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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Orichin" data-source="post: 1855549" data-attributes="member: 25226">OOC: ooc thread: <a href="http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1814075#post1814075" target="_blank">http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?p=1814075#post1814075</a>PC sheets coming eventually.Here we go.Hanjia, Al'Shain de'Kossin, and Audrey Lyonde are the only complete characters so far, the rest will be cycled in as character creation is finished (hopefully soon).  Text that any given player character would not have access to will be in black.  If players are going to read it they're going to read it, I just ask that it's kept out of character for those whose characters are not mentioned in the readable portion of the message.The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass, leaving memories that become legend. Legend fades to myth, and even myth is long forgotten when the Age that gave it birth comes again. In one Age, called the Third Age by some, an Age yet to come, an Age long past, a wind rose in the Mountains of Mist. The wind was not the beginning. There are neither beginnings nor endings to the turnings of the Wheel of Time. But it was a beginning.Hanjia: Rising in the snowy peaks of the mountains, the wind carried the scent of snow and ice down the eastern slopes and across the verdant forests, sparkling rivers, and rolling fields of Andor.  The scent was unfamiliar to Hanjia, and it was another of thousands of unfamiliar sights, sounds, smells, and flavors that she had experienced since crossing into the wetlands.  She filed it away in her memory, the breeze that wafted it already gone.  Trotting near-silently through the sparse, bare trees, Hanjia dodged leaf-litter as she calculated in her mind where the main troupe should be, judging by how far the sun had moved since she left it to exchange orders and reports from the field leaders of the scouting Maidens.     Her calculations having been re-checked, and Hanjia confident she was on an intercept course; her mind began reciting the report from the scout leader of the forward unit.  "The wetlander hunters have killed one of the large, oddly-horned goats that live in the forest, and are headed due south from their last reported position, presumably to their residence(s) outside of the scouting range.  The road reported 90 minutes ago is clear and has been delegated to the flanking scout units (the main troupe should be crossing the road in about 10 minutes if Hanjia's estimations were accurate; she would be crossing it in less than 5).  A wetlander settlement of no more than 30 adults and 8 juviniles lies in the path of the troupe, suggested logistical adjustments were detailed on the rough map Hanjia had in one of the folds of her cadin'sor".     Hanjia was reciting the report again to herself after crossing the empty road when she heard a noise she certainly recognized, but never expected.  The others of the troupe who had been to the wetlands said they were free of shadowspawn..but Hanjia could have sworn she heard a trolloc battle horn to the north.  In one swift motion, Hanjia exhaled, crouched down, cupped a hand to her ear, and held her breath, listening to the north.  The sound came again, this time closer, and ever so slightly to the east.  A loud, resonating crack issued from the east.  Arrun had given the call to arms using a pair of 2 foot long boards hinged at the ends so they could be clapped together, creating a distinctive report.  Dashing at a sprint, Hanjia laced her veil into her shou'fa and tossed one of her spears in front of her, snatching it from mid-air 2 strides later with her fighting hand.   Suddenly throwing herself shoulder-first against a tree to stop her momentum, Hanjia took to a silent crouch again, using the tree for cover as nearly a dozen trollocs ran at a gallop toward the sound of the horns that still blew at intervals.  2 horns.  Could mean 2 fists.  The troupe would be outnumbered about 14-1 without the scouts if that was the case.  Far behind the first group of trollocs, another trio was moving more slowly (one seemed to have a limp, another had rediculously short, furry legs for it's enormous body).  By the time the 3 slow trollocs passed within 40 feet of Hanjia, the other 10 had passed out of earshot.-----------------END SECTION----------------Al'Shain:  The wind rode the eastern slopes of the mountains of mist down into Andor, and farther east.  By the time it reached the back of Al'Shain's head he had no attention to waste on it.     The carriage leapt over another bump, ruining the shot Al'Shain had been drawing a bead on.  Releasing the tension on his bowstring for a moment, Al'Shain looked over his shoulder at the driver, shouting "Get the bloody horses back on the road!  We need to go faster!"   Most of the driver's reply was lost in the rushing wind of the racing carriage, all that could be made out was something about the horses being spooked.  Turning his attentions back to what was behind the carriage, Al'Shain ducked back in through the window of the vehicle as a spear-sized trolloc arrow thunked into the ground beside the carriage.  Inside, 3 passengers huddled on the floor.  A sobbing woman with her arms around her son, and another, younger woman who looked up at Al'Shain with fear in her eyes and his quiver in her hands, held out so he could grab arrows without looking while he hung out of the window.  The quiver was almost empty, maybe 5-6 more shots and he would be firing from his second quiver.  A click could barely be heard over the cacophony of the leaping carriage as the mother's husband recocked the crossbow that was stored in the compartment that lay open near the cieling.  Light showed through the compartment, it was open at the other end too, under the driver's seat.     Training his face to a blank mask, he looked down at Ellysa, the woman, girl really, that held his quiver.  