Tales from the Old Land transcript

[Yaztromo]

As promised, I'll post here (slowly, bit by bit) the transcript of the adventure as it played in my campaign.

First of all, the characters:
Feanor: Feanor is a Cumasti elf, standing 5'2" tall and of lean build. He has a pale bronze-coloured complexion, wavy blonde-white hair and blue eyes. He wears no armour, and has only a quarterstaff as potentially a weapon, but around his neck hangs a holy symbol of a white kite shield with two crossed blue longswords topped with a golden crown.
On his chest he wears a Whirligig Brooch, a brass and pewter pinwheel mounted on a pin.


Jan Tarran: Jan is a lithe human of with pale skin, dark blonde hair and deep blue eyes, his features revealing his Skandaharan heritage. Of average height, he is dressed in leathers and clothing made of animal fur and hide, suggesting he is an accomplished hunter.


Stormrider: Storm is an accomplished human warrior, wearing a leather hauberk and carrying two swords. Besides him is a young dog, but already threatening.

[Yaztromo]

Spring is approaching fast, but freezing winds are still sweeping the lands of Blackmoor. However, the heart of the adventurers is always on fire. As always, the Comeback Inn is a fair place to hear rumors of the war, of the world, and of the fall of those who ply the trade.
To the West, rumors speak of atrocity. The Afridhi raid marshland farms and villages with impunity. The army and the shattered remnants of Ten struggles with the numerous foe. When fixed in a stand up fight, the champions and heroes of the North make swift work of the Afridhi. But, this war has been as much about smoke and fire and burning farms as it has been about glory on the field of battle. The Afridhi butcher the small folk with seeming impunity.
Others speak of war to the far south. Some force has swept out of deep deserts south of the Thonian Empire. There seems to be little peace in the world.
The door opens and a young man steps in, clothed in the tunic and doublet of a priest of Thonian orders, the symbol of Odir is emblazoned on his chest. The crown of his head is shaved in a tonsure, in the manner of some of that Order.
He speaks briefly to Batts and the bartender waves a glass in your direction. Batts grins showing a savage mouthful of teeth and fang, over the young priest’s shoulder, he seems pleased with himself, which usually means there’s a joke on someone. Or what passes for a joke for an Ogre.
The young man winds his way through the crowded inn and stops at your table; “I am Roger Lillard, a priest of the Order of the Holy Spear. I have been told that you maybe could serve as bodyguards for needy travelers? If so, you come recommended by Batts. May we speak?"


Feanor looks at his companions for any signs of objection, then gestures to the man to take the empty seat at their table. "We are in between jobs, so we may be interested," the cumasti elf says casually.


Storm listens to the man


Roger sits down, offers you a round of drinks, and commences with this tale.
"I thank you and may Odir’s light shine on you all. I am new to more senior duties in my order. As my first formal duty as a young priest, I have been assigned the spiritual welfare of the farms and thorps of the North Downs. Normally, the holy warriors of Odir would accompany me. However, Uther has called upon our order and we have sent our forces west to assist in repulsing the Afridhi.
As a result, I am in need of escorts as I minister the spiritual needs of the commons. The Skandaharians have made numerous raids along the coast this year, and my need is pressing. If you are willing, you will have the gratitude of the church, and also, such future support as I can provide."


Storm replies that he is ready to escort the kind priest and looks at his companions for their responses.


"I came here to find a purpose, and have idly lingered too long in the tavern already. I will go." Jan agrees.


Roger smiles and nods, satisfied: "See you in two days at the north gate near the Raider Road, one hour after dawn."


Storm nods in understanding and after the man leaves, asks his friends for the next step


Jan's expression at the mentioned Skandaharians draws attention to his features - blonde hair, blue eyes, a pale complexion. His eyes suggest he has worried thoughts. But he keeps them to himself, "So beyond the Northmen, what other threats do we know of that lie in that direction??"

[Yaztromo]

"Only Odir knows. We will conform to his will!"


"We have two days until we head out. I suppose, Jan, we could idly linger a little longer in this place," Feanor says with a chuckle to his friends and holds up his goblet to be refilled.


I suppose a few days longer would not hurt," Jan says, agreeing with the suggestion of more drink. "We have something to aim for, it would not do to rush things out of impatience."


"Tomorrow, before we reconvene for some food and more ale, I may visit a library or the like and see what problems we might run into," Feanor says.


“I will rest for two days and then join you guys!”
Storm says.


