The path of an Archer
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_"Hey Elf, wanna come with us to the hobgoblins?" A man in full armor asked. Elidor glanced briefly at him, then at the group that was heading out. He adjusted the bow to his back and smiled. "Sure".
Eventhough a bit chaotic, the group advanced through the graveyard without trouble. A few skeletons here, few zombies there. Nothing too tough for them, yet they still got slightly wounded. Elidor gave some thought to that, but said nothing and he kept shooting arrows to the legs or arms of the foes if only to make the fighting easier to the others.
First group of hoblins, quite a number. The front liner looked capable enough of holding the line, and the other three looked like doing a good job as support archers. Elidor would only shoot everynow and then, since the aim of the trip was for the group to train, or so was he told at least. Hobgoblins dead, the group presented some light injuries, but they all decided to push it into the deeper territory while the sun still shone. "If you think you can handle.." said Elidor, quietly and not sure of their abilities.
To his surprise, things went rather good at the begining. Fighting one or even two hobgoblins was something they could manage on their own. Suddenly a scream, a cry for help. One of the archers was being chased by one of those scythe wielders. No time to think, no time to speak. Elidor notched an arrow….zzup! The hobgoblin left leg was incapacitated. zzzup! It could barely raise the scythe now. Zuup! It was dead. Three shots in a few seconds, precise and accurated. "Let's keep going".
"There's only two with crossbow over there." said Elidor, pointing behind some trees. The group decided , including elidor, that rushing them two wouldn't be a problem. However the hobgoblins had prepared a well planned ambush. It happened then, that as soon as they killed the first hobgoblin, 6 more appeared, including one of their casters. It was a tough battle, the sound of arrows flying and the sound of crossing swords echoed in the forest. "Back up here!" shouted one of the melees "Back up!" his voice scared and worried. One of the archers ran to aid him and managed to bring down in one shot the hobgobling as it was about to deal the final blow. Elidor took care of the caster before it could even start muttering the first spell and then quickly applied some balm on the barely alive man.
"Time to leave" Said the one leading the group. "We can't keep pushing as it is now." They started walking back to Norwick, quietly and with the eyes well open, in case more hobgoblins would show up. It was all clear though, and they reached the town quickly.
"Where's the elf?" Asked one. They looked around but they couldn't see him, was it left behind? where, when? was he dead? lost? Truth be told, they didn't look overly worried, but such things happen with people you barely know. They were sitting quietly by the fire, resting up their wounds, when they saw him enter the gates, wounded and singing to himself a quiet song. The arrows on the quiver glowing bright blue, and an Umberhulk shell on his hand."I needed to train to"._
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_The fire extinguishing quietly, Elidor drops another piece of wood. It's late, the sky is dark, cloudy so, that not even the moon is to be seen. The small fire feeds itself with the piece of wood and soon starts growing. Another wood log….and a small sigh.
"It has to be that. I wasn't able to pull out enough of the magic inside me." Murmers a few words and a ball of light floats over his head, giving him an easier time seeing what he's doing. Marking his arrows again. "But now it's different, I've been increasing the amount of magic I can take from inside myself. It might work this time".
He pushes himself up after carving his initial "E" in a whole stack of arrows. He kicks dirt at the fire and everything turns dark quickly. He reaches for his packs and lifts them easily, starts moving through the forest towards norwick..._
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_The sound of wood being cut and carved could be heard outside the walls." "What are you doing, Elidor?" someone asked, peering from inside the walls. It was nothing new to see Elidor alone, moreso now that most people had him for a traitor.
"Well..I'm marking the arrows. I've done them myself, all of them."he said, not specialy proud or bragging, just stating a fact. "And I'm marking them with the E". The other one chuckled. And with a grin in his face asked "And why'd you do that, you don't want them to be stolen" The man burst into a loud laugh.
Elidor didn't look up to him. Simply put the arrow away and picked the next one while starting to carve the E on that one. "I believe it makes the bound stronger." He considered that was all what was needed to be said. And the other man either understood or didn't give a damn about it and headed back inside the walls. Not that It mattered any to Elidor, so he kept with his carving and marking. But soon another voice raised, this time someone friendly, a voice of a friend.
