Part 1
Galion sat beside the aravel with a scroll on his lap. He had been working on a transcription of an elven calendar for one of the other Dalish clans. The Keeper recognised his aptitude for the written arts and encouraged him to perform these sort of tasks. Although Merrill was still the Keepers' second, Galion was developing into a powerful mage in his own right. He did not share the Keepers' confidence, as he knew that his spellcraft desperately needed rounding out. His repertoire, while limited, was powerful enough that the Keeper kept him busy honing those spells while not leaving time to broaden his skills.
He sighed and looked back down to his scroll. This should be finished shortly, then he would go and find Merrill and maybe they could sneak off somewhere for lunch. He bent back to his work, carefully blocking in the last couple of dates on the page.
A shadow fell across him and he looked up to see Tamlen, one of the hunters, panting to catch his breath.
"Tamlen? What's the matter?" he asked.
"Galion" gasped Tamlen, sucking in lungfuls of air "it's Lyna. She's fallen off the edge of a path in the forest. I think her leg's broken, and she's passed out!" he gasped.
"How far is she? When did this happen?" asked Galion, putting the scroll on the ground and standing up.
"About half an hour ago, I can show you where. Can you come help me?"
"Of course I can, Tamlen. We should get Merrill and some rope" he thought out loud.
Galion picked up the scroll and put it in the aravel nearby. He and Tamlen found a good length of rope, and they found Merrill over by the halla pen with the Keeper.
Tamlen quickly filled Galion, Merrill and the Keeper in on what had happened.
Tamlen and Lyna had been out hunting when they found three humans. They claimed to have found a cave with treasure in it. They were looking for treasure when they were scared off by something which they descibed as a monster. Tamlen and Lyna let the humans leave, and found their way down to the cave. They were coming back to see the Keeper when Lyna slipped and fell down the unfamiliar path. Before she fainted, Tamlen told her he was going for help.
The Keeper looked at the younger elves and said "bring her back to us. Tamlen, if Lyna is not badly hurt then can you lead Galion down to the ruins and have him look for anything useful there".
Tamlen nodded and looked at Galion, who said "we should hurry, then".
The three elves rapidly made their way into the forest, Tamlen leading the way. After about half an hour they came to the place where Lyna had gone over the edge. Tamlen carefully peeked over the edge and he shook his head. "Lyna!" he yelled. There was no response.
Galion looped the rope around a sturdy looking tree and flung the coils over the edge.
"I'll go first" said Tamlen.
"No" said Galion, passing his staff to Merrill. "If her leg is broken then it is better to heal it down there".
Tamlen nodded in understanding.
Galion clambered down the rope while Merrill and Tamlen steadied it for him. When he reached the bottom he was able to see the extent of Lyna's injuries. She had indeed broken her leg, and she had quite a few scrapes and bruises from her fall. Most worrying for Galion was the egg sized lump on her forehead. He knelt down beside her and carefully placed his hands beside her head, gingerly feeling for a wound. Satisfied, he cast a healing spell on her head and watched the lump shrink and dissappear. He moved down to her leg and made a tsk, tsk sound. Her left leg was sitting at a crazy angle to the rest of her body, but only below the knee. "Hmm" he thought "dislocated ankle as well as broken leg. Marvellous".
He passed a hand over her broken leg and knitted the bones back together. He cast a second time to reduce internal bleeding around the break. Muttering a brief prayer, he pulled the leg straight and with a practiced action, slid the ankle back to where it should be with a satisfying crunch. He cast another healing spell over the ankle to reduce the swelling and help the tendons to get themselves back in the right place.
Galion looked up to see Tamlen just visible over the edge of the road. He bent back down to Lyna and unclipped his water skin. He knelt beside Lyna and propped her up. Gently he slapped the back of her hand to wake her. After a few slaps her eyes shot open and her hazel eyes were staring at Galion's light green eyes.
"Galion?" she said "what are you doing here? We were coming back to the camp and... and"
"You fell" said Galion. "Look up there" he said, pointing at the rope.
