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Game Master
(Rasgorn)
6/10/2011 10:02:42 AM
PostID: 401641
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Icicles hang from the trees and all the smaller rivers and streams are covered in heavy ice, the land blanketed in snow.The Frost March is well named. I hadn't never thought to see such a place except in paintings and imaginings. Lady Abril's voice carries in the cold. Eclaf and several other men hold fingers to lips and quietly warn her to silence. Jenai finds nothing unusual about the winter-locked land. She has seen it every winter of her life. They ride slowly towards Breda and a meeting with two very different men, one her father, the other her sire.
She left the warmth of Yule in Brittany and Gavyn Strongbows quest for his sister to join her father in a quest of their own. Exactly what, she didn't know. Her father never told her. He only said he planned to explore some caverns in the north, a possible ancient, and abandonded home of elves somewhere in the north.
Her friend Lady Abril had decided to join her. Abril almost died a few months ago and she was looking cheerful but peaked now. She was not one for enduring hardship and Jenai could tell the cold and travel, as easy as it was for her and the others, was again taking a toll on Abril's delicate constitution.
Eclaf, her half brother brings his horse next to hers and whispers,The Trolls are hungerier and thicker than in years past and many white wolves have come down from the north. The Frost March is more dangerous than ever. You should know, father threw out all of Brien's priests last fall. He killed three of them outright and sacrificed two others to Red Thor. Eclaf slightly nods towards Sean Brightheart and lady Abril, both devout followers of the Church of the West.
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Jenai Bergen
(Meilandru)
6/13/2011 3:48:11 PM
PostID: 401926
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Jenai turns back to Eclaf and whispers "I'm not worried. I have no love for the Church at this point, I do believe it's been corrupted, but I won't begrudge anyone their faith. However, I've seen so much that I gravitate towards my teachings, not to trust anything blindly."
Jenai pulls over towards Lady Abril, placing a hand on her shoulder. She leans over and whispers "It's not really safe to talk aloud much here. I have another blanket if you need it, or we could ride together a ways if you wish it. It is too bad you did not seek an item to keep yourself warmer while we were in Brittany."
[Heal, to assess Lady Abril's current condition and tolerance]
Secure Rolls:
J: Heal 1d20(17)+10 = 27
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Game Master
(Rasgorn)
6/19/2011 7:06:46 PM
PostID: 402594
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Jenai can see that Lady Abril dressed for what Abril considered cold weather. Her cloak is open in several places and she wears no scarf and hasn't properly buttoned her cloak. She accepts Jenai's help somewhat petulantly, not saying anything but often sighing heavily while Jenai shows her how to close her cloak and keep warmer. Abril doesn't like not knowing, not being competent at things and here, for all her skill and knowledge as a mage and grown woman, she is like a child. Jenai can tell Abril realizes this and struggles with it all the same.
Jenai finishes buttoning the last clasp on Abril's cloak when Eclaf rides up to them both.Jenai, you should know I have taken the Cross, left our Father's gods behind. Because of that, I have fallen out of his favor and he will not welcome me as warmly as expected. He has now named you first heir. Many men will come seeking your hand because of that and father himself may bring the consideration of marriage to your attention. I don't want you to arrive at court and get blindsided by all this.
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Jenai Bergen
(Meilandru)
6/20/2011 2:02:46 AM
PostID: 402619
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Jenai takes great care in dealing with Lady Abril. "I'm not trying to patronize you, friend. I just want you to survive wherever we go. If we need anything at all in this world we live in, it's a good friend, and even if I have to bundle you up myself I will so that I don't lose you." She smiles earnestly at Lady Abril, hoping to lighten her mood.
Then Eclaf comes over and changes her smile to a frown."Now why would you go and do a foolhardy thing like that? You know as well as I do how corrupted the church is! I can understand the need to have faith, but I cannot understand the decision to follow blindly.
"As for marriage, I consider myself betrothed already. I don't see it being an issue. But thanks for the warning. How long as this been going on?"
