3 - 001: The Third Piece

[K Man]

Hero, Garor, Callian, Angelus, Caelith and Newt - [Hero, merely keeping you hand on the crystal benefits as a Cure Light Wounds each round...so leave your hand there till full.]

Discussing amongst yourselves about how to best move the crystal, you all keep a sharp eye peeled to the forest line. [Spot Checks All. Caelith, Newt and Hero success.] There, just a few dozen yards from the treeline, is a decrepit old farming shed, half-way on its way to collapsing. A closer inspection reveals it to be full of rusted tools that, although still useful, appear to have not been touched in decades. There is even a large maneure cart nearby that still looks useable.

This shed seems out of place, but you if you imagine, taking in the age of the structure, perhaps at one time, this field may have been used for farming. Either 'The Master' and his troops cleared it out, or the former owners simply left. Either way, you feel comfortable knowing it is abandoned property for the taking now.

It takes little time, with the tools from the shed, to free the crystal as it was thankfully only partially imbedded. It takes all of your combined might and several attempts, but you finally manage to heave the heavy shard into the cart. The aged wood groans in protest from usage and the wheels sink an inch or two into the mud, but she'll hold and it will only take two of you to push or pull the cart along.

Cannon's Foot was but a few horus away, probably just as long to return. If you recall your geography...it was the closest town to your location.

Darkness will be upon you by the time you reach the walls of the massive, armed city...perhaps it is time to move.

{Sorry for the nudge folks, just had to get you moving. }
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Krysta, Girud and Galdren - The scouts bolt ahead into the clearing, the elite archers keeping their eyes to the treeline for evidence of movement. The scouts take a moment to scan the area, bending down and focusing their keen Elven eyes on the ground around. It takes but a minute or less and they jog back, bowing slightly before reporting.

You've never been used to having individuals under your command...

"It appears to have been a land-shark attack m'Lady. The beast still lies just there, dead in the very hole it came from. There was a battle...we'd say, five, combatants...maybe more, jugding by the tracks."

"They obviously won the fight, taking something from the ground, excavating it with rusted tools that still lie around the area. Jugding, again, by the size of the hole, it could have been a shard...."

"Whatever it was, they placed it into a two-wheeled cart and rolled off towards the nearby city of Cannon's Foot, the cart laden with the object."

Mordrock puzzles over all this, tilting his head much like a dog that has been yelled at for something it does not understand.



"Could not be master...I have seen giants that carry stone for him. Bigger than the biggest house!!"

"Who would take shard in a cart?"

Just then, to add more mystery to the situation, you hear a sound echoing from the distance...the haunting, ominous melody of warhorns...

They come from Cannon's Foot...
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Romar, Sehanine and Yuri - Grandil watches the cold brush off from Romar towards Yuri, shaking his head. It appears that the King considers a battlemate a friend...regardless of any circumstance. You're sure he has not picked up the fact that Yuri is a vampire yet, but he is still confused.



"Of course laddy..."

The King booms a voice across the halls.

"Put out the left fire! Let the ranger through! And someone bring me some parchment!"

"Take your time, we'll be seein' ye when ye return..."

The King turns his back and strides over to where the Derro is being questioned.

[Would either of you like to do anything special during your eight hours of rest and leveling up? Let me know. If not, we'll go on next post with the hunt...]
__________________________________________________________________________________________

[Wizard]

Callian takes his armor off to work in digging out the crystal, and puts his armor in the cart. Then he pushes the cart for the party, on their way to Cannon's Foot.

[TheUdjat]

((No worries about the hurrying along. I think we're all quite fine with it.))

Quite impressed with that mild blessing of fortune, Caelith is in slightly better spirits on the way to Cannon's Foot. Half to himself and half to his comrades, he begins to speak. "When we get to Cannon's Foot, I think the first thing we should do is find a place to rest. We haven't had a good rest in a while, and I personally will need one to be completely useful - Angelus, I'm sure, would agree," He nods towards the other arcane caster.

"Cannon's Foot, as defended as it is, looks like the best place to take that rest - If they are hospitable enough to allow us. We also should get a boat, or a better wagon and some horses. Ideally a boat, which we can sail back to Morten, and then proceed back to Ravenshead. Unless I am mistaken, our horses from before are still there..."

He sighs, lightly. Questing can be so exhausting.