She had been trying to flirt with him an hour ago as they rode liesurely along the south road to the town of Alkhaven and a step closer to Illian.  At this rate though, Illian was the last thing on Al'Shain's mind.  Al'Shain softened his face for Ellysa, squared the knock of the unfired arrow on his bowstring, arched his back, and leaned back through the open window.  Fully two score trollocs chased the carriage, and Al'Shain had heard two trolloc horns, one persuing from farther north, one coming from the southeast.  Most of the trollocs in the immediate area were 40 feet or more distant, but gaining.     The fastest trolloc had closed several feet since Al'Shain's shot had been interrupted.  Had the beast brains to think of such a tactic, it could easily have taken one swipe with its scythe-sword and destroyed the rear wheel on Al'Shain's side, crippling the carriage.  Luckily, Trollocs are dumb.  Unluckily, they're fast, and big, and violent.  Al'Shain focused a moment as he drew the fletchings of his arrow to his cheek and aimed the bow with his extended left hand in the same act and fired the arrow into the trolloc's wolf-like maw as it roared and swung the sword a foot short of Al'Shain's bow-enclosing fist.  The trolloc stumbled and receded in Al'Shain's view like it had been dropped from a tower.      "What are they?!"  Exclaimed the mother's voice from inside as Al'Shain reached in through the window to grab an arrow from the waiting quiver.     Having informed the southerners that these were trollocs 4 times already, Al'Shain considered his next move.OOC: I'm basically giving you 6 arrows more than what you had on your character sheet because that's the way the post wrote itself <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f609.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=";)" title="Wink    ;)"  data-smilie="2"data-shortname=";)" />.  Al'Shain is 5 feet from the back of the carriage, the nearest trolloc 15 feet behind that.  The trollocs are scattered to 20 feet on either side of the 10-foot wide carriage, though their formation is gone, the trollocs are 5 to a rank, 7 ranks deep, each rank 10 feet behind the one before it for simplicity's sake (sorry, I'll have a map before long).  Each trolloc will get 5 feet closer to the carriage every other round (they advanced in the previous round).  Your initiative is 17, the NPC's in the carriage (Ellysa, the family of 3, and the driver) will act at 8, and the trollocs as a group at 10.  -----------------END SECTION----------------Audrey:  The wind from the Mountains of Mist meandered east, high above hundreds of miles of unsettled terrain.  It whipped around statues that stood like monuments in the wilderness; monuments that had been in need of repair for centuries.  Climbing the Black Hills, the wind continued into the sky and formed a jetstream, racing faster and faster to the east.  Howling, the wind lashed the peak of the Dragonmount, as if taking out the anger of the land upon the tomb of Lews Therin.  As if its fury abated, the wind drove then northeast toward Tar Valon.  Through a window opened a crack on the 37th floor, a portion of the wind breezed its way into the White Tower.  Seeping slowly down the stairs like a flood of slow moving, invisable water, the breeze ebbed gently around Audrey's ankles.     Ignoring the cool draft that tussled the colored hem of her Accepted's dress, Audrey called softly again down the hallway.  "Iemynne Sedai?  Brienne Sedai sent me for you.  With a note."  Audrey had been sent on a blind hunt for Iemynne Sedai, a sister of the brown ajah, who, not suprisingly, had a habit of getting lost in her books and forgetting appointments.  She was somewhere in the libraries of the 36th floor.  That narrowed the search down to only 4 rooms.  Unfortunately the rooms were each large enough to house several families comfortably.   Audrey had already checked 2 of the libraries, and was making her way to the doorways that lead to the other 2 when she noticed that one of the doorways stood open about 6 inches.  Pushing the door gently to allow herself space to enter the room, Audrey called again for Iemynne Sedai and walked into the library.     Walking down one row of books and then another, Audrey called again from time to time. "Nesting Behavior of Tairen Wood and House Finches. Nesting Behavior of Southern Red-Winged Finches. Nesting Behavior of the Southern Wood Grouse. " Audrey read the titles aloud of a few randomly chosen books that lined the shelf to her right.     "Iemynne Sedai?"  Audrey called, convinced that this library too, was empty as she rounded another of the long bookshelves and stepped around a nondescript man with a broken chair leg in his hand.  Audrey continued another half a step toward the next aisle before a female voice cautioned her from nearby:   "Don't turn your back!"    Spinning on one heel and letting her dress flare out a bit, Audrey spoke, "Is that you Aes Se-bleut-"Audrey's world exploded with dancing sparks as a chair leg held by a man who seemingly appeared out of nowhere collided with her chin.  Had she not spun, the blow would have fallen squarely on the nape of her neck, surely knocking her out.  As the man raised the club above his head again, Audrey's mind raced...The assailant is in the square next to audrey, his initiative was 14, Audrey's is 11.  Audrey has taken 4 points of bludgeoning damage and is up in the initiative count.  The nearest exit to the room is the one she came in through, 50 feet away in the direction Audrey is facing (the attacker between she and the door), in the wall to Audrey's right.  The other exit is 90 feet behind her in the same wall.  Bookshelves 5' wide and 12' tall are spaced with 10' aisles between them, 10 feet from the near wall (and perpendicular to it).  The attacker stands at the end of one such bookshelf, Audrey in the square next to him, an aisle to her left, 10 foot wide paths made by the wall and bookshelf ends to the exits in front and behind her, and the wall 5 feet to her right.</blockquote>

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