It is just after dawn that the party
and the villagers meet to say their final farewells. Winnacer gives
another speech asking all of the villagers to be diligent in their
military training so that they will be ready to fight the Nyemetz
when the time is right. His speech raises more cheers from the
villagers.
When the party comes to take
Giselle, they see that the five vials of holy water have been put
into the cart, along with many haunches of meat and a large basket
filled with vegetables and berries. The most striking thing they
notice, however, is the fact that Giselle has been dyed a vibrant
orange color.
'Spravedelna will now look
after the safety of your loyal ox' explains Kesryk, as if it the most
logical thing in the world.
Kesryk then goes on to give
a speech of his own, giving yet more heartfelt thanks for the party's
actions and sincerely hoping that the party will make a hasty return
to Holitze. He then goes on to shake them each by the hand,
remembering this time that he is wearing his holy belt of
strength.
Finally, the party leaves,
heading in a northeasterly direction, while Kesryk and a handful of
villagers head off towards Pardubitze in the opposite
direction.
After just a couple of
minutes of travelling, they enter the woods of Borohrad, which
pleases both Yaz and Jihan greatly. The woods are not dense, so they
have no problems in maneuvering Giselle and the cart through the
trees. After a couple of hours, they come across a road that runs
through the woods.
'We best be stayin' clear o'
the road' say Heimlin. 'It runs straight to Hradetz Kralovye an' we
don't want to be runnin' into any more o' the garrison.'
They cross over the road,
and walk parallel to the road some 500 paces east of it. In the
middle of the afternoon, they surprise a small flock of huge ravens
that were sitting on a dying tree. The ravens take to the air, crying
their alarm. They go to carry on, but see that Heimlin looks very
upset.
'The ravens' explains
Heimlin 'They are always a portent of bad luck. Somethin' terrible is
gonna 'appen to us.'
He then gives the sign of
Kamen and prays for protection from that which they may all be facing
in the future.
There is a lot of talk
amongst the party of superstition and the logic or otherwise of it,
but many of those among them are extra vigilant as they make their
way through the woods.
It is late in the afternoon
when they sight the edge of the woods. They emerge from your wooded
cover to see hills and mountains in front of them, far in the
distance.
'Two hours' travel ahead of
us is the River Orlitze' says Heimlin. 'The other side of the river
lies Sudeten, but we should not cross tonight. We should spend the
night somewhere close to 'ere.'
After just a few minutes, a
small farmstead comes into view. Having got quite used to the comfort
of sleeping in a warm bed with a roof over their heads, the idea of
seeking shelter in the farmstead seems very attractive, particularly
as there is a distinct nip in the air already.
With no Colin to be the
peasant ambassador, Winnacer is chosen as the one to ask for shelter
from the farmer due to his diplomatic skills. While the rest of them
remain hidden, Winnacer goes up to the farmstead and knocks on the
door. He is met by an elderly farmer. Winnacer explains their
situation and the farmer is pleased to entertain them all for the
evening. He is a little unsure when he sees the goblin in the party,
but Winnacer's offer to share a huge leg of beef with the farmer and
his wife is found to be too irresistible to bar entry to the party.
They spend the night in relative comfort, sleeping in the farmer's
lounge in front of a roaring fire.
After another
hearty breakfast, they bid their farewells to the kindly farmer and
carry on their way. Heimlin is nervous as they carry on with their
journey.
'We're 'eadin' for a ford
across the Orlitze. It's the only place to cross unless we go through
Hradetz Kralovye, which would obviously be unwise. It's lucky that
there ain't been no rainfall of late, or else it could be impassable.
As it is, it ain't gonna be easy to get Giselle an' the cart through.
What worries me most, 'owever is that the Nyemetz could be waitin'
therefor us. It would be an obvious place to set up an ambush. We
ain't got no choice but to go through there, but I reckons that we
should be extremely careful.'
After two hours, they all
hear the sound of water. Jihan is dispatched to check ahead to ensure
that there are no Nyemetz waiting on the banks. The elf returns a
couple of minutes later. It looks clear to him, at least from this
side.
They all go to the bank of
the river. They can see that the river is around 40 paces wide, but
have no idea as to how deep it could be. The river is flowing at a
fair pace, having had only a short journey from the mountain of
Shumava. The terrain on both sides of the river is quite rugged, with
many patches of high grass and bushes.
'So what's the plan then,
everyone?' asks Heimlin, nervously.
Yaz suggests that they try
shouting out insults in orcish in an attempt to enrage any Nyemetz
that may be hiding on the other side in order to bring them out of
their hiding places.
Taking Yaz's advice, Xavier
and Darius start to scream insults in orcish and goblin at a volume
that must be heard across the other side of the river. After a couple
of minutes, there is still no reaction, and so they all give up on
that possible solution.
