Zap Dynamic's Tales from the Blackwood (IC)

[sdream]

Jakob hurries away from the cave, drawing his own bow, and trying to discern what Othmar saw within the gloom.

[Zap Dynamic]

Team Fogey
Alfrid looked at the pagan. "Bind him and carry him off," he said, before turning his attention to O'Bannon. "Folk from the deeper parts of the Wood cause more trouble than they're worth. We'll not be keeping him in our dungeons."

The captain surveyed the room. "O'Bannon, you and your friend would honor us with your presence as we banish this pagan," he hesitated, glancing back at his men. "Night has fallen, and the Wood is better faced with as many men as can be spared."

Team Forest
The obstruction Jakob had woven lay on the earth as he leapt away, arrow drawn. He looked, and saw Othmar looking back with puzzled eyes.

"Are ye a fool, boy?" he said, taking aim at something within the cave. Jack could hear a clamor rising, many desperate voices rising from the dark like the rumor of black wings. Othmar loosed an arrow into the cave and an all-too familiar cry rang out from within. Othmar held his charm in his teeth and he nocked another arrow and shouted "Block the opening!"

The bestial noises coming from the cave were growing louder, and Othmar's set was set with worry.

[sdream]

By the sounds rising from the cave and Othmar's firing therein, Jakob could tell the time for weaving was over, and his obstruction would have to do as it was.

As he fell into a crouch with clear lines of sight to the cave and his companion, he prepared to loose an arrow of his own at the first feral creature to show itself clearly.

"Shhhhh!"

Spoiler

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Prepared shot: 7+(6d6)[4][3][4][6][4][2](23)
Damage: 2+(6d6)[6][3][2][6][6][5](28)

[JustPlayItLoud]

"Say no more. Ye can never be too careful, 'specially after dark. And I'd be honored to accompany such fine guardsmen as these"

O'Bannon downed the last of his wine nodded thanks to the bartender. He gathered his coin, strapped his sword back onto his back, adjusted it, and walked to the door to wait for the others.

[Eldest]

I'll be there too, although I'm not as good in a stand-up brawl as my friend. But one can never be too careful with the forest.

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Y'know, if this character (Ben) ever met my other character (Will), they'd probably be fighting. A lot.

[Zap Dynamic]

Team Fogey
The night was darker than most, thanks to the clouds overhead, but the party was well-armed with torches, and made easy time toward the outskirts of Longshore Town. The streets of the village were rarely bustling--and even then only near the docks--but at night there was a hushed quality that fell over every cottage and shop. To say that the people of the Blackwood retired to their homes at the end of day would not quite ring true: most folk retreated.

Nonetheless, there were no undesirables to be found along the path. The guards had a hand on each of the pagan's elbows, though the degenerate hissed with pain at every jerk and jostle.

"It is a black night," the captain said to Benjamin, "but I can see you well enough. Are you not the storyteller that frequents Three Rivers proper? I have a boy going to school there, and he spoke of your tales today at supper." His tone made it clear that Alfrid was making polite conversation, and that he wasn't very good at it.

Team Forest
Jakob's woven door rattled and shook in the cave's mouth, and small, ferocious shadows could be seen flitting in between its mesh of sticks. Othmar loosed a stout shaft into the cave, and the screams that emanated just after were testament to its lethality. Even from his distance, Jakob was likewise able to land a killing blow.

"There's more of 'em!" Othmar shouted, casting aside his bow and grabbing a branch that Jakob had gathered only a few minutes before. It was too large to be bent into shape for Jakob's craft, but Othmar managed to wedge it into the cave mouth, providing a little support to what was quickly becoming a broken tangle of sticks and thorns.

"Grab more!" he yelled, using his shoulder to wedge the branch further into place. "Maybe we can block the passage entire--" Othmar's words were cut short by a curse and a wince of pain. From Jack's vantage, he could spot a tiny arm snaking through the obstruction, wielding a shard of bone covered in blood. Othmar tested his weight on a leg that must have been stabbed. He winced again, and grabbed another branch to shove into the opening.

