The One True Game: According to Hoyle, and Others

[howandwhy99]

Oddly, game was absent from the surrounding land too. Wolf tracks were found pacing along the side of the pit. Given the steepness of the pit walls, Dram suggested a wolf might have been trapped inside before being buried alive. It was not a pleasant thought. No one rappelled to the bottom this time. A campsite was set up in the woods edge for sleeping that night. Again, no one wanted to brave the forest once darkness had fallen. The druidess moved out into the trees and started singing softly. The wind whistled through the trees. “The wind flows through the trees giving you a warning sometimes. These will be safe to sleep under for tonight,” informed Holly. Ben was getting a weird feeling about what she was up to. His brain hurt just thinking about it. He was pretty sure the Old Faith had demons and devils in it, but he was not positive.

Watch was posted. There were ten in the group now for five pairings. The ground had dried to a hard crust, but rest came quickly. At some point Dalin shook Ben awake. He and Kayla were quietly rousing everyone. Wolf calls could be heard in the distance and they were getting closer. “Get into the trees!” Dalin whispered. So everyone began climbing up into the branches of the larger trees. Below a large pack of wolves approached and started sniffing the ground. Holly barked loudly down at them and started growling. The large center wolf started growling back. Ben wondered if they would eat him first or last. He decided to light a torch just in case.

“Go away!” said Holly in the wolf-tongue. “We are much to dangerous for you!” The pack leader stared back at her. “You know us. You speak to us. We are hungry. We will eat small food. Give us one.” It moved below Darius’s tree. Holly denied him. “Then we eat this small food,” it said moving below Mirel. “You will go or we will burn you and all your pack,” Holly replied. “My friends will make powerful magic. And you will all die.” The pack leader stepped away and stared back into Holly’s unflinching eyes. “You not safe,” it barked and took off running away from them. Father Ben had no idea what Holly had accomplished with all her growling and barking, but he let go of the breath he had been holding when the wolves left. “Whatever she is, she is no Holly go lightly,” he concluded.

Climbing back down watches passed with a raised sense of alertness. When Dram touched Ben’s shoulder to wake him for his turn, the cleric gasped with a look of terror in his eyes. He had been having a nightmare. As Ben moved to the fire and looked out into the trees he tried to remember what he had been dreaming about. For some reason he simply could not remember. It was all blocked out, but now that he was awake he did realize he had been having nightmares for the past few nights. He seemed to forget everything once the sun rose. But now he recalled waking from nightmares more and more; the same nightmare he believed. He felt lightheaded and pain throbbed behind his temples. Trying to take his mind off the pain, Ben stood up and walked the small perimeter during his watch with Ormand the Redd. “…to stay awake,” he had told the younger man.


[DAY 70 – Moonday, Jinto 2nd, CY 81]

An irritating itching on Ben’s neck woke him up. Slapping and scratching, he realized he was covered in crawling, biting bugs and gnats. The smell of death pervaded the entire area. “Get up. We need to find the river to clean off,” instructed Darius. A few members felt nauseous and ran off into the clearing by the pit. The others collected the gear and pulled it out of the awful stinking area. They tried to shake the insects off of everything. Dram spotted buzzards circling overhead. “We should not stay here any longer,” he stated flatly. The large birds were circling to the Southeast primarily. Dram, Holly, and Igor went into the woods hiking to find out what was going on. After traveling for what seemed a full mile they found the carcass of a large, dead bear. “The dryad’s companion?” Igor inspected the corpse. It was three days dead. Dram climbed a tree and noticed they were near the Quesquaton cave’s hill, which was next to the Chaos Caves. They returned to the main group and gave their report.

 

[howandwhy99]

“Three days ago would have been the night of the attack,” said Darius. Kayla spoke up too. “Remember, the morning after the attack I was supposedly contacted by Elion. He said he was in these woods. He wanted us to come out here. I think we may have been lured into a trap.” She pulled out and petted the real Elion now in rat form. “We should be careful,” said Ben. “Perhaps it would be wise to head back to the keep?” Darius turned and looked at the white rat. He asked it about his missing brother and if he had seen him the night of his transformation. The little creature seemed to shrug as its only response. The three scouts lead the team back to the bear carcass. It smelled of death and decay. Igor arrived late as he was trailing behind to wipe clean the group’s tracks. He had noticed the Druidess left no tracks at all. Igor was slightly perturbed about the disadvantage that put him in if ever events came to a bad end. “And they always do,” he thought.

