As cold winds whipped through the canyon at the base of the mountains, Iorkax came to wakefulness, inner eyelids blinking horizontally, as his scaly ones snapped closed vertically. He huffed quietly as he rolled up his bedroll and recounted the days he had been on his journey. Noting the moments where he had done battle with beasts of the wild and moments that he had made friends with those of taverns in few of the towns he had stopped in, Iorkax smiled gently, knowing that his journey was nearly over. He was but a few days climb from the shard of the crystal that housed the power of wind. [color=1AC2DB][b]“Harrumpf! This is silly… climbing this blasted mountain to obtain a crystal, risking my own life for this. But my fate in this matter is not my own, guided by greater powers… the will of the gods! They’re pushing me towards my goal in this matter, and perhaps this endeavour may grant me more power than I could imagine.”[/b][/color] Iorkax huffed to himself as he set out on the treacherous climb up the face of the mountain, scaly, clawed hands gripping into the rock and digging in as he began his trek to the peak.

He knew that his journey was much more difficult than he had anticipated, he knew there were hostile creatures that dwelled in the mountains. Trolls, ogres and other foul creatures. Roving bands of tengu in the lower foothills and other avian creatures occupy the skies of the mountain range. Iorkax read of harpies in the higher peaks and read of other foul abominations that took to the skies. Most of all, he knew of his distant cousins, the chromatic dragons, that called this place home, occupying large areas of the mountain ranges and posing as a great threat to much of the surrounding inhabitants. Indeed this would prove to be a difficult trek, and prove to make him more hardy and stoic than he had been previously. 

As Iorkax made his way through the rocky and steep portion of his climb, he soon came upon a large expanse of rock and hills that made up the next portion of his journey, knowing for sure that he would not make it through this part of the climb without seeing some combat. Cresting over the ridge of the initial cliff, he felt what must have been a rather rugged, but soft grass, growing from the rock. It was pleasing to know that not all life on the mountain was governed by the cold and harsh winds. As a few moments of his walking passed, a loud squawking was heard to his left, and the sound of a spear cutting through the air.

[B]*THUD* *Clatterclatter*[/B]	

The spear hit the stone then bounced off the rock, to the ground, the wooden shaft rolling to a stop at Iorkax’s foot as he turned to be greeted by a steel xyphos coming down towards his arm. He barely had time to register what was happening before a band of ravenous, bipedal, bird-like creatures descended upon him. They wore patchwork leather armor and all looks to have the head of eagles and long, feathered arms with what looked like almost human hands. Tengu. Another squawk as Iorkax moved out of the way of the descending blade and felt a second one slice through the sleeve of his robe.

In a quick bit of hurried decision making, Iorkax muttered an incantation under his breath and thrust his hands forward, releasing a blast of arcane energy in the form of a lightning bolt from his hands. It pierced through the first creature he saw, leaving the others to look at the charred remains of their brother. The resulting screech was deafening as the Tengu descended upon him in a flurry of sword attacks, each met with a blast of lightning from Iorkax. The scuffle lasted almost an hour before the final Tengu drew it’s final breath and lay motionless on the ground, broken and shattered as Iorkax huffed out a plume of smoke from his nose. He dropped his hands to his sides and limped to a rocky cave to get some rest from the event, looking at his hands as he wondered what sort of telekinetic powers he had unleashed on the last of his foes, wondering why he had this power to crush his foes. He sat and rested for a few moments, wondering how much more blood he’d need to shed to obtain this shard.