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Game Master
(Rasgorn)
6/26/2011 1:05:27 AM
PostID: 403331
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Eclaf's words surprise Lady Abril and takes her mind off the cold. She watches and listens to Jenai's reaction and is wondering something, but says nothing. Eclaf shakes his head smiling sadly at Jenai,I think O'Brien's way is the way men should live. It is a decent path, a good one, despite what the Church has made of it. A wise man once told me "Faith is an entirely seperate matter from the Church or any other group organized around a belief or practice." I think he spoke true. Do you not follow the Saints yourself Jenai? Your mother did, and I believe Arnoul does as well. I don't follow the teachings of the Church so much as the teachings of Saint O'Brien. I'm sorry this is hard for you to accept. It's not something I did blindly or without thought. Father getting you married, is another affair altogether. I argued against any planned marriage for you. I know it wouldn't work. You were never one to let others make choices for you. I'm glad to see that hasn't changed. Convincing our Father of that could prove difficult. He sent out word at the first snow of last year, so I would guess, roughly four or five months. A number of suitors and chieftains and would be heroes have come questing to his hall for your hand. Most of them don't even know you. It's quite sad really to see them thinking they could win your heart by treating you like something to own or possess. Father and I argued about that too. He may not even let me in the main hall. Lady Abril reaches out her hand, putting it across Jenai's and giving a soft squeeze. Her voice is tentative and soft sounding in the cold air,How does he feel about mages and witches? He won't try and burn me will he? Eclaf lets out a small, good natured laugh,He won't burn Abril. We don't burn witches here in the Frost March, we drown them in bogs. I doubt he would such a thing without cause. My father considers mages and such as a natural calamity, like freezing rains and summer hailstorms. They are a burden to be borne. He trusts the "Litte Fire," though, the one called Jamie Springer. That's because Skaga the Hawk told him so.
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Jenai Bergen
(Meilandru)
6/26/2011 4:51:03 AM
PostID: 403342
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"I hadn't thought so much about the Church and the Saints in years, to be honest. I think my work has made me question far too often what the Church does to the people, corrupt or not. I've always found my faith better placed in my skills, a good blade, and the kindness of friends.
"And marriage? I took up Kirsul as my betrothen gift, passed to me by the only man I could ever love in such a way, which passed to him by his mother. It is not a ring, but I have no need of frivolous jewels and baubles. And I do not believe my Sire would take up argument with whom I have chosen.
"Additionally, I gave that man my word to return to him when the world is a more peaceful place, when it is safe for both of us for me to stay in one place for more than a week. My only regret is that I had to be so ...distant...with him, for fear that if I let myself give in that I wouldn't have the will to leave, and thus leave one of the last strongholds of peace in this world a danger just because I was there. I believe he understood that, though, and kept his own distance, in his own way.
"Well, enough of that." She rides along with her hand on the blade, listening to Eclaf and Lady Abril converse.
This post last edited on 6/26/2011 4:52:02 AM
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Game Master
(Rasgorn)
7/2/2011 10:14:06 AM
PostID: 404109
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Jenai can tell that both Eclaf and Abril are surprised and curious to hear of her 'betrothal.' Neither say anything or ask for more information, figuring Jenai will tell them in her own time or not.
They ride on in comfortable silence, Jenai noticing a slight change in the wind from the coast. The air is warmer and full of coming rain. They pass a large oak tree with several corpses hanging upside down, slit from chin to navel, a pagan death for traitors and those who consort with trolls and other humanoids. The priests sacrificed these foes to the older gods, Tyr, Woden, and Frer. Riding farther, she sees more pagans signs, priest carved runes denoting safe passage, places of protection and shelter. A number of the small farms they pass have Wreaths dedicated to the "Green Man," hanging from their barns and storing sheds. Abril pays keen attention to everything they see and talks quietly through most of the ride,This is all so new and different. I feel like I'm not just entering a foreign country but a foreign world altogether. I certainly feel a long way from home. And, I wouldn't trade it for anything. I'm looking forward to meeting your Sire. Are you comfortable around him? Should I make ready for anything in particular? Jenai notices that Abril and she are the only one's talking. None of the other riders have said anythng except the two priests, Eclaf and the cohort leader. They haven't said anything beyond discussing the road and the weather. The rest of the men are as quiet as the frosted land around them. Something Jenai knows is entirely normal.
