Through the Eyes of A Nightmare

[Thyrdowhan]

[glow=red,2,300]I suppose you want to know about my kind, for you must've heard or read about evil horse-like creatures that either torment those who abuse horses or wreak havoc with an evil warrior astride their back or serve as a mount for powerful undead or whatever you can imagine a nightmare is capable of doing. Well I shall tell you parts of my own story, though you'd better not pester me with dumb questions. At best I'll glare at you and show my fangs...I'll leave the worst to your imagination! Now first, I belong to a nightmare tribe known as the Banebringers, the third tribe in nightmare heirarchy. Above the Banebringers are the Horned Lords and our Royalty....a tribe no nightmare below a Horned Lord can mention by name. A lesser nightmare will face terrible retribution if they dare mention the Royalty by name!

There are seven tribes amongst the nightmares, I'll start with the lowest tribe: The Dark Colts. These nightmares are the ones that live to wreak destruction, and for all their power and terror, they're not that smart. It never enters into their thoughts that destruction doesn't always entail wrack and ruin of cities. Still they're an impressive lot and nothing is left standing when they go on a rampage.

The next tribe is known as the Glanderzitch. Their purpose is to wreak havoc through pestilence, especially amongst horses. These nightmares may be the least in numbers amongst the tribes, but they're respected. They carry every fatal disease known to horses, especially the dreaded glanders disease. Many a fine stable was brought to ruin by a Glanderzitch nightmare.

This next tribe is the Abused Nags. They're the most numerous, for they are to torment those who mistreat and abuse horses. They are also the smallest tribe, for they appear to abusive horsemen and sit on their chests while they sleep. There is an agreement between the Abused Nags, the Glanderzitch, and another tribe: Each of them will visit their victim, taking a turn with him, and if the fool doesn't mend his ways, the Glanderzitch comes in and destroys him.

That tribe is known as the Floggertails. They look like horses make of tooled leather with whiplike manes and tails....though their tails have bits of bone amongst the leather thongs. Trust me, you don't want to get hit repeatedly with that tail! They go after the more abusive horsemen or the occasional demon if he disregards the unwritten agreement between them and nightmares.

Would you believe there's a tribe of winged nightmares? Now don't get any idea of a pegasus getting the hots for a nightmare! The Ebonalares are not evil versions of pegasi, but a separate creature. All nightmares can fly without wings, but the Ebonalares have wings for added speed. Their special duty is to be couriers between the powerful dark folk, and their memories are so precise that they can remember their first message to deliver when they were young down to the last word!

Now comes my tribe, the Banebringers. Unlike the Dark Colts, we are more subtle in our approach to bringing ruin and way more thorough in accomplishing it. Occasionally we're given orders to bring down beings more powerful than we are, and we're up to the task. We're patient and therein is our deadly power.

Now the Horned Lords, true to their name, have horns on their head. To determine their rank within the tribe, look at the style of their horns. The fighters have horns like rams, the leaders have horns like great stags, while the lesser have scythe-like horns. The leaders represent the Royalty to the rest of us nightmares and meet face to face with that tribe to receive orders and discuss matters in our realm.

Finally, our Royalty. No nightmare (other than the Horned Lords) has ever met or seen a Royal, and we're forbidden to mention the tribe by name. We can learn their names, but those names are never to cross our lips. The Night Emperor Stallion rules supreme over us to him I pledge my allegience.[/glow]

[Thyrdowhan]

"That is interesting that there are different tribes of nightmares, each with their own distinct traits. It appears that each tribe brings about ruin and destruction in their own, unique way. Still, I'm curious to why you're so tolerant of good creatures, for it's a contrary trait to the nightmare's nature,"said Salinechal as she sat across from Zynn-tae. The two of them were together in a cluster of rocks along a road in Cinead. Salinechal had built a small fire and had put a tiny teapot filled with water atop a grille so that she could warm up the water (from her canteen) for tea. She sat near the fire on a mat while Zynn-tae lay nearby. The nightmare had been telling her about the various nightmare tribes. That Zynn-tae seemed friendly puzzled Salinechal, but she knew she'd have to word her questions carefully, for this was a dangerous creature she was conversing with. Zynn-tae gave Salinechal a steady gaze, and though she showed no hostility, the druid sensed a mild irritation at her question.

[glow=red,2,300]You are right, nightmares hate goodness, but I experienced true goodness that went beyond just fighting against overt evil. There was this paladin named Kiralark who was an expert horsewoman. She could handle and train war horses, but her true expertise came in handling problem horses. Headstrong stallions or witchy mares became good mounts under her care. The two master horsemen/paladins at first were impressed with her skills, but they became jealous in due time, and wanted to see her fail. Their names were Sir Kethsihk and Sir Fahlchon. At one time those two were King Tershov's greatest horse masters, whose reknown was known throughout the kingdom."

"Kiralark had started working the Royal Stables to pay for her martial training as a paladin, and since she had come from a family that bred, trained, and raised horses, showed an expertise that put her above her fellow grooms. Sirs Kethsihk and Fahlchon helped her further along, but as she got better and better at her work, they became jealous. Maybe at first they could brush off their irritation at her superior skill, but in due time had allowed themselves to be comsumed by jealousy. They plotted to ruin her and came upon the idea of having her handle and train a nightmare. They had a wizard summon a nightmare, and I was that nightmare so summoned."

"When I came to them via being summoned, I was overwhelmed by the good that emanated like a stench from these men. Yet, they had the proper offering for me; flakes of platinum that look like oats. After I had consumed the 'oats', I listened to what they wanted me to do. It seemed that they had a 'troublesome horsewoman' that needed to be ruined and that I was supposed to cause her ruin. Heh, I thought I'd humor them and get rid of this troublemaker, well at least a troublemaker in their eyes. Besides, they had enough platinum flakes to keep me around for a long time...as in 5 large sacks of it."

