The Perilous Journey of Simian Sam

Number of posts : 8 Registration date : 2011-02-22

"Good bye Sam", she whispered as she closed the door behind him. She was tall lythe and quite ugly. Her long thinning stringy blond hair fell over her shoulders. She had taken him in some years before, and it had taken some work on her part to adjust to living with him. He was 6 foot 8 to her 5 foot 6. He was over 300 pounds to her 130. He was a hulking creature with shoulders so wide he had to turn sideways to fit through doors. The hardest thing she'd had to get used to was his walk. His arms were disproportionately long, and when he walked they swung heavily at his sides. When he ran, well that was a whole different story.

"You did good. It was time for him to go." A member of the towns guard stepped from a shadow at the back of the shack. "People were becoming distressed having him around here." He stood looking at her with pity and hatred. He pitied her for loving that beast, hated her because her insistance that he be allowed to stay had been a never ending head ache for him. But she was his sister, and he fought for her until last night.

"It's wrong, and you know it. He wouldn't have done it on purpose. But what is he supposed to do, let himself be beaten?" She was furious, not with her brother, but with Lord Balwich. It was at his command that Sam was being run out. He'd come back to the shack last night with several deep gashes on his sides and without saying anything he began to pack his stuff, what little he had. When she'd asked what happened he just shrugged.

"They jumped me. About six of them", his voice was heavy, both deep and plodding. "I tried to scare them off but they were relentless.They wouldn't stop. So I had to stop them".

He'd gone on to describe the fight. How he'd beaten them all unconscious. How difficult it had been to stop the instinct to finish them off for good. This was a trait he associated with his human side, the need to fight until the guy he was fighting was dead.

"I know that Lord Balwich told me to get rid of him. Out of respect for you I opted to let him leave instead of killing him". He puffed out his chest pridefully.

"Ha! We both know how that would have really gone!" He was on her in an instant. His hands clasped tightly around her throat.

"Listen, SIS! You push me to far. One of these days I am going to let you expire with my hands around your neck"! He hissed at her through his teeth. He also noted with some satisfaction that her eyes were becoming bloodshot, a sign that he was well on the way to killing her, should he decide to do it today. But before he could make that decision the front door exploded into the room. The massive hulking figure of Sam ducked and turned his way into the room.

"Finally I get to kill you!" He leaped at Sam his broad sword flying from its hilt to his hand with practiced ease. He had miscalculated. He'd forgotten how freaking long Sam's arm were. The Ape-man swung a hammer fist swiftly down onto the knights head. He suffered a cut to his left thigh for his effort but hardley noticed it at this point. With anger no doubt left over from his last encounter he stomped on the knights sword arm and felt the bone crush beneath the nearly flattened armor. The screams were nearly unbearable, and yet he drank them in like energy. He reached down and grabbed the knight by his head, lifting him completely from his feet.

"Sam, please don't!" She was pleading, he was indifferent. He slammed the knights head into the stone floor, crushing his skull. He turned, looked at her, and walked out amid her horrified screams. He had to leave now, for he knew they would be coming for him. They always did.

Subject: Re: The Perilous Journey of Simian Sam Tue Feb 22, 2011 11:01 am

((hmmmm.....popcorn anyone?))

Number of posts : 8 Registration date : 2011-02-22

Sam made his way quickly out to his mount. Her screaming would bring others, and quickly. With an ease and grace belied by his size he swung himself up onto his horse. He leaned forward, and instead of spurring the animal on with metal spiked heels he simply used his opposable toes and gently pinched its flanks.

“Let us go friend, the further we get away from here the better.” He’d begun to feel remorse for what he’d done. Not over the knights death itself, but over how it had affected her. All he’d wanted was to find a place where he could be accepted. With her he’d found that and more. But it had not been enough. He’d wanted to have a town to call home, friends, a normal life. And of all the things she could give him, she could give him those.

And so he knew he had to seek out Jared, the one who had done this to him. He had to find a way to convince, through reason or force, Jared to take it back. He’d been out collecting a few things last night when those boys attacked him. In the hours after the attack he replayed it over and over again in his mind. He’d had no other options, they were going to kill him. He’d gotten so close, just 12 hours until he was on the road with no concerns about what was behind him.

And now he was on the road, but each moment brought an entire villages ire closing in upon his heels. In the distance behind him he could hear the dogs braying, they were too close. The knight must have had someone in the area just in case. Someone who could mobilize the watch quickly. He would have to ditch his horse, his things, and take to the trees. It would help him outpace the dogs and would slow the soldiers’ foot pursuit. He rode on a bit longer, through the light underbrush, until it thickened. He stroked his horses neck and leaped off it into the tree tops where his strength and agility were on full display. Within moments he had disappeared into the canopy.

Number of posts : 8 Registration date : 2011-02-22

Sam had slipped clear of his pursuers. He knew they would keep to the trail, try to head him off if at all possible, but now he was in his element. His fears turned to elation as he leapt from tree to tree occasionally stopping long enought to climb to the top of a tall sturdy tree to try to catch some sign of the knights.

