Crossed Paths - Part I

[Manzanita]

OOC: Is Jarval on vacation? I can't keep it all straight

I'll assume Brioc calls his wolf. It comes. It sniffs his hand, then rolls over at this feet, showing its neck. It seems very glad to see him.

You travel another couple hours. You stop for lunch in a thick glade of trees. Your prey is evidently moving quite rapidly. Brioc and Ecgthow have now decided you are tracking three humaniods and the bear, which Ecgthow is all-too intimately familiar with. They move through the woods with ease, in a an efficient path. They head West North West. You've sighted deer and other normal forest animals. No signs of anything dangerous yet. In the distance ahead of you is a mountain range.

 

[Manzanita]

A (hopefully) minor revision, you're heading West South West.

After lunch you continue. You suspect you've lost some ground on your quarry, but you continue on gamely. At about 2 O'clock, the forests thin, and the land becomes drier and hilly. Soon after that, you encounter what is a well-trodden path, wide enough to be considered a road. The ground here is hard, and there is evidence of significant travel. Tracking becomes difficult, but assuming your prey continued down the road, the path is clear. After about a mile, you come to a large boulder carved similarly to the small statue found at the first house where the Wendol visited. It looks like the body of a huge pregant woman, with a round belly, large drooping breasts and no head.

 

[Manzanita]

You work your way up to a nearby hill. Signs of activity are evident, and you see small bands of Wendol hunting and traveling, but you seem to have avoided detection thusfar. On the crest of the hill, you can see numerous wooden cabins below, and many caves on a rock face opposite. There appear to be hundreds, even thousands of Wendol living here, depending on how many live in the caves.

 

[Inez Hull]

"Hmmm, if the villagers are expecting us to be the chosen ones who drive off this threat, they must be sorely mislead."

Ehldannis watches the Wendol go about their business with a fearful fascination. "One can only wonder that the Wendol did not attack in greater force given that they are an entire people rather than some small tribe. I suspect that tracking down the formula for greek fire will do more good towards defending against these folk than anything we can do here."

 

[ErichDragon]

"How can these creatures survive for hundreds of years here with no one clapping eyes on them? There has to be a reason and I think that reason will help us defeat this menace." Ecgthow's lips break into a sinister grin, "Besides, what better way to enter the afterlife than staring down thousands of enemies with the fire of valor in our hearts?"

 

[Guilt Puppy]

Nathaniel claps a hand down on his companions back -- friendly, but still a bit more of a smack than a pat. "Ecgthow, we have another mission to complete, remember. Further, from the last battle I can tell you we stand no chance against these numbers -- it would take an army, and that is exactly what we need to raise."

"And I'll fight alongside that army, to the last breath, if we have retrieved what we were sent to retrieve first. But to fight alone, now, we would not only waste our own lives, but we would be letting untold others die and suffer as well. From these men, beasts, whatever you'd call them. From the Fire. We are responsible for both, now, understand? Any life lost to them is lost to our carelessness and inaction as well if we fail to do everything in our power to take care of both."

His voice is quiet, but as intense as a sermon, turning from a simple chiding toward Ecgthow to a true call to arms, directed toward all in the group.

"Now, if the risk is minimal, perhaps we can try to find out more information, which may aid the real battle -- one we should be sure shall happen, before we risk that we may not live to see it. Despite that, I think two of us should head back to the keep, to send word of what we know, and to rally arms."

"I've had some success with that in the past," he says modestly, but with a knowing truthfulness as well, "although if you'd feel safer with my blade here, we can try to work out something else."

(Manzanita: Feel free to use this as the excuse for Nathaniel's absence when I'm gone -- again, Aug. 1 - 14.)

 

[Inez Hull]

"Perhaps we need to weigh up what information we hope to gain by staying here against what we risk if we are noticed. The Wendol have obviously been here for a while and don't appear to be going anywhere. Personally, I would feel more secure if we had the opportunity to return at a later date and use magic to assist us."

 

[ErichDragon]

Ecgthow stiffens noticably as Ehldannis chides him. For a moment it appears that his hand twitches towards his sword.

"My responsibility is to my Gods and my ancestors. Neither of which are likely to be harmed by this 'Greek Fire'. I am here at the request of my Thane to repay a debt for him. That debt is to Brioc's master. If he thinks we need to leave now then I am honor bound to go. If not, then my place is here, paying my way into Valhalla with my courage and my blood."

 

[Guilt Puppy]

Nathaniel pauses for a moment, taking in Ecgthow's words. His face shows, or at least means to show that he is considering them before reply.

"Friend, if you believe those are your only debts, and your only duties, then that is your right... But I like to believe there is something more than that."

Nathaniel, for once, seems content to leave it at that. He walks away, to argue his case with Brioc, and let Ecgthow to his own.

(This should be my last post before I leave... Auto-pilot as you find appropriate. I should return around the 14th. My apologies for the absences of late...)

 

[Manzanita]

Please see the OOC thread for discussion of 3.5 rules adoption. Is Jarval out? The characters seem to rely on Brioc for aid in decision making. You may need to go ahead and make one w/o him in this case. Assume he agrees with a reasonable course (returning to Sevastopol in this case, I would think.)