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The Thorns of Winter -(updated 8/1/2023)
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<blockquote data-quote="Nthal" data-source="post: 8208720" data-attributes="member: 6971069"><p><h2 style="text-align: center"><p style="text-align: center">Tales by the Houselight - 2/24/2021</p> </h2><p></p><p>The group looked at each other awkwardly and then back at the girl standing before them. Her posture was a stark contrast to her appearance; matted brown hair, face streaked with dirt. Her clothing was torn, stained and now covered in soot. And while she stood there with only the slightest hint of a quiver in her nerves, her eyes bore into each of them, one by one.</p><p></p><p>“Now, little girl,” Doxx said, stepping towards Adrissa and smiling sweetly, “Where are your parents? We really need—”</p><p></p><p>“Don’t ‘little girl’ me,” Adrissa said flatly. “I want to know who <strong><em>you</em></strong> are. I want to know why you are here, and I want to know,” and she turned away and stared at the conflagration she had only moments before fled. “Who decided to burn down my…my…home,” she said her voice choking on the words as she stared into the flames.</p><p></p><p>Rosa bit her lip and then stepped towards the girl, “Honey, we were sent to...talk to your family because they thought there might be trouble.”</p><p></p><p>Adrissa nodded, “Trouble doesn’t even describe it.” She said, her voice quavering.</p><p></p><p>“What happened here?” Sage asked. “I take it you know the…corpses that attacked us.”</p><p></p><p>Adrissa looked down at the earth and sighed. “It started two months ago. It was a normal cold day, when the pots appeared.”</p><p></p><p>“Pots?” The Blade said thoroughly confused.</p><p></p><p>Adrissa nodded and continued, “Little clay pots, each with what looked to be a…what did mom call it?...a cutting. A yellow green plant with a flower ready to bloom. One for every bed in fact. My mom thought dad had arranged something, but at dinner he said he had no idea where they came from. That evening we all went to sleep…and the nightmare started.</p><p>“I woke up and the cutting had bloomed, and it was moving…reaching for me. I started screaming, and I woke my parents. My father grabbed an old sword he kept from the war and…hacked at the ones in the house and told us to run. We ran downstairs and out of the house. Outside, we found that some of the hands were…dead, and they were gathering some of the others together. I panicked and ran into the grass, while my mom and dad…stopped them from following me. Later I snuck my way back into the house, grabbed all the food I could and hid in the attic and…watched as they did things. And I saw their…leaders.”</p><p></p><p>“Leaders?” Bookshelf asked.</p><p></p><p>“They were small…but they were armed. Spears and bows, but the dead listened to them, used them to gather up the rest like our dogs guiding cattle,” Adrissa said choking at the irony. “I never saw one up close, and they hide in the grass real good. Then as the weather warmed, others came.</p><p></p><p>“What do you mean?” The Blade asked. “More little ones?”</p><p></p><p>“Yes…but they were…driving. Cattle. Sheep. People. Lots of them. They…they pushed them to the barn, and I heard people scream and they…faded away. And no one ever left.”</p><p></p><p>“And…your parents?” Rosa asked, her eyes watered expecting a grim answer.</p><p></p><p>“I didn’t see. They weren’t turned into those…corpse things. But I…I haven’t seen—” and she fell on her knees and hugged Rosa in tears, finally overcome by the ordeal.</p><p></p><p>Doxx looked at the cavernous barn and frowned. “A bunch of little folk with weapons pushed everyone into a single barn? This doesn’t make sense.”</p><p></p><p>“None of this does. We are missing something.” Bookshelf said quietly.</p><p></p><p>“Honey,” Rosa pulled back, and looked at Adrissa and clutched her hands. “There was another group. A woman and some Blademarks. Did you see them?”</p><p></p><p>Adrissa nodded, “Two weeks ago…I saw them.”</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p>“Where is everyone,” I said. It was midday and we had dismounted from the horses and walked them to the large ranch house.</p><p></p><p>“Well, I would think the ranchers would be where the cattle are,” Wy said as he and I started tying our horses to the hitching stand. “But that isn’t here. Men, by twos check the bunk houses and report back.”</p><p></p><p>“Yes sir,” the Blademarks responded, and in pairs started to look at the bunk houses.</p><p>Wy nodded, and looked around. “Well, if it were ogres, they seem to be very neat. Nothing broken or smashed.”</p><p></p><p>I nodded and thought a moment.