"Girls Gone Wild:" A Fantasy Adventure in a Fantasy Land

[TimTimTyner]

"Girls Gone Wild"

CLOSED

A Fantasy Adventure
in a
Fantasy Land

OOC Thead​

Halloween Night:

It is a typical University Campus holiday party, with men and women, booze and drugs, music and dancing ... what am I missing ... oh, sex, too, don't forget the sex. Nothing new, nothing special, nothing different -- yet.

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Characters to be introduced in Amy's first post:

• The "Guide"
• (Name and image coming): Warrior
• (Name and image coming): Sorcerer
• (Name and image coming): Archer

 

[AmyRoberts]

The Halloween party isn't the best that 19 year old Wendy Wallace has ever been to, and she's contemplating telling her Sorority Sisters that she's outta here in favor of using the driver's license she borrowed from her her physically-similar sister to hit a local bar.

Before she can, Sharla Samuels hurries up to excitedly tell Wendy, "You gotta come meet this guy! C'mon, c'mon!"

Wendy really isn't interested in anyone who piques Sharla's attention: the two girls -- who have known each other since childhood -- are so very different from one another in so many ways. Wendy has always been very optimistic, very energetic, very outgoing, and very athletic; she had gone out for two or three sports nearly every year since 3rd grade.

Sharla, on the other hand, has always been pessimistic, dark, introverted, and bookish; she's spent hours a day for years in libraries, museums, and dusty old second hand bookshops, sometimes researching the oddest of topics from ancient rituals to pagan magic to whatever!.

Even their costumes speak something about their characters, Wendy thinks: while she herself is dressed in the superhero costume of Wonder Woman, complete with shield, sword, and magical bracelets, Sharla is wearing a long, flowing, hooded cape and faux-leather while carrying a leather, over-the-shoulder satchel filled with magical items, including a Tome of Spells, claiming that she is supposed to be a Druid. What the fuck is a Druid? Wendy thinks.

As Sharla drags Wendy along, the third of the Musketeers joins in, asking with just as much excitement, "Where ya goin'? What's happenin'?"

Rachel Reardon has been part of this friendship trio forever and a day, too. Wendy and Sharla both always saw her as a hybrid of the two of them: she was athletic in nature like Wendy but went out for not one team sport in all her years; she was outdoorsy instead, spending weekday afternoons and many weekends hiking and even hunting. And she was smart and studious like Sharla, but spent her time with her nose in books about nature, National Parks, Wilderness Areas, and such.

"Sharla met a boy," Wendy says with a wry tone.

"Not a boy," Sharla says. "A Warlock!"

"What the fuck?" Wendy groans. "I thought maybe you found a guy with some 'X'. I'm leaving."

"No, no, no!" Sharla begged. "Just come meet him. Please!"

The other two look at each other, shrugging. They follow her up the Fraternity's stairs to the third floor, off limits to girls theoretically, though, any one who knows Fraternity's knows different. They enter an attic bedroom to find...

"Holy fuck!" Wendy murmurs as she sees a scene like something out of a witchcraft movie: strange lighting coming from no where, mist wafting across the floor, items floating in the air. "What the--"

She doesn't finish her question; there is a powerful flash of light, and...

When the three of them regain consciousness, they are laying in a field under the open, midday sky. Wendy is the first to sit up, looking about, and mumbling, "So help me fuck, if that was 'X' or GHB and some guy fucked me without me enjoying it, I'm gonna be pissed at someone."

The three of them get to their feet eventually, checking each other for any signs of injury or abuse, even sexual abuse. They find nothing; they simply don't remember what happened after the attic bedroom.

"What happened to your costume?" Rachel asks Sharla. Wendy notices it, too: Sharla's costume is noticeably far more intricate and detailed in design now, made now of thick wools and handcrafted leather. "You look like you just walked out off a Hollywood movie set, not out of Salvation Army, which is where we went shopping for your costume."

