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Post by sleepingdragon on Jan 14, 2017 17:16:12 GMT
sd: the party had two more chambers to explore in the hall - the master bedroom itself, from which Leofric sensed the magic blighting this land emanated, and a cellar. Beomund: Beomund ruminated on their discovery about Cynefrith for a few moments. "Nothing we can do about it now, except pray for his soul. Let's examine the cellar." Joe: Leofric nodded with agreement, "I would rather leave opening the door to whatever that power is last." Edmund: Edmund agreed. sd: they made their way back to the antechamber leading into the master bedroom, and then opened the cellar door set upon the floor. Dust flew up immediately when they opened the door, the first time they had seen the substance since entering the cursed hall. The cellar itself was quite bare. There were several barrels of ale and one of wine, most of which they guessed had been empty prior to the catastrophe that befell this place. There was a small stack of scrolls as well as dried out ink on a small table in the corner of the chamber, as well as two chests against the southern wall. An oaken shield painted the colours of the Colding clan was upon the western wall. sd: on examining the room, they eventually came to the conclusion that it seemed unnaturally cramped, and realised this was an issue with the western wall - there was some manner of switch, they thought, concealed behind the shield. They thought to simply take it down, but quickly realised this would trigger a trap, launching a spear up from the ground on whoever touched the shield. Hogar: "Think you could disarm it?" Hogar asked the others "Otherwise, I am willing to take the hit..."he volountereed Joe: Leofric strolled over and started to leaf through the scrolls to see what they say. Edmund is disconnected. Edmund has connected. Joe is disconnected. Leofric has connected. sd: the scrolls were correspondences with several figures who Lord Horik obviously addressed as superiors, between the 2nd and 8th Years after the Fall of the Valing clan. In the early years, Lord Horik seemed to keep up correspondences with a number of figures - two persons who were seemingly orc chiefs, Garkaaz and Forzaag, a goblin leader, Eero, and in the first year, a dragonspawn king called Jurasthra. From the letters, it was clear Lord Horik had betrayed Jurasthra and killed him on behalf of Forzaag. Later, Garkaaz defeated both of the other figures with Lord Horik's aid, and he had obviously been the sole chief of this region at the time of the disaster. Edmund: Edmund frowned as they read through the scrolls. "Horik was a fine piece of work. A traitor to humanity and to his masters." Leofric: "Clearly he only got one interest, his own miserable life." He sighed Edmund: "What happened here?" Edmund mused, looking at the dark deserted place around them. "Did Horik cross Garkaaz in the end, or did the Orcs invade when he died?" Hogar: "Unfortunately such men exist in our day too."said Hogar hatefully "Perhaps if we found out what happened it might help dealing with the Curse." Edmund: "We'll find out when we get close to the cursed centre I have no doubt," Edmund sighed. You whisper to Leofric: reading over the messages again, Leofric noticed that there was an abrupt change in the tone of Lord Horik's own messages, starting late in the 4th Year after the Valings fell. Lord Horik's deferential tone dissipated, and the notes became much terser - save those areas which discussed the inflicting of pain and death. In one note, in the 5th Year after the Valings fell, Lord Horik wrote to Forzaag shortly before his death, suggesting inflicting a particularly gruesome torture on a chief who had failed him, and the orc's response seemed almost shocked. Leofric: Leofric pondered on these scrolls, "I wonder. After the fourth year, it read like a different person writing in the same hand. Apparently, he managed to shock Forzaag, an Orc chief with a gruesome torture! I am wondering if he was possessed by the demon prince in this case." Beomund: Beomund looked grim. "I have a feeling whatever we find past that doorway will be disturbing indeed." Edmund: "Did Horik call on the demon, I wonder. It would not surprise me at all." sd: Edmund set about to work on the trap. He nearly set it off at one point, but avoided slipping up at the last moment. After taking a few moments to compose himself, he set to it again and this time more certainly, easily jamming the trigger mechanism and sweeping the shield away in one smooth motion. He was then able to reach in and pull open the hidden compartment.
A small compartment was within. There were chains upon the western wall, and hanging from manacles there was a woman's skeleton. Long decayed marks below the skeleton and in the corner of the chamber appeared to indicate where she had defecated. There were scratch marks upon the stone behind the skeleton, though to dig into the stone there must have torn her nails to shreds. There was a small table in the corner, which contained small knives, several vials which appeared to be filled with acid, and several bizarre devices like small prongs upon short, straight sticks. There was also a set of stocks set near the centre of the room, and all around these were long-dried bloodstains. A long cooled brazier was almost directly behind the entrance they had pulled open. Leofric: "Disturbing" Leofric muttered stoically Edmund: "Strange it seems to have been abandoned before the rest of the building," Edmund said, frowning at the rusting instruments. Hogar: Hogar frowned in grim silence and inspected the bones hanging from the manacles, though without touching them. You whisper to Hogar: the first thing Hogar noticed is that two of the finger bones on the woman's left hand were shorter than they ought to have been, the tops gone. All her fingers had the marks of human teeth upon them. Examining her skull, he guessed that it was her own teeth that had chewed there. She had clearly been severely dehydrated and starved, which had probably been the cause of her death. There were marks upon the bones especially around the breasts which had been damaged by acid, and he thought both of her arms were broken. There had been heavy damage to the anus and the vagina, which seemed to have had some object inserted into them and pried open widely - Hogar realised after a horrible moment that this was what the prong-like device upon the table was for. Other marks suggested that the woman had borne at least one child at some point. In life, he thought she would have been in her late thirties or early forties, and of a tall, slender build. Hogar: After his examination of the bones - during which he frowned several times at what he was obviously realizing - Hogar turned to the others. "This poor woman died of thirst and hunger, she tried to chew her fingers off. She suffered horribly even before that..."he added glancing at the table holding the vials and torture device "and gave birth at least once. Perhaps forty years old, not much more. Hope she rest in peace, though considering how accursed this place is, I doubt it." Edmund: "It would be no surprise if she, or one like her, had called down the curse," Edmund said sadly. Leofric: Leofric frowned thoughtfully, "Considering how things have got, I wouldn't be surprised if this is the mother of that son." Edmund: "When we have raised the curse we will give her a decent burial," Edmund stated. "Now to centre?" Edmund: edit* the centre Leofric: Leofric steeled his nerves and nodded, "Ready to deal with whatever it there!" sd: they went back above, steeled themselves, and opened the door to the master bedroom.
It was a quite modest room, not at all one that would appear from a first glance to be the originating point of the horrors engulfing these hills. There was a four-poster bed against the wall, and two large bookcases against the north wall. One, most interestingly, contained a number of works which were marked in Lord Horik's own hand, journals most likely. In the far corner was a lute which had obviously been struck hard against a surface and then clumsily and inexpertly put back together, the missing pieces of wood and flecks of glue easily visible. There was a wardrobe in one corner, a garderobe not far from the bed, and a sturdy oaken chest at the foot of the bed.
Upon the west wall there was a bureau, and it was to here that their attention was most strongly drawn. There was an object upon the top of the desk which seemed to grab their gaze with physical force. It was a golden amulet, engraved with an old Gaston rune denoting mastery and kingship. This was a symbol of Osoltan, lord of the old gods, but it was very wrong. In its original form, they guessed this rune would have been the same colour as the amulet, but instead it shone with an unnatural light, one which changed between violet and deep red to flesh-pink as they gazed upon it. Leofric was the first one who dared to step into the room - as he did, the bureau's shelf fell open and the amulet rolled down from where it lay and slammed with a heavy thud down upon the shelf. Writing implements and old bottles of ink came spilling out and rolled upon the floor. Leofric: Leofric narrowed his eyes at the amulet, "Interesting." Hogar: "What if we destroyed the amulet?" Hogar asked the others "Would it defend itself, somehow? Would that break the curse or make it worse? It feels too easy...perhaps there could be a way to cleanse it, instead?" Edmund: "The spirit may well object," Edmund said, looking at the amulet with distaste. You whisper to Hogar: "Please...save me," an agonised man's voice sounded in Hogar's mind. Leofric: Leofric still looking at the amulet, "Either way, we need to figure out how to sort this out." Hogar: For a moment, Hogar seemed shocked and taken aback. It took him a few seconds to gather himself and speak to his companions: "I hear the voice of a suffering man asking me to save him. He sounds like a noble and it seems to come from the amulet. But I cannot tell if the voice is truthful or if an evil spirit is tricking to trick me..." Edmund: "There is something deeply unnatural about that object," Edmund warned. Leofric: Leofric raised an eyebrow with a wary smile, "We are at the heart of the cursed land after all. In that case, we should deal with the spirit." Leofric: EDIT: "to put it at rest," sd: at Edmund's words, the amulet jumped upon the shelf and sent a small scroll spilling to the floor. The scroll unrolled itself to reveal large, bold red lettering in Lord Horik's hand.
PLEASE SAVE ME Edmund: Edmund stepped back, shocked. "Horik was a man steeped in evil - dealing with monsters, selling his people as slaves, indulging in torture. Even if his spirit was trapped within this amulet, why would we save him from it?" Beomund: Beomund eyed the amulet and scroll wearily, a hand on the hilt of his war pick. "He certainly deserves no saving. But it might be that is the way to cleanse this thing of its evil." Leofric: "And we do need to get this curse lifted so we can use this land for good cuase." Hogar: "If it is him indeed, we might have to rescue him anyway - if only to end the curse so that the Sisters can use this place for good." You whisper to Edmund: Edmund heard no response save inconsolable weepning in his mind. Edmund: "I hear a man weeping as if his heart was breaking and nothing could console him," Edmund said suddenly. Beomund: "No way to tell if it's truly a spirit suffering, or a demon's trick," said Beomund. Leofric: Leofric answered Beomund's question, "Well, if it is a demon trick, it is a very good one." Edmund: "So what should we do to cleanse the amulet?" Edmund asked Leofric. Beomund: "Well, perhaps we could try communicating more with the spirit, and see if it can tell us anything," suggested Beomund. Leofric: Leofric frowned for a moment, "I am not entirely sure, there are several methods to deal with it." You whisper to Beomund: "Break it, break it please. Please save me." Beomund: Beomund jerked his head around as if he'd heard something behind him, before calming himself. "He's asking me to break it, in order to save him. I wonder if that might only be freeing something, though..." Leofric: Leofric nodded, "In that case, break it with your hammer and depending on what come out of such breakage, we can deal with it." Leofric: "Or" Leofric added afterward, "I could pick it up and see what I can do with it with my will." Edmund: "I really don't trust this spirit," Edmund said grimly. "But if you are determined, we should prepare for the worst." Beomund: "Examine it, Leofric," said Beomund, "And then if you think it wise, I can smash it." Leofric: Agreeing with a nod, he approached closer to examine the colourful amulet. sd: as Leofric approached and opened his hand, the amulet abruptly leapt into his grasp. As it touched the scribe's hand, the rune glowed brightly and the temperature in the room plunged immediately. They felt as if they were out in a blizzard, facing a great gale directly in their faces, rooted to the spot, naked and frozen. A man's voice cried out, "SAVE ME!" and then they felt a hostile presence assailing their minds. You whisper to Leofric: upon picking up the amulet, Leofric felt the spirit resistance spell he had cast on himself dissolve, though his companions were still protected sd: Leofric called on God's power to drive the spirit out of the amulet, whether it was Lord Horik, the demon, or some combination thereof. Edmund channelled raw magical energy upon it, while Hogar and Beomund put forward their wills and concentrated, sweat beading upon their foreheads. They were able to take a step forward. There was a swell of malign power, scrabbling against the magical shield Leofric had erected. Edmund felt the shield around him torn away, and he and Leofric, whose protection had already been dissolved, fought to keep their breakfasts in their stomach. As they strove, images swam before their eyes.
A servant entered the chamber, swearing she had seen a great flash of light from the place where the Valing boy was in torment. Lord Horik ordered her taken to her chambers and dosed with medicine to make her sleep - he would not stir for Garkaaz's sake even if he was in danger! He touched the note his son had left him and his heart caught fire. sd: they continued to channel raw magical energy, while Hogar remembered pieces of magical lore which allowed him to drive hard towards the amulet until he was held fast again. Leofric was still as a statue, eyes locked upon the glowing rune. Edmund spoke aloud, castigating the spirit of Lord Horik, reminding it bluntly of the words his son had left in that very note, calling on the spirit to remember some of the honour his son had shown and cease to be a pawn for a demon.
They had eaten in sullen silence after the serving girl had been forced to sleep. When the door suddenly burst open, Horik leaped to his feet in rage and found himself facing a human figure that floated above the ground. It was shrouded in darkness, a great inky pool concealing all but its vague outline, but as it faced the terrified servants the darkness drained away and they saw a face. Lord Horik felt his bowels turn loose and he screamed and began to rake claws of fire across his eyes. sd: Edmund and Leofric felt the spirit battering them again. Leofric had a sudden mad desire to emulate Lord Horik's actions in the vision, while Edmund felt a terrible fever begin to cover his body, but their spirits resisted the malignant force and they continued to push back sd: Hogar, Leofric, and Beomund continued to channel raw magical power, feeling it coursing through them, while Edmund drew his flute and began to play. To hear music here, even in this place, at this time, lifted their spirits and granted them determination. They could feel the malignant power pushing against them weakening.
His own hands had been torn away, sheared from his body in one great slash, but the figure before him drove its own hands into Lord Horik's face. Horik screamed and begged for death, but instead he received knowledge and pain. He could feel his soul scourged with fire as he was transported into another's body. He had refused to see more of what they would do to the Valing boy. They would never have known who he was if not for him, and Garkaaz had cheated him and refused him his pay! Now he received his wages in full. sd: they continued to cast, driving as much magic as they could manage towards the spirit, aethyric power flowing over the amulet, probing it for weakness. They found themselves able to move slowly now, the effect holding them in place beginning to dissipate.
Cynefrith of the Valing clan had thought he heard many voices throughout his torment, but this one was more persistent, more certain, warmer and kinder. Tears of fire had seared all the shame from him. How could he refuse it, and why would he? "Yes...yes," he murmured allowed. He didn't even feel the flaying knife upon him anymore. "Please...save me."
Such power coursed through him that he felt as though he were a god. It was a matter of the simplest ease to destroy the bonds that held him and rise from the rack - why had he not thought of this before, of course? The goblin screamed and raised its knife, the onlookers screamed, a light came into the eyes of the High King before which no one could stand. He could feel his body transmuting as they fell before him, and with terrible speed he raced to find the one who had betrayed him.
Leofric tore himself away from the vision and made himself concentrate all of his immense will upon the amulet. He had felt the captive, enslaved spirit lash against him, but he swatted it away like a gnat and finally he found he could move his fingers. He made as if to hurl the amulet to the ground, but as he did its light faded, and it dissolved at once within his grasp, turning to dust to spill upon the floor. There was a sigh, and the soul of Horik of the Colding clan departed from the prison the High King had left him in, free now to move to whatever Hell that God deemed most suited to a soul so suffused with evil and treachery. sd: *murmured aloud... Leofric: Leofric muttered, "May he burns in hell." Edmund: "A damned soul," Edmund said quietly. "What happened to the boy's spirit though?" Hogar: Hogar sighed with relief at having passed the ordeal of freeing Horik's spirit from the amulet, though he did seem to be wondering about what Edmund had just said. Leofric: "Gone with that demon prince maybe?" He offered a sad answer Edmund: "It seems against all natural justice that the boy should be punished for giving in to temptation while enduring such dreadful suffering," Edmund sighed. Beomund: "Yet another perversion of rightness that the demon would have enjoyed," said Beomund grimly. "We can only hope it's not the case." Edmund: "Is there anything we can do to find out?" Edmund asked the others. Hogar: "If one could contact another demon prince, he might be able to know..."Hogar said eyeing Leofric "But there would be no guarantee the demon would tell the truth, and would it be worth the cost, anyway?" Leofric: Leofric sighed sadly, "I don't think we can." He asked Edmund, "However, I don't think the Conclave would appreciate I communing with the demonic realms and its denizens." He answered Hogar Edmund: "Better not to do that. But we should not forget him," Edmund said firmly. "We must pray for his soul, and maybe one day we will get the chance to find out." Leofric: Leofric nodded, "We got lots ot time so yes, it would be good to find ut one day." Leofric: "Time to get in touch with the Sisters and gave them the good news" Leofric focused inward sd: they went outside and they noticed the feeling of dread which hung over the land had begun to lift. Leofric contacted Sidwell, and the Sisters immediately began to send people across the river in small numbers. They would, altogether, take a little under a week to arrive, though Sidwell said that she would arrive first and give the party information on the task to come.
As they waited, they had time to check through the journals Lord Horik had left in his bedroom. There were many entries across the years, some of which even predated the sack of Phalen. Leofric sorted them by date and made copies of some of the more prominent entries. sd: An entry from one of Lord Horik's early journals, dated 17 January, in the 64th Year since the Ascent of the Valing clan (124 VY). This year particularly caught the party's attention as this was the year Phalen was sacked, during the early spring.
I didn't have a choice. When they captured me they ordered me to give details of one of the halls near here that would be easy to strike and have good plunder. My own was the best response, but I couldn't say that. I'm sorry, Wigmund. The Harlings fell like the wheat in their sigil.
There are several short entries in the following weeks. One was dated 23 January.
The dragon is here! His shadow fell across us today, and he flew west of the river and burned there. The gods have abandoned us...how will we find salvation?
A further entry from the following day.
The dragon is five miles from here, I saw him perched upon the high cliff where the Harling hall was burned.
A man came to speak to me today. Some kind of mage, I think. He threatened me with the dragon and I wouldn't flinch, but then he threatened to expose how I sold the Harlings to them...I have to do what he said. If I can remember where the crossing is they'll spare us.
. sd: with what they knew of history and the great war, they knew that Phalen had fallen due to an unexpected attack from the north of the river, as well as a main force of dragonspawn and orcs from the east, splitting the defenders fatally. Had Lord Horik been the one who showed the dragon the secret ways which had been used to cross the Saltanow? If so then in addition to his other crimes, Lord Horik had been one of the principal reasons the capital had fallen. Leofric: Leofric grimaced, "Not only he betrays the last High King but ultimately the reason why Phalen has fallen. What a bastard" Beomund: "Once your soul is doomed to hell, you might as well do all the evil you can think of," said Beomund, though somberness outweighed the lightness in his tone. Hogar: "Horik truly was a villain and he deserves to be remembered as one. "said Hogar "There is something I am wondering about...the man he mentioned who might have been a mage. Could he have been controlling the dragon somehow? Or perhaps he was merely a human servant?" Edmund: "They captured Horik, and who knows what they did to him," Edmund said quietly. "Once he started to betray his people, it was a slippery slope." Leofric: "Hmm." Leofric considered this over, "Considering the other demon price said he wouldn't want to mess with a dragon, it seems unlikely that a dragon of that might be controlled by a human." Hogar: "It could have been something that was not a man, but disguised itself as one."suggested Hogar "Or an extremely powerful mage that has been somehow been lost to history.." Edmund: "So many things are..." Leofric: He closed his eyes for a moment, "So much lost." sd:
I've been granted the Harling hall, and everything tastes of ash and blood. Gaenbald and his retainers fled after the celebration and are riding hard for the river. I need to stop him or they'll have my head.
Other entries made clear that Gaenbald was Lord Horik's brother, and he had been forced to slay him with his own hand to prevent him from trying to make for Middlemere and rejoin the Palanian remnants there.
sd: edit: An entry of 03 May, in the 3rd Year after the Fall of the Valing clan (119 VY).
I've been granted the Harling hall, and everything tastes of ash and blood. Gaenbald and his retainers fled after the celebration and are riding hard for the river. I need to stop him or they'll have my head.
Other entries made clear that Gaenbald was Lord Horik's brother, and he had been forced to slay him with his own hand to prevent him from trying to make for Middlemere and rejoin the Palanian remnants there.
sd: edit: 129 VY, years off... sd: err...127...conversion fail galore... Edmund: Edmund shook his head sadly. "He took the high road to hell, one step leading to another." sd: An entry of 04 July, in the 4th Year after the Fall of the Valing clan (128 VY), states simply.
My son died today.There were no entries for several weeks afterwards, followed by a number of entries which complained of awful dreams in which he suffered horrendous torment. A voice mocked Lord Horik and told him his torturer was himself, and offered to save him from his pain and guilt. Lord Horik thought he refused. His entries became extremely rare for two years afterwards, and inevitably complained of feeling tired, confused, and having days he didn't recall. His servants told him he had sold his old servant Einilda to the orcs, which he had no recollection of at all. He had one flogged for asking where his wife was. On page, he confessed that he had no idea what the answer to that question was. sd: An entry near the end of the final journal, dated 20 July, in the 8th Year after the Fall of the Valing clan (VY 132).
This can't be.
I've returned from the old Yarming clan hall and discovered Garkaaz had taken some new slaves while raiding in the south. There was a young man in the courtyard, being whipped for some trivial offence. Garkaaz had stripped him naked and this meant I could see the mark on his leg...
Old Ercongota used to be a maid in Cynewulf Valing's household, before he usurped the throne, and she helped deliver his son Cynefrith. She told me about the sword-shaped birthmark on his leg - she used to blither on that Cynewulf thought the mark was Mage-Breaker and this is what made him decide to dispose of Ethelhelm. Rubbish, old Theomar was still High King when Cynefrith was born. Every wise man knows it was Manehtar who persuaded Cynewulf to usurp the throne.
But this doesn't matter. This young slave, he had the mark on his leg! I got a long look at him. He looked hungry and afraid, and little wonder, but he looked like a thinner version of Cynewulf at that age - the icy eyes, bushy eyebrows, broad shoulders, strong jaw. His cock was small as a boy's but the jesters said the same about Cynewulf if he couldn't hear them. I don't even remember what Garkaaz said the slave was called. He said he was about twenty - if that's Cynefrith Valing then he's twenty-one. No, twenty-two, he was born in the spring. Gods know how he could have survived the sack!
Garkaaz would be very interested to know this but I'm not sure I should tell him. I'll have to suggest to him I have information about one of his slaves and see what kind of reward I can negotiate. Every chieftain would pay dearly to have the heir of the Valings at hand...
sd: The final entry, on 07 August, in the 8th Year after the Fall of the Valing clan (132 VY).
I saw the last of the Valings made a whore today.
Garkaaz ordered us to watch. I told him I would watch him pay me and he threatened to have me executed. Bastard. They staked Cynefrith Valing out and let anyone have their way with him for a single gold. Garkaaz toyed with ordering me to participate. Why is it that I have forgotten so much but my memory and my mind had to be so clear today?
They did more to Cynefrith Valing that is not worth writing of. He started with threats, saying the gods would punish them for their evil no matter what they did to him. The gods did nothing and this lasted little time. He called out demanding to know who had betrayed him and I feared Garkaaz would tell him, but I'm too useful a servant to be shamed in that way I suppose, and Cynefrith didn't recognise me.
Far longer than his threats were Cynefrith's tears and his moans, the cries for help, the offer of his crown or his soul to anyone or anything that would save him. No one took him up on this offer either.
Garkaaz be damned. If I am to be clear of mind again, I'll not go tomorrow, and he can try to do what he likes.
Beomund: "Demons, orcs, and greedy men. A perfect concoction of evil," said Beomund after looking away from the journals with disgust. Leofric: Leofric nodded, "A just dish for him. At least we know what happened in this sad place," Hogar: "What do you want to do with this information?"asked Hogar "Should we let everyone know, or only a few trusted people?" Beomund: "Perhaps we should consult with some of our friends about whether it might have any dangerous political implications," replied Beomund. "But otherwise I see no reason to hold back this knowledge." Edmund: "Start with the trusted people, at least. But in the end we should aim to bring truths to light, there is too much rewriting of history," said Edmund.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Jan 21, 2017 19:02:24 GMT
sd: in the late hours of 6 July 230, Sidwell arrived at the now cleansed hall. Already the oppressive feeling in the air was gone, and some birds had returned to the area. They hoped the animals did not come back too soon - the Sisters were relying on the fact that the orcs wouldn't think to look for them here, and if their scouts noticed that animals were no longer avoiding the hills they would be alerted to the fact that something had changed.
The Sister carried a heavy pack with her, as well as her goblin falchion at her right hip. She drew out a scroll as she came up towards the hall and entered. While waiting for the Sisters the party had cleared up the central chamber so they could have somewhere to eat, drink, and sleep, and Edmund had kept their spirits up with music while they rested from their work. Sidwell unrolled the scroll on the table, which proved to be a map of the occupied lands which had formerly been known as Estensalt, the lands east of the mighty Saltanow. In ancient times these had been fair farmlands, and the Alanians had built many settlements and keeps to protect the land, most notably Morricestre upon the southeastern coast to guard from goblin pirates. It was at Morricestre where the Gaston revolt against the Alanians had its ultimate victory, under the command of the High King Peada, and while he had been ultimately slain in the campaign Palania had passed forever into the ownership of folk of Gaston culture and language.
The Sisters had rescued a number of slave women in their raid upon East Phalen that had provided the party with the opening they had needed to enter Manehtar's Library, and it was these women who had drawn the map Sidwell now showed them. In the years of monstrous occupation many places had been given new names by their orcish or goblin inhabitants, and the Sisters had indicated these upon the map in brackets with the true names spelled out next to them. There had even been some settlements founded which had never existed before, such as the slave market of Docktown on the southeastern coast near to Morricestre. The old fortress itself was now known as Chiefkraag and was the home of the Chief himself. sd: "Our target is here," Sidwell pointed to the town of Podolplatz, an ancient Alanian settlement which was now known as Toothtown, about a day's ride from where they were now. "Podolplatz has fallen into the hands of a group of orcish clans who call themselves the Breakteeth tribe. It's near enough to the river that we can escape quickly, and the orcs there are quarelling with the Chief so won't be able to get any help quickly enough for it to matter. I'm going to go to Podolplatz ahead of the others to infiltrate the town, gather information, and lay some groundwork for our attack. The Handmaidens would like you to come with me." Leofric: Leofric glanced at the map, noting all the different towns and such a large lands under monsterous control, wondering if he will see them free within his own lifetime. He nodded with quiet firm determination, "Happy to help out." He commented shortly. Edmund: "Should we go in disguise?" Edmund asked. "Or hide ourselves?" sd: "We'll be in disguise," said Sidwell, laying down her heavy pack and opening it. "I hope you don't mind the intrusion, but I had Annis get your measurements from the servants in your manor." She drew out several sets of clothes, two for each member of the party, and two for herself. The clothing was uniformily bright yellow in colour, and they had a slightly odd scent to them which was reminiscent of kitchens. Beomund: "And these are meant not to stand out?" said Beomund with a half-smile. Edmund: Edmund drew out a case. "I have some things in here which may help. Also I know some other ways to make us less memorable," he added with a smile. sd: "In Estensalt, the great majority of humans are slaves, but there are some who are free - even the orcs are smart enough to realise that they will have fewer rebellions on their hands if they occasionally reward someone who serves them particularly well," Sidwell replied to Beomund, with no smile. "These humans are identified by wearing yellow, because it makes them stand out and hard to blend in or do anything underhanded. A human wearing any other colour in these lands is therefore identified as a slave and can be treated to whatever arbitrary punishment the situation warrants." sd: "They make the clothes from a dye made of onionskin, which is why they have the strange smell. We thought we should make it as authentic as possible to avoid any suspicion. This is the rather minor concession that we need to make to be able to infiltrate Podolplatz, with a much larger and more dangerous one I'll explain later. We need to work on your accents as well, and on disguising you. Occasionally the orcs have dealings with particularly vile and honourless Palanian mercenary slavers, which is what we'll be pretending to be," said Sidwell. "Since you have a silver tongue, Edmund, you can be our spokesman and trader, and these three your bodyguards. I am to be your medicine woman and companion. The Handmaidens think I'm attractive enough to be credible and plain enough that no one will murder you to steal me. If you use this situation to try to take advantage and touch parts of me you shouldn't, then if I'm feeling kind I'll murder you in your sleep, and if I'm feeling cruel I'll let you live and tell Annis when we return." Edmund: Edmund frowned. "What kind of people do you take us for?" Hogar: "I'm not very good at infiltration. " stated Hogar "But I'll do my best not to draw any attention and just act the part of the silent bodyguard, then." Edmund: "No need for acting Hogar," Edmund said, the frown being replaces with a smile. "You make an excellent bodyguard." Edmund: edit *replaced Leofric: Leofric frowned for a moment, "In this case, I assume we can still keep our weapons?" sd: "No. This is the more dangerous of our concessions. The Breakteeth tribes have shamans and mages attached to them, and even without that, your equipment is of such fine quality that it would be confiscated as tribute the moment we tried to enter the town. We need you to leave your magical gear behind, and your warhorses as well," said Sidwell, reaching into her pack again. "If you have any spells cast on you, remove them. If you need to recover your energies, drink your potions now, because we're leaving them behind. Only mages need them." Saying this, she drew out a potion from her pack, pulled out the stopper, and drank. sd: "The Sisters who are coming will bring weapons you can have, of course," she added when she'd finished drinking. "We can scarcely play at being cruel slavers with no weapons at all. Plain steel will suffice for this task." Edmund: Edmund looked sadly at his bows and sword, then he shrugged. "I started with a sling and it did me proud against the Panoptici." Hogar: "Hopefully. Though I will miss my axe."said Hogar before following Sidwell's example and taking a potion from his own pack for drinking. Leofric: Leoric grimaced at the thought of no armours, "I will feel naked without my weapons and armours." He shivered for a moment, "Plain steel will do for now I guess." Edmund: "What about my flute?" Edmund asked. Beomund: "Hopefully we'll avoid any pitched battle where our things would be necessary," said Beomund as he quaffed his own potion. Leofric: He also took another drink of a potion and restored his power to full. sd: "The Sisters will keep them close to hand, so we can return them to you when the hour for battle is at hand," said Sidwell. "My understanding is that your flute is magical, Edmund, so it should stay. One overcurious goblin scanning for magic will give us away otherwise." Edmund: Edmund rootled through his pack and drew out any items he knew would arouse interest. He pulled a gold ring off his finger and laid it with the rest. Edmund: "There is more to us than these objects," he said firmly. Leofric: Leofric stroke his black hairs for a moment and glanced at his rings he recently liberalized from their previous questis Leofric: He took them off to make himself plain as possible. Hogar: Hogar also took off a magical ring and talisman, setting it aside with his enchanted axe sd: "You're going to be the hardest one to disguise, Leofric," said Sidwell. "People east of the river have heard of you four. The Sisters coming after me have some equipment we can use, along with that," she pointed to Edmund's disguise kit. "We'll hopefully be able to make you appear to just be very tanned. I'll do the same for Hogar and Beomund as well, and hopefully three tanned warriors make Leofric less obvious." Leofric: Leofric wrinkled his own nose with small amount of annoyance and replied in a wry tone, "I will do my best." Edmund: "Think how good it will be when we can return to being ourselves," Edmund said with a slight grin. Beomund: Beomund nodded ruefully. "I've grown used to this equipment. But a bit of discomfort will keep us alert." Leofric: Leofric sighed for a moment, agreeing with Beomund sd: they rested for the night, and in the morning, as they waited for the first group of Sisters to arrive, they practised affecting a Palanian accent under Sidwell's careful instruction. There were unscrupulous slavers of Palania who sometimes had dealings with the orcs, but they had yet to have any contact with outcasts from Gastony and their unfamiliar speech might give them away. Edmund: Edmund brought into play the acting skills he had been learning during their last break. Hogar: Hogar had some issues with the accent, but in the end managed a convicing impression thanks to some help from Beomund. Beomund: Beomund had spent time among Palanian slavers, and quickly was able to emulate their manner of speech. sd: the others were able to take Sidwell's lessons quickly - Hogar had some issues, but Beomund helped him out with this. By the time they had finished, a dozen Sisters had arrived, along with one of the male Nighthawks. With a few exceptions they had little of the look of warriors - their leader was a greying woman the same age as Sigrun. Sidwell explained she was one of the Grey-Tainted, the Soiled Sisters who had personally escaped orcish slavery, who had originally been the entire Sisterhood but now comprised only a small minority, and were the most obdurate and furious enemies of the orcs among the Sisters. These brought cosmetics which Sidwell took and prepared to disguise the party with, along with a variety of plain but well-forged steel weapons for the party's use. They also had several brigandines which they could squeeze into, though Beomund and Leofric in particular had a hard time of this. Edmund: Edmund's boiled leather armour would arouse less interest, but he used some pigments from his case to make it look more well-used. Leofric: Leofric smiled at Beomund as they looks over the brigandines, "I wonder if you could make any adjustment to make fitting into it easier?" Hogar: "Been a while since I wore this kind of armor."said Hogar, who had grown used to chain mail "But I'll do." Beomund: Beomund immediately set about making some minor adjustments to the armor, so that it would fit the group members as well as possible. sd: once they'd armed themselves, Sidwell set about disguising them, with aid from Edmund, spending a particularly long time on Leofric to make sure his Erse origins were hidden as well as she could manage. The Sister had obviously done things of this sort before. It was now past mid-day, and Sidwell said that they would ride to the edge of the hills on the horses that the other Sisters had brought with them, then they would rest there and head down into the plains in the darkness. Though orcs and goblins could see in the dark, they knew their enemies tended to be more active in the day and therefore so were their patrols, which would allow the group to get to the roads, such as they were, and pose as mercenaries, obliterating the tracks leading into these no-longer-haunted hills. sd: once the second set of Sisters had arrived, they were ready to depart. They felt extremely exposed without the great quantity of magical equipment they'd accumulated in their journeys, but as the night wore on and the Prophet's Star rose, shining over these occupied lands, they recalled that there were more important protections in the grey world than they could ever take on the battlefield.
