Badgers, and Buried Axes

My work on badgers started readily; Elenis and Shobaffum were pursuing their own studies in Vale (in fact Shoba had been studying badgers for quite awhile) and were willing to let me join them. Some of these I can only describe as glorious adventures. We fought our way through the Vale of Giants, battling mighty trees, deadly birds, fearsome earth elementals, and other much odder creatures. There are foxweir friends: small foxy creatures that are ridden by spriggans. Should you fall to one of these, you may find your purse has grown light! –And those dastardly spriggans had agreed to aid us. But they have proved treacherous and untrusty. We also often found grove guardians, odd little tree men with shields that were utterly impervious until touched by a healer. Once they lost their shields, they were readily dispatched, but any blows they landed were painful indeed. And of course, badgers were plentiful.

The glory of these hunts was not in the many creatures, but in the company. Hunting among such doughty folk of such good will warmed my heart and sharpened my blade. And not only those who carried blades themselves. We were tended by skilled healers, and powerful mystics. Among all of them I found much good humor and my spirits were light, even when being terribly battered by fearsome beasts. I began to feel that I had not only a place in my clan, but a place in the community.

The warm bonds of friendship were especially welcome as a counter to the steady stream of barbed comments that met me on the clan hunts, and in public discussions in Puddleby. There were a few who seemingly believed the worst intent lay behind my every action. Every mistake or oversight, however innocent, was treated as if carried out with greed, or even malice. This cauldron of ill will simmered on most of the clan hunts, occasionally boiling over. Had it not been for my staunch friends and loyal clan mates, I might have allowed myself to be buried under the books again.

Though I might have endured, eventually, a valiant friend took it upon himself to mend the rift that had come to afflict not only the NNK hunt, but was spreading wider and wider. He acted as herald between us, and skillfully disarmed my by now ingrained defensive reactions. I believe he must have done the same with the one who had so taken against me. We each spoke our minds, and of our hurts, and at last reached an accord, and shared our regrets for harm against each other. Later, I took pains to make sure my friends knew that peace had been achieved, fo I had no wish for the flames to reignite.

Looking back over the year, I understood how my clumsiness and ignorance of some basic strategies had caused great frustration, and while this was painfully humbling, it was in the same measure valuable. All the same, I hope to never find myself in such straits again.

Long past due, an update.

To those who have been following my tale, I am sorry for the long delay since I last shared any news. Once I had gained the chance to study so many creatures, I embarked on one after another. As I was learning the movements of many creatures, I also worked on the arduous task of studying the Sao-La Starfawn. I admired their speed and agility, and also wished to gain their ability to heal myself from wounds far faster than is usually seen. They are found in the bamboo forest of Gho-Wei island. Some even felt that their great numbers slowed our normal hunt there too much, and to avoid creating even more friction, I enlisted aid from some of my clan mates and a few others to stay late. On many days, after the hunt ended, we would scour the forest for these fawns, and as ever, Ravenstorm was a staunch ally in my efforts. With his help, I finished this study very quickly, and found being able to shape the Starfawn enabled me to participate far more fully on hunts.

The days flew past, and I was able to join other challenging hunts as well. One of the most rewarding was one of the smallest. I found that Elenis Reyav was studying a particular stone elemental that is seen only rarely. He spent weeks camped near the areas where they were mostly likely to appear, and he welcomed me whenever I was able to join him. These hunts were a marked change from those lead by NNK. Often it was just the two of us, and a couple of healers. We moved at a slower pace, and it was companionable. Elenis was kind enough to share some of his hunting lore with me, and I was able to complete several studies of the earth elementals that also frequented those tunnels.

Ravenstorm continued to help me in gaining strength and skill, and I began to think of the next creature I would study. Such a choice always need much thought. One must aim to take on the elements of a creature that might stand in for some lack, or fill a particular need. Much as I loved hunting in fawn form, it did have limitations. The fawns while quick to move and quick to heal, were rather delicate. After consulting with a number of older, wiser rangers, I settle on badgers for my next studdy, as they can withstand a great deal of damage, and are still quite fast.

