(Here is a little taste of my 'Neverwinter Nights: Kingmaker' fan fiction written over two years ago, and tweaked a few times since then. This is a scene that's pretty much self explanitory. It involves the druid nymph Kaidala and my original character the ranger gnoll Steve. For those who don't know, gnolls are creatures who look like hyenas walking upright. But it'll give you a sense of my writing style, at least what it used to be like two years ago.
Disclaimer: I do not own Neverwinter Nights, Kingmaker or any of its characters. By publishing this work, I'm not making any money what-so-ever. Please don't sue. The story is my work however, and so is Steve, so no stealing.
Been a while, hope that's leagally binding.
Content warning: The following story might not be safe for work. Enjoy!
Eric Rawlinson
20110110)
Kaidala needed to escape. And at the first chance, she slipped out of the keep's gate and raced across the Emerald Fields until she arrived at the forest. And even then she continued to run between the trees with unnatural grace. She was not sure where she was going. All she wanted was to find peace.
Peace. It was something that always alluded her. She spent years searching for the peace that never came. Never ever came.
She hated this place. She hated this conference. She hated all the people staring at her and her once beautiful face. She hated everyone. She hated Nellina for doing this to her. She hated Jaboli for making her responsible for anything. She hated everyone in the keep for making her stay. But most of all, she hated herself for going along with it.
Kaidala left her feet to guide her through the woods as these thoughts came to her. She didn't know where she was running to, so long as each step took her further from the keep. Running through the woods used to give her peace. The trees would speak with her about her trouble. The animals would comfort her at her time of need. Now even the forest was like the place she just escaped from. The trees were silent and still. The animals ran at the sound of her heavy steps. And yet she could hear them whisper to each other. But they never spoke to her.
Kaidala's feet stopped at the edge of a pool of water. She gazed down at her reflection and a wood nymph with half her face hidden by long blond hair stared back. The half of her face that was still enchanting. A face that once drove bards to insanity, women green with envy, and men to kill if it meant she would lay by their side. And yet, even with half of her face hidden, she could see them. The twists in the skin, the bumps like fungus growing on her flesh. With a trembling hand, she brushed the hair aside and revealed her true face. Dark, twisted, puffy and cracked, like a piece of meat forgotten on the spit. It took up all of the right side of her face and down her chin. And if you looked further, it would take up most of the right side of her body and a good part of her left. Most of her nose was shrived to the bone. Her chin was completely scarred. Half of her right eyelid was missing. How could she possibly find peace with a face like that?
It began with the fire. The fire that burned through the forest as quickly as the wind blew. It engulfed all the trees and the animals. It burned her sisters alive. She could still hear them screaming as they held onto their trees and forest friends, until the flames extinguished them. But the pain never stopped. It would never stop. And finally, it reached her tree. The fire burned at her face and body, and she screamed too. But the shock of a falling tree sent her flying into a pool of water much like the one she stood at now. The fallen tree pinned her just below the surface. All she could do was watch as the flames took her trees one by one until there was nothing left but carbon spires and ash filled air.
There would be no peace for her again. For days she had wandered, begging everyone she met to kill her where she stood. They would only walk away, some tossing her coins like a sideshow performance. Nobody wanted anything to do with her. She implored even the great Calibast and his band of mercenaries to end her misery. Instead, the one called Nellina took pity on her and persuaded Kaidala with another option. They equipped her, trained her for combat, in hoped to give her a new purpose in her life. Kaidala went along with it, hoping that through the life of a mercenary she would finally meet her death.
And when Mistress Death finally came for her on the night of the Masked Man's siege, a soul eater came to torture her soul for the rest of eternity. Agony at the hands of unseen tormentors, her words and pleas of surrender went unheard in the chaos. Relief only came when she was ripped back to the world of the living, only to be used as a mindless drone in a ploy to weaken Nellina Aerlson.
She smacked the water's surface, banishing the reflection for a brief moment.. She couldn't even die in peace. There was no peace in life. There was no peace in death. Where else could there be? She held her head in her hands, cradling herself.
