The burns to hands and face begin to radiate waves of pain, Timerious leans heavily against the standard. The adrenaline rush of battle and unbridled rage wearing off brings the current state of the world back to Timerious, it indeed has turned to s%%#! Through his one eye he is unable to locate the short sword as he teeters while looking about on the road. People rush past the three parting around the armored fighters, some carrying belongings and some just running to try and get to safety. The dwarf behind him gives him a not so gentle push, "That way! Follow da people." Sudden screams of terror and pain pierce the commotion and chaos of the street. Timerious whips his head around in the direction of the racket. Through the occasional fleeing civilian, smoke and embers Timerious sees the causes of the commotions in an alleyway just to his right. Between two burning buildings are three women crying out for aid, behind them flaming timbers and rubble block off the alleyway and any hope of retreat they may have. Between the trapped women and Timerious are a pair of goblins that are laughing at the plight of their victims and the chaos they have caused.
A Mage trick thought Markas, best vanquish the known enemy.
The warrior Priest moved into the fray and swung at the visible foe.
Markas charges forward towards the bandit that he could see after the other one vanished. In the opening created a moment ago by Brion's sword strike Markas's mace crashes in. The cleric can feel ribs shatter and crack under the strength of his blow. The man falls to the ground immediately upon impact.
Louis maneuvers and strikes at his opponent once more. Ha! I am sorry to disappoint, you see I'm usually in a much better form Louis attempts again to make an offense of a move
Anger washes over Timerious. "Those goblins are the cause of all these problems. The world would be better off without them. They should be driven back to their holes, never to be seen again."
Timerious lurches toward the goblins and swings the standard two handed as if felling a mighty oak.
"Halaaavvv!!"
Round 7 initiative
Louis's movement and swing of his sword accomplish nothing as the man circles also countering his efforts. The wicked slice this man had drawn across his back as well as most of the bolt's damage had all but healed, mended by Gertie's ring. Louis knew well enough that a strong hit from this foe might end his life so he kept his focus solely on this foe.
<Blade
The man Louis was locked in combat with bats Louis's blade aside and drives his shorter sword into Louis. (-3hp) "I'll kill your stupid ass boy! Ha Ha H..." The man start to laugh and then suddenly a familiar black handled dagger is buried to the hilt in the man's neck, the other side of the black blade protrudes from the other side of the man's neck. Louis looks to his left and sees a grinning Latovius who nods back at Louis.
Erik rushes forward to the side of the crossbow wielding bandit and swipes his blade, drawing a shallow wound on the man's side. Brion rushes to the side of his boyhood friend and drives his blade through the man's throat ending him.
Oblivious of the flow of fleeing people pouring down the street Timerious makes his way to the goblins that had drawn his focus. No words spoken to the dwarves Timerious shouts only one word, "Halaaavvv!!" as his world again becomes singularly focused on the hated goblins. The plight of the trapped women and those on the streets around him no longer mattered to the fighter, only the destruction of the hated goblins mattered.
As he charged in on the goblins a sweeping swing connected perfectly with one of the goblin's scrawny neck, snapping it instantly. Back and forth Timerious and the goblin swung at each other with their weapons before Timerious once again connected perfectly driving the goblin down to the street never to rise again. Timerious's anger did not end when these two had merely been knocked down, he continued to pound the bodies with the standard until he was exhausted. Panting, Timerious looked around with his one open eye and saw that one of the women had died in the alley way ahead of him. Her body horribly burned, the other two were no where to be found. Looking back to the street there were still a few people fleeing the city. He hobbled out into the street and followed the flow of the people, trusting they would lead him to the docks. Leaning against the standard heavily and with every step causing him agony Timerious makes it to the docks. He stops and draws himself to a full upright position with the help of the standard. He watches as a heavily armed group of maybe thirty is quickly boarding a warship. It is impossible to see into the interior of this group, tower shields closely held together protect all of the flanks of the group from attack. With impressive discipline the group moves as one, no breaks in the armor ever appear. Besides the ship that the group was boarding there are two other warships that are docked and another two are some distance off shore.
