Velth goes on an adventure part two!

Velth continues on his quest for the great Fire Mountain of the West Coast. Ten minutes in he almost dies again. THis time by otters! :D Enjoy!

Velth belongs to Velth. All other npcs are mine.

The otter beats savagely against the fox's shield the twists his body to avoid the thrust, leaping back from being impaled through the torso.

The other beasts move in quickly, the female otter on the right trying to sweep at the fox's legs with her spear, the other trying to stab him side.

Trying desperately to ward off the attacks, and unable to retreat to a better fighting position because of the rat he's protecting, the fox manages to catch the one blow on his shield, though at the cost of losing his balance. He goes down hard on one knee, holding his shield over his head to protect him, before rallying and lashing out at the female otter with his spear point, hoping to drive her off.

The otter nimbly leaps over the attacking spear as the lead otter once again attacks the fox, sending a kick at his shield to knock it over. "Surrender now and we will spare you life fox!" He shouts as he kicks in a very un-sparing ones life way.

Velth is driven down by the blow, his spear becoming useless as he falls on top of it. He flails for his sword, but is blocked by his own shield. In a final desperate act he hurls the shield away from himself, half in defeat and half still trying to fight.

The otter let's out a muffled shout as the shield beats him in the face. The warriors fall backwards distracts even the other two otters. "H-hey!" Shouts the other male otter before stepping backward in pure relex. The remaining female warrior hisses and spins her spear above her head before trying to smack the fox upside the head.

Velth folds his arms over his head, protecting himself from the blow, though there's a rather painful crack as his forearm takes the blow. Now thoroughly defeated, his last gambit having nearly, but not quite, paid out enough to give him a second wind, the fox calls out in pain and desperation, "I yield, I yield!!"

The otter seems to hesitate after hearing the fox plead for mercy, sparing him a rather painfull follow up strike. Instead she levels the business end of the spear at the vulpine making sure he doesn't trying anything funny with out getting a wooden spike to the muzzle.

The first otter still trying to get his barrings with a broken muzzle the job of taking care of the rat falls to the second male otter. He steps around the fox quickly catching up to the rat who by then has crawled his way to his cross bow. The otter kicks it away, rolling the rat onto his back.

"Please! Mercy! I yield! I yield!"

"Mercy? You want mercy? Did those beasts beg for mercy too, /slaver scum/?"

"No! Please I-" The rat lets out one last pitiful squeak as the otter drives his spear into his belly, pinning him to the floor. The rat leaps up as much as the spear allows, clutching at the instrument of his destruction before the otter rips the weapon free. With out looking back at the rat the otter turns and faces their new captive with a bloodied weapon in paw.

Velth thunks his head down on the floor, and keeps his paws away from the shortsword at his hip. Refraining from commenting on the dishonorable display of killing an incapacitated opponent, he looks up at the otter menacing him, and asks blankly, "So?"

Taken aback by the fox's cool demenore the otter's eyes flash with anger. The last thing Velth sees is the but of a spear coming in a wide arch swing for the side of his head.

How much time passes is un certain. It's hard to tell when one is tied to a spear and carried between two otters. The third is carrying the fox's gear while holding a rag to his broken nose.

The beasts are moving deeper into the forrest with tall leafless trees high over head, and a well used path underfoot. In the distance there can be seen the smoke of many campires around the bend ahead in the woods.

Throughout the trip, Velth hangs limply. Even at the point he's regained enough consciousness to be aware of his surroundings and struggle, he doesn't bother, aside from testing his bonds a bit in a half hearted attempt to releive the pain from his wrists. Thankfully, his arm is only bruised and not broken, or else his position would be agonizing, though he still isn't in good shape. With a bruised shin, knee, and arm, a second concusion in less than a month, and now the ropes cutting his wrists and ankles, he doubts he could run even if he managed to get free.

