The Great Library of Palanthas

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 80. 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 brief catalogue on the table in front of you.
You note the spine bears the word 'Tesnos' scribed in vibrant purple 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.

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