Post by tp on Apr 27, 2017 15:30:48 GMT -5
I have a jumping on point coming up for my PBM facebook campaign, Heart of Darkness. It's a slightly different take on T&T, more like Tolkein, Tad Williams or Robin Hobb. Below is a transcript from the latest encounter.
Parf is a Hrogr gutter cleaner, Dolan a Leprechaun businessman, Cerwi a Fairy lockpicker, Dilly a dwarf ratcatcher and Fenwick an elf wood carver.
The party sets off in the dark. The moon is not far from full, but the canopy is thick and little light gets through. The horses walk slowly picking their way through tangled roots and thickets of undergrowth.
The signs of goblin activity get even more pronounced, you can even smell them, a dank, musky scent that hangs heavy on the better used paths.
Tom Pugh In the darkness Fenwick becomes confused about the direction, but luckily Parf remembers this part well and takes over the navigator roll. Soon the path starts to wind through ruined buildings. On closer inspection they seem to be abandoned hobb homes: circular houses build partially under ground. The roofs on many have collapsed and they are overgrown with ivy and gorse bushes.
Just as dawn is about to break, and the party are forced to stop through mutual exhaustion, they come across a large stone building, on the edge of what once was the hobb village. It appears to be some sort of temple though, like the rest of the buildings, it has fallen to wrack and ruin.
"Perhaps this can be a good resting place. But illkin might have the same thought," Parf comments at their arrival at the stone temple. It is in bad shape but might provide some shelter. "I'll scout it out, he offers." He sets Cerwi alight near the stopped horses with a smile. Pulling out his ax, Parf pauses to see if anyone else wishes to accompany him, then tiredly pilots his way though the stone temple's remaining structure, as only a wannabe stone temple pilot could do.
Fenwick watches Parf and he unwittingly grabs his hatchet and will follow him. He's not being driven by bravery but more out of sense of curiosity of the structure...and any of its dilapidated wood beams that would make for an interesting piece of carving.
"Parf, mayhaps it would be better to send someone a bit more... inconspicuous to scout the ruins. Your history of sneaking does not fill me with confidence," says Dolan.
Dilly will join the scouting party; "I will lead the way lad, Illkin Be damned if they are lying in wait for the likes of us!"
Parf smiles at Dolan's diplomacy. "Yes, Parf the Eighth is not a Sneaky fellow." He has flashbacks to his parents, cousins, siblings, and entire hrogr community saying this to him. Then again, hrogrs said that about fellow hrogrs universally. "Goblin tracks and an empty hobb village could mean that goblins took this place over." He smiles at Dilly's bravado. He doesn't usually take the initiative, but even when he does he is happy to change course on suggestion. "If you think I'm not the best hrogr for the job, that's fine. Or maybe, just Dilly go first, and I'll back him up?" he offers. "I'm fine either way, just want us to be safe."
Dolan sighs. This bravery thing is rather new to him."I'll go with him. If we run into anything we can't handle I'll wink-wing back here and fetch you."
"Careful. Goblins like high perches filled with dust and mold within buildings such as this - and traps," Cerwi warns them.
Dolan, Fenwick and Dilly cautiously head into the crumbling temple.
Parf and Cerwi watch the other three disappear into the darkness of the temple. They sit in silence for a few minutes. The trees are clearer here and the silvery light of the gibbous moon lies lightly on the tangled undergrowth which is reclaiming the cobbled courtyard outside the temple.
Cerwi hears a movement in the bushes, back from the direction where they came. She can see nothing but the sound seemed to come from something bigger than a goblin.
The silence felt heavy and comforting, like a blanket. Cerwi desperately wanted to sleep, but that must wait until after the area was thoroughly searched. Enjoying the silvery moonlight bathe the scene, she dangled her feet to stay awake.
A stirring - a faint sense of something large - tickled her consciousness.
"Parf," She said quietly, "I believe something large may be watching us from the wood."
Parf, alerted by his sole nearby companion with the others exploring the ruins, stands and grips his ax. He scans the woods and tries to look as menacing as possible. "Grrrrr," he grumbles. "Grrrrr," he repeats.
