Dirzyl, head priestess of the Temple of Eilistraee, beckoned for Ranma to follow. She wore clothing practical for the hike she intended to undertake. Ranma had appeared at night and the drow woman had rested the day following. The night after, she and the wayward boy set off. No one at the temple could understand Ranma, so it had been decided to bring him to the old man in the mountains. He was a hermit, revered for his wisdom. The drow congregation knew him by reputation only, from stories told by dwarven travelers. The drow were hoping he would know what to do with or about Ranma.
Soon, she and Ranma were walking along the valley. The journey would be long and arduous. Surprisingly, the little boy had yet to complain about the journey. He kept pace with Dirzyl, like a roving, bubbling font of childish amusement and joy. She knew they still had to reach the head of the valley, turn to ascend one of the slopes, and finally climb up a mountain. Goo-Ryu, the hermit, lived where others could not easily access him. She also knew the mountain climb would be too treacherous for a human child at night. So she timed it so that the easier walk along the valley would end at sunrise, so the more difficult climb would be by day. Unfortunately, drow were sensitive to the sunlight, even though Eilistraee called for the drow to regain their place in the sun. She could have had one of the dwarves escort Ranma, but that would have taken too long, for dwarves were not built for distance. Also, she felt she should take personal responsibility for the child that appeared in her temple. If her goddess was testing her, then she wouldn't fail. Fingering a piece of dark cloth tied about her waist, Dirzyl pondered again her solution to the issue. She would tie the piece of dark cotton about her eyes, blocking most of the sunlight but hopefully leaving her enough vision to travel by. It was untested, but sacrifice and trials for her goddess did not dissuade her. Also, she put her faith in the child being of some help; after all, some god or goddess sent him to her and her temple. The path would be dangerous, especially for a drow under the sun. Hopefully, it would not be for naught.
Goo-Ryu tended the fire outside his small cabin. Rabbits on a spit roasted slowly while vegetables cooked among the embers. As a polymorphed dragon, appearing as a stocky and sturdy middle aged man, he found it interesting to see who braved the trail to his cabin to consult his wisdom. And while he did occasionally have to let loose and soar among the peaks in dragon form, he found the experience as a human hermit to be enlightening.
A noise caught his attention, movement in the undergrowth indicated that someone approached. ‘It never fails,’ he thought to himself, ‘they always manage to appear when I am setting to eat dinner.’
A blindfolded drow maiden and a small human child emerged into the clearing. "Well met, Old Man," the drow nodded as she gave her greeting.
"Fascinating," Goo-Ryu exclaimed in Drow, "I thought all of the drow were dead. I see I was mistaken in that belief."
"There is but a pocket left," Dirzyl commented. "Only the few that had embraced the teachings of Eilistraee had escaped the fate of our kinsman, for we were not in the Underdark at the time of the massacre."
"Ah," the old man mused. "Perhaps, later, you could explain to me the tenets and philosophy of your order. But now, why don't we get to the business that was so urgent, a drow would brave my mountain in the daylight towing a young human child along."
Dirzyl nodded. "This child is the pressing business. The night before last he appeared in my temple. That alone is not odd, as our religion encourages us to take in stray travelers who have need of warm food or a good night's sleep. What was odd was that this child did not walk nor run in. I can see the thoughts turn in your eyes. He didn't fall in either, nor was he carried. He appeared from the very wall, or the very air, itself where a moment prior there was no body at all. Unfortunately, we do not speak his language nor he ours. We are at a loss at what to do about him, and come to beseech your wisdom for guidance."
"Yes, I see. Well then, let us find out what the boy knows. Why don't you two make yourself comfortable, this may take some time."
Dirzyl seated herself within the deep shade of a large tree before removing the bothersome blindfold from her eyes. Ranma stayed close to her, though his attention was on the sweet smelling rabbit roasting over the fire.
"*Hello there young one. My name is Goo-Ryu. What is yours?*" The hermit spoke telepathically to his guest.
Ranma's eyes shot wide opened.
"Huh? What witchcraft is this?" Dirzyl suddenly exclaimed in shock.
Goo-Ryu laughed at the surprised faces his guests made. "You will find I am a master of languages, but telepathy tends to cut to the quick of the matter. Languages, that is sound made and heard, is only a medium. Deep in the brain, the reality of language is concepts, imagery, and understandings. Those are universal, and telepathy circumvents sound in order to deal directly with this universal understanding. Certainly, one's language does affect one's thought process. Don't you think in Drow and not Dwarven? But, even then, I can still communicate better with our little enigma using telepathy." Once he was done explaining himself in the drow language, Goo-Ryu returned his focus to Ranma. "*Be not afraid, little one. I can speak directly into your mind as if you were hearing me in your own language, as the one next to you is hearing this in hers. What is your name, child?*"
"Ranma," Ranma replied out loud in Japanese.
