Scarred Lands -- Logs

ScarGM says, "When we last left our heroes, they had just encountered a man named Blain who claims to be a Vigilant from the nation of Vesh. He explained a little of the situation regarding the mines Cannas sent our heroes to explore, and he warned of the dangers of fleeing to the various surrounding territories. Night is falling."

ScarGM says, "Flibsy can find plenty of fallen, dried wood for a fire."

Blain pipes up and says, "I suggest we head just a bit further, across the road ahead, for there is a rocky area where we might find some seclusion from the night's eyes"

Flibsy carefully collects the driest wood she can find, and begins to build a nice big pile of wood. Enough to defeeat a dozen tribes of wolves. Enough to build a firewall. Enough to heat up the water required to make the dry rations palatable.

Flibsy smiles up at Blain. "If we move, Blain, will you help me carry the wood?"

Blain smiles. "There's plenty more wood to be found ahead."

Flibsy picks up as much wood as she can carry and looks around. "Do you think we should move, Libby?

Sammuel looks at Blain somewhat suspiciously. "Why were you looking for us, anyway, and how did you find us?"

Blain turns to Sammuel and explains. "I wished to ask you questions regarding Cannas. And you haven't exactly been masterful at hiding your tracks. The two dead guards were a good hint as to the exit you took from the city."

Bret says, "I rather thought we were looking for him."

Flibsy says, "We were ... intrigued ... by the poster, weren't we?"

Libby blinks at Flibsy, coming out of her own thoughts. "Move? Away from here? Of course."

ScarGM says, "***edit***"

Flibsy stays close to Libby. "Blain says there's rocks up ahead, and the wolves won't be able to see me. Will you help me carry firewood? Trees don't grow on rocks ...

Sammuel nods at Blain's explanation.

ScarGM says, "After a few minutes, the party reaches an area in the scrubby woods where small-to-medium rock outcroppings dot the land here and there between the trees and bushes."

Flibsy looks around wide eyed. "Should we sleep under the rock or on top, Blain?

Blain suggests some of the smaller rocks be piled in a circle to hide the fire, and that sleep be done on the ground near the rocks. "Sleeping on a rock doesn't work too well...rocks stay cold all night. Dirt warms up. These rocks, from what the legends say, used to be part of some great stone golems that perished here during the titanswar.

Flibsy ohs, putting her wood down carefully, and piling up stones instead into a fire ring.

Libby looks around. "Are we sure there are wolves?"

Flibsy looks around too. "I don't know, Libby, what kinds of wolves live locally. I know there's a whole pack of two-legged wolves in Cannas ...

Bret says, "Those are the ones I was just thinking about myself, Flibsy."

Blain nods. "Some. Most wouldn't come near us, but not all the wolves out tonight are natural wolves."

Libby raises an eyebrow at Blain. "There are unnatural wolves, Blain?"

Blain continues, "But I don't anticipate problems with animals tonight. This is a fairly-regularly trafficked area, and the wildlife has a tendency to stay away."

Libby shrugs at Flibsy, a slight cheerful smile on her lips. "Perhaps someday we'll go eradicate the Cannas breed, mm? A nice thought to sleep on."

Flibsy piles the rocks carefully, and then makes piles up a minuscule tent of wood, to start a teensy fire.

Blain says, "More of a danger would be spies from Cannas, or a search party from there to find you, since you dispatched those two guardsmen...and looted them. Which they care more about, there's no telling.

Blain turns to Libby. "There are wolves who have been tainted by exposure to the magical leftovers of the titanswar. Other creatures, including men and elves and dwarves and more, have become...changed...by being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Flibsy reconsiders the fire, creeping closer to Libby.

Blain smiles ruefully. "I wouldn't worry about them, however. Right now, we're in the one stretch of land I know of where the tainted are largely unseen. A couple days' travel in any direction, and that's a different story."

Blain says, "They say that contact with the blood or bodyparts of the fallen Titans or their creations is what causes one to be changed. This stretch of land was one where the Titans were winning, though."

Flibsy says, "So there were few bleeding titans?"

Blain says, "Few here, at least."