Spoiler

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Imp #1 takes 11 damage and is killed!
Imp #2 takes 14 damage and is killed!
Imp #3 hits Othmar for 2 damage!
Imp #4 hits the obstruction for 5 damage! It's heavily damaged!

[sdream]

"Fall back and let them seek the sound of our bows in the open day."

Jakob fit another arrow to his string and waited for another good opening.

Spoiler

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Shot held for the next exposed imp: 7 + (6d6)[4][1][6][3][6][5](25)
Damage 2 + (6d6)[1][5][4][4][6][4](24)

[Eldest]

Oh, aye, I do tell tales for people from time to time. 'Tis how I make my living. Mind you, most of the payin' works just taking messages from village to village. But the tales are what I enjoy.

[Zap Dynamic]

Team Fogey
The party reached the outskirts of the city in short order. Even at noon on a clear day, the Blackwood could be shrouded in murky twilight. On such a night as this, it seemed almost to drink the light, hiding all in impenetrable darkness. Jack and O'Bannon knew where Fat Berchta's cottage lay, though she must have doused the lights and gone to bed earlier.

"You'll not be disturbing our peace again, wild man" Alfrid said, holding the pagan with an iron grip. "In accordance with the laws of Three Rivers and the Elder Kingdom, you will be executed if found again. Do you understand?"

The pagan didn't respond. His eyes were trained on the darkness, and his mouth hung open as if lost in deep thought. Impatient, Alfrid handled the pagan by the ribs, causing a yelp of pain to spring from the shabby man's mouth. "Ye gods!" he screamed. "A man free and true hears all the beasts o'th'Wood a'tall hours. Have yer walls made ye deaf? D'ye not hear the silence?"

All that could be heard beyond the gates of the city was the wind in the trees. Not a cricket chirped, nor was there the hoot of an owl or the tread of some night creature. One of the guards shifted uneasily, clearing his throat. "'Tis a bad omen, it is. The pagan's brought the Wood to bear 'gainst us."

The pagan laughed a hollow laugh. "No man wields th' Blackwood," he said, half-whispered, not unlike the muttered prayers of the Unified.

Team Forest
Othmar heaved an exasperated sigh before tossing down the branch and grabbing his bow. His limp was slight but apparent as he backed away from the cave opening, nocking an arrow in the process. He mumbled something about a vain quest for glory, though it was hard to decipher through his gritted teeth.

Jack loosed an arrow at the first possible moment. It was 30 feet from his vantage outside the thicket to the cave; an easy shot for a hunter of Jack's skill. It disappeared past the barricade, though the continued screaming of the imp he hit made it clear that it wasn't quite dead.

More bestial noises came from within the cave, and the barricade rattled to the sound of snapping wood. In short order, all that was left of Jack's woven craft burst outward in splinters, and a crowd of imps began to pour out of the cave. Three leaped forward into the thicket, screaming with rage when the six inch thorns pierced their flesh. They immediately jumped back, baring their teeth and sniffing the air furiously.

"Ancestors preserve us," Othmar said, looking at the cave mouth. Inside, imps teemed like a hive of angry hornets, too many and too quick to count. Another 6 had poured from the opening, though they were stalled from leaping into the thicket by their forerunners. "What have we done, lad?" he shouted over the din.

Spoiler

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Othmar takes 1 damage for hurrying through the thicket! His legs are bleeding slightly.
Imp #3 is hit by Jack for 3 Damage! It's all but dead!
Imp #4 hits the barricade for 2 damage! The barricade is almost useless! The imp takes 1 damage for leaping into the thicket!
Imp #5 hits the barricade for 1 damage! The barricade is in shambles! The imp takes 1 damage for leaping into the thicket!
Imp #6 hits the wreckage of the barricade for 1 damage! The cave opening is clear of the wreckage! The imp takes 1 damage for leaping into the thicket!

