Birthright Chapter Six

[ewancummins]

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

Hands press gently down on his shoulders and a calm, firm voice speaks to him.
"It's alright, it's alright now. You are among friends."

[Adam]

He gathers his breath and looks around, pulse still racing in his ears.

"Wa's goin' on?" he finally growls. "Where am I? Where's tha' beastie?"

[VAN]

Filbert dismounts and bows to the Devlin. After Renn has finished talking the halfing gets out the couple of the strange rocks he has found in the chest and says:

"Your Grace, among the coins in the chest were these rocks with this strange hue. I don't know what they are for, but since they were hidden in a chest I bet they are rather important. Do you have someone to check them? A mage or a cleric perhaps?"

[ewancummins]

CORMAC

He gathers his breath and looks around, pulse still racing in his ears.

"Wa's goin' on?" he finally growls. "Where am I? Where's tha' beastie?"

The hands lift. The calm voice replies-
"You were injured badly, but now--"

Dietric's rough voice cuts in.
"A bull-beggar got you. You're lucky you aint dead, Boss. We pulled you out of that closet and took you to get proper healing. Might be you'll end up dead anyhow, along with a lot of other folks. Goblins and wargs and gods-know-what-else got us surrounded.''

[ewancummins]

CROAKER NORGE TOWN, THE DUKE'S HQ

Filbert dismounts and bows to the Devlin. After Renn has finished talking the halfing gets out the couple of the strange rocks he has found in the chest and says:

"Your Grace, among the coins in the chest were these rocks with this strange hue. I don't know what they are for, but since they were hidden in a chest I bet they are rather important. Do you have someone to check them? A mage or a cleric perhaps?"

Fhylie the Sword (an athletic woman with youthful elfin looks, whom Filbert knows to be the head of one of Tuornen's two churches) leans over to examine the rocks.

"Those look a bit like uncut gemstones to me. But they could be worthless. Maybe if you find a jeweler or a miner? There are a couple of mines in Ghonallison that dig up precious stones.''

[Adam]

He groans and tries to roll off of the bed.

"The hell are we sittin' aroun' here fer, then?" he growls. "Where's my bow an' my gear? We'll show these rats the same welcome they saw at the abbey!"

As he realizes just how wounded he really is, he chants and releases a healing spell into himself to get back on his feet.

[ewancummins]

CORMAC, IN THE GREAT HALL OF THE MANOR-HOME

He groans and tries to roll off of the bed.

"The hell are we sittin' aroun' here fer, then?" he growls. "Where's my bow an' my gear? We'll show these rats the same welcome they saw at the abbey!"

As he realizes just how wounded he really is, he chants and releases a healing spell into himself to get back on his feet.

Dietric gingerly peels some of the bandages from Cormac's face.

"Well, you aint bleeding much, but you still look like something the butcher threw to his dogs, Boss. You sure about fighting in this condition?"

[Adam]

"I think the gobbs won' care much how I feel if they get in the keep," he growls, getting back to his feet, "An' I think there's people here who can't defend themselves. We have to do somethin'."

He looks around for his equipment. "Maybe if we're lucky I'll find that bull-bear thing an' we'll see how he fancies a round two."

[ewancummins]

"As you like it, Boss."

Dietric takes up his spear and gets ready to move out...

[ewancummins]

Cormac finds his bundle heaped at one end of the long table he had lain upon.

His axe, pack, fighting leathers, and basic gear is all present.

[Adam]

Cormac throws on his leather armor jack with a groan and picks up his bow. He then reaches into a pouch and pulls out a pair of red berries, popping them into his mouth and then reaching for his bow and arrows. Finally, he slings a drinking horn over one corner and turns towards the door.

"Are they inside the walls, lad?" he asks Dietric.

