Forums » Fan Fiction

The Molnea from Tales of Gelfzyn

    • 53 posts
    January 11, 2018 5:05 PM PST

      The poke in the ribs told me that I had found my love. "Ha, not so aware without your wolf pet." she giggle as she pressed the tickle attack.
      "Mylah, he's not a pet." trying contain my laughter and mount a feeble counter attack. "Ok ok, you win. I need to talk to you."
      "Just talk?" she snickered.
      "Well, for now, yes. I need some information about wraithes."
      At that she settled down a bit to present a slightly more serious expression. "Very well, my Ranger. What would you like to know about those foul creatures?"
      "Have any information about unusual gatherings of undead? Say, in the last year or so?" I asked.
      "Hmm" she pondered. "It seems that we have been finding more of them near the ruins south of the Veil of Azeris. They seem to be more in clumps than just individuals wandering around." she replied thoughtfully. "This has to do with that Whispering thing doesn't it?"
      "Yes, it does." I shrugged. "I've been racking my brain trying to make sense of it. Looking for clues by looking for activity related to the Silent Wraith is the best idea I've been able to come up with."
      "Not such a bad idea, my Ranger." saying as she rapped me on the forehead. "What say I gather some of my friends together and we all go on an adventure to check out the ruins? Always a good idea to kill undead and the more of them the merrier." she said with a cheery grin.
      I nodded. After giving me a quick kiss, well relative to a normal kiss, she bounded away disappearing into the forest. "Meet you at the Silver Rose Inn tomorrow at noon." her voice called out from the distance.

      The Silver Rose was located in an area of Sorhiryth where the tree canopy was dense. This kept the area dark even during the daytime and was therefore not a favorite place for most people. A good place though if you don't want to atrack attention. Walking in about noon, I saw Mylah with a group of people at a table in the back corner. Mylah waved and motioned for me to sit next to her.
      Mylah tapped her mug on the table and stated "Everyone, this is Gelfzyn and he has an idea that sounds like fun and could use our help." then she looked at me with those mischievous eyes and waited.
      "Ah, yes." I said "I've been working on a problem that involves undead and Mylah mentioned that they have been gathering in larger numbers lately near the ruins south of the Veil of Azeris." That drew some looks of interest my way. "I plan to go investigate there, but will need a small group to be able to venture deep inside the ruins to explore it completely. I'm hoping some of you would join me."
      "I think it would be fun." Mylah stated. "And I'm not letting a Ranger tackle a bunch of undead without my help. What say you Darsyth?"
      At that, a large warrior grunted. "True Mylah, large groups of undead can be a problem. I suppose a rogue would need a good fighter to hold their attention while she stabs them in the back." he said with a grin. "I'd be happy to go." saying as he took a big swig of ale. Setting his stein down, he looked across the table to the only Elf in the room. "What say you Sor'gal? You said you wanted to learn more about Wild's End."
      The Elf straightened up and set down his wine glass. "It is as you say Darsyth, my interests are to learn as much as I can during my stay here. I had heard of the Veil of Azeris and was planning to visit there. This trip would only be a minor adjustment to my schedule and perhaps my healing skills could be of use while you martial types are dispatching the undead."
      "I think that means he'll go." Mylah whispered to me. "Anyone else feel like an adventure?" Mylah inquired. Jin'tyn, a female fighter, and Wosel, a male druid also agreed to go. The others excused themselves and we remaining six spent a little time coming up with a basic plan and agreed to meet tomorrow morning north of town.

      The trip to the ruins was largely uneventful as I scouted ahead and avoided any large predators. The cleric Sor'gal and the druid Wosel enhanced us with protection and augmentation spells to improve our strength and speed.
      Just after mid-day, the ruins came into view. From a little rise, we could see a few groups of three to four undead moving around. I put a hand on Mylah's shoulder to stop her from advancing. "Wait" I whispered. After watching for a few minutes, the pattern developed. These undead were actually patrolling the area. "Now that is unusual" came Mylah's reply. "Interesting" Sor'gal added. We established a make-shift camp on the back side of the rise.
      "Ok Darsyth" I said. "Your call on how we take out these patrols." Darsyth and Mylah huddle together for a minute and gave everyone their duties. A short time later we had taken out the patrols that we'd seen with the cleric and druid healing the minor damage taken by those fighting. Then I notice the silence being broken by a rough scraping sound coming from deeper inside the ruins. "Shh" I whispered holding my hand up and motioned all to move
    to cover.
      "If we're going to fight something big, I'm going to need to rest a bit." Sor'gal whispered. "I also." Wosel added.
      "Ok" I said. "Let's rest here while Mylah scouts out the area ahead. Darsyth and Jin'tyn can work up a plan if this turns out to be something big." Mylah waved to me a then disappeared like puff of smoke. I'm always amazed how she does that.
      Mylah appeared a few minutes later. "Anyone afraid of snakes?" she grinned. "Because there's one heck of a big one in there."
      "Green with silver mottle I'd assume." Sor'gal offered. Mylah nodded. "That would be the Molnea, a guardian of sorts" he said to Mylah's quizzical look. "I shall prepare a Cure Poison spell just in case."
      "Time to pull out the shields Jin'tyn" said Darsyth with Jin'tyn giving a thumbs up in assent. "We'll keep it distracted while you and Mylah reduce it to lunch meat" he added.