A different group of heavily armed warriors are moving quickly from the docks in your direction, they number perhaps a hundred. As the group approaches the ground shakes under the impact of many heavy boots. A handsome mustached man in heavy plate mail slaps a large heavy hand onto Timerious's shoulder. As he does so instead of pain a warming essence swells and spreads within Timerious's body. Most of the horrible burns, blisters, and swelling vanish in an instant. All that remains behind are soreness and aches along with some painful swelling. Timerious manages to open his left eye ever so slightly. He is happy to discover that he is not blind in that eye, just that it was horribly swollen shut. His vision out of that eye is as if he was squinting but he was grateful for the small miracle. A different man steps forward and stands next to the one who had reached out to Timerious. He is dressed in gleaming chain mail which reflects light in every direction, a shield on his right arm glows brightly red across its scared surface, the sword sheathed at his side is covered in a layer of ice, an amulet around his neck has something swirling or living within it, and perched upon his shoulder sits a smallish silver scaled wyrmling. The man more commands then speaks to Timerious and the two dwarves. "You have just come through this madness so you can lead us where we need to go. We must get to the main army with all haste, we are paladins, clerics and war mages from Krakatos sent to aid our brothers and sisters. Lead us onward!"
"The army is this way fine sir. I will gladly lead you. If we pass through the city and then up the road we will reach the camp. Follow me." Timerious gestures in the direction of the army.
Ho ho! Those words got stuck in hiz throat, no? with a wink and a nod of gratitude Louis turns his attention from Latovius to Darcy, seeing one of the bandits near her he moves in for the attack. En garde!! Louis makes his challenge.
<Adrianna
Louis moves alongside of Darcy and opens up a nasty cut on the left thigh of the halfling who was harrowing her. The man gasps at the wound and Louis can read in his eyes that he is not happy about another foe joining this fight. The halfling wore the trappings of a rogue and wielded a dagger that had already sliced into Darcy twice. Two death cries come from behind Louis a second or two after he had struck the halfling, hopefully they were not the cries of friends.
Adrianna mutters an incantation and there is a brief shimmer about her form that is just as quickly gone. She then moves toward the sound of battle while looking about where the black robed man had stood before vanishing. Two death cries are heard from nearby to the east.
The seasoned warriors and mages look in the direction that Timerious begins to travel in with a good amount of doubt. The maddened fighter joyously sets out with a spring in his step. Flames, ash, and embers swirl as gusts of wind fan the fires engulfing the city scape making breathing and navigating much tougher then normal. Sticking to the largest roads that Timerious had traveled allows him to lead the army through the chaos with what his mind considers confidence. As the group passes through the open and abandoned city gates they pause to look back at the way they had come. Through coughs to clear smoke filled lungs and watered eyes all can see that three quarters of the city is ablaze. Only the docks and the far western side of the city(slums) are currently untouched by the spreading fires. "Boy, you have truly delivered us through the gates of hell. Now, we must push onward to a different hell and aid our brothers and sisters." An elderly red robed woman with only one arm and long salt and pepper hair pulled tight into a bun on her head says to Timerious from nearby. A plate armored balding man offers Timerious a silver dagger and scabbard for it, the man smiles and nods for Timerious to take it. As Timerious gets his bearings and traces the path he had run from the camp to the city of Halag he spits a mouthful of ashen saliva to the ground. It splatters with a deathly black color upon a stone protruding from the ground. Ahead a haze where the camp had been is all that Timerious can see from this distance. 'Have the humanoids arrived to retrieve their prophet and beset the army stationed there?'
"The camp is this way. I ran most of the way to catch up to the fire fighting dwarves. It isn't far now. We should hurry. The goblin said more were coming." Timerious gestures down the road toward the camp.
Markas moved in a southeastern path looking for foes and the tricky Mage. As he moved past the two young warriors of Petra, Markas noticed they had some battle wounds but nothing that required Petra's Healing immediately.
<Blade
<hit and flee
Round 8 initiative
The halfling is too quick for Darcy and Louis as he darts to the right and throws himself into a roll not fast enough to dodge Darcy's swing(-4hp). The tricky halfling without missing a beat is on his feet and running away from the two fighters in an instant. He plunges into the brush headlong in an attempt to get away, his shorter legs prevent him from covering as much distance as taller folk but being so small the brush does appear to hinder him as much as it would someone that is larger.
Map revealed for what Markas has added for visibility.
Timerious hurries toward where the camp had stood, the experienced forces with him easily keeping pace. The sounds of battle reach the group before too long, getting closer the ground rumbles beneath their feet and the smell of death accompany the chorus of combat. Leading the forces into where the center of the camp had been Timerious has successfully lead the group into the heart of the battle. Already the ground is littered with many dead humans, elves, halflings, and dwarves and many times that number in goblins, orcs, bugbears. The clerics waste no time in offering up spells of protection, blessing, and healing to those in need. The paladins spread out and bolster areas of the forces that were being pressed, bringing experienced discipline and skill to bear against their foes. The handful of battle mages make the biggest impact in the battle upon their arrival. Hurling blasts of fire, lightning, and the woman with one arm brings forth a dark cloud of vapors that decimates a grouping of orcs instantly.
