The Exodus, One Night in Nesalin, To the Garret Farm
Subject: ?
Has anyone heard from our fearless leader? Is he still alive?
Mark
From: Ty
Subject: Re: ?
Sorry fellas.
He is in the middle of a giant prototype.
He fears that he may never waste time at work again.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!
From: Ty
Subject: The exodus
Garyth waves a sad goodbye to Rennik as the halfling leads Pensive and the three Falcons off to the Garret farm. He still remembers seeing Cadfael walk away on what was only to be a short trip back to his temple. He also remembers the hacked body they found later. There was a time when saying goodbye to a friend was tempered by the certainty of seeing them again. He has lost that. This is what it is to be a soldier. Not walking the palisade with your comrades, sneaking a sip from the ale flask when the sergeant's back is turned. Not late nights in the barracks, playing dice and talking about women. Not even standing with drawn sword between evil and innocence, though there is that as well. No, being a soldier is agreeing to bear the burden of uncertainty. Accepting the uncertainty that he or his companions will be alive the next day, so that these farmers can be certain their wives will return from the market, and their children will return home from school. For the second time, Garyth remembers the vow he took. I will be the wall around my people. It seems that each day he learns a little more about what that actually means.
Melani rushes past, after clasping hands once with Rennik. She jumps up onto her pony, and quickly leads it to the front of the column. Garyth follows her, moving more slowly so that he can shout words of encouragement to the people he recognizes. Up near the front, an old man steps from the column into his path. He looks familiar, though Garyth can not remember his name. "My nephew left with you two weeks ago, captain." The old man stops for a second when he is joined by his wife, her face an agony of worry and fear. "He left with you, and we've heard not a word. Is there no word?"
Garyth is about to speak when the old woman says, "Where is he? Where is my Farron?" Garyth is almost overcome with relief that in this case, the only news he has is good. He can't imagine what effect an ill report would have on this sad old woman.
"Master and Misses Underhill," he gives them a respectful bow from the waist. "Your nephew, Farron, is quite well. He remained behind in Nesalin, to aid the Lords of that city in an important investigation. He asked that I look for you here, and make sure all was well with you. He will be very happy when he hears that you were able to escape the town with us."
The look of relief on their faces is so powerful, Garyth finds himself fighting back a lump in his throat. He slides off his horse to embrace the old woman. Stepping back he grips her husband's hand. "Farron is my good friend. I must look after you both as if you were my own family, so please, if there is anything you need, find me." The old woman bursts into tears and hugs him again.
Later, back on his horse, Garyth spots his brother Philip walking along side one of the large food laden wagons. After greeting, Garyth says to him, "Phil, there is an old couple a few hundred yards back in the column, traveling alone. The Underhills. Can you send someone back for them? Have them brought up here and put on the wagon? I need you to make sure they make it all the way with us. They're family, Phil." Philip just smiles, "Of course we will. I'll send a boy back right now. We'll make sure they're taken care of." Garyth rides off for the front of the column.
At the front, he meets up with Osred. "Where is the scout?" Osred points off south. "She left her pony with me, and took off on foot." He interrupts himself to yell over at Munch, "There's one, boy." He points out to Garyth a bit of cloth tied to a bush, fluttering in the wind. "She's marking the trail with cloth. Can't leave 'em here for the ghouls to follow."
Garyth rides off to the side, to watch the column pass. A thousand soldiers can march thirty or more miles in a day. In a forced march, they can do fifty. Watching the townsfolk walk by, he realizes that they will be lucky to get twenty. To make up for the pace, they'll have to march for twelve, maybe even fifteen hours to make the same ground. That will cost lives. Even a trained soldier will wear out after several days of forced march. But it is either risk losing a few on the road from exhaustion, or risk losing them all when the army catches them from behind. And this is what it means to lead, Garyth thinks. Making decisions about who will live, and who will die. Not for the first time, Garyth wonders if he will want to remain a soldier when this is all over. Giles' life on his farm, with his pretty wife and litter of kids, is looking more and more attractive. Giles' life and death decisions all involve cows, pigs, or chickens.