For a moment neither Parf nor Cerwi can see anything. The fairy is beginning to think she has imagined it when suddenly it moves. A large black bulk shifts into the clearing, two eyes glinting malevolently in the moon light, a garaach.
Parf is familiar with these beats, but Cerwi has never seen the like before. It is like a massive boar, the sizeof a cart horse. It's tusks are crooked and mishapen but still look very sharp. Something is wrong with its feet, they look more like the talons of a raptor, and the back quarters of its body are covered in bristling quills.
The garaach does not move, just crouches and looks at the Parf and Cerwi.
Parf positions himself to protect the horses and Cerwi, fully aware she could flit away to safety away from this perverted but hopefully still ground-based garaach. He slowly turns to face the beast with axe held at the ready. "This beast is a garaach. But it is diff'rent. Changed, somehow. Normal garaach don't look like this." He says softly to Cerwi. Then he continues his posturing. "Rrrrrrrrr...." Parf is happy to go toe to toe with the beast but before he commits to a conflict and leaves the fairy and horses side, he hopes the garaach will betray whether it is alone.
The Beast in front of them looked perfectly capable of dispatching them if unopposed, but Cerwi knew they'd fight. But the look in its eyes... that was something else entirely. It made her feel as if the darkness was wrapping the beast in a cocoon, ready to spring open and help it to envelop them.
But there was no more time to ponder. What could she do to help Parf in a battle? She must think.
Suddenly and with a speed belied by its size the garaach jumped at Parf, its fore talon's grasping at his chest and its slathering tusked mouth bearer down at his throat.
"Holy dungballs!" Cerwi thought to herself. She looks around frantically to see if there is anything that she can pelt the beast with to try to distract it. "Surely there are rocks, or nuts, or something?!" She thinks as she looks about quickly.
Parf is almost bowled up by the heft of the beast, but he keeps his footing and swings wildly at it with his ax. He fails to hit and the garaach slices across his tunic and chest, drawing crimson blood.
Cerwi frantically searches the courtyard for anything she can use as a missile and finds some stones, light enough to throw.
Cerwi chokes back a sob as she throws a stone, as hard as she can, at the beast's face. If she can hit an eye, even better. She also lets out the loudest, shrillest scream she can muster - maybe the others would hear?
The temple was obviously dedicated to 'Wistfelia, the primary hob goddess, also sometimes used by other races as the goddess of orchards, the harvest and of plenty, she was quite popular in Parvessy.
A crumbled atrium leads into a largely intact, central chamber. Goblins have been here though, the stink of them is everywhere.
The temple has been well and truly desecrated, where the statue of Wistfelia would have been there is just a bare plinth, the wooden alter has been smashed. Some brass incense burners still hang in the higher reaches of the room, but lower ones have been torn done and smashed.
Spiky goblin runes have been carved or smeared over every surface. With distaste the three realise that some of them are written in their own deification.
Dilly knows that goblin runes are only used in magic rituals. He also recognizes a large and particularly intricate rune that represents Mamma Gamma, the twisted goblin incarnation of the Mother Godess, certainly not a deity that would be aligned to your own.
When Fenwick and Dolan look questioningly at Dilly he tells them that as a rat catcher he had to deal with a lot of the lower classes in Parvessy (indeed he is one of them himself) including goblin servants.
There is a door behind the smashed alter, from the typical lay out of temples you know this is likely to lead down to an inner sanctum.
Dilly feels strange, twitchy like there is some power running through his veins. Dolan and Fenwick recognize the feeling: magic. Raw kremm is running through them, through the air and through the whole temple.
Dilly likes the feeling...and the defilement of the temple really angers him. He will motion to Fenwick and Parf silently that he wants to towards the inner sanctum, hatchet out and at the ready.
Fenwick too likes the feeling of the WIZ coursing through his body but it frightens him just as much as he's felt this once before. He nods to Dilly shaking the hatchet in his grip a couple of times but keeps his fears buried if it doesn't already show upon his face. He makes a possibly rash opinion that the Goblins were responsible for the removal of the habitants as well as its desecration. Its the only thing fuelling him from leaving or worse yet...freezing up and further embarrassing himself in front of his new comrades.