After a fitful sleep, Sidwell woke them early and they prepared to set down into the plains, evading any orcs who might be out. Their task was to obliterate their tracks, find the road, and set up a camp as quickly as possible to make it appear as if they'd been camped down on the plains all evening. sd: they successfully crept out of the hills, Beomund destroying their tracks as they went, and then Edmund and Sidwell led them carefully down to the plains. Finding the road to Toothtown quickly, they set up a camp by the side of the road. They hastily erected a camp, setting a fire and aiming to create the impression that it had been smouldering all evening and gradually burning down. Unfortunately, a sudden wind caused it to leap up abruptly, and for a terrified moment they wondered which orcish patrols might look out to see a sudden bright flame where there had been none before until Leofric was able to smother it. They hastily took off their equipment and lay down as if they had been asleep all night, save for Edmund who stayed on watch, in order that their most charismatic person was on hand to lie through his teeth to anyone who might come to investigate. Fortunately, none did, and morning came. Since coming down from the hills they had not slept much at all, but nevertheless they were now out under the morning sun, in the lands of the Chief, and wearing the yellow garb of free humans in occupied Estensalt. Leofric: Leofric felt ever so slightly uncomfortable in his clothings as he felt that they are too tight. Still, compared to other horrors they tend to face on daily basis, this clothing is the least of his problem. He looked around warily and muttered, "So far, so good." Beomund: "It's strange imagining being a collaborator with orcs," murmured Beomund with a furrowed brow. Edmund: Edmund flexed his shoulders and practised a swagger, accompanied by a hard eyed stare and flashy insincere smile. Hogar: Hogar's clothes, on the other hand, were somewhat larger than what would be ideal for his strong but stocky frame. The warrior however did not complain, merely adjusting them once in a while. sd: "In four days from today you'll be able to purge that feeling with fervour," said Sidwell. She rode her horse closely alongside Edmund, feigning the occasional lustful glance in his direction that was actually quite discomfiting coming from the rather severe Sister. Hogar: "And yet when we first met you we were disguised as slavers intent on buying from you and others from pirates - some of which were goblins!" Hogar commented to Beomund "That was not a pleasant deception, but it turned out for the best." Edmund: Overcoming his immediate reaction, Edmund smiled lazily back at Sidwell. Leofric: Leofric groaned quietly for a moment, "I got impaled by a trident spear once we got into a fight on that. Not a pleaseant experience I care to repeat." Beomund: "Let's hope we can pass on my good fortune to more slaves," replied Beomund. "And yes, hopefully without the injuries." sd: "These slaves already have injuries which we will never be able to heal," Sidwell said darkly. "I urged the Handmaidens to undertake this task immediately but they feared it would fail without time to recover from our losses in East Phalen. I hope whatever you found in the Undercity was worth it." Beomund: "I know all too well," replied Beomund to Sidwell's first comment, casting his gaze away for a moment. "If only we could end this scourge for good." Edmund: "At least can do something towards ending it," Edmund said. sd: they rode on for the morning through the occupied lands. As their journey went on they began to pass large agricultural plantations. Sidwell told them that agriculture was one of two principal purposes for enslaved humans in Estensalt, the other being what the goblins had termed the 'flesh-tithe'. Orcs still needed to eat and were loathe to sully their warlike hands with farming, and hunting could not always satisfy their appetites. Even goblins, who had no need of food and could survive indefinitely on polluted water if they needed to, had a fondness for alcohol and even milk, and some in this region had apparently made a special drink of mare's blood and bitter ale.
They had expected extremely grim conditions. Most of the slaves, who were working bare-chested under the sweltering July sun, had the mark of the lash upon them, but generally conditions seemed only a little worse than those they had seen of some particularly harsh Palanian human lords in their journeys. Sidwell quietly explained that this was due to the demands of the orcs. They had discovered, over many years, that slaves who were worked too hard would generally cease to procreate, and those women they took in the flesh-tithe were less fertile. When times were lean they would ignore this and set a ferocious pace for their slaves, but at other times they kept things on a more even keel. One plantation, despite this, had obviously decided to make an example of a young man who was hanging in a crow's cage, where he had obviously been without food or water for at least a week and was now nearing his end. It was no easy thing to ride by him, but Sidwell gave him a hard glance, affected a cruel smile, and rode on towards Podolplatz. Edmund: "These Orcs certainly know how to deal with trouble-makers," Edmund said jovially as they rode by. Beomund: Beomund could only manage his reactions by staring straight ahead, focusing on the road. Hogar: Hogar said nothing, but like Beomund tried to focus on the road ahead. Edmund: Edmund suggested they start using aliases from now on. "I'm Hengist," he said. Leofric: Leofric considered this over, "Randal." Hogar: "Brystan will do." Beomund: "Snaroc," said Beomund after a moment. sd: Sidwell, for her part, kept her own name, as she was no famous hero like the party and confident no one would know her name or appearance
Podolplatz' ancient stone wall had not proved strong enough to withstand dragonfire and so fell in the days of Caragaur's conquest. The orcs had their slaves rebuild it, but Beomund judged its strength only adequate. As they went and were safe, Sidwell explained the few pieces of information they had gleaned about the place from their rescued slaves. These were only small leads, but enough to start with, and her suggestion was that their first act in town should be to get the feel of the place, examining it and learning of its peoples under the guise of searching for contacts.
The leader of the Breakteeth tribes was the King Renzaak, who was the ultimate ruler of Toothtown. His youngest and favourite son, Urgruuz, was always in residence, but day to day affairs were managed by Renzaak's appointed lieutenant, a former goblin overseer called Aukusti, who had proven a fine general and shrewd negotiator.
One slave had been at work on the plantation belonging to the goblin, Leevi, and he was notoriously lenient. The escaped woman had told the Sisters there were many rebellious souls on his lands southwest of Toothtown itself.
They had learned too that there was an orcish shaman, Walpeek, who served the tributary king Bezgaag Breakteeth. Walpeek was known to be rather unfriendly towards his liege, and even towards King Renzaak, and wanted to steer Toothtown towards a closer allegiance with the Chief in Chiefkraag. Leofric: Leofric raised an eyebrow at the notion of lenient goblin... "Sound like Walpeek going to be an issue among many, Will keep an eye and ear out for any informaiton in the town." sd: they had first to pass through the gates of the town itself, which were watched by three goblin guardsmen under the eye of an orcish captain. The goblins took down their names and pressed them hard on their places of origin, whether they had been slaves before and if so who their master had been, their business in Toothtown, and how long they intended to stay. Their notes were in the goblin script and to the party's surprise the orc captain was able to read them when his subordinates passed them on. Hogar is disconnected. Hogar has connected. sd: Edmund spun a convincing tale - Sidwell had advised that they should all claim to be outcasts from Palanian settlements so far away the goblins would never have heard of them, and this seemed to satisfy them. Before they were permitted into the town, they were given red armbands which were emblazoned with a emblem of numerous broken teeth - the King preferred to know when outsiders were loose in his territory, lest they prove to be spies for the Council or, more likely, the Chief and the Liche of the Witchfort. In the event of any disturbances, they could quickly round up any foreigners and determine whether they had done anything. The goblins advised that if they knew what was good for them, they'd keep the armbands on at all times. Leofric: Leofric made sure that the armband stayed on with a extra tug on it. Beomund: Beomund remained quiet, doing his best to mask his discomfort and hatred as the air of a grizzled mercenary. Hogar: Hogar tied the armband extra tightly, to compensate for his slightly oversized clothes. Edmund: Edmund put his armband on and preened. "Does it suit me?" he asked Sidwell with a lewd grin. sd: "I hope you get to take it off when we do that at least," Sidwell responded. "Maybe I'll hang it somewhere else while we're at it, I'd hate to anger the King."
they passed through the gates and on towards the centre of the town. This had been the square the Alanian general, Podol the Powerful, had laid when the town was first founded, and even after the dragon's sack and the long orc occupation there were some signs of its ancientry in Alanian runes carved into the stones there.
Today the plaza was very crowded, and they steered towards it to discover why. A very tall, extremely slender one-armed goblin was atop a makeshift platform, barking out that his master, the mighty king Azuuk Breakteeth, would be auctioning goods both powerful and magical from among his mighty hoard. For their part, the party had left most of their money behind, though the Sisters had given Sidwell enough to be sure they could credibly adopt their guise as buyers of human flesh. It would, at any rate, be a poor idea to draw the attention which would come of putting in a bid. At the least they could watch and learn what they could. Leofric: Leofric glanced around, trying to note some of the Alanian runes while paying attention. He paid attention. Edmund: Edmund leaned against a pillar with his arms folded as if unimpressed, but his eyes were sharp and watchful. sd: the first bid was upon what the goblin auctioneer termed 'the Rune of Might'. This magical rune could be inscribed upon a weapon, which would grant it the power to smash shields to kindling and turn the wielder into an unstoppable warrior.
"If it did that he'd not be selling the fucking thing!" another goblin shouted, to some laughter. The auctioneer ignored him and continued on, starting the bidding at 40 gold. This soon rose to 60 and 70, as the leaders of many orcish tribes from Caragtown, Longroad, Newtail and Redfist put in their bids. Renzaak of Toothtown did not bid, as it would be unseemly for him to purchase a weapon from one of his own subordinates. In the end, it was sold for 100 gold to Tulgaak, the overlord of the Redfist tribes. Whatever his earlier promises of unstoppable might, the auctioneer casually announced, as it was handing it over, that the Breakteeth tribes would be taking it back off his corpse within the year unless King Tulgaak went to hide behind the Chief. sd: the next bid was on a slender glass carafe looted from Caragtown long ago. It had the property that if one were to place a drop of certain liquids, specifically blood, water, ale, or wine, within it, over the course of a day the carafe would fill with this same substance. One goblin shaman demanded to know if it affected only these liquids and not others, which the goblin foolishly confirmed. His visions of free potions to restore his magical energies dashed, the shaman refused to bid, and ultimately it was sold to a goblin chief living in East Caragtown, the very place it had been stolen from. sd: edit: for 25 gold Leofric: Leofric eyed the items, clearly wishing to have them, "Quite nice so far." He whispered so far sd: the next item sold was a seven-foot tall greatsword set with a lustrous ruby. This had no magic to it, only great craftsmanship, but an orc chief who had come from Caragtown in person bought it nonetheless for 20 gold. Waving it high over his head, he vowed he would take the blade into West Caragtown, where he would use it to slay one of the supposedly mighty Gastonlander heroes guarding the city in single combat. Hogar: Hogar barely restrained a smile at the orc chief's bravado. sd: the next bid was upon a drum which had belonged to the old orcish king, Azhrak Drakkenskull, the mightiest of all the kings of the Tailcut orcs, who had fallen in a great campaign against the dragonspawn some forty years ago. The representatives of the Tailcut orcs thought they had the drum quite cheaply, for though it was inlaid with dragonspawn bones and the skin was that of their undead slaves, it had no magical properties. Surprisingly, a group of humans also wearing the red armband put in an opposed bid. The price rose to 20, 25, and finally the Tailcut orcs raised their price to 30 gold and offered violence to the humans if they did not desist. Ignoring the threat, the outsiders put in another bid for 40 gold, and some of King Renzaak's guards had to intervene to prevent a brawl. The Tailcut orcs, who were no friends to the Breakteeth tribe, were ejected, and the humans quickly vanished with their prize. Hogar: "I wonder why they were willing to pay so much."Hogar whispered to his companions when the chaos and noise from the sale had subsided for a few moments Edmund: "Maybe the skins belonged to someone they knew," Edmund suggested. "It's an interesting thought." Edmund: "We should watch out for those men," Edmund added. sd: the next bid was more transparent. The auctioneer had a dragonspawn skull which had been set with arcane inscriptions which had the power to cause it to erupt in a large gout of flame. The orcish shaman Walpeek bought this as a curiosity for 25 gold, significantly greater than the value of an item that would be consumed as soon as it was used, but perhaps the shaman hoped to learn to make another. sd: the final bid was on the most powerful object, but one that was of little interest to an orc. It was a jagged crown of ensnared bones, human, orc, goblin, and dragonspawn, set with two large sapphire orbs like eyes of ice. In the hands of a sorcerer who knew the ways of the dead, this crown would grant them the capacity to cow and conquer the wills of even intelligent undead, and make their own minions more powerful and numerous than they could ever hope to achieve on their own.
A great number of mages, mostly goblins or free humans, put bids towards this item, but one group was always ahead. These were a quartet of human warlocks whose robes were bone white and set with the emblem of an outstretched skeletal hand. These were servants of the Liche of the Witchfort, an ancient sorcerer of great power. The Liche and the Breakteeth orcs had been to war in the past and as the price rose, the auctioneer made clear that he was under the strict instructions of King Renzaak that they would need to pay an extra tax for such an item. It appeared for a time that their bid of 100 gold would be outdone by a bid of 80 from a goblin shaman from Drakkengart, but the Liche's representatives at length offered 150 gold and the auctioneer, after consulting with his master, agreed to the sale. Leofric: Leofric eyed, "Hmm, lot of people from across the lands at the moment." Edmund: Edmund gave Leofric a significant look as they watched this powerful tool falling into the hands of those who would do nothing but evil. Leofric: He whispered to himself Leofric: He eyed back at Edmund, showing a small hint of unhappiness in his eyes for whom who know him most well. sd: "I hope the orcs here have the sense to burn their dead with a necromancer next door," said Sidwell. "If he can get cadavers he should at least have to pay for them." sd: as the crowd began to disperse, Sidwell suggested they should circulate amongst them and otherwise examine Toothtown and its environs to search for contacts. sd: they spent the remainder of the afternoon at work. Under the guise of seeking for contacts in the slave trade, they examined Podolplatz and its surrounding plantations carefully, looking for weaknesses. By the time they were done Leofric had sketched a crude map, with Sidwell's help, of the city and its close environs which the Sisters could use. Beomund had made a full tour of the walls, noting weaknesses in the northeastern section, which the orcs had not bothered to fully repair since that direction was the Dwimmerholt, and the elves who lived in that forest had not raided out of it for many decades. Hogar examined the distribution of troop patrols, which were mostly southerly, towards the Witchfort, and westerly, towards Redfist. Hogar, Sidwell and Edmund all learned the names of guards who were known to be particularly lazy and inattentive, and Leofric bribed a number of corrupt goblin overseers and arranged for them to all have changes to their shift patterns so they would be on watch the night the Sisters launched their raid. Hogar found a few seemingly empty buildings which could be used as hiding places if they got in a tight spot while they were in the city. The most useful building, near to the poorly defended northeastern wall, had a rusted lock, but Edmund worked it free and then managed to replace it, making it seem as if it had not been opened. All along, Sidwell and Edmund deflected anyone who seemed suspicious of them as outsiders with deft words, assuring them that they had already sold all their chattels further north and they would simply be seeking new ones before venturing elsewhere in search of profit. Beomund even half-negotiated a contract to purchase a dozen such slaves. He was glad to pull out of the deal at the end, though later Sidwell commented that before they left, they should spend what money they could to truly purchase them, both in order to keep up their alibi and to spare those slaves the danger of being slain when the Sisters attacked
while they worked, the party learned a number of things from conversations they had or things they overheard, enough to give them further ideas on how to proceed with their tasks in Podolplatz. There was some talk of the Chief, who was apparently unhappy with the goblins in Cyninghithe and was contemplating attacking them before launching any serious campaign to retake West Caragtown.
Most talk, however, was focussed on Toothtown itself. They heard tales of two goblin slavers, one of whom was alive and another dead. The latter, Sakari, had perished a month before, his home northwest of Podolplatz engulfed in a great blaze which most believed had probably been set by one of his slaves. All of these had also died in the fire, so they could not exactly be questioned. The former was the goblin woman Aallotar, who was widely thought to be an agent of the Liche. At the least, she had often done what Sidwell had suggested, selling him the bodies of the dead which he could reanimate. The goblin lieutenant, Aukusti, had tried to have her expelled, but coins had changed hands, the King's son Urgruuz went away richer, and Aallotar was still allowed in the walls.
There were tales told about Aukusti too. He had a long and enduring hatred of the Hardfist orcs, because his brother Taavetti had gone missing in battle against them years ago, and he was certain he still lived. Aukusti had already had one man hunted down and executed for selling him a false tale of where Taavetti could be found.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Jan 29, 2017 12:32:05 GMT
sd: they spent the remainder of the afternoon at work. Under the guise of seeking for contacts in the slave trade, they examined Podolplatz and its surrounding plantations carefully, looking for weaknesses. By the time they were done Leofric had sketched a crude map, with Sidwell's help, of the city and its close environs which the Sisters could use. Beomund had made a full tour of the walls, noting weaknesses in the northeastern section, which the orcs had not bothered to fully repair since that direction was the Dwimmerholt, and the elves who lived in that forest had not raided out of it for many decades. Hogar examined the distribution of troop patrols, which were mostly southerly, towards the Witchfort, and westerly, towards Redfist. Hogar, Sidwell and Edmund all learned the names of guards who were known to be particularly lazy and inattentive, and Leofric bribed a number of corrupt goblin overseers and arranged for them to all have changes to their shift patterns so they would be on watch the night the Sisters launched their raid. Hogar found a few seemingly empty buildings which could be used as hiding places if they got in a tight spot while they were in the city. The most useful building, near to the poorly defended northeastern wall, had a rusted lock, but Edmund worked it free and then managed to replace it, making it seem as if it had not been opened. All along, Sidwell and Edmund deflected anyone who seemed suspicious of them as outsiders with deft words, assuring them that they had already sold all their chattels further north and they would simply be seeking new ones before venturing elsewhere in search of profit. Beomund even half-negotiated a contract to purchase a dozen such slaves. He was glad to pull out of the deal at the end, though later Sidwell commented that before they left, they should spend what money they could to truly purchase them, both in order to keep up their alibi and to spare those slaves the danger of being slain when the Sisters attacked
while they worked, the party learned a number of things from conversations they had or things they overheard, enough to give them further ideas on how to proceed with their tasks in Podolplatz. There was some talk of the Chief, who was apparently unhappy with the goblins in Cyninghithe and was contemplating attacking them before launching any serious campaign to retake West Caragtown.
Most talk, however, was focussed on Toothtown itself. They heard tales of two goblin slavers, one of whom was alive and another dead. The latter, Sakari, had perished a month before, his home northwest of Podolplatz engulfed in a great blaze which most believed had probably been set by one of his slaves. All of these had also died in the fire, so they could not exactly be questioned. The former was the goblin woman Aallotar, who was widely thought to be an agent of the Liche. At the least, she had often done what Sidwell had suggested, selling him the bodies of the dead which he could reanimate. The goblin lieutenant, Aukusti, had tried to have her expelled, but coins had changed hands, the King's son Urgruuz went away richer, and Aallotar was still allowed in the walls.
There were tales told about Aukusti too. He had a long and enduring hatred of the Hardfist orcs, because his brother Taavetti had gone missing in battle against them years ago, and he was certain he still lived. Aukusti had already had one man hunted down and executed for selling him a false tale of where Taavetti could be found.
Afterwards, they up to eat and discuss what they would do. Podolplatz had a few buildings that approximated to what in another settlement might be termed an inn, drinking holes for wandering monsters, which were particularly popular with the goblins who could survive entirely on what was found on tap. Today these were packed with various creatures from the auction, and rather than risking being overheard, Sidwell had persuaded a free human, who ran a small shop which specialised in producing the various hues of yellow dye freefolk used to advertise their status in these lands, to let them use his spare room. It was extremely cramped, but the fewer creaturs had reason to look at them and wonder at their business the better. "The Handmaidens are leaving exactly what we do to our discretion," she said in between mouthfuls of a meager dinner of bread, cheese, and some of the thin onion soup often served to slaves in these lands - whatever the connotation, Sidwell refused utterly to buy or eat any meat sold in a land governed by orcs. "Their suggestions were roughly this - rouse discontent in any groups of slaves who might be willing to rise up when we attack; sow any divisions amongst the local monsters we can; find somewhere on the outskirts of the town, preferably to the north or the west, which we can use as a rallying place for when it's time to flee back across the river; and neutralise any particular monsters who seem likely to put up an effective resistance to us. This goblin Aukusti seems like a primary example of the latter; perhaps the slaves belonging to this supposedly lenient goblin are some of the first." Beomund: "If we're going to seek out slaves to aid us, perhaps it would be best to seek them out first so they have time to prepare?" suggested Beomund. "Or would we be more concerned about the chance they might be discovered if we do so too early..." Hogar: "On the other hand, the earlier we approach them, the more time the orcs and goblins will have to discover our efforts..." Edmund: "If we're neutralising, presumably by liquidising, the worst monsters, that will likely raise the alarm, so contact the slaves first," Edmund said. sd: "Yes. We should kill Aukusti, but that's the last thing we should do in the city. The Handmaidens made sure to give me enough money to actually buy some slaves which we can do towards the end. Distasteful, but everyone we save this way is someone who can choose to fight for us when it comes to the battle," said Sidwell. Hogar: "Distasteful, but if we win we can simply take the money again from the slavers' dead bodies and use it more tastefully."said Hogar grimly sd: "We will win," Sidwell said grimly. "I agree with Edmund, when we're finished eating we should go and use what daylight we have left to find Leevi's estate and see what we can find." Beomund: "Agreed," said Beomund, before returning to quietly sipping his soup. Leofric: Leofric didn't say much on this topic and agreed with the plan as he bite off a piece of stale bread. sd: they set out for the slavemaster's estate. The goblin's main hall had obviously been rebuilt on the site of an old Gaston noble clan's residence, atop a hill south of the city proper. His plantation sprawled across many acres - the centre pieces were large fields of wheat and vegetables, with animals raised as well. Goblins had no need of meat, but orcs and humans did, and at any rate cows and horses provided good leather for the lighter armour the goblin race preferred. These were not his only enterprises however - there was also a small quarry in the side of a hill opposite his great hall, there was a small wood, and he had several workshops where some free humans worked to refine his raw goods. Altogether he had perhaps a hundred and fifty slaves, they guessed. It was past time most folk on the other side of the river would have ceased to work, but as it was summer it was still light, and therefore even lenient masters kept their chattels at work until the sun fell. Watching from afar for a time, they thought the slavemaster didn't employ enough overseers, and what he might have gained in increased hours he lost in time that his slaves spent resisting in what ways they could, working very slowly, or even ceasing altogether and simply speaking when it was safe to do so. A few goblins went about with whips, but for their part they saw only one or two slaves who had what seemed to be recent lash marks on their backs.
Hogar and Leofric were able to speak to one goblin, who hissed and spat as he spoke, and passed him some gold by way of explanation that they were passing 'merchants of flesh' and they would be grateful if they could pass through and have some unimpeded access to the place for a time - surely his underlings would be appreciative if he sent them to the taverns early with some drinks on him. With this secured, they were able to go down into the fields.
though some of the overseers had been sent home, the goblin they'd bribed had needed to leave some out for show, so Edmund found them some safe places to hide when they needed it, and Beomund and Sidwell were careful to erase any signs of their passage. Edmund went out towards the largest field, and taking out his lute he began to play lightly. They could not go so far as to explicitly call on the slaves to rise up, but there were seeds they could plant, and Edmund did so with songs west of the river, singing about people escaping from their past lives and starting anew, living in freedom. As he did, Hogar and Sidwell circulated among the slaves, adminstering some quick medical attention to those few with signs of recent injury, or who seemed to be showing signs of exhaustion or malnourishment
This ultimately did draw a goblin overseer who demanded to know what they were doing - he, it seemed, had not been one of those to benefit from his superior's largesse. The bard was able to trick him into thinking they were simply looking to conduct business and wanted to see which of their thralls still had some spirit, and the creature went away. As he did, however, he cracked his whip overhead and told the assembled slaves to get back to work. The party had to move on and continue towards the craft shops.
Hogar made a few enquiries and discovered a place where some of Leevi's freedmen gathered and played cards inside a barn. He, Leofric and Beomund headed there, and in the course of a few games they learned the names of a few of Leevi's more prominently discontent slaves, ones who had committed offences which, under a harsher master, would have already seen them killed.
Sidwell and Edmund, meanwhile, headed towards the quarry. The quarry was where they had been told the slaves were worked hardest, and therefore were the most likely to want to rise up. Sidwell changed their disguises - to do so would allow them to speak somewhat more explicitly, if they were able to get away from the overseers. They had to hide out behind a shed for about an hour before the sun began to set, and once the darkness began to settle, a line of grim, tired men began to file out of the quarry. The overseer of the mine remained behind, since not all of the men were being allowed to leave at once, but there were enough to be a crowd, and when they came down the hill Edmund stepped out and began to speak to them, reminding them of how significantly they outnumbered their weak and monstrous masters, and how easy it might be, if fate gave them the chance, to win their liberty. He might have said more, but the fact that the departing miners had halted on the path gave the overseer reason to come and investigate, and Edmund and Sidwell decided they would be wisest to flee before awkward questions were asked.
As Hogar, Beomund and Leofric headed back to the rendezvous point they had agreed, just west of the large stone that marked the edge of Leevi's lands, a woman in slave colours went past them. She had a heavy basket full of vegetables on her back, but she carried them with one hand free. As she came near to the party she seemed to overbalance and stumble slightly towards Hogar. You whisper to Hogar: his sharp eyes spotted the woman's hand going towards his pocket, but just as quickly he saw that her intent was not to remove something from his pocket, but place it there, as she carried some small piece of rough parchment in her free hand. sd: edit: flute, not lute! Hogar: Hogar gave the woman a quick glance and a slight, almost impercetible nod and smile as she passed beside him, as if he had understood something - and then turned to the others, as if not to draw undue attention. sd: the woman regained her balance and went away quickly Edmund: Edmund raised his eyebrows at Hogar interrogatively. Edmund: edit* erase that Leofric: Leofric glanced at Hogar and moved in closer to pay attention, "Well?" sd: when the woman had gone past and Hogar, Beomund and Leofric were able to move on to a more sheltered spot, Hogar showed them a small piece of parchment which the woman had pushed into his pocket. The message was short.