The others confirmed the bear was the dryad’s defender. Ogre-sized tracks led from the death scene toward the southeast; the direction of the Chaos Caves. Stuffing their ears in case they ran into a very angry dryad, they followed the footprints. When they arrived at the dryad’s grove they saw her fallen tree had been hacked up. Saw blades, hatchets, and even fire had killed the tree. No woman was to be found. Holly felt hollowness all around her. To Father Ben, she looked as if she would cry. Igor examined the tree and the cuts. Discretely he filled an entire vial full of sap from the wounds. The large footprints met in the grove with several booted tracks, which they believed belonged to another group of orcs like the ones they had originally fended off. The team unplugged their ears and cautiously moved closer.

Drawing weapons, they moved in formation for battle. Fearing another ambush Dram scouted ahead, but only a few yards in front of the main group. The tracks had formed a simple path through the underbrush leading back to the horseshoe hill. Ironically, Dram recognized it as the trail they had originally blazed. Ahead the kobold and goblin sentry post was spotted. Igor, Dram and Dalin snuck up on it. As they approached they saw a human skeleton with arrows sticking through its ribcage had been hung over the blind. No other creatures were in sight as they cautiously searched the area. Dalin noticed an old metal shield propped against a nearby oak. It had Common lettering on it, but none of the three scouts were literate enough to read the words. Going back they brought forward the rest of the party. Ben read the shield: “It says ’STAY OUT’. I think they don’t want us here. We should go around and approach from a different side, preferably the far side so they don’t see or suspect us coming.”

Igor reached out and pulled the skeleton to cut it down. WHOOSH! He flew through the air as a rope pulled tight around his legs and hefted the chef high into the air. At the same time, stones flew from the tree that had bent down and into the metal shield leaning nearby. Klak-lak-lak-lak-lak. The clattering stones completed a makeshift alarm system. Some took off running back they down the trail, while others cut Igor down (making sure not to set off another trap). Back at the downed tree only half the party was collected. They headed north to the Quesquaton cave, their usual rendezvous point. Once every member was accounted for they decided to enter the cave and think of another plan. “Remember the pit!” Dram called out as they approached the old cave’s mouth. Dram scouted the entrance again marking the edges of the pit as Igor was relegated to covering tracks again. Sitting inside, they chewed down cold food, while contemplating how they were going to attack the caves.

Darius pulled out his map and the others gathered around. They decided to approach from the south, which was the far side from the one they normally approached and from their current position in the black hill. More lookouts would likely be posted, so the scouts would be on point again and cautious not to engage anything. Finished planning, the team looped around to the east and down the riverside until they were south of they chaos cave hill. Then they cut west until they could see inside the hill’s ravine on it west side. The scouts spied into the interior, hoping to see anything walking or out of the ordinary. Daylight lit the whole area and nothing moved within. The goblin cave to their left was now boarded up with logs. None of the caves had smoke coming from them. Dropping back they consulted the map again and tried to point to the smoking cave from the previous trip, which Darius believed belonged to the orcs. Kayla advised fighting the orcs as they may have the answers to their questions about Zelligar. She believed the orcs were remnants of his old cult.

 

[howandwhy99]

Igor asked to lead the attack. He believed he could sneak in unseen and find out exactly where the orcs laired. Pulling out a potion he said, “no one’ll see me see?” Darius and Kayla agreed and the team crept to the bottom of the south prong and then to the top of its crest. No resistance or guard was found. They all hid and peered over to the inside. There was still no change. Igor downed his potion and vanished, just as the dragon above the temple had. Darius pointed to the cave marked “I” on his map and whispered to into the air, “Try this one first.” The grass and fallen leaves rustled as Igor left them. He snuck as silently as possible down the slope to the cave Darius had indicated. To his right was another cave level to it. Large pieces of broken bones lay in a pile outside of it. Igor remembered the cave Kayla had told him of marked “man-eater”. Another idea popped into that unusual mind of his. Sneaking over to the bones, he took out another vial and covered them with its sweet smelling contents.

