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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: 2034806" data-attributes="member: 7033"><p><strong>04-03 Betrayers and Fighting Farunk</strong></p><p></p><p>One of the redbreasts, a thin man with dried mud still splattered on his leather armor, stepped forward and wagged a finger at Ren. “Oh no you don’t,” he said. “You get on back. This is our fortress; we’re the ones that found it first.”</p><p></p><p>Ren waved the others from Vaunth-on-the-Lake forward. “Relax,” he said to the redbreast. “Just a little surprised to see you still alive, is all.”</p><p></p><p>“Huh! We’re doing fine, mate.” He waved his hand to show off the “fortress”. “We’ve got this place, and we’ve got a lot more to. A lot more than you do.”</p><p></p><p>“What’s so great about all this?” Ren asked, determined to not seem impressed. “A bunch of old stone buildings in the middle of nowhere.”</p><p></p><p>The redbreast laughed. “Nowhere? Shows what you know. We’re going to win this contest, mate. We’ve got the goods.”</p><p></p><p>“I see you havin’ two farunk, a ballista, and some crumbly old buildings.”</p><p></p><p>“See – that’s cause you don’t look at what’s really there. The farunk’ll count as prizes when we get home, and all it cost us was some armor. But that’s just the small beans. We got the greatest prize set up, mate – trading partners. What’ve you got that’s even close?”</p><p></p><p>Ren decided tipping their hand about they did have was probably not a good idea. Instead he nodded sagely. “Oh well, trading partners, I see now, yeh. Well that for sure beats all our stuff. Yeh you right.”</p><p></p><p>From behind him, Bessie said, “We’ve done alright for ourselves. We came through the valley alive and well. Despite getting goat dung dropped on us.”</p><p></p><p>All of the redbreasts except one in red robes began to chortle. “Oh that. Well, c’mon. That was only a spot of fun, y’know?” When none of the Heroes from Vaunth-on-the-Lake moved to agree he just shook his head. “Ah well, uptight tarts and all.” </p><p></p><p>Behind Ren, Madge and Aneirin were whispering. He couldn’t make out all of what they said, but the snatches of it suggested they were weighing whether to start a fight and the best way to do it. The redbreast noticed the whispering as well, and for the first time his eyes fell on Aneirin. “Hey! Who’s that! He’s not a quester! You folk are breaking the rules hooking up with someone that ain’t supposed to be outside Maissen.”</p><p></p><p>Ren smiled. “Oh he’s supposed to be outside Maissen. He’s got all kinds of permission like you wouldn’t believe.”</p><p></p><p>“I don’t believe it you cheaters,” the redbreast threw back. “The council’s going to hear about this, they are. You get going out of here.”</p><p></p><p>Ren looked over his shoulder at Madge and Aneirin. The ranger was looking over from the ballista to the farunk and frowning. The warrior beside her held his chin in the cup of one hand and shook his head slightly. </p><p></p><p>“Alright, we’re out,” Ren said, spreading his hands. He started backing away, and heard the shuffle of the others doing the same behind him. </p><p></p><p>At that moment there was a great flash of light between a set of buildings. Smoke billowed out from nowhere and a sickening smell of rotted flesh wafted over the area. Everyone’s eyes turned to the source – a immensely tall and gaunt figure, well over eight feet high with deep, bleeding cuts across his flesh. Wings folded behind his back, and horns from his forehead caught the last fleeting bit of sunlight. </p><p></p><p>The redbreasts turned and bowed.</p><p></p><p>Ren, Bessie, Aneirin, Killian, and Madge hastened their departure. They didn’t turn their backs on the redbreasts and their demonic visitor until passing a bend in the trail, but at that point they doubled their pace. </p><p></p><p>“Consorting with demons, a fine ‘trading partner’ they’ve found,” Killian said. </p><p></p><p>“That’s something the council’s *really* going to need to hear about,” Bessie added.