"What about you?" Sharla in turn asks about Rachel's costume, which had been polyester, faux-silk and -leathers but is now real silk and leather is accompanied by a serious looking wooden bow with real feather fletched arrows in place of the plastic toy set she'd picked up at Toys-R-Us for the party. And the short sword and daggers she carries -- also previously plastic -- are now steel. Sharla looks to Wendy, who was already examining her own changes. "That looks real."

"It is, I think," Wendy says as she realizes that her plastic armor, shield, and sword are now combinations of real leather and metal. "They're heavy. I mean, realistically heavy, like they are in fact real. What the fuck is happening here."

Added: "Oh My God!" Rachel exclaimed as she fingers her ears. She had been wearing some rather realistic, pointy Elf ears that had used Spirit Gum to both hold them in place and make them appear more realistic. But now as she tugged at them, she cried out, "My ears! My Elf ears. Fuck, oh holy fuck! They're real!"

The other two women step up to each examine an ear, just as a a male voice speaks from nearby, startling the three women, "They are real. Everything is real."

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Characters:

• The "Guide"
• Wendy: Warrior
• Sharla: Sorcerer
• Rachel: Elven Ranger

 

[TimTimTyner]

"Everything is real."

The three women turn toward the voice. A distinguished looking man of perhaps 50 years of age approaches. He wears long flowing, grayish robes and simple sandals and carries an equally long staff that sports intricate carvings along most of its length with a large, uncut gem at the upper end.

"I am The Guide," he says before sweeping a hand out before him and saying, "And this is the Land of Rovalia. It is vast, continuing far beyond the mountains you see to the west and east, far beyond the desert plain to the south or the grassy prairies to the north. There are Kingdoms ruled by law and order and others that are not. You are free to go where you wish and do what you wish, without restriction."

There was a scream in the near distance toward which all three women to spin in surprise. A woman -- a peasant holding her long gown before her to free the movement of her feet -- is running from three men chasing after her on horses. If the newcomers turn back toward the man who identified himself as The Guide, they will find he has disappeared.

The woman screams again; she is in great fear for her life, obviously. She will reach the three Sorority Sisters just seconds before the riders reach her. The riders are dressed in leather and chainmail armor and have their swords drawn, holding them in preparation for use.

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Characters:

• The "Guide"
• Wendy -- Warrior, with long sword and steel shield.
• Sharla -- Sorcerer, with staff, daggers (2), and magic book.
• Rachel -- Ranger, with bow, short sword, and daggers (2).

 

[AmyRoberts]

"Everything is real."

As the man who introduces himself as The Guide is speaking, Sharla whispers with awe, "That's him. That's the guy, from the Frat. The Sorcerer."

The other two women argue in whisper with Sharla; neither of them saw the guy in the attic bedroom long enough to be able to identify him now, but neither of them understands enough about what's going on now to believe one way or another whether or not their Sorority Sister is correct.

"I've never heard of Rovalia," Wendy says. She looks to her more bookish friends. "Either of you ever heard of Rovalia?"

The may tells them, "You are free to go where you wish and do what you wish, without restriction."

"Where the hell are we gonna go?" Wendy asks. "We don't know where the fuck we are."

"Or how we got here?" Sharla asks, though, she already believes the cause to be magical.

"Or how the hell we got into what we're wearing!" Rachel adds. "Did someone undress us? 'Cause this ain't what I was wearing when--"

A scream behind them draws the Sisters' attention. They each see what is unfolding; not a one of them moves, unable to believe what is unfolding. Sharla looks back to the Guide, only to find him no longer there. She tells the other two, who see the same, then turn back to the action before them.

"What are they doing?" Rachel asks with building fear. "Are they, are they gonna kill her? Why? What the hell's--"

Suddenly, emboldened by forces she doesn't understand, Wendy rushes toward the screaming woman, calling out, "Come on! Come on, follow me!"

Rachel hesitates; she's not an aggressive person and has never been in a fight with anyone before, let alone what looks like it could become a violent, possibly deadly encounter. But she sees and hears her Sister from another dimension call to the fleeing woman to keep running, and after the latter has passed by the former, Wendy takes a stance with her shield before her and her sword at the ready.

