[Lakelands] Six For Adventure

[Raven Crowking]

Having washed, Kregor entered the church and slept. Upon waking from the dream rested, he sat for a few minutes with his eyes closed. As he sat there, he wondered who all were awake around him. Opening his eyes he surveyed the room. He then said in a normal voice and even, cold tone, "I have had a dream and I fear what it might mean. This vision troubles me.

It was still more than an hour before noon. Kregor noticed that his companions still slept, for they had worked hard the night before -- travelling, interviewing, threatening both priest and miller with the inevitable results of the courses they had chosen, and trying to remain awake while they awaited the beast. At least, with the priest, they had accomplished something. Amalric at least was begining to behave as a priest ought to.

Still, Kregor wanted to share his dream with the others. At the very least, he wanted Dain and Horsom's opinions. He awoke the rest of the group (noting that Maldordo was gone) and, when they were sufficiently awake, relayed his vision to them.

"I fear we must set a trap for it. If my vision is true, then we should let the manticore gorge itself one night while we're hidden and assumed to be away. While it slumbers, or is too tired to take flight, then we should strike. My concerns for the well being of the innocents though, makes this decision difficult. We must weigh the consequences of our actions and determine if one giant meal for this beast creates less death than it's continued harassing. What say you?"

 

[Raven Crowking]

Maldordo considers putting on the act of tentatively sniffing at the pastry and darting in and away with a bite as a kitten or young cat would, but decides against it. The miller sees Maldordo as a bold tom rather than a shy kitten. Maldordo nonchalantly saunters over to the miller to sniff the pastry, all the while watching in case the miller takes a swing with that iron bar. If he smells nothing amiss, Maldordo will take a few bites of the pastry and then purr and rub up against the miller's leg, as a happy cat would be expected to do. If all works out, Maldordo, err... Black Tom will follow Salwerk Miller back to his mill.

As Maldordo played up to the miller, the man put one of his beefy hands on the cat's neck. Within seconds, the purring was not all accidental, and the man's fingers found those hidden spots around Maldordo's ears and shoulders that always could use a good rubbing. The pastry was obviously the miller's lunch, containing bits of meat, onion, and potato. As Maldordo already had occasion to discover, the miller's wife was a better than average cook.

"You're a ratter, eh Black Tom?" the miller said. As he straightened, it was obvious that he was in pain from Dain's beating. "Better than any trap, I reckon. We've some rats in the mill won't take my poison, but I'm betting that they won't out-clever you."

So saying, the miller headed off to the mill, clucking and snapping his fingers encouragingly from time to time, or dropping bits of pastry.

 

[Samuel Leming]

As Maldordo played up to the miller, the man put one of his beefy hands on the cat's neck. Within seconds, the purring was not all accidental, and the man's fingers found those hidden spots around Maldordo's ears and shoulders that always could use a good rubbing. The pastry was obviously the miller's lunch, containing bits of meat, onion, and potato. As Maldordo already had occasion to discover, the miller's wife was a better than average cook.

OOC: Pastries with meat, onion & potato in them? Nobody would ever guess you used to live in Michigan. Do the people of the Lakelands put chopped olives on their hamburgers also?

"You're a ratter, eh Black Tom?" the miller said. As he straightened, it was obvious that he was in pain from Dain's beating. "Better than any trap, I reckon. We've some rats in the mill won't take my poison, but I'm betting that they won't out-clever you."

Maldordo isn’t surprised that Norby and his pet are smart enough to avoid the miller’s poison. He hopes they’ll be smart enough to hear him out rather than just run or attack, since Maldordo‘s been meaning to have a talk with that pair of rats.

He does briefly consider that arranging for the extermination of rats isn’t the act of a man that expects to sacrifice himself in a dark ritual. Maldordo wonders who or what the sacrifice will be and hopes that the rite doesn’t call for the blood of a cat.

So saying, the miller headed off to the mill, clucking and snapping his fingers encouragingly from time to time, or dropping bits of pastry.

Maldordo will follow the miller back to the mill, even though finger-snapping is entirely the wrong approach for luring a cat. I mean, what self respecting cat wants to be treated like a dog!

Once Maldordo gets inside the mill he’ll sniff around and explore as cats are expected to do when introduced to a new location, but Maldordo will listen carefully and watch what the miller is up to.

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

After Kregor spoke of his prophetic dream, Horsom paused thoughtfully. "Hmmm.. Gragnor favours our endeavour, it would seem. His advice is sound; the problem is, how do we bait the trap? And how do we ensure that the manticore takes the bait?" He turned to the goblin. "Glom, your people are skilled at traps and ambushes. What do you suggest?" Upon realising what he had just said, Horsom reddened slightly. "No offense meant, of course." He then addressed the elven tracker. "Selanil, do you still want to attempt to pick up the beast's trail? I don't imagine it's an easy thing tracking something in flight, but it's your call." He paused. "Didn't Maldordo suggest laying a trap for the manticore last night?" He stopped and looked around. "Where is Maldordo?"