      Fanning out the party approached the central core of the ruins. Near the center, we saw a giant green snake just starting to raise it's head up above it's mass of coils. The body was such that three of us couldn't hold hands if encircled around it and it was at least fifteen paces long. The two fighters moved in and to the sides, shouting and banging on their shields. Mylah had moved around the side and was nowhere to be seen now. I moved into a clear firing position.
      The fighters dodged the snake's strikes, blocking with their shields. I took shots as they became available, but could see that they were having little affect. I could see Mylah appear for an instant behind the snake and it would lurch up as she struck and disappeared again. The fighters had shifted to long spears now and this was also causing it to raise its head higher. I decided to follow the snakes movements for a bit.
      As the mighty snake reared it's head to hiss; an opening. A clean shot through the top of it's mouth penetrated the skull and into the brain. I also saw a flash of brown hit the back of the monster's head just as the arrow went in. The Molnea collapsed into a silent heap of green with Mylah riding the neck down to the ground.

      I reach down to help Mylah up and was greeted with a punch in the ribs. "You almost hit me!" she scowled.
      "Ow. Ok, would you like me to hit you next time?" I smirked. That earned me another punch, but was followed by a fleeting kiss. "You just watch were you aim that thing, my Ranger." saying as she move away to inspect the corpse at our feet.
      "Nice shot Gelfzyn." said Darsyth as he came forward. "I though we were going to spend all day here trying to kill that thing."
      "If that shot didn't kill it." ventured Jin'tyn while smiling in Mylah's direction, "Mylah's twin dagger attack to the neck, that nearly severed the head, surely would have."
      Seeing an opportunity I remarked "I'll agree with you there Jin'tyn. In the end, it was a team effort. I'm glad we were successful and that no one was lost."
      "Here here." they all agreed as the group looked over the green scaled corpse. After spending a few minutes gathering trophy parts and pieces, the group started to head back to the entrance.
      "Coming?" Mylah inquired.
      "In a moment." I said. "Just want to look around a bit."
      "Ok. Meet you back in camp." she replied.

      Now alone, I tried to take in the whole situation here. Why would the Molnea be here? A guardian as Sor'gal said? I climbed to an upper ledge for a different view. From up here, there seemed to be a pattern in the way the rock stacks were formed near the walls of this center room that reminded me of a map I had seen of Terminus. A clue?
      "What do you seek here Gelfzyn?" the cloaked figure inquired as it parted from the shadows.
      "Oh, just looking around." I said looking in the direction of the voice.
      "Interesting. Most would seek out the next adventure and not stay 'to just look around'." she said in a somewhat commanding voice as two other cloaked figures emerged from the darkness behind her.
      "I am Gelfzyn, Ranger to the Kiri." stated in the most official tone I could muster. "And whom, may I ask, are you?"
      Removing her hood to reveal long raven hair she replied "I am Jynor'lyn, of the Maidyn Clan. Maybe I can help you 'look around'"
      As I climbed down, I said "I thought the Maidyn Clan was only whispers and rumors."
      "Oh we're real, but we tend to explore the world more than stay in Wild's End as most folks." She offered. "But again I ask, what interests you here Ranger?"
      "I have reason to believe that the Silent Wraith has found away to renew the curse on the Kiri that Lyone foiled long ago." I stated. That caused her to raise an eyebrow.
      Thinking for a bit Jynor'lyn said "If the Silent Wraith is planning something, he must have minions here to carry it out. The Dragon's Accord would seem to prevent direct action on his part. Looking into areas of high wraith concentration for clues was a good idea. Would you care to share more details as to why?"
      Since the Maidyn Clan was more worldly than most Halflings and they had a vested interest in anything the Silent Wraith might be up to, I decided to treat them as allies in this search. We spent the next half hour or so discussing the 'whispering' that I had had a few years back and my efforts to unravel it's meaning.
      As we wrapped up the discussion, Jynor'lyn offered "Time..hmm. The Elven astronomers say that, in a couple of years, there will be a conjunction of the major wandering stars. They say that this normally signals a major event."
      That information gave me a slight chill. Now I had a hint of the time element involved and began to realize just how little I had accomplished. As I was brooding about that Jynor'lyn offered one more piece of insight. "Maybe you have been tasked to find out what that event will be and find a way to disrupt it."
      "That's the conclusion I think I've been hoping to avoid" I said with a shrug.
      "Your task seems difficult Ranger, but maybe not impossible since you were picked to receive it." She said with a smile. "The Dwarves and Elves came here long before our people. Perhaps their lore writers have noted changes that have occurred since the Kiri's arrival on Terminus."
      "What about the Tholens?" I asked.
      "Now there's a topic of 'whispers and rumors'. We have never found their lands nor made contact with any of their kind. It is said that they maintain and guard the great history of this world."

      I thanked Jynor'lyn for her help and wandered over to a crumbling wall to think. So there it was. I had this task. I hadn't made much progress on it. I did have a clue to the next step, venture out of Wild's End to visit the Elves. Gran has spoken highly of them and I knew nothing of the Dwarves. But, also be watchful for information about the Tholens. Gran also mentioned them. The "Tholen of Itholis, if you can find their lands" she said. By the time I looked up, I was alone and it was getting dark. My head hurt trying to take all of this in so I headed out of the ruins and back to camp. Above anything else, I needed Mylah's embrace right now.

    • 2886 posts
    January 11, 2018 5:18 PM PST

    Nice work again!

    • 624 posts
    February 17, 2018 5:48 PM PST

    How did I miss this? Thank you Gelfzin for your continuing tales of adventure. This installment leaves me with an ever increasing sense of foreboding, but I can't wait to see what trouble action fun your friendly ranger will get into next.