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Maissen: Shades of Grey [UPDATE 12/12, post 199]
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<blockquote data-quote="Beale Knight" data-source="post: 1877633" data-attributes="member: 7033"><p><strong>02-03 Into the Rift</strong></p><p></p><p>Ren crawled on his belly for what seemed like miles. Twice he came to a dead stop, sure that he heard someone approaching. Both were false alarms, causing him to quietly curse innocent animals before moving carefully on. Finally a small midden of bison dung told him he was at the edge of the camp. </p><p></p><p>Slowly he lifted his head. He suppressed a gasp. What he saw was no small camp of chakta. This was nothing short of a full size town. Ren couldn’t see all the yurts the chakta had erected, and there was no hope of counting the chakta themselves. As silently as he could, Ren lowered himself back to the ground and eased away. </p><p></p><p>“That way’s no good,” he said when he caught up to the others. “We need to really hurry along this route.”</p><p></p><p>As the day wore on, Ren explained to the others what he’d seen. “I’d heard they were a mobile people,” he said, “but that’s a lot to mobile.”</p><p></p><p>“They’re gathering,” Madge said. “And it can not be good that they do so.”</p><p></p><p>The night and next day passed peacefully as the group made their way northwest through the valley. Only their coming across a sudden five foot drop made a mark on the day. There was a small creek, enough to refill their water skins after the considerable task of lowering a goat and wagon down a five foot drop was accomplished. </p><p></p><p>Day four of the adventure was only marked by the group making their way to the fringes of the plain. A copse of low trees here and there and clumps bushes became more and more prevalent. It held the promise of an exit from the endless plains.</p><p></p><p>However, the stress was beginning to wear on some of the group. Killian especially seemed to be suffering from poor sleep. By day five he confessed he hadn’t been able to get enough rest to properly focus on spell casting. Madge and Bessie reported similar trouble, but not to the extent of the group’s sorcerer. </p><p></p><p>What was frightening was the dreams they described. More accurately, the dream they all described. For it was the same one - a woman about to be burned at the stake by the hands of fanatics directed by a wild eyed halfling. The victim cried out to save her baby, but to no avail, and she seemed to stare at the dreaming Heroes, begging them for help. </p><p></p><p>To offset the damage of insufficient sleep, the group decided to simply camp and rest a full day under the thickening trees. There was shade and there was water, and Bessie soon found there was something more. </p><p></p><p>“Bees,” she said. “Bees the size of pigs.”</p><p></p><p>No one suffered the nightmare that night, and on day six of the adventure the group was on the move again. The giant bees suggested most strongly that the rift valley was close, and that one of the side missions could be accomplished.</p><p></p><p>===============================================================</p><p></p><p>“That is one long drop for sure,” Ren said as he gazed down the rift valley. </p><p></p><p>“Two hundred forty feet,” Madge said, “just as Shayder described.” She gazed north to focus on the far side. “And about two mile across.”</p><p></p><p>The rift valley had been easy to find. In truth it would have been harder to miss. Not only was it huge and rright in their path, but giant bees were regularly flying in and out of it. The valley ran east to west out of sight, and simply by following alongside it the Heroes from Vaunth-on-the-Lake had found the red stone steps leading down into it. </p><p></p><p>“That’s too much for tonight, even with those steps,” Killian said. “I say we camp up top tonight and take it on in th’ morning.”</p><p></p><p>The others nodded. It was already dark down below, and getting that way where they stood. “No fun looking for a camp site in the dead dark,” Ren said. </p><p></p><p>Just then an inhuman howling sounded from somewhere in the valley. It echoed off the rift walls, and was joined by more. Everyone glanced at each other with wide eyes. Ren shook his head. “Nope, no fun at all,” he said.</p><p></p><p>When the morning came the wisdom of their choice became clear. They freed Jimmy from the wagon, and Bessie led the goat easily down the steps. The wagon was a far greater challenge. Madge took the brunt of the weight as Ren and Killian stabilized the wagon from the higher end, keeping it from tilting over or sliding off the steps.</p><p></p><p>The redstone staircase switched back halfway down, leaving a wide landing at the midway point. It was perfect for a rest. The four tied Jimmy to the wagon, and put blocks at the wheels. Secure as possible, they sat to eat. </p><p></p><p>Suddenly something brown splattered beside Ren. </p><p></p><p>“What in the – “ he shouted as he jumped to his feet. The others stood as more brown pellets and patties fell around them. One wide patty hit Bessie square on the head. </p><p></p><p>From above, there was laughter. Leaning over the edge of the rift were the redbreasts. One threw a bag down at the group and shouted, “Good luck! Most don’t return from down there.”