</p><p></p><p><em>Goss…what do you see and smell?</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>--About the same as you; too much time camping and not enough time to groom.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>Goss…</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>--Ah right. Well, I don’t see anything more than you, but I do smell two things. A lot of a strong musky smell…and I smell wet…mold? No idea why.</em></p><p></p><p>“Can’t you just talk to him out loud?” Wy said smiling at me.</p><p></p><p>I chuckled, “And what? Look like I’m talking to myself all the time?”</p><p></p><p>“That’s just means that you are your own best friend. What did he say?”</p><p></p><p>“Musk and mold scents…not sure what that means.” I said as I squinted in the window. It must have been dark inside, but with my eyes I didn’t see people or anything. “It looks like no one is home here.”</p><p></p><p>“That is odd,” Wy said looking around again confused. “I would have expected someone to be here; the wife, children, to be doing things around the house. Some hands in the barn working on tack, fixing things. This is all…wrong.”</p><p></p><p>I stepped away from the house and used my hands to shield my eyes from the light, and took my own look around. I had a strange sensation though, nagging at me. I looked at the house behind me. But I saw nothing on the upper floor, only the creaking around the eves near the roof.”</p><p></p><p>“Sir, the bunk houses are empty, but there are a lot of tracks leading toward the barn.” Said Tiggart, a silver Blademark. Wy and I looked at each other and shrugged.</p><p></p><p><em>Goss…keep an eye out. This is all wrong still.</em></p><p><em></em></p><p><em>--Of course.</em></p><p></p><p>We walked over to the barn cautiously, and it became apparent that we were misled. The barn was farther from the house than we thought. The perspective I had was off for a simple reason; the barn was massive. It was far taller than the ranch house as two of them would easily fit inside the mammoth structure. The barn doors were wide open, and I could see empty stalls with straw bedding. We walked up to the edge of the wood planks and looked around, and seeing nothing obvious, we stepped inside.</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p>“I swore the woman looked right at me,” Adrissa said. “But I didn’t say anything. I was scared to. I knew that the yellow corpses hid under beds and cabinets when they weren’t needed.” Sighing a moment she looked at the others with tears in her eyes. “I watched the seven of them—”</p><p></p><p>“—Seven?” Doxx interrupted.</p><p></p><p>“Seven. Six people and that strange cat,” the girl answered.</p><p></p><p>“Strange? How?” Sage asked.</p><p></p><p>“It…had wings. I’ve never seen a winged cat before.”</p><p></p><p>“That’s silly,” Doxx said dismissively. “There isn’t such a thing.”</p><p></p><p>“I saw what I <strong><em>saw,” </em></strong>the girl said, anger creeping into her voice.</p><p></p><p>“Its just a barn,” Mobad muttered, looking around.</p><p></p><p>“We are missing something,” The Blade muttered, as he nocked an arrow. Frowning he looked around slowly, when his eyes settled on the hitching stands. “Hold it. Didn’t we tie up the horses?”</p><p></p><p>“Of course we did,” said Rosa, who was once again embracing the girl.</p><p></p><p>“Then, where are they?” The Blade asked, his eyes looking over the ranch compound. As the group looked around, it was obvious, the horses were no longer tied and were nowhere to be seen.</p><p></p><p>“They must have been scared by the fire,” Doxx guessed.</p><p></p><p>But Mobad leaned down and looked at the ground. Frowning he shook his head. “No. They did not gallop. They walk…no, they were led. Small tracks between hooves. Not familiar with them.”</p><p></p><p>Adrissa wiped her nose. “The little ones led animals to the barn.”</p><p></p><p>“What? We were fighting inside, and they just walk off with our mounts?” Doxx exclaimed.</p><p></p><p>“You are catching on citizen!” The Blade beamed.</p><p></p><p>Doxx glared at the elf, “It’s ridiculous.” At that moment, the sounds of neighing came from the barn.</p><p></p><p>“It seems that the old woman’s senses aren’t very sharp,” Bookshelf commented.</p><p></p><p>Doxx ignored the jab. “Well, I’m not walking back to Denning, Let’s get them and start riding back tonight.”</p><p></p><p>“Miss Tannoch,” The Blade said, “Do you have a weapon?” She nodded and pointed at the dagger belted at her waist.</p><p></p><p>“She shouldn’t be carrying that,” Doxx said condescendingly. “Give that to me.” And he reached for it. As he did so, she backed up and drew it and glared at the old woman.