Author Topic: Lost in the Clouds  (Read 2765 times)

armybrat69

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Lost in the Clouds
« on: April 10, 2013, 06:30:09 AM »
He arrives in a clearing seeing brightly clad men and women sing and dancing only a few children seem to give him even a second glance. Nervous he draws a bow but one of the men waggles a finger at him as if to a naughty child. Shaking his head he slings the bow and wanders around to the campfire. Mixtli has a splitting headache and the elf has this strange feeling he is not in Krynn anymore. Sadly hes not sure of too much else. Just the feeling he was once apart of something else and he has to earn his skills once again. Fortune however is with him and the leader of the small camp Petre tells him of the area calling him some odd word and offers him the simple task of collecting mink pelts for some of the local coin. His stomach growling he figures this is the best way to at least scout around this unfamiliar land.

His hunt is successful until nightfall hits thinking he will get to sneak up on a wolf he is now looking at the thing turn into a bipedal monstrosity of terror and hunger. racing he runs back to the only place he knows of and not once looks back. Neuri says the vistani..lycans they change by the moonlight. Runbbing his hand across his forehead he is now for certain he is no longer in Krynn and has probably no way to get home now...wherever his home was.
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2013, 08:44:12 AM »
More terrors await Mixtli in his new purgatory of a home. He stays to the woods mostly living off of small game he hunts or lingering near the "vistani" to learn more, which hasn't been much. They do, however buy the furs and skins he collects. He avoids wolves not sure if they will change into the humanoid things bent on eating him, but now he learns while visiting the morninglord (sun god) temple that Barovian women are man-eater! So be extra nice!

Very hard to be nice when these creatures dress up as dogs and the men of this morninglord wear pink. He also learns after some odd attack of mist at his feet of vampires. This one he sees is a pale female, who seems to toy with him and some other odd lady that comes to his rescue. They talk of bartering teeth for blood, he is advised to go indoors. Normally one to enjoy the outdoors, there is little to love in a land of corrupt animals and people. Next the trees will get up and chase him, he thinks. Oh well, so far some people, "outlanders" such as himself seem interested in him, and one nice man has taken him as an "apprentice". The odd lady in the dog mask even gave him a crafted bow.

After a night of demolishing bats and watching his new mentor turn into some monster and stomp undead in a crypt he is ready to retire. His reverie gives him images of  werewolves and vampires, his reverie is not very restful.
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #2 on: October 14, 2013, 04:51:20 AM »
His mind expands  as he takes in more of the information of this world. Mixtli is now certain from the grass to the single moon this land is cursed. He is also certain the three moon gods hold no real power in these lands.

Having met several others from Krynn, all seem to be able to progress in their skills whether it is arcane magic or divine. He is wary of the priestess of Mishakel he has met, though she is kind and skilled in her art she also claims to be from the time of the kingpriest. So it seems these mists deliver people not only from other worlds but different times. Regardless Mixtli travels to other parts of this land..Barovia, he continues to search for anything that will help him survive, scrolls, clothing, armor, weapons, as well as allies. He wants to go home away from these odd locals who fear anything different. Being a natural outcast even back home he avoids the locals, and imagines if only he had his previous powers back. Mixtli watches people in their encounters, he is sometimes not certain who he should fer more, the locals in power, the rumors of this dark lands ruler, or the creatures that come out at night in search of blood and prey. All he knows right now is he must continue to train. He is told of a small elven village south of the gray city, perhaps there he can furhter train in peace to use his bow, and his rather pathetic spellbook he is recreating.
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #3 on: October 16, 2013, 03:10:04 AM »
Mixtli now begins to wonder about the levels of intelligence of those around him. Can people not really tell the difference between a male and female elf? Why do dwarves continue to hold some rock that holds value to a dragon , does it offer some magic in their mines? Had they tried such a feat back home, any creature would have been dinner for even thinking of stealing from a dragon. And the clerics of various deities never fail to impress him with their level of faith as well as healing abilities. He has found a few people to travel with but for the most part he feels out of place and is certain others view him as such.