</p><p></p><p>“At least we ain’t shoveling dung with our hands,” Ren shouted back at them. The redbreasts pulled back from the edge, still laughing.</p><p></p><p>“We’ll see them again,” Madge said, scowling. She kicked the bag, which fell apart to reveal three chakta heads. “They’ve seen some chakta too.”</p><p></p><p>“Too bad they weren’t on the wrong end of the ambush,” Bessie said. She was doing her best to clean off herself. Most of the dung was old and in pellets. What struck her was fresh from this morning.</p><p></p><p>Killian cast a spell that cleaned the druid up completely, and the group continued down. </p><p>It was still early afternoon when they reached bottom. They double checked their gear and then headed toward the interior. Giant bees were all around them, buzzing to and fro without giving the adventurers so much as a glance. </p><p></p><p>“There,” Ren said, pointing off into the trees. “That tall one, on the branch off right.”</p><p></p><p>The others followed his point to see the largest bee hive any had ever laid eyes on. </p><p></p><p>“It’s the size of a house,” Bessie said. “How that’s all hanging from the one thread I can’t imagine.”</p><p></p><p>“Doesn’t matter,” Killian said. “All we need to worry about is getting to it.” He pointed to the ground around the tree. </p><p></p><p>Primitive walls were there where he pointed. Rude stacks of roughly cut tree trunks, thrown together with less planning than an ant hill, surrounded the tree. Each was some twelve feet high. </p><p></p><p>Ren went ahead to take a better look. Climbing a nearby tree he could easily see within the primitive fort, and he wasn’t happy at what he saw. </p><p></p><p>“Three kerbals,” he reported to the others. “Two big ones and one that’s really big. The good news is they’re sleeping.”</p><p></p><p>“Three,” Madge repeated. “And Shayder’s paladin friend was killed taking down one.”</p><p></p><p>Killian nodded. “And they’re on the other side of those walls.”</p><p></p><p>“They must be nocturnal,” Bessie said. “Last night’s howl was probably them waking and stirring. That gives us an advantage if we do this before sunset.”</p><p></p><p>Ren smiled. “We have another advantage too, something that’ll for sure make a difference in this hunt.”</p><p></p><p></p><p>They moved up to one corner of the walls and secured Jimmy and the cart to a tree. As a group, they walked around the rude little fort and noted choice trees, the ones easiest to climb and with limbs extending toward the giant bee hive. When four were chosen, two on opposite sides, they had only one more bit of preparation to make. Ren gathered up some arrows from his stash and Madge’s, and two of Bessie’s bolts. He then carefully opened up the sack containing the bladder of giant spider venom and even more carefully coated as many missiles as he could with the supply. </p><p></p><p>“Don’t nick yourselves,” he said as he handed the now poisoned projectiles back. “This was good timing,” he added. “I don’t see that that poison would’ve stayed good more than another day or so.”</p><p></p><p>Madge nodded as she took her arrows. “You know that split like we’ll be, one side or the other’s going to be out of the fight quickly.”</p><p></p><p>“The crossfire at the start’ll be worth it,” Ren said. “Hopefully we’ll get ‘em confused for a few moments and they won’t have much fight left by the time they pick a target to go for.” He looked the others over. “Everyone ready?”</p><p></p><p>They split up then. Killian and Ren went to the fort’s south side and climbed trees close to each other. About twenty feet up they scooted out on branches as far out as they could. Across the fort, Bessie and Madge did the same. The two teams were out of sight of each other, but birdcalls sent between Ren and Bessie confirmed everyone was in place. </p><p></p><p>Ren shot first, sending a poisoned arrow into the biggest of the kerbal. Madge followed at once with one going into a smaller one, and Killian sent a glowing bolt of magical pain into the one Ren shot. Bessie’s shot never came. Ren heard a crash and a curse from across the fort, but before he could say anything there came a howl from within the fort. </p><p></p><p>The kerbals were fully awake and very angry. </p><p></p><p>Ren and Madge sent a pair of arrows into the biggest one. She, as they could now tell, staggered in pain and howled again. The other two joined her howls and looked around the fort for an enemy. The biggest one pointed up and over, toward Ren and Killian. </p><p></p><p>The sorcerer sent another bolt of magic into her and she fell to her knees, weaved, then fell forward. Ren shot one of the pair that were now climbing the bee hive tree and he shouted, “They’re climbing this way!” To Killian, he shouted, “Let’s us knock out that healthy one first!”