[Rhuen]

This thread wil have short stories, chapters of longer stories, and even some back story type of information for things in the worlds I work on. Basically a thread for testing out these ideas on you folks.

To start a piece of Back story database from my data of fantastic plants in my universe.



Name: Whispering Tree

Type: Pine Tree

Habitat: They are found in temperate woodlands. They are oddly enough found in two different floating continent worlds in Other World, The Dark Woods and the Green Mountain of the five mountains region. Its believed that since the Five Mountains Region looks somehow artificial that the Dark Woods are the native environment. In either case they are a rare breed of pine tree as very few seeds are ever dropped and no one wants to cultivate a tree that makes a barely audible and creepy sounding whisper, even though some think it might add atmosphere to some creepy environments its requirements make in hard to take care of in such places. Its requirements are almost the same as a northern woods pine tree from Earth.

Description: a green pine tree, looks identical to one; same size, growth pattern and almost the same living conditions.

History/Abilities: The tree was first thought to be possessed by a spirit or thought to be sentient. It has been discovered that the creepy whispering sound is actually made by a unique (for a woody tree) breathing feature in the trunk that pulls in air, when the air goes past the needles and through the narrow air passages it makes a sound like soft whispering.

[Rhuen]

and now to begin Book 1 (Howl of the Heavens)

ch. 0

Introductory Story: Roughly the year 2005
A Gargoyle’s Dire Encounter

Up on a dark forested mountain far from the eyes of man with in a cave that seemed to have been dug out from the rock its self lived a creature that could best be described as a gargoyle. His skin was as stone and as black as onyx, his hands and feet boasted terrible claws like flint knives as thick as his fingers and toes; which had but four digits a piece on each hand and foot. Upon his broad shoulders and thick neck lay a head like a polished stone disrupted in its spherical shape by two ears more akin to the extended gills of some b-movie monster than any known natural animal; and it had a square jaw with a monstrous face. Above his wide nose was the most noticeable feature of this monster’s face, two red eyes like large round spheres bulging from their sockets. Finally this particular monster’s favorite feature two great wings upon his back as black as the rest of him with small white spots on the under side and the appearance of stone, however logically not as thick so as to support flight. He was Rawl the fearsome onyx gargoyle of the forest, mightiest of beasts on the mountain or at least that’s what he had come to believe and with good reason. For what in the forest could stand against a nine foot onyx gargoyle?

Rawl could have any creature he wanted to eat in the forest and nearby towns, deer, rabbits, even humans if he so desired. However he had developed a taste for the young of carnivores such as dogs, cats, and even coyotes, cougars, and bears, but he especially prized wolf cubs. He eats far more than he needs on these young filling his bulbous gut to the point where it unnaturally extends from his frame. He has been doing this every spring for several centuries, he had exhausted the animals to the south, east, west, and north of his cave for several hundred miles. The animals have been moving further away and the humans for the most part have had their pets spayed and neutered except those who are breeding them. And many other humans have been locking up their pets. That is except the deer and other easy prey which remain behind but Rawl will have nothing of them instead preferring to move further and further away in his hunting circles looking for the young of the carnivores, and this day he will need to move further than ever before, and unknown to him that this night he would encounter something very different and very much un-expected.

Rawl had begun his flight by beginning around his cave and moving in concentric circles further and further away “I can’t believe How far I have to go to get my prey. These miserable beasts should stay close and be glad I don’t eat all their young and be happy with it” he thought to himself while grumbling. He sniffs the air searching for that familiar scent of new born pups, kittens, or cubs finding nothing as he moves further and further away. He finds the towns of humans but no prey he can easily reach, he again grumbles and moves on. Before he knows it he has traveled far outside his territory and into mountains he does not recognize; with forests much richer than his and forest untouched by the hands of man except for a small nearby town. Here he finds a strange scent somehow familiar yet different than he remembers and one thought enters his mind, “Wolf cubs!” He has not had wolf cubs for more than a century, he thinks nothing of the fact that the scent isn’t as he remembers it. He locates the scent on the far side of the mountain. He finds what appears to be a crudely built stone structure, he had thought this land untouched by man but then again the stones were nothing more than a pile at the entrance to a small cave, although unknown to him they formed a well built and supported structure camouflaged to fit into the landscape, but that was not what was on his mind at the time. As he got closer to the entrance he lowered down finding no sign of an adult wolf “although” he thought “it might just prove interesting if it does show up or maybe a whole pack I will show them for making me come this far for so little a meal.” He sticks his head in and as he licks his lips, he suddenly realizes the scent is far different than what he remembers and before he can linger on that he sees that these are no wolf cubs, “they…have…hands!” he thinks confused, however with in the next second he feels something he has never felt before. Something has just wrapped around his throat with enough force to make him “the onyx gargoyle” gasp for breath and yank him from the stone den like he was nothing more than a small rodent. He can not see his assailant for his great red eyes are forced to see only the tops of the trees and the sky above for what ever this thing is has tilted his head upwards. His first thought is a bear but what bear can lift him off the ground, then it hits him that he stands nine feet tall yet he can not feel the ground beneath his feet. Before he can linger any longer on this he hears a low yet somehow feminine voice say to him, “who are you to invade my den creature” his face is then tilted lower to see a truly terrifying face, a gray muzzle like a cross between a wolf’s and a fox’s in that it is long and thick yet comes to a fox like point with fangs easily six to seven inches in length. The ears are more akin to a fox’s than a wolf’s and she has eyes that seemed to shift from blue, green and red when she spoke.

His first thought was that this creature must be a werewolf but as she tilts his head down, he is surprised by the very voluptuously human like yet fur covered breasts of this creature, as he see the ground he then realizes that he has been raised five feet above the ground making this beast fourteen feet tall. He had chased werewolves out of his territory before and they were not this big and they didn’t have the muzzle, eyes and ears of this creature.

“ANSWEAR ME NOW CREATURE!!” her screaming demand jerks him back to reality, the realization that what ever this thing is it is big and has him by the throat by only its right hand. He says or more appropriately guttery grunts to this she-wolf like creature, “I am duh oniwicks glargoglgle.” “I guess I should loosen my grip abit aye beastie” she growls back in a mocking manner. Taken this loosened grip as an opportunity he slashes at her with his claws while screaming, “I AM THE ONYX GARGOYLE AND I SHALL DEVOUR YOUR YOUNG AND MAKE A NEW LOIN CLOTH FROM YOUR HIDE HAAA!” And then silence as he feels warm fresh blood on his claw; but something is wrong for her grip has not loosened and he is still suspended in the air. He looks into the face of the she-wolf like creature and sees that she is smiling at him. It is then that he realizes his hand… it is throbbing, her grip is just so strong that the sensation hadn’t reached his brain till just then, and with a smile on her face she tilts his head down so he can see that he had broken his claws and torn his hand at the base of the knuckles.


What he notices next causes him to truly feel fear for the first time in his long life despite the force of his blow she was completely unscathed, and at this moment looking down he noticed for the first time her tail, it was long and very furry like a fox’s only longer and it was this instance that he knew this was no creature he had ever even seen before now. She tilted his head back up where he saw a smile that would scare even the bravest of souls; teeth from end to end and red glowing eyes that seemed to pierce his very soul as she spoke, “So you are going to devour my young and use my skin for a what? Loin cloth? I think not little beast” The shear look of horror upon his face would seem impossible given what he is but he was scared, he barely managed to let out a low question, “What are you?” “What was that worm?” she hissed back. He knew she heard him, with ears like hers she could undoubtedly have heard him had he whispered from across the mountain. But he felt he had to obey her least he enrage her more so he let out a whimpering, “What are you? Please tell me.” At this she couldn’t help but laugh shaking him about like a child’s doll in the process. “Very well little beast I will tell you, Unlike with your kind the humans never singled out a name for us other than gods by those of us they have seen, but I suppose you could call us the Dire, that name many humans have chosen to call us now.” She smiled at the confused expression on her captive audience’s face “We were before the humans and your cursed kind,” she continued, “and will remain long after but for now I shall punish you little beast for invading my home. Surely such creatures as deer and rabbits are not rare where ever it is you come from, but I smell no new prey upon your breath and you must have come here from far away as I have never seen nor smelled you here before and what I smell with in your gut puzzles me as it smells like the remnants of young primitives.” “Primitives?” asked Rawl. She growled and in an aggressive tone continued, “Dogs, cats, foxes, even cougars and coyotes and a faint smell of wolf all young slowly digested from long ago. Why only this? Why not something more filling and easier to catch? No natural predator would bother so you must be intentionally hunting them.” She extended her arm and tightened her grip on his throat and raised her other hand to her “chin” rubbing the underside of her muzzle in thought “I wonder if this is common for creatures like you” she tilted hear head in thought for moment “ I could easily kill you and feed you to my young and make some garments from the membrane between your wing which is very fetching what with its little white spots on such a dark black” “it must be for blending in with the night sky” she thinks, “but if I did that,” she says, “you would hardly learn your lesson.” She pulls his face right up to hers and speaks, “also you really should try behaving in a more natural manner only eating what you must and feeding on many different prey” and with that she extended her left arm and very awkwardly crossed her left hand past his face and onto the joint of his wing while tilting his head down with her right hand by twisting his neck and head. He hadn’t noticed until now “her claws” he thought, “they look like black crystals what sort…” his thought was cut short by a blistering pain; she had with her left hand pinned together the wrist joint of his right wing to pull either side of the joint together crunching them and breaking them as she pushed the wing against his back effectively folding it up. With another twist of her right hand she pushed him down bending him over. She then dug her claws through the membrane just under the main part of his wing closest to his body and yanked her arm while holding on to his whole wing in this manner. This tore his wing and the skin attached to it along his body where the membrane meets his back and upper thigh off in a ragged strip due to the awkward way it was torn. For a human it is hard to imagine the pain, it would be like having your arm broken twice then pulled off and a strip of skin down the side grabbed and pulled straight off, like a piece of paper pulled apart, that was the kind of ripping Rawl was given by the She-Dire. He had wanted to scream but her grip on his throat prevented it. She released her grip and he fell to the ground. His relief was short lived as she placed her clawed feet down upon his back shoving him to the ground; he felt three paw padded toes and three impossibly sharp talon like claws piercing his back. Her other foot lowered near his head where he could clearly see her three toed feet strangely resembling a cat’s foot with arched claws extending from them. He bent his neck and weakly looked up as she bent down still holding his broken and bleeding wing in her hand. “I have taken your ability to fly now.” She said with a grin, “I will now send you back to where you belong. However if I ever catch you here again I will simply snap your neck, as for your wing my offspring shall have a nice meal from your flesh and don’t worry I’m sure I can find a nice use for your membrane perhaps a decorative rug for my den.” With that she lowered her right paw under his rib cage and kicked him into the air like a soccer ball. At which time she lowered her body down and seemingly impossibly entered the small entrance of her den with ease, which Rawl had had so much trouble entering.


