Greenfield
Adventurer
This is a brief transitional tale run by yet another DM.
**** ***
"He has to what?", Apellenea asked in disbelief?
"He has to prove he isn't undead.", answered Euphemia, somewhat smugly. "He's been seen calling pillars of fire, was certified dead by a Mercurian priest, and then showed up alive again like nothing happened."
"Well, he's been calling himself a son of Jupiter since I met him.", Penn noted. "So, which would be worse for him, to be a 'divine champion', an undead, or just someone that scared Pluto enough that he wouldn't let him in?"
The thought of Marcus as scaring the god of the underworld brought a good chuckle, but still, Marcus would be undergoing tests and trials for some time to come. Which brought up the next question.
"How long is our stay here paid for?", Penn asked, noting once again the emptiness of his purse. They'd been rewarded for their last efforts, but somehow money never seemed to stick to the Bard's fingers.
"The end of the week.", Cassius called. "But if you need paying work, the city guard is probably hiring. They lost a few men raiding the Assassin's hall last week."
As if on cue, a messenger arrived, looking for Nedel. The Sorcerer produced a silver piece to gift to the lad, and spread the parchment on the table.
"We don't need to go looking for work.", he called brightly to the lounging Bard. "It's come looking for us. Our presence is requested."
"Is the Empire in trouble again?", joked the Bard.
"Probably, but that's someone else's problem. This is from the Captain of the Guard. We're to report to the local recruitment office.", Nedel announced. "I think we're being drafted."
***
"No, you aren't being drafted.", the Captain assured them. "I was given your names as a reference. It seems that you have a knack for finding trouble, and I have some trouble that needs to be found. You are free to accept this offer or not."
"Specifically, some trouble that needs to be found outside the city?", Seeburn asked pointedly, already knowing the answer.
"Well, yes, as a matter of fact.", replied the Captain with a smile. "It seems that we're getting reports of Vandal raids south of us. Small raiding parties. I need someone to check it out and see if it's a precursor to another invasion."
"To the south?", asked Apellenea? "I though they came from the north. What are they doing down there?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out.", answered the Captain. "I can't divert any troops that way, we're spread too thin as it is along the northern routes. If this is a diversion, I need to know. If it's real, I need to know. How many, what kind of troops, what their purpose is. I need to know."
He then produced a sizable sack of coin and laid it on the table. "This is the fourth part of the payment.", he said in a tone that brooked no argument. "It's all I can afford to pay, but it's a full moon's wages for most people. I'll pay the rest when you return with a good report."
Penn looked at the sack, mentally calculated his share, balanced it against the void in his purse, and smiled. "Do you have a map, to show where the raiders have been?"
***
"You can't leave.", pouted Sirene. "We haven't even asked father's blessing for the marriage."
"I'll be back, my dear, but duty calls.", Penn said sweetly, even as he made a mental note to avoid this inn for at least the next nine moons. He had never said he'd marry the girl, never even hinted at it.
"Well, you at least owe me for a new dress.", she demanded.
"Of course, my dear. If I had the time, I'd help you select a dozen. Alas, though, I must go within the hour. So I trust you to select them yourself, and surprise me upon my return."
Her eyes lit up when the gold crossed her palm, and she hugged her love one last time before he had to go face the Vandals.
After he had gone she began to hum a happy tune. Something about the sailor with a girl in every port, and the girl with a man on every ship...
***
The map had shown an odd pattern. The first village hit was a mere day and a half from Rome itself. The next was a day's travel beyond that. And the next was two days further.
"It's as if they're moving away from the city, not towards it.", Sylus had stated. "That's an odd way to stage an invasion."
What was more odd was the first village they encountered. It had no walls. Being so close to the great city it had always counted on the city patrols to keep it safe. And apparently, they had.
There were no buildings burned, no signs of recent burials or funerary pyres. In fact, to the naked eye it didn't look as if it had been raided at all.
But the first citizen, a retired Centurian, assured them that it had. "
"An Ogre, six cubits tall if he was a finger.", the man assured them. "It was him, and a swarm of Orcs in his wake. They struck at dusk. I tried to fight them off, but it's been a few years since I had to swing a sword, and they took me down like I was a child."
"How many people did you lose?", asked Sylus, trying to assess the enemy's strength and ferocity.
"None, really.", said the old man in amazement. "They wanted to know where it was, and I couldn't tell them."
"Where what was?"
"They never said. They were looking for something and they thought I knew. I told them everything, answered all their questions. If I didn't, they'd start butchering people." He looked sad, almost broken for a moment. "I'm a foolish old man, I suppose. I thought I'd end up giving my life to save my people. I couldn't even do that, so I sacrificed my pride and told them anything they wanted to know."
