Shifted

Liandry and Teolan sat together at the table, with Frendar and Nano across from them. The four friends ate, discussing the journey they would soon undertake. Teolan looked at Nano. "So Sagerious got through with the message? The rangers will meet us at the halfway point, the land bridge above Ironfist Run?" he asked his gnome friend. The rangers he spoke of were the two newest inhabitants of Joakim's small sanctuary, an odd pair, a half elf ranger by the name of Skylar, and a dwarven ranger by the name of Redorak. The pair had come to Joakim wishing to serve as protecters and guardians for his temple, and the roads and lands around them. That had been almost ten years ago. Joakim had questioned them, asking Talia's aid to insure they were true of spirit. He'd not been able to find any reason to doubt them, so he'd agreed to let them stay. They'd proven to be a true boon to Joakim's little sanctuary in the last ten years. Joakim wasn't getting any younger, now in his early forties, so he was glad for the extra muscle and help.

Nano nodded. "They will be camped their when we arrive, ready to add two more skilled guards to our little group for the rest of the journey." the gnome said, smiling.

Teolan nodded, quite happy with that piece of information. "Good, good. Thank you Nano, you never disappoint." Nano tipped his head in deference to his old business partner and friend. Teolan turned to Frendar. "You've already got the rest of the house locked down, basement entrances and such locked up? So we can leave first thing in the morning?"

Frendar nodded. "Everything that needed ta be set is set, the only thing we have to do is lock up the front door when we leave." the dwarf said in seriousness. Teolan nodded to the dwarf, quite pleased. It was late, Leliana only having just come back from her daily excursion in the market square and to Bivrik's tavern. Frendar rose, as he finished the last of his ale. He burped and looked at his friends. "We got an early rise tomorrow, so I'm off ta bed." It was dark out, and tonight was the summer solstice, so the night was going to be short. The sun would be rising again in eight hours or less.

Nano followed the dwarf, in complete agreement with him. Teolan and Liandry were left alone, their daughter already resting upstairs in her room. Liandry smiled, and started kissing her lover, tasting his tongue and lips, feeling his body. Teolan pulled her in, and together they sat, entwined for a long while, kissing and touching. After many moments, Liandry rose, gripping Teolan's hand. They moved off together to their quarters upstairs, and were soon on the bed, the door locked. Liandry's shirt came off, as Teolan started to kiss her body. They fell into bed, and soon enough were making love, Liandry on top of Teolan, kissing him, feeling him inside her. The elven couple let out their passion for almost three hours, climaxing many times. It was the last time for at least two weeks that they'd have the chance to be together in such a way, simply because life on the roads of Valerick wasn't safe enough for such risks. So they made the most of it here, this night, losing themselves in each other.

The couple eventually finished, and were soon lying down, Liandry's head on Teolan's chest. Teolan kissed the top of his beautiful wife's head, and as she looked up, kissed her lips. She cuddled up to him, and muttered, "Teolan, my husband, I love you."

Teolan put his arms around her softly, lovingly, and responded in kind. "Liandry, my wife, I love you too. More then I can describe."

Soon enough, tangled up in each other's arms, they drifted off into the meditative state that was close to sleeping as their kind got, letting their minds fly free, and wander thoughts and dreams.

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As the sun started to rise, Frendar woke first, and quickly hopped out of bed, pulling on his leather layer of clothing, as he called out loudly, "Up and at em ye durn fools! Sun's rising, daylight's wasting, we have a road to get on!" He quickly put on his suit of chainmail, and pulled on his boots and gauntlets. It was still summer, so he neglected to bring a cloak, and simply secured his battleaxe on his back. He did this with two ingenius hooked clips that were attached to the back of his chainmail. They were pressure clips, that is they would open when he pushed the axe into them as he tried to put it on his back. The shaft of the axe would slide into the small loops, and the clips would lock it in. But if he pulled on it with enough force, the clips would release, and open the other way, falling back down as the shaft cleared the edges of them. He'd put these new ones on himself, in his workshop in the basement. The clips had needed replacing last year, for the first time since he'd made them almost fifty years ago. It had been easy enough to make, the hardest part had been getting the spring inside it wound just right to be able to work in two directions.

He stepped out of his room, and went up and down the hallway, opening every door. Leliana just smiled, getting up and dressed quickly as the dwarf opened the door and yelled at her. "Up and at 'em little missy, we's got a long journey 'head of us. Let's go!"