All he knew was that in an instant he felt the pain in his ribs and felt himself break through the tree line towards the south so high that he saw where his mountain was so very far away but as he propelled roughly in its direction he realized two things; one he only had one wing so he would have to try and parachute down and two she had kicked him in the direction of his home. Did she know where he lived or simply saw from what direction he had come? He had thought she had only found him after he had tried to enter her den. But for now he could only extend his one remaining wing and lower himself to the ground still a hundred miles from his home, he found she had spared his legs any serious damage little comfort due to the loss of blood from his damaged hand and back. He had seen the surroundings from above and was able to drag himself the hundred miles back to his cave back inside the moon shone through the entrance to where he was crouched to recover. From the corner of his eye he saw the glimpse of what he thought was a black shadow in the shape of a Dire, but when he turned his head nothing was there.

[Rhuen]

another installment of (Howl of the Heavens)

Chapter 1: Nine months prior
The tale of Pine Ridge

Pine Ridge was a town nestled deep in the Rocky Mountains of Northern California; it had been founded by a combination of people looking for the riches of gold and the riches of fur trapping around the year 1846. Since then it has grown although one wouldn’t think this by simply passing through, they would only see the main shop which doubled as a gas station and the old church upon the hill. What they wouldn’t see was the spaced out houses and the rather nice sized town with more stores down an unpaved road. The locals had decided they didn’t want tourists in their town long ago so they decided they didn’t want a paved road in which strangers could use to come into the main town. It didn’t matter much to the current residents as they liked their privacy and the town stores used trucks to get supplies from the gas station where the owner ordered supplies brought there for the shops in town. Out of necessity just about everyone in town owned a truck to come and go, some of the younger generations have jeeps. In fact most of the population was the over forty generation, they stayed to take care of their parents and those that leave to the cities usually come back finding the tranquil mountain life more preferable to the bustling city life, many of whom using their “big city” money have re-built and updated some of the shops such as the old Trading post now gas station and supply shop. In fact the little town didn’t even have electricity until the 1960’s and television until the 1970’s.

However it’s not this town’s history or its isolation directly, but rather the town store’s tri-monthly visitor that makes it interesting. As long as any one can remember every three months a woman would visit the town store. Now to listen to the old folk of the town you would think it was the same woman, “but can that be?” the stranger asked. “well” replied the old attendant at the gas station “it can’t be the same woman, there are stories going back to when this was only a trading post about the grey haired woman who would come down once every three months to buy lots of meat and supplies, so I would guess their must be a family up in the mountain there” the stranger observed the northwardly direction the attendant was pointing “from the north then?” “Yep” came the reply with the attendant turning his stubble covered double chin up and scratching it. “I guess she comes from the north, though I never seen a trail, my brother thinks their part Indian or something, anyway once every three months for as long as anyone can remember a woman with long grey hair comes here to this station which is where the old trading post used to be by the way.” After a pause and more scratching he continues, “Well any way some of the old folk think it’s the same woman but I say it’s got to be her daughter or grand daughter, right? Yeah well I would swear she looks exactly like the woman that came here when I was little but like I said it’s got to be her daughter.” The stranger in the dark trench coat noticed he seemed a little doubtful as he continued, “Or maybe her grand-daughter.” He let out a little chuckle and said, “its seems kinda funny to me that all any one sees is a woman guess they figure shopping is a woman’s job” he then let out a loud laugh that the stranger thought was rather un-necessary as he didn’t get the joke as he sipped at his cup of milk.

Across the room another stranger wearing a brown down coat, blue jeans and a brown fedora hat with a rough beard and mean eyes was listening in. This man seemed to be listening more intently to the story than the stranger wearing the black trench coat and long black pony tailed hair; both of which were out of place for someone in this part of the wilderness so far from civilization.

The brown coated stranger walked up to the counter and sat down next to the trench coated stranger who glared at the other stranger for an instant before going back to his drink. The new stranger asked the attendant, “so when do you expect this mystery woman to return here?” “I think tonight maybe, why do you ask?” “Oh nothing just wanted to ask her a few questions.” To any one observant enough they would have noticed the trench coat wearing stranger shift his head just slightly to pay closer attention to this conversation. “What would you want to ask a recluse like her about?” the attendant asked while eyeing him suspiciously. “I know how it sounds but I am what you would call a monster hunter?” at this the dark stranger shifted slightly and tilted his head slightly in the direction of the coated stranger. “A what?” asked the attendant. “Sorry” he said, “that didn’t come out right. What I mean by that is that I am one of those city folk who comes out into the Rocky Mountains looking for Big Foot.” The attendant chuckled a bit “And what makes you think that a woman like that would know anything about that.” He chuckled a bit patting his oversized gut as the coated stranger continued, “well I figured since you say she…and her family live way out their away from civilization they may have had sightings of…big foot” after a pause he added, “or big foot like creatures perhaps.”

“So when do you expect her by,” he asked the attendant, “you said tonight perhaps.” The attendant stared blankly forward for a few seconds then spoke in a monotone voice, “Oh I am sorry I was Mistaken I was wrong I have the day wrong I believe she will come here in seven days from now.” The dark stranger couldn’t help but smile to him self hiding it behind his cup. The coated stranger gave the attendent a funny look and said, “okay, but I would really like to talk with her, is there a place I can stay in the mean time?” The attendant shaked him self as though he were shaking him self awake, “A place to stay?” he said, “Well the nearest place would be the Brooksville Lodge in Brooksville about twenty miles up the road here going north.” The coated stranger said his thanks paid for his meal and gas then headed out into the dimly lit outer area of the gas station. He looked up to the star lit sky and thought, “Hmm I must have been in there longer than I thought.” Looking down at his watch he noticed it was past nine o’clock. As he hoped into his green pick up truck and headed up north to the lodge he was completely oblivious to the female figure hidden in the shadows eyeing him as he drove away.

Back in the shop the attendant stopped for a moment looking at the wall clock and down to the strange fellow in the black trench coat sipping his milk. “Strange fellow that was just in here wouldn’t you say stranger?” The dark stranger looked up and simply answered, “Yep”. “Big Foot, heh can you imagine someone wasting their life looking for something like that, heh waste of time wouldn’t you say friend?” “We’re to far south for sasquatch” Answered the stranger. “What?” asked the attendant. “Nothing” he said, “no monsters”. “Yeah” stated the attendant “strange fellow, though I thought he wanted to talk to the lady coming in tonight guess he changed his mind.”

Before he could continue she walked in, a beauty separated from time its self with features that could be described as flawless, a smooth chinned face with high cheek bones and large blue eyes, her nose seemed a bit larger than most would think such a face would have however her extended jaw masked that merging the features back to perfect dimensions. Her ears were hidden under long flowing grey hair. She had a slim yet muscular frame clearly feminine yet toned in a way that suggested strength.

She walked in the front door like she had come out from the shadows themselves. At the doorway she stopped and glanced at the stranger seated at the bar for a moment who for the first time while he was their looked up and looked back tilting his head in what the attendant guessed was a polite bow, although he had never seen such a thing. “Weird” he thought if he didn’t know better he would have thought these two knew each other from somewhere from the way they looked at each other. But he had never seen any one like him before in all his years, however he had seen the woman all his life or her and her mom or something he wasn’t sure but he didn’t have time to think of such things. His thoughts were cut short as she walked up to the counter. He looked down and the stranger had gone back to his drink and the woman was looking straight at him asking for her supplies as though the two had never glanced at each other behaving instead like total strangers. He didn’t linger on it he just figured he was mistaken about how they had looked at each other as he needed to write down what she was asking for but by now he had the list down by heart, several packs of this several pounds of this and that, mostly jerky and non-perishables. “As far out as she must live they couldn’t possibly have electricity” he thought with a chuckle scribbling away her order on his pad.

He called out his assistant from the back, a little skinny kid named Nick who was back from college. “Yes what can I do for you Mr. Jones?” “First” came the reply “stop being so city, this is the country even if we are in California we are miles from the nearest city not counting the town, and second I’m your uncle Paul so call me Paul got it.” “Yes Mr. Jo.. I mean Paul”. “Now what did I call you out here for? Oh yeah wrap the lady’s purchases while I tally up the charges and make sure to bind them tightly you don’t want her dropping any thing, and also make sure to wrap them up separately then bind them together that way they wont drop.” “Yes sir”. Paul rolled his eyes and huffed as he turned back to the woman “kids, well miss that comes to seven hundred and thirty dollars.” She reached into the pocket on her hand made deer skin pants and pulled out a small chunk of gold. Nick was about to say something when Paul put his hand up stopping him, and pulling out a magnifying eye looked at the gold as he had been taught by his dad how to estimate the value of gold just by looking at it and weighing it on a small scale he had under the desk. He told the Grey Haired woman, “This gold is a bit over the cost by two grams.” she simply shrugged and took the nugget back and with her strangely sharp black painted finger nails scraped off the excess amount. Paul noticed Nick had a shocked look on his face and he even took a step back, Paul gave him a quick look at which point Nick went back to finishing tying the parcels. Paul weighed the gold again and it was exactly right, “They must teach their kids pretty thoroughly about measuring the value of gold out there in that family” he thought. He put the gold away in the register drawer to the side with a note reminding him how much it was worth so he wouldn’t have to re-weigh it later when he went to turn it in for its cash value. Nick dragged the large bounded parcel from behind the counter to the grey haired woman who to Nick’s astonishment picked up the bound parcels with one hand flinging them over her shoulder. With a quick nod goodbye she headed out the wide double doors of the shop. Nick turned to Paul who just waved him away saying, “when people live off the land and work out there they get a lot stronger than what you city kids would think possible, now get back to cleaning up the back room.”

