Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

So, the big questions are:

1) How much longer do Garyth and Osred think we have before the witch shows up?

2) Can Melani make a sneak attack from beneath the wagon? If not, can she hide out on the hill and make a sneak attack from there?

I'm ready for this fight. Soooooo ready. Been pining for some pugilism since before Christmas.

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

And one final question--do you think that Osred's Protection from Evil spell is worth more, in the battle against the witch, as Protection from Evil, or as one more cure light wounds spell cast on Garyth before combat begins?

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

Cure Light Wounds.

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

Melani is ready to go, either under the wagon or in a tree at the top of the hill. She would prefer to be closer. I truly think that she would be able to get a shot off from under the wagon. It is just a hiding place and she can use her skills to get into a good position for a shot.

Mark

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

That's what I was thinking. Garyth really isn't doing too well, HP wise. I thought about converting all of my cantrips to Cure Minor Wounds and casting them on him too, but I want to hold those in reserve for post fight stabilizing of characters who are dying.

Ty, do you want me to roleplay it? If so I will, but in the interests of getting on with things, if you don't mind I'll just leave it at this: Osred sacrifices Protection from Evil for Cure Light Wounds, and casts it on Garyth.

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

OOC: I'm quite happy with the most recent plan of making Robert look like one of their men and the rest of us hiding. Garyth will take the bush closest to the mouth of the bowl as shown on Matt's diagram.

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

Oh, Ty, one more thing-- what did Pensive read in the alchemist's journal?

If it doesn't have any bearing on the upcoming battle, you can answer later. . .

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

Sorry I've been so busy boys.

Two things.

One, Pensive can not read the journal. It appears to be written in some sort of short hand. It is not uncommon for wizards and their ilk to use a personal code or shorthand when writing, to keep others from stealing their secrets.

Two, how long would the gang wait in hiding before it began to seem like the witch might not be coming back? Don't write a turn or RP or anything, just let me know how long you'd be willing to wait.

Thanks. Turn coming when I get the answers to this question. I've really had to take some time to figure this one out, because I realized that what I had planned to do, isn't what the people in the story would actually do, and they have been telling me to get it right or don't write the bloody thing at all.

I hate it when my own fictions give me shit.

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

Pensive would wait until Garyth gave the all clear.

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

Same with Melani. As she has been a hunter for her tribe she should be able to wait for hours.

Mark

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

OOC: Hmmm... I'd probably start to wonder where the witch was once she was more than about 5 minutes late, but I think Garyth is a little more cautious. Call it 30 minutes? I think he'd want to set up some kind of signal with Rennik, like a birdcall or something. Something along the lines

of: Garyth thinks its clear so signals Rennik, Rennik agrees so he signals back one way or doesn't so signals back another way.

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

Osred would probably give her an hour before poking his head out of the wagon, but would be prepared to wait a good day or two for her to return. What season is it, BTW?

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

Early summer.

Subject: Re: Rennik sets positions

After an hour or so, Rennik will be suspicious. After an hour and a half, he would poke his head out to take a close scan of the perimeter from where he's sitting, to make sure they're ambush wasn't being set up for a counterambush. If it ran more than two hours, he would want to scout around the perimeter to make sure there was no one sneaking up on them. He would probably want Melani with him, or at least making a similar round.

He would also want to establish a quick escape strategy if they are discovered and set upon by a larger group.

Subject: Ty and characters

I am a little worried about Ty. Is he the omnipotent lizard that we have all come to know and dread? Or is he some washed up has been who lets figments of his imagination push him around?

Inquiring minds would like to know. :)

Mark

Subject: Re: Ty and characters

O great Lizard, let not thy terrible, yea thy terrible and majestic and righteous and pure and holy and . . . terrible wrath come upon us for the faithless, foul, doubting, stupid, dumb, ignorant, sissified words of Mark Miller.

Amen.

Subject: Re: Ty and characters

Turn coming today. Sorry guys, I have been hellaciously busy this week.

Subject: Re: Ty and characters

O great Lizard, thou art merciful.

We thank thee for thy mercy. We thank thee that thou didsn't gnash us with thy sharp teeth. We thank thee that thou didn'tst smash us into bloody, pulpy bits with thine enormous tail. We thank thee that thy feet, which are clawed with claws most ferocious, spared us our insignificant forgettable lives.