He whispers to himself shaking his head slightly. "They should not of done this...min feuya ten' lle."
Dolan's body tingles as the kremm flows through him. For a moment he feels like he can take on anything!!
It is short lived, however, as he remembers their current predicament.
"Let's not wander too far. We are just trying to see if it is safe to rest. Parf and Cerwi are waiting for us outside."
Dilly and Fenwick walk over to the door, Dolan trailing at a distance. The door opens with a squeal of hinges that reverberate around the temple. Stone steps lead downwards into darkness, goblin detritus littering them, as everywhere else.
Fenwick stops in his tracks...his curiosity for special wood samples now forgotten as he peers down the stairwell. He doesn't move from his mid-stride pose for what seems like minutes as he assesses his entire surroundings with nothing moving but his eyes. He unwittingly lets an audible 'gulp' escape before he speaks. "I...I...no, I don't think searching down there is a...huh, wait." The first thing to move is his head which seems to pivot on a swivel.
"We need to see what's in here if we plan to rest here today; just stay behind me Fenwick, I need your eyes to help me."
Dolan brings up the rear, making sure he has a clear mental picture of all escape routed in case he needs to wink-wing back to Parf and Cerwi.
Dolan and Dilly head cautiously down the stairs. Fenwick is unable to force himself forwards.
The inner sanctum is much like the rest of the temple, what once was holy is now profane. The simple white washed walls have been covered in goblin runes, carved and smeared. The kremm flow here is as strong as anywhere. The floor is littered with rubbish: what look like chicken bones; the torn remains of scared texts; smashed pottery.
Then something catches their eye. A light among the detritus. No, actually it is not a light, maybe just a reflection, but what it is reflecting the gods only know as there is no source of light down here, just the faintest of illumination coming from down the stairs.
Anyway, as they draw closer it doesn't seem to be anything of goblin design. It appears to be a brass periapt, fashioned by a craftsman.
"Gobs are disgusting creatures!!", Dolan whispers to Dillly.
"Watch my back while I check that out."
He swallows hard and creeps forward to the periapt. He hesitates for a sec, then reaches out and picks it up.
Dilly nods, nervously
Fenwick puts his back to the wall in the stairwell as he nervously shakes his hatchet in his hand. Frantically looking up and down the stairs he is able to muster a whisper. "Is...is everything okay...are you...you guys okay..."
The periapt is a dull bronze trinket, a simple coin shape engraved with the overflowing basket of Wistfelia, attached to a chain so it can be worn around a wrist, or a leprechaun neck.
Dolan feels a slight tingling as he picks it up, very different to the feeling of kremm.
Just then a shrill scream echos through the temple. It sounds like Cerwi is in trouble.
Dolan quickly puts on the pendant, turns to the others and says, "I'll meet you there!!"
With that, he wink-wings back to the entrance.
Fenwick not needing a formal invitation to leave this creepy place runs as best as he can towards Cerwis cries!
"Well foppin' hell!..." Dilly will scan the area looking for any movement before backing up and then turning to follow the elf.
Fenwick shouts over his shoulder to Dilly. "Amin hiraetha mellonamin...I am sorry...Cerwi needs help!"
Parf stifles his cries of pain as best he can, and brings the full strength of his muscles and ax upon the garaach. He is determined to be not only protector, but also victor!
Cerwi picks a stone and throws it at the garaach, but maybe the nerves have got to her, or maybe she's just terrible at throwing things, either way the stone clatters across the courtyard harmlessly.
Parf gets stuck in against the monstrous beast.
Parf chops away with gusto but the garaach is too big, too strong and too vicious.
Parf presses the attack, but realizing the monster has the upper hand, tries to out think him. He tries a tactical withdrawal into the woods, trying to draw the creature with him, hoping that his forested wilderness survival experience [ooc: talent] might help him get the edge on the beast, vs. fighting him out in the open. And he screams.... loudly and painfully! "RRRrrraaaaaauauuuuughhhhh!!!"
Cerwi continued to scream, and rose into the air, wings aloft, attempting to pelt the beast with stones again. If she can't distract it any other way, she will begin to dive bomb the beast, attempting to stay just out of reach.