</p><p></p><p>“Less talk, more distance,” Ren said. “It’s dark and we really, really need to find us a place to camp down for the night.” </p><p></p><p>It was a mile or so down the trail where the Heroes found what amounted to a wide spot in the road. With a steep hillside overgrown with grasses on one side and a steep cliff on the other, it was far from ideal, but it would let them stretch out and sleep. There was no fire that night, and watches were doubled up. That turned out to be a wise decision. </p><p></p><p>Late in the night Ren and Killian were on watch duty when the heard the sounds of people approaching. Light, subtle steps on the trail to the south – not from the redbreasts’ fortress. In the scant moon light Ren made out a handful of short, wide figures coming up the trail. </p><p></p><p>“Farunk!” he hissed to Killian. The two of them scurried to wake Aneirin, Bessie, and Madge, getting them on their feet as the farunk roared and charged the camp. </p><p></p><p>The battle was chaos in the dark. Killian launched fire at charging farunk, throwing a little bit of light up for a moment – enough for Aneirin, cursing that he hadn’t time to don armor, to thrust his sword through the boar-man. Light flashed off Bessie scimitar as she cut into another farunk, aided by Madge and her sword. Ren threw one spear and then another at a farunk charging his way. The first just nicked the monster; the second missed completely. Ren backed into the overgrowth and made a desperate slice with his sickle, cutting the farunk enough to throw off his attack slightly; Ren was severely bruised by the farunk’s crude mace instead of having his head smashed open. </p><p></p><p>Aneirin engaged the largest of the farunk, the one that had lured him into ambush earlier, and the two exchanged blows and blood for a few desperate moments before Aneirin opened the farunk’s gut. He turned and crossed the campsite to run through the farunk that had just bloodied Madge. The ranger finished that one as Anierin took another few steps to down the farunk attacking Ren. A moment later the last of the farunk fell dead, killed by the combined blades of Madge and Bessie, and the fire magic of Killian. </p><p></p><p>Bessie and Madge took stock of everyone and, despite the blood splayed everywhere, found no one too greatly injured. The druid’s healing magic wasn’t enough to heal anyone’s wounds completely, and went mostly to Ren and Anierin. Still, the battle might have gone much worse. The dead were unceremoniously shoved down the cliff, and the Maisseners got what more sleep they could before dawn. </p><p></p><p>Continues on post 74 with: Dwarves and a headcold </p><p>Soon: Sidetrip and Follow the Poem</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Beale Knight, post: 2034806, member: 7033"] [b]04-03 Betrayers and Fighting Farunk[/b] One of the redbreasts, a thin man with dried mud still splattered on his leather armor, stepped forward and wagged a finger at Ren. “Oh no you don’t,” he said. “You get on back. This is our fortress; we’re the ones that found it first.” Ren waved the others from Vaunth-on-the-Lake forward. “Relax,” he said to the redbreast. “Just a little surprised to see you still alive, is all.” “Huh! We’re doing fine, mate.” He waved his hand to show off the “fortress”. “We’ve got this place, and we’ve got a lot more to. A lot more than you do.” “What’s so great about all this?” Ren asked, determined to not seem impressed. “A bunch of old stone buildings in the middle of nowhere.” The redbreast laughed. “Nowhere? Shows what you know. We’re going to win this contest, mate. We’ve got the goods.” “I see you havin’ two farunk, a ballista, and some crumbly old buildings.” “See – that’s cause you don’t look at what’s really there. The farunk’ll count as prizes when we get home, and all it cost us was some armor. But that’s just the small beans. We got the greatest prize set up, mate – trading partners. What’ve you got that’s even close?” Ren decided tipping their hand about they did have was probably not a good idea. Instead he nodded sagely. “Oh well, trading partners, I see now, yeh. Well that for sure beats all our stuff. Yeh you right.” From behind him, Bessie said, “We’ve done alright for ourselves. We came through the valley alive and well. Despite getting goat dung dropped on us.” All of the redbreasts except one in red robes began to chortle. “Oh that. Well, c’mon. That was only a spot of fun, y’know?” When none of the Heroes from Vaunth-on-the-Lake moved to agree he just shook his head. “Ah well, uptight tarts and all.” Behind Ren, Madge and Aneirin were whispering. He couldn’t make out all of what they said, but the snatches of it suggested