Jan will spend time in practice. He'll gather together the tools and materials to make more arrows and repairs to his bow (extra string, arrowheads and feathers for fletching).

He'll spend time tracking and hunting while outside of the town, then archery practice when in town, making it a game or fun competition for others to join.

Anything he hunts he'll trade - he doesn't want to make money rather keep in the good graces of others (and not spend money unnecessarily).

At the Inn he'll be interested in any stories or news from travellers who frequent the area.


It has been three uneventful days along the Raider Road. Roger has talked non-stop about the glories of Odir. His clerical duties so far have involved chasing off a team of drovers heading south towards Blackmoor. They reported rumors of banditry as they passed and warned you to keep a sharp eye... but these rumors are fairly common all over Blackmoor as long as you get reasonably away from the main cities and towns. keep your awareness high, but don't panic.

As you round a curve in the road, there is a stone bridge fording a rapid stream. Stone pillars mark each end of the bridge. Propped up against a stone post on your side of the stream is a human form. Draped over the post above him is a dirty pennant, adorned with some heraldic symbol.
Snores reach you. Whoever is up ahead of you is very loudly and obviously sleeping along side of the road!


Jan is a survivalist at heart, and distrustful of situations. This was a natural bottleneck, and a fine place for an ambush - and not a natural place for anyone to be sleeping. "Slow down," he whispers to the others as they walk to give him, and them, time to look around the area for places for others to hide.


Feanor slows down and scans about himself, looking to see if the guard might be alone or with others.


Storm draws his twin blades, ready for danger.


Seeing the others ready themselves, Jan readies his bow and arrow, keeping the drawstring loose but prepared.


Despite his experience with hunting, Jan doesn't notice around here places that could really offer protection and cover in view of a sneak attack.


Storm cans the surroundings and looks to see if there are others who may be a distance away.


Storm doesn't notice anybody around.


"Perhaps we should wake him," Feanor says quietly to the others. "It might be important that we find out who he is guarding the bridge for."


"If indeed he is guarding it. Go ahead, wake him. I'll cover you from back here." Jan says motioning with his bow.

[Yaztromo]

Storm replies that he will guard his friend and escort him


The man wakes up and smiles. He has a crooked smile and a broken nose, but is handsome in a rogue-ish sort of way.
"Hello and well met, gentlemen! I am Terrence of Kenville, the best bard of Blackmoor."


Storm acknowledges the man's introduction and asks him what happened after introducing himself.


"What is a famed bard doing sleeping on a road plagued by bandits and other rogues??" Jan calls out with obvious distrust in his voice, once Storm has greeted the man.


"I know very well that bandits plague these roads. I met a group bandit Goblins not long ago, but rather than taking my hard earned coin or even my harder earned life, they preferred employing me as a herald.
Heralds are untouchable. Everybody knows it."


"Then what message are you to deliver??" Jan asks. "And if memory serves, heralds need to wear heraldic or ornamental clothing to mark them as such or carry a decorative symbol. Did these goblins give you any such article, or are you a herald in name only??" He continues with blatant disbelief.


"Are you blind?" The bard points at the pennant with the heraldic symbol that he is carrying.


"From here that looks to be just a symbol or piece of jewellery," Jan says. He does however lower the bow and allow the string to rest accepting that, for now, this man may be telling the truth.


"If you want to hear the interesting story of this banner from the very mouth of the best bard of Blackmoor will cost you just two gold pieces each!" He smiles, exposing his crooked teeth.


"That's a high price for a tale, Terrence of Kenville. I hope it represents good value," Feanor says and hands over his gold.


"And tell us how big is this goblin band,"Storm adds


Terrence of Kenville smiles, clearly waiting to collect all payment before starting his tale.


Storm passes two GP and says,"please give useful information sir."


Jan sighed and reached into his pocket, seeming to search for the coins. Finding two gold he kept his thoughts to himself but tossed the two coins towards the bard. "Six gold for a story. It had better be good."


The bard makes the story long and full of jokes, but you have to admit he is good at that, so you listen to the end.

