Happy Blog Day Everyone!
It's time for Short Diversions once again, and I'm going back to an old story idea for this one...Well, one that has featured in few previous blogs!
Before that though, let's see what's going on in the Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz!
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
Here's the third part of Riz's Dungeon Master adventure! I think next week should be the end of their session, where maybe Riz will encounter the true D&D players arch-nemesis...Scheduling conflicts! Or not, we'll see what happens!
As usual, I feel the need to apologise about the quality of the Comic, not necessarily the drawing side but my method of getting it on here. Some days my attempts to make it look like the paper copy work, other times...they don't, like today's blue example. If I had the money and space for a scanner...or a good laptop to do these digitally. C'est la vie.
Short Diversions: A Moon's Vigil
Today's Short Diversions is set in my often forgotten Drache Arm Luna storyline (as featured in the blog here, here, here and here)
There isn't a lot to say about this one other than what I said in a previous entry other than that the main gimmick in these stories is tha pendants that allow their wearer to summon a set of armour based around what Clan they belong too. There is no such transformation in this piece though, as it didn't really have a purpose. No doubt I'll write a more action orientated short featuring these characters at some point!
Please read and enjoy!
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A Moon’s Vigil
Noire was starving, he couldn’t remember the last full meal he’d eaten, aside from what the good folk in the trader’s convoy had shared with him, since then he’d sparingly taken bites from the provisions he brought with him. What seemed to make his hunger worse, was looking up at his destination. Across the meadow, was the foot of the Crucible Mountain range, the tallest peak being Moon’s Vigil, said to be the closest point to the Moon on the entire continent. Noire didn’t know if the last part was true, but he looked up in awe all the same.
It had taken him a week to reach this point from the Clan Halls, having gotten lost in the silent forest. It was only supposed to have been two days at most. He’d lamented his choice to go that route all the while, but he was here now, and that meant he had to focus on the next step, getting up the mountain itself, and doing so before the full moon faded away. For those in the Lunar Clan, a vigil at the Crucible Mountains was one of the best ways to get close spiritually with the Lunar Drache, the patron dragon of the Clan. The full moon heightened the experience. Normally, it was often the older members who undertook this, wanting to further the bonds they’re nurtured over a lifetime of service to the Clan, and by extension, to the Lunar Drache, whose spirit they wished to honour. While not unheard of for someone of Noire’s age, it wasn’t exactly common. For his part, Noire was a fresh recruit practically, having only gotten his pendant, the proof of his membership within the Clan within the last year. The eighteen year old had served the best he could but recent events had made him question things, and he saw this pilgrimage as a way to answer them, even if it had to come from himself.
No one had tried to stop him, on the contrary, they offered all the help and support they could, giving him advice on the best paths to take and what he should pack. How much of this he took on board varied depending on at which point he was paying attention. His mind was still very much preoccupied on events leading up to his decision, and some memories from before then which haunted his memories.
Wanting some comfort, he took out his lunar pendant from the pocket he was keeping it in, though he did miss its presence from around his neck. He held it up by the chain so that it dangled in front of the sun, glinting in its radiance. It had been said that in each pendant, placed perfectly in the centre of each one, was one of the Lunar Drache’s scales, and it was these that reacted to the light of the full moon. This made perfect sense to Noire, given that it was the pendant that allowed for their wearers to gain access to the Lunar Drache Arm in the first place. It was for that reason the pilgrimage forbade its use unless dire circumstances called for it, but given that the mountain was largely a lifeless place, it was seldom needed. Placing the pendant back where it’d been, and after a moment to catch his breath, he started his ascent.
The first part of the journey wasn’t too taxing for him, and allowed for some scenic views as he started to climb higher and higher into the sky, allowing the canopy of the silent forest to expand before him. He even imagined he saw the smoke rising from the trader’s convoy, where they had established a temporary encampment. He followed the trail the best he could, and was grateful for the rest stops everyone before him had crafted from the mountain itself, especially when the first storm hit and he was forced to bunker down.
As it raged outside, he took his blanket and wrapped himself up with it, the scent reminded him of home, and of the night he first met her.
