Heleion Archives

Minding On The Hill I.



1st of February, 410 NDE. Rucken Plateau, Schiaventiurm Federacy.

            Schiaventiurm. Formerly part of the Grauburgian lands, located at its westernmost part in the Harzion Basin, a series of elevated snowy vistas surrounded by mountains on all side, sitting close to the Arghyrian Border.

During the Unification of the Grauburgians, Schiaventiurm remained only an onlooker to the bloody battles unfolding between the side of those whom wished for sovereignty from the once great Arghyrian Empire spanning across the pan-continent, and the side backed by said former glorious Empire.

While at the time, they opted to remain part of the unified vassal of the Empire, after they broke away and joined the Draunneth Alliance a few decades before the Great War broke out, the Federacy decided to remain independent, and acted as a peaceful neighbor to both sides even as the war raged on beyond their jagged, snow-blanketed mountains.

When the war reached its end, and the wicked demilich was slain, Schiaventiurm acted as the brokers of peace, allowing the delegates of all the surviving nations to meet and come to terms once more. Ever since then here in this mountainous nation respected diplomats of the two largest alliances of the present day meet when tensions grew between them.

One such place the delegates prefer to visit was the cozy and hoary small town of Gorstaad built onto the slanted bank of the Ertrinken River flowing up and down in the Rucken Plateau. To be precise, delegates, bankers, magnates, generals all prefer to schedule meetings in the lavish hotel of the Dahl Hotel named after the family whose ancestor established Gorstaad ages ago when he slain one of the necro-generals of the wicked draconic lich who once threatened to bring an end to all the living of the world.

Now besides running the town, the family also offers the best rooms, services to the upper echelons of the nearby nations, alliances in a structure of distinctive grauburgian county style. A half-timbered cyclopean structure of pure snow white walls with intertwining, branched beam patterns, steeply pitched roofs with overhanging eaves, bay windows staring both at the hoary town below and the ascending, descending scenery on the opposite.

The imposing, lavish but also homely hotel also consisted of three separate structures connected by walled off bridges connecting the second, fourth and sixth floor of each building. While the eastern and western building were towering cubicles, the central had symmetrical, balanced sense as from the central core two wings stretched towards the familial towers.

On to the mountainous hill ascending over the town, a spiraling road lead upwards ending right in the vast parking lot stretching from the belly of the top till the steep edge overlooking the chaotic vistas northwards. Though at the other side, a landing pad was built over the edge mostly built for smaller aerial magicraft vehicles like Transport-Class Thopters or Flottirions like the one which landed just as the warm winter sun descended halfway below the horizon.

One of great blackened walls of angular proportions, red lines running along its trims and corners, while on the top the roof gradually rose from back to forth like the spinal spikes adorning the back of the great red dragons of Grauburg. From the lower corners, four spider like appendages of high grade metal sprouted forth from rectangular apertures, their tips melding into disks glued to the hardened floor of the pad.

A wide line ran across out of nowhere on the wall facing the imposing lavish hotel of rural style, from it a richly red, velvety carpeted ramp connected to the floor, while the walls parted from their shared embrace revealing the luxurious inside with space stretching beyond the natural confines.

The same vivid redness spread onto the walls, separated by southern blackwood beams sunken into the walls and growing towards the shingled roof where a singular, enormous lamp bathed the whole interior in gilded warm light. Most of the furniture were melded onto the floor, hewn from the same southern blackwood resulting in pristine onyx surfaces, while the chairs and benches near the walls possessed soft satiny cushions.

The passengers inside consisted of three remarkable beauties of southern kindred possessing familiar features, dressed in varying sleek form fitting outfits.

Leading on the front was the deep olive-tanned tomboyish beauty, Faenia an arghyrian who defected to the Alliance during the Great War wearing a stylish and form-fitting dragonid leather jacket with a singular lapel of large, triangular proportion and a circular neckline from which imposing thick walls arose with their top edge slanted outwards. Within it, her pure pearl white button-down blouse’s sharply triangular collars nested close to her neck, growing high towards her faultless jawline.

The long tresses framing her menacingly adorable face swung back and forth as the wind swept into her long, snow white hair with the sides completely shaved down while the rest raised into sloping spikes. Her greenish golden eyes darted left and right as she surveyed the surroundings then signaled to the other two with her left hand raised above her head.

Her face riddled with piercings, including the onyx septum in her nose with naurdian engravings, three spikes in a crescent formation above her left eye, shrouded by her soft, glistening hair falling over.

To her right Raabdeth, a dracorith of sol elven kindred stepped out from the aerial vehicle, towering over her with statuesque built draped in a double breasted dragonid leather jacket of gaudily symmetrical contours including the rectangle veiling placket with six snow silvery buttons and a thick turtleneck looping around the emerald barsoon collars of her button-up blouse matching her scales and eyes.

Unlike the other two who dressed seemingly appropriate to the weather, she wore a soft leathery long layered skirt under which her high heeled combat boots of dragonid leather slipped into.

Just like her fellow stranger of northern lands, she possessed a tanned, warm amber epidermis of smooth characteristic and refined luster pairing well with the scales adorning her exotic, yet brutish face while a dragon spreading its wings was inked onto her neck between the collars. Her voluminous jet black hair naturally cascaded down on her left shoulder, a few streaks of vibrant neon red appearing as if a dragon snagged them just like the cold wind.

