An Aesthetic shows you to a small reading room.

Stories of Ansalon from the view of Tesnos.

A little gully dwarf runs by and says 'Wordwrap is at 65. You change? Off 65 80.'
The gully continues 'Eyes hurt? Turn Color OFF!! (regular story dates)

Astinus says 'Enter the main library here to view only the author list.'
Astinus gently places a beautiful hard bound book on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Tesnos' scribed in burnt yellow ink.

Author:    Tesnos         
Date:      Tue Sep  1
17:04:10 2009
Subject     Remembering

The Kagonesti
ranger sits outside of a cave he calls home. He sits cross
legged
on what he would call a stoop. He looks down at the tattoos
that
trace his body. He can not help but remember the elf that
taught him what he
knows...

The young Kagonesti servant takes
a deep breath of the Qualinesti forest. It
is only a short time
that he is allowed away from his work so he makes the
best of it.
The indoors stifle so he comes to the forest. He begins
looking
for tracks to follow; a game he enjoys playing. Most
times this game leads
to nothing, but every once in a while it
leads to something interesting.

While looking on the ground the
young elf sees a faint trail that he has not
seen before. He
followed the faint boot prints deeper into the forest. He
has
become so enthralled with the tracks that he does not realize
that the
tracks have become more obvious; and by the time he
realizes what has
happened, he feels his body get ripped up from
the ground by his leg.

Without thinking, he pulls a small dagger
out of his boot. Something he had
found on an interesting day of
tracking. He quickly realized that the person
he has been
following realized it and set the snare. As he reaches to cut
the
rope the flat side of a sword raps him on the hand, causing him
to drop
his dagger.

He lets his body go limp and looks at the
figure that has emerged from the
forest. Another elf comes from
out of the bushes with his sword out. The
young Kagonesti
realizes that it is a Qualinesti elf and fears that he will
be
reprimanded by his master for straying so far out; if he lives
through
this encounter.

'I am surprised that you were able to
find my trail, but not that you fell
into the trap. Why were you
following me?'

The young elf mutters, 'I dunno. I...I...'

'So I
was followed by a child that was just out for fun, ' the older
elf
stated with a small amount of admiration. 'What is your
name?'

'Er, um, Tesnos, ' the young elf stammers.

'Where did
you learn to track?'

The Kagonesti shrugs and looks at the man
with confusion.

'So it just comes natural, huh? Well I think
that I could teach you to do
better, ' the ranger states, 'and
even to avoid traps.' 

With a flick of his wrist he cuts the
rope suspending the boy from the
ground, causing him to meet it
just as quickly as he left it. 'So what do
you say?'

'Okay. I
would like that, but I have to work most of the day.'

'We can
work that out.'

The Qualinesti elf picks the young elf off the
ground and grasps his
shoulder. 'Finally I have found someone
worthy of being my apprentice.' The
young elf looks around in
confusion at what had just happened, but knew it
was a good
thing.

Over the years the ranger taught the young Kagonesti
about being a ranger,
about the World Tree and about living in
the wilds of the world. The young
elf takes everything in and
excels at it. Eventually the ranger tattoos his
apprentice with
the symbol of his God, the Wise One, and tells him that he
is now
a ranger and to go off and practice what he has been taught
because
he has freed him from service at the house.


Author:    Tesnos         
Date:      Sat Sep
12 22:22:43 2009
Subject     Hunting

It has been many
hours since Shizuru and Tesnos entered the woods after
morning
call. Over this time, Tesnos has learned much about the
Wildrunners
and little, but some, about the woods. He is
fortunate to have apprenticed
under a master ranger. This
knowledge has made tracking a deer to this point
easy.

It is
getting close to midday and the two have not spoken a word for
half of
the time in the woods, keeping to a silent code. Finally,
they have come up
on their prey. Tesnos pulls an arrow from his
quiver and notches it. He
takes aim and pulls the string back,
but a tap on his shoulder causes him to
relax the tension on the
bow. He turns back to see Shizuru pointing at a
movement in the
woods just beyond the deer; and almost as a sign, the deer
starts
and runs off. The two look at each other and both understand
that
they have a new prey.

They begin to make their way around
to where they had seen the movement. The
tracks are not hard to
find and Tesnos almost immediately recognizes them.
They are
almost without a doubt left by goblins. While Tesnos has
had
run-ins with these creatures before, it had been protecting
his land and not
as a Wildrunner. He also cannot believe that
there would be more in this
area after the multiple raids by
Wildrunners and Windrunners alike; but the
evidence is right in
front of him.

Tesnos and Shizuru move quickly and silently
following the tracks and come
up on a group of six goblins
resting in a small clearing. Tesnos turns
around and sees Shizuru
pulling out her bow and takes the hint and begins to
move around
to the side of the group; he is the one to make the face to
face
contact. 'Most likely to test me as a new recruit, ' he
thinks to himself.

Tesnos moves into position, picking a good
ambush spot and cutting off the
creatures' escape, and pulls out
his tomahawk and hunting knife. He now
waits for the signal from
his Corporal. The signal comes in the form of a
silent and deadly
arrow striking the goblin furthest from Tesnos. He closes
the
fifteen foot gap between him and the closest goblin quickly, but
not as
fast as another of Shizuru's deadly arrows. Tesnos' prey
just gets to his
feet and the blade of the hunting knife slides
across his throat. His
closest companion recognizes the threat
and turns on Tesnos with an arcing
swing of his short sword.
Tesnos meets it with his tomahawk, hooking the
sword and pushing
it to the side. At the same time he steps to the side of
the
creature and buries his knife into its back; then finishing the
thing
off by bringing the tomahawk down on the back of its
head.

Hearing a noise next to him, Tesnos turns in time to see
another goblin take
an arrow in the back, just before it would
have plunged a jagged rusty sword
into him.

