getting there....
torture helps
17th Day of Uktar
Karanaj’s Journal
I left the throne room, feeling very sad that I was unable to help Vallia. Before I had time to dwell on it, Gruush and Kay appeared. I was happy to see them alive and well, though I didn’’t tell them so as I filled them in on our current situation. We were still discussing it when we saw an elf running toward Vallia’’s house. We didn’t know what to think, but expected the worst and followed.
We arrived just as the elf did, and asked him what was wrong. He ignored us and demanded admittance. Finally, Vallia yelled from inside to the guard to let him pass. We all entered with him and found Misha and Vallia standing there, just as perplexed as we were.
The scout told Vallia that he had found traces of a fellow scout, who had disappeared the day before. He thought that if we followed the trail, we would most likely find what is stalking the elven village. Vallia was very determined to find this menace, and told the scout to lead us to the tracks, before she noticed the arrow protruding from his shoulder and called for a healer. As the scout was being taken away, Vallia realized that she hadn’t yet learned the location of the trail, and caught the scout by the arm. He related the directions, and as we began to step out of the building, Thamior arrived. He had somehow learned of what we were about to do.
He argued with Vallia about leaving, but we easily got around him. He said that he would postpone the wedding for a day while we went to investigate and gave Misha an evil glare as he left. We headed to the outskirts of the village, preparing for battle –– drawing our weapons and watching for any signs of danger. I, myself, had very little to prepare. I watched around out of habit, but I knew that Jynx would notice things better than I.
Vallia and I heard something in the brush, and we both moved to investigate, but she moved faster and reached the clearing before us all. She yelled out ““STOP!”” and we all complied, stopping in place. We waited for a few moments until Misha finally inched forward once again. We came into the clearing to find Vallia holding a small kobold at sword-point. She looked up and asked us why we took so long. It quickly became clear that she had apparently been yelling for the kobold to stop, rather than us. We stood there for just a moment until we heard someone speak an elvish phrase. Kay moved to investigate, as Vallia ordered everyone to stop moving. Kay continued on, but the rest of us complied. Kay went into the brush to find the source of the voice, and Misha told Gruush to see to her. Vallia murmured to herself, “Kobolds.....” as Kay’s body flew out of the brush to lay at our feet, and we saw from her wounds that she was dead already. A small group of kobolds came out of the woods, ringing the small clearing, surrounding us. Two drow emerged from the brush out of which Kay's body had flown.
We battled furiously, and left the battle victorious. It took some doing, but we eventually felled all of the kobolds, the two drow, and a drider that one of the drow had fetched as reinforcements. Misha wanted to leave immediately, but Vallia insisted we prepare for the journey first. She healed us all, and handed out equipment. I took some armor and a longsword. If we must continue acting as the mercenary group, I will at least look the part. If not, then I will have rather than magic. The armor didn’t hang well on me, and the sword felt awkward in my hands. I could tell it would take some getting used to.
We traveled on until I saw a group of humanoids lining the sides of the road around us. Before I realized what was happening, I was asleep. I awoke sometime later, bound between Misha and Vallia. The four of us were chained in a line, shackled to the next by our legs, and each of us had our hands bound behind our backs. We were dragged along by our captors, though Misha didn’t feel like co-operating. He was beaten by some of the bugbears that held us captive, and set back on his feet to march on. We were disheartened to notice several goblins leaving the group, carrying all that we owned. We marched for a little while, until our entire party of captors was ambushed. We all dove for the ground, but Vallia urged us to run. We ran off and reached a crevasse, which we decided to try to jump... it was our only chance. But Misha leapt too quickly for me, and caught me off guard.
I began to fall down the cliff, pulling Misha and Vallia with me. Thankfully, Gruush locked his knees and kept us all from falling. After Gruush pulled us to safety, we continued and reached a forest, as a glance back told us that a bugbear was chasing us. Gruush managed to escape his chains and went to face the bugbear. Vallia and Misha loosed themselves from their chains as well, and removed my ropes. I helped from afar, blasting away at the bugbear. It fell, and Misha and Vallia quickly armed themselves with clubs and took out the goblins that had joined the fray. I used my magic to strengthen us all and we continued into the woods, trying to find the goblins that had taken our equipment.
We happened upon the goblin band and I used my magic to put them all to sleep. Misha killed every one of the goblins, save the one he told me to tie up. I did so, and left the goblin where he was, tied up on the ground. I went to the wagon that had all of our equipment in it, and re-equipped myself. Even though the armor sat awkwardly on me, it felt good to wear once again. Vallia and Gruush took the goblin, Meepo, out into the forest. They wanted to question him without Misha’s interference, and since Misha and I cannot see well, we were stuck near the campfire.
Misha was upset over Kay. We had searched everywhere, but had not found her body after being captured. It was nice to see Misha showing emotion, at least. I did feel for him. I could tell that he and Kay had had a bond from the start. He truly missed her. I tried to comfort him as well as I could, but he did not feel like being comforted. I told him that I understood what he was feeling. He didn’t seem to believe me, and I told him that I had felt what he was feeling ever since Aliya. We waited there near the fire until Vallia and Gruush returned. When they did, we unhooked all of the horses and set off. We arrived at the elven village and were greeted by the scout from earlier that day.
