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The Rise of Felskein [Completed]
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<blockquote data-quote="Iron Sky" data-source="post: 4155696" data-attributes="member: 60965"><p>Session 2, Part 2</p><p></p><p>Ilsa motioned for Kendrin to drop and Kendrin crawled up beside her. </p><p></p><p>"What'd you see?" he whispered.</p><p></p><p>"Not sure, just movement, up there on that hill to the south" Their eyes met and an unspoken word passed between them. <em>Hobgoblins</em>. </p><p></p><p>Ilsa let out a long breath and strapped her tower shield on. "Ok, well, I sneak like fish walk, so we might as well just rush them. You ready?"</p><p></p><p>Kendrin nodded, pulled his shield from his back and his mace from his belt-loop.</p><p></p><p>"All set? Ok, let's go!"</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>"Movement, north," Harold hissed, nocking an arrow and dropping to one knee. Ming stood from examining the trapdoor they'd discovered, her sword scraping from her back. Suniel slid his hand into his sleeve, and the small component pouch he had sewn there.</p><p></p><p>Of all the things he expected to come over the hill, a dwarf and a half-elf were the least. By the way they slid to a stop, he had the idea that they were as surprised at the meeting as he was.</p><p></p><p>Ming lowered her sword, but Harold kept an arrow trained on the dwarf.</p><p></p><p>"Who are you, what are you doing here?" he said.</p><p></p><p>The dwarf's eyes dropped to the trapdoor and back to Harold. Her sword lowered. </p><p></p><p>"If you're here to kill hobgoblins, then we're on the same side. If you're just visiting friends, then we've got a problem," the dwarf said.</p><p></p><p>Ming shrugged and went back to uncovering the trapdoor. Harold hesitated a moment longer before lowering his bow as well. Suniel walked over to the newcomers and extended his hand. "Suniel. The big woman is Ming and the one with the bow is Harold."</p><p></p><p>The dwarven woman took his hand and gave it a firm shake. "Ilsa Goldhammer, and this is my companion Kendrin Moonfire."</p><p></p><p>Suniel nodded to them both and turned as Ming heaved the heavy trapdoor open. Immediately a voice called up from below in goblin. "Who goes there?"</p><p></p><p>They all stepped back from the trapdoor and readied their weapons again. </p><p></p><p>"Patrol returning," Harold said, in heavily accented goblin. </p><p></p><p>Suniel suppressed a wince and glanced in his direction. Harold grinned back and winked. The others looked at them with questioning expressions.</p><p></p><p>There was a long pause below before the voice called back up. "Jump down then."</p><p></p><p>There was a quick exchange of glances and Harold mimed a jumping motion and gestured to the hole. There was a long pause, then Ming mumbled something Suniel didn't quite catch and jumped down. Suniel immediately moved to the edge of the hole and glanced in to see a narrow shaft dropping twenty feet to a thick pile of furs. As he watched, Ming hit the furs, cursed loudly and vanished, the hidden trapdoor the furs were nailed to spinning to reveal hard wood.</p><p></p><p>Harold swore and jumped down, landing on the trapdoor but leaping off and out of sight before it had a chance to spin and dump him in the pit beneath it. Suniel heard the thrum of a bowstring and a roar of pain from below.</p><p></p><p>Suniel saw the trapdoor start to lift and made a motion to stop the dwarf, but was too late: Ilsa leapt in with a dwarven war cry.</p><p></p><p>Ming glanced up in surprise as she strained to pull herself out of the trap, then the dwarf slammed into her and they both disappeared - dwarven tower shield and all. The trapdoor spun again and when it stopped, Suniel heard the distinct sound of a latch clicking, leaving the fur side showing.</p><p></p><p>Kendrin jumped in without a moment's hesitation, bounced off the thick furs, and charged out of sight with a shout of, "Gilderalin!"</p><p></p><p>The sounds of combat below intensified. Suniel sighed, took a deep breath, and jumped.</p><p></p><p>Though he half-expected to fall through to whatever lay beneath the trap, the heavy furs absorbed his fall and he sprang immediately to his feet.</p><p></p><p>Ahead was a narrow tunnel only a few feet across with Harold in heated combat with a hobgoblin in the middle of it. Kendrin stood behind him, tense, mace hefted and ready to swing if the opportunity presented itself in the cramped space and Suniel saw a hobgoblin behind the one Harold was fighting standing in a similar stance.</p><p></p><p>Harold seemed to be holding his own, so Suniel bent and examined the trapdoor, finding the latch quickly and releasing it. </p><p></p><p><em>Have to give the hobgoblins some credit</em>, he thought. <em>P</em><em>retty clever</em>.