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poshtkuh · 10 months ago

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פושטקוה שמיל

פושטקוה שמיל (פרסית: پشتکوه شمیل) היא אזור גיאוגרפי ומקום תיירותי בכפר שמיל, מחוז שמיל, מחוז בנדר עבאס, מחוז הורמוזגן, איראן. זהו חלק נפרד של מחוז שמיל השוכן מצפון להר ניאן ולכפר שמיל, מערב לכפר רודכאנה, דרום לכפר סיהאהו ומזרח לכפרי חורגו וסרכון.

האזור כולל את הכפרים הבאים:

קוה להרו (کوه رهرو)

קוה דזאן (کوه دازان)

סולובלם (سلوبلم)

גרדנה-יה פושטקוה (گردنه پشتکوه )

קלאם, איראן قلم (بندرعباس)

סיכוראן (سیخوران )

זנהי (زنهی )

קונאר סיאה (کنار سیاه )

גאג'ג'ה פושטקוה (گجگ پشتکوه )

טומב באריקו (تنب باریکو )

:הפניות

^ "گروه رسانه‌ای صبح‌ساحل". گروه رسانه‌ای صبح‌ساحل (in Persian). 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ "پشتکوه ۲۰ سال در انتظار اتصال به شبکه برق هرمزگان است/ وضعیت خطرناک سیم‌کشی از ترانس به منازل". www.iscanews.ir (in Persian). 2023-07-17. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ "طبیعت روستای پشتکوه شمیل هرمزگان". نماوید (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ طبیعت زیبای روستای پشتکوه شمیل هرمزگان, retrieved 2024-03-05

^ "آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو". آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h i "Census of the Islamic Republic of Iran, 1385(2006)" (Excel). Statistical Center of Iran. Archived from the original on 2011-09-20.

^ Kuh Lahru can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3754739" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".

^ "KUH LAHRU Geography Population Map cities coordinates location - Tageo.com". www.tageo.com.

^ Kuh Dazan can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3754737" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".

^ "KUH DAZAN Geography Population Map cities coordinates location - Tageo.com". www.tageo.com.

^ Solubalm can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3754737" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".

^ Gardaneh-ye Poshtkuh can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3082089" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".

^ "روستای گردنه پشتکوه بندرعباس اطلاعات گردشگری – آدرس مپ". addressmap.ir. February 9, 1402.

^ Qalam can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3068752" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".

^ "Sikhuran village ، Bandar Abbas". safarzon.com.

^ Zanhi can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3088974" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".

^ "Zanhi Map, Weather and Photos – Iran: populated place – Lat:27.6311 and Long:56.7711". www.getamap.net.

^ توریستی, چهارگوشه-معرفی استان ها و شهر های ایران و جاذبه های. "کنارسیاه (بندرعباس)". چهارگوشه – معرفی استان ها و شهر های ایران و جاذبه های توریستی.

^ Gajg-e Poshtkuh can be found at GEOnet Names Server, at this link, by opening the Advanced Search box, entering "-3063248" in the "Unique Feature Id" form, and clicking on "Search Database".

^ "GeoHack - Tonb Bariku".

^ ایران, اتو اطلس (2016). اتو اطلس ایران [Auto Atlas of Iran] (in Persian) (1 ed.). Tehran, iran: موسسه جغرافیایی و کارتوگرافی گیتاشناسی. ISBN 978-964-342-435-0.

^ استان هرمزگان, مجموعه راهنمای جامع ایرانگردی : استان هرمزگان (1999). مجموعه راهنمای جامع ایرانگردی: استان هرمزگان [Comprehensive guidebook for Iran travel: Hormozgan province] (in Persian) (1 ed.). Tehran, iran: موسسه تحقیقات و انتشارات کاروان جهانگردان. ISBN 978-964-6635-13-5.

^ استان های ایران, اطلس گیتاشناسی (2005). اطلس گیتاشناسی استانهای ایران [Atlas of Geology of Iranian Provinces] (in Persian) (3 ed.). Tehran, iran: موسسه جغرافیایی و کارتوگرافی گیتاشناسی. ISBN 978-964-342-165-6.

^ "جذب و تربیت کودکان محور فعالیت‌های کانون مسجد انصارالحجه شمیل/آرزوی بچه‌های مسجد رفتن به اردوی مشهد است". شبستان (in Persian). 2019-10-07. Retrieved 2024-03-06.

^ "آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو". آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-06.

^ YJC, خبرگزاری باشگاه خبرنگاران | آخرین اخبار ایران و جهان | (2023-03-25). "دشت شَمیل؛ ناشناخته دیار آب و آفتاب". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-06.

^ nhn1 (2021-05-30). "آتش سوزی برخی از نخلستان های بخش شمیل". روزنامه ندای هرمزگان (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-06.

^ "طبیعت روستای پشتکوه شمیل هرمزگان". نماوید (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-06.

^ "آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو". آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-06.

^ "مهجور ماندن منطقه ای بکر در هرمزگان/شمیل به جای پیشرفت پسرفت کرده است!". dana.ir (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-06.

^ "تابش خورشید مطهر رضوی در بخش شمیل". صاحب‌خبر (in Persian). 2022-06-10. Retrieved 2024-03-06.

^ "آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو". آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-06.

^ "گروه رسانه‌ای صبح‌ساحل". گروه رسانه‌ای صبح‌ساحل (in Persian). 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2024-03-06.

^ "آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو". آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-06.

^ "شهید باسره، هوای جنگ زده ها را داشت". پایگاه خبری جماران (in Persian). 2024-03-05. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ ها, اخبار استان (2022-10-10). "علی باصره" رئیس اتاق اصناف بندرعباس باقی ماند". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ "آخرین خبر | ویدئو/ هنرمند جوان هرمزگانی درگذشت". آخرین خبر (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ "«آصف باصره» رئیس شورای سیاستگذاری ائمه جمعه هرمزگان شد". خبرگزاری حوزه. February 13, 2020.

^ "نمایش خبر | کمیته امداد امام خمینی (ره)". emdad.ir. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ Jump up to:a b "پشت کوه‌ها روستایی است، جاده‌ای باید ساخ��! - ایسنا". www.isna.ir. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ "گروه رسانه‌ای صبح‌ساحل". گروه رسانه‌ای صبح‌ساحل (in Persian). 2022-01-12. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ شهادت, نوید شاهد | فرهنگ ایثار و (2023-02-02). "سفر یکروزه مدیرکل بنیاد هرمزگان به روستای پشتکوه از توابع بخش شمیل". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ "آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو". آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ "مشکلات راه روستایی در پشتکوه". ایسنا (in Persian). 2018-04-22. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ YJC, خبرگزاری باشگاه خبرنگاران | آخرین اخبار ایران و جهان | (2024-01-13). "تحویل سند مالکیت مسکونی به مردم روستای گردنه پشتکوه بخش شمیل". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ AGENCY, خبرگزاری صدا و سیما | IRIB NEWS. "اهدای ۷۲ سند ملکی به مردم روستای گردنه پشتکوه بخش شمیل". fa.

^ YJC, خبرگزاری باشگاه خبرنگاران | آخرین اخبار ایران و جهان | (2023-12-07). "آغاز برداشت پرتقال از باغات روستای پشتکوه بخش شمیل بندرعباس+عکس و فیلم". fa (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ "ایجاد آبزی پروری در روستای پشتکوه هرمزگان به همت بنیاد برکت". setad.ir (in Persian). 2022-06-11. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ "گروه رسانه‌ای صبح‌ساحل". گروه رسانه‌ای صبح‌ساحل (in Persian). 2021-03-28. Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ "طبیعت روستای پشتکوه شمیل هرمزگان". نماوید (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-05.