"You kept your people safe, and that's what counts.", Apellenea said comfortingly. "Where did you send them?"
"There used to be a temple south of here. I don't know where. The earth shook and toppled the place before I was born. From what I could tell that was where he thought 'it' was, so I sent him there."
***
The afternoon passed more quickly than the miles, and the air turned decidedly chilly almost the moment the sun set. The November night was blustery cold, and the next morning the sky dripped a cold drizzle on the companions. The breakfast porridge was like the companions themselves, cold and soggy, and their mood was an unhappy one as they set out.
The next village they found had a small inn where they could warm up and dry off. The innkeeper there had a tale similar to the Centurion's in the previous town. The Vandals had been lead by an Ogre, and had burst upon the town just after dark. They questioned everyone they met, demanding to know where "it" was, without ever making it clear what "it" was that they sought.
"These are either dumbest Vandals in the world, or they're not exactly sure what they're looking for.", Nedel concluded, after listening to the twelfth rendition of the now common tale.
"They could be both.", Penn quipped from the corner as he tuned his lyre. "If this one is anything like the Kergen, he's the living avatar of stupidity."
"But he's not like the Kergen.", Sylus countered. "Nobody's been killed, no slaves were taken, no buildings were burned."
"So maybe he hasn't figured out how to be a barbarian raider yet. Maybe this is a trial.", suggested the Bard.
"That may be exactly what it is.", suggested Seeburn. "Manhood trials, a quest to prove that he's worthy to be one of the Vandals. This may be a young Ogre, out to prove his worth. He's never been allowed on a real raid, so he really doesn't know what he's supposed to do."
"Well, he has to be stopped before he figures it out."
***
"He's been raiding for a couple of weeks by now.", Sylus noted. "The Vandal hate sunlight, and can't very well be camping in the open. The old Centurion said he thought they'd be hiding in the woods someplace, off the main road."
"Then we may well get ahead of him.", Penn said. "Rome built roads for a reason, and we can move faster on the roads than he can off of them."
"How are we going to get ahead of him, if we don't know where he's going?", asked Cassius, a bit confused.
"Easy.", answered the Bard. "He's been working his way south, and we know which villages he's hit so far. All we have to do is head for one he hasn't 'visited' yet, then sit tight. He'll come to us."
"Unless he finds 'it" first.", observed Nedel.
"There's another possibility.", called Euphemia from the front. "There's an Ogre leading a bunch of Orcs this way, on the road, in a military march."
"This is almost too easy.", said Sylus, as the group headed for cover, and he drew his bow.
"Maybe it really is too easy.", mused Penn. "Let's see what we can see."
"What?", asked Seeburn in shock, as he took aim. "You want to make sure they're the right Vandals?"
"Sort of. Let's see how they react.", the Bard suggested as he prepared his spell.
Several hundred feet up the road, a small child who strongly resembled Euphemia stepped out of the bushes and simply stared at the Ogre, wide eyed.
The Ogre waved his followers to a halt. "You, tell me what you know!", he demanded.
The "little girl" turned and dove back into cover, vanishing from sight.
The Ogre stomped over to where she had gone, his voice raised in anger now as he drew his weapon, a huge scythe, and began to hack away at the low shrubbery.
"If there was a little girl in there, she'd be dead, wouldn't she?", Penn asked.
Before anyone else could make ready, or even answer the rhetorical question, an arrow suddenly appeared in the Ogre's back.
The monster looked puzzled, and tried to reach the inconveniently placed irritation. He seemed unsure of what had just happened. Sylus' arrow, as accurate as Seeburn's had been, cleared up that question nicely.
The Ogre charged, followed moments later by the first ranks of the Orcs.
Euphemia was dashing down the side of the road, her diminutive form completely hidden by the stone wall that bordered that section of the avenue, and Cassius leaped to the center of the road, blade ready. And from the brush a fiery, quick paced melody began, setting the companions' hearts racing.
"Root Bind", chanted Apellenea, uncertain of just how effective it might be on a Roman stone road. The grasses answered her call, if weakly, and many of the Orcs found their feet tied to the earth. The last one, who hadn't been able to keep up with the others, managed to pull himself free, while the Ogre hardly noticed.
The last one had another trick up his sleeve as well. Reaching up towards his throat he grabbed at a peculiarly knotted cord there, chanted something in Elven, and unbound the knot.
There was a brief flare of magics as the forces he unleashed fought against the earth magics of the Druid, but in the end the earth prevailed, and the grasses continued their grasping ways.
The Ogre, in full battle rage now, charged directly at Cassius, who abruptly vanished from sight. He hadn't moved. One moment he was there, and the next he wasn't. The great Ogre slowed to a halt, seeking someone to attack.