</p><p></p><p>A moment later, the trapdoor swung open, a meaty hand clutching at the edge. Suniel reached down and helped haul Ming and Ilsa out then turned to see Harold drive his sword up into the hobgoblin's gut. The last hobgoblin turned and fled down the dark tunnel.</p><p></p><p>"We have to catch it," Harold said, conjuring up glowing orbs of light with a gesture and running after it. Kendrin quickly followed. Suniel stepped aside to let Ilsa and a limping, bloodied Ming past.</p><p></p><p>Catching his look of surprise, Ming growled, "spikes in the pit" as she passed.</p><p></p><p>Suniel nodded sympathetically and followed.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Vuroosk grabbed his bow, slammed the door open, and rushed out of his quarters. One of the new ones Neergrog had sent him was running from the south sentry tunnel, splattered with blood and shouting something about an attack.</p><p></p><p>"To arms, we're under attack," Vuroosk bellowed, grabbing the sentry as he tried to run past and throwing him back the direction he was running from. About him, his troops rousted from their bunks and he heard shouts from the north tunnel. He readied his bow and aimed for the south tunnel.</p><p></p><p>He didn't have to wait long.</p><p></p><p>A huge shield slid out of the tunnel and he embedded an arrow deep into the wood as chaos broke out around him. From behind the shield arrows flew and downed two of his hobgoblins and a moment later a giant human female with a sword leapt out and cleaved Hunner almost in half. With a roar, a dozen hobgoblins converged on them from all directions and battle was joined.</p><p></p><p>Vuroosk shifted to catch a bead on the enemy archer through the fray, but the human was faster. An arrow slammed into Vuroosk's leg and another embedded in his shoulder, sending his own arrow flying wide. He gritted his teeth in pain and fired again, his arrows disappearing into the clash.</p><p></p><p>He ducked as another two arrows slammed into the door behind him and he fired back, his arm and leg pounding with pain from the arrows.</p><p></p><p>As he reached for another arrow, a third took him in the side. Another flew past as he staggered back into his room, fumbling for a potion from his belt-pouch.</p><p></p><p>He jerked the arrow from his side and drank a potion as the sounds of battle raged outside. He was reaching for another when the enemy archer suddenly appeared in the doorway. Vuroosk lurched for his bow as another arrow slammed into him. He staggered back and fired a final arrow in return before collapsing.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Hoortchuc motioned for the beast handler to set them loose and peeked into the barracks. The battle was pitched and seemed to be going badly. He gathered his courage and charged into the room, shouting a dark blessing on the faltering hobgoblins and almost slamming into a human with a longbow who had somehow slipped past the main line of battle.</p><p></p><p>The human turned on him with a grim look on his monstrous face and Hoortchuc sprinted quickly past into Vuroosk's chambers, arrows whizzing about him. Vuroosk sat slumped against the wall, blood seeping out of three or four arrow wounds. Hoortchuc hazarded a glance to the barracks and saw Trokken and Tusk pressing the archer hard. From the den, the beasts roared and Hoortchuc grinned.</p><p></p><p>With a heave, he pulled Vuroosk onto his back. He'd never realized how much the hulking sergeant weighed, but then he never thought he'd have to carry him on his back through a battlefield, especially one <em>inside</em> the outpost.</p><p></p><p>He made his way back out into the chaos in time to see the dwarf kill another and rush to the aid of the archer. His eyes locked with the bestial eyes of a brown-robed elf that stepped from the south passage and Hoortchuc murmured a prayer and pushed on.</p><p></p><p>He was almost to the den when pain flared in his legs and they went out from beneath him. Whimpering, he pulled himself around the corner and glanced at the smoking black holes in the backs of each of his legs.</p><p></p><p>Vuroosk forgotten, he chanted and pressed the dark symbol of his ring into each of the wounds, nearly screaming as it seared them shut. Then he noticed the beast master sprawled on the ground, an arrow shaft jutting from his back.</p><p></p><p>Hoortchuc ran to the body and ripped the keys from its belt.</p><p></p><p><em>I may die</em>, he thought as he ran across the rank filth of the den to the cage, <em>but the beasts will feast on elf-flesh first</em>.</p><p></p><p>The beasts strained against the bars so hard that, for a moment, he thought he wasn't going to be able to turn the lock. Then there was a solid <em>click </em>and the cage flew open, the door swinging with such force that it knocked him backwards across the room. He landed heavily on his back, stunned.</p><p></p><p>When he was able to roll to his hands and knees he saw the beasts pinning the dwarf flat beneath its shield, its companions shouting in dismay and trying futilely to take the creatures down. He grinned again through his gasps.