Birthright: Tuornen, Chapter Two

[Varrus the Ethical]

Roald cases the room, checking the entrances and making sure there's nothing out of place.


OOC: Are Roald and the one guard the only men in the room?

[JMaytr]

"Hotspur dead! Impossible!"

Devlin shakes with rage.

"Where's his body?"

[Lord Skybolt]

Cormac nods. He shuffles in his bag, fetching out one of his remaining Goodberries and offering it to the bandit. "Here, take this. It'll help wi' yer leg pain. Small comfort I suppose, bu' you've helped us. What kind o' numbers do they have? What led yeh to work wi' the goblins, anyways?"

''Our gang was small, twenty-odd men. Some came and went. Setting up with goblins-- that was Wall-Eye's bright idea. The goblins buy captives. "

Brennan mutters something about stewpots.

The brigand shakes his head-
"Naw, they just keep 'em for slaves. It aint true that goblins eat people. Orogs, now, those are real monsters..."

He shudders.

"Thanks for the information . That should help us find them easier then, Gunnar Son of B'org promises you that they will not last as long as you have when I catch up to them ." After promising retribution to the bandit about his former comrades in arms . He turns to Cormac saying "I think it is time we rode to my home now, my wife will have wondered what has happened to me as I just came in for keg of Ale is all ."

[VAN]

As soon as Filbert is shown into the Duke's main chamber Devlin closes the door behind the halfling.

"Filbert, with the city under attack, I need your help. Remember when I was younger, and we accidently traveled into the world of Shadow? I have read in my histories that Michael Roele once took a whole army into the Shadowworld so that they might move the men seemingly instantly. I know it is a risk, but I need you to travel into through that realm as quickly as posible to Ghonalison. I need you to contact the army there. Take this note," Devlin hands the halfling a scroll sealed with wax showing the device of the Ducal house. "Deliver it to the Lord of house Ghonallison,"

Devlin puts his hands on Filberts shoulders.

"I know this is a dangerous task, but Tuornen's survival depends upon it. May Haelyn guide you."

Filbert opens his mouth to say something but closes it soon after he realizes how important is his mission. He gets the scroll and with a bow says:

"It will be done Your Grace. Good luck."

Looking at his wounds adds:

"Is there any chance of a healer to look on my wounds before departing Your Grace?"

[JMaytr]

Devlin calls for healing for his fool before he heads to Rivergate.

[Adam]

Cormac strokes his beard thoughtfully. "One last thing," he mutters.

He turns and puts a hand on Gunnar's arm, leading him a distance from the bandit. Speaking in a quiet voice, he leans in close. "This man doesn't seem to me like he cares much for his friends. People get desperate, and they do desperate things to survive. He's done wrong, but maybe we should give 'im a chance to redeem himself." Cormac seems somewhat conflicted. "Give 'im a weapon. Let 'im ride with us. I'll take it as my responsibility to keep an eye on him. What ya' think?"

[ewancummins]

River Gate-

"Hotspur dead! Impossible!"

Devlin shakes with rage.

"Where's his body?"

''No one knows, Your Grace. But we saw him fall. The fire demon leapt on him and then, in the confusion as it ran wild..."

A weak, rattling cough at Devlin's back-- and then a familiar chuckle.

Turning back, the young duke sees Braedonnal leaning on a woman. The elf is blistered and smoking but alive! He looks like he's been through hell.

Blinking, Devlin recognizes Fhylie the Sword as the woman holding up his lieutenant. The mail-clad half-elf woman smiles fiercely.

"I have healed him as best I may, but I don't think he's in a condition to lead a counterattck, Your Grace. He needs to rest. Oh, and I brought some friends-"

A roaring crowd of angry Cuireacenites armed with iron-shod staves, cudgels, and swords comes jogging down the street to join Devlin's knights.

“But I don’t think we have time to chat…”

She points at the enemy troops swarming through the shattered, burned gate.

[ewancummins]

The Auld Oak-

Cormac strokes his beard thoughtfully. "One last thing," he mutters.

He turns and puts a hand on Gunnar's arm, leading him a distance from the bandit. Speaking in a quiet voice, he leans in close. "This man doesn't seem to me like he cares much for his friends. People get desperate, and they do desperate things to survive. He's done wrong, but maybe we should give 'im a chance to redeem himself." Cormac seems somewhat conflicted. "Give 'im a weapon. Let 'im ride with us. I'll take it as my responsibility to keep an eye on him. What ya' think?"

Brennan shrugs.

"If Gunnar is okay with it, I'm okay with it. But you two will have to provide the weapon."

[ewancummins]

Devlin calls for healing for his fool before he heads to Rivergate.

A cleric of Haelyn comes to the palace and fully heals all of the halfling's injuries.

[VAN]

Filbert thanks the cleric and then thinks where he can find a place where the walls between the realms are thin. It comes to his mind a graveyard where pirates and beggars are burried, that place should be good for his attempt to cross to the shadow world. So with a last look at the palace tries to sneak out of the city walls and head to that graveyeard hoping he passes unnoticed.

[ewancummins]

Filbert thanks the cleric and then thinks where he can find a place where the walls between the realms are thin. It comes to his mind a graveyard where pirates and beggars are burried, that place should be good for his attempt to cross to the shadow world. So with a last look at the palace tries to sneak out of the city walls and head to that graveyeard hoping he passes unnoticed.

Filbert sneaks out a postern gate guarded by priests of Haleyn and some temple militia.

He creeps through the damp, cold fields outside the city, hoping to avoid enemy patrols.

The crescent moon and the cold stars provide enough light for him to find his way to the potter's field near the river, where the paupers, suicides, and criminal dead are buried.

As he sneaks into the cemetary...

[ewancummins]

Filbert, cont. on unhallowed ground

Filbert crosses through a broken section of the sagging wooden fence that marks the field. Clumps of dark river clay cling to his shoes. An owl hoots in the distance. Footsteps sound in the gloom. He looks for a hiding place...

...and notices a lamp glow pointed his way. Rough voices call out-
"Hey, who goes there?"
He sees a pair of dirty men in the loose shirts and short breeks of riverboat crewmen. One, tall and gaunt, carries a sword in his right hand and holds up a lantern with his left. The other, a stocky fellow, holds a short bow with a nocked arrow.

"We saw you, skulker. Come out of there. Show yourself."

[Varrus the Ethical]

Occupying a corner that gives him a view of the whole room, Roald draws his sword and rests the tip of it on the floor. Resting both hands on the pommel, he prepares himself for a long, boring night.

[VAN]

Filbert tries to remain still and looks around in order to see if he can run away and at the same time find a place to hide.

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

-Haes Walls-

"Mother of black damns!" Rennault cannot help but bite his lower lip when he sees the gate explode in fire. He wipes a trickle of blood from his mouth.

"Hold this position!" He calls down to his men. His first thought was to shift his watchmen to the river gate, but that would leave this section undefended. Maybe that's what the Alamiens wanted--to keep him and his men fixed in position. But he couldn't know without assessing the situation.

"Frod, take over until I'm back. I'm going to find out what's happening at the gate. Sound out on that horn if there's trouble."

With that, bow in hand, he races for the River Gate.