Flibsy looks marginally more relieved, and volunteers for first watch?

Blain asks the party in general, "Where do you wish to head from here?"

Bret says to Flibsy, "We need to work out a watch order. Are you volunteering?

Flibsy nods at Bret. "Before it gets completely dark. See? I'm not tired yet. I can stay awake."

Goran says, "I would take the last watch, and use the hours before dawn to pray."

Bret says to Blain, "I can't speak for the others but my plan is to get as far from Cannas as possible.

Blain nods to Bret. "I would do the same, were I not assigned to stay here."

Flibsy nods at Bret and turns to face Blain. "Assigned, Blain? To stay here? You're watching Cannas, then?"

Blain nods. "I am to remain here to gather information about their activities. I can accompany you for a ways, but only so far as two days from the city.

Flibsy says, "So which do you recommend, Blain? Where do you think the safer route lies?"

Blain smiles. "Safer destinations only. There are no safe routes out."

Flibsy fingers the scroll case where she keeps her best tales. "Then, Blaine, which is the better destination for a traveling minstrel?"

Bret says, "Wait...There must be a safer route. When you came here you must have had a plan for reporting to your people at the very least."

Blain says, "The route back to Vesh is not safe. It is through the Kelder Mountains. You could take the Irontooth Pass and take your chances at getting caught by Virduk's men, or you could brave the mountains themselves and risk the terrain and the temperatures, or you could try to navigate the minetunnels...and hope one of them leads out the other side...

Flibsy says, "We could map the mines while we're in them ... that might buy us passage on the far side ..."

Blain says, "These are sad times, and the skills of a poet, dancer, or singer are not appreciated in many areas. I do hear that King Virduk has rather a steady supply of entertainers, though I doubt your sanity if you wish to travel there."

Blain says, "There are kinder lands north of the Blood Steppes. The only problem is that you're south of the Blood Steppes.

Flibsy shakes her head. "Not Virduk. It's in the traveling inns that I made my keep ... Can we go around the Blood Steppes?

Blain says, "Many would pay well for a map of the mines. And many have tried to map them."

Blain says, "To the east of the Blood Steppes are the Kelder Mountains. To go around to the west, you must travel through...tainted lands."

Blain says, "I suggest you all sleep on these options tonight. In the morning, you must decide a direction and travel it swiftly, for the search party of Cannas is sure to be on its way."

Flibsy smiles at Blaine. "I like mapping. Teasing out the map of a mine is akin to teasing out the lay of a ballad ... after which you need never again worry about memorizing the exact words.

Blain smiles at Flibsy. "But ballads won't try to kill you in the process"

Flibsy grins. "Depends on which ballad, what country, and who'se listening ..I vote for the mines.

Blain laughs.

Libby shudders. "I'm sure something in the mines would be delighted to see us. Maybe even friendly enough to have us for dinner."

Libby grins at Flinsy's comment, though.

Flibsy curls up next to Libby. "But don't the other options sound worse, Libby? In mines, we can establish ... well, mines have rooms, right? With big stone doors that Sammuel can manoeuvre around ...

Libby says, "*****Editor: just in case you didn't remember the misspelling."

Bret says, "Have you forgotten the goblins Blain said were in those mines?"

Flibsy shivers. "Goblins are small. And may appreciate our warning. Hags are ... in the ballads featuring hags, there are many many lines that end in death ...

Flibsy says, "And so few words rhyme with death that they become quite ... solemn."

Libby makes a face. "I'm sure there's something nastier than goblins if the mines go deep enough. The world is made up of hungry things, no matter where you go."

Flibsy says, "It's like trying to compose a ditty about Blain. The only thing that rhymes with Vigil is Sigil ..."

Flibsy offers a plaintive "We could stay on the surface ..."

Libby grins at Flibsy. "The breath of death shall taint our... queth? You have a point there."

Blain blanches a bit. "indeed, if you dig deep enough, you would find the hungriest thing of all. But that's not a tale for tonight. I bid you all sleep well, save for the watch of course."

Flibsy oooohs, distracted, and pulls out quill and parchment. "Hungriest thing of all, Blain? See? I just knew you had a story or two to tell!"