"Heh, Elidor, I thought you had given up on that already" A friendly grin and pat on his back.
"It's been a long time, Aelfin…and yes, after my long search I gave up...but now I realize my mistake." Elidor pats the ground next to him, motions Aelfin to take a sit besides him and offers some elven fine wine to him as well. "I'm not sure why. Honest. All I know is that it's what I really want to become, and frankly...I think I would be more capable of defending those close to me. I've already failed to do so, I need to become stronger, and I know this is the way I want to do that."
Leaves out a sigh and puts the arrow away before taking the next one. He looks briefly at Aelfin's eyes. "I'll try even harder"._
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_"shoot, run , cover. Shoot, run , cover…" he said in low voice, nearly muttering, just to himself, as he was doing exactly what his words say. Thick woods in front of him, thousand trees ahead...some with a red target, others with a blue one. It was a good idea for a training. Or so he thought. Blue ones were those to be shot, red ones, represented his friends and commrades. Amongst them, some black ones, those made of metal, much more resisten to arrows.
Elidor would leave every night through the south gate and not return until the next day in the morning. This was serious. He had lost already friends to shadovars, and he was not going to let it happen to any other. He had to train, to become strong enough to protect those he loved, and his new home.
Whether that would be enough...only time will tell.The first hundred metters were easy. He's nimble and has a great aim. He moved fast though the trees, covering from the invisible opponents. Arrows piercing through the blue targets easily..but suddenly.."bang". One arrow hit a metal target and was deflected.
"Damn it. Not like that Elidor. Your arrows don't pierce this, then won't go through shadovars either." he blamed himself and went back to the start.
Deep breath while filling his quiver again. Just 99arrows, and 99 blue and black targets. No room for mistakes. You never know when one mistake might be fatal.
"One, two, now!" Elidor runs towards the woods again, shooting accuratedly at the blue targets and ducking behind trees every now and then. As he enters the cover by the tree, he spots a black target while notching the next arrow. With a firm conviction the only thing that crosses his mind is a common word. "Now".
~"The might of my song will enchance this arrow, let the power inside me fly straight and narrow~ he whispered concentrating. As soon as he starts whispering this, the arrows in his quiver start glowing blue and he quickly exits the cover from the tree and with a quick movement let's the arrow fly it's way to the metal target which gets pierced.
Swift movements from tree to tree, shooting glowing arrows now, the blue targets crack when hit by them and the black targets get pierced and the arrows stuck in them. ~"The path of archery is here, through the bow and the arrows runs what I feel"~. Elidor keeps whispering his enhancing song as he advances through the woods..._
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_I've recently met new people…and I've start traveling with them from time to time , not forgetting my old friends though. One must stay true to those.
Most of this new people are elves, which makes me happy twice. Had never met so many elves together in narfell. I've been into very dangerous trips with some of them...and they all have shown great skills and powers, and I can't but feel I'm way behind, even if they dont tell me so themselves.I feel much more comfortable again with my magic. I'm nearly at the same point I was, but I'm taking it calmly and with a smile on the face. There has been no signs of her yet, but I don't lose hope. Adventuring and experiencing new situations keep my spirit high, and I learn other things that could be equally important and related to relationships and friends.
I've started again with fletching and woodworking, it helps my mind relax and it feels good from time to time. Anyways I keep marking my arrows, now even more since I know the link it's important.
I only have to wait. What's that for an elf?_
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Today I advanced some. If not magically, mentaly. I realized that in order to bypass my current limits, I had to understand myself and my power better. I can't enhance just any arrow. My song, my power, relays on the link I have with the archery, -my- archery…and I'm only able to make it work with the arrows that are linked to me, which are those I craft myself and mark. I tested this with Rasuil's arrows and my own crafted arrows. My song didn't channel propertly into his arrows, while it did on mine. True that the enhancement didn't last more than a second, but I believe that's because I'm still not fully recovered from my death.