Moving to the orc cave, Igor looked and listened inside. The interior was pitch black and there were no noises. But as he waited patiently, he believed he could hear breathing. Still invisible, Igor returned and reported. The whole team tiptoed down the slope to the front of the “I” cave. Darius looked into the darkness and saw an empty four-way junction of bricked tunnels a few yards inside. Torches were lit and weapons drawn. Kayla, Holly and Ormand the Redd, all good at ranged attacks, were to cover the rear in case the other caves sent reinforcements. Darius entered alone, but unknown to him Igor had already snuck inside. Still invisible, Igor felt his way past the intersection and down the middle passage. It turned right and after several feet he felt a door along the left-hand wall. He bent down to listen to it. Darius stood in the intersection looking in each direction. The right passage turned after right again after only a few yards. The middle one turned right as well. Turning to the left tunnel he heard a cry. The room beyond was full of orcs standing up and grabbing weapons. “Attack!” he yelled.

The fighting team outside rushed in lighting up the space. They found Darius charging into the left tunnel. Two slain orc bodies had fallen in his wake, but a dozen more fully armored orcs pressed him from the room beyond. Dram and Dalin took up positions behind him to hold the oncoming force in the smaller tunnel. Igor heard stomping behind the door he listened at. Ducking to his right, he caught the scent of pig and ale as creatures filed out of the room. It was lucky for him they were headed to the combat and not in his direction. Mirel was the first to see the reinforcements arrive through the center tunnel. Each fired bows and one of the arrows hit Brother Ben in the arm. Darius ran out from the front line to heal him. Pax and Mirel moved to block the center tunnel to keep Dram and Dalin from being outflanked. Pax dropped the archer in front of him with a single blow. Mirel still had only a torch to defend herself. The noisome howling from the orcs was returned from the empty and undefended right tunnel.

Healed now, Ben took Mirel’s place as she and Darius stood in anticipation of a third force of orcs. The wait was not long. In the midst of another dozen armored orcs, a strange female was dressed in bones and feathers growled authoritatively. The orc running in their lead slipped past Darius and pushed Mirel to the ground. Taking a full swing, it scored Dalin’s full plate. Ben pulled back from his position trying to retrieve some bandages and help the fallen. Seeing the holes in the lines, Dalin cried out “Pull back!” Dalin and Dram did just that, but Pax was stranded while he grappled with several of the archers. Darius grabbed Ben and Mirel and pulled them out of the intersection and towards the exit. Seeing another opening, Dalin charged over to the right tunnel to cover the three. He was quickly surrounded like Pax and the battle and all sense of battle lines were lost.

Once the orcs had stopped running past him, Igor decided to explore a little farther down the tunnel while he still was invisible. Walking with his arms extended to either side he came to a dead end. He tried looking for a latch or a secret portal, but it was too difficult in the dark. He hurried back to the corner to spy on the battle. More than ten orcs had their backs to Igor in the tunnel in front of him. He could see no way to slip through without being noticed. As he searched for his companions he noticed Pax being held by three of the monsters. The others in the front were switching to axes instead of bows. Then Igor noticed Dalin charging from his right to his left and down into a side passage. Suddenly, all lights were extinguished and he was lost in darkness. “I think I can get me out of this, but the rest of those poor fools…”

 

[howandwhy99]

CHARACTER ADDENDUM
[SBLOCK]Our player roster has changed slightly since beginning the story. Here is list of characters and players at around this point and time in the story. Further updates will be posted as needed.

CHARACTERS
Brother Ben – howandwhy99
Dalin - JoeBlank
Darius – skrayper
Dram – loki44
Holly – no profile
Igor - biorph
Kayla – no profile
Mirel – AllanyaKT

HIRELINGS
Ormand the Redd – working for Dram

FOLLOWERS
Pax – following Darius

TempPC
Cyrus the Black – by yours truly

REFEREE
Our fearless leader – Diaglo

PS: Session 9 ran a little long because of all the action. It’s amazing what is jammed into 6 hours of time. The next installments should have fewer posts apiece.
[/SBLOCK]

 

[howandwhy99]

[sblock]I don't want this to drop off the Storyhour's default list (only a month long). Here is something to tide you over. More story is being written. Expect some more posts in a week maybe two.[/sblock]

Cyrus the Black's Background

A dwarf, Cyrus normally walks about with his axe hooked at his side or over one shoulder. His dull gray field plate covers him completely from neck to toe with his bare bald head sticking out from the top. A full, deep, red beard covers where any insignia would normally be on his chestplate and the kite shield strapped to his forearm is unpainted.

