At some point during the day, Rhost sits on the fortune-teller's wagon for a short time and watches the Lands of the Linnorn Kings slowly roll past. Then he sticks his head inside the wagon.
Rhost doesn't knock.
"Bad time?"
Mel immediately turns to fetch the knives Rhost uses for cooking, however on the last line she turns back. With a smile, "मुझे लगता है कि पिछले एक पता नहीं है. क्या आप को पता है?" And then, "ವಾಟ್ ಕೊನೆಯ ಅರ್ಥ?" Comes back with the knives, begins to cut onions, the wickedly sharp blade cutting clean, no tears.
During a slow section of the road, Alaric awkwardly hauls himself up onto the wagon next to Kalimac. That's when Alaric runs into an uncomfortable truth. They're guys. They can't just come right out and discuss feelings, even if they're haunted by the same thing. That would be unheard of. Instead: "So. Here's what I'm thinking. Next town, you come out with Rhost and me, drink way too much and you teach us a bunch of those dirty halfling drinking songs."
Kalimac smiles. "I was thinking the same thing. After yesterday I need to... I need a drink."
Then, as something Alaric just said sinks in, he says with mock umbrage, "Halfling drinking songs are not 'dirty'! They're incredibly wholesome and are good for the digestion. Helps you avoid hangovers, you know."
Rhost thinks for a moment as he chops game, cracking tendons and removing bones as talks. "Se jkun hemm jum ħżiena. Nikbru permezz tagħhom kemm nistgħu."
Rhost thinks and chops, chops, twist, crack, "Reta imsejħa inti jewċ. Dak li għamlet hi jfisser?"
Rhost continues to pay careful attention to what he is doing.
"There will be bad days. We get through them as we can." ... "Reta called you orc. What did she mean?"
Kalimac smiles. "I was thinking the same thing. After yesterday I need to... I need a drink."
Then, as something Alaric just said sinks in, he says with mock umbrage, "Halfling drinking songs are not 'dirty'! They're incredibly wholesome and are good for the digestion. Helps you avoid hangovers, you know."
"You'd be more convincing if I didn't understand what you were saying in combat that time." Alaric shakes his head, grinning at the memory. "Shattered a couple illusions I had about cavaliers, I'll tell you that."
Settling back on the seat comfortably: "Fair warning. Rhost somehow manages to be even more dangerous with a stein in his hand than the earthbreaker."
Mel looks confused for a brief moment, but speaks freely, "Għaliex jiena. Mill-inqas parzjalment. Omm hija nofs, kif kienu ġenituri tagħha." The cutting slows as Mel finishes the onions and moves on to carrots. "Missier missier ommi kienet" her voice hitches a bit but she continue on without a pause, "l-bniedem li tkun ikkawżat Lio li jkun skjav." She stops cutting, looks at him, "Tad-demm tiegħi għandha ħafna atone għall. Jaħdmu fuqu." And waits, patient to see how the half-elf takes what she said.
At some point during the day, Rhost sits on the fortune-teller's wagon for a short time and watches the Lands of the Linnorn Kings slowly roll past. Then he sticks his head inside the wagon.
As Rhost and Melinda begin their work on dinner, Hrunndalf sets up a large kettle of steaming fresh mint to brace against the brisk evening of the Linnorm Lands. Once it's ready, he hands a mug of it to anyone who looks chilly, thirsty, or bored.
As he offers one to Ameiko, he raises a corner of his mouth. "Don't worry, no milk."
Rhost continues to cook. "Inti nofs ta 'nofs ta' -- meta tieqaf?"
Rhost turns to Melinda when something occurs to him.
"l-vuċi fil-ħajt ta 'ilma mielaħ -- demm tiegħek?"
He holds her gaze for a beat, nods slowly, then turns back to the dinner.
"Nippruvaw sakemm aħna jonqsu jew tirnexxi. X'iktar hemm?"
"We."
"you half of half of -- when to stop?" ... "voice in the wall of salt water -- your blood?" ... "We try until we fail or succeed. What else is there?"
As Rhost and Melinda begin their work on dinner, Hrunndalf sets up a large kettle of steaming fresh mint to brace against the brisk evening of the Linnorm Lands. Once it's ready, he hands a mug of it to anyone who looks chilly, thirsty, or bored.
As he offers one to Ameiko, he raises a corner of his mouth. "Don't worry, no milk."
She accepts the tea with a smile. "'ppreciate it." She takes a sip.
"Every day..."
Rhost stops, starts again.
"I never..."
Rhost trails off.
"Crown the World!" Rhost looks like he is incredibly excited ... and about to throw up a little. "Me. You. Us. Them. Damn!"
"Damn."
Rhost's elation leaks out.
"Don't think we all come back."