The stranger who had been wearing the trench coat stood up setting down his now empty cup and asked, “How much?” Paul turned to him answering, “The drinks only came to ten dollars in all and now which pump did you use?” he turned to the fancy pump reader his nephew had bought for the station. “Ten dollars than,” said the stranger, “and as for the gas I walked here” moving his hand to indicate that there were no vehicles out side. Even with the dim light from the sign it was clear that their were no cars, trucks or any thing out by the pumps or parked near by, the pump reader indicated that no one other than the other stranger had bought any gas with in the last few hours. The stranger pulled out a ten dollar bill and set it down, turning towards the door he stopped looked back and said, “I would pay you gold but I prefer to carry cash when traveling its much lighter” He then chuckled to himself and headed out the front door.


“Strange folks I got tonight” Paul thought, he then noticed the stranger had stopped out side, and the grey haired woman had set down the bound parcels and was standing by the pumps with her arms crossed. Across her brown leather jacket and with her arms on her elbows she walked towards the stranger who then started walking towards her in turn. The two of them turned around each other in a way Paul thought very peculiar like two animals sizing each other up. They then stopped and faced each other about five feet apart. Paul could swear he thought he saw their eyes glowing blue, he figured it must just be the dim light reflecting off their blue eyes, although he could have sworn human eyes didn’t reflect light like that, “hmm learn something new every day” he said aloud turning his back for a second to look around the shop. When he looked back to face the door they had both vanished into the dark. “Strange” was all he said before taking one last look around before locking up.

[Razorblade_Dreams]

That's a really good beginning to your story.I like it a lot.Keep up the good work!!!

[Rhuen]

and now a bit of Back Story Database

an animal this time

Species: Ooputara

Type: Mammal (large)

Diet: Herbivore: grazer that feeds on small shrubs and grasses.

Habitat: The savannah plains of the land of Dao, however it resides mostly in domestic ranches with a few that have gone feral.

Physical description: The body is like a cross between a rhino and an ox. It has a short rhino like tail and two toed elephant like feet. The head has a short straight neck like most cattle. The head is long and rhino like save for being straight rather than sloped, it has a prehensile lip flap like a rhino. The eyes are located on the sides of the head and are relatively small. It has a ridge above the eyes that help to cool the eyes. It has two rounded triangular ears near the back of the head just next to the neck. It has two sets of straight upward horns on it head; a small pair on the nose and a larger pair just in front of the eyes on top of the head.

Name Origin: The Ooputara is a domestic version of the name of its wild relative the Ooputerra. Oopu in the language of the Kuhrai means round or rounded and Terra which was introduced to Earth later means land or dirt (in reference to the natural state of the land) the alternate spelling and pronunciation of Tara means cultivated earth which references that this species is the domesticated version.

History & Abilities: The Ooputara is a weaker domestic breed of the Ooputerra which was domesticated by the Kuhrai that live in the land of Dao as a food stock to feed to the civilian population that built cities around their homes. The Kuhrai normally have a policy of only eating wild game that they catch, however as they don’t eat the domesticated Ooputara (unless it’s a feral that escaped) and instead raise them on ranches for and by their followers and for market they get around the rule of not raising their own prey.

The Ooputara being an Other World animal is not with out its own special powers, which it derives from its wild cousins. Aside from normal attacks like horn gouges and stomps and kicks the Ooputara also has a Horn Beam. The Horn Beam is exactly like the one from the Ooputerra only weaker, yellow electric like energy forms between the two larger horns which forms a dot of yellow light and fires forward like a laser. However this a chi beam and not a light beam so it travels slower and in fact isn’t really a beam but rather a ball of energy that leaves a laser like trail behind it as a form of propulsion, the Horn Beam in this manner is a concussion attack rather than a cutting one.

Due to its domestic breeding, for which supernatural attacks are un-wanted, this animal’s one and only supernatural attack completely exhausts it to the point of collapsing and passing out. As a result it only uses the beam in situations where its cornered and its clear to its simple bestial mind that its life is in danger, which is why its butchered quickly while its feeding in isolation, aside from the other reason that meat is more tender when butchered this way.

[Rhyvenne]

Rhuen, your writing is fantastic. All that you created since the details before the chapters until the atmosphere of the story itself... It´ll be cool to keep reading.

[Rhuen]

Thanks.
And now another installment of (Howl of the Heavens)

Chapter 2: The same time and a little before from another point of view

The meeting

On the way to PineRidge

The last time he had traveled to Versa in this manner was back when no Europeans had set foot on the continent, now not only were their people here, they had developed an advanced culture further than he had thought humans could produce. He had meant to go straight to her across the wilderness in the year 1890 but the nuances of New York and the cities along the way had kept him busy and entertained in this new world and even some events had caused him to actually travel back across the Atlantic. He has no time to linger on such thoughts now as he is in California and has chosen the most direct path he could find to where he sensed his mate. He was surprised to find the road paved out here in what seemed to be the middle of no where. He stopped before a sign that read 30 miles to Pine Ridge and below that 50 miles to Brooksville. He thought it odd that he was sensing her so close to a town; he figured she must be with in ten miles of Pine Ridge but with all these mountains even such a short linear distance can place one on the other side of a mountain. His attention was suddenly diverted by the trace smell of blood, not just any kind of blood but the faint trace odor of werewolf blood. He turned to see the source coming from a green pick up truck which passed him going in the same direction as himself. “Well” he thought, “this is certainly interesting. If it is only a coincidence than I wont bother, but that person may be heading to the same place as my self.” “Hmm perhaps I should have tried to read his mind” he said aloud to himself with a shrug, “but it is such a bother to read a mind traveling in a car moving away from me.” He just shrugged his shoulders again and started into a jog to get along his way at a quicker pace.

She had been sensing his presence on the continent for a very long time now even across the continent she could sense his unique energy but he was moving slowly across the continent. By the time he had come to the continent she had already learned from new people in the area “a surprise to her” that the country was changing and technology was changing quickly. So her mate had many distractions and she knew he was easily distracted by anything new or potentially world effecting; and this country was starting to advance quickly from what she had heard. So he was likely to stay in the east for awhile; at least until he remembered why he was on the continent in the first place. “But now” she thought, “he has finally found his way here. I wander what he will think of this little town I have allowed in my territory, I had better send him a mental message for a meeting place, the Trading post perhaps.” She knew he was now close enough to receive a mental message and this day by coincidence was the day she regularly went to get some extra food from the trading post, from his distance he would probably take until the next day at a regular pace so she sent the message to come quickly so he could check out her current human form and see how she interacts with the local human population before he moves in, it has been so long and the last she saw him he wasn’t exactly tolerant of humans.

He received her mental message of the gas station and that she would prefer to meet there that night. This started him going at a jog. When he reached the gas station he noticed the smell of werewolf blood was there as was the green pick up truck. He sensed that his mate wasn’t far away and her message said she would arrive in only a few hours. As he still had money from his previous encounters with humans he figured he would go in and get a little something to drink plus this would give him a chance to size up the man with the smell of werewolf blood on him. Inside it was a fairly well sized establishment with a large desk with shelves of preserved “rustic food” from jerked beef, pork, venison and all sorts of canned and salted fish and even hard tack something he hadn’t seen for centuries. There were bar stools at the desk and about five tables, this place seemed a bit more modern than he expected from gas stations in isolated areas. The man with the blood stench was at a table to the side of the bar. Behind the bar was a fairly large man who he assumed was the attendant, he could smell a third person in the building whose scent told him was a much younger person than the man behind the bar yet clearly related to him. He sat down and asked for a cup of milk and asked the attendant, “So tell me what is the deal with this place?” The attendant started in with the history of the town which disturbingly to him included what was clearly a description of his mate, which for some reason attracted the attention of what at this distance he now could confirm was definitely a werewolf hunter. He listened as the hunter asked about the “grey haired woman” until the scent of his mate drew his attention.

She approached the trading post when suddenly the scent of werewolf blood caught her attention; it was coming from a green pick up. Although she didn’t recognize all the scents she definitely recognized skin walker type werewolf blood which she had encountered in the area many years before. She was curious about it and approached with caution when she received a mental image of the hunter, who was inside the gas station, from her mate who was now inside the shop too. He thought it best that the hunter not see what she looks like in her human form just yet, although she couldn’t think of why but as he traveled around he was likely more familiar with those types of people. She ducked to the side of the store where she could listen to the whole conversation inside. When she heard the hunter ask about her and when she would arrive she took control of Paul the attendant’s mind and forced him to say she would be around in seven days unfortunately human minds don’t react well to the over powering effect of her kinds mental abilities so Paul gave out a very pathetic excuse for a sentence. But it seemed to work as the hunter left the store. She eyed him as he left for she knew this wouldn’t be the last she saw of him.

After the hunter finally left she entered the shop, and that is when for the fist time the two had laid eyes on each other in decades and the first time either of them had seen the human guise of the other for even longer, it was an odd sensation both recognizing and not recognizing each other. They both felt that their behavior was attracting the attendant’s attention so they broke off so she could finish her business there. To his amazement she paid in gold and even showed some of her strength by carving the gold right in front of the humans, he thought that she must see that the little human was un-nerved by what she was doing. She sent back the image that she had never seen the little one before but the older one thought nothing of it. This was confirmed by the man’s behavior, she sent the man’s name to him “Paul”.

She was clearly familiar with the locals at least to a point that to him seemed to be a little careless. She left ahead of him showing more of her strength than he thought appropriate but oddly enough Paul came up with an excuse for it even with out mental control. He paid then went outside and in the dim light he and his mate exchanged the customary greeting of circling each other while smelling the air and sending the greeting mental impulse which caused their eyes to glow a haunting blue. This involved a series of images showing their experiences, desires, and one last piece...their names and titles, she addressed her self as Versa of the Rai and he addressed himself as Rhuen of the Elder Rai. And that was the means by which they were re-acquainted after so much time apart. Rhuen lifted her parcel and they disappeared into the dark.

[Rhuen]

and we continue with more (Howl of the Heavens)

Chapter 3= same time another point of view

The Hunter

On the dark unlit road from Pine Ridge to Brooksville was a single green pick up truck with a single person inside it. He was Mike, a man who had dedicated his life to eliminating evil in this world. Due to the mountains nothing could be heard but static on the radio and nothing to see in the dark but what lay in the headlights; however his training had taught him to be aware of what was in the darkness beyond the light. All around him were Trees, shrubs, tall grasses, and the occasional raccoon nothing more for him to think about so his mind was left to wander.

