D&D: The Genjobi Pass

Despite the alarm being sounded, the soldiers in the fort wouldn't be able to save themselves. Before Karwik's impressed eyes, the garrison began to fall quickly, felled one by one from the attacks of the rogue's friends.

That left the final one, behind cover in the upper rocks. Pulling back a bolt and locking it into place, the rogue poked his head out from under the bridge and opened fire, hoping beyond hope that his pitiful luck would change.

Just as the archer raised himself up to pull back his bow, he caught a crossbow bolt in the neck, and he slumped over his rocky cover, crashing messily back into the fort, right in front of Karwik and Fielli. The rogue felt like he'd be sick, but at the same time, he felt exuberant. Finally, he'd contributed something to this journey, and just at the proper moment too.

Wrenching the bolt out of his foe's neck with a messy noise, Karwik replaced it into his quiver. "Is that all of them? Did we win?" he asked to the group all around. Adrenaline had flooded his system at this point, making him feel giggly and lightheaded.
 
DM Post

Darius lifted his head from behind his shield, watching with relief as the three archers fell to the systematic assault. He was about to stand again when the doors to his left and right burst open, the soldiers in the buildings finally mobilizing.

Two men rushed out of what looked like a barracks on the left, their swords at the ready. Before Darius could react, he found his shield being kicked at by the first man, who was trying to give his comrade an opening. But Darius held firm, bracing himself in his crouching position. But even this was enough of a distraction for him. The second soldier lunged with his shortsword, getting around the shield and driving the blade into the Paladin's shoulder. It cut through muscle and tendon, embedding in Darius's arm and making him snarl in pain. [2 damage to Darius]

Then another shadow fell over him. From the forge building on the right, a third soldier emerged, wielding a weighty blacksmith's hammer. He crossed the distance to his friends and joined with them in the savage assault. Darius took the full force of the hammer to his back, feeling the scalemail dent and his internal organs shudder. [3 damage to Darius]

At the archway, the other heroes were about to react, when suddenly an arrow flew from the east, narrowly missing Karwik as he reclaimed his bolt from the fallen archer. And up on the battlements, Xenoxis ducked as a second arrow sailed past his head, forcing him behind cover.

The Hunting Party had returned... two of them on the road notching further arrows, while a third drew daggers and ran to cover behind the walls.
 
Darius and Tong Post

"Your rebellion... will fail!" growled Darius as he pushed back against the two men, getting to his feet and swinging his shield in a mighty arc. But the two soldiers on his left hopped clear, easily dodging the heavy object.

Darius was getting overwhelmed.



By the archway, Tong cursed again and nudged Angus with the hilt of his rapier. "Take out tha' damn huntin' party!"

And with that Tong raced back into the courtyard, throwing himself against the blacksmith as he raised his hammer to bludgeon Darius a second time. The warrior's rapier impaled the blacksmith, and Tong pushed him back onto the ground, twisting the blade to make sure he stayed down.



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No time to relax, it seemed, for out of the interior poured more troops, and at the same time, the hunting party had returned. Crying out in surprise when the archer's arrow barely missed him, Karwik cursed and loaded in the bolt he had reclaimed from his last victim. "Fielli, help the knight!" he said as he shouldered the crossbow and fired at the nearest of the two archers.

He might as well have been firing at the ground. Having misjudged the pull of gravity, he cursed as it fell short of the bowmen, no doubt giving them a few chuckles at the ineptitude of their foes.
 
'Typical' Sales thought after he saw that the hunting party had returned. Sales realised he had to accept fate and do what had to be done, and that was to get blood on his own hands and help to kill the rest of the guards.
Sales prayed for protection by casting 'Shield of Faith' on himself, he then opened his eyes and started running towards the stairs at the South-East of the Watchtower, while shouting to Angus and the rest of the group to follow him. Sales hoped that running to the stairs will give him some cover on the way towards the hunting party.
 
