The Story Of Kiln The Wanderer, Chapter 7 and on... Options

[mplantinga]

That would be very sad; but real life happens. All the best to Kiln.

[Kiln]

I wasn't sure if I would continue this, but it feels strange for me to just stop this story. Everyone may have to wait some time between updates but I really want to continue this so here it goes.
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"Get up Kiln." A voice said as a stern hand grabbed his shoulder and shook him

Kiln sat up and looked around, his vision was blurred and he was confused.

He was lifted by the arms and pulled from the boat. Kiln could hear talking and scuffling around the tents nearby, eyes stared from small holes in the hide covers of the homes.

"This is my escort guard, he was wounded badly in a recent fight, please help him." A deep voice said as a dark skinned woman approached, Kiln thought she was a dark elf but was unsure of his vision since it kept fading in and out of focus.

The woman didn't appear to be pleased but seemed amused, behind her there were several armed men lined up wearing rough hide clothing.

"Bring him inside quickly, this one will take some work." She said softly

It had been only a few moments since their arrival at the wise woman's tent before everyone was forced out by the guards, including Jinx and York.

The wise woman stared at him for a few moments.

She chanted strange words and her hands glowed with a cold heat, if such a thing is possible. The wise woman closed her eyes as if she were carefully focusing on the healing. She moved her hands from his chest and the wounds were sealed, her soft hands moved up his chest and covered the deep cut on his shoulder.

Kiln relaxed as the pain began to fade, he was tired still and fell asleep.

After apparently hours of sleep, he woke and looked around the tent, it was not the wise woman's tent, he'd apparently been moved. He was still tired but knew he had to get up soon.

The wind blew outside and he could hear chimes around him. Kiln rolled to his stomach and slowly pushed himself off of the bedroll and onto his feet. Kiln stretched and walked to the doorway, pushing the cloth aside and shielding his eyes from the bright sun overhead.

The smell of the grass rushed into his nose as he breathed in and the warmth of the sun on his face was a relief. York sat by the fire eating some strange meat and Jinx drank some form of liquid from a bottle, children played and people moved about the camp. It was a wonderful sight and Kiln was thankful to be alive.

York turned and saw him as he stepped closer.

"Have a nice rest did ya Kiln?" He laughed

"For a few hours." He replied

"Hours? You slept for a day and a half." York said laughing

Kiln stood, he hadn't slept that well in a long time now, too much weighed on his mind at night for a good rest. He sat and began to eat and drink with Jinx as York stood and walked to the wise woman's yurt to meet with her.

Soon, their journey would begin, and York would have to prove himself to the tribe in some way. Hours had passed before he exited the tent area and returned to the fire. York grabbed his sword and all of his belongings and looked at Kiln and Jinx.

"Gather your things, we're leaving tomorrow." He said and walked away

Kiln wondered what they would be doing tomorrow but decided it would be better not to ask, he didn't really want the worry of it all.

He opened the journal and began to read.

"Today I met with the lizard informant, some men were bothering him and I couldn't convince them to leave him alone so I tried to take him out of the tavern with me to a safe place he knew. The men at the bar attacked us as we attempted to leave and I managed to subdue all but one of them which I was forced to kill. The ordinators arrived but the barkeep cleared our names, saying that the men started the fight and we were merely victims. Afterwords, the Argonian gave me the information I needed, I'll be glad to get out of this city, too damn big."

Kiln closed the journal and put it away, he'd slept for some time and now he wasn't tired so he walked around the camp, wondering what the following day would have in store for him.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Hope everyone enjoys this part.

[minque]

Ahhh! I´m so happy you decided to continue.....it would have been a crying shame if you just had stopped this great story....oh and I´ll wait eagerly for the next update..whenever it comes!

[Neck' Thall]

Yay!! great story!

[Soulseeker3.0]

YAY! more Kiln! good job

[mplantinga]

Thanks for finding some time to continue the story. This is a great story; I will patiently wait for the next update.

[Kiln]

Kiln had walked for hours at and around the camp, daylight was creeping over the hill. He walked a few feet away from the camp and sat on a fallen log just outside one of the huts staring at a kagouti as it searched for food. It amazed Kiln how friendly the animal seemed from the camp, though he knew it wouldn't hesitate to attack him if he were further from civilization, if it could be called that.