Subject: Re: Ty and characters

Oh sure suck up to the DM. Is that what they taught you in monk school?

Ty, no problem. I understand. Really I do.

Mark

Subject: Re: Ty and characters

It's not sucking up if it's sincere.

Subject: Re: Ty and characters

If it is sucking up then it is not sincere. :)

Mark

Subject: An ambush that fails, an ambush that succeeds, and a general who takes the field

Rennik slaps away another biting insect and wipes the sweat off his neck. The noon sun is high overhead, and the day is turning into a scorcher. Rennik curses the thin shade of the scrub brush he hides beneath, and then crawls forward to look down into the enemy camp. Robert still lies in the middle of the bowl in his stolen gear. Rennik had questioned the discipline of these Falcon's when the fight was becoming chaotic, but watching the young guardsman lay exposed to the sun for over an hour without moving has changed his mind. They might not be overly bright, but these Falcon's were gritty.

There is a faint sound from his left, and he turns to see Melani looking at him from her hiding place. If she made a sound, she'd wanted to make a sound. She was trying to get his attention, and wondering why they were still here. Rennik wondered that himself. Was that dung eating witch never going to return? According to the timetable they were given, she should have been back an hour ago. He decides to take Melani scouting, on the off chance that the witch was planning a surprise of her own. There was no way to tell Garyth what they were doing, so he'd just have to count on him to stay still. Rennik finds himself a little surprised to realize he does in fact trust Garyth to do just that. If anyone blew this ambush, it wouldn't be that one.

Rennik jerks his thumb and makes a quiet wisk sound. Melani slides out of her hiding place like a ghost, and the two of them move off in the direction the witch had flown away. Garyth peeps out of his bush a few feet away with a question on his face, but to his credit does not speak. Rennik makes signs with his hands that he hopes will tell Garyth what they are doing. He points at himself and Melani, then moves his finger around like a winding path. Garyth nods, and lays back down under his bush.

Rennik and Melani slip away down the side of the hill. A few minutes of quiet scouting show that no one is sneaking up, but little else. Rennik finally feeling secure enough to make noise says, "I don't think anyone is around. Is it possible the witch was killed on her foray? Would she stay with the army without telling her men?" Melani just looks at him without speaking. "All right, we're wasting our time here. I'll go gather up the men. Wait up on the ridge and keep an eye out in case she comes back." Melani nods.

Back at the hill, Rennik tells Garyth what he found. Garyth spits and wipes some crusty dried blood off the side of his face. The drying orc blood stinks. "It's almost time for the second attack. There's no way we'll make it back for the charge, but if we leave now we might be back in time to help out. I think we should go back. The witch isn't coming." Rennik nods, "It was a good plan, but gilnalien ethu pel minumanen." He smiles at Garyth's puzzled look. "It's elven for 'no plan survives the drawing of swords.' I'll have Melani keep watch here on the hill until we leave."

Garyth moves to the ridge and calls down, "Osred, get the men up and ready to move out. The witch isn't coming back, and if we linger here much longer, we'll miss the battle. Corporal, go get the horses. The rest of you, police up the weapons and bodies, and put them in the wagon. We'll burn it. Take everything of value, including the alchemists potions and gear, and all the money. We leave as soon as the horses arrive, so move quickly men. If the witch still lives, she'll be with her army at the battle. We'll kill her there."

Osred jumps out of the wagon and begins directing the men. Vincy runs off in the direction of the mounts.

Half an hour later, the men are mounted and ready to move out. Osred has a lit torch in his hand. Garyth nods at him and says, "Burn it." The priest throws the torch into the back of the wagon, and it goes up like a candle. He has to ride quickly away to avoid being burned. There must be some residue of the concoctions the alchemist brewed left in the wagon, because moments later it is popping and exploding with weird bright colored flames. The group rides away quickly. All of the alchemists gear is distributed in the bags of the men, and Osred's saddle bag hangs heavily on one side, the sack of coin hidden there.

An hour later, the group tops a small rise, and in the distance the two armies are visible. Melani stands up on the saddle of her mount, and shades her eyes. "There have already been clashes. I can see bodies on the field. The humans have set their spearmen in ranks, and there are many undead piled before them. The formations hold. The undead mill about as if waiting for something. It is said that their power is weakened in the light of the sun. They appear confused." Pensive, who also has excellent vision, agrees, "I do not see the witch. But the little scout is right. The black army appears to be losing. The humans are in ranks that will make assaulting them difficult, while the horsemen protect their flanks."

