The winds howled like a banshee, carrying the biting chill from the Frigid mountains down to the mainland. The once lush land now wore a shroud of frost, its hues of green and gold fading into a stark palette of white and gray. The sun, a weary traveler, dipped below the mountains earlier each day, casting long, eerie shadows across the icy landscape.
The air crackled with the magic of the season, a potent brew of ice and starlight. The Aurora Borealis, a celestial dance of emerald and crimson, painted the night sky with otherworldly beauty. The very air seemed to hum with anticipation, as if the land itself was holding its breath, waiting for the coming winter.
In the harsh, yet enchanting realm of iceberg, the only things to survive its climate were barbarians, draugrs, and the trees that were in abundance.
“mmghnnn”
Zeta found herself sulking and groaning out of frustration as she dragged herself through the frigid terrain. The weather in Harrogath was dreadfully cold to her despite the layers of clothing she had on. Another nuisance was dealing with the stray draugrs along the way to the manor, as they were pretty resilient and bothersome when grouped together. Luckily for Zeta she had a tremendous amount of experience dealing with them and got even more combat knowledge from clearing the previous void dungeons with Drakkon.
As the break of dawn hit and the sun peaked out between the mountains, Zeta had finally reached the gates of her destination, Hunter’s Manor. She tirelessly pushed open the tall iron bars in order to enter the estate. Its rusted hinges squeaked louder than the banshee in the wind, alerting the residence of a new visitor. A shield plaque displaying her family crest can be seen from afar on the front door. A crest that served her more as a slave brand than anything else.
As she continued to make her way through the estate, crossing the courtyard, the cold winds eerily whistling suddenly came to a halt as if sending off a warning. Zeta approached the door and stared at the crest.
“Home sweet home, huh?” Zeta said with a smug smile painted on her face.
Grabbing a hold of the door handles with both hands and jerking them open, the large burly doors slowly creaked open. Inch by inch they gradually opened, requiring the use of all of Zeta’s strength.
“Always such a pain opening this damn dooor” With one final tug the door swung wide open, letting in a torrent of frigid winds. Taking a moment to catch her breath before walking into the manor.
“Hmmm, this is strange…Somebody or at least Aster should of been here to welcome me”
To her surprise nobody was home and all the lights were out. IT was as if the manor was abandoned. The dragon slayer sniffed around in order to find any lingering scents within the manor but nothing. Thoughts circulated in the back of her mind as to what could have caused them to leave; An urgent meeting or gathering for the fairies perhaps. Just as her thoughts finished circulating a clopping noise erupted from within the darkness of her home.
Manifesting from the depths was a mass of blackness. It towered over Zeta before forming into a winged horse-like creature. White cold air spills from its maw as it opens, followed by a chilling neigh uttering from its larynx.
“A dhuilin huh? and here I thought we wouldn't have any new visitors today” Sensing no hostility from the creature Zeta decided to carefully approach it. Slowly and gently placing her palms around its cheek, caressing it with the gentlest strokes. A tendril of darkness holding a rolled up scroll slid forth from the right side of the dhuilin. Zeta took notice of this and took a hold of the scroll and unraveled it.
The contents of the scroll seemed to have been a long drawn out itinerary of sorts.Explaining Aster’s trip and why the manor was empty. On the more interesting side of things, the creature before the dragon slayer was a gift to her from all the hard work.
“Guess I have to give you a name…Carbonado, Nado for short. It means black diamond” Zeta smiled and placed her forehead against the creature's head before kissing its head.
“Come, Nado. We must make haste to the Void dungeon not far from here. But first I need to drop something off. So be a dear and wait for me outside” Zeta shows Nado the map she had gotten from Aster detailing the locations of the Void dungeons. The dhuilin let off a guttural neigh before turning into a cloud of darkness that floated to the entrance.
Knowing the manor like the back of her hand Zeta swiftly made headway to the kitchen to get a lantern. Rays of sunshine bled through the window shades to ensure her route was not fully paved in blinding darkness. The lantern hung on the wall next to the kitchen entrance and had a lighter already inside of it. Once it was lit Zeta used its guiding light to reach the cellar in the main room.
–Clunk Thunk–
Zeta carefully placed her previous findings from the last void dungeon onto the altar within the cellar of the manor. On the clean slab of marble would now rest 2 relics of unknown origin. She had no clue as to why the lord of the manor wanted her to collect such things but a mission is a mission and it was not her job to question, is what she told herself to curb her aching curiosities. The glow coming from the two relics caught her peripheral vision as she turned away to exit the area.
Meeting up with Nado after several minutes, Zeta hopped onto his back using the cloudy black tendrils protruding from its body. They also acted as a reins and a saddle for the creature. Nado formed large wings from the cloudy substances oozing from its body and took off into the sky with Zeta. The winds were much calmer now and the sun's light grew even more radiant the higher Nado flew. Soaring across the lands of Harrogath to the mountains of Oddr was a freeing feeling, Zeta legs would surely agree as they rested against Nado thick belly. The Tendrils securely wrapped around Zeta allowing her to lay on Nado back and doze off until they reached their destination. Her heavy eyes and fatigued body overpowered her will to stay awake and not before long darkness enveloped all of her senses.
-After an undetermined amount of time has passed.
The striking scent of a familiar Dragon Slayer breached Zeta's nose alerting all of her senses. Jolting upward suddenly and spooking Nado, the dhuilin fumbled around in the air briefly before regaining its sense of balance. Petting the beast gently helped it regain composure much faster.
“It's ok Nado. You did an excellent job taking me here. Let me down by those group of people”
Zeta had picked up Drakkon’s scent clearly but the others were completely new. She wondered what happened to the last two travelers that joined them in their escapades. The closer she got to them the better she could analyze them.
Nado had touched down upon the land before turning into a black cloudy smokescreen, stepping forth from it was Zeta, there to greet Drakkon and the others.
“Drakkon” She called to him in a dry tone of voice and waved her hand then turned her attention to the other travelers and looked to be companions.
“Hello everybody, name is Zeta, nice to meet ya” The dry tone of voice was completely washed away and replaced with a warmth that could not be found within the mountains of Oddr.
Shifting her attention back to Drakkon and smirking. “The new blood looks more friendly than the last at least”
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