A
rider on the road...About an hour later, the party find themselves riding along a new road that seems to be made out of artificial stones, or perhaps out of stones that were magically shaped. Having passed the last of the ranches a half mile back, the terrain is relatively open and the weather clear, if cold with no wind. Small rolling grassy hills in every direction, with bushes and occasional copses of trees but no real forests to speak of. The amount of road visible varies considerably, as the Nesmé Road twists through the hills. Sometimes two or three miles can be seen, at other times less than 100 yards.
At the sides of the road, lots of spring flowers bloom, their sent rising in the still air, and the occasional bird song can be heard. Soggrin sits up high in her saddle - searching the horizon looking for any land marks she might recognise as close to her homeland and her people.
********
The party travel for a further couple of hours, and are starting to think about stopping for lunch when the sound of distant hoofbeats can be heard. After a few moments, a couple of hundred yards ahead, a single rider appears, galloping along the road, his horse lathered and wild eyed. As he races towards the party, they can see that his hair is a mess, his tunic is torn and he has blood on his face from a nasty score. As he sees the party, his head lifts from where he is crouched over the saddle, and he screams at them.
"Flee! Flee! Barbarians are coming!"
Looking beyond the rider, further riders can suddenly be seen, rounding the corner on the road. It is a large group, probably 20 riders or so!
Söggrin, quickly kicks her horse forward, sitting up straight and craning her head to see the approaching horsemen. "Yes!" she says excitedly. "They are my people! Ska ya lee boll!" she yells, waving her spear in greeting.
Meanwhile, the single rider continues to gallop towards the party. Seeing Söggrin, his eyes widen even further, and he jerks his reins, causing his horse to swerve to the side, racing past the party.
The chasing group can also be heard yelling in their barbarian tongue now, Seeing the party, they slow somewhat, fanning out a bit. Each of the barbarians have balck feathers in their hair, similar to that which Söggrin has in hers. Some of them are wearing decorated leather jerkins, but most appear to be wearing only their furs. Many of them have short bows, and all of them have spears.
Ceely positions herself at the head of the party, holding her spear above her head, whilst several other members of the party move their horses towards the slight rise on the side of the road.
As the barbarian group spot Söggrin, their shouting dies away, and they slow further, reducing the pace of their horses to almost a walk as they continue to fan out. Finally, they stop, letting just one of the larger warriors ride forward a few paces in front. If the number of black feathers in his top knot is anything to go by, he appears to be more important that the others, and when he holds up his hand, the rest of the warriors fall silent.
The warrior looks disdainfully at the party, his lip curling in disgust. "Whore-son kidnappers!" he spits in accented common trade tongue.
"Aswo harkpo iwi fla rees Derbroshin? Söggrin says smiling as she rides her horse forward to stand next to Ceely. There is a smattering of laughter from some of the other barbarians.
The warrior leader leans forward to look at Söggrin. A puzzled expression crosses his face for a moment as she speaks, before he turns and glares at his fellow warriors. Their laughter fades at his dark expression. He glances again at the rest of the party, as if re-assessing them in a new light. He returns his gaze to Söggrin. "Ska Söggrin", he says in a hard and tight voice. He switches to the common trade tongue and shouts angrily. "And are you now the whore of such scum? It is no matter, Söggrin! When I rescue you and return you to your father, you will at last be mine. And then I shall set my little flower back on the true path."
Söggrin answers, "I suppose my father might be a problem. But all you'll get out of me is a daily kick in the balls, you overgrown ape. I can't stand you, Derbroshin. If father doesn't see things my way, I'll have to cut your damn throat. I assume the other thing is missing already."
Derboshrin's face goes beetroot at this, and he raises his spear starting to shout something. One of his comrades nudges his horse forward however and grabs his arm, lowering the spear and whispering urgently in his ear. The rest of the warriors look to him expectantly.
After a moment. Derboshrin, shakes off the arm, and faces the party. "You are cowardly whores' sons, but our law says you must be given the chance to redeem yourselves in deadly combat. It is your choice, whether you choose to die in honor, or whether we cut you down like the worthless blades of manure stained grass that you are.. If any of you should win, which I doubt very much, he is free to go his own way. No magic is allowed. My men have orders to shoot down anyone with their bows who resorts to magic of any kind."
He looks at Larz specifically and says. "You may go your way. The Black Ravens are at peace with the folk of the mountain."
<Ceely aka Robson wrote>:
> ...turning to Soggrin, she asks "Is he telling the
> truth? Must all of us fight?"
Söggrin, her own face angry glances at Ceely's question. She leaps down from her horse and strides towards Derboshrin. "You cannot do this!" she almost screams. Derboshrin waves a hand dismissivly, and springs down from his horse. The two nearest warriors also jump down and step forward with him.
<Ceely aka Robson continued>:
> "Ok, Derbroshin, I will go first. Who of you big
> and fierce warriors will take me to the ground?
> I fight for myself, and not for the group, but I
> will teach you to respect others." Ceely dismounts
> from her horse, readies her harpoon, and walks forward.
Derboshrin laughs at Ceely. "I mean the warriors" he gestures at the male members of the party. "You women will become whores for the tribe."
<Lucretia aka Joe wrote>:
> "So I take it your people don't give a spit we
> helped you." Luc will say to Soggrin...as he sizes
> up the man with whom she is speaking.
Soggrin glances back at Lucretia as he approaches, her face filled with anguish. "They think of your people as not worthy of honour" she says simply.
<Lucretia aka Joe continued>:
> Continuing to talk to Soggrin but look at the leader.
