D&D: The Genjobi Pass

It had been at least a day, maybe two, he couldn't quite remember, since Xenoxis had last eaten or slept. With several open wounds, intense fatigue, and a broken arm, all that kept him from falling down and dying where he lay was his loyalty to the late Emperor Toku and his allies. He stumbled on through thick undergrowth, most of which consisted of briars and other thorny plants, causing yet more wounds upon his legs, He didn't notice though. Several hours earlier he had stopped feeling the pain, though whether it was a good thing, or a harbinger of more serious damage, he hadn't yet decided, nor had he been given time to decide. On his way to scout out the path to the Caves of the Fallen Phoenix, he had been ambushed by the Scorpion's agents. And the worst part was, he thought he recognized a few of the faces, although he had never seen them in so rotten a state. From what time he had when he first encountered the agents, he had counted about half of them as being undead. That was three days ago. It was only in the past 18 hours that he had managed to finally elude his persuers. He just hoped that he would be able to get back to Darius in time to warn him. Darius...Three days of pursuit...Darius was scheduled to leave less than two days ago...A feeling of dread washed over Xenoxis. It was already too late. He had let down Darius, and by letting down Darius, he had let down the late emperor. And that's when Xenoxis heard a familiar voice. He followed the voice, and emerged into a clearing occupied by a campsite. And sitting there at the fireside was the man whom he had thought he had lost. He took a feeble step forward, reached out his hand, a look of relief on his face, not fully comprehending the situation, only knowing that Darius was still alive. "Darius..." he managed to call out before he collapsed in a broken pile on he ground, barely breathing.
 
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Fielli felt no hunger, having eaten rations, but strangely empty, probably because, in summation, they were just trail rations. She sipped her water, noting that Pipqua had been hunting early in the morning, a bulge present near the center of her body. Picking the snake up, Fielli stroked in lightly, contemplating that perhaps the birds of before could have been eaten, though some just by Pip.

Moving towards Darius, Fielli listened to the conversation. No brilliant military tactician, she studied the map. If the climbed to the bridge, they would have the high ground. However, with all that food, those buildings, a watch...
What if there were too many men inside? What if they got swarmed? They had trouble with half a flock of birds, Fielli thought with worry. True, conditions might be better this time, but there was no promise.

Fielli was ready to speak, but realizing a warrior might be better, she only murmured, "No way to sneak past at all?" she would think their chances of running better than fighting, but a fight might be inevitable. These men did need training, though Fielli did not relish the thought of her shields being beaten into the dirt.

"Hmm.."
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Only the gods know how this man Xenosis found us. Perhaps it was meant to be, or perhaps he was sent here by some darker hand. Whatever truth is to come, this one thing remains: I do not trust him...
From the Diary of Darius Castablane​



Fielli had barely finished when the sound of the stranger falling at the edge of the campsite broke the party's concentration. They turned from the fire, seeing Angus already reacting. The ranger had been stood on watch, and Xenosis had barely hit the ground when Angus was standing over him, scimitar at the ready.

Darius pushed to his feet, falchion trailing in one hand as he crossed the open ground towards the stranger. Tong was not far behind. The two leaders formed a triangle with Angus, staring down at the bloodied and battered stranger. He was out cold.


"One of the Scorpion's?" asked Angus, pressing his scimitar to Xenosis's back.

Darius knelt on one knee, gently unsheathing Xenosis's weapons. "Were we followed?"

"Nah," muttered Tong, chewing a blade of grass as he squinted at the stranger. "We sure as 'ell killed all them birds. 'sides, this fella don't look like the tracker type."

Darius pulled back the sleeve of his jerkin, looking at his recent scars, then comparing them with Xenosis's. "This man has the same injuries and Ayumi and myself. It seems he encountered the zombies just as we did."

"That could be just what the Scorpion wants us to think."

"Aye. If yer askin' me, it seems mighty conven'yent that he found us."

"He said your name before he fell," added Angus, looking over at Darius.

The Paladin considered for a moment, before pulling the stranger's hands together. He took out his mannacles and clamped them around the man's wrists. "I'll bring him round and see what he knows. If our presence here is comprised, we'll need to move."


