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Al-Qarin: Into the Desert (3-1-24)
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<blockquote data-quote="EternalNewbie" data-source="post: 3770380" data-attributes="member: 6489"><p>The end of Chapter 4: Thicker than Water.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">* * * * * * * * * *</p><p></p><p>There was only a moment of stunned silence before the three seasoned campaigners rose to their feet. “Guess we better check it out,” Gorak grunted as he headed towards the door, buckling his darkwood shield to his arm as he moved. Shayla grabbed her trusty crossbow out from under the table, and fell into step with him. Khalid joined her, mumbling slightly under his breath as he reviewed the magical formulae stored in his mind. As Gorak threw open the door, Khalid glanced over his shoulder, and was disappointed to see their new friend looking quite content with a pilfered tankard of ale. He raised a mock toast to Khalid, who sighed and turned his back on him, stepping out into the cool mountain air.</p><p></p><p>All three of them stopped and assessed the chaos that had engulfed the town. A few buildings were glowing with burgeoning flames and as Khalid watched, the fire began to spread into the fields. Between the almost incessant tolling of the bells, he could hear people screaming and the sounds of battle. Dozens of townsfolk were fleeing from the lower city, seeking safety further up the hill. Some were dragging or carrying small children, while others labored up the incline under the weight of their worldly goods. Interspersed in the crowd were a few guardsmen trying to fight against the press and make their way down to the lower levels.</p><p></p><p>Seeing no immediate danger, they moved nearer to the edge of the terrace and looked down. Despite the apparent success of their assailants, Khalid could see that the town was constructed to be a besieger's nightmare. Carved into the side of a huge hill, the lower two terraces of the town were broad, but narrowed significantly at the third terrace, where the inn was located, and the two terraces above. Buildings of varying heights had been constructed right against the hillside, some with roofs almost level with the road in front of the terrace above. Most of the houses were constructed of solid brick or stone, with stout doors and heavy shutters and roof top gardens. As Khalid watched, soldiers began to clamber onto the roofs of houses on the level below them, and rain arrows down on the first terrace.</p><p></p><p>Squinting through the smoke and darkness, Khalid saw a lone attacker run across the road directly below them, then drop as three arrows landed in rapid succession. As the figure crumpled and fell, the body rolled out into a circle of torchlight, and Khalid whistled slightly in understanding. Their adversaries were orcs, full blooded judging by the length of the tusks, but with mottled greenish brown skin, fortunately for Gorak. They had launched their attack at the perfect time, considering their flawless night vision; in the few moments since the start of the attack, the sun had set behind the hill line and the town was plunged into darkness. Few torches had been lit in the lower levels, meaning the only light in those parts was that thrown from the increasing number of burning buildings.</p><p></p><p>Looking back behind them, Khalid saw more soldiers begin to filter down the hill, and a group, apparently under the command of a rather junior looking lieutenant, gathered about sixty feet from the inn, near the curve where the main road came up from the second level.</p><p></p><p>Gorak grunted and ducked out of the way as a crossbow bolt whizzed over his head. “They ain't holding them, there's more of 'em pouring up the road.”</p><p></p><p>Further up the road, Khalid could see soldiers and civilians alike leaping off rooftops from the lower terrace and scrambling up onto the road in front of the third level. In a few places where the defenders were unwilling or unable to flee, Khalid could see them frantically fortifying their positions, forcing the orcish mob to engage in brutal house to house fighting to clear the roof tops of archers. The sounds of battle were louder now, as several of the bells in the lower city went quiet. Khalid could tell that if the advancing orcs could capture enough of the town behind their lines, they could starve or blackmail the remaining defenders into submission, and judging by the numbers running by below them, they were about to breach the third level.</p><p></p><p>Just then, a bugle sounded out from the fortress at the top of the hill, and was answered by another. Instantly, Khalid's spirits were lifted and he turned to Gorak who stepped back away from the edge.</p><p></p><p>“Alright,” Gorak growled, “Looks like we got some help behind us. I'll keep them from scaling the cliffs and offa them rooftops here.”</p><p></p><p>Khalid, nodding in agreement, was already moving. “Ah, yes, and I'll bolster the guardsman. Shayla, help, yes, help Gorak but be ready to fall back and cover the guards if things turn for the worse. Yes, quite!”</p><p></p><p>As he moved closer to the guards, the inn door flew open and Hammond strode out. In one hand he held a wicked looking half-moon battleaxe, in his other, a broad steel shield. A huge fur hat, matching his cloak, was perched at a jaunty angle on his head and a chainmail coif spilled down his neck. Ale foam dripped from his mustache as he winked at Khalid.</p><p></p><p>From the corner of his eye, Khalid caught a flicker of movement and saw the young lieutenant stagger as a javelin skewered his upper thigh. Turning desperately, he fell backwards towards his men as a bloody faced orc appeared out of the darkness and cut him almost in two with a terrible blow from his greatsword. The men flinched back almost collectively. Khalid could see their nerve breaking but he forced himself to wait while more orcs appeared out of the gloom and charged the line. Then, seeing several orcs bunch up, Khalid seized the opportunity and began to cast. He grinned as his spell went off, and a golden explosion burst in the midst of the orcs blinding them and coating them in sparkling gold dust. A cheer went up from the guards, who rallied immediately and cut down the blinded orcs with quick, professional attacks. With a roar, Hammond raised his axe charged into the fray, grievously wounding a blinded orc who was laying about frantically with a spiked mace.</p><p></p><p>“Khalid! Get ready! I'm gonna slow 'em down but you're gonna have a helluva lot more company in a few seconds!” Gorak roared before he launched into a spell. Howls of frustration echoed up from the street below as whatever Gorak had done confounded the orcs. Shayla took advantage of the confusion to cast a handful of glittering discs into the mob.</p><p></p><p>Khalid wasted no time and began casting again. Watching through half closed eyes as he rhymed off the words to a summoning incantation, he saw the last of the blinded orcs cut down, only to be replaced by two more. A guardsman in the front line collapsed on the end of an orcish spear, and the remaining four battled on desperately. Hammond was a stone wall in their center upon which the tide of orcs broke. Wielding his axe with a deadly grace, his savage fury matched that of the orcs he faced, and he gave no ground despite his mounting injuries.</p><p></p><p>The words rolling off Khalid's tongue and the rush of blood in his ears drowned out Gorak and Shayla's renewed casting. Seeking something with as much psychological effect as physical, he called forth the spirit of a simple scorpion, and perverted it with fell energies. The resulting monstrosity that appeared with a sulfuric detonation, caused both man and orc to shy away. The scorpion was over seven feet long with a glittering jet black carapace that faded to blood red at the tips of its claws and stinger. “Ah, fear not!” Khalid cried out to the guardsmen, somewhat unnecessarily as the scorpion scuttled forward and plunged it's barbed stinger into the chest of an orc. Drawing out one of his pilfered wands, he waited for a few more more orcs to appear and then with a flick of the wand and an arcane word, Khalid caused a huge netting of thick spider webs to descend over the roadway. Anchored between two buildings, it trapped a few unfortunate orcs charging up the path and completely cut off the those at the front, battling the guardsmen, from any reinforcements. Understanding that no quarter would be given, the orcs fought on in a frenzy, biting and clawing at their opponents when they were stricken to the ground.