Blain looks at Flibsy for a while. "The tale is a dark one, of a dark act in a dark time, a hard victory won at great cost. Gaurak the Voracious, finally defeated by the Gods and their armies, had to be imprisoned somewhere he could not escape from."

Libby sighs and curls up on the other side of the fire to sleep. "Wake me when your watch is up, Flibsy or whoever took first."

Bret says to Blain, "Now you've done it friend, she's going to hear this story."

Blain continues, "For, as all know, the Titans cannot be killed, not even by the Gods."

Flibsy says, "Why not?"

Blain continues, "The Titans were the first beings to exist. They shaped the world we stand on. They gave birth to the Gods. No power exists capable of killing them."

Libby says muffedly from under her cloak, "Because they're too annoying to die, Flibsy."

Libby says, "And they don't let people sleep."

Flibsy ohs very softly and stands up to look alertly at the surroundings. "So if we did, Blain, we're gonna find Gaurak?

Flibsy says, "And then being a typical high arrogant muckety muck the only thanks we'd get for saving him would be to be supper?"

Blain clears his throat and continues, "All of the Titans had to be defeated and imprisoned in some manner. The Gluttonous one ate everything in his path, as well as everythin else he could get. So to defeat him, first his teeth had to be pulled out."

Flibsy phbbbts at Libby.

Libby grins very faintly in the darkness across the fire.

Blain says, "With his teeth gone, he could no longer eat. He was then buried deep within the earth, unable to chew his way out."

Flibsy nods at Blain, and climbs onto a small rock so she can see farther. "I won't dig for him, then. But how can I recognize his teeth?

Blain says, "And there he remains today. His teeth are said to have taken the forms of great, hideous mountains, out of which the foulest things crawl."

Flibsy says, "Like Irontooth Pass? Is that named for one of his teeth that needed a crown or a filling or something?""

Blain chuckles. "No. The Kelder mountains were ravaged and altered by the titanswar, but not by Gaurak's fallen teeth. Those lie to the west.

Flibsy wraps her arms around her knees as she sits facing outwards, keeping watch. "Thank you, Blain. I promise I won't dig in the mines. Unless I really have to. Good night."

Blain says, "Good night"

Libby settles in to sleep.

ScarGM says, "First watch passes largely without incident, although you do hear some rustling movements in the distance as though one or more creatures were about."

Flibsy lightly tugs on Libby's cloak. "Libby? My eyes are closing ... I can't stay awake anymore ...

Libby's eyes open immediately and she stretches into a seated position. "Ok, Flibs. Go ahead, I'm up. Good job, kiddo."

Flibsy curls up in her cloak, head resting on her backpack, hand resting on her sling ...

ScarGM says, "Second watch passes largely without incident, though you hear the same scufflin noises in the distance, and at one point SOMETHING yelps out once."

Libby feels the third watch near, and looks thoughtfully at her companions. She decides to wake Goran... from arm's length, aided by a long stick. She pokes gently and calls his name. "Goran? Third watch."

Libby says, "****editor: no she didn't. I forgot he requested last watch. Put this in place instead."

Libby feels the third watch near, and looks thoughtfully at her companions. She decides to wake Bret... from arm's length, aided by a long stick. She pokes gently and calls his name. "Bret? Third watch."

Bret stirs a little annoyed about being poked with a stick.

Libby says, "We need somebody for third watch, Bret."

Bret says, "This would be that elven arrogance my mother told me about. I'm up."

Libby looks down her elven nose at Bret. "If you want a different watch, try saying so before we go to sleep next time."

Libby turns and walks off to the other side of the fire and curls up, apparently going back to sleep.

Bret rises to go to his watch.

ScarGM says, "Third watch passes uneventfully. No wierd noises are heard."

Bret will wake Sammuel for his watch.

Sammuel wakes up, groggy at first, then stands and takes the watch

ScarGM says, "The night passes uneventfully. You all awaken as the sun is rising. You find Goran kneeling facing the sun, his right hand on the talisman on the thong around his neck, his left hand on the hilt of his heavy mace."