He had been trying to sleep then, as well, through a violent storm, when there had been a commotion outside the family home. Creeping to the window and carefully opening the shutters, he spotted a carriage that had overturned, and a young red haired girl trying to climb out. Throwing caution to the wind, young Noire went to her aid, albeit the best aid a eight year old could give. His actions had alerted his parents who hadn’t heard the initial crash. They rushed out as Noire was helping the girl out. Noire remembered that she looked a bit weird, her ears longer than he’d ever see, coming to a point almost. Her eyes as well, a colour he’d never seen before, a shimmering purple. She’d been travelling with a couple of guards who had been incapacitated due to the incident. Noire handed the girl his blanket, so she could put it around herself, but no sooner had he done so, another carriage pulled up. Two men came out, wearing Lunar Clan pendants, but they were dressed so ornately, Noire could only stare. He’d seen many Clan members during the meetings he’d been forced to attend with his father and met someone from practically every rank, but these men were something else. Wasting no time, they whisked the girl away, leaving the blanket on the ground.
Morning came, and the storm had subsided, but unlike the cloud free skies from the day before, a grey sky loomed overhead. A sky like this only said one thing, that more storms were on the way. Noire gathered his things, and set off again, wanting to focus on the tasks ahead, so that he could be done faster, but his progress was slower, as the trail narrowed, and he was forced to make some perilous crossing due to the weather. He was getting close to the next peak when he looked back up again, hoping to see some patch of clear sky, that he might be able to work out the time more clearly, but was denied such a simple request. Instead, he had to gauge from the amount of light, which was already difficult, and not getting any easier. By the time it came to stop for the night, the next storm had already broken, with a stronger ferocity than the last. He was already exhausted from the climb, but had a fight in getting his shelter set up, but he managed it, and collapsed onto the blanket. The answers he was seeking had better be worth all this, he told himself, and then said nothing more, as sleep swiftly overtook him.
His dreams were of her.
Of scant times they encountered one another after their first meeting. Each one ending as quickly as they seemed to start, and each one a few years after the first. No matter what they were supposed to be doing at that moment, they were able to find each other, as though some invisible rope had been tied between their hearts. It was during these that he finally learned her name, Clara Lian. To end these occasions, the different looking Lunar Clan would escort her away, back to what she was supposed to be doing, leaving Noire alone with feelings that he’d never could quite articulate. He never forgot the way she smiled at him every time their eyes locked again, though he knew it was just foreshadowing his social skills locking up, never being able to say much in her presence, out of a perceived fear of rejection.
When he woke up the next morning, those images had lingered in his mind, and he felt content, embarrassed at how’d acted back then, but content all the same. The early morning light had given rise to what lurked on the horizon, as more storms were brewing, ones that looked bigger and far more threatening then what he’d already experienced the days previous. This, coupled with the fact that this was to be the hardest part of his journey, drained the happiness away from him. Still, he’d come this far, he couldn’t give up now. He prepared himself, and started climbing again, taking the utmost care, as he did.
The massive storm broke out around midday, or least, as far as he could tell. Rain pelted him as if a hundred archers were using him as target practice. The wet conditions turned what was already difficult, into an almost impossible challenge, but still, slowly, he continued. There were moments where he thought he was going to slip, and fall to his death, and had it been his younger days, he would have fled back down the mountain the fastest he could. The thought of her persisted in his head though, the girl who he was forbidden from finding. That judgement was handed down to him after a previous meeting half a year ago. Had her guards noticed the way they would always find each other perhaps? Or was it simply a case of them belonging to two different worlds. Either way, the elders had spared no harshness in explaining to him that he was never to see her again, nor track her down. Not knowing what he was feeling, he could have only described it as being crushed, as though part of him had been locked away, leaving a void that nothing could fill. He despaired, but went on with his work. He had been officially inducted into the ranks of the Lunar Clan at this point, so was kept busy enough with different duties that he had to attend to.
