RuneScape Forum Archive | In the Shadow of the Myre

du gaulois

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I found myself idle in a tavern. A typical haven for the roving adventurer. I studied every single person closely from my cozy little corner in the bar, all of their greasy, unshaven faces draped with sweat-matted hair.
All of those in the wide, stuffy room paired with a dirty glass of ale, but myself. I could not allow myself to become intoxicated, for my journey called for responsibility and awareness. I had to be able to tell the difference between one filthy cretin and another.

Surely enough, after many passing minutes of endless staring, a tall and heavy-looking male with a thick cloak and hood on pushed his way through the main door of the tavern, glancing over to me but one time, and then proceeding to the backmost room. I stood from my seat, and followed.

I shut the curtain of the room behind me, peering out first to ensure nobody had followed down the hallway. I could hear the man behind me striking matches, and I turned; He was lighting candles all over the room. I was wary of any man too secretive to stand by direct lantern light.
I made sure of leaving the hilt of my blade exposed and at a ready angle. The hooded man slowly lowered himself onto a rickety, old wooden chair, directing his left hand, signaling for me to do the same. I pulled a chair from the wall behind me next to the door, and dragged it next to the rectangular table in the center of the small room of which the hooded male was sitting adjacent.

"We have heard of your pursuits in search of Meiyerditch. Perhaps it would benefit us both for an arrangement to be made between our two parties." The man spoke with a hoarse, accented voice, one of a man you may imagine has endured years worth of constant battling. His accent placed his most likely origin at
the north-east coasts of Morytania.

"An arrangement..? What sort of arrangement are you getting at?" I spoke. I worried I may have sounded a bit too nervous.

22-Jul-2014 01:48:22 - Last edited on 22-Jul-2014 02:04:05 by du gaulois

du gaulois

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"You want access to Meiyerditch, and we want a certain Vyrewatch gone."

I was bewildered. "Look, buddy, I'm not your mercenary. Name a price for-" I was quickly interrupted by him.

"We don't want, or need your money. Gold is as good as useless here and in Meiyerditch. Now," he cleared his throat. "Allowing outsiders passage into Meiyerditch is unheard of. You are lucky we even considered meeting you. The only reason we agreed is because we have lost six of our eight informants this week, and we no longer have eyes on the entire city.
We require more volunteers, and the civilians around here aren't exactly lining up around the block waiting to be Vyrewatch-chow. We're not necessarily asking you to take out this Vyrewatch on your own, but your assistance is vital. Are you following?"

I waited for a few moments, juggling the possibilities. I finally asked, "What assistance would I be giving..?" A smile of reassurance formed across the man's dimly-lit face underneath the shadows of his hood.

"I'll allow for you to recieve your assignment from the Sanguinesti Order within the city. Your discovery of them alone will prove your worth to us. And, after you've satisfied us with your assistance, we can discuss how we will help you find whoever or whatever it is you're searching for in Meiyerditch. Have we come to an agreement here?"

I was quite reluctant, but I had made up my mind already, and so with that, I left my right hand out in an attempt to shake hands with the man. He stood, reached out, and grabbed my hand firmly, though didn't shake it, instead left a folded paper within my palm. He walked around the table and past me to the door, speaking one final time.

"I expect to see you on the docks of Burgh de Rott by the next hour."

His heavy footsteps along the decaying wooden floors echoed throughout my mind like drums. 'What did I just get myself into?'

22-Jul-2014 01:50:54 - Last edited on 22-Jul-2014 02:00:41 by du gaulois

du gaulois

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I could feel the sickness of deep regret welling in the pits of my stomache as the fog slowly gave way to the monstrous and hellish-looking city of Meiyerditch. A lantern dangled from a tight rope strung to a pole on the back of the boat, illuminating only the immediate surrounding area of it, but also shedding some light on my guide's face. His skin was weathered and aged, and being so vulnerable didn't seem to phase him. His expression remained neutral.

'This is probably the hundredth time he's seen Me*yerditch poke its head out of the fog like that..' I thought. The sound of slow waves splashing against the side of that creaky, old rowboat soon turned to a low, sloshy 'thud' as we hit shore. I pulled my bag up and hoisted it over my shoulder, then jumped out onto the mud. It quickly encased my boots with thick muck, with each step feeling like a further downward sink. I turned around to face my pale-skinned guide.