 

[Raven Crowking]

"Didn't Maldordo suggest laying a trap for the manticore last night?" He stopped and looked around. "Where is Maldordo?"

The question hung on the air for a few moments. Then Kregor went to the door, and opening it, looked into the church. He was able to find Brothers Hengist and Tillo. The two lay brethren were quickly able to explain what had happened while they slept: Eoth had come in with his tale of woe, and Maldordo had gone out to spy on the miller.

"Maldordo bade us ask you," Brother Hengist said, somewhat apologetically, "to restrain yourselves, lest his life be placed in jeopardy."

Amalric and Brother Elidor had gone out with Eoth. The boy had relations in Kell's Reach, and the priest felt that one of his uncles, Broadhain Tallstone, would foster him.

 

[Samuel Leming]

OOC: There is an alternate interpretation for Kregor's dream that is less literal and more traditional. Just distilling out the concepts, Gragnor may simply be suggesting that we do as the manticore demands and leave. The manticore would than grow complacent and we can sneak back in later and catch it in its new lair. As things are now the manticore isn't going to sleep in the same place twice while it knows it's being hunted.

To reiterate: The manticore makes a demand backed by his advantage(as the raven did), we give in and leave(as the wolf did), the manticore gets complacent and lazy(as the raven got too full to fly), we sneak back and brace the manticore in its new lair where it can't fly away(as the wolf caught the raven when it was stuffed).

Sam

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

OOC: My interpretation was a mixture of the two: we lay a trap coupled with the group loudly advertising its intention to leave the area. In other words, the manticore takes the bait once it feels it is no longer threatened. The problem Horsom posed revolved around knowing where and when to return. Again, in other words, how do we set a trap so that we ensure that the manticore will strike at a time and place where and when we can be able to bring it down. Blah, words are failing me here for some reason. Does any of this make sense?

 

[Samuel Leming]

OOC: My interpretation was a mixture of the two: we lay a trap coupled with the group loudly advertising its intention to leave the area. In other words, the manticore takes the bait once it feels it is no longer threatened. The problem Horsom posed revolved around knowing where and when to return. Again, in other words, how do we set a trap so that we ensure that the manticore will strike at a time and place where and when we can be able to bring it down. Blah, words are failing me here for some reason. Does any of this make sense?

OOC: That's not an interpretation. That's a plan. I suppose what I'm doing is helping to relay Gragnor's plan by interpreting the parable.

As for the bait, the advantage to going this route is that the manticore will bait the trap itself, just like the raven did. That's a main part of the point to this parable. Once it believes it's safe, the manticore will return to resting in shelters that reduce its ability to fly away. Just as we found out its lair last time, we'll be able to find its lair next time.

Maldordo wouldn't think of this plan himself though, since he's a high intelligence/low wisdom kind of guy. A bit of a linear thinker. He's a good one for solving a problem, but left to his own he may just go about solving the wrong problem. Maldordo, as you've already pointed out, will be with you on the trap idea. It's left to one of the high wisdom guys to push for the Gragnor plan in game.

Sam

 

[Ulorian - Agent of Chaos]

OOC:

That's not an interpretation. That's a plan. I suppose what I'm doing is helping to relay Gragnor's plan by interpreting the parable.

???? That's a strange statement. I'm also interpreting the plan hidden in the parable. What else would I be doing?

As for the bait, the advantage to going this route is that the manticore will bait the trap itself, just like the raven did. That's a main part of the point to this parable. Once it believes it's safe, the manticore will return to resting in shelters that reduce its ability to fly away. Just as we found out its lair last time, we'll be able to find its lair next time.

My post was pretty garbled, so I guess I didn't make myself clear. In the parable, we are the wolf and the manticore is the raven. What this statement:

The problem Horsom posed revolved around knowing where and when to return. Again, in other words, how do we set a trap so that we ensure that the manticore will strike at a time and place where and when we can be able to bring it down.

is asking is where the deer carcass is.

If we leave, the manticore feels safe. But where is the manticore going to lair now? It might go back to the Dwarfie Run, but it might not. If we storm back to Kell's Reach and into the Dwarfie Run, the manticore knows we're back and we're right where we started.

What I was asking was how to we set things up so that we can guarantee the location of the manticore when we sneak back. Not saying this is possible, just throwing the thought out there.

I hope I've made my point more clearly.

 

[wolfheart]

Dain scratches his beard as he thinks about Kregor's dream. After quite a bit of thought and listening to the others discussions, Dain has a thought.

"What if it means that the time to strike is now. With respect to the attack last night. The manticore seems to have gorged himself on poor Eorth's family. He may be so full and confident in his supreme position in the area that he is still at the farm, resting in a false state of security. It is something to ponder. But now, I think we should head to the mill to see what the miller is up to. I, for one, am not done with that maggot."

Dain gets up and puts his breastplate back on, and heads out into the church.

"I plan to keep my distance and hear what the miller has to say. I fear if I march right in to the mill that the situation will quickly deteriorate. But mark my words, I will not hesitate to throttle him if he threatens any innocents."