</p><p></p><p>Seeing the remaining orcs being contained by the the four uninjured guards, aided by Hammond and the conjured scorpion, Khalid allowed himself a moment's respite believing the situation to be in hand. A scream from Shayla grabbed his attention and he looked nervously over to where she was standing.</p><p></p><p>“There's some sort of ogre or something coming down the road!” Shayla cried as she cast another spell.</p><p></p><p>“Son of a bitch! That ain't no ogre!” Gorak roared. “Khalid, in about thirty seconds yer gonna have a giant up there with ya! Get ready!” Both he and Shayla drew back from the edge of the road.</p><p></p><p>“Ah, yes, ready, quite,” Khalid stammered as he looked around helplessly. Realizing with a start that he still held the wand in his hand, he began to jab it frantically in air in the direction of the road, shouting the command word repeatedly and slowly filling up the road with layer upon layer of webbing. There was a shout from the terrace below them, and then a tremendous crash as the giant pulverized a building covered in defenders. Ignoring the screams of slowly suffocating orcs struggling futilely at the center of the web, Khalid continued to discharge the wand, until the hill giant's huge head came into view around the corner. Even worse, the duration of Khalid's summoning ran out, and the scorpion, with one final lunge at an orc, vanished, leaving one less obstacle between him and giant.</p><p></p><p>Standing well over twelve feet tall, the giant resembled a grotesquely distorted orc. Its filthy skin was the color of dried mud and rancid hides stitched with bits and pieces of scavenged armor were draped about its powerfully muscled shoulders. It's face was almost brutishly childlike, with thick, stump like teeth, and bleary eyes covered by matted, greasy hair. Wounds and cuts covered its body and in one hand was a gnarled tree stump, tacky with blood and gore that oozed down over the beast’s fingers. As the giant stared in confusion at the obstacle blocking the road, an arrow sailed out of the darkness from above and ricocheted off his head, tearing back a flap of skin and causing the giant to howl in pain. Surging forward with a thunderous roar, the giant ploughed into the webbing, struggling mightily. For an instant, Khalid though the spell might hold the beast but then with a sharp twang, the strands began to pull free from the buildings and road one at a time, dragging huge chunks of mortar and stone away. Khalid pointed the wand directly at the giant's head and spoke the command word but nothing happened. Having expended its last charge, the wand was now nothing more than a ornate stick, and Khalid tossed it aside. Running low on options and lower on valor, Khalid muttered a few more arcane words and promptly vanished. </p><p></p><p>“I'm going to prepare our escape!” Khalid called out to Shayla and Gorak, as he headed back towards the inn. “Turn right when you enter the door to the inn!” Ducking back into the inn, Khalid opened a portal and then darted back outside. The giant, slowed by the sticky filaments, had not yet reached the defenders but they had at best a few seconds before it was free. Two orcs remained fighting the guardsmen and Khalid prayed fervently that they both be dispatched before the giant reached them. Hammond stepped forward, and with a powerful blow, answered Khalid's prayer and cleaved in the head of one of the orcs, even as one of the guardsmen staggered away from the mêleé, and fainted from his injuries. The giant lurched forward with surprising speed, and tore through the last few feet of webbing. Bringing his huge club arcing down, he caught the guard on Hammond's left and crushed him into the cobblestones, killing him instantly. The other two guardsmen backed away cautiously, too disciplined to flee, but too scared to approach the giant. Arrows buzzed out of the blackness overhead, striking the giant in the face and chest. While most were turned aside by the giant's thick skin and matted hides, several landed true.</p><p></p><p>Gorak and Shayla had abandoned their post overlooking the road and fell back towards the inn. Hammond, the sole defender facing the giant now, raised his shield defensively and stepped forward. Hoping to engage the beast while it was still hampered by the magical ensnarement, he delivered a powerful blow that bit deep into the giant's upper thigh. The giant's roar of pain echoed off the stone walls as he shook free of the last remaining strands of Khalid's spell. Drawing his club back over his shoulder the giant leveled a terrible blow at Hammond. Still off balance from his attack, Hammond just barely managed to raise his shield to absorb the killing force of the hit. The impact lifted him off his feet and sent him crashing into the wall of the building beside him. Barely standing and dazed by the shock, Hammond turned to flee and was caught by the giant's back swing, propelling him once more through the air. He landed in a crumpled heap, then incredibly struggled to his feet. His shield arm hanging uselessly by his side and with an obviously broken ankle, he half crawled, half staggered towards the inn, leaning heavily on his axe.</p><p></p><p>Shayla stopped abruptly, and Khalid could see her gather herself up for a spell. As the magic consumed her, Khalid was forced to squint as her hands burst into searing flame. The giant, distracted by the two guards, took the full brunt of the spell as Shayla unleashed a ray of magical flame. Blackened, ghastly wounds appeared on the giant's shoulder and neck where the flame landed, and the stench of burned flesh filled the air.</p><p></p><p>Gorak ran on past Shayla and intercepted Hammond, dragging him up to his feet. “Get back in 'er!” he roared as his hands flashed with magical healing. The pain that accompanied Gorak's spell, jerked Hammond back to his senses, even as his arm straightened and the bones in his ankle mended. Propelling Hammond back towards the giant, Gorak stepped aside as Shayla ran past, the wounded giant bellowing in pain and lumbering along behind her. As she passed them, she skidded to a stop and turned around. Her green eyes flashing in the flickering light of a dozen fires, she called out words of power in a clear, confident voice. Again, a lance of pure elemental fire leapt from her hands and struck the charging giant, dead center in the chest.</p><p></p><p>The giant, caught in the throes of a killing frenzy, ignored Hammond and Gorak as he pursued Shayla, intent on smashing her to a bloody pulp for the terrible damage she had inflicted. Hammond, taking advantage of the giant's reckless haste, swung his axe in a wide arc and slammed it into the giant's ribs. Wounded by Shayla beyond all reason, the giant ignored the bloody gash into its side and ran on, finally reaching her. Bellowing incoherently, the giant swung wildly, causing Shayla to shriek in terror. Bending almost double at the waist, Shayla ducked underneath the giant's fearsome attack.</p><p></p><p>Khalid, fearing that whatever god had reached out and protected Shayla a moment ago could not be counted on twice, circled around to position himself for one last desperate attack. Staying clear of Gorak and Hammond, who had moved in with their weapons at the ready to flank the giant, he hesitated, trying to time his gamble. Having only one offensive spell remaining, and faced with the prospect of being both helpless and visible before an enraged giant, he waited.