Four Women Pt. 01

At that Neshendra relaxed. A smile now crossed her face as she realized how impetuous she was acting. Sometimes still the lovesick fool, she thought to herself. Righting the chair, she slowly lowered herself into it. "For the right amount of money a mercenary will hazard almost anything." Taking a deep breath she continued. "I am sorry, Dravis. I over react. I am tired. It has been a long trek, and I face an even longer journey ahead of me."

"You mean it! You really intend to attempt to traverse the Ingel. Have you no money? I..., I mean..., wait a month. Hire more mercenaries. Give yourself a fighting chance to complete this crazy task. Hells! I will lend you any money you might need!"

"Time, Dravis. We..., I can't waste anymore of it. The church of Audin has already agents to the south spreading the ugly work of their god."

"And you alone will stop this...!?"

"At least slow it down as another soirée is commissioned that will follow next spring."

"Can't you see that they are using you! Are you such a fool that you would die for these..., idiots! That you will brave the dangers of the Ingel..., that they would never...?! They will sit back and send others to do their dirty work..."

"Ever the life of the soldier, Dravis. You once understood that."

"I never understood that!," Spoken with derision, "A soldier, you are a fool."

"Then you will not help me?"

"Damn you woman! Damn you and the fools you work for! Let the scurrilous spy's of the dark Gods play at gaining power to the south. What do you think they can accomplish so far from their center of power? Do you think any of this really matters? Do you think...?"

Looking deeply into his eyes, interrupting him with their intensity, Neshendra said, "I am sorry, Dravis. I must go. I have to check on my men and our equipment, as we leave in the morning. It was good to see you, old friend. Take care."

He stared into space as she exited the small office. He guessed to himself that he would never see her again. He also knew that a part of him loved her and always would. Quietly he stood and shut the door behind her with a hint of a smile playing across his face. Women!

Neshendra

It was fairly cool the morning the eight of them set out. After crossing the River Ingel, they traveled first west to find the southerly trail cut by the southerners from the opposite direction the previous year. The trail vague at best. They each rode a mount, Neshendra in the lead, the group of them spread along a line. Interspersed in this line, fifteen pack horses carried the bulk of the supplies that they would need for their journey. These provisions would have to be supplemented by hunting and foraging along the way.

The eight riders moved slowly at first, adjusting to the rigors of the trail.. To Neshendra's experienced eye the men that she traveled with appeared to be a professional group. At least some of the mercenaries having been a soldier of some sort. Kodahka had survived the dangers of the Ingel all ready and was also proving to be a useful member of the party. She would need them all, she thought to herself, wondering at the thickness, the almost complete lack of sunlight at times, as they traversed the morass that is the Ingel.

For her own part, Neshendra was confident in her own skills. She had been an adventurer for many years and trusted in her own abilities. Though she did miss her set of magical Field Plate. This armor Neshendra had acquired off of a fallen enemy on the Island of Kapletia years before. The armor, had saved her life on more than one occasion. Knowing that the heavy chest plate would be too hot in the Ingel, Neshendra had chosen to leave it behind in The Ending, entrusted to her friend Dravis. Instead she wore a set of normal leather and carried a magical shield taken off of the same fallen enemy. The rest of her group wore an assortment of piecemeal leather or ring mail, except for Kodahka who wore no armor at all. She wondered at this, but suspected that he had some kind of magical protection. She hoped so as she suspected he would need it..., and probably sooner rather than later.

In just a few hours the heat of the jungle became oppressive. The hottest time of the year the group would be traveling for ten to twelve weeks, at best, through this land of lush growth. Neshendra quickly realized that she had better get used to the heat, and with it, the chafing and the itching that comes with humidity and sweat. The group would have to accept that these conditions would be their constant companion for the foreseeable future. Every time they neared water, a stream or especially a stagnant pool of left over rain water, they had to deal with the biting, flying insects. Neshendra, to her mind, seemed to be a favorite meal of the little flying creatures.

