Cleansing, Part 1

Sitting quietly on his new bed in the squires quarters, Giantklr thought intensly on his upcomming duties. Things have changed now, and he needed to be ready for it all. So lost in his thought was the new squire, that he didnt hear the knock at he door. Soon, the knock became a loud banging and Giant snapped out of his daze. "Do come in" said Giant in a startled tone.

A messenger opened the door and poked his head in. "Yer presence has been requested by Lady Nesha" "Thank you, I am on my way" spoke the squire beginning to stir a little. "Might I offer ye a little advice?" added the messenger.

"Of course, I am always open to suggestions"

"Ye may wish to speed thing up a bit" said the messenger a sly smile crossing his face. "Oh really, and why might that be?" asked Giant growing puzzled. Barely keeping himself from laughing the messenger continued "I hear the Lady carries a mean thwapping stick and it would be best she not be kept waiting" With that the squire took off at nearly a full run, all the while hearing the messenger's laughter echoing down the corridor. Passing by a young page in the hall and seeing the questioning look in his eyes, Giant only said "thwapping stick" as he sped by. Entering the main hall, Giant quickly noticed the Lady and appraoched with an edge of caution in his step. Nearly tripping over a bench on his approach, Nesha only smiled. Exchanging greetings, Giant took a seat keeping an eye out for any sign of the dreaded stick. "Giant, I have a task for ye" began Lady Nesha "it will difficult, but it must be done" Listening intently, Giant only nodded.

"The north east region of the woods has been raided by many evil creatures. They need to be rid of and the area cleansed of their presence" continued the Knight. "You are to seek out these creatures, and deal with them. Speed is not a question here, just be sure it is done" "It will be done M'Lady" said Giant with an edge of nervousness creeping over him. He could only think that failure would mean a dreaded meeting with this infamous stick. Saying the goodbyes, the squire headed off to prepare for his journey. Along the way out, he couldn't help but to glance over his shoulder in hope that he may catch a glimpse of something he had already began to fear.

It didn't take long for Giant to ready his supplies and be on his way out. keeping a steady pace, he started towards Longsaddle. Stopping only a few timees along the way to help some weary travellers, Giantklr soon made Longsaddle much quicker than he had anticipated. Not wanting to risk being slowed by fatigue, he decided to stay at the inn for the evening and get some rest. Little did he know, that there was a group of fools, that insisted on being rather loud and obnoxious. Finally, sometime in the early hours of the morn these fools, or ITB they called themselves, seemed to quiet down and the new squire drifted off to sleep. Awaking earlier than usual, Giant walked into the main room of the inn only to see why these fools had grown quiet. They were all passed out or in a drunken stupor. Stepping over some of the inate forms, he quickly walked out of the inn laughing as he thought how he kept hearing these fools cry out to all for fear them. It was a short distance to the enterence to the woods and it was made in no time. Stepping through the gate, Giant took a moment to recheck his maps to be sure he was headed in th right direction. Almost screaming at himself for already being lost, Giant chuckled as he spoke out loud "Might help if the map wasn't upside down" Knowing for sure he was headed the right way he continued on. After a short distance, the squire was ambushed by a group of trolls. Easily handelling these monsters, Giant let his guard slip and another warrior steped into the battle.

"Greetings fellow traveller" said the page as he dodged a blow from one of the trolls. "Greet this" was the only reply recieved as the warrior readied his attack. Diving out of the way and narrowly avoiding the spell cast by this evil one, Giant rolled to his feet and readied his counter move. "I like ta play, all ye had to do was ask" said Giantklr as he launched his attack This was too much for the evil, for many of tha squires blows struck true. Turning to set into motion his next moves, the evil was gone, disappeared. "Odd" said Giant as he sniffed his tunic "I know I dont smell bad, wonder why he left so quick" Giant thought for a moment before he looked to the western horizon and all became clear to him. "Getting dark, his mommy must not let him play outside after dark" said the squire as he started to laugh. "If he only would o said his name, I would have gone and asked his mommy if he could play a little longer" Continuing on his way, Giantklr soon reached the north east regoin. Drawing his blade as he entered the area, Giant could sense that things were not right. Around the corner he heard a noise. Slowly advancing, he barely avoided detection by a large group of fire giant mages. Stepping behind a tree, the squire began to ready himself for battle. Taking a peek around the tree, he considered his options. Facing these mages, or facing Nesha's stick. After only a seconds hesitation Giant leaped from around the tree and headed straight for the giants in front of him. Catching them off guard, over half of the mages were cut down in the initial surge, Giant's blade striking true. Preparing his magics, Giant knew the mages would be raising their defenses, so he launched into casting spells as quickly as he could. This time the mages didn't fall so quickly, but put up a bit more resistance. In time though, only the squire stood standing, being wounded by several of the mages attacks. Stopping to cleanse his wounds, Giant said a prayer to Tyr, and he felt a warmth was over him, making him feel strong enough to continue on. The sun was way out of sight by now and many stars lit the black sky. Deciding to travel under the cover of darkness, the squire moved on. Little did he know the creatures that inhabit the area love the dark. Many a battle did Giantklr wage this night, only the image of the "stick" kept him from faltering. Weakened after battles with Black Dragons, Beholders, Golems, and even a few Dracolichs, the young squire decided to make camp for the night and gain some much needed rest. Awaking the next morn, Giant felt refreshed and ready to go. He could only hope the daylight ould drive some of these foul beasts back into the hole they came from. No such luck, the evil creatures were out in force again. Many more battles did Giantklr wage. Holders, purple worms, efreeti, and even some more fire giant mages all tested the skill and determination of the squire. They all failed in their attempts, and Giant prevailed each time, for he didnt fear these beasts, but he had begun to fear something he had not even seen. The "stick".

Soon, Giant walked freely through the woods and nothing jumped out at him. Stretching his weary arms, he took a deep breath and said "Ahhhhh this area is clean for now" All of a sudden, he nearly choked on a horrible smell. "What in the name of Tyr is that?" Giant said in disgust. Lowering his head and smelling his tunic, Giantklr's stomach turned. "Ack, I am in dire need if a bath and a change of clothes" "Sheesh, I might as well forget about anyone stopping to play now!" With that, Giant quickly headed off to Longsaddle and the inn to his much needed cleansing. All along the way he smiled thinking to himself that the "stick" had been avoided this time.

Giantklr
Squire to Lady Nesha
Fiance to Kierra
Brother to Bruno
Forever on tha lookout for the "stick"