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No leaf clover! (somewhere in the badlands between Jowston city-state and the Toren Republic) Zed leaned back in his rocking chair. This was the best way to relax around here. To take a nap on his front porch in the after noon after a long day of working in his decent sized farm out here in the Bad Lands. The heat does become intolerable at this time of day. But were the sun was in the sky and how he built his house, the shade from his covered porch made it relatively comfortable. Life is tough in this harsh land, so simple relaxing is the only thing the people do when they are not trying to eek out a living. The real isolation of his small town out here only made life a bit tougher for the residents. Especially that everyone there has to live without many luxuries such as regular access to the major trade route to get goods and services. In any case, Zed was shocked completely awake from his drowsy state when he looked to the south over the hill line that over looks the wastelands in that direction. The sight of a bedraggled man carrying a duffel bag and a pair of saddlebags over each of his shoulder was something that just doesn’t happen around here. Especially if he was walking out of the bad lands alone. He scrambled out of his rocking chair and ran to the front door. "Margaret! Come out here right now!" he shouted into the house. "What? Hold on Zed, let me finish cleaning these dishes…" A woman said from inside the house. "Forget those damn dishes! There is someone walking to town out from the south!" He yelled back. "WHAT!" Margaret said with a mix of surprise and confusion. The middle-aged housewife stepped out of the door and looked in the direction of where Zed was talking about. The man had stopped at the top of the hill to catch his breath or of some other nature. Neither she nor Zed could tell what he was doing, if he was doing anything at all. "I’ll go and rustle up the neighbors, you go fetch some water Margaret! He’s probability going to need some." Zed ran next door and pounded on the door. He slowly got the village up and moving. However, that traveler did not really care of what was going on bellow him. Killey stopped to wipe the sweat from his eyes. "I have to get some water and soon." He said. The toll of walking across the desert was showing on him. He’s rather strong and can put up with a long hike, but this was too much. He was wiped out to the point that he had to pull out his old sword from his duffel bag and use it as a walking stick (thankfully he had a stealth on it too) Killey looked over the town, and was surprised to see such a large town. The is a river of clean water running down (to the east) the low valley the town is in. The majority of the houses are on the south side of the river while there are long strip of flood plain on the north side that was converted into farming fields. There were no exceptionally large or outstanding builds in this small farming town. "I can’t believe that this is the place." Killey looked over and beyond the town to see if there is any geographical evidence that would point out to where he needs to go. All he could see is a huge cloud enshrouded mountain range to the west. "I guess the this river comes down from those mountain. Maybe the site is up there." He said as he started walking again, however his legs had other plans. With the first step his knees gave out and he tumbled down the slope. The only thing that Killey remember is the spinning view on the world, the scrapes and bruising impacts, and the occasional rocks sticking out the ground just in the right place so that he could bounce off it. Needless to say, it was a painful stumble down the hill. Killey landed in a heap at the base of the hill near the edge of the town. Summing his situation, he said. "Ouch……." Before he passed out. It was very comfortable and warm where he was at. Just like his old bed back in Faleena. Killey opened his eyes and looked around. His jaw dropped when he realized he WAS back in his old bed in Faleena. His old room in his mistress palace. "This can’t be! This, this was over 15 years ago!?!?" A shadow loomed over him. He turned to look what was casting it and could only see the form of his mistress that he served so long ago. "Please don’t go mistress! Let me fallow you!" Killey said as he reached out to her. "Forget it Killey, you are not able to go where I have to go." Said the woman in the shadows that Killey knew all to well. "Stay here and forget about me. After all, you are just a man, you’ll live though it." With that, the woman turned around, her blue cape fluttering into view and started walking away. "no, No, NO, NOOO!" Killey yelled as he jumped out of his bed and started to run after the woman. After a few steps, he hit something much like a plane of glass and broke though it and started falling. And falling, and falling, and falling… "DAUGH!!!!" Killey bolted