"Glad that worked.", chuckled Nedel as his familiar fluttered back to him. He'd had Nightwing, his bat, wrap the warrior in the night's shadows, rendering him invisible.
Seeburn popped up over the wall and snapped off another shot, to be followed a moment later by Penn.
Down the way, Euphemia was dancing across the road, skipping away from the grasping grasses and heading for one of the entrapped Orcs. It was a daring move, for if she took a single misstep she'd be trapped out in the open, and the Orcs would make short work of her.
As the Ogre charged at his new target, a long gash suddenly opened in his side, and Cassius appeared next to him. He'd run directly past the warrior. All Cassius had had to do was place the blade in the way and let the Ogre run into it.
Then Apelenea stepped up, her own scimitar slashing a matching cut down the other side his ribs. Seeburn had dropped his bow, and stood to meet the charge, blade in hand.
The monster looked around in panic, suddenly surrounded.
"Surrender now, and we'll let you walk free.", called Nedel, a note of command in his voice. "Tell us what you seek!"
The Ogre hesitated, then raised his hand and responded in broken Latin. "All right. We'll sit and talk. Have what you want right here.", he said, indicating his pouch. He stepped back, and called his men to order.
Several of the tried to comply, but their feet were still pinned in place.
Euphemia looked torn. Had the Ogre surrendered? She wasn't sure. What she was sure of was that the Orc in front of her wasn't going any place at the moment, but that that opportunity would quickly pass if Apellenea dropped her binding spell. She decided, and her blade flashed out, sliding under the Orc's chain armor and burying itself deep in his vitals. She gave it that little something extra as she pulled free, and watched with satisfaction as the shocked Orc dropped to the ground.
"Treachery!", the Ogre roared, swinging his scythe about in a huge circle, and battle resumed.
***
The fight was now fairly one sided, with the Ogre having lost his momentum, and the bulk of his soldiers trapped and helpless.
Seeburn quickly charged him, the battle madness flaring in his eyes, while Penn advanced to cut off any retreat. His only escape was into the waiting grasp of the entangling grasses, and he knew that that way lay death.
"I'll kill you all, you Fey bastards!", he roared, slashing about in near desperation.
"Surrender to me, and I'll guarantee your safety, personally.", Penn declared, holding his light blade at the ready.
The Ogre looked around and, in resignation, dropped his blade. "Agreed."
"Hold. This man is my slave, taken in battle. You harm him, and you're harming my property.", the Half Satyr declared, his face a mocking smirk.
The Ogre looked at him in shock, rage once more filling his mind at the betrayal. He swung a huge fist at the Bard, but it never landed. Seeburn's blade laid him low.
"Do you know what the penalty is for a slave who attacks his master?", Penn asked of the unconscious Ogre.
"The rest of you, drop your weapons!", shouted Cassius. "Or you'll feel the bite of my arrow-slinging, grass growing sword!"
The threat was utterly ludicrous, but delivered with such force that the remaining Orcs dropped their weapons in pure shock.
And the battle was over. Penn moved quickly to staunch the Ogre's wounds. He didn't really want a slave. And the entire situation seemed very wrong.
Apellenea asked the grasses to withdraw, and the remaining Orcs were quickly relieved of their weapons. The fallen were tended to as well, if they still lived.
***
"Here's what you wanted.", the Ogre said bitterly, once he was awake. He flung a crumpled piece of parchment at Penn, pure hatred in his eyes.
"Are you trying to buy your freedom with this?", Penn asked carefully. There were rules regarding slave holders. Just because you owned someone didn't mean that you owned what they owned.
"Yeah, I guess so.", replied the Ogre, suspiciously.
"Accepted.", said Penn as he looked over the scribbles on the scrap. It was a map, much like the one they had seen in the first village. The difference was that there was a temple marked on it, in about the area the old Centurion had indicated there might be.
"I'll have to go back to my master and tell him I failed. You win. All right?", the Ogre asked, still angry.
"Who is your master?"
"I was hired by a Centurion. He said I should gather some men and meet him there. There's an artifact of some kind he wants us to help him find."
The companions went silent with shock.
"Describe him, please. Where did you meet?"
"I met him in Penroyal, just outside of Rome. He paid me in gold, and said it was to help defend Rome. He was an old guy, with a ..."
"...long scar on his face?", asked Penn, finishing the Ogre's sentence for him.
"Yeah.", said the Ogre. "How did you know?"
"He reported to Rome that you were a Vandal raiding party.", Seeburn put in. "We were sent by the Captain of the Guard to find out what was going on."
"That lying pink-skinned bastard!", swore the Ogre. "He set us up!"