Garyth smiles. Discipline, courage, and steel would win over the demon's undead things. He feels a sudden urgency to be with them. "Alright men, let's make haste to the army. It may be that Sir Jonah has further uses for us."

The group begins to move at a quick pace down the hill toward the battle. While they ride, there is another clash. A group of the undead things attacks the Nesalin ranks, while Murrkat archers fire over their heads. But again, the pikemen of Nesalin are able to push the attack back, suffering few losses. Osred says to Garyth, "What are they doing? They commit too few of their creatures to the attack. It's like they want to lose." While this is happening, Melani says loudly, "Look, the nameless ones are torturing someone." Garyth follows her pointing arm and sees that indeed, the Murrkat do appear to be torturing a man in the midst of the undead army. While he stands up, they circle him, almost dancing, and slash him with long black knives. It is still too far to see exactly what's happening, but the dance and the cutting have a ritualistic air. "There she is!" Garyth shouts, seeing the witch joining the dance around the tortured man.

The group has moved within a mile of the Nesalin forces, and Garyth says, "Just a few more minutes, men." The Falcon's draw their swords.

Kor Garesh takes the field.

The man who is being cut in the center of the undead army seems to burst, as if he'd exploded from the inside. And out of him a black shape rises, towering twenty five feet above the field. It is shaped like a huge gargoyle, with short legs and long, powerful arms ending in claws like war scythes. From its back sprout two masses of black tentacles, looking like those the witch summons. And its head is a huge gaping jawed nightmare, covered with horns and protrusions. Two eyes like red lamps gleam, and a mouth as wide as two men lets for a terrible roar.

The world goes black.

Inside this covering darkness, the men feel a wash of terror sweep over them like none they've ever felt. Garyth remembers the fear that Anileth put in his heart, and it is a pale wan shadow compared to the horror and terror he feels now. His heart races and for a moment he is sure it will stop. Around him, he can dimly hear his men screaming themselves hoarse, and he is only vaguely surprised to hear his own voice screaming along with theirs. The blackness lasts an eternity, and he screams in terror until the universe ends.

And then it is gone, and he realizes it was but a brief second. The demon is gone, nothing but a shattered human body remains where it had stood. But on the field, the armies of Nesalin break like water, each man dropping his weapons and fleeing as fast as his feet can carry him. The black army surges forward, the swifter creatures running down slower men. It is a rout. Garyth hears sobbing, and turns to see Kenneth, fallen off his horse, curled in a ball on the ground. The other men have kept their mounts, but all in are some stage of deathly fear, their faces white and panicked. Some distant rational part of his mind thinks, we were a mile away. What was this like for the men in the army? He can hear Osred praying loudly past his sobs. Rennik and Melani are both white with terror, but their people are known for their courage, and neither weeps.

In moments the fight is over. The army of Nesalin flees back to their city as fast as they can. The undead pause to devour those who have fallen on the field. Garyth says to no one, "They will take my home. They will take Overlook. We can't stop them. What can we do against that?"

Behind him, he hears Rennik reply, "We could beat them there. We could warn your people. We could give them time to flee. Perhaps they could make it to the woods, to join with my people. None of us will be able to face that alone." It is true, the black army does not look to be in a hurry.

Subject: In the library

It is approaching mid afternoon, when Sa'id and Farron sit in the library at the Wizard's college, poring through old manuscripts on magical imprisoning. A large stack of books sits nearby, waiting for them, and a much smaller stack of books already looked through sits on another table, waiting to be put away. Farron looks at the larger stack and smiles. "We could be here a while."

Sa'id nods, "Indeed. And I suspect that we may find little to help us. It was no act of wizardry that forged that black pillar in the mountain. It was the direct intervention of a god. God's are not known for putting their tricks into books."

Farron shrugs. "Perhaps not, but what else do we do? The search for Cadfael's killer has led nowhere. We know the name of our enemy but nothing else. We know that we can't fight it directly. If we can't repair the prison, then what?"