Though they are plentiful like fawns, their grounds are far more dangerous. I suspected this study would not be so easily completed, and I was right.

New Studies

As much as I love taking the horse form, it is a step in my ongoing journey, and I have kept at my studies of other creatures. Since becoming a ranger, I have been only able to study three creatures at a time, which has hobbled my progress. I finally felt strong enough to master the challenges that would let me carry out four studies at once. There were three different huntmasters tucked away around Puddleby and the nearby islands, each requiring that a certain number of a certain creature be slain within the allotted time. To succeed, a ranger must be able to track enough of the creatures and kill them all quickly, while fending off the other dangers of the places they were commonly found. I completed one of these long ago, but the other three remained.

I spent several days studying each area, and then preparing by clearing out as many of the creatures that were not part of the challenge as I could. I worked on my own, because I felt no small measure of shame that I had left it undone for so many years, and even worse if I now could not finish it myself.

After visiting each huntmaster, I made sure of which two challenges remained: andvari and large sand wurms. I decided to tackle the andvari first as it was said that finding enough of them was easier. I tried first without preparing the hunting ground, in the hope that they would be plentiful enough, but alas, I ran out of time while lacking the last few needed. I resigned myself and made several trips through the beaches where these slow moving lizards were found, and thinned out the other beasts, that they would not hinder me later. My second try met success, and my enjoyment only slightly dimmed upon realizing that the creatures could also be found in greater numbers on a beach much closer to town. I resolved to pass that knowledge to one of my newer hunting companions, a young ranger named Vylarian, who was yet confined to studying two creatures at once.

The final challenge required several attempt, not because the creatures were especially strong, but because the area in which they were most common was also well traveled, and many strong fighters passed that way each day, eliminating pests as they passed. I made several passes on this route, to clear any other creatures. I had also learned of another island where the creatures were also common, and that was much less visited. At last I felt that between the two, I would find enough wurms to satisfy the challenge.

The challenge, in the end, was not very challenging. I found plenty of targets, and was never in any real danger. I suppose a sign of my growing strength and skill, and it emboldened me to take on even more ambitious studies.

A goal, finally accomplished.

I’ve not recorded much detail about my own particular studies, and I aim to mend that now. I’ve said how rangers must study creatures for a long time before learning to control them, and even longer before learning to take on their forms. I myself have finished woefully few of these quests, though I have carried out many initial studies of creature movements. I had only mastered the Nocens Winder, a fairly weak snake, though quite accurate with its strikes. Before falling into my long sleep, I had just begun to study Wild Stallions, and have been trying to finish them ever since.

Upon waking and joining Lorikeet’s daily hunt, I once again chased these elusive creatures. For months I worked on them, and at last reached mastery of the stallion’s ways. I was not surprised to then find I was not strong enough to begin the next step, mastering the stallion’s essence. The only path around this block was that of hunting the most challenging creatures I could, as often as I could. My luck is that NNK hunts the most challenging areas almost every day. So I soldiered on, and along the way finished learning to befriend the Snow Stag — also too strong to study further. Then I studied Sao-La Star fawns. Those are so plentiful in the bamboo forests of Gho Wei that I was done in just a few months. They again are yet too strong for further study.

If you now think I must have been suffering some measure of discontent, you would not be wrong.

At long last I grew strong enough to begin the final stage of my stallion studies, and from that moment I was insatiable. Ravenstorm and some of my other companions did their best to support my efforts, joining me both before and after NNK hunts and roaming for hours and hours around the Bison Plains also favored by horses. This went on for months, until I knew I needed perhaps 50 more kills to finish my task. I let Raven know this, and early the next morning he offered to help me find these remaining horses. None of the healers who usually joined us were free to help; which would slow us . But soon after we started, and I let it be known that we needed some help, Jeepers, a healer I did not know well, offered his service.