"He set us against each other.", came the quick correction. "He told us where to find you. I think he was hoping that you'd kill us."
"I'm going to find him and rip his arms out!", roared the Ogre, rising to his feet.
"Easy, friend.", suggested Penn. "You're still hurt. What say we go to that temple together, and have a little talk with him."
The Ogre quickly agreed. It was an odd alliance, the Orcs with their Ogre leader and the Fey dominated companions, but it was quickly becoming apparent that in Rome, all alliances were strange.
[FONT="]***
No one slept well that first night together. The ingrained distrust was too deep.
The next day was a poor one for all as well, as the map now lead them off of the main roads, and the cold winter rains made the trails muddy and treacherous.
Watches were posted the next night, but this time the two groups worked together. One Orc and one Fey on each watch seemed a fair balance, though if truth be told they spent more time watching each other than anything else.
The weather broke the next day, and they made better progress. Still, few hands strayed far from their weapons.
"This is ridiculous.", Penn muttered. Then, speaking louder, he addressed the Ogre, who's name turned out to be Jason.
"Jason, how are we going to be able to trust each other in battle, if we don't trust each other just walking down the road?"
Jason thought about that, hard. It was almost painful to watch. Finally, he answered. "Don't know. But you're right, this isn't going to work in a fight."
Sylus found a good camp sight that evening, well hidden by rocks and near a clear spring. And Penn decided to take a chance. He collected as many water skins as he could and filled them all at the spring, then used his magic.
Staggering back to the camp under the burden of so much wine wasn't easy, but the effort was worth it. The sheltering rocks allowed them to build a good warm fire without giving away their position. Everyone was warm and dry for the first time in days. Good food, a few tales, a song or two and copious amounts of wine quickly lightened everyone's mood.
It wasn't a true Bacchanal, but there's something about getting drunk with someone that helps. They'd either kill each other, or they'd get closer together.
Nobody died, and the next day the tensions were much lessened. They used up the last of Penn's 'blessings of Baccus' to clear the morning hangover, but it was worth it.
***
"I think we're getting close.", Sylus said, examining the map again. "From what I can tell, it should be just ahead."
Euphemia scanned the area, looking for any signs of man.
"No temple, no road to a temple, not even an outhouse.", she declared. "You can't build something like that without leaving some sign, some piece, something. You need stone to build it, and a road to haul it in over, and camps for the workers. But these trees are a century old, and there's no sign that there's ever been a road cleared through here."
Apellenea looked down at the earth and knelt. Her fingers sifted through the layers of loam and packed leaves, and turned up black soil. "There's been fire through here.", she said. "It's been a long time, but it would have brought down much of the forest, whether new growth or old. We wouldn't see where a road had been by just looking at the plants."
"Still, you'd expect to see something. Temples are tall things. Even if the place fell, something would be sticking up."
They pressed on.
***
"That's why we didn't see anything.", Sylus said in satisfaction, peering over the edge. "It's in a hollow."
He and Euphemia pulled back from the bluff, and reported what they'd found.
"There's the remains of a temple. A lot more than you'd expect, if the earth shook the way we were told it did."
"Yeah, well we know who told us that.", Cassius said.
"Who?", asked Jason, missing the reference.
"Dominus, the Centurion who sent us after each other."
"Oh.", said Jason, looking puzzled. Then, after a painful delay, his face brightened. "You mean he lied to you!", he declared, finally getting with the conversation.
"Yeah, he lied. And it looks like he lied to someone else.", Sylus informed the group. "There's a small army down there, digging around the place. They look like Vandals, but I can't be sure." He looked at Jason and his followers. "You can't always judge by appearances."
"I can find out.", said Penn with a sly smile. "All we need to do is see how they react to us showing up."
"I don't feel like risking my life just to satisfy your curiosity.", Nedel said.
"Oh, don't worry. We'll be quite safe.".
***
Gurash the Greater strutted among his men, prodding them to greater efforts. The hairy men stood guard, ready to beat any slackers into submission at the first gesture from him. He and he alone had been the one to find the hidden place, and when he had the hidden weapon, then he and he alone would command all the Vandal forces. It would be glorious.
His visions of conquest were disturbed by an occurrence on the field ahead. Dust swirled up from the blasted valley floor to become an impenetrable column 20 feet across. Then it settled back to earth, and in the center of where it had been stood a party of mounted warriors. At their head sat a tall human, slender, dressed in the rich robes of a northern lord, an ornately carved staff of darkwood and bronze held in his hand like a scepter.
The sudden appearance was all the more eerie because none had heard the hoofbeats of the horses, and they seemed to be waiting for something in silent judgment.
