Xania is able to regain her spell and Marika is able to gain her spells
as well, both by leaving the work to the men. (sexist statement, I
know..:>) Matteo asks to remain at the settlement to regain his spells and
restore some of his strength.
Rhune retrieved quite a lot of stuff from the goblins. 167 coppers, 197
silver, 121 gold of varying sizes, countries of origin, and scripts, from
plain coins to fine Roman sovereigns. They also carry loads of crap,
baubles, trinkets, plastic jewelry, etc, that might be valuable if you had
weeks of time and a merchant's stall. But not very valuable. Also, upon
searching the larger of the goblins, Rhune finds two battle axes (one dyed
with several coats of red paint, the other from a large wolfskin) and two
long swords (both dyed red as well), two bloodstone earrings (worn by the
largest redskin who assaulted the hall).
After speaking with Kuzma and Irina, Marika uses one of her spells to bring
Sam back to full health. It seems he was not severely damaged from the
fall, and he is back to his usual chipper, nonsensical self before you know
it. None of the others can be brought back to full health by Marika's minor
magic so she leaves them in Kuzma's hands for the time being.
Sam sits up in his little nest of wrinkled clothing and stretches his arms
out, his mouth opening wide in a yawn, his big white buck teeth shining in
light. He then brings his hands up and makes small grubby fists in which
to rub his eyes with. Squinting a few times he then turns his attention to
Rhune and the others with a puzzled look on his face. "Wha.. what
happened? All I remember is leaving that silly meeting and then a flash
and something about a blue tube... oh yeah.. and caves.. I remember being
in caves... and elves! I remember elves.. I met some elves in the meeting
as well I believe."
Sam lowers his head in his hands as if to wrack his brain for lost memories
and then reveals a teary eyed face and glances back to Rhune. "Where am I
now? I just want to go home now please... just take me home. Can I go
digging for cheese? I sure would enjoy the taste of cheese... I think I
have had enough of adventures... enough of battles and caves... " Sam
begins to sob a little in his hands. Wiping his face in his shirt he falls
into Rhune's arms like a little child. Rhune looks startled at first and
then puts her arms around Sam's shoulders, "Don't cry, Sam. Everything will
be alright. Just think of all the stories you will have when you do go
home." she says in a comforting tone of voice as she rubs his shoulder.
This puzzling state of mind lasts for a little while, but soon Sam is back
to his old self again with the help of Rhune's council.
The goblins that were captured earlier are left bound tightly in the
kitchen as the group does not have time to properly interrogate them, or
for that matter, they do not have the language skills to do so either. So
they are left until the group returns.
So the smallish group gathers together only their most mandatory items and
goes outside. Of those in the party physically able, only Matteo remains.
Taras mounts his horse after giving Alfana a hard, quick kiss.
She seems to be rather stable considering her husband's poor physical
condition and the danger he is going into. However, once he turns toward
the rest, you can see her slightly shaking. Darya holds her hand.
Marika gives Alfana a reassuring smile. "He'll be fine," she whispers
conspiratorially to the young blonde woman. "We'll make sure he doesn't
try anything stupid."
Privately, she notes to herself that the only way to keep that last
promise would be to slip Taras a sedative so that he'll sleep for the
whole journey...but his chances would be improved, she decides, if he'd
at least let someone have a look at that arm of his.
Taras is all business at the moment, though, and Marika decides that
another time would be better to check on the arm.
Taras brings his mount about with one hand as easily as you have seen many
do it with two. Then, even more impressively, he releases the bridle, which
you notice is not connected to any bit, but is only loosely hanging about
the horses neck. It appears that he controls his fine stallion almost
entirely via his legs, and in fact the horse and he almost seem one. He
seems more at home upon the steed than he was anywhere else in the
settlement. He looks to the group of you, and it is clear that you are not
anywhere near as comfortable with your horse, nor they with you.
Asif handles his horse poorly, as the bridle system is quite different than
that which he grew accustomed to in his homeland. He realizes that it will
take some doing to understand and use properly the European harness.
Asif growls with frustration, as the horse seems incapable of answering the
subtle movement of his knees, and deft movement of the reins. Leaning to
the right he calls out to Jacobus riding beside him.
"Efendi by the gods, when is that relative of yours Jacobus, going to join
us with all that I own? This tack and harness upon this stead is unworthy
of a warrior of the desert. A man and horse should work together, this
harness puts man and beast against each other. When he of your blood joins
us, shall I show you true horsemanship. Ahh!!! I long for proper reins and
proper saddle. From such can a man have true control of this most
honourable beast, and fire arrows at ones enemies at full gallop. With this
cursed tack, one is like a babe riding for the first time"
Jacobus, not a rider, is equally troubled. Marika seems remarkably at ease
with her horse. She sees Alfana calmly brushing the creature. She assures
Marika that her horse is the best there is for a non-competent rider. She
smiles but does not converse with Marika, bowing her head and smiling.
Marika returns Alfana's smile and thanks her, leaning forward to brush a
stubborn fly from the horse's neck. It's not nearly as difficult as she
feared to stay on the creature's back, and she begins to hope that she
won't slow the others down too much, or embarrass herself too often with
her neophyte riding skills...
