WQ - XIX. The Sun

He was Rook the Quick, and today he was going to fly!

The black-haired swordsman (impatient, ever-roaming) had climbed the half-built tower in Vintergard so many times now that being this high up felt like second nature to Rook now. To look out, and see the sights! To stare down at the little things, to see the topography from up above like one of his maps, a crows-nest view, a birds-eye view.

Oh, if Rook only had wings! He would soar above all of Terrasphere and chart it all!

There had to be something. A plane, a parachute, a hang-glider. He’d asked everyone! He’d asked the death-witch (the life-witch!) and the simalcrums on the mountain and the workers at the tower, and he’d learned two things. One! Air magic. And two! He needed someone who could do it.

So he'd found @Noah Krane ! Had the man really wanted to scale a mountainside with silent-Rook for his only hiking partner (who was kicking little stones and scaling trees at every turn, scribbling on papers) as the masked man led him up a cliffside path? Perhaps! Perhaps not! But either way, when they reached the high ledge on the cliff face that Rook had scoped out already, it was a beautiful morning. Warm! Sunny! Perhaps too hot if not for the cool wind, which was a calming respite from the heat.

The cliff itself was striped with bands of colored rock, pale purple shale and grayish limestone, deep red canyon-rock and paler veins of quartz. Here on the ledge, a smooth outcropping formed when part of the cliff had crumbled away, many native birds nested— aeries of huge eagles, hawks; tiny swallows dotting the cliffs with their mud-nests, darting in and out and enjoying the warm updraft as they flitted to and fro in search of insects. It was a vivacious place, full of life and warmth and energizing birdsong.

Rook was crouched on the ground scribbling on his papers, more enthused than ever about the flight. He’d brought kites—giant ones, ones with handholds!— and normal kites too, to test the wind, or just to play with.

Who knew what sights they’d see from above, never-found by wanderers on foot? Who knew what landmarks, what beauties, lay undiscovered on the ground?

Ready whenever he was, Rook waved at Noah with both hands, looking forward to the day ahead.

WORLD QUEST: EXPLORATION

 

“Oh...somebody wants to go climbing with me? Well I guess the company would be fun… though the mountain is rather steep, I hope they have some sort of climbing ability.” He paused for a moment while his hand rested under his chin. “Better yet a falling ability would probably suit them better.” He opened up his palm screen and started to cycle through the known abilities of his until he found one that would aid him in the off chance that he was misfortune enough to find himself plummeting towards the ground.


“Well I best not keep them waiting should I?” He said in a cheerful tone towards and obviously disinterested NPC that was manning the desk at one of the tents that made up the camp. The Astorean Royal Cartography Office had set up dozens of camps throughout the region to serve as base of operations for players and NPC alike. It was here that players could find various tasks and jobs to take on for the sake of the King of Astorea. Noah could really careless about the whole helping the country kinda deal. He was more interested in exploring these unknown regions. Getting the scoop so to say on the best hunting grounds, find some rare herbs, and most importantly have some fun. Buttttt if they were gonna pay for him to do these kinda things, than why not partake in aiding the Kingdom?


Noah gathered his small backpack full of supplies that the Kingdom provided and started in a full sprint towards the mountain range settled not too far from the base camp. “Let’s go Greywind!” The massive grey direwolf bolted behind his master looking just as joyful. The beast’s tongue flopped outside of its mouth with each step. It let out a deep bark that probably startled some of the local animals and the members at the camp.


As he approached the mountain, Noah saw the man he was partnered with already standing there, waving to Noah as he approached. “Hey there!” He said with a large smile. “You must be Rook? I’m Noah, nice to meet ya climbing buddy!” He said with a large smile and an outstretched hand. “You ready to tackle this bad boy? I already scouted around here a few days back and found a simple deer trail we can take up about halfway to the top of the mountain. From there we will have to go full on Edmund Hillary and climb this baby all the way to the tippy top. I think that we will find some areas to rest about a fourth of the way up, seems like there is some sort of avian beast up that way and they’ve got to nest somewhere you know?”


@Rook the Quick

 

It didn’t matter to the small man, the black-haired Rook, that there was already a Cartography Office belonging to the King. He didn’t know that it was they who had found him Noah or that Rook himself had unwittingly volunteered while trying to communicate his needs. He made his own maps, but he could share, just as he could share the path with a stranger!