*</p><p></p><p>Shayla, snapping upright, nimbly danced backwards and raised her hands in front of her face. Peering at the giant from between her fingers with a coy smile on her face, Shayla summoned her magical fire one more time. Recognizing the terrible fate about to befall it, the giant lashed out desperately. Shayla's auburn curls blew back over her shoulder as the giants club whistled past, inches from her face. The giant's howls cut off instantly as a jet of flame pierced it under the chin, burning a hole clear through its neck.</p><p></p><p>Khalid, about to step forward and cast his final spell, was forced to turn aside with a startled yelp as the giant toppled over backwards, almost crushing him. For an instant, nobody moved as the adrenaline continued to course in their blood. Both Gorak and Hammond stood, weapons raised, as though waiting for the beast to rise once more. The shock broke, as the last remaining guard ran past them. Khalid turned in dismay and saw a half dozen orcs round the corner. Thankful he was still invisible, he worried for his friends he moved aside to gain room to cast.</p><p></p><p>Out of the darkness overhead, an order was barked and a sheet of arrows rained down from the sky into the midst of the orcs. Several dropped immediately and as the remaining ones turned to flee, another wave of arrows fell, driving them to the ground. Barely able to contain his elation, Khalid's invisible smile grew broader as he turned to see a column of foot soldiers moving at almost a dead run down the road. They raced past without stopping, weapons and armor clanking, and turned the corner down to the second terrace. Archers, clad in light leathers with their bows strapped to their back, began dropping down from rooftops and moving to the edge of the terrace to cover the advancing soldiers.</p><p></p><p>Moving to the edge with the archers, Khalid could see the column of soldiers clearing the road below. They moved quickly, with small groups breaking off from the main column to venture into breached houses. As he watched, the troop crashed into a group of attacking orcs and linked up with a pocket of resistance. This scene was repeated again and again, as the orcs continued to attack in the face of determined resistance and withering arrow fire.</p><p></p><p> “Where's Khalid!” Shayla called out, from back near the inn, and with a guilty start, Khalid willed himself back into visibility.</p><p></p><p>“Ah, yes, sorry, I'm right here,” he called out with an apologetic grin, as she joined him overlooking the terraces below. </p><p></p><p>They watched for several minutes, as the battle raged on down below. The advancing guards quickly gained momentum, and their numbers swelled as they moved through the city, as more people came out of hiding. It soon became apparent that the battle had turned into a rout for the attacking orc tribes, and Khalid turned away. He spotted Gorak down the road, tending to some critically injured soldiers. Feeling vaguely guilty, Khalid looked around half-heartedly for some way to help. Seeing a tired looking guard dragging the men who had fallen defending the turn in the road out of the way, he moved to offer his assistance. As he bent down to help lift one of the bodies, he realized that by some strange turn of chance the man he was helping, the only guard to have survived the fight with the giant, was the same stout soldier that had rudely questioned them at the gate. He was no longer wearing his uniform and armor, but was dressed instead in simple pants and a tunic. A filthy and battered orcish helmet still rested on his head, and a crudely cast iron longsword was tucked in his belt. When he saw Khalid looking at him, he smiled wanly and wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand, leaving a smudge of soot in its place. “We just got off shift,” he gestured at his fallen friend, the tall, slim guard that had searched their belongings. “We were headed up inta the city ta get something ta eat. I thought sure we was gonna make through, when you gummed up the road there.” He sighed. “Then that giant came along and killed him dead.” He looked straight at Khalid and said, “But that little girl burned him up good. You thank her for me, al'right?” Khalid, thinking of Jalaal, lying unburied somewhere beneath a mountain, nodded wordlessly.**</p><p></p><p>He put his friend down, then reached out and closed his sightless eyes. Standing up slowly, he wandered away up the hill, stopping briefly to offer Gorak a tired, but sincere looking salute. Khalid, having seen enough death for one day, wiped his hands off and stood up, joining Shayla and Gorak as they entered the inn. Hammond was already inside, busy redistributing uneaten meals, mostly to himself. He handed a plate to Gorak as he sat down, then shot a wink at Shayla and chuckled. “Healing always makes me hungry.” Finding himself ravenously hungry, despite eating only a few hours earlier, Khalid tucked into his purloined food. So distracted was he by the cold joint of meat, and vivid discussion of tactics, he didn't notice the barkeep enter the inn and walk over to their table.</p><p></p><p>Dumping a handful of coins on the table, the barkeep said, “I don't want these.” As Khalid stood up to insist that they were going to pay for the food they had taken, the man continued. “I saw wut you done out there,” he said, rubbing his bald palate with a meaty hand. “And none of you has ta pay for anything in here no more, any time your passing through town.” He blew out his mustache and stared down his nose as though daring them to challenge him.</p><p></p><p>With a grin, Khalid settled back into his chair, and ordered another round. The inn slowly filled up again, with other foreigners and townsfolk looking to celebrate the hard fought victory. The mood was muted out of respect, but cheerful. As hard as Khalid tried, he couldn't force himself to dislike Hammond, despite the fact he was convinced that the man was a professional sellsword. Khalid stayed sober enough to deflect his repeated and increasing incoherent questions about where they were going and why, until the party wound down in the late hours of the evening.</p><p></p><p>They were awoken early the next morning by a riot of construction, echoing up from the lower quarters. After a hasty meeting in the commons room of the inn, it was unanimously decided to spend another day in town, and they retired to the blissful quiet of Khalid's magical shelter. Waking late in the afternoon, Khalid put his free time to good use and immediately began working on his studies, while Gorak and Shayla wandered the town, surveying the damage.</p><p></p><p>When they returned late in the evening, they found Khalid eating sullenly downstairs by himself. Grunting in response to Shayla's greeting, he ignored them and stared at his stew. “What's up with you?” Gorak rumbled.</p><p></p><p>“Ah, nothing,” Khalid muttered.***</p><p></p><p>Gorak shrugged. “Whatever. You seen Hammond around?”</p><p></p><p>“Ah, I think, yes, that he said he was leaving, early this morning, for Gem-Sharad,” Khalid reminded him.#</p><p></p><p>“Right, forgot about that,” Gorak grumbled. “Fun guy. I like him. Anyhow, if we're still leaving at first light tomorrow, I'm gonna go get some rest.”</p><p></p><p>The short ride through town the next morning impressed Khalid with the village's resilience. Most of the rubble from burned buildings had been removed, and in some places new frames had already been erected. The cobblestones had been washed and the buildings were being repainted. While a few people glared at Gorak as he passed, surprisingly more still smiled and waved. Their deeds had garnered a certain amount of celebrity within the town and while it wasn't a parade, Khalid felt particularly pleased with himself as they rode out into the valley.