The sea of humanoids continues to press the combined armies on this flat plain between the humanoid army and the ruined city of Halag. The vile forces are losing scores to gain inches and feet but yet they press forward. Timerious has remained back from the fighting observing, not being the warrior that he was or is. He can feel in his bones that the tide of the battle is not going in their favor. He can see a group of bugbears approaching the mages, the old one armed woman stands defiantly in front of her brothers and sisters. The shining armored paladin with his frost brand sword hacks his way through a group of orcs to reunite with a group of clerics that were hard pressed. The halfling and his small group of kin are being surrounded by masses of goblins. The man he first met is slicing through every foe that dares to come into his range leading a group of outnumbered fighters towards the halflings to bring the battle lines back together on that side of the battlefield. Timerious can see a small number of bull headed minotaurs among others rushing towards the man and his fighters to prevent the joining of the two separated groups.
From nearby a heavy hit is heard and a guttural cry of pain. Louis sees the bear run to the north after a fleeing bandit.
Brion follows Markas's lead and pushes past the cleric looking for more foes. From nearby a heavy hit is heard and a guttural cry of pain.
Timerious rises. The minotaurs are leading this. The minotaurs are the ones we have to stop. Timerious starts to move. As much as I hate goblins the minotaurs are the key. With lengthening strides Timerious surges forward.
"Attack the minotaurs! What Timerious meant to be a thundering war cry was little more than a squeak. Breaking into a run Timerious raises his voice again. "Attack the minotaurs!"
Running toward the minotaurs Timerious raises the standard of the one true god with his left hand and draws the silver dagger with his right. This isn't a short sword but it is what I have.
"Halaaaaavvvvv!"
Markas followed Brion towards the ranch looking for the source of the cry as well as foes to vanquish. "Brion do you see who cried out?"
<hit and flee
<Bow
Latovius hurries to the fallen foe and retrieves his blackened dagger. There is the familiar growl of a bear as well as a cry of pain from the bear and a human's cry. Darcy drops her sword and fires a pair of arrows after the fleeing halfling. With the bandit in the brush it is unclear if he was hit.
"Nay, it came from close by though." Brion replied to Markas as he raised his shield to defend himself better. Somewhere to the northeast came a growl, a growling cry of pain, and a human's cry of pain.
A pair of goblins that were unable to get to the halflings moved to meet Timerious as he neared the widening rift between the front lines of the halflings and the fighters. Again the sensation of pure unadulterated rage washed over Timerious and he felt his strength surge as he gave himself into the feeling that had served him well in the previous two battles. Before one of the goblins could react the silver dagger flashed across its neck and it fell to its knees clutching at the wound with both hands. The remaining goblin swung a splintered wooden club held together by wire and tied cloth at Timerious who accepted the weak blow which allowed him to drive the dagger over the goblin's defenses and into its right eye. As it fell Timerious tried but failed to remove the small blade from the dying goblin and he just had time to move out of the way of a vicious spear thrust from one of three minotaurs that began their assault on the lone fighter. Timerious smashed the standard into the side of the head of one of the bull headed minotaurs, unlike the goblins the beast remained standing albeit a bit stunned. Timerious dodged a swing by a bastard sword but could not get out of the way of a viscous blow from a pike. He responded with another clubbing blow to the minotaur he had hit earlier but yet again it had little effect to the muscle bound humanoid. The bastard sword swung downward and severed Timerious's sword arm at the shoulder socket a mere moment before the minotaur Timerious had hit twice responded with a round house punch to the right side of his head. Timerious fell to the blood soaked ground, the last thing he saw was the fighter he had first met arrive and cleave the legs out from under two of the minotaurs. 'Perhaps I held the lines together long enough?' Were the last thoughts before Timerious's world went black.
Sometime later Timerious came to. He found himself resting mostly on the ground; his back was propped up into a sitting position by a blood covered stump. Blood continued to flow from the severed arm and Timerious found himself without the strength to move. He took in a deep breath, the air around him hung heavy with the smell of death and everything was eerily quiet. Corpses of humans and humanoids covered the ground as far as he could see from his low vantage point. The fighter he had first met stood some distance away with his back to Timerious. The man still held his sword and shield as he scanned the battle field for more foes. After a while the man turned around and trod over corpses to stand over Timerious. And with that judgment spoken Timerious's world again goes black....