Dolan suddenly appears in the middle of the courtyard looking pale and shaken. Dilly and Fenwick run out the traditional way shortly afterwards. They see Parf, badly beaten, in combat with an horrific looking beast. It is the size of a draft horse, with the head and fore quarters of a boar, the talons of an eagle and its hind quarters bristling in long deadly looking quills.
Cerwi is pelting it with rocks, and trying to distract it. She hits it in the face with one, the rock is not big enough to actually hurt, but it has certainly distracted it.
Parf is attempting to draw the beast into the woods, hoping that his knowledge of this terrain will give him an edge, but unfortunately the garaach is as used to the forest as he is.
Parf is tiring, even with the beast distracted by Cerwi's stone throwing he is loosing the fight badly, the sharp talons are finding his flesh more and more often, leaving him beribboned with blood.
One of the quills has stuck deep into Parfs left arm sending a burning coursing through his veins.
Dilly charges as quick as he can, yelling to try to distract the beast and turn its attention from Parf.
Fenwick emerges from the building and sees the bloodied Parf barely fending off this large beast. Shouting along with Dilly in an attempt to draw the creature's attention off of his slowly losing comrade he does his best with his recent leg injury to close the distance with his hatchet raised.
"Caela ie'lle!!"
Parf winces, grimaces and moans with the continued assault upon his person. Then, the glorious sight and sounds of his returning friends--were they friends after such a short time? Yes, he decided, they were--gives him a renewed and perhaps final surge of courage as he strives to fend off the garrach with continued focus. Aware that just as he has noticed his friends' arrival, the beast may, as well, he looks for any opening of distraction that might give him the upper hand. As for the direction, presuming he has some support now, he tries to lead the combat back toward the temple ruins hoping aid will come sooner than later.
Dolan drops to one knee... He absent-mindedly rubs his new medallion between his fingers wondering if this is what is sapping his strength. Unfortunately, he has bigger concerns as Parf looks to be in even worse shape than he is at the moment. While still not much of a fighter, Dolan still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
Seeing Parf, dripping with blood, sends Cerwi into a rage. She wields her sword and dives at the back of the monster, hoping to plunge it into the back of his head.
Adrenaline flowing, Fenwick's heart feels twice its size,...thumping so hard that it makes his head pound as he strides towards the garaach. How had his life turned into such a violent turmoil so quickly, so hectic, so unnerving...so...exhilarating?! His facial expression changes from its original distortion of fear to enlightenment...then to focus. He judges the situation as quickly as he can readying his favorite hatchet...and whether he needs to throw it or cleave it into the animal.
As Fenwick shouts the garaach turns to face him for a second, it is only brief but it gives Parf an edge in the combat. Cerwi dives at the beast, her sword drawn. She sinks her blade up to the hilt in the back of its neck. It howls in pain and again turns away from Parf for a moment.
Parf does not waste a moment of his temporary advantage and renews his attack. From somewhere he finds the strength to wield his axe again and again, he hits home at the garaach. Then knocking him off his guard manages to land a blow in the monsters face, the beasts teeth making a sickening crunch.
Dilly silently wades into the fray...hatchet swinging
Fenwick feeling confident but not stupid attempts to attack the beast from the side or the rear...not feeling fool hearty enough to challenge it head to head.
Bleeding, battered, but buoyed by his blessed band of brothers and sister-in-arms, Parf does not let up for one second, focusing his ferocity full-on in a face-to-face focus to finally fulfill the fatal finishing of the fiend!
Cerwi continues her diving attack, and Fenwick makes a stealth attack from the side. Fenwick misses his attack, but again Cerwi plunge her blade into the beasts bristly hide.
Dolan wink wings into combat, closely followed by Dilly. Bolstered by Dilly and Dolan, Parf lays in for a final flurry of blood spattered combat. The three of them get the better of the beast, slashing and stabbing until it falls beneath their blows. In its death throes however it manages to sink another spine into Parf's flesh, this time in his belly.