"Aye," drawled Tong, "What we be needing is a plan then. You 'andle 'im, and I'll muster the troops."

As Darius pulled Xenosis and carried him to one of the bedrolls, Tong turned and stalked back towards the campfire, getting everyone's attention as his voice grew louder. "Alright folks, show's over! If this ere whelp can find our camp, then it don't bode well for our secr'cy, now does it? So let's be getting ourselves a plan!"

He stood over the campfire again, twirling the blade of grass in his teeth as he looked at the map. "I say we take 'em 'ead on. Anyone put in this ere mountain pass ain't gonna be no elite. Prob'ly old men and young'uns. We get under that bridge and into thar courtyard - show 'em what real fighters are made of."

As Tong proposed the aggressive option, Darius placed Xenosis on one of the bedrolls at the edge of camp. He relocked the mannacles so that Xenosis had his hands in front of him, then brought a bowl of water and whatever bandages Ayumi could spare.

He would keep this man alive, but nothing more - not until his identity was more certain.
 
Jillian wasn't a strategist. That was to say, she'd never had any sort of training as one, had never learned military tactics, had never even played some of the old battle games with pieces on a board that some old folk enjoyed. So she had no idea if her contribution would even mean that much in this case. But she would still put it forth anyway, just to try and suggest something. It was certainly more useful than wondering about the dangers of an unconscious, barely-living man, at least while there was nothing they could immediately do about that problem.

"So, our goal is to kill them all so they can't raise the alarm, correct?" she stated, frowning as she scrutinized the map. "If there's too many more than the six inside there, we're probably dead anyway trying to attack, so we might as well assume it's just them, maybe a few more you haven't seen... If it's only the six, we could probably take them in a battle- the trick is to keep any from running before the fight's done...

"It'll take time for them to group together. There's the three on the road, but the three on the battlements are spread out. So send a group of perhaps... four? To storm the road. Send the ranger, for certain, if we're lucky he might actually get some use out of that bow of his after all. He'll try to shoot the sentry on the wall that's closest to the woods; that the one we'd have to worry about most, I reckon, if they're armed with bows, as well. The other two would have to come around to try and shoot. With that sentry down, him and the other three would run for where the road passes the battlement- they'll probably make it there before the sentries still on the battlements can get down, so all they'll have to fight at first is the three on the road. The sentries will still be focusing mostly on them, though, so while they're distracted, the rest of us will be able to run up to them more or less unnoticed until we're withing fighting range. Then we finish off whoever is on the ground, and go up the battlements to kill those sentries."
 
With a look around the group Sales could see the uneasiness on everyone's face. He recognised the feeling in himself, but the upcoming obstacle and with this new stranger that blundered his way into the campsite.

With the stranger 'taken care of', Sales went back to the darkness of his own thoughts.

With not knowing everyone very well, Sales couldn't tell what chance of success they had. But he did notice that everyone was dedicated to the cause. Perhaps that would be enough.

Sales could see people looking between Tong and Darius for leadership. He wondered which one would end up bringing them out the other side.

Sales had spent a lot of time around humans and seen their potential, but also seen how useless they could be, losing focus easily and fighting between themselves. He wondered what these men were capable of. Both seemed quite different, one quite impetuous, brash and confident; the other with an aura of discernment and self importance about him.

Sales found it difficult to think of the problem ahead of them, not quite getting rid of this uneasy feeling. He couldn't totally agree with Tong, thinking that there may be a way to pass this watchtower without killing everyone, favouring stealth or deception, therefore not shedding any blood. But since he couldn't think of anything himself, he couldn't bring that opinion up unless he had an alternative plan. He hoped that following Jillian's plan would be more humane.

Sales turned a little away from the campfire and spent some time praying to Corellon Larethian for guidance or some sort of sign for the right action, and a bucket load of luck.
 
Ayumi was not having the best of times. During the phase of the trek when she was actually conscious, Darius had almost never spoke. He breifly mentioned a rockslide, and that Ando was no longer going to be joining them. She worried about what would happen to Ando in the afterlife, as he had not been with them long enough for her to get a sense for him, nor when he died did she have a chance to preform funerary rites.

The business with the camp did nothing to raise her spirits.