Leliana was excited for this would be her first journey as one of the group. She would be armored in her breastplate and helmet, and be using her mother's shield and even Mercy as well. Liandry had told her the reason for this was that Leliana would soon enough be responsible for the family mace, and may as well start getting a feel for it. Liandry herself would be using a plain old iron mace, and a second shield like her own she had, that Frendar had made for her. So Leliana put on her helmet, and buckled on her breastplate. She then pulled on her grey studded leather greaves, and iron boots. She slid on her studded gauntlets as well, and slid the shield on her arm. Finally, with some fair amount of reverance, she picked up Mercy, which Liandry had put in her room yesterday evening, and slid it into the loop on her belt. Leliana looked at herself in the mirror.

Now a little over a quarter of the way through her fifth decade of life, she looked just like her mother, except she was about six inches shorter, and maybe twenty five to thirty pounds lighter. But comparing facial features, and looks, their only differance was Leliana's bright green eyes. She nodded to herself, pleased with the image, and moved out of her room, closing the door. She came flying back in though, as she almost forgot something. She moved to her little altar to Talia, and took a rope necklace that was hanging from it, and put it on. On the necklace was a pendant like her mother's, Talia's holy symbol. Leliana carefully put her hair back underneath the breastplate, and slid on her helmet. She moved off down the hall, and as she did, she almost started to feel silly, until the rest of her family came into sight downstairs.

Liandry and Frendar were fully armed as well, and even Teolan was already wearing his chain vest underneath his nice dark black silk shirt. Even his rapier was already on his belt. Nano was just as prepared, his robes on, his familiar Sagerious on his shoulder. Leliana smiled as they all looked up at her, as she came down the stairs. None of them said anything, for nothing needed to be said. But Frendar nodded his approval, and the others followed suit. They moved out into the early dawn, and Leliana got on Flame, as she was supposed to. Teolan and Liandry, as they always did, got into the wagon, Liandry taking up her position on the back, whilst Teolan moved to the front, and took the reins. Frendar and Nano got on their platforms to start, and the group moved out to the west gate at a brisk trot.

An hour later, they were headed straight west, to lend credance to the story that they intended to go around the Balin Crags. Once Longreach's walls were out of sight, they took a small deer path Liandry knew off, and were soon on the northern part of Talios Way, headed toward the Crags. Leliana tickled with excitement, the nervous excitement of adventure. She wanted to avoid trouble, like the rest of them, and hoped they wouldn't have to fight. But like her mother, she was excited to be back in the wilds, back where she felt more at home. There was something about the edge of danger, the edge of readiness, that attracted Leliana. She loved it, like her mother did. As they made their way through the slowly thinning trees, towards the towering peaks of the Balin Crags, she smiled, and whispered to herself, "This is where I belong. This is what I want to do."

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Redorak looked at his half elf companion, as they ran fast, more then slightly annoyed. "Ya couldn't just pay 'em, could ya!? No, ye had to tell 'em off, and even worse, insult their mothers!! Durn fool elf, we has a job ta do, and places to be, or do ye be forgetting that!? But instead we're running a little dance, doing our best to not get crushed flat by three angry ogres, two of whom are pretty bloody accurate with those stones of theirs! Why do ye do these things, ye bloody fool!!!"

His half elf companion smiled, and winked, as he ran on. Skylar was his name. Only a bit over sixty at this point, by even half-elf standards he was still young, and if he survived to old age could expect to see up to two more centuries. He was tall, about six foot one, and rather well built, but skinny, only weighing a hundred and forty pounds. He was a ranger by trade, and looked the part. A dappled green and brown set of studded leather armor covered his torso, arms, and his legs. He also had thin brown hide gloves, made for the precise hands of a bowman. His feet were covered in fine black moccasins. He was quite a looker as well, his skin a light tanned color, his eyes a sparkling blue. He had black hair, tailed and cut to be just long enough for the bangs to cover his eyes, if they fell that way. His hair right now was a little wild, and he had a bit of sweat on his face, from both the run, and dodging out of the way of the first two boulders the ogres had thrown. On his back were the tools of his trade, besides his plain hunting knife and his wood hatchet, which were on his belt.

