The Visions of Evram Tallfellow

[archmagi1]

Evram sat alone atop his hill. He was the oldest of seventeen sons, and with the recent death of his father, was now the Patriarch of Long Grass manor. What a change this was from his normal life! Just a tenday ago, Evram was about to finish his initiation as a high priest of Yondalla. The ceremony was interrupted by a pack of marauding bugbears, and it would be another year before the festival of initiation returned.

His poor father... Param Tallfellow was a legend in the Half Hills. In his two hundred thirteen years, he had built Long Grass from a haunted ruin to the most successful barley farm in the region. The blessings of the Nourishing Matriarch had been with his family, but now they seem to have fallen on the most unlucky halfling within 100 miles.

His father's death was due to a spear wound from the bugbear attack. Evram had witnessed the felling, and along with his three score relatives, slew the attacker within seconds. Why did this have to happen on the only joyous day he can remember? WHY? The tears filled his eyes and sorrow flooded his soul. Was he destined to disappointment and sorrow forever?

...

Thirty years ago, on the eve of his ninetieth birthday, Evram had his first vision. He was confused by it... no terrified. He saw a great beast emerge from the sunken cities in the east. The beast spoke his name, knew his soul. It was after him. He saw it come to Long Grass, saw it slay his wife and children, saw it eat his grandchild. He saw the beast turn its maw toward him...

He awoke in a cold sweat. That night he went through the entire complex, finding each of his descendants, and making sure they were alright. He paused over his grandchild's cradle. Sallie was only a year old. She was so beautiful. He began to sob... Images of the beast clouded his eyes. Was he to lose the most precious thing that The Blessed One had bestowed upon him?

Three days later, he heard a scream. A blood curdling scream. It was his wife! Evram grabbed another sickle to complement the one he already carried and ran back to Long Grass. Today was thick in the middle of the harvest, none of the men were at the manor. He had to hurry. Was it those goblins from across the Blue? Maybe a worg had gotten into the chickens... Evram was wrong...

The lumbering beast had picked its victims. Left alone were his sisters, his cousins, even his aging mother. Evram entered the manor and lost all his breath at the pile of bodies. Marscha, Daliana, Harria... Where was Sallie? "SALLIE!" He knew what was around the corner, but turned it anyway. There was the beast! The same beast from his dream. What was that in its claws? "NOOOOOO!" It was too late...

...

His father was the next thing he remembered. "Ev... Ev... Wake up before the dogs o' the hells take ye! I've lost enough grandsons today to lose me oldest son! Wake ye're sorry ass up!"

"My sons?" was all Evram could muster. The gaping hole in his side from the beast's teeth was too painful to speak.

"All taken. Even Felix... I'm sorry Ev." Param was sobbing...

"Take ease my child... pain breeds strength."

"Pain... Strength?" Evram was confused. Who was speaking to him. The voice sounded so like Marscha, but sweeter.

"Get Fallon in here! We're losing him!"

"Be strong, my child, and you will be rewarded."

Evram felt stronger from the mysterious voice, but let the pain take him.

[archmagi1]

It was seven years before his next vision. Evram, having lost everything he held dear, took an ascetic oath and devoted his life to Yondalla. It was the least he could do. The high priest at Calor's Bend said that by the blessing of the Mother alone, he survived the bite. He could still feel the hole, even though the priests managed to regenerate his side.

The dream came the night after the Midsummer's Feast. He saw the Green Fields, home plane to the gods of the halflings. There, he saw his father, healthy as the day he liberated Long Grass, sitting beside Yondalla, Urogalan and Cyrrollalee. The Blessed One turned to Evram and spoke, "He will arrive the day you would become my High Priest. You will sorrow, but will rejoice. Your pain will reward you."

...

In the twenty-three years since that vision, he hadn't thought of it much. In fact, until his father fell under the spear of the bugbear, his last vision had been far from his mind. He thought it just a hallucination, or fanciful dream, but now, setting upon the top of his hill, he realized his dream was true.

For seven days, he sat there, atop that hill, watching the sun. Evram stared at the bright yellow orb. In his priestly training, he had read about the sun being a god to some odd race. It really didn't matter, though... He had to figure out what he was going to do with his life. He definitely wasn't prepared to run Long Grass. As he sat there, staring at the sun, wondering what to do with his life, he began to dream...