"Do we have to kill them?" Everyone seemed to be assuming that combat was the best way to get through the outpost. It's as if they discounted the guards as humans (or elves, or maybe even dwarves), and denied their right to live based solely on their political affiliation.

A wounded man fell into their camp, and some of the others took him off to a tent. Ayumi was up on her feet and running after them as soon as she could. She threw open the flap to the tent and came to a stop by Xenosis's side.
"What do you think you're doing!" She paused for a bit. "We didn't come this far so that we can keep people prisoner." The cleric looked over Darius's work on patching up Xenosis's many wounds.
"And you're doing it wrong." She closed her eyes and held her ankh, muttering a short prayer under her breath.

In response the raw power of her deity manifested, sending a faint green pulse slowly moving over the area. As it passed over Xenosis, the worst of his wounds began to close, whilst the smaller ones disappeared outright.

She glared at him. "Go plan your assault. I'll take care of this guy." Ayumi tore the bandages off of some of the more poorly-patched areas, then got to work finishing up on the wounds Xenosis still had.

(Xenosis is healed for 9 HP, and stabilized if he is still in negatives. I'm the healer for a damn good reason.)
 
I wish I knew what troubles Ayumi so, what grievance she has with me. But perhaps she will never tell me. Perhaps there are things that even the saving of a life cannot pardon...
From the Diary of Darius Castablane​



Darius stood and backed away as Ayumi took over. His soft gaze lowered, frowning, trying to discern why the Cleric was treating him with such vexation. All morning it had been like this... harsh glances, short words. But he could not make sense of it.

"With your leave, I will keep the mannacles on him for now," he said quietly, "At least till we have some better idea of who he is."

Ayumi did not turn, nor answer. She set about bandaging Xenosis, the trailing light of her holy magics hanging in the air around her. With nothing more to say, Darius turned and headed back across the camp.

He arrived by the campfire to find Tong chuckling heartily. It seemed the fighter had been laughing for quite a while. There were even tears in his eyes.

"Heh heh heh! 'Must we kill 'em?' - a good joke, Cleric," He winked at Darius as he approached. "That lass o' yours is mighty entertainin'."

"Are her words really so insane?" replied Darius softly.

"Aye!" retorted Tong, "They are! What, ye really think we can waltz in there wi' nothing but a smile on our face and 'spect them to serve us tea 'n rice?"

"We could order their surrender..."

"Ye said it yerself, Paladin - 'less we want the 'ole damn mountain coming down on us, we gotta kill every rebel bastard in that place!"

Darius moved away, staring tiredly at the horizon, saying nothing further.

"Aye, I know what yer thinking," muttered Tong as he turned back to the campfire, "They're just some lads like us, caught on the wrong side of politicks. But mark mi words, all o' ye, it's kill or be killed time. They'll give us no mercy if they catch us, so we'll be sparing them none."

He picked up his rapier and sheathed it with a resolute hiss of metal, before nodding at Jillian. "Now then. I think the l'il lady here has the makings of a plan. I'll take the sneakier types and we'll get as close as poss'ble. Shoot a sentry then get ourselves under the bridge where we can hold 'em off. That'll give time for the clanky types like Darius 'ere to move in once the sentries come down off the battl'ments."

He moved around the campfire, picking up his backpack and spitting the blade of grass out of his mouth. "Way I see it, th' only way these loners can raise any kinda alarm is by riding up the pass to the next watchpost. So, 'long as we get to the bridge and block the courtyard, they ain't got a chance of squealin' on us."


 
Despite being partially lost in his own inner misery, Karwik had to admit that Jillian had a good thing going with her scheme. Not only did it make good use of everyone's power, but it also allowed the party to avoid being flanked or taken from behind. "I like it," he said out loud, albeit without much happiness behind his tone. "I would fall behind this plan." Examining Jillian's placement of the group, he added, "You know, if I could get a surprise shot off on one of the people on the road, I could probably floor him before he knew what hit him. Or I could sneak into the tower and get an accurate picture of the troop numbers."

Distracted by the sudden arrival of Xenoxis, the thief huffed when he saw that the matter was already under control, and just looked back at the map. Listening to Tong's additional suggestions for the plan, he found himself nodding. The authority figures were thinking of a scheme that had a high probability of working, and he had no problem with following along with it. "I'll follow you, sir," he said to Tong. "I'm definitely one of the 'sneakier types.'" Perhaps this plan would even work. Who knew?
 
