Day -1: Nira

“Are you sure we are on the right way?”
Nira turned around towards her younger brother, Yan, as she fixed another iron climbing spike on the icy wall in front of her. She honestly didn't know, but she didn't want him to know, so instead she pulled her scarf down to show him a reassuring smile, followed by a firm: “Yes”
She, her younger brother and two other young ones, Eben and Temo of her tribe had been travelling the cold wilderness for weeks. All ways had lead into mountains, that made crossing them the only option, if they wanted to continue. Not an impossible option, but one she had preferred to avoid.
With all her strength she dug her hands into the blue shimmering ice, placed her foot on one of the spikes and pulled herself up, then waited for a moment for her brother to receive another spike from Eben, after which he handed the spike to her, which she then hammered into the wall and attached the rope, connecting all four of them.
Because of their limited amount of spikes, they had the agile and dexterous Nira take the lead, placing them in the wall, with the help of a small hammer. Then the sturdy Temo pulled them out of the ice from below, to hand it to Eben, who handed it to Yan, who then gave it to Nira. Every spike was important, one slip of the hand and the group of four could be stuck on the wall, with no way to go up or down. Yet they had taken the risk to leave their tribe behind, to see what awaited them past the steep snowy mountains.
They didn't mind the cold, but the increasing wind made it harder and harder to proceed as it was tearing at their thick fur coats and backpacks made of buffalo leather, with no end or possible resting point in sight and even the ground far below them hidden behind a wall of swirling snowflakes.
“If we start climbing at sun rise we reach the top at sunset”, had Nira proclaimed just the day before, confident in her title as the fastest climber in the tribe. Alone she would have crossed the mountain, even without the help of the spikes or rope, according to herself, but she had not thought of the extra effort necessary to bring the others with her. It always had been hard for her to estimate the ability of others, when most things came to her, too easily. This confidence made her an inspiring leader on a journey to hell.
“Just a bit more!” she yelled down through the ever increasing wind, as it painted the side of her hood white with snow, then looked up unable to recognize the peak within the blizzard and fastened another spike, before going higher.
With the setting of the sun the air became colder, clung to the bits of exposed skin like razors and to their coats like chains, slowing their already exhausted bodies almost to a hold. “Just a bit more!” yelled Nira again as she looked down and she saw in her brothers blue eyes that he still believed her and with a soft voice he relayed the message downwards “Just a bit more!” “Just a bit more!” echoed Eben weakly and barely audible for Nira a forth “Just a bit more!” in a deep voice reached through storm to her as she took another spike, placed it in the wall and pulled herself up, feeling for a new hold, grasping what could only be the peak and with a relieved groan pulled her whole body over it onto the surface.
Breathing heavy she paused, then turned around, pulled Yan up and laughed a little as she finally noticed the pain in her limbs and half frozen fingers. All of them could barely believe it, in the dark of the night they had actually reached the peak, non able to move even another inch as the fear of falling left their bodies and made room for exhaustion.
“We really made it” uttered Eben, who stood next to Nira, just a hand wide taller than her as he looked into the darkness ahead of them. He had been the last to agree to her idea, but even in the dark Nira could see happiness in his deep brown eyes as he wiped some frost from his face.
The much taller and sturdier Temo had started setting up a makeshift tent just a few meters away from the edge. Exploring the peak and what awaited them beyond had to wait. No one had any strength left in their bodies and even this easy task took the much weaker Yan's help, as Temo could barely move any longer.
Nira was thankful for his help. She knew that only he could have had the strength to pull the climbing spikes out of the ice from under them, while also carrying the heaviest equipment on his back. Temo had always been a hard worker, that endured any work he set out to do. Setting up camp was the same. Fairly quick, with the help of Yan he created a frame out of their hunting spears Temo had carried, tied them together with leather strings and then covered it with thick buffalo hide, which was when he almost collapsed under his own weight, but caught himself, even before Yan could.
“Make sure you tie it tight or the wind will blow it away.” He murmured as he did just that on his side of it,
Seeing his friends struggle Eben joined the two and together they finished work before they all laid down under the hide, protected from wind and warmed by the proximity to each other.
Nira meanwhile had pulled the hood from her head. The faint blue glow of her slender crystalline horns shimmered against her silky silver hair as she shook of the cold, took a deep breath and looked into the night with anticipation, till even she couldn't keep on her feet any longer and fell asleep sitting at the edge of the windscreen.
Day 1: Nira