[JustPlayItLoud]

In response to the pagan's words, O'Bannon took another furtive look around the landscape. All he could see were the stars, and he heard nothing but the wind in the trees. Listening intently to the silence, O'Bannon felt the hairs on his neck and arms prickle.

"I'm not sure I like this, Alfrid. I've lived long enough to learn that on the occasion that I have an uneasy feeling about something, I should at least pay it heed. And let me tell you, I have an uneasy feeling. Not to quote such a cliché, but the silence is nearly deafening. What do you make of it Ben?"

[sdream]

Those creatures were clearly either struck blind by the evening sun, or always so.

Sadly, Othmar just as clearly had been struck stupid by fear.

Jakob was not about to run noisily from these creatures, to chase and track swiftly at their leisure. He would tell Othmar the third time only with his actions that now was the time for staying quiet and speaking with arrows.

He quietly fit another arrow to his bow and fired into the mass of imps... let them track his scent here, where the embers of the fire still smoked, and listen for the hum of his bowstring over the shrieks of excited, wounded, and dying companions.

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(Probably should get a to hit bonus for target rich environment)
Aim: 7 + (6d6)[2][3][5][1][5][5](21)
Damage 2 + (6d6)[4][6][5][4][6][6](31)

[Eldest]

I'm thinking it's time for wise men to be inside right now, if not abed. I'd suggest a bit o' mercy on the pagan; let him stay in the town or leave now, as he wishes. By tomorrow noon he'd best be gone though. Throwing him out now would do naught but kill the man.

[Zap Dynamic]

Team Fogey
"Yes," said Alfrid. "It is not a night for civilized men. Dispose of him and let's seal the gate. I am bound to do my duty."

Despite the pagan's protestations, the guards threw him into the night and closed the iron gate of the town, sealing themselves off. The clang of its shutting rang hollowly down the streets. There was a strange heaviness about things, as though everything were waiting with bated breath. It was a rancorous feeling, but it passed almost as soon as it came.

They began the walk back with little conversation between them. Some were trained on the world around them, hands twitching; others were deeply lost in thought. Moments pass by, before Alfrid looks back at the rest of the group and frowns. "Where did the other guard go?"


Team Forest
The bow string hummed as the arrow left, darting into one of the bulbous heads of the imps. To fell unceremoniously to the ground. Each imp's ears pricked at the sound, and a few leaped toward it. They impaled themselves on the thicket, and scrambled back to their brethren bloodied and wrathful.

In a single, fluid motion, Othmar raised his bow, drew the string back tight, and loosed a shaft that ended the life of one of the creatures newly out of the cave opening.

Moments after death, though, the first imps to leave the cave seem to come to the same realization. They chatter back and forth in their screeching, mongrel tongue, and dive for the thicket. It seems almost as though they are using it for cover.

At the same time, another wave of imps pours out of the cave. Well more than a dozen of the beasts had already come from the earth, and the echoes of more screams could be heard yet inside.

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Imp #3 runs and uses the thicket as cover! It's slightly bleeding!
Imp #4 runs and uses the thicket as cover! It's slightly bleeding!
Imp #5 runs and uses the thicket as-- get it?
Imp #6 takes 6 damage from Jack! It's killed!
Imp #7 takes 5 damage from Othmar! It is slain!
Imps #8-10 take 1 damage each for leaping into the thicket! They are slightly bleeding!
Imps #11-18 have poured out of the cave!

[sdream]

Jakob unleashes another arrow, this time at the newcomers yet to learn caution.

If they all learn to fear the daylight, that would be good for his odds of getting out of here with all his blood on the inside.

Having seen how the others reacted to the twang of his bowstring, he makes a point to grab it after firing to reduce the time they can detect it.

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Next arrow at the boldest one in the open - I checked, he had 20 of these.

Bows: 7 + (6d6)[1][4][3][6][6][4](24)
Damage 2 + (6d6)[6][1][1][6][4][2](20)

17 arrows now I think, although the situation SHOULD change before he runs out, one way or the other.

