The Ascension On Astralar I
The time had finally arrived for their departure towards the heavens, where the Astralar Mountains awaited their venture, as well as the first trial posed at him in joining the Argent Hand. Together with his fellow companions, Rickter set out from his abode, already drawing near the outskirts of the Low-City near the base of the mountain range.
The wolf hadn't forgotten the route he'd used to scale the lower slopes earlier this season, back when the Shinaegri horde nearly became unleashed upon the city itself. Rickter had dressed up within his chainmail gear as he normally would when venturing outside, only this time he made sure to wear a layer of warm clothing beneath the armor also. He wanted to make sure he wouldn't have any trouble dealing with the cold during their climb, especially since he'd be doing it with the purpose of protecting his companions along the way.
Hannah had put on the leather gear that Telion once wore when she and Rickter went into the Warrens together, covering her body from shoulders to toes with a white cloak wrapped around her shoulders. It wasn't a bad idea considering the armor alone would help keep her warm, but the cloak itself is what would make a difference for her come night time later.
Telion donned fur-padded armor this time around, as she'd listened to Rickter when he'd said she would need the layers for warmth and protection. Remarkably when they'd set out it was midday, with the weather more so agreeable than Rickter anticipated. It likely made the hike towards the mountains a little warm for the ladies, but with the crisp temperature lingering in the air they'd undoubtedly favor that warmth soon enough.
"Well now, this should be interesting." Hannah stated as they were on the outskirts of Kalzasi now, her brown eyes fixed on the peaks of the Astralar mountains to the east of them. "Do we really need to climb all the way up there?"
Rickter slowed to glance towards her but didn't stop, his march followed with their own footsteps as he too quickly glimpsed the peaks for himself. "Not entirely sure, the further up we go though the better. Those Illumite shards linger somewhere near the top, where sunrise hits them in the early hours of the morning."
"Which means we're due to arrive there by dawn! Although I wonder how we're gonna reach the top by nightfall." Telion added with a tone of curiosity as she walked along between him and Hannah.
"We won't," Rickter assured her plainly with his eyes still fixed forward, "climbing the mountain won't be easy as is, and once nightfalls we're better off camping by that point." Although he hoped they'd be at the destination in mind before that happened, lest they would need a cave or shelter to help keep out the cold. Telion looked at him a little concerned then, aware that he had a plan but not entirely sure what it entailed. "Relax. Where we're heading should provide some sort of shelter, it's just the matter of getting there from here that's the challenge."
"I'll admit I'm quite curious about this plan of yours." Hannah remarked as she looked to Rickter then, mindful of all the gear and luggage strapped onto his back. "As it stands you probably can't fight much with all that gear weighing you down."
"I'll be fine," Rickter promised to the both of them quickly, nodding towards the path he took last time to start climbing the range, "this is where we'll start our climb." Thus he led the pair onward up the slope in front of them, taking a winding path along the spines of the lower mountains that led upward. Before too long they'd reach the spot where the path had fallen away, leaving behind the few footholds available to hop across that Rickter remembered before. "Just beyond here ought to be a clearing, from there we'll find a path upward." He told the ladies as he reached the edge, taking a moment before hopping onto the first foothold, and then skipping across to reach the other side in a couple more steps.
He let out a withheld breath then after his feet landed on the other side, the grass and patches of gravel cushioning his landing only by a little. Rickter heard the other two release a held breath as well, and turned to face them as they stared at the gap. "Be careful hopping across, take it slow if you have to!" They both looked at him a little wary, Telion being the one to nod before she took the big step. The bard carefully did as the wolf did before her, and hopped her way across the foothold towards him, so that when she drew close to his side Rickter caught her by the hand and helped keep her steady. Hannah was next and she looked to the pair mischievously, quickly shaking her head at them when it was her turn to go next. Rather than hop across, however, she looked to her fingernails coyly before the air around her vibrated with a reverb.