She nods, and looks remarkably relieved. "Anzjani. Il-vuċi huwa Makoa. Mill twil ilu, meta jewċ xorta kien jaf il-Kodiċi. Huwa ... ġie msakkra bogħod minn żmien twil." A pause. "Jien kuntent li inti tista 'tisma' lilu, huwa told me wara" She blushes a deep jade, "li meta I touch simili li huwa jgħaddi lejn dawk touch I. Huwa sbieħ li jkollhom konferma li jien ma jistax ikun insane." She finishes with a wry smile. And then grows more serious as she responds to the last, "Mistħija ħtija, uġigħ. Xejn utli, iżda huwa hemm."
The caravan camps for the night at Skalsbridge, an ancient bridge that crosses the Thundering River where it joins with the Rimeflow. The night is cold, and a frozen mist clings low to the ground, making the light dim, even within the range of the campfire light.
Hrunndalf:
Hrithik:
Myriana:
Melinda:
Alaric:
Liothonae:
Tollin:
Kalimac:
Rhost:
Absolutely nothing whatsoever is out of the ordinary.
"As to the last, though ... hard to say."
"Kien mistieden merħba fil-ħin. Jista 'hu dejjem ikun hekk." Rhost holds two different bulbs out to Melinda. "Crush garlic or peel turnips?"
"Was a welcome guest at the time. Could he ever be so."
Absolutely nothing whatsoever is out of the ordinary.
The sounds of night are muted amid the freezing fog that clings to blankets, cloaks, and Varisian mustachios alike.
Hrunndalf:
Hrithik:
Myriana:
Melinda:
Alaric:
Liothonae:
Tollin:
Kalimac:
Rhost:
Yes, it certainly sure is a cold, uninteresting night where nothing is happening, it sure is.
Hrunndalf blows onto his mug of tea. "So, Minkai... are you looking forward to seeing it?"
Rhost shrugs.
"Is all so new. Even still."
"Even Alaric -- same but different."
Rhost smiles at Koya. "So far? Worth it."
|
The caravan camps for the night at Skalsbridge, an ancient bridge that crosses the Thundering River where it joins with the Rimeflow. The night is cold, and a frozen mist clings low to the ground, making the light dim, even within the range of the campfire light.
Hrunndalf: 1d20+7
Hrithik: 1d20+8
Myriana: 1d20+6
Melinda: 1d20+2
Alaric: 1d20+4
Liothonae: 1d20+12
Tollin: 1d20+8
Kalimac: 1d20+7
Rhost: 1d20+12Absolutely nothing whatsoever is out of the ordinary.
Rhost grabs his magic Earth Breaker, and heads
(quietly? )
to the most convenient riverward gap in the traps/caltrops.
Ameiko smiles. "But Kalimac, I know, is a sweet guy. Good heart."
"Weren't doin' you no good to be mopin' around in Sandpoint, I can tell you that."
Hrunndalf blows onto his mug of tea. "So, Minkai... are you looking forward to seeing it?"
She nods. "Very much. I heard about it all through my childhood. Which, when I was thirteen, meant I never, ever wanted to go there."
"I grew up, though, thank the gods."
"Coulda told me that," Rhost laughs. "Not done any good."
"Oh!" Rhost's big excited kid grin comes out again. "Saw it in Kopparbarget."
Rhost pulls out a small tightly-wound ball of cloth from his backpack. He unrolls it, and it is blue and green and yellow, and long enough to make Isadora Duncan envious. "A scarf...." Rhost says expectantly, and then too impatient to properly set up his punch line, he flips the scarf over to reveal "With pockets!"
"A scarf with pockets!" Rhost laughs at the incongruity of the thing. "Just when it's getting cold!"
Rhost tries to wind the scarf up again and show it to Koya and hand it to Koya all at once, making a bit of a mess of the whole operation.
"And I knew you needed a scarf with pockets," Rhost says. "Because pockets!"
A pause. Then, a little uncomfortable: "This might sound a little weird, but... can you tell me about Melinda before I met her? Her family, as well?"
"You'd be more convincing if I didn't understand what you were saying in combat that time." Alaric shakes his head, grinning at the memory. "Shattered a couple illusions I had about cavaliers, I'll tell you that."
Settling back on the seat comfortably: "Fair warning. Rhost somehow manages to be even more dangerous with a stein in his hand than the earthbreaker."
Kalimac struggles to recall what he said that could have possibly been taken as dirty. He is forced to conclude that unclerics have dainty dispositions, what with no gods to fortify them. His unspoken thought gives him a not-well suppressed chuckle.
"I'm good at dodging in taverns. I'm quick. What I'm more worried about is: can either of you sing?"
"Kien mistieden merħba fil-ħin. Jista 'hu dejjem ikun hekk." Rhost holds two different bulbs out to Melinda. "Crush garlic or peel turnips?"
"Turnips." She smiles, "Not needing to break things today."
"I'm good at dodging in taverns. I'm quick. What I'm more worried about is: can either of you sing?"
"You can't dodge what's already in your belly," Alaric says with the air of a wounded veteran. "And nope. But enough liquor and you won't care."