Libby stretches out quietly, eyeing Goran for sudden insane cleric moves.

Flibsy wakes up too, and quietly puts away her sling. "Goran, did you put a kettle on so we can have tea?

Goran makes no sudden insane cleric moves. He puts his talisman back under his tunic, puts his armor back on, and stands up. He looks at Libby and GRINS. "Good morning!"

Goran looks around. "No kettle, no kettle. No tea either.

Flibsy ohs, and drats. "We could have used this pot ... and I have tea. But no matter.

Blain stands up, putting his bedroll away with amazing speed. He pours a little water into his hands and scrubs his face.

Blain then shakes dry and smiles. "We must make haste, now. I fear our breakfast must be cold this morning."

Flibsy packs up. "We must away, ere break of day,to see the mines where darkness lay?

Goran looks to Flibsy. "So we may. What the hay?"

Libby critiques verb tense rather elvishly. "Oh, is the darkness not there anymore?"

Flibsy grins at Libby. "Of course it's not dark anymore. I brought a lantern.

Libby chuckles at Flibsy and shoulders her own re-packed gear. Her expression and chuckle seem sort of like a nonverbal apology for not being a morning person.

Flibsy shoulders her backpack, and moves to Libby, holding her hand tentatively. "I checked; I have everything ready for mapping ...

Libby lets the smaller girl hold her hand, reflexively.

Bret is awake and begins preparing to move out.

Flibsy says, "Shall we walk in the middle tody, Libby, with Brett and Goran behind and Sammuel and Blain before?"

Libby says, "I'll be in back, Flibs. You're welcome to come if you like."

Blain says, "Well, it seems you're all decided on heading through the mines. Are you traveling to Vesh, then?"

Flibsy ohs and nods. "I'll be in back then ... I would love to go to Vesh, Blain. If your brother has even better stories than you d.

Libby says, "I do not want to go through the mines."

Flibsy says, "*****editor: please replace d. with do."

Bret says, "It's as good a destination as any."

Libby says, "Vesh, I would like to go to. I thought we could reach it through the mountains as well?"

Blain smiles. "He tells the same stories, but he tells them better."

Blain says, "Through the Irontooth Pass, or over the mountains, or...possibly...through the mines. No known route exists through the mines to the other side."

Flibsy bites on her lower lip. "The pass sounds dangerous. And not much glory either. Do we know a way through the mountains?

Blain says, "I certainly don't."

Flibsy says, "Well, why don't we head for the mountains, and decide as we get closer?"

Bret says, "Does anyone hear speak goblin?"

Libby says, "Nope."

Goran says, "a little, a little" and turns slightly more pallid...if that's possible.

Libby says, "Ok, let's head for the mountains and decide as we go-- the nope was for me speaking goblin-- I don't."

Flibsy shakes her head. "I don't speak goblin yet, but how hard can it be? And I love learning new languages.

Flibsy oooohs at Goran. "Will you teach me what you know?"

Bret says, "So much for that idea."

Flibsy speaks draconic though. Would that help?

Goran looks at Flibsy. "If I must" he says, shaking a little.

Libby says, "I still say the goblins would just as soon kill us as hear us out, anyway. Why should we warn someone who's going to attack us on sight?"

Libby says, "We'd be risking our lives for no reason-- it wouldn't even help them."

Bret says, "If you know something of goblins, Goran, it might be a good idea to share it with all of us before we get to the mountains."

Bret says, "Perhaps, perhaps not. If we gave the goblins a reason to let us pass in peace, they might."

Goran looks to Bret, still seeming quite nervous. "...nothing of use...only a few phrases...

Flibsy makes a note to chat extensively with Goran tonight.

Bret says, "You've been through these mountains before haven't you?""

For now, though, Flibsy looks apprehensively over her shoulder. "Each of the options heads off in the same way originally; could we start walking while we choose our best option? I'm beginning to feel ... hunted."

Libby starts walking. She says over her shoulder, "An excellent idea. Let's think as we get farther from the evidence we were here."

Flibsy trots after Libby.