The hint of a sound shot her attention upward. A handsome golden eagle perched on a branch above. He looked down upon her, his head darting up and down, scrutinizing her with his sharp eyes. He flew down to a lower branch and performed the same ritual before he shot up into the air and flew to the east.
The eagle's unusual behaviour intrigued Kaidala. With the grace and agility of her fay kin, she strode through the woods after her feathery friend. But as quickly as she started her chase, she stopped and hid behind a tree.
By the stream where the eagle landed, there sat a odd shaped figure in a cloak. A forester? Kaidala strained to remember what little she had learned about the Foresters of Cyan. From what she remembered, Cyan rangers traditionally wore a blue cloak. This cloak was a forest green, flecked with mud stains. It appeared worn and had a lived in appearance. And this 'person' was of great size, compared to the elves and dwarves which usually made up Cyan's foresters.
Being behind the figure, Kaidala could not tell what it was, or what it was doing. Intrigued, Kaidala began to creep forward. The figure was facing away from her towards the water, probably fishing for dinner. She continued to creep, until the eagle cried out. She was too far away to hear what the eagle said in the animal tongue, so she continued to move forward, until she sprung the trap.
Before Kaidala knew what happened, she found herself hanging upside down from a tree. The rope wrapped tightly around her ankle, her head just a few inches from the ground. Kaidala panicked and writhed as she tried to reach for or slip out of the knot. A shriek betrayed her lips and she suddenly went limp.
The figure's turned its head in her direction and Kaidala saw what she had been stalking. The creature sitting by the water was a gnoll. An horrible, ugly gnoll. As soon as she looked into its eyes, she knew her life was over. It would kill her and gobble her up. And it would do it in that order if she was lucky.
Gnolls love screaming things, she thought. They love things that struggle as well. It excites them, makes their prey more appetizing. Kaidala held as still as she could as the great monster approached, becoming bigger, taller and nastier as it approached.
Finally the cloaked gnoll stood right in front of her, it's knees were at her eye level. It bent down until, its horrible yellow eyes like infected boils bore into her. She could feel the air whistle past her ear as it breathed in, then felt the blast of hot breath enflame her scars. The thing stood and removed an axe from his belt.
Kaidala closed her eyes and waited for death. The rope jerked upwards, she could hear the whistle of a blade through the air and then she was laid gently on the ground. She opened her eyes in confusion to see that she was lying on a bed of dead leaves, the rope around her leg was gone and the axe he held was leaning on a tree. The gnoll was walking back to his place by the river, the rope slung over his shoulder.
Kaidala took a moment to catch her breath. The gnoll had just made the mistake of letting her live, and leaving a weapon behind. Now was a time to end the creature. He hefted the battle axe, but found she could not budge it. It weighed heavier than any battle axe she had known. She was not accustomed to metal weapons, but having no other weapon nearby, she focused her mind into the soil and drew the natural energy of the land to lend her strength.
The axe was now in her hands. The gnoll had his back to her. This was her only chance. She raised the axe above her head and charged the thirty paces between them. Just as she came in striking distance, the gnoll reached into the dead leaves beside him and pulled on a hidden rope. There came a sharp ping and a metallic clang and the weapon in Kaidala's hand fell to the ground.
Kaidala looked around to see what had happened. The rope led to a tree a short distance away. In the tree sat an unloaded crossbow. Kaidala guessed that when the rope was pulled, the crossbow fired a bolt at Kaidala, which hit the axe head. It unbalanced her and it fell to the ground.
The gnoll reached into the foliage again, and produced another hidden rope. This time, he only presented it to her before placing it back into the leaves and he went back to whatever he was doing.
"Who are you?" Kaidala demanded.
The gnoll said nothing, continuing to scratch on a piece of large parchment.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?!" She demanded, trying to sound intimidating. And yet the gnoll continued to ignore her.
“I am Kaidala! Head of the Foresters Guild! I charge you with trespassing on Cyan territory and I demand that you leave or....”
