TASKILITAS RISING
The running and hiding took a toll on Zhelavar. She was no longer as swift and agile as she
used to be. Weakened by constant attacks and a lack of food, she grew less active and more
despondent. Hostility turned to depression as 'the hunting game' became more of a losing
ordeal for her each day. She wandered beyond the swamps and into a large plains, devoid of
people. Fatigue beset her, and she dropped exhausted as soon as she reached the water on the
other side of the plains. Sleep.
A cool breeze and the sound of the swaying grasses had stirred Zhelavar from her sleep. Standing
and stretching, she peered out to the water. Drawing near was a boat with two fishermen. The boat
slammed to a stop on the shore, and one of the fishermen addressed Zhelavar.
Silnor: Out here alone, lass?
Zhelavar: Yea. Got food?
Silnor: Aye! A bushel and a peck of fish we've caught today!
Zhelavar: I hungry.
Pantheos: drop anchor
Tillerman: Aye! Anchor dropped.
Silnor disembarked to bring some freshly cooked fish steaks to Zhelavar. With all the manners
and gratefulness of a grizzly, she grabbed the steaks and packed them in her mouth as fast as
she could eat them. The fisherman looked in shock and pity, offering to take her to Britain with
them. Zhelavar smiled. 'That would be nice,' she said, knowing full well that the boat would
never reach the shores of Britain if she steps foot on it.
'Unfurl sails,' barked Silnor, 'and start following that map!'
'Aye!', replied the tillerman.
Once they had traveled clear of sight of the shore, Zhelavar began taking a peek around the boat.
It seemed that Pantheos was a mage and that Silnor was little more than a fisherman and a
merchant. Bit by bit, Zhelavar pilfered reagents from the pack of Pantheos, until one careless
slip resulted in a bit of a tug at his pack.
Pantheos: shes a thief!
Pantheos: kill her!
Silnor: Naught but an ungrateful harlot, ye are!
Pantheos raised his hands and arched his back, readying a spell that would never be cast.
Zhelavar had already taken most all of his reagents, leaving him near defenseless. Out came
her kryss and the mage ran to the other side of the boat. 'I not a rat. YOU the rat!', she
screamed as she leapt on him, thrusting the kryss madly into his chest. Then she heard it...
the words she would forever learn to loathe... 'Kal Ort Por'. The mage disappeared.
Rage engulfed her. Kicking and screaming, she beat her kryss upon the mast of the ship.
'NO! Not fair! He not allowed to do that!,' she pierced the air with her shrill cries.
The fisherman cowered in fear as the crazed woman smashed crates and tore at the sail. Regaining
some semblance of composure, she swung around to the fisherman and glared at him.
Zhelavar: Where Pirate Island?
Silnor: What?
Zhelavar grabbed a map from a broken crate and threw it at Silnor.
Zhelavar: I heard no people is on Pirate Island. Show me Pirate Island.
Silnor stuck a pin in Buccaneer's Den on the map and slid it across the deck to Zhelavar. She
shoved the map in the tillerman's hand and ordered him to set sail for Buc's.
The fisherman never made it to Buccaneer's Den, as Zhelavar was in the mood for the hunting
game after a night of sailing. Another night passed before they arrived at the shores of the
island. Zhelavar gathered what she needed from the boat, told the tillerman to sail out, and jumped
from the plank to the shore. No people. No guards. Nothing... except rats. Zhelavar frowned a
bit, as this first impression of the island was both good and bad. The solitude was welcomed,
but the rats were a bothersome reminder of the name given her in Britain. 'I not a rat,' she
told herself, and ventured on.
Travelling east through the dense forests, she arrived at what appeared to be a tavern with much
commotion inside. She ran around to the front and burst in to see a rogue of sorts taunting the
waitress and innkeeper. Chuckling a bit, she watched as the rogue skillfully emptied the satchels
of the tavern staff. The rogue noticed her and paused for a moment to talk.
MalicE: ur an archer?
Zhelavar: Yea.
MalicE: that skill kicks ass now
Malice: u a mast...
But Zhelavar heard nothing more. A deafening blast came from behind her and slammed the thief hard.
She swung around to see who it was... a mage... an evil looking mage on horseback wearing the same color robe as hers.