When the morning came Nira was the first to wake, the blizzard had settled down and made room for a familiar grey sky. It took a moment to sort her mind, it still felt like a dream that she had finished the climb, but even after multiple long breaths she felt the exhaustion so much that she was unable to stand up and it felt real. Instead of standing she started looking around, in the dark she had assumed that she had reached the lowest point of the peak, but as her eyes wandered along the edge, she discovered that it stretched at almost the same height as far as she could see and thick clouds stretched out across the edge like above. A surreal picture, like she was watching a reflection of the clouds in a vast endless lake in front of her.
Eben's voice pulled her out of awe “What a view, makes me wonder where we are.”
Nira turned to him and nodded. She had set out to see something new, something different from the icy mountains the tribe settled in since generations, but to think that there was a whole second sky above the sky she had seen her whole life was beyond her imagination. Eben seemed to take it a bit better. Just moments later he spotted something new,while pointing upwards. “This must be the real sky, its even higher than the grey clouds.”
Following his finger Nira spotted a small patch of soft blue, she had previously overlooked between all they grey. For a moment all pain left her and as if possessed she stood up, stretching her arm towards the sky as if to take it into her gloved hand.
Next Eben's hand pointed behind her, he clearly took pleasure in seeing her reactions. “There is more of it over there.” Nira had yet to turn around. She had both been a bit scared to find even more mountains to climb and too tired to move, but his voice animated her to action. She spun around and her large blue eyes widened, as if they tried to absorb as much of the scenery as they could at once.
More of the unfamiliar vivid blue covered the sky, with just a handful of white smudges. Before the climb, Nira and the others had known two skies, snow cloud grey and night black. This new sky, or real sky as Eben had called it, shone unbeknown to her in almost the same tone as her eyes.
Below their temporary camp descended a stony slope towards a deep green forest, which stretched as far as she could see from left to right. Made of more trees than she had ever seen in one place, so close together that they looked like a finely interwoven carpet. Under the light of the rising sun each tree shimmered in a slightly different emerald green. Just similar enough in hue that a person used to the view would never notice their difference, but to Nira who had only known shades of grey all her life, each of these were new and unique. Even further behind the forest Nira could barely make out square golden and verdant grass fields, split by path ways, all surrounding, a tall structure, with multiple dark grey clouds rising upwards from behind it.
“Are you crying?” Nira hadn't notice till Eben pointed it out. She indeed felt like crying with joy, even when no tears came out. Her legs felt weak, but Eben caught her under the right arm, before she could lose her balance. “Its like the fairytale in your books. Its incredible beautiful.” She said in a soft joyful tone as she leaned closely against him and smiled. Eben quickly let go of her again, after ensuring she was able to stand with a glance and even made a step back. Then he smirked and a pair of beast like teeth flashed over his lower lip, as he turned his eyes away from her and looked into the distance. “You know during the climb I regretted ever reading them to you, but now I changed my mind.”
Nira knew that Eben had only gone along because they were friends. The young man had a good position in the tribe as keeper of history, studying the few ancient texts of their people and teaching children how to read. Even as child he never had shown any interest in hunting, climbing and fighting. His ability in those fields were the bare minimum for their people. Nira had often traded rabbit, fox, boar and later bison for storytelling and over the years they had grown to be close friends. When she left the tribe's territory, she had been both worried and happy about him joining. What he lacked in physical ability he made up with wisdom.
“Had you not, I would never have left the tribe and I could never see this. Thank you Eben.” In response to Nira's word, Eben clasped his hands together before his chest and nodded as it was customary in their tribe, when receiving praise from someone of higher rank. By the time Eben looked up again, Nira had already turned to look towards the horizon once more. She wanted to burn her first impression of the world into memory. Only long after Temo and Yun had woken up and finished packing up, the voice of her brother pulled her out of her trance.
“Isn't it a bit too warm?” With hood pulled down and coat open he stood next to the other two. His short curly blond hair barely hiding the small goat-like horns that sprouted from behind his temple and exposing most of his pale chest and stomach. Temo seemed to agree, as he had already gotten rid of his coat as he stood before her. With his unruly long black hair, bushy beard, hairy muscular chest and just as hairy arms fully exposed. He was covered in so much hair Nira could barely see his pale skin under it. Had he not worn furless leather pants she might have mistaken him for a bear, because of all the hair and his sharp claw like finger nails. In comparison Eben looked like he wanted to keep at least some dignity and had only opened the upper half of his coat, which was already enough to turn his face red, when Nira looked at him.
Nira had to agree, it was warm, especially after the sun had risen. She remembered her tribe's traditions. That was not appropriate for a woman of her age to show any skin below the neck. Her father had been even stricter and had often forced her to hide the rare crystalline horns that rose backwards from the side of her head. Nevertheless it was warm and she still felt tired from the climb. Turning her back to the men she carefully untied some of the leather ribbons keeping the thick fur coat closed. Unlike the others she wore something underneath. A thin piece of lynx leather was wrapped around her upper body, from under her arms to her belly button. It was worn by women of her tribe to cover skin and to keep the female chest flesh from getting in the way when climbing, hunting or fighting, but was not tied so tight that it restricted movement or made breathing harder. Among family members, if the warmth in the caves allowed it, women commonly only wore this and pants.
This will do! She thought to herself and turned, to meet the surprised look of her companions. Even Yun was blushing as he looked at the amount of ivory white skin his sister was exposing in the small opening of the the shaggy black coat. Eben tried his best to look away, but Nira could clearly see that he was curious, while Temo stared a bit too much at the lynx leather for her taste.
“Listen, we are no longer in our village and you all agree that it is warm here, so I do not want to hear anything about my appearance.” Stated Nira and then took her bags and spear from the pile of things Temo had helped carry up the mountain, before beginning her way down the slope towards the forest. Yun and Temo followed after taking their equipment, with Eben taking a moment to collect himself, before taking up the rear.