Sa'id opens his mouth to reply when the darkness falls. It is like the darkness that fell each day at noon, leading up to the birth of Promise. For a brief second, all lights go out, and a feeling like distant terror sweeps over them.

Subject: Re: An ambush that fails, an ambush that succeeds, and a general who takes the field

While the bugs were not as bad as in the forest, at least there she would have been able to hide in more shade. She did not like all this open space. It was damned hard to disappear behind a tree when there was no tree. She remembered to do the exercises her brother taught her so that she would not cramp up while waiting for the prey. Touching his bow, she prayed to his spirit to guide her arrows true when the bitch showed up.

It had been more than 1/2 an hour after when the witch was supposed to return. She looked over at the Chorrdath and made a small noise to get his attention. He seemed to know what she was asking before she asked it. He was impatient for the impending return as well. She sees him make a signal for them to go scouting. As quietly as she can, she moves out in the direction he indicated. For the next few minutes her mind is occupied with moving with out being seen or heard. Eventually she and Rennik get to a place where they have a good view of where they are and where the witch should be coming from. Rennik decides that the witch is not comming back. He instructs her to go keep a look out on the top of the hill while he reports to Garyth and they prepare the men to leave. She moves off as he request, taking position on top of the hill, her eyes vigilant for the witch.

A half hour latter, Melani gets up on her pony. Osred fires the wagon and the group heads off to Overlook.

An hour later they approach the battle. Melani stands up on the saddle of her mount, and shades her eyes. "There have already been clashes. I can see bodies on the field. The humans have set their spearmen in ranks, and there are many undead piled before them. The formations hold. The undead mill about as if waiting for something. It is said that their power is weakened in the light of the sun. They appear confused."

With that the group starts to canter so as to reach the battle. When they are about a mile away, the world ends.

She remembers seeing the body of the tortured man explode like something burst forth from it. A huge creature, like something from a nightmare raises above the field, sending forth waves of darkness and despair. Melani has never seen or felt anything like this. She longs to bolt and run home to her forest where she knows the evils. This is beyond her ken. Surprisingly all the members of the company have stayed, although a few of the humans seem to have lost their senses. Melani touches her bow and her armband, asking her ancestors for strenght and courage in this. Still trembling she watches the army of Nesaline shatter from the horror of the demon and run from the field. She feels no anger at these humans. Her people might have done the same if faced with this evil.

She hears the dispair in Garyth's voice when he mentions Overlook. She hears Rennik say that they could go help the town. That no one could fight this evil alone. She knows he is right. She moves her horse besides Garyth and tells him "Remember what I said about blood siblings? Well this is such a time. If your people are willing and my people still exists, I would offer the safety, such as there is, of my home to your people. Baring that, I offer my help to you in defending your home."

Mark

Subject: Re: An ambush that fails, an ambush that succeeds, and a general who takes the field

OOC: Want to know what sucks? When you've got a turn all written up, and your computer locks up. Luckily I was able to copy a fair amount of the text down onto scrap paper. Of course, in typing it out again I ended up changing it beyond recognition, but that's probably a good thing.

IC: Watching the undead army's ineffectual attack, Osred laughs aloud. The Darkness is weaker than The Light, here as ever. It cannot hope to do other than flee before the likes of Hironeous and Pelor, and it is in their name that Nesalin's arm fights. What is darkness, anyway, but the absence of light?

He watches slightly puzzled as the distant halflings fall on one of their allies, dancing around him in a frenzy of violence, and shakes his head, disgusted. "What're the miserable little bastards up to? Are they panicing, turning on each other?" He sqints. "Doesn't *look* like panic."

"Doesn't look like panic" is his last coherent thought for what feels like an eternity. He goggles, his mind refusing to connect the pieces for him, as Kor Garesh bursts forth from the ruined body. "But..." he says as the darkness envelops them, a foreign, plaintive note in his voice.

Then the terror washes over him, the force of it scouring all trace of Osred away, leaving the man he was before Hironeous saved him screaming, naked, vulnerable. That man's cries, his gibbering, his pleading drown out all else for a moment. The darkness isn't supposed to win. It isn't supposed to blot out the light! And now it's over, and he was never anything more than a god crazed bouncer, and it was all for nothing. The horror and the shame vie for the honor of drowning him entirely.