Regardless he feels the need to keep exploring, questioning all around him, and testing certain theories. He hears talk of some local deity that controls the mists, Ezra or something. He has learned little else of her but makes note to explore more of this and see if maybe these followers of Ezra know more of the mists, the strange mists that took him from his home somehow. If he makes it back he wonders if he would even be believed: shape-shifters and vampires seem abundant, and quite deadly. The only thing in his mind that is still more deadly seams to be a pissed off female. The vampire he antagonized he was expecting her to be after dumping holy water on her neck, she doesn't seam to be a mindless killer  as others claim but she is deadly nonetheless. His overprotective monk friend stood in the way of what should have been his blow. Angered and humiliated he is certain women are still the most dangerous things he has seen in these cursed lands so far.
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #4 on: October 24, 2013, 10:08:29 PM »
Mixtli walks the lands usually using his meager shamanic powers to conceal himself from the odd beasts of the night. He is told of the fear the locals hold of the outlanders, the things that come out at night, and pretty much anything that is "different". He sees his first true example of this while watching a young Barovian man was inside the Morninglord Temple quivering and muttering to himself. Mixtli watches the man observing him and his new elven buddy, a brand new arrival to this hellhole with utter fear. The two elves converse in their native tongue and contemplate a joke to play on the man. Mixtli removes a hag's heart from his growing alchemy bag and shows it to his new friend. The female elf looks to the fearful man and takes a bite of the heart causing the local to pass out on the temple's stone floor. Feeling somewhat bad Mixtli goes over to make sure the man was alright and splashes water on his face to wake him.

The man was muttering in words still yet unfamiliar to Mixtli speaking of "They" and some odd night things and an "anya". The female elf continues her antics to scare the man and laughs herself silly. Mixtli is now more curious as to why these people are so fearful and do not fight back, so far his experience with the locals is rather divided: half avoid him the rest give the notion they wish him either harm or misfortune. The other elves words of the land being cursed ring true to his ears, Krynn and its wars seem so far beyond him now as he struggles to learn of his new surroundings.
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #5 on: October 30, 2013, 12:19:57 AM »
Since his arrival Mixtli notices his studies have started to pay off, he is able to learn and memorize new spells however he remains frustrated at the amount of creatures that seem resistant to his spells. He was however happy after a night in the lower crypts of the Morninglord temple watching the native Barovian he met the day before face off against the undead with an almost fearless look in his eye.

His enjoyment of seeing someone face off their fears however is shortly lived after he sees more examples of the kinds of people that reside in the land of mists and misery. Undead run an greater numbers and try to lure the good-intentioned to their very doom. The cursed beasts known as Neuri feed on the unsuspecting. Mixtli expects monsters but what he doesn't expect is the downright greed of people. To him magic is a gift to be used to better oneself or to help, not to be used to steal. Watching the robed figured concealed with magic and take items and treasure that should have been divided with the group. Deciding on how best to deal with the man Mixtli will wait to see.

He now heads to the warehouse in Vallaki to collect an item of  use, the next person to act stupid or treat him as anything less than a person will meet the truly dark side of the wild elves.
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #6 on: November 01, 2013, 06:15:45 AM »
Lorug, his short -lived little sister is dead he hears. Dark thoughts of the undead responsible float to his mind, he will never be able to destroy enough puppets of the Chemosh goons or whatever versions this perverted world seems to hold. He vows to find her remains and ensure the proper burial is done for the young elf that met her end and had refused to return to her body. He has much forest walking to do....

Mixtli grows more despondent as he watches events fold out in the Gray city of Hell. Attacks from another fey or elf, whatever humans refer to his kind here for some reason assaulted the Citadel. Human garda dead equals open season on elves...To run or not to run is his choice. Maybe lay low and watch events unfold. The elf attacker has a name and a rather large band of people seeking his demise.

What bothers Mixtli more is the appearance of ghosts and spirits, some hostiles others more morose of their state of being. He never saw such things back home...but then again he is not at home and he often wonders did he leave a war ridden  Krynn for a better purgatory or did he die and just enter some odd parody of an afterlife. There are institutions that offer classes still, so while he can still think and feel Mixtli is determined to keep learning, it is the only thing that still feels like is part of his old self now these days.
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #7 on: November 11, 2013, 04:43:49 AM »
For the first time Mixtli wonders if maybe things will be OK.

His old tribe back home was decimated by the Dark Queen's goons, many friends he had known there gone. He had felt betrayal, pain, loss, all at the hands of elf and human alike. But since arriving here at the mists he has seen more acts of bravery, more acts of loyalty than some of the former knights of his homeland could claim. And most of these acts he had seen amongst the ranks of these "romans", men who wear the oddest of armor and red cloaks and make sure the enemy is well away they re around and intent of a fight. However they fight as a pack of wolves well tuned into each others senses. They also know he is different but seem to accept him.