On his back was a quiver made from the pelt of a worg. The foolish beast had thought to make a meal of the sleeping ranger, many years ago. But it didn't know that elves, even half elves, didn't actually sleep. He'd been well aware of its presence, and would have left well enough alone, if it had done the same. But it had attacked him, and had paid with its life. Inside the quiver were twenty arrows, with oak shafts, and finely edged steel heads. Each arrow was about nineteen inches long, four inches of that the tip. They were fletched with the reddish brown feathers of a red-tailed hawk. To go with the arrows, he had a recurved longbow made of supple willow and hornwood. The bindings around the grip point in the center were made of steel bands, and leather wrapping, creating a powerful and solid grip on the flexible bow. The string was made of the sinews from the same worg that the belt for his quiver had come from.

Skylar looked at his dwarven friend, and smiled, responding to his questions, despite his intention for them to be rhetorical. "Well I figured we could use some exercise." Skylar said, chuckling, as he picked up the pace a bit, hearing the raging ogres gaining on them a bit.

Redorak grunted, annoyed. The dwarf was pretty average looking for his kind. Tough crinkled face, dark eyes, black thick hair, and a thicker and wilder beard to match. He was about three feet and eight inches tall, and probably close to two hundred pounds of wide, powerful dwarven muscle. He was much older then Skylar, almost two hundred years old. He'd met the half elf about two decades previous, and for some reason he couldn't remember, had become fast friends with the crazy man.

Redorak wasn't like any of his kin, however. He looked like an average dwarf, until his you took in his armor and weapons. Most dwarves were hard fighters, using tough, heavier armors, and big heavy weapons. But not Redorak. He wore a fine chain shirt of mithral and steel, and black cloth pants. Under the chain he wore a thin black shirt. The dwarf also wore gloves of thick rawhide, and boots of the same, both dyed a pale green. He wore a black wool cloak, despite the summer weather. He was also a ranger, but fought in a different style then his archer friend. On his hips were his tools of choice. On his left hip, set for cross draw, was a sturdy one handed steel hammer, about twenty inches long. On his other hip to go with it, was a steel shortsword, also about the same size. He was a dual wielding specialist, and quite fast and deadly. He followed Skylar as the elf turned into a little hidden pass, calling to the dwarf, "Keep up slowpoke, we're not ready to fight them yet!" laughing as he ran.

Redorak growled, annoyed with his fool elf friend, although he couldn't argue the point, as he just managed to not get crushed by a large hunk of rock thrown by one of the ogres. The creatures were big, ugly, and strong. Each about nine to ten feet tall, probably close to six or seven hundred pounds of muscle. One carried a massive wooden and iron cudgel, as long as Skylar was tall, and easily a hundred sixty pounds. The other two were armed with their powerful hands, and now both were down to one hunk of a boulder each to throw. Redorak growled, even more annoyed, as he heard their taunting calls. "Dwarf stew!" came the powerful monstrous voice, "It's been a while since we've tasted one of your kind dwarfie. I've got to admit, me and the boys are excited!"

Redorak turned the corner, hearing the ogres closing. He ran, keeping up with Skylar, and down the pass. About a hundred feet in, he looked ahead, and glared at Skylar. The fool was leading them into a dead end. "Ye durn fool elf!" he yelled.

Skylar glared back at him. "Shut up, would you, and just follow me!" Skylar kept running, glancing behind them. The three ogres were thundering after them with absolutely no second thoughts, which was exactly what Skylar was after. As they approached the dead end, he dived behind a large hunk of rock, calling to Redorak "Over here!" in elvish, which he knew the dwarf would understand, but was rather sure the ogres wouldn't.

His luck held out, and they had no idea what he'd said. Redorak dived behind the rock, and as he did so, the ogres smiled, thinking they had the pair trapped. But Skylar went to work. The half elf had one really useful talent. He was an expert ventriloquist. He quickly went to work, speaking loudly in common, throwing his voice to sound like it was on the cliffs behind the ogres. "We've got them now my friend, get ready to attack when I fire!" He was hinging everything on the ogres' complete lack of intelligence here. Thankfully, it proved to be a pretty safe bet. For all their muscle and toughness, ogres were rather slow, and dumb as posts. They all turned, and one of them even threw his last rock up at something it thought it saw on the cliff. Skylar did his best to not start giggling madly, as he prepared a quick spell. Rangers could do some magic, eventually, if they proved worthy to their deity. He had just the small spell for this trio of morons. Nothing insanely powerful, but something that would definitely tip the scales.

