Turn 29 - The Nightwolf
Fabian Benavente
the wall while the old man keeps talking. :)
Read the ooc.
Questions, comments, and/or suggestions?
I'm going to look at the characater sheets next.
L8r,
Fabian
http://www.geocities.com/izrador99/
Hope for the Children - A Midnight PBEM
Justin Kroona
The past three days had been difficult for Greta. It
wasn’t her wounds that bothered her though, she barely
even noticed them other than to note they were healing
well. No, it was her thoughts that troubled her. She
spent her time trying to remember, remember her old
friends, her uncle, her family, and how they were all
gone. And she could remember images of those people
but there was no emotion attached to them. Even
remembering how her father and sister had been
murdered, she could remember as if it had happened the
day before, but she did not feel remorse, guilt, or
anything at all. It troubled her, the knowledge that
the great endurance she had gained came with such a
price.
As such, Greta kept to herself for the three days.
She avoided conversation whenever possible. And when
situations arose where she had to speak, she kept the
conversations brief, her voice sounding as hollow as
her gaze. Every evening, when they handed out rations
and the hungry children devoured theirs and still
looked hungry, Greta wanted to feel bad for them, she
wanted to feel, but she could not. The few sparks of
sympathy in her soul were quickly swept away. By the
second night she could hardly stand to look at the
refugees. They had mostly run out of food, Greta had
a little bit left for herself, but nowhere near enough
to give more than a morsel if it was shared. She
dreaded the next night, when there would be nothing to
give the dwarf women and children. She could already
see their tired, dejected faces, hear the sad voices.
Greta wanted this side trek finished.
She heard her comrades speak of the raven following
them but Greta didn’t seem to care. If the bird was
shadowspawn killing it would accomplish little,
assuming the bird would be foolish enough to get close
enough for Greta to take a good shot at it. That too,
was nothing but another annoyance that bothered Greta.
But she knew she had to accept it. Leaving the
refugees to die was simply not an option and that was
that.
Greta was at the head of the column on this morning,
where she usually was, up ahead of the rest of the
group, as far away as she could get from the refugees
without being separated from the column. Then she
heard the wail of the dwarf woman from the back of the
column. Greta stopped and shrugged her shoulders.
She knew it was something bad but she didn’t want to
look, fearing that no matter how terrible the sight
was, she wouldn’t feel anything. But something in her
wanted her to look, wanted her to see. Slowly Greta
turned to look back and see what was going on.
Looking back she saw the dwarf woman on the ground,
crying, holding a baby. Greta assumed the baby must
be sick or dead. Greta shook her head, it was
unfortunate.
As Greta start to turn around, she suddenly felt
something. Inside, she felt her inner void suddenly
collapse and vanish. Greta grimaced as she felt a
dull stab of pain from her healing wound. She took a
deep breath and steeled herself, ignoring the sudden
but minor pain. Her wounds were close to being healed
anyway, and this would not stop her. But then she
felt something else that hit her like the fist of the
living statues. All the sorrow and sadness she had
tried to conjure up over the past few days welled up
inside her and erupted. Greta staggered and dropped
to one knee, her vision blurred by the river of tears
that poured from her eyes. She started shaking as she
leaned heavily on her spear. She grabbed the hood of
her cloak and pulled it over her head and prayed no
one noticed her. She did not want to be seen like
this.
As she remembered her father and sister again, Greta
whispered softly “I’m sorry I failed you,”
[tag, if anyone is interested]
__________________________________________________
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with a babe in her hands and she wailed. When they went to help her,
they noticed the child in her arms was not moving; it would never move
again. Even Grakram got second thoughts about yelling at the woman, but
something needed to be done and quickly. The raven circling above cawed
as if laughing at them.
RPG: Grakram spat on the rocks next to their trail, his face as hard as
ever before. You wanted to sum up the woes of the world? Look no
further for witty philosophers or pompous historians. The children are
dying. No other words were needed. The children are dying, and
there's nothing you can do to stop it.
Grakram was silent as he stared at the rock under his hobnailed boots,
his endless litany of muttered curses silenced at last. He sat down
heavily on a large rock, taking the weight off his feet. He noted a
damp batch in the bandage wrapped around his leg; the wound was
bleeding again, his stitches torn by the endless hours of walking.
He'd have to sear it with hot iron tonight, before the constant
bleeding depleted his strength any more.
The Spirit Below was ever thirsty, but it'd have to work harder to
drink any more of his blood, Grakram decided. He wouldn't trust the
warlock's healing, not with the constant insults he had to put up
with. Just one more misplaced word, the dwarf swore, and he'd eat the
man's ear to teach him when to keep his trap shut! Were it not for
his usefulness, Grakram would have done away with the man days past.
Imagine, to suggest they leave the Clan's treasures behind! The very
idea! To a dwarf, such items were well worth dying for.
