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Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Mon Jul 07, 2008 3:36 am Post subject:

The walk takes them into dusk and night territory by the time they make it halfway across the windy valley. Flora is keeping quiet as well and has raised the hood of her robes and raised a scarf to cover most of her face. The wind is that aggressive.
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Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

Heedless of any protests, Ian wraps his large black cape around Flora as well as they walk into the wind. Ian has always delighted in bad weather and he walks ahead of Flora, leading Arson, keeping his senses aware of any possible attack. His stomach growls, which he momentarily mistakes for a hostile predator, and he laughs at the howling winds.

Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

As he proceeds into the windstorm, he reflects momentarily that the place is aptly named. Then his thoughts return to April. Oh how they had feuded when last he saw her. He wondered if Mom was still running her around in Shadow, or if she had settled down.

Maybe she and Jean had married and April had children by now.

Ian shook that thought from his head. What had April tried to prove with Jean? He seemed so inadequate for her and April would never know how terrible he felt about some of the things he said that day. He actually offered to kill Jean if he failed to make April happy.

Unconsciously, and with great anger, he grabs the handle of Hollowshade and grips it tightly, but does not draw it.

I'm sorry April. He says to himself. And I'm sorry I could never say I'm sorry to you.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Tue Jul 08, 2008 8:36 pm Post subject:

Florimel puts her hand on his shoulder as a thank you for the cloak.

A bit later, she points to something he has already noticed. A flock of unusually large birds flying around one of the towers. It's hard to tell what they are doing other than circle it... Hard to say with the low light of a rising yellow moon.

The misty clouds move quickly above them and the winds do not let up. The night sky also lets up a star here and there. No constellation Ian recognizes.
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Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

He mutters under his breath. "Well, we're not in Kansas, that's for sure." He wonders if the birds are vultures and hopes that they are not. His nerves are very much on edge now, and he is ready to draw if anyone...or anything jumps out of the shadows. He picks up the pace, wanting to get to the towers and feeling a sense of urgency.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 6:24 pm Post subject:

It seems that Flora supports that notion as the leisure-like pace increases. They make their way across the plains separating them from the Windborne structures. As they approach, Ian sees that the birds are very large, with large wingspans, as are the towering windmill structures. They continue to circle one of the towers without landing.

The blades of grass are high and sharp and lend a silvery shimmer in the light of the yellow, bright and eerie moon. Amidst this sea of rolling yellowish silver waves, rock outcrops protrude here and there. Upon one of them, an old man sits, facing the Windborne estate, his long black and white hair and beard moving with the wind. His eyes are closed and he seems to be meditating. He is completely naked and his body looks very pale and cold and bears many scars that run into each other without forming any kind of pattern.

Here, the land begins to slope up toward the estate and the Black Mountains. They are just a few miles from the estate now.
Flora leans toward Ian and says loud enough for only him to hear, "I don't know who or what that is... But then again I haven't come here in a very long time."
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Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

Hollowshade is out in a flash, and the shadows around it and Ian darken ever-so-slightly. "Ill-met by moonlight." Ian mutters to himself, then gets within hailing distance of what he hopes is some kind of hippie. "Nice night for a walk!" Ian calls to him, conversationally. The blade is at his side and Ian's senses strain against the wind and the darkness. Behind every rock, an enemy could lurk, for all he knew, the grass could be hiding a company of foes. He glances back at Flora and awaits the old man's answer.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Wed Jul 09, 2008 8:36 pm Post subject:

The man remains immobile for a bit then opens his eyes as if coming out of a deep slumber. He smiles and jumps down from his rock with surprising agility. His figure is average at best, a bit on the skinny side. He stops there, perhaps noticing Hollowshade and the shadow trick happening.

He pauses for a moment and says with a smile revealing crooked but human teeth, "A bit on the windy side!" He looks Ian and Flora over, then asks, his smile fading, his back against the rock, waving in the general direction of the estate. "Are you working for him?"
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Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

"Do I look like the kind of guy who works for someone? Do you count the Lord of the...Windmills a foe?" Ian is not heartened with the apparent speed of this potential foe. He listens intently for sounds of compatriots advancing on him.

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:25 am Post subject:

Nothing but the sounds of blades of grass clashing in the howling winds.

"I suppose you don't... You just never know with these types," the old man answers loudly. "I haven't made up my mind about the Lord, yet. What about you? You don't seem like the strolling type either."
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Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

Ian glances over his shoulder to see what Flora is doing. Clearly, his patience with the old man is fading quickly. "Why are you watching the Keep?"

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 5:14 pm Post subject:

Somewhere behind him, Flora has sprung her bow and laid an arrow across it in her lap, whatever good it will do in weather like this. She approaches and is now just a few feet to his right.

The old man takes the time to point to the windmill and says, "The birds. They are not natural. Neither is the man now holding these lands. I'm keeping an eye on things... Well, sorta." Crooked smile again. "Are you headed in there?" he asks, serious again.
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Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

"Yes, I am going in there. What do you know about the birds?" Ian is clearly losing his temper. "Hurry up now, its getting damned cold out here."

Nihilistic Mind · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 7:42 pm Post subject:

The old man's eyebrows furrow and he looks visibly upset. "The birds, they were men once... I saw it myself. Be careful... They've been attacking things that approach the place too closely... Good luck."

He looks at Florimel and Ian very attentively.
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Ian · Joined: 09 Jun 2008 Posts: 521 Location: South Carolina

He turns to Flora, looking quickly for anything coming up behind them. "Um, this is the place, right? I guess we need to get inside. I would feel better fighting birdmen where they can't manuever and rain missile weapons down on us."