What a cunning runt Louis remarks about the halfling, then his attention is drawn to the foe with the crossbow. Darcy! Zee man with zee crossbow over there! Louis points his sword at the fiend.
<Adrianna
Round 9 initiative
Louis's wounds mend some as his eyes follow one of the bandits retreat as the man crosses his field of vision. The fighter points at the distant man's path but the bandit is quickly lost from sight. Louis is unsure if what he'd pointed out to Darcy was caught by the deadly archer as she had been focused on stopping the halfling. From behind a nearby thicket emerge Adrianna and Erik, they appear to be searching for bandits as well and are ready to deal with them. Erik bears a few small wounds while Adrianna's face is tear streaked.
Louis sees Garent rush after the distant bandit, a loud growl follows moments later and then a brief death cry is heard in the distance which ends quickly. The halfling disappears into the thicket and is gone from sight.
Louis spends a moment peering after the halfling into the thicket. With no sign of the dangerous man blundering through the woods seemed like a good way to get a blade in the ribs. Darcy agreed and notched an arrow and walked backwards toward the darkness.
The impenetrable blackness vanishes as instantly as it had appeared over a 60' area of the forest land. On one knee rests a bleeding and heavily wounded Murlsan, one massive ogre arm and hand clasped the massive maul which was planted on the ground to help support and keep him upright. His other arm is pressed tight to his bleeding side, while blood trickled from other fresh wounds on his legs and arms. Resting near him are the ruined corpses of a pair of humans and a dwarf, evidence of the maul's might easily and horribly apparent to any who dared look at the bodies for more then a moment.
A short distance away next to a thicket the slashed and crushed bodies of four bandits and their equipment lie strewn about the area. Tufts of bloodied black fur still hang from branches and rest in the ever growing pools of blood. A lone set of boot prints head north and they are followed by the tracks of a bear, spilled blood accompanies both sets of tracks. Latovius walks to a corpse in this area and removes one of daggers from the man's eye socket, cleans it on the body and replaces it in it's scabbard. The rogue draws his black bladed dagger and takes off after the fresh trail with little sound being made. He returns a short while later with the bear trailing him, it is seriously wounded much like Murlsan.
Nearer the cabin and rickety looking lean to shed lie the bodies of many more bandits, black and yellow fletched hunting arrows are buried deeply into all of these bodies or have passed completely through them leaving gaping holes. Two unfortunate souls are still pinned upright to the side of the shed by those arrows. Inside the leaning shed with many holes through what may at one time been a roof are mounds of dry grasses and a small fire circle. This may have been used as sleeping quarters for some of the men. Behind the cabin is a buckboard wagon, several wooden barrels remain in the bed of the wagon and a man wearing tattered and blood stained work clothes is tied to one of the wagon wheels facing the cabin. His long and balding grey hair drapes over his face as his chin rests on his chest, he does not stir at your approach.
The door visible to you on the cabin is ajar, all of the windows on the left side of the cabin are broken and missing while a single window on the right side remains intact. From this vantage point the roof of the cabin is in slightly better shape then the shed but not by much, the original builders of this farmstead weren't much better carpenters then they were farmers apparently.
exhausted and hungry Louis looks around the field.
Louis wanders over to the corpses to the southeast of where he had been standing. All of these bodies are covered in deep gouges and scratches, two of the bodies are crushed as well as scratched. The bandits are younger then Louis by a few years, Darcy's assumption that Lucky Red had hired on some of the poorer farmers.
With the group seemingly in the clear at least for now, Markas takes visual stock in his companions. All save Timerious and Gertie are present. Murlsan and Garent seem to be of need of Petra's healing.
"Are there any foes left alive? I believe the Mage still lives so beware! "
Markas can not recall any times when Murlsan or Garent had need of the ring's restorative powers. All of their previous wounds were superficial and healed up naturally without anyone's aid. Come to think of it Markas couldn't even recall who currently possessed Gertie's ring. 'I bet I know who has it. It's either Timerious, Gertie, or Louis since neither of them are wounded. Wait, the first two are stone. I hope that means Louis has it. Now where did he get to so I can figure out if I'm right!' While the cleric was lost to his thoughts Murlsan had attempted to stand but was unable to do so. The ogre's grunts of pain refocus the cleric's thoughts on the present although he desperately wanted to know if he'd won his own personal wager.
