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Post by sleepingdragon on Nov 6, 2013 21:05:33 GMT
Sleeping Dragon: Soiled Sisters: With Scand and one of the bandits in tow as captives, the party and Estra set off for the road back to Stowecott. She explained that she was part of the Soiled Sisters, and as she walked with the party she gave a bit more information on the history of that group. The Soiled Sisters came out of one of the darkest periods of Palanian history, approximately fifty years before. At this time the monstrous forces in the land were at their strongest, and large regions which were now at least contested were wholly under non-human control. In the hills of Gundergrad, an orc raiding party attacked and sacked a village, and carried off those women that survived to face slavery, rape, and to bear monstrous children. The majority of those women died soon, whether from exhaustion or injury or through committing suicide to escape the horror of their lives. Four women however refused to let the last spark of hope within them die. Consumed with a burning hatred and desire for freedom and revenge, they prayed for deliverance. They swore their souls to any god or demon that would grant them the capacity to free themselves. And their prayers were answered. These first Soiled Sisters believed that a forgotten god, the Dark Sister, had heard their prayers, though for her part Estra thought the women simply woke within themselves latent power that they already possessed. Whatever the cause, the women soon found themselves manifesting supernatural abilities – the capacity to move unseen, to squeeze through small spaces, to change their faces, and to turn their hands and feet into deadly weapons, and other gifts. Though they were at the time all deeply pregnant with the children of rape within them, they were able to use their new powers to escape. The women could not return and birth their children openly, lest every hand be turned against them. Instead they hid themselves and brought forth their demonic children in pain and blood. Once the birthing was done, they smothered the orcs beneath pillows. Since this time, the Soiled Sisters grew. These original four leaders and founders of the organisation, who became called the Grey Tainted, had all passed on, but the Sisters survived. As the society of the clans and nobles would not tolerate a group of women with the power to defend themselves, they in turn foreswore all loyalty to the clans, though they nonetheless regarded themselves as defenders of the Palanian people, most particularly its women. As well as waging a relentless war against their sworn enemies, the orcs, they also worked to protect women from violence and abuse, whether in or out of the law. However, they did not think of themselves only as rescuers - they did not only want to protect and speak up for women, but to equip them with the tools to protect and speak up for themselves, skills which no one in Palania was willing to teach them save the Sisters. Although the Sisters, of course, were all women, and at first allowed only women into their ranks, in the previous decade they had decided that the nature of Palanian society meant that sometimes it would be useful to have some male members. These they named Nighthawks, and one of their first recruits had been Scand, until he betrayed them to work as a freelance assassin. Hogar: Hogar seemed to find Estra's explanation very interesting "Sounds like a fine group to me."he said, obviously deciding to side with the woman's belief in innate power over demonic worship Leofric: Leofric pursed his lips and looked thoughtfully as the history and background of the Soiled Sisters was outlined by Estra. After Hogar spoken his thoughts on this, he added "I agreed, it does sound like a commendable sort." Arianhod: Arianhod nodded, staying quiet. She was still thinking about whether or not to take Estra's offer or not. Edmund: "It's an honour to have been able to aid you," Edmund said to Estra. Edmund: "Can anyone find this power within themselves, or is it a gift only some have?" he asked her. Sleeping Dragon: "Everyone we've tried to teach has been able to learn, so long as they apply themselves. I suspect it's a natural ability that everyone has." Leofric: Leofric looked interested at this mention of natural ability. Edmund: "So any of us could learn..." Edmund mused. Sleeping Dragon: "If you'd take our vows, then yes. Given this whole situation with Scand I might have more difficulty convincing my sisters of the value of any would-be Nighthawks - there've always been those who think we never should have taught any men to start with - but I'll at least try and I imagine I'll succeed if I press hard enough." Hogar: "It might be worth considering, if the vows do not interfere with our...other business."suggested Hogar Hogar: edit:"And I assume these teachings would require a long time, wouldn't they?" Arianhod: "Personally, I wouldn't want to teach a skill like this to those who are only interested in its power." Arianhod commented, keeping her eyes on the path ahead. "If you're worried about the obligations of joining a group, you probably shouldn't join." Sleeping Dragon: "We wouldn't teach this sort of skill to those only interested in power. That's the way of people like him," she gestured to Scand. Leofric: Leofric shook his head, "I do not want to bound myself to too many vows." He give this a miss. Edmund: "Why would you assume any of us are interested in power, or rather the abuse of power," Edmund asked Arianhod. "Rather than being interested in developing powers which are sworn in service?" Arianhod: Arianhod looked over to Edmund. "That's just what it sounded like. It seemed like as soon as Estra mentioned that anyone could develop such powers, you suddenly seemed to have an interest in joining them." Hogar: "Power can be used to set the world alright."said Hogar kindly "The Sisters goals sound pretty admirable, I don't see why you should mistrust Ed..." Edmund: "I am interested in learning new skills and opening my mind and heart to new ways of being," Edmund replied calmly. "And to put them to use for the world and the society I live in. Our eyes are being opening daily to new possibilities, and to new fellowships such as the sisters." Leofric: "And often have unanticipated consequences" Leofric smiled as if he is slightly sad at that point. Arianhod: "Not such a great society we live in." Arianhod muttered and sighed. "What you do is up to you. I was just concerned that you and Hogar seemed more interested in the power, than the responsibilities. You've both proven yourselves honourable, though." Edmund: "It is kind of you to say so," Edmund said with a smile. Hogar: Hogar nodded in agreement Leofric: Leofric grinned at the agreement. Sleeping Dragon: they continued on through the day towards Stowecott. After a time, they came to the fork in the river, where a small wooden tower was built to defend the road, and they crossed over and continued on. They were now coming towards areas which were inhabited, and a number of people came out to look, bemused at the sight of the bound, gagged, and naked Scand being led before the group with Estra's arrow pointed at his head. Mid-way through the evening, a man on horseback rode up to the party on the road about eight or nine miles south of Stowecott, with a carriage following behind him. "Lord Attor sent me, we heard rumour you had returned," he said, fishing out a badge sewn with Lord Attor's sigil to identify himself. "Will you come back with us? Lord Attor thought that anyone in league with your captives should have the least amount of warning." Edmund: "That makes sense," Edmund nodded, looking to the others and especially Estra to respond. Sleeping Dragon: Estra shrugged. "As long as I can keep an eye on this one." Leofric: Leofric nodded thoughtfully, his eyes looking around with wariness. Sleeping Dragon: they entered the carriage and this took them back to Lord Attor's estate. When they emerged from the carriage, the Star was high in the sky and night had settled in. Lord Attor was waiting for them. "I heard that you had returned and had captives with you. Is this naked one the sorcerer you speculated on?" Edmund: "He is indeed. A man with the power to take on another's face, kill with his hands and slip through tiny spaces. He sells his powers for gold, so we still need to find out his employer," Edmund said this last bit quietly to Lord Attor. Sleeping Dragon: "Cynegels," Lord Attor shrugged. "I will speak to him, you may help if you wish. I will also begin sending messengers immediately to all the clan lords, if this man confesses then I will be able to free Balnoth." Arianhod: "Might as well." Arianhod replied. "If only to make sure he stays where he is." Leofric: Leofric nodded in agreements Hogar: brb Sleeping Dragon: the party, Lord Attor, and Estra retreated to interrogate Scand privately. Estra hesitated when asked who she was, before telling Lord Attor she had been hunting Scand because of previous murders the man had committed. "Lord Attor. I made this offer to these mercenaries but they seemed indecisive, so I will make it again to you - I have information about the events that led to the recent murder and who is behind them, and I am happy to offer this so long as I receive more lenient treatment for my own part." Lord Attor looked at the party. Arianhod: "What would you consider lenient treatment as opposed to not?" Arianhod asked Attor. Sleeping Dragon: "Before I consider that, I must have clarification on what your part is. Did you kill Eldrid and Andwaru?" Lord Attor asked. Scand hesitated, then shrugged. "I did, though not of my own design. I was only the means to eliminate them though, and didn't do so of my own accord. But I have no reason to tell you any more if I am to die anyway." Lord Attor rubbed his temples. "Rightly it should be Ealdorman Balnoth, Svari, and Eldrid and Andwaru's kinsmen who decide this, not myself. They are the wronged parties, and have the right to demand blood or weregeld as they see fit. You," Lord Attor turned to Estra, "you have also suffered at this man's hands, yes?" Estra nodded and looked to Scand. "Would you prefer to lose an eye or a hand?" she asked. Scand paused for a few moments. "An eye," he replied. Estra nodded, and turned to Lord Attor. "Take a hand then - the right hand - and that will be enough for his previous crimes. You'll need to decide for his new ones. I only asked what your preference was, bastard, I didn't say I'd take any note of it," Estra glared at Scand. Arianhod: Arianhod grinned slightly at Estra's decision but didn't say anything further. Sleeping Dragon: "You had gagged him," Lord Attor said. "I assume then that the loss of his tongue would prevent him from working more mischief with his spells? It seems fitting enough, you used lies and deception to try to frame Ealdorman Balnoth for these murders. You can keep your life. What do you say then, murderer? I cannot stomach to take any less." Scand hesitated. "Fine, if it must be done. But first swear on your clan that you will honour this, and allow me to live." "I swear it by my father and my ancestors of the Tannlings," said Lord Attor. Leofric: Leofric nodded, wondering about the penchant of taking tounges. Hogar: "Hopefully he won't find some way to regrow that."muttered Hogar Sleeping Dragon: Scand began, then, to reveal what he knew of the situation. He had been hired near the end of April in Bluebrycg by Cynegels, for the purpose of framing Ealdorman Balnoth for murder and thus allowing Cynegels to replace him with his own preferred candidate, Lord Elfdane. This, in turn, would allow Cynegels in time to become Ealdorman of Garstoc, as he had wished before Balnoth's intervention in the election several years before. All of this, Lord Attor had already surmised, and he warned Scand that he would need to provide more useful information if he wanted to keep his life. Scand therefore revealed that, though Cynegels had attempted to conceal it, some of the things he and his Thegn Osbeorn had said to Scand had revealed that the plot had not been Cynegels' own idea, but one that another person had hatched. "I don't know exactly who this person is, but it's a man, and I believe he's further north. I knew I needed to bring about some kind of open argument between Eldrid and Balnoth, so people would believe the Ealdorman would have killed him out of jealousy. I asked Cynegels for assistance and this other plotter somehow was able to get Andwaru to come here to put pressure on Eldrid. Andwaru knew about the plot, you understand. He expected to play the gallant and chase me off after I killed Eldrid, I killed Andwaru instead since I thought he knew too much and might give the game away." Leofric: Leofric frowned with the news that there may be another enemy acting against them eventually. He asked the question "Do you know or hear anything with respect to Tesu?" Sleeping Dragon: "She's the one Balnoth was meeting with on the night I killed Eldrid. She had nothing to do with the whole plot and I have no idea where she is. It was only a fortunate chance, when I broke into Balnoth's study I found the note saying he would be meeting with her the night before he was due to leave for the wedding and he'd have only one guard. I knew right away that the job had to be done then." Leofric: Leofric frowned for a moment and nodded, "I see...." Edmund: Edmund listened grimly as Scand confirmed their suspicions and more. "Is there anything you can tell us about this other person involved in the plot?" Sleeping Dragon: "No more than what I've said. Cynegels will know who he is." Leofric: "And did Cynegels mentioned anything about Edlynne?" He asked once more Sleeping Dragon: "Edlynne is a thief I believe, I think she was involved with the plot to kidnap Ealdorman Balnoth which you foiled. She had nothing to do with this, however, and I've never met her." Leofric: Leofric nodded Leofric: Leofric yawned for a moment Sleeping Dragon: after interrogating Scand, the party retreated for a well-earned rest. Mid-way through the night, however, they were roused from sleep by a serving man, who apologised but said that Ealdorman Balnoth begged urgent audience with them. Edmund: "Of course," Edmund said to the servant, hastening to get some clothes on. Leofric: Leofric lifted his weary head off his hard bedding and quickly prepared himself for the waking world Arianhod: Arianhod grumbled as she got ready to meet with the Ealdorman. Sleeping Dragon: the party were given time to clothe themselves before being brought to a side room where they found Attor, Balnoth, and a young man they had not met before. "...I believe you, Elfdane," Balnoth was saying. He turned to the party and threw an arm around Leofric who was nearest to him. "Thank you my friends," he said. "My Lords, I hope you'll forgive me, but I need to speak to my rescuers privately." Attor and Elfdane nodded, and departed without any further word. Hogar: Hogar frowned for a moment, not remembering having seen that man before Leofric: Leofric was slightly taken back by respected one and gave a wan smile to him. Edmund: Edmund grinned at Leo's discomfiture. "It's good to see you free." Sleeping Dragon: "It's only because of you. You are true friends. And you, I've not even met you before and you still came to my rescue," Balnoth said the last to Arianhod. "Thank you. I am sorry to disturb your rest, but there's another task I mean to do, and immediately. If you would, I would have your help in this." Leofric: Leofric paid close attention to whatever Balnoth have to say, "What is this task?" He asked curiously. Sleeping Dragon: "Cynegels," Balnoth spat the name like venom. "I swore a vow, and I have no choice at any rate. He will never stop until one of us is dead. He has vital information about someone else involved in this plot, and I mean to find out who that person is. But we must go now. Once news spreads, he may flee, and with his connections in the underworld I'd never be able to find him." Balnoth paused. "I am resigning as Ealdorman," he said quietly. "The lords know I am innocent, but there will always be those in Stowecott who think me a murderer, and I will never be able to command any authority after this. Frankly, it is a blessed relief, I would have resigned years ago if not for the worry that it would allow Cynegels to have his way. Lord Elfdane has sworn he had nothing to do with this plot and that he will not run to replace me. With his role exposed, no one who is friends with Cynegels will have a chance. We must put this mad dog down, and then Svari and I can retire in peace." Edmund: Edmund nodded. "We are with you." Leofric: Leofric nodded with agreement, "Indeed!" Hogar: "We shall do that."said Hogar "And I hope we can bring down his accomplice too." Sleeping Dragon: "Astyrian is free as well now, and Havarr arrived back from Lord Renweard's estate in the night. They are out gathering my most trustworthy men-at-arms, but we should leave immediately as soon as I've had time to arm myself. Every moment we delay is a chance for Cynegels to run." Leofric: Leorfric nodded and made some preparation as well, putting on three longswords. Sleeping Dragon: the party left Lord Attor's estate. It was still night, though the sun would be rising within a few hours. After about a half hour, Balnoth met them, with Havarr, Astyrian, and three men-at-arms in tow. Balnoth was armoured in brigandine and scaled helm, and bore a sword, spear, and shield. "We must make haste, friends," said Balnoth. "Cynegels' estate is on the northern edge of Garstoc, if we're careful we'll be able to reach there without him knowing of what's happened. I will warn you all, be wary of his Thegn Osbeorn, he is a powerful fighter. Cynegels is not a brave man - if we bring down Osbeorn and enough of his men, I think he will surrender." Leofric: Leofric nodded with grimness shining in his face. Hogar: "We'll keep that in mind."said Hogar Edmund: Edmund nodded and gathered up his stuff. Sleeping Dragon: through the morning and afternoon they pushed on south towards the village of Garstoc. They could not risk the roads, so Leofric remembered a route through the hills he had read about and began to head through. The men-at-arms pushed on grimly, while Arianhod and Hogar went ahead as scouts. Havarr was quite familiar with these lands, and was able to lead them past any villages or outlying farms, while Balnoth and Edmund moved amongst the men, keeping up their spirits with rousing words. The group pushed on, not stopping to eat or rest. The sun had set by the time the village of Garstoc, which appeared to be marginally larger than Stowecott with a small mine on its southern edge. Cynegels' estate was built on a hill about twenty feet high. There were stables and outbuildings near the bottom of the hill, on the southwestern edge, and the main hall, in the style of an old mead hall but larger and with upper floors, was surrounded by a thick stone wall. As the group approached, to everyone's surprise, Edmund wove a spell of darkness to shroud them while they observed the defences. Watching, they saw there were at least eight or nine men on the walls, clad in brigandines and for the most part wielding bows, though swords, spears, pikes, and shields were also in evidence. Sleeping Dragon: Havarr and Astyrian brought forth rope and grappling hooks they had brought from Stowecott. "If we can get the hooks up and climb the walls, we'll be able to drop in on the bastards," said Balnoth. "We need two or three to scale the walls and get ropes tied for the rest of us to follow." Astyrian pulled out a bow. "I'll give cover fire," he said. Edmund: Edmund loosened his sling. "I can do so too." Hogar: Hogar sized up the estate as the others discussed strategy Hogar: "I can do the climb too."said Hogar Sleeping Dragon: Havarr volunteered to be one of the first up the walls Arianhod: "I'll go up as well. I can switch to my bow once up there if needed." Leofric: Leofric closed his eyes and placed his hands on Havarr and immediately Havarr felt stronger. He then placed his hands on Hogar and gave him the same power. Then Leofric did it again with slightly different slant and repeated the same with himself and Edmund, Hogar and Arianhod. Sleeping Dragon: Arianhod crept forward to the edge of the darkness with Havarr and Hogar, ready to throw their grapples. She pointed out the best spot to throw to and on the count of three they hurled, trying to remain unseen. Unfortunately, one of the guards noticed the faint chink of metal on stone and shouted a warning Leofric: Leofric readies his finest longsword, poised for an attack. However he settled down, his eyes watching for any possible advantages that can be used against the enemies Hogar: Cursing, Hogar rushed forth and quickly climbed over the wall, finding himself facing two guardsmen Arianhod: Arianhod followed Hogar, readying her axe once she got to the top of the wall. Sleeping Dragon: Balnoth and the men-at-arms moved up, ready to follow up the wall as soon as they could, while Astyrian fired at one of the guards, but the arrow went wide. Havarr also clambered up onto the wall Sleeping Dragon: the guardsmen nearest the attackers threw down their bows and drew round shields, then went for sword or spear. Two nearby guards fired at Havarr and Hogar, but the Thegn deflected one shot with his shield while the second was so inept the guardsman's bow snapped. As this went on, several of the guardsmen rushed round towards the fray, one blowing a horn in warning as he went. Leofric: Leofric however more wiser this time. Normally he would be the first to rush forward, ready to do his bits. But this time, he stood still, calmly watching the fight Edmund: Edmund fired off a bullet which struck one of the guards a decent blow, then he moved towards the base of the wall. Hogar: Hogar put his back to the wall and tried to shove one of the guardsmen off the wall - but the man was fast enough to block and the shields just clanged. Arianhod: Arianhod took advantage of the man's distraction to slam him hard in the chest with her axe. Sleeping Dragon: the men-at-arms advanced to near the base of the wall, as did Balnoth Sleeping Dragon: as they advanced, they locked their shields closely together to protect from arrows Sleeping Dragon: Astyrian retrieved another arrow Leofric: jolly good Sleeping Dragon: the nearest guardsmen moved up into a formation, readying shields though they still had no other weapons out for the moment. Others advanced or began to reload their bows Sleeping Dragon: Edmund moved to a rope and quickly climbed up the wall Hogar: Hogar took his axe from his belt and whirled it menacingly at the advancing guardsmen Leofric: Leofric followed Edmund and scamped up the rope, putting hjimself onto the wall. Arianhod: Arianhod stepped up next to Hogar, looking around the battlefield cautiously. Sleeping Dragon: Balnoth climbed the wall and drew his blade, while Arianhod quickly told the others that there were sounds of people shouting from within the mead hall Sleeping Dragon: Astyrian strung another arrow to his bow while Edmund reached for a stone. A man in the scaled armour of a Thegn moved towards where the guards had already drawn up in a defensive position Sleeping Dragon: "That's not Osbeorn," Balnoth said. "He must be inside the hall." Sleeping Dragon: *edit while Edmund reached for his sword. Leofric: Leofric rushed around and made some gresutre that help to protect Balnoth and Havarr Leofric: Leofric then settled down, his eyes watching the enemies Hogar: "We have to be quick."said Hogar "There are likely more men asleep or resting who might wake up." Sleeping Dragon: the three men-at-arms moved up to protect Balnoth, locking their shields tightly and drawing spears Sleeping Dragon: "I am Balnoth, Ealdorman of Stowecott! Tell Cynegels to come out and surrender, and you'll be spared!" he shouted, though the guardsmen ignored his cry Leofric: good luck! Sleeping Dragon: Astyrian fired at a guardsman who had been injured earlier by Edmund's stone, but his arrow struck the man's shield. Astyrian moved towards the wall Sleeping Dragon: the guardsmen advanced, those nearby in formation drawing their weapons. One fired at one of the men-at-arms, wounding him lightly in the leg Sleeping Dragon: "Come and try me, so-called Ealdorman!" the Thegn called a challenge to Balnoth, moving up behind the men in formation Edmund: Edmund held back for now, watching for a time to act. Leofric: Leofric pointed at one of the guardman in the middle of the formation and yelled, "You are going to die!" Hogar: Hogar charged forth at the middle of the formation, and with a wild swing split open the head of the guardsman Leofric had just pointed at. Arianhod: Arianhod followed Hogar closely behind, driving her axe into one of the guards' belly, splintering his armor and knocking him to the ground. Sleeping Dragon: one of the men-at-arms moved to block the top of one of the stairs, while the other moved to engage a guard who had been firing at them Sleeping Dragon: Balnoth moved towards the fray Sleeping Dragon: Astyrian climbed the wall, discarding his bow and drawing a two-handed blade Sleeping Dragon: one guardsman stabbed at Hogar, who blocked his thrust. Another fired wide of one of the men-at-arms, while the one nearest the stairs retreated back towards the middle of the courtyard, drawing as shield, where he met another of his comrades who was advancing Edmund: Edmund moved cautiously forward to see around the corner. Spotting three guards he muttered a spell but this time the magic would not serve him. Sleeping Dragon: the thegn moved for Arianhod, slashing with his sword. For a moment it looked as if he might deal her a deep wound, but she flashed out with her axe, caught his blade in the axehead, and twisted it round, pinning the sword in place Leofric: Leofric glanced at the fighting before him and glanced backward and made way to help Edmund at the edge of the stairs. Arianhod: Arianhod kept the man's sword pinned and slashed at him with her axe, which he was able to block with his shield. Sleeping Dragon: Balnoth moved up on one of the guardsman and swung his sword, but it went wide Sleeping Dragon: Astyrian moved to join those at the top of the stairs Sleeping Dragon: Havarr moved on one of the guardsmen who was cornered by the gate Leofric: Leofric moved onto the stair as well, his longsword at ready. He made a gesture but sadly, unable to harm Edmund: Edmund had run down the steps into the courtyard but again he was unable to access the magic needed. He made the sign of the Prophet and muttered a few words.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Nov 10, 2013 11:57:45 GMT
Sleeping Dragon: as Edmund advanced down into the courtyard, the large doors into the manor opened and three armed men stepped out. While one seemed to be no more than a hired tough armed with a ball and chain, the other two were professional fighters. On one side was a man in scaled armour, wielding a two-handed sword, and in between them was a big, heavily muscled man dressed in full mail, with a full helm with nasal bar, razor sharp sword in hand, and a splendid oak and iron shield painted blue and black. Leofric: Leofric glanced at the gang of armed men running out of the chamber and frowned with annoyance and decided to run up the stair and to be with other soldiers. Hogar: Hogar lashed out powerfully with his shield, knocking the guardsman facing him backwards over the battlements. For a moment it looked like the man would be able to grab the edge, but he could not - he fell down, all of his weight landing on his right arm which was now useless. Arianhod: Arianhod swung at the heavily armored man, but keeping his sword pinned made her swing awkward. Sleeping Dragon: one of the men-at-arms advanced on a guardsman, who had dropped his bow and drawn his shield, and was clawing for his spear. Balnoth's man-at-arms thrust his spear out powerfully, but the guardsman managed to turn it with his shield. Meanwhile, Balnoth's other two men-at-arms moved down into the courtyard, locking shields and moving ahead of Edmund Sleeping Dragon: Balnoth moved up on the man whose weapon Arianhod had pinned, but the Ealdorman's blow was a weak one and the thegn blocked it on his shield Sleeping Dragon: "Come on then! Which of you wants to die first!" cried the man in full mail, moving up to join his fellows in the central courtyard Sleeping Dragon: "Try me, Osbeorn!" Astyrian returned the challenge, stepping up beside Balnoth's men Arianhod: "Help the others." Arianhod said to Hogar as she returned her axe to a ready position. "We can handle this." Sleeping Dragon: "Or me," Havarr also moved up into the courtyard, brandishing his sword Sleeping Dragon: the man with the ball and chain also advanced, lining up opposite Havarr Sleeping Dragon: the guardsmen in the courtyard advanced slowly, while the one Hogar had pushed from the battlements stood, cradling his arm. Another moved up beside Balnoth and lashed out with an axe, but Balnoth was able to deflect the blow Idris: With the fighters moving up on each other, Edmund ran back up the steps and began loading his sling. Sleeping Dragon: the man battling Arianhod tried to bash her with his shield, but she was able to block the blow Leofric: Leofric frowned thoughtfully as he glanced around the courtyard and its surrounding wall among the flicking flames from the torch. He noticed that his friend's man at arm is fighting a guard on his own. He made a decision there and rushed toward to help him. Leofric: EDIT: pacing along the wall inner edge. Hogar: Obviously thinking Arianhod and Balnoth could handle themselves, Hogar decided to rush towards the main fight instead Arianhod: Knocking the armored man's shield aside with the butt of her axe, Arianhod turned and swung, spinning around to land a heavy blow. The force of it sent the man flying from the wall. "Another one down." Arianhod said to herself with a grin and stepped up to assist Balnoth with the last guardsman at their location. Arianhod: Knocking the armored man's shield aside with the butt of her axe, Arianhod turned and swung, spinning around to land a heavy blow. The force of it sent the man flying from the wall. (Sound Effect) "Another one down." Arianhod said to herself with a grin and stepped up to assist Balnoth with the last guardsman at their location. Sleeping Dragon: the man-at-arms Leofric was moving to help scored a light blow on his foe's leg, while the others remained, waiting to move with Asytrian and Havarr Sleeping Dragon: Balnoth struck out at he and Arianhod's foe, but the guardsman blocked the stroke with his shield Sleeping Dragon: Osbeorn moved up alongside his own men and pointed his blade at Astyrian who was opposite him Sleeping Dragon: the two lines of men came together in a great clash of steel. Astyrian and Osbeorn exchanged blows, Astyrian catching his foe's stroke on his two-handed sword, and his return blow sailing wide. Sleeping Dragon: the man with the ball and chain moved around, passing through the porch in front of the manor house and around behind Astyrian Sleeping Dragon: the guardsmen attacked. One had a sword stroke deflected by one of Balnoth's men, while the other stabbed out with a long pike. The man's foe caught the blow with his shield. Shield shards flew into the man's eyes and he stumbled, briefly blinded Sleeping Dragon: Cynegels' thegn attacked Havarr with his two-handed sword, but Balnoth's thegn was able to deflect the attack Hogar: Hogar ran beside Edmund, obviously interested in joining the fight as soon as possible Leofric: Leofric launched himself at the guard, with fierce determination on his face, his fine glistering longsword sliced into a leg recently wounded. Working into a chink of the armour, he performed amputation, painfully removed his leg. Alas, the guard sadly departed, clouded over by sheer pain. Leofric: Leofric gave a nod to a man at arms before glancing around Sleeping Dragon: Osbeorn swung at Astyrian again, and Balnoth's thegn once again blocked the blow Leofric: Leofric made his way back along the wall, his longsword spalttered