In his mind's eye, he sees a glimmer of light. "You're imagining it!" the voices of his former friends jeer. "It's in you're head! You're just having some kind of fit." Something in him turns, and rage rises within him, rage at the voices that seek to tear him down. His fury lifts him, carries him away from his fear, sweaps him toward the light. "Hironeous!" he cries, the tears flowing down his cheeks. "Hironeous! Save me. Save me now as you did then! A pure, clear tone seems to ring in his ears, drowning out the voices of his tormentors, and the light in his minds eye expands, painful in its intensity, and he seems to shrink to a single point within it. The light fades, and he finds himself mounted atop his horse, his face wet with tears and mucus, prayers flowing forth from his mouth despite the sobs that still wrack him.

Subject: Re: An ambush that fails, an ambush that succeeds, and a general who takes the field

Pensive watches the macabre dance on the battlefield below with anger. . . and a growing sense of dread.

"Garyth," he begins, slowly, nudging his horse forward a bit. "This is not. . ."

His stomach clenches in a fierce knot, and Pensive snaps around to look-- not at the dying man on the battlefield, but toward the center of the isle. Toward the Mountain of Sand and Shadow.

And before he can cry out, the world dies.

A clutching darkness surges over him, and for a moment Pensive thinks he sees . . . something in the darkness. Mass of darker darkness, tentacled back, muzzle of spikes, claws. . . Nightmarish thing. Pensive clutches for the stonesash, but his fingers are stiff with cold and fear. He cannot untie the bindings there.

Don't see me, he whispers in his heart. Don't hearsmelltastefeel me. I am not here.

The blackness reaches him, smothers him, eats him. But something else-- it searches. This thing, whatever it is, is looking for. . .

Blood and stone. It wants the Kaishin still.

It is greedy for him. Its hatred and hunger for the child are immense. And it knows that Pensive knows something. And more than anything, Pensive wishes he did NOT know of Mission's boy. The thing on the battlefield below twists in Pensive's guts, tearing him, grasping at the knowledge.

Give me the child! it whispers and hammers at his mind. Pensive feels like he is boiling in the creature's hatred, boiling and choking and burning all at once.

But the Kaishin is beyond Kor Garesh's reach. And it is that fact that grounds Pensive at last-- the Path of Stone and Blood remained safe. And what was darkness to Stone? Nothing.

"You have lost him," Pensive mutters between clenched teeth. "I shall not give him to you."

To his great suprise, he doesn't. There is a moment-- a terrifying moment, when Pensive believes he has betrayed the Kaishin, and he begins to plunge into despair. But no-- he has not. And that moment extends to two moments, and if he can just hold on. . .

The darkness fades. Pensive finds that his hands are clenching the horse's mane, and that his shoulders are taut with strain. Someone is wailing, and the battleground has erupted into chaos.

He swallows. How could they hope to defeat such a thing? Why did he not run, as fast as he could, back to Bannock's Ire?

Elf-boy, I will eat you in the child's place, and your death will bring you no Peace. It is a whisper in his mind, but it sends cold fingers down his spine.

Pensive shakes, coughs. "The Path is not straight," he says faintly to Garyth. "nor is it soft. It leads to Overlook, and to the innocents that must be protected there."

Subject: Re: In the library

As the lights go out, Farron feels a panic well up within him, but before he can scream, the feeling is gone. The lights back on he looks quickly for Sa'id, fearing an attack by whoever killed Cadfael. But Sa'id is still sitting across from him, pale and shaken, but otherwise apparently unharmed.

"You felt that, too." Farron says. It is not a question.

Sa'id nods. "Something has happened. I fear for our friends on the battle field."

They sit in silence several minutes as Farron ponders this. "I should have gone with them," he says. "I have been no use here. We have learned almost nothing -- only that Kor Garesh is even worse than we had thought, if that is even possible. If any of our friends are dead . . . ," he almost can't finish the thought. "It will be my fault."

Subject: Re: In the library

"You know that is not true," Sa'id replies quietly, studying the complicated latch that held closed the dusty tome in his hands. "They have an entire army with them. If they have met defeat, what could we have done there but join them in defeat?" He pauses as the latch opens with a 'click', then continues. "As for what we've learned, well, we've learned a lot about magical prisons. Enough to know that this is a dead end, at least as far as our skills go, certainly. And I suspect the entire college working in unison couldn't repair the black pillar. As I said before, it was a god that created it. It isn't going to be a mere college of wizards who repair it. So we haven't learned 'nothing'. Far from it, in fact."