The otters round the bend, bringing the fox to the gates of a small village. The term is missleading as the camp stretches out in many directions. It may not be as large as Ferrivale, or even the Abbey, but the number of smoke plumes rising up from camp fires suggest that there are a good number of beasts to populate the many wooden huts that appear before the fox.

Otters of all shapes and sizes glance at Velth as he is carried through their village. They have the same tribal look as his captors. A few squirrels and the occasional hare appear here or there but they are rare at best.

The otters move the fox towards the center of camp where the largest of the huts looms before him.

Velth does his best to keep track of the route they take into the village, and any details about the beasts or buildings they pass that might be useful to him. He's no idea what he's wanted for though, and doubts his gods ability to save him after their last let down.

"Time to wake up fox," The otter with the broken nose jabs Velth's side with the but of his spear, "For now you face the mercy of Vrasku Swifttail!" The cloth door parts to let the beasts inside the cheiftain's hut.

The wooden structure is surprisingly spacious with a hole in the top to let in light, or let smoke out when one wishes to light a fire in the center. A pair of guards stand at their post at the door. Unlike the other otters these ones are wearing red robe like tunics and their spears have copper points.

At the far end of the room, laying sprawled out over a bed of cushions is Vrasku Swiftail. They say that it's wrong to judge a beast based on appearence alone, but one thing is for sure. There is nothing swift about Swifttail at all.

It's hard to tell what species the bloated slug of a beast is that greets the fox with a pleasent smile, until one's eyes realize they are looking at the fattest, heavy set otter in mossflower. Wooden bracelets decorate the otters writs and ankles. A red cloth sash decorates the beasts waist under several rolls of flesh and a wooden bead vest rests across his chest. He wears a crown made of wood with a single red ruby inladed in the middle.

Behind him a pair of otters fan the chieftian while another feeds him grapes.

The warrior otters cut Velth loose, letting him drop to the floor.

Velth hits the ground gracelessly with a thunk like several sacks of potatoes, and slowly rolls over, getting up onto all fours, then finally and deliberately to his feet. He seems to take a moment to readjust to being upright, and his ankles nearly give out, but he managed to hold the position long enough to feel some life painfully coursing back through his sore joints. Composing himself a bit, he raises an eyebrow at the otter, and smiles back a bit, bowing as far as he can without getting dizy, "I'm grateful for the opportunity to test your hospitality." He says.

Picking his teeth clean of grapes Vrasku chuckles, "We do try. Welcome to our humble village, Pike, fox. Why are you here?" This last question is directed to the otters who captured Velth.

"The slavers fled at the sight of us, after we hunted them down and slew them we came back to their camp to make sure none survived. We found this...vermin there."

"Huh." Vrasku responds, "He makes an awefully large rat, wouldn't yuou say." The beasts in the hut chuckle, some forcefully at the otter.

"He attacked us in aid with one of the slavers." She guestures to the warrior with the broken nose.

"Ah see...how odd. Redpaw has only been seen with rats so far...are you a mercenary fox?" this last question is, obviously, directed at Velth. "Why are you here?"

Velth squares his shoulders a bit. "I intend to acquire a weapon from the badger lord." He announces, "And I'll not stop haunting his doorstep until I have. As for the slavers... I can only guess you mean the rat. I found him near death when I got back to the church, and it's a dishonor not to show hospitality to a stranger, even on the road." He shrugs, letting his shoulders droop a bit, "I didn't know what he was till after he was dead."

The otter behind Velth scoffs, "Right, right. Likely story. Do you really expect us to believe that?" She chides. All three otters chuckle, at least until they realize that the chief isn't chuckling either.

At least not at first.

Slowly Vrasku sits up in his chair, "I believe you." Then he begins to laugh, "I also believe you to be utterly mad little fox. Thankfully though, that is not a crime. Attacking my warriors though...well. We can decide your fate later during your trial. Guards, throw this mangy mut..." The otter smiles, "A feast! Capital idea. Make sure his belly is full and his wounds are tended too before his trial. After all, he is tending our hospitality and we wouldn't want to dissapoint."

