Birthright Chapter Six

[JMaytr]

Devlin and Fhylie-

Devlin looks on in horror at the wailing beast.

He swings his weapons at the creature and misses.

But it doesn't.

Hard jaws bite down on Devlin and he feels the injury deeply. The mouth of the beast is ridged and as strong as a vice.

The duke slices out with the rapier and strikes the creature again. He leans in and whispers to Fhylie,

"Those things bite hard. If we don't fell them fast, we must flee if your magic cannot heal us!"

[ewancummins]

Devlin looks on in horror at the wailing beast.

He swings his weapons at the creature and misses.

But it doesn't.

Hard jaws bite down on Devlin and he feels the injury deeply. The mouth of the beast is ridged and as strong as a vice.

The duke slices out with the rapier and strikes the creature again. He leans in and whispers to Fhylie,

"Those things bite hard. If we don't fell them fast, we must flee if your magic cannot heal us!"

Fhylie answers with a loud 'Yes!' as she strikes one of the horrid creatures.

[Varrus the Ethical]

ATLI'S OFFICE

"My informants tell me that Fez is trying to get a boat for Lofton. He uses hired runners to move his messages. Word is he's hiding someplace in the Fish Market, on the city-side of the River Gate. He must be scared of being caught by the guards at the gate. I figure he'll try to move out at night, when the Men cannot see so well and may not recognize him."

"The Fish Market, you say? That oily little man must have relatives in the stalls." Roald cracks his knuckles. "Well Torthur, shall we head over to the Fish Market and give Fez his just deserts? We can get Clyde a fresh troute afterword, my treat."

[JMaytr]

Devlin and Fhylie-

Devlin winces through the pain of the creature's attack and brings his weapons around. They both strike true. The creature makes a sound-of a baby dying-and chills Devlin to his core. It falls in a heap at his feet. Devlin feels the divine rush into him and feels some of his wounds begin to mend. Looking over he sees a bloodied Fhylie, her hand outstretched and glowing.

Devlin whirls in front of her and faces the remaining creature. He slashes out, taking fur and tight, leathery flesh from the creature in a neat slice.

"Come on! You ready to die today, Beast?!"

[ewancummins]

Devlin and Fhylie-

Devlin winces through the pain of the creature's attack and brings his weapons around. They both strike true. The creature makes a sound-of a baby dying-and chills Devlin to his core. It falls in a heap at his feet. Devlin feels the divine rush into him and feels some of his wounds begin to mend. Looking over he sees a bloodied Fhylie, her hand outstretched and glowing.

Devlin whirls in front of her and faces the remaining creature. He slashes out, taking fur and tight, leathery flesh from the creature in a neat slice.

"Come on! You ready to die today, Beast?!"

The creature rushes foward, blood dripping from multiple small wounds, and springs at Devlin with its bony jaws spread wide.

Devlin staggers back, nearly dropping his sword. The monster’s jaws snap inches from Dev's face as it kicks at him with its hooves. He stabs his dagger at its long neck. The beast smashes into the Duke; they fall together. Only Devlin rises from the dirt, bloody main gauche left buried deep in the thing's throat.

Fhylie steps forward to steady her ally.

"A fine battle! What did you find in the cave?"

[JMaytr]

Devlin and Fhylie-

"Some dead Tuor. Come, lets see if Braedonnal is among them."

[ewancummins]

DEVLIN AND FHYLIE


A search of the musty, foul cave turns up a broken shield and a helmet that has been cracked like a nut.
Beyond that, Devlin and Fhylie don't find anything of note that Devlin didn't discover earlier.


Fhylie goes to retrieve the frightened horses.

[ewancummins]

THE MANOR, NIGHT



Horns blare from someplace beyond the servants' hall.
The tramp of many feet, loud oaths, and the ring of steel-on-steel follow the horn blasts.
Torchlight flashes at both ends of the long corridor.

After Cormac and the maid have been pulled from the closet, Dietric checks both for signs of life.

"He's alive, she's not."


Sir Ranald assists Dietric in binding Cormac's face, neck, and chest wounds with strips of linen torn from a sheet taken off Cormac's bed.

