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<blockquote data-quote="el-remmen" data-source="post: 3404445" data-attributes="member: 11"><p><strong>Session #3 – “Into the Bog” (Part 3 of 3)</strong></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: 18px">Anulem, the 14th of Sek – 566 H.E. (637 M.Y.)</span></p><p></p><p>“I think the next time we parley with the lizardfolk I shall reveal that I speak their language,” Markos announced.</p><p></p><p>“Wait! You can speak their language?” Timotheus was astounded. “Why did you not say anything before?”</p><p></p><p>“Well, I figured it might be best to hold this back in case we might be able to learn something if they assumed we could not understand their tongue and spoke freely before us,” Markos explained. “But now I think I think it will be better to reveal it and hope that wins us some sympathy in their eyes, and it will help us communicate better in our negotiations and assure some understanding…”</p><p></p><p>“I speak some <em>hobbo</em>, but I don’t expect that to endear me with any of them,” Telémahkos said with a grin.</p><p></p><p>“I am nearly out of provisions,” Victoria said. In fact, all of their supplies were running low, having expected to get to New Harbinger a day ago. In addition, the horses would need to be brought somewhere to graze.”</p><p></p><p>“We should trade with the lizardfolk,” Markos suggested. “If they live here they must have some provisions, plus it will give us a chance to talk to them some more.”</p><p></p><p>“I was thinking about the situation,” Bleys said, in his normal quiet tones. “And I was wondering, if Sir Quintus had dealings with the lizardfolk as we suspect, why did he leave the hunt for the bandits to come find them?”</p><p></p><p>“Perhaps the lizardfolk know something of the bandits,” Markos suggested.</p><p></p><p>“If I may interrupt, sirs,” Valerius said, his eager energy much dampened by Bleys’ blow in the pre-dawn hours. “But my master never had any dealings or contact with lizardfolk that I ever knew…”</p><p></p><p>“And who would know better what a knight does than his squire who is always with him?” Timotheus said.</p><p></p><p>“How long have you been his squire, boy? Bleys asked Valerius.</p><p></p><p>“A little more than four months…”</p><p></p><p>The watch-mage turned back to Timotheus. “So what he knows or does not know of his master from so short a time has no bearing. The connection could have easily have been made before then…”</p><p></p><p>They rode back down to the keep, their mounts all cranky from the days’ long rides. Once again Tavius stayed with the packhorse and his pony further away from the keep. </p><p></p><p>It took a long time for Chok’tem to appear at the tower again. They called for over twenty-minutes and even considered that the lizardfolk might have fled in the darkness of the pre-dawn hours, but in the end the reptilian humanoid in his cured leather smock hailed them with a hiss.</p><p></p><p>Markos called up a greeting in the lizardman tongue.</p><p></p><p>“Why did you not say you could speak our tongue when we spoke last?” Chok’tem asked, suspicious.</p><p></p><p>“We were communicating fine in Common, I saw no need, especially since it hurts my throat to speak it,” Markos replied.</p><p></p><p>“Yes, your accent is strange,” Chok’tem said, and then snorted. It might have been a laugh.</p><p></p><p>Markos negotiated the trade of two daggers for some provisions. They left the daggers by the gate and left for less than an hour. When they returned there was a sack on a post, and inside were four fat leeches three long, and a giant snail with its shell cracked open and about a forth of the meat inside torn out.</p><p></p><p>“Oh delicious!” Telémahkos sneered.</p><p></p><p>“Well, the snail is good,” Markos said with a forced smile. He looked up to the lizardfolk. “Thank you Chok’tem…Have you considered our offer from yesterday?”</p><p></p><p>“Sir cannot leave until the time has past, Chok’tem said, reiterating his vague reasons from the day before. “There is danger here for you humans… You should go and leave us to our business… Tell no one…” He spoke in his own tongue, Markos translating.</p><p></p><p>Suddenly, there was cry of agony from within the ruined keep. It was definitely a human voice.</p><p></p><p>“Is that Sir Quintus?” Markos called up. “Is he being killed?”</p><p></p><p>“No,” replied Chok’tem. “We do not wish to see him killed…”</p><p></p><p>“So, perhaps they only torture him,” Laarus commented to his companions, his face growing flush with anger at the contemplation of it.</p><p></p><p>“They said they wish him no harm,” Bleys said. “I do not think he is being tortured…”</p><p></p><p>There was a sound and movement from the top of the tower. Another of the lizardfolk arrived and spoke with Chok’tem in whispered tones. </p><p></p><p>“I shall return,” he told the signers of the Charter of Schiereiland, and disappeared into the keep, leaving the other of his kind behind to stand guard.</p><p></p><p>“And what is <em>your</em> name?” Markos called up to the new lizardfolk. He was lighter in color, and the mottled brown of his reptilian hide was in larger scattered splotches. He too had a crest on his head, though smaller than Chok’tem’s.</p><p></p><p>The lizardfolk replied with a collection of syllables and hisses that made Markos scratch is head. He gave the name a try, but the lizardman shook his head and said it again.</p><p></p><p>“Klock’chtok?” Markos tried again.