"Who are you?", demanded Gurash, shoving his way through the ranks of his slack-jawed men. "Begone, or pay the price!" [/FONT]
**** ***
"He has to what?", Apellenea asked in disbelief?
"He has to prove he isn't undead.", answered Euphemia, somewhat smugly. "He's been seen calling pillars of fire, was certified dead by a Mercurian priest, and then showed up alive again like nothing happened."
"Well, he's been calling himself a son of Jupiter since I met him.", Penn noted. "So, which would be worse for him, to be a 'divine champion', an undead, or just someone that scared Pluto enough that he wouldn't let him in?"
The thought of Marcus as scaring the god of the underworld brought a good chuckle, but still, Marcus would be undergoing tests and trials for some time to come. Which brought up the next question.
"How long is our stay here paid for?", Penn asked, noting once again the emptiness of his purse. They'd been rewarded for their last efforts, but somehow money never seemed to stick to the Bard's fingers.
"The end of the week.", Cassius called. "But if you need paying work, the city guard is probably hiring. They lost a few men raiding the Assassin's hall last week."
As if on cue, a messenger arrived, looking for Nedel. The Sorcerer produced a silver piece to gift to the lad, and spread the parchment on the table.
"We don't need to go looking for work.", he called brightly to the lounging Bard. "It's come looking for us. Our presence is requested."
"Is the Empire in trouble again?", joked the Bard.
"Probably, but that's someone else's problem. This is from the Captain of the Guard. We're to report to the local recruitment office.", Nedel announced. "I think we're being drafted."
***
"No, you aren't being drafted.", the Captain assured them. "I was given your names as a reference. It seems that you have a knack for finding trouble, and I have some trouble that needs to be found. You are free to accept this offer or not."
"Specifically, some trouble that needs to be found outside the city?", Seeburn asked pointedly, already knowing the answer.
"Well, yes, as a matter of fact.", replied the Captain with a smile. "It seems that we're getting reports of Vandal raids south of us. Small raiding parties. I need someone to check it out and see if it's a precursor to another invasion."
"To the south?", asked Apellenea? "I though they came from the north. What are they doing down there?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out.", answered the Captain. "I can't divert any troops that way, we're spread too thin as it is along the northern routes. If this is a diversion, I need to know. If it's real, I need to know. How many, what kind of troops, what their purpose is. I need to know."
He then produced a sizable sack of coin and laid it on the table. "This is the fourth part of the payment.", he said in a tone that brooked no argument. "It's all I can afford to pay, but it's a full moon's wages for most people. I'll pay the rest when you return with a good report."
Penn looked at the sack, mentally calculated his share, balanced it against the void in his purse, and smiled. "Do you have a map, to show where the raiders have been?"
***
"You can't leave.", pouted Sirene. "We haven't even asked father's blessing for the marriage."
"I'll be back, my dear, but duty calls.", Penn said sweetly, even as he made a mental note to avoid this inn for at least the next nine moons. He had never said he'd marry the girl, never even hinted at it.
"Well, you at least owe me for a new dress.", she demanded.
"Of course, my dear. If I had the time, I'd help you select a dozen. Alas, though, I must go within the hour. So I trust you to select them yourself, and surprise me upon my return."
Her eyes lit up when the gold crossed her palm, and she hugged her love one last time before he had to go face the Vandals.
After he had gone she began to hum a happy tune. Something about the sailor with a girl in every port, and the girl with a man on every ship...
***
The map had shown an odd pattern. The first village hit was a mere day and a half from Rome itself. The next was a day's travel beyond that. And the next was two days further.
"It's as if they're moving away from the city, not towards it.", Sylus had stated. "That's an odd way to stage an invasion."
What was more odd was the first village they encountered. It had no walls. Being so close to the great city it had always counted on the city patrols to keep it safe. And apparently, they had.
There were no buildings burned, no signs of recent burials or funerary pyres. In fact, to the naked eye it didn't look as if it had been raided at all.
But the first citizen, a retired Centurian, assured them that it had. "
"An Ogre, six cubits tall if he was a finger.", the man assured them. "It was him, and a swarm of Orcs in his wake. They struck at dusk. I tried to fight them off, but it's been a few years since I had to swing a sword, and they took me down like I was a child."
"How many people did you lose?", asked Sylus, trying to assess the enemy's strength and ferocity.
"None, really.", said the old man in amazement. "They wanted to know where it was, and I couldn't tell them."
"Where what was?"
"They never said. They were looking for something and they thought I knew. I told them everything, answered all their questions. If I didn't, they'd start butchering people." He looked sad, almost broken for a moment. "I'm a foolish old man, I suppose. I thought I'd end up giving my life to save my people. I couldn't even do that, so I sacrificed my pride and told them anything they wanted to know."