"A halfling rogue made a get away, I think it was that Big Cain I'd heard tell of. Never laid eyes on him but the descriptions weren't far off of the little weasel who sliced open my back. There may have been a few others who also scattered when the tide of the fight turned. They are unorganized for the moment and likely few in numbers. Work in pairs to gather up the bodies! Any information we can find, items to be returned back to their rightful owners, or in the least preventing those who escaped from destroying or looting anything would do everyone a service. These bastards have taken and hurt enough from the honest hard working folk around these parts. Say what happened to your mother and that sort-of off fellow?" Darcy replies or orders, it was tough to tell which was which with her. That last part was directed at Adrianna whose hands tremble visibly now that battle had stopped for the moment. Erik steadies the shaken woman, neither speak of what happened.
Latovious and Garent make their way over to where Louis stood looking down at the bodies of the young bandits. "The bear is a viscious foe, I am glad he defends us. The boy that fled didn't make it, didn't even have a weapon left on him to keep off the bear. So far I don't recognize any of the faces of the fallen from among the ranks of Melinir's seedier side. Must be a bunch of country bumpkins like yourself Louis." Latovius cracked a smile while he looked about the area after he had his fill of looking at the bodies felled by the bear at their feet.
Timerious suddenly finds himself looking upward at a partly cloudy early afternoon sky, long praire grasses move in a slight breeze above him. He takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, relishing the fact that he feels no pain. No sounds of battle or cries of death reach his ears, only the russle of grasses in the breeze. Both eyes easily open and shut at his command a moment later as he blinks, what a relief it was to have two working eyes again! His belly rumbles and stabs at him with ravenous hunger pains. Timerious rubs his stomach and side with his right hand absent mindedly and he can feel his side with his hand! His right arm and hand wasn't gone! He raises the limb into his field of view above him and he sees his muscular leather armor covered arm but when his eyes travel down to his hand he sees a hand and fingers but the flesh of the hand is a dark red color, almost as if it were covered by a birth mark. 'What is this? I've never had a birthmark there.' Timerious wonders to himself as he pushes up the leather cuff of his armor on the right arm and sees the birth mark coloring continuing on the skin that he can see, his left hand looks just as it always has. 'Where did the battle go? Where am I now? Timerious begins to wonder and then the silence of his surroundings is interrupted by a raspy sounding complaint from not too far off. "Darn it all boy! You and your god couldn't return me back to my body standing up? No! I do you two a favor and am returned resting on some damned pointy stone! Hells boy, get over here and help me up and off of this thing!" An angry and somewhat familiar elderly female voice complains from nearby, but from Timerious's resting spot in the grasses the person is not visible and his mind and memory is fuzzy to say the least.
Until the ring could be found and in case of attack by the thief or Mage, Murlsan needs to be healed thought Markas.
The cleric of Petra moved closer to the Ogre and said, "Murlsan let me aid you with Petra's healing touch." With that he placed his hand on the Ogre and started chanting.
Feeling as if the Ogre needed to be further revived, Markas cast another spell of healing.
Anger flashes across Timerious' eyes. He pounds his right fist into the ground and squeezes a handful of soil until his arm trembles. Rising to a seated position Timerious cocks his arm to throw the dirt and notices....Why have I been marked by Halav? Twisting his hand and seeing the flushed skin calms his rising anger. If Halav thought I could be something more, maybe I can be. I may be a common man.....but I can be a better man.
Timerious rises to his feet. "I will help you up."
Markas removes a pair of crossbow bolts from Murlsan, the ogre winces briefly at the discomfort caused but makes no noise. Examining the kneeling ogre further there are also a pair of slashes one minor and one rather major that were opened by a sword or swords on Murlsan's hide. More devastating are bloody welts of blunt force impact and around these wounds are a myriad of inch and half to two inch wooden splinters protruding from and imbedded into his flesh. Many of these splinters will require time, patience, and a willing subject to extract. 'It is as if the ogre had been beaten with a porcupine!' Markas thought to himself; given the severity of these wounds Markas bestows his curative magics twice upon the ogre. The meager healing is sufficient to staunch the flow of blood and that is about it. The ogre will require much more aid and healing to return to his mighty self.