I know what you're doing. If you want to see more people wearing yellow, come and meet me at midnight at the old potter's shed near the southern boundary stone. I'll put a red tunic in the east-facing window so you know which one to go to. My son and his wife will be there too and they'll help. Hogar: "Not a trap, hopefully."whispered Hogar Leofric: Leofric narrowed his eyes, "Hmm. Interesting. It is better not be a trap!" Leofric agreed with Hogar's assessment. Beomund: "Let's see what Edmund and Sidwell think of it," suggested Beomund. Edmund: Edmund and Sidwell appeared. "There are some slaves who work in the mines who seem likely to be helpful." Beomund: "Good work," said Beomund, handing over the note. "We met a woman who slipped us this as well." Hogar: "The fact they could just attack us in the open makes me think this is not a trap." added Hogar "Still, it never hurts to be careful." Edmund: "We can be cautious," Edmund said. Leofric: Leofric agreed with slight doubt in his eyes, "We should be. Let hope for the best" sd: they did not have to wait long - the sun had already gone down, and once they had swung back around to the south of Leevi's lands, and Sidwell applied fresh disguises for herself and Edmund, it was near to midnight already. Though they had in fact arrived earlier, when they came near to the pottery shed they found that the red tunic was already hanging at the eastern window, masking all within. There was a window facing south as well, but this one had been broken at some point and rather than being fixed had simply been boarded up. The door was next to it, a firm oaken frame with a small keyhole. Edmund: Edmund kept to the shadows as they sneaked nearer. sd: wary of the possibility of a trap, Edmund crept forward on his own towards the door. Silent as the grave he crept forward and listened at the door, occasionally glancing up and peeking through the keyhole. You whisper to Edmund: this had a narrow range and allowed him to see only a little bit of the small room within. He saw no one, but he did hear occasional shuffling and scuffing off clothes, as if someone was knitting or doing some other regular action with their hands. He heard no words spoken. He kept a close ear out for the tell-tale sound of iron that might indicate an ambush but heard nothing. Then suddenly he heard footsteps and he bent down, leaning his head back and getting a small look through the keyhole. A thin figure was pacing back and forth. He could not see it closely, but then it came towards the door, and he froze and crept sideways out of the way of the door. In place of his own eye at the keyhole there was another, and it was of a yellow-green colour that was not one any human eye possessed. The eye withdrew from the keyhole after a moment, and when he looked back inside he saw the figure of a goblin for a moment before it went back out of sight. Edmund: Edmund signalled to the others to remain where they were. Leofric: Leofric frowned for a moment, concerned as wgar Edmund might have spotted Edmund: Silently slipping from one shadow to another, Edmund reached his companions. "I think it's a trap. There's a goblin waiting in there, pacing up and down. It looked through the keyhole! There's a sound like someone kniting or something, which seems oddly relaxed if the old woman in in there as part of an ambush..." Edmund frowned. Edmund: edit* is in there Hogar: Hogar swore under his breath, looking to the others and at his own weapon. Edmund: "I think we need to check it out," Edmund said. "Did the woman know there were five of us or did she only see you three?" Hogar: "Why prepare a trap for us when they could just make an example of us publicly? Is it possible the goblin wants to make a deal for his own benefit?"he whispered "Can we afford the risk?" Edmund: "Can we afford not to? They know we're here," Edmund answered sd: "Maybe they're trying to trick us and find out if we're part of a larger party," said Sidwell. "Or maybe the woman was sincere but got found out. When the goblin was pacing, did it sound like it had a weapon?" Edmund: "I heard no sound of metal," Edmund said. sd: "Hmph. A shaman, maybe. They usually like a few fighters in the way though." Beomund: "Let's get in position so that if we must fight, we'll have the advantage, but see what's going on," said Beomund. Edmund: "How about you three go to the door, and we sneak up ready to jump in," Edmund suggested. sd: "We could go in through the window," Sidwell suggested, pointing to the red tunic. "If we time it right they won't hear us prying it open when you knock." Edmund: Edmund nodded in agreement. sd: Hogar, Beomund and Leofric headed for the door while Edmund and Sidwell crept around to the window. When Hogar knocked lightly on the door, Edmund began to work on the window sd: after a moment words came through the door. "Slide it through the keyhole." It was a woman's voice, hoarse and low. They already knew a goblin was inside, and listening to the words they guessed this was the speaker, for the raspy quality of the words was similar to others of the creatures they had had words with. Beomund: Beomund looked to the others, nodded, and then slid the note through the keyhole. You whisper to Edmund: they went in quickly through the window, pulling it shut after them. They were in a small, dusty room - there were many old pottery shards in the corners, and fragments of these had broken up over time. His nose twitched. There was a door leading into the central chamber on the far wall, and Sidwell moved towards it. sd: the woman took the note through the door and spent a moment examining it. "Come in, quickly," she said, opening the door a crack. They could see only a part of the room, seeing the edge of a long table and little more. Edmund whispers: Edmund crept behind Sidwell, drawing out his flute as he did so. Hogar: Hogar volunteered to be the first to go through the door, after a quick look through the crack. Leofric: Leofric nodded, even although he remains at high status of alert, ready to fight at the drop of a hat. You whisper to Edmund: Sidwell opened the door a crack, grasping her falchion in one hand and a dagger to throw in the other. The central chamber was entirely bare save for a long table on which there was a long cloth, some kind of waterskin, and a chunk of brown bread. There was no sign of any weapons. The front door was opening to reveal Hogar's shape, and as he entered, another large figure, this one in a corner opposite the main door, shifted. The figure was a large orc, with muscular hands. Despite the summer heat, the orc had a thick scarf wound round its neck. sd: Hogar stepped inside. The chamber was entirely bare, save for a long table in the centre of the room. There was a long cloth on the table, as well as some kind of waterskin, and a chunk of brown bread on its northern edge. There was a small door in the eastern wall. He faintly sensed a thin goblin woman to his left behind the door as it opened, but this was not the figure his attention was drawn to. In a corner opposite the main door there stood a large orc, almost eight feet tall, with no weapons but muscular hands. Despite the summer heat, the orc wore a thick scarf wound round its neck. Edmund whispers: edit* drawing out an arrow and fitting it to his bow Hogar: Hogar tried to keep both the she-goblin and orc in his field of vision, obviously still worried they might attempt something against the party. sd: "Get in and close the door, quickly," the goblin woman snarled, throwing the note Beomund had given her on the table. Her and the orc exchanged a glance. The orc raised his hand and began to make a gesture, but the goblin shook her head. Leofric: Leofric on hearing this went in quickly. sd: *She and the orc Beomund: Beomund followed suit, eying the orc warily. sd: "My name is Ansa, this is Fargruuz," she indicated the orc. "I believe you met his mother earlier." Beomund: Beomund glanced back and forth between them for a long moment, before blurting out "Her... son?" sd: "You know what the flesh-tithe is don't you?" Ansa snapped. "There aren't any orc women, and most of them don't get willing wives like he did. My husband can't speak, by the way, one the chewers west of the river put an arrow through his throat a few years ago. If you see us making hand gestures it's because it's the only way he can speak to me." Beomund: Overcoming his shock, Beomund took a deep breath. "Apologies. Can you explain why we were brought here, then?" sd: "Fargruuz's mother Frigyth is one of the house slaves around here, Leevi is rather fond of her. Not fond enough to free her so she can be exempted from the tithe, but still. She heard a few hours ago there were some strangers about. One of her friends mentioned some fellow playing a flute and singing songs about people being free, and others were talking about men trying to learn which of the slaves around here are...uncooperative. She decided she'd approach you. Frigyth wants to get far away from Toothtown and bring as many others with her as possible. Is that what you want?" Edmund whispers: Edmund caught Sidwell's eye, unsure whether they should make themselves known. You whisper to Edmund: Sidwell the Sister still had the dagger in her hand and had Fargruuz in her sights. You whisper to Edmund: he could hear the truth in Ansa's words clearly. the goblin woman was more than a little nervous and wary, but Edmund now felt sure that she meant them no harm. You whisper to Hogar: he could hear the truth in Ansa's words clearly. the goblin woman was more than a little nervous and wary, but Edmund now felt sure that she meant them no harm. You whisper to Hogar: that should say Hogar, not edmund! Edmund whispers: Edmund lowered his bow, and touched Sidwell on the arm, shaking his head to signify they were not at risk. You whisper to Edmund: Sidwell gave him a furious glance, but eventually she put her weapons away. Her eyes were still locked on the orc. Hogar: Hogar said nothing but relaxed slightly, as if he felt the goblin was no threat, at least for now. sd: "So...where do you come from, and where are you going? Docktown? Redfist? Or...further?" said Ansa. You whisper to Leofric: her story, followed immediately by questions about where they were from, drove Leofric to great suspicion for a moment, but none of his companions seemed to share his anxiety and he allowed himself to calm down. Beomund: Seeing that his companions seemed to believe the story, Beomund spoke. "Before we explain ourselves, I should tell you we have two others with us. I hope you can understand our caution. We didn't want to risk an ambush if we'd been discovered." sd: Fargruuz gave an expansive shrug. "Hmph. If you'd been discovered by the wrong people then Aukusti would have folk more dangerous than us after you, chewer," said Ansa. She picked up the waterskin and took a drink, then offered it to Beomund. Edmund: Edmund drew out his flute and played the same tune he had earlier. Beomund: Hesitating only a moment, Beomund decided that accepting the offer would be a good sign of friendship, and quickly took a drink. Hogar: Hogar did likewise, though it looked as if he only did it because Beomund was. Obviously he was not fully comfortable being the guest of such a couple, but he understood it was best to go along with the others. sd: the skin contained some kind of mead. It was extremely oversweet to their taste, but otherwise acceptable. Ansa and Fargruuz had spun towards Edmund, who had emerged, along with Sidwell, from through the eastern door. "You're fucking mad!" Ansa swore in surprise. "Put the flute away. It's very nice but it's loud. It's hardly for us anyhow." Edmund: Edmund stopped playing and bowed to Ansa. "Thank you for your hospitality." sd: as Edmund put his flute away, there was a knock at the door, and a woman's voice came through the door. "Ansa?" sd: the goblin went quickly to the door, and the woman who had passed Hogar the note earlier in the evening came in. "My name is Frigyth," she said, though as the goblin had already told them this it was entirely unnecessary. Hogar: Hogar broke is silence as he recognized the woman "We have been told about your plans, and will help.", he said after looking at the others "Of course you understand this will be very risky." sd: "Can you get me west of the river?" Frigyth asked. Edmund: "We will do our best to do so," Edmund said. sd: Frigyth nodded. She looked over to the corner of the room and caught her son's eyes, and they were silent for a moment before the orc nodded. "Alright. I assume you intend to fight then. They let people buy slaves and bring them east or south, but not west." Beomund: "We intend to fight, and help many free themselves," agreed Beomund. "We are not the only ones with plans here." sd: "Good. I want Leevi dead," Frigyth said bitterly. "Fargruuz and Ansa can get their hands on weapons, and I know people willing to die wielding them. We just need somewhere to hide them, and some way to escape. So are there more than just you five?" Edmund: "We are not alone," Edmund spoke smoothly. sd: "What's the plan then? Oh, it's better if you don't tell me. Fargruuz and Ansa can get to work getting weapons, if you return tomorrow night we'll start moving them." Frigyth paused. "I need to know at least one part of the plan. When? If I'm to try to get people on side, I need some idea of what to tell them. At least to give them an idea. Are we planning to do something tomorrow, in a week, a month, what?" sd: Sidwell spoke after a moment. "In four or five days," she said, casting a glance at Fargruuz, whom she had been eyeing for some time. "Can you be ready by then? Do you know anyone outside of this plantation who would fight?"
"I'll see what I can do, the people here are the ones I know best," Frigyth responded. "Five days...that's not too long to wait." sd: "We're going to get to work then," said Ansa, making some gestures to Fargruuz, who responded in kind. The goblin headed through the door, the massive orc behind her, fidgeting with his scarf. As he went, he paused next to his mother, then stooped beside her. Frigyth looked slightly wary, but she took a look into the orc's eyes, then she sighed and embraced him. Fargruuz patted her lightly on the back with his massive hands, then strode through the door after his wife. Leofric: Leofric watched them leave with no expression on his face, wondering what the world is coming to. Edmund: Edmund watched this with interest. "We will have to reconsider our views after this," he said quietly to Leofric. sd: Frigyth picked up the discarded skin of mead and drank deeply, shaking. "The last time an orc touched me..." she let the words trail off. Hogar: Hogar frowned slightly overhearing Edmund's words "I doubt you could get most orcs and goblins to reconsider theirs, however...even with as persuasive as you are." he commented Beomund: Beomund nodded sympathetically to Frigyth. "A horror like that won't be easily forgotten. But it seems we can hope Fargruuz will help prevent that from happening to more." Leofric: Leofric frowned for a moment, "We will see." Edmund: "Any chance to develop understanding rather than fear and violence is worth taking," Edmund said. sd: "Maybe if they could all find goblin wives and have some time with their mother while they're at death's door," said Frigyth. "But I can't see it. Orcs...they can be like animals, they go into...well, heat, I suppose. If their urges aren't handled, and they usually aren't, then they turn extremely violent. If not for Ansa, I wouldn't let Fargruuz near me." Edmund: "How did Orcs ever come into existence?" Edmund frowned. sd: "How did we ever come into existence?" Frigyth shrugged and drained the skin. "Some day if I get west of the river, maybe I'll meet one of these people they say believe there's one god who's nothing but kind and good. I think I'd like to punch one of them in the face." Beomund: Beomund smiled wanly at that. "Sometimes I feel the same."
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Post by sleepingdragon on Feb 11, 2017 14:03:53 GMT
sd: Ansa, Fargruuz and Frigyth had asked them to return the next night, so they left Leevi's estates and began to make their way back towards the merchant's house where they were staying. Sidwell had a troubled look on her face, but she was silent until they arrived. "While we're waiting for them to be ready, in the morning we should put some of the Handmaiden's ideas into practise," she said. "Sowing dissension among the monsters here, or finding somewhere north or west to use as a rallying point for when we begin the retreat." Beomund: "The Shaman Walpeek might be one of our best opportunities," suggested Beomund. "It should be relatively easy to get a fight brewing between him and Renzaak's forces." Edmund: "We could also spread rumours. Suggest the Sakari fire wasn't just down to rebellious slaves. Offer information to Aukusti about his brother that implicated others." Edmund suggested sd: "I'd sooner use information about his brother to try to lure Aukusti somewhere we can kill him," said Sidwell. "We could try to find Walpeek and trick him. He just bought a dragonspawn skull that explodes with fire, if we get him to plant that somewhere...or alternately we steal it from him and set it off after we've killed Aukusti to throw the suspicion onto him." Leofric: "There is also an opportunity to fan some resent between the orcs who lost to these people who won it at the auction." Hogar: "Should we deal with Aukusti before other things, or just before we make our final move so that the they don't have any time to reorganize?"inquired Hogar Edmund: "There are more subtle ways to kill than to stick them ourselves," Edmund said to Sidwell. "We can get as many as possible to kill each other and target those we can't.". sd: "Last. When Aukusti dies everyone wearing one of these," she indicated the armbands they had been made to wear, "will be under suspicion." She looked at Edmund. "Certainly. But Aukusti we want to be certain of, in a pitched battle he's the most dangerous monster in this city, by his reputation." Edmund: "We will kill him last," Edmund agreed. Beomund: "I'd say Walpeek would be the best place to start," said Beomund. "See if we can get him to plant the skull and cast suspicion on himself." Edmund: Edmund nodded. "How do we get to him? Have we anything to offer him?" Hogar: "We could suggest we have magical knowledge he might be interested in, perhaps." sd: "We haven't enough money to bribe him, if that sort of thing influenced him," said Sidwell. "What we heard suggested that he wants to fight for the Chief. If we pretend to be agents of the Chief, we can say he'll be rewarded when Renzaak has been replaced." Beomund: "A good plan. And we could suggest the skull will be important for the plan, and its value will be replaced twice over." Edmund: "We will need to be very convincing," Edmund said, with a slight smile. sd: "Are we all going to go and speak to Walpeek? I'll go with Edmund certainly, we need to keep up our cover." Beomund: "Unless any of us have something we could accomplish in the meantime," said Beomund. "I don't think I'd be well-suited for rumor-spreading." Edmund: "Wouldn't it be expected that we should have our bodyguards with us?" Edmund asked Sidwell. "Is there any reason to split our forces?" sd: "Time was my only thought. We have three days and we need to use them wisely." sd: in the morning they awoke ready to go to find Walpeek, though they had not yet decided whether all of them should go or whether Edmund or Sidwell would go alone and leave the others to investigate other matters. Edmund: "I will leave it up to you to decide," Edmund said to the others. "We have a lot of work to do." sd: Edmund and Sid went to find Walpeek, with Hogar accompanying them as a bodyguard, while Beomund and Leofric went to search for information about the fire that had destroyed the estate of the goblin Sakari.
the shaman, they learned, had a great fondness for games of chance, seeing his fortune with dice as proof that the nameless gods of the orcs had selected him for high things. They found him rather readily, therefore, in one of the town's taverns, which was crowded even in the early morning. Many creatures who had come with their tribes for the auction were asleep on tables. The smell of alcohol was overpowering, in particular the potent spirit the goblins named iron breath, the ingredients of which included human blood. Walpeek, as was apparently common for orc shamans of this region, was a eunuch, and his smooth, hairless face made him stand out in the crowd. As the party entered he was easily clearing out a goblin at some manner of complicated game of dice. sd: Beomund and Leofric soon found quite a few rumours circulating about the fire on Sakari's estate. Overwhelmingly, it was believed to have been the work of slaves, however some were not entirely certain of this. Apparently the goblin had owed debts to a number of prominent people in the Breakteeth lands, including the slaver Aallotar and the clan chief Arughax. The latter often engaged in border skirmishes with the Tailcut orcs, disregarding Aukusti's attempts to keep good relations with those tribes, and he had apparently been quite eager to have his debts repaid so he could have coin to engage in these extracurriculars.
whatever the nature of the fire, one thing that was certain was that King Renzaak had ordered his estates left alone and he had confiscated those items that had survived the fire. Aukusti was now speaking to the various parties to arrange repayment of debts from the surviving assets, and working out who would get ownership of the land, and until this was dealt with all were forbidden from going to the estate or its surrounding lands. The compound was said to be fortified and some of these had survived the blaze. Given its location west of the city, relatively near to the river, it seemed to Beomund that it might be possible to use the place as a rallying point, leaving traps there, erecting makeshift barriers which onlookers might simply assume was the work of the King. Leofric: Leofric smiled slightly, "A good and useful find." He told Beo as he considered this estate/ sd: Sidwell ordered drinks and they began to walk over towards Walpeek, who had just finished with his previous challengers. Two young looking orcs made towards him as well, having obviously already made arrangements to see the shaman. "Wait your turn, bitch," the bigger of the two orcs told her, thrusting his way in front of her and waving his drink in her face. The other orc sidled up behind Sidwell and made to grab at her breast from behind, but the Sister snatched his hand in mid-air in one smooth movement sent him flipping over her shoulder and careening into the other orc. The creature staggered back, swearing wildly, and creatures turned to look, though without as much interest as such a scene might arouse in a Palanian tavern. "Brystan, if these two creatures don't leave immediately, kill one of them and then strangle the other with its guts," Sidwell said carelessly to Hogar. Hogar: "As you wish." said Hogar grimly, glaring at the orcs Sidwell has just embarassed as if he would have appreciated the opportunity to do so Edmund: Edmund merely gave them a sideways look and smiled at Sidwell as though appreciating her ferocity. sd: the orcs took a look at them, then decided it was better not to try to press their luck. The one whose drink had been spilled made a show of reaching for his weapon to try to save face, then shook his head and strode away, muttering.
Walpeek had watched this all impassively. He was a little over seven feet tall, which was short by orcish standards. He had a large box carved with a crude rune and set with a strong lock sitting on the table next to him, and his hands caressed a horn dice cup. On impulse he rolled the dice out on the table, snatched them up, and replaced them back in the cup in a smooth motion, repeating this numerous times as he watched them. "What do you want, flesh?" he grunted. Edmund: Edmund bowed to Walpeek and addressed him courteously. "We are here representing the Chief. He knows that you wish to serve him, and offers you the opportunity to do so." sd: Walpeek's hand froze for a moment as he reached for his die, then he picked them up again and tossed them back in his cup. "You're very bold liars, sure," he said. "Why should I think you come from the Chief?" Edmund: Edmund spoke smoothly with no sign of concern at the Orc's doubts. "The chief is looking to make alliance with you, knowing of your talents as a mage. You also know some of the goblin shamans in Cyninghithe, and can use your influence to bring some of them on board." sd: "I'm bound to Bezgaag and to Renzaak," said Walpeek. "How can the Chief ally with a servant?" He looked at them and shook his cup. "When I deal with people, I like to know if they're lucky. You shouldn't work with people the gods frown on." The shaman offered Edmund the cup. Edmund: Edmund took the cup, made a silent prayer in his head, and blew on the dice before turning it upsidedown with a flourish and revealing the dice like a showman. sd: Edmund and the orc rolled several rounds. Each time the dice seemed to be in tune, coming within one or two each time, which in this game continued the contest. On the final roll, Walpeek finally rolled an excellent total, one leaving Edmund needing nothing but fives and sixes to continue the game. The bard picked up the dice and rolled, and to their astonishment all the dice came out with the maximum number, save for one, which rolled on its side for a moment...and turned over to reveal another six. Edmund: Edmund spread his hands with a smile, as if to say "Here you are, a man beloved by the gods." sd: Walpeek looked at the dice, nonplussed. "What is your plan? Are you going to deal with Bezgaag or Renzaak? How?"
"The Chief has something planned for three or four days from now," Sidwell said smoothly. "You'll know it when you see it. And if you will but do as we ask, then there will be a new King of the Breakteeth tribe when that day comes." sd: the Sister called on the powers of the Dark Sister, creating an aura. Only they three and Walpeek could feel it, but its effect was to fill their hearts with hope, and, for the shaman, a certain belief that this could work and he could truly achieve his goal. "And what would the Chief have me do?" Edmund: "You recently obtained an artefact, a skull," Edmund said. "This will be essential in taking action for the Chief. The plan is that you should explode the skull. At daybreak in four days from now, when all will be ready." Edmund: "You will of course be reimbursed what you paid for the skull," Edmund added. sd: Walpeek glanced down at the box by his side for a moment. "Where?" Edmund: "By the northeastern wall," Edmund said. "Can we inform the chief that he can rely on your help?" sd: "You can. The Breakteeth tribe long to retake Caragtown and will fight for the Chief until the end of days." Edmund: Edmund smiled broadly. "That is very good news. We thank you for your time." He bowed again and they excused themselves. sd: much of the afternoon had been taken up in dealing with Walpeek and they had now only a few hours before they were due to meet with Ansa, Frigyth, and Fargruuz to begin stashing weapons to be used in the coming uprising. They returned back to the merchant's home to eat for the two groups to tell each other what they'd done Beomund: Beomund was glad to hear of their success with Walpeek. "We have good news too. Sakari's estate looks to be a perfect place to set up a rallying point, as most everyone is barred from investigating it." Edmund: "That is excellent!" Edmund said. sd: "We can work on that tomorrow then," said Sidwell. "For now, let's get these weapons in place." sd: they went to meet with Ansa and Fargruuz, who had obtained a large number of weapons, mostly daggers or short swords but also short bows, javelins, small shields, helms, and hatchets. Fargruuz was a smith himself and Ansa a scribe and shop assistant, and their positions had allowed them, with some difficulty, to make large amounts of stock disappear. these they had bundled into heavy packs, which they stuffed with cloth or foodstuffs to make it seem they were transporting other goods. They threw them into the back of a wagon and rode around town, with Hogar and Beomund carrying them out and placing them into some of the various abandoned buildings they had found around the city. Leofric and Edmund stayed to deflect any wandering guardsmen who might be concerned as to what they were doing, while Sidwell looked for good hiding places which slaves might be able to locate in a hurry.