</p><p> </p><p style="text-align: center">* * * * * * * * * *</p><p> </p><p>Khalid shivered miserably in his saddle, thinking longingly of the warm taproom of the Dancing Pig in Knolton. A week's journey saw them more than a hundred and fifty miles northward and the brutal desert heat of late autumn had turned into the chill of early winter on the northern steppes. Already wearing both sets of his robes and his cloak, Khalid searched around his saddlebags, pulling out a pair of socks and sliding them over his hands. Shayla still seemed bemused at the huge flakes of snow that had been falling for two days now, gathering in fluffy clumps in her auburn hair. Gorak, steadfast as always, had merely cinched his cloak a little tighter over his bare chest. Grasping at his hood as a gust of swirling snow blew into his face, he asked for the tenth time today, “Ah, how much...”</p><p></p><p>“Khalid,” Gorak growled. “I swear to the lost gods that if you ask how much further one more time...There's your damn answer.” He pointed to a strange rock formation, jutting out of a cliff face, in the valley ahead.</p><p></p><p>Shayla shook the snow out of her blazing curls, and shielded her eyes with her hands. “Is that the falls?” she asked. “It looks frozen or something.”</p><p></p><p>Gorak grunted. “That doesn't bode well for a hike through the mountains.”</p><p></p><p>It took several more hours to reach the base of the cliff. Situated on the near side of a huge lake fed by the frozen falls, the village was a rude shock after coming from Knolton. The houses were low, rambling wooden affairs, laid out, as far as Khalid could tell, by no particular plan. Thick brownish black tar had been smeared across the exposed wood, which was poorly treated. More than half of the buildings had sod roofs and the look of permanently ongoing construction. Furry, half feral looking pigs roamed the streets in small herds, tended to by shrieking children with short sticks. </p><p></p><p>The villagers themselves looked more like Easterners than Khalid would have guessed. The majority seemed to have fair skin and pale hair, although there was a definite mix. Draped in fur and armed with bows and knives, men with hard, flat stares watched them ride into town. Gorak pulled up in front of one of them and asked, “This village is Daggerfall, right?”</p><p></p><p>The man looked at him rather oddly, “Ayup.”</p><p></p><p>“Whadda call that?” he gestured, pointing at the cliff.</p><p></p><p>Speaking slowly, as though to a small child, the man replied. “Dagger. Falls.”##</p><p></p><p>Grunting in annoyance, Gorak nudged his horse forward. They wandered through the sprawling lanes between buildings, and located a tavern by the raucous singing that poured out. As Khalid waved away the horses, they shouldered their packs and pushed their way into the crowded barroom. Forcing their way to the bar, Gorak tapped the barman on the arm and shouted over the noise, “We need a room.”</p><p></p><p>The barman looked at Shayla, and asked, “You want the good room, or the other room?”</p><p></p><p>“What's the difference?”</p><p></p><p>“The good room's fer traveling merchants, the other room is a place ta sleep for the night.”</p><p></p><p>“The good room then,” Shayla said, elbowing past Khalid and digging out some of Arbaq's money.</p><p></p><p>As Shayla paid, Gorak spoke up again. “We need some information about the mountains. Any suggestions?”</p><p></p><p>The barman waved at the room, “Just ask around. Most of the folk in here are trappers or trackers of one sort or 'nother. But I don't know that yer gonna have much luck fer finding somebody that'll take you up this late in the season.”</p><p></p><p>Turning to Khalid, who had shrunk into his cloak at the mention of trackers, and Shayla, Gorak growled, “That don't sound good. Take my stuff upstairs and start buying supplies. I'm gonna start hunting around for somebody that knows these mountains.”</p><p></p><p>They split up, with Shayla leaving to get provisions while Gorak looked for a guide. Khalid spent his time hunting around for the various supplies for his art, but was unsurprised to be mostly disappointed. He met up with Shayla laboring under several bags of food on the way back to the inn, and dutifully shouldered some of the load. As he swung a bag over his shoulder, Shayla looked at him oddly.</p><p></p><p>“What's that,” she said.</p><p></p><p>“Ah, what's what?” Khalid puffed, peering around.</p><p></p><p>“That thing on your head.” She pointed.</p><p></p><p>“Ah, it's my new hat!” Khalid exclaimed. “I bought some clothing suitable for a trek into the mountains.”</p><p></p><p>“Um, is it supposed to look, ah, quite that fresh?” The hat's cold, dead eyes bored into Shayla reproachfully.</p><p></p><p>“Ah, Indeed, the trapper assured me it's much warmer like this,” Khalid said, nodding enthusiastically. Then he flinched and yelped as his hat inadvertently kicked him in the eye. Laughing, Shayla pushed upon the door to the inn for him, and they went inside to wait for Gorak.</p><p></p><p>Gorak showed up an hour later, with a foul look on his face. “I'm tired of being laughed at, and called crazy. It's starting to hurt my feelings,” he growled. “They all hunt the damn things, but not one has crossed 'em. We got one more person to try, an old hermit whose supposed to know these mountains like the back of his hand and has gone up in midwinter before. We'll hit him up tomorrow, and if he can't tell us anything useful, then we just keep right on moving.”</p><p></p><p>The next morning, they packed up and rode around the lake towards the falls. As they got closer to the falls, Khalid realized that they weren't entirely frozen. Water still trickled and streamed down the sides of the huge icicle, into the lake below. Soon, they could make out a thin band of smoke rising from a small cabin, among a copse of trees on the lake’s edge. When they approached, an old man barged out of the house and looked them up and down. “I don't like people.” he declared before they could speak. “So what are you <em>people</em>,” he put a particularly unpleasant emphasis on the word, “doing in my yard?”.</p><p></p><p>Gorak eyed the shabby little man up and down. Dressed in well cured leather, he looked about a hundred years old, although his spry step and bushy grey hair indicated he was probably slightly younger. “We're looking for a way through the mountains.” Gorak replied.</p><p></p><p>“You're crazy,” the little man retorted.</p><p></p><p>As Gorak growled deep in his throat, Khalid intervened quickly. “Ah, yes, well, we'd heard that you were the best, and that you'd done it before. Yes, quite.”</p><p></p><p>“That was a long time ago, boyo,” the old man said, “and I ain't that crazy no more.”</p><p></p><p>“That's it,” Gorak growled. “We're leaving.”</p><p></p><p>“You're crazy!” the old man shouted as they turned their horses into the wind and began to ride east towards the mountains. There's goblins up there! And the weather's gonna turn soon!”</p><p></p><p>“You'd be surprised,” Gorak grunted over his shoulder, “at just how little either of those things scares me.”</p><p></p><p>Khalid sighed and wished he could say the same, as he pulled his hood low to ward off the rising sun. Behind them, the huge icicle began to groan and creak as the first light of the morning hit it. With a shuddering crack, a huge spear of ice broke free from the main spire and crashed to the ground below, shattering into a thousand pieces. Pulling his cloak a little tighter against the stinging chill, Khalid tried not to think about omens or portends or just how much the mountains loomed over them, like a maw of jagged fangs.</p><p></p><p style="text-align: center">* * * * * * * * * *</p><p></p><p>Notes:</p><p></p><p>* I was totally trying to steal the kill here. My only offensive spell left was burning hands, so I had to be pretty close to him get it off and I wanted to be sure. I'd been lurking around invisible for a few rounds, but I chickened out and waited one round too long <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite6" alt=":cool:" title="Cool :cool:" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":cool:" /> That giant may have been hurt when it came up the terrace, but once it got there Shayla did about 90% of the damage to it - Hammond was the only other person to wound it, as far as I remember.</p><p></p><p>**Had to give some love out to the redshirts! They did a fantastic job in their supporting role of meatwall, at least until the giant showed up...