Lore submission for august
Avatar name: Nakor of Boreft
Part 1
My visit to the Haruspex camp was interesting, but it left me with no real clues, I think. Only Lady Fri telling me, she thought a Daniel had made the painting of the Greece harbor and the Haruspex elder saying they had made ancient Greece and that something had gone wrong. This did tell me some things I did not know, but also gave me more questions than answers. Like, why would there b a connection between a painter a few hundred years ago and a young man now? The Haruspex MADE ancient Greece??? What went wrong? And are they actively trying to fix it? And those are just a few first questions that come to mind. How are these friendly, peaceful people living in those wagons related to these floating balls of light? And how did they create an entire world?? and for what purpose? So many questions it makes my head hurt.
I think the best thing for me to do is go back to Cyzicus and see if I can find Chloe and see how she is doing. Maybe, if I can find her, she can tell me more. At least I can tell Berenice and Alexandros how she Is doing.
The next day I set out. To Orpheus’ Cave on Next Island, Orpheus’ Cave in Ancient Greece. A trip I’ve made hundreds of times. It never ceases to amaze me. One moment you’re in the present. The next in a completely different world. But now, knowing the Harspex made this, makes it even more special.
When I got to Cyzicus, I scouted the south area first. I saw someone grinding the Achelous hard. Tagging one, then slash, slash and it was dead. Before its body had disappeared, the next one was already tagged and running to the hunter. A wonderful sight to behold. Such effective hunting. But then I realized. The hunter wasn’t shooting to tag them. He or she was throwing something! And I didn’t see a green dot on my radar either!!
Part 2
When I moved closer to the mysterious hunter, I could clearly see t was a woman. However, I still could not see a green dot on my radar. I stayed at around 100 meters for a while. Just admiring how efficiently she was hunting them. She was moving with lightning speed and amazing flexibility. Avoiding all blows with ease and cut her target several times before it knew what was happening. When I moved even closer, she noticed me. I saw her glance in my direction but determined I was not a threat and gave her full attention to the Achelous running to her. As soon as she had defeated that one, she turned to me and raised her arm in greeting. I was stunned! It was Chloe!!
Chloe walked over to me with confident strides. This was definitely not the little girl I remembered anymore. Despite me looking very different from the last time we’d met. Chloe recognized me. “Hello, Nakor. Nice to see you, but… is anything wrong with my father?” She immediately asked.
I told her, I had not seen her father in a few months and promise her, I’d go to Thebes next and check up on him. I smiled as I realized how strange her question really was. She, a young woman, fighting big monsters being concerned about her father. A man who had been trained to fight for most of his life and who was a city guard in a safe city. (as far as I knew Thebes was still safe and well defended)
I told Chloe I had been looking for this Daniel she spoke of in her recordings, but that I had not found him yet. |I didn’t know if she knew about the other world of Next Island, so I didn’t mention the Haruspex or their camp. Chloe told me Daniel still came by every few days to see how she was doing, but that she knew nothing more about him now than she did when he was training her and she made the recordings.
Part 3
The next morning I decided to stay with Chloe for a while longer. Though I absolutely wanted to check how her father, my friend Alexandros was doing. I also wanted to stay here and learn more from Chloe. These were different types of weapons from what she had described in the recordings. Why had she changed? Come to think of it. Why fight these Achelous at all? We hunt them for loot and for skills. She didn’t loot them and skills, did a young woman in Ancient Greece really need these skills? Proud as he would be to see his daughter display this ability. Both Alexandros and Berenice would much rather see her safely married to a wealthy merchant. Living a comfortable and safe life.
Chloe was at the same spot where I saw her yesterday. Killing more Achelous. She raised her arm in greeting but did not stop after her opponent was defeated. Well, opponent was being generous to the Achelous. Really they did not stand a chance against Chloe. I decided to help her kill them. To speed things up and hopefully, we could talk some. Though I am not much of a hunter, I was surprised to see her dispatch them faster than I did! Not by much, but I had my modern weapon. A laser rifle, while she had only her 2 long daggers. I wondered if they had any special properties. What I’ve learned so far is. When Haruspex are involved. Anything is possible.
When it became time for lunch. Chloe took a few steps back. Signaling she wasn’t going to get another one from the group. Together we walked a bit to a small river. This was a nice, safe spot to eat and talk. Chloe had brought some fruits, caught a fish, and made a fire to cook it. I just had my rations with me. Chloe had of course seen rations before, but when she asked if they tasted any good and I said they did. That was new to her. She asked if she could have a taste. |I guess thee were unlike anything she’d ever eaten before because she looked surprised with every bite she
took. We ended up sharing the food. Some fish and fruit for me and some more rations for her.
Part 4
After we had eaten, I asked Chloe a few questions. For how long she had been killing these Achelous? Had Daniel told her to do this? Did she know why? Did Daniel give her those long daggers? Did Daniel tell her anything more? Like what he was, or why he did as he did. Chloe told me she had been killing these monsters for the past month. Daniel had trained her with the daggers and he had given them to her. These daggers would never reak or turn blunt, he had told her. Daniel had also picked these monsters for her to hunt. He had told her they were of a difficulty she was able to handle. He had not told much of his past to Chloe. Only that he was older than he looked and that what she was doing was important in keeping everyone safe. Everyone was emphasized by him. Chloe was not just protecting the local population. He had also spoken of an old evil near Troy, southwest of here, and had said this would help keep that from gaining more power. I had heard of the Moloch, so I knew that to be true, but I did not want to frighten Chloe, so I did not tell her of those nightmarish creatures.
The daggers really sparked my interest and I asked Chloe if I could see them. The first thing I noticed when she gave them was how incredibly light they were. They were very light, very thin, and very well-balanced. They looked simple but were of exquisite craftsmanship. I did not recognize anything specific for any action on Next Island about them. From what I had learned from Chloe and the Haruspex Elder at the Haruspex camp, I was getting more and more certain Daniel was a Haruspex. This only strengthened my belief that anything is possible when the Haruspex are involved.
Part 5
The next day, I decided to go out hunting with Chloe again. When I arrived at the same spot as the day before, Chloe was already there hunting the Achelous again. I did admire how she kept doing this, day in, day out. Without seeing any result. It was very repetitive. Most hunters love this grinding, I just find it boring and I could imagine, this being even more difficult to keep up for one so young as Chloe. Daniel must have really made her see the importance of this task. Which also made me wonder. What was going on here? What did the Haruspex know, but did not tell us?
A loud scream brought me back to the present from my thoughts. Cloe had given a loud scream! I immediately aimed at the monster in front of her and killed it. Then I saw that Chloe was bleeding from her left arm. The Achelous had hit her and had hit her good. I walked over and saw blood and a bone sticking out. I reached for my Fanoos medical. When I tried to heal her, it didn’t work! The same thing when I tried my regeneration chips. They did not work on her!
Chloe could stand, so we walked back to Cyzicus. Slower and it was very clear to see Chloe was in a lot of pain, but brave as she was, she kept going and refused most of my help. Some parts were just too steep in this mountainous terrain to cross without using your arms for balance. Once in Cyzicus, Chloe knew where to find a healer and I went looking for Berenice. Berenice came immediately with me when I told her what had happened. We went to the healer, who had already placed a splint and wrapped her arm. He said it was not too serious, but needed a few weeks to heal. Chloe moaned at hearing this and her mother looked at her sternly. I thought Chloe would be in capable hands with her mother and safe now that hunting was out of the question for the coming weeks. So, for me, it was a good time to go to Thebes and check up on Alexandros.