At the sight of his
comrades being slaughtered the final goblin turns and
runs into
the forest. Tesnos see this and gives chase; but it is not
more
than a few seconds when he gets into range and releases his
tomahawk. The
weapon flies end over end and sinks itself into the
creatures back between
the shoulder blades. Tesnos gets to the
creature and pulls the weapon from
the body. Then, as he wipes
the blood of the blades, he walks back towards
the clearing where
he finds Shizuru inspecting the field. As he arrives the
Corporal
looks up and nods with a shrug, as if to say, 'not bad'.

The two
then start off back towards the village to make the report of
the
patrol, and to find some more edible prey.


Author:    Tesnos         
Date:      Wed Sep
16 01:01:04 2009
Subject     Returning

Shizuru emerges
from the woods followed closely by Tesnos who is dragging
a dead
dear.

'You go and drop that off at the butcher in the village
and meet me at
Ahmaria's office when you are done.'

'Yes, ma'am,
' Tesnos replies, a faint smile on his face

Shizuru shoots him a
look of annoyance, but turns and bounds off to the
makeshift
office. Tesnos delivers the deer to the butcher, recieving
many
thanks for it.

Tesnos then makes his way to the makeshift
office of the Wing Commander. He
does not know her quite yet and
thus does not know what to take as jokes and
what as serious; but
he is confident that his actions in the field were
appropriate
and that he will not receive punishment for it.

He enters the
office and is immediately stifled by the closed in space. He
does
not know how someone could spend time in this place; but Ahmaria
seems
to do alright with it.

Ah, Tesnos, come in. Shizuru has
told me of the goblin patrol. I am glad to
hear you can handle
yourself in battle; but I do not have the time to speak
with you
about this now. That is why I would like for you to come
in
tomorrow after morning call to talk about this and some other
matters, '
then turning to Shizuru, 'Do you hear that? No running
off right after
morning call, I will want to talk with you as
well. Now, I will see you two
tomorrow, you are dismissed. Go
back to your training.'

Ahmaria sits down and opens some files
and begins marking on the papers as
the two walk out of the
office. Tesnos can not help but wonder, she said I
handled myself
well, but did I do something wrong? 

Author:    Tesnos
        
Date:      Thu Sep 17 00:15:53 2009
Subject    
Friendship

Tesnos patrols the out limits of the village.
With him is another recruit
by the name of Sil-Koth. The patrol
is not meant for keeping the village
safe, though it will, it is
for the recruits to get to know each other, and
Tesnos knows it.
This fact slightly annoys Tesnos as he has been enjoying
the
daily outings into the woods with Shizuru; At least I am outside
he
thinks, but his thoughts still drift off into the woods.

'You
have such a nice sword. Why is it that you carry an axe as well?
Why
not just the knife?'

The question pulls Tesnos from his
thinking and he turns to the elf with a
slightly confused look as
he tries to piece together what had been said to
him. Then with a
shrug he replies, 'Oh, I actually prefer the tomahawk and
knife
to the sword. I am not real skilled with the sword, but I can
get
by.'

'Huh. May I see it?'

'Uh, sure.'

Tesnos pulls the
sword from its sheath on his back and hands it to his
patrol
partner. The elf accepts it and makes a few swings and jabs with
it
before handing it back.

'It is a marvelous weapon. Why do you
keep it if you do not prefer it?'

'Thank you. And I keep it as a
reach and secondary weapon. It was also given
to me by the man
who trained me before he died.'

'Oh. Well you should not just
let a weapon as beautiful and meaningful sit
in its scabbard. How
about I teach you how to better wield it? I am pretty
good with a
sword if I do not say so myself.'

Tesnos stopped walking and
considered the offer. It would come in handy to
be just as good
with a reach and secondary weapon, and if there would be
anyone
who knows how to wield a sword it would be a warrior.

'Yeah,
sure, ' he responds with a shrug.

For the rest of the patrol the
two tell one another about their lives.
Tesnos tells about his
time as an apprentice to a master ranger and learns
about what
warriors grow up doing. 

Author:    Tesnos        

Date:      Wed Sep 23 22:24:31 2009
Subject     A
Cloaked Figure

The cloaked figure moves silently through
the forest. He moves towards
the fire which, in the dark of
night, sticks out. As he approaches he
notices the two people in
the camp; elves, with Wildrunner armor on. A grin
crosses his
cloaked face as his plan begins to form.

The figure darts nearer
the camp, moving up behind on of the elves, the
other sits across
the fire from him, leaning against a tree. The only sign
of the
dagger's flight was a quick flash as it caught the light of the
fire.
It embeds itself in the tree, along with a large chunk of
the elf's cloak;
pinning him to the tree.

As the dagger lands,
the figure moves quickly, putting his large, curved,
hunting
knife to the neck of the closer Wildrunner. The two warriors,
frozen
from shock, say nothing. So, it is the figure that speaks
first.

With a chuckle the cloaked figure says, 'You two are
easy targets.'

The man with the knife to his neck puts a look
of curiosity on his face and
looks to the hand holding the blade.
Recognizing the tattoos on the hand he
relaxes.

'You scared
the hell out of us.'

The pinned elf, now entirely confused,
looks a the spectacle as the attacker
lowers his blade and
emerges from behind the warrior. The third elf then
recognizes
the wild elf.

'Tesnos!' he exclaims with a sigh of relief,
'that was not funny.'

But as the initial shock wears off, he
joins in the laughter that the other
two have broken out
into.

'You know you owe me a new cloak.'

'Okay, okay, '
Tesnos laughs, 'I will get you a new cloak,
Desthmos.'

'What are you doing here? I thought you were of
duty?' asks Sil-Koth.

'I am, but I am hungry and can only
take so much of the mess, So I am out
hunting and what do I find?
Guards who are not guarding, ' Tesnos chuckles.

'Yeah, but
most of the things that we are guarding from are not as quiet
as
trained rangers,' Sil-Koth states with a hint of sarcasm,
'plus, we are
just stopping to eat ourselves.'

'Yeah? What
do you have?' Tesnos says peering into the pot on the
fire,
'Rations?! I tell you what. I am off to get some real
food, I will bring you
two some when I get it, ' the ranger
yells as he runs into the woods, once
again the cloaked
figure.

'That would certainly be nice, ' Sil-Koth states
says, more to Desthmas than
Tesnos.