upright in the bed he was in. He was breathing hard and looked around him. He didn’t recognize the room he was in. It was a simple wood plank room with bed he was in on one side of the room, a nightstand next to him, a chest of draws across from him, and his bags leaning up against the wall. The door on the other side of that opened suddenly and a middle aged looking woman dashed in. She looked at in surprise, then gave out a sigh of relief. "Oh good, you’re awake. We thought you where in a coma." "Where am I? Who are you?" She reached back out of the room brought in a pitcher of water and a mug. "I’m Margaret, my husband was the first one who saw you walking out of the badlands. (She poured some water into the mug and held it out to Killey) This town is called Paradise by the way. (He took the mug and drained it in three gulps) You took a nasty stumble down the hill. I was afraid you might have broken something." Killey shifted a bit in his bed and some pain sparked out from his ribs and his right leg. "Nothing is broken, but I’ll have some huge bruises from it. My name is Killey." "So where did you come from? How did you survive the badlands on foot?" "My horse died on me some 50 miles back to the south." Killey said and held the mug out again for a refill. "WHOW! You walked all that way though the badlands ALONE! You must be tougher than you look." Margaret said with much surprise and she refilled the mug. "But you still didn’t say where you are from." Killey paused for a second in draining his mug. He couldn’t bring himself to tell anyone that he’s from the Faleena Queendom. The legendary ‘civilized’ amazon nation. Civilized or not, woman ruthlessly control every factor of government and society and the men are nothing more than slaves to the women. It is embarrassing to admit that you were once property. "South of Toren." He didn’t want to lie to his caring host, so he decided to just to be vague instead. She just about dropped her jaw. "Amazing! The only visitors we get here at best is a few trade caravans from as far south as Kirov and as far north as South window." She smiled. He moved the sheet off of him and set his feet on the floor. "How long have I been out?" "Just a day." She said. Normally he would thank her and keep on moving, but… "Could you point me to the nearest tavern? I’m quite hungry." She shook her head. "We don’t have one here. But please stay, I’ll cook breakfast for you." There was a baby’s crying from the other room. "Hold on a sec, Little Shawn is calling me." With that she walked out. Killey got up and walked over to close the door. The he walked over to his bags and opened them up. He checked them and nothing was missing, so he changed his cloths and put on his favorite red Robin Hood like hat. "I guess I can wait to eat." He laid back down on the bed and slipped back to sleep. "Um, Mr. Killey. Please wake up. I have your food ready." Killey woke to see Margaret standing next to the bed. "Thank you." Killey got up and followed her into the other room. It was a rather large kitchen, dinning room, and living room combo. He walked over to the dinner table and sat down at one end where Margaret has set out a nice looking ham and eggs breakfast. There was another man at the table. "Hello Killey, I’m Zed, she’s my wife (nods to Margaret). I was the one who first spotted you. How are you feeling?" Zed said. "Starving." With that, he sat down and started to wolf down his breakfast. "So what brings you this little town?" "I came here to explore Mt. Erathia. I heard there could be a sindar ruins up there." Zed and Margaret froze in mid action and gave each other a concerned looked. "Killey, are you sure you want to go there? Just about everyone who goes up there don’t come back down." "I’m going, I have too." Killey said between mouthful of food. "I have I feeling that from the rumors that I heard about it that there is a sindar ruins up there. I have to check it out to make sure." Zed and Margaret gave each other a concerned look. "You sound like no matter what we say or do, you are going up there." Zed stated. "You got that right." Killey said as he finished off his breakfast. "Mt. Erathia is that big one to the west, right?" "Yes." Zed answered "I believe that the river that lets us live here in the land comes down from that mountain." "Well, that just helps me a whole lot then" Killey said with a smile, "I’ll just fallow the river up there mountain and I’ll just look over the place from there." He got up and wiped his mouth off with a napkin. "Thank you so much for you helping me out and feeding me." He took out his wallet and handed Zed 5000 Potch. "That I think is reasonable payment for my room and board." Zed and Margaret would have turned down money for any kindness given to survivors of the deadly Badlands around them, but this much money is more cash than the both of them would see in ten years. Killey noticed their hesitance in taking the