At Yaz's, request, Corrow
points the magick detecting rod in the direction of the undergrowth
on the other side of the river.
As he activates the rune and
slowly points the rod in front of him, the gem at the end starts to
glow faintly. There is definitely something magical on the other side
of the river.
Yaz asks the others about
whether to throw some burning objects across the river in order to
smoke out whomever could be there. There are, however, two reasons
why this is not going to be possible.
Firstly, the river is 40
yards wide, and the range that such items could be thrown is only 30
feet. The second problem is that nobody has seen fit to have brought
any greek fire with them.
'Well' says Heimlin 'It
looks like there IS somethin' or someone on the other side waitin'
for us an' they know that we's 'ere. As I said, the only other way to
get the other side o' the river is to go by bridge, which are almost
certainly gonna be guarded by the Nyemetz. So what we gonna
do?'
"I presume this is an
oft-used ford, yeah?" Yaz asks Heimlin. "Then it's likely we're
neither the first nor the last to use this route today. The Nyemetz
are not so daft as to cast fatal sleeping spells or other magic on
travelers, simply for crossing the ford. That's not something we need
to worry about. Will they recognize us? I doubt it... our
descriptions MAY have been passed on to the Nyemetz by the bandits we
ran into... but that was days ago, and far from here. And no orcs
have escaped to tell tales. When we cross, we will be 'simple
travelers, crossing a ford.'
Heimlin responds:
'I wouldn't say that this
ford is used very often, to be 'onest. There ain't a great deal worth
travelin' to on the other side - just a few well 'idden dwarven
villages that ain't very interestin' to most folks. To get to me 'ome
we're gonna 'ave to make another ford crossin' in a day's time. I
deliberately took us on a very little traveled route so as to avoid
any possible encounters with any Nyemetz. So it's likely that this
ford don't see many folks crossin' it. It's very unlikely that there
will be any more travelers passin' through 'ere today'
The old gnome scratches his
chin in contemplation.
'I can't figure it out at
all. If someone knew where we were 'eadin', then it would be an
obvious place to try an' get us. But we ain't let any o' the Nyemetz
escape, an' even if we did, they wouldn't know where we's 'eadin' to.
Even if it were a bunch o' bandits lookin' to rob a bunch o'
travelers, then there are much better places to set up an ambush, as
yer would never get any rich merchants usin' the ford. I can't figure
it out at all.'
Our normally fearless
adventurers are not quite as fearless as usual when it comes to the
subject of which of them are going to cross the ford in the first
group. Although it is generally agreed that the party should cross in
two groups, it seems that no one, with the exception of Winnacer, is
very keen to be in the first group to cross.
After a couple of minutes of
everyone arguing as to why the others should cross first, Xavier
loses his temper and demands that Darius joins the first
group.
To the unbalanced goblin,
this is red rag to a bull, with the result that he gets himself
totally worked up before drawing his shortsword and dashing off into
the cold water.
Not surprisingly, this
causes chaos amongst the party. Maire' is the next to act. She
swiftly removes her dress and sandals and jumps in the cold water in
order to support Darius.
Winnacer realizes that, if
there are any hostiles on the opposite side, then Darius and Maire'
are going to be in serious trouble. He too leaps into the water,
telling Yaz to follow him.
Yaz, however, has different
ideas. He has already been led into too many tricky situations
because of the overeager Darius to risk getting involved in another
disaster, so he stays put.
Xavier and Jihan hit the
patches of rough ground on the banks of the river, ready to lend
supporting fire to the crossing attempt. Heimlin crouches next to
Xavier, holding a second crossbow ready so that Xavier can keep up a
good rate of fire if needed.
Corrow looks on at the
chaotic scene unfolding and realizes that he must try and do
something to help the three brave/crazy members of the party
attempting to cross the ford on their own. At the urging of both
Winnacer and Yaz, he pulls forth a piece of fleece from his pouch and
shouts at the others to get into cover. Corrow then lies down in the
long grass where he can view the ford crossing and starts to
gesticulate and utter his arcane sayings. In front of the ford, an
illusion of an ox and wagon, similar to those of the party's appears,
together with replicas of Yaz, Xavier, Corrow, Jihan and Heimlin. The
mystickal illusion starts to silently make its way across the
ford.
Luckily, the silence is
broken by a wild splashing sound from the middle of the ford. Darius,
weighed down by his new, snug-fitting chainmail is not tall enough to
keep his head above water in the center, and he is starting to panic.
Maire' rushes to this aid, but she is not strong enough to drag the
goblin forward. Luckily, Winnacer with his long strides is right
behind them. The water is some 4' deep in the center. No problem for
either him or Maire', but just a bit deeper than Darius is
tall.