> "I thought your people had honor....he lets the
> question go unanswered." "What is this test...I have
> no problem with a test of strength." <SNIP THOUGHTS>
> "Soggrin...tell them we are not here to trespass on your
> hunting grounds or to molest them in any way, except for
> to return you home...but if it will keep this meeting a
> peaceful one, I will take the challenge." <Luc will
> lock eyes with Derboshrin and not look away.>
Derboshrin looks at Lucretia with what could almost pass for a smile, as what looks to him like a worthy opponent steps forward. "Not strength, skill!" he says. He gestures and one of the other barbarians hands him an bone handled curved dagger. He retrieves another similar one from his own belt, and throws one of them on the ground near Lucretia. Ignoring Lucretia's stare, he looks around and then throws the other so it hits the ground in front of a scarred warrior sitting on another horse. That warrior leaps down and picks up the dagger.
Soggrin tries to explain to Derboshrin, but every time she speaks, he simply waves a hand and ignores her.
Meanwhile, Serena moves her horse to the front of the party, and the rest of the group shuffle their horses closer as she also responds to Derboshrin's challenge.
<Serena aka Douglas wrote>:
> "So we meet the great Tubboshit - Master of Black
> Raven hospitality! All your talk of whores tells
> us what your mother was! But, tell me something
> else, Oh Great Tubboshit," Serena continues with a
> sneer, "Your challenge was to the whore's sons
> among us - but what of we women? Or do you not
> consider us a challenge?
There is a smattering of laughter amongst the barbarians as they hear their leader insulted by a woman, and Derboshrin glares at Serena. "Quiet whore!" he barks at her. "You can work as well without a tongue as with!"
<Serena aka Douglas continued>:
> "Or do you just fear what you do not understand? Like
> this place." Serena sweeps her arm around in a wide arc.
Some of the warriors glance around them with amused but slightly puzzled smiles. Derboshrin continues to glare at Serena.
> "For it is said among my people that these hills harbor
> malevolent spirits of the dead buried deep beneath them.
> And that these spirits can be roused to anger by the
> presence of ungrateful braggarts, like you, who would
> ignobly threaten those who have freely done them a great
> service. Perhaps I shall call out and awaken these spirits,
> that they may rise from the earth and smite you down for your
> insolence!" Holding both arms aloft, with longsword in one
> hand and shield in the other, Serena calls out the words,
> "Any ime-tay Yvandel-say!"
Some of the other warriors look a little uneasy but the majority simply look on slightly amused. Derboshrin barks out a command, and a warrior near by fires an arrow which slams into Serena's horse. The horse staggers, and Serena only just manages to stay in the saddle, as it stumbles about for a moment, it's eyes wide and nostrils flaring. She just manages to get to the ground, before it collapses, it's breath ragged, the arrow jutting from it's breast.
Lucretia, caught off-guard by the warrior firing his arrow (OOC: lost initiative by a long mark - rolled a 10!) lunges forwards with his spear, aiming at Derboshrin. Unfortunately, he trips as he lunges, and staggers somewhat, missing by a mile. (OOC: Not Lucretia's day - a fumble!)
Derboshrin steps back a pace, almost ignoring the swipe, and there is the sound of several bowstrings being stretched. In the momentary silence that followed, only the noise of the wind, whispering in the bushes can be heard above the pathetic whinnies of the dying horse. A couple of warriors glance around, then back to the "action".
"Drop your spear and pick up the knife!" Derboshrin commands Lucretia,
as the other warrior approaches.
> <Luc saps his spear into the ground kind of as it
> was his intention...maybe the other barbarians will
> think his fumbled attack was merely a faint attack..
> ..and perhaps save himself some face.>
Lucretia jams his spear into the ground, almost pretending he had meant to do so instead of missing Derboshrin so badly. He almost pulls it off before he dismounts from his horse.
OOC: Whoops! I had made the mistake before of assuming he had already dismounted! Never mind.
<Ceely aka Robson wrote>:
> "A horse? You shot a horse, you dim-witted
> barbarian." Then, looking enraged to Derboshrin.
> "You want a whore? Well, I´ll give you a whore.
> If you are man enough, come and fight me. Let me
> show your men your yellow insides." She nears the
> warrior, harpoon in defensive instance. "Or are
> you so afraid to lose a fight to a woman, or all
> that stuff that Soggrin told me holds true, about
> how you prefer the company of your men at night on
> camps, instead of women on your tent?"
The barbarians laugh out loud at this - even Derboshrin. A couple of them make what sound like crude jokes, making them laugh louder.
<Ceely aka Robson continued>:
> "You know? You might even enjoy this big and thick harpoon......"
>
> She advances.....
<Lucretia aka Joe continued>:
> <He dismounts near the dagger and hands his reins
> to Ceely and removes his backpack.>
OOC: Ceely doesn't take them - she is advancing on Derboshrin...
> "No worries." <he says to her> "These guys don't
find
> you ladies fit for anything but bedding <he smiles and
> says almost too chauvinistically> "I'll fight for your
> honor."
Ceely ignores him and continues to advance slowly on Derboshrin. As she gets closer, Deboshrin's smile slides off his face to be replaced with a steely glare, and his stance shifts subtly, as he waits for her. She lunges forward with her harpoon, scoring the tip of the harpoon across his ribs, making a large tear in his leather armour and coming away bloodied (OOC: 10hp). His breath whistles through gritted teeth as he retaliates, swinging his own spear in a wide arc aimed at Ceely's head. Ceely just manages to duck and the swing goes wide. At his side, one of the other barbarians also jumps forward, this time spear point first. The point connects, and Ceely staggers back a step, her own leather punctured. (OOC: major hit - 10hp damage!)
