Back to the Tribal Listing

Back to the Timeline

Nidus Ryslen Flurry 2007

Udli is a male GoBack.

Soul Name: Heoo
Who else knows name: no one
Mate: Lovemated to more than one partner (K'yx, female, sickly) and (Skat, male, presumed dead)
Child: Moyahma, female, died; Duna, male, infatuated; Ysoo, female, dead

Mother: Inguren, abusive; Father: Ongth, missing
Siblings: Brother: Sybhiek, older, distant; Sister: Kuei, older, long dead

Skin: a pawprint in violet tattooed on their right upper arm, on fair skin with a noticable scar on their left thigh
Hair: auburn red; Style: naturally wavy; Length: down to their waist
Eyes: burnt ocher
Age: an Adult
Born in Whitecold/Late Winter

Stats
Strength: High
Dexterity: Low
Agility: Below Average
Health: High
Size: typical of most male elves in build
Intelligence: Below Average
Appearance: High
Charisma: Average
Magic Power: Low

Magic Powers
Sending: Below Average; Magic Feeling: Below Average
Fire Shaping: High

Skills
Throwing/Casting (lines, nets): Extremely High
Hunting (general): Below Average
Physical/Body Communication-Scent and Posture Reading: Average
Animal Lore/Sea Creatures: Average
Hunting - Spurred Chain: Very High
Ranged - Crossbow: Very High
Against Trolls - wood and metal, large shield: Average

Not bonded, female, large, big enough for more than one elf to ride, elk with a small rack
Ride Deer: Extremely High

He enjoys collecting Onyx.

***

Nyidar is a male GoBack. (nye-ih-dar)

Soul Name: none likely
Mate: Anyone will do...
Child: Vyian, female, newborn

Mother: Meiuya, captured by Trolls; Father: G'or, ran away
Siblings: Brother: Aeyya, older, presumed dead

Skin: light skin with several noticable scars on their left foot and their cheek
Hair: tan; Style: naturally lightly curly; Length: cut short to jawline
Eyes: navy blue
Age: a Young Adult
Born in Deathsleep/Winter

Stats
Strength: Extremely High
Dexterity: Extremely High
Agility: Average
Health: High
Size: musculed well, but squat in height
Intelligence: Average
Appearance: Very Low
Charisma: Above Average
Magic Power: Below Average

Magic Powers
Sending: Below Average; Magic Feeling: Below Average
Self-Healing: Below Average

Skills
Trapping/Nets: Extremely High
Jumping/High: Average
Animal Communication/Insects: Average
Verbal Communication: Above Average
Hunting - Chisel: High
Ranged - Lasso: High
Against Trolls - wooden, heavy shield: Above Average

Bond Animal - male Vulture

He is afraid of heights.

They always called him troll-boy, because he was so short. And he had huge feet. Nyidar lived with the taunting and the jibes, because he was also quite good at hunting and netting - something which at least kept the hunger at bay when he would have to excuse himself from the Lodge for a few days. Sometimes, he just couldn't stand it. But instead of fighting his tribemates, he took it out on whatever would come near: Trolls, bushes, bugs. Over time he developed skills outside that a lot of Go-Backs would hardly imagine needing. He could tell for instance when the long-hidden burrow-bugs were going to emerge (they always caused such a fuss, coming out of trees and sometimes even the ground, whirring and making all that noise). They made excellent cooking, though, frying some up over a hot fire puffed them up and made them even crunchier than they were raw.

Yes, he was perhaps one of only a handful of elves who ate them.

So he was indeed a bit odd, even for an elf. Even perhaps, for a heavily inbred elf, with big feet. He proved himself to the chieftess when he was young, coming along to a scouting party and being ambushed - he took the first hit, leaving that wide scar on his face, but he also landed the first killing blow against a Troll that day. Most of the elves in the Lodge stopped really taunting him about then.

He learned his net-casting and weaving ability from Udli, as disparate a pair you could not find in the Lodge. One was tall and slender and handsome and dumb as a bowl of fat, the other was squat and ugly but sharply intelligent and amazingly agile for one so oddly built. And it wasn't fair to call Udli dumb - he wasn't, he was merely not as bright as some.