A quarter of an hour or so goes by, and the last stragglers come out the Overlook gates. The city is empty. Or, as empty as it's going to get. Garyth fights an urge to go back in and search the streets for anyone left behind. Instead, he shouts at the guardsmen in the rear to keep the stragglers moving. He rides up the column, back to the front, and tells Osred to pick up the pace. He does a quick mental calculation. "About 170 miles as the crow flies. Add on 30 for our little jaunt south first. 200 miles, and I'd like to do it in five days if we can."
Osred just looks at him. "We'll lose a few."
"More than a few, but our goal is to not lose them all. Tomorrow, we'll need you moving through the column and giving wait aid and prayers you can to keep the weak or sick moving."
Osred nods, and points out another strip of cloth for Munch. The column marches for the rest of the first day.
[RP or special requests for the first night of camping, plus plans for the next day. Gracias]
From: Ty
Subject: One night in Nesalin
Farron and Sa'id leave the Sunmaster, and walk through the city back to Farron's apartments. Along the way, Sa'id pauses at a merchant's stall, and buys two large bottles of a good imported red wine. "To fortify us," he says to Farron with a grin.
There is another quick stop to pick up food for dinner, and then the two wizards find themselves sitting in Farron's comfortable main room next to a crackling fire, drinking wine and eating cheese. Farron says, "This doesn't seem real." Sa'id nods, "I know that our friends are not so comfortable. I hope they are well. Pelor grant them safe passage." He says this last, looking up at the ceiling. Farron thinks back on the conversations his friend and Cadfael had been having, following Sa'id's brush with death. He thinks of all they have seen over the last two weeks, and leaning forward, touches his glass to Sa'id's. "Pelor grant them safe passage." They both drink.
Later, they drink to Cadfael. They do not stop till the wine is gone.
[stopping for any RP you guys want to do. Next morning is back to Fellus?]
From: Ty
Subject: To the Garret farm
Rennik grips arms with Garyth and Melani, then leads Pensive and the three Falcons overland to the Garret farm. He glances down at the hastily sketched map he was given. Pensive rides along side and peeks over his shoulder at it. Rennik says, "It shouldn't take long to ride there. Less than ten minutes." Pointing at the landscape on the map, he says, "We should plan our approach. If they have men on watch, then blundering up on them will just net us a house full of murdered citizens."
Pensive nods. "I agree. Garyth says that you are a capable scout and tactician. Do you have suggestions? I will follow your lead, and the soldiers have been ordered to do so as well."
[the map drawn by a guardsman for rennik
A -- house
B -- barn
C -- cattle pen, about a dozen cows
D -- corn field
E -- remembered locations of trees
There are windows on all four sides of the house, but they are stretched hide, not glass. So unless someone has poked holes in them, there are no good lookout points inside the house. The structure on the front of the house is a covered porch.]
From: Mark
Subject: Re: The exodus
Even on foot, Melani thinks she can keep ahead of the crowd from the human city. She hopes she can convince Nukaru to let the humans stay. It would strain the resources of her village, but it would not be for long. Hopefully. Maybe this would also show the humans that the forest people were not monsters. At least in the forest the witch would have a harder time staying above the fray. She would have to get down with the rest of people. Maybe the Belneth could rouse the forest itself against her.
Raising her eyes to the sky, she keeps look out for the witch or anything else that should not be there. She then continues to try and find the easiest, fastest path for the humans.
OOC: I do not know what skills or feats would be used for this, but what ever she can do to make the passage as safe and quick as possible, she will do. She will also keep an eye out for anything else. She basically knows that most of the good people are behind her and most of the bad are out "There"
Mark
From: Ty
Subject: Re: The exodus
I am rolling wilderness skill rolls, using her Knowledge: Geography of Huss skill as a synergy bonus. The distance the group travels each day is directly related to the outcome of these rolls. I will be giving you an update each morning with Melani's estimate on how far they've come.