About an hour after the sun had fallen, disaster struck. Leofric had finally convinced a particularly persistent goblin captain that they were only on innocent business when Hogar, picking up a heavy pack, slipped on a wet cobblestone. There was an audible sound of metal as the pack tore and a number of daggers and swords spilled to the ground. The goblin captain drew his sword and one of his fellows quickly blew a horn - while they were confident they could quickly defeat these soldiers, this would do them little good if they were soon overwhelmed with reinforcements. "Move!" Sidwell leapt away from the cart and took off at a sprint. sd: they dashed off ahead - the ordinary goblin soldiers were rapidly outpaced, but the captain was more stubborn. Goblins were quick runners and the creature kept hard on the heels of Edmund and Leofric, gaining ground on the bard. Beomund, however, had pulled far out in front. Having won himself some space, he turned suddenly and cast a spell. As the goblin captain rounded a corner near a small stone house, the wall of the house suddenly shifted, swinging outwards like a door, slamming hard into the goblin as he barrelled on at full speed. He crumpled to the ground and they tore ahead with the rest of the soldiers left far behind. They heard the alarm being raised and knew they would have to move quickly and quietly - they had found a number of safehouses in their original reconnaisance and they set out towards the nearest of these. sd: they were able to sneak through the streets, splitting into two groups for security - Sidwell, Beomund and Leofric made up one group, and Hogar and Edmund the other. they went through the backstreets, thankful for the work they had already done which established which areas were best to use if something like this happened. they soon had completely lost their tails and sent them off on a wild chase the other way, then they retreated towards the safe house to lick their wounds. You whisper to Edmund: as he and Hogar headed back, he glanced down an alleyway and suddenly noticed the smell of blood in the air. Looking down it, he saw a human slumped against a wall, in a pool of dried blood. He wore the yellow of a freeman, the red armband of an outsider, and it was impossible to tell if he was alive or dead. Edmund whispers: "Hogar!" Edmund whispered urgently. He turned suddenly down an alley towards a shape slumped against a wall. You whisper to Hogar: there was a man there, wearing the yellow of a freeman, the red armband of an outsider, and he lay in a pool of dried blood against a wall down a secluded alleyway. Hogar whispers: Hearing Edmund, Hogar glanced down at the shape for signs of life. You whisper to Edmund: the man was breathing shallowly, but he had been seriously wounded with some kind of bladed weapon, probably an axe. Now that they were nearer to him, they thought they recognised him - he had been part of the group of outsiders who purchased the drum of Azhrak Drakkenskull, to the bitter objection of the Tailcut orcs, at the auction yesterday. You whisper to Hogar: the man was breathing shallowly, but he had been seriously wounded with some kind of bladed weapon, probably an axe. Now that they were nearer to him, they thought they recognised him - he had been part of the group of outsiders who purchased the drum of Azhrak Drakkenskull, to the bitter objection of the Tailcut orcs, at the auction yesterday. Edmund whispers: "I bet this was done by the Tailcuts," Edmund muttered. "Can you do anything for him?" Hogar whispers: "Surprised he's still alive after crossing the orcs..."muttered Hogar as he reached for his supplies and started trying to treat the man's wounds Leofric: Leofric sighed with a hint of relief although he is keeping an eyes out for any troubles sd: Leofric, Sidwell and Beomund arrived at the safe house first, a small, abandoned home with a strong cellar near to the east wall. They waited for some time, and began to worry that Hogar and Edmund had been caught. Leofric had just decided to risk casting a spell to contact them telepathically when they came in through the cellar door. Hogar had an unconscious man draped over his shoulder. His clothes were the yellow of a free human, but were caked in dried blood. He had an outsider's red armband around his arm, and indeed when they looked at him closely they thought they recognised him as one of the group of strangers who had purchased a drum at the auction the day before, to the objection of the Tailcut orcs. He had obviously been attacked with an axe or some other such weapon. He appeared to be breathing shallowly. Edmund is disconnected. Leofric: Leofric frowned at seeing what they bought into.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Feb 18, 2017 15:30:18 GMT
sd: Leofric, Sidwell and Beomund arrived at the safe house first, a small, abandoned home with a strong cellar near to the east wall. They waited for some time, and began to worry that Hogar and Edmund had been caught. Leofric had just decided to risk casting a spell to contact them telepathically when they came in through the cellar door. Hogar had an unconscious man draped over his shoulder. His clothes were the yellow of a free human, but were caked in dried blood. He had an outsider's red armband around his arm, and indeed when they looked at him closely they thought they recognised him as one of the group of strangers who had purchased a drum at the auction the day before, to the objection of the Tailcut orcs. He had obviously been attacked with an axe or some other such weapon. He appeared to be breathing shallowly. Edmund: "Will he live?" Edmund asked Hogar. Leofric has connected. Hogar: "He should." Hogar replied "He's lucky he stumbled into us and not more orcs." Leofric: Leofric frowned at this find and wonders if this is worth a risk. Edmund: "I wonder what happened to the rest of his party," Edmund also frowned down at the man. Hogar: "Perhaps they weren't so lucky." Hogar suggested grimly Leofric: Leofric frowned, "Still, I am worried about the possible risk this might pose to us." Edmund: "We could hardly leave him to bleed to death," Edmund said. sd: it took the man the better part of an hour to come around, and his eyes were blurry and unfocussed for a few moments before he noticed Edmund frowning down on him. This seemed to jolt him into awareness and he sat up. "Th...thank you," he said, sounding wary. His accent was similar to those they had met before who hailed from the Great Forest. Edmund: Edmund sat down, and indicated that the others should follow suit, so they would not loom over the injured man. "What happened?" he asked. sd: The man thought for a moment. "You were at the auction, leaning against a pillar," he said. "We were leaving town and the Tailcuts ambushed us. I got separated from the others, got hit with an axe and nearly bled out. They must have thought I'd been killed." Edmund: Edmund nodded. "So they all escaped. The Orcs were after the drum?" sd: "Yes." Edmund: "They seemed very upset to lose their chance to get hold of it," Edmund said, casually. "What was so special about it?" sd: "Well to them it was just a memorial of their clan, Azhrak is their big hero who had a great war with the dragonspawn to reclaim their lands and died in proper orcish fashion surrounded by the broken bodies of their enemies," the man said. "I imagine it offended them that we outbid them for it." Hogar: "If you don't mind us asking....Any specific reason you wanted to buy that drum for yourself? Historical interest, perhaps?" sd: the man nodded vigorously. "Absolutely. We came here to look into the history of the region." Sidwell scowled. It seemed quite clear that the man had latched on to Hogar's suggestion and was stretching the truth to a substantial degree. Edmund: "Does it have any special attributes?" Edmund asked the man, watching him closely. You whisper to Leofric: the man's response made it clear that the group had specifically come to Podolplatz for some reason, from the outside, and the fact that he had referred to one reason the orcs had wanted the drum implied their own was different. That they were willing to fight for it and bid substantial amounts of money made the possibility of mere historical curiosity unlikely sd: "What, like magic? No, nothing like that, it's just a drum that belonged to Azhrak's, well, 'bard', if you can apply that term to an orc." Edmund: "I'd be very interested to see the drum," Edmund said. "And to hear an Orc bard too," he added with a grin. sd: "Well the orc bard's been dead for fifty years along with Azhrak, and as for the drum, I imagine Wulfrun still has it, unless she's dead." Leofric: "This does not sound like histroical interest!" As Leofric muttered as he glared at the man. "That may be another reason for this." sd: "Where are we anyway? And how did you find me? Not that I'm ungrateful. I blacked out a few times, I must have been there for most of a day...I remember the sun being up and then down again." Edmund: "We were passing an alley and spotted you just lying there," said Edmund. sd: "Fortuitous. I'm not sure what I'm to do now, Wulfrun and the others will be well ahead by now and I'm hardly going to be able to catch them, she sets a hard pace and doesn't give up when she's given her word that she'll do something." Given her cavalier attitude towards leaving this man behind, it seemed more likely to them that Wulfrun had given her word to someone else, though who that was they couldn't tell. Beomund: "If it were me, I'd be wanting to give this Wulfrun a piece of my mind," said Beomund, shaking his head. sd: "If I get back home whole I might yet." Where home was wasn't clear, though from his words and his accent they doubted it was in the occupied lands. Beomund: "Do you have a plan for that?" asked Beomund. "Can you still go the way you had been meaning to go with your group?" sd: "Well I know whereabouts they were headed, but they hadn't intended to stay long and I can hardly move quickly in this state. I probably need to recuperate and head back on my own." Though he spoke blithely he didn't sound confident of his ability to do this on his own. sd: "What are you doing in Toothtown anyway? Are you from around here?" Hogar: Hogar seemed to be growing somewhat frustrated with the man's obvious attempt at hiding something from them, but he said nothing, looking to his companions instead as if to hint something. Edmund: Edmund smiled. "We move around a lot. Toothtown is a place where we can find opportunities." Beomund: "We might be able to help you," said Beomund. "But we're looking for profit. Can you think of any way we might find more opportunities in helping you get out of here? Even at the expense of the Tailcuts or others here." sd: the man nodded, but they thought they saw a hint of dislike, even contempt, at their references to 'opportunities' and 'profit'. "I don't care about the Tailcuts, if they go after Wulfrun then either they'll deal with her or more likely she'll deal with them, and they're not going to come looking for me anyway. Have you gone north much? I have friends who will probably pay you well if you're willing to get me north once I've recovered." Edmund: "Maybe there is something you could do for us in return for our help," Edmund said, noticing the man's reaction to their mercenary pretence. sd: "If I can, I might well be dead if not for you people, whoever you are." Edmund: "How did you come to be here yourself?" Edmund asked. sd: "We were looking for this drum," the man's evasions were continuing, though it seemed clearer as they went on that the man was wary of the group, as if he feared their reaction if he gave more truthful account of himself Edmund: "That is obvious," Edmund said with a slight smile. "You seem to be holding back a little. Understandable, seeing where we are. But maybe things are not as they seem." sd: "Maybe?" the man smiled. "Of course I'm holding back, I don't even know your names. Though, in fairness, you don't know mine either, I suppose. Burhhelm," he introduced himself, holding a hand out to Edmund Edmund: "Hengist," Edmund said, grasping Burhhelm's hand, Leofric: "Randal" He introduced himself Hogar: "Brystan."said Hogar sd: "Well, Hengist, you're holding back a bit too, but I understand, seeing where we are. You said you just found me by accident, but I'm not sure things are as they seem there. Still...tell me about some of the places you've moved around to, and maybe we'll understand each other better." Edmund: "We truly did find you by accident, at least as far as we are concerned," Edmund said, serious now. "But there is a greater will at work here. As for where we've been...we have seen many places and more strange things. You sound as though you might be from the area of the Great Forest - we were there ourselves some time ago." sd: Burhhelm suddenly seemed less interested in the party's travels. "You're right, Hengist. I don't think you found me by accident, there is a greater will at work. I think I know already, or maybe I only hope it - how many gods do you think there are in heaven, Hengist?" Edmund: Edmund looked into Burhhelm's eyes as he replied quietly, "There is one God, as I think you know." sd: "And I thank Him for sending Virians to rescue me here, completely beyond hope!" Burhhelm laughed. "By the Prophet! I thought you were nothing but mercenary chancers who would kill me the second you found out anything about why we were here. I can speak more plainly now. The King sent us south, because God had given him an answer to his prayers." Edmund: Edmund looked surprised for a moment and then he too laughed. "Aethelwulf sent you?" sd: "Yes! Wulfrun is a cousin of his. The King has been seeking something, and God sent him a dream which revealed this drum to him as the key to finding it. Hopefully Wulfrun has it already." Leofric: Leofric stroke his unshaven chin, "I see." He considered this over. Edmund: "No wonder you looked askance when we spoke of opportunities and profit to be found with the slavers," Edmund said. Edmund: "We have a very different purpose here, which we hope you can assist us with. And then we can aid you to return home." he added. Hogar: "The ways of God are mysterious indeed."said Hogar, surprised by the man's answer "But we should trust him, and Aethelwulf. Perhaps we could help ensure Wulfrun is safe?" Hogar: add: "After we are done with something else here and have helped you return." sd: "Wulfrun can keep herself safe, I suspect. I have to have hard words with her for leaving me behind but...well, our task is urgent and we suspected some of us would die in the attempt. But tell me about this purpose of yours, and I'll see if I can help you in the state that I'm in." Edmund: Edmund looked to the others for agreement before he started. Leofric: Leofric sighed and shrugged his shoulder as to say Why not, we need all the helps we can get here Hogar: Hogar agreed with telling the man their mission Edmund: "We are here on a mission ourselves, to rescue slaves," Edmund explained. sd: "A holy purpose, though a difficult one without God's help, an army, or preferably both." Edmund: "We don't have an army, but God is with us, as he was with us in the Plague Fields," Edmund said with a smile. "We will sow division and confusion among the Orcs and Goblins, and make contacts with those who will aid us. This is the work you may be able to assist with." sd: "Of course. You're doing God's work, and I'll be glad to help you. If I might make a suggestion, however...when you're done, you should come back with me to Caldstenland. If Wulfrun succeeds, then King Aethelwulf might be able to free every slave in Palania, and fast." Edmund: "Do you know how this will happen?" Edmund asked. Hogar: Hogar too seemed very curious about the man's words. sd: Burhhelm nodded. "Your task is all about sowing division and confusion amongst the monsters. They're good at this - the Tailcuts are named for their endless wars against the dragonspawn, whose tails they cut off and make into totems. But we're just as divided in Palania - Ealdorman at war with Ealdorman, Fryderi set against Gaston, and on and on it goes. We have too many chiefs. Just as the many gods are false and the one God is true, we need one High King." Edmund: Edmund frowned. "Aethelwulf plans to be High King? That will not sit well with many throughout Palania, especially the Council." sd: "God plans of Aethelwulf to be High King, and the Council can't stand against Him," said Burhhelm. "Listen. Anyone who tried to name themselves High King, they'd normally be laughed at, or immediately brought down by their own people. But there's one thing that will give the legitimacy, and if God's willing then Wulfrun has either found it or is about to. The King has been praying about this for months and finally God revealed this drum to him, and there was enough in the dream for him to realise we needed to come into the occupied lands and seek out information about orcs who cut the tails from dragonspawn. So we came, in guise of slavers like you've done, and we learned some very interesting things about the Tailcut orcs. After the dragon fell, there was a period of confusion, and once this ended the Tailcut kings claimed the ownership of a particular weapon. A beautiful sword of the finest craftsmanship of old Palania, and magical. When their king held this sword his voice was filled with authority so everyone obeyed him. What's more, the Tailcut kings who wielded this sword could not be touched by the magic of the dragonspawn." Edmund: "This is what Aethelwulf seeks? That is some power..." Edmund looked very thoughtfuL. He thought he might know the name of the sword, and considered how such an item could be misused in the wrong hands. "So the drum is actually to be used to obtain the sword in some way. Maybe to be exchanged? Or does it have some kind of power in its own right which wil bring the sword to it?" sd: "Oh, it's a very simple power," Burhhelm laughed. "The Tailcut orcs fought the dragonspawn for decades. Eventually the Tailcut king was killed - the Mage-Breaker protected him from magic, but not steel. The dragonspawn took the Mage-Breaker. The son of the king, Azhrak, grew up and swore to take his lands and his sword back, and eventually he met the dragonspawn leader in battle and killed him. Apparently the dragonspawn king fell into a chasm with Mage-Breaker, and the war was still ongoing so Azhrak couldn't afford the time to search for it. He ordered his bard to mark the location and then marched off to a battle in which he ultimately was also slain, and the story got muddled up. But after we bought the drum Wulfrun carefully picked it apart, and we found the power we were seeking - the power of information. Azhrak's bard had left a map on the inside of the drum, and the idiots who sold the drum either didn't know or didn't realise what it led to!" Burhhelm laughed. Edmund: "That wasn't a very brighton thing to do," Edmund said with a harsh laugh. Edmund: edit* bright! Hogar: "It is good that the stupidity of the orcs would be to our advantage."said Hogar "So as long as Wulfrun reaches Aethelwulf, he will be able to obtain the sword?" sd: "As long as she finds it, she'll bring it back to him. Thousands upon thousands will flock to Aethelwulf as High King, as they did for the Prophet when he killed Ancalagon," said Burhhelm. "Can you imagine it? This will be the salvation of our country. In a year or two we'll have one High King and he'll be a Virian." sd: "This is why you should come back with me, to see this. God meant us to meet each other. Some superstitious pagans believe the next High King will destroy Palania, but Aethelwulf believes that is not the true meaning. It will be the destruction of Palania as a pagan country. When the Prophet became High King, all the people of Gastony came to the Virian Way, and they'll do it here as well. The next High King will not destroy Palania, he will Change Palania." Edmund: "Change can be destructive, but we know that Aethelwulf is a thoughtful man," Edmund said, although he was privately wondering how reasonable the king would be when he had that much power in his hands. sd: "How many came with you?" Sidwell suddenly asked, her first words in some time.
"There were seven of us, so now I suppose it would be Wulfrun and five others," said Burhhelm. Sidwell simply nodded. Beomund: "We have duties we must attend to, in freeing slaves and ensuring safety to our allies," said Beomund. "So I do not think we can go visit Aethelwulf now. But perhaps you can inform him of our sympathies, and make sure we can keep in contact as his plans progress." Edmund: "He will likely remember us," Edmund said. sd: "You've met him before?" said Burhhelm. Edmund: "We have, last year when we were up in the Lost Lands," Edmund replied. Beomund: "We helped him attain the crown he wears," said Beomund with a slight smile. "I am certain he will know us, despite the names and disguises we wear here for caution." sd: Burhhelm's eyes widened. "It was you?" he laughed. "I wasn't there when the crown was brought to him, I'd been left to guard the east. God, 'move around a lot' indeed!" Edmund: "Tis true, we do," Edmund grinned. Beomund: "God has led us across this land a dozen times it seems, and I'm sure there is still more in store for us," replied Beomund, his smile having grown wider. sd: Burhhelm laughed again. "My friends, the pain is returning again and I should sleep. I can tell the sun is down so we can speak more in the morning, and of course I'll do everything I can to help you in your task." Beomund: "We could all use some rest as well, I'm sure. Good night, brother." sd: "We need to talk," Sidwell said quietly to Leofric, indicating the next room with her eyes. Edmund: "Thank you and good night," Edmund said. He gestured to Sidwell that he also wanted to speak with her. sd: Sidwell went into the next room, and once all the others had joined her she pulled out her bedroll and deliberately unrolled it against the underside of the door to minimise the chance that any sound escaped the room. Leofric: Leofric nodded as he heads into the next room, still frowning with concern about Burnhelm. Edmund: "This was unexpected news," Edmund said, his expression concerned. Hogar: "It is. And we have a decision to make - one we might regret later. Or not, as the case may be." sd: "Unexpected?" Sidwell laughed and shook her head. She gave an angry jab of her finger. "I don't like this country very much, but I live here and I care about it. And if someone comes along who wants to be High King so he can make us all Virians, well...I serve the Dark Sister and I will until I'm dead. Your God is not one we know or care for." Edmund: Edmund held up his hands for calm. "I don't wish to see mass conversion, whether by fear or by magic. Nor to see one man take absolute power." Leofric: Leofric nodded with grim understanding, "And I am not thrilled with the idea either." Beomund: "If that one man can end places like this," grumbled Beomund, "giving him power seems like it may be worth it to me. But I don't wish to see anyone forced to the Virian Way either." Hogar: "I understand your concerns, and I have mine and yet...Aethelwulf could do a lot of good. And perhaps he could be convinced to let people worship as they wish." suggested Hogar, sounding unsure Leofric: "And nor I am thrilled to see High King restored either" He added afterward. Edmund: Edmund shook his head. "Aethelwulf has power already, with Mage-Breaker he might be unstoppable. And men who gain that kind of power may be good for driving monsters from the land, but sooner or later they start considering how to bend all their fellow men to their will, and breaking those who show signs of independence." sd: "And there's another issue," said Sidwell. "This Wulfrun woman has herself, and five others, and the Tailcut orcs are already after her. I don't know exactly how many Tailcuts there are but I bet it's more than fucking six. What happens she finds the Mage-Breaker and then they find her?" sd: *if she finds Beomund: Beomund clenched his teeth at that. "I had hoped they would be skilled enough to lose the trail... but you may be right that it can't be left to chance. That would be dangerous indeed." Edmund: "Wulfrun has little to recommend her, as she left one of her people behind, " Edmund said with distaste, then looked hard at Sidwell. "Are you suggesting that we cut short our mission here and try to catch Wulfrun and her party instead?" Leofric: Leofric looked surprised at Ed's suggestion sd: Sidwell sighed and looked skyward. "There is so much more we should do here...I don't know. It might be that this is all nonsense and the sword they have isn't actually Mage-Breaker, but if it is...if it really is Mage-Breaker, then I believe we should find it, and we should break it into a million pieces, dispel all its aethyric matrices so it can never be remade again, and then fling the pieces in the sea. Without that sword I doubt anyone can make themselves High King and that is exactly as it should be." Edmund: Edmund looked surprised and then he smiled slowly. "Yes, that is the best plan. It will always be too powerful and too tempting to be allowed to fall into ANY hands." Beomund: Beomund still looked troubled. "I'm not certain that will mean anything but a longer and bloodier war of consolidation. Palania seems on the precipice of some sort of drastic change. I'm not sure we should wipe our hands of what that change will be." Leofric: Leofric considered this over and raised a point, "Or give it to the Council. After all, the Council have no desire to see a High King either. They would pay considerable amount of gold or owes the returners of such treasure a great favour." Hogar: "If the orcs get their hands on Mage-Killer...it's not good, but it's not like one of them is going to become High King instead. We have killed many orcs without using magic, after all. Perhaps could consider this an acceptable risk." sd: "If the orcs get their hands on Mage-Breaker, then they won't make themselves High King, no. What will happen is that the Chief will learn they have it, take it from them, and make himself High King," said Sidwell. Edmund: Edmund frowned as he considered all the points. "It's true change will come, and something needs to be done to bring people together to cleanse the land of slavers and vicious races. But with such high ambitions and such a powerful item we risk creating a cure that will be worse than the disease. NOw we know of its likely existence we must take some kind of action." Hogar: "I'd rather hand the blade over to the council than destroy it, then." said Hogar agreeing with Leofric "It would give them some legitimacy and influence, which could also be used for good." sd: "I don't trust anyone with this kind of power. I don't even trust my Sisters, or I would leave my body and speak to them now and find out what they wanted done. Find it and return it to us I'm guessing the response would be. Maybe that would be for the best, we could ransom it to the Council for promises that women will no longer be treated as property. But I wouldn't trust them to keep such a promise. Return it to the Council? They'll thank you and pay you a fortune, but what happens then? Can they keep the sword guarded forever? What if one of the Council decides they should have the Mage-Breaker and be High King? What if it's one of the Councillors of the Church who want you executed as blasphemous sorcerers?" Edmund: "If anyone is to have it, the sisters would have been my choice, but Sidwell is right. The temptation to use it will always be there." sd: "And by the Dark Sister, if anyone would want a sword that grants the power to kill mages, it would be the Church!" Sidwell laughed and shook her head. Beomund: "The benefit of the sword is legitimacy, which can mean unity. If that legitimacy were not given to a High King, but instead to a council that was given new purpose, to protect the innocent... we could do good things. But the danger is there, as you say. I wonder... might there be a way for us to strip it of its power, perhaps after demonstrating that it is genuine? Then it could act as a symbol, without the real danger of its magic." Edmund: "It seems to me that this one sword will appear, as it has to Aethelwulf, to be the answer to everything. Of course it is not, but the desire to use it will always be a temptation to men who believe they know the way the world should run." sd: "The real power of Mage-Breaker isn't its magic, it's that many people believe that the person who has that sword should be High King, and if that person is someone who already has influence, like an Ealdorman or a king or a warlord, well, they might manage it. You told Burhhelm you gave Aethelwulf his crown, was that crown just a symbol, and did it make people believe in him? Because the Mage-Breaker will make people believe. You four are foreigners with nothing but reputation and the power of your names, but any one of you could take this sword and say 'I am the High King of Palania', and there are enough people who'd follow that at the least you'd have an army in short time." Edmund: "Fortunately none of us want to be High King," Edmund said, his voice filled with confidence. "Which probably means we are the best people to take it." Edmund: "But I am more worried that Aethelwulf sees himself like the Prophet." Beomund: "True enough," said Beomund in response to Sidwell. "But there are many reasons a man could be held up as a High King. People will always find symbols. They'll flock to leaders when they're afraid, sword or no sword. Choosing to stop an object like that from intervening in events is still a choice. We must consider what will happen if the sword does not go to Aethelwulf or to the Council... and that future seems equally bloody to me." sd: "We're winning, Beomund! We took back half of Phalen less than fifteen years ago. The Plague Fields are clean again, the Kalmar Isles are being retaken, and there's an army of hundreds of Soiled Sisters less than a day from here ready to sack this town and free its people! We don't need a sacred leader or mighty Prophet to be sent by a foreign God to save us, we just need time. The Mage-Breaker should be destroyed, if anyone is to become High King, let them do it by winning the people to their side and not by some magical shortcut. We can have a great change in this country that we make with our own hands and our own sweat." Beomund: "You may be right," said Beomund. "We are earning a better country with our blood. The question is if we will have that time you speak of, before other forces come down upon us. I wonder... if we do not give the sword to someone, perhaps destroying it publicly would be an even greater symbol. One to say that ambitious men are to be rejected, and we can win without such things." He sighed. "The Council would turn against us, most likely, but it's an interesting thought." Leofric: Leofric laughed quietly for a moment, "We already have many enemies. What is one more! That is almost too audacious!" sd: "What you're suggesting is high treason, which is why I like it," Sidwell laughed. "If we destroyed the Mage-Breaker publicly, then no one could come back in future generations with a false one. Some of my Sisters would have me crucified, the Council would want your heads, Aethelwulf would send assassins after us for foiling his plan...it's a good idea." Edmund: Edmund also laughed, Leofric: Leofric frowned even deeper, "It is still too extreme nevertheless. It might be better to destory it in darkness We could have it reforged into something else?" He glanced at others Hogar: "It is one thing to make a new enemy, another to make so many while destroying a powerful tool that could have been used to improve the world."said Hogar, obviously not convinced by the proposal of publicly destroying the weapon sd: "Whether we destroy it, publicly or secretly, reforge it or give it to another, are we agreed, at least, that we should go after Mage-Breaker? I'll need to lie to my Sisters about why we left but I think the circumstances merit it, and we've already managed to alert the guards in this town with our failure earlier tonight." Beomund: Beomund nodded firmly. "It is a momentous decision that we shouldn't make tonight. But we cannot let it fall into orcish hands." Leofric: "Or Aethelwulf" Leofric agreed "For that matter" Beomund: "Well, let's do what we can to make sure this operation is still successful," said Beomund. "Perhaps Burnhelm can get in contact with our allies here and support the rebellious slaves. Then we can be off as soon as possible." sd: "And we should decide if we're going to stay for long enough to assassinate Aukusti or not," said Sidwell. "But we can decide in the morning."
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Post by sleepingdragon on Feb 26, 2017 16:31:29 GMT
sd: they woke early in the morning, while Burhhelm was still asleep. "If we're going to get rid of Aukusti then we should do that ourselves, and then be off," said Sidwell. "If we can lure him into meeting us then we can get it done tonight and then be off." Beomund: "If we can afford the time, it seems wise. We want to give the rest of the Sisters and the slaves as good a chance as we can," said Beomund. Edmund: "Indeed," Edmund agreed. "I only wish we could do more." Leofric: Leofric nodded with same agreement, "We just have to make the best of the situtation we are in at the moment." He commented sd: given their misadventures of the night before, Sidwell applied new disguises to them before they proceeded. "Aukusti is supposed to be looking for his brother," she said. "If we can pass him a message claiming to have information about him, then we can arrange to meet with him somewhere secluded and take him out." Edmund: "That would work," Edmund nodded. "We'll need to convince him it's a genuine message." sd: "We're not going to get in to see him personally to start with, but he'll have particular servants he trusts more and if our message gets passed on by them, he'll take it more seriously," said Sidwell. sd: they set out to do exactly this while Burhhelm recovered from his wound. they were able to find a few goblins who were willing to swap tales about their leader, going to some length about his previous attempts to locate his brother. They hit a gold mine, however, when Edmund had a drink with a free human man who had until recently been one of Aukusti's aides, until using the money he'd saved to start a small slave trading business. As unpleasant as it was to bandy words with a slaver, the man knew all of Aukusti's nearest staff, and who he trusted, as well as knowing exactly which tribes amongst the Redfist orcs that Aukusti particularly disliked and suspected of being involved in his brother's disappearance. Leofric was able to find the right people to bribe in order to get access to these trusted staff, and soon they had penned a letter to Aukusti, claiming that they had until recently worked as mercenaries with the Redfist and that in this work they'd been able to learn news of his brother Taavetti. They asked the goblin chancellor to meet them at dusk that night, at a spot which they'd found in their earlier scouting, a small enclosed marketplace outside the eastern wall. In the day this was filled with stalls, but at night it was kept locked, and it was far from any regular guard patrols. Aukusti would doubtlessly bring people with him, but they had made sure to layer in references to untrustworthy elements within Aukusti's entourage in the letter, to stoke the goblin's paranoia and to make sure as few people knew about the meeting as possible. sd: "If we have the afternoon free," said Sidwell, "then we should look for the estate that burned down recently and see if we can get access. The Handmaids want a strong place nearby to serve as a rally point, and it'll get us out of Podolplatz itself." Leofric: "Should be straightforward." Leofric muttered as if it was almost hopeful. Beomund: "A good idea. Best not to be hanging around where we might still be caught," said Beomund. Edmund: Edmund agreed. sd: in their rambling around the town they had seen that the number of patrols on the street had increased, and they had narrowly avoided running into a large group of guards already at one point. Sidwell suggested therefore that they should gather their belongings and get out through the gates, splitting into two groups as the guards might be looking for a group of five. Before leaving, they spoke to Burhhelm and asked him to speak to Frigyth when he had had time to rest. It took them some effort when they explained who was helping Frigyth, but Edmund and Sidwell were able to persuade him with some difficulty, and they sent a message to Frigyth to explain what had happened. Early in the afternoon, they prepared to split into two groups to talk their way out of the gates. sd: Sidwell and Hogar went in one group. The goblins were clearly under orders to be on the look out for free humans leaving the town, but the changes they'd made to their disguises and the division into two groups obviously helped them. The second group of guards, who Edmund and the others dealt with about a half hour later, were obviously disinterested in whatever new instructions their superiors had given them, and they waved the party through after only a few cursory looks. sd: the slaver Sakari had died a number of weeks before, and given disputes amongst the slaver's creditors the estate had not yet been sold. The King's son Orgruuz, rather than deal with the headache of the place, had ordered it cordoned off and barred any from entering on pain of death. There were many man traps hidden amongst the grass nearby, which had begun to grow long with no one tending the place, and while they were watching from afar they saw the local patrols clearly kept a watch on it, but not one that was too close.
Beomund, Edmund and Sidwell found ways they could easily access the estate, threading through the traps, and passing through a broken section of wall that had crumbled in the fire which had gutted the estates. Most of the grounds would need long work before becoming useful again, but there was one largely intact section on the northern edge, and this is where they went to work. Hogar had determined the local patrol routes with a great degree of precision, so they simply worked when they were away, and then, when the prying eyes of the local soldiers were upon them they vanished inside and rested. The changes they made were not ones that would be obvious to anyone but a close and careful observer - Beomund moved rubble to reinforce the walls in this northern section, while Sidwell and Leofric crept about, moving the traps which had been left behind and moving them all to the eastern side which would be where any attack came from if the Sisters fled here after the assault on Podolplatz. Edmund and Beomund were able to dig several concealed pits to further bolster the defences, and Leofric and Sidwell mapped out the land around it, so she could report this back to the Handmaidens. By now evening was drawing near.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Mar 18, 2017 17:56:13 GMT
sd: evening was drawing near and so was the time for them to depart. first, however, they had to meet with the goblin chancellor, Aukusti, who they had successfully deceived into agreeing to meet with them in a market that was unused at nights. the message they had received back agreeing to this had warned them that only two should go to meet with the goblin, and had warned of dire consequences if they were misleading him. "Keep two of us in the open, and the rest hide to spring the ambush," said Sidwell. "Let's go and take a look at the place before he turns up." Beomund: "Edmund and Leofric will be good at dissembling with the goblin," suggested Beomund, "and the rest of us can hide." Edmund: Edmund agreed with this. Hogar: "Once the fight starts, we might want to use our magic - Aukusti will no doubt have bodyguards, and it might not be an easy fight."said Hogar Edmund: "We will need to work fast, once we use magic it will alert others," Edmund said. sd: "One of us at least will need to get directly on top of Aukusti in case he tries to run," said Sidwell, drawing her notched goblinoid sword and testing its edge with her thumb. Satisfied with what she found, she sheathed it again. "Goblins are quick and cowardly. Anything that makes us faster will be particularly important." sd: they headed towards the market, which was located outside the eastern walls of Toothtown itself. They had selected the location because of the twelve foot high wooden pallisade all around the market - the only entrances other than climbing the pallisade were through a large gate, or through the storage building at the northeastern edge of the market. Edmund and Sidwell had little difficulty picking the lock to the gate. The market was filled with stalls which were, given the marketplace was shut, almost entirely empty, save for a few with large objects that could not be feasibly put away, which were instead kept bolted to the ground or the stalls themselves. There were several large carts filled with wagon wheels and large works of ironmongery by the south wall. There were several posts from which one could hang a lantern if they chose at intervals throughout the square, but given this was not intended to be used at this hour they thought this was an unwise idea. sd: "I'll stay hidden near the gate," said Sidwell. "If the goblin tries to run, he'll need to go through me." Edmund: Edmund gestured to Leofric and they moved forward to a place in the open, away from the gate. Beomund: Beomund hid himself in a stall near enough to Edmund and Leofric that he could quickly reach them. Hogar: Hogar surveyed the area as if considering potential strategies. Eventually he gave some suggestions to the others as to where to place themselves. sd: Edmund and Leofric waited near the centre of the market square, while the others hid nearby. Sidwell crouched behind a stall near to the gate, while Hogar and Beomund took up positions near to the centre, opposite one another.
The Prophet's Star was high in the night sky when the gate suddenly opened and a group of goblins entered. There were nine in total, led by one who was shorter and older than his fellows. They bore curved swords, round shields, and javelins, and most wore scaled armour though the eldest also had a strong chain coif. The chancellor of Toothtown had a craggy face and moss green eyes. As his group entered the square he looked past Sidwell hidden only a few feet away and instead fixed his gaze on Edmund and Leofric. Nodding to them, he moved forward, indicating to two of his guards that they should remain by the gate. They noticed two of Aukusti's guardsmen had horns at their belt - one was near the gate, the creature closest to the Soiled Sister, while the other went with his master.