We ran through the plains for hours until, at long last, I master the essence of the Wild Stallion. My first moments in that form were bliss. It is strong, and fast, and made me want to run forever. I cannot recall feeling such rush of joy ever before, but it made the years of struggle seem like nought.

I stand in my Wild Stallion morph and consider nibbling white blossoms from a tree next to the Healer Hall

Within a day of this victory, I also found I could begin studying the essence of the Snow Stag, and I was wholly content.

An Oddity.

While some of the creatures we hunt might be familiar beasts, or at least similar enough to those we know, some are clearly in some way magical or even demonic. No matter their birth, the strategy for fighters is the same; to kill them, as quickly as may be, while still allowing for those studying to gain the knowledge they seek. –Fighters do tend to be bloodthirsty!

But, now and then, a creature is discovered that is far more helpful left alive, and baby mimics are one such. For those who have never seen a mimic: these are creatures that can exactly replicate an ordinary object to lure the unwary. Most often they copy the form of a treasure chest, and offer a powerful bite to any daring try to open them. There you however, and too weak to bite, and yet still have the instinct to copy objects. Being younger and smaller, they cannot manage a chest, but can transform into bags. They lurk in shallow water, only one tentacle visible. We have discovered that they will latch onto a baited hook, and once reeled ashore, they take on the form of a bag, and can actually be carried that way.

Unpleasant as it might sound, the best food for these creatures is other baby mimics, and if they are provided with enough, they will grow to hold more and more objects, without adding more weight or needing more space. Thus our most skilled and ardent explorers have begun searching, visiting every place we know there to be water.

I am not sure what drove these youngsters out of their nests into the waterways. We had never seen them before. And I’m not sure who was the first to discover they could be caught and tamed, but I take some pride in several being found by explorers with whom I have hunted, such as Elenis Reyav.

Blustery Weather

I have fallen behind in writing about my life as an exile, because a painful situation arose, and I could not bear to think on it until it had finally burned away and renewal had begun.

After the unpleasantness over my work with Silvercrag Greymyr subsided, it was not too long before a far more serious conflict arose. This time, though I was not really part of it (or so I thought), I was affected along with everyone who joined our hunts.

Of late, more and more exiles wished to join us on our nightly trips to Gho Wei, and especially to the Shadow Plane. One could be forgiven for thinking that more fighters, healers, and mystics would make hunting easier in difficult areas, but, gentle readers, this is often far from the truth. Large groups create a commotion. Narrow passages are harder to navigate, let alone to fight within them without causing chance injuries to those around you. And, it becomes far more difficult for healers to decide who most needs their help, and to reach that person. Most in large hunt groups feel frustrated about this, from time to time.

But, a day came when one of our strongest fighters felt so aggrieved about the state of the hunt, and with certain folk especially, that he heaped curses upon one of them, and when upbraided about it, refused to participate any further. But rather than leave, he trailed silently after us, unwilling to miss the wisdom granted by observing healers as they worked to mend disembodied spirits. –I have always assumed these spirits were sent to their rest, but I don’t know if this has ever been proven.

Well, I had thought that after a day or two to recover his temper, that this might one would return to his usual role, but this was not to be. Days stretched into weeks, and still he trailed silently after us, seeming to reproach us with every step.

One night, after the hunt, when everyone else who had been with us had gone to their beds, I spoke with him about it, at length, hoping to understand. Others on the hunt had grown quite irritated with his actions (or lack thereof) and believed he was acting out of spite. It was hard for me to accept this, as it was not the warrior I had learned to respect over so many years. I thought perhaps if I better understood what he thought, a way to mend the problem might become clear.

