the Kyri Chronicles - last updated 22 Oct

[Plane Sailing]

“You are a foul impostor and will return with us for trial” calls their captain.

“I don’t think so” responds Trajan, as he loosens his sword. Anne-Marie likewise changes her stance to face attacking horsemen.

“You shall return in chains or face judgement here!” and two of the Jazumai spur their steeds forward in a charge, while the other two whip up their shortbows and unleash a hail of arrows.

Arilyn has been preparing for this moment and quickly conjures a howling wall of wind between the two parties, which deflect the arrows harmlessly skywards.

The mounted attackers make spirited ride-by attacks, wounding both Trajan and Anne-Marie without giving them the opportunity to return the blow. Trajan turns and prepares for the return of the horseman, readying an attack to strike as he nears. Anne-Marie takes the fight more directly to her foe, and with the aid of her magic boots runs up behind her assailant and strikes him just as he is turning his horse round!

As the two mounted bowmen approach and attempt to gain a line of sight around the wind wall they see Arilyn rising aloft as winds make her cloak billow around her and decide to make her their primary target. Arilyn is hit several times with arrows before rising above their effective range, but retaliates by targeting one of them with her static bolt spell, which clings to him with electric fire.

Anne-Marie duels her opponent for a while and then sprints off to distract one of the archers that is shooting at Arilyn. A 120ft charge and a leaping kick sends the Jazumai flying of his mount.

Meanwhile, after several rounds of trading blows with the jazumai riding past him, Trajan finally gets the upper hand and cuts his opponent down, his superior strength telling at last. He doesn’t have a moments respite though, as his opponents heavy warhorse whinny’s fiercely and attacks him with its hooves! Trajan backs of defensively, unsure how to take this... the masters bonded warhorse is clearly out for his blood, but he can’t bring himself to strike a beloved horse. Nor can he take too many more blows from those heavy hooves…

Suddenly to his amazement, his faithful light warhorse lightning charges into the combat, body-checking the heavier warhorse and knocking it slightly away from Trajan. Not wasting a second, Trajan leaps into the saddle and spurs Lightning away.

DMnote: it might not come over as much here, but I really loved this moment, when his faithful light warhorse who he has made a point of caring for carefully charges in against much tougher opposition to rescue "her man". Sigh.

Riding past Anne-Marie he scoops her up beside him and the two of them ride for their lives Northwards along the trade road, and back towards the ferry crossing while Arilyn flies overhead and the two remaining Jazumai remount and ride after them...

 

[Plane Sailing]

Half an hours hard riding with the Jazumai team in hot pursuit brings them to the ferry, which they quickly mount and start moving it across the river. The Jazumai start opening up with their shortbows, but both Trajan and Anne-Marie are able to reply with longbows. As their attackers realise they are not going to win this arrow duel they lay hands on one another and then mount and gallop off northwards towards Caran pass.

“Well” says Trajan, as Arilyn drifts down towards them and cocks an eyebrow. “We didn’t admit anything to them, they don’t have our names… so hopefully they won’t be providing trouble for us further down the road”

Arilyn isn’t so sure. Teams of Jazumai were once seen riding together within her own country. “Inquisitions”, they were called, and their attention was soon directed at the local people as much as the Singharese.

Warily, they cross back over the river and set off again Southwards towards Bridlerest. They are moving faster on their own than when they travelled with the merchant, and so as dusk approaches they find themselves entering light woodland a few miles short of the city.

Wispy cobwebs keep drifting across their faces, as if the road is not often travelled. They don’t want to try to get in the city gates at nightfall, and they are rather pleased to see an inn beside the road - the Long Bottle. Entering the courtyard they recognise Monads wagon (and their spare horses). While Trajan sees the stableboy and arranges the feed and care of lightning, the two women enter the tavern.

“Welcome, milady's” Says a comely serving girl. “Would you be wanting a bath run after your long journey?”

Anne-Marie and Arilyn glance across at each other. Civilisation at last!

to be continued.

 

[Darklone]

Lo bumpuru!

 

[Plane Sailing]

Hey, a bump! I got a bump!

<hurriedly scribbles date down in diary>

I'll get writing again on Monday (I'm away for much of the weekend)

Cheers

 

[Plane Sailing]

As Trajan joins them for an evening meal, Emilie the serving girl comes to offer them the menu for the day - a choice ranging from mutton stew to flank of beef. Arilyn sighs “What I wouldn’t give for a good Mendonnan curry right now. I miss the flavours of home”.

“But milady” says Emilie, “Our cook is familiar with all three of the major types of curry from Mendonna! I’m sure he’ll be happy to do a special order for you”

There are smiles all round. Anne-Marie orders wine, asking for a good Sword-Coast vintage. “A good one, mind”. Soon the steaming plates of food arrive, along with a fine and dusty bottle. “One of our very best” says Emilie, curtseying.

Anne-Marie takes the bottle, glances down at the label and gasps in astonishment.

The wine, five decades old, has her fathers signature on the label. It is from the old family vineyard. Is that a brief tear we glimpse in her eye?

(back to the action next post)

 

[Plane Sailing]

As they finish the meal, they become aware of Emilie hurrying around, with a concerned look on her face, calling for Jard, the stableboy. Shortly she comes over to their table.

“I’m sorry to bother you, gentlesirs, but our stableboy has gone missing… Mr Longbottle says that if you could get him back the meal will be free. He left a couple of hours ago, shortly after you arrived, to fetch fresh chickens from the farmer down the back trail in the woods. It’s no more than a twenty minute jog, and he should have been back long ago. He’s probably napping or something, so you could just give him a swat and send him on his way…

…only we’re a bit worried, ‘cos one of the travellers thought he saw something odd in the trees yesterday - we’d feel better if you’d check.