Originally, Cyrus was banished from the Dwarven Kingdoms at a very young age. He was constantly getting into trouble for not following directions, even moreso than other young dwarves. After breaking so many laws his father declared him a nuisance to the Family, he failed to pass his initiation into manhood. Not wanting to remain subservient for another long year, he stole one of the locked stone boxes from the Clerics of the hold and fled. Ironically, as he begged and scrapped for survival in the human lands, Cyrus sold the very same stone box he had never managed to open.

Wanting to have nothing more to do with his dwarven heritage he took an alias of the human, a God of the sun to prove his willingness to live above ground. But his troublesome luck and gruff attitude have stuck with him in the human lands. Over the years he has done a variety of things to get a bit of gold coin. Having only brawn and battle skills with which to barter, most of what he has done is less than honorable.

Now an aging mercenary who is perennially down on his luck, Cyrus has lived most of his life in a culture which has no place for him. He was part of the Broken Horn mercenaries until about one year ago, when the entire company was either captured or killed. All except him, that is. Fortune smiled on him that day when nature called and he missed the attack. Or so he told himself. Actually he had hid in the outhouse hole trembling in fear after accidentally leading the County’s troops to the company’s hideout. Vowing revenge on the “heroes” who had brought his friends to “justice”, Cyrus has been hunting his arch-enemies for last several months..

He has spent the past 3 days observing the orcs. They have taken prisoners from other caves and brought them to this one. Now with battle joined you've gone to check out what's inside.

 

[howandwhy99]

[Session 10]

Cyrus hated surprises. They meant bad luck normally. This time however it seemed the surprise was working in his favor. After three days of waiting, battle was finally joined and without him in it. He hoped his small form would go unnoticed during the frenzy. Leaving his hiding spot and climbing up the hillside, Cyrus bypassed the lower caves. As Cyrus neared the entrance he was aiming for he noticed two strange women watching him. One was covered in leaves. The other wore dark robes and held a sling in one hand. “This is a hell of a place to meet womenfolk”, he thought. After nearly slipping on a small pile of wet bones he reached the cave mouth and looked inside. His map showed three rooms to the left, but he did not trust the source he bought it from. Turning right instead he came to another intersection. A flight of stairs led up to his left and another down to his right. Taking a wild guess he chose down.

Kayla ran back into the cave entrance were Darius was standing over Mirel and Ben. The girl looked a little worse for wear, but Father Ben seemed as out of sorts as usual. Dram was fighting an orc farther inside. The creature seemed partially immersed in an unnatural black shadow. The darkness covered the entire area in front of them and intersection beyond. Ormond the Redd came over, helped Mirel up, and started firing into the blackness and hopefully orcs beyond. “Darius, there is another dwarf here. He ran into the ‘man-eater’ cave. The one marked ‘H’. Here.” She pointed at the map. Darius looked up at Kayla. “Is he an enemy or an ally?” She thought for a second, “Well, he looked rather unkempt. And he just ignored me before running into the cave, so I would say neither.” “We have more important things to worry about.” Darius responded. “Is there anything you can do about this infernal shadow?” Kayla shook her head. Frustrated, Darius raised his hammer and rushed into the darkness to find his friends. Kayla ran back to Holly outside to keep lookout. “We’ve really stirred up a hornet’s nest now”, she told her.

Cyrus descended thirty feet clanking as quietly as he could in his old plate armor. The stair opened into a square room with a single orc inside. It ran at him swinging a sword, but before it could scream Cyrus brought down his axe and cut its face in two. It slumped to the floor dead. Cyrus surveyed the room. There was a metal door with barred windows to the left and an identical one to the right. No other exits could be seen. “Lucky so far”, the thought. He jumped and grabbed the bars and pulled his face up to the right door’s window. Inside he saw a row of humanoids. A burly gnoll was in front, but humans, goblins and more were behind it. Each was manacled with arms above their heads to a chain along the ceiling. The chain lead from the top of the door he hung on to the far end of the deep hallway-like prison cell.

The darkness was unlike any Darius had ever known. He felt as if he had been blindfolded and asked to fight. He gritted his teeth. He was feeling up to the challenge. He knew only Pax and Dalin wore plate armor like himself. All the orcs he had seen had been wearing mail, so Darius swung his hammer into anything with the slightest give. There were fewer foes than he had expected in the magical darkness. It took a couple of minutes, but he eventually found Pax. The mountainous man was grappling with several furry paws holding him to the ground. Darius began pounding on what fingers he could find.