Vallia told the scout to take us to the queen. He quickly led us to the palace, and Vallia grabbed a nearby attendant, telling him to wake the queen. He ran off, and the queen arrived soon after, glad to see that Vallia had arrived home safely. Misha left quickly, going to face something horrible, as we would soon find out.
Vallia, however, did her best to ignore him and continued speaking with the queen. She showed her mother the head of the drow that we had taken, and told me to show the head of the drider, which I did. Vallia and the queen spoke for a short time, as Vallia told her about what all we had encountered, and to be quite honest, I was surprised to hear a list of everything we had fought that day. The meeting ended badly... the Queen told Vallia to go and prepare to be wed the following day. We left the throne room, and gathered in the outer chamber.
I exited, finding the scout, who gave his name as Nym, speaking with Vallia. She thought of him as trustworthy, and told him to stay close. My armor was clanking with every movement, and it began to wear on my patience. Nym, however, aided me; he fiddled with the armor quickly and it sat on my body more comfortably than before.
There was no sign of Misha anywhere, and Vallia asked me to see if I could find out where he was. Apparently he wasn’t too happy with Vallia right now. I called to him with the ring, and he said to me, “I can handle this... He dies tonight!” I knew then and there that he meant Thamior. I told Vallia what he said, and she realized the same thing. She broke into a run, and I followed her, Nym and Gruush in tow. We ran through the village, until we saw signs of battle on one of the rooftops. We climbed quickly, and saw Thamior standing over Misha’s smoking body. Vallia flew into a rage, slashing at Thamior immediately, ignoring his cries of innocence. We all knew better than that.
Vallia was the only one successful in striking Thamior, as I attacked clumsily, and Gruush barely missed with his blows. Vallia cried at us to leave, but I had no intention of doing so. Gruush and I stayed with Vallia until Thamior fell. I grabbed hold of her, and her sword fell from her hands... she was clearly in shock. Her eyes were locked on Misha. She yelled for us to leave, and I complied, feeling a little hurt, but understanding what she was facing... I feared this every day. I feared that Aliya would be dead so many times, that I know all too well how she felt. I went with Gruush, and thought to myself that I had to be strong... I had to keep pushing onward. Misha had been the one to push before, but now the responsibility lay on my shoulders. I went to check on Thamior’ s body as I heard Vallia ’s scream echo from the rooftops.
torture helps 17th Day of Uktar
Karanaj’s Journal
I left the throne room, feeling very sad that I was unable to help Vallia. Before I had time to dwell on it, Gruush and Kay appeared. I was happy to see them alive and well, though I didn’’t tell them so as I filled them in on our current situation. We were still discussing it when we saw an elf running toward Vallia’’s house. We didn’t know what to think, but expected the worst and followed.
We arrived just as the elf did, and asked him what was wrong. He ignored us and demanded admittance. Finally, Vallia yelled from inside to the guard to let him pass. We all entered with him and found Misha and Vallia standing there, just as perplexed as we were.
The scout told Vallia that he had found traces of a fellow scout, who had disappeared the day before. He thought that if we followed the trail, we would most likely find what is stalking the elven village. Vallia was very determined to find this menace, and told the scout to lead us to the tracks, before she noticed the arrow protruding from his shoulder and called for a healer. As the scout was being taken away, Vallia realized that she hadn’t yet learned the location of the trail, and caught the scout by the arm. He related the directions, and as we began to step out of the building, Thamior arrived. He had somehow learned of what we were about to do.
He argued with Vallia about leaving, but we easily got around him. He said that he would postpone the wedding for a day while we went to investigate and gave Misha an evil glare as he left. We headed to the outskirts of the village, preparing for battle –– drawing our weapons and watching for any signs of danger. I, myself, had very little to prepare. I watched around out of habit, but I knew that Jynx would notice things better than I.
Vallia and I heard something in the brush, and we both moved to investigate, but she moved faster and reached the clearing before us all. She yelled out ““STOP!”” and we all complied, stopping in place. We waited for a few moments until Misha finally inched forward once again. We came into the clearing to find Vallia holding a small kobold at sword-point. She looked up and asked us why we took so long. It quickly became clear that she had apparently been yelling for the kobold to stop, rather than us. We stood there for just a moment until we heard someone speak an elvish phrase. Kay moved to investigate, as Vallia ordered everyone to stop moving. Kay continued on, but the rest of us complied. Kay went into the brush to find the source of the voice, and Misha told Gruush to see to her. Vallia murmured to herself, “Kobolds.....” as Kay’s body flew out of the brush to lay at our feet, and we saw from her wounds that she was dead already. A small group of kobolds came out of the woods, ringing the small clearing, surrounding us. Two drow emerged from the brush out of which Kay's body had flown.