^ طبیعت زیبای روستای پشتکوه شمیل هرمزگان, retrieved 2024-03-05

^ "آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو". آپارات - سرویس اشتراک ویدیو (in Persian). Retrieved 2024-03-05.

#Poshtkuhe shamil

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keycomicbooks · 11 months ago

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Star Wars High Republic - Shadows of Starlight #4 (2024) Phil Noto Cover / Charles Soule Story / David Messina Pencils / 1st Appearance of Baron Boolan & 1st Full Appearance of Ghirra Starros

#StarWarsHighRepublic - #ShadowsofStarlight #4 (2024) #PhilNoto Cover / #CharlesSoule Story / #DavidMessina Pencils / 1st Appearance of #BaronBoolan & 1st Full Appearance of #GhirraStarros "Ever Victorious" MARCHION RO WINS! The final glimpse of the lost year of THE HIGH REPUBLIC is revealed, as we follow the EYE OF THE STORM himself, MARCHION RO... SAVE ON SHIPPING COST - NOW AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL PICK UP IN DELTONA, FLORIDA https://www.rarecomicbooks.fashionablewebs.com/Star%20Wars%20High%20Republic%20-%20Shadows%20of%20Starlight.html#4 #RareComicBooks #KeyComicBooks #MarvelComics #MCU #MarvelUniverse #ComicBooks #NerdyGifts #KeyIssue

#star wars high republic #shadows of starlight #phil noto #charles soule #david massina #baron boolan #key comics #rare comics #star wars #marvel comics #comic books #1st appearance

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kingofdoma · 1 year ago

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THE FINAL FANTASY SEXYMAN BRACKET, ROUND 1 PART 1!

(Dio art by Lahru on dA)

What you said:

Sabin: "Namesake of a WWE wrestler (really!)"

Dio: "Bod that won’t quit"

Happy voting!

#final fantasy #ff sexyman bracket #final fantasy vi #final fantasy vii #ffsm round 1

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lovelessdagger · 2 years ago

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SUPPLEMENTAL DATA I

Rating: Gen

Summary: The following is a transcript of an audio recording captured after the morning meeting of the Republic Jedi Council one day after The Battle of Coruscant.

Slow Burn, Canon Divergence

WARNINGS: NONE

Words: 600

A/N: Inspiration taken from the Rogue One Novelization by Alexander Freed.

Daybreak Masterlist | AO3 | Prev | Next

A MEETING OF MASTERS

[In accordance to Jedi Temple policy as enacted by Grand Master Lahru of the High Republic, all meetings of the Jedi Council are to be recorded and archived. The following is a transcript of an audio recording captured following the morning meeting of the Republic Jedi Council one day after The Battle of Coruscant. All speakers have been verified through voice print analysis.]

MACE WINDU: Kenobi. If you would stay behind.

OBI-WAN KENOBI: Certainly.

YODA: Decided we are, on young Thoren?

MACE WINDU: I am.

OBI-WAN KENOBI: I… I am not sure.

MACE WINDU: It was you who recommended her.

OBI-WAN KENOBI: My mentioning of her capability was not meant as recommendation.

MACE WINDU: And yet that is what it has become.

YODA: Hindrances you have. Of what?

OBI-WAN KENOBI: For starters, she is too young.

MACE WINDU: She is but two years younger than Skywalker.

OBI-WAN KENOBI: And I have said repeatedly that Anakin is not ready for—

MACE WINDU: Is he not The Chosen One you boast so greatly of?

OBI-WAN KENOBI: He is still a boy.

MACE WINDU: A boy you trained. Thoren was my Padawan, this is a mission I approve of her to go on.

OBI-WAN KENOBI: You trained her for less than half a cycle. She is no more your Padawan than she is mine. She is no more either of our Padawan than she is Quinlan’s. And still, she is no more anyone’s Padawan than she is of Elenia’s. The fact of the matter is, she is not ready for a task such as this. A Master should be placed, not a young girl.

MACE WINDU: Unfortunately, neither Master Vos or Master Tarré are available for input of discussion.

OBI-WAN KENOBI: Odella has just turned twenty. She is a child. Anakin is a child. Why do we insist on placing them at the pinacle of what is an issue of Masters?

MACE WINDU: Is she not a Jedi Knight?

OBI-WAN KENOBI: She is.

MACE WINDU: And were you not the one to urge the Council for her advanced promotion? Since I have met her, I have felt a great shatterpoint surround Thoren. This could be the point of break I have been looking for.

[pause]

MACE WINDU: My vote is for Thoren. You believed her ready then, believe her ready now.

OBI-WAN KENOBI: Master Windu, surely you see how this is far larger than a promotion of rank. This is the sanctity of the Republic. Odella holds doubts of integrity of the Order. Should this not push her away further?

YODA: Afraid you are, Obi-Wan?

[pause]

YODA: Have fear, you should not. A path it is, to the dark side. Master Vos, Odella is not. Smarter she is, logical, not susceptible to Master Vos’s mistakes.

OBI-WAN KENOBI: Master Yoda, Quinlan fell in love, I would not classify that as a mistake.

YODA: Against Jedi Code, to form such attachments. A mistake it was, to love. But done with now, it is. Focus on the past, we will not.

MACE WINDU: Do you have a stronger candidate than Thoren? Someone with her skill and background?

OBI-WAN KENOBI: [sigh] No. Should theory prove correct, if not Anakin, she is the only other able to discover it.

MACE WINDU: Then it is settled. We are all in favor for assigning Thoren this mission?

OBI-WAN KENOBI: I suppose. Yes.

[pause]

YODA: Said too much we have. Move we will, privacy we must have. Call Odella, Obi-Wan. Discuss with her quickly, we must. Before too late, it becomes.

END OF RECORDING

Next: Promises and Wandering Minds

#The Bad Batch Fanfic #Star Wars Fanfic #Daybreak

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badger-writes · 3 years ago

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Star Wars OC Ship Week 2021 - for light and love

2 - Fluff/Humor

“...And then I told him my name was ‘Kolto’,” Kelto despaired to Jora Malli later, in the Temple Refectory.

Jora pursed her lips sympathetically, nodding. For the better part of the lunch hour, she had endured her fellow Jedi Knight’s attempt to process the encounter which had transpired between himself and Knight Sskeer in the medical bay earlier that morning. To say he was taking it rather poorly was, well - not exactly correct.

“You did well to come to a friend for support,” she said neutrally, cutting into her shaak steak - a staple of Togruta cuisine. “In my experience, attempting to bottle your emotions concerning these experiences never ends well. Instead of deferring a resolution for later, you seek closure now, so you might move on. ‘There is no emotion - ‘”

“‘There is peace’, yeah, I know, I know.” Kelto groaned and sank his face into his palms, propping his elbows on either side of his platter of Rodian foodstuffs. “Not a whole lot of peace going on here right now, though…”

“Okay - then walk me through what you’re feeling. How would you describe your emotions?”

“Uhhh… Frazzled? Flustered? Deeply conflicted and anxious? I mean, you know, with me that’s not so much a him thing as an in general thing, but, you know - ”

“Kelto,” she said, a touch sternly.

“Sorry, sorry.”

He sighed, picked out a cranker root from the corner of his plate, and broke into it with his teeth. As he chewed, Jora looked over his right shoulder as surreptitiously as he could; sitting at another table, head bowed over his own meal, was Sskeer himself. How he’d managed to occupy the table behind them without Kelto noticing, she had no clue, but presumed he’d been too wound up in venting his emotions to notice.