</p><p></p><p>***This was me, failing to scribe dispel magic off a scroll. Needed to beat a 3, rolled a 1.</p><p></p><p>#Ah, good ole Hammond, meant to be a potential a) tank, b) cohort c) guide through the mountains, but that would be far too easy! Khalid's paranoia deals the party yet another blow...</p><p></p><p>##heh, ask a stupid question...get immortalized in a story hour! I remember this exchange, but to Gorak's credit, it *might* have been me that asked the question (I'm pretty sure it was him tho <img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite8" alt=":D" title="Big grin :D" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":D" /> ).</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="EternalNewbie, post: 3770380, member: 6489"] The end of Chapter 4: Thicker than Water. [CENTER]* * * * * * * * * *[/CENTER] There was only a moment of stunned silence before the three seasoned campaigners rose to their feet. “Guess we better check it out,” Gorak grunted as he headed towards the door, buckling his darkwood shield to his arm as he moved. Shayla grabbed her trusty crossbow out from under the table, and fell into step with him. Khalid joined her, mumbling slightly under his breath as he reviewed the magical formulae stored in his mind. As Gorak threw open the door, Khalid glanced over his shoulder, and was disappointed to see their new friend looking quite content with a pilfered tankard of ale. He raised a mock toast to Khalid, who sighed and turned his back on him, stepping out into the cool mountain air. All three of them stopped and assessed the chaos that had engulfed the town. A few buildings were glowing with burgeoning flames and as Khalid watched, the fire began to spread into the fields. Between the almost incessant tolling of the bells, he could hear people screaming and the sounds of battle. Dozens of townsfolk were fleeing from the lower city, seeking safety further up the hill. Some were dragging or carrying small children, while others labored up the incline under the weight of their worldly goods. Interspersed in the crowd were a few guardsmen trying to fight against the press and make their way down to the lower levels. Seeing no immediate danger, they moved nearer to the edge of the terrace and looked down. Despite the apparent success of their assailants, Khalid could see that the town was constructed to be a besieger's nightmare. Carved into the side of a huge hill, the lower two terraces of the town were broad, but narrowed significantly at the third terrace, where the inn was located, and the two terraces above. Buildings of varying heights had been constructed right against the hillside, some with roofs almost level with the road in front of the terrace above. Most of the houses were constructed of solid brick or stone, with stout doors and heavy shutters and roof top gardens. As Khalid watched, soldiers began to clamber onto the roofs of houses on the level below them, and rain arrows down on the first terrace. Squinting through the smoke and darkness, Khalid saw a lone attacker run across the road directly below them, then drop as three arrows landed in rapid succession. As the figure crumpled and fell, the body rolled out into a circle of torchlight, and Khalid whistled slightly in understanding. Their adversaries were orcs, full blooded judging by the length of the tusks, but with mottled greenish brown skin, fortunately for Gorak. They had launched their attack at the perfect time, considering their flawless night vision; in the few moments since the start of the attack, the sun had set behind the hill line and the town was plunged into darkness. Few torches had been lit in the lower levels, meaning the only light in those parts was that thrown from the increasing number of burning buildings. Looking back behind them, Khalid saw more soldiers begin to filter down the hill, and a group, apparently under the command of a rather junior looking lieutenant, gathered about sixty feet from the inn, near the curve where the main road came up from the second level. Gorak grunted and ducked out of the way as a crossbow bolt whizzed over his head. “They ain't holding them, there's more of 'em pouring up the road.” Further up the road, Khalid could see soldiers and civilians alike leaping off rooftops from the lower terrace and scrambling up onto the road in front of the third level. In a few places where the defenders were unwilling or unable to flee, Khalid could see them frantically fortifying their positions, forcing the orcish mob to engage in brutal house to house fighting to clear the roof tops of archers. The sounds of battle were louder now, as several of the bells in the lower city went quiet. Khalid could tell that if the advancing orcs could capture enough of the town behind their lines, they could starve or blackmail the remaining defenders into submission, and judging by the numbers running by below them, they were about to breach the third level. Just then, a bugle sounded out from the fortress at the top of the hill, and was answered by another. Instantly, Khalid's spirits were lifted and he turned to Gorak who stepped back away from the edge. “Alright,” Gorak growled, “Looks like we got some help behind us. I'll keep them from scaling the cliffs and offa them rooftops here.” Khalid, nodding in agreement, was already moving. “Ah, yes, and I'll bolster the guardsman. Shayla, help, yes, help Gorak but be ready to fall back and cover the guards if things turn for the worse. Yes, quite!” As he moved closer to the guards, the inn door flew open and Hammond strode out. In one hand he held a wicked looking half-moon battleaxe, in his other, a broad steel shield. A huge fur hat, matching his cloak, was perched at a jaunty angle on his head and a chainmail coif spilled down his neck. Ale foam dripped from his mustache as he winked at Khalid. From the corner of his eye, Khalid caught a flicker of movement and saw the young lieutenant stagger as a javelin skewered his upper thigh. Turning desperately, he fell backwards towards his men as a bloody faced orc appeared out of the darkness and cut him almost in two with a terrible blow from his greatsword. The men flinched back almost collectively. Khalid could see their nerve breaking but he forced himself to wait while more orcs appeared out of the gloom and charged the line. Then, seeing several orcs bunch up, Khalid seized the opportunity and began to cast. He grinned as his spell went off, and a golden explosion burst in the midst of the orcs blinding them and coating them in sparkling gold dust. A cheer went up from the guards, who rallied immediately and cut down the blinded orcs with quick, professional attacks. With a roar, Hammond raised his axe charged into the fray, grievously wounding a blinded orc who was laying about frantically with a spiked mace. “Khalid! Get ready! I'm gonna slow 'em down but you're gonna have a helluva lot more company in a few seconds!” Gorak roared before he launched into a spell. Howls of frustration echoed up from the street below as whatever Gorak had done confounded the orcs. Shayla took advantage of the confusion to cast a handful of glittering discs into the mob. Khalid wasted no time and began casting again. Watching through half closed eyes as he rhymed off the words to a summoning incantation, he saw the last of the blinded orcs cut down, only to be replaced by two more. A guardsman in the front line collapsed on the end of an orcish spear, and the remaining four battled on desperately. Hammond was a stone wall in their center upon which the tide of orcs broke. Wielding his axe with a deadly grace, his savage fury matched that of the orcs he faced, and he gave no ground despite his mounting injuries. The words rolling off Khalid's tongue and the rush of blood in his ears drowned out Gorak and Shayla's renewed casting. Seeking something with as much psychological effect as physical, he called forth the spirit of a simple scorpion, and perverted it with fell energies. The resulting monstrosity that appeared with