She looks to her own hands and finds the bow; it is very much real now, and she is all too capable with such a weapon, though, in the past she'd only used one for competition and hunting, never combat. She whips an arrow from the quiver on her back, notches it, draws, and with just a moment of hesitation, looses it at the rider who will reach Wendy first.

Meanwhile, Sharla is waving the fleeing woman her way, calling out, "Hurry, hurry! Come to me!"

The desperate woman arrives, practically falling into Sharla's arms, causing them both to fall to the grassy ground. Without seeming to realize what she's doing -- acting entirely out of an instinct she doesn't even realize she has -- Sharla places a hand on the ground, fingers splayed wide, looks at one of the riders whose course will bring him directly at her and the frightened woman, and whispers, "Mud!".

She doesn't realize what she's doing, but she'd casting a spell that will cause the firm ground between her and the approaching rider to suddenly become soft mud. How much mud? How soft? How deep? How effective? Sharla doesn't know, because she doesn't really know what she's doing: deep in the recesses of her mind, she is remembering a story of a battle -- Agincourt maybe? -- in which soldiers in heavy armor were weighed down and restricted by muddy soils of the battle field and subsequently turned into Swiss Cheese by a horde of archers who used them like pin cushions.

The lead rider reaches Wendy: is he affected by an arrow loosed by Rachel, or did she miss the target?

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Characters:

• The "Guide"
• Wendy -- Warrior, with long sword and steel shield.
• Sharla -- Sorcerer, with staff, daggers (2), and magic book.
• Rachel -- Elven Ranger, with bow, short sword, and daggers (2).

 

[AmyRoberts]

OOC: For anyone following our story, I changed Rachel the Ranger. She is now an Elf with pointy ears, as seen in the image in the post above. I wanted to point this out so that you didn't find yourself confused at any point. (TimTim will change the images in his own posts eventually.)

 

[TimTimTyner]

Wendy rushes toward the screaming woman, calling out, "Come on! Come on, follow me!"

The approaching men have seen the other three women. They do not slow their approach. In fact, the lead rider -- seeing Wendy bearing her sword and approaching to protect his prey -- aims his ride toward the stranger instead.

d20=5

The woman with the bow -- who he has until now ignored -- is very skilled with her weapon, however, her aim is off and the arrow only cuts through his cloak before flying off to the distant ground. It does, however, distract the man from his intended target, the swordswoman at whom he is barreling down. He swings his sword as he passes by her (d20-5=10), striking her shield with force and -- added to the momentum from being horsebound (+5) knocks Wendy to the ground.

Wendy is stunned, laying there in the grass as a second rider barrels down at Sharla, who puts a hand to the ground and whispers, "Mud!".

(d20=4)

The ground between the stomping horse and the wannabe-Sorcerer gets a bit sloppy and causes the horse to lose only a slight amount of footing, but it is enough to cause the rider to flinch just enough to lose some of his advantage in the attack. He slows his horse and (d20-4=8) attempts a graceful dismount, only to loose his footing on the now-wet grass and hit the ground. (d20=12) He is disoriented a moment, but is to his feet quickly, again looking for the pair of women sitting on the ground.

Meanwhile, as the first rider is reining back his horse and turning for another mounted attack on Wendy, the third rider is almost to Rachel.

(OOC: Conduct the next phase of the battle. Use one of your other spells is you wish. I trust you to conduct this appropriately, like in our last RP.)

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Characters:

• The "Guide"
• Wendy -- Warrior, with long sword and steel shield.
• Sharla -- Sorcerer, with staff, daggers (2), and magic book.
• Rachel -- Elven Ranger, with bow, short sword, and daggers (2).

 

[AmyRoberts]

Wendy hears the arrow rush past her head, heading for the rider who is about to mow her down. She doesn't have time to wonder whether or not it hit the man as he rears back his sword. She has remembered a scene in some movie or another about a swordsman on the ground attacking not his attacker but the attacker's horse, and she was planning to do that. But she fears the sword high above her will cut her in half and instead sets her feet and raises her shield.