In the blink of an eye, aether swarmed around her figure, almost instantly coating her as she seemed to slip within its shroud. By the time Rickter saw she'd disappeared, the brunette had already appeared standing several feet ahead of both him and Telion. "Not that I don't mind jumping off stones all day, but I'd rather not risk slipping down to my death if at all possible." The wolf and the bard looked at her as she stood there, her nails still the center of her attention before she briefly shot them a playful smirk.
"Hm. Show off." The wolf remarked as he started to march once more, keeping his lips from loosening into a grin when he heard Telion giggle a little. The trio soon reached the clearing where, in Rickter's memory, the Shinaegri Horde had almost broken out from the depths below. Even now the clearing still looked torn by their battle, garnering a sigh of awe from Telion when they approached the area.
"Woooow, looks like something big happened here!"
"This was where I first met Talon and Aoren," the wolf told her as they slowed their pace a little, "that caved in hole was where a bunch of Shamblers was crawling out. Was a nightmare just trying to push them back."
"I can imagine..." The bard shared as she undoubtedly remembered her first encounter with the monstrosities. However, with another path visible up the slopes ahead of them, Rickter resumed his pace once more and led onward, gesturing towards the path he'd seen with a quick nod of his head.
"We'll go up this way, see if we can reach our destination from there." He instructed as the gravel beneath his boots crunched heavily under his weight, the two women sticking close behind him as he led onward to explore new territory for the trio. The path before them began to sharply ascend as they were following it around crags and spires all over the mountain, with the air above them starting to become chillier in comparison to before. They walked up the winding trail of gravel and then pressed on, the path suddenly narrow in comparison to the ledges they safely traversed earlier. Rickter started to get the impression that from this point onward, the real danger in the trial would soon become a constant threat to them.
One wrong move... One easy slip... and somebody was likely bound to have a bad day. Either way with caution on their side, the trio were bound for another craggy area of the mountains, one where the edges looked sharper than before... and the ledges more prominently jutting out from the unleveled footing they were beginning to experience. A slip behind him made Rickter stop dead in his tracks, as he quickly looked to see who had fallen, and if they needed his help to regain their footing. Telion looked to be utterly astonished as her hands were pointed out for balance, while Hannah stood a few feet behind deeply terrified for her companion. "I hope we don't have to deal with this the entire way up!" The brunette gestured to the environment around her, while the bard collectively stilled her paced breathing to relax once more.
"Sorry! Close call that one was though." Telion remarked as she looked warily to the edge of the slope, watching as the gravel that slid out from beneath her foot earlier pelted down the mountainside.
Rickter could only sigh and make sure his footing wasn't compromised, before holding out a hand for the bard to take, as she, in turn, extended her other hand out for Hannah to grab also. "Unless you want to warp ahead, we're pretty much stuck traversing this for a while." The brunette whined lowly before accepting Telion's hand, her steps carefully taken as she followed Telion, who in turn followed Rickter's lead as he brought them further up the slope they traversed. Before too long they would reach their first actual peak of the mountains, where they had a decent view of the valley below, with the rest of the range still high above them at their backs.
"Gods be good, this view is amazing!" Telion admitted with awe as Hannah seemed to nod in agreement, Rickter on the other hand refrained from nearing any part of the ledges the pair stood close to. "Still haven't gotten over your fear of heights Ricky?"
"What?!" Hannah's voice echoed out into the valley, her eyebrows elevated high as she looked to Rickter immediately afterward.
"...I'm not afraid." He murmured to the pair with denial evident in the grimace he cast aside.
"Is that so?" The brunette called out to him, her voice still carrying out into the open space below. "Then why not come over here? Enjoy the view while we're at it." Rickter's eyes lingered on Hannah for a moment, before he averted them away and shook his head with a heavy frown. The pair seemed to laugh at him then, Telion being the one to approach him after they did.