with blood, he looked quite pleased with himself yet so grim Leofric: EDIT: made his way back along the wall toward Edmund and Hogar Idris: Edmund looked around for a target as he finally had his sling loaded. Sleeping Dragon: Astyrian was able to block another blow from Osbeorn, though he was hard pressed Leofric: Leofric ran down the stair and made for the wooden structure, neatly avoiding any annoying fighters. Sleeping Dragon: as Leofric moved, he could see in through the opened door to the manor house. There were three more people in there, gathering their gear hastily, though one appeared to be suffering heavily from the effects of drink Hogar: Hogar whirled his axe menacingly as he advanced through the stair towards the man wielding the ball and chain Sleeping Dragon: the man-at-arms on the wall hustled towards the stairs now that his foe was dead Arianhod: Arianhod swung her axe at the last guardsman near her, the blade aimed straight at the man's neck, but he was able to interpose his shield just in time. Sleeping Dragon: however, this left him wide open for Balnoth. The Ealdorman swung his sword out thunderously, sweeping the man's head straight from his shoulders Sleeping Dragon: Osbeorn continued to drive on Astyrian, who managed to ward off the furious assault Sleeping Dragon: Osbeorn fended off one man-at-arms' attack, while the second stabbed out at the guardsman he had previously blinded. His spear jammed in the man's face, causing him to scream with agony Sleeping Dragon: Astyrian attacked Osbeorn, but his blow fell wide Sleeping Dragon: Havarr sliced out at his own foe. His sword flicked in past the Thegn's greatsword and bit with huge force into and through the man's arm. The Thegn fell dead, pumping blood from his stump Sleeping Dragon: the man wit hthe ball and chain swung out at the beleaguered Astyrian, but perhaps distracted by Hogar and Leofric advancing on him, his blow went wide Sleeping Dragon: the guardsman Hogar had knocked from the wall stumbled away, calling out that he would go to the village for help. Another struck out at Astyrian, but missed Idris: Edmund selected the thug who was not in the middle of the frays, spun the sling around his head and let the bullet fly. With a resounding crack it hit the man squarely in the head and he collapsed to the ground. Leofric: Leofric went around the group of fighting posses and launched an attack behind blinded guardman and knocked him out with a quick blow. Hogar: Hogar rushed towards Osbeorn and chopped at him with great strength. The thegn's raised his shield to block the powerful blow, but Hogar proved faster and stronger and struck his leg, drawing blood. Arianhod: With the foes on the wall defeated, Arianhod hurried back to join the others. Sleeping Dragon: Balnoth went with her, while the man-at-arms on the wall went down to join the fray Sleeping Dragon: one of BAlnoth's men attacked Osbeorn, but missed Sleeping Dragon: Havarr moved in and also attacked Osbeorn, lightly wounding him to the head Sleeping Dragon: in desperation, the guardsman lashed out at one of Balnoth's men, damaging his leg heavily, but amazingly the man continued to fight on Idris: Edmund flitted down again into the courtyard and up to the porch. He could see people preparing inside and hear others moving upstairs. Leofric: Leofric moved onto next Guardman after knocking out the blinded one and managed to hit him in the head. The Guardsman was blinded by the blood slatter was was unable to see for some moments. Hogar: Hogar chopped at Osbeorn's head, but his mail coif protected him and he was merely grazed Sleeping Dragon: Havarr did the same, but could not penetrate the man's armour Idris: Edmund drew his sabre, moved up and also attacked Osbeorn, but his blow bounced off the armour. Idris: Leofric: Leofric moved onto attacking Osbeorn but his attack is so awful and so weak that Osbeorn absently minded deflected it Arianhod: Arianhod hurried down the stairs, gripping her axe as she approached the battle. Hogar: Seeing that Osbeorn's situation was now simply hopeless, Hogar decided to leave him alone and went off to attack a pikeman, who blocked his chop with the shaft of his weapon Sleeping Dragon: Osbeorn blocked two more blows from Astyrian and one of Balnoth's men, but his breath was ragged and laboured Sleeping Dragon: Havarr tried to kick Osbeorn's legs out from under him, but he kept his feet Sleeping Dragon: one of the men in the manor house advanced and swung a ball and chain at Hogar, but the man was stumbling over his own feet because of the drink and simply chipped Cynegels' floor Idris: Edmund swung his sabre at Osbeorn's back and managed to strike him on the head, cutting him. Leofric: Leofric noticed that Hogar is hard pressed. He made his way into the manor, gave an Intimidating Scream at the drunk thug and other fighters, his strange apperance will surely unnvere them a little Hogar: Relieved to see Leofric rush to his side, Hogar found an opening and lashed out at the drunken man threatening him, wounding him grievously in the head and sending him down to the ground unconscious Arianhod: Finally at the second fight, Arianhod moved around behind the beleagured Osbeorn and brought her axe down on his head, splitting it open. Sleeping Dragon: Balnoth and the men-at-arms ganged up on the remaining guardsman, finally felling him with a vicious spear thrust to the throat Sleeping Dragon: at this point, seeing that they were badly outnumbered, the two men fighting Hogar and Leofric threw down their weapons and begged mercy. "Cynegels is upstairs! There's only a few guards left and they're not armoured!" said the guardsman Leofric: Leofric gave the three surrendering fighters a glance over and nodded at Hogar, requesting that he keep an eye on them and the stair and went out and told the others outside the manor that fighters on the ground floor have surrended and Cynegels and few guards which may not be armoured upstair Arianhod: Arianhod planted her foot on Osbeorn's back in order to pull her axe free, letting the man fall. "Sorry for stealing the glory." She mumbled. Hogar: "I assume you'll want the pleasure of killing him yourself." said Hogar to Balnoth once he could see him "Though you might have questions before that." Sleeping Dragon: Balnoth ordered Havarr and Astyrian to keep captive those who were still alive and tend to their wounded, while he and the party were taken upstairs. Cynegels first floor had been shaped like the mead halls of old, one long room with a big table and open fire, but upstairs the building was more modern. As the party barged upstairs they came across three men who were carrying swords, but they were unarmoured and had clearly been woken from sleep, and hastily surrendered and went to join their fellows in captivity. Balnoth kept one with them so he could lead them, along a corridor lined with pictures, around a corner, and through an ornately carved wooden door. There they found Cynegels, who had attempted to hide himself in a wardrobe but had failed badly, as the man was of significant girth. Cynegels was a big man with a fleshy face and large hands encrusted with rings, though it was clear there was a significant strength in his hands and he moved more quickly than they would have thought for a man of his size. He had had time to belt on a sword and retrieve a very large two-handed hammer, though he quickly threw the latter down when it became clear he was hopelessly outnumbered. Balnoth waved the other captive away, so they could be alone with Cynegels. "Scand is a captive in Stowecott, and Osbeorn is dead. If you don't want to join them, bastard, you'll start telling us what you know and who you've been working with," Balnoth spat at his rival. "If you want information, Balnoth, you'll give me your word that I can leave here freely," Cynegels said, eyeing the party warily. "Fine," Balnoth replied tersely, though his knuckles on his sword were white. "One of you can question him, I feel soiled even standing in the same room as this worm," he said to the party. Idris: "You're hardly in a position to dictate terms Cynegels," Edmund said quietly. "But Balnoth is a reasonable man, and he might feel merciful despite what you have done, if you are willing to be cooperative." Sleeping Dragon: "Oh I know. A very honourable man, the Ealdorman. You are the foreigners who rescued him before." Leofric: Leofric frowned slightly and told him meanful, "Yes, that we are. Nevertheless, answer the quesitons, to wit, explain all you know about the plot and secondly, who you have been working with?" Sleeping Dragon: "The plan was of course to remove Balnoth as Ealdorman. We could replace him with someone more friendly, and once Balnoth was gone it would only be a matter of time before I could take my place here in Garstoc. But this scheme wasn't at my initiative any more than the last one was, rather I was approached by a sellsword who calls himself Freawyn. He is in Astlaw at the moment." Leofric: Leofric frowned for a moment, "The adviser to Eahfrid Ealthing?" Sleeping Dragon: "Of a sorts, yes. He means to lead a war against Rulburna and having brought Stencumb and Astlaw to the fold, he also wanted some southern allies to hit Rulburna from the other flank. I would of course have been happy to oblige him, if only I were Ealdorman of Garstoc." Hogar: "...and?" said Hogar "Don't try to hide anything from us." Leofric: Leofric sighed for a moment, shaking his head mentally at the foolishness of fighting each other when facing ever greater peril. He looked pointly at Cynegels after Hogar's demand Idris: "Indeed, it would be better for you to be honest," Edmund said, making a small strange gesture with his hand. Sleeping Dragon: Cynegels sniffed. "Well yes. You may wonder why a random sellsword wishes to build an alliance of war against such a specific target. Truthfully Freawyn is named Leof, he is the Ealdorman of Rulburna's son. He tried to kill his father several months ago, but as he failed he fled to their enemies in Astlaw and took on a false name." Idris: Edmund nodded. "Now we come to the meat at last. So this would-be patricide is fomenting trouble against his own homeland." Sleeping Dragon: "People do all manner of things for revenge." Cynegels glanced at Balnoth. Idris: "Only a fool or a madman is willing to cause a war," Edmund said coldly. "Do you people not have enough monstrous enemies that you must fight among yourselves?" Leofric: "Anyway, the name of Edlynne popped up, who is she and where is she?" Leofric asked him. Sleeping Dragon: "Edlynne was the one who asked me to arrange to have Balnoth abducted, until you intervened. She was in Cottenmere but I believe she has moved on to Phalen. I suspect she was working with others though I am uncertain who, and I don't particularly care. It's not often someone pays you to get rid of your greatest rival." Idris: "So Edlynne planned the abduction, Leof the false murder charge?" Edmund asked. Sleeping Dragon: "Yes, although I supplied the necessary information for the latter. They were separate plots, so far as I'm aware Edlynne and Leof have nothing to do with one another." Idris: "And you have no idea why Edlynne wanted Balnoth removed?" Sleeping Dragon: "None, I might have suspected for ransom but she intended to arrange for him to be taken up the western coast by boat, I'm not sure where." Idris: Edmund frowned. "You have no idea at all what her interest in Balnoth was?" Sleeping Dragon: "I made a few discreet inquiries about her but I couldn't find anything. It didn't seem to matter much at the time, I wanted Balnoth removed anyway." Leofric: Leofric pursed his lips and asked "Apart from these two people mentioned so far, are you aware of any other plots or people that also wish to kidnap or remove Balnoth?" Sleeping Dragon: Balnoth laughed and shook his head at this. Cynegels gave him a strange look, but shrugged. "No, not apart from myself. I imagine anyone else who did would have sought me out. You do seem to have a significant talent for making enemies." Sleeping Dragon: "Do you have any more questions for this worm?" Balnoth asked the party Leofric: Leofric shook his head Leofric: A question occured to him, "Do you know anything about Tesu?" Sleeping Dragon: "She was an informer of mine, but from what Scand said she turned coat and fled. I don't know where she is, I had more important things to deal with than hunting her down." Leofric: Leofric nodded at this answer and felt silence, no longer wanting to ask questions Sleeping Dragon: "Nothing more then?" Balnoth asked. Idris: Edmund shook his head. "Do with him what you want." Sleeping Dragon: "I am a man of my word, and I did promise to let him go," said Balnoth. Abruptly he turned and buried his sword into Cynegels' gut. "But I swore by Bealdoric that I'd kill you, and that must take precedence. It is a terrible thing, suicide. Such was his guilt over nearly dragging the region to an unnecessary war that he chose to fall on his own sword." Idris: Edmund nodded. "He was a multiple murderer and abductor, and willing to serve a patricide to the point of civil war. He has been served justice, if it is the rough kind." Hogar: Hogar seemed to frown - barely - for a moment but he said nothing, obviously not going to say anything in favor of such a despicable man as Cynegels had been Sleeping Dragon: "You..." Cynegels coughed up blood. Balnoth sneered. "Have I broken the rules? Have I caused you harm through lies and deceit? Die, you bastard, and rot in hell!" Balnoth twisted his blade, and Cynegels gave a great groan and collapsed. Balnoth hastily stepped aside, then pulled Cynegel's blade from its scabbard and placed it in his own.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Nov 24, 2013 13:15:39 GMT
Following the battle in Garstoc, Balnoth decided he would return with the party as far as Lord Renweard’s estate. He feared that in all likelihood, he would never be able to return to Stowecott without facing accusing stares, but ultimately he was relieved to have been able to set down his burden and resign as Ealdorman while also removing the threat of Cynegels’ ascendancy forever. Svari also travelled with the party, and for the first time she and Balnoth were able to dispose of all pretence and present themselves openly as lovers.
Balnoth could not travel far until matters in Stowecott were finished, and he had left Fraomar with instructions to sell his estate and conclude the rest of his affairs there. Svari and Balnoth were uncertain of where they would go, but they would need to make a new life for themselves as Balnoth had been outcast from his clan years ago and could not return. Balnoth spoke of a desire to return to the Long Shore, where he had wandered as an adventurer while he was young, but was unsure if this was safe enough given their age and meant to write to friends in that region before they made a decision.
He also sent letters to the Ealdormen of Rulburna, Astlaw, and Stencumb, explaining the duplicitous role of Leof, under the alias of the sellsword Freawyn, in nearly dragging the region into a bloody and unnecessary war. As the situation in Stencumb was unstable, he also wrote to Dunstan’s cousin Lord Garrick. He hoped this would bring Leof to justice, but feared that rumour would reach him first and he would have time to flee.
Estra was also happy to travel with the group. She was wary around Balnoth and his retainers, but more open with the party. She expected some of her Sisters would have harsh words for her for allowing Scand to escape with a mere maiming, but she was confident others would support her. There were a number of Sisters in Phalen combating the orcs, and she was happy to introduce anyone in the party who was interested to them.
The party arrived back at Lord Renweard’s estate on 9 June 227. They found Synne was champing at the bit to be away from her father and annoyed with the delay in their move to Phalen. As they had already had to stall for over a week awaiting the party’s return, she gave them a day to recuperate, gather their belongings, and conclude any affairs they might have in Middlemere before they set out.
The road to Phalen was quite slow. Some of Synne and Dunstan’s belongings had already been sent on ahead of them while the party were in Stowecott, but they still had most with them in the wagon. Not only that, but they had the herd of cows Synne had been gifted by her father, ambling along behind them.
Benoic, the Thegn who had been friends with Synne’s late brother, came from Tarnemuthe along with several men-at-arms to serve as an honour guard en route to Phalen. Benoic brought with him news – after the conversation his wife Othili had with the party at the wedding, she had decided she would follow her conscience and convert to the Virian Way, though Benoic himself remained pagan. To thank the party for helping her make this decision, Othili had sent a gift, a set of commentaries by a number of learned priests on the Theophany and several of the most foundational Scrolls.
They headed south, through the plains of Suthesalt. At Benoic’s advice, they steered clear of Tarnemuthe proper – the Saltanow there was narrow and lately they had been suffering heavily from orc and goblin raids. This grassland was amongst the most fertile in all of Palania, filled with farms and small villages. The men of Suthesalte had built lines of watchtowers which ran from Tarnemuthe down to the strong stone fortress of Ceorlburh, to guard the road to Phalen and allow quick warning of any raids.
While on the road they had more opportunity to speak to their companions. Their captain of the guard, Atol of Parwick, had a cutting smile and was quick with a joke or sharp remark. The attraction he and Synne held for each other was quite obvious to the party though they made no move with Benoic and his men around.
Dunstan spent almost the entire journey reading. When he spoke to the party his main interest however was in a book he felt he could not read here, the grimoire they had taken from the Plague Fields, which he had hidden amongst his belongings in a chest. He was astounded that the book contained the secret to real magic and by the ideas inside, which were far removed from any conception of the Virian Way he had come across.
He also mentioned something Synne had told him, from a conversation she had with Lady Sarina, the wife of the Ealdorman of Wunfjorthr, at the wedding. Wunfjorthr was a predominantly Fryderi community, though one aligned with the Council and following some Gaston customs. Sarina had said in passing that about a year before, a wizard of her people named Brand, had come to accept the Virian Way and ran off swearing to serve the Church. Sarina had presumed the man would have killed himself in shame at his magical abilities, but Dunstan wondered whether he might have come across something similar to this grimoire.
Finally, they came to the lands surrounding the capital. The process of building fortifications here was difficult due to the continuous threat of raids. The capital itself lacked a wall along the river despite the threat, as the attempt to build one had resulted in little more than damaged materials and tools and dead stonemasons due to the regular raids. The Council had had more success with the new line of towers and motte-and-bailey castles they were erecting, as the structures themselves could be built elsewhere and brought in segments that could be quickly put together once the site was prepared.
But it was impossible to guard every possible avenue of attack, especially as there were extensive ruins below the city from the previous times it had been sacked. Despite the valiant efforts of the Undercity Watch (or the Warm Cadavers, as some named them), it was not uncommon for raiding parties to emerge in the middle of the city or somewhere in the countryside beyond the defences, popping up through some buried passageway.
After a journey of eleven days, the party finally arrived in Phalen on 21 June 227, and they headed first to their estate.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Nov 24, 2013 13:16:21 GMT
The manor house was a three storey fortified stone building with a timbered roof. The main compound was encircled by a fifteen foot high triangular stone wall, with parapets and crenellations. The complex was surrounded by a wet moat, twenty feet wide and ten deep, with the only visible means of entry or exit being a stout south-facing gatehouse. For safety reasons, the building itself was set back from the walls.
The compound was dominated by a large triangular courtyard in front of the main building, where there was a small forge, stable, a well, and a drill yard for the guards Atol would hire. For defensive reasons there were no windows on the first floor, but there were west and south facing windows on the second and third floors. There were two young trees, an elm and an oak, in front of the two south facing windows, which looked out from, respectively, Synne and Dunstan's solar and one room that would belong to the party. At the rear of the building there was a small garden, as well as a small enclosed area with a glass roof where Dunstan would grow his 'crop'.
To enter the house one must needs pass through a wide, ten foot tall black wooden door. Synne has this set with her wedding gift from Ealdorman Durwyn, an ornate gold and brass door knocker carved in the likeness of the fierce, broken-nosed and scarred face of Fregarbeorht, the pagan god of watchfulness and protection. The first floor was dominated by the common hall built round an open fire, where food and drink would be served and the servants will sleep. There were also kitchens, scullery, and a buttery on this floor.
On the second floor were four rooms. The smallest was the armoury, where the guards and the party could keep their equipment when it was not in use. The largest room was Dunstan and Synne's solar, which could also be reached via a raised dais from below in the common hall. Synne spoke to the party and let them know that, in the event of emergency, ther ewas a secret exit in the solar which led via an underground tunnel into an outbuilding in a field about a mile to the southwest. There was also space for storage within the passage, this being its ostensible purpose. Dunstan would do much of his work down here, as some of the materials he used gave off vapours which were hazardous to inhale. The secret exit would be located in Dunstan's laboratory.
Synne had three keys made - one for herself, one for Atol, and a third for the party. She says that although this passage would also be useful should the party need to bring anyone into the manor without it being known to everyone, she asks them not to do this unless she is warned first, as she doesn't want strangers lurking around in her quarters.
The second floor also housed two rooms which belonged to the party. Ealdorman Durwyn had presumed that, for the sake of modesty, Arianhod would have one room and the men would have another. Synne, who knew the party better, assumed you would ignore this and split the rooms evenly.
On the third floor there was the barracks where Atol and the guards would rest, and a large rectangular room which would become the library. Ealdorman Durwyn had already given Synne a recommendation for a man to hire as reeve, to help manage the manor's affairs, and once they were settled in she meant to have part of this room walled off, to be the reeve's office and living quarters. The rest was free for any scrolls or books the party wished to put there, though a chest and lock would be needed for any texts the party did not want to be on public display. The third floor also housed a small guest room.
The manor house was found approximately a mile west of the Saltanow, though a tributary stream ran from the river and across the land in an east-west direction. Along the eastern boundary there was a primitive pallisade, which over time could be supplemented with hedgerows and other stouter defences. The manor house was approximately three miles north of the city wall, which was the principal reason Ealdorman Durwyn was able to afford the land (the cost of which would have been twice as much or more were it within the walls.)
Around the manor was about three hides of land, with the manor house near the centre. While on the road Synne began plans to plant crops using a three field rotation, though she meant to hold off on actually obtaining churls to work the land until they arrived in Phalen. The city was filled with impoverished labourers and landless farmers, and they would work quite cheaply.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Nov 24, 2013 13:17:40 GMT
The air in the city of Phalen was rank with the powerful smell of human waste, sweat, and smoke, and with more ephemeral things besides.
In the party’s homeland, the capital of Malagen and the holy city Meringas were many centuries old, dating back to before even the years of the Alanian empire. Even the youngest city, the Prophet’s homeland of Barthenfold, had risen up from a small village hundreds of years ago. The cities were full of ancient buildings and there was a powerful sense of history, half awe-inspiring and half oppressive.
Every building in Phalen had been raised within the last decade, and instead of history there was a potent aura of transience and unreality. Quite apart from the architecture, the city was full of precarious labourers, who worked in uneven patterns depending on whether any attacks had happened recently, and begged when they were no longer needed. The city was dotted with large fire pits, so that the dead could be easily disposed of without risk of disease or reanimation.
There was a clear geographical divide in the city - the nobility and the rich stretched out on the city's western edge, where they were safest, while the poor lived cheek by jowl by the eastern docks. The city was heavily cramped and there were regular outbreaks of famine and disease, owing to chaotic food supplies and the water that had long been fouled by orcs and goblins. Owing to the danger, everyone carried at least a cudgel for defence, and if they could afford it they wore armour and carried better weapons as well.
Regardless of the danger, Phalen remained the capital, and therefore every organisation of importance, from the Conclave to the Soiled Sisters, the Bloodied Eye Brotherhood and the Order of the Burning Brand, the Bards' College, the Virian Church and the churches of every pagan deity, had its people here.
Once he had time to settle in, Leofric was introduced to Sigrun, a seer from the Ring of Secrets, who would be his teacher. Sigrun was a waspish, white-haired woman in her late sixties, who lived in a modest two-storey house near the centre of the city. She had two guards to discourage anyone who might object to her profession, though she kept her abilities a secret and unlike Deogol, no one had actually attempted to end her life.
Meanwhile, Estra also headed out to meet her Sisters, offering to introduce any in the party who was interested, though she warned that this was not a decision to be taken lightly.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Nov 24, 2013 13:21:47 GMT
sd: many weeks passed following the party's rescue of Balnoth and their attack on Cynegels manor. On returning to Lord Renweard's estate, they took a day to rest before setting out with Synne and Dunstan to their new home in Phalen.
After arriving in Phalen on 21 June 227, a month and a half passed while Leofric trained with Sigrun, his teacher from the Conclave, and the party grew accustomed to the city. The air of uncertainty and transcience was very strong - though there were no major attacks, there were regular skirmishes along the river. The riverland east of their own manor was heavily patrolled by Virian settlers, knights and their entourages, who had taken up ownership of a makeshift wooden castle not far away, so no monsters came near to their land.
As the weeks went by, the party began to discuss their next endeavour. The issue of hte Plague Fields remained unresolved, and they ultimately decided they would heed Deogol's advice and seek out the Forerunner ruin that had been discovered in Mollenmere. Sigrun was able to provide Leofric with information about this, as the Conclave had actually gone to explore the area themselves when it was discovered. Learning that the son of the Ealdorman of the local village of Hathenwell had occupied the ruin, however, they had retreated to deliberate. Sigrun drew Leofric a map of the region to assist them in their journey, though it would be a lengthy one as Mollenmere was many weeks distant. Eventually, on 5 August 227, they had completed their preparations and were ready to set out on the long road north. Arian: Arianhod informed the others that she would meet them in Phalen as she had some business to conclude elsewhere. Around the 1st of August, she arrived in Phalen to greet the others. She had the heavier chain mail armor from the battle at Cynegels' place fitted for her and was wearing it. Hogar: Hogar was quite energetic during his time in Phalen. He spent most of his time at the Brotherhood, training with his fellow warriors and learning many new combat techniques and tactics, including how to best use the magnificent shield they had obtained from Osbeorn. With his share of the silver he armed himself with a new razor-sharp throwing axe and learnt the rudiments of the healing arts, obviously expecting that they might be needed considering how dangerous was their next undertaking. Idris: Edmund had worked hard learning to use the fine longbow he had bought himself. He spent most days at the Bard's College in the city, bringing back tales to tell of an evening around the fire and playing his flute. Leofric: Leofric spent lot of time, studying powers. As he returned home from his trip into the city, he became more thoughtful and distracted, mulling over more complex part of his study. He spent some time poring over the books as if he find some kind of reassurance in them. Still, he found some time to pick up toughened version of his heavy clothing, a crossbow and even picked up a shield. He spoken about fighting with a shield with Hogar. He is now much better protected although his weak frame meant that he can only carry two longsword, first is of steel, second of silver. A crossbow and a shield. sd: the party gathered together to prepare for the road north. Before they set out on a clear, warm August morning, Dunstan came out to bid them farewell and provide them with two vials of some manner of reddish powder. "Once you go into the swamp, sprinkle this in your food," Dunstan told them. "It tastes a bit strange, and it is known to...ahh...stop up the bowels...but it helps against the diseases of the swamp." Leofric: Leofric thanked Dunstan for his foresights about the swamp. Hogar: Hogar examined the vials with interest and thanked Dunstan profusely "Your help is very appreciated. We will put these to good use." sd: they had had some time to research Mollenmere before their departure, particularly Leofric with Sigrun's help. The people of Mollenmere named themselves the Sons of Arth, for the legendary king, Arth Seven-Sisters. King Arth had been an adviser to the High King Peada, who had led the revolt of the Palanian Gastons against the Alanian empire, but after quarrelling with the High King he returned to his own realm. After a pestilence struck, King Arth had wed all seven of his sisters and had children by them all, to help repopulate the region. There were now seven major settlements in the swamp, each claiming descent from King Arth by one of the sisters. The Ealdormen and clan chiefs continued this practise of brother-sister incest. Perhaps because of their belief in a descent from the same king, there was less division between noble and commoner in Mollenmere than anywhere else in Palania - everyone in Mollenmere was part of a clan, and all had a say in electing their Ealdorman and their clan chiefs. The Sons of Arth had turned away from the worship of the Gaston gods even before the dragon's invasion, preferring to venerate their ancestors and the spirits of the land, particularly the spirit of the Mere.
