Quest 09: Our Spirits, Kindred
Chapter 6 - The Fallen Hero
When Ariane is kidnapped and the signs point to Sliske, Jahaan is forced to confront the Mahjarrat once again. But this time, things take a turn for the twisted, and Jahaan uncovers the truth behind Sliske's obsession with him. Can Jahaan survive Sliske's games? After all, broken bones heal faster than a broken mind...
Getting Jahaan to a healer wasn't as simple as it sounded, especially once the group clocked on that they were in the middle of nowhere.
Wiping the sweat from her brow, a panting Mary Rancour's shoulders sagged. "Where… where are we?"
Below them, the ground was charred and ashen, coarse and tainted. The same black clouded the skies above them, perpetual darkness seeping as far as the eye could see. The trees around them had died years ago, their clawing branches creating eerie shadows, lifeless and haunted. There was a biting chill in the air, and the ever-present feeling of a thousand eyes staring them down…
Gulping, Idria was the first to utter its name, "It's the Wilderness."
The Wilderness was a large and dangerous wasteland which made up nearly the entirety of north-eastern Gielinor - with the exception of the Daemonheim peninsula - situated directly north of the kingdoms of Asgarnia and Misthalin. This area was formerly known as Forinthry. It was a lush and green land at the time Gielinor was discovered by Guthix. But during the God Wars, Forinthry's glory came to an end.
When facing off against the alliance of Saradomin, Armadyl and Bandos, a desperate Zamorak siphoned energy from the Stone of Jas to destroy them. While he didn't succeed in killing the other deities, he caused a massive explosion that swept across the entire continent, turning it into the cursed wasteland that is known today as the Wilderness.
Such horrifying destruction caused the Anima Mundi - the life force of the world - to cry out in agony, which awoke Guthix from his long slumber. Soon, the Edicts of Guthix were put in place, and the gods were banished from Gielinor. The wars ended, but the damage was done; many races like the aviansies, icyenes, ourgs, and wyrms were almost wiped out of existence, and all of Gielinor suffered from the effects of the wars.
But not one kingdom suffered as heavily as Forinthry.
Today, many ruins of mighty cities still remain in these lands, barely recognisable as the great settlements they once were. All that was left were piles of bricks, and around them were the spirits of the creatures who died during the God Wars, too restless to pass onto the afterlife.
Suddenly, Ariane's ears pricked up. "Do you hear that?"
Rising to a defensive posture, Mary Rancour confirmed, "Voices."
Silhouettes soon appeared over the horizon, a group of people walking in their direction, featureless in the distance.
Looking around the barren wasteland for anything that could be used as a weapon, Idria asked, "Do you think they're bandits?"
"Probably," Ariane confirmed, biting the inside of her cheek. "Looks like a lot of them. We'll be outnumbered."
"We could run?" Idria suggested.
Sniffing a dark laugh, Mary Rancour countered, "Where to? Lumbering Jahaan around, they'll be on us in no time. No, we stand our ground. If we're lucky, they'll rob us and be on their way."
"We have nothing worth robbing!" Ariane snapped, "I did not escape Sliske's hellhole just to be murdered by some rouges."
Idria, instead of joining in on the bickering, was fixated upon the incoming group, her squinting, curious eyes trying to focus upon their leader. Slowly, she began to walk in their direction.
"Where are you going?" Mary Rancour hissed, but Idria shushed her. The Guardian of Armadyl's heart was going a mile a minute. Soon, she quickened her pace, daring to call out, "Razbawn? Razbawn!"
The silhouettes stopped moving briefly, their mumbled chatter floating towards Idria. Soon the tallest figure called back, "Idria? Is that you?"
Thanking Armadyl for her blessed luck, she cried back, "Get over here! We need help!"
As she ran back to Jahaan and the others, Razbawn's group quickly emerged into view, hurrying after her. There were about a dozen of them, armed and kitted up for battle.
"What are you doing out here, Idria?" Razbawn demanded, looking shiftily around him. "These are dangerous parts!"
Razbawn was an Armadylean archon, the fierce leader of an Armadylean warband. Warbands were a basic raid and defend occurrence that took place in the Wilderness, with each warband fighting to overtake and protect storage camps guarded by the followers of the different Gods. These camps are founded to gain an advantage for the followers of a particular God. Partaking in Wilderness Warbands was something Armadyl reluctantly turned a blind eye to. These bandits were going to take advantage of the Wilderness anyway, but at least they were doing it in his name. At the same time, they helped to show the might of Armadyl's warriors when faced up against the armies of other gods.