"So we're learning what we can't do," Farron says, slamming closed a volume of "The Magical Snare: Catching and Keeping Elementals and Their Ilk". "How is that remotely helpful?"

"When we eliminate all the wrong answers," Sa'id responds, taking on a tone he used to have when they studied together when they were students, "we're left with the right one. And we've learned a few new facts, too. We have learned that Kor Garesh is far older than even the events at the mountain or the Halfling city that lays there in ruins. We have learned from Master Thaddeus's research in the journal of Banarad Vash that Kor Garesh can be weakened by denying him new souls to devour."

"And we do this how?" Farron asks. "He kills those who refuse to pledge allegiance to him, but if we kill his own, who have pledged their souls to him, we feed him further. Are we supposed to tell the army, 'don't kill those zombies that are trying to kill you'?" He shuffles the books on the table, only vaguely noting the titles as he moved them into different piles. " 'Well at least you have your soul' is pretty small consolation to the innocent dead. And if they're not killed outright, they will surely be taken back to the mountain to be sacrificed. Either way it seems Kor Garesh wins."

"First of all," Sa'id replies, "It should be OK to kill the zombies. They don't have souls. Presumably, they were already devoured, so killing them shouldn't feed Kor Garesh further."

"Fine, Zombies are OK. Just don't kill the witches, Orcs, evil Halflings, or fallen Paladin. Or whatever non-soul-less evil things he's been able to enlist to do his --"

"Secondly," Sa'id says more loudly, cutting Farron's tirade short, "we clearly aren't going to starve him to death. I wasn't even suggesting it. But it would be useful if we can prevent any captives from being returned to the mountain. We should tell that to someone in the Guard."

Farron picks up a pile of books and begins returning them to the stacks. Sa'id throws him a frustrated look, "We haven't looked in all of those."

"You said yourself we're wasting our time here. The pillar isn't a wizard's prison. And if it were you can bet their would be a specific record of wizards imprisoning a dark god. Master Thaddeus already told us he knew every book in the library and there was no such reference to Kor Garesh and no mention of the prison in the references to him by his other names. Unless you see a book titled "How I Trapped a God", I think we're done here." He finishes with one pile and grabs another, returning the books to the stack in silence.

Sa'id closes the tome he was reading, clicking the leather latch closed with finality. "We'll you're probably right, there. We're not likely going to find what we need here. If it's divine power than created the pillar in the first place, it will probably be divine power that will have to repair it." He pushes the tome next to the final stack of book as Farron moves to retrieve them.

"Don't worry, I'll take these back" Farron says, his sarcasm lost on Sa'id who is deep in thought.

"Well," Sa'id says,"we figured from the clues back in the jungle and in the mountain that it was Halfling priests of Pelor who succeeded in petitioning their God to create the prison/pillar in the first place, right? We'll I think it's time to pay another visit to Pelor's spokesman here in Nesalin."

Farron stops, leaving the last pile of books on the end of the table. "One of the students can put these back," he says. "Let's get to the temple!"

***********

OOC - Farron and Sa'id will go back to the temple of Pelor and relate their theory to the Sunmaster.

Subject: Re: In the library

Very nicely done.

Subject: Re: In the library

Very well done. Twinky will be proud.

Mark

Subject: Re: An ambush that fails, an ambush that succeeds, and a general who takes the field

It was almost finished. Nesalin's army was moments away from carrying the field, honor and discipline and righteousness all set to sweep away the opposing rabble like the tide. Garyth had been smiling, ready to ride into Overlook with good tidings, when the world ended.

It wasn't just that there were no words to describe the blinding, incapacitating terror--the mind simply couldn't grasp the enormity of it. It was as it someone had turned a valve and stopped all thought, leaving only a chaotic tangle of images in its place.

And when its over--a second, a year later--what remains is despair. No works of man could hope to stand against such a foe. Nothing could be done. Nothing. His family, his home, all would fall and Kor Garesh would grow fat on their souls. The pointlessness of all his endeavors overwhelms Garyth, and he hardly even notices that he has put voice to these feelings.