Cleo pulls her sword from her sheath and slides from her horse.
Serena crouches next to her fallen mount, assessing the opposition. She sees that half of the barbarians have nocked bows. All of them have spears. About half of them have leather armour as well. It looks like they all have daggers as well. She stands and puts her horse out of it's misery.
Balnor slides from his horse too, commenting to the group about the barbarians slowly encircling them.
Moans and groans can be heard on the wind.
Herod jumps from his horse and runs forward shouting "Hold!"
<Herod aka Scott wrote>:
> "Hold!" Shouts Herod as he slides off his mount and
moves
> to the front of the group. "I am a warrior priest of Tempus,
> one of the War Gods in the Realms, and I know your people
> believe in the gods of war. Know that you will lose favor
> with your gods if you impede us in our righteous endeavor
> of re-uniting daughter and father. I know not what you want
> with Soggrin, but she has shown her wish to be with her
> father, and I am sure that if you try to stop us then your
> gods and her father will be displeased with all of you."
Several of the barbarians look dubiously at Herod, some with concerned expressions, some not. Ceely, Derboshrin and the barbarians near them ignore him, caught up as they are in the combat.
<Herod aka Scott continued>:
> As he is shouting the last he will turn to take
> a look at all of the barbarians. "I am one that
> would rather die than displease my god, and I
> think all of you would want to have the favor of
> your gods. Think of the consequences if you were
> to displease your gods. Life is short compared
> to the eternity you will spend in the afterlife."
The barbarian facing Lucretia, still with dagger in hand, grins at the Priest of Tempus. "Get out of way shaman or face the claws of the Raven!"
> He will look around one more time hopefully setting
> the minds of the barbarians on the idea of an eternity
> of unpleasantness if they displease their gods. Then
> look back to the leader, "Would you be the one to
> bring displeasure from your gods on this group of warriors?"
Some of the warriors glance at each other, and some glance up at the sky, as if fearing a thunderbolt. The sky, although clear earlier in the morning, has since clouded over, and there is the feeling of just before a storm in the air. The wind appears to rise, it's whispering rising into a low moaning. Several of the younger barbarians look around alarmed, unsettled by this almost unnatural sound.
ROUND TWO
Ceely forms a defensive posture as she insults Derboshrin again. He puts out his arm and stops the warrior at his side from stepping forward and having a second attack.
"Bitch!" He spits at Ceely, and crouches into a ready position,
Meanwhile, Herod waves his arms in the air, and calls out some words in prayer. A gust of wind is felt and a couple of the barbarian archers yell some form of warning. There is the twang of a few of bow strings. Herod is spun around as a couple of arrows thunk into him. (OOC: 4hp damage total)
A moment later, the dust on the road is caught by the wind in an eddy, which quickly becomes a miniature whirlwind, centred on the warrior facing Herod and Lucretia. Herod, Lucretia and Ceely, together with Derboshrin and a couple of other barbarians, find themselves shielding their eyes from the dust cloud suddenly whipped up by the wind. The warrior with the dagger cries out in pain and staggers back.
Above the sound of the miniature whirlwind the moaning that could be heard suddenly intensifies into howling and growling.
Many of the barbarians look away from the party into the air, worried about the unnatural noises and the strange electrical tension in the air.
"Magic!" screams Derboshrin, and lunges towards Ceely. Ceely her eyes stinging from the dust, just leaps aside in time, and tries to bring her harpoon to bear, but Derboshrin also dodges, before jabbing again with the spear. The point punches into Ceely's shoulder (OOC: 6hp damage), but not before her own harpoon finds Derboshrin's flesh again.(OOC: 9hp damage)
Lucretia, squinting, grabs his spear again and also has a go at Derboshrin, only to be intercepted by his neighbour. They exchange blows but spill no blood.
As Yvandel climbs slowly from his horse, Blondung jumps from his horse as well. "I have a bad feeling about this!", he says. The horses, start to become skittish. and several of the bowmen, let fire at suspected magic users. An arrow narrowly misses Yvandel and another thunks into Blondung's saddle. "SHIT!" he cries hunkering down next to his horse. Another arrow hits the back of Balnor's horse which shrieks, rising up on it's back legs and pulling the reins out of Serena's hands as she was about to try and mount it! Merrell, seeing the arrows flying also jumps down from his horse to try and get a bit of cover. Not quickly enough, as a single arrow rips through his robe, scoring his arm. (OOC: only 1hp damage!). Milo has to duck as well as an arrow buzzes past his ear.
Larz, desperately trying to stay on his increasingly jittery horse, grasps his holy symbol and closes his eyes, his mouth moving almost silently in dwarvish. Suddenly, a cloud of billowing vapours rise up from under his horse, enveloping him and everyone near him in thick obscuring vapours.
There is more shouting and the twangs of bowstrings. A couple of horses scream as they are hit by stray arrows fired into the fog. In the air above, the howling coalesces into a just understandable sentence. "Who-ooooo.... A-aaa... Wa-aaa.... Kens-sss....Us-ssss...."
Soggrin's voice can just be heard through all of this, sobbing "Stop! Stop!"
A few droplets of water can be felt falling from the heavens, as the rain starts...
ROUND THREE
OOC: Since the fog obscures most of the party, I have separated this post into sections - covering the same time period, but for different "groups" of characters.
As the thick fog covers most of the party, the barbarian's continue to shout to each other, those with bows aiming at who ever they can get a clear shot at.
