D&D: The Genjobi Pass

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"Aye, let's go then, before it goes dark and we turn into prey." Angus answered Xenoxis, after he picked up his bow and arranged the belt on his quiver for easier handling. Then as the two started to move, Fielli and Ayumi approached them.

"We wish to go with you to hunt, my snake can help you track some beasts…" the evoker said, looking at the Ranger's eyes. He looked down, thinking about the suggestion for a few seconds, well, if anything happened, at least they were the fastest runners, or so he would like to think.

Angus nodded, and asked them to follow his lead, though the illusionist's snake was making its own path through the woods, and it quickly caught sight of a rather large wounded bird, and her snake made a quick job of it. In the end, none of the men seemed to have much luck, and both the cleric and the magician had picked up the art of hunting rather quickly, Angus preferred to call it good luck.

"Xen," he started, after he and the rogue went about carrying the game, goats that he could only figure were some of the escapees from the outpost, "I think I should have those silver arrows, I'll give you one of my quivers instead," he said, stopping to fix a slipping goat from his shoulders, "Just in case we find more of those demons… It's not that I don't trust your shooting skills, I just trust mine more."

He finished his sentence with what he figured was his best smile at the moment, too conflicted from the bad luck of the hunt as he only managed to kill a bird, and the recent occurrences, this just wasn't a very good day for him.
 
Keeping his gaze fixed on where he was walking, Xenoxis replied, "Had I known what we were facing, I'd have been glad to lend you my arrows. How about this: I give you half of my arrows in return for half of yours. That way, in case we get separated and find ourselves facing demons again, we won't have to worry about not having the proper equipment." When they reached the camp, Xenoxis helped Angus carve up the meat for cooking. After dinner Xenoxis took his turn as watchman. During his watch, Xenoxis spied something off in the darkness.
 
With half the party out hunting, the other four worked hard to get the campsite set up. Sales had gone to collect firewood, while Kryx was setting up a tent of exotic skins bearing the markings of his tribe. With everyone else on bedrolls, the Lizardman's tent would be a lifesaver for anyone who succumbed to the mountain cold this night.

As Karwik wrapped himself in a blanket, Darius worked to keep the fire going, hoping it would provide the warmth they needed to see the night through. He had not responded to the boy's pessimism, partly because he feared the truth to be much worse.

Wherever they went, the Scorpion's eye seemed to be upon them. The trap in the village, the storm-spell in the swamp, the ravens, the gorge demons, the trap at the watchpost. All thing seemed part of a dark design, a jaw yawning wide to devour them all. In the crackling firelight, Darius watched the four mounds of stones that marked the passing of their comrades. How many had this dread Sorceror killed now? How much blood was on his hands? How greatly had the order of the land been unsettled?

The paladin's eyes drifted to Kryx as he finished setting up the tent. He recognised in the creature a solitude, a sad duty, for they had both lost their tribes, and they were both compelled to walk on, even unto the mouth of hell.

"Now we have bled together, Lizard-man. So tell me... what really happened out there?"

Kryx left his tent and picked up his huge, oversized axe, leaning on it as he stood on the other side of the fire. There seemed to be some reluctance, some wariness, but in time the warrior spoke in his guttural and disjointed common tongue.

"The sssspy who travelssss with you." He nodded towards the path where the hunting party had left through.

"Xenoxis?"

"He dressesss like him - the assassin who slew my kin."

"An Assassin? Dressed in travelling gear like Xenoxis?"

"He passed through our eastern territories, close to Gorespine River. Our chieftain sent me and five braves - finest of the tribe. We tracked him."

"Where to?"

"Meeting... with the Pink-Skins, at edge of ssswamp. The Assassin brought scrolls to the Pink-Skins. We tried to get closer. He smelled us."

"What?"

"The Assassin - not like the Pink-Skins. Stronger. Faster. He heard our approach. He attacked. Killed three of my kin before we could draw. Then two more with darts... poison of the Karalla Tree."

"Yet you survived?"

"Pink-Skins took me... to stone lair where you found me. Ask many questions, of my tribe, my people. Questions of the Assassin - what we know of his journeys through the swamp."

"Then the Scorpion is protecting this man..." muttered Darius as he stared into the fire, digesting all that he had heard.

"When moon was last full," said Kryx, moving closer to crouch beside the paladin, "A den-mother made prophecy. She said a great Pink-Skin had died in the south, a chieftain above all others."

"Our Emperor..." whispered Darius, and even as he said it a slow realisation crossed his mind. He lifted his eyes and saw the same understanding in the Lizardman beside him.