"You kept your people safe, and that's what counts.", Apellenea said comfortingly. "Where did you send them?"
"There used to be a temple south of here. I don't know where. The earth shook and toppled the place before I was born. From what I could tell that was where he thought 'it' was, so I sent him there."
***
The afternoon passed more quickly than the miles, and the air turned decidedly chilly almost the moment the sun set. The November night was blustery cold, and the next morning the sky dripped a cold drizzle on the companions. The breakfast porridge was like the companions themselves, cold and soggy, and their mood was an unhappy one as they set out.
The next village they found had a small inn where they could warm up and dry off. The innkeeper there had a tale similar to the Centurion's in the previous town. The Vandals had been lead by an Ogre, and had burst upon the town just after dark. They questioned everyone they met, demanding to know where "it" was, without ever making it clear what "it" was that they sought.
"These are either dumbest Vandals in the world, or they're not exactly sure what they're looking for.", Nedel concluded, after listening to the twelfth rendition of the now common tale.
"They could be both.", Penn quipped from the corner as he tuned his lyre. "If this one is anything like the Kergen, he's the living avatar of stupidity."
"But he's not like the Kergen.", Sylus countered. "Nobody's been killed, no slaves were taken, no buildings were burned."
"So maybe he hasn't figured out how to be a barbarian raider yet. Maybe this is a trial.", suggested the Bard.
"That may be exactly what it is.", suggested Seeburn. "Manhood trials, a quest to prove that he's worthy to be one of the Vandals. This may be a young Ogre, out to prove his worth. He's never been allowed on a real raid, so he really doesn't know what he's supposed to do."
"Well, he has to be stopped before he figures it out."
***
"He's been raiding for a couple of weeks by now.", Sylus noted. "The Vandal hate sunlight, and can't very well be camping in the open. The old Centurion said he thought they'd be hiding in the woods someplace, off the main road."
"Then we may well get ahead of him.", Penn said. "Rome built roads for a reason, and we can move faster on the roads than he can off of them."
"How are we going to get ahead of him, if we don't know where he's going?", asked Cassius, a bit confused.
"Easy.", answered the Bard. "He's been working his way south, and we know which villages he's hit so far. All we have to do is head for one he hasn't 'visited' yet, then sit tight. He'll come to us."
"Unless he finds 'it" first.", observed Nedel.
"There's another possibility.", called Euphemia from the front. "There's an Ogre leading a bunch of Orcs this way, on the road, in a military march."
"This is almost too easy.", said Sylus, as the group headed for cover, and he drew his bow.
"Maybe it really is too easy.", mused Penn. "Let's see what we can see."
"What?", asked Seeburn in shock, as he took aim. "You want to make sure they're the right Vandals?"
"Sort of. Let's see how they react.", the Bard suggested as he prepared his spell.
Several hundred feet up the road, a small child who strongly resembled Euphemia stepped out of the bushes and simply stared at the Ogre, wide eyed.
The Ogre waved his followers to a halt. "You, tell me what you know!", he demanded.
The "little girl" turned and dove back into cover, vanishing from sight.
The Ogre stomped over to where she had gone, his voice raised in anger now as he drew his weapon, a huge scythe, and began to hack away at the low shrubbery.
"If there was a little girl in there, she'd be dead, wouldn't she?", Penn asked.
Before anyone else could make ready, or even answer the rhetorical question, an arrow suddenly appeared in the Ogre's back.
The monster looked puzzled, and tried to reach the inconveniently placed irritation. He seemed unsure of what had just happened. Sylus' arrow, as accurate as Seeburn's had been, cleared up that question nicely.
The Ogre charged, followed moments later by the first ranks of the Orcs.
Euphemia was dashing down the side of the road, her diminutive form completely hidden by the stone wall that bordered that section of the avenue, and Cassius leaped to the center of the road, blade ready. And from the brush a fiery, quick paced melody began, setting the companions' hearts racing.
"Root Bind", chanted Apellenea, uncertain of just how effective it might be on a Roman stone road. The grasses answered her call, if weakly, and many of the Orcs found their feet tied to the earth. The last one, who hadn't been able to keep up with the others, managed to pull himself free, while the Ogre hardly noticed.
The last one had another trick up his sleeve as well. Reaching up towards his throat he grabbed at a peculiarly knotted cord there, chanted something in Elven, and unbound the knot.
There was a brief flare of magics as the forces he unleashed fought against the earth magics of the Druid, but in the end the earth prevailed, and the grasses continued their grasping ways.
The Ogre, in full battle rage now, charged directly at Cassius, who abruptly vanished from sight. He hadn't moved. One moment he was there, and the next he wasn't. The great Ogre slowed to a halt, seeking someone to attack.
