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19-Aug-2010 16:56:24

Dawn719

Dawn719

Posts: 111 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Chapter 7 The Pokey Lady in Draynor

The trek is long and hard from Varrock, but Redseed and Fireheart don’t seem to be willing to stop for a break. Both of them seem used to traversing so far. I’ll admit the scenery is nice until I catch sight of a scantily-clad woman who looks really quite angry and ferocious and has a disturbingly pointy spear. We had passed across a bridge into a fort of some sort.

There are many men and women, actually, all scantily-clad. What clothing they have is made of furs, and most carry fearsome-looking weapons. I linger closely behind my two guides.

“Who are they?” I whisper. Fireheart notes my scared look and offers me a confident grin.

“They’re only barbarians,” she says. “As long as you don’t stay to converse with them, the path through their village is safe.”

“They’re always looking for a fight,” Redseed adds. "Don’t give them an excuse.”

I shake my head: intent on keeping mum. A barbarian with a nasty, large, silver, huge, sharp, fancy, terrifying--well, you get the idea--axe sneers at me, and I try not whimper. Redseed glowers at him, and the barbarian speaks.

“You lookin’ for fight, ja?”

Redseed pulls out a razor-sharp sword and settles the point at the barbarian’s throat.

“You lookin’ for death, ja?”

“Ja!” the barbarian stupidly agrees. He makes as if to swing his axe, and I step backward and out of range. Fireheart shakes her head, grabs Redseed’s arm and continues past the barbarian with the menacing axe. The barbarian seems disappointed, but he bares his gruesome teeth at me as I pass…

Only when we pass out of the walls of the village do I finally relax. Fireheart and Redseed suddenly veer, changing their direction so quickly that I trip. Fireheart tramps back to help me up. I blush.

“Don’t even ask, Freak."

“I won’t,” I say.

“Really?” Fireheart’s guarded eyes grow softer.

“I’m already in love with a different high level,” I continue.

19-Aug-2010 21:44:02

Dawn719

Dawn719

Posts: 111 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“You must mean Lady Lore. Yes, a lot of men have eyes for her.”

“Uh…” Fireheart’s acuteness takes me by surprise, which basically means I’m speechless. Typical.

“Come on!” Redseed yells back to us. He’s already quite a distance ahead. I let go of her hand, and we catch up to the impatient blue-haired man. Then something Fireheart said sinks in.

“A lot of men? Does that include Wolfbane?” I hiss.

“Oh, yeah. He’s sick over her,” Fireheart tells me. Redseed nods in agreement.

“Then Wolfbane has a weakness we can exploit,” I point out.

“To an extent,” Redseed growls. “Lord Luxon won’t care if Wolfbane’s heart is broken. We would still need to deal with him.”

“Oh.” There goes my plan down the drain. I think it was something about Lady Lore falling for me and publicly deriding Wolfbane. The poor guy wouldn’t have the heart to continue his evil slave thing-a-ma-jig--plan.

Of course, the chance of Lady Lore falling for me is about as likely as me becoming level one hundred and twenty-six in one day. Impossible. Laughable. Hopeless. I sigh and then note the growing number of dead trees.

“I don’t like the look of this place,” I say.

“Probably not," Redseed concedes. “We’re nearing Draynor Manor. The place isn’t so scary when all its mysteries have been uncovered. I remember when I was a noob…Count Draynor scared the wits out of me.”

“Count Draynor?” I ask, agog at the soft, reminiscing look on Redseed’s usually grim face. Fireheart, too, is wearing a mawkish expression.

“He’s the vampire who owns Draynor Manor. All sorts of warriors keep coming to his manor to kill him with a stake and hammer and all,” Fireheart tells me. “What they don’t realize is the Count comes back to life no matter what they do. It’s his curse, you see."

"Actually, I don’t see,” I mutter. Both Redseed and Fireheart laugh.

