Ruined Temple |
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The trees are very thick here, almost obscuring the trail from view. Then, suddenly, the trail widens miraculously
into what appears to be a path big enough for horses to move down. And judging from the hoofprints in the dirt, they have been around not all that
long ago. The trees are filled with animals here, small opposum-rats clamber through the branches peering at you myopically, scampering away
when you get close. Somewhere nearby a bird calls, its voice melodious and beautiful against the dank, humid air.
You fancy you can hear hoof beats up ahead. Perhaps the person with the horse is up ahead? You approach with caution, for there is no telling whether people here will be
friendly or unfriendly.
You peer through the bushes and find yourself staring at something you had only heard about in stories - half-man, half-horse, two centaurs are standing
in a vaguely open area. One appears to be trying to open some sort of chest and having great difficulty with it. You watch cautiously and eventually feel dare-devil enough
to approach them.
They stand immediately to attention, the one with the chest dropping it to crash to the ground.
"Halt!" He shouts.
You halt.
"None may pass!"
"Why not?" You ask, "it's just forest!"
The centaur scratches his head and looks at the female. She just shrugs. "Because I say so?" He ventures cautiously.
"I must pass," you say.
"Why?" He asks. "There's nothing there but forest."
"Because I say so," you reply, trying not to chuckle.
"Ok, fine then, go," he says and waves you through.
You wander through, immense puzzlement radiating on your features. What just happened?
The path continues further and suddenly you find yourself before what looks to have once been a small temple. The entrance appears to have once been a cylindrical tower, but now the rigors of the ages have reduced it to little more than a crumbling pile of stones. The whitened skeleton of a wolf, its bones picked clean years ago and gnawed at by small bush creatures, lies in what was once the doorway. Above the arch, a worn dragon-head stares down at you. Its features have long since been worn away to nothing but a blur on its stone face. Patches of colour faded by the sun and the rain, still decorate it in what once must have been a horribly garrish fashion.
Naturally, intrepid adventurer that you are, you enter the tower. A mostly intact corridor leads away from it and the floor rustles beneath your feet, the crackle of dried leaves, the louder snap of some extremity of the poor wolf. The gloom beyond is deep, menacing, but surprisingly dry. You wander through.
It appears that sometime in the not so far past, people used this temple for some purpose or another, there is simple bedding in some of the rooms, and a room that smells disturbingly of horse and guano. Bats swarm around your head, their ultrasonic calls giving you a headache. Further onwards, you find a room with naught in it but a large hole, which you clamber down carefully, using your rope and find yourself on an understory. Here you find a second large hall, this one has smoke stains on the walls and ceilings, and a black altar, made of wood burned almost through, sits in the middle of the room. When you touch it, bits of it crumple into dust. There is not much more to see here.
As you turn to leave, you realise someone is watching you. It is a small, attractive woman with waist length auburn hair and cold blue eyes.
"Hello," you say cautiously. "What are you doing here?"
She smiles at you sweetly, stepping forward. "Why, I am Melinda, and you have invaded my home."
"Invaded your home?" You ask. "I am most sorry, I shall depart shortly."
"No," she says raising her hands. "I have something to ask you."
"Yes?"
"I seek one who is dark of features, dark of heart, and dark of name. I had him, once, several years ago, but alas he foiled us. Foiled us and
divided us. I seek him for revenge, for he did slay my family many years ago."
"And how am I supposed to find him?" You are worried now, for this woman does speak of a most horrifying occurance. Murder of a family?!
"He wanders still, I do not doubt and I cannot follow him here, for I am bound to this place, cursed by his misdeeds."
As you look at her closely, you notice something unusual about her, her hair ripples in a wind that you cannot feel and her skin, although pale, has an almost barklike appearance. You begin to feel somewhat
nervous.
"I must go and find him," you stutter.
The woman's hands dart out, grasping you by the collar with the strength of the very trees themselves. She snarls.
"You cannot leave me, for I am trapped here and only with the solstice will I be free!"
"Who are you?" You whisper, terrified for her eyes glow with a blue fire and her features seem to be distorting and becoming almost ethereal.
"I am Melinda, I am the Nymph of the Woodlands!" She shrieks, throwing up her hands, tossing you backwards against the wall. Glowing light flickers from her fingertips. "And you are now my little plaything."
She smiles slyly, coming toards her, her clothing disentegrating into mist.
Terrified, you struggle back, your hands searching in your pockets deperately for anything that might be useful. You find your cigarette lighter. It isn't much, but it could just work.
She gets closer, her fingers reaching for you like twigs, the nails gnarled. You flick the wheel, but in your panic, the gas does not ignite.
Suddenly, she is on you, her twig-like fingers tearing at your face, your hair, her teeth pointed like a sharks. And suddenly, miracle of miracles, your zippo sparks into life.
As the flame touches her green tinged hair, their is a sizzling noise and the pungent smell of burning hair snakes into your nostrils.
With a bloodcurdling howl, she leaps back and hisses at you, like a cat.
"Begone from here, fire mage," she hisses. "Your people are not welcome in my forest."
You back up, keeping the cigarette lighter between her and you, and she follows, stalking until you step over the wolf skeleton. She hisses, and lunges but falls back as if she has hit an invisible barrier, and once more, you are free.
Feeling somewhat shaken, would you now like to travel"
North-West ,South East or East?
