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"There's not a change that I'll allow you or anyone else decide that!" she yells to the angel.
”It’s her life, fallen or not, it’s up to her decide what to do with it!” anger again rise into her face. Deep down, she knew there was nothing she could do, if that was the girl fate. But just for some small seconds, the mage allowed herself to believe, that it was not in the hands of someone else to decide this. Trying her best to calm herself, lest the dwarf send more cold water in her way, she continues ”I’m not buying this. Prophecies are strange things, and only Pharasma may be able to truly know what they mean. Even then, I refuse to accept that, someone else fate is written in stone, and that it can’t be changed. Now, more than ever, I’m against you taking her.”
Miro listens to the man casually name drop the Harbingers, eyes widening. He then listens to the young woman rail against such a sacrifice, as he suspected most in the party might. Himself, he wasn't sure. Prophecies and such were fickle things, and easily misinterpreted.
Gromff's vision shifts from Walker to Aersensi to the Archon for several revolutions hoping someone laugh or smile or something, indicating a bad joke here. When none is forth coming he settles on Aersensi with an undoubtedly surprised expression. Its a good thing they moved out of earshot of the villagers cause he almost explodes at Walker. "Ye mean ta tell me she's a fallen angel? And she's been right here under the Devil's noses the whole time? Are ye mad?" After the thunderous rant he goes to sit down on a nearby rock or log. He seems to know a little more than the others it has made him very worried.
The angel says to Catcher "Young one, you are absolutely correct--destinies are not written in stone. This is why she must live, this is why her secret must be protected at all costs. Her fate, and that of the entire world could change in a heartbeat, were she to fall into the clutches of evil.
You are wrong to assume I have anything do with her decisions or to do with the prophecy. Merely a soldier of heaven am I. I will protect her with my life, so that her duty is lain before her.
She will be safe with me. I can teleport at will. When we happen upon danger, I will remove her from that danger immediately. Though your troupe is gallant and skilled, that is beyond your power. Despite your mischaracterization of my past, capable I am still.
There is much to do. The day or reckoning draws near."
She looks over the group, and her gaze lingers on Walker. "Who are you? You are a dangerous man, dangerous indeed."
Walker's lucid moment appears to be over with, because he stares off in the distance at the rising sun breaking through the snow clouds. He doesn't even acknowledge that he was spoken to.
Aersensi chases chickens around the yard, oblivious to the candid conversations nearby.
Roland smiled and shaked his head sideways when Walker opened his mouth to speak. He laughed about the situation, not quite minding the weight of the words. "Still got your tongue, hun grandpa? I like your voice, you know. You should try to talk more."
He turns to the wingless angel, once again throwing some ice over the Archon's confidence. "Of course you can teleport at will, that's why you and your fellows teleported from an obvious trap, and were never killed or captured, right? I saw something different, but I'm sure there's something else, since you have that ability, right? Anyway, I would tell you who grandpa is, but know you enough, I do not."
"Oh, since you can teleport yourself as you see fit, can you take us to Archdale?" He shows her his best smile, as if nothing had happened.
Of course you can teleport at will, that's why you and your fellows teleported from an obvious trap, and were never killed or captured, right?
Gromff was nearly pushed over the edge when Catcher brought up the Archons failure. It reminded him of his own lost comrades at Moradin's Fissure and his own failure I keeping them alive. She was young, naïve and upset at the time. But the way Roland was able say something like that so callously, and without a hint of remorse or regret, caused something in the surely dwarf to snap. He marched over to the tall human barbarian, leaped with all his strength and walloped him good in his smiling face.
"Don't ye dare say that again," he says with barely contained rage. "Ye don't know the burden it is ta have that many dead on yer shoulders so don't ye attack someone for it, least of all a lesser deity. Ye don't even know what's going on here ye soft-headed fool."
There is an awkward pause as Gromff stares long and hard at Roland trying to get his point across without words. When he is somewhat more in control he continues.