In summary, he tells you:
I was looking for my destiny in these lands far away from the crowds, when I was ambushed a band of fierce looking goblins. Brigands! They were at least a dozen.
Oddly, they didn’t take my hard earned coin. Instead, they let me swear on my very life to bring this strange flag to the court of Blackmoor, so, and I quote, “King Robert shall recognize our masters’ claim on this land that he has bravely earned in battle.”
They were demented or under some magical compulsion, I guess.
Clearly, my destiny was to agree, and to agree to whatever they asked. I did so with precision and skill.
Further, they asked me to swear “allegiance to the Master of the Cave”.
I have NO idea who that might be. Clearly, however, if pledging to return this scrap of heraldic antiquity got me along the road, I agreed to do so. It was clearly my destiny to survive this fortuitous meeting, so I decided to embrace my destiny.
I think it is a stunning souvenir. Yes?


Normally Jan would be impressed by a finely woven song or tale, but he had already decided that he didn't like this man and sought reason to pick fault with him and his story. And by confirming he'd given his allegiance to an unknown master, let alone one served by goblin brigands no less, he had proven Jan's initial feeling correct.

"So, in short, you are to deliver this piece of goblin cloth to King Robert as a message that this land now belongs to this Master in the Cave?? Good luck with remaining cheerful when he hears that news." Jan said, his eyes now a fierce, cold blue. "And how do you know you are free of this newfound allegiance once the cloth is handed over?? How do you know that you won't be called upon to follow your destiny further and obey this Master in the Cave's next demand of you??"

His "wisdom" shared, Jan does not wait for an answer; rather he steps forward to survey the way forward, disdainful that he has lost gold to this fool. He needed to be away from this cheerful bard before he became more annoyed with him... especially with his bow ready as it was.


"Sir, after all this wisdom shared, can you please tell me where I can find King Robert?" He smiles.


"Nothing useful from what you told us initially. Gibve my gold back or my destiny will be to take back by force," Storm grins.


"I will give your gold back if you promise you will forget everything I told you so masterfully." You can see the bard's delusion on his face.


"Did this mob tell you any more of who the Master in the Cave was? Or what he was?" Feanor asks the bard.


"You are not being truthful mr bard. I hate lying tongues,"Storm replies.


In reply to Feanor (msg # 54):

"That was the last thing I was interested on. The first thing I was interested on was getting away in one piece."
[Private to Jan Tarran: Now that you see it better, that standard doesn't seem like Goblin cloth as all. It looks pretty ancient and it is green with three white balls in it, laced probably with silver, although extremely oxidated.]

In reply to Stormrider (msg # 55):

"What?!? I told you all the truth! ...and also in very good style..."


Taking a deep sigh, Jan retraced his steps. Something had been playing on his mind and the time away from this man had allowed him to gather his thoughts more fully.

"Wait," he said, "let me see that standard a little closer." He realised he still held his bow and arrow in an aggressive and ready state. Returning the arrow to his quiver in a gesture of peace, he looked at the cloth.

"That doesn't look to be a goblin rag after all, but intricate and old. An ancient Thonian standard perhaps, but I cannot see the heraldry clearly and would not be familiar with the symbols even if I could."

He stared at the bard with his cold, blue eyes; "so you are to return an old standard, possibly claimed in battle by the goblins ages ago, to what end?? For these bandits to reclaim land?? If they'd won the battle the land would be there's and they would have no need of such a gesture. So it suggests that the land is not theirs and they are laying claim to it now, after all this time.

I do not know the laws of this land, but can they do this?? Has there been such a battle?? Do they have the right even with this old piece of cloth as their evidence??"


"I don't know, but I know there is no King Robert. The King of Blackmoor is Uther Andahar... and he's the first King of Blackmoor! Before, Blackmoor was a Barony, not a Kingdom... So... to whom shall I bring this standard? Before you came, I was searching the answer to this riddle in deep mediation..."


Storm is getting upset by the bard. Heforces himself to kep quiet and let his friend talk


Jan stares at the cloth for another moment then sighs heavily, apparently suffering an internal conflict.
"I'm am not pleased that you have charged us an excessive amount of gold for a tale that, however delivered, will be common knowledge once the flag is delivered." He says finally. "For you took an oath to deliver this banner, that is what you must do. If the target of delivery is no more, or never existed, it is not for you to decide. You need to complete your side and pass this on to someone of authority who has the capacity and understanding to make a more informed decision. One of King Uther's advisors would suffice.

After all we do not know what threat this Master of the Cave holds, or what their intent is."

He looked at the priest they had been hired to protect, wondering what he made of the situation.

'We have our own charge to protect.." He added.