It was on one such trip that he found he was deeper into the woods than he had planned to go. He knew there were fair folk here, and they did not take kindly to outsiders, especially outsiders like him. He knew he had to drop down and move as quickly as possible to reach the edge of their territory. He dropped to the ground and began to run, using his arms and legs. He never looked more ape-like than when he was sprinting. He made it about 50 yards before the first bolt struck him solidly in side.

He skidded but kept his balance and continued to run. A second then third bolt drove in next to the first. He would not escape so easily it seemed. He jumped up into the nearest tree and continue toward the path. While the branches helped to sheild him from his attackers his progress was slowed and he still made a large target. His only hope may be to stop and wait for them to be drawn out. To try to engage them in close combat. He pulled himself up into the gnarliest tangle of branches he could find and waited.

He didn't have to wait long. In a matter of seconds a group of six Elves had pulled into the area around his tree. They were watching him trying to find angles to put more bolts through the trees and into his chest. With an explosion of motion Sam snatched one of the larger branches breaking it from the trunk and burst through the lattice work of branches infront of him.

Before they could react he had dropped into the middle of their circle. with his long powerful arms he swept his branch out as hard as he could knocking two of them from their feet and crushing a thirds leg, sending him sprawling screaming and clutching at his shattered thigh. Sam felt two very swift slashes open on his back. He spun and leapt toward the nearest elf grabbing him by his long silver hair and flinging him to the ground at his feet. He dropped onto the elf and gnashed his face crushing the delicate elfs cheek bones with his massive bite. Another sword strike, but this was a deep wound. One he felt significantly. he grabbed the mutilated bleeding elf at his feet by the head and used the elf as a club. He swung the fairling and heard it's neck cracking as he battered one of its kin with its other end.

He swung the now dead elf around his head in wide arching path to keep the others at bay. It was however a lost cause for the further he pushed them back the more arrows he took for his effort. After a brief but brutal fight darkness closed over him.

Number of posts : 8 Registration date : 2011-02-22

Sam awoke and as he attempted to sit up he pain shot through his back and racked his head. He stopped and waited for the pain to abide. After a few moments he was able to stand. His body was full of aches and pains but a quick inspection revealed scars where he had expected to find wounds. He'd been out for some time it appears.
Once he was sure he was not bleeding to death he took in his surroundings. He had been lying on a bed of thick leaves and branches at the foot of a tall thick willow tree. The branches of the tree billowed around and blocked out most of the sun but for a sliver of light here and there. His belongings were with him, his equipment had been searched but nothing was missing. Even his weapons were there.
"Hmm..." he scratched his head and wondered why he was not dead, and why they had allowed him to keep everything. He snatched up his pack and brushed the low hanging branches aside and headed out into the sun. It took a few moments for his eyes to adjust to the light and he came to understand his situation a little better. He was on a small island, the willow was the only tree on it, which sat in the middle of a smallish lake. "Smart little buggers". Sam could not swim. Like his ape half his bones were very dense and heavy and any attempt to leave the island would end with him sinking to the bottom of the lake and drowning. He circumvented the island eyeing the beaches across the water looking for some sign that someone was there watching him. He couldn’t see anyone, but then that didn’t mean much when it came to the fairfolk.
“Why? Why not just let me die. I’m no good to you here. You’re no good to me over there. I don’t understand”. Silence.
“Look just send me a boat and point me in the right direction and I’ll be on my way. Try to keep me here…and find out how that goes”. It sounded like a hallow threat but he had a plan.
“You cannot leave the island. We know this. What can you do to us”? A slight voice swam over the water from a direction which sam could not pinpoint.
“You don’t want to find out. Just send me over a boat and we can part ways”. Sam slid his pack off of his shoulder and dropped it to his feet. He slid his Morning Star out of his bedroll and swung it about lazily. It was a massive thing, larger than average, with a cannonball sized head with massive spikes protruding from it. Fat chain links held it fast to a pommel that was the size of a small staff.
“You going to throw that at a target you can’t see”?
“Nope, I’m going to use it to take a few massive chunks out of the trunk of this tree then”, he paused and lifted his warhammer which was also noticeably larger than normal, “I’ll use this to fell it. Perhaps it will be long enough to make me a bridge to traverse to the shore”. He was no dummy himself. He knew the tree wasn’t that long. He also knew that it was old, and that the fairfolk, unless they had a real reason to keep him would rather let him walk than lose that tree.
“A moment” came the reply. Sam noticed some movement on the shore and one of the fairfolk appeared out of a shimmy of light. A few moments later a small boat did the same. The Elf then flicked his wrist toward the island and the boat cut through the still water landing near Sam. He climbed in with his things and the boat made its way back across the water to land at the Elf’s feet.
“So”? Sam shrugged his questions at the elf as he unloaded himself from the almost too small vessel.
“We have much to discuss” the elf, golden skinned with long blonde hair brushed aside his robes and offered his hand to Sam.
“Like why you didn’t kill me”. Sam took his hand and despite it being about one third the size of his own he could feel power in it.
“Simple. You tried to flee rather than fight. You chose peace until, unfortunately my soldiers offered you no option but to fight. We have need of an emissary to the outlands. Someone who can help us negotiate territory and also help us expand our trade with the outlanders.” He placed his arm around Sam’s massive neck and led him up off the beach into the grass.
“Yeah, well good luck with that. The ‘outlanders’ as you call them like me less than you like them. I wouldn’t help your cause at all I fear”.
“There are ways my friend. Come, we have much to discuss”. With that he waived his hands the two shimmered momentarily before vanishing.