"If'n he's right," pointing at Walker, "we just found one o the keys to stop this war. The Harbingers are fallen angels that will save the world with their sacrifice. That's what Walker is trying to do if I missed me guess. And that's what Tylz died trying figuring out. He knows something about the Harbingers. No priest, no cleric, no diviner of any skill has been able to find them and yet one might be standing afore us."
Outrage and anger burn in the archon's eyes. Her gaze is locked onto Catcher and Roland, seemingly oblivious to the words of the dwarf.
"You know little and less. Foolish, petty, willful mortals, your powerful arrogance serves nothing but to inflate your bloated egos. Our goals coincide even if our methods do not. I sincerely hope we shall not meet again."
A sudden burst of roaring flame engulfs the angel, and just as suddenly she and the flame vanish from where she stood. She reappears in a similar burst of flame next to Aersensi, grabbing the child. "I will not stand idly by while you put your pride over the fate of the world. The child comes with me."
The expected gout of flame erupts-- but stops short, stifled. A second attempt follows, again the flames burst and fade in a split second, leaving the angel in place with a look of impatient frustration. "Do not even the Gods see what I am trying to do? What sorcery is this?! "
A final burst of flame engulfs the archon Zelesti and winks out leaving a cold silence, the confused elf child with tears rolling down her cheeks, and the absence of the enraged angel of heaven.
"Now look what ye did."
"I'm not even sure what to think of that. Done is done, I say. Looks like you'll be coming with us, child." Miro smiles at the elven lass, trying to lighten the mood.
Interesting day this is turning out to be." having said that, Tessandriel sighs wearily and wanders off a ways.
Roland was not prepared for the dwarf's sudden outrage. He remained there with his arms crossed over the Scale Mail until he noticed Gromff was coming to strike him, not to give him a slap like he had done before, but by then disbelief stroke his mind, and he remained still actually waiting for the punch to happen. He could bet the dwarf would stop midway, but he did not. The punch did not cause any significant damage, and was much weaker than some he had taken before, but man, his blood heated to the boiling point.
His head turned up from the low punch, the Scale Mail fell to the ground, and he remained looking at the sky for quite some time, while breathing heavily with closed fists. His right arm trembled with rage, his muscles tensing as the fury consumed him, knuckles white from the pressure, but the effort he was making to control his temper was admirable. The guard who thrust a spear on his neck know all too well the barbarian should not be provoked, on penalty of death.
Yet the enraged dwarf did it anyway, and although Roland knew he was an ally, for a couple seconds his mind thought about breaking the cleric's skull with the battered Earthbreaker. But then after some seconds he managed to get control, when the other enraged being was flame-popping around and failing at the pitiful tries of taking Aerseni. Fool. Thus he looked down to the dwarf, his eyes flaring with rage, to put a death penalty on the jest. "Hit me, just once more during your life, and I'll treat you as an enemy. And I swear I will make you miss devils and demons as your foes."
He stretches his neck sideways and looks in the direction the Archon was last seen, visibly calmer now. "I haven't told any lies. If they hurt so much is because they ring true. Pride has nothing to do with it. But indeed I do not know how it feels to lose an ally, priest. I've been alone my whole life. I was already born alone, without a mother and father. The ones who tended for my needs were the ones who enslaved me. Lucky you for once having something to lose, cause I never had anything. Now, if you will pay attention, we did not move trying to prevent Aerseni from being taken. We didn't actually said she would not go with him, but we just wanted explanations. The Archon decided on its own to take a different path from ours." He grabs his old armor from the floor. "As I said, she is in no condition to fight her enemies, and I did not mean physically. I believe you can see that now."
Last he looks at Miro, since a word did not go unnoticed to him. "So you're coming with us?"
Miro's jaw starts working as the two angry men engage, frantically trying to come up with some calming words to smooth things out. Then, just like that, it was done. The storm blew itself out as quickly as those storms that came from the Western Sea. Miro sighs in relief, not relishing getting in between the two.