"At least until we execute him." He gestures for the guards to do just so before grabbing a drink for a large wine gobblet. The two burly otter guards move to grab the fox by either arm.

Velth nods in satisfaction and agreement with the otter's decision, "I'd be more than honored; a drink before dying, or a toast to life!" He willingly goes along with his new escorts, waving back at the otter, "I'll see you at the trial, then!"

This prompts a smile in the chieftain but no one else. As the fox is dragged away Vrasku returns to his busy schedual of running a village, which appears to involve dinner...

If Elena was here she would have made the comparasin between being a captive for Slade and the otters. For starters they sent the beast first to the healers hut. After his wounds were dressed by a very stern looking elderly otter the guards then marched the fox towards a small hut devoid of furnature beyond a small cloth bed roll on the dirt floor and a cloth mat filled with a smorgus board of food. Fish, rice, and fruits and enough to keep even a hare full and happy. There are no knives or forks but only a pair of chop sticks to eat the food with. The guards toss the fox in and lock the wooden door behind him.

It's quite a nice arrangement, more than he would have even expected back at home. The fox settles in a bit awkardly before the food, sniffing at it before tucking it to enjoy the first hot meal in a while. He's careful not to overeat, knowing full well he might not be able to talk his way out of his current situation, but makes sure to put a dent in everything, and continues nibbling as he settles back, considering his next move.

You room-page, "lol! I don't plan to do too many time gaps in the near future :3"

It is about here that a pair of eyes appears before the fox, glancing at him through a hole in the side of the hut, large enough to shove a beasts paw through but small enough they can't fit their head in. The pair of eyes look smaller, younger and are in compitition with another beast.

"Quit hogging the hole! Let me see!"

"You'll see when I'm done! Now sush! Or someone will hear you!" the younger voices whisper to each other.

Velth glances over at the noise, cocking his head curiously at the partially visible faces. "Hullo there?" He says, trying to sound as mildly jovial as he can. One paw fidgets, nervously. He's never had much experience or care for little ones, though this would certainly be a poor time to make enemies.

The air is filled with the sound of silence as the two younger otters realize they have been caught. "Um...hello!" One otter replies. He tries to peer inside at the fox, "Are you...are you a real fox?"

"Of course he isn't a real fox, he's not red!" chitters the unsean otter.

Velth smiles in return, "Of course I'm a real fox!" He says, swishing his tail around to make it more visible, "What other beast has a tail like this? Or ears like these?" He asks, tugging on his own ears to prove they're not false.

I don't recognise that name.

"Let me see! Let me see!" The otter moves to let his smaller friend or possibly brother look inside. "I thought foxes were bigger?"

"Maybe he's a runt? That's Willow called him."

Velth makes a comically upset face, "I'm not a runt! I'm only a bit smaller than normal... and normal artics are a little smaller than normal reds..." He says, growing less confident with each passing word. "Did you just come to stare?" He asks the pair.

"Yep, he's a runt. Like you!"

"Hey!" Says the smaller otter as he moves aside for the larger, "And, we didn't mean to be rude. We just never seen a fox before...and Willow described you as a big scary beast when we asked how he got his nose broke!"

"He told us to stay away from this hut so...naturally we came to see for ourselves!"

Velth chuckles, knowing that sort of logic first hand. "Well, if anyone asks how he got his nose broken, you make sure to tell them I was the stoutest, strongest fox you ever saw." He replies, drawing his legs together to more comfortably sit and converse with the otters. "I figure he'd like that, even if it wasn't true."

"Heh, you'll be stoutest for sure if you keep eating all that food." The otter chuckles at his own poor joke. "I'm sure Willow would like that either way. He won't admit it but he's hoping it will scar and make him look fearsome."

The otters chuckle for a moment then a silence once again falls upon the pair, "Hey, Jeki, what do you think they are going to do with the fox?" The youngest otter asks.