Winnacer drags Darius
forward while trying to protect himself, Darius and Maire' with his
shield. He drags Darius forward for some 10 yards, and then Darius'
feet touch the bottom again. As soon as he realizes that he can stand
again, the crazed goblin is off again, stumbling towards the opposite
bank as fast as he can. Maire' and Winnacer struggle to keep up with
him. The illusion of the rest of the party follows on behind
them.
Hidden in the dense long
grass, the 'real' remainder of the party scans the opposite bank,
with Jihan and Xavier keeping their bows ready to shoot at anything
appearing on the opposite bank. The atmosphere is highly tense as the
crossing is made. Everyone is nervous that those making the crossing
could be attacked at any second.
The crossing, however, goes
without incident and the three 'real' members of the party reach the
bank. For a split second, nothing happens, and the three sodden and
bedraggled members of the party start to think that perhaps there is
nothing to worry about after all.
Then a cry comes out from
the bushes:
'Ignore all but the first
three - the rest are just an illusion.'
The voice is not orcish, but
human, speaking Bohavian.
Corrow mutters a stream of
obscenities, cursing the gods for the fact that his ploy didn't
work.
A head and shoulders quickly
appear from some bushes to the northwest and they get a glimpse of a
human figure dressed in leather with a kerchief obscuring most of his
face.
Realization hits them all
immediately. It is one of the bandits that they met on the road
several days earlier, who alerted the Nyemetz to the fact that there
are 'witches' amongst their ranks.
The same thought hits them
all instantly:
'How the hell did they know
where we'd be going?'
However, before they have
any chance to answer this question, the air is heavy with arrows
descending on the three unfortunates that crossed the river.
The first figure to have
emerged swiftly draws back his shortbow and fires at Winnacer, but
his arrow simply bounces off Winnacer's mail. He then ducks down into
the bushes again.
Four more figures all raise
themselves from their positions, each firing their shortbows at the
group on the bank. Four arrows streak towards the brave bedraggled
heroes before they have a chance to know what's going on. Two connect
with Darius, but the smiths of Holitze have done a good job of making
his mail, as it saves him from both missiles. The other two arrows
fly over the group's heads, splashing into the River Orlitze behind
them.
All of the bowmen duck back
down into the cover after firing, but Jihan and Xavier were able to
get shots off at them. Jihan's shot comes close to connecting with
the closest enemy to his position, but a combination of the fact that
the bowman is in cover and some distance away means that the shot
just goes wide. Xavier's crossbow bolt goes far wide of the bowman
situated immediately opposite him. Heimlin calmly passes him the
other loaded bow and begins to reload the first.
All five of the bandits bob
up from their cover again to unleash a volley at the three members of
the party on their side of the river. Darius and Winnacer are both
saved from an arrow by their armor, while the other three missiles
fly way over their heads.
Jihan and Xavier immediately
return fire. Jihan's arrow just misses its mark, but Xavier's
quarrel, much to his delight, finds its mark, as there is a cry from
the bushes where he was aiming for.
Our heroes erupt into
activity. Darius charges at the bandit straight in front of him.
Winnacer was also planning on going after the same one, but seeing
that Darius is taking on that one, he takes off heading for the
bandit hiding to his northwest.
Maire' takes account of the
situation. She sees that the locations of the bandits are far from
ideal for her purposes, as she will not be able to target more than
one with her spell. She comes to the conclusion that the one doing
the talking is the leader and so decides that if only one can be
taken out, then it should be him. However, that bandit is currently
out of range of her spell at the moment, so she follows behind
Winnacer, who should be able to shield her from an arrows as she gets
closer.
On the other side of the
river, Yaz rushes into the cold water in order that he too can get
close enough to the action to cast his spell.
Corrow rushes over to get
Giselle and the cart. He shouts to both Jihan and Xavier to get into
the back of the cart so that they can continue firing as he takes
them across. The two of them are too engrossed in shooting, however,
to take even a short respite at this time, but tell him to get the
cart ready for when there is a break in the action.
More shots fly out towards
our heroes. Two more shots bounce off Winnacer's now pitted armor and
a shot flies over Darius' head. Then Maire' feels an intense stabbing
pain in her side as she is caught by an arrow from the bowman to her
far right. Without armor, there is nothing to absorb the blow and she
feels pain like she has never felt before. She is still going though,
determined to take out the leader of the band.
Jihan and Xavier retaliate.
Jihan fires a couple of shots at the bandit who injured Maire, one of
which results in a squeal of pain from the bushes. Xavier is not so
lucky. As he pulls the trigger on his crossbow, nothing happens.