Razbawn wore no armour on his torso, boldly (and recklessly) relying on his bulky shoulder and wrist guards to hopefully absorb any incoming attack. He also didn't wear much on his bottom half either, relying on a rugged looking plateskirt to protect him. Around his neck, Razbawn donned a dream-catcher-esque necklace with the Armadylean wings in the centre. He had a headdress shaped like an eagle's skull, decedent golden feathers protruding from the back, and boots that had steel tips, shaped to resemble talons.
Behind him was a group of Armadylean myrmidons, fighters donned in similar attire, only with full robes underneath their armour to cover their skin. Most were melee fighters, but Idria spotted a couple of archers among their ranks, all wielding the illustrious Armadyl crossbow.
"We have no time to explain," Idria stepped out from in front of Jahaan, motioning down out the barely conscious man and saying, "Our friend needs a healer. Can you teleport us to civilisation?"
Immediately, Razbawn knelt down by Jahaan's side, quickly checking him over without shifting the man in any painful direction. "No signs of bleeding. He looks concussed. What happened to him?"
"Long story. No time," Mary Rancour hurried them along. "Please, can you help us?"
Shaking his head, Razbawn woefully declared, "You can't teleport here, we're too deep into the Wilderness."
Collectively, their hearts sunk. There was a curse placed upon the Wilderness. It prevented any of its occupants from teleporting if they ventured too deep into its depths. Thus, anyone forced into a combat situation could not escape. No-one really knows the origin of this curse, but its another one of the many reasons for the unprepared to avoid the Wilderness at all costs.
One of the archers stepped forward and removed an amulet from around his neck. The ruby in the centre was dull and lifeless. Handing it to Idria, he stated, "This will teleport you to Armadyl's nest. We'll escort you south until the amulet regains energy. Right, Razbawn?"
Nodding, Razbawn added, "It won't be too long of a journey - we're by the Forgotten Cemetery. It's about a mile or two south for the teleport block to fade. Don't worry, your friend will be fine. Braddan, pick him up."
A burly looking gentleman proceeded to lift Jahaan into his arms with all the exertion of carrying groceries. Jahaan barely stirred. He was in a groggy state of semi-awakeness throughout the entire half an hour walk. During which, fortunately, there was very little incident. A few skeletons made eyes at their party, but the archers made short work of them. At one point, in the distance to the west, voices could be heard and figures started emerging into view, but thankfully they re-directed themselves in a different direction. Ariane could only spot three of them; they must have been put off due to being woefully outnumbered.
After walking for long enough, Idria felt her palm start to tingle as the amulet was brought back to life. Calling for everyone to halt, she turned to the warband and said, "We're here. I can't thank you enough, Razbawn. Everyone. Good luck on the raid."
Braddan passed Jahaan back over to Mary Rancour, who needed Ariane's help to catch him and take half the weight. Her previous adrenaline rush where she carried him throughout Sliske's cave had long since worn off, replaced instead with the relentless aching of her tired limbs.
Nodding to the Guardian, Razbawn replied, "I hope your friend recovers soon. Go with Armadyl, all of you."
As soon as the teleport spell sent them to the nest, Mary Rancour and Ariane collapsed to the ground, losing their footing as they tried and failed to balance themselves and Jahaan upon landing.
Idria, managing to stay upright, didn't waste any time before calling out, "Medic! We need a medic over here!"
Upon their clumsy arrival, numerous heads were turned, and soon a group of avianse had crowded round to assist them. One of them, recognising Idria, asked, "Guardian, what happened here?"
Turning to the falcon-headed female, Idria hurriedly replied, "No time, Talak. Where's your healer? We need to get this man to the medical bay, right now."
Talak gasped. "This is the World Guardian!"
By now, the avianse had helped Ariane and Mary Rancour to their feet. Two others held Jahaan upright, basically carrying his dead weight as the young man didn't have any strength in his legs.
"I'll introduce you later," Idria blew her fringe from in front of her eyes. "Right now, medical bay."
There were many medical bays in the fortress, but unfortunately, the closest one also happened to be the smallest. It was more of an observation and recuperation facility, with only a dozen beds, half of them currently occupied by resting avianse awaiting to be discharged by Gaw'kara.
Gaw'kara resembled a heron, tall and slender, with sharp eyes that pierced into their target. His thin feathers were neatly trimmed, orderly and pristine. He was the chief healer at this particular station, having practiced modern medicine since his time on Abbinah. He was never a fighter; his talents lied outside the battlefield, treating the wounded. Thus, he was fortunate enough to not be in Forinthry when the majority of his kind were wiped out of existence. He was back at one of the fortresses, attending to his patients.