I'll update the map with a path for you, Mark.
From: Karl
Subject: Re: The exodus
I'm out of the office tomorrow and Monday. I have been having trouble with my email from home, so I don't know if I'll be able to add anything until Tuesday. I will try to, but I can't guarantee anything.
Karl
From: Mark
Subject: Re: The exodus
I am also out of the office on Monday(Taking the youngest to spend the weekend at Mamoth Cave and going to the Corvette plant to take a tour and go through the museum.
I will be around tomorrow.
Mark
From: Matt
Subject: Re: To the Garret farm
Looking at the map to the farm, Rennik is set at ease by the proximity of the corn field to the house. They wouldn't be approaching over flat, empty fields, like he had feared.
"We'll loop south to come at the house from the southeast, on the opposite side of the corn field, and then cut through the tall stalks. I'll sneak to the edge of the field and scout the house from there, so we have a better idea what we're dealing with."
"After we know more details, we can decide what to do from there. At least we know this time, the cowards won't be able to sneak off down an alleyway."
From: Scott
Subject: Re: To the Garret farm
Pensive nods at Rennick. He would have proposed much the same.
"I will watch and listen for the enemy's army. Let us hurry and be cautious, Rennick."
After Day 1 of Marching
Subject: Re: The exodus
It's been a long day. So far, Garyth is holding up fine, but most of the group hasn't spent years in marching drills, strengthening their endurance. Signs of exhaustion are already obvious on many faces, and today is just the first day. Looking around, Garyth wonders if any of them will make it. He hastily shoves those thoughts down. There is no room for doubt in this; doubt kills. He goes to find Osred and Captain Bragga, to help coordinate the watch.
"We won't be able to stop as long as we'd like," he says to the Captain. "We have to keep moving in order to stay ahead of the enemy. We should move out at first light."
OOC: Garyth thinks there are enough guards for three watches, and he'll volunteer for the first. He'll be willing to go to four watches if Bragga thinks there are enough men for it.
Sa'id Reflects a Bit
Subject: Re: One Night in Nesalin
Wine, cheese... a roaring fire... Sa'id had almost forgotten that such luxuries existed over the past two weeks. The necromancer watches the firelight play on his glass, creating dancing patterns and beauty out of nothing. Fire brought warmth, but it also brought death. That so versatile and powerful a tool could also give rise to such simple beauty...
The orange glow makes Sa'id's wine seem darker, thicker. Blood. The Murrkat screaming as Sa'id's rays of flame burned them alive. They screamed as though they still had their souls, they screamed the same way he would scream if his own arts were turned against him.
Why, he wonders suddenly, did I seek this power? It differs from Garyth's skill with the blade and Rennik's with the bow. Even from Farron's conjuring skills. This destructive force bore more resemblance to what the others had told him of Cadfael's explosive wrath at the lodge. Anger manifested as raw destruction on a scale that swords and arrows could never hope to match. Yes, it was more in line with what he knew about the priestly ability to destroy the undead. The undead whose workings he understood so very well in theory, on paper, but that disgusted and repelled him in real life even as he stole them from their masters and bent them to his will. Even as with each step he drew closer to attaining the ability to create them himself.
Could the gods work their will even through reluctant vessels such as himself? Were his arts... godly? His own flame simply a reflection Pelor's sun? If Cadfael could wreak such devastation through Pelor's grace, why not him?
Or was that destructive power born of the priest's inner struggle, the explosion of anger brought about by the Devourer's influence? Should it be resisted? Its use avoided?
But, a small voice whispers, you like it. Enjoy it, even. Derive pleasure each time you unleash the flame. And you are not limited to the righteous destruction of undead abominations.
You can sear the skin of the living, soulless or not. Good, evil, or uncaring.