'But announce yourself
next time!' Desthmas adds, yelling at the forest.

The cloaked
figure chuckles to himself as he scours the ground. Then,
finding
what he is looking for, a paw print, he starts of in its
direction. 

Author:    Tesnos         
Date:    
 Fri Sep 25 02:26:25 2009
Subject     Waking &
Unease

The ranger wakes from his sleep just before
sunrise, as the sky begins to
brighten. He has made his bed in a
tree not far from the village, sleeping
where the large trunk
splits and another limb joins creating a bowl. He has
also made a
few touches, weaving in a bed of stick with a slight wall
and
laying his bedroll on it. He has also fashioned a limb that
allows him to
have a sort of footlocker. To him, this is a better
living than sleeping in
a barracks; and he is glad that he is
allowed to stay out while off duty.

As he throws his boots,
armor and weapons on, he grabs a piece of dried
venison and chews
on it absently. He then drops a rope down and slides to
the
ground. He then hides the rope, making it look like a vine
crawling up
the tree.

As he starts off towards the village for
morning role call and chuckles to
himself, recalling the faces of
his friends when he ambushed them the night
before. Sil-Koth had
become like a brother to Tesnos, and, although he did
not know
Desthmos as well, he enjoyed the elf's seriousness.

As he gets
closer to the village and away from the woods he, again,
starts
to feel uneasy. Before the Wildrunners he did not have
rules to follow
except his own rules and the ones he adopted from
his master as a Ranger of
Zivilyn; but now he had the
rules of the Wildrunners. Thinking about these
rules brings a
thought to his head. He does not regret his decision to join,
as
he knows it will help him protect his people and his forest
more
efficiently. He just feels uneasy about having to be around
the cities and
large amounts of people. What will they say about
the happenings of the
night before?

Tesnos emerges from the
woods, hiding his unease; but it will be sometime
before the
unease completely lifts, if it does at all. 

Author:  
 Tesnos         
Date:      Sat Sep 26 00:58:10
2009
Subject     As the Dust Settles

Waiting outside of
Ahmaria's office for Hilcaia, Tesnos stands at
attention,
assuming it is the appropriate thing considering the reprimand
he
just received. His thoughts drift to what had happened in the
last twelve
hours.

He accepts his punishment as he understands
how his joke could have ended
badly, but the only reason he
regrets his actions is that he also go his two
friends in
trouble, and possibly a third, Shizuru, although he is
confident
that she will find her way out of trouble.

He is also
glad that the punishment is not so harsh. He does wish
the
restriction on his off duty hunting had not been put in place
and the
kitchen duty does not sound appealing. He would rather
tend the gryphon
stables. At least there he would be able to
remain somewhat outdoors and he
would be able to be around the
magical animals; which would probably be more
of a reward than a
punishment.

As he begins to relax from his stand at attention,
the door begins to open,
snapping him to attention as Hilcaia
exits the office. 

Author:    Tesnos        

Date:      Tue Oct 13 23:35:35 2009
Subject     Kitchen
Duty

Tesnos enters the makeshift mess hall through the
kitchen door. He
carries the deer he and Hilcaia had just felled.
It is time for the part of
his penance foe the trick he played on
a guard post, Kitchen Duty.

He has been dreading this part of
his punishment since he left Ahmaria's
office. He knows that the
staff, alert to the fact that this is a
punishment, will more
than likely take advantage of the situation, making
him do more
work than he should. This, on top of the fact that it is a
hot
enclosed space, opposite to his liking, is causing him a
slight amount of
stress.

'Where should I put this?' he asks the
officer nearest the door, indicating
the deer.

The woman just
points to an empty table across the kitchen, 'Skin and
gut
it.'

Tesnos rolls through the task quickly and silently, and
then goes back to
the officer.

'What is the next task,
ma'am?'

The woman looks up from the reports she had been
reading.

'I do not have the time to direct your every move as I
would normally; I
have a meeting to attend; but I will be putting
the head chef in charge and
you are to do as he says.'

'Yes,
ma'am, ' Tesnos states, all the while thinking that his
worst
nightmare is coming true. He turns to search out the chef,
but is startled
to see the man right in front of him, a wide grin
passing over the chef's
face.

'Come here, I will show you the
kitchen.'

After a short tour the man turns back to Tesnos, 'Now
that you know where
everything is, we, ' pointing to himself and
the rest of the staff, 'want
you to stay out of the way. You will
be doing the clean up.' The same grin
passes over his face, and a
few chuckles break out among the staff.

In no mood to deal with
the people, Tesnos takes it all stoically and
retreats to a stool
in the corner of the kitchen and waits for the meal to
be
over.

When the chef signals the ranger that it is time for him
to work, the dishes
had already been stacking up, and as he
approaches the chef, the man only
states, 'Your turn, ' and
produces another of his grins.

Tesnos follows the chef to the
wash station, which could be used by multiple
people, and begins
washing the dishes alone. As he works, the chef and staff
snicker
behind his back and talk about how it is nice to not have to
do
their duties. Growing sick of the staff and their annoying
chuckles and
comments, Tesnos decides to play on their beliefs
that his race is savage
and unpredictable. He turns around and
shoots the staff a look of rage. The
staffs, thinking they have
angered an unpredictable Wild Elf, quickly came
up and begin
washing as well. Tesnos turns back to his work with a smile
and
as calm as ever. 

Author:    Tesnos        

Date:      Sat Oct 17 00:01:26 2009
Subject    
Returning Home, Part 1

Tesnos walks confidently through
this portion of the forest near Solace.
This is where he lives,
but he has not been back in many months, do to
working as a
Wildrunner. A week off from his duties has allowed him to
make
the trip here to make sure all is well in his part of the
forest. The ranger
strolls through the forest; all the while he
sets his traps. When he arrives
at a large vallenwood he runs his
hand down the side, and then speaks a word
of opening and the
bark of the tree pivots open, revealing a living area.

