Rimmerhold, and Beyond.

[Eyrekra da' Waelkyrige]

"May the Ice Queen bless, and keep watch over both of you!" Those were the words that Eyrekra spoke before parting company with the Kona (Hex), and her Advisor (Langredoc) .

She notice the stranger was looking around Rimmerhold, as if he were trying to record, no memorize facts about the area. Eyrekra stayed clear of him, and let him finish what every he was doing.

That was over a week ago. In this last week she managed to bury Reiker, and the rest of the people who stayed behind to fight. She was not a priestess, but she did say a few word to help them pass over. At times she was not quite sure if her prays were for the dead or for her own peace of mind. On some of the nights she spent in this new graveyard, once called Rimmerhold, Eyrekra swore she saw the ghost of the people re-enacting the battle with the Dreki . It was on those cold nights that Eyrekra really longed to see Langredoc's devilish smile.

Day by day she cleaned and tended to her wounds, and day by day she came to appreciate the sacrifices these simple, yet brave people made. After spending a week in Rimmerhold, Eyrekra was able to collect most of the things she needed. She collected her sword from the Dreki’s body, she found her spear, her shield, and her quiver and bow. Unfortunately she was only able to find five unbroken arrows. From the huts she found a backpack, a pair of snow shoes, a small metal pot, and another cloak. Her chain mail armor was for the most part intact, there might have been a few questionable area, but all in all it was still good. She had plenty of cooked Dreki meat to eat on her new journey.

Eyrekra headed south out of Rimmerhold , south-west to the Landing Cove . She was hoping to find her mother, and grandmother there. Eyrekra was also hoping to get some news on the movements of the followers of the "One" .

[Vanadius]

Sheer cliffs of ice and sharp stones surround it on either side, the frigid water lapping at the bases of the ships and rocks. Only skillful navigators can chart a path from the mouth of the cove across the shifting currents, hidden rocks, and drifting icebergs to the landing area. The landing area itself is marked only by a few tall wooden posts for docking and an array of narrow flags in a myriad of colors that were once bright, but have now faded pale and pulled to threads and ribbons by what seems to be a ceaseless icy wind.

There are several other boats docked along the pier, and the area bustles with people clambering across the jagged, snow-covered rocks near the water to the more solid, if frozen, land of the cove. The well-traveled visitor can recognize traders from nearly every inch of Tazlure, greeting familiar faces in a dazzling array of accents, exchanging details about the voyage, comparing prices and markets - or even cursing (in a low voice, of course) about the inhospitable weather and choppy seas of Trothgard.

Every exclamation is punctuated by a burst of foggy breath in the bitterly cold air.

There were refugees here. Tattered, scattered people now homeless by the strife and warfare that had destroyed their homes. Some sought to escape and rejoin relatives in the southern lands, some sought merely to get away and survive. Some bartered and haggled their way onto the ships. Some had no other place to go.

All in all, they were about two hundred, and Eyrekra's grandmother Agenta was among them. She was immediately recognizable by her iron gray hair pulled tightly back, a strand with the bead of the Waelkyrige clan the lone exception. She looked tired and worn, but it was most certainly the 'grams' from her youth.

[Eyrekra da' Waelkyrige]

Eyrekra waded among the huddled masses of human misery, with her eyes full of tears. She walked and listen to the people begging, bartering any service they could think of for passage on the ships, and watched the horror of despair on the faces of the ones who had nothing to offer or nowhere to go. "Was this the price of my blind rage?" "This is not what I fought for." Eyrekra was now learning that there was a price to pay for playing war, and it was not only paid by the ones who fought.

Her heart brimmed with joy, when she spotted her 'grams.' Eyrekra dried her eyes, after all she could not present herself as a blubbering mess. She rushed to embrace her grandmother, and as they embraced Eyrekra cried large tears of joy. "Oh 'gams' I am so glad to see you." "Have you any news of mom?"

[Vanadius]

The elderly woman hugged her grandchild fiercely, holding her tight and not letting her go for a long time before she spoke. There were tears of relief in her eyes. She remained poised and composed, but it was obvious she was only doing so by the slimmest of margins.

"Oh child. I'm so pleased to see you and that you are alright. We've been worried sick!"

She held Eyrekra at arms length, taking in the sight of her and committing all the details about her granddaughter to memory all over again. It was only after a few long flickers that Eyrekra's question registered with her.

"What? Oh! Your mother!"

A look of dark concern washed over the older woman's face.

"She went with him! That Skaali fellow. We argued for a long time over it. That crazed man and he what he wanted to do to the Council and our poor blessed Kona. May the Queen watch over her."

She made a warding sign, a gesture to ward off evil spirits. It was a curious gesture, both true to the oldest ways of the people of the north, and strangely blasphemous against the faith of the Ice Queen that she had just invoked.

"But he called out to us, questioning our faith and why we would follow such outdated traditions. He said that now was the time to strike off our chains of bondage and fight. He had something with him. A white hand... in a jar. It was withered and shriveled, but it was unlike anything I have ever seen before. Its was... I don't even know how to describe it."

The old woman shivered, and likely not from the cold.

"But she went with him. She wanted to see these things for herself. She said she didn't want the Queen to see her run in fear, and that she needed to stand up and protect her people."

A single tear escaped one of her eyes, and slid slowly down her wrinkled face.

[Eyrekra da' Waelkyrige]

Eyrekra looked at her grandmother, then she looked at all the despair around her.

"Grams there is nothing I can do for mom right now, right now I need to get us out of here." "I need to get more experience, and more control of my gjof." "Didn't you once tell me of us having family in the Citadel?" "Oh it doesn't mater we are going to Citadel family or no family." "Grams your all the family I need."

A sweet, yet not all to confident smile crossed Eyrekra's face. She was not sure of this decision, but for now it was the only option she had.

After instructing her grams to stay put ,Eyrekra made her way through the people. As she pass them she studying the pain and sorrow on their faces. She was committing to memory their misery, and inwardly vowed to avenge them. She finally found one of the disgusting outsiders, who was selling passage on to the ships. Then she caught sight of Hex and Langerdoc entering a portal.

She rushed to talk to her grams, but Eyrekra could not perseid her grams to go with her.

So sadly, and after one last hug she walked towards the portal.

[Vanadius]

~ Fin

[Vanadius]

Locked, skilled, archived.