[JustPlayItLoud]

"Other guard? Hmm, you're right. Someone's missing. I didn't see anything. Anyone else spot him?"

O'Bannon turned and took a few step back the way they'd come, looking and listening to signs of the missing guard.

[Eldest]

Ben's hand blurred, and a knife appeared in it. I don't like this. It's too dark to see much of anything. His head whipped back and forth despite the pronouncement, trying to see what's going on.

[Zap Dynamic]

Team Fogey
The remaining guard looked around. "A pox on this torch," he said, sounding stupid and tired. "Can only see what's in front o' you."

O'Bannon walked past a nearby gap between cottages, eyeing his surroundings. For all his effort, he couldn't make any sense of where the other guard might have gone.

As the aging swordsman looked about, Benjamin retraced their own footprints from where he stood. He didn't see any point where a set of footprints might have wandered off, but he did notice what looked to be a doused torch on the ground near the corner of a cottage. O'Bannon stepped over it, in truth, else Ben might not have seen it himself.

Upon further inspection, the torch lay in a muddy puddle at the mouth of a narrow corridor between rows of buildings. At the far end--a distance of perhaps 50 feet--Ben could barely make out the yellow flash of a guard's tunic as it disappeared around a corner.

Team Forest
Jack and Othmar draw and release in unison. Othmar takes an imp straight in the chest, sending him careening back into the cave opening. Jack's own arrow whizzes past the head of an imp, piercing the throat of of the creatures just behind.

A savage cry echoes above the din, and each of the imps left standing hearken to its call. They hesitate but a moment, then more than a dozen of them disappear behind the shelter of the thicket. In short order, the edges of the thicket nearest the cave began to shake, and agitated cries could be heard from many of the vile creatures.

"Ill omens and foul deeds!" Othmar hissed, drawing another arrow and taking aim at the wide expanse of thorns and brambles in front of the two hunters. "The fiends are trying to crawl through!"

Slowly, the thicket showed signs of movement closer and closer to their location. At the same time, still more imps could be seen writhing inside the cave's mouth, strangely hesitant.

Spoiler

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Imps #3-5 and #8-10 use the thicket as cover! They are all slightly bleeding!
Imp #11 takes 8 damage from Jack! It is killed!
Imp #12 takes at least 4 damage from Othmar! Oh, the carnage!
Imps #13-18 use the thicket as cover! They are unharmed!
Imps #19-25 leap out of the cave! They use the thicket as cover!

[Eldest]

He just went that way. Come on! Ben waited 'till the other two are close by before pursuing. He knew what happened to people who run off alone at night in stories.

[JustPlayItLoud]

"C'mon"

O'Bannon gestured to Alfrid to follow and started following Ben.

[sdream]

Those are some brave imps...

Goodwife Durnick had told him that "brave" was a word usually used by folks who didn't know what "stupid" meant. He sent an arrow at an imp he glimpsed bravely crawling through the hedge towards him, then wisely ran a short distance further from the cave and hedge.

He turned back around with another arrow in hand, looking for more imps that needed to be taught not to be "brave".

[Zap Dynamic]

Team Fogey
The group hustled down a narrow alley into a darkened courtyard, ears alert for any sign of struggle. The night air hung hot and heavy around them, but not a sound could be heard. In fact, the silence seemed to press in around them, as though even the wind dare not raise its voice.

Alfrid stepped forward--warily probing the various alleyways that branched from this breach in structures. He looked down one corridor, started, and...made no noise whatsoever. He turned, mouth agape and pointing, but no sound emerged. Perfect silence pervaded all around them. He hurried back to the group, grabbing Ben's shoulder and pointing back at the narrow opening from which he had come.

Tense moments passed where no one could either make or hear a single sound, despite their efforts. Suddenly, the mailed sleeve of the remaining guard emerged from the shadows of the alley. His side emerged, and slowly his legs. To the amazement of all, he stood slack, as though already on the verge of death. His helmet was missing, and a thin line of blood trickled from his brow.

