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Message: <blockquote data-quote="carpedavid" data-source="post: 541807" data-attributes="member: 6971">Session 3, Part 1 - 11.9.2002After a hasty discussion, the group decides to split into three: Taminnyd, Danklar, Dew, Scarlet, and Wrayce take the Darklorne; the six soldiers take the Unicorn; and Erendil, Shoji, Quara, and Laurel take the Displacer Beast. They decide the following: the two attack ships will sail north toward the prison, taking separate routes, while the stolen flagship will head northwest in an attempt to divert any potential pursuers. They all hope to meet up in a week back in New Charleston.Goodbyes are said, and then the three ships set sail in different directions. After an hour, the crew of the Displacer Beast looses sight of the other ships, and begins to feel very alone. The next two days are nerve-wrackingly uneventful. They pass ship after ship, holding their breath each time, preparing themselves to be stopped, but end up encountering no resistance. As Dominus begins to set over the western horizon on the second day, Erendil, Shoji, Quara, and Laurel are all nervous wrecks.Twilight fades, and as Dominus disappears, the rest of the gods appear in the night sky. Tyn, the third child of Nox, hovers over the horizon, casting a pale light on the mountains below. The weather that the crew of the Displacer Beast left behind was typical for a Terrelian spring - mild and somewhat rainy. The farther north they traveled, however, the farther the temperature dropped. By now, the pine forests that cover the mountains below them are covered in a soft, wintry blanket. Snow tumbles through the air, sliding and skittering across the deck of the ship, and catching in Laurel's hair. She pulls her cloak tightly around herself and shivers.The pilot brings the ship in low over the treetops and the four adventurers gather to plan their course of action. They know that the prison is about an hour's walk along the only road in the region from the tiny village of Beannacht, the only populated area in the region. The village's primary industry is providing support for the prison in the form of food, goods, and labor; and very few people that aren't destined for the prison ever pass through."We could try to gather information in the village," Laurel suggests."I think that'd be too suspicious," Shoji replies, "What about bluffing our way inside?""Too risky," Erendil concludes, "Which means that fighting our way in is probably out.""Captain…" Quara begins, but then stops short as Laurel, Shoji, and Erendil all turn to look at her. Oh, this is way too confusing, she thinks. After a deep breath, she continues, "I think we should stake out the prison and see that their patterns are: who comes and goes, what their guard detail looks like, that kind of stuff. Maybe they're vulnerable at some point.""Yeah," says Laurel, happily."Ok," Erendil says."Sounds good," Shoji comments.With their plan in place, the three captains direct the pilot to stop over the forest midway between the village and the prison. He holds the ship in a hover as the group climbs down into the Avengardan wilderness. Laurel uses her highly developed sense of direction to lead them through the woods toward the prison, stopping periodically to check whether they are being followed. After half an hour of trudging through knee-deep snow, Laurel stops when she hears a noise coming from behind a tree to her left.Suddenly, a cone of ice and frost tears through the air and catches Quara and Erendil. The shards shred skin and clothing, leaving bloody red welts in their wake. Following the ice cone is a giant white wolf, over eight feet from snout to tail. Three other wolves appear, and Laurel curses herself for letting them ambush her.Shoji, directly to the right of Laurel, steps forward and slams his fist into the snout of the winter wolf threatening him. He feels cartilage snap, and blood sprays from the wolf's nose, staining the white snow beneath. Erendil, standing directly behind Laurel, lets out a cry, takes a step back, and fires an arrow at the wolf that used its breath weapon.Laurel steps left, and then slashes at the wolf that appeared in front of her. The Oakenblade bursts into an orange-red flame as it slices through the wolf's flesh. The scent of burning fur assaults Laurel's nose, but she smiles as she realizes that the legends about her ancestral sword are true.The bright flame from Laurel's blade casts an eerie glow on the snow covered trees surrounding the group, and Quara, to the right of Erendil, can't help but notice its orange reflection in the eyes of the wolf in front of her. She decides against drawing her bow, and instead steps back and draws her sword. Her gaze is drawn from its eyes to its jaw, however, as it lunges at her. She twists, and the wolf's ivory fangs pass inches from her face.The wolf in front of Erendil closes, and misses with its own bite, but succeeds in blasting the two archers with another cone of ice. Laurel winces as the wolf in front of her retaliates, and clamps its jaws down on her arm. With its fangs firmly embedded, it yanks its head to the