User:FJH/fjh frtrss/str nishsigunkokeb/150hematite

Hematite in the Age of Heroes, 150

2 Hematite
I have been traveling east from Lershicasot and find myself at the shore of an ocean. I can go no further east until they invent boats. The mist is nice though.

14 Hematite
I had washed the blood and ichor stains off my armor and weapons quite well, with the emerging problem that I am now soaking wet. Also, there is a blood stain on my right pants leg that refuses to come out. At least I'm not far down south still or else I'd probably freeze. The mist is nice though, like I said.

I only mention the ocean I encountered two weeks ago because today I stand at the foot of another ocean! I decided to head as far north as I could from the shore and I have encountered even more water, just as salty as the last. I was hoping the swamp I passed through had more interesting things in it but I only met Wasps and Mist Flayers.

16 Hematite
I was accosted by two more of those Deinonychus creatures again today while I was about to sit down and rest on a stump. When not confined to tight regions they have incredible speed! They came out of the foliage like lightning and, were it not for my armor, I'd most likely have lost a great deal in that first swipe. Additionally, the two of them proved very difficult to handle at the same time, and my speed wasn't sufficient to keep distance. I was relieved that one pounced on me because that forced the other to leave me be while his friend had his way. They crouch like birds, they do, but look like lizards! Their claws are also terrible things to behold, long and curled and sharp. Those claws tore at my exposed clothing and I do believe its grasp dented my armor! I stunned it and threw it off, then proceeded to strangle his friend who I surprised with an axe to the face. After bleeding to death, I made swift work of his still-stunned friend. I can see why Dacap was surprised that I had made short work of the first one; these two tired me easily and I'm certain a third would have stolen something of mine that does not grow back before I had slain it.

Remembering what Aredas said about their value, I cleaned the monsters as best I could and stuffed their corpses into my sack as well.

17 Hematite
Scrap my original idea, I just discovered the horrible truth. Both the first and second oceans are one and the same, boxing me in to the north and to the west. I'm stuck.

I sat to consult my resources. I wasn't wounded. I still had a lot of good meat from that cave I stumbled upon and things to drink. I could avoid having to double back to Lershicasot for now and try going around the shore until I found somewhere, but I didn't know which way to head. If I headed along the northern shore, I'd be heading further into the swamps of the Deinonychus heading NW; if I followed the western shore I'd be retreading some of the places I had already passed and would be heading SE. I thought of asking Nato again but like before he was quite silent.

18 Hematite
I decided to flip one of my coins, calling "tails" for northward. I didn't realize until after I flipped it that the coin had two identical sides with a head shape on it. They apparently had an image of Nato on it. Maybe he wasn't such a strong silent type after all ... ?

24 Hematite
I encountered the first real civilization in quite some time but was very wary as it was a dark fortress, admired for its obsidian walls and floors but reviled for their attraction to unsavory races. I'm told they are unsavory anyway. They kill kittens or something. Being the target of arrows suggested the last dark fortress didn't like me, but not that they were evil or unsavory. Undaunted in my thoughts I approached cautiously eager to see any kind of people interacting. I was quite happy, in afterthought, that it didn't attack me. The Bugbears of Shorethfufud paid little interest in me actually, save for the Guards who understandably were doing their job. Many many children (they must breed like rabbits) simply sprinted past me after one another, and other Bugbears of trade professions mill about the perform their own tasks. Bugbears are rather tall so perhaps they don't see just me as much a threat. To make sure I didn't give off those kinds of vibes, I kept Nato in my belt and the Deinonychu corpses in my pack.

I met with Macelord Tutuyayum Inceststeps to ensure there was no misunderstandings. It took quite some time to find him: if a single Dwarven mountainhome could be nebulous under the hands of many architects, dark fortresses tend to be worse under the guidance of fewer. They have an incredible number of dead ends and everything eventually starts looking the same. There were three obsidian towers in Shorethfufud to go through so I was very relieved to encounter the Macelord after having finished searching the first tower; just one of the towers built up a good thirst. Tutuyayum was not incredibly interested in my reasoning for seeking him out, apparently confident that I was not going to harm or steal anything. He could have been less rude about it though - Dwarves hate being called "short person."