His mind wandered out of his body. It wandered to a place only heard of in bed-time stories. He saw the realms of the High Heavens, the wilderness of Arborea, things mortal minds can only dream about. His sorrow, his curiosity, his despair drove his mind to a place he had been before. The grass here was beautiful, the hills smooth and rolling, it was paradise... it was the Green Fields.

"Your pain has given you strength."

That voice... He remembered it from long ago... Yes, that was the voice he heard the day he lost his Sallie. "Your suffering has made you wise." The sweetest voice! Where else had he heard it? "Yondalla?" He remembered!

"My child, your pain, your sorrow, your life has been a trial. Rewards come to those who suffer."

"My Lady, I have suffered much, though I don't desire reward, only peace."

His father appeared within the fields, wearing a fine outfit, smoking an exquisite pipe. "My son, our Mother knows your pain. You have suffered long because of your name. Suffering comes to our line, as does life. We Tallfellows live long, but through our journey, lose much. Your life, your suffering, still has many days left."

"What am I to do, father? I am not fit to manage our lands."

Param begins to fade. "Give your brothers the keys to Long Grass. Journey south along the Blue. There is a city of strange beings living with dwarves and elves. They are called humans. Learn their ways." Param's voice and body fades away.

"My child, your journey begins, your rewards begin, your suffering continues."

The visions of Green Fields and paradise suddenly and abruptly fade away. "Ev, Farron says ye needs to eat."

[Unknown Soldier]

i do hope that you dont mind my intrusion of your story, but i must openly complement it. your writting is exquisite, the tale intriguing and each sentence is leaving me wondering what is going to happen. its also very roundabout, the time setting is confusing, but able to be figured out, and it ads greatly to all the parts of the story, the rewinds and flashbacks are amazing, i hope you continue to write this story in our lovely library, i greatly appreciate your contribution.

please feel free to comment on my writtings.

/me shuts the hell up and goes away.

[archmagi1]

thanks for the encouragement. i'll try to get another thrilling entry into the the life of Evram Tallfellow up this evening.

[Unknown Soldier]

beautiful beatiful, i truly do appreciate another person posting in here.. it got lonely.... please do allow yourself to wander to my thread.. i promise it will be interesting and bloody.

[archmagi1]

And since I liked US's idea of a character sheet, here is Evram as he was at the end of the last leg of his story.

http://www.thetangledweb.net/profiler/view.php?id=7255

[archmagi1]

So these were humans? Evram was amazed at the folk. Never had he seen such a diverse race. There were tall, lithe humans, much like the elves, then there were thick, stump humans, resembling dwarves. This town, Caeren it was called, was a melting pot of things Evram had never seen.

Of course, he knew not a word of the flowing, fast, capriciuosly metered language that these diverse beings spoke. Hells, his dwarven was barely even respectable. He needed to find an elf or a sage, or someone who spoke halfling around here somewhere. How was he supposed to find this Fellywiggle person if nobody even knew halfling what he was asking for?

Oh, there's something he can recognize: a beer mug! A tavern! Evram was elated, there's always a good bard or something in a tavern. Maybe they can lead him to Fellywiggle. He swung open the doors, and as he entered, he got a few long stares. Was he that foreign to these folk? Perhaps it was his tattered clothing and blood stained sickle at his side? Perhaps he was the most beautiful halfling these humans had ever seen? Ah, hells, he better stop thinking and find somebody who can speak halfling.

...

The sun was bearing down upon him. Sweat rolled over his eyes as he guided the makeshift raft along the rapids of the Blue. Evram had never been this far south before, and the thrilling boat ride was well worth the journey. He had run into a bit of trouble with a few goblin hunters a while back, and his wounds were getting a bit infected. He really needed to sleep so he could heal himself, but the river was too fun!

Something drifted across the sun over his head. He looked up, and became light headed. Flying around the sun was a beautiful creature. He had no idea what it was, some cross between a horse and an eagle. As he became queasy, he looked back down the river. Where did the river go? Evram could only see the bustling streets of a town. Strange shadows walked the streets, odd creatures he couldn't describe. Ahead was a bright, glowing door.