right, and Laurel is pulled off her feet. She lands hard in the snow, and screams as the pain of tearing flesh runs up her arm and through her shoulder.Shoji deftly avoids both the jaws and breath weapon of the wolf attacking him, and throws a roundhouse kick into its side. Erendil fires again at his wolf, but the arrow glances off of its thick hide. Laurel jumps to her feet, and in the same motion, pulls out her short sword. With the short sword in her off hand, and the flaming Oakenblade in the other, she lunges forward. Both swords slice through wolf flesh, and the smell of burning fur now hangs thick in the air.Quara swings at the wolf that narrowly missed her, and succeeds in opening a large red gash along its side. It attempts to retaliate, but is slowed by its new wound. Erendil, weakened by the two cones of ice, succumbs to the wolf in front of him as it pounces upon him and sinks its fangs into his neck. He crumples into the snow, unconscious and bleeding.The burned wolf snaps at Laurel, and manages to catch her on the leg, while the one in front of Shoji misses with its own bite attack. Shoji is more accurate though, as he catches the wolf with a palm heel to its already bruised ribs, hearing a satisfying crunch as his blow lands. Laurel's dual blades cut deeply into the winter wolf in front of her. Blood pours out of multiple wounds, and it stumbles as it turns toward her.Quara gets another good hit in on the wolf attacking her, but it deals as good as it gets, and Quara thinks she feels something snap as it clamps its massive jaws around her midsection. The wolf that felled Erendil quickly flanks Quara, and she feels yet more pain as it too takes a bite out of her.With a feral look in its eye, the burned and battered wolf grabs Laurel's already damaged arm in its jaws and yanks, rending flesh from bone. Both wolf and woman are covered in her blood, and she nearly passes out from the pain. With an inhuman scream, Laurel brings the Oakenblade down on the wolf's head with full force, cracking its skull, and sending its massive bulk straight into the snow. She turns and stumbles through the bloody snow toward the wolf that felled Erendil.Shoji again deftly avoids the wolf in front of him, dodging from side to side as dagger-like fangs slice through the air around him. He lands a one-two punch on the side of the massive wolf's skull, and its eyes visibly gloss over, dazed from the blows.Chironex, guide my blade, Quara thinks to herself as she uses the last of her strength to slash the wolf in front of her across its muzzle. The wolf, however, simply growls at her, and grabs her once again in its jaws. The pain causes her to pass out immediately, and she is quite unconscious before she hits the ground.The wolf flanking the now disabled Quara turns to attack Laurel, but misses, as does the wolf desperately trying to get a grip on Shoji. Shoji, in turn, dispatches a flurry of high kicks straight into his wolf's front legs, drawing a howl of pain. Laurel takes comfort in making the wolf in front of her howl as well, but she becomes very worried about Quara when she looks at the condition of her unconscious body. She knows she doesn't have much time before the girl passes into the realm of the gods.The wolf that felled Quara moves to flank Shoji, but misses the fast-moving monk. The wolf that had been trying to attack Shoji finally hits, and tosses the Tanayaran half-elf into the bloodstained snow. He jumps back to his feet, lashing out with a powerful kick, but loses his footing in the slippery slush. The two wolves surrounding him take advantage of his misstep, and both tear at his flesh with angry jaws.Laurel's blades flash through the air, and the flame of the Oakenblade finishes off the second wolf of the day. She turns, and, before the wolf in front of Shoji can react to her presence, slides the Oakenblade deep into its ribcage. It turns to snap at her, but misses wildly.The wolf flanking Shoji does not miss, though, as it sinks its teeth into the monk's side. The shock of the bite knocks Shoji into unconsciousness, and he falls to the ground in a crumpled heap. Laurel panics for a moment as the two battered wolves turn to look at her. Blood drips from their jaws in long strands, but she isn't sure how much belongs to them, and how much belongs to her friends.She grits her teeth, makes sure that she has a good grip on her blades, and plunges forward. Fiery steel meets bloodied fangs in a whirling confrontation. Laurel twists to her left, narrowly avoiding having her neck ripped out by powerful jaws, as she slices upward with the Oakenblade. Even as she feels her swords end the life of one wolf, she feels white-hot pain as the other clamps its jaws down around her head from behind.She twists, wrenching herself from its grasp, and swings her swords wildly, screaming at the top of her lungs. Adrenaline and desperation propel her forward, and every blow that lands reverberates throughout her entire body. Each of her nerves scream along with her, and the only thing she can feel as she cuts down her foe is pain.More to come...</blockquote>

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