While Richard was going through the ogres pouch, he found a wondrous armor. Things he only saw on warriors, and army soldiers. Shining in the light the Splint Mail looked superb. He looked down at his tattered and torn Orcish Ring Mail. Knowing full well this Splint Mail was far more protective and looked a lot better then some half-assed piece of Orcish Mail. He quickly drew off his tattered mail and threw on the splint mail. He looked more and more like a warrior everyday. Now he needed to just fight like one and he would be all set. Along with the splint mail Richard found three hundred and twenty pieces of adena. His purse was starting to get heavy; with all the battle he had almost six thousand pieces of adena. This next time he went into town he would go to the teleport magician so that he could teleport to Silver Knights Town to get some supplies and put some things into the Dwarven Supply. He knew some dwarves were greedy but he surely trusted the supply stores that they upheld all over Aden. They were the most truth worthy people you could count on despite their greediness. He also knew he could not run around with six thousand pieces of adena without bringing attention to himself. Thieves and the sort ran rampant looking for a novice to kill and take their items and adena. These people made Richard sick, he couldn’t stomach individuals as vile as these. When he became strong he would go about making an end of such decrepit things.
Still glowing from battle Richard made his way through the forest. He was about looking for another battle, to make his pockets thicker, and also to bring his skill level up higher. He looked down at his feet, which were soaked from the dew on the grass, he noticed his low boots were beginning to get several unwanted holes in them. He told himself when he went to town he would also be getting himself another pair. He laughed to himself realizing how much money he had; he would just get himself a regular pair of boots. Ones that would not get any holes and went higher up on the leg to protect more. Eventually he could take those boots into a blacksmith and have iron boots made out of them, after he collected enough iron that is. He realized then, that he was daydreaming too much; he needed to concentrate at hand and not hope. He had to work for his, not hope for it.
Richard had been in the forest for sometime, the day had progressed pretty far. He was far to the west of town at the abrupt edge of the cliff, one he could not climb. He knew where he was from this cliff; he was in prime troll country. Trolls were dangerous creatures, when you killed one you had to be careful; they would come back to life.
It was told long ago, that elder trolls cast a spell that bestowed all trolls born after that time with a resurrection spell. This spell would bring back to life any trolled that was killed. It normally took a few moments to happen but sure enough it would. Only set back is the spell only works once on the troll. After that they would die permanently. They did this because the troll numbers were decreasing rapidly. The only trolls then that existed were ones that held up in the dangerous Dragon Valley Caves. The spell took almost four full moons to cast and killed all five elders who cast it. This was the cost of the spell. The troll nation started to rise in population. Some of the trolls got fed up with the crowded space in the Caves and moved on. They were shunned throughout Aden until they took up residence on Hidden Valley Island. They were so strong that no one could push them around. They stood as a leading race on the island for many of moons. Eventually they got weakened from lack of battle. Their strength dwindled, and they became but only wanderers who fled from battle on the island. They may be weak to the veteran warrior, and in comparison to their kin in the Dragon Valley Caves, but they are still no push over to the novice training in Hidden Valley. They too also have the resurrection spell cast upon them, which makes them just that much more dangerous to the novice warrior. Most creatures on Hidden Valley Island are this way; they came to the island so long ago fierce like their kin around Aden. They come here rule for a short period of time and get weak from no competition over the years. That is why Hidden Valley is such a great place for novices to gain experience.
Richard was afraid as he recalled the story taught to many young children in his village. It made him fierce; he was about to battle creatures told in tales. His grip on his sword tightened, his knuckles turning white from the grip. He started to pick up his speed, scanning the area as he ran, looking for any opponent he might happen upon. He spotted one, an Orc warrior in a group of trees patrolling the area. He took off in the direction, making a ton of noise not worrying if the Orc heard him or not. It made little difference if the Orc heard him he was dead either way. Finally the massive Orc warrior spotted Richard running at him. The Orc started to gallop towards Richard in the same fashion Richard was towards the Orc. When they were about twenty-five paces off of each other they both simultaneously let out battle cries that echoed for miles off. Finally they clashed with a loud clang as each sword met each other. Richard could smell the horrible breath of the dirty Orc as they were clashed together so close. He smiled at the Orc with an evil grin, the Orc stumbled back at the site. The Orc knowing full well that he was not going to best this human at battle cringed in fear. Richard could see the Orc was already defeated; the look in the creature’s eyes gave way to fear. Richard smiled with the same grin again. The Orc got up and ran from Richard as fast as he could. Richard not wanting the Orc to run away and come back with five or six of his friends let after him. The Orc’s speed was no match for Richards, as Richard ran up behind him, he brought up his sword and cleaved down into the orcs head. Richard got down to around his waste and could go no farther. The Orc fell forward obviously dead from the gruesome wound left by Richard’s sword. The vile creature stank of something awful. Richard did not want to search this body for any valuables, but if he wanted those nice boots he knew he had too. Richard quickly found the purse; it looked to have around two hundred pieces of adena. He noticed a dagger in its sheath attached to the orcs belt; it looked a lot like his friend L’Stre’s. He laughed at the elf for carrying such a piece as that. He would leave the dagger on the body for he had no use of such a despicable weapon. There was really nothing else to salvage on this creature, he had cleaved the helm in two, and completely destroyed the mail. He ventured off very quickly when he was finished looting, very desperately wanting to put distance between himself and that smell.
Published: Oct 6, 2003 05:30 pm