Climbing up the mountain though, Noire didn’t dare look up, just in case seeing how far he still had to climb proved to be too devastating, but there was a bright side. The weather, that seemed so unrelenting a short while before, was easing. The rain became nothing more than a little spraying, and the howling wind that had once tried to pull him straight from the cliff face, turned into a gentle breeze, till even both of them stopped completely. Faced with complete silence, aside from the movements of the rocks he dislodged in his travels, Noire found it eerie. He had become accustomed to the darkness but had believed it to have been the storm’s doing, but with that now passed, it became clear that night had fallen. After another twenty minutes, he finally reached the plateau that was on top of the mountain. He hauled himself up, and stood in one of the places so special to the Lunar Clan. This was Vigil’s Point, or at least, the original one. A copy had been made at the base of the mountain, for those who either lacked the skills to, or simply didn’t want to, climb the peaks. No one really knows who built the site, the expert craftsmanship on display with the shrine offering little clues as to who could have hauled all their tools needed to make such a thing, up the perilous trail. There were three benches, surrounding what looked like a font, where a small amount of water resided, acting like a perfect mirror. In it, Noire saw the gleaming full moon that appeared from behind a cloud. He looked up, and couldn’t help but gaze at its beauty, as it hung in the now clear sky. Noire believed that if he reached up, he could pluck it from its place. He took a seat and looked up, spending some time taking in the sights. Now, with all of the trials behind him, Noire breathed a sigh of relief.
Without any prompting, he was reminded of a conversation he had with Clara, the very last time they had met. He hadn’t been looking for her, despite his heart telling him he should have been, instead, she had found him, noting that his orders certainly didn’t prevent that. The pair talked and he finally got some answers. Despite always being curious about her ears, he’d never spoken about it, but she divulged the information willingly to him, an openness that she never possessed before. She was a member of the Tel’geit, or blessed ones in the old language. The Tel’geit were often said to have been those who looked after the gods, and that was when Noire recounted his own encounter with one of the Drache Gotts, the three most powerful dragons whose existence kept the world in harmony. With this, they shared another bond, and they were as close as ever before. Sadly, he never got to explain his feelings to her as once more, her guards hurried her away, and from her own mouth, she tearfully admitted that might have been the last time they could be together. That meeting had been a month ago, and the turmoil in his heart had been the catalyst to embark on this quest.
He was still no further forward with an answer, the indecision carving it’s way to his heart. He wanted the courage to do what he believed was right, but the different sides to him warred over it. The loyalty to his Clan, the loyalty to his family’s beliefs and then lastly, the loyalty to his own word. At the height of this inner battle, that was when he noticed the shadow on the moon. To his naked eye, it was faint, barely visible over a glimmer, but curiosity led him to look in the font, and there, he saw it with clarity. The shadow had taken on the shape of a dragon, flying over the moon’s surface. Its white scales shone with the radiance of the moon, and even though it was so far away, there was the blue glint from its eyes, and Noire knew that he was being observed. To prove this point, it stopped in the middle of the moon, spreading its wings across the surface. Noire stared in shock at the sight, as even though hundreds made the pilgrimage every year, no one ever described direct contact with the Lunar Drache, a creature said to be lost to legend the same as all over Drache’s, afterall, that’s why the pendant was said to contain a scale. Remembering about the pendant at that exact moment, Noire took it out his pocket, and held it up to the Luna Drache, and it started glowing a brilliant blue. The shadow on the moon grew more pronounced as a result, allowing it to be seen more easily without the font. Then, all of a sudden, the pendant’s glow changed, becoming more golden in hue, like the light from the sun was passed from the moon to the pendant that dangled in Noire’s hand, its power growing ever stronger. A voice inside his mind spoke simply and decisively, helping him to settle on what should have been his answer all along. The voice said:
“Go to her.”
Wanting to give all relevance to the reason his Clan existed, Noire bowed to its judgement, and the apparition on the moon seemed to reciprocate before fading from view.
Noire stood silently, allowing everything that had just happened to work its way through his head. He couldn’t quite explain it, but he had never felt better. He felt stronger, more sure of himself, and to that end, he put his pendant to his chest, and made a vow. A vow that promised to find Clara, no matter what became of it. He would rest now, but as soon as dawn broke, he would fly down the mountain, rules or no rules, and he would return, to find Clara and to admit everything he should have done in their earlier meetings.
Tomorrow would begin a new stage in his life, and that of the entire world…
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Well that end this week.
Have a good one folks.
Till next time,
...keep on writing!
Peter James Martin
Quick Links
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 1
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Book 1: A Boy and A Rat
The Strange Tales of Brennan and Riz Volume 2
Malarkey's Imaginomnibus Volume 1
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