Kiln continued to observe the beast as it peacefully walked. The silence was broken as it raised up and let out a loud grunt of pain and quickly fell to the ground. Kiln pushed himself to his feet and looked around confused as the animal kicked and grunted as it choked on its own blood. A young dark elf came out from behind a yurt and ran to the body to retrieve his arrow, likely his first kill.

The short scene left Kiln with a new thought about life, how it could come to a sudden and unexpected halt, the same could happen to him at any time, he'd just been lucky to survive the fights he'd been in thus far. Strange how such a small event such as the sudden death of a wandering kagouti could change someone's view on something so much. With all the strange thoughts running through Kiln's head he didn't even realise the man walking up behind him.

A hand landed hard on his shoulder and Kiln spun around to face the man quickly. It was York, he seemed anxious about something.

"Gather your things, we gotta get going." York said

Without reply, Kiln turned and walked to the tent where he'd left his supplies. After the fight with the hounds he'd dropped his chestplate into the water and now he would be defenseless to a quick slash to the stomach so he walked to the trader's tent and bought a thin chestpiece made from some sort of shell.

Kiln had never worked with light armor before so he moved around a bit to get the feel for it first and he knew for sure he didn't like it, it was so light he felt exposed and unprotected. As soon as he got the chance, he'd buy heavy armor to replace this thin shell but for now he just headed back to meet with York and Jinx.

York and Jinx had been waiting for some time now for him to return and seemed restless. Kiln followed closely as his companions walked towards their destination.

"Where are we going?" Kiln asked

"We're headin to a burial cavern of this tribe to find a bow of some sort, I can't remember the details." York said

Jinx leaned over in Kiln's ear,

"He'd had too much booze to remember what she said so we just gotta find it on our own." Jinx whispered with a smile

"I didn't have that much to drink, just a little bit." York said as he stumbled over a twig

Both of Kiln's companions had been drinking by the smell of them. Should he be worried about something? York rarely drinks and usually only to cover up his worries. The world around him seemed to slow down for a moment and then quickly returned to normal.

At this moment, Kiln started to realise something important was soon to happen, his stomach felt light and he felt dazed and confused for a split second before he returned to normal just like when his parents left for their final adventure, he couldn't figure out what was going to happen but a distinct feeling was there and an event that would forever change Kiln's life would soon occur.

After a short walk they arrived at the caver door and slowly entered, the air had a light green tint to it and the smell of death was around them. The torch dimly lit the cavern and the preserved bodies could be seen around the tunnel entrance.

York drew his blade and started off down the tunnel, Jinx and Kiln followed closely. If Kiln had only known what awaited the end of this cavern raid maybe he could've done something...
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I was working on this yesterday but company showed up and it was destroyed so I rewrote it completely, I hope you like the final product.

This post has been edited by Kiln: Oct 21 2005, 01:40 AM

[Soulseeker3.0]

very good Kiln, I like it alot. good thing you found time to continue.

[mplantinga]

An interesting development. I like how you've used the companions drinking as a clue to the seriousness of the situation. The ending of this installment sounds very ominous; I do hope one of them doesn't make the burial caverns their own grave.

[Kiln]

They walked the dark tunnels before them slowly, the torchlight was dull and flickered in the air current pushing through the tunnelway. Kiln didn't like the idea of searching for a bow that York was too drunk to remember the directions to but he knew that York would continue on with or without him so he continued on with them.

As they continued through the caverns the resistance was light and easily dismissed by Kiln and his companions, the guardians grew stronger and in greater numbers as they progressed deeper into the caverns.York led on and the cavern opened up into a large room with several stone pillars around it and a small stone bridge connected it to a door leading deeper into the tomb.

Kiln didn't notice the bridge being fallen in until he heard Jinx yelling unspeakable curses and splashing violently in the water below. Kiln laughed as York jumped to the other side and pulled Jinx from the cold water and onto the other side. Kiln jumped across as York opened the next door and was greeted by a longsword held by a skeleton guarding the tomb but York killed it with a single slice from his blade.

Kiln hadn't even had to fight since he'd entered the tomb since his drunken companions had taken care of everything for him. As they wandered the tunnelway he thought of his past, how good things had been in the days when he was a thief and a wandering adventurer. His thoughts drifted from subject to subject eventually making him worry about Dulnea and his newfound love, hopefully still waiting for him safely at the Eight plates.

The thoughts continued to jump quickly as his eyes jumped from side to side of the cave in search of something that might try to surprise him. He wondered how Lenas was doing now and thought of York's father and his numerous adventures. He wished he had time to read from the journal but his companions didn't look like they were stopping soon.