Tesnos
steps into the humble living quarters. Inside a small bed sits
low to
the ground on the right. Two comfortable looking chairs
sit opposite the
door and a table with two seats is to the left.
In the exact middle sits a
fire pit. Between the chairs is a rope
ladder that leads to a door in the
ceiling. As Tesnos looks
around his home, a mat at the foot of the bed flips
up to reveal
a large hole as another exit from the tree. From this
portal
comes a black fox with a silver undercoat and a white
tipped to its tail,
emerges from the hole. A smile crosses the
ranger's face as a fox emerges.

'Hello, Aldin, my good
friend.'

The fox, showing how nimble it is, runs up Tesnos' leg
and into his arms.
The smile on the elf's face grows even
brighter.

'I have something for you.'

The fox's head pops up to
look at the ranger, then he jumps out of Tesnos'
arms, allowing
him to pull out a piece of dried venison. He promptly gives
it to
the fox; that lies down near the fire pit and begins chewing on
it.
Tesnos then begins to light a small fire to heat up the small
space. He
quickly gets it going, and cooks himself a meal. After
the meal, he lies
down on his bed to rest from the journey.

The
next morning, Tesnos awakes to noises outside his home; something
had
set off a trap and is stuck in it. Getting up, he glances at
the fox curled
up at the foot of the bed, 'I think we have out
breakfast, ' he says with a
smile; but as he emerges from the
door, it is not the sound of an animal
that he hears but the
hissing of words.

(to be continued) 

Author:   
Tesnos         
Date:      Sun Oct 18 10:00:23
2009
Subject     Returning Home, Part 2

Quickly moving
through the forest, the Kagonesti ranger follows the
sounds of
the hissing voices, and fears he knows what is up ahead. As
he
gets to a small clearing where the trap was set the night
before, a large
draconian had set it off and is now hanging by
his foot, his head about as
high as the elf stands from the
ground. Around him his comrades are trying
to find a way of
cutting him down. To Tesnos, the hanging one seems
different, and
continues to give the others orders. Then as he spins
around
helplessly he gets his answer.

Not daring to question his
good look at having caught the leader of the
patrol, a bozak, he
turns to his fox, 'Go make some noise, ' he whispers as
he points
to the other side of the clearing. As the ranger waits, he
pulls
out a small, impossibly sharp, dagger from his boot.

The
baaz draconians hear the noise that the fox is making and turn to
find
out what it is. The elf takes the opportunity to slip out
and move to the
bozak unnoticed, cutting his throat and then
jumping back behind a large
vallenwood. The only thing the
draconian does to protest is mak a grotesque
gurgling noise.

The
baaz hear the gurgling noise now and turn to their dangling
leader no
longer attempting to get out of the rope. One of the
baaz is able to get out
of the area, but two are not. One,
thinking as quickly as he can, grabs the
other and holds him as a
shield from the ensuing blast. The blast knocks
both these down
killing the living shield and stunning the other. The third
baaz
comes back into the clearing to find out who did this, to find
a
flicker of light pass by him and the wild elf wading in towards
him,
readying a tomahawk in one hand and holding a large hunting
knife in a
reverse grip in the other.

The elf, knowing the blast
was coming, emerges from behind the vallenwood
following the
explosion that was the dead bozak. He holds a large hunting
knife
in his off hand and his small dagger in the other. As he enters
the
clearing, he launches the small dagger at the stunned baaz.
The dagger,
unerringly, hits its target in the chest killing it;
as the ranger readies
his tomahawk in his other hand.

The final
baaz makes the first move swinging his sword in a high arc
towards
the waiting elf, only to find it hooked by the tomahawk
and pushed
harmlessly away, unlike the hunting knife which to the
monster's arm cutting
a deep gash. The baaz comes back slash, but
to the side that is also
parried. Then, finally the third, only
half parried, catches the elf's side.
The fight continues, the
two parrying an countering, then the baaz puts a
large grin on
his face; but unintentionally looks behind it.

The ranger,
seeing the look on the baaz's face turns in time to hook a
slash
from a kapak's short sword. The parry leads the tip of the
knife into the
baaz's wrist; causing his look of victory to
become one of pure horror, as
the burn of the poison crawls up
his arm. As the baaz goes into convulsions
the kapak pays no
attention as he puts the ranger on his heals. The
offensive is
short though, and a small black figure jumps from the
bushes
latching on to the kapak's arm. The ranger uses the
surprise to bring the
tomahawk down on the kapak's neck. He then
follows through with by stabbing
the hunting knife deep into its
chest. He then quickly removes the weapons
and he and the fox
jump back as the creature's turns into a pool of acid.

Then wild
elf retrieves his small dagger from the pile of dust and
replaces
it in his boot. Then, as the adrenaline runs out, he
feels the pain of his
side and looks at the gash. He lets out a
gasp of annoyance and returns to
his home to dress the wound.


Author:    Tesnos         
Date:      Thu Oct
22 23:31:45 2009
Subject     Returning Home, Part
3

'Why were they so far into my forest, Aldin?' The
ranger asks his friend,
though he knows an answer will not be
forthcoming; because no matter how
hard he would like to try, he
knows that the fox could not learn to speak.
Although, the animal
does recognizes its friend's anxiety. During the fight
with the
draconians a few days ago, Tesnos was injured and, though he
had
cleaned and dressed the wound, it was bad enough to keep him
in bed most of
the time. He only gets up to cook the game that
the black and silver fox
brings back for him.

The ranger gets up
from his bed now, with a slight groan of pain, and moves
to a
well stuffed chair near the fire pit in the middle of the tree
that is
his home. The question he posed his animal friend is
something that has been
bothering the wild elf since the
encounter. He has come to the conclusion
that it was either a
random patrol that came out to his part of the forest
on their
own will or got lost, for he could see no reason why
the
dragonarmies would be so deep into the woods.

Although his
thinking is sound, the ranger has not completely
convinced
himself of this point and would love to investigate it
further, but between
the injury and needing to leave in the next
day or two to get back to the
Wildrunners, he does not have the
time or energy to do so. So, taking a
scale that had stuck to his
tomahawk from the fight, he calls Aldin to him.
Leaning over the
chair, with the scale in his hand, he holds it out to the
fox to
smell. The fox immediately turns away as if in disgust,
causing
Tesnos to chuckle.