As the five heroes realise the garaach is finally dead they visibly sag. Parf in particular is in a bad way, he spent all day being sick, then all night marching followed by a bruising encounter with the garaach. What is more, as the adrenaline wears off the burning around the quills increases, like a red hot poker is being thrust into his flesh.
Parf is a Hrogr gutter cleaner, Dolan a Leprechaun businessman, Cerwi a Fairy lockpicker, Dilly a dwarf ratcatcher and Fenwick an elf wood carver.
The party sets off in the dark. The moon is not far from full, but the canopy is thick and little light gets through. The horses walk slowly picking their way through tangled roots and thickets of undergrowth.
The signs of goblin activity get even more pronounced, you can even smell them, a dank, musky scent that hangs heavy on the better used paths.
Tom Pugh In the darkness Fenwick becomes confused about the direction, but luckily Parf remembers this part well and takes over the navigator roll. Soon the path starts to wind through ruined buildings. On closer inspection they seem to be abandoned hobb homes: circular houses build partially under ground. The roofs on many have collapsed and they are overgrown with ivy and gorse bushes.
Just as dawn is about to break, and the party are forced to stop through mutual exhaustion, they come across a large stone building, on the edge of what once was the hobb village. It appears to be some sort of temple though, like the rest of the buildings, it has fallen to wrack and ruin.
"Perhaps this can be a good resting place. But illkin might have the same thought," Parf comments at their arrival at the stone temple. It is in bad shape but might provide some shelter. "I'll scout it out, he offers." He sets Cerwi alight near the stopped horses with a smile. Pulling out his ax, Parf pauses to see if anyone else wishes to accompany him, then tiredly pilots his way though the stone temple's remaining structure, as only a wannabe stone temple pilot could do.
Fenwick watches Parf and he unwittingly grabs his hatchet and will follow him. He's not being driven by bravery but more out of sense of curiosity of the structure...and any of its dilapidated wood beams that would make for an interesting piece of carving.
"Parf, mayhaps it would be better to send someone a bit more... inconspicuous to scout the ruins. Your history of sneaking does not fill me with confidence," says Dolan.
Dilly will join the scouting party; "I will lead the way lad, Illkin Be damned if they are lying in wait for the likes of us!"
Parf smiles at Dolan's diplomacy. "Yes, Parf the Eighth is not a Sneaky fellow." He has flashbacks to his parents, cousins, siblings, and entire hrogr community saying this to him. Then again, hrogrs said that about fellow hrogrs universally. "Goblin tracks and an empty hobb village could mean that goblins took this place over." He smiles at Dilly's bravado. He doesn't usually take the initiative, but even when he does he is happy to change course on suggestion. "If you think I'm not the best hrogr for the job, that's fine. Or maybe, just Dilly go first, and I'll back him up?" he offers. "I'm fine either way, just want us to be safe."
Dolan sighs. This bravery thing is rather new to him."I'll go with him. If we run into anything we can't handle I'll wink-wing back here and fetch you."
"Careful. Goblins like high perches filled with dust and mold within buildings such as this - and traps," Cerwi warns them.
Dolan, Fenwick and Dilly cautiously head into the crumbling temple.
Parf and Cerwi watch the other three disappear into the darkness of the temple. They sit in silence for a few minutes. The trees are clearer here and the silvery light of the gibbous moon lies lightly on the tangled undergrowth which is reclaiming the cobbled courtyard outside the temple.
Cerwi hears a movement in the bushes, back from the direction where they came. She can see nothing but the sound seemed to come from something bigger than a goblin.
The silence felt heavy and comforting, like a blanket. Cerwi desperately wanted to sleep, but that must wait until after the area was thoroughly searched. Enjoying the silvery moonlight bathe the scene, she dangled her feet to stay awake.
A stirring - a faint sense of something large - tickled her consciousness.
"Parf," She said quietly, "I believe something large may be watching us from the wood."
Parf, alerted by his sole nearby companion with the others exploring the ruins, stands and grips his ax. He scans the woods and tries to look as menacing as possible. "Grrrrr," he grumbles. "Grrrrr," he repeats.
For a moment neither Parf nor Cerwi can see anything. The fairy is beginning to think she has imagined it when suddenly it moves. A large black bulk shifts into the clearing, two eyes glinting malevolently in the moon light, a garaach.