Roland's question has that ready grin back in place quickly. "Of course! I was coming this way to 'help out' the side of righteousness. This seems as good a course as any other I've come upon. Plus, I think I will be able to create quite a song about the exploits of you four. If you don't mind me saying, you lot are not the typical 'knights in shining armor'. It makes you more relatable to the common man, I would think."
To the disappointment of the halfling Gromff did not let up nor even pay him attention. "I'll hit ye as many times as I need to pound some common sense into yer thick skull," he says poking Roland in the chest hard. Truly he was tempting fate by poking this bear of a man. "I ain't arguing the point. The elf girl is probably better off with us. But Words can hurt as much as weapons ye durned fool. How would ye like it if I called ye weak or cowardly or a for being enslaved by the devils? I was never a slave meself but I sure as hell ain't gonna use it against ye. And Walker already told us what we needed to know. But if we can avoid a fight then we should. If she had attacked rather than leave ye would have put all of us in danger, including the girl and Walker. Ye would have endangered the whole mission cause ye ain't got the sense to not poke a bear when ye see one. It was the same for with the bearded devil in the city. Ye pull a stunt like that and yer on yer own. "
Wisdom wins out, and Miro backs away. Mainly because he has no idea what most of those events were about. A portion of his mind cataloged the information, portions of which he would attempt to write lyrics about. He shrugs, looking to the woman named Catcher with an inquisitive expression on his face. It said "This happen often?"
He wanted to pay attention to Miro and not have to control himself with the dwarf futile taunts. He really wanted it, but Gromff kept pushing him, although poking the barbarian in the chest seemed not to have much effect on his calm demeanor, nor trigger his last threat. "Words may hurt, yes, but truthful ones should not do, and certainly cannot hurt me, priest. Feel free to use that against me anytime. Just so you know, I was born a slave. I grew up behind enemy lines. I should have been killed a hundred times by now, but I guess a guardian angel watches over me, and he's strong as hell. I was born weak, and failed countless times. I was too slow and made a bad move, so almost got killed from the guard's spear. That is certainly not the last time I failed, but I succeeded in killing my enemy 29 times now, and every time with more skill than the previous. Trial and error. I simply try to learn from my mistakes. The dog would do well to learn from hers."
Gromff has to stand back and stare at Roland for a good long time. He sighs and shakes his head. "Here's some truth then. Ye obviously don't care about what happens to us or yerself. That means ye got more in common with the ones that enslaved ye than ye might think." If the conversation is over Gromff ends with that and walks away to pray for guidance and patience.
Roland wants to counter that before moving to the next subject. "As I recall, I did not make a move against the devil, so yeah, you're absolutely right, dwarf." He's obviously sarcastic, and moves to the next subject.
"So, are we going back to the road to go north, or are we going through the country?"
Miro breathes easy, hoping the argument between the titans (well, at least to him they were) was at an end. "Either way has its ups and downs. If Tessandriel can lead us through, overland might be more prudent, considering where we are..."
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That was dangerous!
The mage walks in Aerseni direction and she embrace the crying child.
It’s alright. Don’t cry.
Then she gets Miros’s questioning look and she pretends to be blissfully unaware of that he is talking about.
Then still carrying Aerseni she joins the discussion.
”Through the country, I think. It may be harder for us, but it may be harder for then too.” after saying that, she walks closer to Roland and whispers Thank you…
Noticing as Gromff moves off from the party, Tessandriel steps back to the others.
Overland is my best choice. If anyone else wants to take a different route that is fine by me. I can help with catching animals for food along the way. I don't think it will be as hard as it might be first be thought."
"If we stay out of the roads the chance of bumping into the kids and Meldara is smaller. So that means we won't do anything about the kids and dragon story. Are you sure, then?"
"That's not saying I prefer to immediately move out, I'm just saying how I want to achieve that. I think I would like to investigate the missing children, though we have one with us that cannot be harmed. We should get her to Meldara first, then look into other things." Tessandriel looks fondly at the child.
Miro's blond brows furrow, and he even gives a minute shake of his head. "Whatever is to happen to these children I am sure is most foul. I believe they should be top priority." He is the newest member of this group, and his say was likely least important because of that. Still, he would have his say, regardless.