Trajan leads them in agreement, and they pick up some of their gear and set off down the dirt trail behind the inn, running perpendicular to the road. Strangely, occasional cobwebs over the path catch on Anne-Maries face as she leads the way. Its almost as if nobody has been down the path in days!

The trail ends and opens into a field. Across the meadow in the fading light they can see the farmhouse and a strange structure next to it. As they get closer it looks as if an entire barn has been wrapped in scrub and tree limbs, bound together with a silky web-like substance. They decide to investigate the farm first.

The farmhouse door swings ajar, half torn from its hinges. Preparing their weapons, Trajan leads the way into the building. The air is foul, and there is dried slime on the floor and on the walls - as if something very bulky has dragged its way through the hall. The rooms have been trashed, food has been thrown around in the kitchen and all of the kitchen knives have been thrust through a wooden cabinet with incredible strength.

On the floor of the kitchen is a trapdoor to the cellar, webbed shut. After some judicious cutting they get the edges free and Trajan heaves the door open. Arilyn magically causes a small stone to glow and tosses it down the bottom of the slime-coated ladder.

Leaning down through the trapdoor, Trajan can see dried slime, shards of glass, chunks of smoked meat - and across more than half of the cellar a huge, web-wrapped mound of eggs, glistening in the light, and with small dark shapes moving fitfully inside them…

to be continued.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Climbing carefully down the ladder, Trajan and Anne-Marie approach the eggs. Fearful, Arilyn remains on the floor above to secure their retreat.

There is no sign of movement as they draw near, either among the eggs or elsewhere around the room. Trajan cuts one of the eggs open with a slice of his scimitar, and evil-smelling goop flows sluggishly out. There are dozens of eggs here and they quickly decide that the best way of destroying them will be fire, so they light torches and place them over the mound of eggs.

Sure enough, the mass starts to catch fire quickly - rather too quickly for comfort, so they rapidly leave the cellar and the house as a foul burning smell becomes more pervasive. Now to tackle the barn.

The main door to the barn has been webbed shut, although there are a couple of openings into the hay loft which might be clearer. They decide to hack through the webs and material across the main door, and after several minutes of chopping manage to break through, and lever the sliding door partly open.

Stepping into the barn they are struck by an even fouler stench than before. The ground floor is empty of life. Slightly sticky webs and dried, foul-smelling slime coats most of the floor, and stall and pen doors are ripped open. With the magical light spell they can see a little up into the hayloft, and it is obvious that bundled sacks hang from the ceiling like dangling fruit.

“Motherrrrr, we have visitorrrrrs” whispers a mangled voice from up above


To be continued

 

[Plane Sailing]

After a short discussion, where the voice promises to let the people go if the intruders leave, the heroes refuse to accept the offer. They step forwards into the barn, to get a closer look at the eyes glinting between the rafters - and suddenly sticky webs are cast down across each of them!

None of them can get out the webs quickly, and three foul-smelling ettercaps slide down web strands and dart forward, each biting one of the heroes and then quickly retreating away, to watch their poison get to work. Trajan is favoured by Asura, and quickly throws off the poison, but Anne-Marie suffers a little. Zeph flies in and forms a little whirlwind around Arilyn, helping her to free herself from the clinging strands, and she ducks back out of the barn.

The ettercaps fling more webs over Trajan and Anne-Marie, and a horrible sliding, gasping, slithering sound is heard from up above.

“Now you are forrrrrr it!” cackles one of the creatures. “Now Motherrrrrrr comes!”

A charnel stench flows over them, and a vast black bulk becomes visible at the edge of the hayloft. Slowly it’s huge, sagging bulk is lowered over the edge on a web strand like a cable. Eight glittering red eyes take in the scene before it lunges forward and bites Anne-Marie. Poison like fire courses through her veins and she finds that she is losing all control of her muscles.

Arilyn invokes one of her prepared spells, launching her electrical static bolt spells at the Ettercaps, encouraging them to retreat while Trajan rips Anne-Marie free from the webs that ensnared him and his companion.

Miraculously the monsters hold back, retiring back into their loft amongst the suspended parcels of their living larder, and the heroes have a chance to fall back and plan.

Their first objective must be rescue of the farmers and Jard; that is going to be much harder with Anne-Marie out of action (since she is currently so weak from the poison that she finds it difficult to hold her rapier, much less fight with it).

They decide to attempt to smoke out the ettercaps. Arilyn casts a fly spell on herself and on Trajan. Then they creep down to the front of the barn and throw torches inside. The straw which litters the floor of the barn catches fire quickly, and they hear a chittering sound, which is presumably the creatures conversing with one another. Both of them then fly around to the other end of the barn, and Trajan chops through the silky covering which bars one end of the hay loft closed.

They can hear the sound of splintering wood from the other end of the barn, but proceed with their plan. As soon as the door is open Zeph scoots in and after a quick circuit informs them that the ettercaps have broken out the roof of the barn. Flames are roaring below, and smoke is starting to fill the barn. The wooden floor is illuminated by flickering light from between the boards, and it is very hot as Trajan and Arilyn fly in, quickly cutting down the human-sized cocoons and flying out again.

They alight in the farm clearing, well away from trees, and watch as the barn blazes alongside the farmhouse which is also well on fire. They cut the victims free, and find Jard and the Farmer and his wife alive but paralysed by the creatures venom. Anne-Marie staggers across to help them as they carry their unconcious cargo back to the Long Bottle.

(darn it, I lost my notes and with this being a couple of months old now I couldn't remember the details - hence a rather sketchy portrayal of these events)

Cheers

 

[Piratecat]

I feel your pain. It's still incredibly cool, though.

 

[Darklone]

Yup