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I thought it could be her. Elf, female, excellent archer. Had seen only a couple of times and she always seemed to came from the woods. I had some hopes, but it seems she's not the one I'm looking for, her name's Lin.
I've tried again to enhance the arrows as I used to do via my singing, but it doesn't last long enough for me to shoot a single arrow.
My friends tell me I need time and practice again, that they are sure I'll get back to where I was.
I hope they are right, as much as I hope I can find her
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It'd seem dying has taken some of my power and I can barely enhance my arrows via my song. It still makes a difference, but not as much as it used to be. Is good that I keep this diary, now I know what exercises I used to do to improve my arts.
I've lived through many things. Deaths, parting with my family, and many others…but without doubt, the path towards mastering the archery with the help of my song is the most complicated and hard.
It's crystal clear to me that I will need from the help of Sha'mai or another arcane archer to advance further. When I sing for my archery, there's a strange feeling that I'm not making the most profit from the singing, from the magic, there's a feeling that it could be greater with just a little something, maybe a different way of singing, or a different way of performing the enhancement.
I keep waiting and my hopes will not end...this is my path, and I will reach the end.
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Unbelievable? No…it isn't unbelievable at all. It was stupid of me to go to such a place, even with the strong group we had.
Honestly, I can't advance any further in my path without the help of sha'mai. I feel useless now everywhere I go, I simply was not able to hurt most of the things in that place, and I was definetly not able to defend myself. I hope she decides soon to come visit me. I need help, need her help.
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My dearest friends wellcomed me and brought to me thousand smiles. It's been a good couple of days since I came. I told them about my trip, all the adventure and happenings. Somehow it feels like failure to have not found her, but on the other hand, I know I can't give up, and I'm sure whem I'm ready for it she'll come to me. I'll keep looking, but foremost, I'll keep practicing.
It's a fact that I keep improving. I can controll now my song better, the way it enhances my shooting. But soon I'll be in need of her help to advance…hope she decides to come.
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Long walking, I was finally back into the forest. It feels much better than anywhere. The sight of the trees and animals is to me as precious as a well crafted bow. It was the begining of the rawlinswood, goblinoids of all kinds roaming about. At first there was not many, easy to sneak past them, and even to steal some of their food. The deeper I went into the woods, the more goblinoids I found. Must be I was way too tired and didn't notice…but it'd seem I chose the wrong tree to rest that night. I was resting when I suddenly heard some strange crawling under the tree. Looking down, discovering 5 goblins climbing up towards me and a couple of goblin archers covering them from the ground.
With a smooth movement, I jumped from the tree branch to another that was out of sight from the archers. They just then noticed I was awake.
I kept climbing to the top of the tree to take distance from the climbing goblins and making it even harder for the archers on the ground to aim at me. From there, I had time to shoot down three of the four goblins approaching me. The last one reached me and threatened me with his dagger, so I pulled out the flail Ridian gave to me for this cases and bashed the goblin's skull. Stealthy I went down a few feets to check for the archers, but I was only able to see one of them. I climbed further down to have a better shot.
My mistake to shoot it down before checking around first, that goblin was the bait, and it worked pretty well. As soon as I shot the goblin an arrow hit my leg and I fell down from the tree. Quickly loaded my bow and another arrow hit my other leg. A fine shot that goblin. He had climbed to a nearby tree while I was busy dealing with the others, and had caught me off guard. It was now aiming at me from the tree, but I was aiming at him as well.
Time played against me. Surely soon more goblins would come, and with both legs hurt, that'd mean my end. I couldn't just shoot at the remaining goblin either, because surely he'd shoot at me as well and since now I was a static target, he'd not miss a vital spot.