The stone thrower's friend hit it in the back of the head. "You idjit, now you let em know we're on to 'em!" the ogre said, loudly and angrily. Skylar smiled, sliding his bow off his back, calmly nocking an arrow. "I'll take the big mouthed one in the middle, you get his friend with the boulder, and after that, we'll deal with Stumpy over there." the elf whispered, motioning to the one that was unarmed.

Redorak smiled, and his weapons came to hand. "About bloody time." he whispered, He waited for the elf's go. Skylar rose, and leaped onto the rock gracefully, using a feather fall spell, to make himself lighter, and make the jump easier. Arrow already nocked, he was ready to engage. He released the other spell, as he fired. The arrow glowed green, as he loosed it Redorak came charging out from behind the boulder. "Hello laddies, ya want a fight, a fight is what you'll get! He charged at the one with the boulder. As he made it about halfway, Skylar's arrow hammered home into the shoulder of the one with the club. The green glow dissipated, and suddenly magical vines and creepers burst from the ground beneath the ogres' feet, tangling and gripping all of them. A simple entanglement spell, well delivered. The ogres were soon almost completely unable to move.

The one with the boulder made a last desperate attempt, hurling the rock at Skylar. He simply let himself fall forward, and the rock sailed harmlessly over him. He hit the ground, rolling gracefully, and came up, a grin on his face. "Now then, I believe its time for a lesson in manners for you lot. The ranger went to work methodically, quickly launching one arrow, then another into the first ogre, as he kept moving. The ogre grunted again and again. None of the arrows alone would prove fatal, although combined they were a deadly combination. The first had nicked the creatures aeorta artery, and was profusely leaking blood all down its arm from the shoulder. The second and third each poked one of the ogre's lungs. It could barely breath, and barely stand. Skylar fired one last arrow, taking the beast in the jugular. It fell, fighting an impossible battle, as blood loss and lack of oxygen slowly started to cause its vital organs to fail. The process took only moments, and suddenly blackness engulfed the massive creature.

Redorak ran at his target, and took full advantage of the ogre's very limited mobility after Skylar's well placed spell arrow. As he came in, he lead with his hammer, ducking under the ogre's lumbering swing with it's clublike arm. The hammer smashed heavily into the ogre's right kneecap, a common dwarf tactic against such large foes. The ogre's leg buckled, as it fought valiantly to hold its feet. But Redorak would have none of that. His shortsword followed up the hammer, as he moved around the beast, slicing clean through the ogre's hamstring. With no muscle and no bones to keep the leg rigid, the end was inevitable. The ogre's leg caved under it's own weight, and that put it's chest and neck, and all the vital organs and veins in those areas right within Redorak's reach. It was a quick three strike combination, a hammer to the stomach, doubling the beast over. As it bent, he rammed his sword deep into its chest, piercing diaphram, stomach and kidney. Then his hammer smashed down on the top of its skull, bursting right through it, and into its brain. The ogre's struggling body went limp, and Redorak hauled his sword out, stepping back and letting the ogre's carcass fall to the ground.

Redorak turned to go after the other one, to see it was already dead, four of Skylar's arrows sticking out of its neck and face. He shook his head, despite how annoying Skylar could be, he had to admit the half elf had his uses. He moved to join his friend, after a quick inspection to see if the ogre had anything of use on it's body. None of the beasts' did, much to the pair's annoyance.

The pair cleaned their weapons, Skylar retrieving his arrows, all but one, which the tip snapped off of. They set off again, heading to the point where they were supposed to rendevous with Teolan and his family. The land bridge over the historic pass known as Ironfist Run. The pair made excellent time over the next three days. Despite the delay with the ogres, the pair of rangers arrived almost a day and a half before they had been told by Joakim. So they set up camp just across the bridge, up in a sheltered little dell on the slope of one of the mountains, and waited.