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Jenai Bergen
(Meilandru)
7/7/2011 4:11:25 PM
PostID: 404698
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Jenai understands that the world is changing, and not what she knew, that therefore that which seems unnatural and not normal may be the new normal in the world that she is walking amidst. However, this understanding of such change in the world, as limited as hers may be, does not preclude her from keeping her attentions on the unnaturalness and strangeness as are these changes. She is glad that Lady Abril spoke of these, as an indication that she, too, was paying attention to these oddities.
"I wouldn't. In this world, the way it is now, I would not put on any front or pretense. Just be as you are, but maybe watch your tongue. But, I don't have to tell you that...right?
Jenai certainly did feel a long way from home...but where that was exactly, she didn't know. Or maybe she forgot, or lost track...what had been home didn't seem like home anymore.
This post last edited on 7/7/2011 4:12:19 PM
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Game Master
(Rasgorn)
7/9/2011 9:47:06 AM
PostID: 404863
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They ride until dusk. Jenai knows they are but one long day from Breda now. They have passed a few ruined keeps and a number of empty farms during the day. As far as she can tell, they are the only humans to have come this way in some time. Eclaf has stopped the group and motions for Jenai to join him with him, Aella and Eadbald the priests and Wilibur the scout. She can hear them talking in hushed tones. Aella and Wilibur are concerned about the giants and the weather. Eclaf has some concerns as well. Eadbald is mostly quiet, following Eclaf's lead. They believe Frost giants have done something to the weather and may even have tried to bespell some of them from afar. Aella admits to not recgonizing the road or the country and he fears they have made a wrong turn. Eclaf is confident of the road and the country. He plans to stop at a small keep a few miles up ahead. He and Jenai know it well, having spent much time their in their youth.
We can't make it to Breda before Midnight and Wilibur has seen giant and white wolf signs on the road ahead. We are trying to decide if we should find a place to rest and travel on in the morning or should we try and push through? Looking at the men, Jenai finds Aella and Wilibur anxious and uncertain, Eclaf confident and thinking while Eadbald's face is a stoic and inscrutable mask. She doesn't know these men and has only heard of Eadbald's reputation as a man as fierce as he is honest.
This post last edited on 7/9/2011 9:55:58 AM
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Jenai Bergen
(Meilandru)
7/15/2011 1:17:18 PM
PostID: 405527
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"I'm not sure how hard you think we can push. We've had a fairly easy road the past few days, pushing on another day won't kill us. But if we choose to stop and camp, we should at least head to the keep ahead. Yes, I am sure that the keep will have it's own dangers, but I would rather face those than be easy pickings in the middle of nothing. If we attract the giant and wolf attention, we'll attract them either way, and I think the keep would be a tad more defensible. Besides that, we'll get a better view and vantage point from there."
Secure Rolls:
J: Know: Geog 1d20(5)+7 = 12
J: Survival 1d20(20)+12 = 32
J: Know: Nature 1d20(3)+9 = 12
J: Spot 1d20(5)+12 = 17
J: Spot 1d20(4)+12 = 16
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Game Master
(Rasgorn)
7/24/2011 12:00:43 PM
PostID: 406505
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Jenai notices a bit of a hopeful smile on most of the men's faces when she mentions stopping for the night. The Keep ahead would be a good place for that as long as it is not already occupied. She remembers it as a fairly small Keep, used more for overnight hunting and riding trips than anything else. She also remembers it was a sturdy place where travelers often sought refuge from the long road. Eclaf's voice breaks her train of thought, she was remembering the small pond nearby, frozen over now, but she remembers summers there. It was where she learned to swim.Wilibur, ride ahead to the Keep, let us stay there for the night. He doesn't say anymore, but Jenai can feel the relief of the men. She can feel the taint of magic in the air. Someone or something was indeed enchanting the weather, slowing the wind and bringing the cold. She knew under these conditions sound would travel farther than normal and the snow would harden into ice across the top making travel more difficult.
Jenai makes her way back to Lady Abril and Sean Brightheart. She can see they, like all the others, have grown more wary and concerned. Abril has pulled off her hood, allowing her to see and hear better. Her cheeks are puffed red with the cold,We are not the center of this crafting Jenai. All the same it will work against us. The Keep is empty, at least I didn't see anything with my sorceress's eye. I did see something strange in the snow. You or one of the others more familiar with the area should check them out. Whatever made them went into the frozen moat just to the right of the postern door. Jenai looks around peers into the dusk shrouded trees on either side of the road. She doesn't see or hear anything, not even a whisper of wind moving through the trees or across the snow.