Parf is familiar with these beats, but Cerwi has never seen the like before. It is like a massive boar, the sizeof a cart horse. It's tusks are crooked and mishapen but still look very sharp. Something is wrong with its feet, they look more like the talons of a raptor, and the back quarters of its body are covered in bristling quills.
The garaach does not move, just crouches and looks at the Parf and Cerwi.
Parf positions himself to protect the horses and Cerwi, fully aware she could flit away to safety away from this perverted but hopefully still ground-based garaach. He slowly turns to face the beast with axe held at the ready. "This beast is a garaach. But it is diff'rent. Changed, somehow. Normal garaach don't look like this." He says softly to Cerwi. Then he continues his posturing. "Rrrrrrrrr...." Parf is happy to go toe to toe with the beast but before he commits to a conflict and leaves the fairy and horses side, he hopes the garaach will betray whether it is alone.
The Beast in front of them looked perfectly capable of dispatching them if unopposed, but Cerwi knew they'd fight. But the look in its eyes... that was something else entirely. It made her feel as if the darkness was wrapping the beast in a cocoon, ready to spring open and help it to envelop them.
But there was no more time to ponder. What could she do to help Parf in a battle? She must think.
Suddenly and with a speed belied by its size the garaach jumped at Parf, its fore talon's grasping at his chest and its slathering tusked mouth bearer down at his throat.
"Holy dungballs!" Cerwi thought to herself. She looks around frantically to see if there is anything that she can pelt the beast with to try to distract it. "Surely there are rocks, or nuts, or something?!" She thinks as she looks about quickly.
Parf is almost bowled up by the heft of the beast, but he keeps his footing and swings wildly at it with his ax. He fails to hit and the garaach slices across his tunic and chest, drawing crimson blood.
Cerwi frantically searches the courtyard for anything she can use as a missile and finds some stones, light enough to throw.
Cerwi chokes back a sob as she throws a stone, as hard as she can, at the beast's face. If she can hit an eye, even better. She also lets out the loudest, shrillest scream she can muster - maybe the others would hear?
The temple was obviously dedicated to 'Wistfelia, the primary hob goddess, also sometimes used by other races as the goddess of orchards, the harvest and of plenty, she was quite popular in Parvessy.
A crumbled atrium leads into a largely intact, central chamber. Goblins have been here though, the stink of them is everywhere.
The temple has been well and truly desecrated, where the statue of Wistfelia would have been there is just a bare plinth, the wooden alter has been smashed. Some brass incense burners still hang in the higher reaches of the room, but lower ones have been torn done and smashed.
Spiky goblin runes have been carved or smeared over every surface. With distaste the three realise that some of them are written in their own deification.
Dilly knows that goblin runes are only used in magic rituals. He also recognizes a large and particularly intricate rune that represents Mamma Gamma, the twisted goblin incarnation of the Mother Godess, certainly not a deity that would be aligned to your own.
When Fenwick and Dolan look questioningly at Dilly he tells them that as a rat catcher he had to deal with a lot of the lower classes in Parvessy (indeed he is one of them himself) including goblin servants.
There is a door behind the smashed alter, from the typical lay out of temples you know this is likely to lead down to an inner sanctum.
Dilly feels strange, twitchy like there is some power running through his veins. Dolan and Fenwick recognize the feeling: magic. Raw kremm is running through them, through the air and through the whole temple.
Dilly likes the feeling...and the defilement of the temple really angers him. He will motion to Fenwick and Parf silently that he wants to towards the inner sanctum, hatchet out and at the ready.
Fenwick too likes the feeling of the WIZ coursing through his body but it frightens him just as much as he's felt this once before. He nods to Dilly shaking the hatchet in his grip a couple of times but keeps his fears buried if it doesn't already show upon his face. He makes a possibly rash opinion that the Goblins were responsible for the removal of the habitants as well as its desecration. Its the only thing fuelling him from leaving or worse yet...freezing up and further embarrassing himself in front of his new comrades.
He whispers to himself shaking his head slightly. "They should not of done this...min feuya ten' lle."