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Leliana smiled as they rounded the bend. It had been a safe and calm journey so far. She was riding Flame again. It was the fourth day of their journey, and thankfully despite a minor set back when one of the wheels on the wagon came loose, they were still making excellent time. As they came up the rise, Leliana out front of the group, she laughed aloud as she looked upon the natural beauty of it. Ironfist Run was a natural wonder, created by some amazing power. It was a crevasse easily two hundred feet deep, and with many beautiful subtle colorful layers of stone making up the walls. Deep red, to pale grey, to jet black, and everything in between. The granite and shale had a great tapestry, creating an amazing scene with the trees and growths, and all the little caverns and ledges down the ravine. It was about a hundred feet across, and spanning it was something equally as impressive.

Jutting out from this cavernous gap, and spanning all away across, was a massive landbridge of solid black granite. It was a naturally occurring formation, as far as could be told, and somehow, despite the massive strain of being made of several dozens, if not hundreds of tonnes of solid granite, it held solid. About fifty feet wide at either end, it narrowed out to only be twenty feet wide in the middle, maybe even a bit less. It was a wonder, strong, sturdy and as far as legends told, very old, even having been here centuries ago when the battle that gave the pass its name occurred. Leliana was always fascinated by it, and always very much in awe of the raw power of nature.

Teolan looked at it, not even questioning nor doubting the integrity of the formation. For nearly five decades now he'd run this route, crossing this land bridge every time, without so much as a shift, or hiccup or shake. It was as safe and solid as a dwarven construction. Even Frendar, the dwarf of the group, was impressed with the formation, for it was so strong and overbearing, how could he not be. His people lived with stone, worked it and shaped it to attempt to achieve such strength. But even dwarven engineers would have needed support cables underneath, or above, to connect the structure to something solid, to give it no leeway. Yet here, nature had done without even that much. It was truly a sight.

Leliana pointed high above the other side of the pass, to a small column of smoke rising from the slope of one of the mountains. "Father, I think I just found our rangers!" she said, smiling.

Teolan took a look up, and was a little more cautious then his daughter. She was probably right, but it was better to be prepared. "It could be, but there are many things it could be. We'll find out when we get across," he said, eyeing Nano. He would have sent Sagerious, but the owl was tired, and needed a few hours rest. It was sleeping in the shaded confines of the wagon. "But we'd do well to be ready to fight or run, just in case all is not well."

Liandry nodded her agreement with her husband's thought process. "My thoughts exactly, my love. Always best to be ready."

The group moved, even Leliana, despite her urges to just gallop across to meet the rangers, for she knew it was the rangers, held Flame in check, moving with her family. She was almost willing to bet that the smoke was the rangers, but she listened to her father. Because of course, she couldn't be completely sure. So she moved in front of the wagon and Erika at about one horse length as normal, and they began to cross the bridge. As she just passed the thirty foot mark, they heard a low rumbling, almost a crunching sound, like stone grinding on stone. It happened once, and only lasted a split second, but it was enough to make Flame nervous.

Frendar felt it, and felt his nerves rising, for his dwarven heritage let him feel the stone. The side of the bridge they had left was cracking. It must have had some hairline cracks. Earthquakes were not common, but were not unheard of in the Balin Crags. But it would have had to have been an extremely powerful quake to damage the massive formation. But the slight shaking, which only he and none of the others could feel, stopped as suddenly as it began. Even Frendar's stronger sense of the earth, and knowledge of stone didn't set off any alarm bells. It had no signs of collapsing, damage, weathering. No cracks, no shaking, no pieces falling off, nothing. It seemed perfectly solid. He chewed his bottom lip nervously, and carried on, seeing as no one else seemed worried.

They were about forty percent across when suddenly it happened. There was very little warning. Liandry had been coming up to see Teolan, and check how Leliana seemed to be doing. She was sitting beside her husband, when all of a sudden, the violent shaking began. Liandry reacted as a mother would instantly, as she heard and felt the bridge going down behind her and around her. She leapt off the wagon, and did the only thing she could think to save her daughter, as Flame almost started to panic. She hit him hard in the rump, and called on him to run, to gallop. The spooked gelding needed no more invitation. Teolan tried to get Erika into a gallop, but it was to late, for behind the wagon, the section of the bridge had already fallen out, and the wagon was off the edge. Liandry turned, not sure if they were doomed yet. Suddenly, the ground underneath her disappeared, and so did the ground beneath her family. As she started falling, she watched in horror as the one who might have saved them, Nano, was hit in the head by Erika's sliding body weight, and knocked senseless. It was all over. She didn't know what else to do, so in those final split seconds, she said a prayer to Talia, asking her to guide Leliana, to help her find her way. She just managed to finish it in her head, as suddenly she felt a heavy impact against her back, and it all went dark.