The end of the tunnel opened up into a large room filled partially with water, Kiln stretched his foot out to step in the water and test its depth but York grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. Kiln was confused and the expression showed on his face. York kicked a small stone into the water and held the torch over the spot where it had landed as the slaughterfish rushed to it quickly and watched the men carefully.

"You don't wanna be goin in that water boy." York said as he pointed at a long chain of flat rocks at the waters edge.

"Stay on the stones" He added

Kiln gladly jumped from stone to stone until there were no more and there was no option besides to swim to the next door. They jumped in and swam to the door just faster than the slaughterfish in the water. It was time to rest, though the resistance had been light through the tunnels it would be much heavier inside the actual tomb.

Kiln pressed his back against the wall and took some time to catch his breath. His thoughts wandered randomly as they always did when he wasn't focusing on a task. He couldn't focus on any particular thought and it continued to jump from memory to memory as Kiln waited for his companions to finish their food and ready themselves to continue on.

At this moment he found himself asking the same question he usually asked. Why had he agreed to leave the life he'd treasured before and partake in the adventure with a group? Everything happens for a reason so there must be some reason why Kiln was meant to go with them...but for the life of him, he couldn't figure it out.
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Here's the latest, hope everyone likes it.

[mplantinga]

A great update, as always. I was a little worried about the drunken adventurers surviving on their way to the tomb, but so far they seem to be handling the resistance just fine. I hope their luck continues once they get inside the tomb.

[Soulseeker3.0]

I liked it Kiln, please continue the story. When will the Drunkeness(sp) were off?

[Kiln]

York can't remember exactly where the bow is located because he was drunk when he was told the directions.
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Kiln had just started to rest when his companions stood and Jinx opened the door slowly and looked inside.

"Come on Kiln, we don't have all day." Jinx said over his shoulder

York pushed the door the rest of the way open and stepped through, Jinx followed closely behind him. Afraid to stay alone, Kiln pushed himself to his feet and rushed after his friends and listened as York talked to himself.

Kiln was amazed at the sight of the room, below them the room was filled with water. He admired the huge stone column in the middle of the room and a slick rock path circled it leading upwards into the darkness. The light mist felt wonderful as Kiln breathed it in but the moment was interrupted by York thinking aloud.

"Did he say to go to the top? Perhaps the floor below? Where would I be if I was a bow?" York continued to mumble for several minutes as he walked up the stone path

"York, do you even know where we're going?" Kiln asked in despiration

"Of course I do boy...we're going to the top cavern to search for the bow." York said with a fleeting smile

"He had no idea." Jinx said looking at Kiln

"Could you boys at least act like you're trying to keep up?" York asked

Kiln quickened his pace to keep up with York, Jinx started to fall behind a little and struggled to climb with his heavy equipment.

At last they'd reached the top tomb, the climb had seemed like hours to Kiln's sore legs but he knew that it had only been a few moments in reality. By the look on York's face, he'd heard something beyond the next door.

York violently pulled his blade from its pouch and accidentally dropped the torch, it fell, bouncing off the cavern walls and eventually landing in the water below leaving them in the darkness. What happened next was hard to tell, in a split second Jinx's voice began to ring out through the rock walls of the cavern.

"HELP ME!" Jinx yelled

"HANG ON!" Kiln yelled searching blindly with his hands in front of him for Jinx

"I can't hang on much longer!" Jinx yelled from the darkness

In the struggle to grab the torch, Jinx had slipped on the wet footing and was barely hanging onto the ledge. Kiln struggled to grab him in the darkness but was unable to find his hands.

The two remaining on the edge searched quickly for their friend's hands knowing that every moment that passes Jinx is closer to falling to his death. Kiln felt his hand at last and began pulling.

"OUCH! Be bloody careful with that!" Jinx yelled

"York, over here!" Kiln yelled as he felt his grip begin to loosen

Kiln gasped as he lost his grip and let go, everything stopped moving in his mind as his companion yelled. All at once he felt as cold and helpless as he'd felt as he sat beside his dying mother, knowing there was nothing he could do. Just as he felt the worst he heard York grunting and felt a hand land on his shoulder pulling up from the ledge.

"Don't worry, I've got you." York said

Kiln guessed that he'd grabbed ahold of Jinx just as he'd let go and for that he was thankful. Jinx breathed heavily for a moment as he was pulled the rest of the way up, he sprawled out on the path and recovered from the near-death experience.