19-Aug-2010 21:45:24

Dawn719

Dawn719

Posts: 111 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“He offended his father, who was part-wizard.” Redseed jumps over a particularly thick tree root. “He laid a curse on his own son. Count Draynor will have no rest until the truest of all warriors kills him. Until then, everyone can try and kill him, but he’ll always come back. There’s a reason he terrorizes Draynor Village…to find the true warrior who will slay him.”

“Vampires have sons? Wait, who would not want to be immortal?” This Count Draynor sounded like a pathetic sort.

“Vampires have humans to which they pass on their blood. I think a vampire does start to get tired of life after six hundred years,” Fireheart insists. "What would you do with all that time?”

“I’m sure he can come up with something,” I reply. Our conversation about the unfortunate/fortunate Count Draynor came to an end as we stopped at a crossroads. Redseed squints up at the sign.

“I can never remember which way to go,” he sighs.

“Oh, come on. I know the way.” Fireheart proceeds to head one way while Redseed lingers. He’s still looking at the sign.

“Stand and deliver!” The sudden shout makes me jump, and I glimpse a guy with a black mask and a shiny blade rush me. Oh, great soggy crumb buckets! I duck the highwayman’s attack and jab at him with my own pathetic bronze sword. The robber dude backs away, laughing. Then he’s dead as Fireheart comes down behind him with a bright blue longsword.

“Let’s hurry before another one comes along,” she says, all aplomb, and not at all shocked that she had killed someone. The highwayman fades; dust and bones remain scattered on the ground.

“You just killed someone.”

“Death is not so unusual here.” Fireheart frowned. “Listen, Freak, if I hadn’t killed that highwayman, you would be dead.”

“Yes, and thank you, but..." The soft sympathy in her eyes makes my heart flutter and my mouth shut.

"It is a bit shocking, I suppose."

19-Aug-2010 21:47:17

Dawn719

Dawn719

Posts: 111 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“There’s something wrong with the sign,” Redseed says out of the blue. Apparently, he hadn’t noticed the whole confrontation with the highwayman. “Those directions are wrong. Draynor isn’t that way.”

“We’ll fix it later,” Fireheart murmurs. “Come on. There’s little time to lose. We’re not like Count Draynor after all.”

“Well, we do come back after we die,” I say. Redseed ambles behind Fireheart and me, still in a thoughtful silence. We are making our slow way to Draynor where I will meet the Pokey Lady.

“It won’t always be that way,” Fireheart says, and then I notice her weapon is out of sight. “One day, you die…but you don’t come back. Of course, that only happens with players like Lord Luxon who’ve reached level 126.”

“Of course, he’s being extra careful,” Redseed mutters.

“So even though he’s an uber high level, if he dies, he’ll never come back?” My head suddenly bursts with questions. “Who’s Saradomin? How in the world do you increase your level?”

Patiently (admirable that) Fireheart and Redseed answer my questions, speaking in turn, complementing each other until most of my questions are answered. The amount of new knowledge I get is overwhelming but reassuring at the same time. Runescape. Whoever thought there would be so much to this place than met the eye?

Finally, we catch sight of civilization. Following Fireheart, we make our way past what seems like houses, and then into an area of stalls. We make our way past a larger building, filled with a myriad of people, near two trees…

“Hey, Redseed, got any more stew?”

“Did that tree just talk?” I gasp. Then I see the legs hanging down from the tree and realize some crazy guy is sitting up there. “What is he up there for?”

“That’s the paranoid banker,” Fireheart says dismissively.

“I’m not paranoid. He did commit the crime!” the tree shouts.

19-Aug-2010 21:49:05

Dawn719

Dawn719

Posts: 111 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“Who committed what crime?” I ask. Redseed sighs and leans against the bank wall, where it looks strangely new compared to the rest of the bricks making up the bank.

“The Wise Old Man lives across from the bank,” Redseed explains. “He robbed the bank a while ago, but no one has made a move to punish him. Rumors are he has his eye on Wizard’s Tower.”

“Curse him! If he weren’t so capable of zapping people--So, Redseed, the stew?”