Just as Xenoxis thought the fight was over, an arrow flew past his head, albeit several feet wide. Dropping his meat shield, he spun around to see the return of the hunting party, much to his dismay. Seeing one of the members dash to the side of the outpost for cover, Xenoxis quickly grabbed the meat shield's bow and remaining arrows. Knocking an arrow, Xenoxis leaned over the edge just enough to get a shot at the hunter hiding below. Lining the man up in his sight, Xenoxis released the arrow, the string giving a slight 'twang' as it vibrated. The arrow flew straight and true, and with the added force from gravity, however slight, managed to pierce the man through the top of his left shoulder, plunging straight into he heart. The man crumpled to the ground where he stood.
 
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Fielli uttered a small curse, watching the paladin become engulfed by men. Her delicate locks of orange hair fluttered as she rushed to be closer to them, but the words of the other man, the one who had caught her, echoed. She was to help but how? With another deep sigh, Fielli could feel the almost tangible strain she was placing on her mind, the taxation of the spells would drain her if they didn't win soon.

So win soon! Fielli bit her lip in concentration, focusing on the man to the left of the paladin, the one closest to him in the front. With a sharp exhalation, she flicked her hands again and muttered the words she needed. 'Please let this work,' her mind whispered. Ray of Frost, a favorite spell of hers and one of the first she had learned. Pipqua hissed darkly.
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"No time," muttered Angus as Sales shouted at him to follow. Twisting on the spot, the ranger snatched two arrows from his quiver, letting them fly in quick succession at the last two members of the hunting party.

Kerthunk! the first arrow hit square in the chest, lifting one of the soldiers off his feet and throwing him across the road. His companion cursed and ducked, Angus's second arrow missing him by inches.


Jillian was by the ranger's side, loading a rock into her sling, even as Coda ran ahead of her. It was a longshot, but she had to try. With a yell she flung the rock down the road at the remaining soldier. There was a static charge in the air, a slight whine, and the rock glowed with the Elven blessings that Sales had evoked. The projectile sailed true, striking the soldier between the eyes, cracking his skull and sending him to the ground with a horrid crunch.


Meanwhile, inside the compound, as Tong finished off the blacksmith and Fielli's ray of frost turned a second mook into shattering ice and blood, the last remaining soldier dropped to his knees in front of Darius. "I surrender!" he cried, holding up his hands to the knight.


With a resolute frown, the Paladin swung his shield, clobbering the man across the face and knocking him unconscious. The soldier dropped and Darius turned, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the dusty courtyard.

"The day is ours, my friends. How fare you?"



Tong made no answer, wiping blood from his rapier, and up on the battlements Xenoxis gestured that he was unscathed. Sales poked his head out from behind a stairway, while the other four heroes came into the courtyard, sheathing their weapons.

"Ye got a deathwish, Paladin?" Tong sneered, clearly unimpressed by his comrade's tactics.

"These were no children nor old men," Darius replied, "And they tried to converse with Fielli's illusion. Does that not tell that they are no strangers to demons and familiars?"

"Well, mebbe we can put the squeeze on that young fella," said Tong, nodding at the unconscious soldier behind the Paladin. "See what 'e knows... before we slit his throat that is."

"There's no time!" Karwik interjected, "Those torches are warning beacons! The Scorpion will send reinforcements."

"He's right," sounded Xenoxis's voice from the battlements. The rogue was staring to the northeast, further up the mountain pass. There he could see a cloud of dust, kicked up by approaching horses. "Cavalry approaches... fifty, maybe sixty horsemen... by my reckoning they are fifteen minutes away."

"So much for the element of surprise," muttered Fielli.

"We can take the high pass," declared Angus, pointing to where the bridge of the watchpost joined the cliffs. "The ascent will be more difficult, but the cavalry will not be able to follow."

"It seems we have no choice. Very well. Angus, take point and..."