I will not share the whole conversation; writing even a brief account of this time is painful, but it seemed he longed for a time when the NNK hunts were very small, and moved very quickly. During those days, he had benefitted from all of their shared experiences and his own skills grew more quickly as a result. But in the larger group, not only was he struggling to fight in close quarters, as we all were, but he was losing the benefit of close cooperation and shared knowledge. Further, the larger group moved slower, which also reduced the potential gains, for all.

In the end, this exchange left me only more distressed. Though I was glad to learn that he was not acting out of spite, it was clear that he saw me and those like me as the cause of the problem, through our presence alone. Not only did we ruin the rapid pace and smooth flow of the hunt, we disrupted the longstanding friendships of these old hands, who had hunted together for years and knew each others’ habits by heart. And even worse, he said others felt the same, and that eventually they would all leave the hunt.

This was a terrible prospect, and I spoke to Raven and Suu about it when we were next hunting; I am glad I did. They assured me that such complaints had begun long before I had joined, and that while this doughty ranger might choose to eventually leave, the others would not, and that the hunt would carry on, regardless. They did feel though, that the hunt had recently become a bit lax, and that it was time to be stricter about how quickly we moved and other aspects. I was more relieved by this than any reassurance, because it showed me that they were always attending to hunt dynamics, and working to better them.

The return to discipline was announced and standards detailed. This mighty one was persuaded to rejoin actively, and it seemed the storm had passed.

Life in NNK

A few days after my discussions with Shakyamuni, Ravenstorm, and Suu’ub, I was inducted into NNK in a small ceremony, and given the standard uniform of black pants and a red shirt. Being part of NNK changed little, and yet it changed everything.

I hunted at the same times with the same people, but now I was privy to discussions within the clan that shed a new light on the mechanics of the hunts, and on relationships between people. Though the larger hunts could be quite fractious at time, within NNK I have yet to see any ill temper between clan mate. I’m sure there must be disagreements sometimes, but within the clan, all seem committed to helping each other, and to keeping the clan strong and whole. Part of this was helping each other with individual goals, and when I understood that the clan was ready to help me work on the creatures I wished to study, I felt very cozy indeed.

But this feeling did not arise all at once. At first I hesitated to ask for much. Ten lasties here or there in the shadow fane, were all I dared. And then one night, we were headed to the frigid caves, a place we visited now and then for a change of pace. I had decided to study a few creatures on the way into the caves. Those that were deep inside were too difficult, but some outside would yield me valuable knowledge about the ways of their families. This time I was hoping to study silvercrag greymyrs; a creature made of icy rocks. Myrs could be found in quite a few places, and I had only studied one other, so a second would certainly help me. I had started the study and managed a couple more deathblows, but still needed perhaps six. I announced this before the hunt, so that (I hoped) the stronger fighters would leave some alive for me.

To my chagrin, this was met with considerable resistance and even ill humor, from a couple of the stronger folk who regularly come along with NNK.

At first it seemed like advice, being told that I should study some weaker creatures in the same family. But when I said it was difficult for me to find anyone hunting where those might be found to assist me, and asked for help, or at least suggestions of those who might help, I was instead met with a rebuke about how tiresome it was to watch me trying to hit difficult monsters and that if they were forced to endure more of it, they would quit the hunts. Added to to this, I was scolded for overreaching, trying for studies too far above me. All this after I had already agreed that I would not try on the NNK hunt.

I can tell you, readers, I felt as though my worst fear had been true, that I really didn’t belong with this admirable group, and that I was only being tolerated. Perhaps only until they could find a reason to remove me, as seemed about to happen. Cecil attempted to reassure me, but after the earlier discussion, it sounded like mere courtesy. I was so weighed down by gloom that I said I would return to only hunting with Lorikeet, rather than hinder my own clan.

I might have retreated to the library and forgone hunting entirely, but for Suu’ub and Ravenstorm stepping in. To my relief, they affirmed my place on the hunt, and made clear that the clan would take care of me and help me to grow as a ranger. I again thanked whatever luck had led to my joining.