a sulfuric detonation, caused both man and orc to shy away. The scorpion was over seven feet long with a glittering jet black carapace that faded to blood red at the tips of its claws and stinger. “Ah, fear not!” Khalid cried out to the guardsmen, somewhat unnecessarily as the scorpion scuttled forward and plunged it's barbed stinger into the chest of an orc. Drawing out one of his pilfered wands, he waited for a few more more orcs to appear and then with a flick of the wand and an arcane word, Khalid caused a huge netting of thick spider webs to descend over the roadway. Anchored between two buildings, it trapped a few unfortunate orcs charging up the path and completely cut off the those at the front, battling the guardsmen, from any reinforcements. Understanding that no quarter would be given, the orcs fought on in a frenzy, biting and clawing at their opponents when they were stricken to the ground. Seeing the remaining orcs being contained by the the four uninjured guards, aided by Hammond and the conjured scorpion, Khalid allowed himself a moment's respite believing the situation to be in hand. A scream from Shayla grabbed his attention and he looked nervously over to where she was standing. “There's some sort of ogre or something coming down the road!” Shayla cried as she cast another spell. “Son of a bitch! That ain't no ogre!” Gorak roared. “Khalid, in about thirty seconds yer gonna have a giant up there with ya! Get ready!” Both he and Shayla drew back from the edge of the road. “Ah, yes, ready, quite,” Khalid stammered as he looked around helplessly. Realizing with a start that he still held the wand in his hand, he began to jab it frantically in air in the direction of the road, shouting the command word repeatedly and slowly filling up the road with layer upon layer of webbing. There was a shout from the terrace below them, and then a tremendous crash as the giant pulverized a building covered in defenders. Ignoring the screams of slowly suffocating orcs struggling futilely at the center of the web, Khalid continued to discharge the wand, until the hill giant's huge head came into view around the corner. Even worse, the duration of Khalid's summoning ran out, and the scorpion, with one final lunge at an orc, vanished, leaving one less obstacle between him and giant. Standing well over twelve feet tall, the giant resembled a grotesquely distorted orc. Its filthy skin was the color of dried mud and rancid hides stitched with bits and pieces of scavenged armor were draped about its powerfully muscled shoulders. It's face was almost brutishly childlike, with thick, stump like teeth, and bleary eyes covered by matted, greasy hair. Wounds and cuts covered its body and in one hand was a gnarled tree stump, tacky with blood and gore that oozed down over the beast’s fingers. As the giant stared in confusion at the obstacle blocking the road, an arrow sailed out of the darkness from above and ricocheted off his head, tearing back a flap of skin and causing the giant to howl in pain. Surging forward with a thunderous roar, the giant ploughed into the webbing, struggling mightily. For an instant, Khalid though the spell might hold the beast but then with a sharp twang, the strands began to pull free from the buildings and road one at a time, dragging huge chunks of mortar and stone away. Khalid pointed the wand directly at the giant's head and spoke the command word but nothing happened. Having expended its last charge, the wand was now nothing more than a ornate stick, and Khalid tossed it aside. Running low on options and lower on valor, Khalid muttered a few more arcane words and promptly vanished. “I'm going to prepare our escape!” Khalid called out to Shayla and Gorak, as he headed back towards the inn. “Turn right when you enter the door to the inn!” Ducking back into the inn, Khalid opened a portal and then darted back outside. The giant, slowed by the sticky filaments, had not yet reached the defenders but they had at best a few seconds before it was free. Two orcs remained fighting the guardsmen and Khalid prayed fervently that they both be dispatched before the giant reached them. Hammond stepped forward, and with a powerful blow, answered Khalid's prayer and cleaved in the head of one of the orcs, even as one of the guardsmen staggered away from the mêleé, and fainted from his injuries. The giant lurched forward with surprising speed, and tore through the last few feet of webbing. Bringing his huge club arcing down, he caught the guard on Hammond's left and crushed him into the cobblestones, killing him instantly. The other two guardsmen backed away cautiously, too disciplined to flee, but too scared to approach the giant. Arrows buzzed out of the blackness overhead, striking the giant in the face and chest. While most were turned aside by the giant's thick skin and matted hides, several landed true. Gorak and Shayla had abandoned their post overlooking the road and fell back towards the inn. Hammond, the sole defender facing the giant now, raised his shield defensively and stepped forward. Hoping to engage the beast while it was still hampered by the magical ensnarement, he delivered a powerful blow that bit deep into the giant's upper thigh. The giant's roar of pain echoed off the stone walls as he shook free of the last remaining strands of Khalid's spell. Drawing his club back over his shoulder the giant leveled a terrible blow at Hammond. Still off balance from his attack, Hammond just barely managed to raise his shield to absorb the killing force of the hit. The impact lifted him off his feet and sent him crashing into the wall of the building beside him. Barely standing and dazed by the shock, Hammond turned to flee and was caught by the giant's back swing, propelling him once more through the air. He landed in a crumpled heap, then incredibly struggled to his feet. His shield arm hanging uselessly by his side and with an obviously broken ankle, he half crawled, half staggered towards the inn, leaning heavily on his axe. Shayla stopped abruptly, and Khalid could see her gather herself up for a spell. As the magic consumed her, Khalid was forced to squint as her hands burst into searing flame. The giant, distracted by the two guards, took the full brunt of the spell as Shayla unleashed a ray of magical flame. Blackened, ghastly wounds appeared on the giant's shoulder and neck where the flame landed, and the stench of burned flesh filled the air. Gorak ran on past Shayla and intercepted Hammond, dragging him up to his feet. “Get back in 'er!” he roared as his hands flashed with magical healing. The pain that accompanied Gorak's spell, jerked Hammond back to his senses, even as his arm straightened and the bones in his ankle mended. Propelling Hammond back towards the giant, Gorak stepped aside as Shayla ran past, the wounded giant bellowing in pain and lumbering along behind her. As she passed them, she skidded to a stop and turned around. Her green eyes flashing in the flickering light of a dozen fires, she called out words of power in a clear, confident voice. Again, a lance of pure elemental fire leapt from her hands and struck the charging giant, dead center in the chest. The giant, caught in the throes of a killing frenzy, ignored Hammond and Gorak as he pursued Shayla, intent on smashing her to a bloody pulp for the terrible damage she had inflicted. Hammond, taking advantage of the giant's reckless haste, swung his axe in a wide arc and slammed it into the giant's ribs. Wounded by Shayla beyond all reason, the giant ignored the bloody gash into its side and ran on, finally reaching her. Bellowing incoherently, the giant swung wildly, causing Shayla to shriek in terror. Bending almost double at the waist, Shayla ducked underneath the giant's fearsome attack. Khalid, fearing that whatever god had reached out and protected Shayla a moment ago could not be counted on twice, circled around to position himself for one last desperate attack. Staying clear of Gorak and Hammond, who had moved in with their weapons at the ready to flank the giant, he hesitated, trying to time his gamble. Having only one offensive spell remaining, and faced with the prospect of being both helpless and visible before an enraged giant, he waited.