Raven awoke suddenly, gasping for air as the icy cold water splashed him in the face. He shot to his feet in a trained battle stance sputtering and coughing from the rude awakening. The locks of his shoulder length hair were soaked and matted to his face. In one swift and practiced motion he ran his gigantic hand through his hair as the water found its way into his beard. He cursed and reached behind himself to retrieve his hammer. “I’ll flatten you for that!” he shouted, looking around for his tormentor. Seeing no one he dropped his guard and looked around confused.
His hammer was not in its place on his back. As he attempted to wring the water from his braided beard his hair fell back into his face, bringing his senses sharply into focus as he now realized he was without his helm as well. In the event he was being watched he did not want to appear panicked about his missing gear. After all, any Norn could kill several men, Grawl, or even ogres without the use of a weapon. He glanced around and could not suppress a smile when he saw his war hammer sticking out of the ground by its handle and atop it his helm.
“So it was you who so rudely awoke me from my slumber.” he said with a mighty bellowing laugh that caused the nearby tree to tremble, the wet snow to fall off in clumps to the ground. An Asura stood leaning her shoulder against his gear lazily and seemingly unconcerned about the towering Norn.
“Sorry Bookah,” she said, “I tried to wake you conventionally, but when you wouldn’t stir I feared you were injured. I almost left you for dead, until you began snoring and since this area is crawling with pirates just southwest below the snow line here, I thought you might be sleeping off too much ale or worse suffering from a head injury. When I removed your helm, I saw the knot on your head and decided that melted snow would be my best bet for rousing you from your slumber.” she concluded, with the annoying self-righteous confidence that Asura are known for.
“So you removed my helm and somehow managed to pull the hammer from its straps on my back? That must have taken incredible exertion little one. I’m sure the hammer weighs more than you do.” he chuckled again.
“Don’t be absurd Bookah,” she replied, “I didn’t pull that hammer from your back, my minion did,” she said pointing behind him.
The Norn looked over his shoulder and shrugged at the sight of the Flesh Golem snorting and generally looking mindless. “That would do it I suppose,” he said as he closed the gap between himself and the Asura in two long strides, “now if you’ll excuse me little one.” he said, as he retrieved his helm and hammer. Fitting snugly in the palm of his hand he could not suppress a wince as he placed the horned helm back on his head. He had not noticed before but it was clear he had been struck in the head. The blow was strong enough to have knocked him out, he suspected it must have been an ogre who struck him. “No matter, I shall find the offending ogre and thrash him for his troubles, he will be lucky if I let him leave with his life.” the Norn boasted.
“ I’ve found no tracks to indicate an ogre had a hand in this Bookah.” the Asura replied haughtily.
Annoyed with being called Bookah for a second time the Norn spoke, “My friends call me Raven,” he said, “and let me worry about tracking the one who so cowardly attacked me. Lornar’s Pass is well-known to me, the pirates give me wide birth and the dredge are only a threat to my knee caps.” he added.
“Very well Bookah… I mean Raven,” the Asura corrected at the glare coming from the towering Norn, “I am called Loola, my Krewe refer to me as Nix.” she added.
“Nix?” he asked. “That seems a funny name for an Asura.” he added, smiling at his new acquaintance.
“Well, it’s their way of trying to poke fun at me, as when I disagree with them in our research I am fond of saying, “Nix that,” she said using her hands to indicate quotation marks in the air to emphasize her point.
Raven laughed again, “And you let them get away with such jokes?”
The pale skin of her forehead wrinkled, “Let them get away with it? I encourage it,” she replied, “because if I say it I am always right and they know this too. I’ve even taken to signing my works with Nix as part of my name in the archives.” she giggled.
“Very well Nix, where are you headed?” Raven asked as he looked around for footprints.
“Still looking to extract a pound of flesh for whomever knocked you out?” Nix asked.
“You know it friend not to mention the silver I will need to fix this dent,” he said, wincing again as the knot on his head throbbed. “The Smith in Venison Valley is a personal friend but still she doesn’t work for free and Norn-Steel is not easily dented so removing it will be costly.”
