Fell Isles, 416 I.E
Mist and fog cover the swamplands of the Fell Isles. Herds of Histriasaurus bellow as they walk east. A herd of Megaloceratops also strode along the mire bank. Birds and small Pterosaurs flew across the dawning sky as Sol began to rise into the sky and the stars slowly started to fade.
It didn't take long before a deer walked up to the bank to drink some of the swamp water when, unknown to it, something else hid in the trees, A Fell Isle Spot hound. He slowly drew an arrow with his bow as he took aim and shot at the deer. The arrow stuck its neck and instantly killed it. The boy climbed down from the tree he had hidden in and made his way to the dead animal, taking his arrow out to clean it before putting it in his quiver. He took out his stone skinning knife to skin the deer. While doing so, he hears footsteps getting closer from his right side and turns to see another Spot Dog. A female whose forearms and lower legs were black like the spots on her exposed body that weren't covered by the hide clothing she wore. She, too, carries a bow and a spear.
"Hey, Patch, we are supposed to be in this together. Why do you get the kill and I don't?"
"Because you aren't good at it, Dolly, besides, I insisted on going along anyway. You are supposed to be patrolling, not hunting." Patches tells the girl when she responds with "I can do both, I just need to get away from your cousin Dylan for a while, he's being a control freak again."
"If not him, you don't need to worry about them; it's the master that you'll need to answer to when he finds out that you aren't patrolling Undon from any invaders."
Dolly scoffed at what her cousin had said and whistled for her mount. A feathered austroraptor came to the girl as she petted the raptor and jumped on the saddle strap onto the back of it, and asked if he needed help with the deer.
"No, I'm only skinning it. We have plenty of food, Dolly. Better get to patrolling, or the master isn't going to be too happy." He warns as she rides off from the murky bank. By the time she reaches her home village, she sees the master, who isn't too happy to see her, with one staff in his left hand. The master scowls at her and asks, "Aren't you on your task to patrol Undon?"
"Uncle Pongo, I got sidetracked and thought I could help Patches."
"Don't make me regret putting you on the militia. Your orders are to patrol with Lucky and Dylan. Why aren't you doing it?" He asked with annoyance in his voice. "Well, Dylan is being a control freak."
"Because he's a control freak, or perhaps he's putting you on the right path. This task isn't just for you to play around. This world is a hostile realm. You must be on your guard at all times if you get yourself in trouble, dear." Pongo lectures her as Dolly sighs. She apologizes as Pongo sighs. "Please get back to your post, Dolly, for the sake of Svarog and all of Jordgard."
Dolly rode her austroraptor around her home village, seeing various birds and small flying reptiles all over her view. Large sauropods wandered in herds, as did the Iguanodon herd. "How cute," she murmurs at the sight of a baby iguanodon following its mother. Clouds began to cover Sol, which gave her shade for a moment.
Dolly pressed onward towards the hunting grounds. It took a few minutes for her to arrive. The tree provided more shade, protecting the Fell Isle Spot hound from the heat, but the ground was covered with moist dirt and moss. The trees were covered in green moss with a single Meganura crawling along one of the tall trees.
"Easy there, girl, we got this." She spoke to her mount as she dismounted and grabbed her stone-copper spear. She and her Austroraptor silently prowl, being cautious of their surroundings. She stayed on guard in the event of a raptor attack.
She continues until she spots a fawn. She hesitantly raised her spear, but her stomach growled. She had no choice but to kill it. She threw her spear at the faun, killing it with one shot to its neck. Dolly stood up and went towards the bleeding fawn to grab her spear and pulled out her knife to gut it, taking the edible flesh and allowing her austroraptor to devour the rest. She would gather some sticks to create a fire. She found a bird's nest and used it to create fire with her flint and stone she also found. It took an hour for her food to cook over the fire, but she managed to eat her lunch.
Full from her food, she puts out her fire when she hears whispering not far from her location. Thinking it was her peers, she went to investigate to see a group of robed figures surrounding a type of ritual sight. She ducked and hid herself from their sight. There, they chanted in a tongue unknown to her; their chants would start as a whisper at first when two more came to her view, with two Laurasian Empire troops dragged by a rope. There is a type of sigil on the ground they stood along with a stone monolith engraved with strange symbols that aren't the runes of the gods.
"What form of Seidr is this?" she mouthed to herself as these robe figures laid the troops down on the ground at the center of the white powder Sigil. One of them grabs out a tool that they would use to carve a large wound across the chest of the Laurasian troop, who was a tyrann. Both were tyranns from the mainland. She kept watching them perform their ritual. The sky began to blacken with Eldritch green light, lighting up the area as they called upon an entity unknown to her. Its appearance was vague. It resembles a reptilian beast that stood like a Pangaean.
