Valkyrie's Page of Wonder

October 25, 2006

Fallen Angel - Reports

The temple was on constant alert because of all the attacks on the nearby cities and villages. There was no telling when the human forces would try and attack the temple. Xannon had guard duty tonight and so was standing watch in the guard tower, high above the front gates of the temple. It was nearly impossible to see anything through the thick forest that spread out from the temple but with the help of the Goddess, he was able to detect if someone was coming. Far off on the horizon a bright glow appears.
“Another village razed,” Xannon said aloud to himself.
Something catches his attention and he turns toward the road leading through the forest and to the front gates of the temple.
“Someone’s coming…”
He drops the signal flag, which was no more than a red flag tied to a rock. Despite its crude nature, it served its purpose. The guards below silently call for backup and another dozen priests and priestesses appear at the steps of the temple.
A man on a white horse appears from the edge of the forest and stops while dozens of robed figures pass by and proceed toward the temple. The man scans the area for a moment then looks straight up at Xannon.
He steps back, shocked that anyone could see him up here, then peers forward to get another look. Still the man stares straight at him. Xannon stares back, trying to pick out details on the man’s robe, when a voice echoes in his head.
“Do not be alarmed, we are priests of Yehova and we come seeking food and shelter for the night.”
“Prove yourself and I will let you in,” Xannon replies.
The man reaches in his robe and pulls out a gold seal that shines with a holy light. The man then returns it to his pocket so as not to draw any unwanted attention. Xannon picks up a small rock with a green flag tied to it and drops it for the guards below. He then begins climbing down to greet them.
When he reaches the bottom, the majority of the priests were already inside the temple. The man Xannon talked to before notices him coming down the ladder and walks over to meet him.
“You were wise to ask for proof, young student. The forces of Kardis are known for their deceiving ways. Two other temples failed to demand proof and ended up with a fight inside the temple walls. One of those failed to repel the invaders and lost their temple.”
“You seem like a very knowledgeable man. May I have your name?” Xannon asks.
“My name is High Priest Alexander Chavous. You can call me Alex. Come, let’s go inside. The night is cool and your temple warm.”
Xannon nods and leads Alex into the main hall of the temple.

“What news do you have from the front?” Xannon asks once they are seated at one of the large oak tables in the main hall.
“Not too much, Kardis and Rinous seem to be keeping the fighting light for the time being. They don’t want another repeat of the Klemayn plains. I’m beginning to think this war will never really end.”
A servant arrives with a mug of warm cider and Alex takes a long sip. He sets it down and silently enjoys the warmth while surveying the interior of the temple.
“What year are you?
“This is my final year at the temple, at least as a student. But I get the feeling that after we graduate, we will be sent to the front.”
“If things keep going like they are, you might be right. Perhaps we will meet on the battlefield someday.”
Alex takes another sip of his cider.
“When is graduation?” he asks after a long moment.
“It’s supposed to be in a few weeks.”
“That soon? I thought you still had several months.”
“So did we, but because of how close the war is they decided to speed up our training. I can only hope I’m ready for it.”
“I see. If that’s the case then they will be most interested in your magic abilities. What rank are you?”
“Top of my class. Strongest priest the teachers have seen in years.”
“Have they taught you the Holy attack spells yet?”
“Not yet, but I’ve been reading up on them and I think we’ll begin going over them next week.”
“Good luck to you then. We’ll be heading out in the morning. Kardis has his priests camped just this side of the river. Our hope is to take them by surprise before the sun rises. If you’ll excuse me, I’m going to try and get some rest.”
They both stand and shake hands.
“Good luck to you, Alex.”
“And to you.”

October 03, 2006

Chattahoochee River

We went to Atlanta this past weekend (Sept 30th) for a ferret meetup/picnic at a park on the Chattahoochee river. While we were there I decided to take our little Canon Powershot around the park and see what I could find.

Down by the boat ramp Peter and I found a King snake making its way up the wall. It managed to hang on to the bolts in the wood and pull itself up into the grassy area above. As we were watching the snake a man and his white lab came down. The guy stood by the water's edge while the dog plopped down in the river. It was so different from what our dog, Shadow, does that I had to get a picture of it.

Farther down the river we ran across some ducks and geese floating in the river. There were also some more geese on the other side of the river but our camera doesnt have a good enough zoom to get a good shot of them. I got several more pictures of the river before accidently stepping in and getting mud on my pants. After that I wandered back to the group to clean up before heading out on my solo nature walk.

Started out heading north toward the designated path and ran across a tree on a small hill. I took a picture but it didnt look too good so I scrapped it. Then I headed east and found some pretty yellow flowers near the trees and noticed a bumble bee buzzing around so I got as close as a could and snapped a couple of decent shots off. He didnt even care that I was there. A little farther and I found a vine working its way up one of the power lines. I decided to call that one Nature Reclaimations, or something like that.

As I headed back toward the group I took time to stop and smell the pretty purple flowers and get a nice photo. The lady bug I encountered wasn't very photogenic and my camera wasn't cooperating either. Around the group I found a interesting fallen log, a moss covered stump, a tree supporting a tree and "Pawprints in the Sand". Well it was more or less mud but you get the idea.
I had some difficulty getting any decent pictures of the squirrles around there so all twelve of those shots were tossed out. If you want to check out all of the photos that made the album you can do so here: Nature Photo Gallery. If you want to check out the pictures from the meet up and see the cool ferrets go here: Park Meetup in Atlanta.

Hope you enjoy looking at the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.