Then, horrifyingly, a figure emerged from behind the guard. Thick cords of what could only be described as shadow wrapped around the guard's torso, holding him aloft. The figure took another step, to reveal a wide and muscled shadowy form. A bull's head sat atop its shoulders, and as it reared to and fro, the wisps of shadow making up it's face would sway, revealing the jet-black skull beneath.

It stepped into the courtyard, forcing the guard down onto his knees. It raised a heavy, spiked fist into the air, snorting and silently sending twin clouds of dark smoke from his nostrils. He brought the fist down, and the guard's collapse into death was all the more revolting without a crunch to accompany it.

Spoiler

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Bull Creature hits Guard #2 for 9 damage! Guard #2 is slain!

Team Forest
Jakob skewered a particularly hasty imp before looking around. It was impossible to find a clear vantage to the thicket even a few feet beyond it, so he resolved to stay where he was until an opportunity presented itself.

"I'll not be walking far this night," Othmar whispered through gritted teeth, "and I'll only slow ya down. With haste, you'll reach the village before they shut the gate. The hunters need to be warned that imps are on the loose, and you'll be safer there anyway."

[sdream]

Hungry Jack, unable to spot an imp in the hedge, fired another arrow into the gut of one of the imps that was being only slightly brave in the doorway of the cave. He draw another arrow and replied to his cowardly companion:

"I can heal your leg, but the village will need no warning if we don't lead them to it. Help me drive them..."

Jakob cut off as he suddenly saw his next target in the hedge and took aim...

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Oh yeah, awareness 17. A 10 should let me another one of the imps trying to work up bravery at the cave, and 5 damage would be lethal. Next turn I should be able to get the second hedge imp.

[JustPlayItLoud]

Taking not more than half a moment to think, O'Bannon drew his blade and without a word charged the shadow beast.

[Eldest]

Ben racked his brain for any idea of what this thing was, flipping his dagger into a throwing position and throwing at the same time.

[Zap Dynamic]

Team Fogey
O'Bannon brought his sword to bear against the shadowy bull creature, slicing a gash across its ephemeral chest in total silence. At the same moment, Benjamin's dagger flipped over O'Bannon's arm, embedding itself in the bull creature's shoulder. Unceremoniously, the creature ripped the dagger out, though what could only be described as liquid shadow poured from its wounds. Legs splayed wide, the creature let loose with a barrage of heavy fists, striking at O'Bannon's upper body with devastating power.

To the old man's horror, the gash he had dealt across the bull creature's torso seemed almost to seal itself up before his eyes. The cut was still there, to be sure, but it no longer seemed as deep, and the shadows leaking from the wound seemed to have slowed to a trickle.

Drawing his sword, Alfrid tapped Benjamin's shoulder and turned away from the bull creature. Ben turned just in time to notice another shadowy figure blocking the alley they had traveled just moments before. Unlike the hulking mass of the bull creature, this new foe was made of sinewy tendons of shadow, lithe and terrible to behold. Its head took the form of a young buck, with antlers only just beginning to show. It held vicious, black antler knives in its skeletal hands. With otherworldy grace and and speed, the deer shadow easily confounded the sole remaining guard's defenses, slashing him across the chest.

Alfrid stepped forward to the guard's aid, mouth agape in a muted battle cry. His falchion glinted through the darkness of the courtyard, kissing and dancing with the deer shadow's knives for the briefest of moments before landing a blow on the creature's torso. The deer shadow recoiled with a jerk, and leaped up to a nearby roof in a single, prodigious bound.

Spoiler

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O'Bannon strikes the Bull Shadow for 9 damage! It's badly hurt!
Ben attacks the Bull Shadow for 2 damage! It's almost done for!
Mysteriously, the Bull Shadow seems to heal some of its wounds! It's still in the fight!
The Bull Shadow lashes out at O'Bannon, dealing 6 damage!
The Deer Shadow hits the guard for 5 damage! It's a palpable hit!
Alfrid hits the Deer Shadow for 3 damage! It is sorely hurt!