We battled furiously, and left the battle victorious. It took some doing, but we eventually felled all of the kobolds, the two drow, and a drider that one of the drow had fetched as reinforcements. Misha wanted to leave immediately, but Vallia insisted we prepare for the journey first. She healed us all, and handed out equipment. I took some armor and a longsword. If we must continue acting as the mercenary group, I will at least look the part. If not, then I will have rather than magic. The armor didn’t hang well on me, and the sword felt awkward in my hands. I could tell it would take some getting used to.
We traveled on until I saw a group of humanoids lining the sides of the road around us. Before I realized what was happening, I was asleep. I awoke sometime later, bound between Misha and Vallia. The four of us were chained in a line, shackled to the next by our legs, and each of us had our hands bound behind our backs. We were dragged along by our captors, though Misha didn’t feel like co-operating. He was beaten by some of the bugbears that held us captive, and set back on his feet to march on. We were disheartened to notice several goblins leaving the group, carrying all that we owned. We marched for a little while, until our entire party of captors was ambushed. We all dove for the ground, but Vallia urged us to run. We ran off and reached a crevasse, which we decided to try to jump... it was our only chance. But Misha leapt too quickly for me, and caught me off guard.
I began to fall down the cliff, pulling Misha and Vallia with me. Thankfully, Gruush locked his knees and kept us all from falling. After Gruush pulled us to safety, we continued and reached a forest, as a glance back told us that a bugbear was chasing us. Gruush managed to escape his chains and went to face the bugbear. Vallia and Misha loosed themselves from their chains as well, and removed my ropes. I helped from afar, blasting away at the bugbear. It fell, and Misha and Vallia quickly armed themselves with clubs and took out the goblins that had joined the fray. I used my magic to strengthen us all and we continued into the woods, trying to find the goblins that had taken our equipment.
We happened upon the goblin band and I used my magic to put them all to sleep. Misha killed every one of the goblins, save the one he told me to tie up. I did so, and left the goblin where he was, tied up on the ground. I went to the wagon that had all of our equipment in it, and re-equipped myself. Even though the armor sat awkwardly on me, it felt good to wear once again. Vallia and Gruush took the goblin, Meepo, out into the forest. They wanted to question him without Misha’s interference, and since Misha and I cannot see well, we were stuck near the campfire.
Misha was upset over Kay. We had searched everywhere, but had not found her body after being captured. It was nice to see Misha showing emotion, at least. I did feel for him. I could tell that he and Kay had had a bond from the start. He truly missed her. I tried to comfort him as well as I could, but he did not feel like being comforted. I told him that I understood what he was feeling. He didn’t seem to believe me, and I told him that I had felt what he was feeling ever since Aliya. We waited there near the fire until Vallia and Gruush returned. When they did, we unhooked all of the horses and set off. We arrived at the elven village and were greeted by the scout from earlier that day.
Vallia told the scout to take us to the queen. He quickly led us to the palace, and Vallia grabbed a nearby attendant, telling him to wake the queen. He ran off, and the queen arrived soon after, glad to see that Vallia had arrived home safely. Misha left quickly, going to face something horrible, as we would soon find out.
Vallia, however, did her best to ignore him and continued speaking with the queen. She showed her mother the head of the drow that we had taken, and told me to show the head of the drider, which I did. Vallia and the queen spoke for a short time, as Vallia told her about what all we had encountered, and to be quite honest, I was surprised to hear a list of everything we had fought that day. The meeting ended badly... the Queen told Vallia to go and prepare to be wed the following day. We left the throne room, and gathered in the outer chamber.
I exited, finding the scout, who gave his name as Nym, speaking with Vallia. She thought of him as trustworthy, and told him to stay close. My armor was clanking with every movement, and it began to wear on my patience. Nym, however, aided me; he fiddled with the armor quickly and it sat on my body more comfortably than before.
There was no sign of Misha anywhere, and Vallia asked me to see if I could find out where he was. Apparently he wasn’t too happy with Vallia right now. I called to him with the ring, and he said to me, “I can handle this... He dies tonight!” I knew then and there that he meant Thamior. I told Vallia what he said, and she realized the same thing. She broke into a run, and I followed her, Nym and Gruush in tow. We ran through the village, until we saw signs of battle on one of the rooftops. We climbed quickly, and saw Thamior standing over Misha’s smoking body. Vallia flew into a rage, slashing at Thamior immediately, ignoring his cries of innocence. We all knew better than that.
Vallia was the only one successful in striking Thamior, as I attacked clumsily, and Gruush barely missed with his blows. Vallia cried at us to leave, but I had no intention of doing so. Gruush and I stayed with Vallia until Thamior fell. I grabbed hold of her, and her sword fell from her hands... she was clearly in shock. Her eyes were locked on Misha. She yelled for us to leave, and I complied, feeling a little hurt, but understanding what she was facing... I feared this every day. I feared that Aliya would be dead so many times, that I know all too well how she felt. I went with Gruush, and thought to myself that I had to be strong... I had to keep pushing onward. Misha had been the one to push before, but now the responsibility lay on my shoulders. I went to check on Thamior’ s body as I heard Vallia ’s scream echo from the rooftops.