From the way Sskeer had oriented his chair and met her gaze in furtive glances, she could tell he was listening. Knowing what she knew of her mutual friends, she was willing to hazard a guess that he was harboring similar conflict, though he would never say so aloud.

Perhaps the Force was providing her an opportunity to resolve both sides of this spiritual conflict at once.

“Start from the beginning,” she said, after a sip of water. “When you first saw him. What was your reaction?”

“At first? Um, well…” Kelto gulped. “Well, the first thing I noticed is that he was huge, right? Not like Dowutin huge, of course, but this guy could take an airbus going 50 over the speed regulations straight to the chest and not even feel it. A-and buff, too. Burly, even. The kind of physique a sentient like me can only dream of. The kind you chisel out of marble and put in the Galactic Museum a couple hundred years later. It was - he was very handsome, is all I’ll say.”

Sskeer, leaning over his dish, perked up. A bemused smirk plied its way onto his face.

“I’m fairly certain he’s not that physically impressive,” Jora cut in, speaking to them both.

“I mean, yeah, probably not. But that’s just how I felt! I couldn’t help it, I jumped straight into awkwardly crushing on him and I’d only seen him for like two seconds.”

“And then you saw his many scorch marks. From his errant training session.”

“Right,” Kelto said, as Sskeer snorted behind him. “Which - should probably be the first thing I pick up on, as a healer. But what do you want me to say? This morning was almost as much of a disaster as I am.”

“Kelto,” she said warningly.

“I-I can’t help it, Jora. I make jokes when I feel nervous or awkward. Which is almost all the time.”

“But they don’t all need to have you as the butt,” she said, jabbing at him through the air with her fork. “Be kinder to yourself, please. Make it a habit. For me?”

“R-right. Sorry.”

“Keep going. What did you think when you first started talking?”

The Rodian took a slice of galma fruit and popped it into his mouth, chewing and swallowing quickly. “To be honest, I thought he was a nut,” he said with a shrug.

This time when Sskeer glanced over, he looked just a touch offended.

“A nut,” Jora repeated. The surprise in her voice was largely an affectation; she knew Sskeer had adopted odd, borderline overzealous habits in the pursuit of becoming a Jedi Guardian. She teased him for it occasionally, a reaction to which he’d become accustomed. Here, though, she sensed an opportunity for someone else to do her dragging for her - apparently quite candidly.

“Oh, sure. I mean, who else do you know sets the training droids a couple notches above safety standards so he can really feel it when he gets spanked with a training saber, huh?”

She sputtered into her cup, lifting a hand to hide a smile. She really wouldn’t have taken that drink if she knew that sentence was coming.

“Right?!” Kelto gestured animatedly, oblivious to Sskeer glaring daggers over his shoulder. “How is that supposed to make you a better Jedi?”

“I’m sure he has good reasons,” she coughed, thumping her chest. “Being a protector - it requires a certain discipline.”

“I wouldn’t call that discipline. I’d call that masochism. But only because I’m a coward,” he confessed.

“Be kind.”

“It’s a joke!”

“You say it too easily. Like you believe it’s the truth.”

“It kind of is. That’s what makes it funny.”

She gave him a look. Sskeer did, too. His was less pointed, though.

“Assuming that’s true,” Jora continued, “Allow me to pull from your earlier statements two points: one, you find him physically attractive. Two, his habits confuse you. Would you say that’s accurate?”

“Yes and yes.”

“Very well. Is there anything else that you’d like to joke about, since that’s apparently the only way of pulling a straight answer out of you?”

“I can give straight answers!”

“Feel free anytime, for Force’s sake.”

Sskeer was smirking again, she noticed, poking around on his plate. Apparently, he found the way her scheme to annoy him with secondhand ridicule had imploded on her amusing, the bastard.

Kelto sighed, deflating slightly. “I - look, I’m sure he’s not as strange as I’m making him out to be. Just, you know… really serious. But I didn’t really get much else out of him while he was there.”

“You used Force healing on him, as I recall. That didn’t merit any kind of response?”

“O-oh yeah, I did do that! He seemed… pretty impressed, I guess. I - wasn’t really expecting that, to be honest.”

“And he caught you before you passed out. That’s something, isn’t it?”

“True, true. And then he held me up til I recov - “ Suddenly, Kelto’s cheeks went a deep shade of green. “A-actually, let’s not get back into that part.”

“Why?” Jora cocked her head, montrals shifting. “I wasn’t aware there was anything wrong with catching feelings unexpectedly.”

“I mean - mmmaybe not, no. I - I just don’t think I, you know, kept control of them very well there.”

“We’re only mortal, Kelto. You’re in your right to forgive an occasional emotion.”

“I--” The Rodian checked over his shoulder - the wrong one - and leaned in close, framing his huge, panicky eyes with both hands. “Jora, I was full-on touching his chest.”

Behind him, Sskeer’s eyes went wide, and he too wound up coughing water back into his glass. It served him right, Jora thought.

“He was holding you in his arms,” she said evenly. “You were disoriented. Worse things have happened.”

“Y-yeah, but - but I don’t want to end up like that horndog Elzar Mann!”

No sooner had Sskeer finished clearing his lungs than he had to duck and press his face into the crook of his elbow to stifle a laugh, so as to avoid being discovered.

“Really, have you seen that guy make eyes at Avar Kriss lately?” Kelto continued conspiratorially. “They hide it so poorly! It’s a wonder the Council hasn’t stepped in yet.”

“I doubt it’s much of a priority for either Master Lahru, Veter, or Yoda to be poking their noses into what two consenting adults do in the privacy of their bedchambers.”

“I mean - if word ever really gets out, it technically will be!”

“Only technically,” she retorted.

Kelto blinked. “Oh no,” he murmured. “This isn’t going to be another one of your lectures, is it?”

Jora hesitated for only half a second. “All I’m saying is if you really look at the Code--”

“If you start talking about the difference between celibacy and purity again--”

“‘Attachment’ is not the same thing as connection, to suggest otherwise is such a literalist misinterpretation--”

Gesticulating, Jora caught the eye of Sskeer again. He was grinning like a nexu, the scaly skink.

“What I mean to say is,” she said, waving her hands in some vague effort to get them both back on-track, “There’s nothing wrong with what you’re feeling right now, Kelto. Nothing whatsoever. It’s only a natural part of life, just like joy and sorrow.”

“Yeah, duh,” he replied, peeling a hardboiled vakiir egg. “Not my first day out of the creche. It just - I don’t know, it feels weird not being able to act on it.”

“Why?”

“Well, the big one is the Code, but let’s not get into that again. The other half is - well, Jora, I barely know him. I don’t even know if he likes me as a person, let alone romantically, or… you know, like that. But I can’t imagine he would.”

Jora risked a peek, raising an eyebrow. Sskeer shrugged, nonplussed, in a manner that communicated either that he could take or leave him - or just the general sentiment of ‘what do you want from me?’. Possibly both at once. In return, she flattened the eyebrow and pursed her lips to sardonically ‘thank’ him for his ‘help’.

“Why do you presuppose the inevitability of rejection, in either case?”

“I just - I don’t know, I’m a pessimist. What else do you want me to say, Jora? We live in totally different worlds.”

“Not that different. You are both Jedi. And remember what he called you before he left - a credit to the Order, I believe were his words?”

“That’s what everyone says after getting Force healed,” Kelto grumbled, rubbing the back of his head under his pom.

She shook her head doubtfully, skewering another bite of steak. “You’re focused too much on the banality of your own excellence,” she said, chewing. “Think back to his reaction. How he spoke to you. The way he looked at you. What did he think of you while you were together?”