</p><p></p><p>“She knows how to use it,” Mobad observed, grinning as he rubbed his shoulder.</p><p></p><p>“She shouldn’t have a dagger,” Doxx said.</p><p></p><p>“You’re right,” agreed The Blade. He moved over to Sage and took a hatchet that was strapped on the outside of his pack. He then walked over and holding its head, he pointed the handle towards the girl. “She needs a backup weapon as well.” Adrissa looked at the masked elf in surprise and took the handle.</p><p></p><p>“That’s not what I meant,” Doxx said with disapproval.</p><p></p><p>“She has been surviving here for months with only a dagger, an axe will make her twice as effective,” The Blade said confidently.</p><p></p><p>“I’d rather a bow,” Adrissa said sadly.</p><p></p><p>“I’ll keep an eye out Miss Tannoch,” The Blade replied. “Let’s get our horses.”</p><p></p><p>Then in the darkness above, a heavy rain started to drench everyone and causing a large cloud of steam to erupt from the burning house. Eager to find shelter and equally eager to leave, the group jogged over to the barn. The huge structure had no light at all, and to many in the group, all they could see was darkness. But to the Blade, he saw something in the middle of the barn.</p><p></p><p>“The horses are in a circle, noses inwards,” he said confused.</p><p></p><p>“More than that…they are tied to something,” Adrissa said.</p><p></p><p>The Blade looked at her surprised, “Your eyes are sharp.”</p><p></p><p>Adrissa shrugged. “If you want to hunt at night, you need good eyes,” she said simply.</p><p></p><p>They continued forward, until all of them entered the barn. It was easily the equivalent of a four-story house, with rafters and ledges on the inside stacked with bales of hay. The sides had stalls for horses, and bedding but all appeared empty. Mobad pushed his way through the horses, and quickly he saw why they were all nose to nose in a circle.</p><p></p><p>In the center, the reins of all the horses were tied together in a knot of leather and what looked to be rough twine. But the knot was pierced by a spear, embedded deep into the wooden floor, and fixing the horses to that point. “Someone spiked a spear here, forcing the horses to stay,” the orc muttered. Looking closer at the horses, he realized that something else was wrong. “They aren’t acting right either.” He pushed a horse, and it simply stood its ground and didn’t even glance at the hulking figure. “I think they have been given something.”</p><p></p><p>Rosa pushed her way to her pony, and grasped it by the halter. She pulled its head to level with her head, and looked it in the eye. “Mobad you are right, I think they have been fed something.”</p><p></p><p>In the darkness behind them, they heard a noise. It sounded like a rattle, with wood bouncing off of loose wood. Then they heard another rattle. And another. Turning around, they saw at the entrance a score of small humanoid figures. Ten of them held bows, and in front of them, another ten had spears and shields made of leather stretched around a wooden frame. Each shield had a number of strings that ended in what looked to be pieces of bleached wood. Each one shook, causing the wood to bang against the shields wooden rim, creating the sound.</p><p></p><p>Rosa turned away from the horse and stepped towards the small figures. As she looked at the shields and the figures, she realized that it wasn’t wood on the strings, but bones.</p><p></p><p>“I think we have a problem,” Rosa said.</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p>“You think Wy?” I said. The humanoid figures rattled their shields faster, and then I realized that the sound wasn’t just echoing around us. Looking upwards, I saw more figures; some with shields and spears, and some with bows.</p><p></p><p>“Men,” Wy commanded. “ Form a line and, keep the shields up. We’ll have to push our way out, and get our backs to the wall. Myr keep your shield up and face the rear and keep your eyes upwards. Warn us if you can if they start to shoot.”</p><p></p><p>I nodded, and appreciated Wy taking charge. I didn’t know what these things were, but I didn’t want to be pierced by a dozen arrows either. Looking above there must have been another dozen of the thing looking down at us. Beyond the rattles, I could only just hear hissing from their mouths.</p><p></p><p>“Ok, lets start pushing for—” Wyn started to say when we all heard a loud crack, and could feel the floor vibrate as something scraped the wood beneath us.</p><p></p><p>“What in the—” Wy started.</p><p></p><p>[HR][/HR]</p><p></p><p>“I don’t know,” Sage said kneeling down and feeling the vibrations in the wood.</p><p></p><p>“We should charge now,” Mobad said a grin creeping across his face.