Shadows of the Past

[Blackrat]

It had been talked about in the Hall for decades. If someone were to find the Axe of the Ancestor Lord, he could save the dwarvenkin, turn the tide of the war and drive the hated orcs and elves from the ancient halls. The Fathers had deemed it too propesterous idea to send needed men out there on a hopeless mission, but if someone volunteered they gave their blessing.

Your younger brothers had always been enamored by the stories about the Axe. They had practically bugged you about finding it for a decade before you finally agreed to do it.

So after consulting the priests about what little is known of the Axe, you one day packed your pack, gathered your weapons and set out with a caravan to above, to a human-town.
Your only clue, a name of a fallen outpost where the axe was last recorded; Baler's Forge.

The caravan consists of two carts, filled with ore, jewelry and some weapons, on route to a place called Fallcrest. With you are four other dwarves, each at least half a century older than you. One of them even a greatbeard, the venerable elder Agnar Boulder, tradesmaster of Emerald Hall.

[sblock=OOC]At this gap I'll let you set a mood for your departure etc...[/sblock]

 

[Kaodi]

Preparing to leave Emerald Hall was harder than he had expected. Kildrak was not ordinarily a sentimental fellow (most dwarves are not), but he had become increasingly uncomfortable with the idea of leaving his family. Maybe it was just because a couple of his brothers had too much smarts and no sense to use it, or that his sisters needed their eldest brother to smack around their suitors, or that his parents depended on him to keep...

As he was packing his gear, his father had brought him hammers and axes, all perfectly prepared, sharp and with the dents smoothed out. The old dwarf was not happy about his son setting off on such a foolish quest, but his pride prevented him from letting him go unprepared. Later that day they sat around in the clan hall and there was a feast (or rather just a very nice dinner) with his family and most of their close relatives, and then he was off...

...Kildrak walked alongside the caravan as they left the caverns and went aboveground. Something about having the big carts looming next to him was more comfortable than having nothing between him and that open sky. The tough dwarven ranger had been topside a few times before, but there was something alien about the surface world that was hard to ignore, though it did not give him chills like some of the other dwarves he had known.

The looming of something else though was an entirely different matter. Kildrak was not so superstitious a man to attribute motivations to plants, like most of his people. The trees were not evil, but they were certainly not his friends, either. Something about their twisted, mishappen forms and their insidious roots which could burrow into and crack stone seemed vaguely threatening. He would have to get used to it though, up here.

His natural sense and skills made him more suitable for the task of hunting for the Axe of the Ancestor Lord than anyone else he knew. But despite this competence, it was still difficult for him to see eye to eye with some of the older dwarves he was accompanying, especially Agnar Boulder. He was not sure he had their respect, and despite his gruff exterior that was rather important to him, seeing as they might be the last dwarves he saw for a long time. Hopefully things would work out in the long run...

 

[Blackrat]

Your journey starts in somber silence. The carts pulled by four big lizards and steered by Agnar and another clanmate, Dûlin. After you have travelled beyond being able to hear the sounds from the Hall anymore (trough the echoing tunnels this is quite far) the guard closer to you, Felak starts singing. It's an old travelling song, telling the tale of a dwarf who was far away from home when he heard the orcs had attacked, his subsequent return trough legions of enemies, and the piles of bodies he left in his wake.

Soon the others join him in singing except for Agnar. He turns to look at you and waves with his hand for you to come closer.

 

[Kaodi]

Kildrak, who had been very quietly humming along, stops what he was doing and approaches Agnar.

" Is there something I can do for you, Trademaster, " he asks, trying to put on a brave face.

 

[Blackrat]

I was about to ask you the same young brave. The old dwarf booms with his deep voice. You seem troubled. He laughs heartily as he continues. You though I didn't see, but I have eyes on the back of my head too.

He changes to a more somber tone before showing that age indeed brings insight. You worry how we feel about your quest. You worry about the clan-elders. Let me tell you something son. Something the others couldn't find courage to say. They envy you. Hammers, I envy you! You are braver than all the Emerald Hall put together. Even if everyone feels your quest is futile, they think deep to themselves, what if? And they wish they'd have the courage to go with you.

Agnar brushes his impressive beard with his hand. The result is a bunch of dead hair tangling from his fingers, which he raises for you to see. See, I'm too old. Soon I'll be beardless again like a whelp. I hope you come back soon enough for me to witness your triumphant return with the Axe. Your quest is worthy one, your muscles are of granite and your beard of best adamantine.

