As you near the bridge, you suddenly grow very light-headed. You feel your knees buckle beneath you, and stumble forward before you can stop yourself. A searing pain pulses through your side. Perhaps running in your current condition wasn't such a good idea...

Reyolen

As the dwarf comes running back from along the trail, he appears rather off-balance. While it's possible that he's somehow managed to get himself drunk, causing a dwarf to get drunk normally takes a fairly large amount of alcohol. It would have been crude of him to hold out any supply he might have been carrying, even if it was the same rancid ale that dwarves so often drink. He stumbles as he comes to the edge of the bridge, and abruptly buckles over, and tumbles down to the edge of the river, where his form comes to rest, unmoving.

Arttemis

The injured dwarf comes ambling back up the road, in quite a bit of a hurry. His movement is awkward, and he soon trips over his own feet, tumbling to the ground near the bridge. The rotund figure comes to rest by the water's edge, and does not get up. You cannot be certain whether he was running from something, or towards something, or even if he had a reason to run at all. All he managed to say before collapsing was the single syllable, "HEY!"

Willias

The figure looks down at you, then at your father's body. It leans down, picking up your father's blade, then stands again. It glances between your father's blade and its own a few times, then drops the gnarled blade, and raises your father's sword over its head, before lashing down towards you...

You awaken with a start. A few lonely stars hang in the night sky above you. Your body is still extremely sore, but the throbbing in your head has lessened a bit.

[ 06-02-2002: Message edited by: Reyolen ]

EDIT : Don't try typing while tired and sick

[ 06-04-2002: Message edited by: Taylen ]

Jean walks over to the dwarf lazily.

"So, what's been at you, then?"

Ara's hand motion seemed a bit less discreet than usual. Once you have a moment to examine the dwarf, it is apparent that the blood Ara is so concerned about does not belong to him. A splash of blood covers his armor, possibly from one of the orcs he faced on the bridge. Nonetheless, Khazmon is quite obviously unconscious, and Ara is at best not helping matters any.

Arttemis

Not only does the dwarf appear to have passed out drunk, but his chainmail is downright filthy. The chest is covered in a vile liquid, not that much different in tone from the ooze the rings were excreeting. Ara yells something at you about orcs and bleeding, then starts to wrap a piece of cloth around the dwarf's chest. A minute later, she gives up, and slumps back on her haunches.

Willias

Standing up gives you vertigo for a moment, but you manage to regain your balance by leaning against a conveniently nearby tree. Your companions appear to be huddled beside the stream. The end of the bridge obstructs your view of whatever it is they're doing, but the elven woman gets rather loud. Odd thing though, you can't seem to recall any elven women among your companions.

Taylen

Fortunately, the ground in the camp has been quite thoroughly trampled, and there is no grass to catch fire. Eventually, the oil-soaked wrap at the torch head catches a decent spark, and lights.

The camp around you is ominously quiet. Beside you, the construct appears almost like a shrouded figure standing quietly in the center of camp. However, closer examination reveals the same thing you saw in the daylight; it is no more complicated than an obelisk topped with a large orb, and ringed by four protruding metal rods.

Four tents, most likely set by the orcs, surround you and your unconscious companion. None of the others have followed you here, not even Twin Moon. Most times Freya's owl friend does not leave her side. Perhaps something about these orcs spooked her, causing her to linger behind when Freya pursued the fleeing orcs in this direction.

Jean looks around, paying special attention to bushes and large rocks.

"Looks like they're gone now."

Suddenly forgetting the dwarf, Ara runs over to Aust, "Are you alright? You're white as a ghost! Is your head alright? Goodness, you look aweful. Here, let's get some water in you," she says to him quickly. Without hesitation, she lifts the waterskin off her shoulder and offers it to Aust.

Silvan walks over to where Aust is and says, "How are you feeling? I'd imagine not too well."

[ 06-04-2002: Message edited by: Reyolen ]

ooc:
You there, Drak?

Even considering that you wanted a better look at the orcs, holding a torch that close may not have been the best idea. You manage to light the leather-clad orc's garments on fire. The flames die down a moment later, leaving its already-tattered armor unwearable. Not that you'd actually want to wear it anyway.