Sigrun added that in ancient times, Mollenmere was apparently the site of heated fighting between the Alanian empire and the Forerunners, and the latter's use of powerful magic had caused a warping in the land and in its creatures. Large, twisted animals were commonplace, and occassionaly the Sons of Arth gave birth to deformed and corrupted offspring they named Vile Children. These were abandoned in the marsh to die, but some survived somehow and became raiders, troubling the countryside. Idris: "Hardly surprising their children are warped, if they practise incest," Edmund muttered to Leo. Hogar: Hogar frowned as he listened to Sigrun's tale "Incest, land-warping magic and twisted, monstrous children.... Sounds like an accursed place to me. We shall see..." Leofric: Leofric nodded in agreement on this, "Yes, it is." sd: they set out from Phalen and headed north. The first leg of their journey was entirely uneventful as they made their way towards Bluebrycg. There were always many travellers between the two largest cities in Palania, and the party banded together with them for company and protection. Across the river, here and there, they saw signs of goblin or orc activity, but none troubled them and they arrived near to Bluebrycg without incident on 11 August 227. On the day that they reached the city, the weather began to turn, and there was a brief, heavy shower near mid-day that forced them to take shelter for a time before it turned to simple drizzle and they could continue. Idris: "Best not to go into Bluebrycg, after what happened last time," Edmund warned the others. "Not that I'd want to. A particularly unpleasant place run by unpleasant people as I recall." Hogar: "Can't disagree there. We'll find shelter in some village nearby" Leofric: Leofric glanced outside the shelter they found, seriously annoyed at the weather for a moment and among the small talk. He decided to update the group that the son of the Ealdorman of the local village of Hathenwell is also a sorcerer so it is something to keep in mind when they get to the ruins. sd: they instead elected to stay the night in Aldastoc, where they had previously purchased Apocrypha of the Ancients on their road to Stencumb. They stayed the night in the barn of a kindly farmer who allowed them to stay for no more than a few chores and some music from Edmund.
In the morning, they turned west and headed up through Ethelhelm's Gap. At mid-day on the first day of the journey, they caught up with a merchant caravan of about ten people, led by the peddler Ordlaf. He told them he was headed for the village of Anderfels on the boundary of Mollenmere and would be pleased to have the party's company. "I must say you're mad to go to Mollenmere, nothing there but flies and pestilence," he added. Idris: "And monsters so we've heard," Edmund said. sd: "And those. Though might be they're just the Mollenmere folk in disguise, they're not very friendly and they give you a poor price if they can get away with it," said Ordlaf.
The journey to Anderfels took another week, as they rode through the barren plains of Ethelhelm's Gap. As they neared the massive oaks and pines of the Great Forest, the land grew extremely sparsely populated, with only a few small farmsteads and the ruins of many a dead village or burnt farm. The weather was extremely erratic with many bouts of rain during the days of travel, though never enough to actually stop them.
They reached Anderfels on 19 August 227, and Ordlaf bid them farewell, as he was meeting with another peddler in two days for a joint trip to Durleaht in the east. "I'd recommend you leave your horses here," he advised them. "Don't bring them into the swamp unless you'd enjoy burying them." Idris: "Thank you for your advice," Edmund said as they parted company. Leofric: Leofric smiled for a second "It seems no one got anything good to say about this damned place!" Hogar: Hogar bid the merchant farewell "And let's not forget the medicine Dunstan so kindly provided when we are to eat."he said to the others sd: the advice of the townsfolk (at least those who didn't recommend turning back) was to head up the river towards Terinwick, then to hug the coast along to Skalcotte before continuing on to Hathenwell. This would minimise the amount of time spent travelling through the more backwoods parts of Mollenmere and ensure they were able to make their way through those parts where at least some people lived. However, they would first need to complete the river voyage. Idris: Edmund looked about for a suitable inn. sd: Ordlaf was able to show them where he was meeting with his friend, and paid for their night's stay to thank them for the company and helping to make sure his caravan's journey had been entirely peaceful.
The next day they set out from Anderfels and towards the swamp. Around mid-day, the land began to turn brackish, the air humid and damp, and the trees twisted and stunted. They were glad to have the river for a landmark, as there was only a simple path and that disappeared in places where the waters had risen previously and washed it away.
They trudged through the muck, pestered continuously by midges and other insects. After the first full day in the swamp, the weather broke, and they were soaked in a vicious torrential downpour that forced them to take shelter for the night. They broke camp and travelled a ways on the third day in Mollenmere, but it was no use as the powerful rain returned, soaking them through in instants. It became clear that they would have little choice but to find a good spot to hole up and take shelter until the rains passed. Idris: "It's as though the elements are acting for some malign force," Edmund said glaring at the rain. sd: Arianhod and Hogar forged ahead, taking Edmund and Leofric's gear so the weaker members of the party could keep up with them. Using Leofric and Edmund's knowledge of the lay of the land they were able to find a reasonable patch of mossy earth in amongst the stagnant pools, and Arianhod and Hogar cut down some trees and erected a shelter so they could build a fire and keep it hidden from view and sheltered from the wind and rain.
The downpour continued with almost no stopping for days. Even in those rare occasions when the rain briefly passed, the dark clouds overhead gave notice that this was only a temporary lull to be resumed imminently. They survived on rations taken from Anderfels supplemented with the occasional fish or small animal they were able to trap, though, like themselves, most of these had gone underground to avoid the elements. The pouring rain, at least, provided them with a way to avoid drinking from the murky waters, as they could catch the rain in a cookpot. Between the constant rain and the damp, sticky air and the heat, it was a thoroughly miserable experience. At night the Star was completely hidden by the trees and clouds, and they tossed uneasily and uncomfortably in their bedrolls with none but each other and the flies for company. Idris: Unable to sleep, Edmund sat quietly playing soothing music on his flute. Hogar: Hogar watched the sky unhappily "Keep strong."he said to the others "This is for a very noble cause, remember...." Arian: Arianhod seemed to take the difficult weather in stride. She didn't even look like she was feeling uncomfortable. sd: Edmund's music was halting at first, but soon he hit his stride and the sound soared over the pouring rain and kept their spirits up. While their spirits were lifted, however, the continuous biting of insects and the damp environment began to take its toll... sd: although everyone felt the bile and illness welling up in their bodies, Edmund was hit the worst. His temperature soared and he was forced to rise continuously to expel greenish shit that seemed to flow no matter how little remained in his stomach. The rain, at least, washed away the stench, but it continued hard for another two days, heedless of the party's misery. Hogar: Hogar did his best to help Edmund with his sickness, tending to him and giving him some herbs and drugs which he had bought in Phalen while learning healing. This however was to no avail and the poor man did not show any improvement. You whisper to Arian: on the fifth day, at around mid-day when the rain had stopped for a while, Arianhod thought she heard a strange noise from the water. Looking out, she saw the shapes of several very large green lizards, slowly skulking towards the camp You whisper to Hogar: on the fifth day, at around mid-day when the rain had stopped for a while, Hogar thought he heard a strange noise from the water. Looking out, he saw the shapes of several very large green lizards, slowly skulking towards the camp Hogar: "Lizards!"Hogar shouted a warning to the others as he pointed at the water Arian: Arianhod glanced up and quickly readied her axe, just as Hogar shouted the warning, having noticed them as well. Idris: Edmund, returning from yet another trip into the bushes, groaned and tottered forward to drag his longbow from the tent. Hogar: Hogar surveyed the number of lizards quickly, obviously thinking odds were grim "Let's stay around Edmund to defend him!"he said to Leofric and Arianhod sd: the largest of the lizards gave a great bellow and it and its lounge began to lunge forwards, splashing quickly through the water. The lizards were all quite large, as big as a person, and the leader was nearly the size of a horse Hogar: "And try to kill the big one, they might relent!"Hogar added Leofric: Leofric reaches for his crossbow, already loaded and fired it at the largest lizard he could find and to his surprise, the bolt hits, and stayed in it. It does however seems to have little impact on the lizard of such size. Hogar: Hogar eyed the largest lizard - obviously the leader - and hurled his hatchet at it. The weapon spun quickly through the air and struck the beast squarely in the head, biting deep and drawing forth a thick flow of blood. Idris: With a grunt of effort Edmund knocked an arrow to his bow, muttering as he did so. Leofric: Leofric dropped his crossbow and drew his fine longsword out of the sleathe, moving toward to the enemy. Hogar: Walking backwards towards Edmund, still glancing at the biggest lizard, Hogar drew his battle axe Idris: Pushing himself upright Edmund fired the arrow straight at the large beast. As it flew, the arrow burst into flames, and when it hit the monster square in the leg, Edmund gave a slight smile despite himself. Hogar: Hogar struck the lizard between him and Leo in the head, the axe-edge cutting through the thick scales and sending the creature into unconsciousness Arian: Arianhod slashed her axe into one of the lizards' head, but wasn't quite enough to take it down. Leofric: Leofric raised his shield, protecting his head, left arm and top part of his body sd: the lizards rushed in, advancing into melee range with the party, save for the largest one whose path was obstructed by its fellows and one of the party's tents Arian: Correction: Taking it down. sd: the huge lizard, blood pouring down its face from Hogar's hatchet, gave an angry bellow and smashed the tent flat, preventing it from obstructing its path Leofric: Leofric focused on one of the Lizard, lancing out with his longsword and managed to wound it slightly. sd: the lizards pushed forward and struck out with sharp claws slick with mud and muck. Hogar deflected two attacks on his shield, while the two on Arianhod missed her entirely Hogar: Keeping his shield in front of him, Hogar lashed out at one of the lizards, wounding it in the head Arian: Arianhod's swing carried through into the next lizard, delivering a similar blow to it, and likewise knocking it down. Idris: Despite his sickness, Edmund fired another flaming arrow into the massive lizard, wounding it in the leg. sd: the huge lizard moved up atop the smashed tent and clawed at Leofric, but the scribe turned the blow with his shield Leofric: Leofric realaiated with a stab in a tail. Leofric: EDIT: Leofric made an attack on small lizard he was focusing on rather than massive lizard sd: the lizards continued their attack. Hogar was pressed hard, taking a claw to the abdomen and the leg, while Arianhod blocked one away with the haft of her axe Arian: Arianhod reversed her swing, slashing into the third lizard's head and sending it down too. sd: Edmund nocked another fiery arrow
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Post by sleepingdragon on Dec 14, 2013 15:55:02 GMT
sd: the huge lizard flashed a claw down at Leofric, but with a burst of strength the scribe brought his shield up and deflected the blow away sd: the other lizards continued to press their attack, forcing Hogar to deflect two blows on his shield, while another slipped in under Leofric's guard and came in too close for the scribe to use his sword effectively Idris: Edmund groaned as he saw the lizards draw blood from his companions. With a great effort he fired another fiery arrow at the largest, then smiled grimly as it toppled over, the arrow fixed in its now useless leg. sd: the huge, wounded lizard tried to haul itself away from Leofric, but its huge leg buckled under it and its body caught on the tent it had smashed flat Leofric: Leofric attempted to disengage from the lizard, his nose wrinkled at the smell but the lizard was proving to be too stubbon sd: Leofric deflected a blow from the smaller lizard pressing him, while Hogar took one wound to the leg while turning a second attack, a nasty bite directed at his face Edivad: Hard-pressed, Hogar bruised the lizard closest to him in the leg with the haft of his axe and manouvered so he was in a better position sd: the lizards continued to press Leofric and Hogar, biting and clawing their legs and drawing blood from each Edivad: Bloodied and battered, Hogar finally lashed out with a strong chop to the snout of one of the lizards, cleaving through its skull and killing it Arian: Arianhod moved forward, thowing her handaxe at the lizard that broke off from Leofric. The axe struck the lizard in the head. Idris: Hands steady now, filled with confidence, Edmund fired again at the massive lizard. The arrow struck home on another of its legs and it fell helpless. Arian: Arianhod moved forward, slashing at the lizard still engaged with Hogar. Leofric: Leofric dropped his longsword and start muttering a spell but alas, it failed to perform Edivad: Hogar hit the last remaining lizard in the head - the beast collapsed into unconsciousness sd: the lizard that had engaged with Leofric fled quickly, and the party were left alone again. Having survived the lizard attack, they still had to wait several days before they could set out, owing to Edmund's illness. They eventually were able to continue on, on 29 August 227, having been forced to remain in camp for eight days. Idris: "I can't wait to leave this horrible place," Edmund said on the last day. Leofric: Leofric nodded with pure agreement at Edmund Edivad: Hogar couldn't help but agree with the others "Not as bad as the Fields but still..." Arian: "It wasn't so bad." Arianhod commented quietly in response to the others' comments. Then again, she hadn't been wounded in the fight with the lizards, or gotten ill. sd: the party packed up and continued on towards the village of Terinwick, on the shores of the Mere. At first, their travel was slow as they continued up the river. Arianhod led the way, relying on her forester's instincts. As they reached near to where the three branches of the river joined, Arianhod was able to find a few good spots to swim across the river, leading the way and bringing a rope so the others could haul their way across. In this way, they saved at least a few days of searching for fords, and were able to continue on towards Terinwick with no further incident.
On 6 September 227, they finally reached the shore of the Mere. Almost all of the folk of Mollenmere lived near the lake, as it was by far the best , cleanest source of water in the region and one of the only areas that would support agriculture without extensive drainage. The village of Terinwick was surrounded by a short wooden wall, and its difference from the settlements elsewhere in Palania was immediately apparent. There were very few buildings, for the Sons of Arth lived in extended clan groups, with up to forty or fifty people sharing a huge hall with its adjoining barns and outbuildings. Every compound was covered in runes and symbols of the clan that lived there, detailing their history, deeds and ancestry from King Arth Seven-Sisters. The Sons of Arth themselves were a short people, but possessing wiry strength. Their complexion was dark, and they wore ceremonial jewellery made from the bones of their ancestors to give them some of their strength. At the gate of Terinwick they were each made to pay an entry tax of five silvers each, and found the guards to be suspicious and unfriendly. The guards wore lighter armour than those elsewhere in Palania, for there was little metal in the swamp, and they favoured the spear and bow as opposed to the sword or axe. sd: they were able to find what approximated to an inn in Mollenmere, a large common hall watched over by representatives of all the clans. They were happy to put the party up for ten silvers each for the night, but warned them to be respectful to their traditions. They shared a meal with about a score of the Terinwick folk, who began with a communal ceremony to their common ancestors, each pouring out small libation of wine and of Mere water. It was made clear to the party that they were expected to participate, regardless of what their beliefs were. As they waited, they spoke to some of the people, who they found somewhat stand-offish, though through talking about where they were heading Leofric got one to open up a little and mention that matters in Hathenwell were tense. He had heard that the Ealdorman's son had recently been killed, and then a group of refugees fleeing from Krygarland had set up camp near to Hathenwell, causing further problems. Idris: Edmund asked some questions about their beliefs, and whether they would approve of him playing music after the meal. Leofric: Leofric frowned slightly at the news that son had been recently been killed and group of refugees fleeing from Krygarland, maybe there is a connection. "Interesting. Might be worth stopping by the group of refugees as well to get the news from Krygarland." He mentioned to other quietly. Leofric: others* sd: the Terinwick folk were happy to hear Edmund play, as they had few opportunities to hear music from the outside. The people of Terinwick were the descendants of Arth and his fifth sister, Waer. They believed themselves to be the most blessed of the Sons of Arth - they had fewer problems with wildlife than any other village, and rarely birthed Vile Children to come back to trouble them. So long as they continued to propitiate their ancestors and the spirit of the swamp they felt sure their blessings would continues. The people of Mollenmere did not burn their dead as Virians did, but rather buried them beneath the floor of their homes, and would sometimes disinter the remains for particular feast days. Once a generation had passed the older remains would be moved to the cellars beneath their compounds, and the remains of the most recent deceased generation would take up the place of honour instead. The leader of each clan possessed absolute power, both temporal and sacral, though in practise most spiritual events were led by elders of the clan, who had more time and were considered nearer to the spirits as they were closer to death themselves. sd: Edmund's performance did not go particularly well, and though they allowed him to play a few songs he was soon replaced by a local musician, and people began to filter out to their own clan halls Edivad: Hogar said nothing through all of this, though he did not seem very pleased with the local funeral practice. Still, the people seemed hospitale enough all things considered. Edivad: edit: hospitable Leofric: Leofric nodded respectfully. sd: the next morning, the party set out again, hugging the coast. The travelling was easier here as the land was flat and there were fewer insects, though the ground was very muddy and they spent many hours squelching through the muck. With the heavy rain of the previous week there had been small flooding in a few areas, and they were occasionally forced to go inland and seek a route, but though it was not very pleasant travelling it was not particularly difficult. The lands were sparsely populated - the Vile Children of the area had once banded together to occupy much of the eastern bank of the lake, and though they had long since been dispersed the Sons of Arth remained concentrated more heavily on the western bank, in the larger settlements of Arthingas and Fellney.
After another five days, they arrived in the village of Skalcotte on 12 September 227. It was smaller than Terinwick, and its people more heavily armed and suspicious - there were many bandits and monsters who had occupied small islets in the lake or areas in the swamp along the road that ran through from Hathenwell and along towards Durleaht and Norbrycg to the east. sd: having obtained no information of use from Skalcotte, they set out for the final leg of the journey to Hathenwell, which took another day and a half. The village was located at a natural ford across the lower reaches of the Herewald, and was the only settlement of size in Mollenmere that wasn't built on the lake. those traders who went overland from or to Krygarland, Upriver, or Suthfryd often came this way, and the village gained much of its wealth from this trade, however as the party approached they found the gate was closed and rows of sharpened stakes had been driven into the ground along the path. Guardsmen in leather armour and armed with bows lined the walls.
"Turn back!" one of them shouted as the party approached. "Hathenwell is under quarantine and we will not allow foreigners into the village until the threat has passed, under pain of death. I would suggest you go around, or if your business is here then leave it and go back to your own land." Edivad: Hogar looked slightly taken aback and spoke to the others "Perhaps we could try to convince them we mean no harm? Or at least inquire on this threat..." Leofric: Leofric looked worried at this, "Indeed, it could be some plague or worse. Better to understand the threats." Idris: "Would you tell us what has happened?" Edmund asked the guard. sd: "The foreigners in their camp about a mile yonder," he pointed along the river, "came begging our aid, saying they have been driven from their homes by the dragonspawn. They have occupied some of our land without our permission and some of the men we sent out to drive them off fell ill with a pox breaking out all over their bodies. We were forced to kill some of our own kin to stop the plague from spreading." Idris: Edmund gave Leo a look at this. "So you have kept this sickness out of Hathenwell?" sd: "Well we have now that those infected are dead, but we will not risk any further contact. Whether from the north or south or across the water, foreigners have brought us nothing but woe for some time and we will not have you in Hathenwell." Edivad: Hogar frowned "Doubt we'd be able to convince them we're not infected."he said to Edmund Idris: "We needed to know more about the ruins. How will we get in to ask?" Edmund muttered. "Maybe we should take a look at those seeking refuge and failing to find it." Edivad: "Of course, if we go there now that might make entering harder - they would be certain we are ill too!" Leofric: Leofric nodded, "Hogar does make a fair point. But it seems that they have other problems from other foreigners from the sound of it. Might be worth asking about them as well?" He told others curiously. Idris: Edmund spoke earnestly to the guard. "We are healthy, with no sickness. We also may be able to help you, as we have faced many dangers successfully and are knowledgeable about many things. Would you consider letting us in?" sd: "I'm sorry, but it's not my place to overrule the Ealdorman's orders," the guardsman sounded apologetic. "What is your business in Hathenwell? Perhaps we can find some way." Leofric: Leofric nodded politely, "That is understandable. We do have business in Hathenwell. We are looking for useful information." sd: another of the guardsmen spoke up. "The Ealdorman has allowed that our clans are permitted to allow visitors if we find them useful, so long as we ensure they remain on our compounds and take responsibility for their health and their actions. I cannot decide this for my clan, but I will seek out my cousin Baylor who is able to speak for us, if you'll wait for a while." Idris: Edmund nodded agreement. "What information can we give this Baylor, when he arrives?" he asked the others when they were out of earshot. sd: after about forty-five minutes, the guardsman returned with Baylor of the Stendling clan, a broad-shouldered man perhaps in his forties with a bone amulet around his neck. "You want to enter Hathenwell then? This would disrupt our clan's relations with the Ealdorman, though perhaps if you would make a donative towards the glory of our ancestors this would be worth the problem." Edivad: Hogar frowned for a moment though he seemed overall pleased with the news "What kind of donative?"he asked sd: Baylor steepled his fingers, looking down at the party, particularly Arianhod in her full mail shirt. "4000 silvers," he said after a while. "A large sum, but you understand that we will be responsible for your actions while you are in Hathenwell. If you bring disease into the village, our clan will be required to pay damages or the Ealdorman may even have us slain if it's needed to protect the village." Edivad: Hogar eyes widened at the request of such a large 'donative' but he said nothing, letting Edmund handle the negotations Edivad: edit:negotiations Idris: "I'm afraid we don't carry anywhere near such a sum, we are simple folk who travel around trying to be of service to others," Edmund replied without a flicker of a reaction. sd: "What sort of services do you perform for others? You seem to be warlike folk, is that so?" Idris: "Not warlike, but since coming to Palania we have learned the hard way that this is a dangerous land with many monsters and evil-doers," Edmund said, with a glance around his companions. "We have learned also that monsters and evil-doers can be defeated, and decent folk aided in living their lives." sd: "Since coming here? So you are some of the heathens who have come from across the sea? The last such in Hathenwell slew the Ealdorman's son Eadig, he would be most wroth if you were admitted within the walls." Baylor shrugged. "But then Eadig killed my brother, so his demise is no great concern of mine. I would if at all possible recover my brother's bones, as well as his blade and ring, but they are well beyond my reach with the quarantine and in a dangerous place besides. If you are able to defeat monsters then perhaps you could succeed." Idris: Edmund frowned. "We do not kill for our beliefs in the way some do. Would you tell us more of where your brother lies and what the dangers are surrounding the recovery of his bones?" sd: "The Ealdorman's son was meddling with a certain ruin that some travellers found in the spring. Beathric went to confront him there and was slain, later Eadig himself perished there at the hands of your countrymen. Some of the Vile Children are now within the ruins, seeking some power only the ancestors know. Among them is a spirit that has walked these lands since the days of my grandfather, a terrible hag and sorcerer. Mother Tender, she names herself." Idris: "If you tell us all you know about these ruins, we will attempt to rescue your brother's bones." Edmund said, confidently.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Dec 21, 2013 15:19:41 GMT
sd: "If you tell us all you know about these ruins, we will attempt to rescue your brother's bones." Edmund said, confidently.
"They were found in the spring, as I said," replied Baylor. "A group of hunters that were travelling with a caravan chased an animal and one of them fell through the floor into these ruins, they seem to have once been some manner of fortress. They began to loot, but they were set upon. I am not entirely certain what it was that attacked them - spirits of darkness, they said, though I do not know the truth of this. When the news began to spread, Eadig and his band of sorcerers went to occupy the ruin and drive out the spirits. They seemed to believe there was some source of magic there the Ancients had left behind, though they were not clear on what this was. As Eadig was rash and born of outsider's blood my brother feared he might loose the spirits on us, Beathric and his men set out to drive Eadig away but instead the bastard slew him. This was in midsummer. A few weeks later, a group of...Virians..." Baylor had to pause to remember the term, "came through on their way to Krygarland. Their leader, Ser Hengest, was driven out of Hathenwell as he would not partake of our rituals. He and his men set out to the ruin that they had heard of, and killed Eadig and his men while they were out by the river. These Virians continued on, and later the Vile Children entered the ruins instead. It would have been better for the Ealdorman to secure the area, as he wished to do after his son was slain, but that was when these Krygarlanders arrived and began to spread their plagues." Idris: "So the ruins were hidden untill the spring?" Edmund asked. "Did none know of them before that? Were there no stories about something in the area?" sd: "There have always been tales of ruins of the Ancients in this region, but I'm not aware of any for this place. That was why Eadig was interested in the area - those we knew of were almost all already looted, but these seemed to have been untouched. He and the Ealdorman believed this meant there was powerful magic there." Idris: "If you are afraid of outsiders loosing the spirits why are you trusting us to go there?" Edmund asked. sd: "I said my brother feared the spirits being loosed, not that I did. I sought to dissuade him and he didn't listen to me." Baylor grimaced. "At any rate, if the spirits are to be loosed now it is the Vile Children who will do it, and they surely mean us harm. At least you are human." Hogar: "So do you know of anything we should beware of in particular, other than the Children and this..'Mother Tender'?"asked Hogar looking somewhat concerned Idris: Edmund smiled. "Some might not agree. But we will respect what deserves respect, and deal with evil as it should be dealt with." Idris: "Sadly there are ever those for whom being human isn't enough." sd: Baylor grunted. "So long as you recover my brother's belongings and if at all possible his bones, I care little about anything else. The Vile ones always have been with us and are likely to always be. If I may ask, what business brings you here? You are clearly not traders, and if you were bound for Krygarland like Ser Hengest you would not be interested in entering Hathenwell." sd: Baylor grunted. "So long as you recover my brother's belongings and if at all possible his bones, I care little about anything else. The Vile ones always have been with us and are likely to always be. If I may ask, what business brings you here? You are clearly not traders, and if you were bound for Krygarland like Ser Hengest you would not be interested in entering Hathenwell." Edmund: "We are travelling to areas of interest, seeking out stories of the ancient ones," Edmund replied. "This is a land filled with legends, and ruins too." sd: "We have a long history. Now, it will take me a few hours to gather my brother's things so I can have a map made for you showing where the ruin is, I should have it ready for you by sundown." Edmund: "Very well, we will make camp and rest," Edmund replied with a nod. sd: "That is probably best. I would keep an eye out, the Krygarlanders have hunters out and they are likely to be diseased, though they would be bold to come this near the walls." Leofric: Leofric nodded at the mention of the Krygarlanders and settled down at whatever safe site may. "We need something to pass the time. Let have a game of cards!" Edmund: Edmund smiled and produced a deck of cards from his pack. "Why not!" Hogar: "Sure."said Hogar "Though I expect you two to be much better players..." Leofric: Leofric smiled slightly, "Never know when playing these cards might come in useful!" Edmund: Edmund shuffled and dealt out the cards for a game of 'Stick or bust'. sd: despite Hogar's fears, he won the majority of the games, save for a few Edmund took instead. As Baylor had promised, he returned to the walls near sundown and lowered down a sack which contained a small piece of paper containing the Stendling family rune, which would help them identify Beathric's sword and ring, as well as a map, showing that the ruin was on the western side of the river, about five or six leagues to the north. Beathric's notes stated that there were a number of large rocks on which there was Alanian writing near the entrance to the ruins, and that the hole down into the ruins was in the shade of a massive white tree. Leofric: Leofric thanked Baylor for helpful informations Edmund: "It's too far to arrive before nightfall," Edmund said. "We can get part of the way but will have to camp." Leofric: Leofric agreed with Edmund, "And hopefully these Alanian writings will tell us more about the ruin." Hogar: "Hopefully."said Hogar "I'm more concerned about what will be inside..." sd: the party set out, heading for the river so they could seek a ford - the only one this low was through Hathenwell itself, and they could not go through the village. After a short time, they noticed camp fires in amongst the trees ahead. In the darkness, they could faintly discern a crude wooden pallisade encircling a moderately sized encampment. Even from this distance, they could not miss the scents of blood, vomit and shit in the wind. Leofric: Leofric frowned with distaste of the smell, "Maybe the refugees?" He whispered to others Edmund: "We can't camp near here," Edmund muttered to the others. "If only there was something we could do for them." Hogar: "I'm not much of a healer sadly, try as I may."said Hogar "So I doubt I could help them through that" Edmund: "If it is caused by contact with the defiled, it may be beyond the skill of an ordinary healer," Edmund said, looking sadly at the lights. Leofric: "Or it could be from Krygarland." He wondered about that, "Either way, hopefully we do not need to risk it" sd: the party chose to take a wide route round the camp and then continue on their way You whisper to Hogar: as the party swung round the camp to the east, Hogar noticed a figure up in a tree about a hundred feet from the party, holding a bow. He wore dirty leathers and had an arrow in his hand, but he did not nock it as he watched the party go by. The man was short, thin, and wore an amulet graven with the symbol of a bull round his neck. His hair was red and slick with sweat and grease. Hogar: "There's an archer hidden in one of the trees."Hogar muttered to the others Edmund: "Do you think they've spotted us?" whispered Edmund, staring hard to see where the archer was. sd: Arianhod had noticed the man as well, and indicated him with an imperceptible nod of his head. The man was about a hundred feet away up in one of the trees. He held a bow and had an arrow in hand, but it was not nocked to his string. He was a short man in dirty leathers, thin, with dirty, greasy red hair, and an amulet graven with the symbol of a bull around his neck. sd: *her head Edmund: "He's from the camp I think - that's the symbol of the main Krygerlander god." Edmund said, once he could see the man. "He doesn't look sick though." Leofric: Leofric whispered back, "Might be worth asking him about what happened?" Edmund: "It might but how do we get his attention peacefully?" Edmund mused. Leofric: "Like last time. Play some music quietly?" Leofric grinned Edmund: "Hmm, this man is presumably guarding his sick - or worse - people from attack by monsters or men trying to drive them away. He might be hard to reach." Edmund said, watching the man, but he opened his pack and pulled out the flute as he was speaking. sd: as Edmund played, the man climbed down out of the tree and advanced slowly towards them, keeping his bow out though he put his arrow back in his quiver. "You don't look like you're from Mollenmere," he said. "Can you help us? We're very low on food and my wife is sick." Edmund: "Are you from Krygerland?" Edmund asked, putting his flute away. sd: "Well we were, gods know whether there'll ever be anything there to return to." Edmund: "We are not skilled healers," Edmund said. "But we will do what we can." He looked around at the others. Hogar: Hogar nodded thoughtfully "We will do our best, we promise." Leofric: Leofric nodded with sense of grim. Edmund: "Can you tell us what happened to your people as we go?" sd: "Well then you're more helpful than those bastards then. I'm Bulawine," the man introduced himself. "Well, those of us here in our camp are from a number of villages in the east of Krygarland, up in the hills. Dragonspawn hit us first of all, fighting's been heaviest there and we lost. My village was burnt, I had to...well it's no matter. Caronar gathered us together and led us south away from the dragonspawn, but many of us were sick - infected wounds or bad food at first, and being in this swamp didn't help none. Those fuckers in Hathenwell wouldn't help us at all, closed their gates and told us to go. And how could we go? Half of us can barely move, it would be the death of them." Edmund: "No aid was sent to your villages?" sd: "Some, but not enough. Dragonspawn came in their hundreds, and they kept swelling. Normally we might have used hit and run attacks, but those are no good against those that just raise their dead back up again." Leofric: Leofric sighed with a hint of frustration, "Damn the Dragonspawn" He muttered. Hogar: "These are dark times."said Hogar "But we have fought dragonspawn before and they can be killed, so there might be hope someday..." Edmund: "This swamp is bad for sickness," Edmund said with a grimace. "If we can help get you moving you need to find a healthier place." sd: "Isn't much good for those as are already dead. I'll lead you to Caronar," said Bulawine.