He liked Noah already. The man and wolf ran up to him and Rook almost didn’t want to stop to greet the pair—he’d have been happy to jump up and race to the top, dangerous footing and all! He waved at the aeromancer, however, and then (after a moment’s pause) at his beast companion too. He nodded eagerly at the plan the man presented, barely listening. Up, up! Climb and go, then fly like the birds! It was a beautiful day, he had a companion to hike with (and a wolf! A large one, furred and rough-looking as new shag carpet) and life was good!

Rook looked at the hand he’d been offered, then looked at his own. Slowly and solemnly, Rook took it, shook it, and turned to look up at the mountain. A new one! A different one! He wondered if from the top he’d be able to see the amber light he’d spotted from Vintergard…

Oh, but they were climbing now. Climbing, climbing! There was a beautiful view from the deer-path @Noah Krane led them on, little flowers hidden behind boulders and small, circular ponds where game probably drank. The little swordsman tap-tap-tapped on relentlessly, scampering ahead to jump and pick a pinecone from an overhanging bough and kicking it up the mountain. Each time, it skittered back down the slope and Rook got to kick it again.

Eventually, he did get tired. Even someone like him needed to stop and charge his batteries, and drink some water. Rook peeked down at what he could see of the steep cliff-faces, estimating they’d reached about a quarter of the way up by now.

“Here?” He spoke suddenly, for the first time (and his voice was little more than a croak) and pointed around. Was this a good place to rest for a little bit? Rook’s sharp eyes spotted something on the ground and he stooped, picking up a large feather, probably the size of his forearm. He turned it back and forth, admiring how the sunlight looked on it.

 

The man seemed friendly enough but perhaps he had some sort of anxiety or social awkwardness? He was slow to shake Noah’s hand and his body language was just a bit off, nothing too worrisome, but just a bit off. Oh well, Noah was not one to really think too hard on unimportant stuff like this, the two of them were here to have some fun and adventures after all. “So Rook you ready?” Noah smiled and started to lead the small party down the path that had been made by, from what he could tell, deer. It was narrow so he let Greyhowl lead the way, seeing how the two of them could not walk in tandem. Rook would pick up the rear and hopefully could keep up with the two ahead. Greyhowl mainly kept his nose to the ground soaking in the smells of deer and other wildlife in this area. So far, Noah and Greyhowl had not yet came across any strong creatures in this region of the world, save the lizard creatures in a cave but that was several clicks from their current position. He had not brought Greyhowl on that adventure so the beast wouldn’t recognize a similar smell but seeing how poorly those lizards did in the direct sunlight, Noah speculated that they were cavern dwellers and would not bother to be seen above ground.


The path twisted and turned throughout the forest for a decent amount of time. A babbling brooke could be heard nearby, perhaps it was some sort of waterway that emerged from the mountains and ran throughout this region? “This area of Terrasphere sure is pretty isn’t Rook?” He turned around and gave the man a smile as he placed his hands behind his head.


The three of them reached an area where the deer path would start cutting into the side of the mountain. Noah whistled causing Greyhowl’s ears to perk up and the beast to come to Noah’s side. He started to tussle the big goof’s hair and behind his ear, causing a sign of pure bliss from Greyhowl. “This is where we’ve got to part bud. How about you go exploring around here okay? I’ll meet back up with you at the camp at dusk.” He was rather sad to have to depart but it seemed he understood. The path they two players had to take next was not one a large direwolf would be able to easily navigate and it could cause Greyhowl to be gravely injured.


Once the wolf trouted down into the forest below, Noah and Rook were free to continue up the steep path. It wasn’t too long into their ascent that Rook finally spoke his first word, which threw Noah off guard at first, half thinking another group was somewhere up here. Once he realized that Rook was motioning for a place to rest, he let out a lite chuckle. “Sure, looks good to me.”