He thought back to what had brought him here to the middle of no where in the first place. He had finally arrived home in Phoenix Arizona after weeks of hunting skin walkers and a rogue Chupacabra, only to find a message from his old partner Rick on his answering machine informing him of a possible werewolf in the Rocky Mountains of northern California. Rick’s message told him about a man named Jeff Jones giving him the man's address and phone number. The message told him it was this man who was concerned about their being a possible werewolf in the area.

Mike called Mr. Jones asking him about this werewolf sighting of his. Mr. Jones told him about how ever since he was a little boy a woman with grey hair would come to the trading post which was now a gas station once every three months. Mr. Jones’ father had told him he had seen the same woman all his life as had his grandfather and so on back to his fur trading ancestor who had founded the trading post in the first place. Mike, of course, was sure to ask if it wasn't maybe a different woman, but Mr. Jones insisted no one ever saw a little girl, a different woman, or even an older woman. He stated that like clock work once every three months a woman with the exact same description would go to that trading post.

Mr. Jones went on to tell him how his dad had told him and his own two sons not to point out to her or take notice of anything strange she might do. Mr. Jones told him that every time his dad said this it was like he was in a trance. He had learned from his grandson Nick, who had gone to college, that that was called a conditioned behavior like something caused by hypnotism. He said he would still be running that trading post except that he was afraid of that strange woman because of something that had happened a few years before.

Mike was brought back to reality by a raccoon he had just missed in the road. "Well" he thought to himself "the old man's story isn't any different than most werewolf stories; he was hunting he saw the woman in the distance through the scope on his rifle and before his eyes she changed into a large biped wolf." Mike noticed the sign for the Brooksville Lodge; and turned off into the small parking lot. It was literally a lodge, at least partially. The front was an old building made from logs, however it had more modern sections that were clearly added in recent years. He signed in at the desk and was surprised to find they charged by the day, week, or even month the desk clerk explained that this was because most people that come out there are hiking or on vacation, or even on a retreat. Mike looked about his new surroundings at the old lodge with log walls, rustic carpets, old wood windows, and even a large grandfather clock at one corner of the room set off by the newer couches and coffee table in the center of the lobby. Yet it had modern drywall hallways going out the back towards the rooms. Above his head was a walkway facing the lobby cordoned off by a fake looking wood railing like something from some old cowboy movie. This was for the older rooms that had been clearly been part of the original lodge.

He walked back past the wood floor into the modern hallway to cheaper rooms, “not as glamorous looking as those visible from the lobby” he thought while looking for his room. After getting to his room Mike thought back to what happened at the trading post in PineRidge. He had gone there to check on Mr. Jones’s story. Even before going in he had had an uneasy feeling about the place, he had intended to simply wait inside to scope out this "grey haired woman". Mr. Jones had given him the date when she was expected to be there. But a little after he got there a strange man, that for some reason at the time made him feel nervous (although he still wasn't sure why), had entered the place asking the attendant "who he guessed must have been Mr. Jones’s son Paul who Mr. Jones had told him was running the place now" questions. Straight away from Paul he re-heard the history of the town; which strangely enough included the story of the grey haired woman whom Paul clearly thought was strange, but he had apparently come to his own conclusions about her.

Despite his weird feeling about the stranger Mike asked the attendant questions about the grey haired woman, he wasn't sure why but this seemed to bother the stranger in the trench coat. The attendant was also suspicious of him for asking about her, "well" mike thought, "Mr. Jones had said his father had told him and his sons Paul and Peter not to think much about this woman" Mike guessed that it probably had a lot to do with business, looking back to that trading post their was literally no one besides himself and the stranger in the trench coat in there. He had expected a more public setting, something safer than that place to see this woman; if she was some kind of werewolf then surely she would be able to smell the trace of lycanthrope blood on him. He had slipped up and told Paul he was a monster hunter, thinking back to his old partner Rick who had been there not long ago he told both Paul and the stranger "who had become noticeably un-easy when he called himself a monster hunter" that he was a big foot hunter. That seemed to calm them both.

What happened next though didn't make any since, he asked Paul again if this was the night the woman showed up and Paul had gone zombie on him and basically said no. He had seen this before in the Caribbean when he was hunting a Loup-Garou Sorcerer who had control over locals but they had behaved in the zombified manner the first time he asked them any thing not the second time like this fellow. He had thought at the time that this was the work of a weaker sorcerer but still, alone in a gas station in the middle of no where with a stranger that for some reason made him un-easy, a potentially zombified man, a possible werewolf coming soon, and him having left his weapons in the truck that this had been a bad situation.

He was sure now that something was up but it would be better for him to get his thoughts together and get some more information before confronting this mystery woman. "So here I am" he thought with a slight chuckle, "alone in my room getting my thoughts together." He couldn't help thinking back to that stranger; what was it about him? Something nagging at the back of his mind that just wasn't right...then it hit him. "THATS IT!" he yelled out loud, answered back by a bang on the wall and the person the next room over yelling at him to shut the hell up. "Impossible" he thought, "I saw that man before I got to the trading post. He was walking towards PineRidge, but he was next to the sign so he was, oh my God, he was thirty miles from the town. But he got to the station just minutes after I did; so that means he had to have traveled at least 45 miles per hour to get there. He must have been another monster; did she expect me and send for back up? What ever the reason this may be more difficult than I had thought at least now I know there is something going on." He turned off his light and settled in for the night un-aware of what he had really gotten himself into.

[Rhuen]

Back Story database

a plant.

Name: Silver Needle

Type: Vine

Habitat: The Dark Forest floating continent in Other World. This plant is found in the deep woods near the silver trees(sub-species of Gray Tree). It is found only here as no one wants to cultivate it due to the fact that it is an organic silver compound based plant and many supernatural creatures are allergic to silver. In fact some have the plant on the list of plants that are illegal to grow in many places. Plus the fact that is not an attractive looking plant, despite being silver based the outer color isn’t metallic silver, and its invasive to most other plant life, growing like a vine weed in suitable soil, it requires the acrid soil found in the deep woods home to other colorless and metallic plants.

Description: despite being of an organic silver compound the color is more of an off white to grayish tint. A few strands exist that are very deep in the colorless woods area of the Dark Forest that are truly silver in color. It is a smooth vine with very long (three feet long) and thick as a baseball bat around spines. It grows from a central point and stretches out across the ground entangled with other silver needle plants in the area forming what look like road barriers in the woods.


History/Abilities: Like all the plants in the colorless wood region of the Dark Forest this plant is believed to be a mutation caused by the magical accident that resulted in that Rhode Island sized area of the Dark Forest to become colorless. The plant is comprised of a silver organic compound, something that is extremely rare and appears in only a handful of organisms (a few trees, this vine, and oddly some animals).

The Silver Needle plant is otherwise just a normal plant, it has no conscious and no mobility, some have used its spines as spears, which is illegal in Other World. But otherwise it has no special properties.

[Rhuen]

and now Another installment of (Howl of the Heavens)

Chapter 4: the next day and spanning a week

A Week in the Woods

Deep in the forest to the north of PineRidge two figures were walking, one a woman about six feet tall with a slim yet muscular frame, with beautiful long grey hair that reached down to the back of her knees. She was wearing an out fit made out of deer skin that appeared as something that an Indian would have worn centuries before in that area complete with long deer skin pants and moccasins on her feet. Her eyes were a deep hauntingly dark shade of blue and strangely pale skin for someone who is clearly dressed to live off the land.

Even with her appearance she doesn't seem as odd as the man walking beside her. He is wearing a long black oil slick trench coat that stops at his feet yet it doesn't seem to sway as he walks even with the large parcel he is carrying on his back being held only by his right hand. Under the trench coat he appears to be wearing solid black jeans and a shirt that seem to be made out of material composed of woven shadows. Down his back is a long black pony tail that reaches down to the back of his legs. His skin is as pale as the woman's; who is walking beside him and his eyes are the same dark haunting shade of blue. These two figures walking silently through the forest are none other than Versa and Rhuen who to any one walking by would only seem to be two odd people, completely un-aware of their true appearance and nature.

Rhuen was both following Versa and taking the lead as they walked through the forest following her scent back to her lair as the centuries he had been away had changed the forest greatly. They had finally reached the top of the mountain when Versa took the lead down the other side to one of the many entrances to the cave net work she had dug in to the mountain over the many centuries she had lived there. It wasn't until after another six miles down the other side that she decided to stop before a special cave she had dug out for this occasion. They stopped before a wide entrance that curved up into the mountain after a ways inside out to a smaller entrance a plateau that she has kept clear of trees ever since she sensed Rhuen approaching California. She created a ring of rocks around the plateau and made the entrance look like a pile of stones. Rhuen noticed all this as he examined the cave approvingly “this will do” he thought to himself as he walked back out of the cave.

Back outside Rhuen and Versa's instincts grabbed a hold of them like a vice, they circled each other again sniffing the air causing their emotions to run wild. With a smile upon her face Versa ever so slowly unbuttoned her deer skin vest and lowered it from her snowy white shoulders revealing her body that was by human standards gorgeous with a well toned flat stomach and perfect round high breasts that were not too large or too small although for a human they would have seemed abnormally high on her torso. She neatly folded her vest and placed it on a near by rock, she next undid the string on her deer skin pants pulling them down revealing her snowy white thighs, perfectly shaped buttocks, and legs with her neatly trimmed grey haired pubic mound. She gently picked her pants off the ground and folded them; placing them on top of her vest on the rock. She sat down on the rock and removed the moccasins from her feet.

Versa rose from the rock and stretched out her arms and also spread her legs apart as she smoothly started to change. She grew in size and as she grew she became hairier with a shiny and smooth grey furred body. At the same time her face distorted out into a muzzle but not with an agonized cliché groan but rather with a look of ecstasy on her face and her forming muzzle agape with a sigh of pleasure. At the same time a tail sprouted from her tail bone; lengthening and getting furrier as she grew in size. Her ears became pointed and widened, lengthening atop her head too become two pointed ears and grew in size covered on the out side with slightly less grayish colored hair than that on her body. Her legs had grown pushing the dirt as she grew; they became more muscular but with her increasing size they still remained well toned by proportion. She lifted her right leg allowing her now grey furred foot to shift, the sole lengthened and her smaller toes shrank into her foot while the three largest ones grew and moved to occupy the whole paw of her foot. They became uniform in size with the middle toe being slightly more extended forward on the paw; with black curved cat like claws. Then she lifted her left leg allowing the same change for her left foot. Her hands became larger in proportion to her body than a human hand with slightly longer fingers and a stretched palm that seemed to convey the idea that her hands could be walked on. The upper part of her palm as well as the under side of the segments on her fingers and thumb now hosted the pads of a paw.