"Shut yer yapping!" barked Tong suddenly, interrupting the Paladin. "I'm still in charge o' this mission! We ain't leaving till we've had a look 'round this watchpost. Like the boy says, we got ourselves fifteen minutes. Let's see what we can't loot."

Darius was about to argue, when a hissing shout sounded from the building to the left of the forge. The heroes drew their weapons, frozen in alarm. The hiss faded and there was the sound of rattling chains and thumping from inside the building.

Clearly... something inside the watchpost was still very much alive...
 
Karwik was just about to jump for joy again when a noise sounded from within the fort. A noise of something bestial. No human could hiss like that. Gulping, the rogue reloaded his crossbow and walked slowly towards the interior of the fort, mouthing to his comrades, "I'll be right back."

Really, he wasn't planning on going far into the fort, just far enough in to see what was making the noise. As he stepped past the threshold of the doorway, he noticed first a pair of small tables in the middle of the inside room, with a few plates scattered across one of them. Obviously this was the area that the soldiers went to for eating. As he looked closer, he saw that a slice of bread had been halfway eaten on one of the plates. Those soldiers who had been inside must have been lunching when they had been attacked.

"Poor bastards," Karwik thought. "Bread is not what I could consider a good last meal."

Reminding himself that he had little time to sight-see, the rogue kept on following the sounds of clanking chains into a side room, which appeared to be a storeroom of some kind, albeit cleared out of all its stores except for one thing: an adult lizardman, clothed in traveling attire, and shackled to a wall.

Karwik couldn't help it. Stressed enough as he was about the approaching soldiers, and not noticing the fact that the creature couldn't go anywhere in its current state, he found himself quite unable to stifle a frightened scream. The cry echoed along the fort's stone walls, and out to where his companions could hear it. Certainly, he had expected to get confronted by the lizards, but he thought that when the encounter came, he'd be able to duck behind somebody. Instead, he took the next best option: falling over backwards and skittering out through the open door, slamming it shut behind him.

"SOMEBODY! HELP ME! IT'S A LIZARD!" he shouted, backing off as far as he could to get a good shot off in case the thing decided to come after him.
 
Darius had entered the mess hall and was peering into one of the discarded tankards. When Karwik came stumbling out of the side room, the slamming of the door seemed to shake the entire watchpost, as did the boy's shout. Darius gripped his weapons again and moved in front of Karwik, who was hastily loading a crossbow.

In the bricked side room, perhaps a grain store, the Lizardman was shackled. He was over seven foot tall, with a broad body wracked by scars and hardship. Darius moved closer, peering into the creature's eyes as it pulled against its chains.

He had encountered Lizardmen before, and this one's aura was no different - a soul that was primitive, noble, wild... but not malevolent.

Darius stood in the doorway, a good twenty feet from the prisoner, and in the hopes that this creature knew the common tongue, he spoke.

"What has brought you here, Lizardman?"




Meanwhile, back in the courtyard, Tong scoffed as he heard Karwik shouting about lizards. "Young'un's greener than a Dryad. Right..." He turned to the others and started pointing. "Enough time-wastin'. Let's strip what we can from this ere base. Gold, rope, food - whatever ye can find. Take a buildin' each."

With that, the fighter headed off to the Forge on the east side of the courtyard and barged through the door.
 
Sales was half dissapointed and half relieved that the rest of the hunting party was taken down before he had a chance to get to them, and it didn't help to know of the impending army in just 15 minutes and the 'hiss' from inside somewhere.
Sales didn't want to spend as much time here as Tong wanted to, so he went straight towards the stables to look for the chance of faster travel away from it all. Sales let the fighters deal with the supposed 'Lizard' that Karwik had found.
Sales found ten tired-looking horses and plenty of tack in the stables, so he then proceeded to get them saddled up.
Sales was struggling due to his lack of skill with horses, and only three of the animals seemed prepared to cooperate.
 