* Shayla, snapping upright, nimbly danced backwards and raised her hands in front of her face. Peering at the giant from between her fingers with a coy smile on her face, Shayla summoned her magical fire one more time. Recognizing the terrible fate about to befall it, the giant lashed out desperately. Shayla's auburn curls blew back over her shoulder as the giants club whistled past, inches from her face. The giant's howls cut off instantly as a jet of flame pierced it under the chin, burning a hole clear through its neck. Khalid, about to step forward and cast his final spell, was forced to turn aside with a startled yelp as the giant toppled over backwards, almost crushing him. For an instant, nobody moved as the adrenaline continued to course in their blood. Both Gorak and Hammond stood, weapons raised, as though waiting for the beast to rise once more. The shock broke, as the last remaining guard ran past them. Khalid turned in dismay and saw a half dozen orcs round the corner. Thankful he was still invisible, he worried for his friends he moved aside to gain room to cast. Out of the darkness overhead, an order was barked and a sheet of arrows rained down from the sky into the midst of the orcs. Several dropped immediately and as the remaining ones turned to flee, another wave of arrows fell, driving them to the ground. Barely able to contain his elation, Khalid's invisible smile grew broader as he turned to see a column of foot soldiers moving at almost a dead run down the road. They raced past without stopping, weapons and armor clanking, and turned the corner down to the second terrace. Archers, clad in light leathers with their bows strapped to their back, began dropping down from rooftops and moving to the edge of the terrace to cover the advancing soldiers. Moving to the edge with the archers, Khalid could see the column of soldiers clearing the road below. They moved quickly, with small groups breaking off from the main column to venture into breached houses. As he watched, the troop crashed into a group of attacking orcs and linked up with a pocket of resistance. This scene was repeated again and again, as the orcs continued to attack in the face of determined resistance and withering arrow fire. “Where's Khalid!” Shayla called out, from back near the inn, and with a guilty start, Khalid willed himself back into visibility. “Ah, yes, sorry, I'm right here,” he called out with an apologetic grin, as she joined him overlooking the terraces below. They watched for several minutes, as the battle raged on down below. The advancing guards quickly gained momentum, and their numbers swelled as they moved through the city, as more people came out of hiding. It soon became apparent that the battle had turned into a rout for the attacking orc tribes, and Khalid turned away. He spotted Gorak down the road, tending to some critically injured soldiers. Feeling vaguely guilty, Khalid looked around half-heartedly for some way to help. Seeing a tired looking guard dragging the men who had fallen defending the turn in the road out of the way, he moved to offer his assistance. As he bent down to help lift one of the bodies, he realized that by some strange turn of chance the man he was helping, the only guard to have survived the fight with the giant, was the same stout soldier that had rudely questioned them at the gate. He was no longer wearing his uniform and armor, but was dressed instead in simple pants and a tunic. A filthy and battered orcish helmet still rested on his head, and a crudely cast iron longsword was tucked in his belt. When he saw Khalid looking at him, he smiled wanly and wiped the sweat off his brow with the back of his hand, leaving a smudge of soot in its place. “We just got off shift,” he gestured at his fallen friend, the tall, slim guard that had searched their belongings. “We were headed up inta the city ta get something ta eat. I thought sure we was gonna make through, when you gummed up the road there.” He sighed. “Then that giant came along and killed him dead.” He looked straight at Khalid and said, “But that little girl burned him up good. You thank her for me, al'right?” Khalid, thinking of Jalaal, lying unburied somewhere beneath a mountain, nodded wordlessly.** He put his friend down, then reached out and closed his sightless eyes. Standing up slowly, he wandered away up the hill, stopping briefly to offer Gorak a tired, but sincere looking salute. Khalid, having seen enough death for one day, wiped his hands off and stood up, joining Shayla and Gorak as they entered the inn. Hammond was already inside, busy redistributing uneaten meals, mostly to himself. He handed a plate to Gorak as he sat down, then shot a wink at Shayla and chuckled. “Healing always makes me hungry.” Finding himself ravenously hungry, despite eating only a few hours earlier, Khalid tucked into his purloined food. So distracted was he by the cold joint of meat, and vivid discussion of tactics, he didn't notice the barkeep enter the inn and walk over to their table. Dumping a handful of coins on the table, the barkeep said, “I don't want these.” As Khalid stood up to insist that they were going to pay for the food they had taken, the man continued. “I saw wut you done out there,” he said, rubbing his bald palate with a meaty hand. “And none of you has ta pay for anything in here no more, any time your passing through town.” He blew out his mustache and stared down his nose as though daring them to challenge him. With a grin, Khalid settled back into his chair, and ordered another round. The inn slowly filled up again, with other foreigners and townsfolk looking to celebrate the hard fought victory. The mood was muted out of respect, but cheerful. As hard as Khalid tried, he couldn't force himself to dislike Hammond, despite the fact he was convinced that the man was a professional sellsword. Khalid stayed sober enough to deflect his repeated and increasing incoherent questions about where they were going and why, until the party wound down in the late hours of the evening. They were awoken early the next morning by a riot of construction, echoing up from the lower quarters. After a hasty meeting in the commons room of the inn, it was unanimously decided to spend another day in town, and they retired to the blissful quiet of Khalid's magical shelter. Waking late in the afternoon, Khalid put his free time to good use and immediately began working on his studies, while Gorak and Shayla wandered the town, surveying the damage. When they returned late in the evening, they found Khalid eating sullenly downstairs by himself. Grunting in response to Shayla's greeting, he ignored them and stared at his stew. “What's up with you?” Gorak rumbled. “Ah, nothing,” Khalid muttered.*** Gorak shrugged. “Whatever. You seen Hammond around?” “Ah, I think, yes, that he said he was leaving, early this morning, for Gem-Sharad,” Khalid reminded him.