Author: Shatara; ~2000
Shatara's Tale - Chapter 1
"Lassie why don t you tell us your whole story from the beginning? Thus far we have just heard bits and pieces" I looked up into the face of the towering warrior as he bent over to hand me a tureen of hot soup. His rough face was weathered from battles with the harsh environment and scarred from battles with even more deadly foes. I whispered a "thanks" as I took a sip from the steaming liquid. The hot soup scalded my tongue but oh the warmth! As the soup hit the inside of my belly it felt like boiling lava coursing through my body. I sat hunched over cupping the hot vessel and feeling the steam on my face I just couldn t remember the last time I had been this happy.
"You are a child of Halas eh lass?" Bolmon asked. After I nodded he added "as am I and Kinan and some of these other warriors". I flinched as shouts of "Hail Halas! Hail MacLear!" echoed against the rock walls.
We had taken shelter in a shallow cave that the forces of nature had hollowed out of a massive cliff wall. Looking out into the night I could see the snow being madly driven by the wind. The howl of the wind would rise and fall like the call of something deep and wild. I closed my eyes and listened to the rhythm, letting my body sway back and forth to the song of my home land.
"Lass?", Bolmon repeated, which brought me out of my reverie. I looked across to where he had taken a seat on the opposite side of the roaring fire. Then I glanced around at the circle of men who were squatting and sitting close to the fire. I took the final swallow of the now cold soup and began to speak.
"I' m not sure how long I had been wandering before you found me" I stammered. "It has been at least a week since I last saw someone on the tundra. I tried to call out to them but the wind robbed me of my voice. I tried to follow them but I lost them in the storm".
"Close to dead you were Shatara when we saw you lying in the snow." The dwarf was rummaging through his backpack as he spoke and produced an old but serviceable blanket that he draped over my shoulders. The blanket was so small that it barely covered any of my back but I was grateful for the extra warmth. He peered deeply into my eyes, his intense green eyes twinkling with a thousand sparkles of light. I knew from his clothing and equipment that he was a holy man. He had been the one that had brought me back from near death. "Thanks Trok, you are too kind" I said managing the best smile that my painfully wind blistered and cracked face could muster. "You are welcome fine little lady" he said with a flourishing bow. Then he quickly retreated closer to the fire.
"How did you happen to be wandering around alone in the wilderness?" asked Mertok. I looked at the elf who obviously was a dealer in the arcane arts. "For the last few days while Trok has been working on you you ve been mumbling about orcs and brigands and all types of such things".
"She was just having feverish dreams there studied one" said Trok with a sideways glance. "I m sure there is nothing to worry about".
"Well that still doesn t explain how she got out there" the sorcerer sniffed as he adjusted his robe.
"Be quiet". The voice was old but solid and spoke with authority that was not to be questioned. I looked at Kinan who was leaning back against the wall of the cave. "If the lass could get a word in edge wise I m certain we will soon know all". "Would you start from the beginning little one and tell us your tale?"
"Aye sir I will, listen and I will tell you as best that I can. I have seen evil and perhaps such a strong and brave group such as yourselves can rid Norrath of it!" At this the men stirred slightly and Bolmon pulled his great 2 handed sword a little closer. "That sword is a long as I am" I thought and I felt safe for the first time in a long time being in the company of these men.
"I remember little of my childhood. I used to remember more but the memories have slipped away from me like a bird".
"That is not uncommon, little one, considering the state that you were in. Your memories will probably come back" interrupted the dwarf. After a glance from old Kinan silenced Trok I continued.
"My father was a brave warrior and my mother spoke with the spirits and worked magic."
"Aye a shaman" Bolmon said quietly.
"I believe that I was born in Halas but I have no memory of the city. My childhood home was the tundra. My father had been sent to lead a relief group of men to a hunting camp that was quite a distance across the frozen plains from Halas. My mother went along to care for them and of course took me along I must have been about 5 or so at the time although I don t really know. We were to be there for only several months but the next group that came out to relive us ran into troubles with wandering bands of orcs and when they arrived many of them needed to be immediately cared for by my mother. The captain of that group had perished on the trip and my father decided that he would stay to help fortify the defenses of the camp. He attempted to send my mother and I back to Halas with the returning warriors and hunters but she said that her place was there, taking care of the brave men of Halas."
"The troubles with the orcs increased. The hunting parties were being harassed almost daily. My father sent word back to Halas with the next group that left with their stores of meat for the city. Reinforcements needed to be sent out immediately. Weeks later a couple of seriously wounded men staggered into camp. The warrior reinforcements had been ambushed by a group of a hundred or more orcs. All had perished save these two and I watched as one of them died lying with his head in my mother s lap."
"My father instantly started making preparations to hunt these orcs down. We were seriously outnumbered but the travel route between the hunting grounds and Halas had been apparently cut off. Without the route being opened back up for safe travel the citizens of Halas would starve. My father sent 3 separate runners back toward Halas hoping that one of them would make it back to inform them of his plan. He hoped that an army could leave from Halas and meet our group as we traveled back catching the orcs in the middle and crushing them."
"The night before we were to depart the orcs fell upon us. The posted guards went down in the rush as dozens of orcs stormed the camp from all directions. Confusion and pandemonium was everywhere. I stumbled about trying to stay from underfoot. I saw orcs being slayed to the left and the right. The ice was running with blood, the snow colored deep crimson. Shouts and grunts filled the air. Still the orcs came, they seemed to pour out of the ground itself. Our warriors were going down one by one."
"I saw my father standing with a pile of dead orcs around him. The corpses were stacked so high that I could only see his shoulders and head as his blood covered weapons flashed in the moonlight. A group of at least 20 orcs climbed up the pile of their fallen brethren and descended on him in a writhing mass. I heard a scream and saw my mother leave a fallen warrior and start running toward where my father had been but now there was but a heap of moving arms, legs and bodies. I heard the most horrible sound escape from what I assume was my father. Then I felt a sharp explosion on the back of my head and saw only blackness."
The silence in the cave was broken only by the crackle of the fire and the wind outside. Finally Kinan stood and walked out to the edge of the precipice looking out into the night. "Aye lass I know well of this. One of the messengers that your father sent back to Halas made it and a large army of warriors were gathered and quickly departed to meet with your father s group. After days of quick movement, taking little time to rest they arrived at the camp. There they found not a living soul only the frozen corpses of the Sons of Halas and many many dozen orcs. In rage they hunted down and killed groups of orcs. They were able to put down the orc uprising and make the hunting area and camp safe again. Halas continued to be able to hunt it s food."
Kinan turned and looked at me his old but still powerful frame filling the entrance to the cave. "You still have much a story to tell us Shatara for that event happened almost 4 years ago. As hardy as our lot is I find it hard to believe that a little girl survived for that long alone out there" he chuckled with a broad sweep of his hand behind him. "We will stay here until this blizzard abates some. You will have plenty of time to tell us more. You should rest now."
"Thank you Kinan I am still very tired" I said as I laid down close to the fire. Trok walked over to me, place his hand on my head and started mumbling a very pleasant sounding chant in a language that I couldn t understand. The last thing that I heard as I drifted off to sleep was Mertok whispering to Bolmon "my warrior friend where has she been all of this time, what has she seen?" Bolmon quietly replied to the user of magik "evil Mertok, she said that she has seen evil and looking into her eyes I believe that she indeed has".