As they were not far from the camp, it took them only a short while to arrive. The Krygarlanders had built a crude pallisade around their camp, and outside there was a huge pile of debris which included numerous bones and rotting bodies.
There was somewhere in the area of a hundred people in the camp, many of whom showed clear signs of serious illness. The most common illness was a hideous red rash that covered large sections of the victim's body. Some had rashes that covered only a bit of the face, arms, or legs, while some were almost entirely covered - the latter clearly being more ill and near indeed to death.
There were warriors with bows or spears and leather armour around the camp, but few were in good shape and their gear was of poor quality and badly maintained. The largest number were gathered round the large fire in the centre of the camp, where Bulawine led them. The leader of the Krygarlanders was Caronar, a man in his late thirties, with a pinched, weary face covered with scars. Hogar: Hogar looked at the sad state of the camp and its inhabitants but said nothing, likely expecting Edmund to speak instead Leofric: Leofric glanced at the diseased people carefully and thoughtfully. Edmund: Edmund introduced himself and his companions to Caronar. He looked around at the number of suffering people. "We are not professional healers but have come to try to assist. Can you tell us anything about how this sickness with the rash first occured?" sd: Caronar nodded. "It was the creatures that attacked us on the way. Vile Children the locals name them. Horrible things, they look like people but these ones had a certain...well a fish-like quality to them. Scales and webbed hands, it was more obvious in some than in others. Many of us were already sick or wounded so it was hard to fight them off - though they seemed happy to kill a few and carry off the bodies..." Caronar shook his head. "They've attacked several times since, every time we fight them more of us end up with this rash. Of course it seems to spread as well, though not as rapidly as if you were actually near to one of the creatures." Edmund: Edmund nodded. "Yes we have heard that contact with the Vile Children can cause infection." Hogar: Hogar thought for a while about the issue, frowning "I...think I may have heard about this illness, actually. The Red Plague...some say killing the monsters might heal the infection, but I'm not so sure about that." sd: "Will you help us? We have little food and money. They won't allow us in Hathenwell but there are other settlements in Mollenmere and we've sent out parties to trade with them," Caronar looked at Hogar. "Well we've little chance of that. We think there might be perhaps twenty of these creatures, which we might be able to defeat normally but now..." he spread his hands. Hogar: Hogar looked at the others "Even if it did not help with the disease, these...things...need to be killed" sd: "They are camped in a ruin of some sort, some of our men have tracked them to nearby but it would mean death to actually go in." Leofric: Leofric nodded and replied, "Just want to sense something." He starts focusing on something else. He made some gestures. You whisper to Leofric: as Leofric intoned his spell, his mouth was assailed with a taste like rotting meat and sweat. He could sense that it emanated from those that had fallen ill, but only those with the rash - the others had only mundane diseases. As he looked over the sick the taste grew sharper or fainter - he suspected that those who had been directly infected by the Vile Children had a more virulent strain of the illness and were more likely to perish, though these were fewer in number than those who had caught it from their fellow refugees. Leofric: Leofric agreed with Hogar, "They are the Red Plague and the ones with rash are indeed magical." He looked glum on that aspect, "It seems that the best way to avoid these diseases with these vile creatures are to shoot them from distance or avoiding close contact with one of those infected." He looked even more grim. "But then, my friend could be right that killing these monsters may help. And if not, well, they cannot be left alive " He nodded with agreement on this topic with Hogar. sd: "We have some fighters here, though we can't spare many. The Ealdorman of Hathenwell has kept a watch on us, his men already attempted to drive us out once. They would probably not want to risk hand to hand combat, but if our fighters all went away they might instead try fire. I would not expect strangers to risk their lives for us, but any help you can give would be a blessing." Hogar: "We'll go there, we have business of our own in these ruins so don't be too thankful really."said Hogar "We might be able to spare some silver too so you can eventually trade for food, but I doubt we can spare own our supplies as we're travellers..."he added Hogar: edit: our own Leofric: Leofric nodded and dug into his purse and took out enough coins equal to 200 silvers out. "I hope you will find these silvers. Hopefully, you can use them to purchase more foods." Hogar: Hogar added some coins of his own to Leofric's and Edmund's generosity Edmund: Edmund matched Leofric's gift. "But if towns won't sell... we had to hunt for food ourselves on the way when we were stopped by a storm." sd: "We've been hunting for our food for some time, but there are fewer and fewer of us well enough and our supplies are dwindling. I have already sent some men to Sternehalh, I can send another group to Skalcotte in the morning. Do you know the way to the ruin, or did you want a guide?" Edmund: "We know the way, but thank you for the offer," Edmund said. sd: "As you wish. I would offer you our hospitality, but with so many ill that might not be considered a truly welcome gift," said Caronar. "Hrolkir go with you, friends." Leofric: Leofric nodded with salutation and thanked Caronar for his help and wish him and his group best wishes. Edmund: "God's blessing on you," Edmund replied. Hogar: Hogar said nothing as they departed You whisper to Edmund: as the party turned and headed out of the camp, Edmund felt a presence close to him and noticed a dirty young boy of perhaps fifteen, hidden near to a pile of logs. He had a very small knife in his hand which he was slowly reaching out towards Edmund's purse. Edmund: Edmund turned suddenly and stared at a young lad behind him. sd: the young man was perhaps fifteen, and had been hidden near to a pile of logs. As Edmund looked at him the boy snatched his hand back and, with a guilty look on his face, turned to run. Edmund whispers: "I know those tricks," Edmund said quietly. "I come from the city and life can be hard." Edmund: Edmund said something quietly to the boy, then flicked a coin to him. sd: realising Edmund was not going to chase him, the boy turned and with great agility snatched the coin out of the air. "Thank you," he said quietly, then moved away quickly. Hogar: Hogar frowned "What was that?"he asked Edmund "Trying to get some silver for himself?" Edmund: Edmund smiled and nodded. "Not sneaky enough to get the lot." Leofric: Leofric looked slightly ataken back by Edmund's sudden action. After seeing Edmund flicked a coin to boy, he smiled slightly although annoyed at this presence of a pickpocket." Leofric: He however checked HIS purse carefullyu Leofric: and nodded when he made account for all the coins Edmund: "That boy is fast, he will do well... though as what is another matter," Edmund said, with a faraway look for a second as though he were lost in the past. sd: the party headed out of the Krygarlander camp and continued on along the river. After traversing perhaps half the distance to the ruin, it grew too dark for them to continue, so they made camp, keeping only a low-burning fire in case anyone or anything might be watching them.
In the morning they continued on. As they went north, the trees grew thicker and the ground a bit drier. Though still a swamp, it was not nearly as unpleasant as it had been, and the insects were fewer in number. They were forced inland for a time, as the trees were heavy near the river and there were a number of deep pools that forced them to take certain narrower paths through the swamp. You whisper to Hogar: Hogar felt his hands itching. As they were forced to bunch together and pass through specific paths, Hogar realised this was ideal terrain for an ambush. Hogar: "This would be a perfect place to set up an ambush."whispered Hogar to the others "Hopefully the Vile Children didn't realize that too." Leofric: Leofric prepared himself with a shield, his eyes looked out with weary look Edmund: "If they are not preparing an ambush, perhaps we should," Edmund said. "Could we draw them out here?" Hogar: "Hopefully. That might make up for our lower numbers...Perhaps one of us could be spotted by them and then be chased back here?" Edmund: "It would allow us to keep a distance, at least at first. Could we use fire on them in some way?" sd: the party continued on a short distance, and Arianhod gestured for them to stay low as she looked ahead. The party could see that in amongst the trees ahead of them, there were two groups of four figures, on either side of the mossy path, with weapons at the ready - spears, hatchets, or clubs, for the most part. As Caronar had described, they had vaguely fish-like appearances, though with some it was more obvious - the two largest of the creatures had enormous heads and were covered in scales. The party could not tell if they had seen them yet, though they were obviously waiting for something Hogar: Hogar looked at the figures with disgust Edmund: Edmund gestured that they should return to the ambush site Leofric: Leofric retreated carefully Edmund: "What's the plan?" Edmund asked Hogar. Hogar: "Well, someone walks over there, acting as if they did not notice them, and then flees all the way to here...Perhaps there is some other way to draw them here, though?" Edmund: "I can throw my voice, as you know," Edmund said. "That might work without putting anyone at extra risk." Leofric: "Not a good idea." Leofric buffed the spell idea, "They are well known of having spellcasting so casting spell might only encourage them to start casting spells to improve themsleves instead." He whispered Edmund: Edmund nodded. "Then it's back to the bait plan." Leofric: Leofric smiled slightly, "I am happy to walk over there and flee here!" Edmund: Edmund grasped Leo's shoulder . "Take care." Leofric: Leofric thanked Edmund and went on. sd: Leofric sauntered out casually towards where the Vile Children were waiting. As he drew near, he saw some of the nearer creatures raising their hatchets, ready to throw, so he suddenly turned and sprinted back in the direction he had come from. With screams of surprise and confusion, the Vile Children leapt out of their hiding places and rushed after him.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Dec 22, 2013 15:25:20 GMT
sd: one of the huge Vile Children began to advance out of the woods, flinging a javelin at Leofric as he turned to flee. The missile pierced the scribe's leg, sticking into the wound and hobbling him Leofric: Leofric swore as he glanced down at his wounds. Edivad: Hogar grimaced as he saw the accursed monsters impale Leofric's leg, but he stood still and held his axe, ready to strike when the moment came sd: another of the creatures attempted, but fortunately failed, to cast a spell, while a third flung a crude hatchet at Leofric and cut his right leg Leofric: Leofric, in spite of an nasty bleeding leg and an impaled one to boot, managed to keep running. sd: the creatures rushed after him - as they emerged from the woods, Leofric saw they were slightly faster than he was. The Child who had wounded Leofric with his javelin earlier intoned a spell, and the edge of the thing's longspear shone with magical energy. Edmund is disconnected. Edmund has connected. Leofric: It was clear that Leofric looked very tired and wincing with pain as he kept on running, hobbing down the path, closer to his friends sd: as they rushed after him, Leofric was hit with a spell that caused fatigue to wash over him, but he kept going and rushed past the spot where the others waited in ambush Leofric: Leofric managed to get around and leapt into dubious safety of the green plants but certain safety of the party. Edivad: Hogar hurled his razor-sharp hatchet at one of the bigger Vile Children standing behind the others. The weapon flew true and struck the creature in its grotesquely oversized head, from which thick blood began to sprout. Edmund: Edmund shot a fiery arrow at the foe that appeared most dangerous, but it sailed over the monster's head. Edmund: He muttered a prayer. sd: Arianhod flung her hatchet at the nearest of the creatures, striking it in the head and causing blood to pour down its face. Leofric: Leofric grunted as he settled down, "That is way too close" As he replied as if he was very tired/ sd: the creatures shouted with alarm as they fell under attack. The one that had tried to avoid Hogar's hatchet stood, bleeding but snarling at Hogar and pointing its longspear at him Leofric: and looked at his nasty wounds, wincing at the sight Edivad: "Stay safe, Leofric."Hogar said as he wielded his battle axe and eyed the monsters menacingly Edmund: "These vile things are far too close," Edmund spat as he loaded another arrow. sd: Arianhod reached out unceremoniously to Leofric, wrapped her hand around the shaft of the javelin, and pulled it out with a small spray of blood. Flinging it aside, she turned to the creatures with her greataxe at the ready. Leofric: Leofric smiled with faint relief. "Cheers!" sd: the nearest of the creatures rushed towards Arianhod and Hogar, while the others continued to speed forward Leofric: Leofric rushed into the trees, giving himself more distance between croaching vle childern and him Edivad: Hogar chopped mightily at the head of one of the Vile Children facing him, dealing it a grevious which sent it collapsing to the ground. sd: Arianhod swung her axe at the creature she had wounded earlier with her hatchet, hewing its head cleanly from its body in a spray of gore sd: the creatures in melee attacked with their shortspears, one whizzing past Hogar while Arianhod deflected another. The creatures moving to engage attempted to cast spells, dispelling Edmund's fiery arrow spell Leofric: Leofric frowned as he switched his weapon to crossbow by dropping both weapon and shield. Edivad: Hogar swung at another of the monstruosities, wounding it in the lower body and making it wince with pain sd: Arianhod swung her axe around in a brutal arc, hacking her hapless foe nearly in half. sd: the creature that Edmund had shot at stood with his arrow in its arm, while the other cast a spell upon itself, increasing its speed Leofric: Leofric fired a crossbow at the child he reckoned cast the spell on him. Instead it missed Leofric: which deeply dissapoint him Edivad: Hogar hacked at his foe's abdomen again, a mighty blow which knocked it unconscious sd: Arianhod moved up to stand by Hogar, awaiting the oncoming creatures Edmund: "Come on, come on," Edmund muttered, though whether to the vile children, his companions or himself wasn't clear. Leofric: Leofric backed away along with Edmund, wary about the disease sd: the largest of the creatures stabbed at Arianhod with its long spear, which she was able to block with the head of her axe Leofric: Leofric muttered to himself almost out of hand, "Must find a way to prevent spells...." Leofric: Leofric carefully dropped his crossbow and muttered a spell of protection once more. He nodded at Edmund, planning to do the same for Edmund. Edivad: Hogar eyed the larger Vile Child now facing him with hate and attacked, his weapon biting deep in its enormous head Edmund: Edmund fired at the wretched monstrosity that had cast a spell on Leofric. Although it hit the vile child in the head, it just seemed to keep going. sd: one of the creatures stabbed at Hogar, but missed widely Leofric: Leofric muttered a spell that will attempt to damage the one that casted Tire on him but he was clearly tired. Edivad: Hogar kept chopping at the monster's head, which was now a bloody mess. Still, the thing kept fighting on sd: ARianhod swung at the creature while Edmund reloaded behind her, but it deflected her blow. It stabbed out at Hogar, and for a moment it looked as if the spear would skewer him altogether, but it went just wide Edivad: As the monster was trying to hold him at bay with its longspear, Hogar chopped at it damaging it heavily and then slipped past, to a range more favourable to his axe sd: Arianhod swung her axe and slammed it heavily into the creature's oversized head. Despite the blood pumping from its wounds, it stayed alive, though the force of the blow knocked it to its knees before Hogar and Arianhod Edmund: Edmund fired at one of the fishlike monsters, but although his arrow struck home, it hardly seemed to notice. sd: the creature on the floor tried to grab at Arianhod's leg, but she slammed its hand away with the handle of her axe sd: Arianhod and Hogar were both targets of the creatures' spears, but both stabbed wide Leofric: Leofric kept on loading his crossbow Edivad: "Keep hitting it, it'll die eventually!"screamed Hogar as he buried his axe in the head of the thing now lying mostly helpless on the ground sd: Arianhod hit the thing again in the head with a vicious blow, but somehow it refused to die Edivad: Undeterred by the thing's resilience, Hogar persisted and finally managed to gruesomely split the Vile Child head in two, exposing its brain Edmund: Edmund fired again at the same creature, but an arrow in the arm hardly seemed to discomode it at all as it rushed into the melee. sd: Hogar and Arianhod deflected stabs from the creature's spears Leofric: Leofric finally finished reloaded the crossbow and fires at the bastard that enspelled him but it seems his anger is getting better of him as it wildly misses into the sky. Edivad: Relieved at having slain one of the most vicious foes, Hogar quickly spun around to chop at the other, weakened one. His blow drew even more blood from the hapless creature Edmund: Edmund peered into the shifting melee, trying to make out friend from foe, then fired at the brute who had enspelled Leo, causing blood to spurt from its leg. sd: Arianhod slashed at one of the creatures, damaging its midsection, then deflected a stab from another Edivad: Hogar swung his battle axe at the creature lower torso, but the creature kept fighting, obviously not caring much for the wound Edmund: Edmund fired again at the same creature, this time hitting its other leg but the wound was not severe. Leofric: Leofric stepped closer to Edmund sd: Hogar dodged a blow from the largest creature, then one of the other Children stabbed at him clumsily. Interposing his shield, he flicked gore from its dead compatriots up into the creatures face. Stumbling back in surprise, its spear was knocked back and thrust down heavily into its leg, deeply embedding itself and causing it to howl with agony Edivad: Again Hogar swung his weapon, and again the creature obviously felt the blow but continued fighting. sd: Arianhod struck one of the creatures a heavy blow to the head, driving it bleeding to the ground sd: the last of the larger creatures stabbed weakly at Hogar, while the other drew the spear out of its leg blindly Leofric: Leofric kept on reloading the crossbow Edivad: With a strong blow Hogar finished off the largest Vile Child, letting out a satisfied shout of victory as he did so sd: shortly afterwards, Arianhod put the last remaining creature down with a powerful blow Leofric: Leofric sighed with a relief, "I am glad this combat went well despite the javlien in the leg. Leofric: " Edivad: "Let me see that."said Hogar. He did his best to patch up Leofric's leg wound, and was able to improve it significantly sd: Leofric felt fairly sure the disease was limited to the creatures themselves, rather than their belongings, so Arianhod and Hogar piled the useful items into a pile and then burned the bodies. They continued on then towards the ruin, which they knew they were very close to. As Baylor had told them, they found large stones on which there was faded Alanian writing, and a large white tree. Over the centuries, undergrowth and moss had overgrown the stone, but in the shade of the tree there was a large hole which dropped down through what had been the ceiling and down about fifteen feet into darkness. sd: Leofric quickly read the writing. If he was expecting anything particuarly enlightening, he was to be disappointing - the writing consisted largely of boasting about the size of their members, recordings of how many savages such and such soldier had slain, and curses directed at any remaining barbarians. One soldier had left a particularly lengthy message, stating that his cock had burst dozens of barbarian women's barriers and was sure to do it again this time, whether the barrier was magical or no. Leofric: Leofric rolled his eyes after reading this Edivad: "Not quite what you expected, did you?"he asked Leofric Leofric: "Not, not excatly." Leofric was slightly disappointed aboutr that. Edmund: Edmund grinned. "Soldiers eh?"