Roland looks at the new party addition, but decides secret could spoil their decision. "Let's not forget we already have an ally on that task. It would be great if we could help her, but going to the road might be dangerous for us. I'd go with that anyway. Tricky Dick is dead, and they probably have no idea on who to look for. Chez is not with us, so it should not be a problem. And if by chance we encounter the Red Orc away from the city, all the better."
"Someone should tell the child about when she should hide, for instance, when we're passing guards and dragons."
In the break of conversation, the faint sound of distant drums is heard from the south. The farm you currently stand on rests at a higher elevation than the those of the farms south of you, between you and Sojourn. This hilly countryside can make it difficult to view much at a distance, but your current position has the benefit of height. You can see dozens of columns of troops spreading out into the countryside, presumably from Sojourn which lays just out of sight. At this distance it is impossible to determine numbers, armament, or intent, but their tall red & black banners reveal them to be soldiers of evil. The units look like distant black streaks snaking out in different directions--some of which are heading into this sector of farmland.
Hearing the commotion Gromff looks up from his praying and moves to the edge of the hill. In the distance he can see the an army of creatures heading in every direction, including in theirs. "Where they been hiding that?" The realization that they might have opened a portal in Sojourn hits him heavily and he staggers back to the others to grab his things. "Time ta go," he says, the previous conversation dropping significantly in importance.
Miro nods in complete agreement. Although being accosted by the minions of Hell certainly would provide for some interesting songwriting material, he wasn't masochistic enough to actually want to be captured. He gathers his meager belongings, moving to catch up to the dwarf.
Moving to the side of the hill, Tessandriel looks down on the distant but approaching forces. She lets out a low whistle.
"That's a sizable army. Alright, are we heading over and through the mountains? I have a good sense in that terrain enough to keep us ahead of them if we do." she says while gathering her things.
"Yes, please. Let's move away from them, and use the covering of the higher ground to get away before they approach."
"Walker, Aerseni, are you ready to move? Someone need to tell the farmers about it, so they can hide the signs of our passage, if any." Seeing the others are already on the move he decides to go, and rushes up inside to tell one of the farmers.
"Hey man, thanks for the hospitality, but there are soldiers coming to the whole place, so you might want to act normally and pretend you're never here. If anything goes wrong, remember, you're the victim! They got your child." He waits for just two seconds before leaving.
The farmers are receptive and thankful for Roland's warning. They bid you a safe journey.
Roland believes there must be a way to cross the river close to Archdale, or otherwise they would be isolated the rest of the country, since Sweetwaters is under enemy's control.
Miro thinks hard about the surrounding lands, trying to come up with a decent mind-map and appropriate crossing points for roads, towns, etc.
Whichever is the fastest to stay ahead of the army. Gromff will also dig into his dwarven trail rations for an extra boost.
Miro,
You know that there are several villages that border the High Rock Lake, which is south-southeast of Archdale. Most of these villages have boats used for fishing and transport, which could be used to traverse the water, likely for a fee.
There are a handful of toll boats and bridges, but they're relatively few, as they are only at intervals where the river depth shrinks or the waters slow.
The safety and/or reliability of any of these methods is unknown without more up to date news. Powers, for good or for evil, gravitate toward areas of importance such as these bridges and boat routes for obvious reasons.
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”Whatever you are planning, better do it fast!” says Catcher to the group.
It seems that children, dragon or anything else will have to wait until the army is dismissed as not a real threat.
Still carrying the elf-child, Catcher walks over near the Walker and gently nudge him ”We need to leave, there’s an army on it’s way and it will be bad for us if they catch up. Can you keep a faster pace?” she asks without any hope for heal answer, as she takes him by the hand and start leading the old man into their desired direction. Into the mountains away from danger, or so she hopes.
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During their travels, Cather will at some point approach the Gromff, Miro and lastly Tessa.