He never thought himself fortunate, though.
As soon as he heard the bustle coming from outside, he rested his clipboard down on the bedside table next to the sleeping patient he was attending, awaiting the commotion patiently.
He wasn't expecting half the flock, alongside four humans, to come barrelling into his domain.
Locking onto the condition Jahaan was in, he motioned towards the nearest free bed and hurried over to his side, summoning his assistant with a click of his fingers.
"Set him down here," Gaw'kara's voice was a lot warmer and smoother than was expected, a lot more soothing than his somewhat intimidating physique.
The avianse laid him down on the thin mattress, trying to be as careful as possible. Jahaan stirred slightly with a slurred groan.
Addressing the gaggle crowding around Jahaan's bedside, Gaw'kara asserted, "Not all of you can stay. There isn't enough-"
"I'll stay," Ariane affirmed, resolutely. Seeing the determined look in her eyes, Idria and Mary Rancour didn't even try and talk her out of it.
As the rest of the humans and avianse dispersed out of the medical bay, Gaw'kara urged, "What happened to him? Tell me exactly."
Rubbing the side of her aching temples, Ariane forced herself to repeat the preceding events, the memories more painful as the thumping in her head. "He… he was beaten. A lot. Thrown into a wall, punched in the ribs and face… he's been in and out of consciousness. I think he's got a bad concussion."
Propping up Jahaan slightly with another pillow, he tilted the man's chin upwards, but garnered no response.
"Get the guam," Gaw'kara ordered to the avianse assisting him, who handed over a pestle and mortar with the ground leaf inside of it. After adding a couple of droplets of a violet liquid, Gaw'kara dipped a small cloth into it and held it to Jahaan's nose. After a few seconds, the young man awoke with a start, throwing himself forwards and doubling over in the process. Moving so suddenly proved far too painful; Jahaan fell back down onto the bed with a high-pitched wail.
Gently, but firmly, Gaw'kara held him there. "It's Jahaan, isn't it? The World Guardian? Calm down. You're going to be fine."
Wide-eyed and panicked, Jahaan fought against Gaw'kara's hold, but he had no strength to do so. "G-Get off me, dragonkin!" he hissed, his blurred vision making a terrible mistake.
Quickly, Ariane hurried into view. "Jahaan, it's me, Ariane. He's not a dragonkin, he's an avianse. He's here to help you. Relax, okay?"
Despite his rapid breathing, Jahaan started to calm himself. "A-Ariane? How did you get away from Sliske? Where are we? Where's Ozan?"
That last question hit a bolt straight to the centre of Ariane's chest. Stepping backwards, she simply replied, "This is Gaw'kara. Just listen to him and do what he says. Can you do that?"
Nodding meekly, Jahaan found himself overcome with tiredness, all his meagre energy being exerted in that last jolt. Seeing him slipping back under, Gaw'kara nudged him back into alertness, saying, "Jahaan, I need you to stay awake for a little longer while we have a talk, then you can rest. Is that okay with you?"
Jahaan mumbled something inaudible, so Gaw'kara pressed, "Jahaan? I'm going to need you to speak more clearly."
Gaw'kara had an awfully reassuring tone. It was so comforting and smooth you could forgive just how patronising he was being. It was the healer's way, of course. It worked in relaxing people more often than it annoyed them, and Jahaan was not one to complain right now.
"Right, yeah, okay," Jahaan replied, taking a deep, strained breath to try and keep himself lucid and focused. His words were slurred from the gaps in his teeth, drool escaping onto his stained shirt below.
Satisfied, Gaw'kara started his examination. It didn't take much for him to feel the bulging lump forming on the back of Jahaan's head. From his drowsy and confused state, coupled with the way the injury was inflicted, a concussion was undoubtable. Gaw'kara proceeded to ask a few questions, simple ones that Ariane could fact check, or ones that were common knowledge. Knowing he was treating the World Guardian didn't change a thing - Jahaan was just another injured soul who needed to heal. Treating humans wasn't that different from treating avianse, when it came right down to it, and Gaw'kara had treated enough of both in his time.
Motioning Ariane to one side, Gaw'kara whispered, "He's definitely concussed. How severely is something we'll need to monitor, to avoid any complications. After I've finished assessing him, we'll need to keep waking him up periodically, asking him some questions, and check him over. This is done to make sure he doesn't have any serious damage, like a bleed on the brain. Sometimes these things have a delayed onset, and we can't risk him slipping into a coma without us being aware."