</p><p></p><p>“Yessssss…”</p><p></p><p>“Where has Chok’tem gone?”</p><p></p><p>“He is called away…”</p><p></p><p>“Is Chok’tem the leader?” Markos asked, continuing his inquiry</p><p></p><p>“How long are we going to wait? You heard his cry…” Laarus said to the others.</p><p></p><p>“We cannot just charge in there…” Timotheus said.</p><p></p><p>“Charging in there is exactly what we should do,” Laarus replied overly loud. Klock’chtok broke off his conversation with Markos to call a warning into the keep that the adventurers might be charging in.</p><p></p><p>“We plan to do no such thing,” Markos called up to the guard. He then looked to his companions. “Right?”</p><p></p><p>“Would someone care to go for a ride?” Bleys asked.</p><p></p><p>“I do not believe this is the time for that…” Victoria began</p><p></p><p>“We may be forbidden to enter the keep, but I thought we might get a better look at its dimensions by riding around it,” Bleys replied quietly.</p><p></p><p>The chatter was broken by another agonizing cry from within the keep. Laarus Raymer of Ra did not hesitate, and drawing his flail he spurred his horse. But Bleys reached out and grabbed the reins of the priest’s horse.</p><p></p><p>“Be not a fool! They are prepared for a charge! At the very least let us go around,” the watch-mage said.</p><p></p><p>“Then go around!” Laarus replied sternly. Bleys let go and the priest charged in, calling on Ra to <em>bless</em> their coming battle. Victoria and her mount charged right in after him. </p><p></p><p>Past the gatehouse, the inner keep was a mess of broken walls, and pools of stagnant water collecting on the uneven ground, and seeping out where stone had sunken into the loam. There was a stone building lacking a roof in the center of what was once a great courtyard, but the wall that stood behind it was now piles of rocks in a great pool of green water being fed by countless little streams from all directions.</p><p></p><p>Victoria reared up at a thickly woven straw mat over fifteen feet to a side laying in the middle of the courtyard, not far from the broken wall that led into the roofless building. Two lizardfolk, also in leather smocks, stood at each side of the ten-foot gap, hissing and brandishing machetes. They were dark green and mottled with brown, and had lower thicker crests on their heads that resembled Klock’chtok than Chok’tem.</p><p></p><p>But Laarus charged on and as the mats gave way beneath his horse’s front hooves it reared up and whinnied in dismay. The animal kicked it forelegs and spun itself frantically, while Laarus held on desperately, trying to retain control. At least he had not ridden into the pit the mat, now askew, had hidden beneath it.</p><p></p><p>“Going around will give them a chance to kill Sir Quintus! Charge!” Markos said as he spurred his horse to charge in as well. Timotheus was right behind him, yelling, “Sir Quintus! Shout as loud as you can so we know where you are!” Valerius went with them.</p><p></p><p>Bleys looked to Telémahkos. The son of Briareus had not made a move to follow the others. He met the watch-mage’s glance and nervously pulled at some loose blond strands sticking out from his old-fashioned helmet. </p><p></p><p>“Shall we go around?” Bleys the Aubergine asked his companion, gesturing over to the north side of the keep. Telémahkos nodded, so the watch-mage turned his horse and led the way carefully through one of the broader streams and around the crumbling outer tower.</p><p></p><p>Klock’chtok let out a violent set of barks and hisses towards the stone building. He had moved over on the gatehouse tower to look into the courtyard, and saw Timotheus come bursting into the courtyard, while Markos hung back near the gatehouse. He knew that the lizardman guard was calling to Chok’tem for permission to attack.</p><p></p><p>“Chok’tem! It is not too late to reveal Sir Quintus! We can still parley and no blood need be shed!” Markos called.</p><p></p><p>“They have me in here!” came a strained voice from the stone building. “They have me in here! Just don’t kill them!”</p><p></p><p>“<em>Approach,</em>” Victoria said to Klock’chtok, divine authority in her voice. The lizardman climbed over the crumbling wall and hanging there for a moment jumped, landing painfully on one leg that collapsed beneath his weight.</p><p></p><p>Timotheus rode right up to the entrance to the building and could see the corner of some kind of wooden cage, but an uneven brick wall obscured most of it. There was a narrow stream running into a pool collecting in one corner and a rotting wooden door acted as a kind of footbridge. </p><p></p><p>The lizardman on the right grabbed at Tim, but as the tall man shifted in his saddle to avoid being grappled, the horse was spooked and reared. Timotheus landed on his hands and knees, spinning at the last minute to land softly. The horse snorted and turned taking off for the center of the courtyard again. Markos moved his horse over and grabbed the creature’s reins to calm it and keep it from riding off into a bog. “Chok’tem, it is not too late! Bring him forth!”</p><p></p><p>“You have broken your word!” came the lizardman’s voice in his breathy broken Common. He was inside the stone building, beside the wooden cage. “Why sssshould we bezieve? Rezreat now! Leave! And zhen no bloodsssshed!”</p><p></p><p>“I have him covered, Sir!” Valerius the Squire rode over to aid Timotheus, and he stabbed at the lizardman on the left with his short sword, but the blow was parried by the creature’s machete.