Dolan's body tingles as the kremm flows through him. For a moment he feels like he can take on anything!!
It is short lived, however, as he remembers their current predicament.
"Let's not wander too far. We are just trying to see if it is safe to rest. Parf and Cerwi are waiting for us outside."
Dilly and Fenwick walk over to the door, Dolan trailing at a distance. The door opens with a squeal of hinges that reverberate around the temple. Stone steps lead downwards into darkness, goblin detritus littering them, as everywhere else.
Fenwick stops in his tracks...his curiosity for special wood samples now forgotten as he peers down the stairwell. He doesn't move from his mid-stride pose for what seems like minutes as he assesses his entire surroundings with nothing moving but his eyes. He unwittingly lets an audible 'gulp' escape before he speaks. "I...I...no, I don't think searching down there is a...huh, wait." The first thing to move is his head which seems to pivot on a swivel.
"We need to see what's in here if we plan to rest here today; just stay behind me Fenwick, I need your eyes to help me."
Dolan brings up the rear, making sure he has a clear mental picture of all escape routed in case he needs to wink-wing back to Parf and Cerwi.
Dolan and Dilly head cautiously down the stairs. Fenwick is unable to force himself forwards.
The inner sanctum is much like the rest of the temple, what once was holy is now profane. The simple white washed walls have been covered in goblin runes, carved and smeared. The kremm flow here is as strong as anywhere. The floor is littered with rubbish: what look like chicken bones; the torn remains of scared texts; smashed pottery.
Then something catches their eye. A light among the detritus. No, actually it is not a light, maybe just a reflection, but what it is reflecting the gods only know as there is no source of light down here, just the faintest of illumination coming from down the stairs.
Anyway, as they draw closer it doesn't seem to be anything of goblin design. It appears to be a brass periapt, fashioned by a craftsman.
"Gobs are disgusting creatures!!", Dolan whispers to Dillly.
"Watch my back while I check that out."
He swallows hard and creeps forward to the periapt. He hesitates for a sec, then reaches out and picks it up.
Dilly nods, nervously
Fenwick puts his back to the wall in the stairwell as he nervously shakes his hatchet in his hand. Frantically looking up and down the stairs he is able to muster a whisper. "Is...is everything okay...are you...you guys okay..."
The periapt is a dull bronze trinket, a simple coin shape engraved with the overflowing basket of Wistfelia, attached to a chain so it can be worn around a wrist, or a leprechaun neck.
Dolan feels a slight tingling as he picks it up, very different to the feeling of kremm.
Just then a shrill scream echos through the temple. It sounds like Cerwi is in trouble.
Dolan quickly puts on the pendant, turns to the others and says, "I'll meet you there!!"
With that, he wink-wings back to the entrance.
Fenwick not needing a formal invitation to leave this creepy place runs as best as he can towards Cerwis cries!
"Well foppin' hell!..." Dilly will scan the area looking for any movement before backing up and then turning to follow the elf.
Fenwick shouts over his shoulder to Dilly. "Amin hiraetha mellonamin...I am sorry...Cerwi needs help!"
Parf stifles his cries of pain as best he can, and brings the full strength of his muscles and ax upon the garaach. He is determined to be not only protector, but also victor!
Cerwi picks a stone and throws it at the garaach, but maybe the nerves have got to her, or maybe she's just terrible at throwing things, either way the stone clatters across the courtyard harmlessly.
Parf gets stuck in against the monstrous beast.
Parf chops away with gusto but the garaach is too big, too strong and too vicious.
Parf presses the attack, but realizing the monster has the upper hand, tries to out think him. He tries a tactical withdrawal into the woods, trying to draw the creature with him, hoping that his forested wilderness survival experience [ooc: talent] might help him get the edge on the beast, vs. fighting him out in the open. And he screams.... loudly and painfully! "RRRrrraaaaaauauuuuughhhhh!!!"
Cerwi continued to scream, and rose into the air, wings aloft, attempting to pelt the beast with stones again. If she can't distract it any other way, she will begin to dive bomb the beast, attempting to stay just out of reach.