Sa'id blinks. The voice is gone. There is only Farron, seated across from him, similarly lost in thought. The necromancer shivers -- despite the warmth -- and drinks deeply from his glass. Mentally, he recites a prayer to the sun god, a prayer from his homeland. It feels good to think in his native tongue.
"Salaam alei'hon," he murmurs to himself. Peace be with them, peace be upon them. "Aw alei'na salaam." With us as well.
[OOC: Back to Fellus' in the morning, yup.]
Restarting
Subject: restarting
Is anyone interested in restarting? I have a bit more time right now. Probably not a turn a day level time, but surely in the several turns a week level.
From: Scott
Subject: Re: restarting
I'm ready, Ty.
Bring on the pain.
From: Mark
Subject: Re: restarting
No I think you should throw 2-3 years worth of gaming away just becuase the DM had a serious family medical problem. /sarcasm/
I am ready to go. You might want to do a quick refresher so that every one is on the same page as to who is where doing what.
Thanks Ty and I hope everything has worked out for you and your wife and her family.
Mark
From: Mark
Subject: STARTING BACK UP
Sorry if that last e-mail started out a bit too snarky. It has been a bad week at work. Year end inventory, year end closing of the books and sales info as well as a price increase that goes into effect on Monday that I am in charge of.
Mark
From: Karl
Subject: Re: restarting
I'm still here. Farron is still in Nesalin. :-)
From: Karl
Subject: Re: restarting
On that note, do you have a kid now?
From: Karl
Subject: Re: STARTING BACK UP
Well save the snark for Ty's campaign. We don't need a pissed off DM in Kalevan.
;-)
From: Ty
Subject: Re: restarting
No. All thanks to the dark powers that protect me. It was a close call.
From: Mark
Subject: Re: STARTING BACK UP
I only get pissed off when people do not reply for weeks at a time.
Mark
From: Mike
Subject: Re: restarting
All set here. Let's do it!
From: Raja
Subject: Re: restarting
I'm ready.
From: Scott
Subject: Re: restarting
More accurately, thanks to the powers of Heaven that protect US.
:)
From: Ty
Subject: he did what now?
Let me know if I am off on any of this stuff:
Farron and Sa'id are spending the night in Farron's apartment, and planning to visit Sunmaster Fellus in the morning to figure out if he plans to help them or not.
Rennik, Pensive, and three of the Falcon's are sneaking through a cornfield to check out the Garret farm, where presumably the dead farmer's family is being held captive.
Garyth, Osred, and Melani are camping with the Overlook townsfolk.
From: Mike
Subject: Re: he did what now?
Looks right to me. Garyth is busy setting up the watches for the night.
From: Raja
Subject: Re: he did what now?
Yup.
From: Mark
Subject: Re: he did what now?
Matches what I show.
Mark
From: Scott
Subject: Re: he did what now?
You betcha.
From: Matt
Subject: Re: restarting
Hit me. I just have to start remembering to check this email account again. I've been pretty absent from all things aol, lately.
From: Jake
Subject: Re: restarting
I'm in.
Funky
Subject: Re: restarting
Cadfael is all set and dead on his slab. Or maybe in the ground, I can't remember where I left him.
~Does the funky dead Cadfael dance~
The Farm
Subject: The Farm
[OODM: I need to resolve the farm stuff before I can do the next overlook escape turn.]
The group stops on the south border of the corn field. Rennik tells Kenneth to stay with the horses while the rest scout ahead. "We may need to leave in a hurry. Don't tie the horses up, or let them graze." Then he heads into the corn, followed by Pensive, Robert, and Vincy.
About fifty feet from the west edge of the field, Rennik stops the group. "I'll scout ahead, and give a whistle when I want you to move up." Garyth's bow gripped in his hands, the halfling heads off toward the edge of the field. He stops after a few steps, Pensive having followed him. "I'll whistle when I want you to follow, monk." Pensive just smiles and says in elven, "I can move as quietly as you, hunter, and I want to see the house." Rennik grunts, then moves on.