</p><p></p><p>“Let me out! Valerius, is that you?! Let me out! They are liars!” Sir Quintus’ cries were interrupted by a bellow of agony and the sound of vomit splattering.</p><p></p><p>Laarus of Ra finally got his horse turned around and under control, and rode up to cover the lizardman that had grabbed at Timotheus, allowing the broad young veteran to crawl to his feet unattacked.</p><p></p><p>“Halt! Or this one dies!” Victoria yelled unheard across the courtyard where the fight was too chaotic to notice much beyond it. She had her long spear trained on the neck of Klock’chtok, who was slowing getting to his feet.</p><p></p><p>Machetes rang against Timotheus’ saber as he rushed into the building past the lizardfolk guards. He was startled to see Bleys the Aubergine carefully guiding his horse into the building from another huge gap in the wall, this one in the rear right corner, where a tendril of the green pool at the rear of the ruin entered. </p><p></p><p>In the rear left corner was a cage made of tall thick wooden stakes driven deep into the earth. There was no door. Inside was a tall man with long curly brown hair and wearing a dull gray breastplate that hung awkwardly on his swollen frame. He was clearly young, but his face was sallow and dirty, and he had the grizzle of beard coming in. It was Sir Quintus Gosprey. He had no weapons. </p><p></p><p>Chok’tem was standing by the cage, and a fifth lizardman stepped towards Timotheus.</p><p></p><p>“Victoria! They are not listening to you! They attacked!” Telémahkos informed the militant of Anhur. He did not follow Bleys. Instead, he drove his light warhorse back towards the gatehouse from the other side, and attempted to trample Klock’chtok with his horse. The lizardman rolled out of the way, and Victoria’s cover of the creature was blocked. She tried to smack him with the side of her spear, but Klok rolled and crawled further down the cracked curtain wall, into a an area where water pooled about a foot deep.</p><p></p><p>“Chok’tem, I am sorry that we will have to risk harming you to subdue you,” Markos said to the lizardfolk leader. He had ridden his horse around the straw mat and was looking past the fray into the building. “If only you had told us what was actually happening… <em>Sagitta Magicus!</em>” An arrow of shining liquid slammed into Chok’tem’s side.</p><p></p><p>Chok’tem hissed angrily and leapt over the stream to help his companion flank Timotheus. Tim was holding his own against the machete blows of the first foe, but Chok’tem clearly had a puissant of arms the others did not. He held a machete in one clawed hand and a short sword in the other. Tim spun, but felt the machete sliced his wrist open, even as the shortsword blade was slammed against his side, making his armor ring.</p><p></p><p>“Out of the way! I don’t want to fight, but I will kill you in I have to,” Timotheus warned, as he blocked and spun again, side-stepping to put his back to the wall.</p><p></p><p>“Call them off and we can still help you,” Bleys was saying to Sir Quintus. The watch-mage rode right up to the cage. The knight opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly doubled-over. Bleys noted a trailing stain of green and yellow vomit on the man’s chin, neck and breastplate.</p><p></p><p>“Good watch-mage,” Quintus croaked. “There has been a misunderstanding… Just let me free and we will flee…”</p><p></p><p>“Tell them to surrender, or we will show no mercy,” Victoria said to Klok t’chok, still back near the entrance to the ruin. She hesitated to move against the lizardman, as Telémahkos turned his horse around by the gatehouse.</p><p></p><p>“Are you going to fight him or talk him to death?” Telémahkos asked the militant. Klok tried to edge out of the reach of Telie’s lance, and the blond ne’er-do-well reflexively stabbed. There was a jet of green blood as the lizardman fled around the corner of the broken outer wall.</p><p></p><p>“Victoria! Telémahkos! I know you are nobles and all, but perhaps you can stop chasing a straggler and come help Tim and Laarus,” Markos called to them. He had stopped his horse outside of the building, as Valerius and Laarus still struggled with the lizardmen guards at the entrance. The squire was seriously wounded, and Laarus was covered in both green and red blood, swinging his flail from horseback.</p><p></p><p>“You are not taking me down,” Timotheus grunted, as he went on the defensive and backed into a corner. Chok’tem and the other lizardman moved in and pinned him into his position. “Help!” he added.</p><p></p><p>Bleys awkwardly loaded his heavy crossbow on horseback, still looking at Sir Quintus, “Let us see if at the end of crossbow bolt you are more willing to speak clearly about what is happening here…” But half a moment later, the watch-mage was startled by Chok’tem. “This is our businesssss! I said, thisssss wasss our businessss!” The lizardman hissed. Bleys cried out in pain as he was clipped by the machete, and his horse reared, dropping him into the stream. Whinnying with terror, the horse road off.</p><p></p><p>Bleys quickly got to his feet and left his crossbow on the ground, drawing his saber with a ring.