Udli too had proven himself to the tribe, in full battle wearing a scar across his chest to prove it. That he preferred to steal the Troll weapon that harmed him and master the jagged chain weapon, impressed most of the tribe as well. His outdoors skills didn't stop with netting for animals, either, he was able to use the animals around them as a guide for whether Trolls were nearby. They'd tense up, sniff the air. They didn't do that as much when the elves were around, only the Trolls with their scent of the forges and earth.

So it was that these two went into battle with the Trolls - aided by others brought back from the far south in a raid, they defeated the mad half-elf Two-Edge's 'game' and changed everything. But then... the Palace would fly, much later, much later.

In the aftermath of the yellow-eyed desert dweller's theft of the Palace from the Go-Backs, too many died, too many split up and didn't know what to do.

There were probably still Trolls hidden in the caverns littering the area, so no one could be safe for very long on their own. Best to move. Best to... move somewhere.

But where? The call of the Palace was why the Go-Backs had even come to this frozen waste, so now that it was gone, literally, in time and space - where would their instincts take them?

Udli and Nyidar remained together, knowing each other's skills and relying upon them. Even baked bug was better than nothing, and on some nights that was all they could scavenge up. The winters up here in the frozen lands were far worse than those elsewhere, but this pair had never known anything else. What else could there be?

Udli could use some fire magic, which was something he didn't dare admit in the Lodge. He probably would have been exiled - magic wasn't forbidden, but fire magic while handy in theory went bad all too often. And without really being able to practice it, it had languished. Now that they were having to live under the bare trees and in the raw snow? It was time to really force that power to work. But fortunately he didn't have to force it, it came well enough on its own.

Nyidar didn't much need it, he had a kind of internal healing power which kept him from really freezing or at least from suffering too much from the effects of frostbite. He hadn't concentrated on healing his scar, ever, that was something which would never go away because it was a badge of his prowess, his courage, his proof that he existed.

"I think we should head that way," Udli grunted over the night's fire. He nodded toward the south-east. "Fewer mountains to cross, the deer head that way."

His own deer had perished in the big collapse of the Lodge, trapped under the shelf of rock which exploded when the desert-elf ... did whatever it was he did. No one could tell, how could such a thing even have been done by one person? A big rift which led dowards, probably cutting several Troll tunnels apart as well. The Lodge was a loss, but at least escape was possible for many of the Go-Backs. It would have been better to ride out, than walk, but the deer was gone, even buried enough that meat couldn't be gotten from her for the journey.

They'd find other deer. They would follow some, if they saw any, and certainly they'd follow them south. But for whatever reason, Nyidar thought Udli's idea for heading south-east was a good one, and thus during the chill of the evening they set out. They wouldn't travel in the warmer daytime, because they felt it better to warm up and sleep well - not worry about freezing to death in the middle of the night. It turned out to be wise.

After about six hands of days travel, they had crossed the highest of the peaks of the Frozen Mountains, and left the great Ice Wall long past. There were others, they could see glaciers for miles around - plenty of clear days leading into spring would be why.

And one day, a shadow passed overhead - doubled back, circled. At first they thought it was one of the giant eagles which the Wolfriders claimed those other haughty elves of the Blue Mountain rode. But it was no bird, it was more like a bat. And it was pure white, they thought it might be an illusion - but this creature with the spread-skin wings and tall crest was in fact quite stunning. They didn't raise a weapon to it, it was far too big for two elves to take down, let alone eat.

It was a good thing they didn't, because a small female elf came off of this creature's back shortly. She was bundled like they, in white and grey furs head to foot - she was small, but shaped right (Udli looked at his friend and compared heights, and then their feet, and laughed to himself). She didn't speak, instead her mind, chill and clear, came to theirs.

You've traveled very far, something's happened to the north, it shook everything up - what happened? She bespoke. Neither of them were particularly well gifted with sending, but they both felt it was safe enough to speak aloud.

"Some mad elf blew the Lodge to bits, scattered everyone," Nyidar said, "everyone left, maybe a couple stayed."

"What is that?" Udli asked of the dragon. Ainea smiled, and turned.

This is Adisath, from Nidus Ryslen. I am Ainea. She is a dragon. She and I fly around, scouting. There is a place where I can take you, you're headed in the right direction already - Bald Mountain Holt, elves ride dragons like this there.

"There are more of them?" Nyidar said, surprised. He'd never heard of such a beast, nor had Udli, who had cherished tales of big monster animals from the sea - but never heard of them flying.