He now calls them his new tribe. The first Legion of the Mist, Mixtli is still unsure of their odd ways but is most curious to learn, and after being accepted he only hopes he can live up to the expectation of these well trained yet hardened soldiers. If the mists have taught Mixtli anything it is this: Only the strongest will survive. And no one person can be strong alone..
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #8 on: December 14, 2013, 03:07:52 PM »
His new tribe gone almost as fast as his first had been. While in reverie he has old memories of his past flash before his eyes, he recalls how it really was back home in those years prior to the mist. He was a loner and rarely had so many allies as he seems to now. The Romans had given the elf some hope that he could be apart of something bigger, to contribute and leave a lasting mark. So far of all his encounters the only lasting mark one could make was stone, with maybe a kind epitaph engraved upon it.  All he really seemed to have was his mind and his reasoning, everything else  seems to be a temporary state.

Mixtli wakes from his reverie and all the dark thoughts it had left him with, he feels alone now more than ever and mentally compares himself to some of the clerics that had said since being here they felt no connection to their deity. So this is what it means to be alone, one must pass the trials and rely on ones self before they can be apart of something bigger. Maybe that is part of why he exists here, to learn. Mixtli checks his equipment and dons an Anubis shaped mask while testing the string on his bow. He may be far from home but he still has his name, and his skills. He has also found people regardless if they are human or elf that will train him in new skills. From Sudhri and her alchemy lessons, Manius and his instructions into Latin, and the fellow mages who share scrolls and lessons in enchanting Mixtli at least feels he can grow in these wretched lands.

While Mixtli gives himself a pep talk his stomach growls bringing him back to here and now, to his current reality. Sighing Mixtli heads to a forested area he knows well to go and hunt, if the wolf is to survive he must eat and ensure he remains a hunter and not one of the hunted.

 
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #9 on: December 13, 2014, 02:37:33 PM »
He sits in a corner of the visitor's tent, pulls out a weathered book and goes through various sketches he has done over time. All of these have been since he arrived in this hellhole, a results of his won desires to run away. Hr is not happy, and knows of no way to fix this which frustrates him more. Mixtli, or "Cloud" as he has been called for so long looks over sketches of those he has known and frowns as he passes over sketches of those who have passed on.

I should be pleased Natalie and Dante live again and still seem to welcome my company

His thoughts race in his head at all that has transpired, but the loss of Sudhri; his mentor, trainer, and lover bothers him the most. He abandoned Sylee whom he thought was corrupt to the mists for her, and learned that Sudhri, the one he loved was victim to these outer forces it seemed. Maybe that was her end. It was the fall of Koryan, the end of Quinn as well. Maybe the Wayfarer elf her words certainly had merit. But his mind is riddled with guilt still his past deeds cannot be forgotten and he broods over one final thought before heading out of the tent:

I am cursed, I have brought my own actions upon myself and I will remain cursed until I can find some sort of redemption. Until then I am undeserving of  friendship or even love
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #10 on: December 15, 2014, 01:43:54 AM »
Mixtli leaves Barovia after a fruitless search for Sudhri and grudgingly recalling he still had errands at Port to see to. Each wagon ride he is alone and broods more to himself and tries to keep the paladin's cheerful words of  hope remaining as he heads back to the small inn at Port that he keeps as an ongoing living quarters, him and Sudhri had kept rooms side by side since they were both traveling so often. Mixtli looks in a book he has kept a tally for Sam's funds when he hears a knock at his door. Preparing for trouble Mixtli goes to the door and slowly opens it his hand near a dagger at his side when he see's the recognizable face of his "landlord".

The man mutters about Sudhri's rent being past due and she had not cleaned out her room, the man tosses a bag filled with some random things and states matter-of-factually Mixtli can pay what was due, Mixlti not in the mood to argue tosses a pouch to the greedy man and now looks down at his feet at what is left of Sudhri. He looks in and amidst the miscellaneous items he finds an envelope addressed to him. Forgetting all other things he slams the door to his newly paid for room once again and opens the contents to find out what the hells has happened to his one-time fiance...