"Sssso the Emperor's killer is revealed. But one question is not answered. Did the Scorpion send Assassin.... or did Assassin send the Scorpion?"

The two looked at each other a few moments longer as the fire crackled between them. Then there was rustling sound as Sales returned with a bundle of kindling. Darius took a breath and broke eye-contact, rising as the Elf set down the firewood.

"Everyone will require as must rest as possable after today's fight," said Sales. "I only require 4 hours of meditation, so I can take half of the night's watch."

Darius nodded and took a swig from his waterskin, parching his dry throat. "Thankyou, Sales. It's been too long since I slept well."

With a last glance to Kryx, Darius picked up his newly-cleaned armour and set it beside his bedroll, between himself and Karwik. Then he laid himself down, drifting in and out of sleep for the rest of the evening. It was only when Angus and the hunting party returned that Darius sat up again, making sure to get some food down. He even awoke Karwik and made the boy eat something as well.

The sun sunk behind the Phoenix Mountain as the eight mercenaries came back together, hoping that the mountain air and the nightmares of the day would not conspire to erode them.

 
It was around midnight that Xenoxis saw something. It was hard to tell what it was exactly that Xenoxis saw, as it was near the other end of the winding canyon, but from what he could tell, it appeared to be a burst of flame. Knowing that rest was more important to spell casters than to people like himself, Xenoxis decided that he should only wake Angus, Kryx, and Karwik. Going first to Angus, Xenoxis knelt down and carefully shook the sleeping man's shoulder. "Listen carefully, and keep your voice low. It seems we may have company. I want you to wake Kryx and keep guard over the campsite. I'm going to wake Karwik and go and see what's up at the other end of the carvern." Reaching back, Xenoxis now drew out seven of his silver arrows and handed them to Angus. "Here, take these just in case." Now, as Angus finished waking up and moved on to waking Kryx, Xenoxis himself moved to Karwik. Shaking Karwik's shoulder until he was awake, just as he had done with Angus, Xenoxis told him more or less the same. "Keep your voice low, and grab your weapons. It seems we have uninvited company. Angus and Kryx will stay here to guard the camp, but you and I need to go and check out what's making that flame at the other end of the canyon." After pointing out the flame in the distance, Xenoxis motioned for Karwik to follow.
 
Ayumi took a brief bit out of supper time to say grace, then used the remaining pieces of divine healing energy she had for the day. Dinner was plentiful, they had actually been able to find something hunting.

The fire crackled on while she stared at it, thinking over the day's events. Things weren't going well, not in the slightest. Tong died, as did the druid-they never even found her body. But they had food, and they weren't completely surrounded. It could be worse. One of the other girls back at her temple used to always say that no matter how bad things were, they would still have the light of hope with them.

She got Darius to to help her take off her armor before going to bed-it seemed like a reason for them to talk, and it was a pain to remove armor by yourself.
"..So, Darius...what sort of romances have you had?"

"...Darius?"

"...I'm sorry."

She went to sleep alone that night, depressed from her mistake.

Her armor was folded neatly nearby.

((everyone regains 41 HP. We should all be at full health. Ayumi has only her greater turn attempt left.))
 
Sales could hear voices comming from outside his meditative world. He broke his meditation and came back to the real world, he could see some of the group up and about, looking like they were going somewhere.
'Whats the meaning of all this' Sales asked.
 
Xenoxis turned to Sales, slightly alarmed, but quickly calmed himself down before the elf had a chance to notice his tension. Quietly, Xenoxis whispered a reply. "It's nothing. I happened to notice a rather large deer go by during my shift, and have decided to go after it. It should make a fine breakfast, don't you think. I'm just taking Karwik here with me to be safe, and I'm having Angus and Kryx split the rest of my watch. Now back to your meditations, Sales. I don't know much about the ways of magic-weaving, but I do know that casters such as yourself require much rest." Xenoxis waited to see what Sales would do, hoping that his skill at bluffing, combined with the elf's drowsiness, would be enough to convince him to go back to sleep.
 
Xenosis looked his way and whispered that he saw a large deer and is off to hunt it. Sales thought for a moment, he didnt have any rations with him, so some extra food would be a good plan. Also he thought that we could take the meat with them, then he could use a spell to make the food last longer so can save another hunt.
'Good luck hunting' Sales replied, then saw Angus was awake, Sales then added 'perhaps Angus would be the best man to go with you, sure you could us his experience, but up to you'. Sales then closed his eyes and started returning to his trance.
 
