Warden Horne looks over your map, and gives some background to the areas labelled to help you decide your route.
"Fort Birch was manned by the Black Arrow Militia. Wooden palisade with several wooden structures inside... houses fifty or so wardens and some non-combatant staff. If this witch has taken it over, then the survivors would most likely have fallen back to the Lowland Towers... also a Black Arrow fortification. We call it the Lowlands, but it really is a marsh."
"This map just says Schulfjarn, and orc slums... We refer to it as West and East Schulfjarn.
West Schulfjarn is a civilized settlement... primarily half-orcs. East Schulfjarn - across the river - has a sizable pureblood orc population. They do quite a bit of metalwork coordinated with raw lumber exports from the lumberyard... mostly component pieces and construction supplies, but there are weaponsmiths as well. There are supposedly a few impressive artisans in West Schulfjarn.
East Schulfjarn is a rough neighborhood. Many don't care for the deal struck with Doyle by their leader Hrulshaga, but few dare oppose him."
"Sleeping Ferry... That's an old building and pier right where the river narrows. Product going north ships from there since the current further south is fairly strong. It got the name from an old legend. They'd say if you fell asleep on one side, you'd wake up on the other... penniless."
*Skippy, skippy, skippy, skip* (^_^)
"Well, we go the orc slums first on the way after a rest in the inn. I find the place interesting and would really like to visit it and see for myself."
Done here, Corum leads them back for a rest before heading out.
After your rest, you find a somber crowd at the Belching Badger. A large group have gathered... a dozen seated and a ring of others around. They appear to be wrapping up as one man stands and announces "So then we are in agreement.... a vote of confidence?" They all nod - some reluctantly, and then most begin to file out of the tavern.
Holfstedt Moranni - who had been lingering nearby, pulls a chair over to your table, and straddles it.
"Well... heard about your raid... impressive. Allow me to take care of the bill... to show my appreciation, and to make up for our rocky start. I --"
A young man - late teens but dressed a little old and "proper" for his age interrupts, and faces Gromsch. "Sir, Master Doyle has asked me to inquire if the water should be safe for consumption after boiling? Was me mum's idea."
Holfstedt rolls his eyes at the young interrupter, and stands raising his mug..
"Anyway... here's to the next sixty six hours. May we all live to see the final glorious battle."
You head north out of town after your meal, traveling with the woods to your left and the river on your right. The skies are clear as they were all night... leaving little of yesterday's warmth to the morning.
Visibility is good, and there are no dangers in sight.
You should be able to reach the Lowland Towers by late morning.. two-thirds the distance to the Schulfjarn slums and Fort Birch.
As Doyle's Run fades out of sight, you have a moment free from the battery of enigmatic crises. Perhaps time enough to learn something about those whom fate has made companions.
Corum smiles with his magic arsenal replenished. "It is time to answer more questions than we create for a change."
Varian nods to Corum. "Indeed. It seems we have been thrust together and know nothing of each other really... I was born into a merchanting clan but had no talent or proclivities for the life. I felt myself drawn to the forge and trained with a local smith but my parents found out and sent me away to school. I ran away and joined a group of what Father would have called 'adventuring fools'. We didn't do too badly for ourselves for a few years, but sadly we ran afoul of a beast we couldn't kill. I was the sole survivor... I went home after that but still had no talent or desire to take up the quill and ledgerbook. Instead, after a short break at home, I hired myself out as a caravan guard, figuring at least I'd see some action. Sadly the caravan was overrun by duergar and I ended up in a jail underground. The rest you know..."
"To be honest, I've been a bit confused by much of what has happened since... I'm still at a loss to truly explain what has been going on... I know what we HAVE to do now... but it's still a bit much for my addled brain I guess."
With a shrug and a half-smile, Varian yields the floor with a little bow to the others. "What about yourselves... what are your stories? How'd you all come to be here and on this quest?"
As the party moves along the road/track/path towards their new destination Sunny skips along, spinning about -her arms outstretched- as they scenery moves by.
Bouncing from one side of the road to the other she laughs brightly at as the grass blades tickles her bare, tanned feet.
As the others talk and chat she listens, occasionally stopping to experience the different feelings as she wriggles her toes in the soil.
She looks to Varian and Corum,
"Well...I be here because it's all so different!" She exclaims. "I mean, well. We's got trees an' stuffs back home. But not so many kinds! Ye gots bendy ones and droopy ones and rilly big, tall, straight ones!" She spins and skips over to the nearest tree to examine, touch and look up into its branches.
