silvertiger

Well.. you tortured me .. i guess ill have to post the rest of what i have .. and maybe it will prod me to keep going... (not much yet)
Chapter 1

(hero) woke from his troubled sleep to find that he was lying in an ill favored cot that barely supported his feeble frame. The smell of some creature roasting with strong spices wafted in from behind him and reinforced the pang that was in his stomach already from hunger that had developed from his exertions and worsened by the length of time that he was unconscious.
Slowly he placed his thoughts in order before speaking. “The men, in the forest... are they …” but he was abruptly halted by a gruff voice behind him. “They’re fine, and will be back to their normal rotten selves when they awake, which I assure will be a bit longer than you took to recover. They may seek revenge for your actions, but the (governing party) will not allow it”
(hero) slowly sat up, his head spinning, and began to examine his surroundings. He had never been in (mentor)’s (residence) before and found it quite intriguing. Small trinkets covered every part of visible wall ranging from simple marble amulets to the finest of articulate devices with placed gems and embedded with runes that shone of the finest metals. What they were for (hero) had no idea, but he looked upon them with the awe of a fledgling (magic) wielder and understood that many of these so called trinkets held great power and unknown histories. (hero)’s attention was broken by the slight pressure on his head as (mentor) placed a strong hand there. “You may feel a bit strange as this is your first magical healing, but I feel it necessary.” As (mentor) began to focus (hero) began to feel a faint warmth expand from his chest outwards. As the heat increased his began to loose clarity of mind and he found himself drifting as if in a day dream.
As (hero)’s his head began to clear he realized that he was again lying on the cot, but this time his mind and body felt as though he had just awaken from a long night’s sleep. He arose with a look of awe on his face as he gazed upon (mentor) with a new found respect. “That should help you feel better, and the more you get healed the more your cease to resist the magic flowing into you. Next time it will not be so intrusive and it will allow more lucid healings.” (hero) inquired “How long was i lying down?” “Not long.” (mentor) replied. “It was only about 2 minutes.” (hero) was amazed as his sense of time had been so wrong. He was sure that he must have been healing for much longer than that to be feeling as well as he did now.
(mentor) spent the next few minutes preparing the food that had been cooking. (hero) could smell the vegetables that accompanied the main course and was very interested in the first taste as he had not smelt this combination of herbs before. He could smell the telltale hints of brimweed, known to produce a numbing effect when used in sufficient quantities, spar root , often used as a slight tenderizer and as part of a few healing tinctures, and a pinch of velespier leaf that was quite unique as under certain circumstances can induces a type of lulling calm with no negative side effects. While he was aware of these herbs and many others he could tell the strength of each odor and the combined aroma of the entire meal that none were used out of proportion and the end result would be quite delicious and refreshing.
(mentor) served them both in small trenchers that held generous portions and accompanied it with a thin tall carafe of a custom brewed tea made from a mixture of dark leaves, dried root and flower petals sweetened with fresh harvested honey. They ate in silence and (mentor) did not speak of the test, but instead directed conversation into the more important topics of further study, continued meditation and weapons training that would likely be placed on (hero) soon. (mentor) wished to express his pride for the unprecedented performance that (hero) had given but felt it necessary to curb such accolades until another time so he might turn the mind of (hero) away from the events that happened the night before and focus on what was ahead.


(hero) woke with a sense of dread for today he would be taken before the (governing council) where they would provide a quick assessment of his performance the day before but more importantly they would be determining his position in the ladder of potential (higher training inductees) and into which caste of further training he would progress whether it be (magic) , physical, or weapons. (hero) was passionate about each school of training and had thought for untold hours about the sacrifice to be made to focus on any given school and the loss suffered in the other areas.