Over some small talk, she will, without any remorse, puck some hair out of them. If questioned, she says ”Oh, I just learned a new spell. It allows me to transform into any other race. But I need a piece of that said race.” she says showing the hair. However, when she is near Tessa, the mage asks ”I’ve already heard about some that would be able to wield magic and blades into the battle. That’s certainly what I’m aiming for. However, there are histories about master of the bow, capable of focusing the power of a spell into their arrows… Imagine it! Tessandriel Siannodel, the Magical Archer!”
Miro gives Catcher an amused look as she plucks the hair and then offers her strange reason. He shrugs...he has only a cursory understanding of arcane knowledge, so he will take her word for it. Also noted...she's a wizard. He knew she had looked awkward with that big sword.
Looking at the others, "We could head towards High Rock Lake. There are several villages along the bank where we might find or...procure passage across the water toward our destination."
Roland hushes everyone up. "Sounds awesome. Let's get moving, then!"
As long as you don't take the hair from his beard the most Gromff will do is fuss and mumble stuff about "foolish wizards". "Good a plan as any."
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Now, look at this Aerseni... whispers the mage as she conjure a minor magic spell, the first one she ever learned. Let's teach that dwarf not to dump cold water on someone else's head! she says smiling as a little child.
Then, she changes all the hairs in the dwarf face, beard, mustache, eyebrows, and even the hairs of the nose and ears to a bright pink! And with a triumphant "Rá!" she starts laughing.
Miro's eyebrows raise in alarm at the dwarf's sudden fashion change. He looks away quickly, but not before snickering at the sudden pinkness of the squat fellow. There was an advancing army, and these guys were arguing and playing pranks. Could it be he had found a group where he would be the 'serious' one? It was going to be a rough time traveling, for sure.
The party bids the farmers and their community goodbye, departing straight away in hopes to put some distance between themselves and the oncoming troops to the south. The morning is crisp, cold and snowy, but the landscape makes for good traveling. For the first day of travel the land looks mostly the same as the farmlands behind you-- occasional rolling green hills, flats and bowls filled with vegetation and often crops, pools of water and the creeks that fill them-- a pleasant beautiful countryside.
The next day dawns bright and clear. The snowfall ceased sometime in the night but left a few inches of wet snow on the ground, covering your bedrolls and packs.
Your northwestern route has brought you to a rockier countryside, with more steep inclines and less vegetation. You rise over a rock formation and see a wood, just ahead of you to the north. The forest stretches as far as the eye can see to the east and west. It isn't particularly dense at this point, but it looks like it becomes more so the deeper into it you can see. With no other apparent alternatives, the party enters the wood.
It provides a respite from the harsh sun reflecting off of the snowfall, but the canopy shade drops the temperature quite a bit. The only prints in the snow that can be seen look like animal prints-- deer, rabbits, birds-- nothing alarming. Squirrels are regularly seen skittering up and around the tree trunks and limbs.
As night begins to fall and the party is making camp, firelight is seen deeper into the wood. It grows rapidly and is too large to be a campfire. A second fire appears near to the first, but not as large. These flames do not spread in any alarming fashion, but whatever is burning is relatively big.
Distant cries of pain can be heard from the direction of the fire. The cries cease as soon as they began.
Roland looks at the party, counting their members to guarantee no one is missing, then he draws his main weapon and waits for a decision of the wood-strider.
Hearing the cries, Miro gets out his sling, smiling grimly as he sees the huge weapon of the barbarian. Well, they each had their place, and Miro's was definitely not on the front line. He too, awaits more information.
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When Gromff hears the giggling behind him he sees Arsensi and Catcher trying to hold back laughter. It isn't long before Miro too is caught in the mirth but for the life of him he can't figure out why. He doesn't seem to realize his hair has turned a very bright shade of pink. "Durned fool girl. Whole army on our tail and she be laughin like a loon."
When he sees the fires he stops removing his armor, thinking he may be needing it soon. He picks up his Morningstar and shield and goes to stand between the group and the fires. He looks at Tess and nods, easily conveying that she should check it out while they wait for some sign of trouble.
Catcher