Noah fished around his pack and found some small loaf of bread and a canteen of water. It was odd that even in a video game they still needed to eat and drink, not to mention use the restroom. But he guessed that was what made it more lifelike and realistic. Oh well. “So what’s your story Rook? How long you been in Terrasphere? Whatcha think about all this hubbub going on in the Kingdom. Players wanting to revolt and what not. I personally could care less, I’d rather be out here in places like this exploring. But I guess I’m kinda like that in real life as well, though I live in LA. I guess I’m more an urban explorer there, always looking for the new and next big places to go to. New clubs, new bands, to restaurants.” He was talking a mile a minute but that was just how Noah was, bubbly.

 

Everything was pretty. Trees and water-colored-sky, sun and wolf-legs running. Everywhere! Rook nodded at Noah’s sentiment, his leather mask exaggerating the motion. Up-and-down. (Like a sleeping metronome, right-angled, fallen like an ancient oak.) Nod, nod. Tick-tock.

Resting-time. Rook did not want to rest for long—his longing had a lasso round his legs and feet and ankles with a tether at the peak. It was the call of salmon to their spawning grounds, the whisper of butterflies in orange storms who migrate thousands of miles. This was his migration, this was (had he been a bird) his fledging-time! So resting-time would be short. Short, and sunny, and silent—

Questions?

Rook felt a prickle of impatience and tilted his head to the side, fastening his mask back on where he’d adjusted it to drink. His small chest fluttered as he began to breathe faster. His heart rate picked up.

Behind the mask, his jaw clenched for a moment. Tongue tapped against the roof of his mouth. Teeth ground slightly together, testing, like a knife rocking on a cutting board. He became acutely aware of his breath on his lips, hot and moist, like summer in the tropics.

You’re spoiling it.

Rook shook his head suddenly, throwing up his hands in an almost-comic gesture and cocking his head to the side. He shook his head regretfully (tick-tock) at Noah’s words. What was L-A? No letter-land his feet had tread upon (pat-pat-pat) or his eyes had crossed. Perhaps once the view was clear, Noah could point it out, along with these foreign things (things for which he had no taste or knowledge.)

One thing he knew for sure: his teacher’s sword was not in L-A. It was here, somewhere. Hidden by raiders who’d taken it from his broken body, sold to nobles in a faraway land to hang above their mantle, in the hands of a warlord using it for evil. He couldn’t know for sure. Rook just had to find it. It was his plot. It was his purpose.

Before he scooped up all his things and ran off back up the dirt path again, impatient and impulsive, Rook waved his map at Noah to answer at least one of his questions. He waved the map of the trail they were working on, the mountainside, and then from behind it a whole slough of additional papers appeared in the little swordsman’s hand. Many maps! Many places! And Rook drew them all!

As he clattered up the next segment of the trail, swords jingling merrily in his scabbards, Rook filed Noah’s words away like dead moths on display, pinned and neatly labeled and then hung up in an office above the easy chair. And then he turned off the lights and closed the door, locked it, and walked away.

What use were offices and dusty books to ROOK THE QUICK when the day was clear and the sky was calling, the weather warm and the sun oh-so-bright?

@Noah Krane

 

“Oh ready to go already? Sweet, well let's get to it!” At least that was all Noah could make of the weird gestures the man seemed to be presenting. Perhaps he had some sort of speech impediment? It would explain the odd sound of his voice. Though it was odd, even if he was impaired in the real world, shouldn’t being online here somewhat mend that issue? He had seen several players that were crippled in real life come to these virtual worlds to feel unbound by their physical limitations. Though he guessed that something to deal with speech or other cognitive thoughts/processes might be harder to bridge into the virtual world. Unlike running, speech had to be learned, it couldn’t just appear in your head. The concept of walking and running was much more simple. It was an odd sight to see, this Rook fellow playing with his mask and making different noises underneath. His mannerisms in general were all a bit off, but oh well that was what made the world go round was all the different people that make up its population.


Before either of the men started to pack up their little rest spot, Rook seemed to have a sense of urgency wash over him. He started to place various maps into Noah’s hands. “Oh wha-”He was cut off by more maps being thrusted into his hands. The maps were definitely hand drawn, Noah could only assume by Rook himself. He was not cartographer but he could make out some of the images. Some seemed familiar to him, others were regions he had never stepped foot in. “Wow, you’ve been to a lot of areas huh?” He looked nervously at the excited man, it was obvious that Rook was from a different cloth than Noah. So long as that cloth was not the type to push a stranger off a mountain side, Noah could care less.