It stares into their eyes as their eyes begin to change, as if they were being possessed by the being. Their chants got louder and louder to the point that Dolly couldn't take it anymore and silently backed away from the ritual. She got onto her austroraptor and rode off. It ran as fast as it could, and Dolly didn't look back.
She was focused on getting back to her home. She clutches her spear as tightly as possible with her left hand and hangs on to dear life to the saddle with her right hand. While it seemed like minutes had passed by. She finally reached her home village.
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"And I saw these hooded figures summon this thing. It wasn't physical, it was translucent, ghostly like. That's all I saw." Dolly tells her Uncle Pngo and her Aunt Perdita the Volva of Undon.
"I've seen them in my youth, Dolly in truth, me and your mother had," Pongo says as he explains to his niece. "They have been here for a long time. That's what everyone says, but no one has ever seen them. Not even Rudy the Albino prophet has seen them or fought them. But Dolly, was that all you saw? The Robe figures and this green figure?"
Dolly sighs and closes her eyes before stating that she saw all of it. Pongo and Perdita became concerned about the news. "So they do exist, as I said, they have been here before the first Cynoeas drew their first breath, before we knew the world as it is. They are the Unseen, the malediction of civilization. They are called the Fell. They are not from the Laurasian Empire but far older than even them. Older than Axefang and even the current age. We are mere infants compared to them. Do you understand my niece?" Pongo asks her as the young girl nods, followed by a "Yes".
"Take care of your raptor, then get some rest, Dolly. I'll go inform our allies at the Na'zotl lake." He says as Dolly leaves his home, and Perdita tells him to be careful out there.
He kisses her on her muzzle and says, "I'm always careful, Perdy. Stay here with the goats. I won't be too long."
He exits his home and enters the stables to get on his equus Roger. riding off from Undon to the north.
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The twilight hour came, and Pongo traveled to the River village north of Undon, where the saurian race of Barin'el dwells. Massive wooden and straw structures stood on the still waters with nets and cages hanging on the piers. The Fell Isle spot hound gets off of his Equus and with his hand on the strap of this beast. He and his mount walk along the wooden bridge towards a hut that stands at the center of the lake. He goes to tie his equus on a fence before walking up to the door of the home and knocking twice.
Not a moment too soon, the door opens to reveal a Barin'el. His skin was as white as the moon, and his eyes were as orange as flame. He wore leather pants and arm bracers on each hand. "Old Friend, what brings you here?" The Barin'el asks, his voice is hissy and serpentine, but has a hint of empathy.
"It's my Niece Chieftain, she saw them while on patrol. She told me that she just finished eating when she heard whispers followed by robe figures and two captured Laurasian Troops." Pongo tells the Chieftain.
"You'd better come inside and explain what you know." The Barin'el says as he allows his friend to enter his adobe. The Interior was only lit by natural light via windows and candles. The interior was large with several decorations hanging along the wall, from tablets and artifacts to skulls of both enemies and game alike, with a larger skull of a sea beast hanging along a fireplace.
They sat at Rudy's wooden table and sat upon wooden seats that were comfortable by pangaean standards. "Pongo of Undon, tell me everything she spoke of."
Pongo took a deep breath before stating that she saw robe figures sacrificing two Laurasian troops to a translucent entity. They spoke in a tongue lost to her, and the being was a mix of a Saurian beast and something not from the world of the living.
"So young Dougdottir saw the Fell, eh? Well then, we must bolster our borders if they attack either of us or the other tribes of this isle." Rudy (true name Rud'kelpotk) suggests to his spotted friend. "You're right but what if our forces aren't strong enough to push them back?"
"I'll have my warriors send word of these scum. For now, Master Pongo, All we can do is wait and see their next move. If they attack your village of Undon. I want you to send one of your own. It is how I'll know to send you some of my troops." Rudy assures his friend that if they attack, he'll spread the word in hopes of uniting the tribes. Pongo thanks him before leaving his friend's adobe. He carefully walks his steed along the wooden platforms before getting on solid ground. From there, he jumps on his horse and rides off.
Rudy stares as his friend disappears into the night before going inside his adobe. The next day comes, and Rudy exits his home to spot a member of his tribe. "Sidd" He says to the other barin'rl. "Yes, Chieftian," the gray-skinned saurian replied as Rudy handed him an tablet made from stone with red painted text written on it.
"Spread the word, the Fell exist after all. Inform the other chieftains of their presence on the Fell Isles. We must destroy them while we have the advantage." Rudy spoke as his servant nodded and scurried off.
"Only if I knew what the gods have in store for us." Rudy says to himself as he walks off to the temple at the center of the lake.