Steeling My Nerves

I should begin by saying something about healers. There are many many exiles who chooses the path of the fighter, devoting their time and training to one of the three specialties that all aim at the same goal: killing dangerous creatures. Whether most are inclined toward destruction, or it is simply the most obvious path for the new exile, Fighters far outnumber healers. The healing path is difficult, for gaining the knowledge and experience needed for growth and advancement is almost entirely dependent on forming spiritual links with fighters, and supporting them in their own efforts to gain experience. Young healers suffer particularly, because they have too little skill to even participate in huts. Many end up spending lengthy stretches in the library, trying to gain the skills that would make them useful and worthy of welcome.

However, strong healers are highly revered and sought after, to the point that many hunts are carried out only when it is possible for the healers to attend. And while one might imagine that the aggressive fighters would naturally be clan leaders, often a strong healer will stand in that role. Such is the case with Neko No Kessha.

Raven had suggested that I speak with Suu’ub III, NNK’s clan leader and perhaps the strongest healer in the lands. I saw the sense in this, but also was loath to bother one who to me appeared almost legendary. You may think that having been hunting with NNK for a month or more I would take a more realistic view, but those hunts had only served to strengthen my admiration for the strongest fighters and healers, whose skill I might now witness for myself. However, I also now urgently wanted to be counted as a full member, and so only a day later, after a lengthy hunt, I asked to speak with him. It was the next morning before I received any reply, and I spent a restless night worrying that perhaps there had been some error, that the clan had no need for such a minor addition.

When I finally spoke to Suu’ub, my fears were set at rest. He was very kind, and understood my qualms over leaving my original, but apparently now fallen clan. He said he would make sure all members agreed to accept me, and then I might join.

Perhaps not everyone feels the same need for community, but in my exile, I find it a great comfort.

Hunting Shadows

After only a week or two of hunting on Gho Wei, I could feel my strength and skill increasing, as did my drive to go farther, faster. Though I still struggled to land a blow on many of the creatures there, I had begun to learn which I had the best chance of striking, and did not waste time on the others. One particularly horrifying spirit seemed to embody one of the former priestesses of the island. This terror would not only attack bodily (because she seemed quite solid) but would also sap the spirit of everyone around her. If they were not killed quickly, I would find myself so drain’d of spirit that I could not even lift my blade, let alone take the serpentine form that aided me in striking more difficult foes. In the most severe cases, I was left without spirit for such a long time that all I could do was trot pathetically after the others, if I were not already lying senseless in a pool of blood.

Some nights, when it seemed I spent more time fainting from my wounds than actually on my feet, I was certain I would soon be asked to leave my place for another better able to manage. But I am nothing if not stubborn, and these challenges hardened my resolve. So I kept on with midday hunts, and those to Gho Wei as well, though it tested my strength.

One night as we battled our way into the haunted fane, One of the healers, Shakyamuni, asked me if I’d ever thought about changing clans. To be truthful, I never had, in spite of my growing loneliness. But now, I did.

Shakyamuni had been in the lands far longer than I, and for him to ask this made me feel I should really consider it. He seemed to imply that I might consider NNK, but I could hardly believe it. We reached the final chamber, and confronted the high priestess. She could not be touched by fighters, though she could damage us quite terribly with firebombs. She was one for the healers, but time was of the essence. Suu’ub, being one of the fastest (the fastest?) healers in the lands, lead the assault, risking the fire bombs, while the other healers focused their energies through him, keeping him whole in the fiery blaze.

It was a compelling scene, yet I could not turn my mind from Shaky’s question. Finally, I turned to Ravenstorm, who had offered much advice and support as I worked to recover my skills. I asked what he thought, and was stunned by his answer. He told me that he was sure that if I wanted to join NNK, it could happen, and that it had already been suggested within their group more than once. I had assumed I would need to petition, and argue my worth. Most hunts I wondered when someone would notice that I was far out of my league, and I spent most of my time trying to land one hit on some awful beast, that I might learn, and trying to avoid drawing any negative attention. Or really any attention. Finding that others saw the matter so differently, I hardly knew what to think. I asked Raven for some time to consider.