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Jenai Bergen
(Meilandru)
8/6/2011 12:46:26 PM
PostID: 407625
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[ooc: Sorry it's taken me so long...still mourning.]
"We should just keep as quiet as we can while moving there, and maybe take a good look around when we get there but not worry overmuch about it until we are there. We have enough things to watch out for...if we even get there."
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Game Master
(Rasgorn)
8/11/2011 10:45:45 PM
PostID: 408000
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They move slow and quietly, following Jenai's advice like they were orders. She feels the weather growing colder by the minute, dropping below freezing and heading to even more frigid extremes. Every crunch of snow, every footfall and breath resonants in the cold, carrying as she well knows, dangerous distances across the land.
The men first circle the Keep before approaching the doors and listening for any noise from inside. They are now all breathing out great plumes of fog in the intense cold. Wilbur doesn't shout, but frantically motions them over towards the postern door. Jenai can see the signs clearly. Wilbur, Eclaf, Sean and Eadliff, the other ranger, all stare at the strange curved line in the snow. Jenai can tell none of them know what to think. She has seen such tracks before. In her father's study, in pictures and tapestries in his shop. She has even seen a skeleton of the creature that leaves such a track. It's a snow serpent for certain. She judges from the width that it is close to sixteen or seventeen feet long, and, it definitely went into the moat.
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Jenai Bergen
(Meilandru)
10/2/2011 11:07:13 PM
PostID: 411229
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Jenai whispers fervently. "Look, it's in the moat. We need to get inside, out of the cold and the noiselessness...I'm more than willing to face whatever is inside as long as we aren't out here, agreed? Besides, we're far more likely to lose more of us out here than in there."
Jenai dismounts and moves as quickly and quietly as she can to the keep doors, checking them before drawing Kirsul and pulling the door open.
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Game Master
(Rasgorn)
10/11/2011 11:31:01 PM
PostID: 411936
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Jenai's voice sounds loud in the stillness and echoes around the tower and across the surrounding fields. Eadliff looks at her, his eyes sharp and concerned. They both know, even in these conditions, her voice shouldn't have carried like that. The others look worried and uncertain, the fear of the unknown playing heavily across their faces.
Jenai dismounts and as soon as she reaches the door, she spies half brushed tracks to the side of the door. A troll walked there and tried to hide his tracks by brushing them with a pine branch or something like a broom. She can't tell if the troll was coming or going or if it even went inside. She can tell it was here for awhile and more than likely watched them for a time as they rode down the valley. She checks the doors and finds two active wards, norse or goth, she is not sure which. She also can't tell their exact nature, but one definitely detects presences, including invisible and enchanted things.
The instance she touches the pommel of Kirsul, warmth courses from the blade and radiates throughout her body. Kirsul tingles, warning her of magic and enchantments on the door and deeper inside the Keep.
She finds the detection runes on the door, but no other warding or locking enchantments. Checking closer, she opens the door just a bit and feels along the edges of the door and finds a silk strand, thin as piano wire running along the edge and top. The strand is looped through several small wooden bells that will sound if the door is opened too quickly or abruptly. Jenai slowly pushes the door open, managing to do so without setting off any bells. She slips inside and finds herself in a small guard room with crossbows, spears, and hand axes lined against the walls. A slight dusting of frost covers everything.The others quietly follow her in, paying careful attention not to jar the little bells.
Once inside, Jenai finds signs of bugbears and the snake, but nothing of the troll. The whole place is quiet with only small creakings and skitterings to break the silence. She looks out room door, down a long, dimly lit hall. She can see two more doors and another hall on the left as well as outside into the main courtyard.
This post last edited on 10/12/2011 11:28:03 AM
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Jenai Bergen
(Meilandru)
10/12/2011 10:56:46 PM
PostID: 411990
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Jenai waits until they have everyone inside the doors, including the horses, before gently closing the doors again without jangling the bells. She gestures to the walls for people to settle in, then pulls Eclaf, Eadliff, and Wilbur aside.