Dalin gathered his courage and kept stepping forward until he was out of the darkness. He had felt confident in his new stylish armor, but was beginning to regret his rash decision. Keeping the darkness to his back and a wall to one side he managed fend off the orcs from completely surrounding him. Unfortunately, the three he faced were determined foes started swinging their swords against his armor. Further down the hall he spotted the female shamaness. She had an evil glint in her eye as she watched him being beaten. “Help!” he cried out to the darkness behind him. Dalin had decided it was about time for his own reinforcements. “HELP!” Charging into the orcs in front of him, he tried plowing his way to the shamaness. “If she dies, so does the darkness”, he thought. But the female stepped back behind a bend in the tunnel and more reserve orcs ran forward to face him. Five began bashing on his armor as he tried to block their blows. One punctured, then another. As he fell to the floor Dalin entered his own realm of darkness.

 

[howandwhy99]

Cyrus moved to the other prison cell door. Pulling himself up, he saw two humans in front with more humanoids lined up behind them. The front human was brawny and covered in thick black hair. The other looked enfeebled. Unfortunately, they were not who he was looking for, but he pulled on the door anyways. “This has got to be done quickly”, he thought to himself. Not surprisingly, the door was locked. He found the keys on the dead orc’s body along with a coin pouch and dagger. Opening the door all the prisoners inside lurched forward a step. It was then he noticed the prisoners’ ceiling chain was locked to the door’s interior just above the window. Cyrus tried several keys before he found the right one for the chain. “Move! Move!” he said to the two humans in front. They walked their manacles off the hanging chain and slumped to the floor in exhaustion. A goblin behind them tried to move itself off to, but Cyrus kicked it back. Locking the chain to the door again he checked down the line: all humanoids, some were orcs even.

Cyrus turned back to the exhausted human slaves on the floor.
"Pendra... and Certa... still live..." gasped the brawny human in front.
"YES! My enemies will pay for what they have done!" Cyrus called out in triumph.
He used the keys he found on the dead orc’s body to unlock the humans’ manacles. Then he brandished his bloodied axe in their faces. "NEVER CROSS ME!" he threatened. Turning back Cyrus began cutting the heads off of the hobgoblins, goblins, kobolds, and other strange creatures squirming along the slave chain.

Realizing the desperateness of his situation, the invisible Igor began dodging through the horde of orcs in the hall before him. It was difficult as he was essentially blind, so when he bumped into one he pushed it aside roughly and grunted loudly. Then he ran a few more steps forward. By the time he made it past three orcs on the left side of the tunnel he could hear others stumbling into each other. Now they seemed to be arguing with themselves instead of waiting to fight his friends. After another push and darting step, Igor was practically charging down the hallway. Tripping and falling, he tumbled over some hairy figures and what felt like one very small orc, which had fallen to the ground. Trying to keep his speed and direction, he eventually stepped right out into daylight. Dram was swinging his sword towards Igor’s head. The large man managed to stop himself just in time. “Where did you come from?” Igor looked down at himself. He was visible again.

Darius listened to the orcs growling in the darkness. The pitch of battle seemed to have quieted however. Pax was still conscious, but struggled with an orc bear-hugged in his arms. Feeling up to the creature’s head, Darius shattered its skull with his hammer. “Pax. It’s Darius. Can you stand? We need to move out of this blindness.” Pax agreed and the two crawled along the floor trying to find an exit. Something fell on top of Darius flattening him to the ground, but it scrambled away before he could hit it in return. Determined to have some payback, Darius led Pax after the attacker. The two crawled out into the sunlit entranceway. He saw Dram pushing Igor out of the way. “Where is he?” the paladin growled. Mirel answered. “Darius! Dalin is still in there!” The dwarf helped Pax to his feet. Father Ben pulled out bandages for them as Dram and Igor moved into positions in front of the darkness. “He was shouting. Down towards the right.” Mirel pleaded. “But now he’s stopped!”