Angus strayed from his guarding duty as soon as Darius called for the group to reunite, he wasn’t anywhere near being a knowledgeable tactician, but he learned what he could from his father. However, he, like Tong, settled for Jillian’s idea, it was good, for a druid.

The ranger sheathed his scimitar and went to his backpack, and to his bow.

“If this bleeding thing is cursed like Jillian says,” he glanced at the bow, “we’ll need a plan B, though I don’t mind killing them all either way.”

He turned to Tong, his hand resting on the hilt of his scimitar, “I doubt that’s what everyone else has in mind though.”

Angus picked up his backpack and spoke once again, “And, what do we do about the… intruder, we’re leaving him there with the cleric while the rest of us kill the rebels?”
 
Of all the races I have met in Paradox, it is the Elves who continue to hold my admiration. For they take all events and misfortunes with equal grace, and do not rage against their circumstance as we others do...
From the Diary of Darius Castablane​



Tong picked up his spellbook, dusting it down as he eyed Ayumi and the dark-clothed prisoner. "Nah," he replied to Angus, "That there's a Cleric o' Ra, and in 'ese lands she 'olds more power than the cabin boy 'ere." he nodded to Sales, the other cleric, who was helping clear up the campfire. "No way ah'm leavin' our best Cleric wiv a p'tenshul assassin."

He moved over to the bedroll where Ayumi was knelt and pulled Xenosis by the mannacles, lifting him roughly to his feet. " 'e comes with us, and if he tries anything you can put an arrow in 'is skull."

Angus grinned slightly, "Sounds fair."

Tong pushed Xenosis past the campfire and shoved him towards Darius. "'Ere ya go, Paladin. You used to be a sherrif, din'tch ya? The honour's all yours."

Darius steadied Xenosis by placing a hand on his shoulder, holding him while the others cleared up the camp and erased as much sign of their presence as possible. And with that done, Angus took point again and led the way into the narrow passages of the Genjobi Pass.


Half an hour later, the ascent began, the path becoming steeper and the rocks opening out. Angus and Jillian set a steady pace, and the combination of a good night's sleep and the fresher mountain air gave the party a new burst of energy.

It was only Darius and Xenosis who were worse for wear. The Paladin and his prisoner hung towards the back of the group, with Sales keeping nearby. The Elf could see that the two men were tired, but he kept his silence for now.

"I remember you," said Darius, keeping his eyes on the path as he came side-by-side with Sales. "When I chartered the boat, you were there."

"Yes," replied Sales eloquently, "It seemed Lord Shao was more in need of my skills as a Deckhand than a healer."

Darius smiled a little, but kept his eyes lowered. "I am sorry for your Captain. He was a good man - the only one in the camp who I saw tell a joke, or laugh, or sing..."

He paused to nudge Xenosis with his mace, prompting the mannacled prisoner to keep moving. They entered the first areas of forest beyond the rocks, where tall pine trees blocked out the sunlight.

Darius looked back at Sales. "And I am sorry you were caught up in this. I know you would not be here if you had a choice."

In the distance beyond the pine trees, the first glimpse of the Watchpost was coming into view.


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Xenoxis was in the castle, setting up his latest trap for the Emperor. Having finally gotten the placement of the bucket of water just right, Xenoxis climbed down off the ladder and thought to himself how lucky he was to have an emperor with a good sense of humor. Then he heard voices. Voices of people not from the city. Suddenly, the castle started to dissolve. Everything was black, or grey at best. Xenoxis heard voices around him, though they seemed far-off and distant, and he couldn't make them out. Without warning, he felt himself being yanked up to his feet by his wrists, rather painfully, and then shoved a distance before being caught by someone else. Xenoxis's heart sunk. The Scorpion's men must have finally caught him. Who he had thought was Darius must have been a captain of some patrol. The man to whom he had now been tossed to held him by his shoulder. Xenoxis heard distant sounds of all sorts, and was unsure what to make of it, as everything still looked too dark to make out. After the sounds subsided, the man nudged Xenoxis, getting him to move. They walked for a while. Every once in a while, light would shine on Xenoxis, and he's see bright light for a moment instead of blackness. However, this sunlight was strange. It didn't feel warm and welcoming like the golden rays of summer, nor did it feel tense and dangerous like when trying to infiltrate an enemy castle. In fact, it didn't feel like anything at all. The sunlight felt...dead.