"Here," She offered her hands out to Rickter, hoping that he'd accept them when his eyes fell upon them, "awe come on Ricky." She urged him gently as he simply shook his head, refraining from even budging where he stood when he did. "Don't you trust me?" Trust? He'd grown to trust her a bit over the season sure... but trusting a ledge? Never. Even so, Telion and Hannah both started to pout at him next, leading the wolf to raise an eyebrow at them as they pleaded for him to come and join them. He resisted at first but... seeing them continue to pester him with those faces started to annoy him, thus with a sigh he finally offered a hand out to Telion for her to take. Both of the ladies smiled in victory then, as the bard carefully stepped her way back toward the ledge, leading Rickter beside her until the wolf stood between both women in turn.
He lingered... and nervously looked out at the landscape below them, his head about ready to spin when he realized how high they actually were. Already they'd traversed up a good portion of the mountain, however, that trek alone paled in comparison to the rest of the climb they would have to make. Still, being as high as they were now unnerved him greatly, and when Hannah cupped her mouth to howl out into the open sky, the wolf couldn't help but jolt with a glare shot at her. The brunette laughed and Telion seemed to lightly chuckle, following her friend's lead as she too cupped her mouth to howl out. Why? They were both being ridiculous now, no doubt giving away their location to any predators in the area also. "Come on Rickter!" Telion prodded him with a cheery smile, admittedly rather relaxed for someone standing just a couple of feet away from a drop to death.
Of course... He thought to just turn away and resume their quest, rather than waste time howling at nothing but the open sky. Yet he didn't want to suffer another bout of pouts from the pair, and so with a sigh, the wolf inhaled as deep of a gulp of air as he could before putting his chest out. Moments later the range was once again filled with a howl, his howl, as the wolf's cry carried far out into the valley before them. Telion and Hannah joined in then as he did, with their howls echoing alongside before fading away entirely. Huh, He realized as they were laughing once again, that was... actually kinda fun... Yet with the position the sun was in now, which looked to be several hours past noon, they needed to move before they were caught surprised by the sunset.
"Alright," He murmured to the pair with a small grin on his face, "let's get moving." Rickter turned to resume leading them onward, the rest of the mountain bound to present more of a challenge soon.
Ash 32nd, 120th, 123rd Year, A.o.S.
The wolf hadn't forgotten the route he'd used to scale the lower slopes earlier this season, back when the Shinaegri horde nearly became unleashed upon the city itself. Rickter had dressed up within his chainmail gear as he normally would when venturing outside, only this time he made sure to wear a layer of warm clothing beneath the armor also. He wanted to make sure he wouldn't have any trouble dealing with the cold during their climb, especially since he'd be doing it with the purpose of protecting his companions along the way.
Hannah had put on the leather gear that Telion once wore when she and Rickter went into the Warrens together, covering her body from shoulders to toes with a white cloak wrapped around her shoulders. It wasn't a bad idea considering the armor alone would help keep her warm, but the cloak itself is what would make a difference for her come night time later.
Telion donned fur-padded armor this time around, as she'd listened to Rickter when he'd said she would need the layers for warmth and protection. Remarkably when they'd set out it was midday, with the weather more so agreeable than Rickter anticipated. It likely made the hike towards the mountains a little warm for the ladies, but with the crisp temperature lingering in the air they'd undoubtedly favor that warmth soon enough.
"Well now, this should be interesting." Hannah stated as they were on the outskirts of Kalzasi now, her brown eyes fixed on the peaks of the Astralar mountains to the east of them. "Do we really need to climb all the way up there?"
Rickter slowed to glance towards her but didn't stop, his march followed with their own footsteps as he too quickly glimpsed the peaks for himself. "Not entirely sure, the further up we go though the better. Those Illumite shards linger somewhere near the top, where sunrise hits them in the early hours of the morning."
"Which means we're due to arrive there by dawn! Although I wonder how we're gonna reach the top by nightfall." Telion added with a tone of curiosity as she walked along between him and Hannah.