Darius nodded. He understood. Ormand the Redd was ordered to cease firing into the cave. The arrows shooting out at them had stopped a few minutes ago. Darius needed a volunteer to go back in and find Dalin with him. He also asked for possible escape plans, “before this madness gets any worse.” “We can leave in me packsack. I move fastest.” Igor answered. Darius fixed his gaze on him. “That should work. But Holly will lead the way. And no one leaves until I get back!” With that, Darius ran into the blackness alone trailing his right hand along the caveside. Dram lit a torch and ran after him. After only a few steps around the right-hand corner Darius could see again with his darkvision. Three orcs were picking over Dalin’s body. Blood pooled beneath it. Upon seeing him, they stood up and growled down the otherwise empty hall. Dram moved up from behind Darius and lit up the room. The orcs rushed at them and wailed. Their howling was soon joined from all directions.

 

[howandwhy99]

Telling the foolish humans to keep their mouths shut, Cyrus moved to the second doorway. Time seemed to be rushing by and he wondered when an orc guard would be checking in on them. Opening the second door, he was faced with another problem. The gnoll in front was very tall and looked very angry. “Simple enough”, thought Cyrus. Cutting the heads off the humanoids, he counted only three blood-splattered humans when he finished. He gave them the same warning as the first two. Then he led each off the slave chain and shut back the door and locked it. Ordering the brawny human to help, the orc guard’s body was dragged back into the first jail cell and that door was closed and locked as well. “Okay. We are getting out of here. But you have to listen to me. Don’t say anything. And maybe we’ll be all right. Now hold hands.” Cyrus led the five humans up the stairs. They were breathing as loud as forge bellows in his ears. Coming to the corner he spied around into the darkness.

Darius killed one orc by smashing its mouth in with his hammer. The other two stopped howling and raised their shields with the cracked skull emblem upon up to their faces. Dram pressed his attack clashing swords, while a second orc retreated in fear back down the tunnel. Darius bent down to examine Dalin. Thor’s healing power had already been given to another that day. “BEN!” Darius expected a whole patrol of orc troops through the darkness at any moment. Fortunately, Father Ben’s form appeared first. He put his hands on Dalin’s body and started praying. A golden healing light transferred from the priest’s body to the broken fighter’s. Dram was in a lather as he began pummeling the last orc with his torch hand. Dazing it, he ran it through with his longsword. Then Dram swiftly turned back, picked up Dalin’s body, and ran off into the magical darkness. Darius led Father Ben out as the cleric groped around to see. Dram had left with the only torch.

Outside in the entranceway, Igor was trying to convince people to hop into his backpack. Dram dumped Dalin’s body inside and Ben was pushed in after it. Others started following them. Kayla came back running from the hillside. She said to Darius, “The dwarf has returned. He is running up to the top of the hill. And he is leading five naked men behind him.” “Good for him”, replied Darius. “Let’s get out of here before anyone else dies.” Igor asked Kayla why none of the orcs had attacked since he had begun guarding the entrance. He could still hear dozens of orcs howling. The team could not have killed but a handful of them. Kayla suggested the orcs might be scared of the dark. It seemed silly to Igor, but Darius the Dwarf agreed with her. The funny man giggled uncomfortably.

Moving out of the cavern and onto the hill, the rest of the group climbed into Igor’s sack. Only he and Holly were left. They ran as fast as they could southward up, over, and down the other side of the hilltop. Cutting a quick path back to the left, they eventually reached the Greenwillow River again. After a short hike, they reentered the Quasquaton cave and removed the party only after reaching the tunnel’s collapsed end. Father Ben had bandaged Dalin’s body while in the bottom of the pack and now he poured two doses of healing juice down the man’s throat. According to Ben, Dalin was still alive, but hovering on the edge of death.

Having spent the night out in the woods, plenty of daylight was left to travel. Father Ben suggested moving Dalin to Keep Margrave as quickly as possible. Though his friend was in dire shape, Ben believed the cavern might actually continue to collapse. “And we can use Igor’s sack. I’ll ride along inside, while the rest of you walk back. You know, to watch the body.” The others agreed. Their three scouts, Igor, Holly, and Dram, led them down the hill and back to the remains of Outpost Xavier. Igor brushed their tracks away as they walked. Upon reaching the road, Holly walked alongside in the brush again. The rest took their chances on the road, but were fortunate as no other travelers were met along the way.