He shrugged helplessly. Then his brow furrowed in thought. “Well, I guess… there were times when he seemed to pick up on - you know, everything I was going through. Granted, I wasn’t being very subtle, but…

“I guess I’d say he was being… patient? Like he understood I was a little… distracted by him. Well, he was a little touchy about the ‘masochist’ comment, but… he didn’t, like, tell me to settle down or anything. And then there were some weird moments where he - I don’t know, was trying to joke with me?”

“How so?”

“Like... being sort-of flirty, but not really? Like when he leaned back on the table, he had this little smile, and then when he left he sort of whispered right into my ear? Little things like that.”

“Oh yes. ‘Little things’. Like whispering in your ear.”

Kelto blinked owlishly. “... I mean. Do people not… do that?”

“Generally, in polite company? No.”

“Oh.” Kelto’s flush deepened. “Oh.”

“You really should leave the healing halls and try talking to people every once in a while, Kelto.”

“You don’t think he was…? F-for me? And I missed it??”

“I don’t know,” Jora hummed. “Without him here to speak for himself, I can’t say. I suppose you’ll have to ask him yourself.”

Kelto whined, sinking his face into his hands. “But that means I have to talk to him,” he protested.

“Yes,” she replied bluntly. “That’s how having a dialogue is supposed to work.”

“I-I can’t talk to him! I mean-- I made such a fool of myself earlier! You really think I can just… speak to him, normally?”

“Well, if you don’t, what’s your backup plan?”

“Useless gay pining, mostly. Or leaving the Order, maybe?”

“Kelto.”

“Look at me, Jora. I’m not built to carry a torch for anybody. I-I can barely make eye contact with people I’m not crushing on. My best chance at this point is just going back to the healing halls and hoping he doesn’t come back in too often. Maybe I’ll move rooms, now that he knows where my ward is. I’ll ask about it.”

“You can’t just hide from your problems in the medical bay, Kelto.”

“Why not? I--” Kelto bit the inside of his cheek and sighed. “Dammit, Jora, what else am I supposed to do?”

She dropped her fork on her plate and framed the sides of her face with her hands, as he had done earlier. “Literally just talk to him.”

“H-how? I’m not - I’m not brave enough, okay? What am I supposed to do?”

She groaned, folding her palms over her eyes. Through her fingers, she could see Sskeer raising his brow, lifting out of his chair slightly; not yet, she thought, shaking her head just slightly. He sat back down, but still seemed concerned.

“Indulge me,” Jora said finally, leaning her elbows on the table and holding out her hands towards Kelto, as if she were trying to physically channel the confidence to hold a single conversation into him through the Force. “Take a moment, don’t think about how you think you did, or what you thought he was thinking, in those moments. Don’t think about possible futures where you’re together or just friends or outright rejected. Just-- think about what you felt. How he made you feel. Don’t focus on yourself. Just find your center, search your feelings... and tell me what you find.”

Kelto opened his mouth - closed it - looked down at the tabletop, drumming his fingers. “I…”

From behind, Sskeer watched him think. Anticipation glimmered in his eyes.

“...I like him,” Kelto decided. “Really, I do. He’s… patient and serious, and respectful, once you earn it. A little intense, obviously, but… strong, and driven. I’d… I want to know him better. However that happens.”

“And your other feelings?”

He took a slow, deep breath. “I… can move past them, if I really have to. It’s what we’re trained for. It’s just… powerful, I guess is the word. I didn’t see it coming. It… knocked me off my feet.”

“I’m told that’s often how it feels,” Jora said kindly.

He nodded shyly.

“Do you plan to ask him?”

“Not - not right away, I don’t think. I-- that’s not the right foot for any relationship to get off on, I don’t think. Like putting the hovercart before the roth, you know? It’d define the whole-- no, no. I want to start as friends. And if he turns me down, then… then we’ll stay friends, and I’ll be okay. I- I want to do it right. … For both of us. For him, mostly, but… yeah.”

Kelto shrugged as he finished, going back to picking at his plate. Behind him, Sskeer’s face had shifted just enough that Jora knew he’d been affected.

“Well said,” she said simply, as Sskeer took his plate and stood.

“You think so?”

“Well, it was better put than the lust-flavored word vomit you began with.”

“Look, when I say the man’s thighs are like wroshyr trunks and his chest is like a set of Weequay thunder drums, I’m only half-joking. He’s genuinely an impressive specimen. It’s a compliment.”

“You get to say all of that, but I’m the one bending the Code?”

He snorted. “Jora, please. We may be technically sworn to celibacy, sure, but we’re not dead, either.”

“Pardon me,” a deep voice said from behind him.

Kelto bit down on a yelp. Every joint in his body seemed to lock up so he sat straight upright. His eyes went as wide as the Temple’s dinner platters.

“Jedi Sskeer,” Jora Malli said, conversationally. “What a lovely surprise.”

“I couldn’t help but overhear someone talking rather loudly about myself,” he replied easily, “so I thought I’d stop by. Is this seat taken?”

“Not at all. Please, join us.”

He sat down right next to Kelto. The Rodian seemed to shrink, quailing.

“How much did you overhear, incidentally?” Jora asked, returning to finish off the last of her steak.

“Enough to know better than to take offense,” Sskeer replied, tucking into his karkan ribene. “Life is too ssshort to worry about the occasional social faux pas, isn’t it, little healer?”

Kelto’s throat bobbled. He looked to Jora to throw him a lifeline; in response, she only raised her eyebrows.

His eyes rolled back to the plate before him - then narrowed. He set his jaw and took a long, gulping swallow of his Rodian ale, an action that left his snout twisting for a moment afterward. Then he turned in his seat towards the Trandoshan.

“We should probably start over,” he said, putting out his hand. “I’m Kelto. Kelto Lem. It’s - great to meet you, Sskeer.”

Sskeer sent Jora a sidelong glance. She nodded.

“Likewise,” he returned, clasping the Rodian’s hand in his own.

“Um - no hard feelings about… anything from earlier, right?”

“Consider the slate wiped clean.”

“Oh. … Good.” That was easy, his eyes seemed to say, as he disengaged from the handshake.

Jora Malli sensed her work here was done. “I have a velocities demonstration with the younglings coming up,” she said, gathering her utensils and standing up. “I suppose I’ll leave you to it.”

“Of course,” Sskeer said graciously. He turned back to Kelto. “Would you prefer to move to the other side of the table, that we may face each other?”

Kelto blinked. “Uh - sure! You, you won’t mind, will you, Jora?”

“Don’t look at me,” she said, shrugging. “I won’t even be here.” She turned, deposited her empty plate and glass at an appropriate refuse station, and departed without further fanfare.

Gingerly, Kelto repositioned himself and his lunch to the other side of the table, sitting right before Sskeer. When he pushed in his chair, he seemed to be sitting a little taller.

“So, uh. Hello again.”

Sskeer smiled, shook his head, and took a bite of ribene.

