Gameplay Date 08-05-07
Players present: Mordek, Taneus
Waylaid on the road to Nerom
Well, we managed to get a small campfire going, but it's raining pretty good out there, so we stayed close to our little bit of shelter. Even over the sound of the rain and in between the thunderclaps, we manage to hear something moving through the grasses. During the flashes from the lightning, we make out a lot of shapes, until they finally move close enough that we can see that it is just a herd of Bison. After a little while, they moved on, but the storm clouds didn't... it continued to rain all night until the pre-dawn hours. When morning came, we packed up our stuff and got back on the road to Nerom. Along the way we came across a busted cart... it looked like it had fallen out of the sky!! One of it's wheels was still in working condition, so I broke out my toolkit and started to remove it from the busted axle. Then we loaded it up in the back of our cart as a spare, just in case. After we got underway again, we soon came across a second busted cart. We grabbed 4 planks from it that were still in good shape and put them, pointing upward, in the 4 corners of our cart. Then we took one of our tarps and draped it over the corner posts, then lashed it down to give ourselves a bit of shade while we traveled. As we put all of that together, we could hear the sound of running water not very far off to the west. So we headed in that direction to give the horses a chance to rest and get some water.
We're only about 250 feet away from the road when we come across a gully, where the water has carved it's path and now runs along about 5 feet lower than the plains around it. We found an easy slope where the horses could get down on their own, and then took a break ourselves. Taneus offers to spar with Luvana to continue her quarterstaff training. I sit back against the cart and just watch for a while, then make a bet with Luvana for 5 gold pieces that she can disarm Taneus. Offering her a few pointers on striking the wrist with one end of her staff, then striking quickly with the other end to knock a weapon from that same hand. She's a quick study, I'll give her that. It didn't take her long to get the hang of it, and soon Taneus was picking his sword up off the ground. I happily handed Luvana my gold as she had a big grin on her face. But before she got too happy, we asked her what she would do if faced with more than just one attacker... then I pulled my weapon and stood on the opposite side of her from Taneus. Her grin quietly disappeared. After a while, we finally got back on our way. We didn't stop again until we decided it was time to camp for the night.
After we had setup our campsite, Taneus & Luvana came over to talk to me. They're worried that during tonight's full moon, I would be changing into a rat-thing like Merrick. Taneus then pulls out a pair of manacles from behind his back, and they ask me to disarm... just in case. I appreciate their concerns... and I grudgingly decide to go along with it... not that I'm liking it one damn bit. There's a little tree nearby... and they have me put my arms around it before securing me in the manacles. I gripe at Taneus that nothing better bite me while I'm stuck like this. Inwardly, I was cursing that this was Taneus's revenge for every tree-hugging snide comment or thought I'd ever had about elves. I better not catch him grinning. Not much else I can do in this position so I lean forward and go to sleep.
I wake up with a burning pain in my... full... stomach? There is a distinct aftertaste of gruel on my tongue and there is some really loud snoring coming from close by. As I take in my surroundings, I realize a lot has changed... first off, I'm naked. I would've pummeled the elf for that, except that I was also not manacled to a tree, nor was I under the open sky on the grassy plains. I was in a dark corner between a dirt wall and several crates stacked up on top of each other. The crates seemed to hold a mish-mash of goods, and I manage to find some pants. Looks like they were made for a human, but I manage to pull them on. As I finally look out from behind the crates, I spot the source of the snoring. There are 2 sleeping ogres lying on the dirt floor between me and the mouth of the cave I find that we're all in. And to make matters worse, Taneus & Luvana are just 5 feet away inside an iron cage. They're surprised... and relieved... to see me... especially as I'm already inside the cave. Taneus points me to the key for the cage as it hangs from the belt of one of the ogres. I also spotted our gear lying nearby. Grabbing a dagger, I crept as quietly as I could until I was hovering over the sleeping ogre and carefully sliced the cord holding it in place. Making my way back to the cage, I quietly slipped the key into the lock and grimaced as a click sounded. Quickly glancing back at the ogres, one of them shifted slightly, but neither of them woke up. The cage door gave a quiet squeak as we very slowly eased it open. I motioned for Luvana to start making her way out of the cave as Taneus & I gathered up our equipment. I started heading out of the cave, thinking that Taneus was following right behind me, but when I got outside and turned to look back, Taneus was hovering over the legs of one of the ogres with a dagger in hand. As I tried to wave him on, he bent down and sliced the hamstrings of the ogres as they continued to sleep. They must've been drunk off their arses not to have felt that. Taneus finally made his way outside, and we're looking around to see where we are. One of our horses is tied up nearby... no sign of the other one, nor our cart. Luvana's already untying the horse to take it with us, then we quietly head away from the ogres and their cave.
Once we're a ways off, we finally ask each other what the hell happened? I tell them that I don't have a clue... that I fell asleep manacled to a tree and woke up in the cave... so Taneus tells me that a few hours into the night, a big rock sailed into the campsite. He yelled out to wake Luvana and myself, but I had disappeared and the manacles... and my clothes... were lying at the base of the tree. One ogre suddenly appeared and grabbed the yoke of the cart, then started heading off with it. The other was approaching the horses muttering "meat." Then he spotted Taneus & Luvana and said "stair builders for the many." That's when everybody started running, and unfortunately, it was away from the light of the campfire. As the ogre gave chase, Taneus tried to hold it off, but was knocked unconscious. Luvana ran blindly through the dark until she fell down into the gulley. The ogre quickly caught up with her and laughed as he shrugged off her attempts to hold him off with her quarterstaff. She was knocked out too. Then they woke up in the cage in the cave watching as the ogres finished off a leg of horse then passed out from drinking a barrel of spirits that came from their pile of loot.
To be continued...
No comments:
Post a Comment