'I know it is bad, but I need you to
do me a favor. If more of these
creatures come here, you need to
find me and let me know.'

While not any smarter that the
smartest of foxes, Aldin has been trained to
do certain things,
by Tesnos, that other foxes might not do on their own.
One of
these is to catch game and bring it back, another is
reconnaissance.
Many times before, Aldin has brought Tesnos some
information that he needed;
though this is always in the form of
something physical as, again, the
animal can not talk.

The fox,
after smelling the scale for a few seconds, looks up to the
ranger,
and in its own way agrees to the task. Rarely would the
animal disagree with
the wild elf due to the fact that they have
a close relationship and Aldin
trusts in Tesnos as the ranger
trusts the fox.

The next day, although the wound has been
healing well, the pain is still
there; something that is be
expected when healed be nature and not be
spells. This fact does
not deter the ranger though, and he gets his things
together.
Strapping on his leather armor he looks down to the gash on
the
side and makes a mental note to repair the armor when he gets
back to the
village. He then finishes getting his weapons and the
rest of his gear and
heads out to the village, Aldin on his
heals, following him so that he knows
where Tesnos might be if he
has to bring him some evidence of draconians in
the forest.


Author:    Tesnos         
Date:      Tue Dec 
1 01:56:47 2009
Subject     The Courier, Part 1

The
white mare with black speckles flies down the small trail,
taking
turns without slowing. The rider on top of the horse
stands in the stirrups
and crouches over the mane of the
creature. The ranger never likes to push
the animal so hard, but
some messages are urgent. The wild elf puts his hand
on the
animals powerful neck and leans closer to its ear, I am sorry
friend,
but I need you to go a little faster, he says in
Kagonesti.

As if it understands its rider, the horse begins to
gallop faster. The
ranger smiles at the intelligence of the
animal. It did not take long for
him to train it to respond to
other commands other than spurring it.

As he rides, Tesnos wears
the cowl of his cloak low to block the wind from
stinging his
eyes and luring his vision. He wears only what he needs
to
survive in the wilds and to protect himself. He carries his
tomahawk and
hunting knife in the sash at his waist and his
magical dagger in his boot,
not bringing his curved elven
longsword or his elven bow.

These forest trails are no stranger
to the wild elf, as he grew up in and
outside of Qualinost; but
lately, with the rise of the Dragonarmies, it
seems as though no
place is safe. A few riders have mentioned bandits in the
woods
near Qualinost and there is a possibility they have become bold
enough
to attack a Wildrunner courier, so the ranger is on his
guard.

As the courier rides down the trail, he looks for a
threat in every
direction. As he looks about, the attack comes
from the front in the form of
a spear planted in the left fork in
the trail with a masked man holding it
up. The rider sees what is
happening, and follows it anyway, taking the bait
and going to
the right.

Another bandit emerges on horse back through the
trees as the elven rider
passes by. The wild elf makes space
between the two as the bandit kicks his
horse into a gallop.
Ahead of the wild elf, another rider emerges down the
path,
blocking the way. The Wildrunner smiles and turns his mare down
a
small, almost hidden path to his right. As he finishes the
turn, he stands
up on his saddle and balances there, waiting.

He
sees his opportunity a moment later, a low hanging branch. He
jumps up
into the tree, remaining hidden as the first rider
passes him. As the second
rider passes by the wild elf, he drops
onto the horse, behind the rider. He
pulls his hunting knife from
the sash holding it and buries it deep in the
bandits side; and
pushes him off the horse. He turns in time to see a third
rider
coming around the turn. He, with reluctance, kicks the flanks of
his
new mount, riding towards the first rider. The lead bandit
draws his
longsword as he realizes the ranger is behind him and
slows his mount to
engage him. 

Author:    Tesnos     
   
Date:      Thu Dec  3 01:45:50 2009
Subject     The
courier, Part 2

The wild elf approaches the bandit
slowly. After sheathing his hunting
knife he crouches on top of
the saddle and jumps after the bandit before he
can look back
again. He crashes into the rider, sending both of them to
the
ground in a small clearing of trees. After a short struggle,
the wild elf
manages to pull his tomahawk out and smash the flat
side against the bandits
temple; knocking him out.

The third
bandit rides in with a swing of his longsword, too high.
The
ranger rises from his stand from his crouched position as the
third bandit
dismounts and is reinforced by four other bandits
coming out of the tree
line into the small clearing.

Dreadlocks
with beads and feathers in them fall from the hood as
the
Wildrunner pushes it off his head. Is this all of you? A band
of seven? the
wild elf says with a mocking tone.

Five armed
SWORDSmen and two bowmen in the woods versus a savage elf,
I
think our odds are much better, the shorter of the group
states, with the
voice of a leader.

The wild elf smiles, I do
hope that your bowmen can shoot better than your
men chase.

You
laugh in the face of death, I do admire that, but my bowmen could
hit
you before you even knew there was danger, the leader says
with confidence.
He raises his hand, commanding his hidden bowmen
to ready.

Now wait a second. Let me see these legendary bowmen,
the wild elf throws
his hunting knife into the ground, a foot
away from him, let their first
shot be right here. Let me see
their skill. If they are good, I will go with
you quietly,
imagine what you could get for a Wildrunner hostage

The leader
seems to think on it a moment. Fine, the leader states,
pointing
to the knife.

An arrow flies out of the trees to the
wild elfs right, and lands beside the
knife, no more than half an
inch away. The ranger looks down at the arrow
and smiles, A
fabulous shot. My name is Tesnos, a Ranger of Zivilyn, and
a
soldier of the Wildrunners. I have come here to deliver a
message; and that
message is: Lay down your weapons and you can
walk out of here alive. You
will be a prisoner of the
Wildrunners, but you will be alive. If you take
make any
aggressive move here, you will be killed.

The leader laughs at
this, You think that you could take us all?

Maybe, Tesnos states
flatly, but while he wears a smile, YOU certainly do
not frighten
me.