Timerious feels a bit woozy and disoriented upon standing, after a few moments the feeling passes just as a breeze washes over him. Looking about for the source of the voice he spies Gertie laying about ten feet away from him in the praire grasses. "Here boy! Help me up!"The old seer raises her arm and beckons him over to aid her with some urgency. As Timerious walks to her side he looks about and does not see the beautiful Adrianna, Markas, Erik, or Brion. Beyond the breeze that moves the grasses he is alone in a silent patch of prairie with Gertie under a late morning sun. "Are there folks about? I don't sense anyone but then my powers are all but exhausted. Channeling such a spirit is taxing." The old seer spoke much more quietly and with concern that they may not be safe.
With minimal effort Timerious is able to use his strength and agility assist Gertie up from the ground. The two of them look back to see what she had been laying on and they both see something quite odd. A foot long piece of wooden building timber with a burned end to it lay there among the matted grasses of where Gertie had rested. No structure that it would have been a part of or campfire are about the area that Timerious can see. Gertie bent forward with a few grunts and groans of old age and picked up the oddity. "Your god repays in strange ways. For you a boon and a bane, a riddle to be unraveled as you grow and learn. For me a sore back and a piece of wood with some latent magics. Time will tell who got the better end of the deal no? Here, make yourself useful and carry this blasted thing. I'll need that staff wherever it has gotten to and then we should be off to find the others." The old woman looked about for the feather and river stone adorned quarter staff she had been using to aid her in walking.
"Is that your staff on the ground?"
"I think that's it. Let me get it for you."
Timerious accepts the piece of wood from Gertie. "Thank you but I am very confused by this. I'll take your word that it is a sign from my god and hope to one day understand more. We need to find the others."
Country bumkin*! Me ! ? Ho ho... You kid no? You are a kidder Ho Ho Ho! Come let us find some food! he speaks to Latovious and Darcy. Louis starts heading to the farm or shack's that the bandits had been at, as he's on his way what does he see?
"Murlsan Ogre Friend I am hopeful that Petra has eased some of your pain. While I agree that the looted goods need to be rounded up and given back we must make sure there are no stragglers hiding in the house to catch us unaware. Also we need to seek sustenance to restore us. That must come first and second is to check on the well being of Gertie and Timerious. Petra willing they are safe."
"That magical hunk of wood that I don't have the strength to carry is not a sign boy, it is an offering for using the services of a seer. It is customary to provide an offering of some sort to those of us with the gift. People, spirits, and even gods all tithe when requesting our services. The sign you need to focus on was being chosen by and reached out to by your god. Seek out those versed in your faith for answers to the questions you may have." The old seer says without emotion directly to Timerious's face as she accepts her staff from him. Gertie begins slowly moving away from Timerious in a southerly direction. Timerious looks down at the foot long piece of charred building timber in his hands with more questions then answers.
"Yes, I kid you Louis. Just a little humor to lighten the mood with all this death around. So, you do not recognize any of these hard luck lads or seasoned bandits?" Latovius slaps Louis on the shoulder with a chuckle and a warm smile. The rogue leaves and pulls the bodies closer together and gives them a quick pat down. He tosses items of interest or possible value into a small pile nearby. A crossbow, a half full quiver of bolts, two swords, a short sword, a javelin, two small coin purses, a deck of cards, a mirror, a couple candles, a tinder box, and an empty blood covered small sack all hit the ground.
"Huumph, nothing else." Latovius stands and yawns with boredom. The two of you begin moving towards the run down farm house keeping eyes peeled for movement and danger. Suddenly Louis can smell onions, he's not sure why or where the smell is coming from but his stomach roars with hunger. A quick couple turns of his neck and head to find the source reveals something is resting between his shoulder blades and his armor. Louis reaches his left arm back over his shoulders and retrieves the object, holding it in front of his eyes he can hardly believe it. A yellow onion the size of an apple is what rests in the palm of his opened hand.
A few more cautious steps toward the run down cabin are taken. The building appears as before and there has been no movement visible in the cabin through the ruined and one intact windows as you have taken these last few steps and kept a watchful eye on it.
"Thanks healer, I will last." Murlsan reaches over slowly to the dropped maul, pain wracking his features. He grasps the heavy weapon and uses it as an aid to stand up. "Oooofff!" The ogre remarks as he pulls a splinter from his side, a tiny trickle of blood comes from that fresh wound. There are plenty more where that came from.
"Your belly can rumble for days still Markas. Go with Adrianna and Erik if you must to check on her mother. Why those two are not with us now is still a mystery to me. Return here quickly, make lots of noise if there is trouble. As for the cabin, it appears that Louis and Latovious are checking on that as we speak. Brion, a hand if you would?" Darcy returns the two yellow and black fletched hunting arrows into her quiver and shoulders her bow. Those around Markas turn and begin to follow the slightly altered orders from Darcy.
