The Last Pilgrimmage

Campbell said:

Today I shall return to the city walls and meet with my friend, Thurgon - now Lord of the Iron Tower. I hope he can understand what is at stake here.

Lucann makes his way past the last visages of the forest. Several months have past since he last journeyed out into the world. As the gates of the city come into view, Lucann can't believe his eyes. The gates are closed at midday! As Lucann makes his way to the gate a young armored half elven woman approaches him. "Lucann, by order of the Iron Tower you are under arrest."

Taken aback by the proclamation, Lucann forks his spear to the ground in a gesture of peace known among all elves. "Can you tell me why?"

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The armor-clad warrior regards you sternly, "It has been said that you are a great warrior. As a man of faith and a worker of miracles you will have had many mysteries opened to you. Coyness does not become that heritage." She looks over her shoulder at the closed gates and the guards on the ramparts. She intercepted you beneath the boughs of the trees, enough to obscure direct line of sight from those ramparts to your position.

She looks to her flank where a few other armored figures bear the emblazoned symbol of the Iron Tower, crossed battle axes in front of a shield with the sun rising above it. They are finishing loading a freshly supplied wagon. It is drawn by a team of fresh horses and they are positioned to travel the main trade road toward the Iron Tower, a grand bastion that defends the settled world against a merciless wilderness.

Flustered by your response, she offers "But it has also been said that you wholly lack the ability to be insincere and are of the most intense conviction. I have seen more than one wood elf whose saturation in raw nature robs them of their understanding of the laws of men. Perhaps you truly do not understand."

The sun is in the faces of the men high atop the city walls, so they shade it with their hands as they try to take in what is happening across the way. "We take you but not in chains. Be assured you will not receive the same offer from them." She gestures back over her shoulder toward the ramparts and the city guards manning them. Standing crisply, shield across her breast she delivers the decree; "The 9th Count of Adir, Life-Giver, Savior of King and Country, First of the Lord of Battle, and Knight Commander of the Iron Tower, Thurgon Von Pfeizer would speak with you. Stand down and hand over your weapon."

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1. What happened here recently?
2. What here is useful or valuable to me?
3. Who's really in control here?

1. What happened here recently?
2. What here is useful or valuable to me?
3. Who's really in control here?

With a glance, your eyes take in the scene before you. The impacts of the siege on the city have been partially rebuilt by the fine engineers and laborers therin, but the work is still ongoing. * Curiously, there are signs of fresh, yet to be repaired, damages to the stonework. It seems consistent with a received blow from a catapult or a hurled rock by some great and terrible force. It makes sense for newly crafted signposts to haunt this Tradesman's Gate as the peasants' Farmers' Market takes place here weekly. Given the tracks on the ground, it was only a day ago. A large wooden bulletin board is nailed to a post that pierces the earth. "Missing" is painted at the top. Nailed to it is all manner of parchment with poorly scrawled sketches and bios of loved ones. Its entirely likely that many of these poor souls were bloated corpses after the mass drownings when the dragon deluged the city. Their flesh has surely been picked clean from their bones as the drain lines empty out into the wilderness, well beyond the city walls.

** As you take in the crossbow-toting men on the ramparts, quickly becoming more interested in this exchange, several trees and the cover of the wagon look enticing. The knight's horse is unmanned and patiently waits neaerby the wagon. The welcoming canopy of the forest is just at your back but several urgent paces away.

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Campbell said:

Lucann turns the gaze of his hard eyes upon the half-elven warrior maiden. There is no malice to be found within the violet orbs that look upon the maiden, only a certain tiredness. He speaks: "I am sorry. I did not mean to be coy. If you do not mind I will speak in the words of the people. I believe there is value in asking questions to which you believe you know the answer to. Certainty is the refuge of a fool. I do not wish to be a fool, although I have acted as one in the past. I believe your king wishes recompense for the death of his wife at the hands of my own, but in doing so he risks breaking her bonds to The Lady of The Forest Which Joins Worlds. If we are to reestablish the bonds which unite us this must be handled carefully. I sincerely hope that Thurgon, who I count as a friend of the people can help provide me with the truths I seek."

With a flourish Lucann gently hands over Oath Keeper to the half-elven warrior. As he speaks again, Lucann's voice is tinged with reverence for the act: "I entrust the Keeper of Oaths to your care and your care alone. It does not belong to me, but to the people. With it the people ensure that the Old Accords are enforced. Tell me - what do you know of the Old Accords?"