Not wasting to bother with pointless distractions, like lizards, Xenoxis set about gathering up more equipment from the dead archers. He also decided that he could use an enemy outfit, in case he needed to do reconassance behind enemy lines. He chose the least bloodied outfit and removed it from it's previous owner. Looking down into the camp, he noticed Sales trying to ready some horses. He quickly called down to the man, hoping to stop him from wasting more time. "Leave those horses be, or better yet, let them loose. They are of no use to us. The whole reason for our taking the high pass is because they won't be able to follow us on horseback. Also, I think it would be a good idea to try and hide the bodies. Or at least drag them off to the West. It may lead them off our trail, or at least delay them a few minutes more." This said, Xenoxis began hauling bodies to the edges of the walls and dropping them down to the ground. After all the archers were down, he began dragging them west, and leaving them along the road.
 
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Fielli followed warily after Sales, figuring she was little aid in appraising anything and it might be better for her to avoid getting trapped in a dark room, with her mild claustrophobia. Deciding that, as she had a bit of knowledge riding, she ought to attempt to acquire a horse, Fielli watched Sales saddle two of the beasts, which looked tired and wary of him.

Fielli reached a hand out, attempting to keep Pipqua's presence from alarming the horses. As the irate snake slithered down Fielli's arm, offended at her attempts to hide the serpent, Fielli struggled with the horses, a sigh catching in her throat.

"Pip...." she began, which led off into swearing under her breath in Common gutter language.
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There was a sense of pain, a quiet numbness spreading from his arms to the edge of his shoulders. Kryx gained consciousness slowly, shaking his head weakly as he tried to banish the effects of his recent beating. Hanging by his arms, the lizard folk could scarce even clench his fists. Above and below him chains chimed quietly in expectation of the next 'interrogation'. That's right he was...he had been...captured. Nyl? Dryk, Krax? Shsiress? Dead...they were all dead, felled by the weapons of the human soldiers.

The memory of their bleeding, twisted bodies brought rage back to the green scaled humanoid, prompting a feral growl and the shaking of his restraints...but there was no give in the well forged links...even his prodigious strength could not shatter these chains.

Straining, he listened to the vibrations emanating from the closed door...even confined, the screams and shouts were hard to miss. Perhaps his tribe elders had ordered vengeance on the pink skinned creatures and he might be reunited with his tribe. While the thought initially swelled his heart with joy, he was reminded of his failure to learn of the strange assassin moving through their swamps...certainly it would reflect on him poorly...how could he look into the eyes of the elder...or his Nestmother and not avert them?

But it was not his kind who opened the door...but a diminutive man who nearly fell back on his own feet in his effort to escape the chained Kryx.

Humans...they either slaughtered his kind or ran from them...as though the idea that a creature they had domesticated as pets and accepted as minor entertainments could not possibly have a cousin that could think.

Arrogant softskins.

The second man to make his appearance did not flinch from his gaze, and did not cower from his supposed savagery. Dangling there, his chains clinking a discordant tune, Kryx thanked Jalgarus for what he interpreted as a means to escape his bonds and continue his tracking.

"Your kind," Kyx answered the human quietly, his throat screaming for moisture. "They interrupted my hunt and murdered my brothers and sisters...only I alone seemed a worthwhile prisoner...Jalgarus damn them. You...you are Chief of your...tribe?" Kryx, while intelligent for his kind, wrestled with the relations humans and some other races created together. Non family groups of...mercenaries? Lifemates? It was hard to fathom any collection of creatures not directly linked to Kryx...the easiest way to classify the strange group of warriors was a tribe...it made him feel better to use it...a sense of familiarity imbued in the syllable.
 
Fortune is colourblind. It holds no discourse with race or creed. Whatever the quest or tragedy that befalls us, each creature of this world is subject. It is only the most sheltered men who hate what they cannot see within themselves.
From the Diary of Darius Castablane​



Time was running short. Darius could hear Sales and Fielli struggling with the horses, while others dealt with bodies and plundered the watchpost. The enemy would be halfway down the pass by now... he could almost hear the thunder of their hooves.