"Let's get going, shall we?" I waited for his response, but all I got in return was his scoffing as he got out and pushed the boat back into the water. I was almost offended. Once the boat was returned to the water, he jumped back in, and began paddling off in the direction we had came. ' Did he not expect that he would need to come back? '

I turned back around to the wall before me. The shore we had stopped at was small, and within the corner of two intersecting city walls. Essentially, I was left with no absolute option other than to jump in the water or make my passage into Meiyerditch. Meiyerditch seemed like a better solution as opposed to the mysterious deep, dark, unexplored depths of Morytania's coastal waters.

I was not told where I would be to go from there, though I remembered the note that the hooded Myreque contact from the tavern had given me. I pulled my backpack to my front and dug through it, finding the folded note under some of my things. I quickly unfolded it and read,

22-Jul-2014 01:54:50 - Last edited on 22-Jul-2014 02:07:01 by du gaulois

du gaulois

Posts: 247 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

` May the sickle shine light upon thy path,
for the road ahead remain concealed in shadow.'

It didn't make any sense. At least, not until I began looking around at the walls for any kind of clue, and noticed a clear symbol of a sickle carved onto the stone wall nearby. I approached it as I returned the note to my backpack, and saw that underneath the symbol were crudely-placed wooden planks that seemed to cover up a hole in the mud.

I backed to the side and saw that there was, in fact, a dug-out passage that went under the wall. I knelt down and crawled in as best I could without getting completely dirtied, but the hole was only about a meter and a half in diameter. Inside the hole, it was very damp, yet the air was cool. The only thing to support the structure of the hole were more wooden planks set up along the top of the tunnel and on the sides.

Dozens of large, repulsing worms slithered through the loose mud, and spiders scattered away along the wooden foundations as I neared. Indeed, it was very uncomfortable, and so I made sure to waste no time and come out on the other side as soon as I possibly could.

As I climbed back up to my feet, I brushed from my coat many patches of dirt and a couple of worms. It appeared that I had crawled into the inside of the city's retaining wall, where there was no ceiling; I could see the stars above watching me, and I watched back for a brief moment. My interruption was cut short when the silhouette of a Vyrewatch circled in the sky through my gaze. I turned back to the area around me, nothing but a narrow corridor that seemed to have been used for wall maintenance at some point, but clearly not tended to in decades.

On the floor, though, lay a shadow of a sickle within the moonlight. The source was an old, damaged sickle lodged within the wall further up, placed at just an angle to cast a shadow to aim in a specific direction. That direction was to my right, so I made my way right and continued my trek.

22-Jul-2014 01:57:51 - Last edited on 22-Jul-2014 02:02:46 by du gaulois

du gaulois

Posts: 247 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I was eventually led to a dead-end, but not entirely, there were poorly-constructed wooden scaffolds lined up the wall. The wood looked rather fresh compared to its surroundings, and was an obvious leftover of Myreque activity. I patted my hands a couple of times to un-dust my leather gloves, and grabbed hold of the wooden structure, trying to pull myself up.

The wooden planks that had been nailed together barely kept stable as my weight shifted over them, they bent and creaked with every slight movement I made. I worried strongly for whether or not it would hold while I continued my ascent.

Nonetheless, it did hold, and I emerged on the top of the city wall. The stone pathways that would've been used for sentries in a regular city were crumbling, and appeared that they would fall through, had anybody tried to step over them.

From this point, I had a very good view of the south-western corner of Meiyerditch, but not one thing that was visible could be made out from another. Identical shanty-towns and shacks littered everything in sight, and everything seemed to be the same shade of grey.
It was a depressing feeling to return to such a dreadful place. I sure didn't miss it. The sudden glimpse of fluttering black silhouettes in the distance made my heart drop, and sent me into panic. I would not have been difficult to see to a Vyrewatch where I had been standing.

There were no buildings immediately to the wall, and nothing else to jump down onto. I had to keep going down the wall's balcony. I tested the floor before I began walking across it. 'Stable enough...' I made a slow pace down the walkway. All was well, and all would have been well.
But, then I heard a screech, weakened by distance, but still clearly audible. My blood ran thin as more screeches were heard in response, and seemed to slowly get louder with each passing second that I wasted. I ditched the idea of being careful, and ran into a sprint down that walkway.