</p><p></p><p>Then there was movement out of the corner of his eye and the huge woman appeared like something from a nightmare, silver-haired, bleeding from half-a-dozen wounds and splattered with gore. Her eyes were the worst, bright and burning with rage. He raised his hand to protect himself just as the terrible blade of her sword came down.</p><p></p><p>There was an explosion of pain and then nothing.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Iron Sky, post: 4155696, member: 60965"] Session 2, Part 2 Ilsa motioned for Kendrin to drop and Kendrin crawled up beside her. "What'd you see?" he whispered. "Not sure, just movement, up there on that hill to the south" Their eyes met and an unspoken word passed between them. [I]Hobgoblins[/I]. Ilsa let out a long breath and strapped her tower shield on. "Ok, well, I sneak like fish walk, so we might as well just rush them. You ready?" Kendrin nodded, pulled his shield from his back and his mace from his belt-loop. "All set? Ok, let's go!" *** "Movement, north," Harold hissed, nocking an arrow and dropping to one knee. Ming stood from examining the trapdoor they'd discovered, her sword scraping from her back. Suniel slid his hand into his sleeve, and the small component pouch he had sewn there. Of all the things he expected to come over the hill, a dwarf and a half-elf were the least. By the way they slid to a stop, he had the idea that they were as surprised at the meeting as he was. Ming lowered her sword, but Harold kept an arrow trained on the dwarf. "Who are you, what are you doing here?" he said. The dwarf's eyes dropped to the trapdoor and back to Harold. Her sword lowered. "If you're here to kill hobgoblins, then we're on the same side. If you're just visiting friends, then we've got a problem," the dwarf said. Ming shrugged and went back to uncovering the trapdoor. Harold hesitated a moment longer before lowering his bow as well. Suniel walked over to the newcomers and extended his hand. "Suniel. The big woman is Ming and the one with the bow is Harold." The dwarven woman took his hand and gave it a firm shake. "Ilsa Goldhammer, and this is my companion Kendrin Moonfire." Suniel nodded to them both and turned as Ming heaved the heavy trapdoor open. Immediately a voice called up from below in goblin. "Who goes there?" They all stepped back from the trapdoor and readied their weapons again. "Patrol returning," Harold said, in heavily accented goblin. Suniel suppressed a wince and glanced in his direction. Harold grinned back and winked. The others looked at them with questioning expressions. There was a long pause below before the voice called back up. "Jump down then." There was a quick exchange of glances and Harold mimed a jumping motion and gestured to the hole. There was a long pause, then Ming mumbled something Suniel didn't quite catch and jumped down. Suniel immediately moved to the edge of the hole and glanced in to see a narrow shaft dropping twenty feet to a thick pile of furs. As he watched, Ming hit the furs, cursed loudly and vanished, the hidden trapdoor the furs were nailed to spinning to reveal hard wood. Harold swore and jumped down, landing on the trapdoor but leaping off and out of sight before it had a chance to spin and dump him in the pit beneath it. Suniel heard the thrum of a bowstring and a roar of pain from below. Suniel saw the trapdoor start to lift and made a motion to stop the dwarf, but was too late: Ilsa leapt in with a dwarven war cry. Ming glanced up in surprise as she strained to pull herself out of the trap, then the dwarf slammed into her and they both disappeared - dwarven tower shield and all. The trapdoor spun again and when it stopped, Suniel heard the distinct sound of a latch clicking, leaving the fur side showing. Kendrin jumped in without a moment's hesitation, bounced off the thick furs, and charged out of sight with a shout of, "Gilderalin!" The sounds of combat below intensified. Suniel sighed, took a deep breath, and jumped. Though he half-expected to fall through to whatever lay beneath the trap, the heavy furs absorbed his fall and he sprang immediately to his feet. Ahead was a narrow tunnel only a few feet across with Harold in heated combat with a hobgoblin in the middle of it. Kendrin stood behind him, tense, mace hefted and ready to swing if the opportunity presented itself in the cramped space and Suniel saw a hobgoblin behind the one Harold was fighting standing in a similar stance. Harold seemed to be holding his own, so Suniel bent and examined the trapdoor, finding the latch quickly and releasing it. [I]Have to give the hobgoblins some credit[/I], he thought. [I]P[/I][I]retty clever[/I]. A moment later, the trapdoor swung open, a meaty hand clutching at the edge. Suniel reached down and helped haul Ming and Ilsa out then turned to see Harold drive his sword up into the hobgoblin's gut. The last hobgoblin turned and fled down the dark