Jinx took an unlit torch from his pack and lit it with magic.

"You guys just go on without me...I can't handle anything else right now." Jinx said handing them the torch

"What if skelet..." Kiln started but was interrupted by Jinx

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine." Jinx said

York grabbed the torch and Kiln's arm.

"Let's just get this over with so we can get out of here." York said sternly as he pulled Kiln through the door

Kiln didn't know what he was more afraid of, York or the burial guardians. Both seemed to be extremely angry at him at the moment. Kiln felt angry at himself for not being able to hold Jinx...if York hadn't been there...

[mplantinga]

Sounds like an excellent case of team effort; hopefully once York is sober again, he won't be so upset with Kiln. You are certainly developing some interesting connections between the characters in this party; I'm looking forward to seeing how these continue to develop. Given the ominous statement you gave us a few updates ago, I wonder if it was a bad decision to leave Jinx all by himself; it would be sad to have anyone in this small party die so early in the story. Thanks for another excellent update; I will continue to look forward to future updates.

[Soulseeker3.0]

Sounds like an excellent case of team effort; hopefully once York is sober again, he won't be so upset with Kiln.  You are certainly developing some interesting connections between the characters in this party; I'm looking forward to seeing how these continue to develop. Given the ominous statement you gave us a few updates ago, I wonder if it was a bad decision to leave Jinx all by himself; it would be sad to have anyone in this small party die so early in the story. Thanks for another excellent update; I will continue to look forward to future updates.

well thats about right.... DITTO That was an exellent addition Kiln keep it up.

[Kiln]

My own variant of the battle with the ghost in the burial caverns, I hope you enjoy it.
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Kiln followed closely behind York through the tunnel, York and Kiln had likely slain a dozen guardians before they arrived in the actual ruins. Kiln's eyes darted around the darkness outside the torchlight searching for some hidden foe awaiting their arrival.

A time had passed of simply walking through the darkness when Kiln began to hear whispering, like that of the dead within the tombs he'd robbed in his previous career, yet the finding of the journal had ended that career and thrown him into the events unfolding in front of him.

Too much thought couldn't be a good thing in this situation so Kiln started to focus more on what was going on around him and less on the past. The cavern air smelled different than the other parts of the cavern, it was dense and hard to breathe, Kiln could hear York breathing heavily and Kiln began to take deeper breaths. Every passing moment it took more air to satisfy him and the lack of air was beginning to get to him.

York wiped away some spider webs hanging between two large pillars and entered the room. All this had been so easy, the bow lay before them on an altar, undefended. Kiln stepped forward and examined the altar for any form of traps that might spring if the bow were lifted but after some time he reached the conclusion that there were none and with that York picked up the bow.

When York's hand wrapped around the bow Kiln instantly knew something was wrong, the hot dense air became cold and the sound of wind whistled violently through the cavern.

Kiln pulled his blade and turned around, searching for something, anything out of the ordinary. York did the same and slowly walked into the darkness. A faint whisper could be heard in the back and all of the sudden York fell back into the light, looking exhausted.

Kiln ran to him, sword drawn and knelt down near him, holding the torch out trying to see what was in the darkness. A blood red light filled the darkness and flew towards him but he rolled, barely dodging it.

A ghostly figure emerged from the darkness and Kiln looked to York for assistance but he was apparently too tired to move from some sort of ancient spell no doubt. Kiln knew he was on his own and thrust his sword forward to strike it but the sword went straight through with no effect.

The ghost cast various spells in his direction but he sidestepped them easily, he searched for some way of hurting it but there was no obvious solution. The ghost flew past him and hit him, forcing him to fall to the ground, his hand being cut on something and the wound burned like a cold flame, likely a sharp rock but he didn't take the time to look, instead he crawled to the torch he'd dropped and grabbed it.

After a few moments he stood, torch in hand and searched for the spirit. Again it came from nowhere and hit him with incredible force, the mere touch of the guardian made Kiln feel weak but he forced himself to stay standing. His eyes spotted something shiny on the ground and something compelled him to grab it, and like so many times before, he followed his instinct as it had never led him astray before.

In the dirt was an arrow, soaked in blood, his blood. This was the rock he'd found in the darkness, not a rock but an arrow, and it glowed with a strange enchantment. He took this to be some strange sign to use it, and so he rushed to York and took the bow from the ground and pulled back the arrow.