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Post by sleepingdragon on Jan 3, 2014 17:52:06 GMT
sd: after reading the distinctly unenlightening Alanian messages, the party moved to the edge of the ruin, to a large hole which led about fifteen feet down into darkness. They could dimly discern a cracked stone floor littered with rubble and debris below them, but they could see little beyond this. Hogar: "There we are. "said Hogar looking at the hole omniously and then up to the others.."Think I'll be the first to climb down if you'll hand me the rope "he added Leofric: Leofric put himself forward for the task of holding a torch. Edmund: Edmund pulled a length of rope from his pack and handed it to Hogar. sd: Hogar was able to climb down, with Leofric holding the torch and shining it down the hole. Hogar found himself in what appeared to have been a corridor, though the way behind him was completely blocked off by collapsed walls. Around him, there still stood some stone walls, though they were badly damaged and worn with time. Here and there, he could see the ruins of archways which had led from room to room - the Forerunners here did not seem to have favoured doors of metal, wood, or stone, and instead, from the scraps of decayed animal skins he found around the archways, favoured hanging pelts from the archways to provide warmth and privacy. There were ruined archways into rooms on his right and left, and ahead of him the corridor continued for some ways, though there were other rooms to either side along the passage. Hogar: Hogar eyes darted back and forth between the archways and the corridor as he waited for the others to descend, meanwhile preparing his axe and shield Hogar: edit: Hogar's Edmund: Edmund came down swinging slightly. As soon as he touched the ground he swung his bow round, peering into the darkness. Leofric: Leofric holding the torch made his way down the rope very carefully, taking care of the flaming torch. Arian: Arianhod followed down, readying her axe once she was down. Hogar: "Which way?"asked Hogar "We could look into the archways first, perhaps." Leofric: Leofric took hold of the torch but also prepared himself for the fight by holding a torch with his right hand with his sheld already ready for protection Edmund: "Probably safer, we don't want something hiding in there and creeping after us," Edmund said, peering into the right hand archway. Leofric: Leofric nodded, "Aye. Better to check the area lest we get trapped." sd: down the right-hand archway was a vacant room, and it, in turn, led to another room, though this one was piled high with fallen stones and it would only be possible to enter at all with some effort. Edmund: Edmund returned to the others and shook his head. "Bit of a mess in there." Hogar: "Think we could these out of the way with some time."said Hogar Leofric: Leofric frowned as he glanced at the room blocked by falling rocks, "Might be worth an effort." Edmund: "We could come back to it later," Edmund said. sd: on closer inspection, while the rocks were indeed clearly from a tumbled wall behind them, they appeared just slightly too neat. Examining the room carefully from beyond the archway, Hogar realised a wire had been hidden amongst the wreckage, where it was likely to be tripped by the first person to enter the room, and would in all likelihood cause the mound of stones to cascade down over them. Edmund: "Well it seems there is something worth protecting there," Edmund said. Hogar: "Good thing you suggested not rushing there."Hogar thanked Edmund Edmund: Edmund struggled for a while to disarm the trap but it seemed to resist all his efforts and he came near to creating a rock slide. He backed off and stood glaring at the heap of stones. Hogar: "Could spring the trap from a distance perhaps. Though it would be noisy, in case you worry about that." Edmund: "Setting off the trap might effectively be setting off an alarm," Edmund replied thoughtfully. "An enemy within hearing will know we're here, though I suppose we could get them out of the way." Edmund: Edmund made another attempt but failed again. "Shall I try once more?" he asked the others. Leofric: Leofric shook his head with dismay, "Not at the moment. Doesn't seems your lucky day today.!" Edmund: Edmund shook his head sadly. Leofric: Leofric frowned for a moment, "Let see if I can sense anything around." He made some gestures with his hands. You whisper to Leofric: as the spell took effect, a number of flavours filled Leofric's mouth. One seemed to emanate from just around the corner on the right, ahead in the corridor and down low on the floor - a slight spicy taste, a little burn on the tongue, though whatever had cast the spell was strong for Leofric could not determine exactly what it did. But this was overwhelmed by two other sensations - one he thought must come from the floor below, which alternated hot and cold, and a third, which was still further below. This last was like the most potent wine, intoxicating, and with a spice and kick that overwhelmed the other flavours. This was clearly a source of some quite powerful magic, though Leofric could not tell exactly what it was. Leofric: Leofric nodded as he glanced around, paying attention to his peers. He pointed at the corridor, almost to the right. "There is a possible trap around the corner, I am not sure what it do but it might be burning. Meanwhile, there is a powerful magic a floor below, maybe Mother Tender? However, all pales beneath a source of powerful magic even further below!" Hogar: Hogar looked very worried by the mention of both the Mother Tender and a more powerful magic below, but he said nothing Leofric: Leofric frowned as he focused, clearly keeping the spell going. Edmund: "So shall we keep going forward or break through the stones?" Edmund said quietly. "I can check the trap around the corner." Leofric: Leofric nodded, "Might as well keep going. However, I am not entirely sure what is that spell is but take good care! It may not be a trap after all!" He cautioned Edmund softly. Hogar: Hogar shrugged "As long as we do something. I'm not sure it's a good thing to delay here." Edmund: "It might be a an alarm spell of some kind," Edmund peered forward, then took a small looking glass from his pack and carefully positioned it to see further around the corner. sd: Edmudn saw that around the corner, there was a short corridor ending in a staircase heading down. As Leofric looked into the mirror, he became certain that the spell he had detected was actually on the stairs themselves. sd: there was another short corridor near the stairs, though Edmund could not see the end of it from this vantage point Leofric: Leofric told Edmund softly that the spell is on the stairs themsleves. Edmund: "Do we want to go down the stairs first? Or check further up here?" Edmund whispered to the others. Leofric: Leofric told Edmund "A quick check in other rooms then go downstair!" Edmund: Edmund nodded and moved foreward cautiously, watching for traps. sd: beyond the staircase, there was a short corridor ending in a wall against which there was a stone stand. Upon the stand was a leather backpack around which were piled a number of coins, as well as a few bits of jewellery. There appeared to be more within the bag, though it was difficult to be sure. Hogar: "Wait. It could be a trap!" Arian is disconnected. sd: Hogar's suspicion was quickly proved correct - the bag appeared to hold down some manner of round pressure plate. As they examined further, they noticed a hole in the floor, and peering down that they saw a spear had been rigged up - plainly picking the bag up would cause the spear to stab up from below. Edmund: "Someone really doesn't want visitors!" Edmund muttered as he examined the trap. sd: Edmund managed to disarm the trap on a second attempt. Hogar: Hogar moved closer to Edmund, relieved that he was not hurt Leofric: Leofric smiled with relief and clapped Edmund on the shoulder Edmund: "Let's see what's in here," Edmund said with a grin. sd: Edmund hefted the bag, and was surprised by its weight until he opened it and saw the contents. Though there was indeed some coins and jewellery stuffed into the bag, the principal weight consisted of various bones - a few skulls, as well as various severed parts. Here and there bits of flesh clung to the bone, revealing their human origin. Edmund: Edmund grimaced, but he picked through the contents, looking for clues as to who the remains belonged to. Hogar: "Can't say I didn't expect that."Hogar frowned Leofric: "Well..." Leofric looked at the bag with hint of dislike, "It is clearly a bait!" Edmund: "Or a message," Edmund said grimly. "A warning of what happens to those who venture here." Leofric: Leofric nodded with with a hint of grimness sd: searching through the bag, there were a number of bits of jewellery within. Most bore the bull emblem of the Krygarlander deity Hrolkir, however Edmund was able to fish out a ring which after a brief examination, he saw bore the rune of the Stendling clan. Clearly this was the ring of Baylor's brother Beathric, though whether any of the bones belonged to him was impossible to determine. Hogar: "No chance your magic could help here?"Hogar asked Leofric You whisper to Leofric: there was no magic emanating from the bag itself Edmund: "I suggest we take the pack as it is and check it later," Edmund said. Leofric: Leofric smiled with a tired expression on his face , "No for I must respect the sanctity of the grave." He replied to Hogar, "There is no magic from the bag," Hogar: "I was merely suggesting you might be able to divine if the bones belonged to Beathric, of course."said Hogar "Which way now?" Edmund: "The two end rooms," Edmund replied. "Then the stairs." Leofric: Leofric nodded as he wandered with them to the rooms. He suggested that someone could be keep a watch on the stairs just in came someone come up? sd: the end rooms had little of interest in them, only debris and rubble. One in the corner appeared to have once had a door on the frame, perhaps belonging to some kind of important person, but this did not lead them to finding anything of use. Edmund: "So, downstairs or shall we take another look at that rock trap?" Edmund said. Hogar: Hogar shrugged "Again, as long as we don't delay too much. Whatever is blow might be preparing something nasty for us." Leofric: Leofric replied that "We can always come back to it later!" Edmund: Edmund shrugged. "Lead on then Hogar." sd: as the party came to the top of the stairs, they looked down and saw signs of torches and other light sources below, as well as the occasional murmured word in a tongue they did not understand. Edmund: Edmund indicated Leofric should leave the torch behind. "What's the plan? Rush them or sneak down?" Leofric: Leofric made a move and put the torch somewhere safe and drew his crossbow. He eyed Hogar with a strong belief that Hogar will come up with a strategy Hogar: "I suspect the stairs have some sort of alarm spell on them. Unless we can get below without touching them...we're in trouble." Edmund: Edmund sighed. "As we can't fly down, perhaps we could do something about the spell? Leo?" Leofric: Leo shook his hear with a hint of dismay, "I cannot. Beside, dismissing the spell is just as good as causing an alarm!" Edmund: "Perhaps there is another way down? Behind the pile of rocks!" Edmund said rolling his eyes. "So what is the answer?" Hogar: "I wonder why they didn't just lay here in waiting instead of setting up alarms..."Hogar mused Edmund: "They might be guarding something down there?" Edmund considered. "Are the traps and alarms just to keep people out?" Hogar: "They might already know we are here and be doing some fell magic..."Hogar grimaced "Perhaps rushing is an option."he whispered Edmund: "If we're going to rush down, let's sort that rock trap out first!" Edmund said, determined. Leofric: Leofric told him "Good luck Ed!" Leofric: EDIT: with a whisper Leofric: He watched Edmund from safe distance. Edmund: Edmund stepped up and started fiddling with the trap. sd: after several attempts and much effort, Edmund was able to work out how to cut the wire without bringing the stones down on his head. sd: from a glance into the room there didn't appear to be anything of use there, though it was possible there was something beneath the stones. This would require some effort to shift, however. Edmund: Edmund sighed. "Worth taking a look? There might be a body of course." Leofric: "Or another trap!" Leofric replied with hint of annoyance Hogar: Hogar nodded and set out to moving the stones Edmund: Edmund smiled at Leofric. "Why go to all this trouble for nothing.." sd: the party set about moving the stones. To minimise the noise, they picked them up slowly, one at a time, carefully piling them to the side. Despite their efforts, after some time it became clear that there was nothing of use in the room - the trap had presumably been set purely to damage any overenthusiastic treasure hunters, and simultaneously provide some measure of alarm from the noise of the falling rocks Edmund: Edmund covered his face with his hands. "Damn these monsters for leading us astray." Leofric: Leofric smiled with hint of exasperation, "Let charge down the stairs, screaming with frustration!" He try to comfort Edmund. Edmund: "You said it might be a fire trap didn't you?" Edmund asked. "At first?" Leofric: Leofric nodded thoughtfully, "The sense of magic is in the taste. So each magic have a certain taste to it. This one is a little spicy with a little burn on the tongue. But it is quite imprecise. It make more sense if it is a alarm spell" Hogar: "Perhaps we could drench ourselves in water, if we had any source of it. Likely wouldn't help much, though." Leofric: Leofric shook his head, "Anyway, I will cast a little spell that help with weapon damages on all of you. It still won't help if it is a fire spell but every little help!" He decided to let out of his spell and decided to cast several spells. Leofric: Once he finished with his spells, he carried his shield and longsword, determined to wreck revenges on the Vile Children Edmund: As Leofric moved between them, Edmund did the same, touching the blades and his arrows. Then he took position at the head of the stairs and listened for any activity. Leofric: Leofric took his position, his blade glisten even more so Edmund: Edmund indicated the noises were as before. Hogar: Hogar looked at his axe, obviously appreciating the new-found sharpness, and glanced down the stairs sd: the party steeled themselves, then rushed down the stairs. Whatever spell had been cast upon the stairs didn't seem to have a visible effect, however as they moved they heard a loud, blood-curdling cry from below.
As they neared the bottom of the stairs, they found themselves steaming towards a barricade of sharpened stakes, blocking the bottom of the staircase and allowing only a narrow path through. One of the Vile Children stood nearby, spear and hatchet in hand, and others were beyond an archway in a large chamber that seemed to have once been some kind of common room or mess hall. The walls here were better preserved than those above, though they were still battered with damage and age. Some kind of imagery was drawn into the walls at various points, but given the threat the party did not have time to examine these closely. Leofric: Leofric stared at the monsters fiercely Edmund: Edmund raised his bow. Hogar: Hogar readied a throwing motion with his hatchet and gazed at the monsters with hate sd: hatchets were flung at Hogar and Arianhod, but one missed and the latter failed to penetrate Arianhod's mail. They heard a number of voices casting spells from within, and movement coming towards them. Edmund: Edmund fired off an arrow which flared into life as it flashed through the air, before landing in the leg of one of the wretched monstrosities. "May the Prophet's strength protect us!" Edmund shouted. Leofric: Leofric, rather than charging the barrciade was more careful. He warded his head, chest and his left arm with his shield, eyeing the monsters carefully Hogar: Hogar hurled his hatchet at one of the Vile Children, striking it squarely in its lower body which began to sprout a thick flow of blood sd: two more voices rose in spellcasting, but they seemed to find little luck sd: Arianhod threw her hatchet at the nearest of the Vile Children, damaging its arm sd: several more Children flung their hatchets. Leofric blocked one with his shield, and Hogar did the same. Hogar titled his shield as he parried, catching the light from a torch and shining it into the creature's eye, disorientating it. Several more of the Children cast spells, and Edmund's fiery arrow spell vanished. Edmund: Edmund hastened to reload his bow, muttering under his breath. Leofric: Leofric frowned, still eyeing the enemies carefully Hogar: Hogar readied his now-magically sharpened battle axe and eyed the Vile Children, in particular the one with th e gigantic head sd: as the party moved forward, they could see more of the room and of their foes. It was a large chamber, with huge stone double doors at the end. It had obviously been a mess hall once, from the shattered tables, chairs, and the firepit along the north wall. Edmund: Edmund raised his bow again and fired through the archway, striking one of the vile children on the other side in the arm. Leofric: Leofric went around the barricade, he attacked nearest monster and performed an amputation of its left arm with extreme prejudice.. Leofric: The monster did not surivie the experience/ sd: across the battlefield, Hogar noticed that the large double doors were beginning to open Hogar: "More of them!"said Hogar worriedly sd: as two of the larger Children cast further spells on themselves, the doors opened, and out came a hideous and terrible creature. It was deformed and decrepit, its eyes glowing red, its mouth a huge toothless maw. Ragged green hair like seaweed hung from its bony head, and its body was criss-crossed with small black ovals, like lidless, unblinking eyes. Hogar: Hogar's gaze fell on the horrible creature and despite being a battle-hardened warrior, he was frozen with fear and terror, though he stood his ground for now Leofric: Leofric's eyes watched this terrible creature with eyes solid as granite and faintly unrelenting smiled. sd: the two Children nearest the party stood up, while an axe thudded against Hogar's shield and more spells were attempted and, so far as they could tell, failed Edmund: Edmund stared at the hideous shape, frozen for a moment in shock, then shook himself and considered whether it was possible to hit at this range. Leofric: Leofric prepared himself for the coming fights, he yelled at Hogar, "Get out of it. Everything will be fine!" Hogar: Hogar seemed to slowly shake the fear off, and returned to his usual battle stance, glancing at the creatures again sd: Mother Tender pointed at Leofric, murmuring arcane words. There was a crack of electrical energy, however Leofric dove away. sd: the largest of the Children continued to cast spells, which hastened their movement as they came forward sd: Arianhod deflected a spear thrust from the Child she had engaged, while also resisting a spell another creature cast at her Leofric: Leofric scrambled to his and resettle his weapon and armour, watching the enemies carefully. Edmund: Edmund stared at the horrible apparition, then fired an arrow straight at her. She didn't try to avoid it, and the arrow struck her in the leg. sd: Mother Tender attempted to shock Edmund with her spell, but like Leofric he was able to leap aside sd: the two largest children came near to melee now - one held a longspear, and the second a two-handed blade that was clearly of Palanian make sd: Arianhod slashed at her foe, hacking it badly in its damaged leg, and it fell pumping blood Leofric: Leofric carefully attacked the larger child's spear and managed to close range with the monster. He is however becoming slightly concerned about the dangers they are now. Outnumbered, outclassed by terrible creature and all magic using creatures. Hogar: Hogar sized up the two Vile Children flanking Arian before chopping at the one wielding a great sword. The creature however raised its weapon and blocked the blow. sd: Arianhod parried another blow, while more Children attempted, and failed, to cast a number of spells Leofric: Leofric launched another attack on the monster with the longspear but it managed to parried the blow off with impunity. Edmund: Edmund fired again at the fearful shape of Mother Tender, praying for a good shot, but although he hit the arrow did little damage. sd: Mother Tender began to cast a spell, arcane words booming off the walls Hogar: With a scream, Hogar lifted his battle axe and lashed with all his might at the creature which wielded a blade of far better quality than one would expect from such a vile being. Though it seemed to recoil a bit under the force of Hogar's powerful blow, it managed to parry the attack. sd: the creature slashed back, causing Hogar to raise his own shield. Arianhod struck out at the thing with her axe, but it managed to catch it on the blade sd: Arianhod deflected another blow Leofric: Leofric launched another attack on the monster but still, it parried almost with comtempt Edmund: Edmund let his bow droop as he raised a hand and spoke in arcane words. An area of darkness, black as night, suddenly surrounded the hideous form of Mother Tender. Hogar: Hogar launched another attack, this one quite weaker than the previous - but the creature was still recoiling and proved too slow to block, thus receiving a nasty cut to the belly sd: abandoning the spell she had been casting, Mother Tender dispelled Edmund's darkness sd: Arianhod swung her greataxe around in a wicked arc, hammering the creature with the two handed sword hard. It fell with a huge wound in its abdomen Leofric: Leofric launched an attack on the same monster but this time, he managed to score a hit on the right leg with upward swish disarming his spear. Edmund: Edmund praying under his breath spread out his fingers again, and spoke the words that brought a pall of darkness over the vile Mother Tender. sd: Mother Tender cast another spell, but though it seemed to succeed the darkness remained sd: Arianhod struck out at the creature Leofric had just disarmed, badly injuring it in the leg
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Post by sleepingdragon on Jan 11, 2014 16:30:16 GMT
sd: one of the Children stabbed at Arianhod, missing, while she resisted the spell of another creature that was closing in on her Leofric: Leofric launched an attack which Vile Child attempt to block with its bare hands. It fares poorly and its right leg was even more wounded by his blow. Hogar: Hogar slashed at the wounded huge-headed Vile Child, but the creature managed to block the haft of his weapon with its hands sd: within Edmund's darkness, Mother Tender cast another spell, though they could not see its effects sd: the large Vile Child snatched at Hogar's axe, but he was able to interpose his shield, damaging the creature's arm in the process sd: Arianhod struck out at the large creature, driving her axe heavily into its wounded leg. It fell with blood pouring from a terrible wound Leofric is disconnected. sd: the creatures moved forward. Several entered into melee with Leofric, Hogar, and Arianhod, stepping over the bodies of their slain allies, while another went for Edmund on the stairs, who backed away hastily. Leofric has connected. sd: the creatures attacked. Arianhod parried a blow and brought the haft of her axe back slamming into the thing's face, momentarily blinding it. Hogar and Leofric were both struck with spells, which countered the magic Edmund had used earlier to sharpen their blades Hogar: Hogar uttered a curse as he saw the edge of his axe-head dulled Leofric: Leofric snarled for a moment as he noticed that his blade is no longer shining with sharpness. Leofric: Leofric glanced backward at Edmund sharply and reckoned he may be in danger so he launched an attack on a vile child but his heart is not in it as he inflicted a minor wound on the monster's chest. He went toward Edmund, hoping to protect him sd: Mother Tender cast another spell, and the darkness vanished. As she reappared, they saw what spells she had cast while in the darkness - though Edmund's arrows still stuck in her body, the wounds had been healed. sd: Arianhod brought her axe smashing down on the head of one of her foes, which dropped senseless to the ground Leofric: Leofruc rushed toward the one nearest to Edmund, looking fiercesome as his long snaky like movement made his way over Edmund: Keeping out of reach of the vile child chasing him, Edmund glared fiercely at Mother Tender as he fired an arrow into her vile head. Leofric: Leofric caught up with the Vile Chikld heading Edmund's way and slashed him in it left arm and attempted to gain its full attention sd: with a screech of pain, Mother Tender began to intone a spell, glaring over at Edmund sd: several of the remaining creatures cast spells to increase their speed so they could close more quickly. As they did, one stabbed out at Arianhod, but it was an inept and poor stab. Arianhod brought her axe round contemptuously and slammed her haft just so against the spear, driving it hard and deep into the creature's own arm. Ironically, its own enchantment on the weapon caused it to slam through its tough hide, and though it remained conscious it was badly injured Leofric: Leofric danced as he launched a blow. Finding it difficult as it seems to slide. He decided to impale his fine sword into its already wounded left arm. The shock was clear as it collasped, bleeding heavily. Hogar: Hogar finished off the Vile Child blinded by Arian with a quick chop to the arm severing a major vein sd: Mother Tender spat a curse and pointed at Edmund, attempting to cast her spell, but it had no effect Leofric: Leofric laughed gleefully sd: Arianhod smashed her foe in its midsection with her axe, biting deeply into it sd: the Children remaining began to flee - Mother Tender gave a furious cry, but she too joined the retreat sd: the last remaining creature that had not already enhanced its movement cast a spell to do so Hogar: Hogar looked almost disappointed by the retreat, but only took a few steps towards them, not wishing to pursue unless his companions would follow Edmund: Edmund raised his bow and moved up. "We must deal with Mother Tender if nothing else." Leofric: Leofric nodded and yanked his sword out, blood spraying out as the body entered its deth throes sd: Mother Tender quickly healed herself as she fled, closing the wound Edmund's arrow had caused her sd: Arianhod cast aside her axe and drew her bow, moving towards the nearby archway Hogar: Moving over the bodies of the fallen, Hogar gave chase, pursuing behind Arianhod sd: as the creatures fled, some of the party began to move north. As they did, they entered into what had clearly once been some kind of barracks. The Vile Children had strewn filthy bedrolls and bags through the numerous little nooks that had once held beds of some sort. From the few bits of ancient scrap and debris around the room it seemed the Forerunners here had favoured a bed of some kind of woven material, though it was hard to be certain Edmund: As the vile shape of Mother Tender scuttled away, Edmund loosed off a shot which struck her in the arm. "God is with us!" he said. Hogar: "We can't let them survive!"shouted Hogar Leofric: Leofric frowned as he stowed away his Shield and Sword and took out his Crossbow, already loaded. "God truly favour us" sd: Mother Tender replied by spitting a quick incantation at Edmund. Edmund felt a jolt of dark power course through his leg and it buckled beneath him. Edmund: As Edmund fell he made the sign of the Prophet's Star to Leofric. Leofric: Leofric nodded in respond, his eyes full of steel. He aimed the crossbow at the dark evil monster, so called tendering Mother. But the bolt only hit the pillar instead. Clearly he did not have skill of shooting like Edmund. sd: Mother Tender called what sounded like a command as she fled. Arianhod, heading round the corner, saw that one of the things was moving towards her, seemingly intent on intercepting her Edmund: Edmund remained unable to stand, but he did try to cast a spell, without success. Hogar: Hogar made a short run towards the fleeing creatures, but he slowed a bit down not wishing to leave the others alone Leofric: Leofric's eyes became distant as he focused, casting the spell. Hogar: Hogar kept running, perhaps hoping to turn the corner and reach Arian Edmund: Edmund cast his spell again and to his joy found it worked. Leofric: Leofric then made a gesture that stated that he finally got his sell working You whisper to Leofric: as Leofric cast his spell, the range of tastes returned. Now there was a splash of new ones, like little bits of salt on the tongue - the various minor cantrips the Children had cast on themselves, to speed their movement or to sharpen their blades. There remained two very powerful tastes - the strongest was the one he had noticed before. It was stronger now, as if a smell caught through a windowsill, though he thought it still on the floor below. The second was the one which alternated hot and cold - that did not come from Mother Tender herself, as he first thought, but rather it came from the room to the southwest from which she had emerged at the beginning of the melee sd: the creatures continued to run. Arianhod, coming round the corner, found her path blocked by one of the monsters, who stabbed out with a spear. Though she had left her axe behind, Arianhod got a free hand in which deflected the blow enough that it was unable to pierce her mail Leofric: Leofric frowned for a moment and glanced at the room in which the Mother Tender merged from curiously but with caution. He told Edmund, "Ed, That lesser power I sensed did not come from the Tendering Mother but from that room over there in which she emerged from." Edmund: At last Edmund was able to drag himself wincing to his feet. "Where are they?" he asked Leo. Edmund: At Leofric's news Edmund raised his eyebrows. "Worth checking out?" Leofric: Leofric nodded, "I think so!" sd: Arianhod attacked the creature in turn, grabbing hold of its spear and yanking it roughly from its grip Leofric: southwest Hogar: Hogar ran around the corner, and could see Arian and the monster facing her from there Leofric: Leofric rushed toward the direction of the room which Mother Tender emerged from sd: Arianhod tossed the spear away and delivered a sharp blow to the creature's arm. The force of her punch knocked it to her feet. sd: Arianhod, seeing Hogar charging for the creature from behind, moved away from it and tried to follow the others. Hogar bowled in, hacking down at the thing's arm and severing it at the elbow. Arianhod went round the corner where Mother Tender and her remaining followers had gone. This place appeared to have once been a latrine - there were pits, about ten feet deep, dug into the floor. In one that abutted the wall, Arianhod saw that the Vile Children had dug a tunnel, and they had escaped this way - jumping down, she could just about hear their retreating footsteps, but the things had been faster than them even before they had cast spells to make themselves quicker. As far as Arianhod could tell, the tunnel sloped upwards towards the surface.
Meanwhile, Edmund and Leofric approached the southwestern room. At the entrance there were large stone double doors. Hogar: "These things must be slain!"said Hogar spitting on the ground in disgust sd: Arianhod nodded, then went to retrieve her axe and join the others Leofric: Leofric glanced at the doors and nodded at Edmund, "Let wait until the others come back." Once the others came back, he pushed open the doors with care. Leofric: Leofric before he started to push decided to pull out a potion given by Deogol and drink it, frowning with distaste. Hogar: Hogar looked at Leofric with some worry but said nothing sd: as the group recovered their things and looked around, they had their first chance to properly examine their surroundings. The mess hall where they had fought was unremarkable in and of itself, however the group did notice something as they examined the walls. They had seen that there were faint signs of some kind of artwork here and there on the walls, but during the chaos of combat they had not had time to dwell on this. Now they could look at the images properly. It was shocking enough to see pictures that depicted the human face - in their months in Palania they had slowly begun to get used to this, though it still seemed slightly unnatural. The content of the images was even more unexpected. All the people shown were men - sometimes in twos, and sometimes in three or four or more, and they were engaged in every form of sexual act it was possible for them to practise. Leofric: Leofric spit out with diguist. Edmund: "These people were so... alien," Edmund muttered as he looked at them. Hogar: Hogar glanced at the pictures surprised and frowned, obviously not expecting this kind of sight Leofric: "These images was found at other Forerunner ruins and seems to be fairly common practise." Edmund: "Strange to flaunt what anywhere else would be hidden in darkness," Edmund mused. Hogar: "Perhaps that's why they're no longer around."Hogar muttered still glancing at the murals Leofric: Leofric thought about it, "Maybe they had a reason... Maybe we will never know" sd: the party turned and opened the large double doors. Within was a large chamber, the walls of which were in better repair than those elsewhere on the floor. Dominating the room, located near the centre on a raised dais etched with runes, was a runestone, slightly smaller than those they had found elsewhere in Palania, with runes that glowed. The light from the runes seemed to alternate - here red, then fading to blue, and occasionally to a yellowish or orange hue. Up against the southern wall was a bedroll around which were scattered a number of scrolls as well as writing materials - they guessed this must have been where Mother Tender herself slept. Leofric: Leofric looked extremely interested and delighted. Edmund: Edmund indicated the Runestone. "Should we test its power?" Leofric: Leofric frowned for a momnt, "Let me try it first." Hogar: Hogar seemed to find the magical lights entrancing but also worrying "Perhaps they could be a trap or ward..." Edmund: Edmund nodded, coming over near Leofric. Leofric: "We will see." He smiled at the others with confidence. He then touched the runestone You whisper to Leofric: Leofric touched the stone, and, after a moment of confusion, felt its power run through him. It was not as strong as some of the runestones he had encountered elsewhere, but its magical power was still apparent. He could sense that the magic was based upon elements - he thought he could touch one of their weapons and, if he wished, fill it with elemental power. Edmund: Edmund watched him carefully. Leofric: Leofric nodded and touched his sword. It suddenly glowed slightly. "The magic in this runestone is based on the element. You can put the power of fire, cold or lightning in your weapon and it will increase the damage slightly using that power. However, it will only last for one day." Edmund: Edmund stepped up next and put his hand on the Stone. Hogar: "Making our weapons magical?" Hogar sounded very interested - tempted, even Leofric: Leofric nodded, "Every little help against the monsters and worse..." He paused for a moment considering the possibility. Leofric went over to look at the scrolls sd: there were a number of scrolls there. Those nearest to Mother Tender's writing materials were written in Old Gaston, and from what Leofric could make out, they were used in some manner of spell. After a while it became apparent that these were for use in some kind of necromancy - reading these scrolls long enough, especially in the presence of the runestone, might enable a sorcerer to gain this dark power.
Another set of scrolls were clearly more recent, and in the modern Gaston tongue, however they were unintelligible. It appeared that they were coded in some way, and they would need to break the code before any sense could be made of it. Hogar: Hogar touched the runestone with the head of his axe and concentrated for a while. At first, nothing seemed to happen, but Hogar stubbornly kept focusing and eventually small sparks of lightning started to gather around the blade. sd: Arianhod did the same with her larger axe Leofric: Leofric frowned at the scrolls, "These spells are terrible. They raise the dead!@ Edmund: "We should burn them," Edmund said. "They are too dangerous." Leofric: Leofric nodded with an agreement. "I agree. As much I dislike seeing scrolls to burn, we cannot risk them falling into another hands. Burning them is the safest solution." Leofric: EDIT: and only solution!" Edmund: Edmund nodded. "Burn them here or outside?" Leofric: "Burn the black scrolls once we discovered the rest of the informations. They coukld be linked" Hogar: "Hopefully the dark magic in them won't try to defend itself."said Hogar sd: keeping back the notes, the party sought to decode them. Leofric realised that they were a simple substitution cipher, however the cipher changed each paragraph, relating to certain magical concepts. Once he had realised this, it took only a little time for himself, Hogar and Edmund to work out.
The notes were written by the Ealdorman of Hathenwell's dead son, Eadig, who had previously occupied the ruins. They related that he and his companions had come into the area and gone to the bottom floor, which they worked out must be the floor below this one. Here, they had passed through chambers which they thought must have once belonged to the fort's priestess, and then a long corridor which led down to a partially flooded area. They had found a great source of power here, a circle of runestones, raised up upon a huge dais.
One of Eadig's subordinates, a mage called Sihtric, had suggested that they be cautious, but their greed overcome this advice and they approached the stones. This proved a terrible error - as they did so, elemental spirits of darkness and water emerged, which shrugged off the blows of their weapons unharmed and slew two of their number before they were able to flee.
Eadig said that they were now occupying the second floor until such time that Sihtric finished his research into a spell that might enable them to drive these elementals away. Eadig's frustration was palpable in the notes - he was certain there was a tremendous power within the stones, but they simply could not approach them until the elementals were slain or driven off, and at the time of writing they had waited long weeks while Sihtric diligently researched his magic. In the mean time, he had received word from his father, that a party led by some manner of Virian knight called Ser Hengest had arrived near Hathenwell, and caused scandal by refusing to assist in the propitation of the ancestors of Hathenwell. Eadig's notes speculated that this knight would likely need to be dealt with, lest he seek to disrupt their efforts in the same manner as Beathric Stendling. Edmund: Edmund's eyes shone. "A circle of Runestones. The power to cleanse the plague fields...," he breathed. Hogar: "Guardian spirits..."muttered Hogar "Perhaps enchanted weapons would be able to defeat them. It could be worth the risk." Edmund: "Let's burn the evil scrolls now before we seek them out," Edmund said. Leofric: Leofric nodded with hint of interest after reading the scrolls, "It explained a great deal now. Let us find the Circle of Runestones and defeat these spirits." Leofric: EDIT: Time to burn the evil scrolls Edmund: Edmund gathered the scrolls together and brought them outside the room. Edmund: Placing them in the ruined fireplace, he stepped away and fired a burning arrow at them. Leofric: Leofric nodded with a hint of satisfaction. sd: Edmund was able to burn the necromantic scrolls, which crackled up and were soon a pile of ash in the old firepit.