The raven cawed and the dwarf cast it a baleful glance that should have
scorched its feathers in an instant. Instead, he got another mocking
caw for an answer. They'd have to do something about that Shadowspawn
soon, and they'd definitely have to find something edible. But while
Grakram knew the terrain as well as anyone in the party - namely
Urokk - and knew how to life off the land well enough, the mountains
were not a good place to forage for food. And he lacked a crossbow to
shoot down that bloody bird with! It was uncanny; usually animals
steered well clear of him, but this one was all too persistent...
perhaps it really was a tool of the Legate.
Grakram's face clouded even more if that was possible. If that was
true, it meant they were showing the bloody Shadow-worshipper the way
to another dwarfhold! And that just wasn't going to happen if Grakram
could prevent it. Far better for the lot of them to die on the trail
than to risk another dwarven settlement!
"Can sumone please shoot down that bloody bird?" the dwarven
warrior growled aloud. He cast a look at the Dworg, wondering if he
shared his fears about them being allowed to run so they'd betray
another dwarven hold with their actions.
TAG: Everyone interested...
NRPG: You mentioned you had got up to speed in reading, Fabian. You
wouldn't have found time for those Steven Erikson's books you once
admitted you were eyeing? For this scene could be straight from
"Deadhouse Gates," from the Chain of Dogs story arch ;^) Lovely!
-Jussi / Grakram
billboyden
Kruack walked along a few steps behind greta, there had been no time to hunt
or gather and now they were getting desperate.
They now needed to make the time, Kruack was sure that if he rummaged
through his pack he would be able to find something but it would in now way
feed them even with a small morsal a peice..
As he pondered what was to be done, He heard the dwarf womans wail, stopped
and turned to see her slump to the ground.
(Greta/old)
Greta staggered and dropped to one knee, her vision blurred by the river of
tears that poured from her eyes. She started shaking as she leaned heavily
on her spear. She grabbed the hood of her cloak and pulled it over her head
and prayed no
one noticed her. She did not want to be seen like this.
(Kruack/New)
As kruack turned back around and was about to call to greta, she staggered
and dropped to one knee as if injured, kruack rushed to her side and grasped
her shoulder..Are you OK? Was it an arrow? Where? Can you stand? The
wildlader exclaimed.
(Greta/old)
As she remembered her father and sister again, Greta whispered softly “I’m
sorry I failed you,”
(Kruack/New)
What was that? He replied..Kruack heard something come from her but could
not make out the words
Tag Greta
Fabian Benavente
> wouldn't have found time for those Steven Erikson's books you once
> admitted you were eyeing? For this scene could be straight from
> "Deadhouse Gates," from the Chain of Dogs story arch ;^) Lovely!
Great stuff guys; very emotional. As cheesy as it sounds I even got some goosebumps while
reading some of it. Keep it up! :)
As for my reading, I've reading some non-fiction (mostly Zen-books and 'simple living'
stuff) and discovered L.E. Modesitt, Jr.; I started reading his Corean Chronicles. I'm a
sucker for post-apoc as well as fantasy. :)
I have, however, found that one of the libraries here in town has the first of the Steven
Erikson's books so it's coming up. So this scene is not from there; I'm making it up. The
idea for this part of the adventure was that Dunkan would have survived and taken the
children to Silver Mine leaving the party 'free', but those pesky PCs never follow the
script! :)
Justin Kroona
(Kruack/old)
What was that? He replied..Kruack heard something come
from her but could not make out the words
[Greta/new]
Greta heard Kruack ask if she was hurt, keeping her
head down and her face hidden from him she shook her
head.
"No, no, it wasn't an arrow, nothing like that," she
said, her voice shaky and filled with sadness.
"I just need a moment..." her words trailed off as she
tried to get to her feet. With effort, she hauled her
self up onto her feet. She didn't want to look at
Kruack, she certainly didn't want him to see her,
tears pouring down her cheeks. Her whole body was
shaking, however. Greta wanted to sob, to scream, but
she refused to give in, she could not give in. But it
took every ounce of her will to resist.
"I'm sorry, if you'll excuse me," she said to Kruack,
as she staggered over to a boulder. Greta leaned up
against it, head down, hood pulled up.
What is happening to me, she thought to herself.
[tag Kruack, if he wants or anyone else]
billboyden
"No, no, it wasn't an arrow, nothing like that," she said, her voice shaky
and filled with sadness.
"I just need a moment..." her words trailed off as she tried to get to her
feet. With effort, she hauled her
self up onto her feet. She didn't want to look at Kruack, she certainly
didn't want him to see her,
tears pouring down her cheeks. Her whole body was shaking, however. Greta
wanted to sob, to scream, but
she refused to give in, she could not give in. But it took every ounce of
her will to resist.