He walked down the street. Was he really here? What an odd place to end up... He touched the glowing door; it pulsed as his fingers pressed against the cold material. This door seemed otherworldly, yet it felt as real as his dead wife's hair. It swung open, as if someone were waiting for him. Inside was a bright room, in the center was an open book, sat high upon a pedestal. Oh, a halfling's luck... Damn pedestals...

He walked around the pedestal, and lo and behold, a stool! He climbed the pedestal and gazed upon the book. Its pages were blank, save a single word. "Fellywiggle?" Evram asked outloud. "Yes?" came a surprising reply as a shadowy figure entered the room via the glowing door.

Water splashed against his face. He shook his head as the world of glowing doors and shadowy figures subsided. "HELLS!" He was in the rocks! Evram pulled the rudder as hard as he could to his left, "TURN DAMMIT!" The raft began to swing wide, but it was too late. His head hit the water and away he went.

...

"Down the street, in the small tower with the glowing door," was the directions the dwarven barkeep had to offer.

Glowing Door? Didn't he see that door before? He turned the corner, and it flooded back to him in an instant. His dream the day he saw that flying thing. It was real. The door at the end of the alleyway glowed brightly, magic pouring out of it. The spell was beyond his knowledge, but he trusted his vision and touched it anyway. The door pulsed once and swung open, revealing a room.

"By the gods..." The room was identical to his vision, open book, tall pedestal and everything. He climbed the stool, and gazed upon the book. Here it differed; rather than a single word, there was a page full of sigils and runes. He was a bit confused, but thought back to his vision, "Fellywiggle?"

"Yes?" came a confused voice from the door to the street.

(Evram after this leg: Level 5 )

[archmagi1]

The months with this funny human went by quickly. Fellywiggle, or Felton Wigsworth as he was properly called, was a wizard of some standing with a far off nation known as Zantos. Why the wizard decided to keep the curious halfling around, Evram didn't know, but he was sure glad that Fellywiggle did. One day, after studying how the language of humans handled complex dipthongs, he dozed off... or so he thought.

As his forehead hit the table, he awoke to see a vast lake. No, wait, that was the ocean! "AMAZING!" He had never seen the ocean, and even though he was dreaming, it was as real as if he were there. He saw a dozen large wooden ships, military vessels it seemed, soaring through the waves, flying the banner of a nation he didn't recognize. The smell of brimstone assailed his senses, as a blaze of fire sped past his head and collided directly with the lead ship.

What he saw next was tremendous. Two beacons of power, humans it seemed, emerged from one of the two remaining boats and sped across the waves, past Evram to another pair of ships. These ships were sleek and fast, and flew the banner of the Half-Elves of the Nez-Mogri. "Those miscreants..." The two fliers launched fireball after fireball after fireball at the assailing Half-Elves, until only they stood, floating victoriously above the sinking rubble of battle corsairs.

A bright flash, and he was standing on a dirt street in the middle of what looked like a fort. The same banner as he saw on the twelve ships was being flown over the walls and at the docks. Then, the sweet, familiar voice of his Lady wafted into the fort. The world from across the sea reaches your coasts. Travel past Nez-Mogri to meet with the humans at this fort of New Arstrach. Evram smiled and then awoke.

...

"By the gods, you've got the foresight!" Fellywiggle was amazed. "Are you sure ye've never heard of the great nation of Arstrach before?"

"No..."

"Well, this nice mound of land over here, they call Praetor. Its just been discovered by the public across the sea. Of course my lord, miss Caeren, and her friends in the High Council have known about these lands for ages. We like to keep our secrets in Zantos, though."

"So, uh, why are ye here then?" Evram couldn't figure out why human folks liked to say ye. It was a clearly dwarven connotation of you, but the humans seemed to enjoy it.

"Oh, miss Caeren, Grand Councilor Saft, Councilman Corag and Advisor Minst have all created small settlements over here for their friends. Of course, we have powerful portals that connect to Zantos for when we feel like returning to our homelands."

"So which way is this 'fort of New Arstrach?'"

Fellywiggle pulls out a map and points to a few places. "Right to the point are you then... Well, head out east along the Blue past where the Bleak Range starts, until it is joined by a stream of the clearest water you've ever seen. Head north, past the springs and back down into the plains. Follow the foothills east and south until you meet the sea. Follow the coast east and you'll run into the fort somewhere."

Evram grabs his empty sack and bids farewell to his human friend, and sets off along the banks of the Blue.