</p><p></p><p>“I don’t think that’s a good—” Bookshelf started, when everyone felt a sharp jostling from the floor and a sudden shift downwards. “—idea.” Suddenly, the strange figures stopped shaking their shields, and in response the floor gave way and the group, tumbled down into the darkness, amid screams of terror and the squeal of horses.</p><p></p><p><strong>Session notes:</strong></p><p></p><p>Now, you might have picked up a clue here that there were some cinematic inspirations here. There are actually two different major ones (and homages spread around here and there). Adrissa in the attic is pretty blatant. But the other one...well we need a bit more before the influence of that book (And subsequent movie) becomes clear.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Nthal, post: 8208720, member: 6971069"] [HEADING=1][CENTER][CENTER]Tales by the Houselight - 2/24/2021[/CENTER][/CENTER][/HEADING] The group looked at each other awkwardly and then back at the girl standing before them. Her posture was a stark contrast to her appearance; matted brown hair, face streaked with dirt. Her clothing was torn, stained and now covered in soot. And while she stood there with only the slightest hint of a quiver in her nerves, her eyes bore into each of them, one by one. “Now, little girl,” Doxx said, stepping towards Adrissa and smiling sweetly, “Where are your parents? We really need—” “Don’t ‘little girl’ me,” Adrissa said flatly. “I want to know who [B][I]you[/I][/B] are. I want to know why you are here, and I want to know,” and she turned away and stared at the conflagration she had only moments before fled. “Who decided to burn down my…my…home,” she said her voice choking on the words as she stared into the flames. Rosa bit her lip and then stepped towards the girl, “Honey, we were sent to...talk to your family because they thought there might be trouble.” Adrissa nodded, “Trouble doesn’t even describe it.” She said, her voice quavering. “What happened here?” Sage asked. “I take it you know the…corpses that attacked us.” Adrissa looked down at the earth and sighed. “It started two months ago. It was a normal cold day, when the pots appeared.” “Pots?” The Blade said thoroughly confused. Adrissa nodded and continued, “Little clay pots, each with what looked to be a…what did mom call it?...a cutting. A yellow green plant with a flower ready to bloom. One for every bed in fact. My mom thought dad had arranged something, but at dinner he said he had no idea where they came from. That evening we all went to sleep…and the nightmare started. “I woke up and the cutting had bloomed, and it was moving…reaching for me. I started screaming, and I woke my parents. My father grabbed an old sword he kept from the war and…hacked at the ones in the house and told us to run. We ran downstairs and out of the house. Outside, we found that some of the hands were…dead, and they were gathering some of the others together. I panicked and ran into the grass, while my mom and dad…stopped them from following me. Later I snuck my way back into the house, grabbed all the food I could and hid in the attic and…watched as they did things. And I saw their…leaders.” “Leaders?” Bookshelf asked. “They were small…but they were armed. Spears and bows, but the dead listened to them, used them to gather up the rest like our dogs guiding cattle,” Adrissa said choking at the irony. “I never saw one up close, and they hide in the grass real good. Then as the weather warmed, others came. “What do you mean?” The Blade asked. “More little ones?” “Yes…but they were…driving. Cattle. Sheep. People. Lots of them. They…they pushed them to the barn, and I heard people scream and they…faded away. And no one ever left.” “And…your parents?” Rosa asked, her eyes watered expecting a grim answer. “I didn’t see. They weren’t turned into those…corpse things. But I…I haven’t seen—” and she fell on her knees and hugged Rosa in tears, finally overcome by the ordeal. Doxx looked at the cavernous barn and frowned. “A bunch of little folk with weapons pushed everyone into a single barn? This doesn’t make sense.” “None of this does. We are missing something.” Bookshelf said quietly. “Honey,” Rosa pulled back, and looked at Adrissa and clutched her hands. “There was another group. A woman and some Blademarks. Did you see them?” Adrissa nodded, “Two weeks ago…I saw them.” [HR][/HR] “Where is everyone,” I said. It was midday and we had dismounted from the horses and walked them to the large ranch house. “Well, I would think the ranchers would be where the cattle are,” Wy said as he and I started tying our horses to the hitching stand. “But that isn’t here. Men, by twos check the bunk houses and report back.” “Yes sir,” the Blademarks responded, and in pairs started to look at the bunk houses. Wy nodded, and looked around. “Well, if it were ogres, they seem to be very neat. Nothing broken or smashed.” I nodded and thought a moment. [I]Goss…what do you see and smell? --About the same as you; too much time camping and not enough time to groom. Goss… --Ah right. Well, I don’t see anything more than you, but I do smell two things. A lot of a strong musky smell…and I smell wet…mold? No idea why.