Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Trollbridge Antics

Zacarius was rescued from beneath the carcass of the winter wolf, still breathing by gift of Desna. The four falconers were cowed into lending their backs to pulling the sled. Even with Nadya's ire, the group's treatment of the captured soldiers was better than they expected, even better than they received from the winter wolf, and so they pulled the sled through the day.

During their travels, Nadya related her plans to get the group into Whitethrone. Her husband's uncle, Ringeirr, had a history of sneaking in to Whitethrone in attempts to rescue his family. Though he never did find them, he still practices smuggling in to the city; he would surely be able to get the group within the city walls without undo suspicion.

Towards the end of the first day, the group approached a bridge. After a bit of discussion, they decided to cross, but were waylaid by troll guards as they reached midway. Several of the group attempted to parlay with the scrags, including giving them the papers they demanded, but the trolls demanded a toll of fresh meat, wanting the dogs and prisoners as payment for free passage. Finding this unacceptable, the party attacked.

While Nadya yelled complaints about attacking highway guards appointed by the queen, Ash smashed his way through the trolls. Pavo struck them blows as he could, often leaving them in perfect position for Ash's axe, while Kyezra peppered the scrags with arrows. The scrags were quickly dropped. After scarring the remains with fire and scattering them in all directions, the group moved on.

As dusk turned to true night, the travelers arrived at a wayfarer's inn and took shelter for the night. Though the evening was pleasant and quiet, visitors the next morning caused a bit of a hubbub with tales of a dragon attack on troll guards at the nearby bridge. With stern looks from the innkeeper, the group tucked their heads low and journeyed on.

Near midday, the group arrived at Fishcamp village and soon witnessed one of the all-to-common attempts by the Fishcamp Guard to extort more money from the destitute fishermen. They had one poor soul surrounded and on the ground. Seeing this, Inuksuk raised a wall of earth between the fisherman and one of his attackers, startling the Guards into looking around. Though they demanded to know who had done it, no one stood forward and they returned to tormenting the fisherman. Waiting for this, Inuksuk raised another wall, and another, infuriating the Guards.

Kyezra, returning from investigating the boundaries of the village, decided on a more direct approach. Upon seeing the assault, instead of toying with the Guards, Kyezra pierced one with an arrow, starting a brawl. Ash, seizing the moment, used his cloak to take on the aspect of a yeti, causing panic not just in his intended targets, but throughout the villagers present. The Guards died quickly, though panic kept the streets from being quiet for quite some time.

Once things settled and the streets were vacated, Pavo coaxed information from a villager on where Ringeirr could be found. He had been arrested, taken to the Fishcamp Guardhouse. The group immediately set off to the center of the ramshackle town.

Once at the Guardhouse, Ash kicked the door in and set upon the two Guards inside. The group tore through them and set about clearing the small building's two rooms. In the back room, they found a hidden door leading to Captain Marcian's chambers and his two ogre bodyguards. Zacarius kept the ogres fascinated with hypnotic magics while Pavo and Ash struck at Marcian, forcing him to flee. They then turned on the ogres; both received heavy bruises before taking the ogres down. While so occupied, neither noticed Marcian sneak back in through the front entrance, but Kyezra had set her cat to guard. When Marcian and the cat noticed each other, Inuksuk struck, hitting Marcian hard. Taking the challenge, Marcian dodged past the cat to strike the kineticist, but seeing the stone armor upon him decided to take out the vulnerable Zacarius instead. Though he hit Zacarius well, he couldn't do enough before Kyezra, her cat and Inuksuk killed him.

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