What to do? The goblin knew as well that shooting would get him dead, he was clearly going to wait for reinforcements. So I started singing. That usually clears my mind and makes me focus. I sang for some minutes, maybe 5...and then realized the only thing I could do. I kept singing, pulled the string of my bow. The goblin pulled his. I moved my arms forwards hastly, making the goblin believe I was shooting, so he actually shot back at me. I lose the string, and my arrow, glowing more than ever, seems to fly straight and on its own. I knew he would shoot to my head, and I figured out which way his arrow would come, shooting my own enhanced-with-music arrow through his and reaching his chest. I crawled out of the place to tend to my wounds and hidd inside some bushes for one day, until I was sure the goblins gave up on the search.
It was dangerous, my arrow would have not pierced through his if not for my song enhancing it. I could have died. I won't take more unnceseray risks. I'll be alert all the time...and reach norwick as soon as possible.A bit down in the same page….
and here I am…
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The way back is not as easy as I thought. I can't make the same road, so I'll have to take an alternate path. Singing is the only thing that keeps me alive from the terrible boredom.
I knew the road was too silent. But I couldn't quite tell why. I was paying attention to both sides of the road, fearing an ambush, but because of that I forgot to search for obvious traps by the road…
When I wanted to realize I was already traped inside the net. It was just four of them, and they didnt look really like bandits, but more like poor people trying to earn some money the wrong way.
I thought my best way out was to fool them. I told them I was a mighty sorcerer, and that if they didnt release me inmediatly I would make them explode. They didn't take me too serious at first. So I decided to make it more...believable. I closed my eyes and concentrated until I could feel the air around me, then I let out my loudest shout, pushing the air itself with my voice, making them fall to their knees.
They were impressed. At that moment they really bought it and let me free. I gave them hundred coins regardless of the trouble. They were really in need of it.
If only I had know what awaited me...
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So warm. It's never been so warm. There's not many plants and trees. Everything's sand and strange legged animals. I've been following some rumors that I heard in the last inn by the forest. There were rumors about an elven woman, sneaky one, very versed in the use of the longbow. It's not clear wether it's her or not. But that's my only clue and that's what I can do.
There's large mountains, but without rocks. Is all sand. I've crossed noone on my whole time here. And I've really been close to dying in more than one occasion. Only the gods and my bardic luck have saved me from it so far.
I was walking all this sand and suddenly it started sucking me down. I tried to step away, but the more i moved, the deeper I sunk. I didn't know what to do, so I stopped to think about it. Ironicaly, when I stoped moving, i stoped sinking. However I still had no idea how would I manage to come out if I couldn't move. I was lost in thought when suddenly the arrow hit the sand near me, an arrow like those I had seen before.
I must admit it was a great idea of her. I took one of my own arrows very slowly, and pulled out the bow slowly, sinking a bit more in the sand, only my arms and head visible now. A swift movement to quickly grab the rope from my shoulder and tie it to the arrow while sinking, giving a blind shot into the save sand. As I shot the arrow my body sunk more into the sand because of the movement, but now I could pull myself out with the help of the rope. It took me several minutes to reach the safe spot, but I finally managed.
I don't know who's saving me and helping me all this times, but I owe him or her a big time.
I don't think the one I seek is in this place. And maybe I'm looking in the wrong places. Is time to head back to Narfell, and to the Rawlins.
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_After some days without any more signs of someone following me I was starting to feel like walking in circles. It's very rainy in this parts, and I already find it tiring and annoying. When you spend weeks without more shelter than the tree leafs and the ocasional cave you really grow tired of rain.
Today I woke up wet and cold. Blame the rain. I'm surprised I haven't caught a cold by now. Must be the amulet. I started walking with the first glint of the sun. I quickly noticed an unusuall scent. Burning wood! I hasted to the spot the wood was burning only to find a large firecamp. I approached cautiosly and examined it for a bit. Whoever was there had…just left, but also just made the firecamp for the look of the wood logs.
Who is doing all this? What's the purpose behind it?
All in all. I spent a couple of hours drying up by that firecamp._
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It's been a rough night. I woke up with a sudden noise. It sounded like steps, probably from three or four creatures. At least that's what I thought at first. I quickly put off the firecamp kicking dirt on it and climbed the nearest tree, remaining silent. I would have hoped it was three or four goblinoids, but the many steps heard belonged to a spider, a big spider. When I first was able to see her my blood freezed. It was that big.