There was still a small amount of this floor which the party had not yet explored, and they decided to do this. Heading back north towards the barracks, they noticed a little passage which appeared to lead to another latrine, opposite the one where Mother Tender had escaped. The stench of death and decay coming from the latrine was immediately apparent, and there was a trail of dried human blood leading into the room... Hogar: Hogar looked there with disgust "Perhaps..." Leofric: Leofric sighed for a moment, "Let have a look." He steeled himself and went there to have a look sd: leaving Arianhod outside to stand watch, the rest of the group entered the latrine. It was not a pretty sight. Suddenly the source of the bones they had found in the pack above on the spear trap became clear - the room was covered in human bodies, mostly whole, though some were lacking a hand or had large chunks of flesh missing. There were perhaps twenty or twenty-five dead people altogether, from old men and women down to one who was no more than nine or ten. The majority appeared to have been Krygarlanders - they looked alike to Caronar and the others they had met, and here and there were broken amulets with the bull icon of Hrolkir upon them. Most of the dead had been slain with weapons, though a few showed signs of the Red Plague as well. Everywhere they stepped they trod on dried blood, chunks of flesh, torn hair, or crusted viscera. Hogar: For a moment Hogar almost looked like he would retch from such a grisly spectable, but he managed to restrain himself. Edmund: Even Edmund paled at the sight, pulling himself together with a visible effort. Leofric: Leofric closed his eyes at the terrible sights and sighed at the terrible sights... Hogar: "There were no animated dead with the Mother Tender when we fought her. "said Hogar some minutesafter they had left the latrine and they had fully recovered. "So she likely does not know how to perform such fell sorceries, which is a blessing of sorts, I guess. Perhaps she was planning to eventually decipher to scrolls and descend down with an army of the dead, though..."Hogar shuddered slightly as he suggested that Leofric: Leofric glanced at Hogar, "That make perfect sense now. Thanks God we decided to burn these scrolls after all." He made the Propert's Star Hogar: edit: some minutes after, eventually deciphering the scrolls Edmund: Edmund frowned, "You are no doubt right Hogar. We should bring what personal items we can with us to give to the people at the camp, and list the bodies we have seen. I am loath to leave them here for any evil being. If only there was a way to burn or otherwise dispose of them." Hogar: Hogar looked ominously at the entrance to the room with the bodies and nodded silently to Edmund. "On the issue of items...one of the Vile Children had a great sword of excellent make, which looked quite out of place in the hands of such a horrible thing. Perhaps it was Beathric's." Edmund: "You didn't see a mark?" Hogar: "Don't really remember, it was in the middle of battle. But we should definetely check." Edmund: "Maybe we could bring down the roof of the latrine," Edmund mused, looking at the ruined stonework around them. Leofric: Leofric thought about it. "Let figure that out once we finished here. Still, I agreed that we get the personal items out and figure the bodies out before we go down." He answered Leofric's question. Leofric: Edmund* Hogar: "I'd suggest burning the bodies, if we could do that properly...."Hogar didn't sound too happy at the prospect however, even if it obviously sounded like it was a necessary thing to him Leofric: "We do not know that is a proper way to deal with their dead. We may risk offending them by burning them." Edmund: "Surely a greater offence if the bodies of their dead are abused by evil necromancers!" Leofric: "I have not thought of that." Leofric looked slightly shame faced. "We will burn them then!" Edmund: "If we can bring down the roof, they will at least have received burial. There is no way we can transport so many to the camp." Edmund said sadly. sd: checking the other room, the party discovered that the greatsword did indeed bear the rune of the Stendling clan. Meanwhile Hogar searched the latrine, carrying out the grizzly task of finding any possible valuables to return to loved ones. Though he found nothing useful there, he did eventually come across a body that was clearly older than the others, and in clothing in better shape. Though the features had partially rotted, from these facts and that the man had died of wounds rather than disease, Hogar suspected he had located Beathric Stendling's body Hogar: "Think I found out Beathric himself."Hogar called out to the others "Well, what's left of him, at least..." Edmund: "Can we bring him back with us?" asked Edmund. Hogar: "We could, though he's not exactly in the best of conditions..." Hogar: "But what shall we do about the risk of the Vile Children coming back while we are away? We should hunt them down..." Edmund: "We should deal with the bodies now, and perhaps place Beathric in a safe place, if we can find one." Leofric: Leofric nodded and ready to help the group with putting stones. sd: it took the party a while, but they were able to set Beathric's body aside and pile stones on the remaining bodies. They then finished exploring the floor - there was another barricade near the northwestern wall, which led into a little room which had obviously been used for storage. Long wrecked barrels, chests, and weapon racks were found here, but there was nothing at all useful. Finding a set of stairs there, they ventured down to the lowest floor of the ruin.
they found themselves in a similar sort of room, save that there were no weapon racks here. There was a ruined archway leading out to a corridor, and across from them a much more ornate archway leading to some kind of small square room which appeared to have a floor of tiled mosaics sd: *a tiled mosaic floor, whatever Leofric: Leofric want to take a look at the mosaic floor so he did sd: the party headed out into the corridor. Across from the archway, it led down to the other staircase, and on the other side there was another storage room.
The mosaic depicted scenes of suns and stars, though it had faded with the years. Behind it, another ornate archway led into a room where the floor was littered with debris as well as many burnt and ruined scrolls Hogar: Hogar pointed at the scrolls "Perhaps some are worth salvaging? As long as the magic inside of them is of the benevolent kind..."he added Leofric: Leofric sighed mournfully, "No point. I can see they are all ruined so virtually unreadable." sd: the group headed into the room. This, too, had been some kind of living quarters, though more comfortable than the barracks above. Stout double doors inscribed with runes were located on the far side of the room. Hogar: "Careful there..." Hogar pointed at the rune-inscribed doors Leofric: Leofric nodded with hint of confidence
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Post by sleepingdragon on Jan 12, 2014 16:03:41 GMT
sd: the group headed into the room. This, too, had been some kind of living quarters, though more comfortable than the barracks above. Stout double doors inscribed with runes were located on the far side of the room. Leofric: Leofric looked eager to examine the doors very closely. He did however raised the question, "Maybe we ought to search the rest of the area before we go through there?" sd: the party searched the room they had entered, digging through the debris and burned scrolls, however there was nothing of use there. sd: deciding they would head back out into the corridor first, they went around the corner they had not searched. Ahead of them was a long, winding path, sloping gently downwards. Though they had been worn down with the years, the tiles of this long passage had obviously been of greater quality than those elsewhere, etched with faded symbols and images. Hogar: Hogar looked at the faded pictures on the tiles, as if trying to make out anything of interest Leofric: Leofric frowned for a moment at the direction and paused his lips, considering it. "Maybe that doors does not lead into the Circle of Runestones after all?" He also looked at the pictures very closely. Hogar: "Perhaps we should look behind the doors first, then?"said Hogar, raising his gaze from the tiles Leofric: Leofric recalled what was in the notes, "Eadig mentioned that there are chambers belong to the fort's priestess. Maybe that is what they are referring to! Let look behind the doors first." Hogar: "Perhaps there is some artifact there that will be useful to us..."said Hogar sounding hopeful sd: the images were faded, but some could be made out faintly. There were some which were scenes of battle, but most were centred around women who were clearly priestesses of some kind. From the pictures, these women had clearly been the leaders of this community. Some images showed the women participating in law-giving and judgement, while others showed them leading prayers and rituals. The very first image they could make out, near the beginning of the corridor, showed a priestess near a runestone. There was something strange about the picture - the priestess appeared to be sliding through the floor, and her garb and flesh seemed somehow insubstantial, almost translucent. Hogar: Hogar pointed out the detail to the others, but did not seem able to make anything out of it himself "Interesting."he simply said Leofric: Leofric narrowed his eyes at the priestess, wondering if it is a water elementals. "Indeed, that priestess give me a chill...." Hogar is disconnected. Edmund: "Some kind of spell to make one able to do that do you think Leo?" Edmund mused, studying the images. "Strange that they let the women lead their rituals, but then they were so different from us..." Hogar: "Their women went off to become priestess while their men apparently did...otherwise."said Hogar obviously referring to the murals they had seen previosly "Odd people." Edmund: "It seems a recipe for dying out!" Edmund said with a half-smile. Leofric: Leofric nodded thoughtfully, "Yes, I would not be surprised if there is a spell that allows one to do that. I, for an example, could cast my sight from myself. It is likely that a more powerful spell could cover all senses." Leofric concluded logically. Edmund: "You mean you can see from a distance? Leofric: Leofric nodded, confirming Edmund's thoughts "Indeed. I can cast my sights onward beyond myself." Hogar: "Of course, I'd suggest you try not sinking through the ground, considering there are apparently powerful spirits down there..." Edmund: "We'd have to find the spell first," Edmund said. "Leo can you cast that spell and see ahead?" Leofric: Leofric laughed at Hogar's response and shook his head at Edmund with hint of dismay. "There is no point casting that. I cannot see in the dark.... " He glanced at his own torch. "Yet.... Might be good time to start searching behind that doors" Hogar has connected. sd: the party returned to the double doors and opened them. The room beyond had clearly belonged to an important person - it was a large chamber, with two long-dead triangular braziers in the corners. There was a bookshelf against the wall, containing many mouldering and ruined scrolls, and there was an open chest against the north wall. In the middle of the room, the floor was etched with a large picture of the sky, filled with birds - here and there in the midst of the image they found bits of wood that appeared to have been the frame of one of the large woven beds the Forerunners favoured, but it was in tatters. Hogar: "Magnificent."said Hogar looking at the floor and then at the bookshelf "I assume we'll want to check if any are still readable, perhaps?" Leofric: Leofric nodded and made way over to the bookshelf, giving it a quick search through Edmund: "Indeed!" Edmund said, but he stopped to examine the decoration on the floor. "They were certainly good artists." sd: the party searched the room. There were no readable scrolls, sadly, though on the bookshelf, the chest, and in and under the debris the party were able to find a number of torcs, rings, and amulets, long discarded. sd: w Edmund as they searched, Edmund looked along the southern wall. Something felt wrong about it - knocking the wall, he thought perhaps it was hollow in places, as if there might be a passage, though he was not entirely sure where it was Edmund: "I think there's a passage here somewhere," Edmund said, knocking his knuckles softly along the southern wall. "Listen it sounds hollow." Hogar: "To where, I wonder. Perhaps to downstairs? An alternative to the corridor...Shall we check?" Leofric: Leofric smiled at Ed's find and nodded, "This is good find." sd: it took Edmund only a little time to find a secret stone door, carefully concealed within the wall, with a tiny keyhole, not far from the image on the floor. sd: Edmund retrieved his tools and took a while before he was able to unlock the door. Behind, there was a small room, which had clearly been some kind of concealed storage area. Old coins littered the ground, which was etched with symbols within a large gold circle. As well as the coins, they found a number of objects - a large golden drinking horn, and a small black sack containing orange-red powder, the colour of sunrise. Along with a number of shattered vials they found three that were intact, containing strange liquids they had never seen before, which were purple, blue, and red respectively. At the other end of the little room was another stone door, which was covered with many runes. Hogar: "What a find!"stated a pleased Hogar. He looked very interested in both the powder and the vials "I wonder what these are for..." Leofric: Leofric looked excited at the finds and nodded, "Will cast my sensing spell on this." He made gestures. Leofric: and then starts touching vails, a small black sack and a large golden drinking horn. Hogar: "Three different vials, and the runestone had the power of three elements...wonder if it's a coincidence."Hogar mused sd: Leofric touched the objects in kind - the vials, powder, and horn were all clearly magical. Leofric was able to work out what the objects did, save for the horn, which appeared to be the most powerful of the items.
When he lifted the purple vial, Leofric's mouth was filled with a hot, musky taste. He thought that drinking this liquid would make a person more desirable, and assist them in dealing with others.
The red vial had a sensation like blood and fear. Someone drinking this, he thought, would find their blows struck truer, enabling them to land a telling strike at an important time.
The blue liquid had a flavour like a strong liquor, which would break through the cobwebs in their mind and make their mind sharper and more focussed.
The powder gave off a taste like fine meat and fresh bread, a thoroughly satisfying sensation. Leofric thought this smoke could be burned and inhaled, to strengthen concentration.
Finally there was the horn. Leofric could not be sure exactly what he did, but the taste in his mouth was calming like warm milk. There was a slightly soporific sensation from the horn, relaxing and restful. Arian is disconnected. Arian has connected. Leofric: Leofric explained what each of the items are capable of apart from the horn which he replied , "Not sure what that horn will do but I will figure it out later." He glanced at the doors, still unopened Hogar: "Best to save these for when we need them."said Hogar referring to the vials and powder Edmund: Edmund was examinining the symbols and golden circle on the floor. Leofric: Leofric took Edmund's cue and try to understand the symbols. Hogar: "I think these symbols have something to do with...alchemy? Not that I know much of it sadly" Edmund: Edmund took out paper and pen and quickly copied the symbols, taking care to place each in its proper place in the circle. Leofric: Leofric confirmed Hogar's suggestion that they are something to do with alchemy. Sadly, he also mentioned that he have not got a clue either. Edmund: "So much to learn," Edmund said with a smile. Leofric: Leofric carefully touched the doors beforehand, making sure it is not trapped... sd: there was a sound beyond the door like slow moving water, and here and there a noise like wind. As Leofric touched the door, he became aware that he was feeling the powerful source of magic he had sensed previously - not in the door itself, but no doubt not far beyond it. Leofric: Leofric told the others, "I can sense the powerful source of magic not far beyond it, it may be the Circle of Runestones. The elementals might be beyond here. Ready?" Edmund: Edmund readied his bow and nodded tensely. Hogar: Hogar readied his heavy battle axe, its edge crackling with magical lightning Edmund: "Wait," he said to Leo. "We should bespell the weapons." Leofric: Leofric paused as he now understand what Edmund was saying and paused. He offers his blade for blessing from Edmund. Edmund: Edmund went round and touched the weapon's blades, then gestured over his own arrows. Arian is disconnected. Leofric: Leofric nodded and casted spells that provide some form of protection on everyone. sd: with Arianhod and Hogar at the head of the group, the party opened the door. Beyond was a large, partially flooded cavern. Dominating the cave was a huge dais on which were four large runestones connected with large henges. A faint brilliance like starlight shone from the stones, illuminating the cavern..
Upon the dais, near one of the runestones, there knelt a man in a tattered dark cloak, though he stood as he heard the door open. As he rose, shapes emerged around the cavern emerged - masses of water rising from out of the flooded areas, and shapes of inky darkness coming out from the shadows.
"They're mine!" the man cried as soon as the party entered. "You will not have my stones, I've bled enough for them. Begone now, or we will destroy you." Edmund: "We do not intend to take the stones," Edmund said in a clear voice, after the moment of surprise at seeing the man there. "Would you tell us who you are and how you come to be here?" Hogar: Hogar eyed the mysterious man warily, keeping his shield ready Leofric: Leofric looked at this man with a hint of interest as he eyed around the many elementals. sd: The man smiled. "I recognise that sound, yes..the last people I heard that spoke like you put a sword through me. They thought they'd killed me, when I fell in the river, just as they'd killed Eadig and the others. I owe you no answers, Virians! The power of the stones is mine." Edmund: "Would your name be Sihtric perhaps?" Edmund asked. sd: "So you know how to read. I am Sihtric, yes, but you will have no other answers. Leave now." The shades and undines around the cavern began to move slowly towards the party. Leofric: "It is impressive that you managed to finish your dilgent research." Leofric replied, "Sadly, we need to conduct our research..." Edmund: "These stones are invaluable," Edmund added. "They may hold the secret to cleansing the Plague Fields." sd: "That means nothing to me. So you would take the power of these stones then?" Sihtric laughed. "Not while I am still breathing. It is curious...your infantile religion is meant to be against magic, yet all the Virians I have had the misfortune to meet have been mages. No matter, you may have this theological discussion with your god, you'll be meeting him in a moment." Darting behind the runestone, Sihtric began to cast a spell. Leofric: Leofric glanced at Edmund, with surprise in his eyes. "Other Virian mages..." He told him quietly. Hogar: Hogar cursed and his fist clenched around the shaft of his axe. He eyed both the mage and the elementals threateningly. Edmund: "We must find out who these are.." Edmund replied. "But for now..." Leofric: "But for now... Time to fight" Leofric firmly held his longsword cracking with energy and shield to him. His weak frame clearely look like he shouldn't be fighting. Yet he been luckly so far. sd: Sihtric intoned arcane words and cast a spell on himself. Edmund: Edmund muttered under his breath as the mage remained out of sight. He sighted on one of the shadows, firing straight and true, but just as the flaming arrow was about to hit, the wretched thing seemed to flow away and it sped uselessly away into the water. Leofric: Leofric told others quietly that the spell that damned Sihtric just cast on himself is a spell that increase his resistance to damages. sd: the undines, moving forward, emitted huge blasts of water from their bodies, aiming at Arianhod and Hogar. Hogar deflected one blast away with his shield while the others went wide sd: as the party and the elementals moved forward, Sihtric began to cast another spell Leofric: Leofric, frowning with annoyance told the others, "This time, he is casting a spell that enchance his damage as well." sd: several of the undines began to gather power to themselves, while one fired at Leofric, but missed him Edmund: "Damn the man, is there nothing we can do to disrupt him?" Edmund muttered. sd: Arianhod slammed one of the shades with her fiery axe, tearing away ribbons of darkness from its strange form. Leofric: Leofric nodded his head, "One day, I will try get a spell that will disrupt other magic. But now..." He walked toward to one of the shades, his eyes glittering. Leofric: Leofric attempts to attack the shade but unused to such an enemy, he missed. He frowned with concentration.... sd: several more jets of water were fired - Leofric blocked one with his shield, while Edmund threw himself away from another sd: Arianhod smashed the wounded shade again. The flaming axe burnt its body away, shadows dissipating in the weapon's wake Hogar: Hogar's lightning-enchanted axe chopped through one of the shades, and some of the darkness composing it seemed to sizzle and evaporate in contact with the weapon's edge sd: Sihtric completed his spell, but it failed and the mage swore Leofric: Leofric launched another attack but missed again. sd: one of the undines fired a jet of water at Hogar. He interposed his shield expertly, deflecting it straight back at the elemental. Whatever the creature used for eyes, the spray flew back into them, and it was temporarily unable to locate them. Meanwhile, Arianhod attacked one of the shades, but her axe went wide Hogar: Hogar lashed out again at the shade, but it quickly darted out of the way of his axe Edmund: Edmund fired a flaming arrow into one of the shades surrounding Leo - it tore into the shadow and he muttered a prayer of thanks. Leofric: Leofric smiled by Edmund's good strike and launched a follow up with his blade and tore into the black shade nastily. sd: two undines, which had moved up by Leofric, punched out at him, but both missed sd: Arianhod slammed one of the shades with her axe, damaging it heavily Hogar: Hogar kept attacking one of the shades, destroying more and more of the darkness composing its body, but not being able to completely eradicate it Leofric: Leofric launched one more attack on the dying shade and finally the shade tore itself apart, its shadows flitters away sd: Leofric took one weak blow from an undine, but blocked the second sd: Sihtric cast his spell again, this time successfully. The elementals that were in melee began to glow with arcane power. Edmund: As Sihtric's head appeared around the stone, Edmund loosed off a fiery arrow but it flew wide. sd: two undines battered at Leofric, but one missed and he turned the blow of the second Leofric: Leofric launched an attack but sadly he missed his strike sd: Arianhod attacked one of the shades, which dodged her strike Hogar: Frustrated by the shade's resilience, Hogar spun around a bit to gather momentum. The lightning around his axe crackled and glowed as he forcefully struck the previously weakened elemental, utterly dissolving it sd: Hogar parried a powerful punch from one of the shades, feeling great strength in it Edmund: Edmund loaded his bow. Hearing the mage chanting a spell again he called out, "So Sihtric, what is your great plan for using the runestones, that is so much better than cleansing the Plague Fields?" Leofric: Leofric launched an attack but alas, missed once more. Leofric: EDIT: Leofric lashed out at the blinded Undine but only landed modest attack sd: Arianhod landed a weak blow on one of the shades Hogar: For a moment Hogar almost seemed to slip and lose his footing and grip on the axe, but suddenly he rapidly twisted and spun and struck with terrifying force at one of the shades, destroying a huge amount of its substance sd: the shades attacked, landing a weak blow on Arianhod, but a very heavy one on Hogar, slamming him in the midsection sd: Sihtric replied to Edmund's question by completing his spell. Edmund felt a yank, and his bow abruptly vanished from his hands and reappeared in Sihtric's. "Many things." Hogar: "Don't get hit!"shouted Hogar as a warning to the others immediately after regaining his breath sd: Sihtric eyed the bow, shrugged, and tossed it away, beginning to cast another spell sd: Edmund drew his sword and attempted to cast a spell on it, but failed Leofric: Blade powered by lightening slashed into the recently blinded undine but still, it only have a modest damages sd: Arianhod lashed out with terrific force. Her fiery axe clove through one of the shades, smashing it down into its shadowy essence Hogar: Hogar swung his axe at the shade facing him, but the thing manouvered swiftly around the blow Leofric: Leofric gritted his teeth as he suffered nasty wound on his weapon arm. He shifted the shield to cover his wounded arm Edmund: Edmund again attempted to cast his spell and this time it succeeded. The blade of his sword glinted as he stepped up beside Leofric. Leofric: Leofric smiled at Edmund with grimness and launched another attack at the wounded but alas it did not do much wounds sd: two of the undines fired at Leofric, but one missed and the other struck his shield sd: Arianhod landed a heavy blow on one of the shades Hogar: Hogar struck another, tearing off a piece which vanished in a small shower of lightning sparks Edmund: Edmund slashed out at the wounded Undine but somehow it managed to slink away from the steel. sd: Arianhod struck at the shade again, but it was able to dodge Leofric: Leofric attempts to land a blow but its flow away Hogar: Starting to look somewhat frustrated, Hogar hacked again and again at the shadow-being sd: Sihtric tried to call Hogar's axe away, but his spell failed Hogar: "Just wait and you'll get my axe...in your head! " Hogar called out to the wizard as he held to his weapon Edmund: Edmund landed a blow on the shade, cutting away more of its substance. Leofric: Leofric snarled with anger as he finally landed a large blow that spashed the essence into the river. Edmund: edit* Undine sd: Leofric faced a barrage of attacks from the undines, but blocked one with his shield and absorbed another sd: Arianhod attacked a shade, but it dodged Hogar: Hogar took out another small piece of a shade, obviously growing more and more annoyed by their persistence Edmund: Edmund swung hard at the remaining Undine, wounding it. Leofric: Leofric followed up with same slash at the same Undine, clearly working at it. sd: Arianhod landed a glancing blow on her enemy sd: edit - Arianhod swung out, looking like she might land only a glancing blow. At the last moment she righted her axe, and it went lancing right through the creature and tore it apart sd: Sihtric began to cast another spell, but, seeming to grow a bit nervous, it failed Hogar: Hogar too swung a mighty blow, lessening the shade facign him, though unfortunately that was not enough to fully vanquish it sd: with her foe down, Arianhod turned towards the mage and began to run quickly towards him Hogar: Hogar hacked with all of his strength at the shadow, lightning crackling along the edge of the axe as he did so and reducing the elemental to a much smaller remnant of what it was before. Edmund: Edmund struck out again but this time the Undine avoided his blow. sd: as Arianhod advanced on him, Sihtric cast a spell, pulling her axe from her hands and into his own Hogar: Hogar let out a scream of satisfaction as he finished off the shade, axe cleaving what was left of it in half in a shower of sparks and dissolving it Leofric: Leofric finally made an attack and finally removed this elemental from existance Leofric: He looked around and nodded at Edmund, ready to run to the Bastard Mahe Leofric: EDIT: Evil Mage Edmund: Edmund touched Leo's arm and cast a spell, healing the gaping wound there. Leofric: Leofric thanked Edmund gratefully and made a gesture granting himself protection. Edmund: Edmund began running towards the Runestones. sd: Arianhod threw herself towards Sihtric, trying to drive him to the ground, but he somehow managed to keep his feet, ineptly stabbing at her with his dagger. Leofric: Leofric also began to run with Edmund although with pain as his wounded legs annoying him. His shining sword however still stay stable Edmund: Edmund ran up through the Runestone and face to face with the crazed mage. Leofric: Leofric went through the RuneStone as well and stood with his sword behind his back, grinning in the glitter of the light sd: Arianhod ignored a punch from an undine, instead grabbing at her greataxe and snatching it back from the mage sd: as Leofric and Edmund advanced, Sihtric stabbed out at the latter. His dagger, enchanted by his magic, went straight through Edmund's armour and dealt him a heavy blow on the left arm sd: Arianhod swung out at Sihtric, but her axe clanged against the runestone Edmund: Relieved that Sihtric's next stab missed him, Edmund rose to his feet clutching his sword and glaring at the mad mage. Leofric: Leofric slashed out with dislike and yet missed with his sword sd: Arianhod raised her axe high and brought it smashing down on the mage's head. Only his spell kept his head on his shoulders, but he still collapsed in a bloody heap. This was the effective end of the battle - the undines soon also fell beneath their blows, and Arianhod finished the job by beheading the sorcerer by one of the runestones he had claimed as his own Leofric: Leofric sighed at this battle is finally over. "Finally, he is dead." Edmund: Edmund looked down on the remains of the mage. "Maybe he wasn't evil until he read the scrolls here. It was too much for him." Leofric: Leofric nodded with hint of grim. He glanced at the shining Runestones Hogar: Hogar looked at the runes with a mix between eagerness and wariness... sd: after the battle, the party spent days down amongst the runestones, studying them carefully. In meditation by the stones, they came to realise that these were far more powerful than those they had encountered before - when they touched them, they felt not only the stirring of magical power, but something more, the faintest hint of consciousness and sentience, as if far away. Leofric led the task, meditating for endless hours by the stones, attempting to connect with whatever spirits inhabited the stones. After a week, he finally met with success. sd: Leofric felt himself floating in memory. They buffeted him like gusts of wind, tossing him this way and that. Here she tasted strange foods and drink he had never known in life, and there Leofric felt the eyes on her as she led prayers at the runestones. She felt the pangs of childbirth, knew the feeling of moon's blood upon her, and felt seed trickling down her thighs as she drew the fire from another man.
On and on, the memories flooded into Leofric's consciousness, from dozens of sources. In each memory, he was a different woman - but the ending of each was the same. She stood before the circle of stones, meditating upon them, until her consciousness dissolved and she went down into the stones.
Finally, after a few minutes, after an eternity, Leofric remastered himself and regained his sense of himself. He found himself floating in a great dark void. It would have been pitch black, but for what appeared to be a thick, shining golden thread, infinitely far below, stronger than all the world's blades, brighter and more beautiful than the sun.