"We won't," Rickter assured her plainly with his eyes still fixed forward, "climbing the mountain won't be easy as is, and once nightfalls we're better off camping by that point." Although he hoped they'd be at the destination in mind before that happened, lest they would need a cave or shelter to help keep out the cold. Telion looked at him a little concerned then, aware that he had a plan but not entirely sure what it entailed. "Relax. Where we're heading should provide some sort of shelter, it's just the matter of getting there from here that's the challenge."
"I'll admit I'm quite curious about this plan of yours." Hannah remarked as she looked to Rickter then, mindful of all the gear and luggage strapped onto his back. "As it stands you probably can't fight much with all that gear weighing you down."
"I'll be fine," Rickter promised to the both of them quickly, nodding towards the path he took last time to start climbing the range, "this is where we'll start our climb." Thus he led the pair onward up the slope in front of them, taking a winding path along the spines of the lower mountains that led upward. Before too long they'd reach the spot where the path had fallen away, leaving behind the few footholds available to hop across that Rickter remembered before. "Just beyond here ought to be a clearing, from there we'll find a path upward." He told the ladies as he reached the edge, taking a moment before hopping onto the first foothold, and then skipping across to reach the other side in a couple more steps.
He let out a withheld breath then after his feet landed on the other side, the grass and patches of gravel cushioning his landing only by a little. Rickter heard the other two release a held breath as well, and turned to face them as they stared at the gap. "Be careful hopping across, take it slow if you have to!" They both looked at him a little wary, Telion being the one to nod before she took the big step. The bard carefully did as the wolf did before her, and hopped her way across the foothold towards him, so that when she drew close to his side Rickter caught her by the hand and helped keep her steady. Hannah was next and she looked to the pair mischievously, quickly shaking her head at them when it was her turn to go next. Rather than hop across, however, she looked to her fingernails coyly before the air around her vibrated with a reverb.
In the blink of an eye, aether swarmed around her figure, almost instantly coating her as she seemed to slip within its shroud. By the time Rickter saw she'd disappeared, the brunette had already appeared standing several feet ahead of both him and Telion. "Not that I don't mind jumping off stones all day, but I'd rather not risk slipping down to my death if at all possible." The wolf and the bard looked at her as she stood there, her nails still the center of her attention before she briefly shot them a playful smirk.
"Hm. Show off." The wolf remarked as he started to march once more, keeping his lips from loosening into a grin when he heard Telion giggle a little. The trio soon reached the clearing where, in Rickter's memory, the Shinaegri Horde had almost broken out from the depths below. Even now the clearing still looked torn by their battle, garnering a sigh of awe from Telion when they approached the area.
"Woooow, looks like something big happened here!"
"This was where I first met Talon and Aoren," the wolf told her as they slowed their pace a little, "that caved in hole was where a bunch of Shamblers was crawling out. Was a nightmare just trying to push them back."
"I can imagine..." The bard shared as she undoubtedly remembered her first encounter with the monstrosities. However, with another path visible up the slopes ahead of them, Rickter resumed his pace once more and led onward, gesturing towards the path he'd seen with a quick nod of his head.
"We'll go up this way, see if we can reach our destination from there." He instructed as the gravel beneath his boots crunched heavily under his weight, the two women sticking close behind him as he led onward to explore new territory for the trio. The path before them began to sharply ascend as they were following it around crags and spires all over the mountain, with the air above them starting to become chillier in comparison to before. They walked up the winding trail of gravel and then pressed on, the path suddenly narrow in comparison to the ledges they safely traversed earlier. Rickter started to get the impression that from this point onward, the real danger in the trial would soon become a constant threat to them.
One wrong move... One easy slip... and somebody was likely bound to have a bad day. Either way with caution on their side, the trio were bound for another craggy area of the mountains, one where the edges looked sharper than before... and the ledges more prominently jutting out from the unleveled footing they were beginning to experience. A slip behind him made Rickter stop dead in his tracks, as he quickly looked to see who had fallen, and if they needed his help to regain their footing. Telion looked to be utterly astonished as her hands were pointed out for balance, while Hannah stood a few feet behind deeply terrified for her companion. "I hope we don't have to deal with this the entire way up!" The brunette gestured to the environment around her, while the bard collectively stilled her paced breathing to relax once more.