In whole she was a magnificent creature her stomach and breasts appeared even more well toned and full than in her human form. However she clearly conveyed a muscular body underneath the fur which it’s self appeared to be clinging to her body. It was a dark grey in color with hints of white at her joints. Her abdomen and breasts were a lighter shade of grey. Her muzzle and face were almost white with darker streaks of grey in them.

She now stood easily fourteen feet tall not including her large fox like ears. She stood for a moment and shivered seemingly in reaction to the cold autumn night. As she shivered her fur grew thicker over her body lengthening on her tail, thighs and neck, the most noticeable increase in fur was a tuft that grew out just above her cleavage and between her breasts forming a v-shaped point and jutted out by her breasts and going up to her shoulders. A lengthened ridge of fur continued down from the point on her chest down her abdomen stopping just coming to a point over her pubic mound. She turned to Rhuen who was still in his human form, he smiled and placed his hands out before him with the palms down and with a deep breath turned his head down and with a look of focus as he started his own transformation.

The trench coat Rhuen was wearing seemed to have melted into a shadow that clung to his body and wrapped its self around his arms and legs spreading over his entire body except for his head and hair. His hair came out of its pony tail as though nothing other than his will had been holding it in place; it spread out in straight black lines and became fuller. He leaned forward as his shadow formed a cloak like the tips of some unseen wings brushing the ground and from underneath the sleeve made shadow a clawed hand too big for his human body came out and with a grand wave of his right arm the shadow ripped and from with in the tares came a fire as deeply blue as his eyes. The shadows and fire circled around him as a cyclone that rose and spread in size. From with in the fire was the hint of a form as big as Versa, two black furred clawed hands came out of the fiery cyclone and from behind a great black furred tail, then his black muzzle and face came forth from the shadows. The fire died down as it flew above him revealing a creature virtually identical to Versa except he was completely covered in a dark shadowy black fur. He was also more broadly built than Versa with a more muscular chest and masculine yet not overly broad frame beneath his fur and his ears were slightly longer than Versa's own.

He was not overly muscular but only slightly more so than Versa as was the way nature had designed them to be. Unlike Versa whose hair had become wavy, silky, and spread down her back to the top of her tail, Rhuen's came up between his ears a bit and went straight down his back although very full, the only real similarity being that his too stopped just short of the top of his tail. What a sight this would have been to any one going by, on this plateau stood two bipedal wolf or rather fox like creatures, each standing fourteen feet in height. Versa dipped her head down and towards her self with a rumbling purr that to Rhuen was a siren's call; He walked over to her from behind where he rubbed the side of her muzzle with his ever so gently. They licked each other's muzzles and tongues tasting each other's breath. Versa backed into Rhuen's body and rhythmically rubbed back and forth exciting him, resulting in his man hood being released from its sheath. The heat from their bodies created a cloud of steam in the cold autumn air. Rhuen placed his clawed hand gently on Versa's breasts with her nipples between his index and middle fingers; he started to gently massage her breasts as he inserted himself into her now moist and wanting vaginal lips. He continued to pump into her in a rhythmic fashion for many hours, both releasing moans of intense pleasure that echoed through out the forest on their side of the mountain. Deep into the night an intense orgasmic howl was heard across the mountains for many miles, the sound was like a combination between a wolf's howl and thunder. The sound sent chills up the spines of every one in the two nearest towns, although most thought it was only thunder. Further away it was only perceived as thunder, and even further away only as a strange rumble like the tremor of an earthquake.

In the small cave the two giants Rhuen and Versa were lying down in the cave licking each other clean; and whilst Rhuen was gently cleaning behind Versa's ear deep inside her a drama was taking place. Her ovaries had released two little ovules, while the sperm cells that Rhuen had released deep inside her raced to reach the ovules first. With in an hour they reached their objective invading her ovules and the breath of life began.

Their Mental abilities allowed them to sense the exact moment that life began with in her. Versa's eyes suddenly shot open causing Rhuen jumped back; they both knew that nature commanded her body to be in its quadruped form while pregnant. She began to transform yet again; she increased in size, her tail lengthened, and her hands shifted to cat like paws complete with retractable claws. She was now a giant four legged creature standing ten feet at the shoulder, her body, head, and neck together were twenty three feet long with another twenty feet and some inches added on by her tail. She laid down and went into a daze; her instinct would command her to hibernate through out her nine month pregnancy.

Rhuen knew that it would be up to him to not only supply food for himself but also for his mate lying in the cave, she would not only require an immense amount of food for her giant beast form but need even more while she is pregnant. Rhuen walked out side the cave and picked up the parcel Versa had bought from the shop; he carried it inside and tore it open placing the jerky in a pile near Versa's head. He tore open the cans for the rest of the food and placed their contents before his mate who now raised her head and in only a few bites had consumed the whole thing. Rhuen took the shredded parcel and took it out side where her commenced to tie the pieces together to form one giant sack a project that took him a few hours to accomplish, however he knew he would need this bag so he wouldn't have to make too many trips collecting smaller prey at one time.



Nick Jones was awakened from his sleep in his grandfather's house by the sound of frantic chickens, he got up, put on his house shoes and walked down the long hallway from the bedrooms to the den; he checked to see if his grandpa was okay first “it looks like the noise didn't wake up grandpa” thought Nick as he walked towards the glass back door. With in plain sight was the chicken coop his grandpa kept for fresh eggs, but something wasn't right the roof on the other side of the coop was torn up and it appeared as though something was out there.

Nick turned off the inside light so he could see better and what he saw scared him speechless, for out side he could see a black hairy shape leaning into the coop. It was holding a giant bag that he recognized as being made out of the material his uncle Paul used to wrap parcels at the trading post. He didn't hear any more of the squawking that had woken him up but it looked like the figure was doing something out in the coop and placing bloody clumps into the bag, after thirty minutes of this the figure stood up “its huge” thought Nick wide eyed in fear. He looked up at its blood soaked claws with bits of feathers stuck in the blood, as this figure stared back at him with its blue haunting eyes the realization hit him that if this creature wanted to it could easily come through the glass door which barely gave any protection. The figure seemed to know this as a wide frightening smile spread across its face, it lifted the large sack that had a blood soaked bottom to it over its shoulder. It turned to the woods giving one last glance back at him with a snort that sounded to Nick almost like a laugh and jumped into the shadow of the woods.

The next day as Nick was packing up for his trip to the city he made sure to wake his grandfather before he left and tell him all about what he saw that night. Jeff Jones walked out with Nick to the ruined chicken coop “My God” exclaimed Jeff, “you were right something was here. I had better call that Mike fellow about this.” “who is Mike?” asked Nick, “you may have met him he was at the Trading post earlier this week, he is a monster hunter I was told about by this other fellow that was here a few weeks ago named Rick.” “I remember hearing someone calling himself a monster hunter, but I was in the back room at the time and didn't actually see him. Do you want any help cleaning this up? I have time before I have to head out.” looking into the bloody chicken coop. “No” said Jeff “I would Like for Mike to be able to investigate this first.” “Okay, I need to be on my way out now.” “Be safe driving and don't forget to visit your dad up in Brooksville the first chance you get” “I will” yells back Nick as he is going down the drive way.

Back inside Jeff calls up the number to Mike’s cell phone that Mike gave him shortly after settling in at the Brooksville Lodge. Jeff told him all about the chicken coop over the phone and described to him what his grandson saw. Later that day Mike arrives in his green pick up truck to Jeff’s home; Jeff shows him around back to the chicken coop, Mike asks “I thought you said you didn't touch any thing” “I didn't” said Jeff “well, It looks like what ever broke in here removed all the meat and eggs and left behind the feathers and bones in a pile” Mike pointed over to the pile in the back of the chicken coop where it looks like someone had thrown them while cleaning the chickens. Mike walks around the coop and takes notes, “this is strange” he thinks to himself “its clear from the foot prints, the torn roof, and claw marks that some kind of werewolf is in fact to blame for this, but all the blood is confined to the inside of the coop, some chickens should have been able to make a break for it and been killed in the yard. What sort of werewolf cleans the chickens, there should be pieces everywhere?” the most astonishing thing to Mike were the scorch marks on the inside of the coop and on the feathers. Mike knew this was going to be different but he didn't know how it was going to be this weird.

He left after a brief talk with Mr. Jones, and headed back to the lodge, he had been walking about the woods for days and hadn't found any signs of a werewolf and now he gets his first lead and it doesn't make any sense. The one he had been told about was a grey werewolf now he is told the one sighted today was black, at least he now had a new lead; the monster was near PineRidge. He was going to have to change his search further south than where he had been looking. “I will get you demon.” Thought Mike to himself while driving back to the lodge.

[Rhuen]

before I give this next bit of data. My worlds are divided into different Earth realities and dimensions.
Howl of the Heaven occurs in the (pre-Cohora Conflict time line) of Earth Prime. The Cohora Conflict is the apocalypse time line of my series where aliens dropped nano-plague infested pods all over the Earth turning ordinary humans into zombies which targeted other humans. The Cohora were un-aware of altered humans and monsters, and intended to move in when the population numbers only in the millions and save the day making the few remaining humans beholden to them. It didn't work out that way.
The third part of this reality (labled distant future) is anything from 300 years after the Cohora Conflict to 5 thousand years later (alot happens between and before).

The following is a sentient group of altered humans (many types of altered humans exist) from Earth Prime.

Transjins/Transverts
Origin: The Chinese government created a program researching human genders and funded scientists to find an effective form of population control that would allow for the ability to form a stable population when ever they wanted. The project was designed to manipulate the genders of unborn babies regardless of their chromosomal makeup. And even the ability to take these children at a later age and change them again if need be. Originally the plan was to alter targeted individuals re-writing their memories and locations to form a stable and balanced population. These original designs were dubbed the Transverts. However several scientists due to greed took the technology and used it for cosmetic means, sex changes. They made a mint in the black market as not only did it sell to desperate people who couldn’t pay for the (often dangerous and ill-done) sex change operations, but it also sold to criminal groups and government agencies needing spies as not only could they change genders, they could also become in-between gender forms and even alter small details like body hair, hair length/color, and even eye color. And most importantly their fingerprints would shift when they changed the form of their hands, which with focus could be done with out shifting completely, or even needing to completely change their hand’s form. These that can will their changes are known as Transjins.

