(002) To the Ruins!

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
Anwyn and Ulric have missile weapons to hand, and can loose one last volley at the backs of the fleeing foe -- Caine judges the range too far for a thrown dagger. Anwyn's arrow vanishes into the dark (1d20=3), while Ulric's bullet pocks off his target's helmet (1d20=15) at the very limit of visibility. At least that should keep them running for a while...

Mads and Olaf sheath axe and sword, but by the time they have their short bows to hand the targets have vanished from sight.

With others seeing off the enemy, Dieter, Rodrick and Victor all drag themselves a short distance from the bloody corpses, and sit down heavily to recover from their considerable exertions. Dieter is particularly sore -- he strips off his helmet, pulls out his waterskin and pours some of the cool liquid over his sweaty and bloody face.

With no pursuit, Mads considers searching the bodies, but he knows that if he doesn't attend his hurts right away, they could take much longer to heal.

With Taines free of his bonds both Olaf and Mads sit down to rest up after the fight.

"Did you recognize what those monsters were?" Olaf asks the exhausted party members as they each clean and bind their individual hurts, and refit loosed or dented armour.

Meanwhile Anwyn keeps a lookout, Ulric assists with the healing of hurts, and Caine conducts a search of fallen.

The last of the magenta dusk is closing about you -- it will be proper dark by the time everyone has rested. The wind is gusty and cool, and carries distant cry of wolves to you...

Everyone bar Anwyn, Taines and Ulric is preoccupied until my following post...

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
As the bulk of the party rests up, Caine searches the five fallen in the last of the failing light. It is grisly work indeed.

The herald was struck down by three horrible wounds, and his right hand man's ring shirt is split open at the belly and his stinking entrails loosed. Two others suffered grim head wounds, and the fifth -- shot through the neck with an arrow -- Caine is surprised to find that the fifth is still alive! Even with an arrow stuck through his gurgling throat...

The enemy are of Goblin-kind. Lean, loping creatures, not quite so tall as Men, but greater than the fat, round, Snorks in town. They have bare feet, and long, clawed fingers and toes. Their flesh is sallow, their coarse dark hair is long and straight. They have bulbous hook noses, little yellow fangs, and pointed ears. These are all wearing long shirts of ringed mail, rough helmets with deep nose-guards, and each carry a small, round, wooden shield, a scimitar, and a spear.

All of their gear is soiled and travel stained. It looks as though they are equipped only for light, fast travel. They each carry only a small pouch of supplies -- a chicken head, a rabbit haunch, half a loaf of stale, grey bread, an apple core, and such -- and only the helard carried a (half empty) water flask. In the way of wealth, they possessed between then 21 copper coins, 8 bovine knuckles, and 4 rodent skulls. The right hand man was also wearing a brass ring on his knuckley finger that may, perhaps, be worth something, and the herald wore a small black-iron key on a leather cord about his (now slashed open and bloody) neck.

On the rise from whence the last of the foe fled is a bulky sack containing all of Taines's gear.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
By the time everyone is rested (Dieter 1d6=5, Rodrick 1d6=2, Victor 1d6=1, Olaf 1d6=6, Mads 1d6=3) it is properly dark, and with the choppy wind it is getting quite cool.


Dieter now has 6 (of 7) hit-points.
Rodrick now has 6 (of 8) hit-points.
Victor now has 6 (of 11) hit-points.
Olaf is fully recovered.
Mads is fully recovered.


Those five who rested thus have consumed an additional day's worth of victuals from their supplies.

[waysoftheearth]

TheMyth wrote:
Anwyn will see if any of her arrows are recoverable.

(OOC: One is in a shield, another through a throat, a third missed a spearman, and the last was in the dark, some ways off.)

[waysoftheearth]

Harry wrote:
"Well lookie that" Taines gleefully points to the sack of gear "Thought I'd lost that fer good".

With a spring in his step, Taines swiftly walks to his gear. You can hear faintly "Meh Axe, meh luvely axe" .

Taines grabs his sack of gear, and walks back to the group, fastening his backpack and supplies.

[waysoftheearth]

tombowings wrote:
(edited character sheet to account for spend goods.)

"So do we camp here for the night where the enemy knows out provision or do we risk a few hundred yards of travel to find somewhere else?"

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:

Anwyn will see if any of her arrows are recoverable.

In the dark, Anywn inspects her arrows.

The head of that which punched through a foe's shield is sorely bent out of shape. It could, perhaps, be used again at the last -- but its aim will be doubtful.

Those other two shot past into the dark could be anywhere at all, and will take some serious searching to find even in daylight. At night, it would be a near hopeless endeavor.

That which is stuck through the throat of a foe looks whole, if blood stained. The main problem with it lies in the fact that is currently embedded in the neck of a foe who yet suffers on as he labours to draw each shuddering, gurgling breath after the last.

[waysoftheearth]

billhooks wrote:
Well, Victor fully intends to plant his ass here until he's got his wind back -- that is, I would like to take consecutive rests until I'm at least up to 9 hit points.

[waysoftheearth]

waysoftheearth wrote:
Very well.

Victor settles in for a good and proper rest, unstrapping his tight armour to better tend his hurts, and fumbling about with his supplies in the windy dark to get at the good stuff.

Meanwhile, Caine and Anwyn note in their searching that the enemy fled in more or less the direction you were planning to travel.

Mounting the ridge beyond which they disappeared, Anwyn spies a tiny, far-off, flicker of yellow light in the same direction. It might, perhaps, be a distant campfire -- perhaps even as far off as the ruin itself.

As she returns to report this, a distant wolf cry in the south is answered by several others off south-west and west. Rumour has it that wolves can speak to Goblin-kind this way...

[waysoftheearth]

danhem wrote:
Ulric looks over the bloody carcasses and listens to the howling wolves.

"There are other beasts out here that will be drawn to the scent of blood. We should not bed down next to these corpses or we will have no rest this night. We should move from this spot as soon as we are able."

Ulric then walks over to the wounded goblin and gives him a sharp kick in the ribs.

"Where are you from? Why are you out here?"