Kiln was afraid, he'd attempted to use a bow in the past but his shots had never even neared the target, let alone hit a ghost, though he would try. The ghost swooped down with a screech and drew back to hit him. It was some ten feet away as Kiln let the arrow fly, and the ancestors were with him, York saw the shot and still holds that it was the most perfect shot he'd ever seen.

The arrow flew and landed inside the spirit and the arrow stayed there, suspended for a moment as the ghost vanished and the arrow fell to the ground with a rattling noise.

Kiln sat down beside York and tried to get him to try and stand, they needed to make their way back to Jinx and get out of this place.
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Alas, I've had time to update my story, sorry it took so long and I hope you enjoy it.

[mplantinga]

Thanks for the great update. You captured quite well the feeling of dread that we all encountered the first time our weapon passed straight through the undead. Keep up the great work; I will continue to look forward to future updates.

[Soulseeker3.0]

wow, I agree with mplantinga. Very nice addition Kiln

[Kiln]

This scene was incredibly difficult for me to write and make it seem but here it is and I hope you all like it.
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Kiln half carried and half leaned on the exhausted brute of a man that was York as they walked down the dim tunnels. Backtracking was much easier than getting into the tomb, they knew exactly where they were going now and the masses of skeletons were no longer there to slow them down.

After some time they came to the place where they'd agreed to meet if they became seperated or needed to regroup. Kiln looked around the room, moving the torch from one side to another over the water ahead of them.

"Something's wrong...this is where we were supposed to meet..." Kiln's voice echoed off the walls

"Don't worry yourself Kiln, he's probably waiting outside in the fresh air...now lets jump these rocks. Mind your feet and don't touch the water...it'd be a pity if you made it this far to be defeated by a few small fish." York smiled and jumped to the first rock.

York's confidence reassured Kiln and as usual his mind began to wander to the times when he'd robbed tombs for a living and made his way by taking what other people had earned which made him think of Dulnea and the inn, and that lead to meeting his lover, Rami and he wondered how she was.

Kiln snapped back to reality as he stumbled on his landing on one of the rocks and began falling back into the water, the slaughterfish kept their eyes on him, waiting for him to land.

"I told you to be careful now didn't I?" York said grabbing Kiln and returning him to his normal stance

York jumped from the final rock and onto the ground near the doorway to the final leg of the cavern, Kiln followed closely behind.

"Ya smell the air boy?" York asked taking in a deep breath

Kiln could now breathe with ease and as they approached the exit of the cavern they could hear talking outside.

"What in oblivion?" Kiln whispered to himself

"You'd best keep quiet until we find out whats going on Kiln." York said quietly

Kiln pressed himself against the door to listen but the sound was muffled too much and he slowly opened the door, just enough that he could see what was going on. Through the door Kiln could see a dark elf in steel armor pacing back and forth with his hands behind his back talking.

Three others were visible, guards likely. All of them had a black hand printed on their chestplates, this confused Kiln and he looked to York.

"They are the Black Hands, the newly founded assassin organization." York said

Kiln could hear what the man was saying now, he was yelling quite loud.

"I was told by my scouts that you had two companions with you...where are they now?" The captain asked

He was answered by silence and he drew back his leather glove and backhanded whoever he was questioning.

"I'll ask you once more where they are." The captain said

As Kiln opened the door just a little wider he saw who the captain was talking to, their companion Jinx. Jinx sat on his knees with his hands bound behind his back, blood ran from his mouth where he'd apparently been hit repeatedly.

"I've already told you that they died...inside the tomb." Jinx said

"Have it your way then...take his hand." He ordered

York flung the door open and rushed outside, and threw the leader to the ground. The other three hands rushed at York all at once.

"Kiln, cut the ropes!" York yelled

Kiln was still somewhat shocked at what was happening and took off at a dead run towards Jinx to cut the binds. York picked up the first unlucky man and slammed him onto the ground, stalling them for time.

Kiln handed Jinx the captain's weapon and he stood. York stepped back beside Jinx and Kiln and pulled his blade. The three of them would be forced to kill the assassins once their leader recovered.

That's when Kiln realised just how lucky he was to have his companions beside him, willing to do anything to help him, and momentarily they would be tested.
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I gotta go but I'll update again soon.

[Soulseeker3.0]

I see how it was difficult, fight scenes are usually harder. Anyways, the skirmish was a bit one sided but good none the less.