Lowering his shield, Darius looked again at the Lizardman. "No Chief... just another who has lost their tribe. The men who took you are dead. Consider it your vengeance and dwell no more on it. They have wronged me too, and I have wasted too many years in anger."

The paladin turned, gesturing to Karwik to lower his crossbow. From somewhere on the battlements outside, there was a call from Xenoxis.

The enemy were drawing closer.

Setting down his mace and shield, Darius called through to the mess room. "Karwik, we need to find the keys for these mannacles. Try one of the bodies. Hurry!"

Even as he spoke, he moved forward and took hold of one of the chains binding the Lizardman. "There are more of our enemy coming. If you value your freedom, help me now. If not, then make your bite quick."

He came close to the massive Lizardman, helping him to pull at the chains. The steel was strong, unrusted, bolted fast to the wall. Darius snarled as he exhausted all of his strength in the effort.


 
When he saw how cool and calm Darius was about dealing with the lizardman, Karwik was surprised, even more so when said lizardman started to talk in a halting manner. Somehow, he had never suspected that something so monstrous would be capable of speaking in the common tongue. This world was just full of surprises, it seemed.

However, when Darius told him to search for a key, a different thought had struck him. Perhaps this was a chance to show his worth as a thief. Pulling a set of lockpicks out of his side pack, the rogue shakily said, "A-Actually, if it's okay, I d-do have these." He somewhat lamely jerked his head over at the tools in his hands. After all, what could it hurt? He was smart enough to open plenty of doors back home, so how hard would a bunch of chains be?

It was a matter of seconds, really. Crouching down beside the keyhole for the chains, Karwik worked a pair of lockpicks around in the mechanism, and with a satisfying pop, the lock came undone. Now that the lizardman was free, of course, he backed off a little anyway and said, "O-okay, it's done. We should get out now."
 
Ayumi was glad the fighting was over. There wasn't much time until they had to go, for sure, but she did have enough time to take care of some business. She said a short prayer over the soldier's bodies, a simple one to make their spirits hurry to their designated portion of the afterlife and avoid tarrying on the borders of life and death. Even the seargant got this treatment. If he had been evil as Darius guessed, then it just meant he would get punished for his misdeeds that much faster.

She watched Xenosis toss bodies over the walls with some disdain, but did not get up to stop him. She'd end up wasting what little time she had arguing with him, and then none of these men would get anything close to proper rites. It was a hasty job she was doing now, but it was still something.

The hissing and clanking noise from one of the buildings caught her attention, but she relaxed a bit when some of the others went to resolve it.
 
Angus, who wasn’t about to hide his distress about the incoming enemies and even then, resorted to keep watch outside after having lingered for a few moments with Darius and Karwik, realizing he would be better off checking outside for the enemy.

They were getting too close for comfort, at least for someone like him who preferred to be as far away from his enemy as his arrows would fly. He went into the inside of the watchpost to warn Darius that they had to go, since he figured that Tong would want the fight too much.

He got within shouting range of Darius and Karwik, having heard the lizardman’s voice, he couldn’t figure what exactly it was, but he could figure the paladin had it covered, judging by hearing Karwik in the end.

“Darius, they’re closing in fast, if we wait any longer they’ll see us leave, likely they’ll do it anyway now, we have to go.”
 
Freed at last from the manacles that bound him, Kryx stood on unsteady feet. Cold yellow eyes unblinkingly held Darius and Karwik in a bloodless stare as the large creature clenched and unclenched his scaled hands.