"Glad that worked.", chuckled Nedel as his familiar fluttered back to him. He'd had Nightwing, his bat, wrap the warrior in the night's shadows, rendering him invisible.
Seeburn popped up over the wall and snapped off another shot, to be followed a moment later by Penn.
Down the way, Euphemia was dancing across the road, skipping away from the grasping grasses and heading for one of the entrapped Orcs. It was a daring move, for if she took a single misstep she'd be trapped out in the open, and the Orcs would make short work of her.
As the Ogre charged at his new target, a long gash suddenly opened in his side, and Cassius appeared next to him. He'd run directly past the warrior. All Cassius had had to do was place the blade in the way and let the Ogre run into it.
Then Apelenea stepped up, her own scimitar slashing a matching cut down the other side his ribs. Seeburn had dropped his bow, and stood to meet the charge, blade in hand.
The monster looked around in panic, suddenly surrounded.
"Surrender now, and we'll let you walk free.", called Nedel, a note of command in his voice. "Tell us what you seek!"
The Ogre hesitated, then raised his hand and responded in broken Latin. "All right. We'll sit and talk. Have what you want right here.", he said, indicating his pouch. He stepped back, and called his men to order.
Several of the tried to comply, but their feet were still pinned in place.
Euphemia looked torn. Had the Ogre surrendered? She wasn't sure. What she was sure of was that the Orc in front of her wasn't going any place at the moment, but that that opportunity would quickly pass if Apellenea dropped her binding spell. She decided, and her blade flashed out, sliding under the Orc's chain armor and burying itself deep in his vitals. She gave it that little something extra as she pulled free, and watched with satisfaction as the shocked Orc dropped to the ground.
"Treachery!", the Ogre roared, swinging his scythe about in a huge circle, and battle resumed.
***
The fight was now fairly one sided, with the Ogre having lost his momentum, and the bulk of his soldiers trapped and helpless.
Seeburn quickly charged him, the battle madness flaring in his eyes, while Penn advanced to cut off any retreat. His only escape was into the waiting grasp of the entangling grasses, and he knew that that way lay death.
"I'll kill you all, you Fey bastards!", he roared, slashing about in near desperation.
"Surrender to me, and I'll guarantee your safety, personally.", Penn declared, holding his light blade at the ready.
The Ogre looked around and, in resignation, dropped his blade. "Agreed."
"Hold. This man is my slave, taken in battle. You harm him, and you're harming my property.", the Half Satyr declared, his face a mocking smirk.
The Ogre looked at him in shock, rage once more filling his mind at the betrayal. He swung a huge fist at the Bard, but it never landed. Seeburn's blade laid him low.
"Do you know what the penalty is for a slave who attacks his master?", Penn asked of the unconscious Ogre.
"The rest of you, drop your weapons!", shouted Cassius. "Or you'll feel the bite of my arrow-slinging, grass growing sword!"
The threat was utterly ludicrous, but delivered with such force that the remaining Orcs dropped their weapons in pure shock.
And the battle was over. Penn moved quickly to staunch the Ogre's wounds. He didn't really want a slave. And the entire situation seemed very wrong.
Apellenea asked the grasses to withdraw, and the remaining Orcs were quickly relieved of their weapons. The fallen were tended to as well, if they still lived.
***
"Here's what you wanted.", the Ogre said bitterly, once he was awake. He flung a crumpled piece of parchment at Penn, pure hatred in his eyes.
"Are you trying to buy your freedom with this?", Penn asked carefully. There were rules regarding slave holders. Just because you owned someone didn't mean that you owned what they owned.
"Yeah, I guess so.", replied the Ogre, suspiciously.
"Accepted.", said Penn as he looked over the scribbles on the scrap. It was a map, much like the one they had seen in the first village. The difference was that there was a temple marked on it, in about the area the old Centurion had indicated there might be.
"I'll have to go back to my master and tell him I failed. You win. All right?", the Ogre asked, still angry.
"Who is your master?"
"I was hired by a Centurion. He said I should gather some men and meet him there. There's an artifact of some kind he wants us to help him find."
The companions went silent with shock.
"Describe him, please. Where did you meet?"
"I met him in Penroyal, just outside of Rome. He paid me in gold, and said it was to help defend Rome. He was an old guy, with a ..."
"...long scar on his face?", asked Penn, finishing the Ogre's sentence for him.
"Yeah.", said the Ogre. "How did you know?"
"He reported to Rome that you were a Vandal raiding party.", Seeburn put in. "We were sent by the Captain of the Guard to find out what was going on."
"That lying pink-skinned bastard!", swore the Ogre. "He set us up!"
"He set us against each other.", came the quick correction. "He told us where to find you. I think he was hoping that you'd kill us."