The goblins came forward, and when they had come within about thirty feet of Edmund, Aukusti opened his mouth to speak when suddenly he spotted Hogar, crouched by an empty stall with a loaded bow trained upon them. A wry smile passed across Aukusti's face as he reached for his blade, the rest of his creatures doing the same. sd: the chancellor began to reach for his blade, then thought otherwise and drew a wicked javelin, the point of which glinted wickedly as the light of the Star reflected down upon it. Old though he was, the goblin moved with the swiftness of a snake striking from the long grass, and he had the spear out and readied to throw in barely an instant. Edmund: Seeing the pretence was up, Edmund began to cast a spell. sd: Sidwell stood up from her crouch and let an arrow fly at Aukusti's back, but the goblin flowed away from the shot and it went clattering against a nearby stall, snapping and skittering off to land near to Edmund's feet. sd: the goblin bodyguards all drew their round shields, covering themselves. Aukusti barked some command in the goblin language, and the two guards nearest to him stuck nearby, beginning to back off while the other creatures advanced towards Leofric and Edmund. Beomund: Beomund began preparing his own spell along with Edmund. sd: Leofric also began to cast a spell to strengthen their arms for the coming battle Hogar: Obviously disappointed to have been discovered, Hogar unleashed his arrow at Aukusti - but this projectile too was swiftly avoided sd: Aukusti had begun to back away, but he whipped his arm back and sent the javelin flashing towards Edmund. The dart slammed hard into the bard's arm, piercing flesh and jamming on the bone. The pain was overwhelming for a moment and Edmund stumbled, but he not only kept his feet, but was able to maintain concentration on his spell Edmund: Reeling as he was, Edmund pulled himself together and reached out a hand towards the horn that one of the goblins carried. sd: seeing that things were beginning to go badly, Sidwell's eyes took on a concentrated look as she began to invoke the powers of the Dark Sister's Handmaidens, the most potent mystic talents of her Sisterhood sd: the goblins drew their swords, save for the one nearest to Sidwell, who instead pulled out a horn Beomund: Beomund murmured some mystical words and attempted to cast a spell to ruin the horn, but the increasing desperation of the situation got to him, and the spell fizzled. Hogar: Hogar strapped his shield to his arm as he moved to intercept Aukusti and his guards who were retreating towards the gate Edmund: The horn flew out of the goblin's hand and shot over their heads to where Edmund, his face twisted in pain but full of determination, held out his arm and caught it as neatly as though he had been in a ball game. He dropped it on the floor, and pulled his flute from his belt. sd: seeing Beomund's spell had failed, Sidwell finished her invocation and darted towards the nearest goblin. She had no weapon, but needed none - she simply struck out and grabbed at the horn. The goblin clearly did not expect strength from the arms of a feeble seeming woman in yellow, and a startled look crossed his face when the Soiled Sister easily tore the instrument from his grasp and threw it away over the top of the palisade sd: the goblin tried to bash out at Sidwell with his shield, but she rolled beneath the blow and snatched up a pile of dust and stones that had been swept here to the corner of the palisade. Rising, she flung it full in the goblin's face, and it staggered back trying to clear its eyes sd: Leofric cast his spell, filling their bodies with strength to face their deadly foes. Beomund: Beomund attempted to strike the nearest gobline, newly invigorated, but it managed to tumble away from his blow. Beomund: *edit: goblin Hogar: Hogar moved his hand as if he was going to draw his axe from his belt, but then suddenly chanted some words of power and held his palm out towards Akusti. With with a crack of thunder a shower of sparks flew towards one of the goblin's leg, shocking him as he fell convulsing to the ground. Hogar: edit: one of the goblin's legs sd: swearing in the goblin tongue, Aukusti pulled out his shield, pulling slowly away from Hogar on his deadened leg sd: while her opponent was still blinded, Sidwell swept out her sword Edmund: Edmund tried to play the flute but his bloody fingers slipped. He held back the urge to swear and quietly muttered a prayer, asking God to aid him in this hour of need. Beomund: Two goblins pressed against Beomund with a flurry of blows, but he managed to turn one of their attacks against it, stepping aside at the right moment and pushing it to the cobbles with a shove. He followed up with a quick blow to the head that left the goblin senseless. sd: Leofric swept out the two-handed sword he had taken from the Soiled Sisters' stash, giving the two goblins that were advancing towards him a grim smile Hogar: Hogar readied a throwing hatchet and eyed the fallen Aukusti and the guards defending him menacingly as he advanced towards them sd: the fallen goblin leader drew his sword sd: Sidwell slashed out at the blinded goblin, but in its blind attempts to parry it actually stumbled away from her sword, so instead of opening its skull she merely slashed a line across its face. sd: Sidwell dodged under one blow while Beomund parried another. two goblins advanced on Leofric, but the Erseman proved a doughtier swordsman than they'd anticipated. He caught the first stroke with his crossguard and kicked the goblin's legs out from under it, then whirled, checked the second blow, and smashed the flat of his borrowed blade against the creature's thigh, sending it too toppling to the ground Edmund: Inspired by his faith, Edmund managed to hold the flute and play a brave melody to inspire his comrades. Beomund: Hearing the strains of Edmund's flute finally reach his ears, Beomund drew on a reserve of energy and launched himself at the nearby goblin. The creature attempted to roll away, but Beomund anticipated its movement and swung with all his force at the spot where the goblin was about to arrive. There was a crunch and a sound like light rain, a spray of blood, and the goblin fell with a hole through its chest. sd: following up on his advantage, Leofric swept his sword around and smashed it down onto one of the fallen goblins. It gave a cry of fear and tried to roll away, managing only to put itself even more squarely in the path of that deadly arc. The sword sheared through the goblin's neck and upraised arm, killing the guardsman immediately. Hogar: Hogar hurled his hatchet at the bodyguard standing between him and Aukusti with such tremendous power that the weapon neatly severed the goblin's leg, instantly dropping him dead to the ground in a quickly forming pool of green blood. sd: Aukusti, his leg finally beginning to recover feeling after Hogar's spell, began to try to rise, casting a spell upon himself as he did sd: Sidwell was now facing two goblins, one of which had managed to wipe the dust from its eyes. It moved in to strike, but the Sister was faster, slicing her razor sharp blade across its throat, sending it collapsing back against the gate with green blood pumping copiously onto the stones sd: one of the fallen goblins slashed out at Leofric, but just missed Hogar: Hogar readied another hatchet as he advanced on Akusti, flanking him and his remaining bodyguard together with Beomud sd: Sidwell ducked another cut, while the goblin on the floor slashed up at Leofric again. The scribe easily checked the blow, then sent the goblin's sword and shield both skittering away towards Aukusti, who had risen to his feet. Edmund: Edmund turned to his own situation now, drawing on his magic to heal the wound where the javellin had torn into his arm. sd: the goblin chancellor glanced around, seeing his men were falling around him. With a defiant cry, he cast a spell, causing flames to leap up from the hilt of his curved blade. Edmund: Edmund tried to pull the trident fom his flesh but could not. Edmund: edit* javellin sd: Sidwell and her goblin opponent slashed at one another, falchion clashing against falchion. The goblin checked one blow, then returned one of his own. Sidwell ducked beneath it and kicked at the creature's leg, sending it back into the air, but with surprising agility the goblin turned a full flip in the air and landed adroitly on his feet sd: Leofric stabbed down with his blade, driving it hard into the fallen goblin's chest, then ripping it free with a savage jerk sd: Leofric pulled his blade free, then strolled casually towards Aukusti Hogar: Hogar hurled his second hatchet, and again the weapon spun through the air with terrifying strength, this time burying itself in the shoulder of Aukusti's second bodyguard so deep that that the arm was left hanging by a mere thread of skin and sinew as the creature collapsed in death. Beomund: As the last of Aukusti's guards fell, and Beomund and Aukusti moved to meet each other, the smith spoke grimly: "Phalen strikes back." sd: "You must be the mighty heroes of Phalen I've heard about," said Aukusti. "Congratulations. When I'm dead, the Chief will have an easy time bringing Toothtown under his control, and your city will face more enemies than before. Intelligence has never been an outstanding human trait." sd: the goblin struck out at Beomund, who blocked the blow with the haft of his hammer. Beomund: As he parried, Beomund replied. "As if this were the only plan in motion. The women shall have their revenge." sd: after several more probing clashes, Sidwell finally got the better of her foe, sending it slumping to the ground. She whirled towards Aukusti. sd: Aukusti returned another strike which Beomund parried with a burst of adrenaline. "The women will run riot for a time I imagine, then they'll be enslaved again and someone harsher than me will subject them to additional flesh-tithes." The goblin saw the party advancing on him, and he waved his blade in Beomund's face. "Try me alone, if you've any courage." Beomund: Beomund laughed at that as they circled each other. "You underestimate human intelligence again." He nodded to his friends as they closed in. sd: Aukusti bulled forward suddenly with a burst of strength, slashing hard at Beomund's face with his blade and sweeping his shield low. The shield struck the smith's knee and nearly sent him toppling over as he skidded on a bloody stone, but he righted himself, barely held off the withering series of attacks, and regained his balance. Hogar: Hogar walked much more slowly towarda Aukusti, confident that Beomund would be able to handle him. However, he still took out his heavier axe balanced for melee, though he obviously did not expect he would need to use it. Beomund: Beomund lashed out at Aukusti again as he stood, nearly breaking through his defenses. He could tell the goblin was hard pressed, though, as Sidwell and Leofric reached them. sd: Aukusti made one last slash that the smith was able to turn, and then Sidwell and Leofric were on him. He dodged aside from the Sister's blow, but Leofric threw himself forward and thrust his huge blade straight through the goblin chancellor's middle. Aukusti gave a shriek of agony that was cut off as green froth came gurgling from his mouth. Leofric put his shoulder to the creature and drove him off the blade, and the goblin fell with his entrails beginning to spill to the ground. "No tithe for you, goblin. The Dark Sister will have your whole flesh, forever." Her notched sword raised once, twice, hacking through Aukusti's neck. Beomund: Beomund gave Aukusti's head a contemptuous kick, sending it to bounce against the stand of a nearby stall. "I'm glad we could do this for the rest of the Sisters at least. We'll pray the rest of their plans go as well." sd: "They'll find the body in the morning and there'll presumably be idiotic jostling and jockeying for position which will still be ongoing when we attack," said Sidwell. She cleaned her blade on the fallen chancellor's body. "Now with that done, we should go and fetch the Mage-Breaker." Hogar: "Sorry about getting caught."said Hogar apologetically to the others "Could have ended quite badly."he added as he began to work on extracting the javelin's out of Edmund's arm. Beomund: "There are always complications," replied Beomund. "We're just lucky that javelin didn't do worse." Edmund: "I wasn't too useful myself," Edmund said with a wry look. Beomund: "For understandable reasons," said Beomund with a laugh. "But if that guard had blown his horn, we might be in trouble now." Edmund: "I'm glad I learned that trick," Edmund smiled now. sd: "No use dallying around," said Sidwell, tearing a strip of cloth from one of the stalls and clearing the goblin blood matting her face and hair. "Let's move." sd: the Sister paused, then snatched up Aukusti's sword, as it was better than her own and they would no longer need to bear inferior equipment to avoid notice in Podolplatz
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Post by sleepingdragon on Mar 18, 2017 17:56:41 GMT
sd: leaving behind the bodies of Aukusti and his men to be discovered the next day, the party immediately set out on the trail of Wulfrun and the remaining Changers who were seeking the Mage-Breaker. Though they had several days lead on the party, Burrhelm had unwittingly provided them quite a bit of knowledge about their intended route. They rode out on their borrowed horses and left Podolplatz behind, praying their actions had been enough to allow the Soiled Sisters to succeed in the attack that was due to come in a little over twenty-four hours. They rode hard through the day, making east towards the Tailcut hills. They kept their yellow clothing for the time being, but Sidwell advised that now they should feel free to use any magic they might wish for the battles ahead - outside of the populated environs of Podolplatz, they were unlikely to encounter any mages who did not already bear them some ill will. Sidwell was anxious to move as quickly as possible, so they could turn about and rejoin the Soiled Sisters to defend any rearguard action they might take while retreating towards the Saltanow. Edmund: Edmund checked his bow, counted arrows and made sure his flute was ready to hand. "I hope never again to be that unprepared," he said with a grimace, massaging his healed arm as though it was still in pain. Beomund: Beomund agreed. "I fought a war without such magical advantages, but now lacking them makes me feel naked." He set about raising the magical wards and enhancements that he had lowered for their expedition into Podolplatz. Edmund: "I imagine you didn't only have four other people fighting on your side," Edmund said with a slight smile, hopefully a sign of his usual good cheer returning. Hogar: "Perhaps there was a lesson there - as useful as our magic is, we should learn not to rely too much on it."said Hogar. Still, he did appreciate Beomund's recasting the enchantments on their equipment. sd: "Every time I do something like this I hope it's the last time, and it never is," said Sidwell. "When you're a woman, carrying a sword anywhere makes you suspect, not just in towns filled with orcs." She gave Beomund an appreciative nod as his spells took hold on her as well. sd: they tore across the barren plains. The majority of the Breakteeth tribes lived to the west of Podolplatz, so they encountered few patrols. There was one local chieftain they had heard of who occasionally raided the Tailcut lands, and once they came near to one of his patrols near to sunup. Rather than stop, the party simply rode straight past them, thinking that news of Aukusti's death had by now perhaps been heard of. Though it would raise suspicions, the orcs could not catch them, and by the time they returned the Soiled Sisters would have launched their attack and these monsters would, God willing, no longer draw breath.
They slept in the saddle, taking turns to nap. At one point Leofric nearly rode directly into a tree stump that would have sent his mount tumbling down a sheer hillface, but fortunately Hogar was watchful and rescued him. They had now left the Breaktooth lands behind and entered into the realms of the Tailcut orcs. Edmund seemed energised by the hard ride and his own near brush with disaster the night before - after dozing for a time, he woke again and rode ahead of the others. Taking note of the patterns of movement he saw amongst the birds, he was able to find a hidden path leading up to the hills, saving them several hours of riding.
In the early evening, when they had travelled perhaps half the distance needed and they had been in Tailcut lands for perhaps two hours, Hogar spotted something from the corner of his eye, and glanced down towards it. In a sheltered defile below where they now stood, Hogar noticed an orc's head, cleanly severed from a body that lay several feet away, its clothing stitched with pieces of dragonspawn skin indicating it had been one of the Tailcut clan. One of the arms had been hacked off at the wrist. As they went down to investigate they found another body, this one missing a leg.
There was a great deal of blood around, far more than two dead orcs ought to have left, and yet these were the only bodies the party could find in examining the defile. They found significant signs of a struggle - broken arrows, a shattered axe, and a number of trees, shrubbery and stones bearing scorch marks. Sidwell thought the orcs had been dead for perhaps a day. There was a confused welter of footprints in the defile, but Edmund found one clear print - one that clearly belonged to one of the skeletal undead, for no one who wore clothing or flesh could have left such an imprint. Beomund: "The Liche's forces were involved, perhaps," said Beomund. "Let's hope he hasn't caught wind of what we're pursuing." Hogar: "As long as they're fighting orcs, I won't complain too strongly."said Hogar "But yet, let's be quick." Hogar: edit: "But yes, let's be quick and try not to alert his forces." sd: they continued on for the rest of the day, with Edmund and Sidwell using their knowledge of the local terrain to pick out a good path while Beomund and Hogar kept an eye out for hazards and successfully steered the party away from them. With the Prophet's Star high in the sky, they crested a rise and looked out across the rocky plain ahead, and suddenly spotted shapes moving several miles ahead of them.
They numbered perhaps twenty altogether, half of whom were no longer alive. There were a half dozen orcish zombies, most likely the dead of the battle in the defile they had come across eariler in the day. Hogar, with his sharp eyes, was able to spy the other shapes - they were some of the warlocks of the Liche who they had seen at the auction in Podolplatz, led by a short young man with a blocky face and a shock of unkempt red hair. There were four other warlocks, it seemed, and five living human warriors accompanying them. Leofric: Leofric frowned with a sense of concern, never felt so naked without his gears. Oh how he yearns for the Shifting Blade. "The odds are not in our favour, especially these warlocks." He whispered to others sd: "We should avoid them," said Sidwell. "They don't have horses, even if half of them don't need to sleep we should be able to get to Wulfrun before they do." Hogar: "If we could disable the warlocks quickly, though..."suggested Hogar Beomund: "I'm with Sid, not worth the risk," said Beomund. "We'll just need to prepare to avoid them as we return, as well." Leofric: Leofric closed his eyes for a moment, "Not worth a risk. I agreed with them." He nodded at Sid and Beomund. Edmund: "It's more important to get past and find the sword," Edmund agreed. sd: the party circled around the Liche's men, who had obviously not noticed their presence. Though they were tired and longed for a rest, they decided they should force their weary bones to continue on, lest the Liche's men reach Wulfrun first. As they went, they looked behind them to see the leader of the warlocks using some manner of spell, though it didn't appear to be directed at them. You whisper to Beomund: he felt the surge of aethyric power and his eyes widened. Each magical tradition taught their members particular ways of shaping aethyric power, and this one was very familiar indeed - this red-haired man's methods of casting were those of the Conclave! either he himself had broken the Abjurations, or he had been taught by another who had. Leofric: Leofric narrowed his eyes at the leader but he couldn't make any sense out of it. Beomund: "His manner of casting... he has Conclave training," said Beomund amidst deep breaths. "We'll need to ask if someone fitting his description broke the abjurations, or if there's someone who might have taught him." Leofric: Leofric frowned for a moment, "That's not good." Edmund: "You don't know of any infamous rogue mages who were members of the Conclave?" Edmund asked. Leofric: Leofric smiled slightly if sadly, "Unfortunately no, the members can leave the Conclave if they want to although they are shunned. We do hunt all practitioners of necromancy however, especially the members who breaks that specific abjuration." He considered that warlock. sd: they pushed on, again sleeping in the saddle. Beomund and Hogar forewent rest altogether, keeping watch on the others all through the night. By the time the sun rose they had pushed far ahead of the warlocks and were advancing into the Tailcut Hills. Edmund, Hogar and Leofric were able to find them paths with their knowledge of the terrain, while Beomund went behind them as normal. Rather than obliterating signs of their passage, he did one better, creating false trails to waste the time of the Liche's men and lead them into dead ends.
Beomund had found a little gully amidst the rocky stones which saved them some time trying to go around a large perch, and it was in their descent from here that they looked ahead and spied the Changers ahead, who had briefly halted to rest their mounts and have a quick meal. At their head was Wulfrun, who had an appearance quite close to that of her cousin, the King of the Lost-Lands, though they thought they would not have recognised her as Aethelwulf's kin had Burrhelm not told them of it. With her were five others. They had discarded the yellow clothing of free humans in this region - clearly they intended to stick to hidden paths and begone from the occupied lands as quickly as possible. Wulfrun bore two swords, and one, they noted, had an ornate golden hilt, set with blue jewels. There was a sapphire inlaid into the pommel stone, and old Gaston runes set along the scabbard. Wulfrun kept a hand on the blade even as she ate. Beomund quickly backed up, realising that they risked being spotted if they went any further, and fearing that they might have been seen even with their retreat. Leofric: Leofric smiled with grimness, "Good, we manage to catch up." He whispered softly. Hogar: "How are we to approach them?" whisphered Hogar Leofric: "We could try ambush them?" Leofric whispered, "If that sword is the Mage Breaker, I don't think they will hand that over without any fight." Hogar: "If that sword is Mage Breaker..."said Hogar "It might prove a very hard fight." Leofric: He eyed the others, "I could cast a hidden spell that will allow me to sense any spells on that group?" He suggested Beomund: "That would be useful," replied Beomund. "Perhaps we could steal it when they rest... though that would be risky." Leofric: Leofric backed off and casted the spell although with different gestures compared to his normal casting of sensing spell You whisper to Leofric: he used the spell and waited. He scanned across the Changers and found that none of them had any magic active at the moment, save for Wulfrun...he tried to probe into what was affecting her, but found his spell blocked, despite putting as much of his power as he could towards pushing past any such defences he might find. That alone was confirmation to him that the blade truly was Mage-Breaker, able to thwart even a concentrated attempt to detect its powers. Leofric: "All apart from Wulfrun do not have any active spells. I can confirm that it is Mage-Breaker as it is blocking my spell from sensing its power." He frowned with exasperation.. sd: Sidwell readied an arrow. "We should make this quick, if we're not going to try to talk them into giving the damn thing to us." Leofric: Leofric flexed his fingers and nodded, "I am in full agreement, Sid. Maybe we can scare their horses or something?" Edmund: "We could drive off the horses using an illusion, it worked before," Edmund suggested. Leofric: Leofric nodded. "Good idea Ed. Let me think on what spells to use. More strength is going to be helpful here." Leofric: Leofric managed to cast his strength powers, their muscles almost hummed with magical power. Leofric: He then closed his eyes, focusing on the enemies apart from Wulfrun, ready to throw lightening at all of them. He felt it is pointless to target Wulfrun. Holding such spell in check, he nodded, "I am going to throw lightening at all of them apart from Wulfrun." Edmund: Edmund cast the spell to make his arrows more dangerous, then started to work on creating an illusion of a wild mountain cat to scare the horses/. Leofric: Leofric got his shield out, but left his hand free which are flickering with magical bolts floating around it Hogar: Hogar readied a hatchet Beomund had enchanted with deadly spells and sized up Wulfrun and the Changers closest to her sd: they crept down and around to the side with the horses. Ed picked out a path for them, disguising their movements so well they managed to get nearly on top of the Changers without being spotted. Beomund: Beomund looked uncomfortable with the prospect of the ambush, but steeled himself. sd: Sidwell took aim at Wulfrun, who was just finishing her meal, looked at the others for confirmation, and let loose. The shaft sailed between two men on guard and buried itself into her midsection. Wulfrun reeled back against a rockface, swearing wildly and reaching for her shield, throwing her food away as her compatriots also readied for battle. Beomund: Beomund had been waiting just a moment to follow up Sidwell's attack. He let loose his own arrow, piercing Wulfrun in the abdomen once more. The woman slumped back against the rocks, her legendary sword failing to protect her. Hogar: With Wulfrun down, Hogar decided to hurl his hatchet at the Changer closest to himself instead, dealing a grievous wound to the leg which sent the man collapsing to the ground. Edmund: Edmund flung out his hand and the illusion of a giant mountain cat appeared near the horses, fangs exposed in a ferocious snarl. sd: the horses immediately reared and fled from the illusion, leaving the Changers with no means to escape even if they had been willing to expose their backs to the party's deadly arrows Leofric: Leofric strolled forth and unleashed his lightening spell, all five Changers, including a fallen one by Hogar's throw was hurted in various locations on their bodies. Grinning as if he was mad, he reached for his longsword. sd: with two of their number, including their leader, already down, the remaining Changers could already see they were doomed. "Stop! We surrender!" one of them called out, flinging away the bow she had been drawing. Edmund: "We can't kill them in cold blood," Edmund spoke as though he regretted this fact. sd: Sidwell had drawn her sword. "Maybe you couldn't, Virian," she said coldly. "But if that's what you prefer..." Beomund: Beomund nodded, looking somewhat relieved himself. "Let's just not give away who we are." Edmund: "No!" Edmund held out his hand to stop Sidwell. Edmund: "We are disguised. We can just take the sword and leave them." Hogar: Hogar agreed with mercy. "These people do not deserve death, they are merely misguided." he said sd: Sidwell put her sword away "As you wish. The fewer people know what happened here the better, it seems to me, but..." she shrugged. She looked away from Edmund and spoke more loudly. "Normally I would turn around and sell you all to the necromancers who are following you, but today I'm feeling merciful," she announced loudly. "We're going to take a few things from you and be off, and you can flee with your lives. We have horses, so don't bother wasting your time and lives trying to chase us." sd: "Take their money, we don't want them to realise we're just after the sword," Sidwell said quietly. Leofric: Leofric glowered Edmund: Edmund moved forward to where Wulfrun lay with the sword beside her. "No hard feelings," he said casually, in his persona as a mercenary. "We just got a better offer." Beomund: Beomund moved up nearby. "Sword looks fancy," he noted to Ed. "What d'you think that'll fetch?" In the meantime he started searching the other Changers for coins. sd: Sidwell went among the Changers, relieving them of their bows and arrows, while Edmund went to claim the real prize. "She's your leader and best fighter, yes?" Sidwell pointed to the fallen Wulfrun. One of the Changers nodded, so Sidwell expertly drew the arrow from her wound and quickly staunched it. "She'll live," she said. "But she's not going to be in any condition to try to use any sword on us for a number of days," she added, and as Wulfrun began to come to the Soiled Sister stamped down hard on the fingers of her sword hand. Edmund: Edmund picked up the sword and weighed it in his hand. "Not bad at all." Leofric: Leofric glowered even more at the mercy shown at them, clearly not pleased with mercy shown by Sidwell. He glanced around the area, looking out for any dangers Hogar: Hogar said nothing but tried to look the part as he helped Edmund and Beomund divest the Changers of some of their belonging. sd: Sidwell knelt by Wulfrun, who was writhing in agony. "Listen carefully, pretty girl," she said. "There's a group of warlocks after you. As I don't particularly want them to have more zombies we'll try to draw them off, but that does mean that if you follow us you'll probably blunder straight into us. I'm sure you think you're here doing something very important and noble, but it's better to go home and live with failure than to die and spend your afterlife as some mage's plaything." Sidwell gave her what would have been a light pat, save that it was directly where Beomund's arrow had pierced her. The Changer woman groaned in agony and slumped to the ground. Edmund: Edmund whisled at Sidwell. "Play time over now. Time we left." Leofric: Leofric laughed at the sight, mocking the pain of the changer woman. sd: "One second darling," Sidwell called back casually. She rifled through Wulfrun's belongings and retrieved a drum, etched in orcish runes. "A new toy for you," she said, flipping it to Edmund. Beomund: Beomund did his best to mask his discomfort at the situation with mercenary grimness. Edmund: Edmund caught it easily, "A nice present. I'll reward you later," he injected a salacious note into his voice and winked at Sidwell. sd: "My sister's husband used to like to say things like that," Sidwell told Edmund with a dark smile and no playful tone in her voice. "He tried to surrender too." Edmund: Edmund just laughed and bowed to the Changers. "Our thanks ladies and gentlemen. Now I'm afraid we must leave you." sd: they returned to their horses with the Mage-Breaker in hand. "Now we need to decide. My preference is to break the damn thing now and have done with it. If we do it now, and secretly, this Virian would-be High King won't realise it's missing and will probably waste loads of time and effort trying to find it." sd: said Sidwell Edmund: "I agree," Edmund said. "It must be put out of the way of temptation." Beomund: "I think the sword must be used to tip the balance of the coming conflict somehow," replied Beomund. "Returning it to the Council would be one option, but breaking it... That could be used as well. If we say we found it broken, and distributed the pieces, it would make clear that its legitimacy no longer could lie with one man." Hogar: "I do not like what we had to do here."said Hogar, sadly "Still, it may have been necessary. As for what to do with it...do we really want to deceive the Council, too?" Edmund: "We will be doing them a favour," Edmund said. "The sword out in the world, in one piece, can lead to civil war, men and women struggling to make use of it to rule the world." sd: "Fuck the Council," Sidwell said hotly. "If you want to give them the Mage-Breaker you'll have to kill me." Edmund: "Calm yourself," Edmund said quietly. "We will swear an oath to break the sword." Leofric: Leofric grimanced on this for a moment, "I lost count of how many enemies we have accured to this point." He eyed Sidwell, "This sword would fits in quite well in my collection of swords." Edmund: "Leo!" Edmund warned his friend, half in jest but not completely. sd: "I'll give you another one for your collection if you'd like," Sidwell said, fingering the hilt of Aukusti's blade. Leofric: "Having said that." He smiled slightly at Sidwell, "let shatter this sword quietly and in secret. Let the myth of this sword keep going, never again they will ever find the sword." Edmund: "Beomund, you are the expert. How can we break this?" Edmund asked. Hogar: "Keeping it is not an option."said Hogar raising his eyebrows "So, let's say we agree how to break it. How? I doubt it's as simple as shattering it. Wouldn't the pieces keep some of the magic?" Leofric: Leo eyed Hogar with a smile, "It must be possible, remember your axes? Also made from another such blades." Beomund: "But if it's in secret," replied Beomund, "a forgery could always grant the same legitimacy. Best for it to be known that it will never be wielded again." Edmund: "Spreading the magic should not be a problem," Edmund said. sd: "Let's move away from here, at least," said Sidwell, still glaring at Leofric. "We should put some distance between us and them first." Beomund: Beomund nodded and began to move at once, his mind racing with possibilities. Hogar: "Darkling Gleam was a mere trinket compared to this weapon, however." Hogar replied to Leofric "Still, I'm sure some way could be found, but it won't be easy." Leofric: Leofric moved his hired horse faster, "Beside, it seems fitting that as the members of the Conclave forged it, it is the members that will break it."