#

Neither of them talked much all the way to the forest, where Nira gave the hunter's sign to slow down, two fingers up and then a closed hand which meant to halt.
“Should I take a look around?” Asked Temo as he carefully came closer.
“Just make some noise, I back you up.” Answered Nira and followed a few steps behind the tall man as he entered the unknown forest and intentionally made some branches crack under his feet and ruffled some bushes and hit his spear against the trees as he passed. All in the effort to scare or bait out animals.
While he did that, Nira followed him, doing the exact opposite. With an eye on her friend and their surrounding, ready to strike at any wild beast, she moved between the trees, without moving a single leaf. A technique Nira had perfected in her years as hunter.
When both suddenly heard a noise above they readied their spears. Some creature rustled the leafs, from the amount of noise it made, it had to be huge, but Nira couldn't see its. She saw the branches move, but not the creature moving them. It made her nervous and she could see that Temo was worried too. When they suddenly heard loud whistling from multiple sources they knew it wasn't the wind and Temo couldn't wait any longer. He chugged his spear upward, hard enough for it to pierce the canopy and the commotion became wilder. Nira was sure the beast was about to retaliate. Then all noise suddenly disappeared and the spear came falling down, catching multiple branches on the way down and landed between Temo and Nira. Both stared upward. “Is it gone?” Asked Temo and carefully inched towards his weapon. Nira didn't know. The sound was gone, the movement of the trees had calmed down, it seemed gone. “I think its gone, but lets fall back.”
Once out of the woods Nira turned around to make sure nothing was following her, then she looked to Eben and Yan. The two where looking at the sky, before they noticed Nira, who waved towards them and yelled loudly. “Did you see anything leave the forest?” Her face showed signs of the earlier scare and Eben couldn't help but grin at that view. “Looks like you scared some birds away.”
“Birds?” Nira was not familiar with the word and from the look on his face neither was Temo. The two had hunted about every beast known to their tribe, even the ones that were too dangerous or had terrible meat.
“According to my books they are small animals that can fly in the sky.” Nira visible struggled to imagine a flying animal. “They have very light bodies, sharp mouths and long arms with feathers, like some lizards.” This additional information did not help much. Instead she tried to get a look at the creature, but she could only see small black dots in the distant sky above the forest.
“So they aren't dangerous?” Interrupted Temo while looking up at the same dots.
“No they are not, most birds are smaller than a fox. Definitely not something you two great hunters should be scared of.” Eben couldn't help but laugh as he saw the hunter duo's faces in shame. Even Yan couldn't help but smirk.
It was good to have the keeper of history along with them, but Nira started to wonder, if he had a bad influence on her innocent brother.