they were weighing whether to start a fight and the best way to do it. The redbreast noticed the whispering as well, and for the first time his eyes fell on Aneirin. “Hey! Who’s that! He’s not a quester! You folk are breaking the rules hooking up with someone that ain’t supposed to be outside Maissen.” Ren smiled. “Oh he’s supposed to be outside Maissen. He’s got all kinds of permission like you wouldn’t believe.” “I don’t believe it you cheaters,” the redbreast threw back. “The council’s going to hear about this, they are. You get going out of here.” Ren looked over his shoulder at Madge and Aneirin. The ranger was looking over from the ballista to the farunk and frowning. The warrior beside her held his chin in the cup of one hand and shook his head slightly. “Alright, we’re out,” Ren said, spreading his hands. He started backing away, and heard the shuffle of the others doing the same behind him. At that moment there was a great flash of light between a set of buildings. Smoke billowed out from nowhere and a sickening smell of rotted flesh wafted over the area. Everyone’s eyes turned to the source – a immensely tall and gaunt figure, well over eight feet high with deep, bleeding cuts across his flesh. Wings folded behind his back, and horns from his forehead caught the last fleeting bit of sunlight. The redbreasts turned and bowed. Ren, Bessie, Aneirin, Killian, and Madge hastened their departure. They didn’t turn their backs on the redbreasts and their demonic visitor until passing a bend in the trail, but at that point they doubled their pace. “Consorting with demons, a fine ‘trading partner’ they’ve found,” Killian said. “That’s something the council’s *really* going to need to hear about,” Bessie added. “Less talk, more distance,” Ren said. “It’s dark and we really, really need to find us a place to camp down for the night.” It was a mile or so down the trail where the Heroes found what amounted to a wide spot in the road. With a steep hillside overgrown with grasses on one side and a steep cliff on the other, it was far from ideal, but it would let them stretch out and sleep. There was no fire that night, and watches were doubled up. That turned out to be a wise decision. Late in the night Ren and Killian were on watch duty when the heard the sounds of people approaching. Light, subtle steps on the trail to the south – not from the redbreasts’ fortress. In the scant moon light Ren made out a handful of short, wide figures coming up the trail. “Farunk!” he hissed to Killian. The two of them scurried to wake Aneirin, Bessie, and Madge, getting them on their feet as the farunk roared and charged the camp. The battle was chaos in the dark. Killian launched fire at charging farunk, throwing a little bit of light up for a moment – enough for Aneirin, cursing that he hadn’t time to don armor, to thrust his sword through the boar-man. Light flashed off Bessie scimitar as she cut into another farunk, aided by Madge and her sword. Ren threw one spear and then another at a farunk charging his way. The first just nicked the monster; the second missed completely. Ren backed into the overgrowth and made a desperate slice with his sickle, cutting the farunk enough to throw off his attack slightly; Ren was severely bruised by the farunk’s crude mace instead of having his head smashed open. Aneirin engaged the largest of the farunk, the one that had lured him into ambush earlier, and the two exchanged blows and blood for a few desperate moments before Aneirin opened the farunk’s gut. He turned and crossed the campsite to run through the farunk that had just bloodied Madge. The ranger finished that one as Anierin took another few steps to down the farunk attacking Ren. A moment later the last of the farunk fell dead, killed by the combined blades of Madge and Bessie, and the fire magic of Killian. Bessie and Madge took stock of everyone and, despite the blood splayed everywhere, found no one too greatly injured. The druid’s healing magic wasn’t enough to heal anyone’s wounds completely, and went mostly to Ren and Anierin. Still, the battle might have gone much worse. The dead were unceremoniously shoved down the cliff, and the Maisseners got what more sleep they could before dawn. Continues on post 74 with: Dwarves and a headcold Soon: Sidetrip and Follow the Poem [/QUOTE]
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