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Post by sleepingdragon on Mar 18, 2017 17:57:08 GMT
sd: the party took the Mage-Breaker and rode away with some haste back towards Podolplatz, intending to put some distance between themselves and Wulfrun's party before destroying the blade. Beomund: "It'll be good to be out of these lands," huffed Beomund as they rode. "I hope many will escape with us." Hogar: "And maybe someday come back and defeat these monsters for good." added Hogar Edmund: "It's hard not to wonder how the Sisters are faring," Edmund said. "But God will be with them." sd: Sidwell squinted towards Podolplatz, where her Sisters would even now be engaged in battle, but across the long miles there was no way to tell what had happened. "We should ride hard to join them, I imagine the orcs will follow and a group of escaping slaves with women and children move more slowly than a horde of monsters," she said. She glanced at Hogar. "The Handmaidens mean to do just that, once we've succeeded on this mission." sd: after about an hour and a half of riding west, they began to reach the edges of the Tailcut Hills, and there they could stop and make their final decision on the Mage-Breaker. Edmund: "It has to be broken up," Edmund insisted. "This sword will cause war and disruption all the while it exists." Beomund: "I agree," said Beomund. "Though the fragments and its symbolism should be used. Our finding its pieces in monster territory might convince people to be involved in a greater venture against them." Hogar: "I trust your judgement."said Hogar "But we should be really careful in how we deal with the Council and the fragments, lest we be branded as traitors if they realize you were the one to destroy it." sd: "Let's do it now then," said Sidwell. "We can worry about the Council another day." Edmund: "I agree." Leofric: Leofric frowned for a moment, "I an not entirely sure we should be using the fragements and its symbolism. They are just going to be so pissed. Should be intresting." sd: they needed, first of all, to cast a spell to overcome the powerful enchantment of resistance that the Conclave had laid upon Mage-Breaker long ago. Leofric wove a spell to bypass this resistance, and even as great a mage as he had become, he needed to put forth all his power to do so. He focussed all his aethyric power into the blade, dissipating its protections, and as sweat beaded upon his brow the rest of the party assisted. Sidwell was no sorcerer herself, but the mystic talents of the Sisters allowed her to see the ancient spells which had been laid on the blade, their arcane signatures clinging to the blade like spiderwebs. To undo them, they needed to be unpicked, slowly and individually, and in the correct order. Leofric, Beomund and Edmund were able to do this, while Sidwell and Hogar provided guidance from their understanding of magical principle. Slowly, they unpicked the web, though it hung at the edge of vision, ready to snap back into place if Leofric's spell were to fail.
When the aethyric web was at last dealt with, Beomund drew his hammer and studied the sword where it lay upon a flat stone, looking at it for a long time, examining its weak points. Then with a sudden and decisive burst of movement he swung his borrowed hammer down. Beomund smote it a powerful blow upon the hilt and crossguard, and in one stroke the Mage-Breaker cracked and broke. There was a psychic backlash as the blade destabilised, no longer able to maintain the failing spells the party had unwoven. They felt a deep thrum within their souls, and they reeled back, wincing, as a high, keening noise that only they could hear rang in their minds. There was a flash of blue light, and when it cleared, they looked up to see that the blade of the Mage-Breaker had split straight in half, while its hilt, pommel and tang had shattered utterly. Beomund: Lowering his hand from where he had shielded his eyes, Beomund slowly walked over to the ruined sword. "A potent act..." he murmured, looking down at the fragments. Edmund: Edmund came forward to examine the parts. "A fine piece of work." Leofric: Leofric relaxed slightly brushing off some sweats off his forehead, "Indeed, at least no one will be able to use the sword." He smiled with grimness Hogar: Hogar too looked at what was left of the once-mighty weapon, though he said nothing and it was not obvious what he was thinking. sd: "A great blow to any fool who'd try to make himself High King," said Sidwell."If we're to suffer such nonsense in Palania again let them at least work for it." sd: gathering the broken shards of the blade, they remounted and rode off west towards Podolplatz. With the Mage-Breaker destroyed, they could now focus all their attention upon reaching the Sisters as quickly as possible and helping them and the slaves they had hopefully rescued cross the river safely. sd: they rode on hard back into the lands of the Breakteeth tribes. As they went, they saw signs of many feet ahead of them, making their way towards Podolplatz, and then, after another night in the saddle, when morning came the sun shone through on a clear day, down upon a town gutted by flame and steel. Much of the southern half of Podolplatz still remained, but the northern wall had been utterly destroyed by a flame starting, it seemed, at the northeastern corner. The palace belonging to Orgruuz, the son of the orcish king, had been almost completely destroyed. So too was the estate of the goblin slavemaster Leevi and many other outlying buildings - indeed, from their own time in Podolplatz they could tell that the areas with large concentrations of slaves had suffered the heaviest damage. The town's southern buildings had escaped comparatively lightly, however. There was now only a skeletal crew of goblins and orcs remaining in the town, enough to scare away a small warband but little more - in the distance to the northwest, however, they could see a great cloud of dust in the air, where the warriors of the Breakteeth tribe had gone in pursuit of the town's attackers.
They looked down in silence for a time, gazing on the destruction the Sisters' had wrought, when suddenly a woman's spectral figure appeared next to Sidwell. "We had expected you to be here yesterday," the woman said severely. She was in her early sixties, with a sharp brow and scarred face, though her features were difficult to discern in this astral form. "A freed slave woman called Frigyth, who I believe you know, mentioned you had gone away on some important business, though the Dark Sister alone knows what that would have been." sd: Sidwell glanced at the others. "We'd killed Aukusti, the goblin chancellor, we knew that would spark a hunt so we needed to get out of town. We'd heard a rumour we needed to investigate, and by the Sister I wish we'd listened sooner." She pulled out one of the shattered pieces of the Mage-Breaker. "We heard a story about a group of bandits in the area, their king had a magic sword that protected him from the goblin shamans. It's the fucking Mage-Breaker, Gethwine. Except the bastard broke it out of spite rather than let us have it."
the Handmaiden looked at them in surprise. "This...you should have contacted us about this, once you heard the rumour, Sister," she said. "I would have done," said Sidwell, "but it sounded like idle talk, and at any rate I feared we might get detected. Where are you now, Sister? We'll ride towards you at once."
"We're to the northwest," said Gethwine. "The Breakteeth clans are pursuing us. Orcs are very obstinate creatures, especially when you free their slaves, burn their town, and kill their king. The Grey Tainted have made his body into a banner so the creatures will come to them more easily. We have five hundred slaves with us and more are escaping from the estates. There'll be at least one battle before we get clear of the river." Leofric: Leofric nodded with a wry tone, "That's good news. We are ready to help out." He said confidently. sd: "Then come now. We won't be hard to find. We have your gear ready for your arrival, assuming you reach us before they do. Farewell for now." Gethwine gave Sidwell a glance and then vanished. Edmund: Edmund gave a sigh of relief at the thought they would be reunited with their equipment. sd: they set out and rode hard towards the northwest. as evening drew on they began to come near to the monstrous army, which numbered several hundred orcs and goblins, running wild in a quite loose formation - with King Renzaak dead they had no singular chief, but instead a motley assortment of leaders who were all fighting for personal glory and the desire to become the new King of the Breakteeth tribes. The Sisters' force was about ten miles ahead of them - much greater in number, but consisting mainly of escaped slaves with no training in war and no weapons or armour other than that which they had hastily looted in the attack on Podolplatz. They could not help but move slower than the pursuing monsters, and there was no hope they would reach the river first without at least one more clash.
The party rode throughout the night, circling wide around the Breakteeth army. As they did, a large group of the monsters broke off to pursue them, running hard or riding on large wolves. The party's own mounts were fatigued from their long and unforgiving ride, and in Hogar and Beomund's case they found it better to dismount and run alongside their mounts, bolstered by magic. They ran through the whole night, desperately trying to outpace the enemy army and reach the Sisters before they did. Several hours after midnight they finally lost their pursuers and ran up a slope towards where a group of Sisters had gathered. There were large sections of rocky cliffs to either side of this narrow valley, and the Sisters were gathering large stones to create makeshift barriers through which the monsters could be funnelled and held off. One young Sister looked up from her labour as the party came near and gave a cry - it was Annis, who tossed aside the stone she had been shifting and came rushing over to Edmund. Edmund: Edmund held out his arms and enfolded Annis. Beomund: Beomund smiled at the sight of the lovers reunited, before quickly going to aid the Sisters in preparing the defenses. Leofric: Leofric was reassured that they got there in good time Hogar: Hogar said nothing but wiped the sweat from his brow as he followed Beomund in their attempts to help the Sisters - the orcs still had to be dealt with sd: Sidwell had the Sisters bring the party their equipment in some haste so they could be ready for the battle to come. There were four large gaps in the stone barricade the Sisters had hastily constructed, and their plan was to leave behind several parties of Sisters here to drive back the orcs, while the escaped slaves went on ahead. "They want us to take one gap," said Sidwell, "alongside some Grey Tainted and Juggernauts. Annis will be sent on ahead, she's too green for this kind of battle yet." Edmund: Edmund nodded. "Her time will come, she's a fierce spirit," he said with a smile. Leofric: Leofric was clearly happy that he see his weapons and armours back, eager to get rid of his onion reeking clothings. He quickly changed into them and are ready for the fight to come Beomund: Beomund looked satisfied as he strapped on his Smith's Belt, readying himself for a decisive fight. Hogar: "I did miss my axe." Hogar said gripping the Darkling Axe again, after having put his armor and other equipment both magical and mundane on. Edmund: Edmund cleaned himself quickly before dressing in his own clothes and his good leather armour. Then he strapped Leof's broadsword to his waist and ran his hand along the Black Bow before swinging it over his shoulder. Finally he slipped on a gold ring. "Ready to go!" he said with a broad grin. sd: alongside them were a half dozen Juggernauts, young Sisters who had been trained to specialise in hand to hand combat with spears, shields, and bows, and were inured to pain and injury. Also fighting on their side were two of the Grey Tainted. These were a special order amongst the Sisters, open only to those, like the very first of the Sisters, who had been captives of the orcs and personally suffered at their hands. They were women whose faces were etched masks of anger. The two who would be with them today were named Athilda and Rimilde, and both were over fifty years of age, but time had done nothing to weaken their bodies or the flaming spirits that drove them on. Both women had great, notched two-handed swords and wore full corslets of mail, which the Sisters had made for them specially, for the smiths of Palania forged mail for male bodies only. As the slaves retreated and the orcs came nearer, Rimilde and Athilda invoked the powers of the Dark Sister, gaining great strength and protective abilities. To practise, they had Sidwell fire arrows towards them, and with the powers they had invoked they were able to hack these from mid-air with their greatswords. Satisfied, the two Grey Tainted put their backs to the large stones and waited the arrival of their sworn foes. Leofric: Leofric focused his will on himself and granted himself, his friends, Edmund, Hogar and Beomund and their allies the power to use extra might. Edmund: Edmund enhanced his arrows so that they would burn with righteous fire. Beomund: Beomund wove his enchantments to strengthen his party's equipment, as well as casting spells on the weapons of their Sister allies. sd: the sun was rising when the orcs began to draw near. They were split into many warbands grouped around their chieftains, so each went this way and that. A single commander might have sent all of their forces at a single opening to maximise the amount of pressure they could bring to bear, but these creatures were without a single leader now, and each group went their own way in search of rape and plunder. Near where the party was gathered a score of enemies under the command of a huge orc appeared, and another similarly sized band was following behind them, to join the fray soon. The monsters began to rush up the slope as the Sisters let loose their warcries and prepared for battle. Hogar: Hogar stared at the Grey Tainted, obviously impressed. As they kept preparing for battle and he expected his equipment, he decided to drink one of the magical potions they brought with them and cast some spells of protectiom on the Grey Tainted, while to some of the Juggernauts - and to himself - he gave the power to make projectiles burst with lightning to inflict greater damage. Edmund: Edmund raised the Wind God's Flute to his lips and played a rousing lay to raise the hearts and spirits of his comrades.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Mar 29, 2017 17:21:07 GMT
sd: the combined orc and goblin force began to charge up the hill. This first wave numbered approximately a score, with a similar number trailing after them. There were two large wargs whose orcish riders wielded glaives at either end of the column, and also amongst the horde were shamans with talismans of bone. The apparent leader of the force was the biggest of the orcs, wielding an enormous two-handed axe. The Sisters stared back impassive, drawing ranged weapons to fire until the melee could be joined. Edmund: Edmund moved to the left, finding a comfortable spot among the rocks. Calmly he drew back the bow and picked out one of the Orc shamans. The arrow flew straight and true, plunging to the flights in the Orc's guts. With a spew of blood the monster staggered forward and collapsed unmoving on the ground. Edmund: As it flew the bow shrieked its unearthly war cry, ending with a scream of triumph. sd: Sidwell aimed at one of the wargs. Her arrow flew out and struck it right between the eyes, sending it slumping to the ground, its rider leaping clear of the saddle and hitting the ground running. Leofric: Leofric partly hidden behind the giant boulders eyed the approaching mix of orcs and goblins. He judged the distance before him and carefully weighted the value of various targets. With a hand on his Shifting Blade whose return was like a returning child to him, his other hand starts crackling with energy as he starts muttering one of his lesser magical abilities. sd: Athilde and Rimilde took aim at the two biggest orcs. Though firing at a great distance, the gifts the Dark Sister had granted them steadied their hands and their arrows flew true, each shaft digging into the orcish captains arms Beomund: Beomund took aim at a goblin shaman and let loose his own arrow. Despite the creature's swiftness, the missile flew true, burying itself in its heart. sd: the Soiled Sister Juggernauts sighted the orcs rushing towards them, picking out the enemies their Sisterhood most bitterly hated and ignoring the goblins. a half dozen arrows flew out and each one buried itself in orcish flesh. One Sister, standing waiting at the largest gap, put her arrow straight through her foe's heart, killing it immediately. Hogar: Being a less skilled archer than his companions, Hogar aimed for the remaining warg, an easier target than the orcs or goblins, and sent his enchanted arrow deep in the beast's head, bringing it down and forcing the orc rider to quickly dismount to avoid being trapped under its bulk. Leofric: Leofric quickly moved behind the giant boulders to benefit from covers from their enemy archers as he focused on his spell. Edmund: Edmund moved with extraordinary speed as he drew upon his own skill and the power of the Black Bow. Again it shrieked as the arrow flew flickering with fire, piercing the bowels of one of the Orc war chiefs, which fell. Hogar: Hogar quickly pulled another arrow from his quiver and fired at one of the dismounted riders and though this arrow wasn't enchanted like the previous one it dug deep into the orc's belly, The creature however kept sprinting forward with monstrous vitality, undeterred by the projectile in its guts. Beomund: Beomund let loose another arrow, but this time he found the speed of the goblins too much, and he overshot them. Leofric: Leofric smiled with almost wicked intention and unleashed his Will on the approaching enemies. Almost as if it was a lightning leapt from an orc rider on the western end through a motley collection of goblins and orcs closest to him. It is almost if his spell have no result but one goblin clearly had one of his arms broken by his spell. He frowned for a moment, clearly disappointed with his spell. Edmund: Edmund, moving with amazing speed, redrew his bow, this time hitting the other Orc war chief. The arrow pierced the creature's already wounded arm right through. It screamed as a gush of blood poured out and then it dropped. sd: their foes continued to charge towards them, with another two warg riders and an orcish shaman coming up the hill in a rush towards them sd: Sidwell fired at the coming shaman, an arrow piercing into his arm Leofric: Leofric nodded once more as he focused his Will again, glancing at the approaching enemies with a grim smile. sd: Athilde and Rimilde had reloaded their bows and fired at the two coming wargs. Both shots were fired with terrific force, dropping the great wolves immediately. Rimilde had another arrow ready immediately. sd: the Sisters fired another round of arrows at the oncoming orcs, with less success than before, though one did land a solid shot against the orcish shaman Hogar: Hogar eyed both the closest enemies and the wave behind them as he readied another arrow. Leofric: Leofric started to move toward Rimilde and a Sister to help out in the close fight sd: Sidwell dropped her bow as the enemy came near, drawing her shield and reaching for the hilt of the sword she had taken from Aukusti Edmund: Scanning the new wave of monsters, Edmund picked out a wounded Orc shaman and fired at it, watching in satisfaction as it crashed to the ground even as he took out another arrow. sd: the other Sisters began to ready their melee weapons as well, though Rimilde put another arrow into one of the dismounted warg riders Hogar: Hogar shot at one of the heavier-armored goblins and the projectile tore through his shoulder with such power that it buried itself completely in the hapless creature body, piercing several organs at once and slaying it on the spot. Leofric: Leofric unleashed his power and once again, lightening hits several of the enemies approaching Leofric as well the ones further back. An Orc already heavily wounded by Rimilde was taken out by his spell in the head. Leofric laughed as he shifted to his equally magical Shifting Blade already a Greatsword, gripping with both of his hands. His eyes glared at the approaching enemies, promising them death by more... direct means Beomund: Beomund grimly continued to fire, this time piercing a goblin warrior in the stomach, causing it to tumble to the ground as its companions rushed past it. sd: another wave of enemies arrived. These were mostly goblin archers, lagging behind their fellows, though there was also another orcish chieftain with his small bodyguard Edmund: Seeming almost to blaze himself with the stream of burning arrows he rained down on their foes, Edmund's next arrow smashed the leg of a goblin warrior, sending it tumbling to the ground. sd: there were two shamans amongst the group of goblins, and they began to cast complex spells, spindly arms raised high Leofric: Leofric frowned at the scene of the shamans and told his allies, "That spell? It is a spell to reduce the strength. Be careful!" sd: the goblins began to fire. Two struck Soiled Sisters and another hit Edmund, but none were able to penetrate their armour Edmund: Edmund fired on one of the shamans, Although it did not fall, the arrow remained imbedded in its flesh. Edmund: edit* Edmund fired on one of the shamans, striking it in the head. It feel to the ground, dead. Leofric: Leofric closed his eyes and casted the spell to grant him even more strength. He rattled his Shifting Blade, shouting at the monsterous enemies, "Come On! What you are waiting for? You weaklings!" Leofric: His tone mocking them for what they are. sd: two of the Soiled Sisters had kept their bows out, and fired the single magical arrow Beomund had been able to spare them. One sliced straight towards the huge orc that had just arrived, slamming hard through his eye, punching through his brain and exploding out of the back of his skull in a spray of gore Hogar: Hogar fired at the last remaining goblin shaman, and his arrow was so powerful that it completely pierced his heart, tearing it with steel and burning it with the lightning magic it had been enchanted with it. The creature collapsed to the ground with a sizzling hole in its chest. Leofric: Leofric attempted to cast the spell to hightening his spell while strolling toward the enemies but failed to do so as he was forced to cast withough using his hands Leofric: EDIT: Leofric managed to cast the spell to boost his strolling speed toward the monsterous enemies with a wicked smile through his helment. Beomund: Beomund fired a final arrow, striking a goblin warrior in the skull, before casting his bow aside and preparing for melee. Hogar: Hogar too fired his final arrow - but unfortunately his missed the goblin he was aiming at and buried itself deep into a nearby rock. The warrior threw his bow down and started to reach for the enchanted hatchet hanging from his belt. Edmund: Edmund fired at another goblin warrior, hitting it in the chest, not hard but the arrow remained stuck in the creature's flesh. Leofric: The goblin attempted to attack Leofric with a falchion. However the skill between them can be comparable like a candlelight against the sun. Leofric almost dismissively parried the attempt, knocked it down with a move and shattered its skill with another. He then eyed the Orc and snarled in a response, sd: Rimilde entered into battle alongside one of her Sisters. One of the dismounted orcs stood in her path. She gave a scream of fury and swung her two-handed sword in a brutal arc. The orc tried to interpose its glaive, but the Sister's sword sheared straight through spear and orc alike. The Grey Tainted's mighty blow cut into the creature right below the armpit and went all the way through, sending its bisected halves tumbling in opposite directions amidst a great spray of blood and intestines sd: the Juggernaut also landed a blow, and though it was only a glancing strike the orc she targetted was already hurt, and even this light wound was enough to make it crumple to the ground Hogar: The lightning sparks dancing around Hogar's fingertips faded as he took his enchanted hatchet and started whirling it menacingly towards the approaching orcs and goblins. sd: the two Sister archers took arrows, but they were not able to pierce their scaled armour sd: Sidwell and several of her Sisters had waited long as the orcs rushed towards them. Finally, she gave a wordless scream and tore forward, Athilde and the Juggernauts following on behind her Leofric: Leofric gutted the Orc brutally through its armour with bloodsoaked point of the Shifting Blade jutted out of it back. Smoothly, he took it out and the Orc collasped with massive blood spewing out of the large hole. He then turned his attention on the remaining goblin before it. "Weaklings after all." He muttered as Leofric went forward after the goblin. sd: the Juggernaut archers continued to fire, taking out one orc with an arrow to the arm Hogar: As Sidwell and the other Sisters charged, Hogar hurled his hatchet at the closest goblin with such terrifying much strength that he split the creature's chest in two and send it collapsing to the ground with its smashed heart and lungs pouring forth Hogar: edit: with such terrifying strength Edmund: As his companions ran forward to clash hand to hand with the monsters, Edmund remained at the rocks, cooly drawing another arrow and dropping it with a shot to the chest. Edmund: edit* dropping another goblin warrior sd: Sidwell swung Aukusti's sword at an orc, which narrowly parried the blow Leofric: The other goblin who got full attention of Leofric actually attempted to wound him. Instead, just like the other goblin who was slain, it too was kicked down and hacked brutally into pieces with skins and guts flung into the air by the force of his magically attuned strength. With this gruesome task to an end, he starts to follow Rimilde and a Juggernaut toward the main fray, Beomund: Beomund rushed toward the battle alongside Sidwell and the other Sisters, and though he did not share their battle cry he felt exhilarated to fight beside them, as if he were fighting beside his wife. Reaching the monsters, he swung his hammer toward an orcish leg. The creature managed to interpose its glaive, but the blow had such force that it simply shattered the weapon and the limb behind it. sd: though Sidwell's blow was blocked, Athilde slew her foe with a thrust through its heart, and the other Sisters each also killed an orc, their deadly blades enhanced further by Beomund's spells. in mere moments only a single goblin stood before them sd: with almost the entire force slaughtered, those enemies that remained turned to flee. Athilde and Rimilde wanted to chase after them, but the normally hot-headed Sidwell stilled them, reminding them that they should not leave a gap in the line of defence through which the creatures could pour. They contented themselves, then, to returning to their bows and slaying one or two more of the orcs with shots before they could get away.
The other groups, not so well enhanced as theirs, suffered some losses, though they were minimal compared to what they had wreaked upon the orcs. Over two hundred orcs and goblins were slain by the day's end, and none had been able to pass through and reach the slaves the Sisters had freed from their grip. Remounting, the party rode on ahead to join again with Annis and the others. Frigyth, the slave woman who had contacted them and led the revolt at Leevi's estate, was with them and embraced them all. "My son and his wife were able to fight clear, they're going to take a ship south," she said to them. She did yet want to have to explain to the Sisters who her son and his wife were, so she left it at that. Beomund: "I am glad for them," replied Beomund, his eyes shining with the light of success, "and for all who escaped that place today." sd: *not yet want Edmund: "A great day's work," Edmund said with a smile. Leofric: Leofric smiled warmily, "It is indeed a great day although still not safe until we leave this land." Hogar: "A great day's work, but more will need to be done."said Hogar "I trust the Sisters will take care of that." Edmund: "We will help them in any way we can," Edmund stated. sd: it would not be long until they did that - though it was dark, they could now begin to see the river ahead of them. They made for the same narrow crossing they had come across on the way, although, with such a large party this time, the forces of Ceorlburh had mobilised and a great number of Thegns and archers were ready in case they proved to be a hostile force. The Handmaidens sent Sidwell and some others ahead to tell them of their success and permit them to cross - pre-warned that they would be returning today, they sent rafts across to carry the approximately three hundred people they had rescued from the occupied lands. Frigyth came with Annis and the party on one of the first rafts. She looked back east as she went. Without all the Sisters around, she could speak more freely. "I'll never see them again," she said. "Many things might happen, but I don't suppose there'll ever be a time when we live with orcs and goblins in peace." Edmund: "If there is a way, we will find it," Edmund said gently. "You are the living proof that not all meetings between human and Orc need to end in hate and death." Beomund: "It does seem impossible now," mused Beomund, tugging at his beard as he looked to the east. "But with the turning of ages who knows if we'll even recognize the world we live in. The only constant is change. For good or ill." Leofric: Leofric sighed for a moment, "Only time will tell, nevertheless." Hogar: Hogar said nothing, perhaps simply agreeing with Frigyth that there could never be peace between orcs and goblins and humans. Leofric: He glanced at Hogar, almost agreeing with Hogar. sd: "I don't know what I'll do now," she said. "I didn't believe this would ever actually happen..." Beomund: "Of course there'll be a place for you with our people, if you desire it," said Beomund, glancing at the others though he knew they would agree. "Even for a time, while you figure out what path to travel with this world open to you." He smiled. Leofric: Leofric rubbed the back of his neck, "Nevertheless, you have shown great bravey and courage in helping us. Thank you." He thanked her. sd: "That would be very kind of you," said Frigyth. "I suppose these Sisters have plans for us, but I find them rather grim, and I've had enough of that for a hundred lifetimes." Their raft had reached the western bank, and in the morning sun they could faintly discern the walls of Ceorlburh ahead. Liveried Thegns and armsmen were waiting for them, but Frigyth paid them no heed. She stepped off the raft, removing her battered boots which had almost fallen to pieces in the long flight. She stepped out a few feet into the water, letting it come up to her knees, and then she sat down. So she waited while the other rafts came across, silent tears of relief rolling off her face, her long enslaved years of horror and pain gone, washed away in the cold waters of the Saltanow.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Apr 8, 2017 16:51:19 GMT
The party returned to Phalen to find a city in a fever of anticipation and fear.
While the party had been in Podolplatz, the level of monstrous activity had increased significantly, and in the sun of early summer the inhabitants of the city looked across the river to see a great build-up of orcs, goblins, cyclopes, and other creatures, living and dead. The ominous banner of a reforged crown that was apparently the personal symbol of the Chief of the monsters was everywhere, and there were whispers that he was there, in the city…perhaps even west of the river.
Though it had been concealed from the public as much as possible, Deoneath informed them of an abandoned building they had investigated on the docks, where this symbol had been found chalked on the walls about a week before the party’s return to the city. Alongside the reforged crown had been words writ large in red lettering. THE HIGH KING HAS RETURNED.
The Undercity Watch was on high alert, but Deoneath said the Undercity was quiet. Indeed, a great ranging led by Deoneath’s friend, the high Watch Commander Ebrard, found that the chief activity of the Undercity monsters now seemed to be collapsing tunnels which led from West to East Phalen, to guard against any possible action by the Watch.
Deoneath and Ebrard had both urged the Watch Command to lead as large a raid as possible to throw the enemy off balance and attempt to learn if the Chief was truly present in East Phalen, but the Council feared an ambush and would not commit to it. Instead they had sent orders to all Weapontakes in support of the Council, ordering that funds and soldiers be sent to prepare for imminent battle.
The streets teemed with mercenaries from every nation, and despite their disgruntlement with recent Council actions, the Church had ordered the Silvered Blades to station themselves in the capital. The day after their return they saw their friend Ser Kennald, who had fought alongside them in Kalmar, riding along near to their estate, but when Beomund set out to greet him he led his men away without a word.
Although the Council had ordered aid from all Ealdormen in support of a unified Palania, they received an unexpected rejection from Turoc, the Ealdorman of Weltry, a hitherto staunch supporter and the most prominent Virian convert of all Palanian Ealdormen. He stressed his deep regret at being unable to send assistance, however his hands were tied due to the treacherous actions of his neighbour, Aethelwulf the so-called High King of the Lost-Lands.
The forces with which Aethelwulf had conquered the Lost-Lands had been sent from Weltry, and he had only taken command after the deaths of the original leaders of the Virian mission of relief for the famine that had struck that country.
The mission had been undertaken with the intended aims of relief of the famine and for the spread of the Virian Way, however those men of Weltry who had begun to return to their home reported that Aethelwulf spread a form of the Virian Way totally contrary to the teachings of the Church. Some even claimed he was a sorcerer and worshipper of dark forces.
Whatever the truth of this, it was clear that Ealdorman Turoc had sent an emissary to Aethelwulf, demanding that he release all men of Weltry to return home, and secondly that he repent of his heresy and also to repay all resources he had had from Weltry that had aided in his rise, since he had unlawfully usurped command and ignored the wishes of the Ealdorman.
Aethelwulf had responded by expelling the emissary and mobilising his troops, sending his Lost-Folk west to confront Turoc while those forces he still had of Weltry were moved north to garrison against the dragonspawn, where they could not safely defect or betray him.
This news consumed Wulfnoth with a black anger entirely uncharacteristic of him, as Aethelwulf’s actions threatened to forever blacken the name of the Changers. His anger turned hotter still when the party revealed how they had learned of Aethelwulf’s plot to take Mage-Breaker and name himself High King. He had already tried sending Elders north to Weltry to try to mediate, but Turoc had angrily refused them and named them spies.
The urgency of this situation was underscored even further by news from the Conclave, who had continued to examine the texts which the party had recovered from Manehtar’s Library.
They had already found references to Virian spellcasters within the ancient mage’s diaries, and as they worked more to break his codes they had found enough to be sure that these had been Changers, perhaps even Aethelwulf’s own ancestors. Manehtar believed they had been studying what he termed ‘wells’ of arcane power. These ancient Changers had had a particular interest in both how such wells might be created anew, or how existing wells that had been exhausted might be rejuvenated. The sage’s journals said that they had made themselves a fastness from which to study somewhere deep in what was now Tohringland.