CAWWWLLLLLLL


A loud screech from up above drew Noah’s attention towards the heavens. What appeared to be black dots from down below, were now clearly massive avian creatures flying near the peak of the mountain. From this viewpoint, Noah was able to make out the color of the creatures and get an guesstimation on their size. They were much larger than your typical eagle in the real world, if he had to put a number on it their wingspan probably reached close to 35 or so feet, which placed them well past any bird on earth, that Noah knew of at least. “Wow, would you look at that... I bet these babies have to be the largest birds I’ve ever seen. I wonder what category they’d fall under. It’s hard to say just by looking up like this. Eagle, condor, falcon, or hawk? It’s up to use to find out huh?”


It had seemed that Noah had gotten so lost in looking at the birds he did not notice Rook already making his way up the path once more. “Oh! Wait for me! We’re about to reach the area where we’re going to have to climb!” This was about as far as Noah had reached before, he knew that there several cracks that ran up the side of the mountain that they would have to scale in order to reach the top. Once there they should be able to see most of this area’s surroundings and more importantly these fine beasts up close and personal!


@Rook the Quick

 

Rook tilted his head to look at the birds. Big. Very big. That reminded him—

In a whirl (as if drawing his sword) Rook turned, hand flashing out, quick-stepping in a lunge as if to run Noah through—

But instead of a sword in his hand, he merely poked the other man harmlessly in the chest with a large feather. The feather he’d found on the ground when they’d stopped to rest, as long as his forearm, sleek and shiny as wet paint.

He poked him again, then handed him the glossy souvenir. Mutely, he pointed up at the giant raptors, wheeling lazily on the mountain thermals. From here, they did not look so big—but the size of the pinion he’d picked up said otherwise, and Noah’s assessment seemed correct. What could they be? Eagles, condors? Rocs, the giant birds of legend?

The thought pleased Rook. If he had been big, and not small, he could have been ROC THE QUICK instead.

Rook the Quick (or Small-Roc the Quick) wasn’t good at waiting. Like a puppy off the leash, he ran ahead until he disappeared from view before perching on a boulder or by a tree, patiently waiting for Noah to appear in sight again before he pattered off again.

When they reached the cliffs, Rook could be found at the bottom, taking off his sandals and tying the straps together. He hung them around his neck like a graduation honors cord, tilting his bird-beak up to look determinedly up the steep cliff face. Then he ran straight at it.

The little swordsman propelled himself off a boulder and leapt, springing through the air as if his bones were hollow. His bare toes grasped for the first foothold and made it several steps, several springing paces, up the vertical rock face before gravity could even think to catch up with him. Tiny pebbles skittered down the cliff behind him, rolling merrily like water in his wake.

His fingers seized a small ledge and he pulled himself up to it, crouching there and tilting his head again to plan his next assault on physics. He did not seem to question the route and only stopped to crane his neck around and make sure Noah was still in view, bobbing his head to himself when he assured himself the man was.

Rook looked up at the huge crack in the mountainside. He was a springy Quick, but the crack was too wide and steep to run all the way up. He sat on the ledge and drew his idea on the back of one of his maps while he waited for @Noah Krane to catch up, turning it around when the aeromancer arrived to show him his plan. If they linked arms back-to-back and braced themselves with their feet, they could hand-foot-walk all the way up to the top!

(Or they could fly! Rook would like that very much too!)

 

The man’s movements became more erratic. Upon his odd spin and charge at Noah, the hunter became afraid that this man might have indeed been a player killer than lured him up this high for some sort of weird trophy kill. He was about to take a few leaps towards the edge of the cliff followed by a slowly fall spell he had up his sleeve, when he noticed that the man was not charging him with a weapon but a feather. “Oh...a feather? Rather large huh? Must be from the birds up tippy top huh? Cool.”


Rook wasn’t one for small talk, or any talk for that matter. He quickly was in full sprint back towards the large cliffside that the two were needing to climb to reach to the next area of the mountain. “Geez, this kid sure has some odd energy about him…” Noah muttered under his breath in a manner Rook would have no way of knowing what the man had just said. Noah closed his eyes for a moment and started to focus his avatar’s energy to the point that the wind was starting to gather around him.