"I don't know Ikko..."

"You don't think they are going to throw him into the cave...are they? Like the /others/?"

Velth pricks his ears at the two, "The cave? Well that sounds ominous. Are there trolls in there?" He asks.

"I don't know. We arn't allowed inside," Jeki shrugs beyond the hole, "I just know that they lead rats in there and they never come-"

"Ikko! Jeki! What do you think you are doing?" comes a loud shout.

"Gottagobye." the otter replies before he rushes off amid a stern scolding from an unseen otter. About the same time the sound of the door can be heard unlocking behind Velth.

The outside world is blocked by the sight of two otters. One is Willow with a bandage over his broken nose and the female otter from before.

Velth turns to face the two otters, not yet rising from his position, but instead perking up a bit to greet them, "Ah, there they are; the triumphant heroes! Where's your friend?" He inquires, trying to be as mild and pleasant as he can.

Willow scowls, "-e dun need m're than two to d'el wid da likes of you!" His companion rolls her eyes, "Blazes Willow, will you let me do the talkin?" She shakes her head before addressing the fox, "You. Fuzz tail. The chief is ready to see you now. You are to be...judged. Come with us quietly. If you attempt to flee your life is forfit."

Velth shrugs, getting up, "All the same. I'd hate to fail returning the favors he's shown me so far." He quietly approaches the two otters, letting them decide how to place him for their escort. "Hope your jaw's not too bad." He comments to Willow, "It didn't quite pay out for me either." He says.

"Worry about my spear arm fox," the otter gestures meanicingly with his spear pointing for the beast to follow between himself and the female otter, "And Aata's sling. She can knock the eyes off of a bee at thirty yards."

Aata rolls her eyes but says nothing. "Just keep moving...please. The sooner we get this done the better." She gestures with her own spear for the fox to move through the village, towards a different, smaller path leading deeper into the snow covered woods.

The trio continue on in silence. Other village members watch the fox paraded through their home, some with scorn but other more elderly otters who actually know where the fox is going reguard him with...pity?

The otters continue down the trail which twists and winds through the forrest of lifeless trees until the trail moves upward a small hill. It eventually ends at the mouth of a cave highlighted by the red tunics of two guards standing at either side.

"Do you usually hold a trial in sight of the chopping block?" Velth inquires as they draw closer to the cave, hoping to get a clue as to whether he should just try bolting for the woods.

Aata glances away from the fox but says nothing. They draw ever closer to the cave which looks like a caping maw rising from the earth to consume them. Inside torches can be seen marking a path through the twisting caverns.

Oh if only the fox knew...

The cave doesn't turn out to be that deep nor long. The passage way is wide and spacious, the results of some underground river now long gone. It eventaully opens into a rather large cavern.

The cavern is round in structure with a sizable hole or pite in the center. A pool of water fills the pit up to the brim with a small natural walkway reaching into the indoor lake.

There are more guards here. About four in all counting Willow and Aata. Although the fith otter in the cave Vrasku could easily count as the sixth as well.

The large bellied chieftain stands near the edge of the lake, half turning to gesture for the fox to come near, "Come! Come my friend. I want to tell you a story before we get your trial under way."

Velth hesitantly strolls over to the cheiftain, reluctant to get within paw reach or too close to the water. After all, there's no need to be foolish here. "It would be a pleasure." He replies, as pleasantly as he can.

The otter smiles, going to put a paw on the fox's shoulder, either to comfort him or keep him from running away. "A long time ago, back before my father's father walked the earth the village took in a fox, much like yourself. Minus the white fur of course. He was wounded by bandits and our people, before we learned the wily ways of vermin, took him in. We tended his injuries, fed him, clothed him. Welcomed him like one of our own."