# “Right, forgot about that,” Gorak grumbled. “Fun guy. I like him. Anyhow, if we're still leaving at first light tomorrow, I'm gonna go get some rest.” The short ride through town the next morning impressed Khalid with the village's resilience. Most of the rubble from burned buildings had been removed, and in some places new frames had already been erected. The cobblestones had been washed and the buildings were being repainted. While a few people glared at Gorak as he passed, surprisingly more still smiled and waved. Their deeds had garnered a certain amount of celebrity within the town and while it wasn't a parade, Khalid felt particularly pleased with himself as they rode out into the valley. [CENTER]* * * * * * * * * *[/CENTER] Khalid shivered miserably in his saddle, thinking longingly of the warm taproom of the Dancing Pig in Knolton. A week's journey saw them more than a hundred and fifty miles northward and the brutal desert heat of late autumn had turned into the chill of early winter on the northern steppes. Already wearing both sets of his robes and his cloak, Khalid searched around his saddlebags, pulling out a pair of socks and sliding them over his hands. Shayla still seemed bemused at the huge flakes of snow that had been falling for two days now, gathering in fluffy clumps in her auburn hair. Gorak, steadfast as always, had merely cinched his cloak a little tighter over his bare chest. Grasping at his hood as a gust of swirling snow blew into his face, he asked for the tenth time today, “Ah, how much...” “Khalid,” Gorak growled. “I swear to the lost gods that if you ask how much further one more time...There's your damn answer.” He pointed to a strange rock formation, jutting out of a cliff face, in the valley ahead. Shayla shook the snow out of her blazing curls, and shielded her eyes with her hands. “Is that the falls?” she asked. “It looks frozen or something.” Gorak grunted. “That doesn't bode well for a hike through the mountains.” It took several more hours to reach the base of the cliff. Situated on the near side of a huge lake fed by the frozen falls, the village was a rude shock after coming from Knolton. The houses were low, rambling wooden affairs, laid out, as far as Khalid could tell, by no particular plan. Thick brownish black tar had been smeared across the exposed wood, which was poorly treated. More than half of the buildings had sod roofs and the look of permanently ongoing construction. Furry, half feral looking pigs roamed the streets in small herds, tended to by shrieking children with short sticks. The villagers themselves looked more like Easterners than Khalid would have guessed. The majority seemed to have fair skin and pale hair, although there was a definite mix. Draped in fur and armed with bows and knives, men with hard, flat stares watched them ride into town. Gorak pulled up in front of one of them and asked, “This village is Daggerfall, right?” The man looked at him rather oddly, “Ayup.” “Whadda call that?” he gestured, pointing at the cliff. Speaking slowly, as though to a small child, the man replied. “Dagger. Falls.”## Grunting in annoyance, Gorak nudged his horse forward. They wandered through the sprawling lanes between buildings, and located a tavern by the raucous singing that poured out. As Khalid waved away the horses, they shouldered their packs and pushed their way into the crowded barroom. Forcing their way to the bar, Gorak tapped the barman on the arm and shouted over the noise, “We need a room.” The barman looked at Shayla, and asked, “You want the good room, or the other room?” “What's the difference?” “The good room's fer traveling merchants, the other room is a place ta sleep for the night.” “The good room then,” Shayla said, elbowing past Khalid and digging out some of Arbaq's money. As Shayla paid, Gorak spoke up again. “We need some information about the mountains. Any suggestions?” The barman waved at the room, “Just ask around. Most of the folk in here are trappers or trackers of one sort or 'nother. But I don't know that yer gonna have much luck fer finding somebody that'll take you up this late in the season.” Turning to Khalid, who had shrunk into his cloak at the mention of trackers, and Shayla, Gorak growled, “That don't sound good. Take my stuff upstairs and start buying supplies. I'm gonna start hunting around for somebody that knows these mountains.” They split up, with Shayla leaving to get provisions while Gorak looked for a guide. Khalid spent his time hunting around for the various supplies for his art, but was unsurprised to be mostly disappointed. He met up with Shayla laboring under several bags of food on the way back to the inn, and dutifully shouldered some of the load. As he swung a bag over his shoulder, Shayla looked at him oddly. “What's that,” she said. “Ah, what's what?” Khalid puffed, peering around. “That thing on your head.” She pointed. “Ah, it's my new hat!” Khalid exclaimed. “I bought some clothing suitable for a trek into the mountains.” “Um, is it supposed to look, ah, quite that fresh?” The hat's cold, dead eyes bored into Shayla reproachfully. “Ah, Indeed, the trapper assured me it's much warmer like this,” Khalid said, nodding enthusiastically. Then he flinched and yelped as his hat inadvertently kicked him in the eye. Laughing, Shayla pushed upon the door to the inn for him, and they went inside to wait for Gorak. Gorak showed up an hour later, with a foul look on his face. “I'm tired of being laughed at, and called crazy. It's starting to hurt my feelings,” he growled. “They all hunt the damn things, but not one has crossed 'em. We got one more person to try, an old hermit whose supposed to know these mountains like the back of his hand and has gone up in midwinter before. We'll hit him up tomorrow, and if he can't tell us anything useful, then we just keep right on moving.” The next morning, they packed up and rode around the lake towards the falls. As they got closer to the falls, Khalid realized that they weren't entirely frozen. Water still trickled and streamed down the sides of the huge icicle, into the lake below. Soon, they could make out a thin band of smoke rising from a small cabin, among a copse of trees on the lake’s edge. When they approached, an old man barged out of the house and looked them up and down. “I don't like people.” he declared before they could speak. “So what are you [I]people[/I],” he put a particularly unpleasant emphasis on the word, “doing in my yard?”. Gorak eyed the shabby little man up and down. Dressed in well cured leather, he looked about a hundred years old, although his spry step and bushy grey hair indicated he was probably slightly younger. “We're looking for a way through the mountains.” Gorak replied. “You're crazy,” the little man retorted. As Gorak growled deep in his throat, Khalid intervened quickly. “Ah, yes, well, we'd heard that you were the best, and that you'd done it before. Yes, quite.” “That was a long time ago, boyo,” the old man said, “and I ain't that crazy no more.” “That's it,” Gorak growled. “We're leaving.” “You're crazy!” the old man shouted as they turned their horses into the wind and began to ride east towards the mountains. There's goblins up there! And the weather's gonna turn soon!” “You'd be surprised,” Gorak grunted over his shoulder, “at just how little either of those things scares me.” Khalid sighed and wished he could say the same, as he pulled his hood low to ward off the rising sun. Behind them, the huge icicle began to groan and creak as the first light of the morning hit it. With a shuddering crack, a huge spear of ice broke free from the main spire and crashed to the ground below, shattering into a thousand pieces. Pulling his cloak a little tighter against the stinging chill, Khalid tried not to think about omens or portends or just how much the mountains loomed over them, like a maw of jagged fangs. [CENTER]* * * * * * * * * *[/CENTER] Notes: * I was totally trying to steal the kill here. My only offensive spell left was burning hands, so I had to be pretty close to him get it off and I wanted to be sure. I'd been lurking around invisible for a few rounds, but I chickened out and waited one round too long :cool: That giant may have been hurt when it came up the terrace, but once it got there Shayla did about 90% of the damage to it - Hammond was the only other person to wound it, as far as I remember. **Had to give some love out to the redshirts! They did a fantastic job in their supporting role of meatwall, at least until the giant showed up... ***This was me, failing to scribe dispel magic off a scroll. Needed to beat a 3, rolled a 1. #Ah, good ole Hammond, meant to be a potential a) tank, b) cohort c) guide through the mountains, but that would be far too easy! Khalid's paranoia deals the party yet another blow... ##heh, ask a stupid question...get immortalized in a story hour! I remember this exchange, but to Gorak's credit, it *might* have been me that asked the question (I'm pretty sure it was him tho :D ). [/QUOTE]
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Al-Qarin: Into the Desert (3-1-24)
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