Alain Alone, the Road to Darkon

[ewancummins]

Alain gets on the boat before some else tries to slow his journey down even more .

The boat drifts down river, with the crew poling as necessary to keep it free of sandbars and other obstacles.

The sun sets, but the captain keeps his little barge on the water, despite the hazards of drifting by night.

''Better we get stuck on a sandbar than get stuck in the necks with spears, right? Hah ha."


The next morning, the crew pulls ashore in a scrubby, pine-covered wilderness.

The captain tells Alain.

''We're taking the West Fork, through Dementlieu. This is the Falkovnian side. Following the East Fork downstream will lead you to the northern border country, right on to the Dead Line unless you skip over in Lamordia. I'm not stopping longer than necessary to unload you and your gear and such. My advice is to hide your weapons and be real respectful to any soldiers you meet in Drakov's kingdom. Good luck."

[Lord Skybolt]

"Ok captain . Thanks for the advice ."Alain says moves to get his gear and horses off and going on the trail .

[ewancummins]

You ride for less than half an hour when you encounter a group of about twenty soldiers on the road. A wagon parked right in the middle of the way prevents you from advancing unless you want to ride through the woods on either side.

One of the mail-clad footmen hails you.

You notice outriders moving through the tree line to your left and to your right, black shadows on horseback.

If you turn and flee now, you may be able to evade these men.

The soldier shouts at you in Falkovnian <Hey, stop, come here!>, and then he speaks in accented 'Common Mordentish'-

''You on horse--comen here!"

[Lord Skybolt]

Alain Respectfully obeys the Solders orders .

[ewancummins]

The soldiers surround you, but they make no move to attack.

(Are you wearing any armor or weapons they can see? The captain of the keelboat warned you, so you make make rolls to conceal if you like).

One of them, and older man with a nasty mass of scars on the left side of his face, says-
''Dismount."

He looks you over.

''Papers?"

Your Falkovnian lessons are coming in handy-- you can pretty much understand everything these guys are saying, so long as they don't speak too quickly.

You haven't got papers...

''If you don't have papers, that is a big problem. You can get in a lot of trouble. If you can't find your papers, you have to come to the fort with us."

[Lord Skybolt]

"I guess I will be coming to the fort with you then ."Alain says to the Solider, after looking in his belongs for papers he knows he never had to begin with .

[ewancummins]

The soldiers watch Alain rummage through his bags.
In Falkovnian, one of them remarks to the others-
'"See, he's lost his papers. Poor bastard."

The sergeant says,
''Okay, that's too bad you can't find them. You need to be more careful. There will be a big fine. It's better than the other way, though."

One of the men makes a horizontal circle with his right thumb and forefinger, and then thrusts his left index finger up through the loop.

Someone mumbles, ''Ouch.''


....

After purchasing a safe conduct at the fort (- 30 gold pieces, including the fine for 'losing' his his imaginary first set of papers) , the road to the northern border is wide open to Alain.

[Lord Skybolt]

Alain takes the best route to catch up the rider that is bearing the package that he trying to intercept .

[ewancummins]

Alain takes the best route to catch up the rider that is bearing the package that he trying to intercept .

After purchasing a safe conduct at the fort, Alain hastens rides hard for the northern borders. His route carries him past tall wheat fields and the dark stands of pine. Stooped peasants stare at him with blank, hungry faces as he passes them on the road. Flashing his safe conduct paper at a dozen patrols and check points, he presses on till nightfall.

Resting in a farmer’s barn (which is cheaper and with fewer bugs than the nearest excuse for an inn) Alain dreams of the magical bag. CIrdan appears to him in blackened plate. The fallen elf-knight speaks from the hollow of a great horned helmet- “Take it, you deserve it. You won it. It is yours by right.” Endless streams of gold coins and polished jade bars pour from the mouth of the bag when the knight turns it over. ‘’Gold, magic, power, secrets—take it all! ”
…
In a couple of days, Alain passes a long row of staked, crow-pecked corpses that marks the border with Lamordia. Soldiers festooned with hawk feathers and necklaces of polished human teeth take his safe conduct from him and usher him out of Faklovnian territory.

Pools of frosted mud spatter the road into Lamordia, and the air changes from autumn coolness to winter’s chill. Alain feels his magic weaken and fade, as if the land were draining it from his body.

Alain’s horse is tired and nursing its right foreleg when he finally arrives at the crossroads ostlery. He learns from the staff that a man matching the description of the courier he seeks handed off a bag to a tall elfin rider-- yesterday morning!
The stocky, balding ostler informs Alain-

"This faerie rider, he’s gone back into the witch country. It is a place full of magic, freaks, and all manner of unreason. You are warned now. If you do mean to go that way, though, I can sell you a new horse..."

[Lord Skybolt]

"Yes I want still go on, and I could use another horse also ."Says Alain in reply to the ostler .
Diplomacy Check for Haggling for good price considering trading the other horse in as part of getting the other horse Diplo check is 25
http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/3581591/

[ewancummins]

Alain is able to get a strong-looking chestnut mare for half the cost most traders would charge. He has traded in his old horse.

The ostler smiles and pats Alain on the back. ''This horse you swapped me, he'll be good in a week or two of rest, I'm sure. Ja, you be careful on the road, stranger. I wish you luck. "


Walking his new horse across the border in Darkon, Alain feels a rush of magic, welcome after the drought of mana he experienced in Lamordia.

Cold, flinty hills and pine scrub gives way to rolling green fields and tangled broadleaf forest.

The locals he meets are friendly folk; not only men but hobniz and a few dwur. The common dialect here sounds similar to the speech of his homeland beyond the mists.
…

[ewancummins]

a few weeks later, in Il Aluk.
Alain passes a market stall where bags of all shapes and sizes are sold. Something about the collections of sacks, purses, and pouches catches his eye. No, not the bags, it's the signboard. It is marked with the same mystic sigil as his amulet.

The wrinkled old man running the stall notices Alain examining the sigil. He smiles at Alain and touches his forehead in a curious three fingered salute.

"Most people never notice the sign. Do you need a new bag, or something else... "

Alain doesn't need a new bag, as it turns out. He has already replaced the one that half-elf cutpurse took a week ago. Damned thieves. The city watch used to be more vigilant in this neighborhood.

Still, it felt good to be in the city after travelling so long. After all, Il Aluk was his home.
Il Aluk had always been his home.



END OF ALAIN ALONE