The bard shakes his head at your continuously moaning for a meagre coin, as if you were uncivilized and uncapable of understanding the huge value that his noble art has, but doesn't comment on that.
"Where are you going? Maybe eventually you are planning to go to Blackmoor City? Maybe I can join for a while, as I pursure my quest, and enrich your hearts and souls with my art."


Roger Lillard has been quiet so far, but eventually hands over two coins to the bard and nods, dubious and suspicious, without saying a single word.


"The road is free, you can go where you will," Jan says, looking at the man in disbelief. "however if it is your art to charge travellers coin for a story it is ours to charge for protection.

Do as we say when we say, without question, and don't get in our way or slow us down.

And be advised that we already have a charge we promised to protect. Should your presence be deemed a hindrance or draw unwanted or unnecessary attention to us, then well... Goblins will be the least of your concerns.

And no singing when we walk." He adds with a stern look.


"I can see that you don't have the heart of a protector of the weak, but rather of a tyrant, willing to give orders to everybody even if nobody put you in charge. The road is free: go where you want. I want some more sleep. And no shouting while I sleep."
Looks like the bard had enough of you: he lays down again as you found him originally, pulls the standard around him like a blanket and closes his eyes.


Feanor looks a the standardbearer and sighs with pity. "He doesn't seem to be travelling well. Perhaps we should let him come along. We will eventually make it to Blackmoor, or closer to it, one way or the other. Maybe his singing is better than his storytelling, and maybe we will get more for our two gold pieces than an update on his current predicament," Feanor reasons, looking to Jan and Storm.


"Tyrant, hah!!" Jan laughs, but his eyes blaze in anger. "You demand coin for a mere story yet react angrily and expect us to lay our lives on the line to aid you for free, and I'm the villain and tyrant here??" he growls. "I see that the bard's reputation for warped perspective and self import remain strong.

Stay or come, I care not."

Stepping closer to Feanor he said quietly, "You're right, he'd probably get himself killed alone. I don't care for the gold, he can keep it. I just find this man crooked and not worthy of my trust. I don't know why, I can't explain it.

Probably my northern blood.

If he comes keep an eye on him, keep him close."


Storm proposes carrying the hard along

[Rafael]

Thanks, Yaz!! I'll write you on one of our more private channels, one of these days. - By any means, if you have it, please post the rest of the transcripts, as well, though! I'll send this thread to Tad Kilgore, as well, who is credited as an editor, but really should have gotten co-writing credits for the adventure!

[Yaztromo]

There is a lot more to be transcribed... especially now that looks like my connectivity issues are getting sorted...

[Yaztromo]

"Stop shouting, Skandahar... people's sleeping!"


"Two mistruths in one breath. You are neither asleep, nor am I shouting," Jan growls coldly but honestly, correcting the bard. "Stay here and sleep, and risk being killed by bandits who won't hold their blades as readily as we do, or walk with my colleagues and take the same risks we do. But decide now. I'll waste no more time on this."

He returns to the bridge leaving the others to discuss matters without him.

OOC: just to be clear, Jan is not a heartless man - he just didn't take to the bard very well and views him as crooked and deceitful, and nothing that has been said has disproven this opinion.


"I already decided... now stop growling and barking like a dog and let me sleep!"


Jan ignored the insult and continued walking. The urge to fill the crooked smiled man with arrows then take the rag and deliver it himself was strong, and made him smile - after all they could easily have stumbled upon him dying from a bandit attack and his last words were to detail his story with the blood stained rag nearby... Hell, that would be a fitting end to the man's own story...

...but despite the tingle in his veins that came before a fight, Jan was no longer in the North where insults would always lead to bloodshed. The man might be a greedy villain in his eyes but his attempts at insults were weak and Jan was not offended by them and felt his honour had not been impinged.

He left his two companions to deal with the bard how they would.


Storm curses the hard and leaves


You leave the bard behind and keep walking north.
As you are travelling, high pitched screams reach your ears from up ahead!
To your right two small figures move towards you, running pell-mell across a meadow and as they get closer you realize they are children screaming in terror!
You see shapes that look like large wolves loping after the children, clearly confident in their ability to run their prey to ground. They see you and howl, speeding towards their prey obviously trying to get to them before the children can get to you!


With a swift, practised action Jan pulls an arrow from his quiver and lifts up his bow. He adopts a natural bowman's stance and draws the string back, gauging first the distance between himself and the wolves, and then between the wolves and the children.

"Over here, run this way towards us!!" he calls to the children, ready to fire.