After the bandages are hastily tied on, the new-made knight tells the others-
"We've stopped the worst bleeding. Better get him to a proper healer. I think it's safe to move him."

Moving quickly down a side passage, the little party enters the lantern-lit great hall via a small servant’s door.
They find four of Count Robin’s men-at-arms guarding a pair of healers who work on several injured men and women.
The healers set to work on Cormac within a minute of him being laid on a table. They work fast; stripping him to check for injuries, dressing any wounds they find, and then swaddling him in a thin blanket to keep him warm.
By the time they are finished, Cormac looks like one of the ancient Irboudan mummies that Safana has seen illustrated in her father's books of lore. His lips and nose show through the strips of cloth.

One of the healers tells Safana-
“We have done what we could. The Count has a chaplain with him, a man gifted with power by the Stormlord. If you can find him, he may be able to do more for your friend.”

[VAN]

WOODED HILLS OF GHONALLISON, FILBERT AND RENN

Riding as swiftly as the uneven ground and the trees allow, Renn and Filbert escape the armed pursuers...


Renn and Filbert find Sevet and Gatt waiting with the other horses at the hilltop rendezvous.

From the woods to the north and west, all the scouts assembled on the bald hill ringed with cypresses hear distant sounds of men shouting and horses crashing through brush.

Filbert waves from distance to Sevet and Gatt really happy that he made them there.

"Nice to see you guys, get your horses we need to go back fast, our position has been compromised and now armored men are after us. I'm afraid it will be no long to come here as well."

Waiting Sevet and Gatt to mount Filbert mounts his pony and says addressing Renn:

"By the way Captain, I always knew that you were great with the bow, but these shots were really amazing. You got these 3 men down all by yourself! Too bad someone saw you and called alarm, I was near man that seemed to be the leader. He was ordering everyone to pack the tents and be ready to leave and go South. His exact words were: "ride south after those bastards' and to 'get him back alive!'" Apparently they are after someone. I saw no prisoners. I counted like 40 knights or men-at-arms and at least 40 others that help them like pages, squires etc. Several of the soldiers wear a black tower badge on their coats. I discovered also a chest which I opened and among the various coins were hard rocks that glimmer a bit. I took a couple to show you."

[ewancummins]

WOODED HILLS OF GHONALLISON, FILBERT AND RENN

Riding as swiftly as the uneven ground and the trees allow, Renn and Filbert escape the armed pursuers...


Renn and Filbert find Sevet and Gatt waiting with the other horses at the hilltop rendezvous.

From the woods to the north and west, all the scouts assembled on the bald hill ringed with cypresses hear distant sounds of men shouting and horses crashing through brush.

Filbert waves from distance to Sevet and Gatt really happy that he made them there.

"Nice to see you guys, get your horses we need to go back fast, our position has been compromised and now armored men are after us. I'm afraid it will be no long to come here as well."

Waiting Sevet and Gatt to mount Filbert mounts his pony and says addressing Renn:

"By the way Captain, I always knew that you were great with the bow, but these shots were really amazing. You got these 3 men down all by yourself! Too bad someone saw you and called alarm, I was near man that seemed to be the leader. He was ordering everyone to pack the tents and be ready to leave and go South. His exact words were: "ride south after those bastards' and to 'get him back alive!'" Apparently they are after someone. I saw no prisoners. I counted like 40 knights or men-at-arms and at least 40 others that help them like pages, squires etc. Several of the soldiers wear a black tower badge on their coats. I discovered also a chest which I opened and among the various coins were hard rocks that glimmer a bit. I took a couple to show you."

Sevet and Gatt cast wary glances at the wooded hills to the north and west.

[ewancummins]

GUNNAR

After calling for his helper and taking time to don his full suit of plate armor, Gunnar steps out into the hall with his shield and an unlit torch slung over his back.

Ten or more servants and refugees rush past him, led by a boy who bears a blazing torch.

In the flash of torch-light, Gunnar gets a look at what's coming after these people; a great shaggy wolf with eyes that reflect the fire-glow.
The beast will be upon Gunnar in mere seconds if he does not turn and flee with the others or hide in his room.