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*** As the half-elf moves near you, she relieves you of your spear. Speaking loudly and in common, she recounts unto you the few statements of rights you have granted to you in the course of an arrest under the authority vested in the Knights of the Iron Tower. As she is near, you can see her sparkling armor has much character. It is well worn, bears several scars of battle, and the number of engraved battle axes on her right pauldron tells you she is high rank indeed. Two of the men on the wagon are clearly laborers, while the other is light infantry. Surely those three defer to her. The two gallant looking knights astride their horses do not bear the number of axes as she does.

After she reads you your rights in common, she immediately slips into the elven tongue, speaking it quietly and with a proficient accent. "When the darkness allies against us, we will be not two races, but one. When tragedy renders one body afflicted, so shall the other be." She makes a show of a frisk, but its quick and only a show. When she feels the elven long knife hidden in the small of your back, she gives a sly smirk without making eye contact. She doesn't relieve you of it. Face to face she says, "It goes on and on like that for some time. My father taught it to me before he was slain by an Eladrin noble for his improper marriage to my mother."

The man dressed in leather armor quickly finishes loading, deftly jumps to the wagon seat, takes the reins, and hisses in your direction. "Dame Nequal, I think we should be going." Her eyes turn to the rising gate as the sound of chain and pulley fill the air. *** A man dressed in mail and wielding a poleaxe is raucously, but orderly, assembling a group to move through it. As the gate opens large enough to stoop through, it is clear that it will not be a small force.

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manbearcat said:

*** As the half-elf moves near you, she relieves you of your spear. Speaking loudly and in common, she recounts unto you the few statements of rights you have granted to you in the course of an arrest under the authority vested in the Knights of the Iron Tower. As she is near, you can see her sparkling armor has much character. It is well worn, bears several scars of battle, and the number of engraved battle axes on her right pauldron tells you she is high rank indeed. Two of the men on the wagon are clearly laborers, while the other is light infantry. Surely those three defer to her. The two gallant looking knights astride their horses do not bear the number of axes as she does.

After she reads you your rights in common, she immediately slips into the elven tongue, speaking it quietly and with a proficient accent. "When the darkness allies against us, we will be not two races, but one. When tragedy renders one body afflicted, so shall the other be." She makes a show of a frisk, but its quick and only a show. When she feels the elven long knife hidden in the small of your back, she gives a sly smirk without making eye contact. She doesn't relieve you of it. Face to face she says, "It goes on and on like that for some time. My father taught it to me before he was slain by an Eladrin noble for his improper marriage to my mother."

The man dressed in leather armor quickly finishes loading, deftly jumps to the wagon seat, takes the reins, and hisses in your direction. "Dame Nequal, I think we should be going."

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Campbell said:

Lucann follows suite as Dame Nequal find their way to the wagon seats. He speaks in common so her men can understand : "What happened to your father is a shame upon us all. The eladrin have too long lived within the confines of The Inner World to which they are the guardians and forgotten their role in The Old Accords. We are as one and many. In times of peace we shall not interfere in the affairs of one another. I do not wish to speak ill of the dead, but I would know this eladrin noble's name. He has broken the oaths of his station. It is true that no eladrin is supposed to take on a mortal bride, but elves are not eladrin. The Lady Sehanine bids that we elves are to appreciate the beauty in all things, especially the world we are to protect. Your father strikes me as a true elf. He followed his heart. You are here today because he did so - within you lies the heart of an elf. As such you are as much a true elf as your father."

Lucann slips into elvish: "May the Lady Sehanine see your beauty and reveal the full beauty of the world to you. If you wish I can tell you more of the people as we make our way. We should make haste though. I do not know that man, but I have no desire to meet him before we see Thurgon."

[sblock="Move - Parley"]
Using +1 forward from Discern Realities
2d6+2=11

The intent is to get the Dame Nequal to see herself as more of an elf - not bidden by the laws of men or eladrin. Lucann also seeks to hasten their departure.
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She stands aside and beckons you to climb in before her "I think making haste is a good idea." As she does so, she squints and looks back at those emerging from the raising gate, "I believe that to be Master of Arms Dunderman. I have no desire for you to meet him either." When you're boarded and sitting in the back of the wagon she says to the man holding the reins "Wagner, why don't you get us out of here. With haste if at all possible."