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Flame took off panicked, and Leliana was so caught off guard that she fumbled the reins. She turned back, screaming as she watched in horror. "Mother, father!!" she screamed, tears coming down her face. Her family disappeared in a cloud of stone dust, and when the dust dissapated on the breeze, where the bridge had been, there were only two stubs, each about five feet in length, one on each side. She grimaced as she heard the low ominous, thundering sound of the several dozen tonnes of heavy granite smashing to the ground in the pass below. She struggled desperately to reign in Flame, fighting the panicked animal for many minutes. She finally managed to take enough control of him to dismount, and she ran toward the edge of the ravine, tears streaming down her face. Nano was a rather powerful wizard. They had to be fine, he would have been able to save them. They were fine, they had to be. She ran towards the edge, not sure what she exactly intended to do. She got there, and looked over, to see nothing but stone and rubble below, a massive pile of it. No sign of her parents or their friends. She had to get down their, although how she didn't know.

Leliana rose and moved off the ledge that was the remains of the bridge. She moved to the right side of it, and turned back on, and carefully lowered herself over the edge, searching for a foothold. She found one, and carefully tested it. It seemed secure enough, so she lowered herself further. She had to get down there. As she let go of the lip with one hand to find a handhold, suddenly her feet slipped, and the small piece of the cliff in her left hand, which had been a loose piece, came out, breaking off in her hands. She went to cry out, thinking her life was over. As she started falling however, she heard a gruff voice, a dwarven voice. "Lass, what are ye doin'!" Suddenly a hand came into view, along with a black bearded dwarf's head, over the edge of the cliff. The dwarf just managed to grab her left wrist, and looked at her, as he fought to hold her, trying to haul her up. "Are ye sick in the head?!"

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Redorak and Skylar rose in the morning, watching the direction the group was supposed to be coming from, as they carefully cooked a bit of breakfast. Some deer jerky with the last of their bread and a few berries they had found almost four days ago. They ate breakfast carefully, keeping eyes on the bridge and keeping watch around them, in case of danger. The Crags were not a place for the unwary, or the foolish. Despite Skylar's handling of the ogres, and Redorak's apparent lack of concern or fear, the two were no fools. The day went on, and as the sun started to creep towards the midday point, Teolan's wagon came into view. At the head of the party, they could see that there was a rider. Skylar nodded to Redorak and they started carefully picking their way down the slope, watching the group moved onto the bridge.

About halfway down the slope however, they heard a low rumbling, almost a scraping sound, like stone upon stone. Redorak looked up at the bridge, and saw the figures in the distance, about a third of the way across the land bridge. Redorak started to feel a sense of urgency, and Skylar moved quickly, sensing what his companion was feeling. They came down the slope much more recklessly, and made it almost to the road, when suddenly they heard it, and Redorak felt it. They looked up, their mouths wide in horror, as the lone horse, carrying someone, an armored elven figure that looked slightly familiar to the rangers, came flying across the bridge. The rider had her head turned back, screaming something, and desperately trying to fumble with the reins to stop the horse. The reason was simple. The land bridge was collapsing, and not even a slow calm collapse. No, it was quick, the whole process taking about four seconds from when the horse started running. The creature barely made it, literally having to jump off the last collapsing piece, as it started to fall out from under the animal. The gelding leapt with everything it had, and barely made it to the edge, its back legs nearly sliding off the lip of the cliff, as it kept running.

The dust cloud started to dissapate and where the land bridge, and the rangers' rendevous', had been, there was nothing. They ran forward, as they heard the low rumbling thunderous sound of the dozens upon dozens of tonnes of solid granite smashing to the ground two hundred feet into the ravine. Redorak kept running, as he watched the girl, for he recognized her now as Leliana, Teolan's and Liandry's daughter. She dismounted, not even looking back at the rangers behind her, and moved to the edge of the lip, looking over it. After but a second or two, she moved to the right edge of the cliff, and started trying to climb down. Redorak had a guess of what would happen next, and didn't hesitate, as he powered hard, closing the distance. He leapt forward, stretching out, and hammered to the ground. As the small piece of the lose fragmented edge that Leliana was trying to hold onto gave way, Redorak just managed to slide in, and get his hand on her wrist, snapping his iron grip quickly. He slid a bit more, her in hand, and was soon looking straight down percariously over the edge.