There are many more, yes. If you wish to go there, you'd be able to learn to ride and go find your own dragon to bond. They're smart, not like the elk that I know you Go-Backs ride.

"Hey my elk was smart!" Udli said, and then laughed. "Well, I suppose not smart enough to gore me in the gut when I tried taming her, so... maybe not so bright after all. She let herself get tamed."

Dragons are wild, but they are civilized, Ainea said. Well, most of them...

They were intrigued, this pair of elves. "But the dragon's back isn't big enough for all three of us," Nyidar said, suddenly. "I don't think I want to cling on to that pack she's got on." He imagined himself dangling over trees and snow, flailing wildly... it made him weak.

I can have another come, I have two who I call friends. Nivoan will be here shortly. Ainea thought, and she sensed when she touched Nyidar's mind that he was afraid to fly - he was not very comfortable on the tall hills either, able to see too far down. Privately, then, she added, there are other kinds of dragons, even a few without wings. No need to fret about flight if you don't like it. Just this once, you might enjoy the trip - think of it as just ... falling without landing.

"That's what I'm afraid of," Nyidar muttered, but before Udli could ask what he meant, another grey-colored dragon came down from the sky. Where he'd come from, they couldn't say - there wasn't a cloud in the sky for miles, and he simply appeared there.

Nivoan had furry bits, they both liked his look. Udli noticed that Nyidar was edging toward the whiter dragon with Ainea, and figured that his scaredy-rabbit friend could cling onto the little elfess if he wanted. Udli wasn't afraid of heights, in fact he would relish the trip they made.

They didn't travel between, this time, for Ainea wanted to have the elves learn the terrain they were to travel. Behind them lay the huge, white peaks - ever frosted, always dangerous. Below them were foothills and small mountains, a volcano, and then... green lands.

They'd never seen such things - surely the evergreen forests were one thing, but these bare trees they'd been passing, Ainea explained, they died and grew back to life? Hadn't some Wolfrider claimed the same thing when he was at the Lodge? Madness! But there it was! There were whole fields of pinky-yellow flowers all over bristling trees. Ainea explained they'd grow more leaves as time went on, their flowers would bloom into fruit, which was great to eat, and then the Whitecold would claim the tree again, it would wither and seem to die. But trees didn't always do what you think they're doing, and these leafy trees certainly intrigued them both.

Nyidar actually looked down a few times, but he usually had his face buried in the fur of Ainea's cloak before him. She assured him, Adisath would never allow anyone to fall, I know it's a strange sensation, but she can be trusted. And you can now see what you've been living in, all this time. Look at it all. Ainea aimed an image of her own home into his mind, My ice-den is this far north, but it's around the other side of the ice wall. These mountains come around to the east.

"That's nice! When are we landing?!"

***

Apogee and the rest were interested to hear the tales of what happened, since the years after the big battle for the Palace. Shath had arrived some years before this and she told them of the big celebration that some of the elves had when the Palace was freed. When they had met up with Jade, who had left the Lodge long before the big disaster - with peace around the place (of sorts) who really needed yet another metalsmith?

It turned out their netting and hunting abilities would really suit the Bald Mountain Holt tribe. Udli and Nyidar felt comfortable with the elves and their ways - if not with the weather.

"How can you stand it?" Nyidar asked of Jade, when their first Summer hit. It was wet, warm, there were bugs everywhere. It was true that the hunting and living were much easier - game was plentiful, it was time to really let loose and relax. But it was so hot!

"Come on in here, I'll show you. I think when you have your dragons, you'll get to choose a tunnel for yourselves." Jade stood - she was nearly naked, and beautiful with the strong arms and legs and torso that all warriors and weaponsmiths had. She wore simply a leather bikini top and loincloth - it was clear that some members of the Holt would look upon this with a bit of disapproval, but for the lusty Go-Backs, this was all in a day's work.

She led them to the back of her work den, where it was much cooler than they expected. She was a gem-shaper, not a forge-worker, so she needed no hot metal-melting equipment like they thought they'd find. Instead, there was a bit where they couldn't see, and fumbled around behind her (to some amusement), and then let out into a naturally-wide area.