He looks at the others and leans to whisper. They sing for your return. They can't find the strenght to talk, but they sing about your glorious return.

With that he joins the songs with his booming voice.

 

[Kaodi]

Dwarves do not cry, but most dwarves can tell when another of there kind is moved by the look in there eyes, and so Agnar should be able to see it in Kildrak. The younger dwarf puffs up his chest a little more, with pride, and his back straightens a hair (it was not as if it were bent much to begin with).

" I am truly and deeply honoured, Trademaster Agnar, " he says solemnly. " I was worried, I suppose, not only about how everyone else felt, but how I felt as well. But I chose to go on this quest when I realized that the world is a bigger place with a richer history than ours alone. I will search relentlessly for the fabled Axe, but my journey may gift me with things beyond that which my destination holds. Even if it comes to the worst, short of my death, that I am not able to recover our treasured Artifact, I am sure that I will find something or someone to aid us in the lands above. But the Axe is what I want, and even should I return to Emerald Hall before I find it, it will only be to return something before I set out again. "

 

[Blackrat]

[sblock=OOC]About Dwarven time-keeping: Living most of their lives underground dwarves don't measure time by the sun and moon. They have their own time-measurements. The closest thing for a day is called Cycle and is about 30 hours long. Cycle consists of 3 Shifts that are 10 hours each, which is measured by a water-clock, a peculiar contraption only known to dwarves. Dwarven halls are active around the clock, as each Shift has about third of the population working, third sleeping and third relaxing. It is up to everyones personal preferances in which to do which. Usually a household follows the same pattern with eachother. For simplicity's sake, I'll be using the word day, and since you're about to be out dwarven influence, this has nothing to do with the game (except maybe the cultural impact of humans having a shorter "day"). Just wanted to rant about background information .[/sblock]

Some hours later the air seems to take on a peculiar scent. Having been upside few times before you recognice the smell of outside air, which feels strange in your lungs. Not long after you see the light coming from the tunnels and soon emerge from a cave to the world above. The cave is on the low hills at the foot of a mountainrange. The Flaming Sphere on the sky, which humans call Sun is just setting down on the horizon. It is strange to see such a far distance at once, and Dûlin seems quite uneased. He rummages through his pack that's sitting next to him in the wagon, finds his helmet and fits it to his head. "Hmph, can't get used to that. I'm telling ye all. Someday it'll all come tumbling down."

Agnar laughs boomingly. Some regard him the bravest of all dwarves, for he seems to enjoy being upside. The others would say he's gone mad, but won't dare to say it aloud.

In the distance infront of you, you see some dim lights and tall shapes. It's Fallcrest, the human town, an hour or so with the lizards slowing you down.

Halfway there you come to a large field with road running through it. There are many stone slabs standing in the field and few stone structures. A place where humans dig their dead under the ground instead of burning them properly. A mist is starting to form and there is an eery athmospere. The others grip their weapons more strongly and Agnar digs up a crossbow from under his seat.

[sblock=Dwarven Burial Customs]Dwarves cremate their dead, and usually forge the ashes to weapons. Some, very important dwarves get their ashes reserved inside statues made for them. These statues stand in the Hall of Heroes, where they are revered as ancestral demi-gods.[/sblock]

 

[Kaodi]

Kildrak, having heard the tales of the walking corpses of human men and women, keeps his eyes open and moves to put himself in between the caravan and the closest stones.

" Would of been nice if they at least had the sense to keep the burials on one side of the road, " he grumbles, though he is confident that even on the tiny chance that something were to happen, that they could deal with it.

He glances around for signs of recent burials, or disturbed graves. Perhaps it is just paranoia on their part, but that is usually the case when one first comes up from underground...

Active Perception: 1d20+7=14

( For cases where you try to actively perceive what to would normally be able to passively perceive, I guess if you roll lower than your passive it is essentially irrelevant, and the passive score still counts? )

 

[Blackrat]

[sblock=OOC]Yeah, if your passive is better than active, it automatically supercedes.[/sblock]
There seems to be some movement in the mist, but you can tell it's not humans. The shadows are too small. Then suddenly one moves close enough to see clearly. An animal. Looks like a dog, one of the household animals humans like to keep. But it's eyes are glowing like flaming spheres. Then all around your group more of them start showing up. Baring their fangs and snarling they seem to be poised to attack. There are a dozen of them, surrounding you all.

And Initiative time ...

 

[Kaodi]

Initiative: 1d20+3=12