[/I] “Can’t you just talk to him out loud?” Wy said smiling at me. I chuckled, “And what? Look like I’m talking to myself all the time?” “That’s just means that you are your own best friend. What did he say?” “Musk and mold scents…not sure what that means.” I said as I squinted in the window. It must have been dark inside, but with my eyes I didn’t see people or anything. “It looks like no one is home here.” “That is odd,” Wy said looking around again confused. “I would have expected someone to be here; the wife, children, to be doing things around the house. Some hands in the barn working on tack, fixing things. This is all…wrong.” I stepped away from the house and used my hands to shield my eyes from the light, and took my own look around. I had a strange sensation though, nagging at me. I looked at the house behind me. But I saw nothing on the upper floor, only the creaking around the eves near the roof.” “Sir, the bunk houses are empty, but there are a lot of tracks leading toward the barn.” Said Tiggart, a silver Blademark. Wy and I looked at each other and shrugged. [I]Goss…keep an eye out. This is all wrong still. --Of course.[/I] We walked over to the barn cautiously, and it became apparent that we were misled. The barn was farther from the house than we thought. The perspective I had was off for a simple reason; the barn was massive. It was far taller than the ranch house as two of them would easily fit inside the mammoth structure. The barn doors were wide open, and I could see empty stalls with straw bedding. We walked up to the edge of the wood planks and looked around, and seeing nothing obvious, we stepped inside. [HR][/HR] “I swore the woman looked right at me,” Adrissa said. “But I didn’t say anything. I was scared to. I knew that the yellow corpses hid under beds and cabinets when they weren’t needed.” Sighing a moment she looked at the others with tears in her eyes. “I watched the seven of them—” “—Seven?” Doxx interrupted. “Seven. Six people and that strange cat,” the girl answered. “Strange? How?” Sage asked. “It…had wings. I’ve never seen a winged cat before.” “That’s silly,” Doxx said dismissively. “There isn’t such a thing.” “I saw what I [B][I]saw,” [/I][/B]the girl said, anger creeping into her voice. “Its just a barn,” Mobad muttered, looking around. “We are missing something,” The Blade muttered, as he nocked an arrow. Frowning he looked around slowly, when his eyes settled on the hitching stands. “Hold it. Didn’t we tie up the horses?” “Of course we did,” said Rosa, who was once again embracing the girl. “Then, where are they?” The Blade asked, his eyes looking over the ranch compound. As the group looked around, it was obvious, the horses were no longer tied and were nowhere to be seen. “They must have been scared by the fire,” Doxx guessed. But Mobad leaned down and looked at the ground. Frowning he shook his head. “No. They did not gallop. They walk…no, they were led. Small tracks between hooves. Not familiar with them.” Adrissa wiped her nose. “The little ones led animals to the barn.” “What? We were fighting inside, and they just walk off with our mounts?” Doxx exclaimed. “You are catching on citizen!” The Blade beamed. Doxx glared at the elf, “It’s ridiculous.” At that moment, the sounds of neighing came from the barn. “It seems that the old woman’s senses aren’t very sharp,” Bookshelf commented. Doxx ignored the jab. “Well, I’m not walking back to Denning, Let’s get them and start riding back tonight.” “Miss Tannoch,” The Blade said, “Do you have a weapon?” She nodded and pointed at the dagger belted at her waist. “She shouldn’t be carrying that,” Doxx said condescendingly. “Give that to me.” And he reached for it. As he did so, she backed up and drew it and glared at the old woman. “She knows how to use it,” Mobad observed, grinning as he rubbed his shoulder. “She shouldn’t have a dagger,” Doxx said. “You’re right,” agreed The Blade. He moved over to Sage and took a hatchet that was strapped on the outside of his pack. He then walked over and holding its head, he pointed the handle towards the girl. “She needs a backup weapon as well.” Adrissa looked at the masked elf in surprise and took the handle. “That’s not what I meant,” Doxx said with