Lyna followed the direction he was indicating and saw Tamlen waving frantically. She grinned and waved back. "What happened?" she asked.
"You broke your leg, few cuts and scrapes, concussion. You were out cold for probably an hour, Tamlen says. Here, drink some water" said Galion.
"Ma serannas, Galion" said Lyna.
"You're going to be tired for the next couple of days, Lyna, and hungry too" said Galion. "Let's see if you can stand, I'll help you".
Galion stood and grabbed both of Lyna's hands, carefully pulling her up to her feet. He backed away, but remained holding her hands. "How does it feel?" he asked.
Lyna tested her legs. Crouched. Stomped both feet. Jumped. "You're an amazing healer, Galion!" she grinned, sweeping the bemused mage into a friendly hug. Galion smiled and patted Lyna on the back, returning the hug.
"Nice though this is, we should get back up to the road" he said, breaking the embrace. "You go first. Be careful, I don't want you to fall and I have to fix you again" he said with a grin.
Lyna smiled and grabbed onto the rope, and with practiced ease, hoisted herself up the cliff in a very short time. Galion picked up his water skin and took a swig before climbing back up to the road.
Tamlen grabbed him as he approached the top and hoisted him over the edge. He was grinning from ear to ear, and clapped Galion on the back. Merrill took one of Galions' hands and looked at the palm, rubbing it with her thumbs, then hugged Galion.
"Wow, a lot of attention! Lyna, you should fall off cliffs more often, I could get to like this" said Galion, putting an arm around Merrill's shoulders. Lyna picked up Galion's staff and handed it to him.
"We should decide what to do, Galion" said Merrill.
"Tamlen and I should have a quick look in these ruins, I suppose. Lyna you should probably go back with Merrill to the camp. You're alright now but those spells I cast will kick in soon and you will be exhausted."
"I wanted to have a look at these ruins myself, Galion" said Merrill.
"It will have to be another time, lethallin" said Galion, giving Merrill a peck on the cheek as he moved over towards Tamlen, who had wound up the rope and slung the coils over his shoulder.
Merrill nodded, moving towards the red headed Lyna. The two groups went their separate ways.
Tamlen and Galion made their way down to the cave and looked inside. They looked at each other and Galion shrugged. "Let's take a look" he said.
As they made their way into the cave, they noticed that there appeared to be a structure ahead, but it was difficult to see with all the broken rocks and dust. Galion stopped and cast a short spell and the end of his staff burst with a white light.
"That's useful. How long will that last?" asked Tamlen.
"As long as I need it to" said Galion.
They found a hole further in which was made in a stone wall. This structure must have been very old, for it to be buried like this. As the clambered through the hole and dropped down to the floor, they saw there were a few directions they could take.
"If we tie the rope off here, we can use it like a trail marker in case we get lost" suggested Galion.
"Good idea, lethallan. We'll head this way. I suppose all directions are equally unknown" said Tamlen.
After a short time the elves came across thick cobwebs. Tamlen drew his sword and Galion was on his guard. They heard the sqealing of a cluster of spiders before they saw them. Tamlen skewered the first one, while Galion cast a spell which caused roots to emerge from the ground and snare the nasty arachnids. Concentrating on one spider, Galion cast a white hot beam of light across his target, which sliced through spider flesh, leaving an acrid smoke and foul stench behind. Tamlen moved to a trapped spider and lopped off some legs before slicing open the abdomen, jumping gracefully to avoid being washed in yellow goo. Tamlen stabbed through the head of the disabled spider, while Galion used another spell to cause the roots below the last spider to wrap around it, quickly crushing it into paste.
Galion looked at Tamlen and shrugged. "Let's keep going" he said.
Tamlen led the way, unwinding the rope coils as they went. As they rounded a corner, they saw statues lining a hall. Some looked like elven prayer markers, and others were of human style. "Maybe these are Tevinter statues? How odd that they're side by side with elven ones" said Galion. As they ventured further along, they came to an alcove where an ornate door led off from the hallway they had followed. Tamlen stopped Galion with a hand on his chest. He pointed to a plate on the ground, almost undetectable at a casual glance. Making his way to the edge of the plate, he found some bits of gravel and twigs and rammed them underneath, blocking the plate. Having disarmed the trap, he found a lever that opened the ornate door.