[ewancummins]

DEVLIN & FHYLIE THE SWORD
After recovering the horses and searching the cave, Devlin and Fhylie comb the hills nearby for any sign of Hotspur or Tuor men.
After over an hour of tramping across the fells and skidding down ravines, the pair discovers Braedonnal lying in a ditch, covered in mud and blood, with his long sword held at guard. He smiles weakly at them through the grime caked on his face.
“Oh, good to see you two!” And then he passes out.

Fhylie heals Braedonnal; he recovers enough for him to ride double on her horse.
The elf mumbles something about the fire in his sword and monsters attacking.
Fhylie turns to look at Devlin, “Your Grace, I think we had better get back to Croaker Norge.”

…

RENN, FILBERT, AND THE SCOUTS

Riding south, the scouts skirt Fox Run after spotting large foot patrols of goblins just outside that town. The goblins don’t appear to be going far from their base, but they are swarming too close around it for Renn to do more than make a crude estimate of numbers. Assuming that many remain in the town and out of sight, a couple of hundred of the vile brigands might be good guess.

Renn, his men, and Filbert return to Croaker Norge late in afternoon to find that Duke Devlin’s army is ready to march, and the Duke himself has recently returned from a little scouting of his own.

Captain Rennault is still giving his report to the young Duke when a mounted messenger arrives with word from Count Robin.

The Count's rider says that his lord has taken up a defensive position at the manor of a certain esquire (Renn knows where this is; it’s not far west of the town, tucked away in the wooded hills) and awaits reinforcement for an attack to liberate Fox Run. Count Robin hopes that Duke Devlin can reach him before morning.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

SCOUTING PARTY, THE RIDE BACK TO CROAKER

Renn nods and grins at Filbert's compliment. "Thanks, friend. But if I'd have been a better shot, we might have kept them from raising the alarm altogether. But they were going after our horse--making an escape would have been damn hard without our mount."

"Good scouting back there, Filbert. This should be enough intelligence for His Grace. And when we get back--let's have a look at those gems. Mayhaps we can take more if those raiders are so foolish as to cross our paths again."



AT CROAKER NORGE

Renn quickly dismounts upon seeing the Duke and throws up a salute. "Beg to report, Grace. The lands just north of Fox Run have been invaded by a troop of mounted warriors--40 fighting men and at least another 40 attendants, Filbert reports. He's a sneaky cuss," he says, pointing to the halfling. "Got right there in the middle of them before we had to bug out."

"Filbert says they're Black Tower men, Sorelies' boys almost certainly. They've been wrecking the countryside to our north. At one farmstead, they took their pleasure with a girl, nailing her to the doorframe before they killed her." He looks to Sevet. "Then men would like to see her and her family buried, Grace."

"Would that we could have taken some of the Sorelies bastards alive, so we could visit the same kind of justice on them. We felled three of them in skirmishing before we broke off--no friendly causalities. They had some kind of chest with them, coins and the like. That means they may be moving slowly."

"There must have been some sort of chaos in the camp. Filbert reports one of their leaders shouting 'ride south after those bastards--get him back alive!' Not sure who they mean. Perhaps a prisoner, or one of their leaders. Either way their morale might be shaken somewhat."

"As for the gobs, there's about two hundred of the blighters in Fox. I don't know if the Black Tower boys plan to link up with them or not, but we must prepare for that possibility."

His face lights up when he hears the messenger mention a familiar name. "Ah, Squire Ranald! I've met him, Grace. A shrewd man from what I could tell. Shall we pay him a visit and bolster his ranks with our own? I know the way."

[ewancummins]

THE MANOR
(This scene occurs later than the scene in Croaker Norge by some hours; it's after nightfall.)

Dietric tells Safana “I’ll get the chaplain!”
He immediately departs.


Sir Ranald remains nearby, moving into the far end of the hall and setting up a little command post there. He issues orders to his servants and listens carefully to all incoming reports to develop a sense of the situation.


...

later...
Cormac wakens, weary and sore. He feels cloth wrapped around his face and arms and a hard surface under his back.

Torchlight glares above him.

[Adam]

Cormac roars and flails around, visions of furry jaws coming flying out of the darkness at him.