"Thanksss of Jalgarusss upon you," the warrior growled, pushing past them to scour the rest of the room. His affects had been massed together, no human able to wield his axe nor fit the dimensions of his armor. Taking the handle of the prodigious weapon in both hands, Kryx hoisted the blade into the air...minutely inspecting it for nicks and cracks. It was the work of a few moments to don his armor, gathering the rest of his items into a spare pack and putting it over his shoulder, binding his axe to his back as well.

"But the blood of my tribe cannot be avenged by a pinkskin...though I am grateful to be freed." Pushing past the paladin and thief, Kryx strode out among the bodies of his enemies, sparing them only the briefest of glances. Their souls had departed and their life blood have been spilled...there was only one way to assure the souls of his pack would reach the Deep Swamp.

"I must continue the task my elders charged me with if I am to avenge the fallen...an assassin still roams this land and I cannot rest till I have discovered his purpose...and relayed it to my people."

Casting a stare over his shoulder, legs still numbed by his confinement, Kryx carefully considered his next words. Certainly there would be more humans like his captors defending the passage of the one he hunted...and these pinkskins seemed no friends of the soldiers. While most Mossdeep law forbade interaction with the pinkskins unless sanctioned by an elder, Kryx could recognize his inherent disadvantage in undertaking this task alone. Jalgarus forgive this betrayal of his elders...but this must be done.

"Human," he started, bowing his head respectfully to who he identified as the chieftain...admitted leader or not. "May I run with you for a time? Without my people, I cannot complete my task...I am too...different from you pinkskins to move without notice."
 
Darius listened to Kryx's request, then turned as Angus shouted through from the courtyard.

"Necessity makes us allies this day," the Paladin answered swiftly. "I am Darius Castablane, and your enemies are mine. Hurry!"

He slapped Karwik on the shoulder, a silent thanks for his lockpicking skills, and the two of them exited with the hulking Lizardman. At the doorway, Angus backed off instinctively, till Darius set his mind and others to rest.

"The Lizardman is friend to our cause. He will help us."

In the centre of the courtyard, Sales and Fielli were leading some sorry-looking horses up the steps to the battlements. And nearby, Ayumi was saying a prayer over the gathered bodies of the swordsmen. She had just found the Sergeant's belt, which was hung with a brass key and a gem-encrusted dagger [Appraise 17]. And behind her, Xenoxis had just returned, a torch in his hand as he began setting fires around the watchpost.

The sound of horse-hooves was building in the distance, and the dust-cloud kicked up by the enemy cavalry could now be seen above the walls of the courtyard.

"Where is Tong, and Jillian?" asked Darius as he counted their numbers.

"Tong went to search the forgehouse, and Jillian the armoury." answered Ayumi, frowning as she stood.

"TONG! JILLIAN!" shouted Darius, but there was no answer. A sense of unease seemed to build in the air.

Drawing a dagger, Xenoxis moved swiftly to the northwest building where Jillian had gone, kicking open the door. There was a terrified sound, and the rogue dropped his torch as something rushed towards him. He reeled, cursing as Coda the Badger scurried past him. The animal companion seemed terrified, and before anything could stop it the badger had fled from the courtyard and was running back down the mountain pass.

Xenoxis peered into the building, seeing only a dusty armoury where racks of swords and bows were rusting away.

Jillian was nowhere to be seen.

"She's... she's not in there..."

On the opposite side of the courtyard, Darius drew his falchion and moved to the forgehouse, kicking open the door just as Xenoxis had done. "TONG!"

KERTHUNK!

A heavy crossbow bolt hit the doorframe and splintered wood into the paladin's eye. He stumbled back, almost slipping on the pool of blood that trickled from the floor of the forgehouse.

"Look out!"

The paladin readied his shield, backing away from the shadowy doorway and the blood at the threshold.

The enemy were five minutes out, the sound of their snorting horses carrying on the wind, and in the courtyard another crossbow bolt flew from the darkness of the forge. Those horses that Sales had not saddled now bolted, fleeing with the remaining goats and chickens.

The situation was getting out of control...