not doing it properly. He wasn't even sure if she knew how. But she was getting him higher, and it wasn't too long before he came in her mouth. Streams of the heavy fluid were dumped into her waiting mouth.

"Great Gods, I needed that. Gert, get over here and have her too. Give her a taste of what her life's going to be like." Mel chuckled at his joke as he pulled himself free, and dropped down beside the paladin. His hand remained prying her jaws apart.

Gert wasted little time in getting himself before her, freeing his cock and shoving it into the young woman's mouth.