Wulfnoth feared that this ruined fastness might be Aethelwulf’s true objective in Tohringland, for he had already drawn deep on the power of a Wyrd in the Lost-Lands, and he could presumably return to it and use it afresh if he knew how that could be done. He had therefore summoned Erlene as their most resourceful fighter, and asked if the party would accompany her north to locate this ruin and prevent its secrets from falling into the hands of the rogue Changer warlord.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Apr 15, 2017 13:41:49 GMT
sd: the party had only a short time to catch their breath after their journey east of the river. The troubling news from the north had arrived only a day or two after their departure, and they had time to recover from their travails only because it would be a few days before Erlene arrived in Phalen.
the investigations of the Conclave suggested the old fastness of the northern Changers was somewhere in the Great Forest, in the region that was now Tohringland, but that covered a very wide area. Sigrun contacted some colleagues in the Ring of Secrets by telepathy and they suggested to her where the party's first target should be. "There's a scholar called Thedlef in a village on the southern bank of Lake Tohr, called Tohrenmere," Sigrun told them. "She's the most likely person to know where this place is, or at least she'll be able to point you in the right direction. I'm told she's been friendly to us when we needed help before. Sadly we've none of us in the area, as when Turoc converted our seers in Tohringland decided they didn't fancy living under an Ealdorman who might have them executed." Beomund: "At least we'll have one contact," said Beomund. "We've gone on expeditions with less." sd: Sigrun also told them that the Conclave had been searching their archives for mentions of deserters, to try to find one who matched the sorcerer they had encountered near the Tailcut Hills. None from the last twenty years seemed a likely match however. "After that, things become more difficult," said Sigrun. "I think it's more likely that this person was taught by a deserter than that he is one himself, which is concerning. When those things east of the river make their move we could be up to our ears in warlocks trained by a traitor." Leofric: Leofric frowned with a hint of concern, "At least we have a better understanding of such warlocks' abilities, as little as we know about them." He replied thoughtfully. "Hopefully we can work with Thedlef on this." Leofric: EDIT: "Hopefully, we can work with Thedlef on pointing us in the right direction." Hogar: "What I wonder is how a human warlock could control a dragon, or at least have some influence over it."said Hogar "He must have been very powerful indeed, and so might those who were involved with him." Hogar: EDIT: ignore that Edmund: Edmund spent the short time before they must set off again concentrating on learning a new spell, one that would hopefully aid them in battle. Although he did manage to meet with Annis on several occasions, when they would go walking or find some private place to be together. He seemed refreshed in both mind and body when they gathered again to discuss the situation. "Could he be much older than we are presuming?" he suggested. sd: "Our methods of casting were disrupted somewhat when the dragon attacked," said Sigrun. "My old teacher Watman learned his spells some thirty years after the dragon attacked, and there were still some of us around in those days who had survived the attack. Watman told me they used to have problems when working with those who'd survived the attack worked with them, their methods were still recognisable, but different. Leofric and Beomund would have noticed if this traitorous teacher was older than that." sd: while on the road back from their mission across the river it had been Edmund's birthday, and although they'd hardly been able to celebrate much while on the road, once they returned Annis came to see them, bringing with her a set of fine black clothes and a silver ring. "Be careful who you wear the ring around, I stole it from Sidwell," she said casually. Hogar: Hogar frowned at the young woman's words but did not comment further, though he took the occasion to congratulate Edmund on all he had achieved at such a young age - and add that he would no doubt do even more in the months to come. Hogar himself had been spending what little time they had since their return to practice his agility, becoming even swifter in battle and learning a new spell to further enchant his projectiles by making them travel farther. Edmund: Edmund shook his head in mock disapproval at Annis' words, though he grinned and gave her a hug. "You can explain what that ring is about later," he whispered in her ear. sd: unfortunately Erlene was still on her way to Phalen and would not arrive in time for the celebrations, but they were able to invite a number of their friends to the manor. By now Synne was quite visibly pregnant and had begun to reduce her activity in managing the household, which had resulted in a heavier workload for Maccus. The Coelneyman handled this with aplomb, and tonight he was in a long conversation with Frigyth, the two former slaves finding they had much in common from their long lives in bondage. Dunstan sat near to Deoneath, who had arranged to have a day free from his duties at the Watch, and the two taciturn men were in an unusually detailed conversation about their mutual trade, though they kept quiet as talk of poisoncraft was hardly something that set people's hearts at ease. Edmund: Edmund looked around at the gathering and raised his glass. "My friends and comrades, thank you for coming today. When I left Malagen, only a few years ago, I little imagined the new life and the good friends who would be awaiting me here in Palania. We have no idea what the future holds for us, but I would not undo the journey that has led me here." He raised the glass for a toast. "To friends, those here and those unable to be with us today." Leofric: Leofric returned the salute with his glass smiling with a nod. He also got Edmund some present as well, a set of fine musicial books. Edmund: Edmund was delighted with the books. "One day I hope we will have time to sit and read," he said, with the hint of a sigh. sd: it was hardly fitting for Edmund to be the principal performer at a celebration of his birthday, so instead Magister Ambruga, a portly woman who had been one of those who had first interviewed Edmund when he joined the Bard's College, rose and sang songs that the bard from Malagen had written in his years in Palania. Her voice was strong, deep as the ocean over which they had sailed four years ago, as she sang of victories in the past and others still to come. Ambruga soon had most of the household singing along, save for Maccus, who only watched pensively. "I am heartwary," he said when they asked him for the reason for his mood. "This spiritraising should be treasured. I am afraid we may not have a chance for such again for some time, and with events across the river I feel soulsure that not all of those here will still be with us when we have cause to celebrate again." He paused. "Atol has been trying to persuade Synne that she should leave Phalen until the matter is resolved. As if there were any force on earth that would cause that woman to be a safetyseeker!" Edmund: "Synne is a good person to have at your side in a hard place," Edmund said with a smile. "All we can do is pray and hope. God has been with us so far, he will not desert us now. But let us be cheerful for tonight." He took Annis by the hand and led her out for a dance. Hogar: Hogar tried to be cheerful and join the festivities as the others did, but he did seem to pay more heed to Maccus' words than most, though not so much as to ruin Edmund's enjoyement of his own birthday. sd: Annis and Edmund's dance was not as memorable as the one they had shared before the attack on Bexcheap, but they at least didn't shame themselves and the night passed happily. Atol did make one attempt to speak to Synne, and from the expression on their faces they guessed it must be about the same subject which Maccus had mentioned. To their extreme surprise, this was prevented from becoming a public argument by Dunstan, who intervened with surprising confidence. Leofric noticed that just before Dunstan's interjection that he spoke brief words of power beneath his breath, intoning the same spell he had seen Edmund use before to make people take note of his words. sd: once this situation was solved, the rest of the evening passed in peace. About a half hour afterwards they noticed a servant enter from the back of the hall, carrying the sword which Dunstan had been given at their wedding. The servant handed this to Synne without much fanfare and she rested it upon her pregnant belly, hand on the hilt. This would, in more conventional company, be regarded as deeply shaming to Dunstan, but everyone at their manor was accustomed to Synne's temperment, and indeed Dunstan smiled at the sight of it. Edmund: Edmund was surprised and very pleased to see that Dunstan and Synne seemed to have found their own way to live in harmony. Leofric: Leofric nodded for a moment, considering how much impact they as a party made to this northern lands. sd: the party would have their own delicate situation to resolve as they waited for Erlene's arrival. They had informed the Council about recovering Mage-Breaker, lying and claiming that it had already been broken by the 'bandit' they recovered it from to keep it from their hands. The Council were deeply unhappy to find the most potent symbol of Palanian power had been destroyed, and thus far they had kept the news secret, however the Councillors invited them to a number of dinners where they could discuss what had happened. sd: given their recent clashes with the Church, it was obvious the Council did not fully trust the party, seeing them as dangerously idealistic wild cards, and Sidwell had warned them they would probably test them for signs of deceit. With this in mind, Edmund cast a spell upon himself and Leofric, the most skillful of the speakers in their party, and so fortified they were easily able to deflect the Councillors' questions and persuade them that they had indeed found Mage-Breaker already broken. They also had occasion to suggest their own plan, which was to have the broken shards reforged into smaller symbols - rings or amulets perhaps - and distributed to particularly important Ealdormen as symbols of trust and authority. sd: these negotiations took two days and were extremely intense. Again, Edmund augmented his speaking ability with his magic, and he was extremely glad of it as he spoke with the Council's two chief representatives, Councillor Rypan and the Lady Guthild, whose husband was a Councillor but widely known to simply be a cipher for his more formidable wife. At first, despite Edmund's silver tongue and Leofric's courtesy, they had no luck shifting them, with Rypan insisting that the Council would seek to reforge Mage-Breaker as soon as was possible. They persisted, however. Edmund's arguments were aided by interventions from Leofric, who spoke on historical precedents for such a scheme as well as the political benefits that would accrue by binding more Weapontakes to the Council, as well as Hogar, who pointed out the strategic danger that a reforged Mage-Breaker might pose were it to fall into the hands of a dangerous warlord, most notably the Dragonslayer. Eventually their arguments won the Council over, and they retreated, exhausted. Beomund: Beomund congratulated his friends after seeing them succeed in the intense negotiations. "I'm sweating, and I barely said a word! I'm glad this went so well." Hogar: "I hope this will turn out to be for the best."said Hogar, who looked like he was still unsure they had made the right decision Leofric: Leofric nodded, getting the drinks out. "Indeed, I was surprised that we sort it out. A experience I do not care to repeat too soon." Edmund: Edmund grinned, although he was exhausted by the intense negotiations. "Your plan Beomund, and a brilliant solution." Beomund: Beomund shook his head as if a bit unsure himself. "Among all the options it seemed least dangerous. But in the face of everything that's coming, who knows if it will be enough to ensure unity." sd: two days later, Erlene arrived in the early morning, bow and spade slung across her shoulders. She set these down so she could safely embrace Edmund and apologise for missing his birthday. "Cambers are quiet for the moment, with the witch dead the clans are all fighting each other. If it weren't for them," she pointed at the fires on the far bank of the river, "then this would be the perfect time for a campaign there." Leofric: Leofric smiled slightly, pleased to see Erlene. "Well, there is always another chance in the future. Good to hear that it is calm up there. Sorry we couldn't meet under a better circumstance." Edmund: "Something to look forward to when we've sorted out this lot," Edmund said, pleased to see Erlene again. sd: "If their Chief if smart he'll attack in about two weeks while we're on our way north. Fucking Aethelwulf, this is a great way for our people to make a first impression," said Erlene. "No better way to bring change than by attacking your closest neighbour immediately. I suppose I can't even shoot the bastard as he's kin." Beomund: "At least his advances will give your people ample opportunity to prove they're not loyal to his ambition," said Beomund wryly. Leofric: Nodding with a grim dark look, "Don't worry, you got friends who are happy to impale him should there is a need." Hogar: "Hopefully that won't be needed."said Hogar "If only Aethelwulf could be made to temper his ambitions he could be of great service to Palania. But alas...men like that are not easily stopped or controlled." sd: "Of course if someone had listened to me and we'd revealed ourselves earlier we'd have had more time to gather allies," Erlene said loudly, spying Wulfnoth coming towards them. The Elder frowned, but did not respond to Erlene's comment, stopping instead.
"I pray to God that you are able to dissuade Aethelwulf of this brutal course of action," he said. "Though you should not kill him unless it is to protect your lives. If he dies, the Lost-Lands may fall again to the Dragon Cult, and that's a possibility too terrible to contemplate." Edmund: "If there is a way to turn him from this path we will do all in our power to acheive it, but it will be hard. No doubt he feels the hand of God upon him," Edmund said. "Rather than admitting his own overwheening ambition," he added dryly. Beomund: "Perhaps the unfortunate loss of Mage-Breaker might suggest to him that his fate does not lie in conquest," said Beomund, though he didn't sound hopeful. sd: "Councillor Rypan came to speak to me last night," Wulfnoth said suddenly. "He brought me a message which you were to give to King Aethelwulf, but only if he was prepared to end his attack on Weltry," Wulfnoth handed the party a scroll sealed with the Councillor's sigil. sd: "I believe the message is that King Aethelwulf will be granted a shard of Mage-Breaker with which he can do as he likes, but not if he is engaged in open warfare against an Ealdorman who has loyally supported the Council," Wulfnoth added. Leofric: Leofric raised an eyebrow and nodded, "That make sense." Beomund: "I'd hoped the Council might see the broken sword as an opportunity for reconciliation," said Beomund. Edmund: Edmund agreed, privately thinking that Aethelwulf might not see the sword in the same light, seeing as he had expected to receive the whole thing. Hogar: "It seems a good enough idea."said Hogar, though he obviously thought there was more behind it sd: considering the threat from across the river, it was imperative that they be gone for as little time possible, so they agreed they would take a riverboat north. This could take them all the way to Waldtun in a little under two weeks, and then they could head southeast towards Tohrenmere. First, however, they would need to ride out of Phalen, as by the order of the Council the river in Phalen proper was now heavily blockaded and no civilian vessels could enter within ten miles. Shortly before noon therefore they rode out from their manor and made for the little hamlets along the Saltanow where a ship could be found. Edmund: Edmund sang as they rode, with Cadenza trotting happily at his horse's heels. Beomund: Beomund's moods had seemed more stable of late, perhaps improved by their success with the Council, and he wore a focused look with a slight smile as they rode out. Leofric: Leofric was glad to be reunited with his warhorse and considered the matter of the wryds. sd: "Oh, Beomund," Erlene called out, "Lady Coenburg has asked me to say that she'd be very pleased if you'd come and see her in Bexcheap as soon as you possibly can." Beomund: "I will," Beomund replied immediately. "I owe her a sword." sd: they rode along the river, which teemed with mercenaries heading south, as well as wooden watchtowers to protect against any attack. Just outside the blockaded area, a makeshift shanty town and port had sprung up spontaneously, with many merchant vessels moored there, complaining bitterly about the additional costs associated with having to unload so far from their intended destination and have their goods shifted the rest of the way by road. these men were only too eager to recoup some of their losses by taking on passengers, and after only a few hours they found a lumber trader who would be returning to Waldtun the next day. He even agreed to discount their price, because the presence of four such doughty warriors would give his men more confidence that they would make it back safe, having already nearly fallen under goblin attack near to Ceorlburh. "Someone or other went on some raid east of the river, stirred the creatures up," he said. "Can't the Council bloody control people and stop them from launching attacks off their own backs? People like me end up paying when folk go off half-cocked like that." Leofric: Leofric nodded and winced at that, "That is a shame. Hopefully, it will settle down before too long" Beomund: "Some people just don't know what kinds of dangers you face," said Beomund without a hint of irony. Hogar: "It won't last forever."said Hogar "At some point the monsters will be driven back." he added, obviously ignoring the less pleasant alternative
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Post by sleepingdragon on Apr 15, 2017 13:46:37 GMT
sd: from the make-shift docks that had sprung up due to the Council's temporary ban on civilian vessels in the Saltanow, Erlene and the party took ship on 23 July 230. They would sail north to Waldtun, which they had visited two long years ago, searching for the resting place of Saint Thenghelm, passing through Tarnemuthe, Bluebrycg, and Norbrycg on the way. They were most concerned about passing Prestenbroc, which was under the control of the Church - in their land, at least, they would be unwelcome, and given their status as known sorcerers their lives might even be forfeit if they were to pass through Church held lands. Rather than risk this, when they came to within a day of the settlement they arranged with their captain to let them off the ship, and they rode north along the western bank of the Saltanow, meeting back up with their riverboat two days later in a village north of Prestenbroc. They had to pay a small fee as their hired boat had needed to wait for them, but it was worth it to avoid any possibility of falling foul of the Church.
On their way north they began to learn of the history of Tohringland, the region to which they were travelling and which Aethelwulf of the Lost-Lands sought to add to his domain. In the time of the Valings it had been known as Saringland and its centre of power had been the fortress at Sarburh, but this had been razed by the maw of Caragaur in his first invasion and the lands around the river Sar were laid waste.
Its reclamation had begun seventy years ago, due to a dispute that arose amongst the then powerful Tohring clan of Norbrycg. Two half-brothers, Estmund the elder and Freomund the younger, who shared the same mother but different fathers, had quarrelled over the lordship of the Tohring clan. It had appeared that Estmund would prevail, until his half-brother suddenly unveiled evidence claiming that Estmund's father had in fact been the product of an affair and therefore was not legitimate. Though Estmund bitterly disputed this, the clan was persuaded and he was proclaimed a bastard and stripped of his clan name.
Many Thegns of the Tohring clan followed him, however, and he went east and settled in the region around what was now Weltry. After he led them to a great victory over the dragonspawn then encamped at Sarburh, they elected him their Ealdorman, believing his claim that he was truly of legitimate birth. Seeing the success of his erstwhile vassal, the Ealdorman of Norbrycg demanded that Estmund was handed over to him, but this was ill-timed - only a fortnight after he delivered an ultimatum threatening war if Estmund the Bastard was not handed over to him, he himself had sudden war declared upon him by his rival in Durleaht. Thus distracted, the nascent forces of Weltry were able to force Norbrycg into a peace, and in exchange for renouncing claim to the lordship of the Tohring clan, Estmund the Bastard was given recompense that left his half-brother's clan in ruins. In a spiteful spirit, the Bastard no longer gave the name to himself, but instead applied it to his land, and seventy years later the town of Weltry which he had founded remained its dominant settlement. The current Ealdorman, Turoc the great-grandson of Estmund the Bastard, had been the first and most vocal convert to the Virian Way of all the Palanian Ealdorman, for a missionary of the Church who had been sent shortly after the first, aborted attempt to form a league some eight years ago had failed, had saved his ailing wife from death by sickness, and many of his lords had followed him in becoming ardent supporters of the Virian Church. Leofric: Leofric nodded as he listened to the backgrounds of the regions, "It is always interesting to hear the recent history of the regions. A family dispute is never far away it seems." Hogar: "People will fight each other anywhere - hardly surprising."commented Hogar, drily. sd: the party arrived in Waldtun on 9 August, and headed southeast, passing not far from the ancient fane of the Changers where that sect had been founded, which they had left hidden after their departure, and then continued on. The forests between the regions of Upriver and Tohringland were sparsely populated, and they saw barely a soul for a few days as they curled south of Lake Tohring and headed for the village of Tohrenmere. Tohrenmere Weapontake was one of the most powerful in Tohringland, though like all the others it took its lead from Weltry. Had this been their own country then Ealdorman Turoc would have been a Duke and the lord of Tohrenmere an Earl and his vassal, but Palania still held at least to the pretext that all Ealdormen were of equal rank, with no jurisdiction outside their own lands. They discovered that they'd entered his land about a day's ride from the village, when they passed a forester's hut and Edmund spoke with him quickly to confirm that they had entered Tohrenmere. Once he was calmed from his initial impression of five heavily armed strangers, three of whom rode warhorses, he spoke to them. "You'll get picked up by one of the patrols most likely, they're set up round Tohrenmere proper," he said. "These aren't safe times." Beomund: "Any particular dangers you've heard word of recently?" asked Beomund. sd: "What, you mean other than the war?" the man said sourly. "Some fellow calls himself a king's taken over Sarburh and is looking to attack Weltry. This wouldn't have happened if Turoc hadn't of spat on the gods, but that's what comes of meddling with foreigners." The forester suddenly recalled who he was speaking to. "Meaning no offense, of course," he added. "The Lost-Folk worship the dragonspawn, they don't deserve to be called Gastons at all. Turoc will beat them, though." Beomund: "We should speak to Turoc's people, then," said Beomund, playing the part of the mercenary. "I imagine there's coin to be made in defending from dragonspawn-friends." sd: "You'll need to ride around then, or might be you can find a boat in Tohrenmere to take you across," said the forester, "though I doubt it with those beasts. Might be Ealdorman Drythelm will want you." The man hefted his axe. "I've logs to split. Gods be with you." Edmund has connected. sd: they continued on towards Tohrenmere. Towards the middle of the afternoon they passed the edge of the forested region and into the lands which had been cleared around the lake itself, where the majority of Tohringland's population lived. Tohrenmere was a village of about seven hundred souls surrounded by a high wooden wall, but as the forester had indicated to them, there were a number of patrols, in groups of five, riding in a semi-circular perimter about ten miles out from the village. A number of watchtowers had been erected at some haste and beacons were set atop these so that signals could be quickly sent to Tohrenmere, and perhaps thence across the lake. When one of the patrols spotted the party from a distance, one of the riders fired two flaming arrows into the sky, then they rode off to join two other patrols. Once they had this advantage of numbers, they began to ride straight for the group, flying the banner of Ealdorman Drythelm, which was of a stylised warrior rising out of a lake, blade in hand. Leofric: He watched them coming in and wonders, "At least we got their attentions." He muttered. sd: "Are we going to give them our names?" asked Erlene. "I doubt anyone knows who I am but you four..." Edmund: Edmund frowned and looked to the others. Hogar is disconnected. Hogar has connected. Beomund: Beomund inquired about whether Ealdorman Drythelm was a Virian convert, and Leofric explained that he was, rather prominently, not one. "Our reputation might actually be of some use here. And unless it's likely we'll deal with Turoc himself, we don't have to worry about the Church, it seems." Edmund: "That's good," said Edmund, drawing himself up now they did not have to act the part of mercenaries. He raised a hand in peaceful greeting to the group riding towards them. sd: there were a trio of Thegns who led the riders, along with armsmen in scaled armour bearing spears and rounded shields. One Thegn, a tall man with a shaven head and a livid half-moon scar that ran just above his right eye, put up his hand and the warriors of Tohrenmere dismounted when they were about a hundred paces from the party. "Dismount, and put down your weapons, in the name of Ealdorman Drythelm of the Parding clan!" the man called to them. Edmund: Edmund dismounted and put his bow carefully on the ground. "We are Thegns of Phalen, on our way to consult the scholar Thedlef." Hogar: Hogar did as the thegn demanded, though he kept his eyes on the weapons for a while, as if worried they might take them away. Leofric: Leofric dismounted from his warhouse as left his Shifting Blade on the ground. sd: Erlene put her bow down, though she kept her shovel slung across her back.
The Thegn and his soldiers moved forward and formed a ring around the party. "Thegns of Phalen? You're armed well enough to be such, but you sound like Gastonlanders to me, and if you are Thegns of the capital then why aren't you there? There is likely to be war in the south soon, I'm told. But that is all irrelevant. Ealdorman Drythelm has ordered that any armed strangers entering Tohrenmere should be taken into custody until we can determine if they are friend or foe. What are your names? I apologise for the discourtesy, but there's war only a few days to the north of us and the Ealdorman has yet to decide how to respond to this." Edmund: Edmund bowed to the Thegn politely then spoke in a ringing voice, "I am Edmund, originally of Malagen, but now of Palania, a thegn of Phalen and a member of the Bard's College, and cleanser of the Plague Fields together with my companions here." You whisper to Edmund: as the warriors strode in to make a ring round them, Edmund noticed that one man in particularly stopped when he mentioned the name Thedlef, and when the man took his position in the ring around them he seemed quite interested in the party and anxious about the situation sd: "Erlene, of Bexcheap," Erlene gave her name.
"If you'll come with us then, we will take your weapons and horses for the moment," said the Thegn. "I am Grimcytel of the Rassing clan, you have my word that I will have them returned to you as soon as possible, unless my lord judges you a foe. I believe I know of you, however, and your reputation says you are folk of honour, so I am certain that Ealdorman Drythelm will have you freed and able to set about your business within a few hours." You whisper to Hogar: it seemed to Hogar that although Grimcytel clearly did think them honourable people and was uncomfortable with treating them with such suspicion, that the certainty he claimed about his lord's actions rang hollow and unsure Hogar: "If it is but a few hours then of course it would be an honour to be introduced to Drythelm, but we are on a task of some importance and cannot afford to be delayed for much longer. Are you sure the Ealdorman might not be too busy himself to deal with us? "said Hogar sounding slightly disappointed and not introducing himself, perhaps assuming he would be recognized sd: "My lord will be told of your presence and then consult with his advisers about what to do, I didn't mean to suggest he would be meeting with you himself," said Grimcytel. "As I said, I imagine he will be happy to have you freed quickly, but while we have not yet decided whether to answer Ealdorman Turoc's call to arms we are wary of armed strangers in Tohrenmere." sd: "A call to arms? Do you mean against Aethelwulf?" Erlene interjected.
"Yes. My lord is not decided on whether to intervene in a dispute between adherents of a religion he does not share," said Grimcytel. "As yet, we have not joined with the armies of Weltry as Turoc would have us do." You whisper to Edmund: though Grimcytel hid it well, it seemed clear to Edmund that the Thegn felt that they should be responding to Turoc's call, and he sensed a certain perplexion from the Thegn about why this hadn't happened immediately Edmund: "Hopefully this will happen very soon," Edmund said with a look of understanding at Grimcytel. "We are on a grave mission which will aid Tohrenmere in this struggle. If we can speak to the Ealdorman now perhaps we can convince him to move quickly." sd: "I will ask him," said Grimcytel. "But you can scarcely aid us in a struggle in which we are neutral. Time is wasting. We'll take you into Tohrenmere now. Wimund, their weapons," he indicated to one of the armsmen, while the others attended to their mounts. Cadenza looked confused and went to stand at Edmund's side. Beomund: Beomund handed over his weapons without comment. Hogar: Hogar did likewise, though he did not look especially pleased. Edmund: Edmund handed over his bow and sabre, but left the old sling tied around his belt and his flute stuck through it. sd: having been forced to dismount meant their journey didn't go as quickly as they'd have hoped, but nonetheless by late afternoon they passed through the gates and into Tohrenmere. Immediately beyond the gates were a market square at which there was a squat rectangular building towards which Grimcytel turned. "We'll leave you here until my lord has decided what to do. I apologise for this, but he has commanded us that anyone who's in custody will have guards posted amongst them so if we have detained any spies they cannot prepare any lies amongst themselves and thus we'll discover them." You whisper to Edmund: as Grimcytel spoke, Edmund noticed something out of the corner of his eye. There was a market trader on a stall watching them, bent down as if tying his laces. He looked up, muttering something under his breath, and Edmund felt the discharge of a spell as the trader looked intently at the party. Edmund: Edmund waited until Grimcytel and his men moved away then spoke quietly to Leofric. sd: see OOC Pip Edmund: Edmund concentrated and cast magic which allowed him to speak directly into Leofric's mind. Edmund whispers: "That stall holder over there cast magic while staring at us, under pretence of doing up his shoes," Edmund's voice spoke in Leofric's head. sd: Edmund cast the spell carefully, without gestures or words, so that the guards that were posted on them did not see what he did. Grimcytel went off to report to the Ealdorman while their guards escorted them inside. They were brought to a chamber which was comfortable enough and offered food and refreshments, but their guards pointedly remained with them and did not leave them alone where they could talk or plan any escape You whisper to Edmund: he noticed that the guardsman who had reacted when he mentioned Thedlef's name was originally going to go with Grimcytel, but instead spoke to the Thegn and persuaded him that he should be posted to watch over the party Leofric whispers: "Did you catch which magic he was using?" He replied softly, without giving away his expression Leofric whispers: mentally Leofric: Leofric strolled forward and went for a refreshment. Edmund whispers: "Witchsight, no doubt he spotted our gear with that," Edmund's voice echoed. "Also that guard over there reacted with concern when we mentioned the scholar's name. And Grimcytel can't understand why the Ealdorman is dragging his feet over mobilising." Hogar: Hogar did not touch the offered food and drink, and looked at Leofric as if to hint it might be better to do the same Edmund: Edmund also moved forward but he did not touch the food or drink. Beomund: Seeing his companions hesitate, Beomund avoided partaking. Leofric: Leofric looked at Hogar ebfore sighing for a moment and stepped back waiting for the latest news Leofric whispers: "I am hoping that stallholder is not a spy." Leofric answered back mentally, "So we might be facing troubles after all. I could link all five of us with a spell if that helps?". Edmund whispers: "Anything we can use to improve our chances," Edmund spoke. sd: Erlene sat cross-legged on the floor and ignored the food, drink, and guards. Leofric: Leofric looked at a simple chair with a wary look and decided to settle himself against the wall. He focused his Will within and linked Beomund, Edmund, Hogar, and Erlene in telepathy. "Hello all, look like Ed spotted something while we came here." sd: "I spotted the fact that there's five of us against five half-trained soldiers and I still have my shovel," Erlene thought back Leofric: Leofric sighed with almost a hint of boredom as he considered the surroundings of the room, "I am sure we don't want to raise any necessary alarm in this no doubt a fine town." He considered this over. Hogar: Hogar mentally thanked Leofric for having linked their minds and then thought "We might deal with them and then get our own weapons, or at least some temporary real ones, but then would be more fighting to do, against far greater numbers. Perhaps we might want to be patient - up to a point." Beomund: "It's unsurprising they might be wary of armed visitors," thought Beomund to the others. "But we should of course keep our options open." sd: "What did you spot Ed?" Erlene asked Edmund: "A stall holder casting witchsight on us outside. But also that man over there reacted noticably when we mentioned seeing Thedlet - he seemed concerned. And Grimcytel is bothered by his Ealdorman's lack of action." Edmund: "There's a lot more going on here that it at first appears." sd: "Clearly. Leofric, can you bring that twitchy guard in on this conversation? Edmund could persuade him to bring Thedlef a message." Edmund: "As long as he's on the right side." sd: "If he's on the wrong one then I'll introduce him to the flat of my shovel." Leofric: "Hmm... I am not entirely sure that we should. What do you think?" He asked the others, Leofric: mentally sd: "Leofric, didn't Sigrun tell you that all the Conclave people in Tohringland got out after Turoc converted?" Erlene asked. "I'd have thought that would apply to other sorcerers, but if you saw a stallholder casting a spell..." Hogar: "If he cast such a spell" thought Hogar "he would have seen the protective enchantments on us. And they powerful ones which would draw attention." Beomund: "And we've just heard word of mages trained by Conclave defectors," added Beomund. "It seems wise to try to contact Thedlef if we can, just in case." Edmund: "Go ahead then and speak to the man," Edmund agreed. Edmund: "Or shall I do it myself?" he asked. Leofric: "Hmm... I don't like the idea of linking the entire group with a total stranger. Ed can do it." sd: "God, I need to piss. Do you suppose these bastards will want to watch me do that? I'd rather not have one of them decide I'm some kind of mutant," Erlene groused. Edmund: Edmund called out, "Our companion needs a pot and some privacy," Then taking advantage of their reaction, he cast the spell that allowed him to speak directly into the guard's mind. Edmund whispers: "Please don't react to this," Edmund spoke into the man's mind. "Do you know the scholar?" sd: some of the guards fetched Erlene a pot and she positioned herself behind a large table. "Turn your backs, if I catch any of you looking I'll be finding your mothers so I can shove you back in their wombs to be aborted," she told the guards. Edmund: "Please don't react to this," Edmund spoke into the man's mind. "Do you know the scholar?" sd: the man did an admirable job of not reacting to the sudden voice in his head. "How did you...yes, of course I do, she's my grandmother! Why did you want to speak to her?" Edmund: "We are hoping she can help us find a specific place, it's very important." sd: "She knows lots of places. If you give me the information you want then I can pass it on to her, although I suspect you're going to get thrown out of town in a few hours. The Ealdorman's been acting very strangely. Grimcytel is worried he might actually join in the war on Aethelwulf's side! I would be ashamed if my first war was one of betraying our allies." Hogar: Hogar seemed worried and surprised by the thought of Drythelm joining Aethelwulf, but he tried not to think too much right now, to not distract Edmund from his conversation Leofric: Leofric considered this along with others, "Might be worth having my magic sense up if we meet this Ealdorman." Edmund: Edmund took a deep breath and he sat down on a chair so as not to draw attention to himself while he spoke with the man. "It would be a place of the Changers." sd: "A place of what? If you explain what you mean I could pass it on to her." sd: "Of course if you're going to get thrown out of town anyway, she could just ride out to meet you outside of Tohrenmere Weapontake, it'd be suspicious but they're not going to stop her from leaving I'd have thought." sd: "Can you do whatever spell you're doing at a distance? If so I'll get her to come to the gates when we escort you out, and then you'll know who she is to contact this way. She can discuss your Changer place with you from her library and the Ealdorman will be none the wiser." Leofric: Leofric nodded mentally, "That could work." Beomund: "A sound plan," thought Beomund. "I'd be happy leaving town as quickly as possible now." sd: "As long as this unstable Ealdorman doesn't have us killed. Wulfnoth told me once that some Elders learn how to control the thoughts of others, I bet Aethelwulf has spies in town. That stallholder, most likely. He probably wanted to work out if our gear is worth stealing sd: Erlene thought Edmund: "That is a good idea," Edmund thought to the guard. "By the way we saw a suspicious man on the way in - a stall holder who cast a spell at us." Hogar: "Right. We still have to survive the encounter with Drythelm. Do you have an idea about what we should tell him?" Leofric: "I shouldn't be surprised. If someone steal my Shifting Blade, that person will die." Leofric thought furiously. Leofric: Claming down, "We already gave the game away by saying that we are looking for her." He spoken thoughtfully sd: "Which one? Do you think the Ealdorman is under a spell? It would explain why he's behaving so strangely," the guard thought back. "And you won't be seeing the Ealdorman directly, Grimcytel will report to him and then he'll decide what to do," he added when Edmund relayed on Hogar's question. Edmund: "We thought the Ealdorman would support what we were doing but if he is enchanted he may do the opposite," Edmund was concerned. "Grimcytel seems like a straightforward man, but he also seems loyal." sd: "He is. If he gets told to bring you straight back out and bar you from entering, he'll do it. If he's told to do anything else well...if it comes to that there'll be a fight, although I don't know what side he'd be on. A few of the Ealdorman's Lords are very unhappy with what's happening, and I think it's because of them that the Ealdorman hasn't thrown in with Aethelwulf. Ealdormen can be impeached, after all, and he well might if that happened. I wish I could somehow get you to see them, but I don't think that's going to happen." Hogar: "We could leave Grimcytel a direct message for the Ealdorman - assuming we could think of one that isn't likely to make things worse, of course. We don't want to sound as if we are threatening him, do we?" sd: "If the Ealdorman is under a domination spell then what would the use of that be?" Erlene thought back. Edmund: "Maybe a message can be taken to the other lords, it would be a sad day if the land fell because of one man being enchanted." Hogar: "It could be a message for whoever is enchanting him, perhaps. But Edmund might be right - we might want to work with the other nobles of the land instead." sd: "I'll tell my grandmother what you told me. She's not a noble, just a farmer's daughter who learned to read, but people respect her and if people think the Ealdorman is under a spell...well it's known Aethelwulf can use magic. Who was this stallholder exactly? Maybe I'll pass his description to one of the Lords and they can have a sharp word with him," thought the guard. Edmund: "Do we really want to alert Aethelwulf?" Edmund thought back to Hogar, then he replied to the guard, giving him a description of the market trader and thanking him for his help. "Wisdom is not confined to those of high birth." he added. Hogar: "We do not - though I fear he might suspect our involvement. Still it is best to play it as safe." sd: in the early evening, a very unhappy looking Grimcytel returned. "My lord has instructed me to remove you from Tohrenmere Weapontake," he said. "His advisers have told him that you were one of the ones responsible for the rise of this Aethelwulf. If you return to Tohrenmere while Drythelm remains Ealdorman, the penalty will be death."
