Intro/Chapter 1

Great heroes travel here to find
Proof of wisdom and soundness of mind
You’ve passed the trial of technique
But you have one more item to seek
Find the crystal with aura of night
Answer five inquiries right
Do this well, and rewards you shall reap;
The necklace of wisdom will be yours to keep.

The wind whipped through the frigid, snow-covered cliffs of lower Ossyria. Blurry vortices of snow swirled around the valley, like miniature white twisters. Even in June, the El Nath region was as cold as ever, and all but inhabitable to most creatures. The Yeti family and certain varieties of wolf, however, made their home in these lands. These monsters, combined with the cold, meant that most people avoided veturing far away from town.

Today was no exception. Most of the cliffs showed no signs of man. The day was especially cold, even for El Nath, but the monsters could move about as they wished, equipped with nature’s adaptations. Thus, balls of fur dotted every cliff and canyon. Save for one valley in the southern part of the region.

At first glance, the valley looked unremarkable, much like every other valley in the region, ignoring the obvious lack of wildlife. Indeed, in many ways it was an ordinary valley. But upon entering the valley one would notice that the biting cold became less apparent, and the wind itself seemed to recede. The valley was holy ground, a legendary site from a distant time. No one knew for sure what had happened here, for the events had faded from history. But to the average traveler, it was enough to know that the valley was sacred and most monsters would not approach it.

On this particular day, two figures stood at one end of said valley, one taller than the other. The taller one carried a sword strapped to his back and looked like he was in his early thirties. The shorter one, a girl of about seventeen, wore a wristguard on her left arm, on which Nimble-1 was inscribed. The girl carried a small bag over her shoulder. Both wore winter cloaks to combat the weather.

“Ryn.”
“Yes?”
“You brought the Offering?”
“Of course.”
“Hand it to me.”

After fumbling in her bag, the girl produced a small, obsidian-black crystal, which gleamed with a strange and unearthly luster. She wordlessly pressed it into the sword man’s hand.

“Wait here.” She obeyed, and he walked into the sacred valley with the crystal.

Some time passed, during which the girl occupied herself with staring into the snowstorm. She watched the swirls of ice crystals, stirred afloat by the gusts.

She heard a noise, and became alert. Almost immediately she found the source of the sound: a small, or “Jr.”, yeti, with dark fur instead of white. She watched as it wandered around the snowfield. After a while, it seemed to catch sight of something and scurried into the valley.

Kennan should be back by now…

Deciding there would be no harm in checking on him, she entered the valley.

She found the swordsman standing in front of the sacred stone. At its base was a sort of crystal-holder, made of the same rock as the stone, on which their dark crystal was placed. The crystal-holder, as well as the holy stone and the air around Kennan’s body, glowed pale blue. His eyes were closed. This must be it, she realized. It’s the trial of wisdom, he’s communicating with the rock.

Sensing that she should leave and wait for him to finish, she started to turn back. She had not gone far before she nearly tripped over what looked like the Jr. yeti from before. That’s weird… monsters are supposed to avoid this valley because it’s holy and stuff… She prodded it with her shoe; it retreated to the edge of the rock clearing.

With a start, she realized its body was changing. The dark-furred creature grew to three times its size. A pair of large arms appeared, as well as a horn atop its head. It had morphed into a fully-grown yeti, and was coming toward her. She cursed.

Kennan’s probably still in that thing… I’ll have to handle this by myself. She drew her sword, a yellow-tinted, lightweight blade meant for warriors-in-training. It was an Eloon-42, and a very inadequate weapon for fighting a yeti with. Still, it was the best she had at the moment, and she would have to use it.

Ryn lunged forward, deftly avoiding its initial blow. Her sword thrust made contact with the yeti’s left arm and just barely pierced the skin. Moaning, it swung its other arm at her. She saw the punch coming too late and tried to put her wristguard arm between the yeti’s blow and her body. A massive claw rammed into her, knocking her back a few feet. The wristguard took much of the impact. Unfortunately, so did her arm, which now felt like it was burning. She thought she’d heard a crack, and winced.

It charged at her. She ducked a strike and swung at its legs. Unfortunately, it lacked the power to do much damage and her sword merely glanced off its skin. Somehow, she scrambled out from under the yeti. She had to find Kennan; she couldn’t take it on by herself.

She cautiously retreated, Eloon at the ready. The yeti came at her. She swung and missed. It flinched, buying her some time which she used to back further away. She glanced backward, and caught a glimpse of a bluish glow. The holy stone! Somehow, she had to reach it.

She whispered, “Blessing of Amazon”, and her senses sharpened a little. Soon the yeti was on her again. A large fist narrowly missed her; another collided with her sword, knocking the wind out of her. Regaining her composure, she lifted her Eloon ready to strike. She felt some sort of power gather within her sword. Not knowing what it was, but sensing it would cause no harm to her, she swung at the monster.

Some otherworldly force seemed to impel her sword as it cut through fur, skin, flesh. The next moment, Ryn found herself staring at a large gash in the yeti’s chest. Did I just do that? She stood there dumbfounded for what seemed like an eternity. Then, something snapped inside her head. She dropped her sword, turned tail, and ran.

“Kennan. Kennan!”

It shouldn’t take this long… c’mon Kennan, hurry! Although she’d wounded the yeti, it was far from dead, and she knew it. It would be not far behind. What’s taking him so long..?

She heard a moan. Too late. The yeti had caught up, and with reinforcements. Ryn eyed the small cluster of dark-furred Jr. yetis. Several of them, all potentially able to morph into the adult version, in addition to the already grown one, seeking revenge for its wound.

The large yeti slammed a fist into the ground, causing a rippling shockwave that knocked Ryn off her feet. Two Jr. yetis promptly jumped onto her and clung on, clawing and scratching. Somehow she managed to pick herself up and pry one of them off her.

Meanwhile, the earthquake attack that knocked Ryn down also jolted the dark crystal. For a split second, it hovered in the air before plopping back into position. But the split second was enough. The crystal turned a dull greenish-brown color, and the glow faded.

Just as Ryn took care of the second Jr. yeti, she heard a yelp and the sound of steel hitting stone, followed by the shriek of a yeti in pain. Kennan! With a swing of his sword, Kennan scattered the Jr.’s and turned to the big one, which he stabbed in the heart.

Ryn glanced at the rock, and back at him. “Did you—”

“No. We’ll have to find another crystal.”

The two travelers started to walk back toward the town of El Nath.