#StarWarsOCShipWeek2021 #star wars #the high republic #sskeer #original character #oc x canon #fanfic #fluff/humor

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comicwaren · 1 year ago

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“Our numbers are few, and a powerful enemy do we face.” -- Yoda

Cover art for Star Wars: The High Republic - Shadows of Starlight #001, “The Guardian Protocols”

Art by Phil Noto

#star wars: the high republic - shadows of starlight #yoda #soleil agra #ada-li carro #ry ki-sakka #xo lahru #keaton murag #yarael poof #oppo rancisis #teri rosason #pra-tre veter #adampo #cover art #star wars #marvel #comics #star wars comics #marvel comics

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tremendouskoalachild · 1 year ago

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more thr character encyclopedia stuff:

high republic characters in Phase 1 and 2 (but not 3):

Tromak

Barbatash

high republic characters in Phase 2 and 3:

General Viess

Baron Boolan

Dexter Jettster

Therm Scissorpunch

high republic characters in all 3 phases:

Porter Engle

Sav Malagán

Azlin Rell

Yaddle and Yoda

Arkoff

Lahru

Maz Kanata

+ enforcer droids, the Nameless, EX droids, Jedi

#thr #the high republic #the high republic character encyclopedia

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evanfoundations · 6 years ago

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Lahru Tika Shimla Located some 35 km west of district headquarters Dharamsala and about 180 km from state capital Shimla. 300 people have finally decided to no vote. Major action taken. #shimla #himachalpradesh #vote #2019 #election #loksabha #nature (at Lahru) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bv_DSwpABeW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1ubil19ddvpxg

#shimla #himachalpradesh #vote #2019 #election #loksabha #nature

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seracross · 8 years ago

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Heart of Fire - Chapter Ten: A Queen’s Riddle

Summary: “A dragon without fire is nothing but a liability.” Nine years ago, Syra was thrust into a war: a hide-and-seek battle for control of five powerful crystals, hidden by a secret organization 200 years prior. Taking human-form, Syra searches the dragon-hating city of Altaira for clues on their location. But when her secret is revealed, fickle hearts are quick to change. And when an old enemy raises his scaly head, who will be there to turn to? Her estranged siblings? An ex-fiancé? Or a temperamental pixie the size of a duckling? In a race against her father’s murderer, Syra must traverse the five kingdoms to halt his efforts to rebuild a powerful relic that should never have been created. Are the bonds of love and family strong enough to survive the horrors of secrets and betrayal? And how do you fight an elder dragon bent on revenge when you’re a wyrmling who can’t even breathe fire?

Genre: Fantasy, Adventure, Romance, Drama

Rating: PG-17 (Strong Language & Violence)

Read All | Read Next

It took two days to reach the border of Kor Lahru. As there were no roads that lead to the fairy fields, the party trekked through bush and briar, with each hill seeming taller than the last.

The twins' endurance grew stronger after each bout of rest, and Aidan found himself a few steps from lagging behind. With the sun in their favor, Leon kept a quick pace, always some feet ahead. When they came to a river that cut up into the mountains, they rejoiced at sight of the expanse of meadows peppered with stands of trees and blankets of flower. By the time they waded into the fields, shadows crept from their holes under the trees and into the waving grass.

They stopped a moment, taking in the breadth of field and sky that welcomed them.

“Welcome to Kor Lahru,” said Leon. He hovered a head above them, silent, gaze lost in the sprawling blades of green and gold. Like a child, now grown, seeing their old home after years of absence: longing to return, yet fearful of not belonging.

“Leon?” Syra asked, calling him back from his daze.

“Oh, right right! This way, still.”

Through the fronds and thickets and scrubs he led them. Some parts short and mossy, while others swathed over Syra’s head like green curtains. All glimmered in the late afternoon light, and even the air brimmed with mana.

“Why is this place so…warm?” Aidan asked, rubbing his arms, “The air, it almost…tingles.”

Syra and Leon looked to him surprised, but then smiled as warmly as the breeze that washed over them.

“That’s mana, Aidan,” Syra said, delighted that he could finally feel the currant she had always felt. “The life source that keeps us magical beings going, and what powers the gifted’s spells. It’s always been around you, but never strong enough to catch your attention.”

Leon nodded, “Kor Lahru is actually a mana spring, the largest on the continent, that’s why so many magical plants can grow here. Now that I think about it, I don’t even remember there ever being a winter here.”

“No winter, huh?” said Aidan, “I’m surprised people haven’t tried to build here.”

“They did,” said Leon with a smirk, “at least from what I’ve heard. But this is Fae ground. You’re better off stealing light from an evening bug.”

“Is that so?” said Aidan, the challenge piquing his interest.

“Aye,” said Leon, buzzing off to the top of the next hill then waving them over.

Some ways off, in the center of the rolling plain, a large tree towered: a living monolith with branches as wide as streets, and vines that stretched and wavered just above the ground.

“That tree there is older than any of your human cities,” Leon said. “Before you, or the dwarves, or dragons, or even the Tal laid claim, it stood here guarding these fields, and my people. To separate the Fae from this land would be to separate a babe from the womb. We are a part of it, and it with us.”

Leon looked back to see somber faces staring back—poor Petra seemed lost completely.

“Come,” he said, catching a breeze down into the valley, “it’s better that I show you.”

Crossing a trickle of a stream, they noticed specks among the vegetation. Perched like dew drops atop the bramble and bushes, fae sat with outstretched wings facing the afternoon sun, the light glinting off them in a myriad of colors.

“We all come from Mother Tree,” Leon explained, motioning to the glints swarming from their seats, “all of us. As a flower buds and blooms from its stalk, so too do we from those vines. I’ll have to show you one day,” he added, “it really is a spectacular event, to see a fae born, I mean.”

“So, if you all come from this…tree, who’s in charge?” Petra asked, “I thought we were supposed to meet someone.”

“Why, the Queen, of course. Who else would run a colony? She’s probably waiting for us right now.”

As they neared Mother Tree, fae zipped and hovered around them with round curious eyes. Watching them swarm, Syra noticed they avoided both Aidan and Leon.

“Look, the gorya’s back.” Syra heard some of them whisper.

“And he’s brought a human! Vesna isn’t going to be happy.”

“Wonder if she’ll kill him this time.”

“Wouldn’t be a bad thing.”

Leon ignored them and kept his gaze fixed on Mother Tree, whose canopy blocked out the sky as they approached.

They were greeted by the sound of creaking wood as the bark shifted and bent to form an opening in the trunk. A fae with tendrilled hair and large black eyes greeted them from what looked to be a throne room.

Leon flittered to her side and knelt with head bent low, “My queen, I have arrived with the guests.”

“You’ve been gone quite a while, Leon. Am I to assume you were in their company this whole time?”

“My apologies. I…I was captured by human bandits while on patrol.”

“No surprise.”

Leon winced, “They are the ones who released me.”

Queen Vesna analyzed the party, eyes boring into Aidan, “You brought a human?”

“Yes, my queen. Aidan of Altaira. The others are Syra, Petra, and Cassius of—”

“I know who they are,” Vesna said, raising a hand and rubbing a thumb across the silver ring about her finger.

“Then you will help them? One night stay should—”

“Perhaps.”

“Beg pardon?”

“Perhaps I will help them. That is up to them.”

The party looked to each other confused.

“A riddle,” she explained, “Solve my riddle and you may stay.”

“A riddle?" Cassius asked, looking to Syra, expecting her to eagerly accept.

"Yes," Vesna said with a spritely air, "It's a tradition when accepting visitors. We might be small, but we're quite territorial." The narrow wings that cloaked her back quivered a subtle warning.

"What's the riddle?" Syra asked finally.

Vesna's pupils widened as she stared between her and Aidan with examining precision.

"From the maws of fire and fury, Came a journeyman hardened and weary. Though millennia old, Oh, the stories it told, From its perch on thy ring finger, three."

Syra and Vesna locked stares in silence.

"You may ask your human friend if you'd like," Vesna said with a teasing grin.

"Is that really necessary?" Leon asked, raising his head.

"Are you question my judgement, Leon?" Vesna said with narrowed eyes.

In an instant, vines flew around Leon's arms and neck, pulling him tight to the wooden floor of the hollow.

"N-no, ma'am!" Leon wheezed, averting his eyes from the Fae monarch.