“Not today. I have urgent business.” Redseed exchanges serious looks with Fireheart. I feel left out. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Fine.” The banker sounds sullen. I, myself, wouldn’t mind a bit of stew. I am hungry. I allow myself to be dragged by Redseed and Fireheart past the trees. Ah, there’s the Pokey Lady. Now let me describe the surroundings.

It’s a nice bit o’ land with four (I think) willow trees beside the water. There are people fishing; most are cutting trees. The Pokey Lady is chatting amiably with a woodcutting neighbor. Because of her helm, I can't see her expression. I think that must be the scariest thing about her, aside from the axe and the poking, of course.

Oh noes…There’s a dark wizard too, but Redseed puts a reassuring hand on my arm. I guess we’re safe. For now. There’s the danger of the Pokey Lady to deal with too.

“Dawn!” Fireheart calls, without any fear, to her sister. Well, duh. You can’t be really afraid of a younger sister. I think Dawn’s younger. Though I never thought to ask. Redseed's expression is grim, calm and steady as always.

“Fireheart!” The Pokey Lady removes her helm and tucks it away in the pack strung to her by a single strap around an elegant shoulder. Her hair is the same shade as Redseed’s, and I have to wonder if they’re family. “Hey, cousin!”

Redseed raises a hand and smiles. Family…yup. Let me get this straight. Fireheart and Dawn are sisters, and Redseed is their cousin? Then who in the bloody world am I? A complete stranger…

19-Aug-2010 21:51:52

Dawn719

Dawn719

Posts: 111 Iron Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
“Don’t I know you?” The Pokey Lady is speaking to me now.

"You poked me until I fell over a fence…not too far from Lumbridge,* I reminded her. She nods as if the memory was completely normal and painless. Dawn seemed to me like a combination of Fireheart’s boldness and Redseed’s unshakable-ness as well a touch of (unfortunate) cruelty.

“I see you haven’t been doing any training,” she remarks. *What’s your name again?”

“The name’s Freak. What level are you?”

“Sixty-eight.”

Fine. She wins…I’m just a noob who hasn’t gotten around to training.

“Freak’s been helping us,” Fireheart says. You’d think she isn’t lying. I blush. I’m not much help, following them around.

“With what?” Dawn questions. There’s a bright gleam in her eyes that I don’t like.

~End of Chapter 7 (finally)~

19-Aug-2010 21:53:07

Fireheart449

Fireheart449

Posts: 1,028 Mithril Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile
Chapter 8 From Draynor Bank to Edgeville

Pokey Lady has been criticizing me for the past hour now. You have no idea how much I want to sock her. I came inches from smashing my pathetic bronze sword over her head. Though, Fireheart’s serious expression and Redseed’s grave smile made me think twice about that. Besides, the Pokey Lady would poke me. I don’t like being poked.

“We need a plan.” Pokey Lady furrows her brow, deep in thought. Well, thank you for putting the most obvious thing out on our table of conversation.

“Who has one?” Fireheart angles her head, scrutinizing every single one of us. We respond with shrugs and murmurs. Oh, fine! None of us have a proper plan. Redseed seems uncertain too. Then he says:

“We should go out and see their operation with our own eyes. Then we’ll recruit and train. After that…we’ll see.”

“For the recruitment, I might have a group interested,” Pokey Lady offers.

“Dare I ask?” I mutter. She shoots me a nasty glance, and I flinch. Well, pardon a noob for expressing an honest opinion in a subtle way.

“There’s a ready supply of woodcutters, who might want to take a break from woodcutting. To convince them to fight Luxon…might take some time.”

“You can convince them after we take a gander at Lord Luxon’s operation,” Fireheart replies. “Freak, most Runescapians drop off things in the bank.”

“Why do we need to?” I inquire.

“If you attack someone in the wilderness and die, everything you have on your person will be lost,” Redseed explains. “Well, everything but three of your most precious items."

That sounds just terrible. I wonder if Runescapians have insurance…

19-Aug-2010 22:00:35

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