From the western edge of the cornfield, the house looks to be about 150 yards away. There is no one visible outside, and the house is quiet. Rennik settles in to watch with a hunter's patience. Pensive crouches next to him, as motionless as a statue.
[I need to know how long you guys would wait]
A Young Elf Leaves the Mossground, Scouting the Farm
Subject: Re: The Farm
As they ride, Pensive looks back at the walls of Overlook, at the faces of the men and women and children leaving their homes. Escaping into uncertainty. Leaving doom for danger. And Pensive remembers leaving the monastery.
It took forty-five years for restlessness to settle into his bones. There was always something else to learn, some wisdom he hadn't gained yet, some bit of the Path that remained unexplored within the walls, or at Deacon Comfort's side. His own doing-- Deacon Comfort would have had him gone by the time he was twenty. So he studied and bided his time, and learned to use the gift that the Mossground had given him.
And then he realized that he was no longer learning-- more and more, he was teaching the children of monks who had left and come back and married. . . and began living. He saw the bonding lines, tethering children to their parents, husband to wife, family to community, community to the world, the world to the Path. And while he was wrapped in the community, while his tether was strong, it was short.
He'd had twice as long as any monk in history to learn the ways of the Path of Blood and Stone. He was suddenly exhausted with the monestary-- exhausted with the walls of his own room, the little garden he kept, exhausted with seeing the families grow and thrive, and lengthen their bonds to children, grandchildren. . .
None of the vicars protested when he asked them for permission to leave. Rigor alone had been cautious, placing his hard hands on Pensive's shoulders, telling him that the world would not see him as they did. But he had not objected to his leaving.
And why should they have objected? Pensive had been learning the Path for forty five years.
Forty-five _elven_ years.
That was the problem, Pensive found. He followed the road from the monastery, out of Bannock's Ire, to the cities that crouched at the foot of the mountains. He learned quickly that life among human and gnomish monks had little prepared him for travelling out in the world, and he saw why. An elf at forty-five was no larger than a twelve year old human. The low elves looked askance at him at first-- he was just an _urchin_. Forty-five years, among the elves, was still young-- barely out of childhood.
Pensive rubs the thistle tatoo on the back of his neck. Sharp memories. What had he done to lengthen the tether connecting him to the world at large since then?
It would have to be a question for another time. The cornfield is before them. Pensive follows Rennick into the field, and politely ignores his request to remain behind.
The house is quiet before them. Pensive unwinds the stonesash from his forearms, and lays his bow aside. He quickly sketches out a simple map of the farm in the dirt, and touches Rennick's arm. He mouths, 'Five minutes,' and then points at himself, and then at the barn on the map. He draws a line around the far side of the barn, behind the barn, to the back of the house.
And then he'll wait for Rennick's response.
OOC: Ty, what time of day is it? How long do we figure until the army catches up with us?
From: Matt
Subject: Re: The Farm
The elf was presumptuous, as all elves were, but young. Very young for his kind. Even behind all the training of the monks, there was a sense of urgency behind his eyes, a very human quality... there was some need Rennik could not quite understand. Was there something this young elf had to prove to himself? Or was it just that he was eager to embrace life?
Or, in this case, death.
He did not object to Pensive tagging along, but mentally filed the young elf's resistance. Rennik had never known a clumsy or awkward member of that race, but, then, he had only had experience with trained scouts and hunters. This elf had more of a human bent, striking Rennik as more rash than the staid and reserved companions he had traveled with years earlier. Still, he had the same training as Mission, who acquited himself rather well, and so the halfling endured his newfound shadow.
The farm looked quiet and unassuming. Either there was no forewarning of their arrival and all were comfortable waiting inside, or they had been spotted and their enemies were lying quietly in wait. He had to assume the latter.