The Cohora Conflict: After the Cohora unleashed the nano-plague that created the zombies in their attempt to rid the world of mankind the Transjins were un-effected by the nanites. And they couldn’t be turned after being bitten by or scratched by the zombies, as the zombies were specifically designed for normal human beings “so they wouldn’t infect other organisms”. Because of this the shifting DNA of the Transjins left them immune. As such many of them have banded together viewing themselves as the future of the human race. And an organization of Transjins is seeking to regain the lost civilizations of the Earth by increasing in numbers and offering the Transjin procedure to un-infected humans they come across.

The Distant Future: The Transjins are one of the human races that have managed to form their own nation. While some are occasionally found outside their territory, they are physically weaker than the majority of human types with a few exceptions that are born from a Transjin parent and one from a different breed. But these tend to lack most of the Transjin powers and seldom can fully shift between genders. The Primary Transjin government sees this as a problem and thanks to their carefully chronicled history knows the origins of the other breeds and as such recognize themselves as more “proto-human” in nature. The Transjins are a space faring group and most can be found in deep space or on colonized planets.

[Rhuen]

This next is a sentient race of Other World.
Guess I should explaine what that is first (especially since I already listed some plants and animals from there).
its a universe filled with breathable air and giant floating flat continents (well flat in that they are shaped like skipping stones with a valley in the top and roughed out through time. These can be anything from the size of a few miles to the size of the Earth's surface if it were spread out flat.
The average though is about the size between Alaska and Australia.

These worlds have evolved independent of each other with their own life forms and such in a universe with out Super-Novas, black holes, or cosmic collisions, worlds where life has evolved for countless billions of years (resulting in very powerful creatures coming about) incluidng many god like sentient races and powerful animals. The mystical/complex energy of this universe has played a role in this as well of course.
The sentients would develop craft to travel between worlds and even a portal system (simular to the Star Gate system) which has even allowed them to access other dimensions such as the various Earth realities (which they call Void universes). Just as we migh call them Other World they would call us a Void World.

and now a sentient race of Other World
Toori-Ma:
Description: The Toori-Ma have three forms, a human form, a monster form, and an in between form that is unlocked once they learn true humility, or are exposed to the atmosphere of Other World. The Monster form is a muscular humanoid body with clawed hands, grey skin, pointed ears, and demon wings upon their backs. Overall a basic demon form except for their odd hair, its bald on top and goes out the back of the head to a strange conical point like an imitation of a pterodactyl’s crest. Their eyes glow red constantly.
The in between form is human like with red hair, red eyes, and pointed ears (slightly longer than normal human but not overly long). They tend to have a muscular build but not tank level.
The human form tends to be slightly athletic but not noticeably beyond normal human limitations. Although they are immortal (un-killable) in their human form.

Origin: The first Toori-Ma were created by Rhuen in Japan’s southern islands. A tribe of proud warriors had gone about the task of aiding blood thirsty demons by attacking whole villages and feeding the blood of the villagers to these demons in exchange for wealth and power. Rhuen slaughtered these demons because they had sent the warriors to slaughter a village which protected one of, or rather a whole set of Rhuen’s sacred artifacts, The Dark Armor. The warrior who wore The Dark Armor slaughtered most the warriors attacking the village but a few managed to escape only to find their demon masters dead and Rhuen waiting for them. Rhuen offered them a deal, work for him and he would grant them power far beyond what the demons had given them, but they could not seek revenge on the village as that village, its female champion who wore the Dark Armor, as well as the Dark Armor its self belonged to him. In fact his deal was they could either work for him as his warriors or he would kill them on the spot. They of course chose the former of the two. In this way Rhuen created the first Toori-Ma, a joke on them even. Great power yet they could only feed on three things, the blood of evil humans, the blood of evil monsters, and the fruit of the Other World floating continent the Law Lands (which is home to the moral high ground races of the Hinnen, the Hinlen, and the Wa-Lilly.)

Current status and future: The Toori-Ma can not breed more Toori-Ma, although any female they have relations with can become pregnant but the child will be the race of the mother with zero Toori-Ma powers, in fact they can’t even become aroused while in the monster form. A female Toori-Ma is completely infertile however, this may seem un-fair but it was the only way Rhuen could avoid nature pulling one of her evolutionary tricks on him and causing a Toori-Ma to be born. Rhuen views the status of Toori-Ma as a branding not a natural gift as he bestows this power only on individuals with potential and strong convictions but lack the path to use these in a morally appropriate way. So all Toori-Ma are “cursed” humans given the power by Rhuen and cursed to live forever as his minions, or until he deems them redeemed and may change them into something else, but these events are extremely rare and the creature they are turned into is an individual Dark One. Their future is purely in the hands of Rhuen, from his mysterious dark zone he can locate any of them at anytime and watch what they are doing as their very souls now belong to him.

[Rhuen]

and now another installment of (Howl of the Heavens)

Chapter 5: one month later
The Not So Subtle Black Wolf

Deep in the forest a great form carries a large sack of his own creation; this figure is none other than Rhuen on his daily search for food to give to his pregnant mate Versa. Rhuen utters to himself, “All I can find in these miserable woods is small prey.” with clear disdain on his half fox half wolfen face he looks into his bag filled with three small deer, numerous squirrels and other small woodland creatures. “Long ago when I was here, even in these cooling months their was plenty of large prey, great antlered beasts and even bison were to be found in these mountains.”

As Rhuen approached the edge of a cliff he could hear cows and goats below. Looking down he thought, “Damn it! I really don’t want to take the livestock from these humans again. That one human spotted me just taking chickens, and I was nearly spotted numerous times before that taking their beasts” with a deep sigh Rhuen finished his thought, “but I don’t have a choice. With a pregnant mate to feed, if I try to just take the local wildlife there won’t be anything left in this area…” “it seems I have no choice.” He finished with a shrug, and with that he jumped down the cliff side. The screams of goats could be heard echoing across the small valley beneath the cliff.

The Next day coming down Pine Ridge’s main street was Nick Jones’s old red pickup truck complete with all his furnishings from his trip in the bed of the truck. He is on his way to stay with his grandfather because he is afraid to leave him alone with that thing he saw still lurking about. As Nick drives up to his grandfather’s house he sees a green pick up truck “when did grandpa get a new pick up?” thought Nick as he parked beside it in the large drive way at the end of the street. As Nick walks inside he is greeted by his grandfather and sees a strange man he has never seen before sitting at the table. “This is Mike the Werewolf hunter I told you about, remember?” said Jeff. “Yah, I remember but that was like a month ago.” “He has been having trouble, I think in finding it.” At this Mike looks up and sees Nick for the first time and stands saying, “Oh yes you must be Nick your grandfather has told me about you, hope you don’t mind my staying here for awhile. Your grandpa has very graciously allowed me to rent the second guest room.” Before Nick can ask any thing Jeff whispers to him, “my rates are cheaper than the Brooksville Lodge and we’re closer to where he is searching for the monster.” “Grandpa” Nick says, “This monster story from great grandpa and the other folks in town is nothing but superstition from the Indians that used to live here, besides even if it was real no one has ever had any trouble with any thing around here attacking people or live stock.” Jeff looks at Nick sternly and says, “I saw this thing with my own eyes, I saw that grey haired woman who always goes to the trading post turn into some kind of giant wolf thing right before my own eyes. So don’t you tell me what is real, and I have it on good word that this man here is the best man for getting rid of werewolves.” “Okay, Okay” says Nick holding his hands in front of him in mock surrender, “I give,” he leans closer to his grandfather and whispers, “you aren’t paying him or anything are you?” “Nope he’s paying me for the room so I am the one making money” whispers back Jeff.

“So” says Nick, “what have you found out so far?” Nick takes a seat across from Mike who looks up from his papers and answers, “Nothing, Nothing makes any since I have been writing down every sighting and description given and it’s not coming together.” He picks up various papers with exasperation on his face as he talks, “the locals tell me stories similar to your grandpa’s about seeing a grey furred clearly female wolf creature on the other side of the nearby mountain, and the one people have been sighting recently is almost always spotted on the near side of the mountain, is black furred, and clearly male.” “That’s what I saw attacking the chicken coop about a month back.” “So you’re the one that saw it?” “yes, it was about a month ago just before I went on my trip, I woke up in the middle of the night to the sound of the chickens out back and saw a large black figure leaning over the coop and it disappeared into the woods.” “Just like what a lot of people have been telling me.” Mike rubs his chin as he continues with a thoughtful look in his eyes, “So the locals tell stories of a grey female and now all they see is a black male, and on top of it the stories don’t co-inside. One moment its twelve to fourteen feet tall or even twenty feet tall then some one says its six or seven feet tall and its eyes are described as being red, blue, green, and even purple by some, but then again eyewitnesses tend mess up on the size of things. I am also starting to think that their may be more than one or that the sightings are a little off from exaggeration and from people not seeing it clearly. But what boggles me the most is how much it is killing and taking live stock, the folks here say that they never lost live stock before except to the occasional coyote and never spotted the grey one taking livestock. And this black one is almost always spotted taking livestock and a lot more than its size would suggest. It doesn’t fit any description I know of for a werewolf or a skin walker, I even thought maybe a windigo or other unlikely furry monster found its way here but they just don’t fit.”

Nick noticed that Mike looked genuinely baffled. At that moment the phone rang. Jeff answered the phone and turned to Mike saying, “its Mr. Anderson again, he says the black wolf creature just took another of his dairy cows.” “What?” asked Nick. “Mr. Anderson’s dairy farm,” answers Jeff, “a ways out side of town has been hit the worst by the monster; it has been taking cows, goats, and even stole his prize lamas a few days ago.” Mike stands up and asks him, “when was this, during the night again?” “No” says Jeff, “It was only just now he called right after he saw it rip out the cow’s throat and run off into the woods.” Mike got up and as he headed out the door yelled back, “Tell him I will be heading out to the woods near there to see if I can’t pick up on its trail.” Nick just looked at his grandfather Jeff as he relayed the message to Mr. Anderson over the phone.

Near Mr. Anderson’s dairy farm Mike has out his rifle and walks as quietly as possible through the woods; when through his rifle’s sight he spots a seven foot tall bipedal animal. He can’t believe what he is seeing; its muzzle, tail, and large fox like ears don’t fit the description of any thing he has seen until now, and that’s not the weirdest part to him, even given its size he thinks it shouldn’t be able to carry that whole cow over one shoulder with only its right arm around it.

