Session 10: "The Elves Within" I almost killed them on the spot, but Jack stopped me. There deaths would bring others. We needed to be careful. Of that I agree. This has been a tough day. I write this not knowing if my family are alive. If Morpeth has fallen to the Elves. If the Free States have fallen. I wonder if Isolde and Aestrid escaped? Anyway, after the initial shock, we made our way into the Deep. The weather is wonderful. Thank God we didn't emerge in the depths of Winter. Lee caught a deer, and we found a clearing. The night passed peacefully. Day 2 The birds twitter happily in the trees. No Bane, at least. No Amartorn forest 'god'. Then again, no Amulet, it seems. We walked SSW after Lee. By afternoon, the undergrowth was thick, and the going tough. We then reached a lighter area, sloping gently downhill. Luckily it was easy to find many dry sticks for a fire. We cooked more of the deer, and Surefoot handed out some interesting "fishsticks". Oh, to be back on the Heron now... Lee interrupted the thoughts that idled though my mind. He'd spotted someone in a nearby tree, watching us. The watcher disappeared from view. Running over, it was too late. He (or she... or it) was gone. We found no tracks. That night, we were attacked by a group of Elves. They fled when they realised Jack was a wizard. No-one was seriously injured. It wasn't much of a fight, though I'm reminded of the competance of the Elves as opponents. Day 3 We rested for 6 hours at midday. Forest is tougher to walk through than you might think. Ate more deer, headed south. The watcher was Gavin, the lad from Jack's village. He seemed older now. It's late 957. Spotted Will O' The Wisp that night. Nothing to fear, said Lee. Day 4 Walked. Rested. Lee hunted. Rabbit for dinner. We decided to head round the Tower. No point bringing attention to it - Jack suspects Isolde magically hid it. We headed south, walking on past dusk. We couldn't be sure how far behind us the Elven persuers might be (if we were being persued - we were confident we were). Day 5 Walked. Tired. Slept at night. Day 6 Rested/hunted. Walked southwards. Weather colder and wetter. Day 7 As we were plodding onwards, we heard a screech from the sky. The forest canopy obscured the view - and luckily, hid us from the beast, whatever it might be. Lee climbed a tree, only to see a huge Dragon circling above. After 30 minutes, it left, not having spotted us. It went south. The going was easy. We began to head SE to the mountains, the alternative being to scout around the edge of the mountains, into Krillath territory. Day 8 Saw the mountains ahead. Gavin left, with a variety of practical gifts from us. We set double watches - the Elves were probably near, we reckoned. Day 9 At noon, as we crossed the lowest foothills, we saw the Elves emerge from the forest behind us, maybe an hour away. We picked up the pace. So did they. The terrain led to a ravine, with sharp walls. The ground on either side was level. A stream ran down the ravine from a small lake. As we reached the top, the Elven commander came a little closer, and shouted to us, 'Surrender! I have 8 score soldiers with me'. We told him what to do with his 8 score soldiers. Devon had a plan - as the Elves charged us, he would blow a hole in the ravine-side edge of the lake, and flood the ravine. We needed to lure them in, and then get the hell out of the way. Caed by the way decided to consume a potion of polymorph, becoming a kestral. Myself and Lee moved forwards. A few Elves were starting to creep into an advance position. I wanted to make it clear that sculking around like that was a recipe for death, so I fired off a crossbow shot at one of them who was crouched behind a rock. Only half his face was showing, but I hit. I think that surprised them a little! Soon enough, the charged. Myself and Lee ran from the centre of the ravine, but as Devon blew open the side of the lake, I was injured by a flying rock. Not wounded, but badly winded. The water poured down the ravine towards the hapless Elven troops. They paused in horror. A few turned to run. Many died. Still, that left many more, and we suspected the '8 score' was inaccurate. The Elven commander once again demands our surrender. We don't comply. Lee scouted around for a while, as we waited for Caed to return. Soon a kestral flew down, and Caed-ified. [Once, I'd have been in awe of such a thing. I'd have written a whole chapter about it. Now... just another day's Elf-bashin'.] There were 100 Elves below, and 30 flanking around each side, which would take several hours. We headed south, figuring the Evles had no way to know we'd left, and couldn't risk another frontal assault... just in case. The going got tough, as the terrain became ever more mountainous. After 10 miles, we were exhausted. Rested for 4 hours. Walk for another 6, until dawn. We could see a cliff ahead, reaching above us in the distance. Day 10 An hour later, we reached the 'cliff'. It was actually a gorge, the other side of which happened to be higher than this side. We guessed it to be 60 ft down, 20 ft across (with a fast moving river), and then 110 up. A man in a dusty red-brown cloak stood on the other side. We shouted over to him. He would let us pass (i.e. get across without him cutting the rope) if we agreed to have one of us fight him in a combat challenge of his choosing. If we lost, we have to leave. We