As he dove, he cried out to her, "Lass, what are ye doin'?!". As he caught her, and struggled to keep balanced, and not let her weight pull him over he growled and grunted at her, annoyed, "Are ye sick in the head!?" He fought to keep himself from being pulled down by the weight of the girl and her armor. Thankfully, he felt Skylar's hands grab his belt, and start pulling.

"Don't you dare let go of her Redorak!" Skylar grunted, as he pulled with everything he had.

Redorak did his best to help, heaving his own body up, trying to pull the elven girl up close enough to get her other hand on the edge of the cliff to start helping. After a few moments, he had gotten her close enough. She managed to grab onto the lip, and Skylar and Redorak hauled her the rest of the way up. Redorak got up himself, and stepped back a few steps, collapsing, breathing rather heavily from the strain.

Skylar looked at Leliana. "That was a foolish thing to do, what would your mother have said?"

Leliana looked at him. "She would have wanted me to go after her!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face.

Skylar looked hesitatively, and got down on his knees, to look into Leliana's eyes. He was a more sarcastic, witty type, and this kind of situation he found difficult and awkward to handle. But he did his best. "Listen, Leliana, no she wouldn't have. She wouldn't have wanted you to be foolish, and chase her down like that, risking your own life in such a foolish manner. I know for a fact Liandry would have taught you better then that." He took a deep breathe. "I can't begin to imagine the pain you are feeling right now, nor the fear. But I do know what you'll say if we try and take you away from here. You will first insist you must find them, and give them a proper funeral. I can't say I'd argue, if I was in your position I'd want the same. But secretly you are hoping for survivors aren't you?"

Leliana looked up at him, and with some hesitation, still sniffling, tears coming down her face, she nodded. Skylar sighed, and looked at her. "Leliana, its good that you love your family that much, that you were willing to take such a fool risk for them. But the situation is pretty obvious. We'll go down there, me you and Redorak here, and we'll find the bodies and give them proper funeral rites. But only if you realize, and accept two things now. That was easily sixty to a hundred tonnes of solid granite. Redorak and I have a few spells to aid in our search. Also, Redorak is rather strong, and I'm no slouch myself. But we may not find the bodies. This you must come to accept."

Leliana looked at him, and didn't seem to be able to let go. She seemed frozen, and Skylar could tell she wasn't far from breaking. But she managed to nod, despite the obvious fight it took. He continued, honestly expecting to have to drag her away from this mess in a struggle, because she wouldn't listen. "The second part is that we are not going down there to look for, or even expect or hope for survivors. I would willingly put ninety-nine out of a hundred odds on a rockfall like that killing everyone and everything in it. The chances of survivors is slim to none. Even if there were to be one, the healing they would require to even have a chance of being moved reasonably, without any movement being fatal, is probably well beyond any of our abilities. So we're not going down there for survivors." Skylar knew he sounded cold and brutal, and in truth it hurt him a lot to do it. But he also knew that without a cleric of at least Joakim's ability, there was almost no chance anyone somehow still breathing under that mess could be saved.

Leliana looked down, breathing deeply, seeing it again, the quick collapse. The only thing that had saved her had been her mother's action, her action of setting Flame off in a gallop. Without that, she, and Flame would both just be two more bodies at the bottom of that rock pile. Her mother wouldn't approve of her being so foolish with the gift of life, and Leliana knew it. It was a tough thing to admit, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized there was only one course of action that was right, only one that her mother would have approved of. She looked right into Skylar's face, drying her eyes as best she could, trying to keep a tighter control on the her tears, and she spoke, her voice cracking a bit. "I understand, now can we please get down there and find them. I want to give them a proper send off, at least."

Skylar nodded, sympathetic to Leliana's plight. She was just over fifty years old and suddenly now, barely halfway to true elven adulthood, she was without a family, the only family she'd really known for the five or so decades of her life. She was alone, with no one to look to, to ask for help. He looked to Redorak, and his dwarven companion nodded, and rose, ready to get back to it. Skylar offered Leliana his hand, and nodded to her, still keeping an honest and serious look on his face. "Come, let's go find your family."