Maiden's Refuge (old storyline)

[Xillen]

Interest check on Players Wanted
Out of character discussion
Characters
In character: Maidens A
In character: Maidens B
In character: Hunters
Old copy of the storyline




Eclyssa looked across the wagon, sitting with her back against the front wall, her arms crossed just below her ample breasts. It was getting rather crowded. She'd been in the wagon since the guards bought her, back in Solviss, a couple of weeks ago, only permitted outside three times a day briefly for nature calls. Since then, the caravan had passed through Enn, Zanghar and Daron, picking up an additional maiden at every city, sometimes two. She must've been relatively lucky, as whoever was picked up in Corinth had to endure a trip around the entire kingdom like this. The caravan was now on it's way back towards Zanghar and then on to Kobal City.

In a week or two, she'd be one of the King's wifes. She didn't really know what to expect, and didn't really bother trying to imagine it. She'd found out eventually, and it's not like she had any choice in the matter. If the guards find you a good candidate to be one of the King's wifes, then nobody had anything to say into the matter. Her dad must've been lucky, though, with the 1000 gold pieces he earned from this. She wasn't too surprised about being picked. She had received just enough from her elven grandmother to have a streak of exoticness, but not too much to prevent a voluptrous human body. Long, thick black hair hung down her head, held back by the ears that showed just a hint of her elven ancestry. Large green elvenlike eyes besetted an otherwise round human face.

The women in the wagon were silent. The guards didn't like them talking with each other, and none really felt like talking to the guards. They weren't required to sit on their own, though, and some of the women were seeking comfort in the arms of another. A strange atmosphere hung through the caravan. Nobody really enjoyed going this far south. There were just too many weird things crawling around in this region. The half-elven maiden admitted she'd be more assured herself as well, once the city walls of Zanghar were in sight again.

Suddenly, an uproar unleashed throughout the caravan. Quickly, Eclyssa looked out to see what's going on, and once she saw it, her heart skipped a beat. The Dragon! It was diving directly at them. The wagon was in the middle of the caravan, right where the wyrm was landing. He bashed against the wagon, as he landed on the ground, knocking it over. As the women slided down the floor against one of the sides, the roof broke with a loud cracking sound. Panic ensued. The horses that were attached to the wagon staggered and buckled. While some of the bravest guards fired their crossbows at the beast, most of them tried to flee the scene in panic.

Eclyssa saw her chance. Nobody was paying them any attention now, and she stood up, and threw herself against the split roof, knocking part of it aside. She ran through the exit, towards the forest, hoping to seek refure here, vaguely noticing most of the other women escaping the wagon behind her, also fleeding from the scene. Just as Eclyssa thought she was going to make it, the dragon changed facing, sweeping his big tail over the ground, hitting Eclyssa hard in the back. She wondered if her spine was broken, as she was sent flying, ending head-first in collision with a tree. As her vision started to blur due to the blood streaming from her forehead, she saw some of the others running past her, seeking refuge from the dragon between the trees, before her eyes shut, to never open again.

[Sethite]

Laurana was shocked when she saw the dragon. She heard about such creatures bu never saw anyone of them. But there wasn't time to admire the beast. When the roof broke, she quickly noticed her chance, probably the last chance to get free from this humiliating slavery. It was life risking of course, but for elf everything was better than being imprisoned in the stone castle as a wife of some old and ugly king.

Blonde haired elf maiden stormed through the broken roof and run to the forest, seeking hide out in the trees. She was elf, she spend all her short life in the forest so when she reached the line of trees she felt almost like home. Almost...she could hear the screams of guards and roars of the dragon. She needed to escape, as far as it was possible. Her magic wasn't enough to do something. Escape was her only rescue.

[Elayne]

Tara sat in her seat in the back of the covered wagon.  She nervously toyed with the soft cloth ends of her belt, looking about at the other women who had been forced into the caravan as she had been.  It had been weeks of travelling since the caravan left her home in Ponder, travelling around the edge of the kingdom from city to city, selecting maidens from each city as it went.  Tara touched the soft embroidered at the neck of her dress, sighing and wishing the long trip would come to an end.

Suddenly, she heard screams from outside of the caravan and the alarmed scrabble of feet running frantically.  For a moment, the women froze, wondering what was happening.  Finally, they heard the cry, "Dragon!"

With that, the girls were set to jostling to flee the wooden wagon.  Tara bumped and struggled on her own way out, scrambling out of the wagon with as much grace as she could muster.  Bright orange flames were licking about the wooden frame of their escorts' own wagon.  Tara's blue eyes widened in fear and horror as she looked up, beholding the massive dark shadow of the beast that had set the guards to flight.  The dragon!

Tara turned and fled, hiking her skirts up to her knees as she ran pell mell into the woods, her only concern being escaping the reptilian predator.  She ran and ran, until finally she came to a gasping halt.  She paused, leaning against a tree to catch her breath, panting and looking about the forest she had fled into.  Logic dictated that the dragon was probably too big to make it's way amongst the densely packed trees.  Logic, however, didn't do much to calm her after seeing the legendary lizard lacing into the luckless guards of the caravan.  After a moment's rest, Tara resolved to head further away from the site of the attack.