</p><p></p><p>A huge chunk of wall fell away as Telémahkos’ lance bit deep into it. Klock’chtok had stepped out of the way. Victoria turned away from this battle and charged into the melee at the entrance to the building. The lizardman facing Laarus of Ra, though wounded, was managing to avoid or block most of the priest’s blows. He side-stepped to avoid one more, but did not notice the militant until it was too late. He stepped right into range of Victoria’s long spear. He bellowed and fell over bleeding out. Laarus did not hesitate. He leapt off his horse and hurried into the building to flank the foe Timotheus still faced.</p><p></p><p>Victoria came to Valerius’ aid, as the boy was still struggling against the first foe.</p><p></p><p>“Let’s just get out of here!” Telémahkos cried out, riding away from Klock past the straw-covered hole.</p><p></p><p>Markos rode his horse over to take Victoria’s place in aiding Telémahkos, as Klok emerged from the shadow of the wall, to stand next to the edge of a cracked well with a rotted wooden cover. The lizardman now had a javelin in his off hand.</p><p></p><p>“Nice to act the way your father expects and not the way he hopes…” Markos mocked Telémahkos, so the latter spun his horse around again, and again charged with his lance at Klock’chtok. A sudden puff of fine yellow particles like pollen roiled out of the pit as Telémahkos rode by, but he rode out of it quickly and did not notice any affect. He could not tell what exactly it had come from.</p><p></p><p>Klock’chtok growled as he felt the bite of the lance in the thick meat of his hip. The lizardman leapt back and let a javelin fly, but he misjudged his step and slipped, leaving him open to another attack. (1) Markos threw a dagger that missed. “Get on your belly and I will have them spare you,” he hissed at the severely wounded Klok in the creature’s tongue. But there was no time to react, Telémahkos charged in again and there was an explosion of blood, as the off-balance lizardman could not avoid the lance. Klock’chtok fell over, apparently dead before he splashed into the muck.</p><p></p><p>“I think I’m getting the hang of this,” Telie smiled.</p><p></p><p>Bleys cried out as Chok’tem’s short sword bit into his foot. The watch-mage sidestepped and took up a defensive posture, blocking machete blows that would have cleaved his head from his shoulders. He struggled so hard to keep himself alive, having no opportunity to look for his own openings to attack.</p><p></p><p>“Chok’tem! Just stop!” Sir Quintus hung on to the wooden bars as if he might fall over. “I will get them to stop and spare you!”</p><p></p><p>“Thanks, Laarus!” Timotheus said, as he and the priest dogged the other lizardman in the stone building. A hack from Timotheus’ saber cut the nub of an ear from the creature, and it was stunned, dropping its machete and clutching at the side of its head. (2)</p><p></p><p>“Chok’tem! One of your kin is dying!” Victoria called into the house. “Finish this now, or I will finish him!” She stood over the crumpled form of one of the lizardfolk at the entrance, while Valerius was hurrying his horse around the building to enter from the other gap in the wall.</p><p></p><p>“Zell them the businesssss! Tell them!” Chok’tem slammed the side of his sword against the wooden bars as he hissed at Quintus. Suddenly, Valerius was riding his horse right into the building and stabbing at Chok’tem. The lizardman leader retaliated, but his blow was blocked.</p><p></p><p>“Valerius! Noooo!” Quintus cried out.</p><p></p><p>“Yes! Explain the business,” Bleys said, stepping up to the cage as well. </p><p></p><p>“Valerius, stand down!” Victoria ordered the boy, and the squire dismounted, to stand next to Bleys.</p><p></p><p>“Yes… Yes… This can all be explained,” Sir Quintus said. He looked up at the gathering warriors with bloodshot eyes, but suddenly a change came over his face as he gripped the bars and tried shaking them loose. “But just get me out! Get me out!”</p><p></p><p>Laarus’ flail struck the lizardman he and Tim were fighting in the head and the creature went down. Still wary, Timotheus stepped over near the cage. “All right, we are not attacking… Now explain!”</p><p></p><p>Bleys stepped in to support the tall veteran.</p><p></p><p>“He… It’ssss…” Chok’tem hesitated. “It is the Sssshannis’ effect. He can’t be without it. We are breaking him…”</p><p></p><p>“Victoria! Victoria!” came Telémahkos voice from out in the courtyard. “Some kind of yellow powder came out of that pit and Markos breathed it in!” The former sailor had ridden by the pit, in trying to get to the stone pit and the a great cloud of the stuff had erupted from below.</p><p></p><p>The Militant of Anhur spun around in her saddle to see Markos, face covered in the yellow powder that emerged from the pit, crouching down to slide the thatched straw cover off the pit. Markos’ horse was walking calmly away.</p><p></p><p>“Do something! Knock him down! Grab him!” Telémahkos cried.</p><p></p><p>“Gladly…” Victoria turned her horse around and rode with great speed, reaching down the grab Markos’ thin form, however, Markos shied away and leapt right into the pit. Victoria reared her horse and as she was turning again, there was another blast of the yellow powder. It had deliciously sweet smell she could not resist. She dismounted and began to walk towards the pit.</p><p></p><p>Inside the building, Telémahkos could hear Sir Quintus weeping.</p><p></p><p><strong>End of Session #3</strong></p><p></p><p>-----------------------------------------</p><p><strong>Notes:</strong></p><p></p><p>(1) Klol ch’tok fumbled, getting this effect: <em>Off Balance.