Letter to Aurae - Completion of the Second Trial

[satinkira 6186]

 

Dear Aurae,

 

This trial did not take as long as initially expected. I had initially planned some sort of expedition into the now-cursed forests surrounding Koyo-Kuni, but on a journey from Celia’nor to Petra, by the river, I was confronted with a rider in black armour.

The rider informed me that if I surrendered a portion of my blood to be their meal, I would be let on my way. I told them that I would permit no such thing - I asked them if they were a vampyr, and they confirmed such. I stated that if they would permit my purifying them, then I would be on my way.

At this point, they grew quite angry. They stated that there was nothing wrong with being a vampyr; I asked them what would happen if I surrendered my blood, they stated that they would have to kill me to keep me quiet, and I used that as an example of their lack of morals. 

They gave no answer, and whipped their horse to charge at me. By this point, I had drawn my sword, and I immediately dove into the river; it was slow-flowing, and I had no trouble with paddling, as I wore no armour. This was the only sure way I could at least maintain an edge. Their armour and horse meant that I stood little chance of defeating them; they wielded a black hammer, and as I had no armour, I knew that even a single hit could potentially incapacitate me. 

So I remained treading in the water. They mocked me as a coward, and I referred to them as one in turn, stating that unless they came after me, I'd inform the local guardforce (the Petran guardforce) that they had attacked me - I told them that if they did not attack me, then they were surely the coward. I told them that they could always take their armour off and reveal their identity if they liked. 

They refused to take the armour off. They did get off the horse, then, putting aside their hammer and revealing a crossbow with which they intended to shoot me; I knew, then, that I had to move fast, and I immediately scrambled out of the river, racing towards them, and they could not put away their crossbow in time. I wielded my Khopesh, Dawnbreaker, and slammed it into their crossbow, and the wood splintered. They delivered a glancing armoured punch to my side, which would have cracked a rib had it been more accurate, and I knew that I had to get back in the water - they had no ranged weaponry anymore.

So I plunged back into the river, treading water and taunting them, which greatly angered the vampyr, and they threw their hammer at me - which missed - and it bobbed down the river. I told them that I'd seen children who could throw better; they told me that they'd seen children who could fight better, and I reminded them that they were the one without weaponry.

But this was not the case. They withdrew a standard ferrum sword, dented and chipped, and I knew that if I were to destroy this weapon, somehow, I'd have the edge of the fight. That was a miscalculation; they did not throw the weapon, as I had thought they would, but instead they charged towards the bank of the river, in full armour, and, leaping into the water, plunged upon me, grasping me by the neck and pushing me deep into the river Petra.

They forgot about my Khopesh Dawnbreaker, though, and so I stabbed them through the neck and swam to the surface, watching their body sink to the depths in their armour and float away.

I am unharmed, as is my Khopesh. It was a frustrating fight - I could not take his head, and his horse had long bolted. But no doubt I will claim many a head in future. 

So concludes the second trial. I eagerly await the third; I am growing to understand the nature of the Order that Xan embodies, now that I have seen the disorder of Darkspawn firsthand, and I am all the more willing to fight for it.

 

Yandel

 

Spoiler

@wooz

 

[wooz 440]

[!] A simple note was left in reply

 

You have done well young Yandel. I will see to it that you are given your next trial soon. I will call on you when it is ready for you. I have high hopes for your success in our eternal war, Yandel. Do not be a stranger around us in the Keep, you are one of us now. On the Sunlit Path. Just say you are my Initiate and they will grant you entry.

 

-Aurae