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<blockquote data-quote="Capellan" data-source="post: 558285" data-attributes="member: 6294">&quot;Hooberan's Stockade&quot; by Wicht&nbsp; - Part 4Twinkle, Mantreus and Elspeth make their way toward the stockade, skirting along the edge of the track as they do so.&nbsp; They move slowly, as Mantreus must take care when moving in the darkness.&nbsp; It is only a short while before the impatient Twinkle is muttering under her breath about the wisdom of bringing a human along on night time reconnaissance.&quot;There is something in the road, ahead.&quot; Elspeth suddenly announces.&nbsp; Following the elf's gaze, the other two dimly make out a small, light coloured rectangle that seems at first glance to be hanging in mid air.&nbsp; Unsure what this could be,&nbsp; they creep closer, and are able to make out that it is a strip of yellow cloth, tied to an arrow that has been lodged in the surface of the road.&quot;Fired at us, do you think?&quot; Twinkle glances nervously at the stockade.Elspeth shakes her head,&quot;Unlikely.&nbsp; I would have heard it land.&nbsp; And tying a ribbon to an arrow like that would ruin the flight path.&nbsp; It was fired here for some other reason.&quot;&quot;It's a quarantine marker.&quot; Mantreus frowns, then points ahead, where they can make out a flag above the stockade entrance. &quot;I bet that's yellow, as well.&quot;Continuing to move carefully forwards, the trio reaches the edge of the cleared area.&nbsp; Up close, they can see that the area is covered in row after row of orderly-planted bushes.&quot;Ooh, berries!&quot; Twinkle suddenly scampers ahead, disappearing into the rows.Elspeth and Mantreus stare after her, then exchange a look that speaks volumes, before beginning to sneak toward the palisade.&nbsp; Off to their left, they can hear the gnome happily murmuring to herself, her voice muffled by a mouthful of berries.&quot;There's someone in the tower on the left side of the gate.&quot; Elspeth whispers, &quot;I can see their head.&quot;&quot;Really?&quot; Mantreus squints in the direction indicated, but the effort is futile.&nbsp; His night vision is simply not good enough. &quot;I'll have to take your word for it.&quot;&quot;Wanna berruh?&quot; Twinkle appears beside them, proffering a sticky pile of fruit with one hand while popping them rapid fire into her mouth with the other.&nbsp; &quot;Huh -&quot; she swallows labouredly, &quot;Hey, there's a guy up there.&quot;&quot;Apparently.&quot; Mantreus agrees testily, deliberately not looking at Twinkle's juice-stained shirt and face.&quot;He just nodded his head.&quot; Elspeth frowns, &quot;I think he may have heard us.&quot;&quot;Nuht muh.&quot; Twinkle disavows through a fresh mouthful of fruit, &quot;I wuth sneakuh.&quot;&quot;No doubt.&quot; Elspeth's tone is dry.&nbsp; &quot;He just nodded again.&quot;&quot;I think he's asleep.&quot; Mantreus has an opinion even about things he can't see. He hefts a rock and points at the tower. &quot;This ought to wake him up.&nbsp; Is he where I'm pointing?&quot;&quot;More or less.&quot; Elspeth allows, having gauged the direction in which the rogue is pointing.&nbsp; It's hardly a glowing endorsement, but Mantreus stands and throws the stone anyway, then quickly ducks back out of sight.&nbsp; The blind and hurried throw is woefully inaccurate, however, wobbling over the palisade wall a good ten feet to one side of the tower.&quot;You thuck!&quot;&quot;What?&quot; the human rogue turns to glare at Twinkle.&quot;Suck.&quot; She enunciates more clearly, then catches sight of his expression. &quot;Um. Nothin'.&quot; She ducks her head to gobble up a few more berries, avoiding Mantreus' eye.&quot;He didn't react at all.&quot; Elspeth selects her own stone, staring at the tower as she does so.&nbsp; Then she stands, much more slowly than Mantreus, and smoothly throws the rock over the palisade.&nbsp; Even from the where the three adventurers are crouched, the clatter of the stone on the tower floor is clearly audible.&nbsp; &quot;Still no reaction.&quot; Elspeth observes, &quot;I think he may be dead.&quot;&quot;That, or he's very, very calm.