disapproval. “She has been surviving here for months with only a dagger, an axe will make her twice as effective,” The Blade said confidently. “I’d rather a bow,” Adrissa said sadly. “I’ll keep an eye out Miss Tannoch,” The Blade replied. “Let’s get our horses.” Then in the darkness above, a heavy rain started to drench everyone and causing a large cloud of steam to erupt from the burning house. Eager to find shelter and equally eager to leave, the group jogged over to the barn. The huge structure had no light at all, and to many in the group, all they could see was darkness. But to the Blade, he saw something in the middle of the barn. “The horses are in a circle, noses inwards,” he said confused. “More than that…they are tied to something,” Adrissa said. The Blade looked at her surprised, “Your eyes are sharp.” Adrissa shrugged. “If you want to hunt at night, you need good eyes,” she said simply. They continued forward, until all of them entered the barn. It was easily the equivalent of a four-story house, with rafters and ledges on the inside stacked with bales of hay. The sides had stalls for horses, and bedding but all appeared empty. Mobad pushed his way through the horses, and quickly he saw why they were all nose to nose in a circle. In the center, the reins of all the horses were tied together in a knot of leather and what looked to be rough twine. But the knot was pierced by a spear, embedded deep into the wooden floor, and fixing the horses to that point. “Someone spiked a spear here, forcing the horses to stay,” the orc muttered. Looking closer at the horses, he realized that something else was wrong. “They aren’t acting right either.” He pushed a horse, and it simply stood its ground and didn’t even glance at the hulking figure. “I think they have been given something.” Rosa pushed her way to her pony, and grasped it by the halter. She pulled its head to level with her head, and looked it in the eye. “Mobad you are right, I think they have been fed something.” In the darkness behind them, they heard a noise. It sounded like a rattle, with wood bouncing off of loose wood. Then they heard another rattle. And another. Turning around, they saw at the entrance a score of small humanoid figures. Ten of them held bows, and in front of them, another ten had spears and shields made of leather stretched around a wooden frame. Each shield had a number of strings that ended in what looked to be pieces of bleached wood. Each one shook, causing the wood to bang against the shields wooden rim, creating the sound. Rosa turned away from the horse and stepped towards the small figures. As she looked at the shields and the figures, she realized that it wasn’t wood on the strings, but bones. “I think we have a problem,” Rosa said. [HR][/HR] “You think Wy?” I said. The humanoid figures rattled their shields faster, and then I realized that the sound wasn’t just echoing around us. Looking upwards, I saw more figures; some with shields and spears, and some with bows. “Men,” Wy commanded. “ Form a line and, keep the shields up. We’ll have to push our way out, and get our backs to the wall. Myr keep your shield up and face the rear and keep your eyes upwards. Warn us if you can if they start to shoot.” I nodded, and appreciated Wy taking charge. I didn’t know what these things were, but I didn’t want to be pierced by a dozen arrows either. Looking above there must have been another dozen of the thing looking down at us. Beyond the rattles, I could only just hear hissing from their mouths. “Ok, lets start pushing for—” Wyn started to say when we all heard a loud crack, and could feel the floor vibrate as something scraped the wood beneath us. “What in the—” Wy started. [HR][/HR] “I don’t know,” Sage said kneeling down and feeling the vibrations in the wood. “We should charge now,” Mobad said a grin creeping across his face. “I don’t think that’s a good—” Bookshelf started, when everyone felt a sharp jostling from the floor and a sudden shift downwards. “—idea.” Suddenly, the strange figures stopped shaking their shields, and in response the floor gave way and the group, tumbled down into the darkness, amid screams of terror and the squeal of horses. [B]Session notes:[/B] Now, you might have picked up a clue here that there were some cinematic inspirations here. There are actually two different major ones (and homages spread around here and there). Adrissa in the attic is pretty blatant. But the other one...well we need a bit more before the influence of that book (And subsequent movie) becomes clear. [/QUOTE]
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The Thorns of Winter -(updated 8/1/2023)
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