[spoiler=Timerious' turn]
This thing is really awkward to carry. I just don't have enough hands.
Timerious cradles the chunk of wood under one arm and holds the long sword by the pommel with the blade over his shoulder. "I hope I don't cut my ear off.
" I sure hope this is the right way. [dice=deception]1d20[dice/]Wait for me."
"Hmmmm, what's really going on here?"
Timerious could feel his frustration and anger begin to rise as the awkward log shifted under his arm. Timerious looked up and saw that the old woman's back was turned as she continued to teeter onward to the south. He turned and with a deft underhand toss flung the log twenty feet so that it landed softly and rolled quite some distance into the brush never to burden him again! It took Timerious no time at all to cover the distance between them now that he was no longer bothered by being her damned mule. "Hmmmm, what's really going on here?" Timerious asked in an accusing tone, attempting to go on the verbal offensive and hopefully confuse the old biddy enough to have her forget the blasted log that he was supposed to be carrying. Lying and intimidating to Timerious did not come naturally but with his first leer he was confident he would succeed in covering up his defiant actions and maybe even get some answers to his many questions from this seer.
"Come again?" The old woman stops and reverses her course walking right past the posturing Timerious.
"Adrianna and Erik you heard the lady let's go find your mother and Timerious. Petra willing they are safe." Markas knew in his heart they were as Gertie was tougher then the lot of them. His hunger was great but could easily be dealt with once the team was back together. "Let's be off" the cleric said as he started moving in the direction Gertie had been.
Louis looks at the onion and is half tempted just eat it right they are raw, but realizes that it's important to get the whole group fed too oh I have plans for you my little sweet he says to the onion before putting it into his pocket, as he and Latovius walk to the farmhouse. my friend do you think we should search the farmhouse to see if there are any additional bandits in there?Louis says to Latovius
"Where are you going now?"
Timerious looks in the direction Gertie was first headed and then looks to where she is now walking. Does Timerious see anything to warrant Gertie's direction change?
"Do you know where you are going?
Timerious sees nothing from where he is standing that would indicate any danger ahead or reason for them to turn back. His frustration with the old woman that he was burdened with began rising as she slowly returned to where they had just been. "Where are you going now?" Timerious couldn't help his anger and he snapped in complete exasperation at Gertie's back as he stomped a foot in anger. There was no response from Gertie and she continued a bit farther at her pace and then she slowed even more. The old woman began looking about the ground and pushing aside grasses with her staff. Two minutes went by with no words or explanation from Gertie given to Timerious's previous question. Taking a breath to calm himself Timerious asked surprisingly sweetly given his level of anger, it was perhaps as sweetly as anything he had ever asked for in his life. "Do you know where you are going? If you would but follow me, I'm sure I could reunite you with your daughter."
p/f of all?
Louis notices that Latovius is chewing something and spies a mostly eaten raw onion in his left hand. Louis chuckled to himself as the mystery of where the onion came from was solved, his stomach stabbed at his ribs in angry protest at not being fed. The area up ahead might have been built as an animal pen or even held livestock years ago. It currently is uneven ground with scattered weeds just starting to sprout with the arrival of spring. A weathered and dilapidated set of fencing surrounds the area, many posts and rails are partially connected or missing entirely from the perimeter. Areas that might have been tilled for crops or gardens close to the house are still vaguely visible but have obviously not been in use for as long as the livestock have been missing.
While standing a dozen or so strides from the old homestead Louis asks of Latovius who had been following behind him by a couple of steps, "My friend, do you think we should search the farmhouse to see if there are any additional bandits in there?" When there was no answer Louis stopped moving toward the cabin and looked behind him. Latovius was still there but he was now off to one side curiously. Turning back around Louis realized that he was unwittingly shielding the rogue from most of the farm house and that maybe he should have asked his question while they were some distance out. "I think you are going to find out the answer to your question rather soon Louis." Latovius finally responded to Louis's question, with a bit more humor and volume then Louis would have liked. A moment passed and then another. No arrows or spells or movement came from the right window or empty left windows of the cabin which Louis could see much better into from this much closer vantage point. Louis could just make out something strung between the two support posts inside and some bare walls.
Timerious ground his teeth in frustration. This is ridiculous! I'm starving half to death and this old woman will neither explain what she is looking for or why she is so slow about it!