At this, the gnoll looked up from his drawing and stared at her with his yellow eyes. They did not contain rage or even a trace of menace. They seemed to hold... pity. The gnoll tossed the parchment onto the ground next to him and picked up a fresh piece and began to sketch again.
Kaidala sheepishly sat down on the ground opposite the gnoll. A small fire sputtered between the two of them, hot enough to keep warm with, but not big enough to start smoking. A pile of kindling sat in front of him and a couple of logs nearby suggested he was going to make a larger fire soon. She would be gone before then. She was fine with fire, so long as she wasn't in one of her moods. And right now, she was.
She tried to take her mind off the fire, and concentrate on the gnoll instead. He was certainly a strange one, by what Kaidala considered normal standards for gnolls. He wore a cloak for starters. He seemed well versed in tricks and traps. He domesticated an eagle, or so it appeared. The little padding he wore was hand made from hardened animal skins, as was the pack by his side. His weapons, a large axe and an oak longbow, were of good quality, unlike the normal scavenged weapons of the barbarian tribes. He certainly was not trying to kill her.
Kaidala suddenly remembered something she heard earlier. Jaboli had been talking to her, but she had not paid much attention. His name is Steve. He is a gnoll, but he is also Korkorna's ranger and head scout. Nellina has granted him permission to camp on the grounds. Kaidala had ignored the rest of the speech, which contained words like 'responsibility' and 'obligation' until Jaboli had finally left her in peace.
And now she stared at this strange beast with a strange job and an even stranger name like Steve. He continued to scratch at the parchment with a piece of charcoal sharpened to a fine tip.
"You are a gnoll." She stated. Steve made no indication he heard her. "You're kind are creatures of evil. I've killed many of your kind to protect my lands."
Steve appeared not to hear, continuing his new sketch.
Kaidala noticed the bow on Steve’s back. It was expertly made. It appeared to be elven, except for the religious markings along the edge. She did not recognize the name of the goddess written there however. It was certainly not a bow blessed by one of the Nine Gods.
“Nice bow.” She remarked, “Where did you steal it?”
Steve continued to sketch, only looking up at her briefly for a second at a time before going back to his work. "Not much of a speaker, are you?" Kaidala snorted and looked back at the ground and noticed the parchments of paper that the gnoll had tossed aside. On them were several sketches of the trees across the river. She never expected Gnolls or any of the barbaric creatures to have any artistic talent besides cave scratching and stick figures. Looking closer, Kaiadala decided these pictures could have easily passed for the work on an elven bardic master. The details were vivid as though the picture could simply flutter off the page and breathe the air around it. Including the tree, Steve had drawn realistic representations of dew on a spider's web and a mother bird with her babies.
"These are beautiful." She murmured, "How could someone like you ever...?" The words stuck in her throat as she looked up at Steve again, who had paused in his sketch, his eyes narrowed. When the moment passed he looked back down at his new sketch, made a few decisive strokes, then rose. He walked over to her and handed her the parchment.
Kaidala didn’t know what to expect when she looked at the picture. And when she saw what he drew, feelings rushed into her. Shock, sadness, longing, revulsion, pain, betrayal and finally rage.
"How dare you?" Kaidala felt the tears form in her eyes as she stood up. "How dare you?! What makes you think you can...?! How did you...?!" She couldn't think of what to say. She looked down at the drawing on the page, then back at the expressionless face of the hideous gnoll.
She tore the parchment, ripping into small pieces, then threw the lot at the fire. To her astonishment, the bundle of paper blinked, and in its place appeared a large raven, that beat its wings fast enough to avoid the fire and flew out of sight.
Kaidala looked from the raven in the distance, to the gnoll by the fire. She raised her fist to strike him, then she hesitated. As the first tears streamed down her burnt face, she ran into the forest, and continued to run until her grief made her fall.