Rhune seems to have trouble with her horse as well. It is a large brutish
creature, much different than the light small steeds she is used to, and
she is only able to control it with difficulty.
Rhune looks rather comical on the large horse, as she tries to bring it
under control. She is convinced that it must think it has a child on its
back because her size and lightness. She looks around quickly and catches
Petr's eye and shrugs.
Ullar also has trouble with his horse, as it is too small. Upon realizing
this, Petr laughs and has he and Rhune trade steeds, which suits both much
better. Sam leaps upon the back of Rhune's horse, his favorite victim.
Xania has no trouble at all with her horse.
After making the switch, Rhune feels much better untill Sam vaults onto the
horse behind her, "You be careful about where you put your hands, Sam," she
whispers to him over her shoulder.
Although Ullar's steed is a bit too small for him, the warrior feels
comfortable riding a horse once more.
"It's been a while, pretty one," he mutters to his horse, "but I'll guide
you to my best abilities!" He pats the steed on his neck.
Three horses remain in the stable, and Petr calmly says, "If you do not
return within eight hours, I will come out after you. When you attack the
goblins, be sure to leave some trace so that I know. Good luck."
The motley crew rides out into the southern woods. You have no one among you
with any tracking experience, sadly, but it doesn't appear to be a problem.
There are plenty of goblin tracks running about in every which way, but you
are able to see the tracks of twoscore horses pretty clearly. Taras leads
you after them quickly, hoping to catch the goblins and their stolen
merchandise quickly.
As the group sets out, Marika's horse stands calmly immobile. She tries
pulling the reins, relaxing them, pressing with her heels, shifting her
weight...just as she's about to swallow her pride and ask how to make it
go, something she does seems to give the horse leave to move, and it
begins trotting after the others. After a moment of panic and vertigo,
Marika adjusts to the rhythm of the animal's pace and regains a stable
balance on its back. A bit of experimentation shows that she can use
the reins to turn or slow the horse, but if she just leaves it to its
own devices, it will follow willingly along with the others. For most
of the journey, she lets it do just that, and after a while begins to
suffer from the perilous delusion that she knows how to ride.
The trail lies just to the south edge of the woods, and it must have been
slow going dragging the horses through the trees. Some sixteen miles, about
four hours later, the trail veers deeper into the woods. Some two hundred
yards in, you are surprised to see that someone appears to have gotten here
first.
In the muddy clearing before you the goblins have been attacked and
massacred. The stripped and bloody bodies of a score of goblins lie mixed
with the torn carcasses of horses, and the obese corpse of a tall goblin
hangs by it's feet from a tree.
Asif looks upon the fallen enemy with disgust and whispers under his
breath. "And so befalls all those who befoul the light of Aten!"
But even now, the goblins have no peace. Six large beetles are feasting on
the remains. Without a moment's hesitation, they scuttle toward you...It
looks like they prefer live meat to dead!
Asif then sees the approaching danger. He shakes his head with surprise. To
no one in particuliar he says:
"What strange creatures inhabit this land! Harm not come to us. Death by
Aten's wrath send them back to there creator!" With this Asif draws his twin
scimintars and prepares to defend himself.
Rhune quickly draws her longsword and prepares to slash at the beetles. She
plans to help who ever needs if she is not attacked by one herself. She
also tries to keep an eye out for whoever or whatever killed the goblins.
Ullar draws his two-handed from his scabbard on his back and quickly
dismounts, giving the animal a clap on his behind. Cautiously he moves
forward, trying to determine what the beetles' motivation is.
"Only attack them when they attack you! So please hold your fire, bow-
people!" Ullar calls out, raising his left arm. "I've never seen such
monsters before!" he whispers to himself, shaking a little on his legs, the
memory of being unable to walk fresh in his mind.
Xania pulls back, not wanting to be beetle bait. She readies her spell just
in case...
At the repulsive sight of chittering scavengers gorging themselves on
dead goblins, Marika blanches and reins her horse around to outrun the
beetles. But seeing that her companions intend to make a stand instead
of fleeing, she brings her mount to a stop and vaults lightly and
gracefully to the forest floor.
Or so she intends, at least...after all, she's seen it done before, and
the riders always made it look easy.
But she fails to take into account how stiff her legs are after four
hours on horseback, or how hard it is to judge a leap from a precarious
moving platform. The leg she tries to swing across the saddle thuds
into the horse's neck, her other boot catches briefly in the stirrup
before coming free, and the priestess sprawls to the ground with all the
grace of a drunken gorilla. The horse, an insightful and compassionate
creature, lends its moral support by trying to eat Marika's hair as she
scrambles shakily to her feet.
Her face burning, Marika picks up her staff and hurries to join her
friends, hoping that perhaps the beetles are laughing too hard now to
eat anyone.
Unable at the moment to help her friend, Rhune whispers to her, "Next time
it won't be so bad riding on a horse." She then turns her attention to the
beetles.
The beetles have stopped, seeing some of the group dismount (or attempt to
dismount). They seem to be merely curious about the group, not hungry as
they seemed previously. As she crawls to her feet, Marika sees a small
figure in the woods running swiftly and quietly eastward. The beetles seem
satisfied the group is not going to interfere with their meal and return to
it, tearing at the goblins and horses with equal relish.