Wanderer (forum adventure)

Remove all ads!

"Hold thy fire, friend.", Sheth said to the elf.

 

Ihkolian slowly lowers his bow.

"Come with me," the elf says in a monotone command.

As Sheth examines the elf, he notices something is... different. It is almost as if his features had become harder, and his eyes colder.

"We must talk to a person who knows of such strange beings. Follow me."

 

Sheth sees no reason of refusal and follows the elf.

 

Civilization. The thing that humans. People. Beings have created to be together. A cohesion. A unity. A togetherness. Something I seem to stand outside of. As if I were invisible.

This town. The roads. The brick houses. The people going about their daily lives without having to remember who they are. Something that I wish I could settle down in. But that's just a wish, isn't it? And so I am forced to wander, to be a vagrant because civilization is somehow unfitting for me.

Ihkolian and Sheth enter a small brick building, which Sheth assumes to be the home of whoever knows about the ants - and anything else that may be connected to Sheth. The room is crowded with old tomes and papers, of skulls and stuffed beasts, of dust and knowledge.

At one end of the room, sits an old man behind a wooden desk, wearing a dark blue Wizard's Robe, and thoughtfully stroking a wispy, white beard.

"Jhor."

"Ah! Ikholian! I've been expecting you," replies the Wizard cheerfully, "Why don't you and your friend here put away your weapons and have seat? I'm sure you have plenty of things to relate to me."

 

Sheth studies the blue robed wizard for a while and introduces himself.

 

"Sheth, eh? Mmm. Haven't heard of you before. Anyways, Ikholian, what happened?"

The elf's voice is not the carefree lilt that Sheth heard yesterday. It is cold as ice and hard as iron; no inflections are made. He speaks in monotone.

"While we were sleeping, ants - ants large as men or elves - ambushed us. I have no idea why they would attack us. Varchon and Angela are dead. Sheth and I managed to elude them. I imagine Varchon and Angela slew five or six of the ants."

"Hmm. Interesting. Interesting. And how did these beings attack?"

"They attacked in perfect concert and harmony. I imagine had they been less organized, we may have escaped without loss of life."

"What weapons did they wield?"

"They used spears to attack us. That and their mandibles and stingers."

Jhor, the Wizard, muses to himself. He turns to Sheth.

"And what were you doing during this attack?"

 

Looking ashamed, Sheth admits that he has no knowledge of the attack.

 

The Wizard blinks politely.

"Ah, so you had joined up with Ihkolian after the ants attacked?"

 

Sheth looked at the floor and shuffled his feet as he mumbled "No, I... uh, I slept through it all. My dreams..."

 

The Wizard chuckles, breaking the uneasy tension in the room.

"Slept through it, eh? Well, you must be one heavy sleeper!."

He stands up and motions for the other two to follow him. The three wander down a corrdior of dusty and ancient bookshelves. The very books seem to be rotting, and the walls look as if themselves were composed of dust.

Jhor, the Wizard, fingers his way through a few books. Sheth looks at them, and sees such books labeled, A Treatise on the Inherent Nature of the Inevitables, How to Bargain with Baatezu and other Infernal Beings, and Insights into the Blood War.

"Mmm, where is it? I saw it here yesterday."

While Jhor searches through the selves, Sheth notices a rat lapping at something.

It's blood. Bright red, running, fresh blood. A trail of it is leaking from a closet nearby.

[ January 08, 2003, 22:14: Message edited by: C'Jakob ]

 

Sheth quickly brings the others' attention to the crimson trail...

 

Jhor pauses for a second, and shakes his head.

"It's nothing, I assure you. Here, why don't you help me find the book? It's titled something alike Behavior of Formians and Similiar Entities."

Jhor pays no attention to the blood and continues his rummaging.

 

"What's in there?" asks Sheth

 

"I told you, Sheth. It's nothing important."

The Wizard continues to sift through the books.

"Ah! Here it is! I believe this will be quite helpful. You should look on page 58 as well. It contains some reference to some local areas, if you're interested."

The book is titled Formians: A History.

On the cover of the book is an ant, with its torso upright. It looks almost exactly like the tattoo on Sheth chest. He feels a chill run down his spine.

[ January 09, 2003, 01:51: Message edited by: C'Jakob ]

 

Sheth quickly takes the book and begins to flip through it.

 

Page 5

What is a Formian?

A Formian is a being of Law and Order. They live in extremely organized Hive-clusters, each with a Queen in complete and absolute command of the rest of the Hive.

Formians are ant-like beings; their torso is perpendicular to their abdomen, much like centaurs. Their armor is hard and dense, and provides amble protection. Formians wield spears in combat, and some ranks are believed to use their natural weapons - their bite and stingers.

Sheth finishes page five of the tome; the description seems to perfectly match what he had seen that morning.

 

Sheth follows the wizard's advice and turns to page 58. "I'm sorry," he says, "but I have been travelling some time and would be grateful if you could tell me the exact name of the place we are now."

 

"This is a town called Dursars, a backwater town, really. Colonized a few decades ago. Um, around eighty miles southeast from Vremn, you know.

"Ah, well, if you wish to know the name of where exactly you are, you are in the Outer Planes section of my library, which really has no name of its own, but is in the southern end of this town."

Page 58

In the Granite-stone Hills, a place four or five miles northeast of a small village named Dursars, a few shepherds have claimed to see Formians (although they obviously had no knowledge of what they were). Scholars were sent by the local Senior to investigate the matter.

What they found was a small contingent of Formians. As these beings are hostile, they did attack. However, the local militia did manage to attack and successfully repel some of these beings, although the loss was heavy.

The scholars continued their research, now safe from any Formian threat. What they found was something more intruging than the presence of the Formians themselves.

It was a Planar Gate.

As stated before, Formians do not reside in this world, but on the Law-aligned Outer Planes. This Planar Gate found in the Granite-stone Hills led to what is believed another Plane, one where countless Formians (as well as other beings, of course) reside.

[ January 09, 2003, 22:04: Message edited by: C'Jakob ]

 

Sheth shakes his head slowly, unsure of how to process this information...perhaps somewhere else in the book will give him answers?

 

(Okay, I will let you just choose a chapter from the book. Choose a chapter, any chapter. I assure what you choose will lead to something revelant. )

Sheth peruses the Table of Contents to findwhatever will give him what he wants to know.

Formians: A History

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: What is a Formian?

Chapter 2: Formian Social Interaction

Chapter 3: Formians on our World

Chapter 4: Formians Interacting with Humans (as well as Elves, Dwarves, and the like)

Chapter 5: Formians Interacting with Other Planar Beings

Chapter 6: A History of Formians

Tidbits (concering the Ants)
-Sheth has a tattoo of a Formian on his chest, as well as that of another creature (see previous posts for details).
-Sheth and the others were attacked by the Formians for no apparent reason.
-Sheth had a dream in which Formians bowed down before him, and he held the ruby-capped rod.

[ January 11, 2003, 18:00: Message edited by: C'Jakob ]