Lucretia and the barbarian to the right of Derboshrin continue to battle, spear to spear - though neither making any contact - as Ceely dances her own dance of death with the barbarian leader.
Ceely again gets through the barbarian leader's defences, and opens another wound, this time in his other side (OOC: 6hp damage). He grunts in pain and redoubles his efforts to kill the woman in front of him.
*********** (Serena, Balnor and Cleo)
Serena calls Cleo and Balnor to her, and starts to lead their the horses towards the back edge of the fog, hoping to come out and surprise some of the barbarians. Just as the three of them reach the edge of the fog, a bolt of lightning comes out of the sky and strikes into 3 of the barbarians standing at the top of the hill nearby, throwing them and their horses to the floor in convulsions.
*******
Meanwhile Yvandel gropes his way towards Soggrin's voice, in between Milo and Larz's horses. From above him he can hear Larz making some form of prayer to Clangeddin - perhaps another priestly spell. Just as he reaches Soggrin, there is a flash of light and a crash of thunder - very close by!
*******
Herod, virtually blind from the swirling dust, follows the whirlwinds path as it goes in amongst the barbarians. He doesn't see or hear the 3 arrows that miss his partially obscured shape, but does catch the panicked noise of the barbarian's horses as they find themselves being struck by the debris picked up by the unnatural wind. He certainly hears the thunder however, and even picks up the flash as a bolt of lightning descends from the heavens and strikes amongst the barbarians on the hill.
******
Milo and Merrell simply remain in the fog - apparently doing nothing - but they think they can hear Blondung muttering something arcane, and definitely hear Larz praying in dwarvish. The thunderclap and flash of white makes them jump.
The rain starts to get a bit harder.
ROUND FOUR
Serena quickly slings her bow and draws her sword and shield, before jumping back into the fog, barely in time as the barbarian thunders down on her. Merrell throws a dagger which flies true, making the barbarian grunt before - with spear lowered for the charge - he disappears following Serena, the fog swirling in his passage.
Once concealed by the fog, Serena ducks to one side, surprised as she feels the barbarian's horse rush past, closer than she thoughts.
Meanwhile, Balnor likewise throws a dagger at the horseman charging him. His eye is in, and the dagger lodges in the left shoulder of the man, but doesn't slow his charge. At the last moment, Balnor leaps aside, much to the shock of Cleo, who was trying to grab him to pull him out of the way. The man canters past as Balnor rolls to his feet. Cleo glances around to find herself the target of the third horseman, who catches her with his spear, knocking her flying. (OOC: 10hp damage, critically failed dex roll)
***
As the horse backs out of the way, Soggrin steps forward to attack the man she had knocked from it. Her spear darts forward, slamming into the man as he tries to rise (OOC: 4hp damage). He screams in paid, but manages to stagger to his feet, thrusting with his own spear, scoring along Soggrin's ribs (OOC: 4hp damage). Soggrin swears at him and whips the spear around, whacking him with the butt in the solar plexus. (OOC: 4hp damage)
On the other side of Ceely, Lucretia takes advantage of the distraction that the raven is providing, and literally throws his spear at the barbarian in-front of him, before attempting to draw his sword. The spear hits, knocking the barbarian back somewhat as it sticks in his thigh. The barbarian yanks it out and lunges forward, his face contorted with rage and almost berserk fury. Lucretia, just manages to get his blade out in time, and knocks the point aside.
Ceely's other attacker also hesitates seeing the raven, and as Derboshrin steps backwards, flapping at the raven with his spear, Ceely darts forward, and plunges her harpoon into his chest (OOC: 8hp damage). Derboshrin's head whips back to Ceely, shock and surprise on his face, his lips move in silent curses, before his knees buckle under him and he collapses in front of her, dead.
The barbarian at his side shouts in anger, and attacks Ceely furiously, riding his horse close to her, but Ceely jumps back, avoiding his blow. She brings her own harpoon up just in time, and the already blooded point scores into his torso (OOC: 7hp damage). His anger re-doubles and he makes the horse rise up kicking at Ceely. Ceely ducks, narrowly avoiding being hit.
***
Meanwhile, Herod continues to stumble in the path of his summoned dust devil, as it chases the original barbarian, pushing others further away. Over the roar of the wind, the cries of pain of the barbarian in it's middle can be heard.
***
Meanwhile from within the fog, a yellow glow suddenly appears, as if of something on fire. It slowly approaches the edge of the fog, appearing behind Ceely. It is Milo, wielding a sword of flame in one hand, his man-catcher in the other.
ROUND FIVE
The whirlwind evaporates almost as suddenly as it began, and the dust cloud starts to settle. Within it, the figure of Herod can be clearly seen, swinging his axe towards the battered, blinded barbarian who had been the tormented victim of the summoned dust devil. The barbarian never knew what hit him, and crumples around the Battleguard's axe. (OOC: 8hp damage)
Beyond the settling dust cloud, the Tempurian priest can see three of the barbarian riders, starting to regain control of their horses.
***
Balnor, seeing Cleo downed by her attacker, leaps and lunges towards him, thrusting upwards with his rapier with deadly accuracy. His thin blade punches through the barbarian's leather armour like tissue paper, and goes deep into the man's flesh. His back arches with pain. (OOC: Critical hit! 14hp damage)
Meanwhile Serena pops back out of the fog, moving quickly up onto the hill next to Cleo and Balnor. The barbarian who was attacking Balnor turns to meet this new threat. He pulls on the horses mane, and the horse rises, kicking it's front feet at Serena. The warrioress backs off a little, using her shield to fend off the flailing hooves. As it comes down, she steps forward, swinging, and manages to catch it's rider with the tip of her sword. (OOC: 6hp damage)
Cleo, after scrambling back to her feet, chops up at the wounded rider above her, managing to strike his leg, wounding him further. (OOC: 6hp damage) With his failing strength, the barbarian kick his heels into his horse's flanks and tries to flee from combat. Both Balnor and Cleo try again to hit the moving target, but miss, their blows simply grazing the horses flanks and making it move even faster. As the horse canters away, the barbarian slowly slips from his back, one of Merrell's daggers in his side. He hits the ground awkwardly, bounces a couple of times, then lies still, his face in the mud. (OOC: Merrell's dagger - 4hp damage!)
