The small priest, advancing carefully, reaches for his club and takes it in his hand. He can see shapes of buildings ahead of him, hard edges of darkness in a world that is otherwise grey and soft.
He hears a sound, an oof followed by an apology. He stops, his neck craning about trying to localize the noise. A quick prayer imbues the piece of wood in his hand with supernatural energies. Mr. Aldershot raises his shield, a small wooden circle banded by a rim of steel.
He taps the edge of his shield with the small cudgel he carries, in two sets of three.
tap...tap...tap...
tap...tap...tap...
He hears a sound, an oof followed by an apology. He stops, his neck craning about trying to localize the noise. A quick prayer imbues the piece of wood in his hand with supernatural energies. Mr. Aldershot raises his shield, a small wooden circle banded by a rim of steel.
He taps the edge of his shield with the small cudgel he carries, in two sets of three.
tap...tap...tap...
tap...tap...tap...


Girri picked up on the rhythmic tap tap tapping of what sounded like a war drum, and froze. There was danger to their rear and danger to the fore. Given a choice between the leering eyes in the fog and the pygmy headhunters she imagined lurking in the woods, Girri momentarily felt indecision settle in her frame like a frost-stiffened blanket left too long on the clothesline. For what seemed several long seconds, she couldn't jar her feet to move, nor would her arms bend. Belatedly, she remembered the dagger tucked inside the fold of cloth at her waist, and flicked it into her grasp. Girri drew comfort from the tang of steel in her hand. She prayed she wouldn't have to use it, but the knife and its purpose sharpened her focus. She peered forward into the fog, trying to discern what approached. The dagger stayed at the ready.[/section]
Drawing his rapier at the same time that everyone else was unsheathing their weapons, Wergil felt his heart pumping faster and his muscles start to tense.