agreed. Jack levitated Surefoot across, with a rope attached. We all got over safely. I'd have fought, but for my injury the previous day. Lee accepted instead. The mysterious stranger fought with a long-sword, and great skill. He repeatedly flipped the sword from Lee's hands. I must admit, I'd have been in trouble against such a technique. Lee was clearly out-classed. Nevertheless, the man was satisfied. His name was Brother Terence... and he wasn't alone. Other men emerged. Good thing we haven't just tried to hack Terence down. A man with a long red beard introduced himself as Brother Cpt. Alfred. The would take us through the mountains, if we'd agree to be blindfolded. We knew the mountains to be treacherous to anyone who isn't intimately familiar with them, so we agreed. We were blindfolded, and guided for some time. When unblindfolded, we went through a tiny ravine into a wide grassy valley. Below us stood a small community. A large stone and wood structure was the centre-piece. The whole commune was srrounded by rose gardens, and further away, vegetable gardens. Bells sounded. We approached a large double door, upon which was a rose emblem. I'd never heard of an Order of the Rose. As I murmured something to this effect, Br. Cpt Alfred smiled and nodded in confirmation. At the doors, we met a man called Father Joshua, who was evidently the top man here. He welcomed us to 'the Rose House', and led us into the building. It was warm and pleasant inside. We walked to a side room, sat at a large table, and were served light ale by some junior Brothers. (Perhaps they have some other title, Acolyte or the like. I'm not sure.) More of the Brothers entered, bringing several large round metal dishes full of stew and potatoes. We ate gladly, not having eaten proper food for... well, about 2 years actually! Afterwards, we went upstairs, and were each given a cell to sleep in. Day 11 Bells rang out at dawn. Breakfast was oatmeal, with bread and honey. Surprisingly tasty. Br. Terence then gave us a tour of the Rose House. It consisted of two wings and a main house, which had three floors. Two of those floors in the main house were taken up mainly by the Great Hall, behind which lay the Chapel, which contained a truly stunning stain glass window, depicting a rose. Dinner was again a large meal. After that came Devotions. 300 Brothers came into the Chapel for this. It was like a normal service, but somewhat different. There was a lot of chanting, and an emphasis on the Last Days. Training rounded off the day. I was interested in their technique, as were the others. These fellow specialise in the long-sword, and a form of martial arts for close-in unarmed fights. That makes sense given that their main sword skill seems to be disarming their opponent. 1/10/957 Ah, to be able to write the date! Breakfast, devotions etc. I do some training with the Brothers. The junior ones are an easy challenge, but the more experienced ones are not at all. I suspect that several of them would beat me in a real fight due to their disarm technique. [OOC: Improved disarm is a neat, neat feat. Especially with a long-sword vs small weapons.] 2/10/957 Train with long-swords. 3/10/957 Train. 4/10/957 Br. Terence has completed the production of metal hands for Caed and Surefoot. Poor fellows. 5/10/957 I talked to Fr. Joshua about my soul, or lack thereof. He seemed concerned, and suggested that I should lead as good and holy a life as I could, and put my faith in God. I have always been strong in Faith, but I admit that the Goodwell way is not the way of many holy people. Still, these brothers claim to fight for God. (They even say God watches over this place, and protects it.) 6/10/957 Fr Joshua gave me a copy of the Holy Book, that I should read it often and maybe find some inspiration in it. 7/10/957 Before even First Bells, we got up and left. Six Brothers including Br. Cpt. Alfred would travel with us through the mountains, and lead us safely to the foothills. It was requested that we not make the existance of the Rose House public knowledge. We expressed out thanks for their assistance, and left. 10/10/957 Morning was broken by the screech of the Dragon overhead. We hid, and watched the beast. It was golden-red, and enormous. 13/10/957 Jogged downhill. Spent the night concealed in a natural gulley. Dragon could be heard. 14/10/957 We have reached lightly forested hills. Just writing this this morning - we're about to enter Krillath territory, so I might not get time to write for a while. * * * Well, I'm glad to say we got through. Three of the demons attacked us, but we hacked at them, and they fled, injured. It seems my hope that they couldn't see me properly due to my soullessness has been fulfilled. Good. Unfortunately, I write this now in a captive state. It was most unexpected, what occured. As we left the demon's area (as we reckoned), we ran into a large group of Egrebi soldiers! They loaded crossbows, and outnumbered, we surrendered, more out of "what the hell?" than fear, I think. Introduced to a Cpt. Al Sud. He doesn't explain why the hell there are men from the southern lands in the States. (All he says is that we'll be taken to Morpeth. Oh, no, an armed escort to Morpeth, the horror!) We've been speculating of course. Are they here to help the States? To take advantage of their weakness? To plunder? To support others of the Faith? We just don't know.