money. Killey finally sized them up. These people were very poor and this child maybe too much for them to handle with what little money they had. "Please take it. For your child’s sake at least." He left the money on the table and turned to walk out. "Thank you so much Killey. We will never forget this!" Killer heard Margaret say to him in a voice that was holding back tears of joy. Killey walked out of their house with his bags without ever turning back. But he did have a smile on his face. It was several hours sense he left the village and the river does indeed have its origins on Mt. Erathia. But the environment on up the mountain is thankfully more tolerable than the Bad Lands he was traveling for the last few days. It slowly changes from a dry hot desert to a more welcome coastal forest [author’s note, it’s like the forest of the pacific north west of Washington State]. All the while Killey had more time to think to himself. ‘This is an unusual spot for sindar ruins to be. Normal they are in deep forests and underground caverns.’ Thought to him self. (Maybe we had a good reason to build it here. Don’t you think?) Killey stopped in mid stride. ‘What the hell was that?’ He looked around him, but there was nobody around him. ‘But that was in my head! I couldn’t be talking to myself like that.’ He paused for a several minuets but nothing else was said. Killey shrugged his shoulders and continued walking. The tree canopy was very thick and blocked out a lot much of the sun light. He was getting close to the top rim of the mountain when he thought, ‘The weather was strangely wet for being surrounded by such a dry land.’ (Well, I have to water my lawn somehow you know.) Killey stopped again. This time he reached for his sword on his belt. "This place is disturbing. There HAS to be a sindar ruins around here." He said under his breath. The moisture and the cooling temperature was beginning to make him shiver. He leaned back against a tree, opened his duffel bag and pulled out his specially tailored red trench coat and put it on. He adjusted his trademarked red hat, gripped his sword and proceeded to the ridgeline. He wasn’t prepared for what he saw. The top of the mountain was a massive fog in shrouded crater. "It HAS to be here! Maybe I can find the truth here…" "That you can Killey, and maybe also the way to bring your beloved back to your arms too." Killey spun around and saw a man who was wearing a hooded cape sitting on an old log. He stood up and revealed that he was also wearing an old medieval style crusader’s outfit although his face was mostly masked, some bits of a long mustache was visible. "That is," The hooded man said, "If you survive the test first Killey." "Who are you?" Killey said as he pointed his sword at the man. "How do you know my name!" "Of course I know who you are, you have been hunting down my homes all over my place, looking for my stuff and ‘trying’ to find my secrets (snort). Yea right." Killey had lowered his sword a bit when the idea of whom he was speaking to. "You are one of the sindar aren’t you?" Killey said, slightly dumb founded. "For a human, you catch on quick." Said the hooded man. "But first you have to clear the test before I can help you." He snapped his fingers and a sound of a LARGE creature moving though the undergrowth from behind Killey. Killey turned around and saw the biggest five headed snake in the world rear up and hiss at him. The only thing Killey could say was "Snakes, why did it have to be snakes…." Killey made a run for it down into the fog covered crater. The Snake followed after him. The hooded man vanished with a smile. Killey ran like a mad man but the snake was somewhat faster. But by the time it caught up Killey they were deep into the fog and Killey found another amazing secret in the fog. The very bottom of the crater was actually a MASSIVE hole; a cave opening that was about a quarter of a mile in diameter. Worse yet, he couldn’t see the bottom to it. "Well now, you have a dilemma now don’t you." Killey turned to his right and saw the hooded man reappear on a bolder a couple of feet away. "You’re stuck between the devil, (the snake blocked off all escape routes for Killey) and the deep blue, er, black sea. (The hooded man turned to look down the massive pit) So what choice will you make Killey?" Killey used his sword to fend off the snake. He knew that he could not kill this monster alone. And that pit hopefully has a lake at the bottom to ease his landing ‘yea right’ he though. "But it’s a better chance survive than going down that snake’s gullet…" Killey turned around and took a running leap off the pit’s cliff and down he went. And down, and down, and down… The hooded man dismissed the snake with a wave of his hand and looked down the pit. His eyes started to glow in a pale blue light, "ha, ha, Ha, Ha, Ha, HA, HA, HA, HA, HAA, HAAA!" and with that, he vanished.
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