Exhausted, Xenoxis paused for a second to catch his second wind, but promtly recieved another nudge from his guard. After walking a while longer, Xenoxis's senses began to come back, all at once. Xenoxis shook his head, dizzied from the sudden shock to his system. Opening his eyes again, he looked around, finding the man who was keeping watch over him. With a look of suprise, Xenoxis cried out, "Darius! You're alive! What's going on? Why am I bound like this? How'd you survive? Did they change the plan? Any word from Shao?"
 
Letting the rest of the party move onwards, Sales and Darius stopped as the prisoner started muttering. Darius pressed the man against one of the pine trees, keeping him at arm's length, while his other hand gripped the mace.

"If you are an ally, then you will lower your voice."

Sales stood a little behind Darius, peering over his shoulder at Xenosis. But it was clear that the Elf held the same sense of distrust.

"To answer one of your questions, stranger," spoke Darius's soft voice, "You are bound because you have not won our trust. We are men of faith, yet even we find it strange that you stumble into our camp, precisely where you are meant to be. Are we to believe that the gods simply delivered you to us?"




 
Xenoxis was suddenly pushed against a tree by the very man he had been searching for these past several days. Not wishing to test Darius's skill with his mace, Xenoxis lowered his voice before replying, "Wh-what? Darius, it's me, Xenoxis. I was supposed to be your guide through the Fallen Phoenix Caves, but I was ambushed along the way. I've been searching for you since. Did they not tell you what I looked like? I cannot believe that Shao would have been so foolish as to send you off without first giving you a description of the man you were to be trusting your lives with. As for how I found you, even I do not know. I dount it was by the grace of the gods, for they owe me no favors, though it may have simply been Fate or Lady Luck that brought me to you. Oh, and another question, where are we adn what are we doing?" Anyone trying to read Xenoxis as far as whether or not he was lying would easily be able to tell that the man was being completely sincere.
 
At the mention of the name Xenoxis, Darius's eyes narrowed and he regarded the stranger in silence for a few moments longer. The Paladin's eyes, despite their tiredness, were piercing, seeking out the evil and treachery that may have hidden itself inside this man.

"He speaks the truth," muttered Sales.

In time, the press of Darius's hand loosened and he stepped away from the tree, giving Xenoxis space. Then, slowly, he handed his mace to Sales and took out his key set.

"You are persistent, my friend," he said as he unlocked the mannacles, "Any other man would have returned to the Noble's camp. You would be dead now if not for the favour of Ra."

He took the mannacles away and then handed back the sheathed weapons he had taken from Xenosis.

"Are you able to fight us with us this day? We have lost enough time already."
 
Xenoxis breathed a sigh of relief upon the removal of his manacles. "Yes, Darius, I am capable of fighting. And I'll have to thank Ra. But there will be time enough for that once this whole Scorpion mess has been dealt with." Taking his rapier from Darius, Xenoxis strapped it tat his side, and looked around. Spying the watchpost in the distance, Xenoxis turned back to Darius. "Is that where we're off to? If so I hope you plan on waiting 'till dark. Going out in broad daylight would be suicide, and I for one have no desire to visit Death's doorstep lest it be after a long and wholesome life. And while we may have lost alot of time and are in need of much hurrying, we will do Shao and the late Emperor little good if we are dead."
 
A voice interrupted them, cutting harshly through the trees. They turned to see Tong, who had backtracked to find them.

"Great idea, Gen'ral. How 'bout we chop down these trees ere and make ourselves a trebuchet? We could sit on our be'inds for the next week and 'url rocks at 'em!"

The fighter smirked at the three, then at the rest of the party who had halted up ahead. "Y'all think we got the luxury o' time? Shao's got a war to fight, and his whole damn army is waitin' on us to deliver results!"