Beyond the fog, Serena's first spear wielding attacker canters back out into the open, to be joined by a couple of archers riding from the south side of the fog.
***
Milo, with flaming sword held high, strides out of the fog. Ceely, catching the movement out of the corner of her eye, spins with bloodied harpoon held high. As she sees Milo, she relaxes somewhat, smiles through her own pain, mouths something which could be "lick you", then turns back, just in time to receive a spear from her mounted opponent. The spearhead pierces her side, and she is jerked around. Her shocked eyes lock with Milo's for a moment as her knees buckle, and then her expression relaxes, and she almost smiles before collapsing.
Soggrin's opponent, the barbarian on-foot, is enraged by her attack, and starts to battle her back in a flurry of whirling spear. Ducking and weaving, she manages to avoid being struck by the much stronger man, but also fails to make contact herself with her own spear.
Meanwhile, Lucretia, with his more familiar sword in his hand, shows what a "civilised" man can do with his specialised weapon. Blocking another blow by the berserk barbarian in front of him, (who seems to completely ignore the raven flapping near his head) he ripostes, stabbing the sword into the man's side. (OOC: 10hp damage) Spinning to avoid another desperate blow by the barbarian, he then slashes his sword across the man's arm and shoulders, ripping open the flesh virtually to the bone. (OOC: 13hp The barbarian, staggers, blood spraying from his wounds, his face still contorted with rage. He tries to lift his spear again, but finds his arm wont respond. His knees buckle as his anger is replaced with puzzlement, and he stares at his wounded arm as he slowly crumples to the floor, his life blood pumping away. (OOC: Way to go Lucretia! The good dice have returned!)
Blondung, finally emerging from the fog just behind Milo, glances around and sees a rider with bow knocked approaching from the south side of the fog cloud. He gesticulates quickly and his lips move. Suddenly the rider is jerks backwards, as if hit by something invisible, and falls from his horse. The barbarian quickly starts to scrabble to his feet.
The three other mounted barbarians continue to remain frozen like statues upon their horses, bows held in rigid arms.
ROUND SIX
***
Balnor, Serena, Cleo
***
The three horsemen pause together and briefly exchange a word or two. The two archers lift their bows and start to fire arrows at Balnor and Cleo. Cleo follows Serena's warning (OOC: in light of the lack of post from Eva!), and runs for the cover of the bushes (OOC: actually bushes and sapling trees - probably poor description on behalf of the DM :-) The third horseman circles around behind them, then charges towards Serena.
Balnor ducks as the arrows fly towards him, and returns fire, hurling his daggers. As the arrows zip through the air around him, his own daggers find their mark. The first lodging in the chest of one of the archers, who nearly falls from his horse with the shock. (OOC: Very good CRITICAL hit 12hp damage) The second dagger also hits the same target, this time simply cutting his shoulder. (OOC: 3hp damage). The barbarian cries out in rage, pulls out the blade and discards it to the ground. He grits his teeth with the pain, and draws the string of his bow again, reaching for an arrow.
Serena, continues to battle with the mounted spear-man. Again, he goads his horse to rise up against Serena. This time, she has no qualms and chops at the horse's legs. The horse squeals, and Serena has to leap back as it collapses to the floor, throwing it's rider. The man grunts as he hits the floor, already wounded by one of Merrell's daggers and Serena's previous blow. He starts to scramble to his feet as Serena hears the thundering hooves approaching from behind her.
A lightning bolt suddenly arches down from the clouds above and strikes the ground somewhere on the other side of the fog cloud, which is starting to disperse in the now heavy rain.
***
Milo, Soggrin, Lucretia, Yvandel, Blondung, Ceely
***
Milo, screaming in rage, charges the barbarian who had downed Ceely, slashing up at him. The horse, somewhat startled by the flaming sword carried by the priest of Ilmater, shies away. As the barbarian struggles to get it under control, the unnatural raven flaps close to his head. Distracted by the bird, he loses control, and falls from the horse. Lucretia, following closely, takes full advantage, and strikes at the man before he has a chance to rise. He connects, wounding the man (OOC: 8hp damage).
Soggrin, outclassed by the barbarian in front of her, takes a spear in her thigh. Staggering, she backs away from her attacker, who advances slowly, rage distorting his face. As Soggrin backs up, she trips, and falls heavily, dropping her own spear. The barbarian pauses, a malicious smile forming on his face, his top knot plastered to the side of his head in the rain. Suddenly there is another blinding flash of light and a tremendous thunderclap. When vision returns, Soggrin's attacker lies 10 feet away, smoking. Soggrin lies there, somewhat in shock. Lucretia, the next nearest, finds himself on the floor as well, caught by the ground shock. The barbarian's horse lies twitching, and struggling to get up. Lucretia's wounded opponent also takes a moment to recover before he tries again to get up, his muscles still twitching.
The three mounted archers nearby continue to remain frozen. The other one who had fallen, scrambles up, looking around himself to see what had knocked him from his horse. He jerks again, as if struck by some invisible force. A slow smile starts on Blondung's face.