Above him, Leofric could feel a thousand faint glimmers of consciousness, gleaming like stairs in the firmament. He concentrated for a century of centuries, before at last he knew which one he wanted, and he flew towards it. Leofric: Leofric opened his eyes, dazing as he focused on some memory. The Circle of Runestone is clearly disappearing. He smiled for a moment at the others, "I now got the ritual for cleansing the stones..."
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Post by sleepingdragon on Jan 12, 2014 17:29:35 GMT
After defeating Sihtric and discovering the ritual to cleanse the runestones of the Plague Fields, the party spent another week meditating amongst the stones, recovering their magical energies. In this time Arianhod began to display some symptoms of the Red Plague, caught from the Vile Children, however with Hogar's assistance she was able to fight the disease off.
They then set out on the long road back to Phalen, stopping first in Hathenwell to return Beathric Stendling's bones to his brother. Not long after they had exited Mollenmere and recovered their horses, Sigrun contacted Leofric telepathically to make sure he was still alive and learn how they had done. She was excited to learn of their success and insisted that Leofric return to Phalen at once to teach her the ritual as well - it would hardly do, after all that work, to risk losing the chance to clenase the Plague Fields. She will contact other mages of the Ring of Secrets as well, so that she can teach them as well and the knowledge does not end up being lost in case she or Leofric fall victim to an unfortunate accident.
While on the road, the party hear a number of rumours from around Palania. News from Krygarland remains extremely grim - there are stories of villages engaging in mass self-immolation to prevent themselves from being reanimated by the dragonspawn. The Church has put out a call for all holy Virian warriors to head for Krygarland as soon as possible to resist the advance of these monsters. Meanwhile, tales are spreading of famine in the Lands of the Lost, which has faced several successive poor harvests. The Ealdorman of Weltry has begun to organise efforts to send relief, but many may starve before aid can arrive.
As the party near Bluebrycg, they are approached by a group of about a half dozen mercenary warriors, who bear a note from Sigrun explaining she had hired them to be absolutely sure of their safe return to Phalen. Between themselves and the mercenaries, they are able to return to Phalen in complete safety, finally arriving back on 22 October 227. The summer has now long since made way for autumn, and the crisp chill of winter is in the air, colder than what the party are accustomed to the more agreeable winters of Gastony to the south. There has been no snowfall in Phalen yet, but it is unlikely to be long now.
While the party were away, the Council had met several further times, and Heorot, the Ealdorman of Bluebrycg, had managed to pull off an unexpected manoeuvre. Previously, the Ealdorman of Swithdun had not been a supporter of the Council, but Heorot had somehow convinced him to join and make alliance with him. As a fairly major settlement, Ealdorman Theodoric said that Swithdun should have three representatives on the Council, as other towns like Middlemere had, and this number was enough to tip the balance of power in Heorot's favour. The Council voted by a 19-17 margin that they should now work to regain the fortress of Grantun, now held by dragonspawn, which would in turn open the road to Chepworth and other eastern settlements. By all accounts, the Church was extremely displeased with this turn of events, as all the Virian Councillors had backed the opposed plan, to seek to recapture the Kalmar Isles in order to ensure safe passage for settlers from Gastony as well as any Virian converts seeking to make pilgrimmage to Mount Maragar.
On returning to Phalen, the party also found they had received a message from Balnoth while they were away. Despite his efforts, Leof, also known as Freawyn, learned of Cynegels' demise and was able to flee before word of his plot emerged. Rumour says he fled from Astlaw and headed east into the Camber Hills. To cut straight through the dragonspawn-infested Hills alone would be death for most people, but by all accounts Leof is a peerless swordsman and a cunning warrior, and if any could survive such a journey, he might be one. Balnoth warns the party to be very careful - Leof has already shown how far he is willing to go to seek revenge, and should he survive he might target them.
Sigrun was eager to learn the ritual to cleanse the stones, and would not give Leofric any peace until he took the time to teach her. She explained that she had had a friend report the party's success to the gathering of the Conclave's most senior mages, which would be occuring over the next few days, and she was confident to be able to get their support for the plan. Actually cleansing the Plague Fields would be a large undertaking and for another day - they would need, at the least, five or six mages, and preferably more, in order to cleanse the stones themselves, and they would also require an army to deal with the undead around Wapanstede and open up the chance to destroy Ealdorman Horsa, assuming he was the source of the curse. Sigrun expected there would now be many months of delicate negotiations between the Council and the Conclave, especially as some of the Councillors were Virians and unlikely to approve of a plan that involved the use of magic. Winter was hardly the right time for the endeavour anyhow, so she expected it would be spring before any further action could be taken.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Jan 25, 2014 13:58:25 GMT
Leofric: Leofric spent some time on improving his strength as it was clear that carrying all the weights are becoming more of a struggle for him. Meanwhile, he spent two weeks with Sigrun. The first week was focusing on teaching her the ritual of cleansing the rune-stones he learnt from the Circle of Runestones as well describing his experiences in the inner mists of the Runestones. He also gave a detailed report on the journey to the Ruins and the events within the Ruins itself. The second week was focusing on learning the spell, Avert as he believed it was necessary spell as the group learnt at their bitterness. Still, Leofric is determined to learn more about spells which can oppose or cancel their enemies' spells at later date. sd: after arriving back in late October, the party spent a few weeks recuperating in Phalen before setting out on their next adventure. The Burning Brand had sent another message asking for their assistance in seeking out their lost members in the isles of Coelney as soon as possible - with winter coming on, travel to Coelney would be rare and hazardous, and the longer they waited, the more likely that their people would be found dead rather than alive. Therefore, they decided that they would make for the archipelago, but first they would speak to the local guildmaster, Medwin, for more information about the expedition Hogar: The day after they had returned in Phalen, eight months after they had set out from Malagen, Hogar turned twenty-three, and seemed quite pleased with how he had fared in Palania since he first landed. During his time in the city he helped with reinforcing the manor's defenses close to the river Saltanow, where the orcs were likely to attack, and he also found the time to continue learning about healing from a skilled tutor. Leofric: Leofric managed to track down and purchase a excellent book on strategy for Hogar's birthday, inspired by Hogar's leaning toward a strategist. Edmund: Edmund divided his time between work for the manor and training with the Bard's College, as well as practising with his bow and seeing a gradual improvement. He disappeared into the city before Hogar's birthday and returned next morning with a rounded green bottle. Edmund: He held it out to Hogar. "A little something to make your day go with a bang," he said with a grin. Hogar: Hogar thanked Leofric profusely when he received the gift, looking almost embarassed "You really shouldn't have!" he said, although he obviously appreciated the lavish gift "Guess it'll help me with learning a few fancy words too. Didn't have much time for that growing up!"he added laugh Hogar: add: He extended his thanks to Edmund when he received his gift, "Aye, but best not before reading!" Edmund: "Best not before walking!" Edmund replied with a laugh. sd: the party put their heads together, with help from Sigrun, to sift through the tales they had heard about Coelney. They knew that many people had been evacuated from the mainland to the isles during Caragaur's invasion, and due to the sack of Phalen they had never been able to return.
Following the fall of Phalen, some years of anarchy and starvation followed. Eventually, a man calling himself Nechten Never-Child, who claimed to have been born of the union of a bastard of the Valing line of High Kings of Palania and a water spirit, and to have been born a fully-grown man, emerged and united the isles, becoming High King of Coelney. Nechten founded a new faith, which was now known as the cult of Divine Blood, and forcibly stamped out the worship of the Gaston pagan gods. The cult was now the ruling body of Coelney, and Sigrun told them it was notorious for using blood magic and incorporating ritual cannibalism into its practises. Unlike many regions of Palania, where it was considered against Gaston custom, the Coelneymen had reintroduced slavery to the isles and sometimes raided the Long Shore seeking slaves.
After Nechten died, the isles declined. The capital, Estencestre, was sacked by goblins thirty-five years ago, and since then Coelney had fractured into competing petty kingdoms. The true rulers of the isles remained the cult of Divine Blood, but it was divided in of itself. There were two ranks within the cult - the nobles of Divine Blood, who were descended on both sides from Nechten, and the priesthood and bureaucracy, called the Masked Ones, who were either nobles who had failed in power struggles or those whose ancestry from Nechten was mingled with lesser blood. These two castes struggled bitterly against one another for dominance and control. Leofric: Leofric shivered at the reports, "Sound like it is better if the entire islands sink beneath the waves..." He whispered to himself. Edmund: "This could get unpleasant," Edmund said, nodding. Hogar: "Not much better than the Vile Children!" Hogar spat on the ground "Or at all." sd: the party headed into the city. There had been a brief orc raid in the night, and as they went by a square they saw a number of bodies, of humans and of orcs, being burned on one of the many open pyres that were kept throughout Phalen.
The Burning Brand chapterhouse was located on the western edge of the city, near the docks, a squat three storey stone building guarded by a gatehouse and a small number of crossbowmen. They were led up to Medwin's chambers, which were comfortable and spacious, and dotted with valuable objects from far-off lands. Medwin's desk was of polished oak, his fine pen was tipped with ivory, and when the party entered he offered them glasses of fine wine from the city of Shara, the ancient rival of their homeland of Gastony. "No offence intended, of course, but Ersemen make the sweetest wines, as your companion can likely attest," he nodded to Leofric. Medwin was a heavy-set man in his forties with huge, bushy black eyebrows. Edmund: Edmund took a genteel sip of his wine. "I won't argue with that," he said with a smile. Hogar: Hogar too slipped slowly "Not bad, I must admit." Leofric: Leofric nodded as he also took a sip of the wine as well. sd: Medwin reached under his desk and unrolled a map in front of the party. "Very well, let's get down to business then. In September last year I sent a group of six people, commanded by one of our best men, Esmon of Styrnes, to travel to Coelney. They had four principal objectives. Namely, to establish any useful trade routes and seek sources of certain rare substances only available in Coelney; to make any useful contacts possible for future expeditions; to seek for any lost lore that had been brought to Coelney during the evacuation; and to seek out any missing artefacts of old Palania."
"I had a message from Esmon which was sent in October, he mentioned that it might be difficult to send another one due to the winter but that he would try to contact me again in the spring. However, nothing ever came, or has ever come. The Coelneymen practise slavery so I fear they may have suffered this fate, though it is also possible they are dead. We would like to know what became of our expedition, to rescue any survivors, and to avenge any who are dead. We would be most grateful if you could hunt down whoever is responsible for the disappearance of our people and teach them not to meddle lightly in the affairs of the Burning Brand." Edmund: Edmund nodded. "Do you know whereabouts he was at the time?" sd: "Yes, he was in Cloppney at the time, but he intended to move on to the island of Sharney to pursue opportunities there. I have had the letter translated - it was sent in a code known only to myself and a few others, if you understand. Would you like to read it?" Leofric: Leofric frowned at the sheer dangerousness and nodded at the question. sd: Medwin nodded and retrieved Esmon's missive. Hogar: "Considering how savage a place Coelny sounds, we fear the last option - vengeance - will be what we have to do."said Hogar matter of factly "But you never know, perhaps some of your people are still alive..." sd: Medwin,
Although we have not been here long, I am sending my first thoughts on the islands because of the upcoming winter, which will make communication difficult or impossible. We will soon be heading to a smaller isle, and between the storms and our location we may be unable to contact the mainland for many months.
We have divided our efforts thus far into two groups - Randwulf and Scrella have sought for information about old lore, with Byrtwald sent as their guard, while Freod, Odelyn, and myself have sought out contacts and information about the possibilities of trade and allies. Freod is somewhat vexed at being under my thumb, as it were, but he keeps quiet for now and he has a more natural grasp of the schemes of these little kings than myself.
I will begin with what Randwulf and Scrella have found, for there is less of it and I fear it is less hopeful, at least at this juncture. By all accounts, the Never-Child (as he is named by everyone here, and thus it is difficult to avoid adopting the habit even if one consciously tries) sought to thoroughly and completely quash the culture and religion of old Palania, so his own could be imposed in its place. I suspect we will have little luck on the major isles. Randwulf has said that Norrey, the most remote of the great isles, has never been fully reconciled to the cult and there may be caches there. Otherwise, I believe the most likely locations for such material is on the innumerable little islands - some go years without outside contact and if anything has survived, those seem the most likely locations.
As for the greatest prize - by all accounts, the Never-Child himself wielded Teorhelm's Wing, as did his successors as High Kings, but the blade was lost along with Estencestre. The cult seems certain that the blade is still on Great Esterness, but this seems to me based on faith and wish rather than reason. The goblin pirates ply their trade all along the coasts of Palania and abroad, and it seems likely to me that the Sword is gone from Coelney and is elsewhere, or lost forever.
Now for our own efforts...this question is very delicate. The cult maintains extremely jealous control of all supplies of the pearls and of godsroot. Certainly, the king here in Cloppney would not even contemplate trading these sacred items to outsiders. There are small islands which are outside of the effective control of the cult, and the people here, pirates all, might consider exchanges, however doing so might draw down the cult's wrath upon them. At any rate, none outside the cult have, so far as we can tell, made any serious attempt to seek these goods before, so they would not have stores to trade with us.
A more fruitful avenue may prove to befriend a number of kings who are less devoted to the cult and may be willing to deal with us secretly. I am wary of this – such favour may be useful, or it may backfire and result in us being barred from the isles altogether. Nonetheless, Freod and I have been pursuing information about who might make a useful partner. This has unfortunately meant delving into the politics of Coelney, with some assistance from Randwulf (though his information is several years out of date.) sd:
I have heard tales from across the sea that the Virians mingle their faith with their politics to a far greater degree than we do. Nevertheless by my understanding this is a matter of influence – the Virian Church may advise rulers and has a great degree of power, but there is still secular authority that is somewhat independent of them. In Coelney, there simply is no separation between the priesthood of the cult of Divine Blood and the rulers of the isles.
Fortunately, the cult is riven with divisions, and with care and attention we may be able to exploit these. There are, so far as we have been able to determine, three major divisions within the cult.
The first is based upon status, between the nobility of the Divine Blood, and the bureaucracy and priesthood of the Masked Ones. These two wrangle incessantly for power, though at the moment the Masked Ones appear to have the ascendancy. King Torphin, here in Cloppney, is a clear and obvious puppet of the most powerful priests, and we have been told the same is true elsewhere. There are two kings at present who appear to be resisting this and attempting to build their own power at the expense of the priesthood – King Cuthwine of Tarmer, and King Vifil of Sharney.
The second is based upon the question of the rule of Coelney. The Never-Child established himself as High King, however that seat has been empty since Estencestre fell. There are those within the cult, known as Prophets, who believe the throne will remain empty until Estencestre has been regained, and there are others, called Crowns, who believe a High King should be crowned now for the purpose of regaining the holy island. When Randwulf was last here five years ago, he said the Crowns had settled their hopes on the favoured son of the king of Peldene, a talented warrior and sorcerer named Aescwine, and were gaining strength. This self-same Aescwine, however, shocked his followers three years ago, declaring that there would be no High King until someone had surpassed the Never-Child. He then sailed away to lands unknown, and since then the Crowns have been in decline. This is to the good, I feel – a divided Coelney is more likely to result in rulers who look to the mainland, perhaps seeking the aid of the Council to defeat their rivals. sd:
The last division is between those who seek first to increase contact with the mainland, and those whose sights are fixed on Great Esterness and, some say, little islands further to the east and north. This division appears to be the most useful and the one that is growing strongest at this time. Those who look to the mainland are said to ‘face the sunset’, and those who look to the isles are said to ‘face the sunrise’. The ruling party here in Cloppney face the sunrise, which is to the bad as it is the chief port in the isles. Do not imagine that those who face the sunset are necessarily friends – since Aescwine’s disappearance, the ruling party of Peldene face the sunset, but they seek pillage, plunder, and slaves, not trade and alliance.
In pursuit of this, we have decided to travel to Sharney. The king there faces the sunset and is thought to be the most friendly of all to the Council and the mainland, and most hostile to the cult. We will need to move carefully, for we have heard many rumours that the Masked Ones would like to remove him, as well as his ally in Tarmer, and it would do us no good to make a league with one who will be overthrown. My own hope is that Odelyn will be able to find certain ‘enterprising’ individuals within the realm of this open sovereign, who would be willing to trade with us, without needing to go so far as to commit to a political alliance. You may imagine what Freod’s thoughts on this subject are.
We will be making for Sharney in two days. I will seek to write to you again as soon as possible, but I suspect that will not be until the spring. Farewell for now, and gods be with you.
Esmon
Cloppney
3rd October, in the 157th year since the ascent of the Valing clan. Edmund: Edmund read to the end and then considered for a moment. "There are two things that occur to me. One is whether they reached Sharney as they planned - we should likely start the search there. The other. forgive me if I am speaking out of turn Medwin, is that the letter suggests that all might not be well between the members of the party. Could Freod have turned traitor or otherwise caused trouble in other words?" sd: Medwin sighed. "It is a thought I have had. I do not believe he would have turned traitor, but as for the latter...Freod is of the Brethelling clan, from Tohringland. His family were dispossessed by orcs and another clan took their lands, but he retained the nobleman's pride and natural assumption of command. He wanted me to put him in charge of the expedition, however I trust Esmon's judgement more and thought that serving under a more experienced - and calm - commander would do him some good." Hogar: "Hopefully it did."said Hogar "I do agree Sharney might be a good start. For one, it sounds like the people there might be more...open to visitors." sd: "Yes. You are unlikely to be able to land in Sharney itself - ships to Coelney are almost always heading to Cloppney, except a few which land in Peldene instead. I know there is one that will be heading to Cloppney soon and I have already been speaking to its captain to see about a fee to take you there and to remain at your disposal. Once you are at Cloppney you should be able to find transport to Sharney and elsewhere." Edmund: "So things in Coelney are not so uncivilsed that trade does not take place?" asked Edmund. sd: "No, not at all. The Coelneymen are not uncivillised as such, but they are...different, and not fond of mainlanders. It is also far away and not on the way to anywhere - there is nothing to the east but sea and goblins - so people rarely travel there. They are rich in stone, copper, and tin, but poor in most other things save perhaps fish. We were mostly interested in the Coelney pearls and godsroot - these are magical reagents, you see, so they would fetch a fair price. But the cult has control over these supplies, so it would require...delicate...work to acquire them." Leofric: Leofric nodded thoughtfully on the mention of pearls and godsroots. Edmund: "I am surprised they see no advantage to such a trade," Edmund mused. "Or do they have plans for their stocks?" sd: "They use them in their rites I believe, and consider them sacred. Mens minds often become highly irrational where their faith is concerned, if you will forgive me. Incidentally, there is oe fortunate aspect of Coelney's remoteness, which is that they are likely to presume you are simply mainlanders, and not realise you are from Gastonland. Whatever you feel within yourselves, you would be most wise to mention little or nothing of the Virian Way while you are in the isles." Hogar: "We have...learned in our travels that sometimes it is best not too advertise one's faith too closely"Hogar nodded Leofric: Leofric smiled slightly sad at Hogar's mention of Leofric's mistake and replied, "Indeed. We will most certainly keep that in mind." Edmund: "We are not missionaries, and our faith is our personal concern," Edmund added. sd: "Of course. Oh yes, and another matter," he examined Arianhod's armour. "The isles are poor. If you wear such armour openly, the local king and the Masked Ones may decide to confiscate your belongings for their own use. I would recommend concealing any equipment that would fetch such a high price and you might regret losing." sd: "I should also let you know a little bit about the members of the expedition, in case it is useful in searching for them. I have already mentioned Esmon and Freod, but there were four others. There were three of the Brand itself. Esmon's second-in-command is a woman named Odelyn. She...well I will be bluntly honest, she began her career in Tarnemuthe as a professional thief and fence, and decided to become a trader as it was more lucrative. She has a nose for opportunities and a keen mind for logistics and commerce. Scrella is a sorceress of the Fryderi - she had been a slave until Esmon rescued her, and she followed him out of loyalty. There is also Byrtwald - not the most brilliant man or skilled trader, but he is a fine fighter and it is always useful to have protection on such a venture. Lastly there was Randwulf, who is of the Bard's College. He had previously lived in Coelney for a time and is skilled with languages and old lore." Edmund: Edmund nodded. "I have heard of him at the Bard's College." sd: "Would you like any further information? I believe the captain is setting sail in three days, so you will still have some time to come and see me if something pops into your mind." Edmund: "We will," Edmund said. "May we have a copy of the map?" sd: "Of course, and you can take this copy of Esmon's letter as well for your reference." sd: the party left and made their last preparations. Their ship was to set sail on 8 November 227 - the captain, a burly man called Beornoth, explained gruffly that he would take them to Cloppney, and he would remain there for two months awaiting their return. He had no intention however of involving themselves in their affairs, and as he had other business in Coelney the party would need to find their own transport within the isles themselves. Hogar: Hogar took a lighter set of armor from the manor's armoury and ensured his supplies were in proper order. Leofric: Leofric made some preparation for the upcoming long trip and paid call to Sigrun to give thanks for her useful tutorage. Finally, he is ready for the long trip sd: the party set sail on Captain Beornoth's ship, a sleek trading vessel with a large hold filled with cloth and other goods, and some very cramped, uncomfortable sleeping quarters. They whiled away the first few days gambling with some of the crew - on the first day, Edmund was accused of trying to cheat and for a while the sailors gave him dirty looks and gripped at their daggers when he went by, but he was able to smooth things over and convince them this had simply been a misunderstanding. Leofric easily had the best of the games, though some of the crew were also able to scoop some of their pots. sd: the ship sailed far to the south - east of Phalen, the south coast was held by orcs and goblin pirates, and Beornoth had no wish to risk his ship to raids. They passed the ruins of the fort of Morricestre, where the High King Peada had fallen in battle hundreds of years before, then made their way to the northeast, towards the isles of Coelney.
On 13 November 227, when they were perhaps two days sailing from Coelney, Captain Beornoth began to be worried. He sensed a storm would hit soon, and he paced the deck restlessly, pressing his crew to push on so they could reach the isles before the storm hit. The next day, the winds rose and rain began to fall, and thought it did not prevent them from sailing it brought up uneasy memories of their last sea voyage, which had ended shipwrecked on the Forlorn Coast many months ago. Hogar: Hogar grumbled a bit about his gambling losses - a hundred silver - but he quickly got over it, especially when the weather began to change. Leofric: Leofric chewed his fingernails with concern at the weather Edmund: Edmund watched the sky and the waves tensely. sd: a little past mid-day on 14 November, the party glanced out off the starboard bow and noticed a tiny little isle there, barely more than a finger of land sticking out of the sea with a small copse of trees. Looking, they noticed that there appeared to be a tiny flame, flickering in the wind. As they looked closer they vaguely discerned a human shape, standing atop the only rock on the islet, leaping and waving his arms, in which the person held a battered cloth. Hogar: "Look there!" pointed out Hogar "A castaway!" sd: "Probably a pirate!" Beornoth grunted. "If he thinks I'm risking my ship for him he's badly mistaken!" Edmund: "Could he not be a shipwrecked mariner in need of rescue though?" Edmund said, concerned. Hogar: "It could be."duly noted Hogar "But it could also be good, honest sailor...." sd: "We'll be shipwrecked too if we hit a reef!" Beornoth spat. Edmund spoke to him a while longer and eventually, grudgingly, convinced the captain to go to the castaway's aid, though he warned that the party would be expected to do most of the work as this was their idea. Leofric: Leofric's attention was drawn by Hogar's shout and after eyeing the sailor, he raised his eyebrows at the thought of "good honest sailor..." sd: Beornoth had the ship turn and it sailed towards the little isle. Arianhod and Hogar worked the rigging, sweating hard. Leofric joined in - though his arms were far from strong, he was able to boost Hogar's with a spell, and he was able to repair some minor damage to the ship with another spell.
As they drew near, Beornoth spotted reefs in the water, so he threw down anchor and the party set out with a crewman in a rowboat. Arianhod and Hogar leapt into the frigid water, swimming through and managing to find a path the boat could take through the treacherous rocks.
As they drew near, they saw that the man was perhaps in his late thirties. He had stripped off his shirt, which they thought might once have been of fine quality but was now ruined through damp and wear, and that was what he had been waving to get the ship's attention. He showed heavy signs of malnutrition and dehyrdration, with the bones of his ribs sticking out clearly against his sodden skin.
"Thank the gods! Thank you! I didn't believe I'd ever see another ship again!" the castaway cried, throwing himself before Arianhod and Hogar's feet in thanks. Hogar: "No need for that."said Hogar almost embarassed by the man's expression of gratitude "You'll want to get with us on the ship and explain what happened."he added Edmund: Edmund pulled off his cloak and threw it around the man's shoulders. "You're safe now. Come with us and tell us how you ended up in this predicament?" You whisper to Edmund: he knew that the Coelneymen had a strange accent and that this was due to their long separation from the mainland. Edmund thought that the man had a hint of this, however the castaway's speech had about it the sound of the Long Shore as well, mingling with the speech of Coelney. sd: "We shipwrecked months ago, I'm the only one who survived. I've been stuck on this godsforsaken rock for...well I don't know, months. What is the day? I can tell winter is coming on." The man's breath was enough to make them gag. "Perhaps I am feverish, but you look somewhat unfamiliar." He gave Leofric a long look. "Are you mainlanders, or..." Edmund: "You need to drink clean water," Edmund said, "and take a little food. Not too much or your stomach will rebel. We are from the other side of Palania. Would you be be from the Long Shore?" sd: "Aye, though I have been in Coelney since I was a lad." Edmund: Edmund nodded. "You still have something of the Long Shore in your voice." sd: "You have strongear. Shall we repair to your ship? I have not eaten proper food since August, whenever that was." Hogar: "That was about three months ago."said Hogar, sadly Hogar: remove 'about' sd: the castaway shuddered. He stepped into the boat, his legs trembling visibly, and sat down, wrapping Edmund's cloak tightly around him. "I owe you a lifedebt. I promise you, I will repay this," he said. Edmund: "We have experienced shipwreck ourselves and would not see a fellow sea-farer left in such straights," Edmund said with feeling. sd: they made their way back to the ship, where they led the man belowdecks and were able to clear a little space for him to eat and stretch his weary limbs. The ship's cook brought him bread and broth. Taking Edmund's advice, he ate carefully, and seemed more to savour the water, as though it were the finest nectar. "My name is Maccus," he introduced himself. "Late of Tarmer, though I imagine I am now hearthless." Edmund: "Why is that?" Edmund asked. "Surely you have people awaiting your return?" sd: Maccus shook his head. "I lost my wife and children years ago, and my master had yet to find me another. He sent me to the mainland to seek to find mercenaries to aid him in the rebelstrife, but we were wrecked and I fear he is gone now." Edmund: Edmund said nothing for a moment as he puzzled over what the man had said. "Rebelstrife?" Leofric: "And finding another wife? Surely you can decide for yourself?" Leofric pointed out Hogar: "Master?" asked Hogar "You were a slave of some sort?"he asked somewhat sadly Edmund: "One question at a time, give him a chance to recover!" Edmund admonished his companions. sd: "Aye, but it was more fit for the master to find one. My master was - or still is, I hope - King Cuthwine of Tarmer. I was his slave for many years, and more recently I was his counselgiver. He made me freeborn, though I suppose my mind is still that of a slave. I do not mind, our lovebond is strong and he is a good master." Hogar: Hogar nodded at Edmund, obviously admitting he was right, and listened intently to Maccus' words Edmund: "Your King himself set out on this voyage?" Edmund asked surprised. sd: "No, no, he sent me in his stead, had he fled Tarmer then the rebelstrife would doubtless have succeeded. But he was hard-pressed and the rebels had aid from my master's enemies of the Divine Blood. I have seen ships flying their standard not long ago and I fear that means he is dead." Edmund: "He might still be fighting in Tarmer. I would suggest we sail there and find out," Edmund said, looking to his companions. sd: "This would gladden my heart, but perhaps we should land elsewhere to begin. There is no easy port on Tarmer, and I would at least know if my master is still alive before we make for Tarmer." Edmund: "Perhaps in return you might be able to help us in our quest?" Edmund suggested. "We seek some lost explorers from Phalen. The last news we have of them is that they intended to travel to Sharney, but they may have gone elsewhere." sd: "I owe you my life, I will certainly help," Maccus nodded, his glance lingering for a moment on Leofric. "I have contacts on Sharney, they were our allies, though their aid was more miserly than we'd have hoped during the rebelstrife. King Vifil fears for his own seat." Hogar: "Your knowledge of these islands will be invaluable to us."smiled Hogar "We'll see about getting you back in good shape, too. I am a sort of dabbler in healing." sd: "Thank you. I would have surely been doomed without you, my friends," Maccus gave a languid stretch. "If you do not mind, I will sleep now. I am exhausted and must recover my strength if I am to serve you." sd: pushing away his empty bowl and mug, Maccus returned Edmund's cloak and put on the rough clothes Beornoth had provided him, then stretched out in his little bedroll. He glanced over at Leofric another time, but fell quickly into a deep sleep. sd: the ship continued on. Hogar tended to Maccus over the next several days, until, on 16 November, they caught sight of the isles.