"*And what would you know of how you found yourself in this young ladies temple?*"
"My pops was training me, to be a martial artist as great as him. Then I met a priest and he said I could be a great hero and learn to fight. All I had to do was walk through a curtain, and that's all I know, honest."
"*And who was this priest?*"
"I don't know, never met him before. His name was Dorma or Duriman or something."
"What an interesting language," Goo-Ryu said experimentally in Japanese. "How it rolls off the tongue in new ways."
"What? What did the boy say?" Dirzyl asked, in drow, as she was only able to follow Goo-Ryu's telepathic half of the conversation.
"Ah yes. The little one says he was sent on a quest to become as impressive as a fighter as his father, if not more so, and a great hero of the people. He is unfamiliar with the power that sent him here, as the entity played down it's own identity. It appeared in the guise of a simple priest or holy-man. The child does not know any more about how he got here then you do." Goo-Ryu politely responded to Dirzyl in her own language. "*If you two will wait here, I have something that will make things easier for the young child.*" Goo-Ryu then got up and entered his cabin.
Inside, he fished around in a chest until he found what he was looking for. He then blew onto the medallion he held in his hands, before rubbing it vigorously and awakening the draconic magic within it. Walking out, he approached Ranma.
Setting the talisman around Ranma's neck, Goo-Ryu addressed the pair. "This will facilitate communication -- that means talking, little one -- making him understand others and others understand him. It will also allow him to learn any new languages that he is regularly and chronically exposed to. I suggest making sure he gets the chance to do so. There is a smell of destiny about this one. So, I give you, Ranma, the gift of tongues. May I ask what gift the drow intend to give to one entrusted to us by the gods themselves?"
Dirzyl spoke up without hesitation, "We have already decided to give him the gift of bow and blade."
Goo-Ryu nodded sagely. "A fine gift indeed, especially for a hero. I also encourage that he learn as many different forms of combat as he can, to aid him upon his quest. I do hope you bring him to visit time to time. Like I said, destiny touches this one, and I'd like to share some of my wisdom with him."
Dirzyl nodded. Ranma was still staring at his medallion in awe. She gently took his hand. "Come, we have imposed upon our host's hospitality long enough. Let us make camp."
Goo-Ryu gestured towards his fire. "I have more food I can prepare. Why don't the two of you sup with me and you can inform me more of these teachings. I am quite curious about your order."
Dirzyl relaxed by the dying fire, playing an ephemeral tune on her flute. Ranma was sitting next to Goo-Ryu, as the elder pointed out stars to the younger.
"And see those groups of stars over there? ... If you draw a line from the last star I told you about towards that a way, and then make a spike down ... yes that star." Goo-Ryu scratched some dots and lines in the dirt with a stick. "See the shape these stars make? ... Good. We call that group of stars 'Flamebeard's Axe'."
Ranma stared up at the stars as Goo-Ryu pointed them out, soaking in the stories and trivia that Goo-Ryu would tell him about each one and learning how to draw shapes in the sky.
Dirzyl continued playing her flute, relaxing in the cool, crisp air of the coming night. Ranma, however, tried to stifle a yawn, but the adults noticed.
"Seems young master has had a long day, I imagine. Climbing up to visit me could not of been an easy journey. Perhaps it is time to turn in," Goo-Ryu gently hinted.
Ranma shook his head. "Nuh-huh. I wanna learn more stars," he pouted.
"Do not fret, little one. The stars have been there a long, long time and will remain in the sky for a long, long time yet. There will be plenty of time to learn them." Goo-Ryu smiled down to the young boy.
Dirzyl put her flute away. "Come along, we can camp in that cave. If you behave, I'll tell you a story as you try to sleep."
Ranma nodded, giving in. He enjoyed bedtime stories, and every night his mom would tell him one.
Goo-Ryu paused as he went about cleaning up a bit from dinner. "It is a good thing you are spending the night this high. Trolls roam the lower slopes at night."
Ranma shivered and clung closer to Dirzyl, who smiled in response. "Good night, wise-one, and thank you."
"Sleep well and dream sweet, children."
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(Posted Thu, 29 Aug 2013 04:19)
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