Jan adjusts for basic environmental factors; distance of about 130 paces, wind speed and direction. It was at long range for his longbow but if it hit or caused the wolves a moment's distraction it was worth it.

He draws in a deep breath, holds it for a moment to steady himself, then releases it slowly and controlled before releasing the first of his arrows.

"Run to the kids, close the distance. I'll do my best from here." Jan says to Feanor and Storm, knowing the two would already be reacting as he readied a fresh arrow from his quiver.


Jan's arrow lands just in front of the wolves, that are not directly injured, but they are surprised and suddenly stop, giving the kids some breathing space.


Storm runs towards the wolves with his weapons drawn. He urges his dog to also run along with hin.


Being a professional hunter, Jan has had to deal with quite a few wolves in his time. He is aware that they hunt when hungry, but that they are a threat to the local population and their livestock. Aware that the wolves have paused, but this might be a temporary situation, he draws his bowstring back again and releases a second arrow. His hope is that by injuring the wolves they will flee without a fight, but he is well aware that injured animals can become more aggressive.

At least this time the wolves are stationary.


The arrow still misses, but the wolves retreat further way. They are still visible, but barely.


Feanor runs towards the wolves along with Storm, hopeful of coming into range of the animals before they change their minds and attack the children.


The animals seem to retreat a few steps while you approach in haste.


Storm continue to advnce towards the children


Jan readies his bow again and advances, to reduce the range between himself and the wolves. He jogged forward rather than ran so he could watch how things developed, ready to stop, draw and loose another arrow should circumstances change.


A boy and a girl, overwhelmed by fear and tears, hug Stormrider.


Storm hugs them and puts them down. He has to defend thm.


Feanor keeps his eyes on the wolves, a spell ready to go, to give Storm a chance to comfort the children.


Jan continues his advance, covering the small group and ready to shoot if needed.

He also keeps an eye on where his arrows fell so he could retrieve them.later.


Catching up to the others, finally, with the wolves still waiting, Jan takes in a deep breath to steady his racing heart.

"How are the children?? Are they OK??" He asks of Storm.

"They're either desperately hungry, or mad," He says watching the wolves closely, his bow ready. "There's not enough of them to attack, yet they aren't leaving. That suggests desperation, and potentially a willingness to track us and strike at us later.

We could try to walk on, keep an eye on them and see if they leave. But I'd rather not have a pair of hungry wolves tracking us for long. Or we can put them out their misery now and end this here and now."


The children are crying and calling mammy and daddy.

[Yaztromo]

Storm informs his friends the children are fine. He asks the children why they are here?


"More importantly, where is home and where are your mother and father??" Jan adds to Storm's question.


It takes a while, but eventually you understand that they are Krista and Tomen Bukton. Tomen believes his Mom and Dad are in trouble and need help. Krista thinks Dad was killed by arrows and that monsters are doing bad things to her Momma.

From what you understand, they are members of the Greenlane Thorp, a small community of several farms spread out over small valley. It is an hour from here.

They say that the monsters have burned several farms. Their Dad has been giving them food and sheep to leave them alone. All they know for sure is that the monsters started arguing with Daddy and Mom told them to run. Eventually, they realized that wolves were chasing them.


"That explains the wolves' action then. If indeed they are trained animals, not just wild, then they will have been sent to kill the children rather than hunt and eat them." Jan says quietly, out of earshot of the children.

"Wonder if these monsters are the same monsters that follow the supposed Master of the Cave, and this is their way of taking control of the area??" He ponders out loud.


Storm suggests going with thechildren to their comunity to secure or rescue it.


Jan looked at their charge, wondering how he would feel about a deviation from their plan. Deciding that he had wanted to help the annoying bard, Jan doubted that he would refuse the opportunity to help these children. "Definitely. I was thinking of the nature of these creatures. If they are trained pets of monsters we don't want them returning to their masters and warn them of our arrival. We need to remove their threat."

His eyes turned more on Feanor, "Other than my bow, do we have any ranged weapons that would kill them or stop them from escaping??"


Storm replies that he only has his twin swords even though he is good with them.


Feanor turns to Jan and nods solemnly. "If they come within a hundred yards of me, I can reach them with a fire bolt," he says.


"A hundred yards?? We can do that, but we need to either kill them all or chase them off. If we injure them and they escape... We don't want whoever's attacked the town to know we're coming." Jan says. He wondered if they attacked the wolves whether they would flee or fight back.


