Midnight: A Lost Faith's Shadow. Book 1, The Awakening. Chapter 3, Baden's Bluff

[Hrothgar]

OOC: My bad, Toric. I thought you meant to pick her up to her feet to walk, since she was kneeling in the rubble.

Lodric pushes to the front, grimacing against the pain. Beside him, Valurel carries Aislinn, the young girl silent but scared. Behind, Fallax and Kaela move uncertainly, Kaela burdened by pain, Fallax by age. The Heroes move quickly down the dark alleyway. The warm wind blows strongly down the alleyway, pushing the Heroes on. Dodging past old crates and other less wholesome debris, the Heroes seek to lose themselves in the darkness. Ahead, the alleyway continues but is split by a dimly lit cross-street. From the north (the Heroes left) arm of the cross-street comes raucous laughter and cheap music. The two-story buildings standing over the Heroes look like homes, although several might be small fish or trinket vendors. The buildings are mostly dark, although the occassional window spills a faint yellow light into the night.

The Wolf runs along with Starhl as the Northman pushes through the stone rubble and cracked timbers of the building. Turning eastward, he quickly catches up with the Heroes as they pause at the cross-street.

Herger, steps back into the building and pushes at the doorframe. With a crack, a side wall spills out, leaving the ground strewn with worm-ridden wooden slats and rusted nails.

Raa! The big one is trying to bring down the building. You three swing around the other side! We will follow here! And take the tracker with you! Again the ugly blat of an orc horn goes up in the night.

Hobnailed boots ring out on the alley boards as the orcs run west toward the lighted street that they originated from. In front of Herger, lost in the fog, several orcs scramble over the downed wall. Smiling at the thought of the orcs tripping and cursing in the alley, Herger turns and runs through the building, hoping to catch up with the Heroes soon.

 

[maddmic]

Herger follows down the alley as fast as his long stride will allow him to, hoping to catch up with the group.

OOC:
Flat out run if the alley will allow for it.

 

[Bobitron]

Kaela grimaces through the pain and raises her arm, motioning to the left. "We might be able to get lost inside the crowd," she says. "I can try to force sleep upon those who would follow us, but it is not guaranteed that it will work. Or I could call a mist again. We could try to hide in one of these buildings. Does anyone have skill with doors and locks?"

 

[Toric_Arthendain]

"If we enter one of these buildings, we might be surprising someone inside who doesn't want to be bothered. That might be more dangerous than staying on the streets," Valurel hisses. He looks left towards the sounds of raucous laughter. He keeps his head tilted forward to keep his hair in his face and over his ears, hoping that will be enough to conceal his race. "I have no skill with opening locks meant to keep things out. Head for the crowds or slip into a building?" he asks, clearly wanting to get off the street with Aislinn.

 

[Krug]

"Crowds if there be... but will the orcs spare them?" raves Starhl, helping his companions. To Kaela, he nods. "Maybe worth a shot to buy us some time. I only know how to break doors down girl."

 

[Hrothgar]

Fallax sneers. Haste! We must make haste! You fools dwaddle too much! Make a decision! And you, big man, Fallax scowls at Starhl, Will get even the commoners to turn us in unless you can conceal that weapon!


OOC: So what is the party's decision? Down the alley? Sidestreet? Into a building? Make for the crowd? For anyone unfamiliar with Midnight, weapons are contraband and severe punishments are doled out to those caught with them, let alone using them. In such a bleak world, even the downtrodden will turn in those possessing such items just to keep the orcs off their back for a night.


Herger stoops under the rotting doorframe and emerges into the dark alley. Which way did they go? There! To the east! The shadows of Herger's companions are barely visible further down the alley. Herger's long stride carries him down the alley quickly. Nearing the other Heroes, Herger pauses to look back. Illuminated by the light drifting down from the street to the west a stealthy figure emerges from the ruined building just exited by Herger. The shadowy creature crouches in the alley, hovering over several tiny glittering stones in the alley. No, not stones. Blood. Drops of blood from Herger's fleeing companions are sprinkled the whole length of the alley. Even through his heavy breathing, Herger can hear the creature sniff the cobblestones of the alley. The creature lifts its head, its black, glittering orbs peering down the alley. The creature emits a shrill cry that is answered in kind by another slinking figure entering the alley from the lighted street to the west. The Heroes are being tracked.

 

[Krug]

"And where would I hide it? My arse? Quick the alley!" says Starhl, dragging Kaela along.

 

[Hrothgar]

"And where would I hide it? My arse? Quick the alley!" says Starhl, dragging Kaela along.

OOC:


Fallax scowls at Starhl, but does not dare retort. The Heroes move quickly across the lighted street and down the alley. Behind, orc horns blat in alarm. Around the docks, orc horns answers harshly. Drunkards and even less wholesome Erenlanders cringe in the alleyway as the Heroes wing by, but turn and run in the direction that the Heroes came, seeking to alert the Heroes' pursuers and gain respite from the Shadow, even if just for a single night.

Herger's long stride eats up the ground between him and his companions. Glancing over his shoulder, the two furtive figures still pursue, keeping their distance from the Heroes but sending up their itermittent cries, much like bloodhounds on the trail of a wolf. Herger can hear hobnailed boots ring out on the cobblestones, not far behind their diminutive pursuers.

The alley winds and turns, crossing several streets. Eventually it takes a southerly course, rising up a slight incline toward the bluff above as it heads into more ordered and well-to-do neighborhoods. Halt! Drop yer'...Their not haltin'! Get em', boys! An ugly horn blat rings out from down a lighted street and hobnailed boots crash in pursuit on the stoney walk. Ahead, the alley breaks from the darkness into a lighted street that runs east-west; a channel of water, its surface almost ten feet below the level of the street, runs east-west down the center of the street. Several stone bridges, once ornate but now fallen into ruin, are spaced every fifty yards and cross the channel. On the other side of the channel, buildings rise in the darkness up the hill forming Baden's Bluff.

OOC: The two small figures tracking the Heroes are two rounds behind. The orcs following the trackers and the orcs that just spotted the Heroes are 4+ rounds behind. What do the Heroes do?

 

[Bobitron]

Breathing heavy, Kaela pauses and speaks. "We have to stop the trackers. If the trackers keep us in sight, we'll never lose the orcs." Sighing heavily, she stands very still for a moment as she once again gathers the power of the land in preperation for a spell.

ooc: Sleep has a range of 130', so I'll hit the trackers as soon as they show themselves. Hopefully it takes down both of them, but if not we need some muscle to wipe 'em out. So... should we risk the water? It might contain more living dead, but it might get the orcs and trackers off our backs.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

As Kaela prepares her spell, Lodric pauses for just a moment to draw a deep breath and examine the channel of water below.

ooc: can Lodric get a sense of how deep the channel is? How wide is it, and does it seem to have a current or is it still?