The other orc appears to have on a set of banded mail, in surprisingly good shape considering what the others had on. There is no more obvious gear in the orc's possession. A ring on the creature's finger matches the ones in your pocket.

Willias

It occurs to you at this point that you had several more companions earlier on. All you see is two elves and a halfling. Where the others went, however, is another matter entirely. Maybe someone here knows.

The elven woman runs up to you, and offers you a drink of water. Something about getting a drink feels very familiar. It is, after all, something you've done at least once before.

Arttemis

The only orcs in sight are the two dead ones lying on the edge of the stream. You recall quite clearly that there were more of them, though you didn't notice where the other bodies got off to.

Tearing the ring from the armored orc shreads its finger rather severely, and a heavy stream of blood begins to run from its hand onto the ground. The charred orc also has a ring on its finger. Other than a few flakes of charred skin lying on its surface, the tiny circlet appears undamaged.

[ 06-06-2002: Message edited by: Taylen ]

ooc:
See: Zork

Your view of the inside of the tent is mostly obstructed by the tent's door flap. The roughly 2" wide gap around the flap reveals very little of the tent's contents. You can tell that it has a dirt floor, and see the edge of a box or crate of some sort, but that's about it.

Taylen opens the tent flaps and takes a look inside.

With the tent flap pushed out of the way, a cursory glance reveals the rest of the wooden crate you saw before. There is a marking on it, but the tent flap drops back in place before you notice any more detail.

The orc tent contains an assortment of goods, hardly any of which seem characteristic of orc equipment. Assorted crates, marked with the insignia of more than half a dozen trading companies, have been sloppily piled around the inside wall of the tent. A few crates have already been broken open, but most remain sealed. There isn't much walking room other than an open spot of bare earth leading from the entry to the center of the tent.

IC - Drakkenclaw sighs slightly, almost unnoticably, as he shifts his kneeling position into a sitting one. As he speaks, he rubs his back on the point where he had been struck.

"I follow the Shalm. His laws and teachings have been given to me all my life. But that has ended now. I cannot go back, and the most I can do for Obad-Hai now is give some small pieces of his most basic commandments in speech. I have lost his way."

The lizardman's upright posture breaks as he rests his head in his hands, and he appears suddenly very tired, very alone, and somewhat afraid.

But maybe we should check out the others, see just what they are doing...

Slowly, carefully, he stands up and begins to make his way back to the group. His posture regains its striding upright stance, and his face returns to being nearly etched in stone.

He walks over to the nearest broken crates and kneels to have a look at the contents.

"Ara, though she may not look it, is right here. She's better at disguising herself as one might think. The dwarf is still laying over there, after one of his stupid stunts. Speaking of stupid stunts, that's how you became unconscious originally. Orcs attacked us after you crossed the river, if you didn't already know. Which brings me to your other question, about the others. I'm not sure where they went, but they better had come back soon. I grow weary of this." Silvan says matter-of-factly.

[ 06-08-2002: Message edited by: Reyolen ]

ooc:
Reyolen is on a 2-week vacation. I'll be treating him as an NPC when necessary until he gets back. Posts for Silvan will join those of Ara.

When you return to the trail by the bridge, a few changes in the scene are noticeable. First, of course, is that the light has given way to darkness, making the whole scene more difficult to see than before. You can see a short way down the trail from the way you first came, and only a few feet past the bridge on the other side.

Some of your companions have gone off somewhere, possibly taking the bodies of your slain opponents off the trail, since some of those are also missing. Khazmon lies by the edge of the water on the far side, just to the right of the bridge. He may be sleeping, but the position he's lying in looks very uncomfortable. An even shorter fellow, only slightly larger than the companion on your shoulder, stands over the dwarf. To the left of the bridge, and near the edge of your vision, are a few more of your companions. Three elves stand together, all dressed in traveler's garb, two male and one female. One of the males is Aust, up and about again. The other male looks familiar, though you seem to recall him differently dressed, and while the female closely resembles the half-elven girl in figure and garb, it is difficult to be certain at this range.