"I'm sorry, if you'll excuse me," she said to Kruack, as she staggered over
to a boulder. Greta leaned up
against it, head down, hood pulled up.
(Kruack/ New)
Kruack, relieved that they had not been ambushed but still knew something
was wrong, As greta headed for a boulder he placed his arm around her and
helped her to the boulder, If you are sure your ok? I am going to see whats
going on..He said you sit and get some rest and I shall check on you in a
few minutes. the wildlander continued.
Tag Greta
Kruack walk through the group to the others gathered around the old woman..
(Grakram/Old)
"Can sumone please shoot down that bloody bird?" the dwarven warrior growled
aloud. He cast a look at the Dworg, wondering if he shared his fears about
them being allowed to run so they'd betray another dwarven hold with their
actions.
(Kruack/ New)
Just as he approached the group, he heard grakrams words.. I can give it a
shot..he replied as he took his longbow from his shoulder
He peered into the sky at the Raven, to bad time is short, he thought as he
knock an arrow..
Any objections here, the wildlander exclaimed
Tag Everyone
If there is no Objections;
Kruack pulled back on the knocked arrow and raised it to the sky towards the
raven he took a couple minutes to line up his shot then let the arrow fly
-----Original Message-----
From: Hope-for-the-Childre...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:Hope-for-the-Childre...@googlegroups.com]On
Behalf Of Justin Kroona
Sent: Saturday, August 05, 2006 3:14 PM
To: Hope-for-the-Childre...@googlegroups.com
Subject: [Hope for the Children - The Midnight PBEM] Re: Turn 29 - The
Nightwolf
Justin Kroona
If you are sure your ok? I am going to see
whats going on..He said you sit and get some rest and
I shall check on you in a few minutes. the wildlander
continued.
[Greta/new]
Greta only nodded and watched the wildlander go.
Thankfully, she thought to herself. The last thing she
wanted was for the rest of the group to come over and
see her like this. She leaned back against the rock
and tried to steady herself. She took several deep
breaths and tried to think about something boring and
mundane, like birds, trees, the sun, food...
Greta looked out from under her hood to see what was
going on, her vision blurred by tears. They were all
looking up, likely at that raven that was trailing
them. Shrugging, Greta went back to her thoughts,
trying to reclaim the void.
tacet pressim
[Urokk - New]
It was Urokk's turn to be angry. For two and a half days he had remained in a brooding silence, speaking to nobody. He walked, as always, close enough to lookout for the children, but not too close as to scare them. However, it was not the children about whom he thought. His mind was concerned with a single member of their company and his mood was dark.
There were many aspects of Brew's personality that bothered him, but it was his hypocrisy that grated the most. And that began to lead to other things: his righteousness; his overwhelming assumption of intellectual superiority; his condescending mockery. Eventually, Urokk began to feel that even the way that the channeler walked, emphasising each step, supporting himself, with over dramatised infirmity, on his cane, was carefully designed to make the dworg feel inferior. But what bothered him most was his own powerlessness to do anything about it, because whatever violent means he might use to silence the man would undoubtedly serve to support all of Brew's unspoken accusations, which were all the more cutting for their lack of voice.
Despite his silence Urokk was not oblivious to the food situation. He had long since given his own meagre rations to the children and spent the journey foraging for spiders and slugs that he would find under rocks at the side of the road. There were times when this activity would leave him behind, but his powerful legs would soon propel him back to the group that moved at a speed less that half his normal pace.
[Ganwin - Old]
"One or two of us should be able to get away without too much
trouble" Ganwin proposed, "I suggest Urokk slips away durring the
night and makes his best speed to our intended destination. Maybe he can get
help, or at least warn them that we're bringing foes."
[Urokk - New]
Urokk grunted at Ganwin's suggestion, but revealed nothing about what he thought about it. Instead he wondered why their pursuers had not caught up yet. Surly orcs could travel much faster than baby dwarves, and they were bound not to be starving.
"We need to lead them on false trail," he said. "Or what if we could fool that bird into telling them we'd gone another way. Kurak, hold off with that bow a moment. And could someone ask that emotional wreck of a magician whether he can trick the bird into thinking we've gone elsewhere." The dworg knew he was being childish. It was beneath him to play such games, but merely thinking about directly asking Brew for help made his blood boil.
[Tag - any]
Tom Andry
[ooc – I know I’m late with this, like I said, I’m way behind. I’ll try to be more prompt. Kudos to you all, this turn had some great writing.]
[Brew / new]
Brew’s diet had deteriorated over the last few days. The human refused to take food before everyone else had eaten at least something. That meant that he hadn’t eaten in the last 24 hours. Brew had made his broth each night but that only fed three a day. The rations of elven tea were also gone. There was nothing left. Well… not nothing. Brew still had the liquor he had taken from the bodies of the fallen dwarves. That he would not share. All day long the human sipped from the skins, maintaining a constant level of intoxication. He wasn’t drunk per se, but definitely numb.