"An' tha' ground?" She folds almost double at the waist to peer down at the soil, "T'is all dark and smells different. Not like tha'; shiny, white stuff back home." She explains, even as she skips back to join the group as it walks along the road/path/track.
"M'self? I heared all'a these tales about all'a these places all'a bouts tha' world an..an'..I just had ta' see!" She looks to her companions.
"So! Here I be. Lookin' an' learinin' all'a 'bouts tha' world!" She exclaims brightly.
You continue north. The sun continues to warm you where it reaches, but the air stays cool. The bulk of the half-mile wide swath of grasslands between the woods and river begins to slope - pitching down about 20 degrees to the right. This slows your progress just slightly, but gives you a better view of the river. You walk through the shrinking silhouette of the far bank treeline as the sun continues to rise.
You see a flat-bottom boat traveling south about 200 feet upriver. There appear to be about a half dozen people on board. There are two with long poles guiding the craft - one starboard-aft, one port-stern. They are in tunics... maybe light leather. The others appear to be in cloaks.
They will probably see you soon if they haven't already... However there is no sign the boat people are hostile.
Sunny shades her eyes as she tries to make out details of the folks boating on the river.
Corum explains:
"I have spent many years wandering and enjoying life. Then I realized I wanted to give something back to the world. Until you care about people and things, life tends to lose meaning. Defeating the evil magic forces in this world is quite fulfilling. Especially the last month, where we have plots and evil up to our eyeballs."
Seeing the boat, Corum hails them as he gives them a cursory look.
Corum then waves the boat ashore.
Sunny eagerly awaits meeting new people. (^_^)
??
Corum awaits their response too.
One of the figures lowers his hood as the boat is poled to the bank. "You don't look like traveling locals so I suppose I don't need to warn of the dangers out here... Just get to somewhere safe before night falls... and if you are heading to our fort.. Fort Birch or Schulfjarn... I'd advise against it."
Apart from the boatmen, they are wearing matching gear and tabards under their cloaks. They look over you - as if sizing you up as the assumed leader speaks.
Corum asks somewhat imperiously:
"What, do you not accept visitors?"
"Fort Birch has been overtaken by monstrosities, and Schulfjarn... Someone riled up the unruly minority. Cultists of an orcish god of murder seem to have taken command of slums."
The militia leader removes a pipe and pouch of tobacco from his satchel as he speaks. The boatmen strain slightly to get the boat steady on the bank by the time he steps ashore.
"There had to be some coordination... The attack on Fort Birch came when half our forces were responding to a string of uprisings in Schulfjarn. Few of us made it out alive. We split into two groups... those attempting to make their way to Fort Rankin, and us. Corrison?"
Corrison responds "Oh... yes sir." Corrison fumbles with his own satchel as he steps onto the bank. He strikes a tindertwig and lights the leader's pipe - who continues...
"Our destination is Doyle's Run... for whatever aid the Mayor is able to grant us. Do you, by chance, have word as to the state of things in Doyle's Run?"
Sunny looks to Corum and the others before replying hesitantly,
"Things is kind'a confused..." She replies, "But we's seen them skelly-things. Icky, nasty things they is too!"
"Doyle's Run should be safe. As for the Warden."
Corum looks around.
"Seems we have some work to do on the way. Don't like orcish bullies."
"So you are looking for trouble then? " He shrugs. "Very well..." He thinks for a moment and takes a puff from his pipe.
"The scrapyard likely has the most cover... and the least populated. That is your best chance at entering the slums unseen."
Corum nods and leads whomever is left into the scrapyard.
Sunny smiles and skips along with/besides Corum. (^_^)
Varian slips along with Corum, trying to be as stealthy as possible, which isn't much with his noisy chain shirt.
The terrain rises as you turn northwest from the river. You find a well-worn path atop a rocky ridge which keeps you clear of dense woodland travel.
As the ridge widens into a downward-sloping grasslands, the four towers of the Black Arrow Militia come into view. The even-toned light grey structures stand out among the chaotic greens of the terrain beyond them. They appear identical and equally spaced from this distance... like the first posts of a massive picket fence.
The smell of the damp vegetation reaches you in the gusts of wind more and more as your path nears the Lowland Marshes.
"The marshes smell, let's skirt them to the right."
"Sounds fine to me." Varian heads off to the right, keeping abreast of Corum and Sunny.
Sunny wrinkles her nose and nods in agreement with Corum.