</em> Make Balance check vs. DC 20 or be flat-footed for one round. (See also: <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Critical+Fumble+Results+-+All+Weapons" target="_blank">Critical Fumble Results – All Weapons</a>)</p><p></p><p>(2) Timotheus scored a critical hit. The result was: Apply Crit Multiplier to Damage Roll – Reflex Save (DC 10 + ½ damage) or Ear Removed, Stunned for one round. - Note: that “Multiplier to Damage Roll” means that only the die is rolled the extra times, any bonuses to damage are not multiplied. (See also: <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Critical+Hit+Results+-+Slashing" target="_blank">Critical Hit Results – Slashing</a>, and <a href="http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Applying+Critical+Results" target="_blank">Applying Critical Results</a>)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="el-remmen, post: 3404445, member: 11"] [b]Session #3 – “Into the Bog” (Part 3 of 3)[/b] [size=5]Anulem, the 14th of Sek – 566 H.E. (637 M.Y.)[/size] “I think the next time we parley with the lizardfolk I shall reveal that I speak their language,” Markos announced. “Wait! You can speak their language?” Timotheus was astounded. “Why did you not say anything before?” “Well, I figured it might be best to hold this back in case we might be able to learn something if they assumed we could not understand their tongue and spoke freely before us,” Markos explained. “But now I think I think it will be better to reveal it and hope that wins us some sympathy in their eyes, and it will help us communicate better in our negotiations and assure some understanding…” “I speak some [I]hobbo[/I], but I don’t expect that to endear me with any of them,” Telémahkos said with a grin. “I am nearly out of provisions,” Victoria said. In fact, all of their supplies were running low, having expected to get to New Harbinger a day ago. In addition, the horses would need to be brought somewhere to graze.” “We should trade with the lizardfolk,” Markos suggested. “If they live here they must have some provisions, plus it will give us a chance to talk to them some more.” “I was thinking about the situation,” Bleys said, in his normal quiet tones. “And I was wondering, if Sir Quintus had dealings with the lizardfolk as we suspect, why did he leave the hunt for the bandits to come find them?” “Perhaps the lizardfolk know something of the bandits,” Markos suggested. “If I may interrupt, sirs,” Valerius said, his eager energy much dampened by Bleys’ blow in the pre-dawn hours. “But my master never had any dealings or contact with lizardfolk that I ever knew…” “And who would know better what a knight does than his squire who is always with him?” Timotheus said. “How long have you been his squire, boy? Bleys asked Valerius. “A little more than four months…” The watch-mage turned back to Timotheus. “So what he knows or does not know of his master from so short a time has no bearing. The connection could have easily have been made before then…” They rode back down to the keep, their mounts all cranky from the days’ long rides. Once again Tavius stayed with the packhorse and his pony further away from the keep. It took a long time for Chok’tem to appear at the tower again. They called for over twenty-minutes and even considered that the lizardfolk might have fled in the darkness of the pre-dawn hours, but in the end the reptilian humanoid in his cured leather smock hailed them with a hiss. Markos called up a greeting in the lizardman tongue. “Why did you not say you could speak our tongue when we spoke last?” Chok’tem asked, suspicious. “We were communicating fine in Common, I saw no need, especially since it hurts my throat to speak it,” Markos replied. “Yes, your accent is strange,” Chok’tem said, and then snorted. It might have been a laugh. Markos negotiated the trade of two daggers for some provisions. They left the daggers by the gate and left for less than an hour. When they returned there was a sack on a post, and inside were four fat leeches three long, and a giant snail with its shell cracked open and about a forth of the meat inside torn out. “Oh delicious!” Telémahkos sneered. “Well, the snail is good,” Markos said with a forced smile. He looked up to the lizardfolk. “Thank you Chok’tem…Have you considered our offer from yesterday?” “Sir cannot leave until the time has past, Chok’tem said, reiterating his vague reasons from the day before. “There is danger here for you humans… You should go and leave us to our business… Tell no one…” He spoke in his own tongue, Markos translating. Suddenly, there was cry of agony from within the ruined keep. It was definitely a human voice. “Is that Sir Quintus?” Markos called up. “Is he being killed?” “No,” replied Chok’tem. “We do not wish to see him killed…” “So, perhaps they only torture him,” Laarus commented to his companions, his face growing flush with anger at the contemplation of it. “They said they wish him no harm,” Bleys said. “I do not think he is being tortured…” There was a sound and movement from the top of the tower. Another of the lizardfolk arrived and spoke with Chok’tem in whispered tones. “I shall return,” he told the signers of the Charter of Schiereiland, and disappeared into the keep, leaving the other of his kind behind to stand guard. “And what is [I]your[/I] name?” Markos called up to the new lizardfolk. He was lighter in color, and the mottled brown of his reptilian hide was in larger scattered splotches. He too had a crest on his head, though smaller than Chok’tem’s. The lizardfolk replied with a collection of syllables and