Eagerly, I asked him if he could help with finding the location on my map. Tutuyayum peered at it for a few seconds, turned the parchment over to read the back, rotated it to look at it upside down, then folded it back up and returned it. He said he couldn't help but, perhaps, their Bugbear leader could. He told me to head to the Bugbear capital city Malignedtepid just a day southwest of Shorethfufud and seek out the Demon Drurumuth Sizzleheats. After that, he shoved past down the hallway, back to whatever he was doing, and I found this dry corner to sleep in for the evening.

Aren't Demons supposed to be more ferocious than dragons?

27 Hematite
Malignedtepid! The second in command here is Master Lasher Futumafat SatoTormentLizards but she wasn't very much help. I think maybe she was like the priestess back in Lershicasot because she was lying unconscious on the ground. Three towers. One demon. Could it really be that hard?


yes, it is

28 Hematite
I met the Demon this morning, more by chance than good planning.

I had finished searching the first tower yesterday and slept in the lobby of the second tower last night. When I was going outside to get a quick stretch without blocking traffic, I rounded the corner and saw it. At first I didn't even realize what it was that I was looking at: a burning tree, a massive blob of molten slag, a giant firefly. It cast the shadow of other Bugbears onto the walls of the towers. For a moment, I squinted at it for some time before taking the only appropriate course of action and going to find something to drink. Mornings were always like that. Either you wake up on a battlefield or a cot or pumping magma. By the time I returned, though, the blazing thing was still there, prompting me to realize that there really was something there. The Bugbears just passed by it slowly, even if they had to skid to a stop first, with their heads lowered. I had to agree with them, it was impossible to look at the thing, let alone the ground beneath its feet.

That was when I realized that, through all the haze and fire, it did have the form of feet silhouetted and swayed by the heat. Legs, something of a body, but my eyes couldn't travel any further. It was too bright to make out carefully and see. Then there was the heat: it felt like a miserable dry desert at midday - did I mention I passed through one of those? - or a magma forge deep in the bowels of a well-to-do Dwarven fortress even at this distance. I went to take a sip from my water skin only to find it had already dried up in the heat; with little to bide the renewed thirst I decided I would get closer.

Getting closer was much more difficult than it initially seemed. As quickly as I approached did it get hotter and no matter how slowed by the heat my feet moved id it ever stop getting hotter. It was as dry as sand.I already used a desert metaphor. It was overwhelming, practically forcing me down to my knees just to get closer. I drew Nato and held it before me to shield my face and beard from the intense burning light, to see even its steely blade glow. By the time I was down on one knee just to support myself and still trying to get closer, a voice the sound of I was told that I had gotten close enough and to speak.

I tried to introduce myself and explain who prescribed I come here and ask the Demon Drurumuth. I had to speak slowly, with much difficulty, because my mouth became dry and parched easily and my breath vanishing as fast as it could muster. After mentioning the dragon but before I could pull the map, I was told that I had said enough and that stifled any voice I had. I waited in the stifling ferocity for some time in silence; I was about to draw back when I was told things again. I was told that the request I was being given was spoken for by all of Malignedtepid, that I was to kill a wolf named Routedrhymed in a place called Strifefulgloomy the Abysses of Heat. It had killed one of their own named Bresh. If I did this, I was told, I would learn where the dragon I sought "plundered." Then silence again.

It took me some time to get to a distance that was bearable and a few drinks to relax myself completely. My knees were still weak from the encounter and suddenly the normal day felt cold, like Akïmkulet. Futumafat came up to me eventually and handed me a sheet of paper, charred at the edges, the map to Strifegloomy I assumed. It dawned on me as soon as I saw the map that I had already seen the place I was going! It was a small delta on the southern shore of that "second ocean" I had seen before! There must have been a cave there. I was about to ask Futumafat but she was already unconscious.

Now that I think about it, didn't someone say something about making deals with Demons before? Good luck, I think?