The mage continued to bury the thief in blasts, never speaking a word. He rode over to his kill and peeled
a pouch of gold from the side of the badly burnt corpse. He looked to Zhelavar and made a comment about
her bow.
Zhelavar: What with everyone and my bow?!?!
Taskilitas: It's the new thing, baby! Bows kick ass now.
Taskilitas: Nothing compared to magery, but they do kick ass.
Zhelavar looked at her bow, thought for a moment, and then looked back up at the mage. She realized
who he was. Images of the burning town and murdered folk inundated her mind. This mage was one of the
Dread Lords who leveled that village. She remembered how he was annoyed at the poverty of the people, and
their lack of decent quantities of gold on them. His voice echoed in her mind.. 'Damn, we did these
guys a favor by killing them. Their lives were pathetic!'
Zhelavar: I know who ya is.
Taskilitas: That's nice. So, do you want a head start,
Taskilitas: or will you face the inevitable and stay still
Taskilitas: while I do my work?
Zhelavar: *blink*
Zhelavar: *blink*
Taskilitas: You're not moving? You really thnk you can take me?
Zhelavar: No, but I don' fight mages.
Zhelavar: They a waste of my time.
Taskilitas: *laughs*
Taskilitas: Why? Because you can't beat them?
Zhelavar: No, cuz they cast a 'runaway' spell.
Taskilitas: I don't recall.
Zhelavar: Got food?
Taskilitas: Um... no.
Zhelavar: I hungry.
Taskilitas: Then buy some from the innkeeper.
Zhelavar: No gold.
Taskilitas: Corp Por
*You see Taskilitas attacking Jenna!*
Jenna: Guards! I pay my taxes, and no guards?
Taskilitas: Corp Por
Zhelavar: *blink*
Taskilitas: There's your gold.
Zhelavar gathered the gold from the body, and purchased some bread and cheese from an extremely
frightened innkeeper. After which, she promptly stole her gold back.
Susan: Thief! Guards, kill this rotten scum!
Zhelavar: Rat?!?! I not a rat!
Zhelavar pulled her bow and fired directly at the innkeeper's head. 'I not a rat!'
Taskilitas, and another fellow that had just entered, stood there laughing hysterically. The dead innkeeper
lay in a heap on the floor.
Zhelavar: Why ya laughing? Stop it!
Zhelavar: She call me a rat!
Taskilitas: Nay!
The mage had trouble controlling his laughter.
Zhelavar: STOP IT!
Taskilitas: She said you were ROTTEN, you evil little dolt!
Maelifax: But that was kind of funny to see.
Maelifax: Never saw someone shot through the mouth with an arrow before.
Maelifax: *grins*
Zhelavar was embarrassed and annoyed, but she soon saw humor in the event.
Zhelavar: Heehee. I guess it kinda funny.
Taskilitas stopped laughing and rummaged through his reagents.
Taskilitas: Enough play. There are still people alive up by the blacksmith,
Taskilitas: and we need to change that.
Maelifax: Two Lords, too. They're bascinet hunting.
Zhelavar: Are bascinets dangerous?
Taskilitas: Nope. That's why nobility hunt them.
Taskilitas and Maelifax laughed and headed for the tavern door.
Taskilitas: You coming, girl?
Zhelavar: Ya going huntin'? Zhelavar's eyes lit up.
Maelifax: Yeah, hunting. Try to keep up.
The three made their way to what would be the first of a long string of murders together. Taskilitas
and Maelifax enjoyed having her with them, as they found her both amusing and an asset to the team.
They realized early that, by feeding her, they could keep her relatively docile, and they made a point to
'forget to bring home food' the day of an important hunt.
Alas, all things come to an end and people move one. Zhelavar awoke one day to find that Maelifax and
Taskilitas had moved on without her. Packing up what little she had, she wandered the island in search
of an unattended boat or a way out. In the northernmost region of the island she had come across a
stone archway. In examining it, she had stepped in the center, and was teleported to another gate elsewhere.
She was in a jungle of sorts, but she knew it was no longer the Pirate Island.
For months she walked and hunted her way across Britannia. She traveled the jungle, then followed a range
of mountains, and kept in the same direction until she hit a quiet wooded area.