The short man does not seem to appreciate the comment and
charges out
towards Tesnos. In an instant an arrow sinks deep
into the mans chest. He
looks at it in disbelief as darkness
takes him.

Tesnos puts on a face of disappointment, then shrugs
it away, Oh, he
chuckles, I am not the only Wildrunner in this
forest, he states to the rest
of the bandits.

The remaining
bandits immediately toss down their weapons, as a Qualinesti
elf
comes out of the tree line with a bow in hand. Tesnos looks at
her and
frowns, I could have taken him, and possibly
alive.

Yeah, but that was much more fun, Shizuru states
blithely.

The two elves proceed to tie the bandits hands, two to
a rope. Tesnos
vanishes into the trees momentarily and emerges
with his mare and Shizurus
mount. They tie their prisoners to the
saddles of their horses and begin
their trip to the Wildrunner
base in Qualinost. 

Author:    Tesnos        

Date:      Wed Dec 16 00:35:10 2009
Subject     The
Obvious Information

The wild elf paces the hallways of
the Wildrunner base, waiting to hear
what comes of the
interrogation. The group of bandits he and Shizuru had
captured
are being held and questioned about whom they are and why they
were
in the Qualinesti forest.

The Kagonesti, normally
uncomfortable with being inside, is even more so
with the
possibility of the weight of these brigands' answers. He
already
knows what the answers will be, or something close to it.
He has heard of
the war that had been fought by the Dragonarmies
against the Knights of
Solamnia; any troops or the bandits that
follow the Dragonarmies definitely
see the elves as a weaker
opponent and might venture off into the forest to
raid the
surrounding area. This idea makes him think that their could
be
more bandits out in the forest and he would rather be ranging,
trying to
find them, than waiting to hear from his superiors that
it is exactly what
he thinks.

Several minutes later the
information officer immerges from the
interrogation room and
begins to head towards the unit commander's office.

Well?
the ranger asks as the officer passes by him, What did they
say? Are
their more?

You will know the information when the
commander briefs the unit, the
information officer says
gruffly.

The officer disappears into the commander's office, and
forces the wild elf
to wait longer. Deciding that he will know
the information no sooner than
any of the others, he makes his
way to the briefing room to wait for the
commander's appearance.
Soon the room begins to fill with other ranger
scouts and other
fighters, coming to be briefed on the situation.

Among them he
recognizes many from the village that he was working at
before
coming back to Qualinost for the first time in half a
century. The city had
changes quite a bit to him, but the forest
had not changed since he was the
servant boy of one of the
houses. Much like then, he tries to spend as much
of his time as
he can in the surrounding forest, volunteering for ranging
and
other missions; which lead him to these bandits that he and
Shizuru
brought in. 

Author:    Tesnos        

Date:      Thu Dec 17 01:30:36 2009
Subject     The
Obvious Report & The Surprising Mission

Soon after the
briefing room is filled, the commander enters through
another
door and stands at the front of the room.

Alright everyone,
this is the situation, the commander says loudly,
attempting to
grab the group's attention, it appears that the group
of
bandits that we have captured is in fact, a group of
mercenaries that were
working for the Dragonarmies in their war
against Solamnia. It would appear
that they have broken ranks and
have come here, to what they thought was,
easy pickings. We have
clearly shown them that this is not the case.

They have also
said that they were not the only ones to do this. There are
a
number of other groups of bandits in the forest, and I would
assume that
these groups are the ones harassing our people. So,
we will be sending out
scout groups to comb the forests and flush
out what bandits are there, if
they have remained after the
capture of this group.

You will be sent out to capture what you
can alive. You are not to engage
unless you are sure you can
handle it, if not then you must send for backup
and wait till
they arrive. Either way you must send a runner as soon as
you
engage a group. You will get your group assignments as you
exit the briefing
room. Good luck and clear 'em out of our
forest.

Yes, sir, the crowd responds as they rise from
their seats and make their
way to the door.

The wild elf waits
till the room is nearly cleared and then begins to walk
out; but
is stopped by the commander.

Tesnos, I need you to stay
behind.

Tesnos stops and turns to face the commander, looking
slightly puzzled.

I have a different mission for you, he
states as he takes a step down from
the podium towards the wild
elf.

Something more important than protecting our
people?

This will be protecting our people, from possible
future harm, he states
with a deep sigh, these bandits are
only the symptom, the Dragonarmies are
the problem, they do not
seem to care if their men slip into these areas and
I am not sure
that they accidentally do this. There are reports coming in
that
Palanthas has fallen to them and I fear they may soon turn their
eyes
south. I need you to go to Palanthas and check if the
reports are true. You
will go alone. A gryphon will take you to
the other side of the New Sea.
From there you will be on foot.
Stick to the woods when you can and do not
use any
roads.

That will not be a problem, I have traveled that area
many times.

And that is why I have chosen you. Now you must
get your things together,
the gryphon flies tonight.

Yes,
sir, Tesnos says with a salute, before wheeling around and
dashing to
get his gear, taking only weapons and what he needs
for survival. 

Author:    Tesnos         
Date: 
    Tue Dec 22 00:39:18 2009
Subject     The
Decision

Now, I know you have told been debriefed by
the information officer, but
I want to hear what you have seen
and heard from your scouting mission, the
elf behind the desk
asks the ranger standing in front of it.

The rumors we have
hear are true, Palnthas has fallen to the Dragonarmies,
the
wild elf states, but it would appear that the Knights of
Solamnia have
not given up on their city and are regrouping on an
island north of the
city.

I understand this information came
from some knights making their way their?
I also understand that
you came upon another group and offered them passage
to our woods
and to help them get passage to the island?

Yes, sir, the
ranger says, afraid that he will be punished for
his
decision.

It is a shame that they did not accept the
offer, I hope they make it. Now
as to whether or not we send
help. What would you do?

Sir? the standing elf states with
confusion, It is not my place to make
decisions such as
those.

Unless they are asked of you as an order, the older
elf states with a tone
of authority.