The last of the dusky trio was the sraudornian native-born of Eoran, Henriatte a true chocolate toned beauty blessed with upturned orchid eyes, her face tapering towards her chiseled elvish chin, well-rounded and plump cheeks, a short nose with an upturned tip and dark layered choppy hair with a blue tint of short length.

Her delicate, athletic body draped in a full-set of herdboy suit of sharp elvish curvatures including the crescent shaped lapels with sharpened tips, the scalloped hemline which were embroidered themselves in soft, metallic silken rosy patterns. The inner walls themselves were lined with a glassy silken of vibrant snow silver, bathing the orchid aetherna satin blouse’s hulking triangular collars in a tender, almost ethereal glow.

The pointed, glossy black boots with metallic trims clacked against the snowy ground as a suited elf walked up to her and handed a document to her. Her eyes ran through in seconds the file then she turned and nodded to Faenia who signaled to the red dragonkin twins waiting still inside the Flottirion.

The two hulking twins with elongated heads with corrugated jaws beset with angular, miniature horns and two thick forked horns gradually lessening in width. First Antrurth stepped forward draped in a lavish scaled suit glinting in the winter sun under which he wore a deep sea blue turtleneck hugging tightly his hulking body while on his shoulder stylish dorsal swung back and forth.

Behind him, Magdrat finished her pink drink and placed the cocktail glass down at the table before she stepped forth the flottirion, letting the wind sweep into her richly shaded red collared dress with a furred coat shielding her from the cold winds.

Henrietta snapped her fingers while the other two escorted the twins to the hotel, the finely dressed security personnel working for their father flocked to the flottirion and heaved a sigh at the sight of the towering wall of luggage.

**

“Hurry up before the bar closes on our floor!” As soon as they entered the lounge on the ground floor, Magdrat hastened the line in front of them.

Directly in front of them, a corpulent orc stood draped in stylish, asymmetrical suit with a wing collared shirt hidden under the twisted shawl thrown elegantly around it. Without giving two shits about it, he stood patiently while reading the brochure of the hotel detailing the various services including the snow-glider courses near the slope of the soaring hill’s eastern part.

Beyond him, a large family of seven waited sitting on their luggage while the gorgeous snow-blonde orii elven lady in refined gray suit with neck, collar and lapel fused together into a crenelated piece slanted inwards starting from beneath the chest. Behind it a barsoon blouse of icy blue matching the dyed streaks in her luxuriant hair bundled in a low bun, and the mesmerizing eyes of hers locked into an elvenly molded almond frame.

Down below, she wore an asymmetrically funnel shaped pleated long skirt and a glossy black high heels. “Calm down sis. Doubt they will close the bar at all knowing father.” Antrurth said in a wispy tone trying to not incur the wrath of the orc as he was well-versed in the short-tempered nature of his kindred.

“Still we have the whole floor, but still has to wait in line. I thought the job of those buffoons entailed getting the keystones too.”  Magdrat crossed her arms and rejoiced internally when the elven lady who caught her eye finally finished and disappeared in the rectangular doorway leading further into the wide and vast corridors.

“A second if you please.” Towering over the counter was a radiant and captivating naurdian with a magnetic allure with her vibrant and voluminous auburn hair with a few blonde streaks naturally cascading down onto her uniform.

Which consisted of a double breasted scarlet coat of symmetrical proportions except for the frontal veiling piece which fastened onto the torso shaped like a sharply curving wing of a standing dragon. It had a round open neck revealing the velvety silvery tunic’s pleated, shawl collar, its trims like the round hemline, the simple but elegant cuffs, and the frilled epaulets appeared iridescent, metallic.

Her glossy high heels clacked against the floor as she headed for the back door, the long, asymmetrically curving black skirt of extraordinary luster rustled heavily as she moved quite clumsily as it may have been her first day Raabdeth and Faenia concluded to themselves.

**

“Did you clean them up?” Siasin asked hastily as she closed the door behind herself and erected a silencing ward around the whole room. Her question aimed at the two almost identical sol elves dressed in the same uniform as her except for the elegant grayish black trousers and glossy black shoes.

“Yep. Have they arrived finally?” Emiliath who possessed a matching symmetrically triangular elven visage adorned with almond shaped sun red eyes, wide lips and silken soft charcoal black bristle on his otherwise baby smooth face and a tanned golden complexion. The only difference he had compared to his twin was that he had short, cropped hair with the sides slightly longer while Carlithus had long hair sheared on the sides while at the back it was bundled into a top knot.

“Yeah, that was a close call.” Siasin said calmly while she walked up to Carlithus sitting at the lone table, then leaned down and wrapped her arms around his slender, but musclebound upper body while they watched Emiliath clean up the inflated, black leathery bags resting near the wine track tainted by dried blood of mixed colors.

“Also, I’ll need your help. There are quite a few more guests so we should hasten things up.” Just as they were about to embrace each other’s lips, Siasin pulled away and said coldly with a sly smile.

Emiliath heaved a sigh then fixed his round cap. “Sure, but next time we disguise as the security personnel. I’m not a fan of doing other’s work.” Before he walked out, he slapped his cheeks two times, muttered an old chant then greeted the esteemed guests of the hotel while Carlithus threw the now empty Corpse-Cleaners into a nearby empty barrel.


Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.