The first day they broached no overt danger, but Neshendra was as ever careful, constantly checking the trail in front of them. The day a quiet one, that first eve they found a camp site that offered little in the way of protection, but was clear on all four sides for at least a few yards. At least the group could see any enemy that might approach with the set up. This part of the Ingel appeared for the most part to be flat. When an area cleared of growth could be found, this would become the most common sort of campsite for the group.

That first night Neshendra set three watches, two guards on each, herself an extra during the mid-watch. One of the soldiers, Durnin who liked to be called corporal, Neshendra made sure was on the last watch as he was proving to be an adept leader. He had been hired to act as her second and was showing natural leadership ability. He was quite young, perhaps twenty summers old, and he seemed so pensive, so serious, for some one so youthful. She suspected that he had some tragedy in his past but did not press him. Neshendra believed in letting her men keep their own council, unless, of course, she needed their advice.

It was that quiet time of the night. The first watch had passed with out incident and Neshendra had assumed the second. The two that were on watch with her were Skel, an older man who's way of doing things led one to believe he had once been a soldier. Skel stood perhaps five and a half feet tall, with dark eyes and hair to go with his mood. The other was Galinon. He was lad of perhaps sixteen summers, who stood a half a foot taller than her five and two thirds feet. He was quite young but so far had proven steady and unafraid. More importantly the other men seemed to respect him. Neshendra, over the years had learned that this respect from other experienced men was a favorable sign that Galinon was a good addition to the party.

Neshendra walked the camp and all seemed well. She resisted the urge to check on the other two, trust would have to be given as all of their lives were in each others hands. Her night vision found no danger, so she rested upon a log, reflecting upon the life that had brought her to this jungle. And the companions that now accompanied her.

Neshendra Deliorn was born the oldest daughter of an Sylvan Elf warrior and his human wife. The surname Deliorn, actually a Kapletian name, taken from her mother. Her father, as some Elves do, had taken his wife's surname upon their wedding day.

Unable to tolerate the constant ridicule that they had received while living among the Elves of the forest in southern Thairin-Ka, Ermian, her father, and Lillian, her mother, had constantly moved. Though never in one place for very long, Neshendra along with her two sisters Delia and Ganella, were showered with love by both of their parents. Neshendra's earliest childhood recollections consisted of many different towns and villages, but very few memories of friends. After years of the life of the vagabond, the three girls parent's tired of the constant moving had made the decision to settle in the east. Neshendra and her sisters found themselves growing up among humans in the grand city of Thelite.

The three girls were inseparable, and as such became a common site about the small district of Thelite known as the Dacker-Dill. The Dill, was where many non-humans had resided in the ill fated city. The three had stark light colored green eyes which only enhanced their pretty looks. Ganella was the true beauty of the three, but both Neshendra and Delia were also pretty young women. Of the three, Delia was the only one of the girls to have any Elven features. Though she hid them beneath her dark tresses, her larger and slightly pointed ears gave evidence to her Elven heritage. In all other ways the three young girls appeared completely human, except, perhaps, for their eyes. All three girls had those stark green eyes inherited from their father. Not that the three did not know prejudice. There were many who upon learning of their mixed parentage would say hurtful things, or even bar them from their shops. And then there was an incident in Neshendra's seventeenth year.

Neshendra was out early one evening running an errand for her mother. Returning her attention elsewhere, she accidentally ran into a group of rowdies. Drunk and realizing who she was and that it was unlikely that the locals would come to the rescue of a half-bread, the three of them had grabbed her and dragged her into an alley. Her screaming was ignored by the people of the Dill, and she might have been ravaged, or worse, had not a Priest of Torin intervened on her behalf. Having given the three the beating of their life, he had helped to brush off her disheveled appearance, and had escorted her home. She had learned an invaluable lesson of the life for those of mixed blood, that day, and her sisters upon hearing what had happened, also learned this bitter, but valuable lesson.