*************

The next morning Mixtli leaves the seedy tavern a look of determination on his face as he heads to the outskirts to catch a wagon. Whatever the contents of the letter seemed to have fueled him again and he has one thought going through his mind:

I will be worthy, if not of her than at least for myself
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #11 on: December 16, 2014, 02:39:24 AM »
"Is he the same kind of elf as you?"

A simple question asked in all curiosity leaves Mixtli puzzled. He thinks on the other elves he has seen from various other worlds and back to himself along with all the changes he has experienced over time. Maybe for the first time in his life he can call others of his race friends, he usually felt more at home with humans as he considers his own rash behavior and quick temper. He has heard elves are arrogant, graceful, long lived, and other fancy things but Mixtli holds one belief in his heart and mind: The mists make all the same regardless of race or home world. He has seen humans that now outlive elves, acts of evil and acts of bravery (or stupidity depending on how you looks at certain things).

Mixtli also reflects on his own transformation, maybe the recent events are meant to be and will either make him or break him. He got to go hunting with his friends again and fell into what was an old and comfortable routine once more. But he also won't forget words spoken to him by both friend and unexpected allies. Danger is still great and the numbers seem overwhelming against him and his friends that he looks on as tribe, as family even. He will seek out more allies to keep himself and them safe, or as the mists often lead to: die trying.
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #12 on: December 17, 2014, 01:03:43 AM »
As much as he didn't want to leave his friends on their hunt in the demon lands, Mixtli lies and says he has things to do in regards to finding Sudhri, when he already has an idea of where she is, he is almost certain of it. But sharing this knowledge with anyone can be dangerous and with war looking over Vallaki and revolutionaries in Port, better to keep this to himself. His main concern is strengthening his skill as an archer.

Following the guidance of his mentor Gretchen, he knows he will need to train his sight, his ability to see what others do not notice, and to focus on his connection to his bow since his other abilities are innately tied to his own magic.  So far crafting arrows and reluctantly bolts he feels will help him understand the secrets of being an archer more and this is the path to follow for now. With the activity picking up around his normal areas of travel Mixtli knows he will need to find an alternative area to train. Sadly his "search" for Sudhri will be the perfect cover as he looks for such a spot but in the end it is the only way he sees to make himself a better archer and hopefully a better guardian to those he now feels constitute a new tribe, a new family.
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown

armybrat69

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Re: Lost in the Clouds
« Reply #13 on: December 18, 2014, 01:00:20 AM »
He had heard the horns blowing and the long forgotten sound of cannonfire even from his trek to the dwarven city. Passing Vallaki he had heard of the news of the passing of the Burgomaster and his daughter taking over. Whatever had taken place the Watchers had wasted no time making their move onto the Gray City. Mixtli avoided the noise having grown up more or less with war, and distant memories of the loss of previous allies sadly made him not willing to go and help. Besides whom would he help the people over the bridge that chase him for gathering plants or the people that decided to torture and execute elves and those he calls friends. He mumbles a silent prayer to Hala and despite her silence he feels confident she wants her followers to be neutral and not take sides in such violence.

It is not until after the sounds of battle dying down that Mixtli has finished his mining and is heading back down when he sees injured people, most outlanders and one a garda leaving (or fleeing) from Vallaki. His guilt taking over he runs toward the city and sneaks in to see if he can help any injured. The echos of the victors can be heard in the streets that are more or less reduced to fire and rubble. He surveys the damage and has mixed feelings. Mixtli being both a "fey" and a "witch" by these local's simple standards leaves little for him to desire of them however outside of the garda do these peasants and other people with no training in combat deserve such suffering? whatever the reason for this attack nobody deserved to be caught in the middle. A simple spell cast to enhance his vision shows spirits of various sorts from Barovian to outlander wandering around in shock and disbelief. He is no priest and cannot aid them, he focuses to any that need help. Only seeing a few he points to the Morninglord Sanctuary in the city that seems intact still. As the sun comes up and others emerge Mixtli wanders to the outskirts to listen to survivors and witnesses fill in any gaps. Talk he hears leaves him with an uncomfortable feeling that the new force in power of Vallaki will be no better, and possibly worse than the garda. He almost misses the dreaded hood checks now that he so often mocked in times past. He wanders to awhile to the elven village to take refuge and make arrows since he knows of nothing else to do for now.
"To argue with a person who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." -Thomas Paine

"We are all in the same game; just different levels. Dealing with the same hell; just different levels." -Unknown