"Those two had given Kiralark a special challenge: to train a nightmare into being a passable war horse. Everything was arranged, from where I was to be stabled, how I was to be fed, and that only she was to handle me. She took it as a challenge to her horseman skills and vowed to complete it. She was warned that this was a dangerous undertaking, and that I was far more intelligent than any horse as well as a very evil, dangerous foe. She was well aware of the danger, and she still took the challenge."

"When she entered the special tent where I was stabled, I could sense the overwhelming good coming from her, and steeled myself to refrain from attacking. She greeted me in a friendly manner, and offered to groom and comb me. I told her if she tickled me, she'd be facing an irate nightmare and showed my fangs at her to get my point across. She did not blanch at my threat, and she assured me that she'd be gentle. She then put a halter on my head and led me to an area where she attached two ropes to rings on the side of this halter. I didn't care having a halter being put on my face nor being put in crossties, but when I tried to reach back to get a better look to make a potential attack, I made skin contact with a concealed holy medal that stung like a whip blow. I glared at her and reared up, but I touched another concealed medal in the halter, which made me stop immediately."

"'Okay, you can fight being crosstied and discover that I've concealed many holy medals in your halter, or you can stand still and let me groom you,' she said as I scowled at her. Well, since she had put it that way, there wasn't much of a choice; either stand still and endure being groomed....or fight and get the stings of hidden holy medals. I decided to stand still, though I might try to kick her with a flaming hoof. She then started to untangle my mane, deftly taking out knots, and combing gently with her fingers. When she finished, she began to untangle my tail, and though I toyed with the idea of stepping on her foot or kicking her or hitting her with my tail, I never acted on my thoughts. When she had finished my tail, she began to brush me down with a good stiff brush, taking care in the ticklish spots, and rubbing hard in the itchy spots. In all my years as a nightmare, I had never been groomed by someone who had such a great touch."

"After she groomed me, she then fed me those platinum 'oats' as she had been instructed. After a few days, she began to have me walk, trot, and canter in a circle around her for a few hours as part of my training. I have to admit I liked doing that, not because I was getting exercised, but because we had those two master horsemen/paladins watching her work with me and their jealousy was palpable to me. I could see in their eyes a festering hatred though their faces were impassive in expression, so I made it my point to go along with Kiralark and her work on me. These two old fools thought they were going bring ruin on this innocent woman, but they were bringing on their own ruin."

"Each success Kiralark had with me only intensified their insane jealousy, and they did everything from making me joust with other paladins on their horses, to having Kiralark ride me in the dead of night, to riding in military parades before the King, but each time I showed myself to be an extraordinary mount under her hand. In due time, Kiralark became my friend, and those two horsemasters became unhinged in their hatred. As a final test, Kiralark was to allow a breeder for the Royal Stables ride me, a horsewoman named Lady Briarmeer, a real powerhouse in the string of breeders that sold horses to the Royal Stables. Though she may have wondered why have this breeder ride me, she had Lady Briarmeer do it. I knew if I acted up, Kiralark would be ruined, but I didn't want to ruin her, the two elder horsemen had become my main targets. Imagine their rage when they learned that Lady Briarmeer had a successful ride on a nightmare!"

"Since my time was up with Lady Kiralark, I went back to the Abyss. I had to exile myself from my fellow nightmares, for I had been tainted by good, and they would've torn me to pieces. Sometime later I was summoned before the Night Emperor and he told me that I had recieved great honor, for I had brought about the ruin of those two horsemasters that had tried to ruin Kiralark. Some time after I had left, those two tried to summon a nightmare again via the same wizard, but only this time they had summoned a Horned Lord. They were trying to prove they could be as successful with a nightmare as their "rival" Kiralark, but this Horned Lord took them both to the Abyss, where the pair met a messy end. [/glow]

[Thyrdowhan]

"Unchecked jealousy usually leads to a bad end. I've known a few druids that were similar in attitude like those two master horsemen/paladins. They were masters in their druidic crafts, but didn't like the idea that others would surpass their mastery, nor the idea that they would have to relinquish their lofty position to another," said Salinechal. Zynn-tae chuckled softly in agreement. Salinechal noticed that the water was ready for tea, so she took out a metal object that looked like a ball made of fine metal mesh attached to a chain, put some loose tea into it, and put the ball into the teapot. A smoky odor filled the air, for the tea Salinechal was using had had its leaves smoked over a wood fire. That particular variety of tea was a favorite amongst druids, not only for it's unique smell and taste, but also it had a medicinal quality to it. Somehow the tea invigorated weary bodies and set minds at ease. After the tea had steeped for some moments, Salinechal removed the tea ball, set it on a small cloth, and poured herself a cup of tea. She drank out of a small clay cup that was decorated with a floral theme; sipping slowly, and savoring each sip. Zynn-tae watched with mild curiosity the apparent enjoyment that Salinechal took in drinking tea. A flickering movement in the west caught the nightmare's attention, so she turned her head to get a better look. She then noticed lightning striking and moving amongst the black, churning clouds of an approaching storm. Salinechal too noticed the lightning, and there was a whiff of ozone in the air. Soon both of them heard the faint rumbling of distant thunder. The incoming storm excited Zynn-tae, for she loved nothing more than to fly in a thunderhead, and the increasing smell of ozone intoxicated her. Salinechal noticed the nightmare's excitement and watched as Zynn-tae raised her head and sniffed the wind. She made a face like she was grinning, like a stallion scenting a mare, which led Salinechal to conclude that though the nightmare isn't a true horse...they do exihibit horse-like behaviors from time to time.

"Feel free to leave," said Salinechal to Zynn-tae.