This warning darkened the pretty and quiet girl that was Delia. The slights that the three girls had endured over the years had became too much for her and she began to fight back in subtle and not so subtle ways. Three years younger then Neshendra, as her sisters, she had been taught the use of a variety of weapons by their warrior father. Delia, though, loved the use of the dagger and the ways of the street people of the 'Dill'. Unable to control her, watching as she went from one trouble to the next, Neshendra's father finally washed his hands of his youngest daughter. Living off of the street, Ermian's daughter had become a thief and Neshendra had last seen her sister the winter of her eighteenth year, Delia's fifteenth.

Ganella too had become embittered at the prejudices of humanity and of the other races. Especially the Sylvan Elves. She took to her sword with a vengeance that astounded even her father. By the time she reached her seventeenth summer, Neshendra's nineteenth, Ganella was as good with her sword as any Ermian had ever trained. Tears filled all of their eyes as she decided to travel across the continent to train in the famous Citadel of the Warriors in northern Thairin-Ka.

Later that same year, Neshendra too left the nest. The Priest that had saved her that day three years previous had inspired her. Hugging her mother good bye, and shaking the hand of the man that had treated her as any good human father would, she set off to devote her life to the Priesthood of Torin.

Neshendra proved to be both good with the weapons, for her father had taught her well, and an adept, and devout, Priest. In just a few short years she had completed her training and had left the confines of the cloistered life to spread the word of Torin^[4] by acting as an adventuring Priest of the order.

In the year 1310 A.C., the year before Neshendra had joined the Priesthood of Torin, the Psetian religion had once again began to rear its ugly head. It was with this as a backdrop, with the Psetian religion growing in power in the city of Thel-Thelite, that Neshendra trained in the Priesthood of Torin in the Temple of Power in south and east of Thelite.

Some years passed. Neshendra had spent a few years upon the road and had joined a band of adventurers that included the Bard, Dravis. They were close, the group of them. Their travels had taken them from one end of the continent to the next, including the island of Kapletia. Neshendra was a bit curious about her mother's people. It was this that had brought her to the island. She learned very little of her human side, as war was building on the Island. The band left very quickly upon clearing a small Dungeon in the central part of Kapletia.

In the early months of 1320 the group found themselves on the western coast. They had been following the trail of an evil artifact and found themselves in the limestone caverns below Thelite. A battle ensued with a Demi-Liche and it's minions. A hurricane had been brewing off of the coast... Neshendra would never know if their fight with the evil creature, and the extreme magic that was released, contributed to the destruction of Thelite.

Neshendra would never forget the sight of the southern half of the city sinking like the ripples of ocean waves upon a cluttered beach. The limestone caverns beneath the city crumbled and the city fell in upon itself. Thousands died. The city had to be completely abandoned. The earthquakes that followed all but destroyed the southern half of the city. Tipped buildings and streets strewn with stonework are all that remain of the once great metropolis. Neshendra was almost certain that her parents were killed in the destruction, and perhaps Delia too. As far as she knew at the time, her youngest sister still lived in the city. She had planned on visiting them... It was only luck that she and her comrades had escaped the devastation.

Shaking off her melancholy mood, the guilt at perhaps killing her mother, father and sister, Neshendra stood and made a circuit of the camp. All appeared well.

The Ingel

The days passed with a sameness that weakened the alertness of the small group. Neshendra did her best to keep her men on their guard, but she knew it was inevitable that they would become relaxed as no danger found the party. It was on the morning of the tenth day that this point was brought forward to her and her companions.

The day was already unbearably warm. The foliage had been less heavy, more like the forests of the north, less like the dripping jungle the group had been passing through. The band was walking their horses down a steep embankment when the lead, a young soldier named Timian, suddenly called out as he and his animal slipped down the hillside tumbling for some fifty or so feet. The rest of the band hurriedly traversed the rest of the hill, and about half the way down, found the lad knocked unconscious. He was otherwise uninjured, and the Priest Kodahka had seen to his care. The horse was unlucky, though. It had broken a leg. Neshendra herself put the animal down admonishing the entire group to be more careful as the next time it could be one of them. Neshendra and her companions had horse meat for dinner that eve, and jerked horse meat for the next few days.