&quot; Twinkle agrees.Faced with a still and silent town, marked for quarantine and with only a single - apparently dead - guard in sight, there seems to be only one sane course of action.&nbsp; Mantreus, however, has other plans.&quot;I'm going in for a closer look.&quot;</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Capellan, post: 558285, member: 6294"] [b]"Hooberan's Stockade" by Wicht - Part 4[/b] Twinkle, Mantreus and Elspeth make their way toward the stockade, skirting along the edge of the track as they do so. They move slowly, as Mantreus must take care when moving in the darkness. It is only a short while before the impatient Twinkle is muttering under her breath about the wisdom of bringing a human along on night time reconnaissance. "There is something in the road, ahead." Elspeth suddenly announces. Following the elf's gaze, the other two dimly make out a small, light coloured rectangle that seems at first glance to be hanging in mid air. Unsure what this could be, they creep closer, and are able to make out that it is a strip of yellow cloth, tied to an arrow that has been lodged in the surface of the road. "Fired at us, do you think?" Twinkle glances nervously at the stockade. Elspeth shakes her head, "Unlikely. I would have heard it land. And tying a ribbon to an arrow like that would ruin the flight path. It was fired here for some other reason." "It's a quarantine marker." Mantreus frowns, then points ahead, where they can make out a flag above the stockade entrance. "I bet that's yellow, as well." Continuing to move carefully forwards, the trio reaches the edge of the cleared area. Up close, they can see that the area is covered in row after row of orderly-planted bushes. "Ooh, berries!" Twinkle suddenly scampers ahead, disappearing into the rows. Elspeth and Mantreus stare after her, then exchange a look that speaks volumes, before beginning to sneak toward the palisade. Off to their left, they can hear the gnome happily murmuring to herself, her voice muffled by a mouthful of berries. "There's someone in the tower on the left side of the gate." Elspeth whispers, "I can see their head." "Really?" Mantreus squints in the direction indicated, but the effort is futile. His night vision is simply not good enough. "I'll have to take your word for it." "Wanna berruh?" Twinkle appears beside them, proffering a sticky pile of fruit with one hand while popping them rapid fire into her mouth with the other. "Huh -" she swallows labouredly, "Hey, there's a guy up there." "Apparently." Mantreus agrees testily, deliberately not looking at Twinkle's juice-stained shirt and face. "He just nodded his head." Elspeth frowns, "I think he may have heard us." "Nuht muh." Twinkle disavows through a fresh mouthful of fruit, "I wuth sneakuh." "No doubt." Elspeth's tone is dry. "He just nodded again." "I think he's asleep." Mantreus has an opinion even about things he can't see. He hefts a rock and points at the tower. "This ought to wake him up. Is he where I'm pointing?" "More or less." Elspeth allows, having gauged the direction in which the rogue is pointing. It's hardly a glowing endorsement, but Mantreus stands and throws the stone anyway, then quickly ducks back out of sight. The blind and hurried throw is woefully inaccurate, however, wobbling over the palisade wall a good ten feet to one side of the tower. "You thuck!" "What?" the human rogue turns to glare at Twinkle. "[i]S[/i]uck." She enunciates more clearly, then catches sight of his expression. "Um. Nothin'." She ducks her head to gobble up a few more berries, avoiding Mantreus' eye. "He didn't react at all." Elspeth selects her own stone, staring at the tower as she does so. Then she stands, much more slowly than Mantreus, and smoothly throws the rock over the palisade. Even from the where the three adventurers are crouched, the [i]clatter[/i] of the stone on the tower floor is clearly audible. "Still no reaction." Elspeth observes, "I think he may be dead." "That, or he's very, very calm." Twinkle agrees. Faced with a still and silent town, marked for quarantine and with only a single - apparently dead - guard in sight, there seems to be only one sane course of action. Mantreus, however, has other plans. "I'm going in for a closer look." [/QUOTE]

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