--
When Kaidala awoke, it was darkest night. She found herself back in the little shack she called her home. Nymphs as a rule almost never sleep in artificial structures, and certainly never in a bed. But Kaidala never felt comfortable sleeping outside anymore. She never felt comfortable sleeping anywhere. When she slept, she would dream. And all she ever dreamt of was the fire.
Kaildala looked around, wondering what roused her. Then came a tapping at the window. Kaidala walked to the window to see what it might be. The raven sat there, regarding her curiously for a moment, then repeated his demand at the window.
As soon as Kaidala opened it, he flew into her room and over to the desk that she never approached because it had a mirror. He sat upon the desk, turned to face her, then started to change. He expanded and flattened until he became the piece of parchment that Steve drew upon only hours before.
Kaidala, too tired to protest, took the sheet in both hands and looked down at the image that had pained her so much. It was a drawing of Kaidala's face. The flesh was still burnt, twisted and scarred. Like looking into a mirror, it was a perfect representation. Perfect, except for the details. The eyes looked straight ahead, unmoving, yet no matter how Kaidala tried, they always seemed to dart shyly away. Her mouth was turned up into a small smile, shy, yet alluring. Her chin rested in her hands, her head slightly turned to accent her scarred half of her face. And yet it was not horrible or disgusting, all because of the smile.
She recognized the smile well. Her sisters referred to it as her 'cleverly-coy' smile. The smile she used to wear when teasing adventures would come through the woods. Brave men, and some women, searching for excitement, and they would always find it with the nymphs of her forest. She and her sisters would lead adventurers on wild goose chases through the woods, bewitching them with their charms, sometimes driving foolish adventurers mad for months at a time. And sometimes, on rare occasions, she would let a few lucky one's 'catch them', and the time of their lives would begin. They'd feast on the fruits of ancient tress and swim naked in crystal clear pools of water. And when the night fell, the forest would ring with their laughter, and their screams of orgasmic rapture would become the inspiration for ghost stories told by naive bards.
And when the festivities were over, the adventurers would stumble away the next morning, wondering if it were all a dream. Never the less, they would always leave with a new found respect for life and nature. And none of them, the lucky ones nor the not so lucky ones, would ever forget Kaidala's smile.
She had not smiled that smile in years. She had not smiled for so long. And now she sat looking down at the parchment she had torn up not so long ago, and felt her heart ache. As her eyes traveled over the page, she saw a word hidden in the strands of the wild hair. It was a word written in Sylvian, the language of forest. It said, REMEMBER. She looked again, but the word seemed to have disappeared.
She looked up at the mirror and brushed the hair away from her face. Scars and burns came into view, but still she pushed it aside and looked at herself. She stared deep into the reflection and started to smile. At first she felt stupid. How could anything so hideous become that enchanting once again? But she continued, starting with small, exaggerated smiles. Then big goofy smiles that made her feel silly and awful. Then a weird half smile. Smile after smile crossed her lips until she replicated the smile on the page. The cleverly-coy smile.
She wanted to turn away from the mirror and remind herself how ugly she looked. But she wanted to see that smile. The smile seemed to light up her face with deceitful sincerity. And once in the right position, she could not look directly at her reflection for the delicious pride and embarrassment she felt. And at that moment, she knew she had the smile on her face again.
She put her chin in her hands and looked at her reflection in the mirror. Every once in a while, she would turn her head to the side a bit and caught herself looking out of the corner of her eye, making her laugh. She never felt this good in years. And she wondered why she had not felt this good in years. A tear escaped her eye as she stroked her lips with an outstretched finger with a particular naughty smile, remembering a boy’s face as he melted into her, ruining him for any other woman forever. Memories of before the fire came flooding to her with each smile, and she felt a well of joy and sorrow forming in her heart. She realized that it had always been there. She had just refused to drink from it.
She stared at the mirror for hours until she was too tired to keep her head up. And when she finally fell asleep again, there was no fire. No smoke or ash. Instead, she stood in a forest grove, with all her forest friends around her. Her sisters splashed in a pool not so far away. They turned, smiling, and waved at her, calling her home.
--
I love this one... :)
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