Looking at it, he sees that Heimlin, who has been acting as his
re-loader, has managed to break it, not being at all familiar with
the weapon.
'Sorry' says Heimlin, giving
a slight shrug, with a nervous smile on his face.
'Mein Gott!, gnome" replies
Xavier, furiously 'Are you good for nothing?'
Darius connects with the
bandit, screaming wildly and waving his shortsword like the devil
himself has possessed him. The bandit's leather armor, however, saves
him from Darius' wild slashing. The bandit attempts to
counter-attack, but the blow from his shortsword narrowly avoids
hitting the goblin.
Winnacer also attempts to
take out the bandit facing him. Through the impact of his charge
alone, 'Old Bohavia' cuts through the bandit's leather armor,
although the cut is not deep. His second swing is parried by the
bandit, but such is the force of Winnacer's blow that it sends the
bandit's sword flying from his hands.
Maire', ignoring the pain
stabbing through her body, gets within range of the leader. Pulling
out a pinch of sand she starts to utter her incantations and
gesticulates. She then puts her hands together and aims at her
target's position. A slump from the bushes tells her that her spell
was successful.
The bandit fighting Winnacer
cries out:
'Felibarr, you useless
little runt, get your f***ing ass here, they're much tougher than you
said.'
The bandit closest to the
river sees that his leader has gone down and rushes towards him,
obviously in an attempt to wake him up. As he emerges, it gives Jihan
a much better target and he lets off a shot at the rapidly moving
bandit. The shot is slap bang on target. Jihan is ecstatic as he sees
the arrow hit the bandit right through the head, emerging from the
other side. The bandit keels over - VERY dead! Seeing no more
targets, Jihan rushes into the water, some way behind Yaz, in order
to aid his colleagues on the other bank.
Xavier tries to mirror
Jihan's success with his one remaining crossbow, but the bolt fails
to find its target.
Yaz continues to try and
cross the ford as fast as he can. However the fast moving deep water
is difficult for him to cross.
Darius tries to get another
blow on the bandit but, in his wild fury, he manages to send his
shortsword flying from his hand. Unwilling to give his opponent a
chance of hitting his back, he immediately pulls out his
dagger.
The bandit grins as he sees
the goblin lose his sword and strikes out at him with his shortsword.
Darius, however, manages to nick his hand with his dagger, causing
him too to lose his sword. Both fighters stoop to pick up the swords
at their feet. They are now holding each other's shortsword!
Winnacer strikes out again
at the bandit in front of him, but manages just to miss him. The
bandit tries to strike with his dagger, but it has little chance of
piercing the fighter's mail.
Maire' dives into the bushes
next to where Winnacer is locked in combat with the bandit. She pulls
out her bag of herbs and starts to dress her wounds. She has done her
part in the combat.
The bandit on the far right
sees that the combat is not going in the right direction and decides
to make a swift departure. As he raises himself up, he presents a
target to Xavier, who unleashes another quarrel at him. The quarrel
is on target and pierces the bandit's leather armor. The bandit keels
over. He is also dead.
Yaz starts to haul himself
up the bank of the opposite bank of the river. Jihan is in the center
of the ford.
Darius tries his luck with
the bandit's shortsword, but his wild slash fails to penetrate the
bandit's leather armor. The bandit has similar luck, with the
goblin's mail protecting him from damage.
Winnacer wields 'Old
Bohavia' and makes two attempts to dispatch the bandit. Both shots
are wildly off target, however. The bandit has a similar lack of
luck, with Winnacer easily parrying the knife with his shield.
Yaz, mindful of the fact
that the leader is not going to be sleeping forever, grasps his holy
symbol, utters his sayings and then points towards the bushes where
the leader is dozing. It is a perfect environment for his spell and
the bushes curl inwards to hold the sleeping form in a vice like
grip.
Jihan reaches the bank of
the river and Xavier leaps in to join him, pulling 'The Justifier'
forth as he does so. Heimlin leaps into the cart and Corrow leads
Giselle forward.
The combat between Darius
and the bandit continues. Finally, Darius plunges his (or more
accurately the bandit's) sword through the bandit's leather armor
straight into his gut, killing the bandit.
Winnacer, spurred on by
Darius' success, also strikes 'Old Bohavia' deep into the bandit's
flesh, although the bandit still lives. Accurately seeing that his
situation is hopeless, the bandit throws himself at Winnacer's feet,
begging for mercy.
Seeing that there is no more
immediate danger, they all take in their surroundings. Some way in
the distance, they can see the all toofamiliar form of Felibarr the
halfling mounted on a horse. He looks at them blankly, perhaps with a
touch of sadness on his face, before he spurs his horse onwards and
charges off, heading northwards.