"Good," The queen said, watching him struggle against the vines.

"Stop!" Syra pleaded, "Let him go."

Vesna loosened the constraints, but turned a glare to Syra, "The life of this gorya is mine to do with as I like."

"But that's so cruel!" Syra barked. Cassius tugged her arm for her to stop, but she ignored him, enraged at the haughty bug, "He's done nothing to you!"

Vesna sneered and shoved her face into Syra’s. The tendrils attached to her head pulled apart like a bloom unfurling, and curled forward to face Syra.

“Do not attempt to speak of things you know nothing about, wyrmling.”

Barbs slid from their petal sheaths and playfully tapped at Syra’s hair.

Vesna’s eyes bore into Syra’s, “You think all of your books and spells make you intelligent…special…even powerful,” Vesna sneered, “Yet you hide behind your walls and sense of entitlement, completely oblivious to the people and world around you.”

“What I do know,” Syra spat back, “is that Marrak will not stop with us, or the humans. He will come and raze your fields all for a show of power.”

“And if that day comes, we will turn to the ground, to the mana flows beneath this land where fire cannot reach. The Fae were here before dragons and humans and dwarves, and we will still be here after you have destroyed yourselves.”

Vesna’s barbs pricked Syra’s scalp and face, and Syra could feel energy being siphoned away.

“Now answer the riddle if you don't want me to suck you and your siblings dry. Not that you have much mana left to drain."

Syra scowled and clenched her jaw, hesitant to give her the satisfaction of an answer.

"A diamond," Aidan called from the rear of the group after a long pause, "The answer is: a diamond."

He looked to Vesna with crossed his arms, anxious to be done with this frivolous trial and the drama it brought.

A soft chuckle escaped the queen's throat and she stepped away from Syra, the petals of flesh folding back behind her head, "Correct."

The vines released Leon and disappeared back into the grains of Mother Tree's trunk.

"Are you alright?" Syra asked, leaning over to check on the poor pixie. Teal bruising circled his throat and arms and made his minty complexion appear sickly.

"I'm fine," He coughed and wheezed back his breath, but remained kneeled, "thank you."

"They may stay the night," Vesna said, turning from them and walking over to a tiny looking glass, "but for now, show them to the pool. They're weak and will need their strength to reach Mirna. I'll contact Valen and inform him of your arrival."

"Yes, your majesty." Leon said, standing.

"Oh, and Leon," Vesna called from the mirror, "thank you for bringing them here safely. You did well."

Leon beamed and bowed, his previous grievance seemingly forgotten, "Thank you, your majesty!"

Leon led the quiet party away from Mother Tree and into the glen of the eastern fields. Beyond which, stood a grove of old but sprawling hardwoods. If she squinted, Syra could make out the tiny dots of fae flitting around its perimeter.

"What was that all about?" Syra asked Leon when they were a good distance from Mother Tree, "It was like she didn't even want us to be there. I thought the Kesh Raza were all supportive of this journey."

"I know close to diddly about the Kesh Raza," Leon said, setting his course for the grove ahead, "But I do know Vesna to be a fierce but just leader."

"Just?" Syra exclaimed, "She nearly strangled you over nothing, and you call that just?"

"It wasn't over nothing. I spoke out of turn and disrespectfully."

"But to claim that your life is subject to her whims is just deplorable! What kind of ruler has the right to that?"

"One that spares your life," Leon said with remorse.

The group fell silent and Leon sighed, not particularly pleased to share his dirty laundry.

"Traitor," he finally said, "that's what gorya means.”

“A few seasons ago, the colony was having trouble with a particularly curious and stubborn Root Badger. It would trample our herb and thistle plots and dig up any bulbs it could sniff out. I thought if I could scare the beast away, Vesna would take my request to become a squire seriously," he gave an awkward chuckle. "I only managed to piss it off and lead it back to Mother Tree, where it found a ravenous taste for its roots. Not only did it damage Mother Tree, but injured several of our knights when we chased it off."

"You made a mistake," Syra said, "that doesn't make you a traitor."

"Perhaps, but that mistake led to injury of the colony, which is seen as the same thing. I was lucky Vesna saw it for what it was, and pardoned me. She even took the backlash when she made me a squire. She probably still does."

"Fair points," Cassius said.

Guilt smacked Syra upside the head and she chided herself for jumping to judgement too quickly. Perhaps she should apologize when they returned. Couldn't hurt, she thought.

"Anyway," Leon said, changing the subject, "the pool is just inside the grove. You should feel a hundred-percent after a good soak."

Nestled under the thick canopy and overhanging branches, a large pool of clear water greeted the party. About its edges, fae restored themselves in its healing waters. Most flitted off with confused faces as they approached, but Leon paid no heed.

"Oh!" Syra laughed and pointed to the pools bottom, "So that's how it works!"

Littering the bottom and sides of the pool like a geode, amec and sylic crystals shimmered through the still water. "I had no idea Kor Lahru was on a boundary. That explains a lot."

"No, it doesn't," Petra said flatly, "And I don't care to know." She cut Syra off mid-breath before she could proceed to lecture them on magical geography.

Syra conceded with long exhale, "Just get in."

The siblings shed their outwear and climbed in, surprised by how quickly the water took effect.

"Oh, good Draco, yes," Petra said with a moan, sinking down to her chin, her short red locks like kelp floating about her head.

Cassius and Syra burst in laughter and quickly followed suit.

"Hey, two-legs!" Petra called to Aidan from her watery throne, "Get you scrawny ass in here! I'll be damned if we get slowed down by you."

"Wow, this stuff really does work miracles if you’re talking to him," Cassius teased.

Syra relished in the lighter mood brought on by the sweet air, greenery, and cool water that sent her skin tingling and warmed her sore muscles. We better enjoy this while we can, she thought, Mount Tenlok isn't going to an easy hike. I doubt the snow has even melted completely.

Through the gaps between branches, she could see the slopes of the tallest mountain of the Elder Mountain range. Somewhere on that peak is the next shard, she thought with solemn face, and we have to get it before Marrak does.

***

Night came quickly and brought with it salad greens, roasted nuts, and nectar for the colony and its guests. Despite the stigma surrounding him, the wee fae listened in wonder to his stories of adventures beyond the fields, while others took to braiding Cassius’ long blonde tresses. Even Petra grew a soft spot for their large eyes and fat faces.

“Petra,” said Vesna, fluttering over to their campsite by a soft bed of moss, “may I speak with you?”

Petra swallowed her mouthful, but looked suspicious, “Um, sure?”

“Alone?” Vesna added, eyeing the rest of the group.

Petra went to stand, but Cassius held her by the shoulder.

“Why?” he asked, leering up at the monarch.

“I’d like to talk with her leader to leader. Is that a problem?” she asked, lowering her face into his and staring deep into his eyes for several moments.

“No,” Cassius said, blinking and releasing Petra, who still hesitated. “Go, it’s fine,” he nodded and she left with Vesna for a walk about.

“What was that about?” Aidan asked when Cassius had settled himself.

“Nothing, just…seeing if I could trust her.”

“I could’ve told you that,” said Leon.

“Yes, but you’re biased.”

Leon shook her head, “And you insist on her planning to stab you in the back.”

“She does seem a bit…unstable. You know, with strangling you one moment, then thanking you the next?” Aidan said.

Leon held his tongue, but then pointed to a group of spindly shadows off in the distance, “You see those trees over there?”

“Barely.”

“She grew up there, before she knew she was to become Queen. A human came one day, enraged for some reason or another, and brought with him a beetle—one from a distant land that we Fae had never seen.”