"I'm going to find him and rip his arms out!", roared the Ogre, rising to his feet.
"Easy, friend.", suggested Penn. "You're still hurt. What say we go to that temple together, and have a little talk with him."
The Ogre quickly agreed. It was an odd alliance, the Orcs with their Ogre leader and the Fey dominated companions, but it was quickly becoming apparent that in Rome, all alliances were strange.
[FONT="]***
No one slept well that first night together. The ingrained distrust was too deep.
The next day was a poor one for all as well, as the map now lead them off of the main roads, and the cold winter rains made the trails muddy and treacherous.
Watches were posted the next night, but this time the two groups worked together. One Orc and one Fey on each watch seemed a fair balance, though if truth be told they spent more time watching each other than anything else.
The weather broke the next day, and they made better progress. Still, few hands strayed far from their weapons.
"This is ridiculous.", Penn muttered. Then, speaking louder, he addressed the Ogre, who's name turned out to be Jason.
"Jason, how are we going to be able to trust each other in battle, if we don't trust each other just walking down the road?"
Jason thought about that, hard. It was almost painful to watch. Finally, he answered. "Don't know. But you're right, this isn't going to work in a fight."
Sylus found a good camp sight that evening, well hidden by rocks and near a clear spring. And Penn decided to take a chance. He collected as many water skins as he could and filled them all at the spring, then used his magic.
Staggering back to the camp under the burden of so much wine wasn't easy, but the effort was worth it. The sheltering rocks allowed them to build a good warm fire without giving away their position. Everyone was warm and dry for the first time in days. Good food, a few tales, a song or two and copious amounts of wine quickly lightened everyone's mood.
It wasn't a true Bacchanal, but there's something about getting drunk with someone that helps. They'd either kill each other, or they'd get closer together.
Nobody died, and the next day the tensions were much lessened. They used up the last of Penn's 'blessings of Baccus' to clear the morning hangover, but it was worth it.
***
"I think we're getting close.", Sylus said, examining the map again. "From what I can tell, it should be just ahead."
Euphemia scanned the area, looking for any signs of man.
"No temple, no road to a temple, not even an outhouse.", she declared. "You can't build something like that without leaving some sign, some piece, something. You need stone to build it, and a road to haul it in over, and camps for the workers. But these trees are a century old, and there's no sign that there's ever been a road cleared through here."
Apellenea looked down at the earth and knelt. Her fingers sifted through the layers of loam and packed leaves, and turned up black soil. "There's been fire through here.", she said. "It's been a long time, but it would have brought down much of the forest, whether new growth or old. We wouldn't see where a road had been by just looking at the plants."
"Still, you'd expect to see something. Temples are tall things. Even if the place fell, something would be sticking up."
They pressed on.
***
"That's why we didn't see anything.", Sylus said in satisfaction, peering over the edge. "It's in a hollow."
He and Euphemia pulled back from the bluff, and reported what they'd found.
"There's the remains of a temple. A lot more than you'd expect, if the earth shook the way we were told it did."
"Yeah, well we know who told us that.", Cassius said.
"Who?", asked Jason, missing the reference.
"Dominus, the Centurion who sent us after each other."
"Oh.", said Jason, looking puzzled. Then, after a painful delay, his face brightened. "You mean he lied to you!", he declared, finally getting with the conversation.
"Yeah, he lied. And it looks like he lied to someone else.", Sylus informed the group. "There's a small army down there, digging around the place. They look like Vandals, but I can't be sure." He looked at Jason and his followers. "You can't always judge by appearances."
"I can find out.", said Penn with a sly smile. "All we need to do is see how they react to us showing up."
"I don't feel like risking my life just to satisfy your curiosity.", Nedel said.
"Oh, don't worry. We'll be quite safe.".
***
Gurash the Greater strutted among his men, prodding them to greater efforts. The hairy men stood guard, ready to beat any slackers into submission at the first gesture from him. He and he alone had been the one to find the hidden place, and when he had the hidden weapon, then he and he alone would command all the Vandal forces. It would be glorious.
His visions of conquest were disturbed by an occurrence on the field ahead. Dust swirled up from the blasted valley floor to become an impenetrable column 20 feet across. Then it settled back to earth, and in the center of where it had been stood a party of mounted warriors. At their head sat a tall human, slender, dressed in the rich robes of a northern lord, an ornately carved staff of darkwood and bronze held in his hand like a scepter.
The sudden appearance was all the more eerie because none had heard the hoofbeats of the horses, and they seemed to be waiting for something in silent judgment.
"Who are you?", demanded Gurash, shoving his way through the ranks of his slack-jawed men. "Begone, or pay the price!" [/FONT]
