Subject: Alone in the jungle and something evil this way comes...

Rennik finishes his examination of the obsidian obelisk and its provocative maps and symbols. His frustration with Cadfael is mounting, and his feeling that the priest knows more than he's telling is growing. He moves back to the west, following the trail a little way, hoping the catch the party unaware as they move clumsily down the path. He finds a nice spot where he can watch the path easily, yet remain hidden in the extremely dense jungle growth.

He hunkers down under one of the thick but trees that seem to be the dominant arboreal form here, and waits. My people once tamed this jungle. We lived here and built a city, and ruled this island. It makes his dreams of reunification burn like fire in his breast. We had all of this once, we can have it again. But something destroyed this city, destroyed his powerful progenitors. And that something is rising again. Making the wild descendents of those people into its' slaves.

A sharp crack like thunder shakes him from his reverie. It was a sound as if something split the air nearby, perhaps no more than 30 feet, though the heavy undergrowth makes it impossible to see. He spins in the direction of the sound, and now hears gentle words, as though someone speaks in a quiet voice. He raises his bow, and is just drawing back the string when a snarling beast launches itself from the jungle. It is an enormous hound, which Rennik immediately recognizes as a hell hound. There is no way this creature could be here on its own, he thinks to himself.

The hounds jaws snap shut right in front of him, and only because of his training is he able to evade this surprise attack [Attack 7; miss].

Rennik rolls away and comes to his feet, bow drawn, while the Hound advances on him.

[Surprise round over, fight starting. Initiative is Mystery Guest 19, Rennik 17, Hound 16.]

Subject: Alone in the jungle and something evil 2

As Rennik is rolling to his feet, he hears a familiar dulcet voice call from the bushes, "Fool! Can you not feel the darkness growing inside you, the hubris, the bloodlust? Why do you force me to cut you down?" Damn. It's the redhead from the farm. How the hells did she get here? And how did she know he was here?

His mental gyrations are cut short by the continued aggression from the hell hound. Faced with the hound, and an even more dangerous enemy in the brush, Rennik makes a decision. He moves to sheath his bow and draw his axe, but before he can finish this action, Elise moves out of the brush, pointing at him and uttering some dark charm.

There is a sharp ringing sound, and the bow in Rennik's hand begins to vibrate [Will save 9; failed]. With a sharp crack, it breaks into two pieces. "Gods Damn you!" the halfling cries, flinging the pieces of his bow at the snarling hound.

With the bow gone, Rennik draws his heavy dwarven axe. The hound leaps at him while he is drawing [Attack 9; miss], but he is able to dodge to one side and evade it. Now that the axe is gripped in his hands, he screams his tribal war cry [enraged] and attacks the hound with all his strength [fate point used for auto 20 to hit]. The blow slams down on top of the hounds head [Critical threat roll 19, critical hit; Damage 43] and cuts the creatures head nearly in two. The hound falls to the ground, hot acidic blood streaming from its shattered skull.

He and the fallen knight stare at each other as she draws her sword [free action].

[Ok, on to round two]

Subject: Re: Alone in the jungle and something evil 2

The hound fell. The she bitch shattered his bow, his advantage. With it, he would have taken her apart from afar, but now she's gained an edge. He circles, sidestepping, resembling so much the jungle cat whose pelt he wears, muscles taut and eyes absorbing the battleground.

The blood pumps in his ears and in his temples as he sizes her up, and he grimaces at what he sees. She's a warrior, with far more training than he's ever had. She's what that git Garyth could be if he dropped the goody-goody act and spent a few years outside his precious city walls. In fact, that's probably where the she bitch started, anyway, toadying around some backwater hamlet.

The thought occurs to him to run, get back to the tower and possibly some help. Or maybe into the jungle - see what she thinks of a swamp dragon up close. He looks at her armor and thinks he could outdistance her pretty easily. But how far, how long? He'd have to turn and fight eventually, and he'd be tired. He'd never make it all the way to the tower, and those bums probably haven't even gotten out of their sleeping rolls yet - there's no way they'd be on the road already.

But if he got out of sight, there's no way she'd find him in the brush... at least without her puppy. Rennik's heart warms as he smiles inwardly, gearing up for her attack.

"I hope you have more fight in you than your dog, she bitch. Not just... parlor tricks."

He shifts his weight to anticipate her attack (fight defensively, standard action) and swings hard at her midsection after she strikes at him.

(OOC: Well, let's throw some dice. :)

Subject: Alone in the jungle and something evil 3

"I hope you have more fight in you than your dog, she bitch. Not just... parlor tricks."

Rennik puts on a bold front, axe at the ready, trying to anticipate Elise's first move. She smiles at him and says, "A warning, halfling: your priest is falling under the shadow of Garesh. He has embraced dark gifts, and you cannot trust his words. I will not permit you to bring him to his master and, in so doing, grant them the world. Will you not turn him back, to save your people""

Rennik is still puzzling over her meaning when she leaps forward in a lighting fast charge. He raises his axe to defend against her first swing, and notices only too late that she is swinging AT his axe [Attack roll 30; defending roll 28; damage 10 (15 - 5), weapon sundered]. Her sword makes a strange thundering sound as it whips through the air, like a distant storm. It strikes the axe at its weakest point, the joint of the haft and blade, and shears through the wooden haft, tearing apart the bolts that hold it in the socket in the process. The head of the axe drops to the ground, leaving Rennik holding only the remnants of the wooden handle.

[stopping here, halfway through the round, so that Matt can give Rennik's next move. His planned next move was an axe attack, so he will need to do something else. Elise is in melee range, and at the end of a charge. Rennik is holding his axe handle, and the head (the actual magic part) is on the ground at his feet.]