Angus readied his bow, and eyed Xenoxis for some moments while he gave Angus the arrows. He wasn't too keen on the idea of leaving a petty thief and a spy out alone into enemy territory, not for their safety, but the safety of whoever had to stay in the party.

But if the man's words were true, the two of them were much better at hiding themselves than he could be, and that was much more needed. At least he had some of the arrows. He placed them in his quiver, filling it up for the arrows he used the days before.

"There's things in the forest much more dangerous than the Scorpion's men," he whispered to Xenoxis after grabbing his shoulder and getting his attention, "If there's anything out there, big or small, it's better to just run away, trust me."

He let go of the rogue's shoulder and moved to where Kryx was, turning to Xenoxis and nodding slightly to him.
 
As the plan was decided, Darius, Fielli and Ayumi slept soundly, their bodies fatigued by the struggles of the day. And between them Sales sat cross-legged by the campfire and returned to his dream-like trance.

The other four, having only caught a few hours sleep each, moved sluggishly and with tired eyes. Karwik and Xenoxis readied their equipment and slipped out of camp, heading for the darkness of the gorge; while Angus crouched beside Kryx on the mountainside.

"You are tired, wild-man,"

"I've had worse."

The night was cloudy and deathly cold, black clouds covering the sky. Now and then came rumbles of thunder and the distant flash of lightning. There was a storm around the peak, but it hadn't reached them yet. No doubt the Scorpion had power over the weather as well as his thousand-fold minions.

"Your chieftain spoke of this."

Angus glanced at the Lizardman, yawning. "What?"

Kryx pointed to the sleeping Darius and Ayumi. "The Chieftain and the Live-Giver, when they were first separated from you - they said a creature hunted them through the forest. A beast of great speed and hunger, with fire in its breath."

"A dragon..." Angus whispered, turning his gaze to the gorge where the two rogues were vanishing. "Shit..."

The ranger prayed that Xenoxis would heed his warning and flee at the first sign of danger.
 
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Fielli had used her skills and Pip's poison to fell enough foof for herself and others. With not a word, she tossed meat at the ones who had not come back with food. Fielli kept from the others, curling her knees up to her chest as she sat unnoticed, ready to defend Darius and Kryx at a moment's notice. The pleasant tingle she felt could only be attributed to the other woman. Fielli wanted to scowl, the feeling made her feel uneasy.
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Still a little drowsy from being woken up so suddenly, Karwik nonetheless felt his fatigue leave him upon being told that Xenoxis wanted him to accompany him to search for the source of some form of fire. It sounded like a bit of a risky venture, but two fellows with skills in keeping hidden and silent would probably be able to creep up on the thing. Whatever it was. All the same, he'd be taking his weapons along.

The path towards where Xenoxis had seen the light was fairly easy for Karwik to travel slowly along. He couldn't see what his comrade was talking about yet, but he was sure that he'd get a better look as he got closer.
 
Xenoxis led the way so that the two rogues moved in single-file. What little starlight there was shone directly down the gorge, forcing them to keep to the sides to avoid silhouetting. They had fastened any equipment that might have caused noise and were choosing their steps carefully. But there was still plenty of rubble from yesterday's rockslide, so it was slow-going in the darkness.

Xenoxis's face was covered, so only the slightest sound came out as he spoke. "It's been hunting us."

"What?" Karwik whispered back.

"When Darius and Ayumi fled from the south villages, they said something was chasing them - something fast and with fire in its breath. I'd wager it's the same thing that almost killed me before I reached your camp that day."

Karwik kept his senses sharp, focussing on the path ahead even as he whispered. "Did you get a look at it?"

"No. It blindsided me - tore the flesh from my back before I could even draw my blade."

"There aren't supposed to be dragons in these mountains." Karwik muttered, starting to wonder why he had agreed to this midnight jaunt.

"There aren't supposed to be demons and targetted rockslides either," answered Xenoxis as he ducked beneath an overhang. "And besides... I don't think it was a dragon."

"Something else that breathes fire?"

"Yes."
 
The two rogues paused by the next turn, checking the ground. They noticed the spots of blood and clothes fragments from where they had carried Ayumi once free of the rockslide. They could also see the Lizardman's generous footprints from earlier. The whole party was leaving a lot of sign - no wonder it was so easy for this thing to track them.

"Why did you lie to the Elf?" Karwik asked as they crouched together.

"He needs his rest."

"And we don't?"

Xenoxis straightened up and continued moving. "Our talents don't evaporate when we're tired. His do."
 