“Any way” thinks Mike, “its time for you to die.” He raises his rifle and is stopped short as the creature speaks. “I think not little human” it says while turning around to face him. “What” thinks Mike. “I said” says the Black wolf like biped, “I think not”. Mike lowers his rifle a little and says “You think not to what?”, “To what you were thinking human, It’s not time for me to die.” The wolf like creature drops the cow and crosses his arms before him staring at Mike. Mike can’t bring him self to say anything, he can only run all this through his mind, “impossible” he thinks, “its just standing their like its not afraid, I mean I faced un-afraid werewolves before but they always run around me in circles or try to charge me in a rage they never just stand their and stare at me. And its voice isn’t a growl or that weird singing that skin walkers talk in.”

The black bipedal wolf like creature just stares at Mike who is standing their dumbfounded by what has just occurred. The creature picks up his prey with one hand and in a blink is gone. Mike is instantly snapped out of his daze by this, he looks round quickly, no leaves kicked up, no broken path in the forest, and no signs that it ran anywhere. Mike thinks to himself, “a demon, it’s not a werewolf at all, IT’S A DEMON!” Mike quickly pulls out the one object he has kept secret and sacred, a golden cross. He lifts it to the sky and yells to the heavens, “in the name of God, the Holy Ghost and our Lord and savoir Jesus Christ I command ye demon to reappear and obey me, I command ye now to appear!” A rush of hot air spinning about the clearing was his answer which was shortly followed by a thunderous voice, “PATHEDIC HUMAN, YOU WOULD TRY AND CONTROL ME! YOU WHO CAME HERE TO HUNT MY MATE AND NOW DOG ME IN YOUR FUTILE ATTEMPT TO KILL ME, FOR THIS I SHOULD RIP YOU APPART!” A terrible updraft was felt at this last part as the voice spoke, “MISERABLE BEAST WITH YOUR PUNY GUN, I DO NOT OBEY YOUR WEAK MAGICS, I AM NOT PART OF YOUR THEOLOGY AND MYTHOS. GO BACK TO YOUR ORDER PRIEST.” At this the voice and the wind faded away. Mike couldn’t help but feel fear at this last comment and for what this voice was saying, it seemed immune to the sacred cross and seemed to recognize it as the symbol for his order. He had thought this a mere demon now it seemed that it was either a higher demon that was too strong to be commanded by his cross or something entirely new he had never faced before “either way” he thought, “this won’t be as easy as I thought.”

[Rhuen]

an animal for today.

Species: Invisi-pests (many species)

Type: Bugs

Diet: Blood

Habitat: varies, but mostly hot and humid places. Found through out the Other World, but only in select areas as they are short lived artificial creations.

Physical description: They are fleas, ticks, chiggers, and lice from Earth which have been altered by the Aesperia to be invisible and to die quickly.

Name Origin: Invisible pests, not much more complicated than that. Created only a short time ago by Aesperia who got the idea while traveling the United States of Earth.

History & Abilities: As said above a group of Aesperia (students) traveling in the United States of Earth got the idea for these from the ideas of cloaked warriors and invisible monsters. They thought, “What would be worse would be parasites that are invisible”. And thus they made them and sell them as weapons in Other World. They made them short lived and un-able to reproduce, after all they are certain the gods would strike them dead for unleashing invisible parasites on the universe if they could reproduce and spread through out the Other World.

[Rhuen]

a plant

Name: Gray Tree

Type: Leafy Tree

Habitat: The Dark Forest Floating continent, these strange trees are only found deep in the forest in the colorless zone.

Description: As the name implies they are gray, the trunk, the branches, even new growth. However younger trees have a more silver hue and as they age become more gray in color till they become a charcoal color after a few centuries before the tree dies.

History/Abilities: Like all the plants in the colorless wood region of the Dark Forest this plant is believed to be a mutation caused by the magical accident that resulted in that Rhode Island sized area of the Dark Forest to become colorless. Originally the three color variations were listed as different species until a team of scientists were able to get samples from each and after a cross genetic analysis concluded that all the trees were the same species, in this way the “charcoal tree”, “silver tree”, and “dusty tree” were all renamed Gray Trees and these three color names used as age names much like sapling, ect…are used.
This tree has no special powers, properties, or uses, the only special thing about it is that it can live in this one altered area and no where else for an as yet undetermined reason.

[Rhuen]

and now back to (Howl of the heavens)

Chapter 6: Seven months remaining
Analysis by the Zoologist

She had driven out to the town of Brooksville once she got the fax from their mayor’s office. She was a renowned zoologist and ethnologist on wolves and other canids; she couldn’t help but think how strange the situation must be out there as she read the report the mayor’s office had faxed to her office in San Diego. The report told her that over the last two months their have been numerous sightings of a large black wolf or fox like creature that many locals were calling a werewolf. However the situation is very dire and the mayor’s office is taking the situation seriously and would like a wildlife expert on canines and other large carnivores to come and assess the situation. And to clarify what animal is causing all the loss of livestock in their area.

“I am here to speak to Mayor O’Brian.” said the brown haired woman to the receptionist out side the Brooksville’s mayor’s office. The little old woman behind the desk gave this attractive young woman a skeptical look, she thought, “now what does a young attractive brunette in hiker’s gear want with the mayor, not another environmentalist I hope” “Do you have an appointment?” she said out loud to the young woman, “Yes, he sent my offices a fax saying that he needed a wild life expert, and well here I am. I called ahead, the name’s Samantha York.” The receptionist pushed on the intercom, “Mr. Mayor O’Brian there is a young woman here, she says her name is Samantha York and that she has an appointment,” “Thank you miss Brooks. Send her in please.” came the reply over the intercom. “Go on in Miss York” said the receptionist.

Inside the office Samantha was greeted by the Mayor and the Brooksville Sheriff, The Mayor introduces them, “Hello, Dr. York This is Sheriff Jones he has been handling all the reports of the sightings of this mystery predator.” Sheriff Jones and Samantha York exchange hand shakes and greetings. As Samantha skims through the reports the Sheriff handed her the Mayor continues, “Those reports tell of every reported sighting and where they took place and also what was taken. As you will read in those reports the earliest problems started some distance to the south of here in a small mountain town called Pine Ridge, I my self was born there as was our Sheriff here, but most people who were born their tend to move here.” Samantha couldn’t help but think how pointless that last bit of information was, when something caught her eye in the reports she was leafing through, “Excuse me” she said, “but from what I have been reading here only one animal has been sighted at each killing and yet the numbers of animals taken along with how soon the killings are to each other would suggest that their should be more than one animal sighted and they say that people have spotted it carrying off its kills.” “Well Dr. York that’s why we called you. We are completely stumped and we think that people may be exaggerating the sightings playing off some local legend. So will you help Dr. York? Like we wrote in the fax we will be willing to donate a large sum to your offices in San Diego if you can solve this problem.” “Legend?” thought Samantha, then she snapped back to reality and answered, “oh yes of course I will do what I can. I will need a copy of these reports of course and I will head out at once. It will take awhile first I will need to survey the area…” She noticed a blank look on their face and finished, “Yes, Yes I will help.” The Mayor answered her after realizing she had asked him something, “Thank you Dr. York and that is your copy of the report.” “Thank you” she answered back.

While heading out of the office she was taken aside by the Sheriff. “Dr. York a moment of your time.” “Yes Sheriff, what is it?” he told her, “well first you can just call me Peter, no need for the title.” He said with a obviously forced smile, “I just thought you might like to know that there is some one else also looking for what ever it is taking the livestock.” “Oh?” “Yah My son came by the other day, A nice kid , his name is Nick he is staying with his grandpa, my dad, down in PineRidge just south of here.” “Yeah That’s where the earliest sightings were right?” asked Samantha a bit annoyed at this point, “Yep” continued Sheriff Peter Jones, “My son tells me that my dad contacted some so called “Werewolf Hunter” ” Samantha noticed he made the fingers quote gesture when saying werewolf hunter, as he continued, “He has apparently been staying with them in my old room for awhile now. Before that he was at the Brooksville lodge. Apparently he has been going around asking people about their sightings and has the ears of both my dad and the local dairy farmer Mr. Anderson who as you will read in those reports has lost a number of goats and cows to this animal. I think that this hunter just might have information that you could use seeing as he has been after this thing for the last two months.”

A few hours later as she was sitting in her room at the Brooksville lodge Samantha thought over what the Sheriff had told her and looked down at the paper she was holding where she had written down the address Peter Jones had given her to his dads house as well as his dad’s name, “Guess I should give this Mr. Jeff Jones and his resident werewolf hunter a visit. This guy may be the reason all these people think they are seeing werewolves and not giving accurate descriptions. I will head out tomorrow after a good nights sleep.” She said to herself as she turned off the lamp where she was reading the reports and went to bed.



“Morning Mike.” said Nick. “Morning” Mike answered back, who was looking over his new reports from sightings of the black werewolfish creature. He still couldn’t get the experience he had with that monster a month ago out of his head, the creature dis-obeying his command in the name of God, and its behavior. He shook him self out of, “got to focus if I’m going to beat this thing.” He thought to himself. A knock came at the door, Nick opened the door to a beautiful brunette woman about five feet five inches in height he noted to him self and gorgeous, were all his adolescent hormone driven thoughts would let him think, not even properly answering the door, “um, is their a Mr. Jeff Jones here?” she asked noticing his wandering eyes. “Huh?” Nick responded snapping out of his daze, “oh you mean grandpa he is out right now.” “Oh; then is there a man by the name of Mike here?” she asked. “Yes he is right over there at the table.” He indicated Mike with a point of his finger. “Then can I come in?” Samantha asked. “Okay” was all Nick said.

Samantha walked over to where Mike was sitting, “You must be the so called werewolf hunter I have been hearing about.” She said in a slightly smug tone with a smile upon her face. This caught Mike’s attention and a clear sign of worry came over him as he stood to shake Samantha’s hand, “Well yes that’s me, The name is Mike… miss?”, “Dr. Samantha York.” She answered, “I am with California’s Zoological department. I was called in by Mayor O’Brian up in Brooksville to research the problem animal or animals that have been taking livestock lately.” “And you came here to talk with me?” “Yes, the reports tell about a man going around raising some hysteria about werewolves, it’s interesting how the reports of a werewolf coincide with your arrival.” She said the last part with a suspicious look in her eyes. “First of all.” Mike answered angrily, “I was called here because of a sighting of a werewolf, and I didn’t tell any one why I was here only listened to their descriptions and have been trying to solve this problem as you call it.” “Oh really” she answered, “Well and what pray tell have you learned in your two months staying here?” before Mike could answer something hit him; how did she know how long he had been here? Not to mention where to find him. The only person he had given the number to contact him was Mr. Anderson and he hadn’t told any one he was now staying here.