With this warning, the guards took the party out of the warehouse. Thedlef's grandson had made an excuse to slip off, and when the party came out they saw him leaning against a wall, a woman in her early fifties at his side. She was whip-thin, wrapped in a blue cloak. She had long grey hair and thick, fierce brows. As the party were being escorted out, she strode up and called out to them. "Gods go with you, sers, and I'm sorry I couldn't welcome you as I should have been able to do." they noticed that the stallholder from earlier was watching them. despite Erlene's fears, their weapons were not confiscated.
Grimcytel took them out, and with him were nine other Thegns and ten armsmen. It might have been that the party could overcome such numbers, but it was not something they would have wanted to test lightly. The sun had set and evening was wearing on when, under the trees, they came back out to the borders of Tohrenmere. "I'm sorry, but do not come back," said Grimcytel. "Return to Phalen, and best of luck with your wars in the south." Beomund: "A man can't shirk his duty," said Beomund to Grimcytel, making clear that he held no grudge toward him for their treatment. "Safety to you and your kin." Hogar: "We understand, and wish you likewise. "said Hogar simply Edmund: "And may your Lord do the right thing," Edmund added. sd: Grimcytel nodded unhappily and rode off a short distance, then he and his men waited and watched for the party to start their journey back to the south. sd: the party began to head south, planning to contact Thedlef by telepathy as soon as possible. Before they could do so, however, they were interrupted, as a familiar voice suddenly spoke into Beomund's mind.
"What are such renowned heroes doing in Tohringland? If you wanted to come and help me, you ought to have sent a message," thought Aethelwulf.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Apr 23, 2017 17:30:02 GMT
sd: the party began to head south, planning to contact Thedlef by telepathy as soon as possible. Before they could do so, however, they were interrupted, as a familiar voice suddenly spoke into Beomund's mind.
"What are such renowned heroes doing in Tohringland? If you wanted to come and help me, you ought to have sent a message," thought Aethelwulf. Beomund: Beomund suddenly halted, his eyes widening for a moment. "Aethelwulf has contacted me. He wonders why we haven't sent a message before coming here." Edmund: Edmund frowned. "Have to think of some reason for being here that doesn't sound helpful to him." Hogar: There was no surprise on Hogar's face. "We could just tell him the truth - he might have realized it on his own." Edmund: "The longer we keep it from him the better, I'd say," Edmund said quietly. sd: "Make vague noises about a special job for the Council, that kind of thing," Erlene suggested. "Wulfnoth wanted us to keep the knowledge in the ruins out of his hands, it would probably be better if he knew nothing about us going there." Edmund: "We are undertaking a specific job for the council, in our position as Thegns of Phalen," Edmund suggested to Beomund. "That will explain why we sound cagey about it." Beomund: Beomund nodded and focused on the mental conversation. "I'm afraid we are here for other reasons," he replied to Aethelwulf. "We're on a mission for the Council in our capacity as thegns." sd: "I suppose you can't discuss the nature of this mission," Aethelwulf thought in response. "Why don't you come and join my army instead? I could use men of your skill. The Council are unhappy with me now I suppose but once I take Weltry we can make some new arrangement." Edmund: "Make it clear we owe a duty to Phalen to perform the task first," Edmund said once Beomund had relayed this. "But can we get more information out of him before breaking contact?" Beomund: "We appreciate the offer," replied Beomund mentally, "but we must continue to perform our duty for now. If there is anything you wish us to know for us to help you in the future, however, we will listen." sd: "I'm encamped at Sarburh at the moment, though I imagine you already knew that," Aethelwulf thought. "If Turoc will come out and fight me in the open then he's finished, but he's staying holed up in Weltry, hoping the Church sends him help. Incidentally, I've heard reports that Turoc's Church advisers have told him that you're very dangerous sorcerers and should be executed on sight if you enter into territory controlled by his allies. In Phalen there are too many heathens around for the Church to be able to fulfil what the Certainty of Purity demands of them, but here..." Were it possible to shrug telepathically, Aethelwulf would have done so. Beomund: "We appreciate the warning," replied Beomund. "Already we'd had a sense that things were not the same here. Hopefully events of late foretell changes when it comes to magic and the Way. God's grace to you, and I hope we next meet under good circumstances." sd: "The balance of power is shifting in Palania, and not a moment too soon," thought Aethelwulf. "Through Imbalance we'll find our victory. If your duty takes you more than a few weeks, then come and seek me in Weltry." Aethelwulf's presence vanished from Beomund's mind. Edmund: Edmund sighed when he heard this. "If only we didn't fear that Aethelwulf was too hungry for personal power to be trusted." sd: "If only Aethelwulf wasn't dragging the name of our people through the mud with his aggressive and unnecessary warmongering," Erlene said, with far less sympathy. "We should contact Thedlef shortly." Edmund: "You would think there were enough monsters to fight without making enemies of each other, but it seems that is never the way men think," Edmund said with a humourless smile. Hogar: "A shame there si no chance of convincing him to behave otherwise - he has the potential to do a lot of good." Hogar: edit: there is sd: "Potential is one of those great delusions," said Erlene. "If Wulfnoth had listened to me and we'd come into the open when the Church first started sending people to Palania, instead of worrying about the potential problems, then we'd have had far longer to lay the ground and longer to make allies. Maybe Aethelwulf would have come to us instead of going conquering. But instead our time got frittered away." Edmund: "We can't go back to undo what is done," Edmund sighed. "So we must do better now and hope for the future." sd: the party rode south for a time, and then, once a little over an hour had passed since their forcible departure from Tohrenmere, Leofric cast a spell to contact Thedlef telepathically, targetting the whole party so all of them could question the scholar. "This is a very strange way to have a conversation," Thedlef thought back. "I thought my grandson had lost his mind when he first said this to me but he was very insistent and he's a soldier and therefore lacks the imagination to come up with this kind of thing on his own." Beomund: "We were grateful that he reacted with discretion," replied Beomund. "A sudden voice in your head is shocking to me even after experience. We'd hoped to meet you in more traditional circumstances, but it seems the leadership of the town is... suspicious." sd: "And it's suspicious that they're suspicious," Thedlef replied. "Thank you for telling my grandson what you did about the man you saw who cast a spell at you. I'm in touch with an important Lord who's going to have some of his Thegns pay this man a visit when he won't be expecting it. If he has anything to do with our Ealdorman behaving so strangely then he'll pay for it. Now I understand from what he told me that you're interested in some kind of place of the Changers? I can honestly say that I don't know of any such place by that description, but I suspect it might be that I know of it under some other guise, considering I had never heard of a Changer until a few months ago when one of the Lords told me that this is apparently the religion that Aethelwulf follows. You Virians are good at splitting, if you don't mind me saying so. What do you know about the place you're looking for? How old is it, what was it, and so on." Beomund: "We know that the fortress dates to shortly after the dragon's attack, and that it was an important site for research into the arcane," replied Beomund. "Beyond that, we know little, other than that it has drawn... outside interest of late." sd: "Oh! I know the place you mean, Wyrdstow. It's related to the Changers is it? The stories I had heard are about it being a fortress of a group of sorcerers, but nothing about them being Virians. I suppose it's not surprising, it was only inhabited for fifteen years or so. I'll find my notes about the place - I don't know where it is myself, but I know who does. Interesting to have someone else ask about it again after these years." sd: "I've found them," said Thedlef after a few minutes. "It's southeast of Weltry, though I don't know the exact location. It's in what's now elvish territory, unfortunately. Supposedly the defenders put a curse on it that would repel orcs and elves away from their fortress, which kept them from being attacked but not from being besieged to the point of starvation. I suppose that means that whatever's in there might not have been looted, assuming the group that came asking me about it years ago left anything behind. There weren't enough of them to carry everything off I suppose. As I said, I don't know precisely where it is, but I know who guided the last group, he used to be the Master of the Hunt here in Tohrenmere until he retired." Beomund: "Excellent work!" said Beomund. "We would appreciate if you could help us contact this Master of the Hunt. The sooner we can reach Wyrdstow the better." Leofric has connected. sd: "His name is Cenfus, he lives in Langfirth," thought Thedlef. "That's in Carnleigh Weapontake, about three days to the southwest if you ride hard. It takes you slightly out of your way. If I had your gift I might contact Cenfus myself and save you a journey but sadly I don't and from what I know about magic you can't use it through me." Edmund: "Can you contact Cenfus?" Edmund asked Leofric. Hogar: "If you could, that would save us a few days' travel - might be worth the energy spent."suggested Hogar Leofric: Leofric shook his head for a momebt, "Not necessary. Sigrun was able to get in touch with me via Conclave stranger mages since she was able to provide the appropriate particulars of me. I don't see myself to be able to contact Cenfus to be honest." Edmund: "Thank you for your great help Thedlef, " Edmund said. "I hope we will be able to meet up and talk properly one day." sd: "I hope so, but for now I need to sort this business with the Ealdorman. Thank you for your help in that." sd: their conversation with Thedlef concluded, the party rode south and made their way towards the village of Langfirth. Carnleigh Weapontake was strongly aligned with Weltry and a great majority of its prominent citizens had converted to the Virian Way, which, given Aethelwulf's warning, gave them some pause. If Weltry's allies were under orders to execute them, however, these weren't carried out - Langfirth at any rate was only an isolated village and had only a trio of Thegns and some armsmen under them to protect the settlement, the majority of its soldiers having ridden to Weltry with their Ealdorman.
Cenfus owned a modest farm on the outskirts of the village. The old hunter himself was in his mid-sixties and no longer worked much himself, but had a trio of grandsons and their wives and children working the land instead. He was still able to draw a bow, and indeed as the party approached him he was firing at a target set up in front of his home. He had stripped to the waist in the summer heat, and despite his age he still possessed strong, corded muscles and a sharp eye. Three arrows were driven into the earth at distances of a hundred, seventy-five, and fifty paces, and his exercise involved running forward, snatching up each arrow in turn, and firing them towards an orcish sized man of straw while on the run. The hunter's first shot grazed the side of the figure's left leg, and his second struck high on the chest. His aim continued to improve, and by the time of his final shot he'd got his eye in. In one swift motion he stooped, picked up the arrow, nocked and loosed a brilliant shot that whizzed straight through the straw-orc's throat. Wiping sweat from his brow, Cenfus turned and faced the party, bow still in hand. He picked up a stray arrow in case the party intended him harm, though his wave was friendly. Leofric: Leofric was reassured that they didn't get hunted down due to their heathen status. Impressed with the skill shown by Cenfus, he returned the wave with equally friendly wave. Hogar: Hogar looked appreciatively at the man's marksmanship as they approached him. Edmund: Edmund waved too. "That was impressive firing!" sd: "There's a war on, a man needs to keep in shape," Cenfus replied. He looked the party over. "I'd have thought you were some of Turoc's Unspoilt knights, but you've got a woman with you and she has a bow, so I suppose you aren't. How can I help you, Gastonlanders?" Edmund: Edmund bowed. "We are Thegns of Phalen, and on a mission to find a particular place. Thedlef gave us your name and said you would be able to guide us to it." sd: "I've been to lots of places in the Forest," said Cenfus. "Now Thedlef, I'm glad to hear she's still around. I'll need to go and visit her once this war is done. What's the place you're looking for?" Edmund: "Wyrdstow, and I believe you guided a group there about fifteen years ago?" Edmund: edit* "Wyrdstow, and I believe you guided another group there one time?" Edmund said. sd: "Ahh, Wyrdstow. I have that place to thank for this," he gestured at his farm. "That woman and her group were a strange bunch and probably sorcerers, but she kept her word and paid me well once I'd led them there." Leofric: Leofric nodded, "Is that so?" He looked curous for a moment, "How are they strange?" He asked with interest. sd: Cenfus seated himself upon a wooden stool, then called for one of his grandsons to bring seats and drinks for the party. While they waited for these to be brought he continued to speak. "They did all their speaking through their leader, Aeschild her name was," he said. "She can't have been older than seventeen and a slender girl to boot, but she was brasher than a Bloodied Eye on his ninth wineskin. I told her there were elves in the woods and she gave me a big smile and said that so long as she was with me I needn't worry about them. And indeed they never bothered us, they were clearly around but didn't seem to want to come nearer than a few miles, even if there were only six of them and me. The others were older but seemed to defer to her anyway. They didn't seem to trust me, I never even learned their names. She was pleasant though. I heard them speaking sometimes under their breaths - being a ranger you get sharp ears and sometimes you eavesdrop without even meaning to. I think they were part of some kind of cult, from what they said." Hogar: Hogar joined the conversation "They say the place is enchanted and orcs and elves can't come too close - did you see anything like that? Or anything else that was obviously magical about the place itself?" sd: "Well I never went in the place itself, they wanted me to guide them near, but not actually inside. But there's definitely magic about the place. The elves can't get in, Aeschild said, but that fact makes them angry and they've got their demons to twist the wood all around it into a maze. I'd try to give you a route through the maze but Aeschild thought it shifted regularly, and this was seven years ago so it'll be different now. I can give you a map to the place itself, but you'll need to find your own way through the maze, I'm not up to such journeys anymore and my grandsons'd burn this place down if I weren't around to keep an eye on them." One of said grandsons had just emerged with chairs for the party. Beomund: "We would certainly appreciate a map and any other advice you can give for the journey," said Beomund. "Your hospitality is welcome, especially in times such as these. What do you think of the progress of the war? Does Weltry provide good leadership?" sd: "The war goes badly, this Aethelwulf knows what he's doing. He's a Tohringlander himself supposedly, think he knows the land," said Cenfus. "He took Sussarford in a surprise attack about three weeks ago, and that doesn't bode well for Weltry. Turoc is hoping for assistance from Prestenbroc, but they're busy in the south. If you live in Phalen you'd know more of that than me. These are disordered times, what with a king in the Lost-Lands and Huncestre falling, and a Chief of the monsters east of the river. I think Turoc is smart enough to avoid a pitched battle until the numbers are in his favour, but Aethelwulf might yet force his hand." Beomund: "Disordered times indeed, though there have been some victories against the monsters across the river of late," said Beomund. "A good omen, perhaps. I'm glad to see the fighting spirit of the people here, in any case." sd: "Turoc's Unspoilt knights at least will give Aethelwulf some pause in an open battle," said Cenfus. "I'm glad I never had to fight a knight. I came near enough to it, actually on that same journey with Aeschild. After she'd paid me and I was making my way back through the woods to head home, I found some heavy hoofprints outside the maze, types a beast like that would leave," he pointed to Aeristhyht. "We haven't horses like that in Palania, you only raise them on your side of the sea. While I was creeping by I saw a big group of them, maybe ten or so, but they didn't see me, thankfully. I don't know what they were doing in Palania, the Council had sent emissaries over to Gastonland but the League got turned down that time. I'd have called out for them, except I figured that with big fellows like that all in armour and on heavy horses I'd be more likely to get caught by the elves than if I went on my own on foot." Beomund: "Strange," replied Beomund. "And you've heard nothing else of these seemingly foreign knights since?" sd: "Nothing. I asked one of the Unspoilt fellows who rode through here once if he had any idea who they might have been and he looked at me like an idiot and explained that no knights had been sent to Palania until after the league was actually formed. I think he thought I was making the story up." Hogar: "Knights aren't invincible."commented Hogar "Though they are usually not foes to be trifled with."he added "Had you ever seen knights before, and if so did this group seem somehow...different from other knights?" sd: "This was the first group I'd seen," said Cenfus. "But not different otherwise. I didn't get much of a look at them, I didn't want to get too near in case they weren't friendly. I'd heard vaguely about your knights in Gastonland, and I had no idea what they were doing or if they might be unfriendly." Leofric: Smiling with an spark of interest, "Sound that they are unfriendly after all." Leofric patted Aeristhyht softly Beomund: As they spoke, Beomund pulled a bottle from his pack containing a clear liquor distilled in Phalen. "It's a bit early, but I thought I'd offer a toast in honor of your generosity." sd: "I'm retired my boy, it's never too early!" Cenfus laughed and called for a glass. "I'll get you a map, I'll need to sort through my old things so perhaps I shouldn't have too much. I'll get one of these lazybones to make you some breakfast while you wait. What are your names, by the way?" Edmund: "Edmund, originally of Malagen, Thegn of Phalen, member of the Bard's College, and now of Bexcheap, at your service," Edmund said with a bow and a broad smile. Leofric: He said his name with a nod, "Leofric"! Beomund: "Beomund, of some assortment of the places already listed, and a few others," said Beomund with a smile. Hogar: "Hogar, and I'm from Malagen too. Thegn of Phalen, and also a Brother of the Bloodied Eye."he smiled, perhaps thinking of the man's earlier reference to the brashness of some of these mercenaries. "We appreciate your hospitality." sd: "Erlene. Now of Bexcheap, formerly of Duntham," said Erlene.
"Duntham? That's down towards Gundergrad isn't it? I passed through there once when I was young, about thirty years ago," said Cenfus. "Wasn't the friendliest village I've ever been in, though to look at you I doubt you'd even been born then. There was a nice young woman there I had my eye on, I don't recall her name though. Sadly she was already promised to some other fellow. Switwulf, I do remember his name oddly enough. He looked a bit of a wolf." Erlene said nothing. She had spoken little of her parents, with whom she'd had a very strained relationship, but they at least knew that her father's name had been Switwulf and he had died of illness when Erlene was young. Edmund: Edmund looked keenly at Erlene but he said nothing.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Apr 30, 2017 15:10:03 GMT
sd: as they ate and drank, Cenfus went into his house to search for the map he had drawn years ago of the route to Wyrdstow. By way of payment he asked for no money, but instead, seeing Edmund's nightingale badge, he asked only that he would perform for his family, as it was a rare honour to have a true bard this far north.
In the brief moment when Cenfus was away and his various grandchildren were not within earshot, Erlene smashed her fist down angrily on the arm of the chair that had been brought to her. "I once heard my father accuse my mother of being unfaithful to him," she said, with a face of stone. "I don't know if he really meant it. I was supposed to be asleep. My mother was apparently much more open and friendly before I was born - the Elders had a hard time persuading her that we needed to keep ourselves a secret from others. And my father, well...he said he had a hard time thinking that the blood of the Prophet could give rise to a freak. If this Cenfus knew her...I wish we hadn't come here." Edmund: "Cenfus never said anything happened, just that he noticed her," Edmund said reassuringly. "And he said that she was promised to another. But even if it did, it would not have made you different. Your father was wrong to call you a freak." Hogar: "We cannot chose our parents, so it is best not to dwell too much on it, I suppose"said Hogar "But we can do so with our travelling companions, and you have proved a very valuable one." sd: "Of course he was wrong," Erlene said flatly. "And I think he was just being a bastard like he normally was. But it's hard not to dwell on something when you're reminded of it. Edmund, sing something happy," she finished, as some of Cenfus' grandchildren came over to where the party were seated, eager to see the bard the old ranger had told them of Edmund: "I will," Edmund said with a smile. He turned to the children, promising to tell a story especially for them. Edmund: Edmund stood up and got the children to sit in front of him, as he told a tale which had them all laughing. Then he sang rousing songs, so that everyone could join in. Finally he drew out the flute and played one of his own airs - moving but hopeful. Leofric: Leofric relaxed as he considered the upcoming tasks ahead and wonders what acutally went on in that ruins sd: Cenfus emerged part way through Edmund's performance with a number of scrolls to hand, and he sat at a table and sorted through what he had while Edmund played. When the bard had finished, Cenfus sent his grandchildren back to work, ignoring their requests for another performance, and passed them a scroll. "I can't help you get through the maze itself," he said. "Aeschild thought the elves must shift it about regularly. I'd recommend a stiff drink - but only one - before you go in. There's spirits in the maze meant to frighten you and send you running back out." Leofric: "Fascinating." Leofric murmured as he considered over what Cenfus said. He then said in stronger tone, "Thank you very much for your help on this matter." Hogar: "Wouldn't be the first time we deal with troublesome spirits, I think we can handle them sober."said Hogar with a faint smile "Still, we appreciate your suggestion and thank you for everything." Beomund: Beomund agreed with the others, and offered up a final toast from his bottle. sd: Cenfus returned Beomund's toast, then went to pick up his bow and resume his exercises Beomund: Beomund nodded to the others. "We're better prepared, then. We'd best depart, since there are hours of light left." Leofric: Leofric made sure that his warhorse is well rested and ready equipped with his new javelins. "Time is always short." Leofric smiled faintly. Edmund: Edmund thanked Cenfus and his family for their hospitality and help, then readied himself to leave. Leofric: Once they are away from the earshot of the friendly family, "That group of knights have to be the Tainted Ones." He muttered to himself. Beomund: "Almost certainly," said Beomund, having overheard Leofric. "What did they learn there, I wonder?" Leofric: Leofric grimaced, "No doubt, we will find out soon enough. Once we manage to run the gauntlet of the elves and their demons and their Maze. Shame we can't repeat the ritual to return a stolen item." Hogar: "Perhaps your magic will be able to help with the maze"said Hogar hopefully. "We'll see." sd: with this question in mind, they headed east, towards the elvish woods where Wyrdstow now lay. Two days out from Cenfus' village of Langfrith, they passed the last foresters' huts which marked the border of human held territory in this part of the Great Forest, and continued on despite the warnings.
They passed into very thick woods, where the trees grew to monstrous heights and the smell of pine and nettle drove out the faint smoke and excrement odours that were the inevitable hallmarks of human habitation. There were many more birds in the area, and had they wished to hunt for deer they would have found them very plentiful. there were other creatures too - Erlene nearly trod upon a snake which bit at her, which, if not for the magic Beomund had laid upon them, might have pierced her skin. It hissed and slithered away while she reached for her shovel to smash it flat.
towards the night on the third day, the ground began to twist around them. Tree roots snatched at their feet like the flailing hands of dying men, and great coverings of leaves were veils over all more than fifteen paces away. The branches overhead, too, curled and twisted around, allowing only a little light from the setting sun to filter down to the crooked forest floor. Sheltering by a tangled mass of branches nearly as thick as a city wall, they rested, the sounds of the forest heavy around them, and waited for the morning to test the maze. Leofric: Looking around with great wariness, "Clearly not a friendly place for us." He said softly. Edmund: Edmund agreed. "We must keep watches," he said. Hogar: "We've seen far worse since we first had to face elves."said Hogar Beomund: Beomund didn't respond to the conversation, instead peering up at the twisting branches and breathing deeply the smell of the forest. Leofric: Leofric frowned for a moment and said thus: "Considering he mentioned spirits, I will cast a spell to increase your mental defence against spirits. It should last for about three hours or so. Hopefully, that should be enough." sd: in the morning, Leofric cast a spell to protect them from the hostile spirits Cenfus had warned them of, and after leaving Cadenza and their horses in a sheltered grove, they headed for the maze of trees. Deciding that their best approach would be one that allowed them to see the whole area below them, Beomund cast a spell that transformed the five of them into birds. Lifting high into the air, they soared over the treeline.
Flight was not as large an advantage as they might first have hoped for - the canopy twisted and blocked vision, and even from above they could not yet see the hidden Wyrdstow ruins. It did, however, allow them to pick their way easily through the canopy, following the keen eyes of Hogar and the woodcraft of Erlene. They threaded their way through the heaviest parts of the canopy and began to make their way down towards the forest floor near to the centre of the maze, where Cenfus had told them Wyrdstow lay. That point was where the roof of trees grew thickest, and they would be able to see more easily on the ground, and also to communicate with one another as well.
As they returned to their human form, they felt a chill and something dark and invisible flitted at the edge of vision and came towards them. Most of these spirits rebounded ineffectually from the barrier Leofric had erected, but one particularly potent spirit pierced through and arrowed towards Edmund. sd: Edmund felt the spirit try to enter into his mind and he felt a temporary panic and powerful desire to flee as far from this foreboding wood as he could manage, but he quickly mastered himself and the spirit was driven out of his body and fled with a hiss back up towards the forest roof. with this done, the party could continue deeper into the maze. sd: Hogar and Beomund led the way, hacking through the undergrowth in those places where this was feasible. Leofric wracked his brains and recalled old stories of elves and their fondness for different trees, which allowed him to discern a pattern amongst the maze of trees. as they neared the centre of the maze they were assailed by another flurry of spirits, one of which tried unsuccessfully to put fear into Leofric. Resisting it with all his considerable might, the scribe led them on.
soon they had reached a small crest and from there they could peer through the tree cover and perceive a great mound in the distance. A shattered, circular stone keep lay there, its towers fallen, but parts of the wall remained standing. There was a deep moat all around the mound, long since dried out, but nonetheless difficult to traverse. At the eastern end of the mound there was a long, narrow bridge spanning the gap, which alone of the structures here had been left undamaged. They could see forms moving near the end of the bridge - elves were seemingly barred from Wyrdstow itself by magic, but this did not keep them from its very gate. they guessed there were a significant number of the creatures there.
Edmund examined the ground in the dry moat carefully and noticed from a distance that there were, here and there, indentations that suggested the ground had been violently disturbed at times. This region was not noted for earthquakes, however it didn't seem impossible that a frustrated elf mage might attempt such a way to gain entry, as if shaking the ground could somehow dislodge the spell that kept Wyrstow inviolate. Indeed, looking, Edmund saw a small hole like a tunnel about five hundred paces away - this might provide a safer route into Wyrdstow than trying to run the bridge, though all entrances were likely to be guarded somehow if the elves were aware of them.
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