The terms 'coma' and 'bleed on the brain' brought Ariane's heart to her throat. She'd had her disagreements with the man - severe ones, perhaps - but she'd never wish this upon him. Not after all he did to try and save Ozan...
Suddenly, she was taken out of her thoughts by Gaw'kara's voice in her ear. Blinking twice, she focused back on the avianse and said, "Sorry, come again?"
"I said, I'm going to check his ribs over next," Gaw'kara repeated. He already had a little knife in hand to slice through the fabric of Jahaan's shirt. "Are you okay? Ariane, isn't it? Sorry, pleasantries were a little rushed earlier."
Exhaling a light laugh, Ariane rubbed around her eyes. "Sorry, I'm just tired. Yes, it's Ariane."
"Would you like to go and rest with your group? I can-"
"No," Ariane firmly cut in, softening her tone when she continued, "No… no I need to stay. I'm fine. Please, continue."
Deciding to leave the matter for now, Gaw'kara used the small blade to delicately cut through Jahaan's shirt, exposing the battered flesh underneath.
The sight made Ariane want to wretch. Jahaan's chest was a contorted mess of coloured blotches. Blues melted into greens with yellow epicentres; dark purples gave way to black imprints. If she looked closely enough - not that she wanted to - Ariane swore she could still see knuckle marks.
Wincing, Gaw'kara lightly placed a hand on Jahaan's chest. "Jahaan, this is going to hurt a bit. Can you tell me where the pain is worst?"
"Uh-huh," Jahaan groggily replied, only half registering what was being said as the avianse ran his hands across his chest. There was no immediate pain to speak of, nothing more than the pounding ache he'd almost grown accustomed to. But that was until Gaw'kara pressed down on his left side of his false ribs.
The cry that followed made Ariane feel sick.
Quickly removing his hand, Gaw'kara turned to Ariane and said. "There's undoubtedly multiple breaks here. Fortunately, he hasn't broken any of his true ribs - the upper ribs, such as the ones that protect his heart. Despite the serious damage, I've thankfully not detected anything indicating that he's injured his lungs. They should heal within six to eight weeks."
Gently, with the help of his assistant, Gaw'kara pulled Jahaan slightly more upright, having the assistant hold him there while he carried out an inspection of his back. There was bruising, but it wasn't anything like what he'd seen on the young man's chest. Running his taloned hand carefully across Jahaan's back, Gaw'kara stopped at his collarbone, noticing something amiss. From being thrown back into a wall, a shoulder or collarbone injury was the most likely, and from how it felt to the touch, Gaw'kara deduced that Jahaan's collarbone was almost certainly broken.
"He'll need a sling to assist in his collarbone's healing," Gaw'kara announced to Ariane. "It's broken. It won't take more than two months to fix itself, mind. That is - and I reiterate - he rests it. No sword-wielding in the interim."
Ariane just about managed a half smile. "I'll make sure he's sensible. Thank you."
The rest of Gaw'kara's inspection didn't take too long - he wanted to let Jahaan rest soon, but already scheduled with his assistant when the man should be re-awoken for evaluation. When Ariane pointed out the potential injury to his wrist, Gaw'kara told her it would be fine as long as it was splinted. The bone was broken, severely, but just like everything else, time is a great healer. They just had to rely on Jahaan not getting into any scuffles anytime soon.
Once they left the medical bay, Gaw'kara repeated the short form of the diagnosis to the other women. Noticing the burns on their hands, he ushered them into another medical bay to get treated, not wanting anyone disturbing the World Guardian and his other patients.
To Ariane, he said, "Once you've rested, I would like to hear how all this has come about, Ariane. As would Armadyl, I'm sure. No doubt he's been alerted to how he is now housing the World Guardian."
"Thank you, Gaw'kara," Ariane replied, feeling her eyes starting to close but desperately forcing them open. She planned to nap beside Jahaan's bed until he was next evaluated, knowing she'd have to give into the tiredness of her body at some point soon, or she'd just drop. "We all can't thank you enough for what you've done for us today."
Smiling warmly, Gaw'kara replied, "Community and compassion are pillars of our faith. Now, go and rest, young one. Jahaan will be fine."
DISCLAIMER:
As Of Gods and Men is a reimagining, retelling and reworking of the Sixth Age, a LOT of dialogue/characters/plotlines/etc. are pulled right from the game itself, and this belongs to Jagex.