"This is where a lot of the work-dens let out," Jade said, "see those dark spots? Those are the entrances, I think about a hand and a half dens open out here. It's where the water comes - and where Ainea sometimes shapes the ice."

"Oh she can do that!" Nyidar said, "I wish she was here now to do it!"

"Tell me about it. But the water here is cooler than the pond outside, it's never seen the light of day." Jade told them.

"And it's cooler in here, I like it in here," Udli said, dropping his leggings and diving into the pool.

"Where did you learn to swim, anyway?" Nyidar asked, more carefully finding a place to immerse himself. He had no swimming skill, anyway, and Jade learned how after arriving to Bald Mountain. "Almost all the water we've ever seen's frozen solid!"

Udli merely grinned widely and kept his little secret.

***

It was always pretty much too warm for the Go-Backs, but they did get used to the daily routines around Bald Mountain. Not always easily, but they worked at it. Neither elf wanted to be booted from their new home, especially if they'd have all that walking to do to get anywhere really cold again!

But especially with the relaxed lifestyle, both Udli and Nyidar got a chance to expand their skills and their knowledge. And, in Udli's case, his powers came in handy as well. Within a fairly short time and a bit of training with the elders, his fire-starting power could be used with hardly any effort. He couldn't keep up a large burn very long, but here where there was plentiful dried wood or peat he didn't have to worry about that.

Nyidar concentrated on learning histories and words he didn't know: even though Shath was to be known as their records-keeper, Nyidar knew that he had a good speaking voice - and even though he was ugly, he was an apt speaker. He could be a story teller, and enjoyed entertaining the children (there were three, and the Go-Backs didn't think anything of it, but everyone else was astonished that there were so 'many' children at all!) with his stories of Trolls and danger.

"When old Blackhammer ruled the Trolls in our area, we always had to be on our guard. He would have us for dinner!" The elf swiped a hand toward the children, who squealed and backed up. "So we learned to blend in with the snow, hiding in drifts with snow-bear pelts on our backs, able to creep by them even in broad daylight!" He hunched his back the way that they would have - the story was mostly true - and lumbered around the communal den. The children soon followed after him, and a pile of dirty laundry and furs became their camouflage.

Nyidar's stories intrigued the adults too. He wasn't as old as Udli, perhaps a dozen turns younger, but they were both in their hundreds, and had been in the frozen mountains all their lives. How long had the Go-Backs been going back? Generations were hard to count, because they were so prolific. Once they abandoned the idea of Recognition producing a very rare child, they would be able to make lots of sturdy warriors.

Yasheel the first-born had an opinion on that, of course, but she wisely kept her curt mouth shut. At least, in his presence - or for that matter, in anyone's presence. Because the one time she did say something about there being altogether too little good about these frozen-land elves, the three Go-Backs and one half-blooded (Shath) turned on her with blood in their eyes.

"They're quick to defend their own," Squall said to Apogee when that incident was over. Feathers ruffled, certainly, but it was simply the way that Go-Backs settled things: by fighting. Yasheel had to learn that, because in all her thousands of years of life? She'd rarely done anything but snipe verbally at anyone. Usually they were too cowed by her mere age to respond. But the Go-Backs? Those with the blood of dozens of generations of war in their veins? Best not to insult them to their faces! Especially if they've just been talking about their former lives fighting huge Troll armies!

"They'll be quick to defend us, on dragons," Apogee replied some moments later, after watching the trio of Jade, Udli and Nyidar grumble among themselves for a few minutes more. "So... They really should be found. But where?"

"Nothing right now," Squall said, their dragons providing a running discourse in the backs of their minds about whether there were easily reached dragonries with eggs on the sands. "But soon," Squall said. "Soon it'll be Winter again."

Apogee got a grin on her face, the grin which drew Squall to the impish elfess long ago. "Well we know what that means!"

***

"Well at least it's properly chilled in here," Udli commented as they strolled through the Nidus. Ryslen was a terrific place indeed, with plentiful adventures - and humans all around. They were jumpy at first, the Go-Back pair didn't much care about them at Bald Mountain, but here? Where was there space for an elf to hang his spear?

They found space, of course, were given a dorm which normally would be small for a Human, but fit the pair of them spaciously. People didn't really comment that they looked like children: neither of them did look like younglings, actually. With scarred skin, hardened faces.

It was still true that people might mistake Nyidar for a Troll though...