</p><p></p><p>He was answered by a fan of flames from Killian’s fingertips. The rays of fire struck both kerbals as they scurried onto a large branch toward their attackers. “That’s good enough too,” the hunter whispered, readying another arrow. </p><p></p><p>If the kerbals noticed or cared that their apparent leader was dead neither showed it. Ren put an arrow into the lead kerbal, the one he thought healthier, and another one struck it from below. Braving a glimpse down, Ren saw Madge – readying another of her arrows. </p><p></p><p>Killian sent another bolt of magic into that lead kerbal and it finally fell from the tree branch. Madge, for good measure, shot it once it hit ground. </p><p></p><p>Ren put another arrow into the last kerbal, but it was getting dangerously close. It jumped from its branch onto one ten feet below Killian. The sorcerer sent another bolt into it, but both Ren and Madge’s arrows hit tree bark. The kerbal made a quick climb up and stretched a clawed paw out to strike Killian.</p><p></p><p>A bolt suddenly appeared in its belly. The kerbal howled and took a desperate swipe at the sorcerer above him, but it was no good. He lost his grip and fell from the tree. When he hit the ground he didn’t even twitch.</p><p></p><p> Ren looked down to see Bessie. She was breathing hard and favored her right leg when she walked, but she was whole. “Looks like giving me this crossbow was the right thing for the Circle to do,” she said between huffs. </p><p></p><p>With things calmed down, Bessie explained that she had shifted her weight wrong as she took aim. Her foot slipped, her crossbow fired prematurely, and she fell through the branches and landed hard on the ground. It took a moment for her head to clear and for her to cast a healing spell on herself, but she was determined to not be kept out of the fight. </p><p></p><p>The rest of the afternoon was much less demanding. They managed to get Jimmy and the wagon in the fort and set up a camp. Gathering the honey didn’t take long once Ren was able to make it up the tree. Most of the lowest branches had long been broken off, the kerbal didn’t need them, which made the first part of the climb a challenge. Finally though the group had a pot filled with the honey of giant bees, and managed it without disturbing its makers. Furthermore, they now had two kerbal skins to present as trophies when they returned to Maissen. The third had been too badly shot up to be of worthwhile value, but even so that left them with twice what Shayder’s paladin friend had managed to obtain.</p><p></p><p>Flush with success, the Heroes decided to spend day eight of their adventure relaxing in the kerbal made fort. They swam in the nearby lake, took advantage of the bountiful fruit trees, and slept extra hours. It was to prove a wise choice.</p><p></p><p>They all had the dream. Some on the first night, some on the second, but by the time the embarked on day nine out of Maissen, they all had seen the woman being burned at the stake. Before the day was over, they would know all about what that dream meant.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Beale Knight, post: 1877633, member: 7033"] [b]02-03 Into the Rift[/b] Ren crawled on his belly for what seemed like miles. Twice he came to a dead stop, sure that he heard someone approaching. Both were false alarms, causing him to quietly curse innocent animals before moving carefully on. Finally a small midden of bison dung told him he was at the edge of the camp. Slowly he lifted his head. He suppressed a gasp. What he saw was no small camp of chakta. This was nothing short of a full size town. Ren couldn’t see all the yurts the chakta had erected, and there was no hope of counting the chakta themselves. As silently as he could, Ren lowered himself back to the ground and eased away. “That way’s no good,” he said when he caught up to the others. “We need to really hurry along this route.” As the day wore on, Ren explained to the others what he’d seen. “I’d heard they were a mobile people,” he said, “but that’s a lot to mobile.” “They’re gathering,” Madge said. “And it can not be good that they do so.” The night and next day passed peacefully as the group made their way northwest through the valley. Only their coming across a sudden five foot drop made a mark on the day. There was a small creek, enough to refill their water skins after the considerable task of lowering a goat and wagon down a five foot drop was accomplished. Day four of the adventure was only marked by the group making their way to the fringes of the plain. A copse of low trees here and there and clumps bushes became more and more prevalent. It held the promise of an exit from the endless plains. However, the stress was beginning to wear on some of the group. Killian especially seemed to be suffering from poor sleep. By day five he confessed he hadn’t been able to get enough rest to properly focus on spell casting. Madge and Bessie reported similar trouble, but not to the extent of the group’s sorcerer. What was frightening was the dreams they described. More accurately, the dream they all described. For it was the same one - a woman about to be burned at the