[Wizard]

Callian momentarily considers reminding everyone that Angelus's opinions don't matter, but realizes that he is indeed a human being and thinks better of it.

[Japic]

Warhorns? No good can come of this.

Girud keeps his bow at the ready and moves towards the end of the clearing where the cart left from.

"The crystal is this way, so is battle. I would not be surprised to find that the battle is for the crystal. Come, we must see what is happening."

Quickly he casts a glance at his companions seeking their approval. Assuming they agree he orders the elves to move out, sending the scouts ahead to keep an eye out for danger. That said he begins jogging in the direction that the tracks go, his bow at the ready.

[GeneralMHB]

Yuri takes his leave to his room to "rest" and gather his thoughts. He writes in his journal.

(OOC: That coming soon....)

[VemuKhaham]

[Would either of you like to do anything special during your eight hours of rest and leveling up? Let me know. If not, we'll go on next post with the hunt...]

I don't ask for writing material for nothing right : Here you go... (I know it's a "bit" long, but I (or more: Romar) have/has planned this action for ever since he left the main group.)

---

To Your Majesty, king Sturmguard

I hope this letter finds you and all of Ravenshead in good health, naive as it may sound. I have written it for two reasons, one personal and the other more formal, though I think that to me the entire letter is written to restore some honour to my soul.

Let me start with again expressing my gratitude to you for releasing me of the care of my dear brother, Ludhèr; I feel like I haven’t done so enough as of yet, and instead abandoned you and the companions you appointed me with when I left, again for personal reasons. But now I feel like I have betrayed you, Your Majesty, and the entire population of Ravenshead.

In this letter I beg you for your mercy, Your Highness, for I truly have committed a grave crime: desertion. First, I would like you to be informed of the causes, even though I suppose your thoughts are far more concerned with matters elsewhere then my simple pleas for atonement. Second, I will inform you of news that I learned on my travels, which may prove valuable in our common war against the Master. I will try to keep matters as brief as possible.

I know hardly of the fate of Boon’s Freehold, Your Majesty, and I think by now you know more of it then I do. Before the siege itself, I was sent to you to ask for adequate reinforcements, repairing the wrongs caused by Sir Mordrid. I never arrived, instead taken captive by a powerful vampire. I ended up in a prison with some of my other companions, who also somehow were taken prisoner. Let me not burden you with the following day, Your Majesty, and instead proceed to our rescue immediately. An elven prince, Irinys from the Astoril Empire, along with his well-trained guard, managed to free us from the clutches of the Master, intended on finding the same crystal as we came for. Instead of joining their cause, I immediately started the search for my last friend, Húna, in your eyes just a horse, in my eyes the last reminder of my youth. To my horror, I found only scarce traces and a sole hearth in the dirt, but enough for me to cling to and proceed my search. Both Sehanine and Yuri decided to follow me, both for their own reasons. Do not judge Sehanine as you judge me, Your Highness, as I claim all responsibility in splitting up from the main group, and she merely decided not to let me face this alone. I know not however what to think of Yuri, and will refrain from speaking of him, as it is an entirely different matter. I will leave him to be judged by you accordingly, when the time comes.

We travelled through Drakil Forest, a long and arduous journey, but reasonably safe compared to what the companions I deserted must have experienced. There, we encountered a handful of helpful dwarves in an ambush by more servants of the Master, now slain, and these dwarves led us all the way to their majestic stronghold, Bazarkrak Castle. From the outside, things were a marvel to behold, yet from the inside the reek of death and decay overcame us. A civil war is what seemed to have occurred behind the sealed doors of the dwarven citadel, as both drow and derro had allied themselves and killed and wounded many a dwarve, including king Grandil, who was poisoned badly.

The dwarves promised us aid if we could safe Grandil’s life, and this we did, by securing an antidote from within the sealed parts of the castle, beset by drow and derro. Strange though, these drow and derro seemed hypnotised by some force, so peace must be disturbed from higher powers I suspect, and I can’t help but hold the Master responsible for this bloodshed.

The true value of this news, I hope, lies in the fact that in Bazarkrak Castle another crystal shard lies, blue in colour, and from personal experience I can say it grants the power to be more avid at dodging and more precise at coordination. The dwarves prise the crystal high, as do the people of Ravenshead with theirs, but the dwarves seem unaware of any other crystals or any such speculations.