Life in the jungle was the learning of the tolerance of small displeasure's, that when added together, can quickly overwhelm a person. For the most part this was a seasoned group of travelers, but even they were hard pressed not to lose their sanity in the endless plant life. There were days when they only managed five or six miles as they hacked their way through the overgrowth.

It was approximately two weeks into their journey. They had cut their way through the undergrowth and had found a spot where the supposed road was still clear. They were laughing and joking, the group of them enjoying each others company. Suddenly a barrage of arrows struck the right flank of the party. Neshendra began to scream orders as she saw first two pack horses and then Timian go down under the barrage.

"To the ground, to the ground!! Grab your shields!." She yelled as she rode up and down the line. And then another barrage of arrows. She saw them fly and turned her shield just in time to stop two arrows across its front. Then the anger. She knew they would have to reload, that they would have to steady their bows. Hurriedly dismounting, she dropped her shield and drew her weapons. As soon as her feet touched the ground, she charged in the direction that the arrows had come from. She knew they could not be too far into the morass, as just a few yards to either side of the road, the jungle was heavy with vines and growth.

And then she was among the vines and broad leaf plants. She blotted out the screaming and the sounds of the battle behind her. Her anger was white hot as she hacked at the growth with her sword in her left hand. In her right she held the mace that was her primary weapon, her shield now forgotten on the trail behind her. From the corner of her eye she saw movement and struck as quickly as she was able. The enemy attempted to dodge. It was too late, for she felt the satisfying thunk of her weapon as it struck solidly upon the bow man. He screamed and thrashed about in the undergrowth and she made note of the fact that he was Elven as she struck the killing blow. Then another was charging her and she rolled forward into his knees dropping him to the ground. These fools are not used to hand combat, she thought to herself as she stood back up stabbing with her sword and killing a third that followed the charging warrior. She turned and blocked a blow with her mace from the second warrior who had gained his feet. She saw the fear in his eyes and for a moment almost felt sorry for him. It was a flashing thought as blood poured from his mouth. Her mace had crushed his midsection and he was dead before he hit the ground.

All was now quiet. Neshendra turned one way and then the other. She had come perhaps twenty feet into the jungle, so it was only seconds and she was back upon the road. All was still chaos but it appeared the battle had ended. It was good to see her comrades still standing and she began to smile as she walked towards them. The smile quickly faded as she saw Geller upon the ground, three arrows protruding from his body.

"It was a feint, my lady." Corporal Durnin said from where he leant over Geller. "They got half our pack animals and Geller..., here... Uh..., he didn' make it."

She cursed as she looked about the carnage. "And Timian..., I saw him go down?"

"He is fine," replied Kodahka." I have removed the arrow and cast healing magic upon the wound. It was a close thing, he will not be able to walk for a day or so..., but he will live."

"Damn! Another day in this jungle. All right! We will make camp..., right here! We certainly earned this spot with our blood. And Durnin..., come. Tell me what happened after I took to the woods."

As the pair walked away towards the of the of the train, Durnin began, "You surely scared them as their arrows stopped flyin'. An' then they was in our rear an' they got Geller an' took the animals an' run. Me'n'Skel charged 'em an' he got one..., but it was too late. They got away with half our horses an' all the food that was on'm. "

"It's okay, Durnin. I should have anticipated that it was a feint."

" Beg'n yer' pardon..., 'twas yer' charge that broke their attack. You musta' heared' us cheerin' when you cut into the bushes the way you did."

"Yes, yes." Neshendra replied. "And I'm sure you all will remember that when we are starving." With that she turned and begin to give orders to have things organized and an inventory of their food completed.

The next few hours were the worst of an adventurers life. Some of the men went to work setting the camp and their gear to rights as Neshendra, Galinon and Skel dug the grave. The lad had no family that Neshendra knew of, so she made a mental note to split his pay among the others when, and if, they ever exited the horrid jungle.