She shook her head, “You will find no tracks though there is still snow on the ground. There is far too much rock to have left an impression. I was just west of here a while ago helping Leandra fight off dredge, my minions and a few other travelers made short work of them. When their ranks broke into retreat I entered Death Shroud to give chase and kill a few more,” she said smacking her open palm with a closed fist, the blood lust evident in her large Asuran eyes.
“That’s when I decided to get the lay of the land from that cliff face to the north,” she said pointing over her shoulder. “My ears picked up on mechanic noise in this general area. Judging by the noise, the conical impression to your Dolyak helm, the absence of blade impression and the knot on your head I’d say you were laid out by a Dredge Mining Suit who quickly tunneled away.” she stated all of this as fact not a mere hypothesis.
“You sound confident Nix,” Raven chided, “you’d make an excellent traveling companion for a Norn. Come I see we are just north of Skylady’s Memory. We can be at Vanjir’s Stead in the Venison Pass before lunch time. Henrick always has excellent stew and I’m so hungry I could eat a Dolyak by myself. Come!” he said beckoning to her as he strode away.
With the wave of her little hand and a slight green glow of necromantic energy the flesh golem crumpled to the ground. She broke into a run and flipped landing deftly on the calf of the moving Norn, grabbed the haft of his hammer and sprang to perch on his shoulder.
“Looking for a free ride Nix?” he asked.
“It’s the least you can do Raven,” she said with a smirk, “who knows how light your purse might have been had those pirates found you and not me?”
His laugh was loud and echoed slightly louder than the sound of his large boots crunching in the snow and stone. In no time at all they were out of the snowy foothills of Lornar’s Pass and into the valley below. As she clung to the Doylak horn of his helm she spoke directly into his ear, “Shouldn’t we maintain a westerly course along the road here and go by Guutra’s Homestead? I noticed it on my map and despite its proximity to the lake and the pirates therein it would surely be safer than wandering so close to Grogshadow Kenning I’ve heard rumors the Jotun have been somewhat disgruntled as of late.” she recited as if she had just heard a town crier issue the news.
“Nix that, Nix,” Raven replied with a chuckle, chiding his new friend with his joke, “what your map seems to be missing is the green valley pass between us and the Jotun encampment. I have a headache or I’d be more than happy to rumble with the Jotun, they are always good for a brawl or two. So it seems your Asuran Cartographer failed to explore the entire region Nix.” he chuckled again. “Besides that Guutra is a fickle one and unless you are of the Order of Whispers he refuses to let you in. There is a way to let yourself in if you know the ways of the Order. But, I do not do so unless it’s an emergency. The Pact is fragile enough without borrowing trouble between the orders.”
“Nope, as it happens I bought this map from a human vendor in Lion’s Arch as I forgot to bring one from home. As if an Asuran would ever make such an obvious mistake on something so simple as Cartography.” she declared.
“Of course not, because the Asura never cause any cataclysmic problems,” Raven said, “I was there in the Metrica Province shortly after the reactor meltdown and if I’m not mistaken, there is still an enormous fire elemental that randomly materializes there.” he said looking to his shoulder to see that Nix was listening.
“You must be Priory,” she said haughtily, “because it is only their studies that continue to bring that up.”
“As it happens friend, I am with the Priory, but I am not a scholar…” he began but was cut short.
“That much is apparent,” Nix interrupted, “a scholar wouldn’t have been up on that rock facing to begin with, well at least not without a dig crew and guards.”
Raven shrugged his shoulders with exaggeration to unseat his passenger. She wavered but did not fall, “I guess you could say I am one of the enforcers of the group, if something needs my particular brand of negotiation to see our goals through then I’m the Norn to do it.” he said with a laugh.
Nix looked around and noticed that they were now in a narrow canyon carved between the foothills of the mountains that Raven had mentioned. Her keen ears twitched as she could hear the Jotun in the next pass over. “My ears,” she said, “you were right it seems we skirted the Jotun and saved some time by this route. And just what do you mean by negotiation Norn are not known for their diplomacy.
“That is easy friend, Gixx says I’m an expert at hostile negotiations which of course just means people tend to see my point of view when I’m wielding my hammer and if they do not. Well I simply become hostile and show them the error of their ways.”