I looked around, seeing for possible scapes, but the spider had already spoted me with it's many eyes and with just a couple of jumps she reached the branch next to me. I didn't have much time to think, it was real close so I jumped down and started running. I didn't know where I was runing to, but I didn't want to be caught off guard, so while runing I unshouldered the bow and noked a couple of arrows. I then did something that I hope not to do again. I looked behind while running from that thing, and as I turned again to look front, it was just too late. Trapped in the spiderweb. Luckily, my arms where free, since at that moment I had just noked the arrows. I didn't try moving, it would have only made things worse. I had no idea what to do. Hopefully the spider would've get lost.
Hah. I wished. 1 minute later she appeared, chittering and getting closer, closer…
I was so scared that I could hear my heart beating over anything else. I was so scared I didn't know what to do, how to think or even if I could think at all.
Suddenly I let out a loud scream as the spider tried to bite me. I'm not sure how, but my shouting created a sonic wave that pushed the spider down to "her knees" and the leafs of the nearest trees waved as if hit by the wind. No time for thinking, I pull the string of the bow while the spider is shoked and give two shots to it's head. Spider chitters one last time, then it's dead.
It took me some time to cut the web with a dagger. Then I looked over the body, and I was more than just surprised. The corpse had a third arrow on it's back, a fine arrow deep into the spiders corpse.
I looked around, tried to spot someone or something, but nothing I could see...
Who or what shot that arrow?
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It's been a week since I left Norwick into the woods in search of her. I try to avoid goblinoids and other creatures when possible, but sometimes is harder than just shooting them down. At some points I feel observed. Am I being followed? Could it be her spying on me? I have no clue and no way to tell, but I can say for true I'm being stalked.
Is good that my pack is light and there's many trees and spots to cover. I'm not even sure where do I have to look or even what could be a clue. I guess i'm hoping if she's out there, she'll find me.
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_Today I've been asked why do I always hum or sing when I trying my best with the bow. I really never payed much attention to that. Usually I don't…but when things get rough I seem to find better aim with music. It's different as when I enhance the arrows with my inner power. When I enhance the arrows, it's something inner, that goes through my hands to the arrows... the singing is mayhaps a bit more potent, it's when I release more energy, I'm more accurated and my arrows inflict more damage to my enemies. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the arrows are crafted by me, as is the bow. It's harmony. My path will go through harmony.
E._
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_She's nice. She's caring for others, she's pretty and friendly. She'd be the perfect woman for me. She's a High priestess, so I don't have high hopes, but maybe some of Elidor's charm can breach through her defenses!
I've given thought to the idea that maybe It's time to look more actively for Sha'mai Di' malle. Doesn't matter how much I train, I still dont find the correct direction. She's the only one that could help at this point. She's a wood elf, and she's been wiling to aid others in the past to find the proper way. At least, that's what Ridian explained to me.
I might go soon to the woods to look for them. Might take long time, but I need and want to find her. And I will do whatever is needed.
E._
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_Shades, shades and more shades, and lightings. Seems necromancers and the god talos himself have something against me. I nearly died from that lighting. Thanks that Myrrha was there to protect me from the following ones, and thanks that Rith healed me quickly or I'd been dead once again…
I'm meeting many interesting people this days. And I've learnt some about life and such.
Some nice last month this one, despite the deaths. Yes.
E._
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Written yet again not clean and as if written without much interest
Again. Dead. As painfull as the last time, as surprising and deceiving as the last time. The same place, the same sadness and boredom, the same silence.
Why did I die this time? Why didn't I turn to see that huge spirit behind me? Why did Uthgar refuse to her my prayers?
I'm unable to answer to any of those questions.
I was wiling to come back to the living. I'm still convinced that my path is the one I'm seeking.
However, I can't but wonder…are the gods trying to tell me something with all this dying?
Is it a trial of the gods to see if I'm fit for this Path?
E.