"Sorry! Close call that one was though." Telion remarked as she looked warily to the edge of the slope, watching as the gravel that slid out from beneath her foot earlier pelted down the mountainside.
Rickter could only sigh and make sure his footing wasn't compromised, before holding out a hand for the bard to take, as she, in turn, extended her other hand out for Hannah to grab also. "Unless you want to warp ahead, we're pretty much stuck traversing this for a while." The brunette whined lowly before accepting Telion's hand, her steps carefully taken as she followed Telion, who in turn followed Rickter's lead as he brought them further up the slope they traversed. Before too long they would reach their first actual peak of the mountains, where they had a decent view of the valley below, with the rest of the range still high above them at their backs.
"Gods be good, this view is amazing!" Telion admitted with awe as Hannah seemed to nod in agreement, Rickter on the other hand refrained from nearing any part of the ledges the pair stood close to. "Still haven't gotten over your fear of heights Ricky?"
"What?!" Hannah's voice echoed out into the valley, her eyebrows elevated high as she looked to Rickter immediately afterward.
"...I'm not afraid." He murmured to the pair with denial evident in the grimace he cast aside.
"Is that so?" The brunette called out to him, her voice still carrying out into the open space below. "Then why not come over here? Enjoy the view while we're at it." Rickter's eyes lingered on Hannah for a moment, before he averted them away and shook his head with a heavy frown. The pair seemed to laugh at him then, Telion being the one to approach him after they did.
"Here," She offered her hands out to Rickter, hoping that he'd accept them when his eyes fell upon them, "awe come on Ricky." She urged him gently as he simply shook his head, refraining from even budging where he stood when he did. "Don't you trust me?" Trust? He'd grown to trust her a bit over the season sure... but trusting a ledge? Never. Even so, Telion and Hannah both started to pout at him next, leading the wolf to raise an eyebrow at them as they pleaded for him to come and join them. He resisted at first but... seeing them continue to pester him with those faces started to annoy him, thus with a sigh he finally offered a hand out to Telion for her to take. Both of the ladies smiled in victory then, as the bard carefully stepped her way back toward the ledge, leading Rickter beside her until the wolf stood between both women in turn.
He lingered... and nervously looked out at the landscape below them, his head about ready to spin when he realized how high they actually were. Already they'd traversed up a good portion of the mountain, however, that trek alone paled in comparison to the rest of the climb they would have to make. Still, being as high as they were now unnerved him greatly, and when Hannah cupped her mouth to howl out into the open sky, the wolf couldn't help but jolt with a glare shot at her. The brunette laughed and Telion seemed to lightly chuckle, following her friend's lead as she too cupped her mouth to howl out. Why? They were both being ridiculous now, no doubt giving away their location to any predators in the area also. "Come on Rickter!" Telion prodded him with a cheery smile, admittedly rather relaxed for someone standing just a couple of feet away from a drop to death.
Of course... He thought to just turn away and resume their quest, rather than waste time howling at nothing but the open sky. Yet he didn't want to suffer another bout of pouts from the pair, and so with a sigh, the wolf inhaled as deep of a gulp of air as he could before putting his chest out. Moments later the range was once again filled with a howl, his howl, as the wolf's cry carried far out into the valley before them. Telion and Hannah joined in then as he did, with their howls echoing alongside before fading away entirely. Huh, He realized as they were laughing once again, that was... actually kinda fun... Yet with the position the sun was in now, which looked to be several hours past noon, they needed to move before they were caught surprised by the sunset.
"Alright," He murmured to the pair with a small grin on his face, "let's get moving." Rickter turned to resume leading them onward, the rest of the mountain bound to present more of a challenge soon.
"Every side attacks you when you don't pick sides."