stake by the hands of fanatics directed by a wild eyed halfling. The victim cried out to save her baby, but to no avail, and she seemed to stare at the dreaming Heroes, begging them for help. To offset the damage of insufficient sleep, the group decided to simply camp and rest a full day under the thickening trees. There was shade and there was water, and Bessie soon found there was something more. “Bees,” she said. “Bees the size of pigs.” No one suffered the nightmare that night, and on day six of the adventure the group was on the move again. The giant bees suggested most strongly that the rift valley was close, and that one of the side missions could be accomplished. =============================================================== “That is one long drop for sure,” Ren said as he gazed down the rift valley. “Two hundred forty feet,” Madge said, “just as Shayder described.” She gazed north to focus on the far side. “And about two mile across.” The rift valley had been easy to find. In truth it would have been harder to miss. Not only was it huge and rright in their path, but giant bees were regularly flying in and out of it. The valley ran east to west out of sight, and simply by following alongside it the Heroes from Vaunth-on-the-Lake had found the red stone steps leading down into it. “That’s too much for tonight, even with those steps,” Killian said. “I say we camp up top tonight and take it on in th’ morning.” The others nodded. It was already dark down below, and getting that way where they stood. “No fun looking for a camp site in the dead dark,” Ren said. Just then an inhuman howling sounded from somewhere in the valley. It echoed off the rift walls, and was joined by more. Everyone glanced at each other with wide eyes. Ren shook his head. “Nope, no fun at all,” he said. When the morning came the wisdom of their choice became clear. They freed Jimmy from the wagon, and Bessie led the goat easily down the steps. The wagon was a far greater challenge. Madge took the brunt of the weight as Ren and Killian stabilized the wagon from the higher end, keeping it from tilting over or sliding off the steps. The redstone staircase switched back halfway down, leaving a wide landing at the midway point. It was perfect for a rest. The four tied Jimmy to the wagon, and put blocks at the wheels. Secure as possible, they sat to eat. Suddenly something brown splattered beside Ren. “What in the – “ he shouted as he jumped to his feet. The others stood as more brown pellets and patties fell around them. One wide patty hit Bessie square on the head. From above, there was laughter. Leaning over the edge of the rift were the redbreasts. One threw a bag down at the group and shouted, “Good luck! Most don’t return from down there.” “At least we ain’t shoveling dung with our hands,” Ren shouted back at them. The redbreasts pulled back from the edge, still laughing. “We’ll see them again,” Madge said, scowling. She kicked the bag, which fell apart to reveal three chakta heads. “They’ve seen some chakta too.” “Too bad they weren’t on the wrong end of the ambush,” Bessie said. She was doing her best to clean off herself. Most of the dung was old and in pellets. What struck her was fresh from this morning. Killian cast a spell that cleaned the druid up completely, and the group continued down. It was still early afternoon when they reached bottom. They double checked their gear and then headed toward the interior. Giant bees were all around them, buzzing to and fro without giving the adventurers so much as a glance. “There,” Ren said, pointing off into the trees. “That tall one, on the branch off right.” The others followed his point to see the largest bee hive any had ever laid eyes on. “It’s the size of a house,” Bessie said. “How that’s all hanging from the one thread I can’t imagine.” “Doesn’t matter,” Killian said. “All we need to worry about is getting to it.” He pointed to the ground around the tree. Primitive walls were there where he pointed. Rude stacks of roughly cut tree trunks, thrown together with less planning than an ant hill, surrounded the tree. Each was some twelve feet high. Ren went ahead to take a better look. Climbing a nearby tree he could easily see within the primitive fort, and he wasn’t happy at what he saw. “Three kerbals,” he reported to the others. “Two big ones and one that’s really big. The good news is they’re sleeping.” “Three,” Madge repeated. “And Shayder’s paladin friend was killed taking down one.” Killian nodded. “And they’re on the other side of those walls.” “They must be nocturnal,” Bessie said. “Last night’s howl was probably them waking and stirring. That gives us an advantage if we do this before sunset.” Ren smiled. “We have another advantage too, something that’ll for sure make a difference in this hunt.” They moved up to one corner of the walls and secured Jimmy and the cart to a tree. As a group, they walked around the rude little fort and noted choice trees, the ones easiest to climb and with limbs extending toward the giant bee hive. When four were chosen, two on opposite sides, they had only one more bit