"They smell like they need more water flowin' through 'em..." She suggests, even as she continues to skip along with her friends. (^_^)
The foliage-thick edge of the marshlands is a good hundred feet to your left when you spot leaves and bushy groundcover moving.
The area of disturbed leafy vegetation seems to move in a zig-zag pattern... its overall progress is somewhat the same direction you are heading.
Varian watches the moving vegetation and tries to catch sight of what is actually moving in there.
You spot something - likely four-legged with brown and white fur, and the size of a large dog.
You then see it stop, and start to drag something away. As you look in the direction it is now heading, You see a tall thin humanoid with a bow lurking deeper in the woods. He is gesturing toward the creature... beckoning it.
[spoiler=rolls]
Varian makes a gesture to the others and whispers to them... "There is something doglike dragging something through the brush... toward a humanoid with a bow... may have nothing at all to do with us... or it might."
He draws no weapons, but after informing the others of what he saw, moves toward the foliage to get a better look at the dog-like creature and its apparent master.
Sunny perks up. "Doggy?" She stands on tippy toes to try and get a better look.
Even shading her eyes, she can't make out what Varian has seen so continues to follow the other's lead.
"We can all'a ways be goin' an sayin' 'Hello'?" She suggests.
Corum waves his hands and summons a dog of his own. He doesn't trust much anyone they meet out here.
The tall thin man makes a gesture... mist rises from the foliage and surrounds him. You see the rapid movement in the vegetation of his supposed pet... It appears to stop just short of the mist.
There is an area where the plant-life remains trodden halfway between the edge of the marshland and where you spotted the thin man.... likely what the creature had been dragging.
Corum follows his dog after the figure.
Varian attempts to track the thin man down. Though he has no tracking skill, the dog seems to and he follows Corum and the dog.
Sunny skips along after Varian and Corum also looking for the doggy. (^_^)
The dog seems quite interested in the scent of the creature... spends a moment getting a few good whiffs. On the way toward the last location the thin man was spotted - where the mist has appeared, you see a strange oblong lumpy object mostly covered in mud.
It is a little more than two feet long and a foot wide. There appear to be random bits of bone protruding from it...
In fact, the whole object - apart from the mud - is an off-white bone color.
Corum's summoned dog sniffs it, looks at Corum, then continues toward the thin man and his assumed pet.
You see the creature peer at you through a break in the overgrowth. It has a mostly black head with a white stripe. Its head is about the size of an average bear, but appeared to be longer - more "pointed".
You do not see the "thin man" who was mentioned.
Suny points at the creature she can see.
"Izz'at a dog?" She asks, sounding quite unsure as to what it is that she can actually see...
As you follow the summoned dog, the area within the mist is more discernible...
Just as you try to make out the thin man's form among the young trees and foliage, a faintly glowing but clear image appears in the mist.
Sunny and Varian seem completely entranced. Whereas Corum shrugs off the enthralling nature of the vision.
You see the light stone towers at the south edge of the Marshlands. Your view zooms as night falls.
Militia men light their torches and lanterns.
Undead burst from the ground from under the feet of those holding the sources of light.
Your view descends to worm's eye, then lower... underground. You see an oblong mass like the nearby lumpy object. Skeletons unfurl from it, and dig through the earth toward the light.
As these skeletons reach the battle, the other skeletons have burst into flame. Many men have already fallen. Time has passed, the burning dead burrow back underground. Dead militia men surround the base of the tower. Skin burned black, they open their eyes, and return to their posts in staggered drone-like movement.
Around this point, you see the thin man retreating on the far side of the mist - backpedaling further into the foliage.
As your view zooms out, one of the burned-black militia men light an arrow from the battlefield - still burning in patches. He fires it at the banner above the main door of the tower.
An ancient-looking tree within view of the towers shimmies, and uproots itself as it changes form... first just briefly into a massive bark-skinned humanoid, and then into the form of the thin man. Eyes, flattened nose, and no mouth. The quiver on its back bears the symbol of the Black Arrow militia.
This appears to be some type of fey - related to Voadkyn wood giants.
Varian stumbles and pauses, observing the vision, completely absorbed by what he thinks he sees. When the vision is over, he blinks a few times and tries to espy the man again through the mist... he is unable to determine what the man might be.
"A fairie creature related to wood giants of Voadkyn."
Corum speaks: "We would talk with you in peace if you will. I am a friend of the fey."
(@_@)
Suny stands and gazes off into the distance.....