Pensive motioned to him and drew the map, suggesting that he scout the rear of the farm. Very eager, indeed, to rush into the unknown alone.
Rennik shook his head. He pointed at Pensive, then pointed at the ground. Then, he pointed two fingers at his own eyes, then at the house. Tapping his own chest with two fingers, he made a circular motion with fingers pointed down to represent scouting the house himself.
Finally, as he moved to leave cover, he pointed at Pensive's bow and again at the house, suggesting covering fire if needed.
[Rennik will scout the back of the farm, specifically trying to find some angle where he can see in a window or door, any opening, and get a view of what's going on inside. He will be wary of any farm animals or dogs about the place, and will have Tichenor to stay with Pensive.]
From: Scott
Subject: Re: The Farm
Pensive shrugs at the halfling. It was true that Pensive could aid the halfling much more quickly than the halfling could aid him, if it came to that. He nods, and wraps the stonesash loosely around his shoulder.
He picks up his bow, and notches an arrow.
OOC: If the halfling is attacked, Pensive will call out for the guardsmen to aid them, fire at the attacker nearest Rennick, and then run to aid him in melee combat.
Rennik Moves In
Subject: Re: The Farm
Their plans set, Rennik slips out of the cornfield like a cat, dodging quietly from cover to cover. Pensive is able to watch him for a while, but after a few moments the halfling has moved far enough away that his skill at using ground cover makes him hard to follow.
Rennik risks moving to the tree nearest the front door of the farmhouse, but gets little for his efforts. The wooden door is closed, and no one is visible on or near the porch. Even up close, the stretched hide window covers give no visibility into the house. It is very quiet.
Rennik begins to move around the south side of the house, and notices a cellar door. Another way into the house, perhaps? He is just deciding whether or not to risk a closer look at it when the smell hits him. A rotting smell. The stink of the charnel house.
An Extremely Short Digest
Subject: Re: The Farm
OOC: Figures.
Still Going In
Subject: Matt?
I kind of need a turn from Rennik.
From: Matt
Subject: Re: The Farm
OOC: Sorry, that last turn got lost amidst junk mail.
IC: Rennik's nose wrinkles at the smell. There was no hope for these people. They were dead long before the threat was ever made. It was a lie, a threat to a man to force him to act, when they were going to kill him anyway. Like a hunter using the skin of a dead rabbit as a decoy for another.
Would there be any left alive? Would they have kept any to watch the others suffer? Or would they even still be in the farmhouse?
He paused a moment to wonder whether it was worth committing the lives of these men for what was essentially a trap, or a massacre scene, when they would be better served catching up with the main group and defending their entry into the woods.
Whatever they were to do, they had to do it quickly and get back to the retreating procession.
Rennik pulls back to the corn field and tells the others what he discovered, and what his apprehensions are. It is possible that the smell is just some undead themselves, waiting as they were in the tunnel back at the mountain, but the rot smelled fresher, more recent. It is even possible that the family itself has been killed and recently raised by the dark god.
Whatever the case, it is important that they deal with the farm and get back to the main group.
Rennik will outline a strategy to have a couple archers positioned at the edge of the corn, with enough of a spread so as they would not be taken unawares. Then he would suggest that Pensive and himself creep forward to the cellar to get a closer look.
From: Scott
Subject: Re: The Farm
Pensive feels a coldness at Rennick's words. A sly little whisper from the east, a chuckle of madness . . . Pensive shudders.
He says to Rennick, "This may be a trap-- or at least, a show of power to drive hope out of our hearts. But if we leave this farm without witnessing what has been done here, without knowledge by sight of a massacre, our enemy will afflict us with doubt. He will tease us that he left a child, or a woman alive, alone, and give us visions of their starvation. The Path is not straight, nor is it soft. I will not chance walking along it, vulnerable to such a doubt."
He sets off toward the farm, unraveling the stonesash.
OOC: Pensive will do as Rennick suggests.