The Wood Nymph

[tonyroleplays]

"The Wood Nymph​

Henry awoke before dawn, roused from his alcohol-aided slumber by the hustle and bustle of the lumber camp that was down hill but up wind of his little encampment. He rolled to his back and looked to the other side of the bed, finding it empty.

"William!"

Henry rolled to his side and struggled to right himself, slumping over his knees as his head pounded. When he looked up again through blurred eyes, he found his servant carrying in a large tray of what he would eventually come to see where meats, cheeses, crackers, and fruits, all the delicacies afforded for the heir to the County of Wright.

"Did I go to bed alone, William?" he murmured, his own words echoing within his head.

"No, m'lord, you did not," the servant answered, telling his noble master nothing he didn't already know.

"Then ... why did I wake up alone?"

"The young lady needed to get back to her husband before he realized she was missing."

Henry growled, his head splitting apart from the hang over. "Did he...?"

"Realize she was missing, m'lord?" William asked. "No, m'lord. He was too busy with the pair of camp whores you sent to him as a distraction ... remember?"

Henry contemplated William's words for a moment then recalled having arranged the little threesome to keep the man's lust filled body busy and happy so that his jealous mind would be otherwise occupied.

"Food, drink, and a bowl of cool water, m'lord," William listed, coming to Henry and helping him out of the night shirt that was all tangled about his arms and shoulders. "The Lumber Yard Master is anxious to speak to you. Something about cutting more trees faster or something along those lines."

"Tell him to do as he feels is best," Henry said, flopping back onto the straw and down mattress and closing his eyes to fend off the dizziness. "I don't want to be disturbed for ... for at least forever."

"Yes, m'lord," William said before dutifully scurrying off and leaving his hungover noble lord to recover at his own pace.

More trees faster, Henry thought. We're clearing four acres a day, and he wants to cut more...?

Clear cutting what the locals had always called the Virgin Woods was not Henry's idea, despite his supervision of it. His father, the Count of Wright, wanted to fill the treasury, and exploiting -- raping -- the Virgin Woods was the decision he'd made to make this happen.

The Country of Wright was large -- the third largest of nineteen in the Kingdom -- but it was a relatively poor County, too, with virtually no mineral resources and no major river or vital crossroads from which to collect tolls from the traveling merchants and peasant farmers heading for market.

To earn revenue, the Count had four choices from which to choose: hire out his army as mercenaries, which wasn't likely as there wasn't a major war taking place anywhere on the continent; invade another territory to steal their resources, which also wasn't going to happen as the County of Wright had one of the weakest Guardsman Units in the region; raise taxes upon the already heavily taxed peasants, also a non starter; or -- the only choice appropriate, despite the nasty taste it left in Henry's mouth -- rape the land for every lumber producing tree, every meal producing deer, and every feather-bonnet producing bird.

Henry forced himself to his feet and stumbled to the back entrance to the tent, pulling the curtain aside and letting the morning son flood inside. He grimaced at the pain the light caused, then -- once he'd recovered -- focused on the tree line some fifty yards away. Beyond that line, the Virgin Wood was exactly what its name suggested. There had never been logging in the woods; no minerals had ever been mined there; even hunting in the thick, dark woods was an almost unheard of activity there.

And, of course, there were the stories. Henry didn't believe them: Magic and mystical creatures were for children, old fools, and drunks. Even after one of the Logging Camp Masters accidentally got lost for two days and returned telling wide eyed stories of near-naked nymphs and smallish, pointy eared men, Henry had still scoffed at the idea.

At the same time that he laughed at such tales, though, he secretly wished that these fairy tale beings did exist. Learning of such things might slow his father's destruction of the Virgin Wood. Henry hated what he and his were doing to the vast, thick forest, but at the same time he knew that the County to which he was the heir needed to gain some revenue from some where.

(OOC: Was going to write his wandering into the woods, but I'm falling asleep at my key board. Feel free to post an intro or I'll add what I'm missing tomorrow.)