of preparation to make. Ren gathered up some arrows from his stash and Madge’s, and two of Bessie’s bolts. He then carefully opened up the sack containing the bladder of giant spider venom and even more carefully coated as many missiles as he could with the supply. “Don’t nick yourselves,” he said as he handed the now poisoned projectiles back. “This was good timing,” he added. “I don’t see that that poison would’ve stayed good more than another day or so.” Madge nodded as she took her arrows. “You know that split like we’ll be, one side or the other’s going to be out of the fight quickly.” “The crossfire at the start’ll be worth it,” Ren said. “Hopefully we’ll get ‘em confused for a few moments and they won’t have much fight left by the time they pick a target to go for.” He looked the others over. “Everyone ready?” They split up then. Killian and Ren went to the fort’s south side and climbed trees close to each other. About twenty feet up they scooted out on branches as far out as they could. Across the fort, Bessie and Madge did the same. The two teams were out of sight of each other, but birdcalls sent between Ren and Bessie confirmed everyone was in place. Ren shot first, sending a poisoned arrow into the biggest of the kerbal. Madge followed at once with one going into a smaller one, and Killian sent a glowing bolt of magical pain into the one Ren shot. Bessie’s shot never came. Ren heard a crash and a curse from across the fort, but before he could say anything there came a howl from within the fort. The kerbals were fully awake and very angry. Ren and Madge sent a pair of arrows into the biggest one. She, as they could now tell, staggered in pain and howled again. The other two joined her howls and looked around the fort for an enemy. The biggest one pointed up and over, toward Ren and Killian. The sorcerer sent another bolt of magic into her and she fell to her knees, weaved, then fell forward. Ren shot one of the pair that were now climbing the bee hive tree and he shouted, “They’re climbing this way!” To Killian, he shouted, “Let’s us knock out that healthy one first!” He was answered by a fan of flames from Killian’s fingertips. The rays of fire struck both kerbals as they scurried onto a large branch toward their attackers. “That’s good enough too,” the hunter whispered, readying another arrow. If the kerbals noticed or cared that their apparent leader was dead neither showed it. Ren put an arrow into the lead kerbal, the one he thought healthier, and another one struck it from below. Braving a glimpse down, Ren saw Madge – readying another of her arrows. Killian sent another bolt of magic into that lead kerbal and it finally fell from the tree branch. Madge, for good measure, shot it once it hit ground. Ren put another arrow into the last kerbal, but it was getting dangerously close. It jumped from its branch onto one ten feet below Killian. The sorcerer sent another bolt into it, but both Ren and Madge’s arrows hit tree bark. The kerbal made a quick climb up and stretched a clawed paw out to strike Killian. A bolt suddenly appeared in its belly. The kerbal howled and took a desperate swipe at the sorcerer above him, but it was no good. He lost his grip and fell from the tree. When he hit the ground he didn’t even twitch. Ren looked down to see Bessie. She was breathing hard and favored her right leg when she walked, but she was whole. “Looks like giving me this crossbow was the right thing for the Circle to do,” she said between huffs. With things calmed down, Bessie explained that she had shifted her weight wrong as she took aim. Her foot slipped, her crossbow fired prematurely, and she fell through the branches and landed hard on the ground. It took a moment for her head to clear and for her to cast a healing spell on herself, but she was determined to not be kept out of the fight. The rest of the afternoon was much less demanding. They managed to get Jimmy and the wagon in the fort and set up a camp. Gathering the honey didn’t take long once Ren was able to make it up the tree. Most of the lowest branches had long been broken off, the kerbal didn’t need them, which made the first part of the climb a challenge. Finally though the group had a pot filled with the honey of giant bees, and managed it without disturbing its makers. Furthermore, they now had two kerbal skins to present as trophies when they returned to Maissen. The third had been too badly shot up to be of worthwhile value, but even so that left them with twice what Shayder’s paladin friend had managed to obtain. Flush with success, the Heroes decided to spend day eight of their adventure relaxing in the kerbal made fort. They swam in the nearby lake, took advantage of the bountiful fruit trees, and slept extra hours. It was to prove a wise choice. They all had the dream. Some on the first night, some on the second, but by the time the embarked on day nine out of Maissen, they all had seen the woman being burned at the stake. Before the day was over, they would know all about what that dream meant. [/QUOTE]
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