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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Knightfall" data-source="post: 1818175" data-attributes="member: 2012">The Ruined City of Onaway:“There’s so many of them,” Mesik Tindertwig didn’t like their chances. “How can you hope to stop them all?”“We won’t stop them all but they won’t get through to the city’s interior. The firebreak will make sure many of them are scorched badly before they breech the outer perimeter.” Bren knew it would be a long night. “Did you find him?”“No,” Garth was staring out over the roaring flames of the firebreak. He carefully picked his way along the ruined walls of Onaway, as he scanned the darkness for any signs of the vonakyndra. “I don’t like this. It’s not like him to just up and disappear. The ogres aren’t close enough to have spooked him.”“Father, he’ll be alright.” Dabuk said the words but felt the hollowness of his reassurance. Hougwarth wasn’t the most skilled warrior he’d ever met and if he got into trouble alone, he’d likely end up dead. “And even if something does happen to him, it’s not our fault. He was only suppose to hang back, not wander off.”“This Hougwarth is a vonakyndra, correct? They are said to be magical creatures capable of great feats of strength and be able to blend in with the natural world. Perhaps he is more like the legends I grew up with than you realize.” Bren hoped he was right.Garth sighed. “Not everything is as legends say. I can attest to that.”Bren looked at him puzzled. Dabuk wondered where his father was at that moment. He seemed miles away.“Why don’t they just attack? The longer they wait, the better prepared the city will be.” Mesik gripped the handle of Sheao in one hand, the blade still in its sheath.“Their leaders are either trying to decide whether or not to attack at all or wait until the firebreak dies down. My coins are on the latter.” Bren walked over to Garth who was still looking for their lost companion. “I cannot any longer. We must go through the tangle maze, prepare the inner defenses, and warn the sentries of the interior of the city. They’ll have seen the lit firebreak but will need to know exactly what their up against.”Garth knew Hougwarth was beyond his protection. Bren had explained that the firebreak and outer wall wouldn’t hold the ogre hordes at bay. Just beyond the wall was a maze of ruined buildings, streets, and overgrown vines that were next to impossible to circumnavigate with out a guide. It was this that truly protected the citizens of Onaway. Bren was one of the only men in the ‘city’ who knew the easiest and safest ways through the tangle maze.Garth turned away from the hot flames of the break. “Let’s go.”*                                        *                                        *In the Briar Patch:“What kind of city is this,” Bactra felt lost even though Bren assured him that they were going the right way. "“How can you ever hope to find anything in this mess?”“Practice.” Bren had memorized the ‘tangles’ as a boy. He had been a shoe-in to become a member of the Guardsmen. Of course, he had wanted to be one of the trappers of the maze, but his lowborn status had meant standard guard duty or hole duty. Still, he knew his way through the tangles better than anyone else in Onaway.“And I thought the labyrinth was complicated.” Dabuk’s head hurt.“See, I told you all that training was good for something.” Mesik laughed.“Shut up.”“How much further, Bren?” Garth was having a hard time in the confines of the tangles, his armor weighing him down and slowing him to a crawl. Yet, he refused to leave it behind, even after Bren had insisted. He had stated matter-of-factly that Bren would have to kill him first.“An hour or more at this pace.”“If I fall behind, go on without me.” Garth was trailing everyone.“No one gets left behind in the tangles. It’s a death sentence for the uninitiated.” Bren looked around for the telltale signs of the traps and pitfalls scattered throughout the street he was leading them down. He could tell that this path was heavily trapped. The vines and weeds were careful grown and cultivated so that a trapper could ‘see’ the traps. It could be as simple as a vine twined around a stone pillar or a patch of blue moss denoting the location of a trigger.The overgrowth in the street was more than it should be, however. Bren stopped in his tracks and was glad that these adventurers were seasoned enough to understand his signal for danger.“What, what is it?” Mesik felt as lost as Dabuk.“The cultivators haven’t been on this street for months. Damn it, I can’t find the right path. We’re going to have to topside.”“I don’t like the sound of that.” Garth was sore but determined to be who the North Gods had made him.“This way,” Bren lead to the left and into a ruined stoned building that stretched four stories high. “There’s a stone, spiral staircase in here near the back of the building. It’s hidden but it’s sound.”“And once we get topside, as you say, how do we find our way then?” Thessa climbed over a large, green vine, the color darkened by the shadowy light of Garth’s torch.“Very carefully,” Bren smiled but none saw as the Onan had his back towards the group. He walked through the open doorway of the ruin, looking for any signs of cracking in the stone floor. He knew many of these old ruined buildings didn’t suffer time well. Many a younger scout or trapper had lost his life by failing to see failing stone.“I feel like I’m on some sort of alien plane of existence.” Bactra kept one eye on Bren and the other on the ruins surrounding them. “It’s so surreal.”“Now I know why we couldn’t bring the mounts with us, although I hated leaving Hindle with those two morons.” Garth’s mount was more than just a steed. He was bonded to the ranger by years of trust and friendship.“They’ll do what they’re told and stay out of harms way.” Bren hadn’t like leaving the mounts with Handel and Travar, but there hadn’t been a choice. The beasts wouldn’t have made it even halfway to where they were now. The two Guardsmen would hide themselves from any ogre attack and they knew if the horses came to harm that Bren would do more than just scold them. A thought flashed through the Onan’s mind.“Besides, those two are probably safer with your warhorses protecting them then the other way around. If trouble find them, I’m sure your mounts will fight bravely.”“That’s more than we can say about Handel and Travar.” Thessa’s jibe did little to lessen Garth’s concerns.“Here it is.” Bren pulled away handfuls of vines to reveal a small spiral staircase made of stone. The structure coiled up a disintegrating stone pillar that looked like it was about to topple over. The top of the staircase disappeared into the darkness above.“You’ve got to be kidding me?” Mesik wanted to take his chances with the streets. “You call that sound?”“In the tangled mazes… yes.” Bren began to ascend the stairs. Pulling away more vines as he climbed.“Well, you only live once.” Dabuk quickly fell in behind the Onan, while the others looked on in disbelief.“Damn, I knew I should have stayed in the Knotwood.”“Come on, cousin. This should be like climbing a tree for you.” Dabuk laughed.“Ha, ha. Very funny, you know I hate climbing anything.”“Shut up you two and keep moving.” Garth was having enough trouble without dealing with idle banter. “Bactra, you then Mesik, then Thessa. I’ll take up the rear. Move it!”The group of adventurers moved, as one, up the staircase, following the natural coil, as a snake would it’s own skin up a tree. Once at the top, Bren tried pushing open a trapdoor, which was weighed down by vines. Dabuk and Bactra had to help him force it open.They staggered out onto the rooftop of the building. Bren tried not to smile as Thessa gasped in disbelief and the others stared out over the ruined rooftops of the tangle maze of the city of Onaway.As far as they could see, which wasn’t far in the darkness were even more vines than on the streets below. The overgrown plants covered everything. Everything except a series of catwalks made of metal, wood, and rope. Beyond the view of their torch, the heroes could see the burning flames of the firebreak and thousands of pinpricks of fiery light scattered across the rooftops, contrasting with the pinpricks of light shining down from the stars above. Kulan’s twin moons shining together, one waxing and one waning.“Rillifane!” Dabuk was at a loss.“Welcome, my friends, to the upper-tangle.” A horn sounded in the distance and Bren’s face grew grim. “We best hurry, the ogres are coming as we speak. If we’re lucky, we’ll reach the inner wall before they do.”“Wow, I feel like I’m on the Dreaming Plane.” Bactra said it but they all felt it.*                                        *                                        *</blockquote>

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