The first thing they saw was the bright flame, beautiful and deeply unnatural admist the mist and rain. The fire was erected atop a huge stone pillar, about twenty five feet high, which they could discern only faintly through the mist. Its hue was not the orange-red of an ordinary flame - rather, it was a purple-red, like bruised veins and blood, pulsating against the wind, defying the elements. "I imagine this is the first time you've seen a Heartfire," said Maccus, emerging on deck and coming to stand by the rail near Leofric. Hogar: "It is..."said Hogar looking at the flames, obviously interested but also finding the appareance of the thing ominous Leofric: Leofric watched at purple-red fire and shook his head, "Indeed, it look like it is created by magic..." Leofric: EDIT: nodded his head, saying he never seen such kind before Edmund: Edmund stared at the strange and ominous flame. "Indeed..." sd: "Aye, I have seen my master light the Heartfire at Taraglen many times. Only those who have the Divine Blood can make a Heartfire. The rain and wind cannot quench them. You could pour the whole sea upon one and it would remain lit, though they must be lit again from time to time. I recall the first time I saw one as a child, as they took me off the ship at Peldene." He looked at Leofric for a moment, then back to the Heartfire. "I was deeply fearsick, yet all the same it seemed to be most strange and lovely." Leofric: Leofric replied, "It must be. It does have its use." Hogar: "Ah, I did hear of these fires once, now that I think about it. "said Hogar after a few seconds in thought "From what I understand they are perhaps the main use of pearls and godsroot, as fuel, and where the Coelnymen celebrate all of their important lifedeeds, such as marriages and funerals." sd: as they said this, Beornoth shouted orders to his crew, who hastened their work. The mists parted, and the wharfs of Cloppney came into view before them.
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Post by sleepingdragon on Feb 1, 2014 15:47:34 GMT
sd: the ship sailed towards the wharves. Cloppney was one of the largest settlements in the isles, though by the standards of Gastony it was little more than a small town, with perhaps fifteen hundred residents. While on the mainland, wooden buildings were the norm, here in Coelney wood was scarcer and used more regularly for ships, while the dwellings of the Coelneymen were either of stone, or, for the poor and the slaves, wattle and daub. As the ship sailed into port, Maccus disappeared for a short time, and when he reemerged he had changed his clothes, gained a scar on one of his cheeks, and his hair was darker than before.
The wharves were crowded with fishermen and a few traders and hawkers. A few minutes after they weighed anchor, a short, round man in blue and gold robes came aboard. The man wore a full copper mask, concealing his face completely, though they could see his brown eyes and there was also a large hole for his mouth. He was flanked by two guardsmen, who wore boiled leather sewn with copper studs and carried tridents and round shields. The Masked One spoke to Beornoth for a short while, then he and the guards went belowdecks to examine the hold and cargo. Whilst this was being done, Maccus went to the captain and spoke to him quietly. Edmund: Edmund watched the activity with a careful eye. sd: whatever it was Maccus said, the captain seemed disinterested, though he passed the man a few coins. Maccus strode back over the party, frowning. "Foolish man," he muttered. "I had hoped the captain might wish to know who to speak to here in Cloppney and who to avoid, but he is obstinate and would not hear me out." Maccus rolled the coins between his fingers, but they were only a small handful of silvers. "I am deeply sorry and shamed to ask, but would you be able to loan me coin for equipment? I lost everything in the shipwreck." Edmund: Edmund nodded and brought out a small purse, taking out a gold coin, then looking to the others. "We were aided when in the same situation. Also we would be interested in who is worth speaking to and who should be avoided, Maccus." Leofric: Leofric nodded and also took out a gold coin as well. "Indeed..." sd: "Your business is not quite the same as that of a trader - you will have less need to know which minor official is goldhungry and which is not. I am not well loved in Cloppney, they were not friends with my master. The Masked Ones here give orders and the Divine Blood obey, while my master willed it the other way." Maccus broke off then as the Masked One returned from the hold. He spoke to Beornoth again, then left the ship. Leofric: Leofric eyed the Marked One and his men as he left the ship Hogar: Hogar put his hand to his purse and offered a gold coin too "If more is needed, just ask." Leofric: EDIT: they Hogar: "Can't say I'm disappointed to see them leave."said Hogar when the Masked One had left, as he eyed the docks and their surroundings warily Edmund: "I suggest we only spend as much time as we need to ensure that the party we are looking for is not here," Edmund said quietly. "Then head for Sharney. Where shall we begin?" sd: "I would suggest we make for Fossenden. The Lord of Fossenden pays little heed to his supposed master here in Cloppney, and we may be able to find passage there that will not be monitored by the King's spies." Maccus paused. "We should be able to landboard in a moment. Be wary here, friends. You will see things that are likely to feel heartwrong to you, but this is not your country and the folk here will not take well to any interference." Edmund: "Understood," Edmund replied with a nod, but he looked grim. Leofric: Leofric sighed for a moment and nodded as well "Agreed. We will be wary," Hogar: Hogar nodded grimly "Aye, I expected that from the moment we set out." sd: after a few parting words with Captain Beornoth, Maccus and the party left the ship and made their way into Cloppney itself, pushing through the docks. They soon worked out that slaves were identifiable from their garb, typically wearing little sashes of cloth around the wrist showing some emblem of their owner, though otherwise the slaves appeared no worse off than the other poor fishermen and labourers. The most common emblem was the copper mask that denoted ownership by the Cult itself.
The party passed into a market square, however there was no trading occuring here today. Instead, as they came near, they saw that a large number of people had gathered, both of the common sort and also perhaps a score of Masked Ones and guards. The Masked Ones were gathering round a Heartfire - it was smaller than the one they had seen earlier, but it still burned fierce and bright, completely untouched by the wind and rain. There were a great number of guardsmen, and as the party approached they saw that, near the fire, there stood a gaunt man in his forties, with slick greying hair, a fine ruby-stubbed sword at his waist, and a golden cirlcet round his head. There were three young children near the man. He raised a hand, revealing the burned fingers of one of Divine Blood, and from the other side of the square there came a trio of Masked Ones, carrying the body of a woman aloft.
Maccus grabbed Leofric's hand. "Remember, do not interfere," he said simply. Leofric: Leofric narrowed his eyes sharply as he settled down, watching what is going on. Edmund: Edmund ground his teeth at the impotence of their situation. Hogar: Hogar's worried eyes darted back and forth between the Heartfire, the Masked ones and their entourages and his companions. He said nothing however. sd: Maccus explained that the man with the circlet was King Torphin, though the real power in Cloppney was a man he named as Tidfrith, who he was sure was in attendance but he could not make him out from the other Masked Ones.
the dead woman was named Heahgyth, and she had been one of the King's wives. As the Masked Ones brought her near the party saw that her fingertips were also blackened. King Torphin and the children knelt before the Heartfire as the Masked Ones carried Heahgyth over their heads and laid her body down upon the Heartfire. The flames hissed, and almost immediately the smell of flesh rose into the air, simultaneously sickening and unnervingly tempting. As the dead woman burned, a Masked One stepped forward and intoned ceremonially.
"Thy strengthflesh, we take into our flesh. Thy soulwise, we take into our souls. Thy bloodpower, we take into our blood. Thus we continue the evercircle, that the Bloodpower grows evermore and everstronger." As he said this, they saw that King Torphin was in conversation with the eldest of the children, a boy of perhaps nine, who nodded in response. Hogar: "A cremation ceremony."muttered Hogar to the others "So far, this isn't too bad, me thinks. But I'm worried..."he added in an even more hushed tone Edmund: Edmund watched without answering, wondering how this would differ from a cremation he had attended as a child. Leofric: Leofric whispered back, "I guess we will see soon enough..." sd: The Masked One repeated his incantation several times, while others circled the Heartfire and threw objects onto the fire. Some were very strange pearls, mottled white and black, while others added a purplish weed. The body continued to burn, beginning to turn black. As it did, one of the Masked Ones nodded, and from under his robes he pulled a small saw. Stepping forward, he seized Heahgyth's arm and began to cut away, while the young boy stood and came forward.
"Mother, thy strengthflesh I take into my flesh. Thy soulwise, I take into my soul. Thy bloodpower, I take into my blood. Thus we continue the evercircle, that the Bloodpower grows evermore and everstronger." The boy's voice was surprisingly strong and clear. He reached his hand out to the Heartfire, and he flinched slightly as the flames scorched his fingers. As he did this, the Masked One finished his bloody work, and passed some of Heahgyth's arm to her son. Without hesitation, the boy bit into the blackened flesh, as more Masked Ones pulled out saws or long knives and began to carve up her body. Edmund: Edmund found his eyes watering as he stared at the vile scene taking place before him, and his face strained to remain impassive. Hogar: Hogar's face grimaced for but a moment as he witnessed the grisly scene, but he managed to keep his composure somehow. Leofric: Leofric merely looked impassive, his eyes focusing on the terrible scene before them and gave a soft sigh sd: the Masked Ones carved up the body, and they each ate small portions, though the lion's share went to the woman's three children. The King remained aside for a time, impassive, but eventually the Masked Ones served him up the woman's heart and he devoured it quickly. "The market will open again soon, once they have cleared away," said Maccus. "My master was always melancholy after such an event, though he has had only two wives of Divine Blood pass away." Edmund: "How many wives does this king have?" Edmund asked. sd: "He had six or seven I think, I misremember." Edmund: "All of them dead?" Edmund asked in surprise. sd: "Not that I am aware, only Heahgyth, and that must have happened recently. My master had three when the rebelstrife began, and seven concubines, though one of those died in the bloody bed." Edmund: "You mean childbirth?" asked Edmund. sd: "Aye. I near lost Engeleis to the same, but she lived for a few years more before the sickness came and took her and our children." Leofric: Leofric tore his sight away from the awful scene of a youngest child eating its mother greedily. and glanced at Maccus , "Thanks for the warning. It is more different than I expected..." He told Maccus. Edmund: "In one way it is terrible, but at least no living person was physically harmed. I had feared what might be done," Edmund admitted. Hogar: Hogar nodded "This was not really a...rite...we expected to see in person. At least not so soon." he said to Maccus sd: "It is rare to happen so publicly, lest when the dead is one of the Blood. My master said that the absorption of Bloodpower was greater when conducted in such a way, though I admit I understand little of those mysteries. Slaves have no Bloodpower." Edmund: "So a public rite gathers more power?" Edmund asked. "Strange. It would be interesting to know why." sd: Maccus shrugged. "Perhaps it is only a myth. I have not...partaken...of such myself so I am unknowing." As he spoke, the Masked Ones began to depart, along with the King. Maccus gave them the name of an innkeeper. "I will purchase my equipment and meet you shortly. I do not think it wise to remain in Cloppney tonight." Edmund: Edmund nodded. "Thank you for your advice. We will get food and await you." Leofric: Leofric smiled slightly with a cheer, "Maybe it will be fishes again..." Hogar: "Hopefully."said Hogar dryly sd: indeed, the party found that fish dominated the menu at the inn. It took a while to become used to the strange local accent, however they were able to eventually work it out, though Arianhod needed some help from Hogar. As they waited for Maccus, they had time to pick up a few rumours - they learned that Waldere, the favoured son of Lord Wardlaw of Fossenden, had recently gone missing, though those they spoke to said this was only the Never-Child's punishment as Lord Wardlaw had chosen to marry his daughter to another Lord rather than to the King. Another man mentioned that pirates of both human and goblin race had been growing in numbers on the northeastern shore of Great Esterness, while Leofric heard a rumour that King Vifil of Sharney was harbouring heathens and exiles in the hopes of overthrowing other Kings, especially the new King of Langholme.
After the party had time to eat, Maccus returned. He bore a trident and shortbow, as well as a backpack and bedroll, and he had a sad look on his face. "My master is dead, I have had confirmation of it," he sighed. "The rebel Wighard slew him and took in his Bloodpower. I have known this for months now, but is no less soulwearying to know for sure." Edmund: "That is a pity, we would have liked to meet your master," Edmund said. Leofric: "My condolences." Leofric expressed his sympathy at the loss. Hogar: "That is sad indeed."Hogar sighed " Your Master's death is truly a loss for all the people of Palania." sd: Maccus nodded. "Aye. But my master would not have had me sulk here. At least we know that Tarmer is no place for us, we should therefore clearly make for Sharney and seek out King Vifil. Let me eat, and then we can set out for Fossenden to find passage." Edmund: "Before we leave we much ensure that those we seek are truly no longer here," Edmund said. sd: "As you wish, I will assist you so far as I am able." Leofric: Leofric nodded at that point, "Good idea. Better to be sure after all. Maccus, I am assuming we are going by ship to reach Fossenden?" sd: "Overland would be wiser. Any ship that leaves Cloppney is taken note of." Leofric: Leofric nodded, agreeing with Maccus's logic, "Indeed, it is better to avoid notice then..." sd: the party asked around about the expedition. They found that they had stayed at another inn in the previous year, and Maccus was able to track down the innkeeper and wheedle some information out of him. As the message had confirmed, they had been intending to set out for Sharney. The innkeeper said that he had taken well to Odelyn and Byrtwald, of the group, as they appeared the least bothered by his somewhat rough clientele. He had sought to hire Byrtwald to do an unspecified job for him, though Byrtwald had refused the offer after some consideration. Leofric: Leofric told the others with a sense of relief, "At least we know they are heading for Sharney for sure." Edmund: "Let's hope they reached it," Edmund said. Edmund: "Should we leave soon then?" Edmund asked Maccus. sd: Maccus stripped his last piece of fish down to the bone. "Aye." sd: the party set out from Cloppney about an hour later. By now it was past mid-day, so they managed only a few leagues before they had to make camp. Maccus had been quiet throughout the journey, though his spirits seemed to have risen slightly over the last short time. Once the fire was lit, he came over and sat by Leofric, saying nothing. Edmund: Edmund got out his flute and struck up a sweet though rather plaintive air. sd: Maccus smiled and spoke around mouthfuls of food. "Well not all is dark at least, we have fine music and my appetite is returning." He glanced at Leofric. "I have not drawn a bow in months and my muscles are still timesore. Are you an archer? You might come and help me regain my strength." Hogar: Hogar listened to Edmun's fluteplaying intently as he glanced into the fire Leofric: Leofric settled down, closing his eyes to the wonderful notes whispering through the airm, gave a small smile and glanced down at his crossbow. "Not exactly. I am more fond of using my sword. I am happy to teach what I know and to improve your strength. I have to improve my own strength recently" He glanced at down at his rather large but still thin body. sd: Maccus stood. "Let's set to it then," he set off for a tree that they could use as a target. Leofric: Leofric stood up and sighed for a moment and glanced at Ed, "Ed, you are likely to be better than me to remind him how to shoot an arrow. Better shot as well!" He told Ed softly before he making his way over. Edmund: Edmund smiled. "I can have a go, but I wouldn't call myself an expert shot." sd: Maccus, Leofric, and Edmund spent some time shooting and engaging in exercises to help Maccus recover some of his strength. He seemed to take these well. Wiping sweat from his brow, he stopped to speak quietly to Leofric as they ended. You whisper to Leofric: "So you are wise as well as beautiful. Come to me later and we might learn other things from each other, goldone." Leofric whispers: : Leofric glanced back at Maccus, as he listened to Maccus and his attempt to seduce him. His eyes solid as flint. He remained expressionless as he replied simply, "I have no drop of desire toward men nor I wish to." He looked at Maccus carefully. You whisper to Leofric: Maccus looked disappointed. "As you will, though you may reconsider at any time if you wish. I have learned all the means there are to provide pleasure, and there is no shame in taking a taste of fruits you have not known before." Maccus slung his bow over his shoulder. Edmund: Edmund left the others to talk privately and sat down with the flute again. sd: Maccus strode back to the fire and sat there for a time. "I will take the first watch or the last, as you prefer." Hogar: Hogar meanwhile had been sharpening his axe and checking on his supplies. He looked a bit relieved to see the others come back Edmund: Edmund raised his brows enquiringly at Leofric as they returned. Leofric: Leofric shook his head at Edmund, making it clear Edmund shouldn't ask. sd: it took another day and a half to reach Fossenden, on the south coast of the large isle of Cumbraley. They passed through a sizeable forest, then into gently rolling hills. There were few people here, only an occasional farmstead, often owned by the cult and worked by slaves. Here and there, they saw signs that might suggest bandits, but if any were watching they did not trouble the party.
As they came near to Fossenden they found it in a state of alertness. There were many guards patrolling the boundaries of the village, wielding tridents, axes, or bows. A knot of guards approached the party as they travelled. "Hold there, farwalkers. Have you seen any sign of gibberlings on the road? We have hunted them but they are cowardswifts and flee when we are too near." You whisper to Leofric: Leofric knew that gibberlings were small, cowardly creatures that hunted in great numbers. They despised bright light and feared fire, but would often prowl at night in search of food. Generally, the creatures were regarded as little more than nuisances, barely capable of thought (if they were indeed capable at all) Hogar: Hogar's brow furrowed at the mention of these 'Gibberlings' Leofric: Leofric mentioned to others in his party. "I heard about them. They are small timorous craven creatures that hunt in large group. However, they have a deep repugnance for bright light anfd feared fire. They tend to prowl at night. However, they are generally an annoyance." sd: "Generally, but something is making these ones bolder. Our Lord's son has gone missing and we fear these beasts have waylaid him." Edmund: Edmund frowned. "Strange, what might have encouraged these things to alter their ways?" sd: the guardsman shrugged. "They are mindstrange, if there is any pattern behind their actions it is hidden from us." Edmund: "We have seen nothing of them ourselves. Where was your lord's son when he disappeared?" Hogar: "We will keep that in mind. "said Hogar "But we have seen nothing of them" sd: the party continued on into Fossenden, which was a small village. As the forest was nearby this was a place of wooden homes, and the Heartfire in the large natural harbour was atop a stone pillar with a bowl shaped like an open palm. They learned there were fishermen and sailors who often travelled to other islands, but at the present time Lord Waldere had laid a heavy toll on anyone leaving, as he wished to have the boats near so they could respond rapidly to any gibberling attack. While the creatures had not typically presented any problem save to lone travellers, a farmstead had recently been burned and many sheep had been slain and taken away. Edmund: "At this rate we could be stuck here for months," Edmund said with a sigh when they heard the news. "Perhaps we should offer our services in tracking down the missing son and dealing with these wretched gibberlings." Hogar: "That might take time. But it sounds like fine work. I'd be up for it myself" sd: "This should prove interesting. We have not had them on Tarmer since before I was taken, my master's uncle slew them all," said Maccus. Edmund: "Do you have knowledge of the best way to deal with them?" Edmund asked. sd: Maccus shrugged. "Fire and sword. They are not renowned for their great prowess, though they are dangerous in numbers as all beasts are." Hogar: "We have both, and have fought against much greater numbers more than once."said Hogar "Still, we have to find them first." sd: Leofric and Maccus headed into the village and made some discreet enquiries, and were able to secure an audience with Lord Wardlaw. A serving man fetched them quietly from their inn, and led them back to a nondescreipt house near the shore. The serving man took them downstairs, then bowed before a man who was almost unthinkably ordinary. Their minds and eyes seemed to slide straight past the man's burned fingers, struggling to notice them, but once they were introducted Lord Wardlaw made a gesture and the spell dissipated.
"My commiserations on your master, Maccus," he said unceremoniously. Lord Wardlaw rubbed his chin. "I could make myself a fair sum of gold if I were to sell you back to Wighard, but you will be of more troubleuse if you are free and making things difficult for our enemies." He looked to the party. "I will be in debt to you if you would hunt down these gibberlings, and greater still if you located my son, though I doubt they have left him alive. The gibberlings are sneaky and tricky, but they will no doubt have a brood mother to whom they are bloodbound. If you can find this creature and slay her, I suspect the others will lose heart." Edmund: "We are glad to be of service to you and your people. Do you know where the gibberlings may be found?" Edmund asked. "Otherwise we will start from where your son disappeared." sd: "They are somewhere in the hills to the northeast, we do not know exactly where. Waldere was hunting in the woods when he and his companions vanished, I believe we have found exactly where they were attacked but from there the trail is hard to follow." Edmund: "From what we know of them, it seems most unusual for gibberlings to attack an armed group. Are you certain that these things are responsible?" Edmund asked. sd: Lord Wardlaw nodded. "Their tracks were found at the site. It is extremely rare for them to take such an action, but these appear to be unusual creatures. They are less sunblinded than others we have encountered, and seem willing to use fire as well." Edmund: "That is worrying," Edmund frowned. Leofric: Leofric rose his eyebrows with surprise, "Very worrying! Clearly they need to be hunted and hopefully its leader whom ever it is giving these beasts courage slain." Hogar: Hogar nodded "Aye. We shall do that. We can start as soon as we are led to the place where the attack happened." sd: after about an hour, Lord Wardlaw arranged for some of his men to lead the party out to where they believed Waldere had vanished. It took several more hours to reach a spot in the woods, where there were signs of dried blood, torn cloth, and a small, severed grey arm rotting under a bush. "A gibberling arm," the guard explained. "The creatures are like to have taken their dead back for their bloodpower, but this was missed." Leofric: Leofric nodded and took a glance around to see if there is anything unusual. Hogar: Hogar looked at the gibberling arm with disdain "Not very big, these things." before turning to the rest of the signs of battle sd: searching, they were able to locate broken spearheads which the guardsmen explained belonged to the creatures. Arianhod discovered a piece of a sword by a tree-root - the guards looked grim at this, as only their lord's son had been so armed of the hunting party. The party were able to discover some tracks, which led off to the northeast. sd: the party set out. The hills were soft, but windy and covered in trees, as well as criss-crossed by many small streams. Edmund convinced a fisherman that they were about the lord's business and therefore he agreed to lend them a rowboat. Maccus took the helm, displaying adept skill, and they set out through the waterways hunting for signs of the gibberlings. Here and there they were forced to portage for short distances, with Arianhod and Hogar carrying the boat between them.
After a time, they began to find more signs of the creatures, and Maccus suggested that they find a suitable location to hide and observe. Arianhod was able to climb up onto a sheltered ledge, and Maccus camouflaged them and they waited. A little time after dusk, Arianhod spied a small grey creature emerge for a short time from a little cave by a pool, almost entirely sheltered by trees and water. sd: they headed down, and reentered the boat. Maccus rowed carefully and quietly towards the cave, with Arianhod and Edmund making sure they did not strike anything that would make a loud noise and give them away. They were able to stealthily reach the shore, finding a small cave entrance that led into pitch darkness. "The creatures see in the dark, we will need some kind of light," said Maccus quietly. Edmund: "We have torches," Edmund whispered. Leofric: Leofric nodded and asked for the torch, when lit and asked Maccus to carry the torch for now. Hogar: "There will likely be many of these things. Keep your eyes out, we don't want to get swarmed." sd: Maccus drew his trident and carried the torch in his other hand. "Aye. I haven't any armour so you'll forgive me if I don't acquit myself in the most valiant of manners." Edmund: "You are still weakened by your ordeal. We do not expect you to be in the vanguard," Edmund said. "I have a sling if you are any good with one?" sd: "Never used one. I prefer my bow, but I can hardly carry that and a torch." Leofric: Leofric nodded at that point and replied, "I got something that will help you to lessen an weapon impact but only once." He immediately made gesture, touching him. sd: Maccus smiled. "Strange, you also possess bloodpower. Not what I would have expected from mainlanders." Edmund: Edmund nodded. He moved quietly around the boat, touching blades and then his own arrows, quietly muttering some words. Leofric: Leofric looked thoughtfully for a moment as he considered the word 'Bloodpower' and repeated the same gesture for Ed and for himself. Hogar: Hogar looked pleased to see the blade of his axe magically sharpened - as he was pleased by Maccus positive reaction to Leofric and Edmund's use of spells sd: Maccus tried to keep the torch as hidden as possible as he stepped off the boat. "Are you ready?" Edmund: Edmund raised his bow in response, arrow already in place. Hogar: Hogar nodded grimly as he hefted his axe Leofric: Leofric nodded and also raised his crossbow, ready for one shot. sd: the party entered into the cave. Ahead of them, there was a long path that stretched on out of the light of the torch. Along the wall to their left they saw there was a little path within the wall itself, running along and down deeper into the cavern. It would be a very tight squeeze for a human, though a creature as small as a gibberling would have fewer problems sd: ahead of them, perhaps thirty or forty feet beyond the edge of their light, they could hear low gibbering noises, and sounds of scuffling on stone. Deeper into the caves there were more noises still - they guessed there must be at least twenty of the things, probably more.
As they took a step forward, Hogar and Edmund simultaneously realised the ground felt slightly wrong, and feeling their way ahead of them they thought that the ground in the middle of the path, not far ahead of them, was like to fall away beneath them if they stepped on it. Hogar: Hogar pointed to the unstable soil and made a sign that it was not safe to walk there Edmund: Edmund pointed to the safe area to walk. Leofric: Leofric nodded in response, his hands gripping his crossbow, ready to fire. sd: they continued forward cautiously, hearing the sounds of scuttling around them. They edged around the pit and continued on, finding another passage to their right that led down. As they continued, Edmund noticed the signs of another pit ahead of them, and pointed it out to the others. As he did this, they suddenly saw two small, grey-skinned creatures ahead of them, attempting to conceal themselves in new side passages, holding slings which they were readying to be fired. Edmund: "There, two of them!" Edmund hissed, drawing back his bowstring. Leofric: Leofric eyed and nodded, he raised his crossbow in the process of firing them. Hogar: Hogar raised his hatchet, ready to throw it at one of the creatures sd: realising they were spotted, the creatures let out a great ululating cry, which was answered with many voices that reverberated in the deeps
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