hisses that made Markos scratch is head. He gave the name a try, but the lizardman shook his head and said it again. “Klock’chtok?” Markos tried again. “Yessssss…” “Where has Chok’tem gone?” “He is called away…” “Is Chok’tem the leader?” Markos asked, continuing his inquiry “How long are we going to wait? You heard his cry…” Laarus said to the others. “We cannot just charge in there…” Timotheus said. “Charging in there is exactly what we should do,” Laarus replied overly loud. Klock’chtok broke off his conversation with Markos to call a warning into the keep that the adventurers might be charging in. “We plan to do no such thing,” Markos called up to the guard. He then looked to his companions. “Right?” “Would someone care to go for a ride?” Bleys asked. “I do not believe this is the time for that…” Victoria began “We may be forbidden to enter the keep, but I thought we might get a better look at its dimensions by riding around it,” Bleys replied quietly. The chatter was broken by another agonizing cry from within the keep. Laarus Raymer of Ra did not hesitate, and drawing his flail he spurred his horse. But Bleys reached out and grabbed the reins of the priest’s horse. “Be not a fool! They are prepared for a charge! At the very least let us go around,” the watch-mage said. “Then go around!” Laarus replied sternly. Bleys let go and the priest charged in, calling on Ra to [I]bless[/I] their coming battle. Victoria and her mount charged right in after him. Past the gatehouse, the inner keep was a mess of broken walls, and pools of stagnant water collecting on the uneven ground, and seeping out where stone had sunken into the loam. There was a stone building lacking a roof in the center of what was once a great courtyard, but the wall that stood behind it was now piles of rocks in a great pool of green water being fed by countless little streams from all directions. Victoria reared up at a thickly woven straw mat over fifteen feet to a side laying in the middle of the courtyard, not far from the broken wall that led into the roofless building. Two lizardfolk, also in leather smocks, stood at each side of the ten-foot gap, hissing and brandishing machetes. They were dark green and mottled with brown, and had lower thicker crests on their heads that resembled Klock’chtok than Chok’tem. But Laarus charged on and as the mats gave way beneath his horse’s front hooves it reared up and whinnied in dismay. The animal kicked it forelegs and spun itself frantically, while Laarus held on desperately, trying to retain control. At least he had not ridden into the pit the mat, now askew, had hidden beneath it. “Going around will give them a chance to kill Sir Quintus! Charge!” Markos said as he spurred his horse to charge in as well. Timotheus was right behind him, yelling, “Sir Quintus! Shout as loud as you can so we know where you are!” Valerius went with them. Bleys looked to Telémahkos. The son of Briareus had not made a move to follow the others. He met the watch-mage’s glance and nervously pulled at some loose blond strands sticking out from his old-fashioned helmet. “Shall we go around?” Bleys the Aubergine asked his companion, gesturing over to the north side of the keep. Telémahkos nodded, so the watch-mage turned his horse and led the way carefully through one of the broader streams and around the crumbling outer tower. Klock’chtok let out a violent set of barks and hisses towards the stone building. He had moved over on the gatehouse tower to look into the courtyard, and saw Timotheus come bursting into the courtyard, while Markos hung back near the gatehouse. He knew that the lizardman guard was calling to Chok’tem for permission to attack. “Chok’tem! It is not too late to reveal Sir Quintus! We can still parley and no blood need be shed!” Markos called. “They have me in here!” came a strained voice from the stone building. “They have me in here! Just don’t kill them!” “[I]Approach,[/I]” Victoria said to Klock’chtok, divine authority in her voice. The lizardman climbed over the crumbling wall and hanging there for a moment jumped, landing painfully on one leg that collapsed beneath his weight. Timotheus rode right up to the entrance to the building and could see the corner of some kind of wooden cage, but an uneven brick wall obscured most of it. There was a narrow stream running into a pool collecting in one corner and a rotting wooden door acted as a kind of footbridge. The lizardman on the right grabbed at Tim, but as the tall man shifted in his saddle to avoid being grappled, the horse was spooked and reared. Timotheus landed on his hands and knees, spinning at the last minute to land softly. The horse snorted and turned taking off for the center of the courtyard again. Markos moved his horse over and grabbed the creature’s reins to calm it and keep it from riding off into a bog. “Chok’tem, it is not too late! Bring him forth!” “You have broken your word!” came the lizardman’s voice in his breathy broken Common. He was inside the stone building, beside the wooden cage. “Why sssshould we bezieve? Rezreat now! Leave! And zhen no bloodsssshed!” “I have him covered, Sir!” Valerius the Squire rode over to aid Timotheus, and he stabbed at the lizardman on the left with his short sword, but the blow was parried by the creature’s machete. “Let me out! Valerius, is that you?! Let me out! They are liars!” Sir Quintus’ cries were interrupted by a bellow of agony and the sound of vomit splattering. Laarus of Ra finally got his