The kids, although still sobbing, hug your legs, trying to get some comfort.


Storm comforts the children and keeps them away.


"Yes," Jan nodded, then quietly added, "and hopefully the damned beasts will try to attack us when they think we're not expecting it and we can kill them then. But for now we'll only scare them off it we try. And we don't want to anger their masters and have them hunting for us before we know who or what we're dealing with."


Storm suggests bringing the children along with them to their village and to comtinue the way.


"We'll take you home, children," Jan says, keeping his bow trained on the wolves, "you will have to show us the way, but we will protect you, have no fear of that. See how the wolves have already stopped chasing you??

Take us to your home, and we will see how we can help."


The children have chattered non-stop on the trip towards their home, telling tales of the monsters that attacked them. You have passed two burned out homesteads. Both, the children say that the monsters must have gotten them!
The trail you are following was a dirt track before the rain started about a half hour ago. Now it is a muddy and slick.
Krista points, “Home is over that hill, please help mommy and daddy!”


Throughout the journey, Jan was keeping an eye out for the wolves. When did we lose them, or are they still stalking us??


The wolves kept stalking for a short while, then, when you went to more open lands as you approach the farms, they apparently stayed behind in thicker woods.


"Storm, do you want to keep the children close to you. I propose to reach the crest of the hill, but keep as flat as possible, so that we can see what lies beyond without being seen ourselves. At least, not yet." Jan suggests.

He then leans forward so that the children cannot hear what he says next, "And I don't want the children to bear witness at least initially in case it's a sight they shouldn't be seeing. If you catch my meaning. But I'm still concerned about those wolves. We appear to have lost them, or at least they are hanging back in the treeline. But that does not mean that they would not take the opportunity to attack with our backs turned."


Feanor nods and waits with Storm and the children while Jan heads to the crest to take a look at the farmstead.


Storm waits with Feanor and guards the children.


You are approaching Bukton Farm from the east side, where the path enters the corral. It is an old farmhouse complex that may have been here for over a hundred years.

At first sight, the farmhouse appears deserted, but you notice a crude, green banner blowing in the wind on a cross bar near the gate of the corral. This is no real gate but more of a wooden frame that marks the end of the farm house grounds and the beginning of the common road. A slat wood door can be closed on the interior compound. It is not designed to resist assault, but rather to keep domesticated animals within.

In the middle of the yard before the farm house stands a stone well.

On the right side of the well is the main house. The main farm house is a one-story building. It is a simple hut made of wood from the nearby forest. There is a loft over top, with access to the roof. The roof is thatched and damaged, outgrown with grass and small bushes. Not far from the main farm house is a small storage house: a simple wattle and daub hut.

On the left side of the well is a barn. This is a two story barn with an adjoining corral. Typically, in these farm barns, the second floor functions as granary and hay mow. The lower floor is storage for the plow, and also works as a shearing shed for the families sheep.

[Yaztromo]

Jan crouches low then turns to look at his two comrades. He signals that he cannot see anyone at the farm, and for the small group to approach quietly to join him. He raises his bow and readies an arrow just in case realising that he was going to need to make or buy new arrows soon if he kept us this rate of loosing them.


Stormmsuggests approaching the door and asking for shelter.


"Ok, sounds like a plan. I'll take the children so they're not left unprotected and move further round so I have a clear sight and shot of the front of the farmstead. Feanor, if you want to get close enough to help out magically if things turn sour while Storm, do you want to knock??" Jan says, pointing to where he was going to move to.


Jan takes position with the two kids.


Feanor looks at the scene before him and drowns. "What do you think that green banner is? Perhaps the place has been taken over by foul folk," he suggests.


Storm draws his weapons and stands near the children, ready to defend them.


Jan: My plan was for me to take up a position and to have the children with me, that way they're away from the fight and I can keep an eye out for the wolves as well as cover the farmstead. I wanted Feanor to take up another position away from me so that we have a cross-fire effect going on, and for Storm to approach the building.

However, if Feanor and Storm want to stay with the kids then I'll sling my bow and head off to the farmstead to do some investigating myself, just to get things rolling


Storm thinks his friend idea is sound. Once they are in position he approaches the building with weapons drawn.


From his vantage point, Feanor notices a boot coming out from behind the well.


Storm approaches the building slowly and carefully with twin blades drawn.


Everything is silent, as Sorm reaches the gate and Jan and Feanor can see nothing moving.