Sir, I would give some
form of help to the knights; either militarly or
otherwise.
Palanthas is a great city and I do not think it should be in
the
hands of Takhisis and her minions.

The elf sitting at the
desk nods, thinking, I have come upon the same
decision as you
have.

Sir, would you allow me go to the island with what
ever form of help you
choose.

I thought you may want to
go, the leader states with a small, knowing,
smile, That, and
the fact you have made contact with the knights, is why I
have
picked you as one of the leaders to go over there. You will
lead
twenty-five of our elves to this island of theirs and help
them any way you
can. You will also be promoted to
Corporal.

But sir, I was under the impression I could not
lead men into battle, even
if I am promoted.

Ah, and you
will not. You may lead a skirmish here or there, but if it
comes
to battle you are not to fight, only give council. These
elves we will be
sending are rangers to aid the knights with what
they need to survive and as
scouts to make sure they know of what
is happening around them, they will
not be there to bolster the
strength of the knights; and you are to stay in
contact with us
at all times. Is that understood, Corporal?

Yes, sir, it
is, the wild elf states, trying to hide his excitement.

Than
go, and Tesnos, the leader says a little softer, you will
be
representing us there, no sneak attacking our own
encampments, the older elf
states with a smile.

Tesnos smiles
and wonders how long the trick he played on his friends when
he
had first joined would be remembered by his leaders; but that
does not
matter now, he will be leading men to the knight's
island. 

Author:    Tesnos         
Date:     
Tue Feb 16 03:42:14 2010
Subject     Getting Ready to
Sail

Tesnos stands in front of his men that he has formed
up in a clearing
away from the main camp.

"Alright, everyone.
Soon we will depart back for the main continent. We will
be the
first group over there and it will be our duty to scout the area.
I
will be dividing you up into groups on the way over and each
group will
scout out a specific area. Is that understood?'

"Yes,
sir," the group responded.

This group of Wildrunners has been on
the island with him since they sailed
from Qualinost and he has
served in a scouting group with all of them
atleast once and has
learned each one's strengths and weaknesses and helped
them to
improve.

"Also, I will be picking another small group that will
have a special
mission once the rest of the group lands. This
group I will pick after the
area has been scouted out. We will
not be running into simple groups of
goblins when we land. There
is a possibility of running into draconian or
human patrols as
well. So keep a sharp eye out, and if the group seems
too
powerful do not attack and just mark there location. Is that
all
understood?"

"Yes, sir."

"Then you may all go to get your
things together."

As the group disperses, Tesnos sits on a
fallen tree to think of who he will
put in each group and
especially who he will put in the special group for
after the
knights land. 

Author:    Tesnos         
Date: 
    Fri Jan 21 07:52:28 2011
Subject     Following
Defeat

The deer lifts his head, looking straight at a
spot in the woods, seeming
to look through the thick brush. It
seems to have found nothing and lowers
its head, continuing to
graze. Like a bolt of lightning, and arrow flies
from the brush
on the other side of the clearing. The arrow lands true on
the
deer's side, sliding in up to the grey fletching. The deer does
not take
a step to run off, nor take another breath; it drops to
the ground without a
twitch.

A wild elf, covered in tattoos,
steps out into the clearing with an ornate
bow in his hand. The
bone beads in his dreadlocks click quietly as he walks
towards
his kill; as he does, several more elves step out into the
clearing,
Silvanesti, Qualinesti and Kagonesti alike. The wild
elf with the bow steps
up to the deer, and kneeling next to it,
whispers something to himself.

"Should be bring this back to the
others?" A tall, elegant Silvanesti elf
asks.

"Yes, but I want
you to pick two others to go with you and scout out to the
creek,
make sure there aren't any Dragonarmy minions about."

"Yes,
sir," the Silvanesti states, and after picking two men, he makes
his
way into the forest on the opposite side as the way they
entered.

"Private, come over here and lash its feet together and
find a pole to lift
it with. You help him," he says to one of the
other elves.

They both jump to, and in no time, the whole party
is trekking through the
woods. There is no trail, but the elves
have no problem finding their way
back to camp; and after several
hours of hiking, the group walks into the
camp. Atleast twenty
elves are in the camp, many are lying on cots or
bedrolls with
brutal wounds; others tend the wounded and the camp.

The two
carrying the deer walk over to a secluded area of the camp and
begin
to clean and dress it. The others disperse into the camp,
helping where they
can. The wild elf walks up to a Qualinesti elf
and stands over him as he
tends an elf with a large gash in his
side from a battleaxe.

The Qualinesti turns around after
finishing up his work, "Ah, Tesnos, good
to see your back."

"How
are the wounded?"

"Everyone still alive will make it. Mishakal
is smiling on us right now."

"If only the Gods had been smiling
on us before; anyways, it is good to hear
they will make
it."

The cleric looks at Tesnos with pity, "Let me take a
look."

Tesnos scowls, then unbuckles his well used and well
patched leather
breastplate to reveal a bloody bandage on his
left shoulder. The cleric
undresses the wound to show a wound
from an arrow, clearly self stitched and
well cared, but some of
the stitches have ripped and a small line of blood
was running
down the wild elf's chest.

"Why don't you let me heal this? You
would not have to worry about reopening
this."

"Save for prayers
for those that really need them. I will be fine."

"Well at the
very least let me re-stitch it," the cleric says
motioning
towards a chair.

The wild elf reluctantly sits still
in the chair as the cleric removes the
stitches, cleans the wound
and re-stitches the wound.

"So, Any further plans?"

"Only to
find the rest of the Wildrunners."


OOC: Quite belated, but
there it is. 

Author:    Tesnos         
Date:
     Sat Sep 12 10:16:22 2015
Subject     Deja
Vu

The wild elf crouches in a tree at the edge of
the forest, looking down
on the Dragonarmy encampment. His men,
most he could not pick out in the
forest, were doing the same. As
he studies the army and continues to count
troops his eyes catch
something familiar. He keeps his eyes on the masked
man, as he
reaches back to grasp his elegantly carved bow. It had been
a
couple years, by he remembered looking down into a camp much
like this one,
controlled by the same mysterious Highlord. He
unslings the bow, last time
the elves out numbered the Dragonarmy
soldiers, last time he was sure he
killed the
man.