[RocEter]

Night time at the Abbey

After sundown, Foerde sleeps, still sore and weary from the battle despite magical healing.
He dreams of a time long ago, when he had another name and lived in a small cottage hard by an ancient forest with his young wife and their little son. His wife has just baked a big pie stuffed with wild berries and—

A loud hoot shatters the dream scene, jolting Foerde awake. He casts about , sitting up in his hard cot as his eyes adjust to the darkness of the small bedroom.
A quick look through the open shutters shows the stars and pale crescent moon above the empty courtyard. The hoot, quite loud, sounds again, seeming to come from outside and above the window.

___________________________________________________________

Grunting, Foerde rolls out of bed and grabs his sword. Heading outside with nothing more then his priestly garments and his war sword, he investigates the noises. Did that giant owl follow him here?

___________________________________________________________


Sure enough, the gigantic owl waits outside, perched on the roof.

It stares down at Foerde with its huge, unblinking eyes like dim lamps.

___________________________________________________________

Foerde laughs and then breathes a sigh of relief. "Well friend, I see you found me or have been following all this time?"

___________________________________________________________


“The crows told me of a big kill here. You Men piled rocks on their food. They didn’t like that.”
The owl shifts its footing, while turning its head so that its eyes never waver in their stare.
“Yooooou kill a lot of goblins. That’s good. They scare off my food.’’

___________________________________________________________

"Ha! Well we humans don't like the smell of dead bodies, much less the sight of crows feasting on them." Foerde says. "Plan is to keep killing goblins, till they are all dead or run back to their homeland." He adds.

___________________________________________________________

The owl hoots again, more softly this time.

"I have seen some Men meeting with Goblins. Men in metal, on big horses."

___________________________________________________________

"When and where?" Foerde says with extreme urgency. He forgets that the owl doesn't think of things the same way he does.

___________________________________________________________

The owl swivels its head left to clean its wing feathers with its beak.
"Another night. In the little hills."
It ceases cleaning and turns to look south towards the lower country.
"I wanted to eat a horse. But there were too many goblins, too many men."

___________________________________________________________

Another night in the hills, couldn't be bandits. He has never heard bandits wearing plate armor, maybe a single bandit or two but not an entire group. Mercenaries, knights? If so who did they work for? Maybe the rumors were true about Alamie and Tournen being at war...

Foerde shakes his head, clearly he has a lot to think about. Good thing he has some prisoners, maybe they know something. "Well, I'm glad you dropped in to pass on this information. I can't repay you, I don't even think I have enough to feed the people I have here." He says.

"You know if you found their camp, the men in metal, you might be able to snag a horse while they sleep." He says.

___________________________________________________________

The huge owl shakes its wings.
"No. Horses are much too big to carry. Men might catch me feeding."

It flaps its wings and hops off the roof, rising to circle above the yard.

"I hunt for smaller food now.''

Foerde hears a final hoot, and then the great owl has vanished into the darkness.

___________________________________________________________

Foerde waves good bye with his free hand. "Happy Hunting, friend." He says to the great owl as it vanishes into the night.

He returns to his bed, to finishing getting some sleep. Tomorrow he has some prisoners to interrogate..

[VAN]

CROAKER NORGE TOWN, THE DUKE'S HQ
Fhylie the Sword (an athletic woman with youthful elfin looks, whom Filbert knows to be the head of one of Tuornen's two churches) leans over to examine the rocks.

"Those look a bit like uncut gemstones to me. But they could be worthless. Maybe if you find a jeweler or a miner? There are a couple of mines in Ghonallison that dig up precious stones.''

Filbert looks at the rocks again and then puts them back to his pocket.

"Thank you, I will do that as soon as we go back."

[Lord Skybolt]

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.

Gunnar lets lose with several daggers at the approaching beast, ending with a dagger in his hand .

[steveflam]

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."

Torthur nods. "Yeah, we kin do that. Fez ain gonner know whuts hit im. CLyde'll be mighty oblidged ye gettin im a fish too."


OOC: Was under weather since saturday so just getting around to work, posts and stuff today.