Light as a feather. Dance like the wind.” Once the words left his mouth his body would glow a soft blue light. The wind raced through his hair, causing it to play in the space above his head for a brief moment before resting back at its starting position. A small icon flashed before his eye before resting near the top right of his vision to alert him of the abilities he currently had activated.

Feathered Body

Sky Dask

“Okay, let’s get climbing.”


Noah raced off with a bit more pep in his step, after the odd fellow. He could tell with each stride he was covering more ground. Once he reached the cliffside, he noticed Rook was already well on his way up the cliff. “Well can’t let him get up there first now can I?” He crouched down, causing the wind to gather around his feet. With a single upward motion, Noah blasted up towards the heavens, passing Rook in the process. By utilizing the two spells, Noah was able to get much higher than normal and maneuver in a manner that would allow him to reach the next semi leveled area before the need to physically climb. He wondered how Rook would take this sort of demonstration.

 

He should not have waited! Rook’s short black hair blew back as he jerked his head, mask pointing almost directly up as Noah surged past him. So fast! So high!

Feeling the spirit of competition, Rook jumped to his feet, he jogged in place for a moment, hopping from foot to foot and cocking his head as he assessed where he would need to step. Little rock-shelves, protruding just slightly. Cracks within the crack, places for toes and fingers. Narrow parts his legs could brace against, slightly-angled faces he could run against.

Done! He stooped to put his ember-sandals back on.

RUNRUNRUNRUNRUN JUMP! Hands caught the crack and his right foot cracked merrily against the stone in time, leaving a burst of cherry sparks like a firework. He pushed off the foot and did it again, springing from wall to wall in Noah’s wake, the turbulent air currents still a cool breath to follow.

Rook ping-ponged up the crack in springs and flings, sometimes landing on his hands, sometimes springing with a scissor-kick or bent almost double to shimmy through a narrow crevice. It was fun! Challenging! And Noah was fast, hard to keep up with!

The two men climbed and climbed until the circling birds could be seen clearly. The sun shone warmly on this face of the mountain, a high ledge almost at the peak where the cool air of elevation was a welcome respite for the sweaty Rook. He sat down again, tugging his mask aside to drink water from his canteen.

“Here?” He said suddenly again, the second time he’d spoken (and the same word.) He cocked his head at Noah, indicating the view from above, the bird-aeries nearby.

Capping his water vessel and deciding on his own that this was the place whether it was high enough or not, Rook stuck both arms elbow-deep into his pack and pulled out the giant kites. It was human-sized (or bigger) and he thought, if they held onto the cross-bar, that they could fly with them! Even Rook could fly (for a little while, until it became falling) and he did not have air-magic, only swords, only QUICK!

“Here!” Rook repeated again as if he’d made up his mind. He flapped one glider at Noah like a big garbage bag before snatching his own and running to the edge of the cliff they’d just scaled, pointing eagerly out at the lands of Astorea below them. If they could glide for a ways even at this height, who knew what new landmarks they’d discover?

The curious giant birds wheeled closer, as if wondering what these two men— these two strangers, these climbers on their mountain—could be doing, and whether they might have guests to their sky-kingdom at last.

OOC: World Quests need to be done by thursday for credit so let’s try to finish this up! :D

 

Seemed that Rook was feeling like a race after all. The two of them would continue to go up, higher and higher into the mountains until they neared the tippy top. Rook was able to keep up with Noah’s light food work, which was impressive. Noah got lucky that his spell started to run out of steam. He landed firmly on a ledge right by where Rook was pointing to stop. “Well that sure was fun.” Noah placed his hands on his hip and basked in all the natural splendor from atop this mountain.


“Wow, the developers sure put some time into a place like this huh? Its beautiful.” The sudden rush of wind throw his air along with the sound of flapping wings caused the man to turn around. Right behind the two men was a couple of the massive birds. They were gorgeous. A dark blue and greyish color filled their feathers with beaks that were bright yellow. There were several scratches and scars on the beasts beaks, probably due to playing and fighting off predators. Noah found it hard to believe that they would have many predators up this high up in the sky.