The man cracks the reins "HYAH, GIDDYUP". The loaded wagon resists. The wheels strain and the chassis groans. but it finally moves into motion. The wheel ruts in the road aren't great but you figure they are smooth enough to gain speed once momentum is earned.

As the men behind you congregate, several of them have horses brought to them and they mount.

As she sits Dame Nequal keeps her eyes locked on the possible pursuit mounting behind you. "The eladrin who slew my father was from Mithrendain. My father called it The Autumn City. Perhaps you know it. My father said it was the most beautiful place in this world and all the others. He promised to take me there before he passed. Its funny....he used to say the same thing when I was a child. I would pick flowers and dance below the trees of the forest as he would strum his lute. He would laugh and say 'within you lies the true heart of an elf'..."

As you near the end of the city walls, a cry of "LET LOOSE" is heard on high from the ramparts. The click of a dozen or more crossbows is heard. All fall well short...save one. The wagon lurches wildly. Both of your eyes are drawn to the slumped man who has just dropped the reins. Dame Nequal breathes "...oh gods, Wagner...this is bad." She drops your spear into the bed of the wagon and begins to clamber, not very deftly, onto the wagon seat. As she grasps for the flailing reins, she shouts over her shoulder to you "YOU WOULDN'T HAPPEN TO HAVE ANY EXPERIENCE WITH THIS?..."

The tempermental wagon yaws as it gains speed, threatening to topple. The laborers and man in leathers try desperately to hang on for dear life and to keep the goods from crushing them or spilling out. The two armored knights keep pace on their horses, apparently waiting for a command from their leader.

Pursuit pours forth in the form of a dozen men on horseback. Master of Arms Dunderman leading the pack shouts "HALT. IN THE NAME OF THE KING, I DEMAND YOU HALT!"

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Campbell said:

@Manbearcat I had planned to post on Saturday, but ended up out with friends really late and needed to recover on Sunday. Hope you don't mind Schrodinger's Gorge.

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Campbell said:

Lucann looks to Dame Naquel and then to the men in pursuit. He speaks: "I have ridden many a horse, but driven no wagons. Still I shall try." As he takes the reins, Lucann stares down Master of Arms Dunderman and replies: "I must apologize, but I have been taken into custody by Dame Naquel under the orders of the Master of the Iron Tower. I'm afraid I'm late for my arraignment."

The only escape route Lucann can see before him has a gorge in its path, but when you weigh the divine calculus between a gorge and a dozen armed men the gorge wins. As Lucann attempts to jump the gorge he mutters a prayer in elvish, but Sehanine has other matters to attend to. The wagon makes the jump, but the cargo is tossed into dissaray and Lucann's spear, Oath Keeper, is lodged underneath a very large crate. Looking back, Lucann sees that several of the knights also made the jump and are closing in on the wagon.

[sblock="Move - Defy Danger (Dexterity)"]
2d6+3=9
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As the wagon settles on all fours you begin to get a sense for the rhythm of the beasts and the machinery they are burdened by. That sense of balance...of poetry in motion and oneness. It would be captivating were the circumstances otherwise. And they are very otherwise.

The men in the back of the wagon can do little more than hang on for their lives, take cover, or try to deflect their heads from falling cargo. The thrum of bowstrings can faintly be heard over the raucous chorus of the wagon and galloping horses. One races by your head. Another "thunks" into the wood of the wagon's chassis. Another is followed immediately by a wounded "neighing". A grunt and metallic crunching. Dame Nequal breathes "Sir Adler...by all the gods...this is madness...Dunderman has taken leave of his senses."

"I'll be damned if they take you with my sword unblooded. Especially with no authority on the matter. Lucann. Ride straight. Ride hard. This untracked territory meets up with a woodlands protected by the Glendon Arborists. You need not seek out those druids, they will inevitably find you. They will lead you back to the trade road that winds through the Echoing Mountains and leads to the Iron Tower. We have a small, fortified bastion there. Tell the men manning it what you have seen here. Tell them your name and say unto them 'Be brave and scorn cowardice in any form.' They will take you to Thurgon. He must know what happened here."

She whistles to the other knight who rushes up adjacent to the wagon to allow her to mount his horse. Turning back a moment to you she says "Tell him his knights fought and died bravely." And she jumps onto the horse.

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