She gestures to the door, then using her hands only, she motions a hallway, the rooms to either side, and the great opening courtyard beyond.
She isn't sure that the guardroom is the best place to stop, but seeing as it is just inside without exploring too much, and though everything is covered in frost it isn't the outdoors. She hopes that this is a good place to stop for the night, but wants to leave nothing to chance.
She looks to Eclaf, motioning her head towards the hallway. She wants to at least scout the immediate area, but not so far as to leave the rest of the group undefended.
[The Geog is for anything else she might be able to recall about this area and this keep.]
((gah, disregard first roll, those are Illian's...grrr))
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Game Master
(Rasgorn)
10/29/2011 3:20:55 AM
PostID: 413489
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The men all quietly and carefully file inside, heating up the room and causing the frost to bead into water and roll off the undisturbed and long stored weapons. The men smile a bit and look more confident and less anxious for just being inside.
As the men gather themselves and the horses in the small room, Eclaf and Sean stand near the slightly open door with Jenai, peering cautiously down the long, dimly lit hall. Eadliff and Wilbur join them, soon followed by Eadbald, Lady Abril and three men with short bows. Eclaf directs the men with bow to cover the hall, then motions to the others he is going with Jenai.
The two slip quietly into the hall. Jenai doesn't see or feel or hear anything, until they are a but a few feet from the left hall. Jenai slinks up against the wall when she hears the slight rustle of leather on steel and a possible intake of breath. She remembers the hall as more round than square and having a central fire pit and then two more, smaller hearths against the courtyard wall. There was/is a door between the two small hearths that led out into the courtyard and a rope ladder at the opposite end of the room that led to the kitchen upstairs. This small was often where the yeoman and young warriors stayed and slept when visiting the Keep. She and her father and his Housescarls always stayed on the second floor.
Eclaf pushed himself up against the wall as soon as Jenai did. They both hold their breath, listening. Ecalf hears nothing and watches Jenai, trusting her more than his own ears. She can hear more movement, at least two or three large humanoids, possibly heavy set magyar or bugbears waiting for them in the large hall. Then she hears a coarse whisper, a magyar asking,Do you smell them? Have the wolf-men come inside or the troll? Jenai shrinks down when a large, gray furred head with gleaming red eyes and a long snout peers around the corner. The gnoll's eyes pass over her and she can it's nose bobbing in the air as it sniffs and sniffs and sniffs...
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Jenai Bergen
(Meilandru)
11/1/2011 3:10:41 PM
PostID: 413704
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Jenai stays as quiet as she knows how, but her face changes from fear and curiousity to disgust. She knows she shouldn't be surprised to find them here, and she also knows it is better for them here than something else.
As soon as she is sure the gnoll's attentions have passed from her and Eclaf, she begins carefully retreating, gesturing Eclaf to go first, in case he redraws their attentions.
If they do not back away, she will catch Eclaf's eye, then try to make a count for how many they could face here so they could safely stay the night.
[Rolls do not include +2 Favored Enemy bonuses]
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Game Master
(Rasgorn)
12/20/2011 4:27:17 PM
PostID: 416442
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Men of Iron,Jenai hears the gnoll say in a grating whisper,they are close already inside. Women are with them, two maybe three,hehehheehheThe gnoll almost starts laughing in that strange way of theirs, but quiets in time. Eclaf heard the gnoll that time and he freezes, beckoning Jenai to to do the same and listen for more.
How many? and from where,she hears the coarse,deep chested magyar voice ask. She doesn't hear the gnoll respond. It's sniffing again, calmly and more patiently this time. The gnoll is trying to sort out all their smells. The gnoll's sniffing is almost deafening in the cold and silent hall. Jenai then hears a thought, Abril's thought, in her head,I can spell most of them asleep. They have a shaman or half-blood mage with them who is protected. Should I cast the spell or wait?
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Jenai Bergen
(Meilandru)
1/26/2012 7:36:41 AM
PostID: 417589
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Yes, please. There are many in no condition to fight, and I'd much rather kill them all in their sleep. I despise their filth.
Jenai has one hand on Kirsul and one hand signaling Eclaf to wait a moment while she gets a clear from Lady Abril.
[Rolls do not include Favored Enemy bonuses]
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