He drew his rapier, preparing it for the coming battle. "Angus scouted ahead. The 'unting party's moving out. That means there's three less o' the Scorpion bastards to deal with. And I ain't no sage, but if they're sending out three men to git food, then theyz can't have too many mouths to feed, am I right?"

He spat on the ground and turned, stalking back down the path. "'sides, I ain't gonna be running round on a moun'ain ledge chasing stragglers in the middle of the blasted night! We kill 'em now while we can see 'em!"

And with that the fighter was gone.

Darius slapped Xenoxis on the shoulder and gave a weak smile. "Tong has gotten us this far. Have faith my friend."

With weary steps, Darius set off after Tong and the others, keeping any further comments to himself.

 
As they got closer to the Watchtower, Sales finally had something to distract him from his negative thoughts.
Sales looked at the distance between the cover of the trees and the Watchtower, and wondered if some people could sneak across and perhaps take the guards by surprise, but it was a substansial distance.

Sales tapped Darius on the shoulder and said 'Perhaps it would be wise to cause some sort of distaction to get cross the open ground unseen? I could summon a bird to attack them which would keep them busy long enough for some people to get across unseen!? However i do believe we have an Illusionist with us who could perhaps have a better option!?'
 
It never gets easier. They say it does, but they're wrong. Killing never gets easier...
From the Diary of Darius Castablane​



"Not bad for a deckhand," replied Darius with a smile. He quickened his pace, leaving Xenoxis and Sales at the rear while he caught up with Fielli at the centre of the group.

"Our Elven friend tells me you know the secrets of the arcane?"

He lowered his voice as he saw Angus and Tong crouching at the edge of the treeline, looking out across the open ground towards the watchpost. Darius and Fielli crouched a short distance behind them, and watched the three-man hunting party departing up the mountain pass.

Darius glanced at the Illusionist again. "So what do you say, Miss Sien? Can you aid us in a distraction?"





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Fielli blinked at being addressed, unused to the attention, but tried to smile as she nodded. "Illusionist I am, I do work with the arts of the arcane. And I should be able to help you."

In truth, Fielli could at best hope her illusion would fool fleeing cowards. Silent image was the best she could come up with right now, but it would have to do. Selecting a language and rifling her fingers through the pouch at her waist, Fielli held in one hand a small wad of fleece.

Abyssal, a language to strike fear in the hearts of many, flowed from her small mouth as she flicked her fingers. The words might have been unimpressive in common, hauntingly lovely in Elven, but Abyssal made it powerful and dark. The language of demons and fell beings, though she was quiet, any patrol to chance upon them might well fear demonic presence.

From these components came a snake, three times as long as a man was tall. It was a vicious looking beast, bloody fangs dripping with beads of venom and fiery eyes, an inky black complemented by brilliant yellow. The snake, however, was oddly silent. No sound emanated from its jaws, but the silence and lack of smell might well add to the fear of the snake, or so she hoped. Coiled, fat and menacing, in the center of the open space, it reared its ugly head.

"...Is it, to your liking?"
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Leaning against a tree, Karwik gazed out over the long stretch between the treeline and the tower. This was no accident, he assumed, as those who occupied the tower no doubt needed to chop down a tree every now and then for a campfire. Besides, having nothing but open land in all directions aided greatly in the whole spotting of approaching enemies task that the tower's occupants presumably were in charge of.

Thinking it over, the thief had assumed, possibly quite accurately, that he would be spotted before being able to close the distance enough to strike with his blade. Therefore, the weapon which he had placed in his hands was none other than his thus-far-ineffective crossbow. Perhaps he'd have better luck shooting at unaware men in armor than he did when attempting to shoot down birds. Men could always dream.

As Fielli crafted her illusion of a giant snake, Karwik had to admit that it looked downright intimidating. He had heard from his father that even the largest snakes were capable of sitting in complete silence, but he attributed the lack of volume to the illusionist's own limitations. Not that he was especially disappointed in her lack of illusory powers (goodness knew, he couldn't craft a snake, audible or not), but at the same time, he wasn't certain that a completely silent snake would work on the sentries. He would just have to see for himself, he supposed.

In the meantime, he stood and watched. This was in someone else's hands, and he'd just have to see if he could get a part in today's proceedings.