“They spread slowly at first, most being picked off by birds and whatnot, but then they found the sweet wood of those Faebul trees, and they began to bore. In days the entire stand was infested. Sucked dry, they were. Vesna knew they would only spread further. So, she went to her Queen to petition a counter offense.”

“Which was what, exactly?” asked Srya, more interested in the bugs than the story.

“To burn it,” Leon said, pausing. “She sacrificed her own home to ensure that others’ were not. And she wasn’t even Queen yet.”

“That would explain her disdain for humans,” said Cassius.

Leon nodded and looked a might disappointed, “I know you can’t trust everyone, but, I just ask that you at least trust me.”

Tension lifted with an agreement met, and Aidan tapped Leon’s fist with his fingertip.

“Aye, little one, we’ll trust you.”

***

Daybreak brought the wailing of the tiny wee fae, and even tinier tears. Petra would have preferred her pack to be filled with meats rather than nuts and berries, but she didn’t dare upset them more.

Leon was holding back his own tears as his bid the party farewell.

“But I thought you were coming with us!” said Syra, holding him in her hands.

But he shook his head and gave her a small grin, “My job was to bring you here. And, as much as I would love the adventure, I’ve been away for far too long already.” He glanced back as Vesna who stood rather proud atop a draping fern watching over them, before turning back to Syra and giving her a tight squeeze to her thumb, “My place is here. Now it’s your turn to find yours.”

Syra nodded and watched him flutter back to his queen’s side.

“You know, I think I’m going to miss that little jabbermouth,” Aidan said as they left the Fae to their fields and turned their sights to the mountain.

“Me, too,” said Syra.

“So, what did Vesna want to talk to you about?” Syra asked as they began their hike up Mount Tenlok.

“Just what she said: leadership things,” Petra said, picking up her pace, “Things a Vayguard should know.”

“So much for miracles,” Syra huffed and looked to Cassius for a shrug or a roll of the eye, but he was too concentrated on keeping pace. He and Petra had grown accustomed to their human forms, but their legs still ached from the steepening slope.

Spring had blessed them with clear trails, though it was a tad chilly with the colder mountain air sweeping down the slopes. By sundown, Syra could catch a glimpse of sunlight shining off the roofs of the Talian city, and the troop grew excited to be done with the constant uphill climb.

It was the frigid, northeasterly wind that drew Syra’s attention from the city to the wall of thick, gray clouds that seemed to have followed them.

“I’m not liking the look of those,” Syra said, stopping.

“They’ll pass,” said Aidan, giving the front a quick glance before continuing up the road.

“No, she’s right,” Petra said. She halted, too, as did Cassius. “That’s a strong front coming in, and with our elevation, it’ll be on top of us in no time.”

“We should find some shelter before it hits,” Cassius said, taking it upon himself to run ahead, searching for any overhangs or hollows in the rock.

“We should just keep going,” said Aidan, “The city isn’t far and I don’t see any cause for alarm. They’re just clouds.”

“You also don’t fly or live on a mountain,” Petra said, following after her brother, “It’s also getting dark, and I’m not about to get caught in a storm, at night. So let’s go.” She grabbed him by the cloak and shoved him forward.

They weren’t a quarter mile further when the flurries began. A swirling gray swept overhead and down the mountain’s face, and the party pulled their cloaks tight against the wind.

“Told you!” Petra yelled over the rush of snow and wind.

White layered itself atop their hoods and boots. Petra’s lips quivered and Cassius rubbed his arms for heat, their thin skin prickling with goosebumps.

“Find anything yet?” Syra called out to Cassius.

“No!” he replied, barely visible through the white curtain, “there’s nothing! Just straight rock or ground.”

“What about bushes? Some kind of ground cover?” asked Aidan, “Even a thicket would be better than being exposed like this.”

Some ways up there was a gathering of hedges just off the path, but the cover was thin with new growth and their toes peeked out from under it.

They huddled there, shivering, while the whiteness grew around them. Through the shelter of bracken, the forest canopy was dark lines across a slate sheet, and the airy howls told of no quick relief.

And here we thought we’d be safer away from the cities and the Black Thorn, Syra thought, burying her face between her knees and tugging at her hood for just one more inch of cover. Feeling had already left her fingers and toes. What kind of dragon freezes to death?

Through the wind and the creaking of trees, the shuffle and snap of twigs neared and circled them.

“What was that?” Petra asked, peeking her nose out from her hood.

“I don’t know,” Cassius said, sniffing, “I can’t smell anything.”

Aidan readied his blade and Syra crouched under the branches, both straining their eyes to catch the shape of the approaching sound.

“There!” Syra whispered, pointing to the four-legged blur sniffing and trotting about the nearby trees.

“Timberwolves?” asked Aidan.

“No,” said Syra, “we’re too high up.”

“Do we attack it?” Cassius asked.

“I say we hit it before it sees us,” said Petra, going for her scabbard.

“No, wait, don’t,” Aidan said, holding her back, “Don’t call any attention. If you all can’t smell anything, maybe it can’t either.”

Petra relaxed, but Aidan was wrong.

It followed their trail and circled the thicket, ears perked and snout puffing up clouds of mist and snow.

“Now?” Petra hushed, and Aidan slammed a hand over her mouth.

But the creature’s ears twitched and its head shot up to stare straight at them.

“Now?” Petra muffled under his palm.

“Now.”

All four sprang from the brush and faced the beast with shining metal. Closer up, the blur showed itself to be of a lithe canid frame, but full in body from a coat of thick, gray fur. To Aidan’s surprise, and disappointment, it did not move.

“Away!” he yelled, swinging his sword in warning.

But again, it did not move. It merely watched with steady, round eyes, unblinking despite the snow.

“I said, go away!” Aidan lunged forward with a second swing, and the creature bolted with Aidan powering after it through the drifts.

“Should we go after him?” Cassius asked of Syra, but she was already down the hill by the time he finished.

“She never changes,” Petra said, following after them.

They slid and stumbled through the understory, tripping over rocks and limbs hidden by snow and shadow, until they reached slab of rock jutting from the hillside.

The siblings halted behind Aidan, who stood with raised sword, in a stand-off with the creature outside of a small cave that cut into the rock face.

Its ears were up and its tail wavered from side to side, and it panted softly from its small, pointed snout. Aidan went to scare it off again, but Syra grabbed his arm.

“Wait,” she said, “I…I don’t think it wants to hurt us.”

“What?!”

“Just look at it.”

As if on cue, the creature trotted to the cave mouth, circled a few times, stopped, and gave a quick whine.

“The cave,” Syra exclaimed, releasing Aidan’s arm, “it led us to the cave.” Crunching over to the opening, the creature shot from its post and bounded away up the hill, only stopping to give them one last glance before disappearing over a ledge.

“Well, that makes no sense,” Aidan said, putting his sword away.

“Nonsense or not, I’m getting my tail out of this weather,” Petra said, following Syra into the hollow.

“I second that,” said Cassius, joining them.

The cave was large enough for them to fit single file, but everyone save Syra had to bend their knees to sit sideways.

“Might as well sleep here for the night,” said Aidan as he settled himself down on the cave floor, draping his cloak over himself.

The others did the same and the nook became quiet. It was deep enough that the snow did not blow on them, but the wind still reached inward to nip their ears and fingertips.

“I cannot sleep like this,” mumbled Petra with her cheek pressed to the stony floor, “It’s too cold.”

Despite their deep, rocky lairs, the caverns under the Silver Mountains kept their heat well—partly due to the body heat of their dragon residents, and partly because of the fire pits used to cook meats and warm their wading pools—and neither of the twins had dealt much with lingering cold.