Now, to find leniency in your judgement and possibly, although I dare not expect it, forgiveness from your grant hearth, I impart this information to you, hopefully somewhat filling the gap in the mission I started on initially: to find and secure a crystal. I think I have succeeded in the former, but the latter is beyond my personal power to achieve, and as such my wisdom led me to informing you of this crystal’s presence. Do with the information as you wish, though please also consider the dwarves’ suffering when you decide your course of action; my intentions have never been to precipitate any conflicts between dwarve and men kind.

Now, before I forget, I have news for one of my old companions, Garor Skullsplitter, a dwarve from Bazarkrak castle. The dwarves here have searched for him, desperately, and even though I and my companions have prevented immediate need of his presence – the death of king Grandil has been prevented and he needs no follower for now – I still feel I must make sure both parties are aware of the situation here because of Garor’s leaving. I don’t want to meddle in private affairs though, so I will leave it at that, but I though if anyone, you might be the person who could still have contact with the dwarve.

I trust you as my king, Your Highness, and hope to one day, a glorious day, be able to return, on horseback, to the steps of your castle, to seek the kings’ judgement, to face it, but also to go to the friendly man who still watches over the body of my brother, Ludhèr, who died bravely in the fight against the Master, and pay homage to him. If this day is too much for one to wish for, then let me follow in my brother’s footsteps.

Yours sincerely, Romar Belamor

Romar lays down the quill next to him, on the soft grass he sits on. Through it, he had released all frustrations and burdens of the past days, as he wrote this letter. It must be exhausted, Romar thinks, like I have been ever since it began.

During his rest in the open field, Romar lies down in the grass and briefly feels the union he had always had with nature’s beauty, now that for just a short while all burdens have been lifted from him. He had missed the feeling a long time by now, as ever since the battle in Carealal he hadn’t felt it like he does now. Feeling a cold breeze through his hair, he mutters some words, trusting the wind to carry them to their destination. He searches with his hand in a pocket and finds the seed he had carried around for this occasion. Patiently, he waits, like he has all the time in the world, and after a while, a small, brown-feathered bird approaches. Romar stretches out to it as it lands near his hand, and the bird picks into the seeds greedily. Leaning over the little creature, he whispers some words, entrusting nature to take care of his burdens and frustrations.

Summoned by the wind you are, little bird, to do me a favour. Carry the content of this message better then I have, my small friend, and bring it to the palace of Ravenshead, to king Sturmguard personally.

He attaches the letter to the frail talon of the small bird, as the bird now seems to have forgotten all about his shy nature. Its pearly eyes look Romar in the face shortly, as he listens to what is asked of him. Then, a few quick picks into the seed and of he goes, onward to bring the message to king Sturmguard and the people of Ravenshead.

May Fharlanghn guide you, little beauty of nature.

After he has had his rest and send his letter, he goes back to the dwarves and is ready to join the hunt.

---

Spell: Animal Messenger (PHB 198) – Duration 6 days

[Fangor the Fierce]

"Let us move quickly! If there indeed is a battle for the crystal, then we will aid in what way we can."

Turning to the scouts, she says in Elven, "Go ahead of us and make sure the way is clear."

Krysta moves swiftly towads the direction of the warhorn. The surroundings blur as she jogs, dodging trees and branches.

This is all too familiar. The warhorns, the running... But it will be different this time. This time, I am ready to face whatever the Master sends our way. I will not let the others down.

As she reflects back on the events that seem so long ago, her emotions make way for what she needs. Discipline. She quickly touches the belt, making sure that all things are as they should be while jogging through the brush. Her eyes try to kep the scouts in her sights, following them swiftly. If they should halt, then she too will halt, holding up her hand for the others to stop as well, and motioning for them to ready for anything.

Her bow is ready, yearning for something to aim at and strike.

Let the hunt begin....

[Hero]

Hero pulls along with Callian, wearing her armor. :-)

[Jevva]

Galdren races after Krysta, trusty katana and wakizashi sheathed by his sides, hindering him in no way as his graceful movement awes even the most dexterious elf.

[Merovingian]

Newt will move ahead and take point keeping a weary eye out for any other surprises moving with stealth through the fields to the keep. Move silent +15 Spot +9

[Artemis]

Angelus just nods at Caelith's comment as he trudges along with them not really saying much. His eyes seem distant and deep in thought. I must avenge my parents... maybe I can convince them to let me stay long enough to kill the Master before putting me in the brig