The birds started to let out deafening screams, which caused Noah to Hold his ears. Their wings started to beat harder and faster, causing a gale of sorts that started to push the two men towards the cliff’s edge. This isn’t good, I’m not sure I could save us both with my aeromancy in a situation like this…” Noah suspected that blowing them off the cliff would not be the only action these massive predators would attempt. Chances were that when the two were in a free fall the birds would have their way with them. He really did not care to fight the creatures so instead he activated his skill BEAST SOOTHING.

Beast Soothing

It took a moment but each of the birds that had gathered slowly stopped their screeching and wing flapping. “Woah there, you okay Rook? Seems like they’re not too fond of strangers climbing so near their nest. I guess that should be obvious since it is spring, they probably have lots of babies this time of the year…” Most of the eagles took off back higher up to the peaks of the mountain where their nests were. It seemed that they were indeed mothers to some young. Various baby chicks poked their heads out of the massive nests and peer down towards the strange looking creatures without any feathers.


“Hmm, I wonder if I can tame one of these bad boys. Greyhowl probably would like the hunting partner…” Noah reached out his hand towards the bird that stuck around to monitor the two humans in its territory. A new icon appeared over the beast and on Noah’s screen that only he could see. It looked like various hearts symbols flowing out of the creature’s body. You could tell that its demeanor shifted during this time.

Bond Formation

Within a matter of moments the beast landed on the ground, it was nearly as tall as the two of them, though its wingspan probably dwarfed them both. Instead of angry sounds it was now making a cooing sort of noise, while trying to nuzzle Noah. “Well Rook, seems like we’ve done what’s been asked of us. You ready to have fun and take the fast way down?” He placed his hand on the man’s shoulder and muttered a phrase to activate his spell. “Free fall ” The both of them started to glow a soft blue hue. He grinned at the man and charged towards the cliff and jumped off. The winds rippled through his clothing but instead of falling like a rock towards the ground, Noah would fall in a slow and peaceful manner. His new bird friend dove off the cliff right towards its new master.

Glide

Noah’s face couldn’t contain the grin. This is what he was in Terrasphere for. He could care less about the fighting and glory. He just wanted to experience these sort of moments for himself. Being a thrill junkie of sorts in real life, he could only ever dream of free falling from a cliff like this with an eagle to keep him company. Upon reaching the ground he would return to the camp that gave them the order to go explore the mountain to collect his modest reward. It was a fun day and he had made two new friends, which in itself was a good enough reward in Noah’s eyes.


-Exit-

 

Flipping and flapping and giant birds, oh my! Though they had beaks (like Rook) they were not quiet— they were loud and shrill, these raucous rocs! He’d never imagined such huge things could have an aerie all the way up here on the mountainside. He wrote NEST on his map enthusiastically, holding onto the paper as the gale-force winds threatened to tear it away (and the two men from the cliff). Noah approached the pair and bonded with one. Rook nodded his head at his hiking partner’s question, looking up from the parchment. He tilted his head to the side. Babies?

He wondered if they would be normal-hawk size, or just fuzzy large birds. How did they fly?

It didn’t matter. It was time for Rook to fly now, to free-fall, to glide, to see the sights. As Noah’s hand gripped his shoulder Rook tightened his hold on his kite, his hang-glider, felt his footsteps slapping on the stone before the winds caught them both and they lifted off...

Oh, the splendor!

Sublimity and awe! An airplane-view, a living survey drone! Rook soared like lazy vultures, riding thermals from the depths. He passed by multicolored layers of rock and little emerald trees, skimmed above Astorea with cold air blowing in his locks.

He saw farmland and roads, saw the bridge under construction in the faraway canyon, saw Vintergard and Finweald in the distance! And he saw stranger things, lost things, mysterious things. A clearing shaped like a perfect circle. A patch of dark woods where some unknown blight afflicted the landscape itself, warping it. More fields, more farmland— rivers, a recent landslide. An easy route for travelers to follow!

Rook saw it all with his birds-eye view and wrote it in his memory as his own gaze streamed with tears from stinging air currents. Each movement of his eyes as they scanned the landscape was another stroke of the brush, another detail he'd transcribe to his maps. What joy! What a sight!

What a view!

Gliding from the heights they had ascended, the three flew towards the sun (and did not fear, as Icarus had!) for their vision of the future.

END.​