When they came within sight of the Keep everyone began climbing into Igor’s pack. Holly asked if she could stay outside the town again. She preferred to rest in the woods. Darius agreed to it. Alone, Igor snuck along the hillside surrounding Keep Margrave. He found the secret tunnel he had explored without Mouse’s knowledge. After crawling for what an entire hour, he exited into the basement of the supply store. Once inside the temple he pulled the others out. They were all relieved to be home. As night fell, some left to attend to their proper duties and chambers within the Keep. Dram and Mirel stayed with Dalin as he slept the rest of the evening. Father Ben meditated in private. Igor slipped off to attend to his own agenda. The day’s heat cooled as the sun set and the stars came out for the night.

 

[howandwhy99]

[DAY 71 – Feastday, Azer 3rd, CY 81]
– [DAY 79 – Weddingday, Azer 11th, CY 81]

When Ben woke up the next morning he noticed Mirel and Dram snoozing in beds near Dalin. Ben attempted again to heal the sick man again with his prayers, but the divine energies were no longer enough. Dalin’s body was whole, but his heart and soul needed time to recuperate. Ben knew the feeling well. Pounding came from the rear door. Igor rushed inside. “The Dwarf ‘s collectin’ ever’body. Follow me.” Dram and Mirel were woken and they all walked down to the Keep’s front entrance and bailey tower. Captain Darius and Lord Ratcliffe were standing in front of another dwarf and five nude men. The watchguard were doing there best to cover them with clothes.

“Then hail to you Good Cyrus of the Dwarves. You are a Hero here in Margrave.”
Lord Ratcliffe paused and looked to his left. “Meet Captain Darius the ... uh... Champion of the Dwarfs. Perhaps you know each other?”
Ormand, Kayla, Ben, and the others approached.
“And these are his worthy Companions” Ratcliffe swept his arm around nearly hitting Dram in the face. The team examined the dwarf. He wore full plate, but Darius saw it was not dwarven made. It was a dull grey. Igor noticed the pricey dagger at his side. It was easily finer than any blade he had ever seen. And Igor considered himself a connoisseur. Kayla remembered Cyrus immediately. He still looked exactly the same as when she saw him at the Chaos Caves. Only the dagger was new.

“’s there a reward?” Cyrus mumbled out.
“Yes! Of course!” Radcliff said. “The joy in your heart for five lives rescued!”
Cyrus harrumphed and walked away into town.
“Well that was strange” said Ratcliffe.
“Yes, it was” replied Darius.
The group began questioning the five escapees. Their feet were cut up and bodies covered in dirt. Only the large, muscular one would speak. He said his name was Reynaldo. He was not the first one in the caves to be captured, but he had been inside for several weeks. When asked about Cyrus his eyes grew wide. He started repeating “He... saved us”. Reynaldo looked in the direction Cyrus the dwarf walked off in. From that point on the group could get little more out of him.

For the next eight days Dalin slumbered. As Ben and the others prayed for his recovery, each spent the time to his or her best advantage. Darius, Dram, Pax, and Ormand the Redd all trained in swordsmanship with Lord Ratcliffe. For a Lord, he seemed to have quite a bit of free time. One day during training he mentioned how he had found a huge map of the County. It was built into a large table which had been turned upside down in his room. He was very proud to have found it. Dram started sketching it as best he could. Seeing his students were so interested, Radcliffe handed them a slim book to read. “Here. This was found underneath the table. It is of little use to me. I’ve already read the story. Terribly few pictures I’m afraid. I just need to return it to Lady Devereaux when you’re done.” Darius paged through the journal. It was actually a ledger with notes on all the items bought, sold, and traded by the Keep. The past few years of the Keep’s activities and procedure were all logged within. Darius thanked Ratcliffe. “It is nothing. You are in charge of the Keep’s guard you know. Work hard. Don’t dawdle.”


Click map for a larger version

In her Advisor’s room, Kayla examined the ledger Darius shown her. She saw nothing unusual or strange about it and gave it back. She actually was busy studying her spells and had almost no free time to talk. She kept her door shut and muffled whenever the others fought with practice swords with Radcliff. Father Ben during his time had not yet even entered Father Hedrach’s old chambers in the temple. Though, as new head priest they were meant for Ben. The stonemasons were finishing off the brickwork around the office and the roof would soon be laid too. In the meantime, Ben prayed each day in the meditation chambers below in order to create six holy water vials. When he was not praying he watched over Dalin. Igor chose to spend his nights in Mouse’s shop as the little man had still not returned. After moving the others hardly saw him at all. Dram spotted him at one point talking with a few travelers at the front gate who were looking for an Inn to spend the night at. The original was still barren and charred, but repairs were slowly underway. Mirel also saw Igor as she practiced her hiding. She noticed he was spending a lot of time with Kayla again in her room. It did not seem unusual to her any longer and since no one asked she did not bother to tell anyone. Besides, Mirel found it impossible to hear through the door. Bored with Dalin being asleep and already knowing the good hiding spots in the Keep, Mirel fell back into her old habits and started living at home with her family again.

