Midnight: A Lost Faith's Shadow. Book 1, The Awakening. Chapter 1, The Charge

[elapse]

Into the great, wide open.

Reznik
All dead. Reznik nods at the woodsman's simple wisdom. "But, we are still alive" he thought to himself and he intended to keep it that way.

"Kaela, Aislinn, stay close", he says to the young women in his company. To Starhl, Valurel and Jon he asks, "Which way now?"

 

[Toric_Arthendain]

Valurel steps out of the cave mouth and into the fresh air, breathing deeply. He looks upwards, letting the little bit of rain making it through the canopy of leaves and pine needles splash onto his face to wash away the grime and blood. The various smells outside are more familiar and somehow more comforting than those in the caves.

"Should stay under trees for long as we can," he says in answer to Reznik. "Should keep moving though. Orcs might be near still."

He sniffs the air, searching for the distinctive smell that would indicate Orcs in the area. He then drops to a crouch, sniffing the ground near the cave mouth, searching for signs that Orcs have been nearby recently.

OOC: Using Scent ability from Beast path combined with Track (Survival +5).

 

[Bobitron]

Holding Aislinn's hand, Kaela takes Reznik's words to heart, closing in to stand nearby him as they exit the cavern. She casts a long gaze at the script-covered columns, but gains no particular insight from doing so.

 

[Krug]

Starhl keeps in front of the group, constantly scanning and sniffing for danger. The barbarian is moving in an increasingly feral way; practically animal-like. In the open area, he appears to be taking random swings with his new found sword, testing it's weight and getting used to it's temperement.

 

[Dirigible]

Jon Rane

Too tired to talk much to any of the others, Jon feels wearier after than before they rested as the odd little party treks through the dark passage. His boots drag on the ground, every step a matter of effort. The light doesn't even impinge on his stooped head until they are nearly at the cave mouth, and even then he looks up on dully.

The feel of fresh air on his lips, the sensation of the crushing walls of the tunnel being removed, and Starhl's tautological comment wash over him, cleansing some of the gloom from his mind, and Jon Rane smiles slightly. He tousles his hands through his hair, shaking out the dust and relaxing for a moment, offering silent thanks to whatever benign spirits might be in the area.

"I-kgh..." Jon pauses as his throat seizes up, clogged as it is with dirt and thick saliva. His rumbling stomach reminds him that it is also food, and not only water that he lacks. "I'm not wholly sure how far we travelled through that hellish passage," he continues when his lips and tongue move normally again. "But unless I miss my guess, we should be... hmmm..."

The vagabond, though born and raised in more southerly lands, searches his mind, oddly sure that some snippet of useful information about their whereabouts might be there. Why should there be, he wonders. I've never been here before been here before, ten of my prince's men at my back, making haste to the Pauper's Fortress, regardless of the cost to the horses...

OOC: Knowledge: Northlands +3.​

 

[Hrothgar]

Standing at the edge of the cave and looking down the stone-strewn woodland hill, the Heroes of Caft assess their situation. Lack of food and water and the long march through the cave has dulled senses and claimed strength. However, the pungent scent of pine mixed with life-giving rain and light from the sky above raises spirits as crushed as they have been.

Valurel drops to his haunches, inspecting the ground and throws back his head to taste the air. Depressions in the mossy, pine-needle covered soil between the rocks. Worn boots. And recent. And...a smell. Valurel turns up his nose. Unwashed body. Nearby.

Reznik's sharp gaze scans the forest above and below. There. At the foot of the bluff below. A crack in a stone cliff face. Another cave.

Starhl and Kaela stop to inspect the collection of debris in the cave. Looking at the script covering the artifacts, Kaela's gaze drops to the stone in her hand. The stone still sheds a gentle green light that diminishes and disappears only when removed from Kaela's hand. The stylized tree on the small stone. An oak? Yes, there, another one. On the stone bowl. On the fluted column. Yes, the ruins here are similar to those found deep within the cave. Starhl looks down at the greatsword in his hands. A mighty blade by all accounts. What connection does this sword have with these artifacts? And who was the sword's original wielder?

Jon leans against the rough cave wall, his tired gaze sweeping the surrounding lands. Something familiar...at the edge of his mind. A mighty warrior. Lost in the underground. Under a pine-topped hill. Almost ten miles north of a broad forested valley with a shallow, rock-bottomed river. Or was it northeast?

 

[Micar Sin]

Morn Sigil

"Lead on then Fallax..." Morn firmly gripped his sepi and slipped from shadow to shadow, intently watching the old man in front of him...

 

[Krug]

"Me can't wait to test blade against orc," says Starhl to Kaela, flashing a brief smile.

 

[Hrothgar]

Surveying the surroundings, Reznik notices movement from the second cave lower on the hill. Motioning to attract his companions attention, the Heroes peer out of the darkness of their current sanctuary to see a very unlikely sight in Northern Eredane. Emerging from the cave is an old man, coarse gray robes secured by a frayed rope around his middle. Scrabbling up the hill over lichen covered stones, he looks over his shoulder as a second, smaller form emerges from the cave. This second figure is much like an elf, but significantly smaller. The old man brushes his long, white hair out of his face and smiles a wild grin. Up this way, Whsiperer. Heh. My treasures are hidden above. The old man turns and begins to climb up toward the Heroes, his face focused on the uneven terrain. Behind, the small elf-like warrior climbs effortlessly with a cat-like grace behind the old man.

 

[Dirigible]

Jon Rane

Staggering forward to address the rest of the group, Jon mutters "I think that there might be..." But then stops, noticing the two figures leaving the cave. "Huh. More enemies of the orcs, I wonder?"