Of course, the others heard him. Rennik, Melani, Osred, Pensive, they all say the same thing: there's still time to save some people. He turns and looks back at them gratefully as his sense of purpose returns. He nods, then wheels his mount toward Overlook and starts off, waving for the Falcons to follow.

OOC: Does Garyth know any kind of "back way" into town? Is that even necessary for the group to avoid the undead army?

Subject: Re: An ambush that fails, an ambush that succeeds, and a general who takes the field

If you remember from the map, Overlook sits on the cliff with a palisade protecting the front half of the city. There is only one gate in or out. However, on horseback your group can beat the slow moving army to Overlook by several hours.

Subject: Re: An ambush that fails, an ambush that succeeds, and a general who takes the field

Pensive is all for getting in gear and going quickly to Overlook.

Subject: Re: An ambush that fails, an ambush that succeeds, and a general who takes the field

Already writing that turn.

Subject: The Race for Overlook

Garyth hears the words of his companions, and makes a decision. Waving at the Falcons to follow, he spurs his horse cross country toward Overlook. The army of Kor Garesh has not moved yet, they are still gathering up the wounded as prisoners, and devouring those too wounded to move. There is a lazy overconfidence in the actions of the living members of the army. The Murrkat and their allies swagger about the field as their undead finish the battle for them. Quite a few of them take note of the group riding by, but no one pursues, so they are apparently not worried about it. The arrogance of it all makes Garyth grit his teeth. He will not forget.

Several miles later the group's path intersects the road to Overlook, and the pace is increased. Garyth worries about running into a vanguard or forward scouts for the approaching army, but none are found. Kor Garesh's force is exactly what it seems to be. A large, disorganized, and mostly incompetent gang of brutes and living dead. If not for the demon's trick on the battlefield, the army of Nesalin would have cut them to pieces.

It is approaching dusk when the palisade of Overlook comes into view. Clearly, the city has had some warning of the impending battle, because the gates are closed and barred, and most of the town guard is manning the wall, bows strung and faces tense. Garyth looks over the defenses and knows Rennik is right. The palisade is barely ten feet tall. At most there are fifty trained soldiers in the town, and even if every able bodied man carried a sword, it would still be less than two hundred to protect the walls. Their bows would be almost useless against the rotting flesh of the undead. The city would fall in an hour, even without demon trickery. The only hope is to get everyone out.

But moving a thousand men, women, and children fifty miles or more to the forest, and then getting them halfway across the middle of the island to Kalama territory sounds almost as hopeless. He glances at the fading sun. If the army had followed soon after the group left, they would be only a few hours behind. The Murrkat and their mortal allies would surely need to rest at some point, but the undead could march through the night without stopping. There is no time for hesitance.

As the group approaches the wall, a young guardsman calls out. "Lieutenant! Thank the gods someone has come! Is the army from Nesalin close behind!" Without waiting for an answer, he yells down to someone out of sight, "Sam, quick, open the gates."

[The group will be taken to the town leaders if they ask. So turns can include any discussion up through that point.]

Subject: Re: The Race for Overlook

Melani looks at the town with it's wooden fence and wonders how these humans can live like this, cutting down the trees to make walls. There is no way that all this wood was dead fall. And why would anyone want to live this close to the ocean. It was so huge. This was so new to her. She grabs her brothers bow a bit tighter and prays to his spirit for strength. They would need all the help they could get against this army from hell.

Subject: Re: The Race for Overlook

The smell of fear is thick inside the walls of Overlook. Pensive steels himself against it, though his guts jump around inside him. Flesh be stone. Blood be stone.

"Courage," he whispers to his horse. "Our feet are on the Path yet, friend. That is the important thing."

But Pensive surveys the town with dismay. It looked like it backed right up to the edge of the cliff. The lighthouse was a bit off, just being lit. Like a little candle. The image is so poignant, Pensive shudders.

Without waiting for Garyth to release him, Pensive will hop down from his horse and scout out the cliff-edge of town. He is looking for a way down to the ocean. In addition, he is looking for elves.

(Ty, let me know if he sees any-- I'll go from there)

Subject: is anyone still playing?

*grin*

did everyone go home?

Can I get an Amen?

Jake, email me when you get a chance about Osred. Thanks.

Is matt still alive?