22-Jul-2014 02:50:58 - Last edited on 22-Jul-2014 02:51:59 by du gaulois

du gaulois

Posts: 247 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

My sudden weight against the deteriorated stone was enough, and bits and pieces fell through into the inside of the wall beneath. I only ran faster, and when the floor directly underneath my feet began to crumble, I jumped.

By now, I'd ran all the way down to the point where the wall turned into a corner, where the foundations were more sturdy. The upper-half of my body landed there, while my legs dangled off of the jagged edge that was once solid stone. As exciting as it seemed, I couldn't keep risking running across sketchy, ancient constructions, so I looked around for any possible way to get to the ground safely.

There didn't seem to be anything at all. I almost got desperate when I couldn't find any sickle symbols on any walls, or anywhere else I thought to look for them. Out of options, I brought my backpack to my front and pulled from it my only coil of rope. Desperate times call for desperate measures...

I tied the rope around a stone post on the ledge of the wall, facing the inside of the city. It would be another risky move, but there was nothing else that I could do. I secured a triple-knot on the rope, pulled on it to test it, and then tied the other end to my waist. I hoped it would be enough.
I climbed onto the ledge and looked down, it was a fairly long drop. I let out a long breath, and turned around fully. I lowered myself off of the ledge and pressed my feet against the wall to maintain my balance.

Slowly, but steadily, I made my descent down the face of the wall, when the familiar screeches from before returned.
This time, it sounded like they were right on the other side of the wall. I put more haste in my climbing, and only made it about three-quarters of the way down before the rope ran out.

22-Jul-2014 02:57:23 - Last edited on 22-Jul-2014 02:58:42 by du gaulois

du gaulois

Posts: 247 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I looked back down, the drop was roughly ten to fifteen meters. With a sigh, I unsheathed my sword, and placed it against the rope, pushing back and forth. The rope snapped before I could cut it all the way through, and I landed on my back on mud-washed rocks. Distinct figures loomed in circles in the sky overhead. It was likely that they had already spotted me. Wasting no more time, I threw the rope away from my waist, climbed up, and dashed off into the colorless jungle of dilapidated shacks and houses.

From windows, shady alley-ways, and dark doorways, eyes watched me as I ran through the dirt paths that criss-crossed in between buildings. Ghostly, cloud-white, and gaunt-faced figures were the beholders of such eyes, all appearing dreary and completely hopeless. Dressed in ragged, soiled clothing, some even reached out, called for help. I could do nothing but keep my pace, and remain on alert until I knew for sure I wouldn't be followed.

I was completely lost, as I had never been in such part of the city before. Years ago when I had lived in Meiyerditch, I was a resident of the greater east portion of the city. I would be tithed by the Vyrewatch before I ever made it to neighboring regions.

As I eased my pace, one of the buildings I assumed abandoned, lit up inside from apparent lantern light, and shadows bounced off of the walls within. Being the first light I had seen since entering the city, I paused. For a moment, there was nothing, the two-storied building remained silent. But then, the weak wooden door to the left of the dusty windows creaked open, and a raspy voice called out in the thin air of the night.

"Hey..! Come in! Hurry..." the voice spoke.

22-Jul-2014 05:01:36

du gaulois

Posts: 247 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

I didn't exactly have anywhere else to go, so I took shelter with the mysterious character. The air inside of his home was cold and thick, and dust covered everything that was visible. The only things not dust-coated were the clear prints left on things the man touched. The man himself had badly-tangled, dead-looking hair that was silver, his eyes dark and sunken, cheeks almost bare of any fat, leaving his sharp cheekbones to poke through the skin.
An unkempt beard also covered his face, which yellowed around the mouth. His torn brown clothes hung loosely from his spindly arms, his bones quite visible where not covered by cloth. And, his fingers, they resembled long, sharp twigs attached to the knuckles of a treebranch. My deepest pities were for him.

