@Lion I wanted to get this up last night, but that didn't work out quite as planned. So here you are, one thread start slightly delayed!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Everything was so
different here! Traveling across Serendipity – never staying in one place for more than a night or two – had been quite the experience for Elysia. Traipsing around her country of birth was one thing, but
this was an entirely different beast. In Serendipity the young bard had managed to pick up a handful of new stories, but most were simply variations of stories and songs she had already known. In Hyoite everything was
new and
exciting. Not to mention the locals were fairly friendly and welcoming to her, despite being an 'outsider' and 'odd'.
Already she had nearly spent an entire week just in Hyoite itself. Elysia couldn't help it though, there was just so much to
learn. From strange new dances, to songs, and stories, there was a plethora of wonderful new things for her to experience. Even the local food was exciting, meals were much different here. The meats and fish were hearty and filling, though she found herself missing some of her favorite dishes from back home.
A touch of homesickness certainly didn't hamper her good time though. It must have been the ninth night in Hyoite (or was it the tenth?) that she was sitting around a warm fire, laughing and exchanging tales, when she heard about the Ice Man. The story immediately captivated her, the young woman listening with rapt attention. Of course it sounded far-fetched and fantastical. Still, it was intriguing – a mysterious man from out of the mountains that frosted like a skyward peak.
Thus far Elysia had been hesitant to venture out onto the open tundra herself. It was a cold, vast expanse of snow and ice. Not that she would admit it, but going out
there alone was more than a little intimidating. Off the beaten path with no clear roads – what if she got lost or suffered snow blindness? On the other hand, how cool would it be to hunt down the origin of the Ice Man? Surely he wasn't
real, but if she could find the
source of the story she'd have quite the story of her very own!
With a lot of help she managed to gather appropriate supplies for a trip to the small settlement that supposedly had the first sighting of the Ice Man. It was a pretty arduous journey, to be sure. Somehow Elysia managed to make the trek, although she knew there was no way she'd have managed it without getting so much help along the way. Surprisingly tiny settlements did
kinda act like a road to follow – or at the very least they served as great landmarks and kept her resupplied.
Finally she managed to reach her destination. Or at least her
first destination. The people in the small little place were more than willing to tell her what they knew about the mysterious Ice Man, which was more than she'd first learned. She found herself giggling at the idea of a huge naked man running down the mountain into town with icicles in his beard. By now she was
quite convinced that this supposed 'Ice Man' was just a man that had stumbled out from the frozen tundra with icicles in his beard and everyone had simply gotten very carried away with the retelling of the tale. For starters she highly doubted he had been
naked. The poor thing would have frozen to death. Or at least lost some appendages to frostbite!
Armed with her new information on the Ice Man legend, even if she didn't believe it to be
strictly accurate, Elysia set out in the direction of this supposed cave that the Ice Man came from. Not that she doubted that there was a cave! There were probably lots of caves in the mountains. The reports of it being a tomb full of frozen corpses (some eaten to the bones!) were what she kind of had her doubts about. Although how creepy would that be if she
did find a cave with a bunch of dead bodies? There was only one way to find out.
And that is how Elysia found herself wandering around the frozen tundra hunting for a cave that may or may not exist.