Team Forest
With no better place to go, Othmar and Jack continued to loose arrows into the growing knot of ravenous, sickly gray bodies. Each scored lethal hits. The screams of the dying were mixed with the shrill baying of those that yet lived, and the whole cacophony was loud enough to have been heard from far off.

"Go!" Othmar shouted, spying and skewering another imp that was nearing the outer edge of the thicket. "It's a hard choice, boy, but there's no sense in both of us dying!"

Ahead of them, the thicket was alive with movement. More than a dozen imps must have sought out the passage through the thorns, and it seemed as though they had found quicker routes; where the first imps to make their way through seemed sluggish and hampered, this new crowd moved somewhat faster, despite the occasional hiss of pain heard within. The clearing before the cave was thick with imps waiting to begin crawling through the thicket, and an untold number yet waited within the cave.

Spoiler

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Othmar hit Imp #20 for 6 damage! It is solidly dead!
Jakob hits Imp #21 for 5 damage! It has shuffled off its mortal coil!
Othmar hits Imp #4 for 7 damage! It's super effective!
Imp #5 is about to emerge from the thicket!
Imps #6-19 have entered the thicket! They are slowly crawling through!
Imps #22-30 have emerged from the cave! The clearing just outside the cave mouth is teeming with their gray bodies!
Imps #31-?? can be seen within the cave!

[JustPlayItLoud]

O'Bannon reeled from the shadow beast's mighty blow. He took a deep breath and winced ever so briefly. It had been many years since he had taken such a hit. Shaking off the hit, he regained his battle stance. He gritted his teeth and brought his blade around for another attack.

"Fell creature! Countless beasts and weak men have been broken upon this blade! Know the name O'Bannon!"

[sdream]

The sudden eagerness of the imps gave Hungry Jack a clear shot at a near one in the hedge, and then instead of drawing another arrow, he drew his amulet over his head with his free hand and touched Othmar with it, willing him healed.

"No sense in either of us dying! Run with me now!"

Then he took off running back the way they came.

Spoiler

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A full round!

Attack an enemy:
Bows 7+ (6d6)[5][1][4][6][5][1](22)
Damage 2+ (6d6)[3][5][1][4][5][5](23)
Draw a weapon: Magic item
Cast a spell:
Mage: 4+ (1d6)[6]
(does not explode because untrained, but is +2 from item)
If roll exceeds 5, -2 personal mana and heals Othmar (1d6)[2]
Make a short statement: See above
Run a short distance: Athletics 4+ (6d6)[1][1][1][5][4][1](13)

[Eldest]

Bit showy there, wouldn't you say? Ben remained in high spirits despite the fact that they were facing monsters from the town's worst nightmares, but then again, he was a cheerful guy. He pulled out another dagger and let fly at the twilight deer.

Spoiler

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I, ah, can't seem to figure the dice roller right now. I'll try it again in the morning, when I'm not bone tired.

[Zap Dynamic]

Team Forest

Othmar leaped back with a wild shout almost as soon as the antler point touched him. His hands groped over the wound in his leg, or rather where it had just been. Blood no longer flowed from the wound, though a large scab could be seen through the gash in his trousers.

He looked at Jack with eyes full of equal parts bewilderment and terror. The look faded quickly into nausea, and he began to vomit. "Thrice-damned fool!" he spat, wiping his lips. "What have ye done?!" But Jack was already almost out of earshot, and--alone save for the angry knot of imps behind him--Othmar had little choice but to make his own retreat. He tested his leg, turned on his heels, and sprinted off in a different direction than Jakob.

[sdream]

Panting with exertion as his heavy leather coat flapped in the wind, Jakob racked his brain and kept his eyes peeled for a cliff or other barrier with a commanding view of the path behind him where he could pause and see if he was still being followed.

Spoiler

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Athletics result = 9
Awareness result = 6