The otter takes a deep breath, "Unfortunetly we both know that at the end of the day, he was a fox and he saw the jewels of the chieftains crown, oh, I forgot to mention that part. Sorry, I do forget. See the cheiftain's crown back then had this giant, red ruby adorned on it. It was a priceless gem, one which the fox craved to have his own. So he took it."

"The villagers of course found out and pursued him, they hunted down the fox to this very cave. In the ensuing scuffle the fox dropped the ruby into this underground lake to where it still rests. Look closely fox and you can still see it...and why we call this village Pike."

The otter points to the water. It is the purest, clearest water one has ever seen, allowing the viewers to glance downward to the very bottom of the hundred foot cavern...and the monsters that inhabit it.

Pike swim in droves around the lake, hunting smaller fish.

"In an effort to save his own life the fox appologized and begged for a chance to make it up to the village." The otter concludes, "So, our village, being the mercifull people it was...gave him that chance. They promissed to let him live...if he returned the ruby. And then threw him in the lake. And thus began the Trial by Strength. The same trial we give to all the foxes, rats, and vermin scum that breach our walls." The otter turns to Velth, crossing his arms, "So fox, think you are fast enough to outswim pike, or should we just execute you..."

Velth stares into the water, silently, for a while, before he finally says, "I've fought bare handed against the ulfhedin, crossed the wide ocean, dared the grim patron, and set my eyes on the mountain of fire..." He sighs, and takes his necklace off his neck, kissing it and cradling it in his hands, "No, I'm not fast enough. If dive I must, dive I will, but I offer you a trade instead. My life is worth sparing; both my gods and your own warriors will attest to that. It's obviously not by any strength of limbs that I came this far; therefore you know my gods stood by me. Even your own warriors will testify to my valor; when captured, I stood and fought when I could have ran and hid. No slaver, their, or murderer thinks of ought but their own skin." He holds out his necklace to the cheiftain, "I've nothing to offer you; what hospitality you've shown me is all I've received in many days. But I'll trade you this necklace for my life; it means the world to me, and I'm loathe to part with it, but I'd rather it be

"But I'll trade you this necklace for my life; it means the world to me, and I'm loathe to part with it, but I'd rather it be with you, than in a well."

A long, horrible silence follows after the fox's speach which carries even more weight with the accustics of the cave. The otter stares at the fox, then stares at the amulate, then back to the fox. Vrasku glances towards his guards, one of which gestures to 'push him in already'.  )

The fox has no idea what he just did to the otter. As chief it's his job, his duty to deal with the threats a fox would bring.

But...

"I must say...those are...those are some very fancy words. Alas, your species is known for their hollow, fancy words. Only a fool would take the word of a fox."

The guards ready their spears. They take a step forward to help 'encourage' Velth to take a swim with the flesh eating pike. The guards nearly collapse when the cheif continues.

"Actions though, speak louder than words." The cheif coughs into his paw to give himself some time to word this correctly, "You claim to have honor. As an honorable people ourselves, it would be rude not to give you a chance to prove your words to be true. I will give you a week to do so. You will be free to move about the village, with an escort, and after such a time, if you can find me even five beasts to say you should be spared, I will let you live."

The otter raises his voice, wagging a finger at Velth, "But so help me if you step out of line even once, or fail to get even one less beast to vouch for you, I will tie rocks to your tail and throw you in yourself!"

Velth cannot help cracking a grin at the cheiftain's announcement, "I'll not disappoint you!" He says, confidently, returning his necklace to its rightful place, "I assume I cannot send away for testimonies?" He says.

The big otter wraps a paw around the fox's shoulders as he begins to lead him away from the big swirling pool of DEATH, "You would assume correctly. And, just to make sure that you don't skip out on your punishment...you will surrender your amulet. You know, for safe keeping. It will be returned after your...heh heh...trial. Assuming you are still here to give it back to..."

Velth pulls a bit of a face, but undoes his necklace without complaint, and passes it over to the cheiftain, "As you wish. With any luck, it will see its way back into my paws. It always has..." He says, more for his own benefit.