After turning the next corner, the two rogues arrived back in the original stretch where they had battle the Lemures. They could see the dark shadow of the cave-in, perhaps a hundred or so feet away, as well as the lone boulder that Fielli had brought down. Overhead, spaces had been torn through the boulders overlying the top of the gorge.

Something had pushed its way through.

Karwik strained his eyes, trying to see amidst the shadows. He considered lighting a lamp, but they were still too far away for it to be any use. Meanwhile, Xenosis had his hand on his weapon, stooping low as he moved along the gorge wall. There were even more rocks on the floor in this part and they had to step very carefully.
 
There was no talking now. With the slight smell of smoke in their nostrils, the two men advanced towards the rockslide, their senses primed. Judging from the gaps in the rocks above them, the thing that had dropped into the gorge was definitely smaller than a dragon... but still tough enough to survive such a drop.

But even with the gaps, there were enough boulders remaining to keep the starlight out. As they advanced towards the rockslide there was the sense of entering deeper and deeper darkness, like the throat of some hungering beast.

Xenoxis almost thought he could see something, but it was just his eyes playing tricks as his mind tried to paint something into the canvas of darkness... something other than the swallowing black...
 
The ground was still wet from earlier. Karwik remembered he had offered his waterskin to help wash the rockdust from Ayumi. And close-by was some of the run-off, a grimy puddle of dirt and blood. He stared at it, and took the briefest moment to reflect on how natures bears the marks of even the smallest human endeavour.

In these mountains they were leaving bloodspots and dust.... while the Scorpion was leaving years of desecration....

But the boy rose from his thoughts and continued following Xenoxis, treading where he trod, ducking where he ducked. He only hoped the older spy wasn't leading him to an untimely end...

They were now about eighty feet from the rockslide, and still they could not see nor hear any trace of what was hunting them. Karwik could sense Xenoxis thinking. Perhaps he was pondering lighting a torch...
 
Still they advanced, till the darkness near the rockslide swallowed them up. Eighty feet, seventy feet, then sixty. Karwik could see the crack in the gorge wall where Darius had slammed his falchion, the edges charred by the power of his Smite Evil spell. And there was even the slightest brush of feathers on his face - little remains from some of Angus's arrow-flights.

Xenosis was slowly sliding something from his belt. It looked like one of the torches they had found at the watchpost - only this one had markings engraved on it. Karwik had seen him packing it back at the camp, along with a pouch of reddish dust, like that of a ruby. As Xenosis moved he sprinkled some this dust over the torch and got his flintstone ready.

They closed to sixty feet from the rockslide.

And somehow... Karwik just seemed to know... that something had turned its attention towards them...

A second passed, and then the darkness was broken by two orbs of red. They rose from behind the boulder that Fielli had brought down, and there was a rushing sound like the intake of breath.

After all their stealth and vigilance... it was their scent that had given them away.

Xenoxis struck his flint against the wall and brought it to the tip of his Everburning Torch. The gorge illuminated in magical light, deep red and heatless. And that was the last thing he did before the creature pounced from behind the boulder and crashed into him in a flurry of teeth and claws.

MM35_PG151.jpg

Karwik recoiled in shock, watching as the Hellhound sunk its teeth into his comrade's shoulder, spitting flame as it did so. Xenoxis yelled out as his flesh was ripped and scorched. [7 damage to Xeno]
 
Try as he might, Xenoxis could not manage to get the hellhound off of him. In a panic, Xeno calls out to Karwik for aid. "Hurry, help! Pull this beast off of me!" Until the beast is off, all Xenoxis can do is struggle and try and dodge the beast's maw.
 
He let out a loud yawn and a grunt as he stretched his arms, Angus needed to fight the tiredness that was slowly gaining ground, the lizard-man didn't help out much, neither of them were good conversationalists.

Then he heard the cry for help of Karwik, he was as glad to be able to do something as much as he was frustrated to have to run to the action. He faced Kryx, whose reptilian eyes were already set on the horizon, his tensed pose reminding Angus that soon enough they'd be moving into certain danger.

He wished the elf hadn't gone to sleep, damned be the consequences of him lacking sleep, they needed more than cloth to heal up burnt skin. Angus opened his mouth to express his concern, or more of a complaint, but he closed it up into a grimace, shaking his head and grunting in frustration.

The lizardman moved towards the scream and the flames, and Angus wasn't going to complain as he followed suit, both of them knew the place well enough, and if anything did happen, he was sure the hellhound would find Kryx a bit thicker to bite than him.
 
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