#

The forest was surprisingly easy to traverse compared to the rocky forest all members of the group had been used to. This  allowed them to travel at about the speed of a normal person walking down a road, without much strain on their body. Additionally each of them had gotten used to the harder to breath air. What made them a bit slower was their urge to stop and examine the many wonders of the undiscovered land.
Yun turned to his sister and showed her one of the star shaped leafs he had found on one of the trees. “I can't believe there was such a nice place on top of the mountains. The whole tribe, even the elderly and children could easily live here.” Nira had to agree with her brother, but to her it all seemed too good to be true.
“We don't know what dangers awaits us here. Why is no one living in such a nice place?”
“Maybe there are even nicer places. There were those golden fields and that weird structure we saw from the peak.” Yan had a point, the clouds that had risen from the structure looked like smoke from a fire. If people lived in these lands they could be living in that structure, but she failed to understand how that structure came to be. For all of recoded history her tribe lived in the many caves of their territory. Sometimes children would playfully stack stones, sticks or logs, or in the coldest days the men would build a tall bonfire, but there was no way to create something as big as she had seen. To be visible across such a distance it had to be taller than any tree in the forest. On top of that it had looked multiple hundreds of meters wide. All of that made very little sense to Nira.
“I don't think that is something humans made, maybe it is a fire mountain.” A fire mountain, or volcano as Eben liked to call it, made the most sense to Nira.
“The shape was weird for a volcano. Eben do you know what that structure could be?” To Nira's disappointment her brother clearly wasn't happy with her explanation and he even used the weird word that he could only have learned from Eben.
As Eben looked over his shoulder he was met with Nira's angry glare. Why does he have to ask you, when his sister already gave a good answer? Does this mean he trusts you more than me? Was clearly written all over her face. Yan who was walking in front of Nira of course couldn't see this, as she would never show such a face to her beloved brother. “Maybe a vol...” He interrupted himself and coughed, as Nira's glare became even more intense. “... a fire mountain, maybe?”
“See! Even Eben doesn't know better, just wait till we are through the forest.” Not even the slightest sign of her exchange with Eben had remained on Nira's face as Yan turned to her. She knew her brother was not happy with that answer, but there was an amount of dignity she had to keep as older sister, especially after the accident with the birds.
Their conversation ended just in time as Temo raised a closed fist and all of them had to abruptly stop. He leaned against a tree, overlooking a small clearing from above a overhang and then showed them the sign to hide and remain silent, four fingers up together as one. Yan and Eben quickly took cover behind separate trees, only Nira still moved as she employed the same technique as before. For the others, it was as if she had disappeared right in front of their eyes.
Nira described her special way of movement as erasing herself from existence. The first steps were to stop breathing and empty the mind. With a calm mind, free of any intent, she then silently moved in sync with the world around her, like a leaf floating in the wind. By doing so she caused the mind to fool the eyes of the onlookers. All other senses told them that she wasn't there, to match that, she disappeared from their view as well. To just vaguely see her, one needed a mind that could accept this illogicality or powerful senses like Temo, who used his strong sense of smell to not lose track of her completely.
Moments later she had already passed Temo and before he could stop her, dropped from the ledge into the clearing, without bending a single blade of grass as she touched the ground. Generally hunters would have kept their distance, but Nira was overcome by curiosity as she had seen the weird object below them. Four beautiful horses, with much shorter fur than she had ever seen, were tied together with wood and rope in front of a big colourful wheeled box. It was hard for her to remain calm. Just as she was about to touch the weird construct, she heard a loud human voice, that did not belong to one of her friends and quickly twisted around with spear in hand.

Day 1: Robert Engelhart

Baron Robert Engelhart, second of his name, oldest and only son of the noble Engelhart house, also called the “Baron Shut-In”, always had a mind of his own. While other noble sons had spend their childhood with the practice of swordsmanship, he had spend it in his fathers library. When he came of age Robert did not spend his money on new cloths, horses, falcons, hunting dogs or women, instead he had bought a small mansion in his home-city Angelbrook, with a workshop in it. The workshop, which had been build according to his exact instructions by the best smiths, carpenters, masons and glassmakers, had become his favourite place. Often he would spend weeks in it, only to emerge from it under the threat of force by his father, Archduke Douglas Engelhart. This was mostly to attend noble gatherings, such as banquets, galas and dances, which were incomparable dull and painful to the young man. Understandable was his disdain for the idea to leave said mansion behind and move to the country side, to help a distant relative and third son of Archduke Frederick Darqnir to improve his domain Darktimber. Words like: “A few years away from the city will improve your understanding of the world. Also, it is about time you do something useful for our house.”, from his lord father and words like: “I heard Archduke Darqnir is looking for a suitable man to marry his oldest daughter, if you help his son I am sure something can be arranged. She is really pretty”, from his dear mother, did not help one bit to motivate him. Which made it even more of a surprise when he had found himself on the road to said country side in a carriage one evening, too late to realize that his father had instructed the elderly head-maid to drug his dinner with sleeping-dust.
When he arrived in the small town of Darktimber, Robert had given up on returning to Angelbrook. Not that he hadn't tried, but the head-maid had not let him out of her sight even once, including his latrine use.