Fortunately for me, healer Aurelie was with us that night, who is also an accomplished musician. As we fought, she played tunes that were rousing and soothing by turns, and helped me to stay focused on the pressing matter of survival, as my mind was spinning with possibilities.

By this point in the hunt we had entered the Shadow Forest, a realm discovered not long before I re-awakened. It was a dark mirror of the familiar lands around Puddleby, and those roaming inside for any amount of time would begin to suffer unsettling visions and other ill effects. All around me, I heard my fellows exclaiming over sensations of creeping horror. I myself felt that I didn’t recognize the blade in my hand, and that the usually comforting warm of healing was making my flesh crawl. At last we cleared our way back to the earthly realm, as much as the haunted fane can be thought of as such.

I saw then that while time had slowed to a crawl in the shadow forest, we had only used half the usual time alotted for the hunt. So, also as usual, we made another circuit around the fane. By the end of the hunt I had concluded that I was truly torn over my decision. I very much wanted to join NNK, now that it was a possibility. But then I considered how my friend and mentor Geo might feel if he returned to find that I had abandoned our alliance. I expressed this to Ravenstorm as we cleared our packs and repaired our armor back in town.

He was very understanding, and while I could see he wanted to persuade me, he also wanted me to make my own choice. He replied, “honestly clan affiliation doesn’t matter when hunting with NNK..the perks of being in the clan are thinkclan, being part of the best clan in the game, red shirt and black pants. And regardless of what you decide, you will always be welcome on the hunts.” I smiled at his description of the benefits. Probably everyone in an active clan thought their own was the best, but for different reasons. I knew that the clan traits I most valued were very similar to what Raven described. –Though I don’t care about clothes as much as many!

Finally, Raven advised me to speak with Suu’ub, whom he felt might also have useful advice to offer. I resolved to do so at the next chance.

A New Path

Readers, you will recall that I was considering how to do more hunting. Because Ravenstorm had already been so helpful, showing me the way to the ranger growve when I could not for the life of me remember the route, and because Suu’ub had been willing to help me with some of my journeys to gain more training in pathfinding, I gathered my nerve and asked if I might sometimes join NNK’s daily hunts. I was a little surprised and very pleased when they agreed.

At first, I struggled to keep up; they moved much faster than any other hunters I knew, the strongest fighters, Ravenstorm, Kalian, and Gorvin, slaughtering most creatures in their path. I scrambled to land even one hit as we raced around Gho Wei Island, but I soon learned the reason for such haste. Though Gho Wei appears green and pleasant, it harbors some thoroughly nasty creatures, include ghosts that cannot be slain in the usual manner. Instead, healers must heal them to death, odd as that sounds. But these ghosts are well worth seeking, because once defeated, they yield both coins and a great deal of knowledge to all nearby, far more than gained merely by killing any of the living creatures. Thus it is best to find as many as possible, as quickly as possible, even if that means only a few fighters are killing most things.

I thought at first that I would only join occasionally, and I certainly expected that there would be many nights when there was no room for me. NNK hunts were in demand, and there several from other clans who were there most of the time. Some of these were exiles I had always thought of as far above me, like Shadowfire and Cecil, or Elenis Reyav. When they came along with Lori, they withstood the blows and bites of nearly any beast we encountered. And they were still far beyond me, but on the NNK hunts, they stood perhaps middling compared to Ravenstorm and Gorvin. Though it is hard for me to judge any so far beyond my own strength.

But I found myself going back, night after night, and the old drive toward growth that I hadn’t felt in many years. Since I awoke, in fact. I began to grow faster, and to finally regain some of the skills I had thought forgotten and lost. I began to see a path forward.