Nix giggled and flattened her ears, she could feel vibrations coming from beneath her before she could hear him chanting. She quickly recognized the chant as one of retreat and knew that the Norn sought to make up time. She slipped her small hand under an exposed piece of leather that kept the Norn pauldrons in place. She leaned in and yelled in his ear as an Asuran waypoint came into view. “Why didn’t you tell me there was a waypoint here? We could have used it without having to walk or run at all!”
The Norn laughed, “How can one build their legend or uphold their reputation by taking the safest and fastest way from one place to another? Besides I did all of the walking and running, so you shouldn’t complain.” he said.
“Norn, you’re all alike seeking to build your own glory when there are smarter ways to do things!” she retorted. A few more long strides and the Norn’s pace began to return to normal though he was still running. He was clearly not chanting anymore.
“You’re not tired already are you?” she chided.
“Of course not little one, but you see if my friends were to see me come running at that rate, they might assume that something I cannot defeat is chasing me. My legend is well-known here, I’d hate for them to raise an unnecessary alarm or think that I required aid from some dragon spawn foe. That would be not only hard for them to believe but irresponsible for a hero of my caliber.” he added.
“And everyone accuses Asura of delusions of grandeur.” she barked.
“Ah yes friend, but for Asura they are delusions for a Norn they are proven fact. Just ask any bard singing by a Norn hearth.” Within seconds it seemed they were standing before a lodge. Though it had no sign it was clear if one looked to the camp nearby that many travelers stopped to rest up here before trudging into the snowy peaks of Lornar’s Pass.
The smell of venison stew hung in the air Raven inhaled deeply and dramatically exhaled. “I’m famished, come let’s find something to eat and perhaps a Norn Ale as well. None brewed better since the likes of the Dwarves.
“You might be better served fixing that helmet of yours first Raven.” Nix suggested.
“Ah Anas!” Raven exclaimed as he stopped by the fur clad Norn, “How much to repair this dent?” he inquired.
“Two and half silver,” she said, barely taking time to look at the dent.
“You say that for almost every repair I bring you!” Raven said handing her the helm.
“It’s because you do so much damage to them, for one who enjoys telling tales, you certainly seem to bang up your gear.” she replied adding his helm to her work bench.
“Tales?” Nix inquired.
“Ah yes my little one,” Anas replied a little surprised to see the Asura looking down at her from Raven’s shoulder, “our friend here is quite the bard, well-known in this camp for consuming large quantities of ale and spinning tales. There’s usually a pot going as to the truth in his tales.” she smiled happily. “I won the last pot. Turns out the big oaf was telling the truth! Who’d have known?” she winked at Raven.
“Ah yes,” Raven replied, “the Tale of the Skull Lab. If memory serves, my friend Lord Omnicron confirmed the legitimacy of that tale and by the way he says you still owe him for his cut in the winnings. Watch that one, he has a long memory and never forgets especially where is wealth is impacted.” Raven replied with a playful nudge. “How long until the helm is repaired?” he inquired.
“It should be done by sunrise tomorrow,” Anas replied, “provided you have the coin?”
“So no discounts?” Raven asked hopefully.
“Of course not,” she replied, “not even for the warrior bard of Raven’s Tall Tales. That will buy you ale in this outpost but not services.” she concluded.
“Good then the first ale is on you?” he asked tossing her three silver coins.
“Since you’ve paid a few coppers too much, I’ll be glad to buy the first round.” she smiled tucking the coins into her coin purse.
“See you by the campfire,” he replied as they made their way to the heavenly smell of venison stew.
“Raven’s Tall Tales?” Nix asked. “It sounds like you are well-known around here and none of the travelers can readily tell if you’re making the entire thing up or not.” she said as she nudged his large head with her elbow.
“Ah yes my new friend, there’s the rub isn’t it? Perhaps if you’re so inclined to spend a few days you might hear a tale or two and try your hand at the pot for the gamblers. I warn you though, it takes a few drinks to coax me into it, well if I play the game properly it does.”
“I will be all too happy to take their coin, it seems I am quite the gambler myself and I can usually tell when someone is bluffing.” she said.
“We shall see my new friend.” Raven said as she hopped from his shoulder near the campfire. “We shall see.”
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