 

[howandwhy99]

On Sunday a makeshift tavern was set up in the intact portion of the old Inn to drum up more money for repair costs. Dram made it a point to heartily patronize the worthy cause. From the other drinkers he heard news about a group of woodsmen lost in the Forest. As best he could determine the woodsmen had gone to cut logs in the Greenwillow two months ago and none had been seen since. Dram wondered how far in the wood they could have traveled. He pressed for any other rumors which had spread. Unfortunately, his drinking companions turned sour. According to one “those do-gooder Rangers Pendra and Certa met their match in the mountains.” Dram punched his mug into the drunk’s face. Blood and mead sprayed out. Come morning Dram decided not to go back to the tavern for awhile.

On the ninth morning, Weddingday, Dalin finally awoke much to everyone’s relief. Captain Darius called a meeting in his chambers inside the inner bailey. The hired men Ormand and Pax were told to keep watch and were left to stand guard outside the room. The rest of the team watched as Darius stood up on a chair to be heard. “Many of you may remember how Dalin won my sword back at the Midsummer’s Festival.” Darius held the sword aloft. “I had sent it secretly along with a letter to the Dwarven Kingdoms to the south. Unfortunately, the assassins or bandits on the roads around the Keep must have waylaid the messenger. After much debate”, with this he looked down at Kayla “I have decided it would be wise to travel to Harling and gain Lady Margrave’s permission before calling on the Dwarves. I invite you all to travel with me.”

He paused to read the faces watching him. Darius had said nothing about the ill rumors of dwarves spreading through the County. He had spoken to nearly every soldier in the Keep trying to gauge his status and felt himself well liked. But he knew Kayla was right about not journeying straight on to the Dwarven Nations, as he had originally desired. That trip would likely follow. He believed if he could convince the band to follow him to Harling, continuing on farther south would seem a natural. Darius urgently wished to travel home. He could feel a force tugging on his soul. Something was waiting in the southern mountains for him.

Darius spoke again. “If you remember, Lady Margrave holds the City, while we and Lord Radcliffe now hold the Keep. With Lord Margrave gone so far north to the Front, her Ladyship is left alone to watch the nobles in Harling. Now Kayla has mentioned knowing of some advisors to her Lady Margrave who might help us in convincing her to our cause. I think…”
“I cannot go” Ben cut him off. “I sent word to Father Stauk-Flezr my superior to send a replacement for me. I know you serve the County honorably by traveling, but I simply cannot leave the good folk here without some clerical guidance. Healing is needed for the soldiers in the outposts. Wise decisions are still called upon from me by the populace.”
Darius jumped back in “It is okay, Father Ben. Not everyone needs to come.”

“I cannot go either,” said Dram. “I have family business to take care of. With the gold I have now, I can pay off my father’s debt and release him from prison.”
Darius had Dram pull out the sketched map of Margrave County he had drawn before. He pointed out how Dram’s hometown of Hamfast could be traveled through to reach Harling, if they chose.
“Is Clares on that thing too?” asked Dalin. “I’ll go with, if it’s on the way.”
Kayla stopped whispering in Igor’s ear and she stepped forward. She pointed out how while she had never been there herself, she knew Clares to be in the outskirts of Harling City. Dalin nodded his assent.

Kayla and Igor accepted the invitation without argument. Mirel was hiding along the wall when Darius’s gaze found her. She preferred to stay at the Keep she said. With the recent attacks she did not feel right leaving her family. Holly the Druidess said she would leave… but to go into the Forest, not to the City. With Barth gone from the Keep she felt her true need was in protecting Greenwillow Forest. The others were somewhat taken back. Ash she left they all said their goodbyes. Holly departed quickly and Darius turned back towards Ben. “I will do what I can to find your replacement and bring him safely back. Guard this place well. It is still our last defense against the forces in the Caves.”
Behind them Igor was whispering to Kayla again. He held up three fingers and ticked one off.