Storm knocks on the gate with a blade.


You can hear only the wind.


Storm asks,"Anybody home!"


Still nothing.


Jan looked around him. Perhaps they'd missed the action, perhaps this was a distraction to draw them in. He checked to make sure the wolves weren't sneaking up on them - or worse, the wolves' masters.


The wind is whistling and Jan isn't sure.


Jan: ... Is that a cloud?? Its pretty!!


Storm prepares to attack or retreat to aod his friends


Now you are all in the positions that you wanted to take and nothing seems to happen, although you feel tense.
What do you do?

[Yaztromo]

Cursing quietly, Jan shakes his head. He felt that this was a trap to draw them in, but their approach must have been seen. Their plan was now useless. He needed to protect the children, but he also needed to be with Storm to quickly check each of the buildings for signs of life.

"Make your way round to Feanor there," he said to the children, indicating where the mage was positioned, "while I go down there to look for your family.".

He waited until the children were beside Feanor before stepping forward and joining Storm in the farmstead ready to start looking through the buildings to find the missing farmers.


Storm waits or Jan. When he arrives, he signals to move into the house.


Storm tries to open the gate and enter.


Two arrows fly from the upper store of the barn and land very close to Storm's feet!


"Hold your fire, we are friends. Krista and Tomen asked us to come." Jan calls out, stepping away from Storm do that they aren't too large a target.


Two more arrows fly from the barn and one of them hits Jan!


The arrow caught Jan in his shoulder, slicing through his leather cuirass and cutting the flesh beneath. He cursed in pain, and rushed forward towards the well, ducking behind it to find cover so that he could return fire if needed. "Move!!" he called to Storm.


Seeint the hidden men not responding to entreaties of peace, Storm dashes towards the archers while screaming," Let's go Let's run! Let' do it!:


As Jan dashes towards the well, he can see a dead human body that before was hidden from his sight. Two more arrows fly in his direction from the upper level of the barn.
A battle cry comes from the ground floor of the barn, as if answering Storm's call, and two large Wolves with Goblin riders with shields and long lances appear and charge Storm!


Storm welcmes the challenge and attacks the goblins


Jan is hit by one arrow, while Storm hits one Goblin rider, but is hit by the other!


Storm attacks valiantly


Jan crouches low so that the well covers him from the arrows from the barn, targeting instead the goblin riders on the wolves with his bow. He whispers a silent pray to the Lord of the Hunt, that his arrows might fly true - and that Feanor has some ranged magic that could help them.


The Lord of the Hunt is perhaps busy somewhere else, as four arrows fly on this round but none reaches its target!
Storm manages to fend off one attack, but connects with the other Goblin rider, although the leather armour absorbs part of the damage.


Storm attacks


Feanor carefully checks that he's within range and casts a Fire Bolt on the Goblin Rider that appears more dangerous.


Jan shoots another arrow to a Goblin rider.


Two Goblins with swords managed to surprise Jan from behind and attack him with swords!
The two archers from the upper level of the barn on this round focus on Storm. One of the two Gobin riders attacks Storm as well, while the other fight defensively and utters this challenge: “Surrender and bend knee to the might of my clement master. Swear allegiance to our standard or face death at the hands of I, Sir Mak, Sheep Stealer and puissant agent of the Green Knight!”

Feanor's spell hits the Goblin rider right after he shouted his challenge, causing obviously lots of damage.
One of the two Goblin archers hit Storm!
Jan's arrow hits the same Goblin rider, that barely manages to hold on, despite the fact that his armour absorbs part of the damage, but also manages to avoid Storm's powerful attack!
Storm instead hits the other Goblin rider, that screams in pain.
One of the two Goblins with the swords hit Jan with a surprise attack!


Storm attacks.


Feanor, noticing that Jan is in big trouble, this time casts his spell on one of the two Goblins with swords attacking his companion.


Feanor's spell hits one of the two Goblins that were attacking Jan, but doesn't seem to cause much damage.
Jan's arrow, shot at short distance, hits the same Goblin, that now seems badly wounded.
The two archers on the upper part of the barn shoot again at Storm, but they both miss.
The two Goblins with the swords attack Jan, but they miss, both by a whisker!
Storm attacks the two Goblin riders, but they both fight defensively as they retreat, successfully to the low floor of the barn. As they retreat, you hear one of them shouting again: "Surrender or perish!"


"Help!" Jan, desperate, shoots again the same Goblin.