And numb is what he wanted.
The voice was back… with a vengeance. It was only through the constant use of alcohol that he kept it at bay. He wanted nothing more than to shut it out completely. But he couldn’t – he didn’t have the reserves. He’d have to ration carefully until they got to… wherever the hells it was they were going. He’d have to look into restocking then.
[Urokk old]
"We need to lead them on false trail," he said. "Or what if we could fool that bird into telling them we'd gone another way. Kurak, hold off with that bow a moment. And could someone ask that emotional wreck of a magician whether he can trick the bird into thinking we've gone elsewhere." The dworg knew he was being childish. It was beneath him to play such games, but merely thinking about directly asking Brew for help made his blood boil.
[Brew new]
Brew stumbled up behind the Dworg as he spoke. He took note of the fallen woman and child. Brew wanted nothing more than to feel something… anything… but he couldn’t. Another dead baby. Another. How many… At one point Brew had kept count. A running tally of horror. A reminder why he was on the path he was on. Why he risked what he did. Why he dared as much as he had. Had… so long ago. Too long. Not long enough…
It is still in you. Brew ignored the voice. It wasn’t in him… not any more. Not after that day.
Brew pushed to the front of the group, “What are you all staring at? A dead baby? Is this the fist one you’ve seen? Surely no. I’ve seem to have lost count of the numbers I’ve seen. Hundreds I think. At least hundreds. This is what we get you know.” Brew began to pace, “This is what happens to those that oppose the Shadow. Sure we won, but at what cost? We’ve an army on our heals, we are starving, and many of those we ‘helped’ will die under our charge.”
Tears began to fall down the human’s cheeks, “THIS is why I don’t want to be involved, THIS is why I don’t want to be here! If it wasn’t for that fucking child… The blasted shadow is going to win, as it always does…. Don’t you see? There isn’t really any use fighting. Why bother? Every victory, no matter how insignificant is rewarded in pain and suffering. We should all just go home. Bury that blasted case and forget it ever existed.”
[tag any/all]
[Provided someone calls Brew a coward – which he is J]
“Coward?!” Brew exclaimed, “Of course I am! When did I say I wasn’t? I’ve never advocated fighting or getting involved. It is always you people that seem to want to kill anything that moves. And here I am having to pick up the pieces.”
Overhead the bird cawed again, agitated by the sounds below.
“There!” Brew pointed up, “An agent of the Shadow! Do you know why we’ve managed to get this far without incidence? Has it occurred to any of you that any orc troupe worth its salt could have caught up with us 10 times over by now? They are watching us. Laughing as we die. And as much as they’d love to be the ones that killed us, they hold back. Why? Because we are obviously going somewhere. Obviously. We are pushing these women and children to literal death to get them to a place. A place that will be under siege within moments of our arrival.”
Brew grabbed a skin from his cloak and dumped some of the fragrant contents into his mouth, half of which ran down his chin. “So, what’s the answer? You tell me. We can’t go forward or we risk killing all those we would look too for protection. We can’t stay or the ones that we are protecting, and most likely ourselves, will starve. We can’t kill that damnable bird because that could bring the army down on us now. We can’t lead it astray because we don’t have enough food. We can’t… well, maybe…” Brew’s voice trailed off.
“I could do something, but it is risky,” Brew began, a light suddenly in his eyes. “Hold on,” Brew searched his cloak frantically, finally pulling forth his most ornate flask, the one with two spouts. He quickly uncorked the smaller of the two chambers and took a quick swig. He shook his head sharply and shuddered as he swallowed. When he opened his eyes, they were clear and focused. Even his voice was steadier. He whispered to the group, “I’ve got an idea but it is risky. Much like inside the… whatever room that was. I can create a wall directly above us. It would hide from that bird’s sight anything below it. During the day it might work but I think we’d have a better chance at night. If Kruack and Urokk and whoever else want to go forward to find food or whatever, we could stop for the night just like always. Once the bird flies away, I could start my illusion. When it came back looking for us, we could leave our blankets behind, stuffed with leaves and whatever. We could travel under my illusion during the night and perhaps loose the bird. We would have to press on through the next day but they’d have a hard time figuring out where we are…. I don’t know. It’s risky but it might work. During the day the illusion would be more effective if they didn’t know exactly where to look.” Brew paused then added, “Any thoughts?”
[tag all]
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Fabian Benavente
Midnight.
The trailer looks pretty good and, if the first one 'sell's, there may be more.
This is good news!
http://www.againsttheshadow.org/index.php?topic=62.0
L8r,
Fabian
http://www.geocities.com/izrador99/
Hope for the Children - A Midnight PBEM