"It has pockets!" she finally says.
Skald: "Alert! Incoming from the river!"
”Melinda learned to meditate there ... you know, she was a lot more, more troubled in Sandpoint than she has been out on the road. I think having somewhere to put her, um, energy has helped her a lot.”
Tonight's dinner is a casserole of mixed game with wild mushrooms. The meat portion is a medley of all the various animals that have been caught recently, browned and simmered with onion, carrot, garlic, turnip, celery, a variety of herbs -- and added at what feels like nearly the last moment, wild mushrooms.
The vegetarian option is a soup with garlic, red onion, skyr , seasonings, and fresh mushrooms. It was apparently a bountiful mushroom harvest.
"You can't dodge what's already in your belly," Alaric says with the air of a wounded veteran. "And nope. But enough liquor and you won't care."
Kalimac nods sagely. "Too true."
Then, assuming that's answered: "Troubled? Does this have to do with the voice?"
Hrunndalf takes a sip of tea, but his eyes betray a smile hidden in the mug. "Hunh. I hadn't taken you for a rebellious child. Figured you'd have gotten it out of your system by now, otherwise."
"So what is Minkai like, from what you heard?"
"What I'm more worried about is: can either of you sing?"
Hrunndalf turns his head from a wagon away, and calls over, "Did someone just call out a singing contest?"
Suddenly Rhost, Tollin, and Hrunndalf all look up as if hearing a noise.
Hrunndalf is on his feet in an instant, yanking Þrumublað out of the ground. , he bellows at full volume, while channeling the thrill and shock of the ambush into a powerful adrenaline rush.
At the same time, Rhost grabs his magic Earth Breaker, and heads towards a riverward gap in the caltrops.
At that point, the rest of you hear the scrape of wood upon the gravel bank of the river—a boat has beached just beneath the bridge—quickly followed by the splash of feet in the shallows and the oath-cries and battle-songs of Ulfen raiders!
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.oooooo~~oooo~bbbb~~~~~ooo~~oo~~
.U..ooooooooobbbbooooooooooooooo
...........U......U...U...oooooo
..U....U.......U................
.....U.....U........U........U..
.U...U.......U...U......U...U...
...U......U.........U...........
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. = 5’ square, grass
~ = Water
b = bridge
o = ice
W = Wagon
C = Caltrops
U = Ulfen raider
R = Rhost
K = Kalimac
Q = Attatoq
F = Hrunndalf
L = Liothonae
A = Alaric
M = Melinda
T = Tollin
H = Hrithik
Y = Myriana
S = Silmemir
...U......U.........U...........
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20' move-ish, use wand of mage armor and put away
Init
Current AC 18
Alaric advances to the cover of the wagon ahead of him, drawing the Wand of Inflict Moderate Wounds. Concentrating, he activates the Bead of Blessing, filling his allies with the courage of the godless.
Hrunndalf takes a sip of tea, but his eyes betray a smile hidden in the mug. "Hunh. I hadn't taken you for a rebellious child. Figured you'd have gotten it out of your system by now, otherwise."
"Oh, rebellious girls never really stop rebelling. We just get subtler."
"So what is Minkai like, from what you heard?"
She thinks about the question. "Formal. There's an ... elaborate social structure, which I was endlessly drilled in as a child. Your place and level of prestige are tremendously important. Emperor, court nobility, shogun, samurai, peasants, then after that merchants and artisans, entertainers, prostitutes, day laborers and servants, and at the very bottom thieves, beggars and the hereditary outcasts."
"There's a fondness for elaborate and expensive rituals. Elegant architecture, landscaped gardens, nō drama, the arts, the tea ceremony."
Rhost yells out "Leek!" and his Earth Breaker bursts into flames as he drops into Rage, and charges toward the nearest opponent.
Rhost swings his blazing Earth Breaker in a bright arc through the night toward the head of his nearest foe.
[spoiler=Halfling]
"Flame!"
Hrunndalf charges past Rhost at the first raider he sees. Þrumublað whistles and connects with a peal of thunder, a brief flash of purple-white stabbing through the mist.
Guisarme, two-handed, Power Attack, Bull's Strength, charging:
To hit: (crit )
Damage: (crit )
. . . plus electric damage.
Miss chance:
Alaric colors. "Yeah... it's... it's never been like this for me. Sort of tough to keep my hands to myself there. Should we be... more... discreet?"
Ameiko laughs. "Well, I certainly don't mind. I think it's sweet."
Then, assuming that's answered: "Troubled? Does this have to do with the voice?"
"I don't really know. Her mom went through this ... phase, when she was a teenager. Wearing all black, skull designs and spikes. Black lipstick, tons of eyeliner ... She got in a lot of fights. Almost died in a brawl with some Shoanti before she finally straightened out. Everyone said, 'orc blood'. Was it true? Don't know. When Melinda started having problems with her temper, everybody said the same thing. Still don't know if it's true."