(Adventure) Rivenblight's Castaway [Creamsteak judging]

Troi dashes for the trail, running beyond the tripwire line before reaching it. The moment he stepped out from behind the tree he heard the twang of a bowstring and the sound of an arrow clinking lightly as it gives his chainmail the merest of taps on its way past. Then Troi is on the trail, and a quick glance behind him sees the two bandits giving chase, their bows still in hand. A brief chill runs through him as he hears the slight form of the elf give a savage war whoop! as she leaps through the brush into the clearing like a wolf on the hunt.

It is not far to the road; Troi estimates it has been just a minute running, with no real distance between himself and the bandits, although perhaps the male one has fallen a bit farther behind than he was, or the leader gained- he can only really judge by their relative positions. He's about fifty feet from the main track when he feels a stich begin to grow in his side, and despite all his effort he is forced to slow his pace. The road might as well be a mile away, now.

He gasps in pain as an arrow glances with bruising force off the back of his chain mail, jarring his previous wound painfully. "Ki yi yi yi yi!" comes the piercing cry from behind him, and another arrow lands near him as he tries to urge a bit more speed from his battered and tired body.

They're 150 feet behind you. 50 feet to the road, with the vegetation on the opposite side of it just out of your reach for a double move. You failed your second con check by an unfortunate amount, so no more running for a minute. You're on a relatively clear trail, but there's cover to either side of you if you're willing to take the hit to speed.

You were 1 point short of taking another 5 damage just now. This is, what, the second or third time Troi's almost become the first player casualty of ENworld?

"Tired... can't think..." Troi gasps as he continues as quickly as his side allows. "How am... I gonna... fight Zidaniel... if I can't... go for long..."

Weaving into the brush by the side of the road, he continues along as quickly as the stitch in his side and the undergrowth allow.

Into the cover, move as fast as possible towards the trail.

I think it's the third time now... don't worry, I'll pull through - with a little luck.

ooc: edited to account for the correction below.

Jaan glances up as a flock of bird rise squawking from the forest. He strains eyes and ears to catch anything out of the ordinary but the forest quickly returns to its regularly scheduled noises.

I'm afraid you've moved around six miles, doghead, while Troi actually backtracked a little relative to the road. You're not likely to notice much at that distance.

Troi breaks off the trail into the cover of the underbrush and trees, running as fast as he can through the branches towards the road. No more arrows reach out to strike at him, and a glance behind him reveals that the pair have resumed their sprint along the path. They’re about fifty feet behind you, and the edge where the forest meets the road twenty feet in front of you.

Sorry. Work + semester projects = no net time.

"Damn." Troi gasps as he runs through the brush. "This ain't... gonna work... gotta get... ta th' road..."

He dashes out of the undergrowth, getting back onto the open path to avoid plants tangling his feet, and runs for the road.

Once he reaches the road, he takes a quick glance at it - if there are tracks that look like they were made by a wagon passing by recently, he heads in the direction it was heading; otherwise, he heads back along the trail, back towards the way the caravan will be coming from.