Dolan suddenly appears in the middle of the courtyard looking pale and shaken. Dilly and Fenwick run out the traditional way shortly afterwards. They see Parf, badly beaten, in combat with an horrific looking beast. It is the size of a draft horse, with the head and fore quarters of a boar, the talons of an eagle and its hind quarters bristling in long deadly looking quills.
Cerwi is pelting it with rocks, and trying to distract it. She hits it in the face with one, the rock is not big enough to actually hurt, but it has certainly distracted it.
Parf is attempting to draw the beast into the woods, hoping that his knowledge of this terrain will give him an edge, but unfortunately the garaach is as used to the forest as he is.
Parf is tiring, even with the beast distracted by Cerwi's stone throwing he is loosing the fight badly, the sharp talons are finding his flesh more and more often, leaving him beribboned with blood.
One of the quills has stuck deep into Parfs left arm sending a burning coursing through his veins.
Dilly charges as quick as he can, yelling to try to distract the beast and turn its attention from Parf.
Fenwick emerges from the building and sees the bloodied Parf barely fending off this large beast. Shouting along with Dilly in an attempt to draw the creature's attention off of his slowly losing comrade he does his best with his recent leg injury to close the distance with his hatchet raised.
"Caela ie'lle!!"
Parf winces, grimaces and moans with the continued assault upon his person. Then, the glorious sight and sounds of his returning friends--were they friends after such a short time? Yes, he decided, they were--gives him a renewed and perhaps final surge of courage as he strives to fend off the garrach with continued focus. Aware that just as he has noticed his friends' arrival, the beast may, as well, he looks for any opening of distraction that might give him the upper hand. As for the direction, presuming he has some support now, he tries to lead the combat back toward the temple ruins hoping aid will come sooner than later.
Dolan drops to one knee... He absent-mindedly rubs his new medallion between his fingers wondering if this is what is sapping his strength. Unfortunately, he has bigger concerns as Parf looks to be in even worse shape than he is at the moment. While still not much of a fighter, Dolan still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
Seeing Parf, dripping with blood, sends Cerwi into a rage. She wields her sword and dives at the back of the monster, hoping to plunge it into the back of his head.
Adrenaline flowing, Fenwick's heart feels twice its size,...thumping so hard that it makes his head pound as he strides towards the garaach. How had his life turned into such a violent turmoil so quickly, so hectic, so unnerving...so...exhilarating?! His facial expression changes from its original distortion of fear to enlightenment...then to focus. He judges the situation as quickly as he can readying his favorite hatchet...and whether he needs to throw it or cleave it into the animal.
As Fenwick shouts the garaach turns to face him for a second, it is only brief but it gives Parf an edge in the combat. Cerwi dives at the beast, her sword drawn. She sinks her blade up to the hilt in the back of its neck. It howls in pain and again turns away from Parf for a moment.
Parf does not waste a moment of his temporary advantage and renews his attack. From somewhere he finds the strength to wield his axe again and again, he hits home at the garaach. Then knocking him off his guard manages to land a blow in the monsters face, the beasts teeth making a sickening crunch.
Dilly silently wades into the fray...hatchet swinging
Fenwick feeling confident but not stupid attempts to attack the beast from the side or the rear...not feeling fool hearty enough to challenge it head to head.
Bleeding, battered, but buoyed by his blessed band of brothers and sister-in-arms, Parf does not let up for one second, focusing his ferocity full-on in a face-to-face focus to finally fulfill the fatal finishing of the fiend!
Cerwi continues her diving attack, and Fenwick makes a stealth attack from the side. Fenwick misses his attack, but again Cerwi plunge her blade into the beasts bristly hide.
Dolan wink wings into combat, closely followed by Dilly. Bolstered by Dilly and Dolan, Parf lays in for a final flurry of blood spattered combat. The three of them get the better of the beast, slashing and stabbing until it falls beneath their blows. In its death throes however it manages to sink another spine into Parf's flesh, this time in his belly.
As the five heroes realise the garaach is finally dead they visibly sag. Parf in particular is in a bad way, he spent all day being sick, then all night marching followed by a bruising encounter with the garaach. What is more, as the adrenaline wears off the burning around the quills increases, like a red hot poker is being thrust into his flesh.