"If you would but follow me, I'm sure I could reunite you with your daughter." What I'd really like to do is throw you away along with that bulky piece of wood you expected me to carry! Let's get going already. I want to get back to Melinir and talk things over with Shar. It will be good to see her little face again. It has been too long. I wish I had never left there.
Gertie continues her slow poking about with her back turned to Timerious. Suddenly booming words are not so much heard but *understood* within Timerious's mind.
Timerious's thoughts refocused and he found himself thinking about where the charred post may have gotten to after he threw it. Gone was the anger and frustration that burned within Timerious. Those feelings were replaced by calm and an understanding that he needed to aid the old seer with her burden and other needs if the two were to get out of this alive. Using his smarts and wisdom Timerious was able to track down where the thing had likely gotten to, a few quick swings of his sword cleared enough of the thicket away at ground level so that he could crawl towards where the thing should have come to rest. Getting past the first few feet of thick brush and brambles on his stomach Timerious sees that the area opens up a bit ahead and it would allow him to perhaps crouch if he wished to. Somewhere between 6 and ten skulls, rib cages, and other assorted bones are visible among the leaf litter and sticks on the ground ahead. A large old stump stands in the middle of this briar's clearing and the bones are scattered about it. The charred piece of wood Timerious was searching for has come to rest against the stump, he'd have to continue crawling through the remains and forest debris for another eight feet to reach it. "Mother!" came a joyous cry from outside of the thicket to Timerious's right, the undergrowth was too thick for him to see who it was or how many may be approaching.
Adrianna, Erik, and Markas spread out a bit as they leave the others behind in search of Gertie and Timerious. They stay close enough together as they walk that should a bandit strike one the others would be able to react quickly. With their eyes scanning as they cautiously moved forward it took almost ten minutes to cautiously backtrack to where they had waited and Gertie and Timerious had been turned to stone by the strange occurrence. The two were no longer standing in this clearing, a small gasp of concern escaped from Adrianna's covered mouth. Spreading out even more to cover the area and a few more minutes go by before Gertie is spotted standing near a distant thicket. A pair of worn boots from someone who has crawled head first into the nearby thicket are visible near where the old seer stood. "Mother!" Adrianna exclaimed as she rushed towards the now living and breathing elderly woman.
Louis draws his sword, being careful, he makes his way to the shack door
Louis kept a wary eye out for movement as he confidently walked up to the silent cabin door. The fact that his wounds mended quickly with the powers of the magical ring on his hand played a small part in his boldness, another small factor was the confidence he had in the dangerous man who currently had his back, the rest was just his own internal resolve. The man tied to one of the rear wagon wheels some distance away did not move at Louis's approach. The bodies lying on the ground near the farmhouse with Darcy's arrows buried deep into vital spots likewise remained still. Louis reached the door just as Latovius climbed onto the roof of the single story cabin with graceful ease. Pausing for a few moments outside the front door Louis still saw nothing move inside or within his field of vision.
Louis rushed through the door and into the cabin, no one was inside and he could see straight out the opened back door of the building. Hammocks were strung from the two central poles to the walls. An old battered L shaped counter was in the north corner of the room with empty bottles and a few odd dishes strewn across its top. Many blankets, bedrolls, and various beddings covered most of the floor while an almost out fire burned in the crumbling stone hearth in the eastern corner of the building.
Markas was glad to see the old woman back to her normal flesh and bones and motioned a blessing somewhat unconsciously. He had come to trust that she was far tougher then her outward appearance and her abilities as a seer. No doubt Petra had placed this woman in his path, praise Petra. Mentally doing the math it dawned on the cleric that Timerious was not in sight. The man had been through much but wouldn't likely leave Gertie's side. With that thought Markas did a visual scan of the area for both friend and foe.
What was I getting so excited about? Gertie was only doing sensible things and I shouldn't have been short with her. I need to learn to control my temper.
Timerious gives an apprehensive look at the skulls and bones.
I don't like the looks of this.
Timerious takes a long look at the bones and then at the stump. He peers upward. If he sees nothing to give further pause he will crawl into the clearing and squat by the stump.
What was I thinking to throw away this piece of wood? It is an obvious sign from my vision. I need to be more thoughtful and patient.
Timerious whispers. "Halav forgive my rash thoughts. Show me the way."
Timerious reaches for the wood.
Louis does a second take of the shack, and looks up at the rafters, if seeing no one he'll call up to Latovios All clear in here... Every thing good with you? if all is good Louis will work at getting the fire going, and search for food. The guy tied to the wagon can wait until the others return.