Goran nods slowly to Bret. "Two times, two times, yes. Once to Cannas in chains, once into mines in fewer chains.

ScarGM says, "Alright. The party heads off. Blain suggests you go ahead and cross back south of the main road, and head due east from there, as the road heads to Irontooth Pass."

Libby is perfectly happy to follow Blain's suggestion.

Blain says, "Head not too far south, though, or you'll walk on the main path towards the mines, which is sure to be frequented by others friendly to Cannas.

Libby says, "Pity you can't join us, Blain."

Blain says, "I will accompany you a short ways, but must turn back at noon.

Flibsy nods at Blain, and relinquishes Libby's hand to interrogate Blain about his brother while we march, with the intention of looking him up someday. The brother, that is.

Bret says to Goran, "How much do you remember of the lay of those mines?"

Goran says, "The mines I was in were on the far side of the Kelder mountains. I remember those passages well, but the ones on this side, I do not know. If they join together, I cannot say.

Bret says, "There were goblins there?"

Goran says, "Were, yes. Were. No more."

Libby says, "What took them away?"

Bret says, "What happened to them?"

Goran grins toothily. "Dwarves and men from Durrover and Vesh came in with arrows and swords and axes and fire and invited them to go elsewhere."

Goran says, "I was very young, about eight. The goblins looked very big back then."

Flibsy says, "They took you with them when you were eight, Goran?"

Goran says, "N..no...they kept me. Bigger things took, goblins kept..."

Bret says, "If the ones in the mines are of the same tribes as those you saw they may have gone through unknown passages to get to where they are now."

Goran says, "maybe..."

Flibsy ohs, looking down sadly, before running up to Goran and flinging her arms around him. "But you're big and strong now, goran. Won't they be puny?"

Blain says, "I remember this...my father was part of the group that went to remove the titanspawn from the mine."

Flibsy says, "And maybe if they took you, maybe they took other children too. Shouldn't we try to help them?""

Goran says, smiling a little. "We'll see"

Goran says, "n-no, no children left. All rescued or all dead."

Flibsy says, "And no children taken since?"

Libby sighs. "Barbaric species."

Blain says, "Goblins and bugbears came pouring out of the mountains one day, pillaged several nearby towns and brought prisoners back to mine gems. Once they were pushed out, they fled through the Irontooth Pass. No sign of them since. Until now, maybe, if these are the same tribe. There's no telling, though, Goblins breed like maggots. That's why Gaurak created them."

Libby blinks. "Oh, they're gem mines, not ore?"

Bret says, "That sounds like a coordinated attack, Blain, is that normal for goblins?"

Blain says, "Some of them. There are many mines in the Kelders.

Blain says, "I don't know, I don't think so, but they had Bugbears leading them. There may have been more at work."

Libby says, "The mine we're considering travel to is a metal ore mine, though, right?"

Flibsy hangs on Goran and looks at Blain. "Do bugbears chew rats in half and leave half behind?

Blain says, "Gold and iron, yes, Libby"

Goran looks down oddly at Flibsy.

Bret says, "So bugbears and goblins are on friendly terms? Interesting."

Blain says, "Not that I've heard of, Flibsy"

Libby nods to Blain. "I see. Thank you."

Blain says, "Often enough, Bret, yes. Oddly, hobgoblins don't seem to mix well with goblins. I've often been curious as to why they're named similarly if they don't intermingle."

Libby says, "We could use funds. Iron comes in ore, but gold... gold, in pure and very useful chunks..."

Flibsy hugs Goran tightly again, and then goes balk to walking with Libby. Every so often, she sneaks another peek at Goran. Maybe I shouldn't ester him about learning goblin.

Bret says to Blain, "That's likely because neither hobgoblin or goblin are names they use themselves."

Blain looks to Bret inquisitively. "Have you studied them?"

Blain says, "That does make sense."

Bret says, "No...But as a scrivener one thing I learned is that the common names for the races were given by humans, not the races themselves."

Blain says, "Ah. I see...that does make sense. I'd never really thought of that."

Blain says, "I wonder what the races call themselves, then. Hmm."

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Last modified: 2001-May-09 10:05:21

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