Why didn’t anyone tell me…

A loud crack, the sound of shattering bones, and a pixie drops to the ground. Elar holds his position for a moment to be sure and then drops his staff to a more relaxed position. It’s now covered in pixie blood, which is only slightly red and slippery as butter. This staff is going to be a pain to carry. He’s now wearing hand-me-down armor some old man gave him and a staff that was given to him under the table. The old man didn’t appear to have bathed, ever. It was then that Elar noticed that the entire town was like this. They all stood outside in all weather, day and night, never moving, never eating. Just existing. Perhaps they had all gone mad. Perhaps there was some evil keeping them alive and enslaved. Just the same, they were not good company, and the lack of plumbing and food convinced Elar he wanted to move on, and quickly.

Elar moved off to the nearby hilly lands, through another town of semi-zombie people and merchants and is now trying to find his way to a different city. Stepping off the beaten path doesn’t seem to have been a good idea, as he is being jumped by the local fauna as he travels.

Elar still doesn’t have a clear recollection of what left him in this place, but he’s sure this isn’t where he is from. Having to beat his way from town to town would surely be familiar, and this staff isn’t exactly a fun thing to need to keep with you. Every time he tries to buy another weapon, they refuse to give it to him. He also noticed that he had no money, which made bartering for what items were available difficult.

WHOOSH!

A walking skeleton has just run up to Elar and swung his arm past him, missing very narrowly. Elar had been thinking to himself and did not notice the approach, but quickly comes out of his reverie. The skeleton is standing there now, just waving his arm as if threatening to actually hit Elar next time. Three or four seconds pass as Elar gets his balance back and stares, not sure how to react. This time the skeleton strikes Elar squarely in the navel. Elar jumps backward, but notices that it didn’t hurt much. Out comes the staff again, as the skeleton runs back up to him and again starts the 3 to 5 seconds of arm waving. Elar spins the staff around his back to pick up momentum and cracks the skeleton in the midriff, sending ribs flying and effectively breaking the skeleton in half. There is definitely something strange about this place. Even the aggressive creatures in the lands about are not all that smart. Elar decides he would settle for a place with plumbing and a supply of food in the short term. He coninues on past a tall tower.

As he nears the tower, someone runs up and stops in front of him. “you spec rejuv?” asks the girl. She is about the same height and build as Elar, wearing a kilt and linen clothes like the townsfolk, but carrying a short sword and a wooden shield.

“yeah, just 15 tho,” says Elar. Again, he’s not sure what is happening, as this is not what he meant to say. This happened to him once before when he was speaking to an old man, but that had been some time ago. It was clearly his voice speaking, but he didn’t even understand what he said. Was the enchantment starting to work on him? There had to be another explanation.

“Jirkkin has invited you to join a group,” said the announcer’s voice again. “we’re going to keltoi, af me” said the girl, and turned away. She ran in a very stiff upright position, as if her skeleton was made of steel. Elar wondered if keltoi was any better than Camelot City.

They ran for a few minutes in silence, reaching a hilly area that smelled of trampled turf and dust. There was a hill with a circle of trees that was surrounded by more of the skeletons that had attacked Elar earlier. By now Elar’s staff was getting rather slippery with sweat and the remains of the pixie blood. This wasn’t shaping up to be his day. Panting, he slowed down at the base of the hill.

Jirkkin continued running, back ramrod straight, into the skeleton party and then straight through. The skeletons instantly started their slap and stare process. Jirkkin flinched, but showed no other signs that skeletons were removing small tatters of flesh as she ran. Elar, still panting, leaning on his staff at the base of the hill, looked horrified. “just drag to zone,” shouted Jirkkin, still moving quickly into the circle of trees, leaving bloody footprints on the grass now.

“What are you DOING!?” shouted Elar.

“jusst run up here an dzone in” shot back Jirkkin.

Elar decided he should at least go help. He ran as fast as he could manage up the hill. Following the trail of blood into the dim light of the trees, he saw the skeletons all facing the entrance of a cave. Jirkkin was hobbling now, the blood pouring from her ruined armor. Then suddenly, she wasn’t there at all. She simply disappeared. She had not fallen, for there was no body. Perhaps there was a hole in the entrance of the cave.

The skeletons instantly turned to face Elar. There were three or four, hands and arms covered in red, the boney fingers still clutching bits of armor, hair, and flesh from Jirkkin. Elar paused for a moment considering his odds and decided if there was going to be a fight, he’d rather have the confined tunnel walls to limit how many enemies could hit him at once. He charged around them and dove into the entrance of the tunnel, hoping there really was a hole to fall into and that it wasn’t very deep.