 

[tonyroleplays]

"They have been unable to find the men anywhere, m'lord," William explained to his Noble Lord as the latter pulled on his boots and adjusted his belt. "They went into the Woods to hunt at dawn yesterday and--"

"Is my horse ready?" Henry interrupted in an angry tone. He'd told the Lumber Yard Master to keep him men out of the forest, feeding them from the wagon loads of goods that came up from the valley each day. But the men had insisted on fresh venison and had been sneaking into the dark forest often. It had only been a matter of time before one or more of them got turned around and got lost in the deep thickets. "I'll ride with three others. Send another team--"

"M'lord," William cut in. "The Virgin Woods are too thick and deep for horses. You would need to go on foot if you were going, which you aren't, as your father, the Count, would have a fit is he heard that--"

"Then we'll go on foot," Henry cut in again, ignoring his servant's concern for his well being. "I am responsible for the men, so--"

"The Master is responsible for them, m'lord," William corrected.

"And I am responsible for him!"

The two bickered back and forth for several minutes as Henry continued preparing himself, changing his riding boots for walking ones and setting aside the weapons he would carry from a mount and selecting different ones, including a shorter sword, a smaller bow, and a pair of daggers to make up the difference.

William knew it was hopeless and finally gave up trying to talk his Noble lord out of the rescue mission. Henry consulted with the Lumber Yard Master, as well as a pair of hunters who had returned. A few minutes later, they were off, into the Virgin Woods, following the deer trail that -- now -- was beaten down by the feet of the three still missing men.



Henry stood in place for a long, long moment just listening before again calling out to the others. The tracks left by the missing hunters had divided in different directions and then simply disappeared. Now understood to have been a stupid move, Henry had ordered the ten men with him to spread out in a line -- keeping one another in sight -- and search for the absent tracks.

It had only taken a few minutes before Henry lost sight of the men on either side of him and a few minutes after than before he could no longer hear them calling to one another. It was odd, though: their calls hadn't grown weaker as the distance between them grew larger but had instead simply ended, as if...

Henry didn't even want to think it. Had wild animals gotten the men? Had they fallen into crevasses or sink holes or ravines? Perhaps... He laughed at his next thought. Perhaps the Virgin Woods' magical creatures had gotten them.

All he knew for certain was that he was deep in the woods, surrounded by thick underbrush and an eerie silence, and -- because of the thick canopy -- he couldn't even tell which direction was north. He was already telling himself that he was going to die here. He had little doubt of it. It was the Woods' revenge for his men -- for him -- cutting down thousands of trees over the pass many months and destroying the life that have depended upon it.

He trudged onward, pushing through the thick shrubs. Limbs slapped at his face, briars tugged and ripped at his clothes; he'd already discarded the bow -- which had continually snagged -- and later, he'd fallen down a steep decline and, after his belt snapped, lost all of his blades as well. With the exception of the six inch long dagger in a scabbard in his boots, he was defenseless against the Woods' wild creatures.

And then, just as suddenly as he'd found himself alone, he wasn't. He pushed his way through a thick rhododendron and found himself staring at half naked woman barely fifteen feet away from him.

Henry was dumbfounded. Here in the middle of the Virgin Woods was this beautiful, young woman, seemingly all by herself. Where had she come from? What was she doing here? Was she lost as he was? Or was this her home?

And while those questions were busying his big head, the erotic vision of her young, near nude form was busying his little head as well. She was incredible: slim, fit, flawless ... and, again, nearly nude! It wasn't like Henry had never seen a naked woman before. Hell, at the snap of his fingers he could have nearly any woman in the County he wanted and, often, did.

But ... there was something about this young woman that instantly affected him, and if was more than simply the fact that she was wearing less than the Tavern Whores wore to lure the just-paid Loggers and Lumbermen to their tents on the outskirts of the lumber yard.

He didn't know it yet ... couldn't and -- for a long time -- wouldn't know it ... but the allure that this woman had was, as he'd fantasized, magical.