***
Herod, Merrell
***
Meanwhile, Herod watches the three mounted barbarians as they regain control of their horses. One of them yells to the other two, and they turn their horses to face Herod. As the lightning strikes, they again struggle to control their startled horses for a moment. Control recovered, they glance at each other, then wheel their horses around and gallop away.
Merrell, dagger raised to throw, lowers his arm as they retreat. He blinks a few times, the bolt of lightning still etched onto his retina, and he wonders where the hell it came from.
ROUND SEVEN
The rain continues to pour down, soaking everyone to the bone. Blood mingles with the water on the ground, making the ground slippery and muddy.
Serena turns from her enemy to face the charging horseman. She runs for the safety of the fog, but the horseman reaches her before she can get there, and she is forced to almost throw herself flat to avoid his spear, the tip actually pinging some links from her chainmail. As he rushes past on his charge, Serena lashes up and backwards with her long sword, the blade cuts into the horse's side, and it whinney's in pain. As she spins around, following her attacker, the horse slows to rapidly to a limp. The barbarian curses as a dagger hits him from off to one side, thrown by Merrell, and he leaps from the horse, turning to face the swordswoman with spear held ready, but glancing towards the edge of the fog, as Merrell throws a second dagger which also hits. (OOC: 5 hp total damage for both daggers). Suddenly ignoring Serena, the barbarian starts to charge towards Merrell, a war cry in his throat, spear lowered.
Cleo hunkers down in the bushes, trying to provide as small a target as possible. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she tries to stop the bleeding.
As the two mounted archers continue to fire at Balnor, he throws his last pair of daggers at them. (OOC: Mike B. If your calculation on how many daggers you have differs to mine, then let me know!) His first dagger hits the same man he hit before, (OOC: 4hp damage) and the barbarian cries out in pain. The man wheels his horse and canters away.
The second archer pauses to fire a second arrow as Balnor throws the second dagger. They pass in midair before thumping both into their targets. Balnor is spun around as an arrow lodges in his shoulder, (OOC: 6hp damage) and the barbarian in turn is hit a glancing blow by Balnor's dagger. (OOC: 1 hp damage).
Finding himself relatively alone, the barbarian turns his horse and canters out of dagger range following his wounded comrade.
***
Milo stands above the unconscious Ceely, taking in the severity of her injuries. He quickly realises that her wounds are potentially fatal, and unless treated quickly, will become so. He pauses a moment, brandishing his flaming sword, gauging how safe it would be to attend to her.
Lucretia regains his feet momentarily before his opponent, and manages to take advantage catching the barbarian with a mighty swing just as the man was standing up. The man flies backwards, a gaping wound in his chest (OOC: dead!)
Serena rises from the ground, blinking still from the lightning flash. She looks around to see Yvandel approaching the three frozen horsemen. He speaks to them.
"Your leader has fallen, your comrades have fled. The Gods are against you. You would be wise to leave this place... Or die."
Their eyes, the only thing that seems to show that they are alive and not statues, grow wide and fearful as they strain against whatever invisible force holds their bodies rigid. The horses, also frozen, are similarly panicked from being magically held.
The warrior still mobile gives up on trying to fight the invisible force that keeps hitting him, and runs for his own horse, fidgeting nearby. He jumps upon it, and, hanging low across it's back, canters away.
Blondung watches after him as he rides away.
***
Herod turns from the fleeing barbarians, and nods towards Merrell, but the nod goes unnoticed, as Merrell concentrates on throwing daggers at Serena's opponent. Herod breaks into a run and charges across towards Serena, in time to see her charging horseman jump from his wounded horse to then charge towards Merrell. (OOC: next round you should get a chance to hit him)
ROUND EIGHT
Out of daggers, Balnor makes it to the relative safety of the bushes that Cleo is crouched in. Down the slope, Serena and Herod race to intercept the barbarian that is charging towards Merrell. Merrell is faster however, and when the barbarian is almost upon him, he completes his spell. A fan shaped spray of liquid erupts from of his outstretched fingertips and hits the barbarian. The man screams as his skin starts to blister and smoke where the liquid touched it, and he lunges forward with his spear, berserk.
Merrell leaps backwards, trying to avoid the blow, but the tip catches him in the belly, and he stumbles backwards into the relative safety of the fog (OOC: lucky really - the barbarian gets +2 damage for being berserk - he rolled only a 2 - so 4hp damage total.)
The barbarian hears the thudding of feet from both side, and glances around to see Serena and Herod bearing down on him. As he brings his spear around, his face scarred and still smoking from Merrell's acid, his eyes show only the red haze of the berserk warrior.
Herod sweeps in with a mighty blow from his axe, the blade sinking deep into the man's side. (OOC: Critical hit! 14hp damage) Virtually ignoring the injury, the man continues to try to bring his spear to bear on Serena, his original target. But Serena sweeps it aside with her own blade, and lunges, taking him through the chest. (OOC: 5hp damage) Blood bubbles from the man's mouth, and for a few moments he continues to struggle to bring his spear up, before his strength fails, and he slumps. Serena pushes his body away and withdraws her sword.
***
Yvandel stands before the three frozen horsemen and continues to speak to them, holding out his puppet. "Leave this place... Or DIE!!!!" he yells. They remain silent and immobile, though Yvandel can tell that they can hear what he is saying from their eyes.
Serena rises and moves to Yvandel's side. "Derboshrin is dead!" she almost spits at them, tears in her eyes. "These people were helping me return home after I was kidnapped, and Derboshrin repays the debt by trying to kill them! He has no honour and nor do you for following him!!"
