O∂ørn's anger begins to boil over as he notices the ineffectual results of his spells. He decides that, if his magical affronts would not work, perhaps a more physical approach would serve better. He rushes toward the end of the shield wall formed by his allies and, once again, raises the branch of coral he had taken as his symbol of Ran's power.
As he murmurs a quick command, the coral begins to drip with water as if by some miracle. The drip quickly turns to a trickle, then a stream, then, with a final command, a rushing torrent directed at the thug to the downed leader's right side.
Despite his best efforts, however, the blast of water lacks the force needed to drive the man back.
Helle turns her evil eye on the man in the middle. He seems to be the boss.
Her glare is ineffective. She growls angrily, "You should not have bothered us. Your doom will come."
The man standing before Aðalbjörn is battered, disarmed and dazed.
Aðalbjörn takes a moment to look at the man...
Then Attacks, no feigning this time, no tricks, Aðalbjörn drops his spear and swings a telegraphed uppercut squarely at the man's chin...
Dvallar channels the powers of the acestors into her wounded shoulder, trusting her opponents are in no position to take advantage of the momentary laspe in her concentration.
With a 'pop' the pain in her shoulder flares and then subsides. Carefully, testing for pain, she moves the axe back into position.
The large man finally drops what remaining weapons he has
"Very well. We trade our captive for you to let us go..."
Before he could speak any more, you hear the howls of wolves once again. This time they sound closer.
His cohorts look at each other, fear in their eyes as they too lower what weapons they have left
"Do we have a deal...? " he asks. As his eyes dart to the forest before looking back at you
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"You seem more scared of the wolves than us. Why?", asks Helle.
"An ill omen for wolves to be this far... the do not belong here. Yet they are...." is almost all you can get from him
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"no deals!"
With a snarl Aðalbjörn steps forward and presses his spear against the big man's collar
"You have attacked the Jarl's people, in the Jarl's lands, you have endangered the Jarl's daughters! And now you are beaten and you cast aside your weapons, demanding a deal? No! This man comes with us..."
Aðalbjörn gestures towards Snorri, then pushes slightly harder with his spear
"You come with us! The Jarl will decide. Where is the key?"
Snorri is clearly relieved that his captors are defeated. Maybe now he's going to be released and can finally scratch his itchy nose...
Odorn sighs deeply at the apparent surrender of the thugs. Thank the gods that's over! He makes his way behind the trio toward their prisoner. He offers the man a helping hand to lead him back toward the group and speaks quietly to him on the way. You are safe now, friend. I am Odorn the Drowned, servant of Ran. What is your name? Are you badly injured?
Finally, Snorri finds a greting voice.
-Name's Snorri. I thank you.- After trying to hide his limp and looking at
O∂ørn with a face full of blue and a swollen eye, he smiles and adds: -'Tis but a scratch.
As another howl echos, MUCH closer, the fight goes out of all of them, and they submit to your custody. Sweat on their brows
"Here, take this, anyone, please, just take it, before they get us... I do not want to die with it in my possession!" the large man starts to beg, fear and sheer panic in his eyes
He takes the pendant from underneath his clothes, on closer inspection, it is a small circle, with a howling wolf's head depicted on it, the metal has small flakes on it, so it looks like something other than normal iron
-What the Hel can that be? Is it attracting the wolves?
But Snorri has matters at hand a bit more important.
-Can anyone remove these chains, please?
Aðalbjörn doesn't move as the pendant is proffered
"key!?"
Helle walks up and looks closely at the pendant.
As the group works with the men to free Snorri, O∂ørn moves to the jarl's daughters and gathers them back together. Do not worry, my ladies. Just as we cowed these ruffians, we will not allow any beasts to harm you. I would recommend that we begin making our way back toward the town, however. He brings the girls back toward the rest of the group, making sure that they are in a defensible position.
When the wolves' howls sound once again nearer at hand, he turns his attention to them, to see if he can detect anything unusual about the sound.
Dvallar pauses "I've tools in my pack, if need be, but it'll take a while to cut through a chain."
Despite her words, she doesn't move, still untrusting of their new 'prisoners'. Carefully she edges around until she can get to their now-dropped weapons. "Our Jarl's a fair man, but you've threatened his daughters. I hope for your sakes you've rich friends to pay your ransom. If not, leave your weapons and run."
"May I suggest we leave with the girls quickly. Leave this lot, except for our friend in chains to their fate. Our priority is keeping the girls safe, not bringing ruffians in for justice."
Indeed. Those are no normal wolves. You, scum! There's something off about these beasts isn't there? O∂ørn grabs one of the ruffians by the collar before they have a chance to escape.
In the absence of a key
"Snorri do you know these men? Do you know where they live? Do you know where their families live?"
Rumbles Aðalbjörn not removing his spear from the man's neck
"True. Our honour is our duty, now. A rearguard might simply be bypassed."
The men panick. Without time to react. They bolt, the big guy throwing the pendant at thegroup. As they do. You hear the howls again. So close you can swear you should be able to see them. The men run. The keep glancing back. Till finally....
"No.... no.....nooooooo.....uarhg!!!" it seems they stumble. But moments later. You can hear their screams. Blood gushing. As they seem to be torn limb from limb
This sight makes the girls scream in terror as they begin to run back to the keep!
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-They caught me while I was evacuating. No idea who they are, never seen them around before. Now, as I notice my chains cannot be properly removed here and there are some not-as-hungry-as-before wolves hanging around... can we go, please?
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Helle follows the girls as best she can.
With a snarl Aðalbjörn drops into a fighting stance.
"Haldorr take the girls and Snorri, run! We will follow."
He follows the group that are running, moving backwards himself so as to keep watch for what he cannot see.
"Dvalar, odorn what demon spirits are these?"
-Have you... have you seen this? The wolves... they're invisible! Spirit Wolves!
Snorri faces Aðalbjörn, still in chains.
-If they're coming at us... give me a weapon! I want to die with a weapon in my hands!
"Invisible wolves... I've heard of something like that..." the dwarven woman narrows her eyes as she desperately searches her memory for the relevant story.
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Dvallar nods convulsively. "They're summoned. Spirit wolves. They should only attack their chosen prey. No point in fighting them - they should leave soon anyway." she hesitates "If someone has the power to summon these things, they are a threat."
"By all the gods What fell curse has befallen these men? !" O∂orn cries out in shock at the grisly demise of the men. His gaze shifts away from the scene toward Dvallar as she reveals the source of the attack. "Who could do such a thing? These beasts seem to be from the very pits of Hel! We must return to the keep. The girls are already on their way. We need to ensure their safety." He begins to turn back toward the keep, but notices the talisman lying in grass, the head of wolf facing up at him. His fear of what may follow nearly overcomes him, but Ran favors the bold, so O∂orn snatches up the token before following after the girls.
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Dvallar falls back, hesitating for a moment as she passes the pendant. With a quick movement she kicks it under a nearby stunted shrub, fixes it in her mind, and continues to back away.
"We come back for it when we don't risk the girls." she announces to the others.