horse turned around and under control, and rode up to cover the lizardman that had grabbed at Timotheus, allowing the broad young veteran to crawl to his feet unattacked. “Halt! Or this one dies!” Victoria yelled unheard across the courtyard where the fight was too chaotic to notice much beyond it. She had her long spear trained on the neck of Klock’chtok, who was slowing getting to his feet. Machetes rang against Timotheus’ saber as he rushed into the building past the lizardfolk guards. He was startled to see Bleys the Aubergine carefully guiding his horse into the building from another huge gap in the wall, this one in the rear right corner, where a tendril of the green pool at the rear of the ruin entered. In the rear left corner was a cage made of tall thick wooden stakes driven deep into the earth. There was no door. Inside was a tall man with long curly brown hair and wearing a dull gray breastplate that hung awkwardly on his swollen frame. He was clearly young, but his face was sallow and dirty, and he had the grizzle of beard coming in. It was Sir Quintus Gosprey. He had no weapons. Chok’tem was standing by the cage, and a fifth lizardman stepped towards Timotheus. “Victoria! They are not listening to you! They attacked!” Telémahkos informed the militant of Anhur. He did not follow Bleys. Instead, he drove his light warhorse back towards the gatehouse from the other side, and attempted to trample Klock’chtok with his horse. The lizardman rolled out of the way, and Victoria’s cover of the creature was blocked. She tried to smack him with the side of her spear, but Klok rolled and crawled further down the cracked curtain wall, into a an area where water pooled about a foot deep. “Chok’tem, I am sorry that we will have to risk harming you to subdue you,” Markos said to the lizardfolk leader. He had ridden his horse around the straw mat and was looking past the fray into the building. “If only you had told us what was actually happening… [I]Sagitta Magicus![/I]” An arrow of shining liquid slammed into Chok’tem’s side. Chok’tem hissed angrily and leapt over the stream to help his companion flank Timotheus. Tim was holding his own against the machete blows of the first foe, but Chok’tem clearly had a puissant of arms the others did not. He held a machete in one clawed hand and a short sword in the other. Tim spun, but felt the machete sliced his wrist open, even as the shortsword blade was slammed against his side, making his armor ring. “Out of the way! I don’t want to fight, but I will kill you in I have to,” Timotheus warned, as he blocked and spun again, side-stepping to put his back to the wall. “Call them off and we can still help you,” Bleys was saying to Sir Quintus. The watch-mage rode right up to the cage. The knight opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly doubled-over. Bleys noted a trailing stain of green and yellow vomit on the man’s chin, neck and breastplate. “Good watch-mage,” Quintus croaked. “There has been a misunderstanding… Just let me free and we will flee…” “Tell them to surrender, or we will show no mercy,” Victoria said to Klok t’chok, still back near the entrance to the ruin. She hesitated to move against the lizardman, as Telémahkos turned his horse around by the gatehouse. “Are you going to fight him or talk him to death?” Telémahkos asked the militant. Klok tried to edge out of the reach of Telie’s lance, and the blond ne’er-do-well reflexively stabbed. There was a jet of green blood as the lizardman fled around the corner of the broken outer wall. “Victoria! Telémahkos! I know you are nobles and all, but perhaps you can stop chasing a straggler and come help Tim and Laarus,” Markos called to them. He had stopped his horse outside of the building, as Valerius and Laarus still struggled with the lizardmen guards at the entrance. The squire was seriously wounded, and Laarus was covered in both green and red blood, swinging his flail from horseback. “You are not taking me down,” Timotheus grunted, as he went on the defensive and backed into a corner. Chok’tem and the other lizardman moved in and pinned him into his position. “Help!” he added. Bleys awkwardly loaded his heavy crossbow on horseback, still looking at Sir Quintus, “Let us see if at the end of crossbow bolt you are more willing to speak clearly about what is happening here…” But half a moment later, the watch-mage was startled by Chok’tem. “This is our businesssss! I said, thisssss wasss our businessss!” The lizardman hissed. Bleys cried out in pain as he was clipped by the machete, and his horse reared, dropping him into the stream. Whinnying with terror, the horse road off. Bleys quickly got to his feet and left his crossbow on the ground, drawing his saber with a ring. A huge chunk of wall fell away as Telémahkos’ lance bit deep into it. Klock’chtok had stepped out of the way. Victoria turned away from this battle and charged into the melee at the entrance to the building. The lizardman facing Laarus of Ra, though wounded, was managing to avoid or block most of the priest’s blows. He side-stepped to avoid one more, but did not notice the militant until it was too late. He stepped right into range of Victoria’s long spear. He bellowed and fell over bleeding out. Laarus did not hesitate. He leapt off his horse and hurried into the building to flank the foe Timotheus still faced. Victoria came to Valerius’ aid, as the boy was still struggling against the first foe. “Let’s just get out of here!” Telémahkos