Surprisingly enough, at that moment, whatever spell was holding them, suddenly releases. The horses stagger and the riders jerk. After only a moment, they regain control. Two of them immediately turn and flee. The last pauses a moment.
"Ska so dowass ma de Soggrin." He spits down at Soggrin, as his horse prances nervously around. "Yos ka dwoo se la demm, Yos kallicros rigfala. Ak yos scol Ravn! Ak yos dek" With that, he too wheels away his horse, and canters away following his comrades.
Soggrin stares after him, tears in her eyes. Blondung walks up. "What did he say Soggrin?" he asks, a concerned tone in his voice for a change.
In a quavering voice, Soggrin translates. "It is you who have no honour Soggrin. You have become one of them, you even speak their language. You are no Raven. You are dead."
As the party stand there in the rain, the fog cloud slowly dissipates. In the centre is Larz, several scared horses, and a wounded Merrell.
The party start to re-group back.
Taking stock, it appears that they have gained two barbarian horses which they managed to catch. They have lost 4 of their own horses - one ran away, and 2 were injured beyond recovery by arrows.
Seeing the barbarian threat receding, Milo allows the rod of fire in his hand to disappear. Kneeling by Ceely, he looks tenderly down at the injured half-elf and grasps his holy symbol. Placing his other hand on Ceely's forehead, he starts to mutter a prayer to Ilmater. Suddenly, his face contorts with pain, as he takes on Ceely's suffering. Ceely, stirs a little, and her face relaxes as her wounds start to magically heal over. As the momentary pain fades, Milo opens his eyes to see Ceely opening hers. (OOC: Ceely is now on 5hp)
<Yvandel aka Sebastian wrote>:
> "We will get you back to your father,
> and you will be truly with your clan."
As Soggrin stares at the hoof prints from the barbarian's horses slowly fill with water in the soft ground at the side of the road, she shakes her head. "They are right. I am no longer of their tribe. When Manshoon kidnapped me, he didn't just take me away from my tribe. He took my tribe away from me. When he said I was dead, he meant that those who have fled today will return to the tribe and tell what has happened here today. My life will be forfeit if I ever return to the tribe."
Soggrin closes her eyes tight for a moment and breathes deeply. When she opens them again she turns. "You need to go to Silverymoon." She smiles a faint weary smile. "I too would like to see this Jewel of the North as it has been described. I will travel with you." With that, she approaches one of the barbarian horses still nearby, and manages to calm it and catch it.
<Serena aka Douglas wrote>:
> Then Serena looks sternly back toward Yvandel. "And if you
> didn't make the lightening, what did you make? The mist?
> The rain?"
Larz speaks up. "The obscuring mist was my creation. I felt that it would somewhat negate their missile weapons if they couldn't see us." He looks at Balnor with the broken arrow shaft still sticking out of his shoulder. "It seems it was not 100% effective." So saying, he attends to Balnor. The arrow is removed (OOC: Ouch!) and he then places his hand over the wound and a glow surrounds if for a moment as he prays to Clangeddin in dwarvish. (OOC: Balnor now on 11/12)
<Serena aka Douglas continued>:
> "Yes, Soggrin," adds Serena. "You have proven
your worth
> to all of us, even if your own tribe will not see it.
> Please do stay with us. But I would ask only one thing of
> you -- remove those trappings that identify you as a member
> of the Black Raven tribe. Such insignia will only bring you
> (and us) trouble in civilized lands. I expect we will cross
> paths with more members of the tribal welcoming committee
> down the road, but we've seen how little weight your position
> now carries among your own people. Better that you ride
> unmarked. If, as you say, you are no longer a Black Raven,
> discarding those trappings should be no great loss to you..."
<Lucretia aka Joe wrote>:
> "I personally disagree...you can never change who you are
> and if it brings us trouble...well then it brings us trouble."
> "Do as you wish Soggrin, your life is your own." "Besides
they
> look good on you..." <He gives the female barbarian a
smile,
> and presses about his business, checking in with the healers
> to see if they can do something about his wounds.>
Soggrin stares intensely for a moment at Serena, affronted, then seems to sag a moment. Saying not another word, she draws her dagger, and raises it to her head. A moment later her topknot, with the feathers bound to it, lands on the ground. Her hair, reduced now to rough cut stubble makes her look more like a street tramp than a proud barbarian, but her eyes give away the lie. She glances at Lucretia a moment, but as their eyes meet, she looks away again, before stalking off and starting to examine one of the captured barbarian horses.
Herod uses the power of Tempus to help heal Merrell and Lucretia. (OOC: Merrell - back to 8/8. Lucretia, up to 12/21)
Larz strides over to Lucretia, and gruffly says. "You fought well. Clanggeddin would be proud if you were a dwarf!" A rare grin appears on the dwarf's face for a moment before disappearing. "Let me help you" he continues. He places a hand on Lucretia's arm, then grasps his holy symbol and starts to mutter in dwarvish. Lucretia feels a similar feeling to that which he felt when healed by Herod, and in amazed again as most of his wounds heal over. (OOC: Lucretia now on 20/21 - good dice rolls on the CLW spells!)
Larz finally approaches Soggrin. "I know this is alien to you, but I can help you." The gruff dwarf looks up at the proud barbarian woman for a few moments, as they lock eyes, and then finally she lowers them, and allows him to perform his magical healing. A few prayers later, and some of Soggrin's wounds have partially healed over.