Number of posts : 8 Registration date : 2011-02-22

Sam was unaware of his being transported from the beach until the sand at his feet gave way to lush green grass and the semi-stale smell of the lake was replaced with the scents of ten different flowers on a mild breeze. He stopped short, not really being the biggest fan of magic and studied his new surroundings.
He was in a valley which was lush with trees and tall grasses. Foothills rose up on either side of the valley and the sun shone deep through the trees. All around them were more fairfolk. None of them pleased to have an outsider in their midst. Some of them deeply disturbed by it, others simply indifferent.
"You've been through my things, so I assume you know a little about me. I however don't even know your name". Sam looked to his escort his brow furrowed as his confusion continued to grow.
"I am Dah' Na' Acht. I am the elder of my village. Please understand the secrecy which is required for us to maintain our way of life and do not ask any further questions about our home. You may ask of me personally, whatever you wish" He reached and placed his hand upon Sam's shoulder and gently guided them further into the valley. He came to a stop in front of an unassuming hut and smiled up at Sam. "This is my home, and your home while you are with us. Please remove your boots and join me inside". He smiled and slid off his sandals as he stepped through the door.
Sam stood looking at the hut. He wasn't sure if it was even tall enough for him to stand in fully erect but a quick look over his shoulder and the sour faces looking back at him reminded him that this was probably the best place for him.
"Yeah, okay. Thanks". He slid off his boots and skeptically ducked and twisted his way through the door. Once inside however he found the place to be a wonder. He was a bit ambiguous about the obvious magical aspect to the dwelling but could not deny that the inside was much larger than the outside and he felt quite comfortable wandering the place while his new friend gathered a few items. "Very Nice".
"Oh thank you. We are not particularly ostentatious people and prefer to keep our possessions to ourselves. Please pick a seat and I will be with you in a moment." He continued to gather items from all about the home and finally made his way to the living area where he sat across a small table from Sam. He laid out a few things on the table took deep breath and began..."Each of these things will be critical to your success. This"...he picked up a simple grey stone, "is your key back to the valley. Once you have been sent to your destination you will be able to use this to move between the two places the way we came here from the beach. This item..." he lifted a blank parchment, "will call any whom we know to be friends should you find need for allies. Simply write 'help' on the parchment and it will come. Finally..." he took up a carving of a pair of boots which fit easily in his hand, "These will allow you to move silently whenever they are on your person. I do not believe you will have any need for the last two items, but I do not want to send you on unprepared".
Sam took each of the items in turn and listened intently while he investigated each. When the elf was done he smiled and looked into his eyes.
"First, I cannot wrap my tongue around your name so I hope it's okay if I call you Dan. Second, these are all great but it leaves me wondering to what end am I supposed to use them"?
"Dan is fine. As to your other concern, we have learned of a land that may be open to trading with us. We will not however do business with them directly, for reasons I am sure you understand. This is where you and these come in." He set the rest of the items on the table. it was an assortment of carvings, drawings, paintings and other bits of art. "These are samples I would like you to take on your first trip to offer to the nobility and any shop owners or others of importance in the their realm. We hope they will act as gestures of good faith that they will work with us through you. Also by having the items in place where many people can see them we hope it will create interest and demand".
"I hear what you are saying. But I think you do not understand the disdain I am greeted with in places like that. I do not think that I will be of any use to you as an emissary". He was surprised he had to make this point again.
"We chose you because we know from other sources that this realm is most tolerant of...unusual sorts of people. So, what do you say. Yay or nay"?
"Yeah, alright. I'll go". Sam shook his head and scooped the items from the table into his pack. He watched as Dan stood and came to him. Dan reached into Sam's pack and handed him the grey stone. He took the stone and felt Dan's hand fall onto his shoulder.
"Your journey begins now". He nodded his head and Sam was gone.
Before he knew what happened he found himself standing at the gates to a kingdom he'd never heard of. The gates were open and guards stood at attention along the pathway. When he approached two of them stepped onto the path.
"Declare your intentions".
"I am a trader. Or well, rather I work for a trader who would like to do business. Also I am very tired and would love good meal and a soft bed." Sam smiled, which was always awkward as his ape-like canines were over large and sometimes upsetting. He felt like he looked like one of those monkeys that you saw at festivals that did tricks for guys holding satchels in which stupid people deposited their hard earned coins.
"Very well". The guards stood aside and allowed him to pass.
"A good start".

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