cried out, riding away from Klock past the straw-covered hole. Markos rode his horse over to take Victoria’s place in aiding Telémahkos, as Klok emerged from the shadow of the wall, to stand next to the edge of a cracked well with a rotted wooden cover. The lizardman now had a javelin in his off hand. “Nice to act the way your father expects and not the way he hopes…” Markos mocked Telémahkos, so the latter spun his horse around again, and again charged with his lance at Klock’chtok. A sudden puff of fine yellow particles like pollen roiled out of the pit as Telémahkos rode by, but he rode out of it quickly and did not notice any affect. He could not tell what exactly it had come from. Klock’chtok growled as he felt the bite of the lance in the thick meat of his hip. The lizardman leapt back and let a javelin fly, but he misjudged his step and slipped, leaving him open to another attack. (1) Markos threw a dagger that missed. “Get on your belly and I will have them spare you,” he hissed at the severely wounded Klok in the creature’s tongue. But there was no time to react, Telémahkos charged in again and there was an explosion of blood, as the off-balance lizardman could not avoid the lance. Klock’chtok fell over, apparently dead before he splashed into the muck. “I think I’m getting the hang of this,” Telie smiled. Bleys cried out as Chok’tem’s short sword bit into his foot. The watch-mage sidestepped and took up a defensive posture, blocking machete blows that would have cleaved his head from his shoulders. He struggled so hard to keep himself alive, having no opportunity to look for his own openings to attack. “Chok’tem! Just stop!” Sir Quintus hung on to the wooden bars as if he might fall over. “I will get them to stop and spare you!” “Thanks, Laarus!” Timotheus said, as he and the priest dogged the other lizardman in the stone building. A hack from Timotheus’ saber cut the nub of an ear from the creature, and it was stunned, dropping its machete and clutching at the side of its head. (2) “Chok’tem! One of your kin is dying!” Victoria called into the house. “Finish this now, or I will finish him!” She stood over the crumpled form of one of the lizardfolk at the entrance, while Valerius was hurrying his horse around the building to enter from the other gap in the wall. “Zell them the businesssss! Tell them!” Chok’tem slammed the side of his sword against the wooden bars as he hissed at Quintus. Suddenly, Valerius was riding his horse right into the building and stabbing at Chok’tem. The lizardman leader retaliated, but his blow was blocked. “Valerius! Noooo!” Quintus cried out. “Yes! Explain the business,” Bleys said, stepping up to the cage as well. “Valerius, stand down!” Victoria ordered the boy, and the squire dismounted, to stand next to Bleys. “Yes… Yes… This can all be explained,” Sir Quintus said. He looked up at the gathering warriors with bloodshot eyes, but suddenly a change came over his face as he gripped the bars and tried shaking them loose. “But just get me out! Get me out!” Laarus’ flail struck the lizardman he and Tim were fighting in the head and the creature went down. Still wary, Timotheus stepped over near the cage. “All right, we are not attacking… Now explain!” Bleys stepped in to support the tall veteran. “He… It’ssss…” Chok’tem hesitated. “It is the Sssshannis’ effect. He can’t be without it. We are breaking him…” “Victoria! Victoria!” came Telémahkos voice from out in the courtyard. “Some kind of yellow powder came out of that pit and Markos breathed it in!” The former sailor had ridden by the pit, in trying to get to the stone pit and the a great cloud of the stuff had erupted from below. The Militant of Anhur spun around in her saddle to see Markos, face covered in the yellow powder that emerged from the pit, crouching down to slide the thatched straw cover off the pit. Markos’ horse was walking calmly away. “Do something! Knock him down! Grab him!” Telémahkos cried. “Gladly…” Victoria turned her horse around and rode with great speed, reaching down the grab Markos’ thin form, however, Markos shied away and leapt right into the pit. Victoria reared her horse and as she was turning again, there was another blast of the yellow powder. It had deliciously sweet smell she could not resist. She dismounted and began to walk towards the pit. Inside the building, Telémahkos could hear Sir Quintus weeping. [b]End of Session #3[/b] ----------------------------------------- [b]Notes:[/b] (1) Klol ch’tok fumbled, getting this effect: [I]Off Balance.[/I] Make Balance check vs. DC 20 or be flat-footed for one round. (See also: [url=http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Critical+Fumble+Results+-+All+Weapons]Critical Fumble Results – All Weapons[/url]) (2) Timotheus scored a critical hit. The result was: Apply Crit Multiplier to Damage Roll – Reflex Save (DC 10 + ½ damage) or Ear Removed, Stunned for one round. - Note: that “Multiplier to Damage Roll” means that only the die is rolled the extra times, any bonuses to damage are not multiplied. (See also: [url= http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Critical+Hit+Results+-+Slashing]Critical Hit Results – Slashing[/url], and [url= http://aquerra.wikispaces.com/Applying+Critical+Results]Applying Critical Results[/url]) [/QUOTE]
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"Second Son of a Second Son" - An Aquerra Story Hour (*finally* Updated 04/19)
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