The Gargoyle and the Drow

The instinctive nature of a Gargoyle is to protect. As a human wishes for fame or safety a Gargoyle picks a target and then chooses to protect them. Sometimes such granting of protection can be seen as very much so random but other races.

There she was in a cage, a young Drow child. Her skin pitch black, her hair and eyes a light gray. The Gargoyle observed as the Araknea Caravan traveled North to the tents of the local Khar, for another slave auction.

Maybe there was an odd spark in the girls eye? Maybe it was some sort of dormant instinct kicking in, but the Gargoyle flew down and snatched the crate. Like a magpie picking up a dropped ring. The two were gone before the Araknea could give chase though their gurgling and hissing could be heard for miles as they frantically searched the area.

The girl now found herself in a cave, her cage's bard being bent by a beastly looking creature. She was terrified, though her reaction was muted. After all she spent months if not years among monsters. Eating raw meat prepared only by being injected with digestive juices. Her mouth was covered in scars, from eating said meat as it dissolved her flesh.

As the bars bent she slowly climbed out, walking a few steps only to turn around and run back into her cage. The Gargoyle only watched. This would repeat a few times. Each time with her venturing further. She likely would have turned more adventurous if she had a more peaceful day, but a half-elf of such rare race is a prized possession. As such the Araknea returned.

Five of them surrounding the entrance of the cave, hissing and growling. The gargoyle didn't but the girl did understand: "Come here.". It was a simple command. One she followed.

The Gargoyle did not intervene, he was there to protect, not to choose for her. The girl started shaking and looking around frantically. Then turned around and ran towards the Gargoyle as the spiders grabbed her. Their clawed hands ripping into her flesh.

The claws suddenly went limp and she ran free, but now as she looked there was no Gargoyle there. The Gargoyle's stone sword has turned an onyx black as he hacked off the seven Araknea hands still stuck limply in her back.

The girl was relieved the Gargoyle was still there. She collapsed and started crying paralyzed by fear. To her after all the Araknea were beasts impossible to defeat. They killed her parents and village. They enslaved her and no one thus far could stand in their way. But as she kept cowering the sounds arachne shrieking were slowly dying down. Silence didn't come until dawn. It is then when she raised her eyes to see an Archne head decapitated in the Gargoyles hand. His stone body was covered in cracks. As dawn came she ran out to him. The sun filled the cracks and his stone body once again became whole, the girl's body couldn't stand the sun though. The Gargoyle noticed too late that she was clearly in pain and before they rushed into the cave her skin was covered in blisters.

And so there was now a lone man of stone left to take care of an Elven girl out of flesh? Flesh pierced by claws and burning in the sun? He did not know what he should do. He wrapped her up in cloth and flew. Gargoyles did not care for money, but they knew that mortals do, so he took what little glass the Arachnea had.

The steppe is wide and open as such it is easy to spot anything especially when in flight. Still it was not easy to concentrate as the girl was having a nightmare talking in her sleep a tongue the Gargoyle did not know.

The flying stone creature kept thinking about what he should do. The people of the Khanate would return a stolen slave while the Children of Itza would likely not provide any care without a rare gift in exchange. Then he remembered the odd ears the child had, ears one would only find among Elves. The white ones of the Crystal Mount. It is there where the Gargoyle chose to go.

The land around the Crystal Spire once surrounded by cities now was like one great city of Tents filled with First Elves adopting their conqueror's nomadic ways and with aspiring horse lords wishing to go on Pilgrimage to the spire.

Still this land has a good level of autonomy, so it is unlikely they would look for escaped slaves. A Gargoyle being a rare sight, as soon as he landed Elves would gather around the stone giant. Elven women giggling, pulling on the horns, poking at the stone. Nothing he would care about, only when an Elven maiden attempted to unravel the cloth protecting the child did the Gargoyle tell her off aggressively.

Some panic struck the elves as they did not expect the stone man to speak their tongue, and carry what looked like a charred corpse of an elf! Quickly guards would appear riding pointing their spears down from their Steppe Horses. The Gargoyle would comply as he knew the Elves to be sensible when it came to enforcing the law. As such he agreed to show them the child as long as it is in shadow.

Seeing it confusion was followed by concern as the wounds were deep and the child had severe sunburn. Quickly medics and mages were called to see to it.

The Gargoyle did not fear to tell them the kid was a runaway slave, for Elves saw nothing as a greater shame than to see an Elf enslaved by a lesser race.

Still the skin color and general appearance of this Elf were odd. The only other elves they know of except themselves are the Bronze Skinned ones in the North and the Red Skinned ones in the Treant Empire. There are myths of Human-Looking Elves living beyond the world Spine, but all know how westerasi Humans look like and they certainly don't have coal-black skin.

To see if there are more lost brethren-tribes the Elves agreed to take in the lost Drow girl and allow the Gargoyle to stay as a caregiver. The money the Gargoyle had was enough for a good tent and some supplies. They would be under the supervision of Clan Geor, where the Gargoyle would be employed as a guard.