As she walked, it dawned on her.  She was free!  The guards were most likely scattered or slain!  Now she was on her own, far from Kobal City and its lecherous king.  The future was wide open to her.

[Airindel]

The rumbling of the wheels on the beaten grooved road, the sound of wood grinding and crushing dirt and pebbled stone beneath them echoed within the wagon. The rickety bumpy jostling of the wagon had been jarring to the women, and now the motion of it, the sounds, the heat within, it all had lulled Esme into a light sleep. She had welcomed the kindness of the woman next to her, leaned against her, smelled the scent of lavender which perfumed her body, and although she did not mean to close her eyes and sleep, she did. Perhaps it was her tired state, the anxiety that overwhelmed and gripped her in being chosen as a wife for His Majesty, or maybe it was the stranger stroking her auburn tresses that made her drift into sleep. She knew not, and for many long minutes Esme enjoyed the blissfulness of sleep. That ended all suddenly.

She awoke sliding and tumbling from one side of the wagon to the other, bumping into others, struggling to remain uninjured, struggling to figure out what had happened until the shout of “Dragon” boomed throughout the air by a guard. In the moments that passed, all in fearful confusion, there were screams from men and women as the struggle for survival and freedom began. Like others that were travelling with her, those condemned to be the King's wives, Esme broke free of the wagon shortly before it was washed in flames.

Standing near the opening of the woods, Esme was in awe of the dragon. Although she was compelled to flee, she forced herself to remain and search for her toad. Her beloved little creature whom she cared so deeply for remained caged with a guard who looked extraordinarily capable. Lowly, she cursed, and  disappeared into the forest. There was little else she could do.

[Xillen]

Leading the caravan, Armand looked behind him the moment the first cries for the Dragon filled the air. For a short moment, he was stunned by it's impressiveness, but he soon shake it off, knowing he had to spend all his attention to survive. For a moment he cursed at the needless load his brave blackhoof, a large, strong horse, with dark brown fur that ran over his legs into pitch black, was carrying. The bags of gold needed to purchase the maidens, some of their personal belongings that weren't to be trusted in their hands for now and finally that stupid caged toad belonging to one of the maidens, taken along on a whim, in case the king felt like blackmailing one of his maidens into something, they could all have been stalled in one of the cargo wagons, if not for the order to keep close watch on them.

The knight spurred his horse, moving it out of the dragon's initial fiery attack. After he could feel the incinerating heat behind him, he started to zig zag, trying to stay out of any direct attacks. After all, sitting on his mount, he was one of the larger targets, and more likely to be picked upon. He rode towards a big rock not too far away, as he looked over his shoulder, to see the dragon's eyes gaze upon him. He concentrated hard, as he focussed on the syllables of his spell, just in time before he was engulfed in another breath. Even though his divine protection blocked most of the attack, it couldn't prevent scorching him and Blackhoof, while the silly toad was just lucky enough to be at the other side, being shielded by the knight and his mount. Blackhoof buckled slightly, and Armand did his best to regain control and take refuge behind the rock.

As he peered over him, he was engulfed with guilt and regret, as he basically abandoned his men. Yet, what was he to do against a creature of this might? Armand waited for the dragon to focus on something in the other direction, and then gambled on his escape, trying to force blackhoof to speeds he never made before, as they fled from the scene. The king surely would not be happy about hearing this news.

==============================

The moment he could see the dragon, Henrik fled the scene in panic. Running headlong towards the forest, he abandoned all sense of order, trying to save his own hide. He ran and ran until his heavy gear and poor constitution forced him to stop, placing an elbow against a tree, sweat running down his neck, shoulders and arms as he tried to regain his breath.

He was a young soldier, recruited not too long ago, and when his officers discovered his weakness, he was usually placed on the silly and mundane tasks, like preparing the food, or taking care of the knights' horses. Clad in the standard uniform, a chain shirt covered by the royal emblem, including a helm, a small steel shield and a short sword on his side, completed with sturdy trousers and boots, he looked around him, not sure what to do now that he was in the safety of the forest, all by himself.

He heard sounds from two directions, happily thinking there were other soldiers that made it here as well, that knew what to do now a lot better than poor Henrik would. But to his surprise they were not soldiers, but maiden. The first was a tall woman, with black hair and a gray dress, while the second was an elf with long blond hair, her clothes decorated with a pink ribbon. As he drew his sword, clueless as what to do, he could see a third maiden appear between the trees, a curlyhaired brunette, wearing a simple gown. It took a mere second before the maidens spotted both each other and the soldier. "Move back!" the soldier yelled at them. "Don... don't come any closer!"

[Elayne]

Tara's flight through the forest lead her to a convergence of other people fleeing the sacked caravan.  Two of the other women, whom Tara knew by sight from the closed confines of the caravan, had also made their way into the forest, both seemingly as stunned and empty handed as Tara herself.  The third person was one of the guards, a young looking man who drew his sword threateningly, yet his words seemed to indicated that he was almost as frightened of them as they were of him.

Quickly taking stock of their situation, Tara decided to try to talk her way past the confused guard and hopefully distract him from their flight.  "Quickly, man!" she yelled, a note of panic in her voice, "the dragon's nearby!  We have to flee!"  She hoped to bluff the guard into renewing his panicked flight into the forest.