The two elves entered the chamber and saw a hideous beastie. It looked like a cross between a sea urchin and a grizzly bear that had been rolled in rotting meat. Tamlen drew his sword and Galion readied a spell as the creature charged towards them. Galion tried to tangle the creature with some roots but the spell fizzled out. Tamlen struck it across the snout, which temporarily stunned it, giving him time to line up a shot which hobbled one of its' front legs. Enraged, the creature let out a roar which knocked Tamlen over. Galion cast his beam of light but he could not get a good shot for fear of hitting Tamlen. However he was able to slice off a pillow sized lump of flank, which crippled the creature still further. Galion kicked it in the arse to draw its' attention away from Tamlen. The creature turned around and lumbered towards the mage, as Tamlen scrambled to his feet and recovered his sword. Galion backpedalled away from the weakening creature, allowing Tamlen to aim a slice towards the backbone, cutting deep but hitting the spine and not going through. His sword was now embedded in the creature, which bucked and kicked backwards, knocking Tamlen back down. The creature span and rose up on it's back legs, preparing to squish Tamlen. As he watched, horrified, a cracking sound could be heard and he felt the ground move. Mighty roots pushed up through the stone and wrapped around the creature, pinning it in an upright position. It flailed about but could not break free. Galion darted around the creature and helped Tamlen up. He helped him over to cover behind a slab of stone, then cast a healing spell on the creature. The result was a spectacular explosion of gore, as shards of bone crystallised outwards, piercing the flesh in thousands of different locations.
"What was that!" said Tamlen.
"That was me casting a bone healing spell for a mouse onto that thing. The bones try to grow into a mouse shape, they crack and splinter and well you can see what happens next" said Galion. "What I want to know is what it is. I've never seen anything like it."
"It looks a bit like a bear, but diseased and spiky" said Tamlen. He walked over and pulled his sword free.
The elves looked through the room and found there was only one door leading further into the building. Opening the door they saw a raised stone dais that had a large silver edged mirror on it. The mirror was ornate and undamaged, despite the disrepair of the surrounding rooms.
Galion felt a dreadful sense of misery and pain emanating from the mirror, like ripples in a pond. Tamlen took a few steps in, to get a better look.
"I don't think you should mess with that mirror, Tamlen. Can't you feel the evil coming from it?" asked Galion.
"I'll be quick, Galion. I just want a look" he replied. "Can you translate the writing around the edge?"
"Its' not elvish, Tamlen. I can't. I'm also not going near that thing. Ugh, it's making me feel sick!" replied Galion.
"Hey! Something's in there! I just saw something moving in there!" said Tamlen.
"It's a mirror, Tamlen, it's just your reflection or the light from my staff" said Galion.
"No, there's something there... look, there it is again! Can you feel that? I think it saw me!" said Tamlen.
An almighty sucking noise and a stink of sulphur emanated from the mirror, followed by a burst of light and a concussion blast, knocking Galion onto his bum in the doorway. Tamlen was nowhere to be seen. Galion felt as if his insides were rotting away, or as if he had just drunk some acid. He felt consciousness slipping away and with a last mighty effort he cast a heal spell on himself, in an effort to at least slow whatever was happening to him down.
After an unknown length of time, Galion woke up to see a bearded human hovering over his face. The human spoke "I'm very sorry."
"The mirror. Tamlen in the mirror" said Galion.
"Who is Tamlen, a friend of yours?" asked the human.
"Yes - in the mirror - follow our rope trail, end of the rope in a room..." and with that Galion surrendered to unconsciousness.
---End Pt.1---
OK, from here the story should pick up from where Duncan and the Dalish are ready to leave. There wouldn't need to be a return trip to the mirror, I was going to have Duncan break it because he knew where it was. So he would have gone in, smashed the mirror, brought Galion back to camp, got him patched up and then recruited him.
Modifié par Stuffy38, 08 mars 2010 - 12:21 .
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