He was convinced to take the job as a way to repay the debt for "the Cloth of a Celestial maiden" that was given to him. An expensive piece of transparent cloth noble ladies of the Celestial Empire put on themselves as it stops the sun from Darkening their skin. This cloth should be able to protect the girl's skin too.

Clan Geor was one of the few First Elf Clans which fully embraced the ways of the Uzataar. They were led by a young Elves lass named Lezera who went by the title “Horselord” a title bestowed on her by the Khan himself after the battle of the 1000 Huts, which marked the end of the Ruskata wars. In said war Clan Geor was the one responsible for ensuring the Khanates victory by exposing the Hut’s weakness to fire magic. The higher Elven council chose Clan Geor as the host for the foreign Girl and the Gargoyle due to their unusually “open” views. Horselord Lezera did not shy away from hiring goblinoid mercenaries not from incorporating other types of Elf into her clan, as nearly 1 in 20 Elves of Geor were Snow Elves and a few were Wood Elves. It was important though that all foreigners joining fully accept the Clan’s Rules.

This was no different for the Drow Youngling. Not long after her admission into the Clan she would undergo lessons which would last all day just to teach her the language of the First Elves. As soon as she learned the basics of the tongue she revealed the name S’zapia, a name clearly derived from “Sepherithelitrillna” the 4th prophetess of the Elves after the fall from the heavens, but very foreign in it’s pronunciation. Possibly a pet name, her parents used. After all the girl was likely not even 15 meaning she barely reached the age where one should start schooling (equivalent of 6yo). At the request of his “mistress” the Gargoyle also stated his name which was: Phred.

As soon as the vocabulary of the girl expanded oddities in her behavior were noticed. She preferred to sleep during the day and stay active during the night. She was extremely talented, but despised work of all kinds. She also seemed to often act differently to her own words. Saying “I do not care for travel, all places are the same.” only in her dreams to cry for a way back home. Pointing out how pointless art is only to continue drawing. Saying how much she hates a song while singing along. Phred had a hard time understanding this, it was as if her mind gave up all hope for the world, but not her soul.

S’zapia thus continued to grow, clearly different to the rest of Clan Geor. As such bullying was common, and due to the adoption of warrior culture never condemned by the adults. It was likely due to her defeatist nature that the girl just took it. That is of course until her Guardian chose to put a stop to it, not by his sword, but through his word. He put in S’zapias hand a sword and taught her the art of combat he learned on his own. Of course the girl was no Gargoyle as such much what she was taught made little sense. Only for a being with wings do some techniques work and an Elves weapon is their finesse not brute force. Still even such, mismatched advice bore fruit as that was enough to fight off most bullies.

As S’zepia’s education continued Phred’s work did too, he would spar with the elves as he helped the Clan grow as warriors, as a warrior he grew too. His free time he usually spent scouting the area or at markets of other servants of the Khan. Asking always about the land where there is no sun. The answers varied, but many gave the same clue: It may be in the far east beyond the Zephyr Mountains. As such whenever he could he’d spread rumors to sway the Clan’s opinion to wander further east. Lezera did not enjoy a non-elf elevating himself to influence their path, as such she was stern with Phred, though sympathetic to the cause of finding the home of S’zapia. Afterall wouldn’t it be a deed for the Hymns (elven oral tradition) to rediscover more of our lost brethren?

S'zapia, meanwhile, grew. With the age of 45 slowly entering adulthood. Her school of magic was long chosen having found herself kin with the wind and participating in many battles under the protection of her adoptive father. Some say she chose wind for she could have chosen anything and it was that magic that let her emulate the swordsmanship of her winged father, though the girl would never admit that. With her coming of age her tattoos were chosen.

Unique among all of elvenkind, her eyes once gray have turned a pearl-white her tattoo thus being white. It was a choice to create the dye as no known kind of elf has naturally white eyes, even less would albino elves need white tattoo dye. Still the deed was done. The shamans of the tribe sat together and designed what should be. Elaborate shapes reminiscent of the wind would cover up the girl’s countless scars. Twirls of white would cover the burns around her lips and then from there would wander to her back covering the holes left behind, by spiderkind.

Not a day had passed from the ceremony when S’zepia stood before her father ready to leave the Geor. The girl was raised most of her life, but had little attachment to the clan. Always an outsider and always longing for home. She likely never asked to leave because she knew that “as a child she belongs to the clan”. As such in the night the two left behind the First Elves as they came to them. Unannounced in flight at night with only a sloppily written not left behind by Phred (he could barely write).

The steppe would turn out to be a treacherous land, with Bloodox being the only stable source of food, even where there is a Bloodox a Galopping Bat is not far. Well, there is few things wind magic is as good at as at dealing with Galopping Bats as such the pair would mostly eat “Ch’kekupka” which is a mix of Bloodox Blood and Milk boiled until it becomes similar in consistency to gelatin as well as “Ke’kaba” which is simple Galopping Bat Soup. It is something known as the “soup of Kings” as the Uzataar word for Bat is “kneba”, but so is their word for crown. (it’s a loanword from Qi-Fu).