Samantha couldn’t help but feel a little smug at his delay after all she was the expert and he undoubtedly was some nut out shooting dogs and calling them monsters. “Well?” Samantha asked, “Did you find anything of this wolf creature?” “Actually, I have.” He answered, “In fact I had a run in with it, the black werewolf of legend,” “Actually Mike the legend tells about a grey furred female wolf not a black furred male wolf, remember.” The interruption came from Jeff Jones, who had just returned home. He looked to Samantha and said, “Sorry I don’t believe we have met.” “The name is Dr. Samantha York of California’s Zoological department; I was called in to investigate by Mayor O’Brian in Brooksville.” She answered. “Well its nice to meet you miss” Jeff answered, “and what brings you to my home this day?” “The Sheriff in Brooksville told me you had a werewolf hunter here, and I figured I had better take a look into this considering the timing and all of the sightings.” “Now see here miss,” shot back Mike, “I already told you I was called in after a sighting, in fact Mr. Jones here is the one that saw it.” “Now, now Mike no need to get angry.” Jeff said, “Now I can’t vouch for Mike here or any one else but I never saw this black wolf, what I saw was the grey she wolf like in the legend.” Before she could answer something hit her, what legend? She knew from past experiences that local legends can be helpful in knowing where predator populations are, one just has to take out the myth part and look at the stories objectively so she asked, “What legend? I have been here a little bit now and think that this legend might just be helpful.” Mike eyed Samantha suspiciously and said to Jeff, “come to think of it I have only heard about this legend, I haven’t heard the legend its self either.” “Well” Jeff said to them both, “You two just take a seat here at my table and I will tell you the whole thing from the beginning.

[Rhuen]

and now a special power/attack description "yeah I know its short and kinda lame as an update"

Name: Wind Arcs

Type: Air

Description: This is only a generic term for a great number of attacks (which are mentioned else where) this basic description refers to any attack that creates pockets of dense air shaped like crescents which can slice their target. This attack’s sheer variety is amazing from small spinning forms, multi-shot barrages, giant almost not arcs, and can even be from semi-clear to snow white looking from the air density in the attack.

[Rhuen]

a cursed object in this world

Name: Rave Raven

Type: Statue

Description: A small raven statue that has glow sticks in its wings, wearing a pink pacifier necklace, and has beads around its legs

Origin: Created by a bored Djinn in the United States during the 1990’s. It did it as part of a contest between mystical beings to create the most outrageous cursed object.

Does: The owner constantaly hears rave music, but no one else can hear it. The only way to stop it is to either give away or sell the statue to someone else. However they have to tell the new owner about the curse other wise they will still hear the music but the new owner wont, and after six days if they don’t get back the statue the statue will transform into a real raven that hunts down and pecks out the eyes of the old owner. By warning the new owner they prevent any back lash. It doesn’t matter if the new owner believes them.


PS: an artist challenge. Given the creature, plant, and object descriptions I would like anyone with any artistic ability to try and draw any of them please. I am curious to see if the way I describe them and the way I see them in my head correspond (and would love it if someone made something from the description even better than what was in my head as the base form).

[Rhuen]

and now back to (Howl of the Heavens)

Chapter 7: continuation of moment in previous chapter

The Legend

Jeff Jones sits down at his table across from Samantha and Mike beginning his story. “Way back before their were any towns around here, back when the Indians still lived here my ancestor Patrick Jones moved here with his family and some other settlers to search for gold and trap fur. Now this was before the government of the time forced the natives to leave, and as the story goes the original settlers got along fine with the Indians who warned the settlers not to go to the opposite side of the mountain that lays just North West of the town. The Indians told them that a powerful wilderness goddess lived there and that she wasn’t too fond of people trespassing on her home.”

Jeff paused for a minute to get a beer out of the fridge before continuing, taking a moment to remember exactly how the story goes, “well” he continued, “When the settlers asked them to clarify, this is the story the Indians told them. Ever since the dawn of time the goddess Versa has lived on this mountain, she is a powerful goddess of the beasts but not of man. She has the appearance of a cross between a woman, a fox, a wolf, and a mountain cat. She was feared by the hunters who would try to sneak into her hunting grounds only to be cursed or killed by her.

“Cursed?” asked Mike, “what do you mean by that?” “The legend doesn’t explain, but I would hazard a guess it meant they got sick or something. Well any way, as I was saying; the Indians would try to sneak in to her forest, until one day she saved their whole tribe. According to the legend a group of sorcerers who had the power to take the form of beasts and ate the flesh of men, unlike the goddess Versa who only ate beasts, moved in just north of the camp close to what is Brooksville. Well one day these sorcerers attacked the Indians camp burning it down. The majority of the tribe escaped but many didn’t; the invaders killed men, women, even children. The elders of the tribe sent a group of their best hunters to spy on the sorcerer clan who had taken up residence in the still burning village. They say the sorcerers didn’t seem to mind the fire which started to spread to the forest going south. What the hunters saw in the village scared them to death, they say the hunters saw the clan of sorcerers cooking the bodies of the dead villagers and dancing around them chanting. The sorcerers then changed into human like coyote creatures just a little bigger than a man.”


“Skin Walkers” thought Mike while Jeff continued his story. “It was at this moment that a horrifying howl came from the south in the burning forest, the howl summoned thunder clouds which caused a terrible storm which was so intense that it rained out the forest fire and the burning village. The hunters saw a strange naked woman they had never seen before come out of the forest from the south. She was pale skinned and had long grey hair like a cloud about her head and shoulders with lightning in her eyes.”

Jeff stopped talking, got up and went to his room for a minute saying as he left, “One moment I just need to get something to help explain.” “Interesting story” thought Samantha, “this story might help explain some things, I will just have to hear the rest of it before coming to any conclusions.” Mike was also thinking, but not as pleasant of a thought, “So skin walkers were once here as was what ever kind of demon I am dealing with, but it still doesn’t explain the black wolf. But than again the black one did accuse me of coming here to try and kill his mate. That must be this Versa in the story.”

Jeff returned shortly with an old wood carving and showed it to Samantha and Mike; it was a carving of a woman with European facial features and long wavy hair with little lighting bolts coming from her eyes, “This is her” said Jeff, “the woman in the legend and the exact same likeness as the woman I told you about Mike who has been going to the trading post every three months for the last two hundred years.” “What?” asked Samantha. “Sorry” said Jeff, “I didn’t know you didn’t know about this. People in town say it’s a different woman, but my grandfather, my father, my self, and my boys, no one I know in fact has ever seem a woman that looks older, younger, or more than one woman at a time, always the same woman.”

“Not to interrupt” said Samantha, “but what happened in the legend?” Jeff stopped for a moment and both he and Mike noticed that she seemed to be genuinely interested in hearing it. “well” continued Jeff, “Where was I? Oh yeah the pale woman looking just like the woman on this wood carving which was given to my ancestor by the Indians. Any way the hunters on the ridge watching saw her enter the clearing and walk right up to the now monstrous sorcerers and said something to their leader. The hunters didn’t hear what she said but what ever it was caused the sorcerers to start running around her in a circle and chant. Then she raised her hand and lightning struck one of the sorcerers. She then changed into a giant wolf or fox like grey furred creature that walked on its hind legs, it was more than twice the height of a man and the legend says, well it gets kind of descriptive and I can’t remember off the top of my head all the details like my own dad could, but in summary she ripped apart most of the sorcerers and even ate one of them.

According to the legend some of them escaped and are said to still live to the north out side of Brooksville and even in the town it’s self. That they live in Brooksville is not in the legend but some Indian folk that came back here say that. But the legend does say some escaped never to return to that mountain. Well anyway the legend continues to say she then jumped and landed just behind the hunters who were on the ridge. She told them her name was Versa and basically they made a deal that so long as the hunters don’t go into her forest on the far side of the mountain she would keep the shape shifting sorcerers away. And that’s the whole legend in a nut shell.” finished Jeff.

Samantha stood, thanked Jeff for the information, to the confusion of both Jeff and Mike, and left. “well” thought Samantha as she got in her truck and drove away, “That was more informative than I thought it would be. The Native Americans encountered an animal they weren’t use to on that mountain that was probably bigger and stranger looking than what they were used to. One day a rival tribe invades their village later coyotes or wolves come in to eat the dead and this strange predator comes in attracted by the smell and chases away the coyotes or wolves and possibly the rival tribe became afraid of it as well. This just might be more lucrative than I thought.” She had a sly smile on her face at that last thought, “the locals are seeing an animal their not use to and even the Native Americans weren’t use to it enough to be comfortable around it. This just might be a remnant species left over from the ice age. Any number of North American Ice Age predators could have started legends about a wilderness god, like the so called god bear in Siberia, or maybe even an undiscovered species.” Unknown to Samantha as she drove away and even to the people inside the house there was an interloper just out side of view in the shadows hearing her thoughts and eavesdropping on the entire legend.

[Rhuen]

an alien race

Creators:
Description: Look exactly like humans except lack pores in their skin and have blue skin at that. Their hair while looking like human hair upon closer inspection has a texture like the light parts of a feather. Their eyes tend to range in bluish colors and purples. Their faces look to be similar to that of East Asian humans except for the overly large eyes, over all by sheer coincidence giving them a very anime like appearance.

History: The Creators are an extremely ancient race that has long since ascended to beings of pure energy. However this transformation wasn’t immediate and many who remained physical feared the ascended ones so created the Warrior race who had the power to harm and even kill energy beings. The Warrior race would inherit the technology of the Creators and create some of the most horrific weapons this region of space has seen. The technology and weapons of the Creators and the Warrior Race (who split and went their separate ways exploring the multi-verse) are constantly being searched for by younger races. The majority of the original creator technology has fossilized (due to being partially organic) or was destroyed to keep it out of the hands of younger races. However the Warrior Race’s versions were not always this way and some of it has been found and caused much chaos.

Book series influence: The Creators themselves are mostly only mentioned in passing or in relation to similar up-start races like the Qwie. The Warrior Race however is the race of the character Rhuka. In essence it’s the lost technology that is the focus when the Creators are mentioned.