"Word has gone around pretty fast that the Vyrewatch is lookin' fer you.. Ev'rybody in this part'a town saw what'ya did up on that there wall. You need'a stay hidden until things cool off'a bit." His statement confirmed my thoughts, I was completely visible to everybody nearby while on the city wall.

"Do you have any other clothes, sir? I can't go back out with the same thing I wore while coming in." I asked him. He coughed up something wet, and spat it outside before finally shutting the door.

"Yeah," he called out, as he walked to the lantern on a table on the far right end of the room, and put it out. "I've gott'a couple'a things lyin' 'round 'ere, somewhere... Gimme a minute.." He walked through the only other doorway in the room we were in, which seemed to be a living room of sorts.

22-Jul-2014 05:05:51 - Last edited on 22-Jul-2014 05:45:37 by du gaulois

du gaulois

Posts: 247 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

There was one empty bookshelf next to the table that the lantern rested upon, another on the opposite side of the room by the door, and one oval-shaped rug in the center of the room. The only light that came in now was moonlight, which made at least most of the room visible. The rest of the house beyond the doorway that the man went through was pitch black, however, he made enough noise to be heard rummaging through things.

I looked out of the window, locking my eyes on Vyrewatch circling the sky like vultures. It was going to take time for me to be used to living like this again. Horrible memories rushed through my mind every time I caught sight of those winged abominations. And, to think that just two hours ago, I was in a warm tavern with the option to turn back. To go back to my comfortable life with my wife and children. 'It's too late now. It's too late for me.'

"Here ye'go, I hope it fits ye'." The old man startled me, and I turned around fast, snapped-out of my thoughts. I looked down, at a stack of poorly-folded clothing in his hands. I took it slowly, with a nod.

"Thanks.." I put down my backpack and began removing the padded longsleeved shirt I had on before.

Goosebumps traveled through my arms and torso as my bare skin came into contact with the cold air. I quickly put the other shirt on, it felt itchy, like wool. It had patches all over, likely from frequent tearing. The old man returned to the rest of the house without a word. I removed my trousers and replaced them with the others, obviously the same material as the shirt. I packed away my own clothes in my backpack.

My host returned with a dingy cup of tea, whiched looked more like water with crushed leaves within it than anything. He handed it to me and I accepted, though I only sipped it, immediately being repulsed by the flavor. I was sure that he wouldn't be surprised by that. I walked across the room, and set the cup down on the table.

22-Jul-2014 05:10:43

du gaulois

Posts: 247 Silver Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

"Look, I want to thank you for helping. I've got an extra loaf of bread in my bag, it's fresh." I walked back to where I left my bag by the door.

"Agh, don't worry 'bout it," he returned, raising his hands in disapproval. "I couldn't accept that from yah', I ain't the one gettin' hunted by the Vyrewatch."

"I insist," I said, placing the paper-wrapped loaf into the man's hands. "I'm not the one dying of starvation. Please, take it."

He smiled softly, and took the bread. I could tell that he really needed it. He once more left to the darkness of his home, but shortly returned. It was quite reassuring to be in the presence of a friendly face, however I still had a job to do. I wouldn't have imagined that the man would know anything that could possibly help, but when life presents lemons, you've got to squeeze out some lemonade.

"I don't suppose you know anything about the Myreque?" I questioned. He looked a little bit more understanding.

"So that's why'yer here, huh? Can't say I know nothin' 'bout 'em, but I know a couple'a people who could maybe get'ya in contact with the closest Myreque informant." My face lit up as he said that, and for once, this plan wasn't looking like a complete mistake.

"Who are they? What are their names?" I asked in anticipation.

"Woah, now, take it easy there, fella," He stopped me. "It'sa bit too soon for'ya to be runnin' around town askin' 'bout Myreque informants. How 'bout'ya get settled in for the night, huh? Get'sum rest, I'll take'ya to 'em in the mornin'."

"Yeah," I replied with a sigh. "You're right. The beehive is probably still a little shook up now that the Vyrewatch know someone broke into the city. Don't mind me." I reached down for my bag, and unsecured the bedroll from the bottom of the sack. I rolled it out just to the side of the rug under the window.

22-Jul-2014 05:14:52 - Last edited on 22-Jul-2014 05:20:26 by du gaulois

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In the Shadow of the Myre