As you take a step, you feel something under your foot. Its texture is thicker than water, and bares some resemblance to the thickened blood that you sometimes find in sick or wounded animals. In the puddle lie two tiny circlets, easily visible against the dark fluid. From the size of them, they would just barely fit around the end-fingers of your hands.

Falaanla

Your perch atop your companion's shoulder once again feels as if you were flying through the air on your own wings. With night removing the benefit of sunlight, you can see only a short distance. The dwarf lies on the other side of the stream, by its edge. He appears to be asleep. Jean stands near the dwarf, glancing about idly. Three elves have gathered to the left of the bridge's far end. Aust appears to have recovered from his earlier injuries. Silvan, now clad in plain garb, appears as composed as ever. The elven woman, however, was not part of the group before. She looks familiar, but with the poor lighting, you can't really tell. The rest of your companions appear to have gone missing.

The garments you wear and the wings on your back have dried, and you could fly again if you chose to. The night air is cool and pleasant. It is late, and today has been a busy one, but after spending more time riding shoulders than flying, you could stay up a while longer if you chose to.

Ithar begins singing, though the tune isn't very intricate, "Splish splash bath time, happy chirpy bath time, chirpy happy splish splash, Ithar water wet." The verse repeats a few times. On the third refrain, the last part changes to "birdie bath done." It is too dark to see what your familiar is doing.

Arttemis

The lizardman steps out of the woods on the far side of the bridge, just as large as before. Saeessira now rides upon the creature's shoulder, giving you an impression not much different from a halfling atop an ogre... certainly not the first thing you would expect to see.

Taylen

You can only reach one of the broken crates from this position. It is mostly empty, with only a few rotten pieces of fruit at the bottom, and a couple ribs from some animal or other. The ribs have been stripped of meat, and appear gnawed.

Willias & Reyolen

The lizardman steps out of the woods on the far side of the bridge, with the daysprite girl riding on his shoulder. They both appear none the worse for wear, though the daysprite's hair is slightly unkempt.

[Silvan]

"Yes, Ara, he'll be fine. He's a dwarf, they're used to passing out at the wrong times," Silvan replies. He then notices the arrival of the others in the corner of his eye, and glances over at them briefly, before turning back to Aust. "It seems some of our company have already returned. With time, I'm certain the others will follow suit. Meanwhile I suggest we pick a reasonable spot to set up camp for the night. It's getting dark, and there's no telling what we'll find further up the road. We may run into more of these roughians before reaching the sanctuary of Destindeterre."

[/Silvan]

"Well, then... that's certainly... err... interesting... yes... quite... err..."

Jean's eyes dart to the bridge where he previously took refuge.

"Right then..."

Jean turns and smiles at the approaching lizardman, smiling widely. He cups his hands around his mouth and shouts.

"Well, hello there, my oh-so-fine friend! Join us over here! We seem to have found something interesting, which may not bode well for you if you journey alone!"

The first crate you pick up has markings on each side. A large symbol, consisting of a cresent moon centered in the pupil of an eye. This symbol belongs to the House Teldingale Trading Company, whom you've purchased supplies from on more than one occasion. On top of the crate, you find the number 223 roughly painted in one corner. The crate roughly 2 ft across, and has no other markings of note.

The structure stands roughly seven feet in height. The top foot of the construct consists of a thick glass orb, colored partly with a deep red in its lower half, and clear in its upper half. A round pillar of stones supports the orb, about half a foot wide at the top, and nearly four times that at the bottom. Roughly four feet off the ground, a metal ring wraps around the structure, with four thick metal rods protruding directly out from it.

[ 06-09-2002: Message edited by: Taylen ]

The metal band and the ring appear to be the same color, and may have been crafted from the same material. It is difficult to say for certain, as you are not familiar with such things. The dark red coloration in the lower half of the orb does not reach its outer surface, but comes from roughly an inch inside the glass. About halfway up, this coloration fades over roughly an inch, above which the orb is clear. You cannot see any more detail from underneath it. Tapping the orb does not cause any reaction.