<Lucretia aka Joe continued>:
> "All of you spell casters should have waited, as well as
> everyone else <He looks towards Ceely>." "I could
have
> beaten this guy <he points to the body of his original
> opponent> dagger to dagger as is their way and we would
> all be on our way to the barbarian camp with Soggrin's
> honour still intact." <Kicking a bloody puddle in disgust>
Soggrin shakes her head. "You are wrong. All of you, well the males at least, would have had to fight one on one. Only those who survived would have been able to go free. Your strength may have helped you to win, but what about Merrell, or Yvandel. Your strength would not have helped them!"
<Lucretia aka Joe continued>:
> "And considerably less blood would have been spilled."
> <while he searches the man's body as well as the leader
> he continues.> "I would have to had agreed with Milo's
> beliefs in this one...we should have talked and found
> the least violent way out of this." <Patting the dead
> leader on the cheek> "Sorry chief...looks like you won't
> be marrying into the boss's family." <From the way Luc
> is stammering around he seems to want to go on preaching
> but he stops, collecting up his horse, and attaching a
> few extra spears (the leader's and the first guy he
> fought's as well as any other remarkable things) he
> climbs up.> "We better get out of here...perhaps back
> to the safety of Longsaddle, those guys who ran will
> be back with help shortly."
Soggrin mounts her horse. "They will not be back soon. They are probably several days ride from the main tribe, and they will need to regroup just to make that journey. Their pride will want them to return to kill us, but their fear of your magic will probably make them return to the tribe."
<Lucretia aka Joe continued>:
> <Luc glances down the road, to see if the man who
> bolted past before the battle.> "Anyone see that fella
> who was leaving in a hurry?"
Blondung shrugs. "Didn't look like anyone special - just someone with 20 barbarians on his tail!"
<Merrell aka Mike D wrote>:
> "The magic was not mine either," he muttered to the
> group, turning to look at Blondung. "Another of your
> repertoire, friend?"
Blondung shakes his head. "It was not my doing! I thought perhaps I had misjudged your power and that it was you!" "And who froze those three archers that finally ran off?"
Larz looks up at the conversation, then up into the rain at the now dark clouds above. "None of my doing! So that was 'natural' lightning then? was it? Perhaps we ought to seek shelter from this storm before we attract more lightning!"
As he says the words, there is a flash of sheet lightning in the sky and a rumble of thunder. The rain starts to bucket down!
Lucretia searches Derboshrin's body, finding very little beyond his dagger and a small bag containing some food. Puzzled at the lack of wealth for the leader, he looks over at Balnor, who similarly, when searching the other bodies, finds nothing but the strange curved daggers that the barbarians prefer and the occasional bead/tooth necklace around their necks.
Soggrin, seeing the puzzled expressions, explains. "They were probably out as a hunting party. Remember, we do not value money as you people do."
Serena also scours the battlefield, finding many of the dead barbarian weapons. Of her own arrows, she recovers only one, but there are plenty of the barbarian's arrows around to pick up if she wishes. Similarly, every barbarian seems to have their own personalised curved dagger. (OOC: not good for throwing) (OOC: just post to say how many of what you wish to take.)
***
The party mount up, Soggrin and Lucretia walking, Serena riding double with Yvandel, Balnor with Cleo (OOC: artistic licence on behalf of the DM).
Half a mile further on from where the battle had taken place, the party come across two wagons. One of the wagons has a pair of horses still harnessed and still alive. The horses on the other wagon are dead. Around the wagon there are several dead people, barbarian arrows still in their bodies. One man several yards distant, spear wounds in his back. Soggrin bows her head in shame for her people.
<Lucretia aka Joe wrote>:> <Luc will pat the barbarian woman on the back.> "You can't
> control them." <Seeing that his consultation is not helping
> he presses with a search of the wagons and victims for
> anything of value or clues to who they were.> "Should we
> take the wagon or just the horses?"
Soggrin shrugs off Lucretia's comfort. "The Uthgart tribes all have honour - it is just different from your so called "civilised honour. To us..." She pauses. "To them, you folk are both invaders and desecrators of what they consider holy." She waves her hand at the devastation before them. "This is a cleansing in their eyes."
Spotting what looks like the body of a dead pregnant woman, Soggrin averts her eyes. "However, some of the tribes have less honour than others, and some of the warriors have less honour than others."
<Yvandel aka Sebastian wrote>:
> "Even a goblin has a reason for his actions. We didn't
> find anything of value on the barbarians, so it was
> probably not monetary gain that caused this massacre."
>
> Yvandel takes a moment to look around. "Could this be
> a retaliation? Or just a warning?"
<Serena aka Douglas wrote>:
> "I think Soggrin has already told us the reasons the
> barbarians are attacking and raiding in these parts,"
> interjected Serena. "This massacre looks like just
> another one of their attacks on a poorly- defended
> group of travellers. And I believe this wagon party
> was attacked so recently that Derboshin's men had no
> time to despoil it -- which explains why they weren't
> carrying any loot."
(OOC: :I think Douglas has been paying attention!)
Soggrin looks at the young mage. "They were probably intending to return to strip the wagons of anything useful after they had caught the one who got away."
Lucretia, Balnor and Cleo search through the wagons. Both wagons appear to
be loaded with bundles of cloth, dyed various colours. One of the
bundles has a piece of paper pinned to it - it appears to be a note
from Klondar Fabrics of Triboar, detailing the quantities of cloth
that are for delivery to Ebon Escalde of Nesme. There are the various
personal effects of the people who died, the usual camping/travelling
implements and finally, in a small chest in one of the wagons, there
is a bag of mixed gold and silver coins (25gp, 34sp).