On their travels through the endless steppe, they would learn why this place is known as the Sea of Grass. As in all other seas it is beset by Pirates. To those mainly belong Goblins, more rarely humans. Raving bands traveling the land on horseback looking to plunder, steal and enslave. There were many encounters with these “land Pirates” the two had in their travels, though the most significant was with Chkeret the Donkeylord. A former horse lord of the Khan Chkeret was caught stealing from the Khan himself thus he was shamed and named lord of Donkeys (fools) instead. Still the goblin was a resentful man. Taking his punishment with dignity, he instead betrayed the Khan and took his men to plunder and destroy everything they could, making him the most dangerous of the “pirates” of the Grass Sea.

The string of misfortunes associated with this man came, when our duo visited an underground market linked with the West Qi-Fu independence movement. With either having little loyalty to the Khan the illegality of this establishment mattered to them way less than the rumors of Qey Fu Zhou a famous Qi-Fu cartographer auctioning off his collection of maps to help finance the movement. S’zepia found interest in a map which would describe a pass east through the Zephyr mountains into a land known as Kou Jang Tingma. It seemed as though not only the lost Drow had shown interest in the map, but the Donkeylord himself. Being a man of considerable wealth he easily won the auction taking the rare prize for himself and not being beyond petty crime the girl stole the map.

Resting in their tent neither could have expected goblins to track them down so easily. It is only due to the Drow girl’s nocturnal habits that the two survived. A foul smell would catch the girls attention while carving figurines out of wood. The nauseating smell started growing stronger and laughter and chitter-chatter could be heard from outside the tent. Quietly she’d chant wind charms slowly pushing out the toxins as she nudged her adoptive father awake and hoisted her weapon. He then pulled her to the ground, so she’d look asleep. He slept upright more so it was reminiscent of a statue.

Like rats would swarm a house unguarded by a cat goblins crawled in through every crevice. Sniffing and prodding, looking for the stolen item. That is when the Gargoyle truly awoke hacking and slashing at the goblinoids and his daughter followed. The unprepared greenskins scattered, though the night was far from over. Arrows and spells would be flung out of seemingly nowhere and goblins would leap out of burrows underground.

The duo desperately trying to fight or escape the menace. Moreover those devils resorted to using poisoned arrows! Least they knew that their kind of poison was not made for men of stone. As such the Gargoyle used his body to shield the girl from arrows, still some hit her rendering her weak, but the night continued.

When they tried flying away, a volley of arrows shattered Phreds wings making them ram into the ground only to see goblins all around. Why were there so many did they always travel in packs? Backs against each other the two fought on. Finally sunrise came and the sun revitalized the man of stone. His wounds healed, injuries gone. In one fell swoop he felled 10 Goblins then he and the girl were both gone.

Still as soon as their feet touched ground more goblins would sprout like weeds and so they flew and as they tired flight became more like jumps. Phred’s wings barely flapping carried by his daughters winds finally the found refuge as they saw a migrating horde. Invoking the rule of hospitality and presenting sufficient gifts, they were taken as guests and tended to their wounds. This was the horde of Horselord Uzrpatr keeper of Bloodox. A man less known for his deeds in war and more for ones on the markets. He was a large man of many folds, so large in fact hold him could not horse! He rode a Grand Bloodox Bull, thus his nickname was “The Araxian”, it was not a nickname he did enjoy.

While he welcomed our duo with feast and fanfare, the Gargoyle was suspicious. In their tent in secret he dug a large hole. In it he hid his sleeping daughter and above her solidified into stone. This is how Gargoyles rested hiding among stone. No it merely looked like an empty tent with a rock poking out of the ground. The Gargoyles ' suspicions were right as soon he felt the tent to be “left alone”. The whole horde moved on leaving one tent… around it goblins gathered. Then stormed it.

They found an empty tent and searched it for hours. Suddenly what was brought was a creature large in stature, shaking the ground as it walked it. Similar to goblins it sniffed intently, then it grabbed the gargoyle back gently. It twisted stronger, shattering the stone and catapulted the Gargoyle 10 meters out of the tent home.

This time it was day, the wrong time to mess with a Gargoyle, after a few bounces the cracks were as good as gone and the stone creature was ready to fight on. He cut through goblins like butter. The Ogre was not as easy though. It’s fists also being like stone still the two would fight one. The fight ended when S’zepia woke up, coating her sword in wind it let her easily cut the giant up. Though for a bit she stood exposed in the sunlight. Her pitchblack skin now being covered in blisters. Like the day he met her the Gargoyle wrapped her up in blankets and fled seeking refuge in a cave.

That day he understood that he needed to get stronger, he would ask his daughter to teach him magic. Something he long resisted. He could not remain a pure swordsman any longer.