****************************************************************************{-


Tesnos
crouches in a tree at the edge of the forest, looking down on
the
Dragonarmy encampment.The squad he had recently joined, most
he could not
pick out in the forest, were doing the same. The
wild elf spots a group of
what look like officers approaching,
and nocks an arrow to his bow. He
slowly draws back the string
and takes aim, waiting for the signal. That
signal comes as the
Windrunner wing descends on the camp. Tesnos lets his
arrow fly,
and watches as it soars through the air One of the griffon
riders
shoots at the Highlord as well, hitting him just before
the wild elfs
arrow.

Having seen the arrow hit its mark, Tesnos
slings his bow and drops to the
ground gracefully. He pulls the
tomahawk and hunting knife from his belt and
begins charging
towards the camp, bone beads in his dreadlocks clicking.
He
watches as another volley of arrows strikes into the camp as
he reaches the
first tent. Then he begins moving through the camp
methodically, using both
tomahawk and hunting knife in tandem. He
cuts down goblin after goblin,
making it look like a dance. He
notices a draconian land a hit on a nearby
griffon, carrying the
same elf that had hit the Highlord as well, but the
creature
receives an arrow through the eye in turn. As it falls to
the
ground, it takes the visage of the griffon rider.

The wild
elf looks around as elves continue to slaughter the goblinoids.
A
snarling hobgoblin charges him, leading with a spear. The
ranger deflects it
with his tomahawk, hooking it to bring the
monster close and bury the
hunting knife in its chest. He looks
behind the massive thing as it falls,
and sees another group of
goblins regrouping near the edge of the cliff.
Tesnos unslings
his bow, and nocks an arrow in a heartbeat. He levels the
weapon
at the one wearing an officers uniform and release the
projectile.
The creature gets lucky as one of its subordinates
steps in front of him and
takes, not only the young Wildrunners
arrow, but a number of his comrades
who had the same idea.

The
force from the arrows caused a fount of blood and through the two
off
the cliff. The rest of the group turns and runs the same way.
The ranger
charges towards the edge and finds a small trail that
leads down to the
river. He pulls up his bow and begins releasing
shaft after shaft, burying
each arrow in another of the goblins.
Three make it into the swift river,
including the officer. Tesnos
nocks his last arrow and draws the string
back, and takes a deep
breathe, aiming for the quickly escaping officer. He
releases one
the final missile, but it falls short by only a few meters.
One
officer would have to do for the
day.

****************************************************************************{-


The
Captain reslings his bow, as he continues to watch the masked
mage. He
had assumed they had simply removed his body from the
battlefield. Two
arrows hit him, and Tesnos had used a poison on
that one. How did he survive
it? This time, the Dragonarmy
soldiers outman him and his men. This time,
there will be no
killing...yet. 



(This is to tie in with Lahrag and
Teague's stories. A flashback to bring
old characters to current
events.) 

Author:    Tesnos         
Date:
     Thu May 10 15:59:36 2018
Subject     A New
Plan

Tesnos stalks out of the the Field Marshal's
office in the Qualinost
Wildrunner barracks, fury poorly hidden
on his face. Soldiers salute him as
he passes, and he quickly
returns the salutes as he moves through the halls
of the
barracks. As he exits the building he takes a deep breath,
relieved
to be outside once more. Finding that the fresh air is
clearing his mind, he
makes his way towards the stables. As the
stables come into sight, he
notices a stable boy recognize him
and duck into the stables to ready his
horse. The wild elf takes
a mental note of the kagonesti boy's actions.

"Sir,"  one of
Tesnos' sergeants calls out, as she hustles over to the
Colonel.
With a brief salute, that Tesnos returns, the woman continues,
"Did
you get good news from the Field
Marshal."

"Unfortunately not,"  the wild elf states with a
frown, "They are content to
rest on their laurels and hope the
war does not enter elven lands."

The sergeant nods as if it
were the response she was expecting, "I suppose
we will have to
wait until the Dragonarmies are at our doorstep to
do
anything." Concern crosses the female Qualinesti's face as
she speaks.

Tesnos looks around the courtyard briefly, then,
confident there are no ears
listening, he turns back to the
sergeant, "I intend to do no such thing."
The wild elf
suddenly seems to have wheels turning in his head as
he
continues, "I need you to gather a group together
discreetly. Those that
would stand against the Dragonarmies
outnumbered and against orders."

A small smile grows on the
sergeant's face as she realizes what the wild elf
is considering,
"Any recommendations?"

Just as the wild elf is about to
respond, the groom returns with his horse
in tow. Tesnos checks
the saddle before swinging up into it. The horse
recognizes its
rider's agitation and begins stamping at the ground and
turning
in circles. Tesnos reaches down with a hand and places it on
the
animal's neck. With a word, the creature stops its fidgeting.
"Lad, what is
your name?" he asks of the groom.

"Wyrlas,
sir,"  the groom replies meekly.

"Have you been studying
combat along with your stable duties?" the wild elf
asks of the
boy, but when he gets a coy look from the boy he continues,
"I
have no want to punish you." After the reassurance, the
boy nods his head.
Tesnos turns to his sergeant, "Start with
him, and get him a uniform and a
weapon. He undoubtedly has
overheard plenty to help your search."

"And where are you
going while I try to put together this squad? It would
help to
have you here."

"If this is going to work, we will need the
best elven scouts in Ansalon. I
am sure you can handle this," 
Tesnos states with confidence, "I will return
as quick as I
can. Good luck. I have to go find a Shadow." With that the
wild
elf urges his mount out of the gates with a cloud of dust
following. He
leans low over the horse's neck as the animal
begins to move faster than
would be expected under the request of
its rider. 

The Storytellers of Ansalon, The DragonLance MUD

Astinus points to the massive wall of books behind him and bids you to make a selection.

Authors: All|A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M|N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z
Astinus sighs as he recants 'We saved 868 books from Ansalon from before the great Cataclysm through today.'