Forging a Kingdom Part II

Forging a Kingdom
Part II

May 5th, Year 1061

It had been a long journey under the night sky to the clearing Éothane spoke of. Though I am no stranger to sleeping in the wild I have began to forget what sleeping in a bed was like...

I awoke to the sound of birds singing amongst the eaves of the oak trees and the soft rustling of leaves in the morning breeze. Éothane was already tending to the campfire. He gave a gentle, acknowledging nod as I sat with him.

He was quiet. Understandably so, for he knew all too well of the task that now lay before us. We would begin felling the trees to widen the clearing and with the lumber build a small cabin to situate our place here.  The mighty oaks stood tall and proud all about us and would be suitable to begin with. Though they were strong and their roots running deep, between us myself and Éothane were able to fell three of them before noon.

As we began cutting the trees unto more manageable planks Éothane halted me to point out an odd jostling in some bushes nearby. With our curiosity piqued we carefully approached to investigate.

Shuffling between the twigs was a small green creature. It had neither discernable eyes nor mouth and seemed to slither with little intent, though it did seem to be alive. It's bulbous, wet body shimmered in the sunlight. Éothane smiled and explained what this strange beast was.

It was a Slime; a simple, herbivorous creature which drew nutrients from the earth much in the same fashion as the flora it was cowering under. He advised me while it is harmless if it feels threatened it will lash out at its predator by hardening its body and tackling its predator. I could not help but draw my sword and prod the creature; if only to gauge its reaction.

As the tip of my blade made contact with its glistening gel body it shook violently and with little pause thrust itself upwards at my face!

I fell back and to the ground, I could only describe it as if someone had thrown a hard, heavy pillow in my face. Éothane could barely stifle his amusement at my embarrassing situation, as I wiped the gel from my eyes I couldn't help but laugh as well. He told me that the Slime's gel is both delicious and inflammable. I crawled to my feet and watched as my most worthy foe scarpered off into another bush.

We got back to work and before the sun fell we had built our shelter.
It was a simple, humble structure, a far cry from the towering spires of my Father's kingdom, but it was more than adequate for our own designs. With some left of wood we fashioned a couple chairs and a table so we had something at least to sit on.

While Éothane tended to his maps to better peruse the surrounding area I took a more forward approach. I wandered the perimeter of the clearing and amongst the trees I found more Slimes bounding haphazardly around. Not to make the same mistake a second time I cleaved several of them in two and collected their gel. With it I was able to make several torches to light the area.

As night fell I retired to the cabin. Éothane was still scouring his maps and charters, he was interested in the gel I collected and spoke of other uses we may find for it. We both began to get some sleep when all of a sudden a harsh banging came from the cabin door.

We both looked at each other and jested it was a Slime coming to avenge its fallen brethren.

But we were very wrong...

I opened the door to a horrific sight. Before me stood the form of a man swaying back and forth and mumbling incoherently. His clothing was torn, his skin a pallid grey and marked with cuts, his expression almost nonexistent.

As his eyes met mine his arms grasped out at me! He tackled me to the floor as Éothane leapt from his seat to come to my aid. He pulled the man from off of me and shoved him back outside, slamming the door and blocking it with his bag.

As the shock of the encounter waned he explained to me of rumours he had heard while we were at sea of a curse or disease that brought the dead back to life and lustful for living flesh! A most terrible and heinous affliction I thought to myself as I began pushing the table in from of the door to better prevent intrusions.

We could hear the moaning of several of the Undead outside but Éothane reassured me they would not be able to breach the cabin and that they would disperse by dawn.

We both agreed to get some rest and endure the chilling howls of the monsters outside. As I lay on the cabin floor and think back on all of today's events I yearn for a actual bed even more...