Syra looked about the cave for something to block the wind, but found nothing but stone slick from humidity and groundwater. And then she stood, startling everyone.

“What are you doing?” Aidan asked as she stepped over them and stood by the opening.

“Closing the door.”

She breathed and focused, feeling the pulse of warmth travel from her chest and down her arms to her hands. Her pupils shrunk as she concentrated on the icy scene in front of her. The warmth in her hands turned a numbing cold and the glow around them lightened to a frosted lavender. Forcing the mana outwards, she slammed her hands against the stone walls. A wave of ice shot from her hands in an expanding arch of feathery crystals that covered the entrance walls, ceiling, and floor in a layer of ice. Aidan watched wide-eyed as the crystals grew and merged into an ice sheet the covered all but the top notch of the opening.

Syra’s hands fell to her sides and she took deep, controlled breaths before returning to her spot in the back of the cave.

“That…was impressive,” Aidan said.

Syra gave him a quick salute and sat herself down in her small nook.

“You missed a spot,” said Petra, seeing the hole near the ceiling.

“Do you want to suffocate?” Syra asked, lying down.

With the chill blocked, Syra became aware of how quickly her cloak warmed her. She pulled her knees tighter to chest and wrapped the ends around her legs and feet, cocooning herself. Next to her, Petra and Cassius looked on with judging eyes.

“What? It works,” she said before pulling her hood over her face and curling into a ball. The others soon followed.

Outside the sheet of ice the squall howled on, but inside, warmth filled the narrow hollow and was soon echoing the soft breaths and murmurs of its guests.

#Heart Of Fire #dragons #fantasy #Fantasy Writing #Adventure #magic #sword and sorcery #fairies #amwriting #amwritingfantasy #world building

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tripstations · 6 years ago

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Explore the Best of Himachal by Road

The lush mountains, gurgling rivers and quaint villages of Himachal are best explored through a well-planned road trip. Here’s some good news—we’ve got an itinerary sorted for you.

Delhi to Shimla

Kilometre: 343 kms

Hours: 7 to 8

Route: Delhi – Panipat – Karnal – Ambala – Chandigarh – Kalka – Parwanoo – Solan – Shimla

Going about it: It is advisable to begin the journey early in the morning, say at about 5 a.m. The drive from Panipat to Ambala will come with diversions, but you’ll hit the expressway from Ambala to Chandigarh. Take a break at Chandigarh and gorge on some delicious parathas and lassi. From here, the drive to Shimla is likely to take four hours. The roads are winding, but well-paved and the accompanying scenic beauty makes driving a breeze.

Hotels: Honeymoon Inn

A perfect hotel to relax after the long drive. Each room is blessed with enchanting views, especially of sunset point. And the food is something to die for.

Location: The Mall, Shimla (Near Chief Minister's House)

Rate: INR 2,668 per night

Book Your Stay at Honeymoon Inn

Explore Shimla

Head for Mashobra, 10 km from Shimla—a breath-taking village covered with dense pine and oak trees, built in 1850 by Lord Dalhousie. From there, head for Naldehra (13 km.). The narrow, winding roads are beautiful and you will want to stop for pictures are every turn. Visit the famous Nag temple and eat Maggi at Maggi Point. Return to Shimla, and head out to the Mall road for shopping and dinner after a short break.

Read more: 5 Reasons to Holiday in Himachal This Summer

Shimla to Manali

Route: Shimla – Bilaspur – Sundernagar – Kullu – Manali

Kilometre: 248 km

Hours: About 7 to 8

Going about it: Start early to reach Shalaghat before breakfast. Enjoy the beautiful drive till you hit the picturesque Sundernagar Lake. Photography is prohibited here, but soak in the beauty nonetheless. Once you reach Kullu, don’t forget to pick up some shawls and mufflers, if you have the time. Enroute Manali, you will cross a beautiful bridge, with a river on one side and hills on the other. Do stop on the way to take pictures of the pretty hamlets by the hillsides.

Hotel: Glacier Resort

Promising excellent view from every room, this resort is a great place to stay after a long drive. Friendly staff adds to the experience.

Location: Hadimba Road, Manali

Rate: INR 1,527 per night

Book Your Stay at Glacier Resort

Explore Manali

The main market in Manali is known for funky clothes, jewellery, beads—a shopping spree is well in order. Visit the Hidimba Temple and then head for Solang Valley, about 13 km away, where you can try some adventure sports. During winter, the valley turns into a popular skiing spot. The views from Rohtang Pass (open from mid-April to November) will forever fill your heart.

Manali to Dharamshala

Route: Manali – Kullu – Mandi – Palampur – Dharamshala

Kilometre: 235 km

Hours: About 8 to 9

Going about it: The roads may not be that great, but people take up this Himachal road trip just to soak in the pristine beauty of Kullu and Kangra valleys. Along the way, pine and deodar trees stand tall to welcome you. Do pick up some locally made juices and pickles.

Hotel: M Hotel and Restaurant

This is an excellent place for a comfortable stay and great local food. Moreover, it is located in the heart of Mcleodganj town (about 5 km from Dharamshala).

Location: Main Market, Temple Road (20metres from Main Square), Mcleodganj

Rate: INR 2,240

Book Your Stay at M Hotel and Restaurant

Explore Dharamshala

Drive around Dharmashala and Mcleodganj to explore the museums and Tibetan monasteries. Head for the Dal Lake and the enchanting Bhagsunag Falls. The drive to Kangra Fort (22 km.) is quite a treat to the eyes.

Read more: Head Over to Offbeat Himachal: Explore Lahaul and Spiti

Dharamshala to Dalhousie

Dharamshala –Shahpur – Lahru –Dalhousie

Kilometre: 117 km

Hours: 4 to 5

Going about it: Begin early, at about 7 a.m., to revel in the misty morning. Stop at Shahpur for breakfast, and be prepared to be greeted by villagers and school children on the way. Driving along this lovely, single road, you will reach Lahru by 10 am. From there, it would be another 45 kilometres of drive to Dalhousie.

Hotel: Crags

A heritage property, just 10-mins walk from the main market, the view from each veranda is something that the guests keep coming back for. And the warm-hearted staff are trained to pamper you.

Location: The Mall, Dalhousie

Rate: INR 1,462 per night

Book Your Stay at Hotel Crags

Explore Dalhousie

Head out for Khajjiar, also known as the Switzerland of India. The drive will take you through winding roads lined with pines and deodars—perfect for a picnic break. Then visit the Dainkund peak (10 km from Dalhousie.) Known for its natural beauty, you can witness the meeting of three rivers – Beas, Ravi and Chenab. If you a waterfall lover, you will love Panchpula. If you have the time, opt for a trek to Bakrota hills, which will be an hour from Dalhousie. The views from here are incredible.

Image: Tags: Road trip in HimachalHimachal by roadHimachal road tripCategories: Road TripsLocation: Himachal Pradesh IndiaLatitude: 31.104829Longitude: 77.173390 Author Recommends:

Author Recommends Desc: Try out local stuff, especially the thukpa and momos at the Tibetan markets. Author Recommends Fact: Eat

Author Recommends Desc: Panoramic views of mountain ranges from the Rohtang Pass. Author Recommends Fact: Click

Author Recommends Desc: Parts of hit movies like Jab We Met, Highway and Roja have been shot in Himachal.Author Recommends Fact: Filmy

Author Recommends Desc: Shop for funky jewellery and beads. Shawls, scarves, sweaters, and mufflers are also must-check-out items. Do not forget local pickles, jams, or for that matter, freshly picked orchard apples. Author Recommends Fact: Shop

Use Location value: CityCTA Text: Read MoreImage Gradient: Show want To Go:Original Article

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