tunnel. "We have to catch it," Harold said, conjuring up glowing orbs of light with a gesture and running after it. Kendrin quickly followed. Suniel stepped aside to let Ilsa and a limping, bloodied Ming past. Catching his look of surprise, Ming growled, "spikes in the pit" as she passed. Suniel nodded sympathetically and followed. *** Vuroosk grabbed his bow, slammed the door open, and rushed out of his quarters. One of the new ones Neergrog had sent him was running from the south sentry tunnel, splattered with blood and shouting something about an attack. "To arms, we're under attack," Vuroosk bellowed, grabbing the sentry as he tried to run past and throwing him back the direction he was running from. About him, his troops rousted from their bunks and he heard shouts from the north tunnel. He readied his bow and aimed for the south tunnel. He didn't have to wait long. A huge shield slid out of the tunnel and he embedded an arrow deep into the wood as chaos broke out around him. From behind the shield arrows flew and downed two of his hobgoblins and a moment later a giant human female with a sword leapt out and cleaved Hunner almost in half. With a roar, a dozen hobgoblins converged on them from all directions and battle was joined. Vuroosk shifted to catch a bead on the enemy archer through the fray, but the human was faster. An arrow slammed into Vuroosk's leg and another embedded in his shoulder, sending his own arrow flying wide. He gritted his teeth in pain and fired again, his arrows disappearing into the clash. He ducked as another two arrows slammed into the door behind him and he fired back, his arm and leg pounding with pain from the arrows. As he reached for another arrow, a third took him in the side. Another flew past as he staggered back into his room, fumbling for a potion from his belt-pouch. He jerked the arrow from his side and drank a potion as the sounds of battle raged outside. He was reaching for another when the enemy archer suddenly appeared in the doorway. Vuroosk lurched for his bow as another arrow slammed into him. He staggered back and fired a final arrow in return before collapsing. *** Hoortchuc motioned for the beast handler to set them loose and peeked into the barracks. The battle was pitched and seemed to be going badly. He gathered his courage and charged into the room, shouting a dark blessing on the faltering hobgoblins and almost slamming into a human with a longbow who had somehow slipped past the main line of battle. The human turned on him with a grim look on his monstrous face and Hoortchuc sprinted quickly past into Vuroosk's chambers, arrows whizzing about him. Vuroosk sat slumped against the wall, blood seeping out of three or four arrow wounds. Hoortchuc hazarded a glance to the barracks and saw Trokken and Tusk pressing the archer hard. From the den, the beasts roared and Hoortchuc grinned. With a heave, he pulled Vuroosk onto his back. He'd never realized how much the hulking sergeant weighed, but then he never thought he'd have to carry him on his back through a battlefield, especially one [I]inside[/I] the outpost. He made his way back out into the chaos in time to see the dwarf kill another and rush to the aid of the archer. His eyes locked with the bestial eyes of a brown-robed elf that stepped from the south passage and Hoortchuc murmured a prayer and pushed on. He was almost to the den when pain flared in his legs and they went out from beneath him. Whimpering, he pulled himself around the corner and glanced at the smoking black holes in the backs of each of his legs. Vuroosk forgotten, he chanted and pressed the dark symbol of his ring into each of the wounds, nearly screaming as it seared them shut. Then he noticed the beast master sprawled on the ground, an arrow shaft jutting from his back. Hoortchuc ran to the body and ripped the keys from its belt. [I]I may die[/I], he thought as he ran across the rank filth of the den to the cage, [I]but the beasts will feast on elf-flesh first[/I]. The beasts strained against the bars so hard that, for a moment, he thought he wasn't going to be able to turn the lock. Then there was a solid [I]click [/I]and the cage flew open, the door swinging with such force that it knocked him backwards across the room. He landed heavily on his back, stunned. When he was able to roll to his hands and knees he saw the beasts pinning the dwarf flat beneath its shield, its companions shouting in dismay and trying futilely to take the creatures down. He grinned again through his gasps. Then there was movement out of the corner of his eye and the huge woman appeared like something from a nightmare, silver-haired, bleeding from half-a-dozen wounds and splattered with gore. Her eyes were the worst, bright and burning with rage. He raised his hand to protect himself just as the terrible blade of her sword came down. There was an explosion of pain and then nothing. [/QUOTE]
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