The force is simply unexpected and overwhelming, the sword smashing the shield into Wendy, sending her to the ground. She lays there a moment, stunned but still with her lungs full of air. She rises and regains her stance in time to see the her attacking swinging his horse about.

But a couple of dozen yards away, Rachel has seen her friend of so many years go down and has drawn another arrow. She checks the rider approaching her and determines she has time to loose another missile at Wendy's attacker. (d20=9) Again, unbelievably, the arrow rips through the man's cloak but doesn't find flesh. It does, however, gain his attention; he swings his horse and kicks it in the flanks, sending it at the archer who he has now determined is the greater threat.

As that is happening, Sharla's mind is being flooded by thoughts, some of which don't seem to make sense. She still has the fingers and palm of one hand pressed against the ground, feeling as thought that is important for some reason, as she reaches a second hand out before her and cries toward the dismounted man heading her direction, "Shine!"

(d20=11) The man flinches and squints his eyes for a few seconds, as if the sun had suddenly broken through clouds and blinded him.

Rachel, meanwhile, is cursing under her breath at having wasted two arrows when her friends are in such danger. She notches a third arrow, but then realizes that the third rider is too close; she rolls away, protecting her bow and its arrow (d20=16), and once she has again found her stance on a knee and a foot, she levels the arrow at Wendy's former attacker, calms herself, and fires. [d20+2 (for concentration) +2 (for proximity; he's fucking close) =23]

The arrow penetrates the man's neck, sending the forged metal head and half the shaft through his bones, muscles, and blood vessels. Again, she tries to roll out of the way of the still charging horse (d20=2) but gets violently thumped by the beast's powerful legs. She rolls away in instant pain and agony, stunned, and out of the fight for now.

The battle continues, though, with Sharla once again calling on powers that until now she never imagined she had. Now clutching tightly at the grass beneath her hand and begging silently for help from Mother Earth, she hollers loudly at the man who presumably wants to kill her, "Pain!"

(d20=19) The man suddenly cries out in obvious agony, clutching at his body as if someone has stuck a sword deep into his chest. He staggers about, his sword dropping to the ground, just as Wendy comes up from behind and [d20+10 (obvious advantage)=27] jabs her sword forward, sending it entirely through his chest from back to front and cutting his heart nearly in half. He drops to the ground, dead before he reaches it.

The third man (d20=8) sees that his two comrades are dead or dying, wises up, and aims, then kicks his horse toward home; he's had enough of this bullshit. With the only archer in the group down, there is no one to do anything about him.

Sharla calms the sobbing woman, signaling Wendy to check on their comrade. (d20=9) Rachel is out cold with abrasions to her face, but a quick check of her body finds no bleeding or obvious broken limbs.

"We need a place to hide," Sharla says to Wendy before looking to the woman they saved. "We need a place to hide. Can you take us someplace safe?"

(d20=20) "Yes, of course," the woman says. She rises and points toward a not-too-distant woods. "There is a cabin, there, not too far but well hidden. They won't find us there."

She smiles wide and says, "My name is Michelle. Thank you. Thank you all for saving my life. Come, come, I'll show you."

By now, Wendy has already thrown Rachel over her shoulder. The 5'5" 21 year old is petite of frame, a mere 32B-22-32 and maybe 110 pounds on what Rachel considers a bad day. The 5'8", 20 year old Wendy, however, has a well muscled frame that measures 36C-24-36. She is totally capable of lifting and carrying her smaller friend.

(d20=5)

However, looking off to the woods and mentally measuring the distance, she realizes that she isn't going to be able to carry Rachel the full distance without stopping for a rest or getting help. She commands, "Let's go, let's get out of here!"

They hurry off and get about a quarter of the distance before Wendy says she needs to stop. They do, and while they rest, she asked the woman, "Why were those men trying to kill you? They were trying to kill you, weren't they?"

(d20=10)

"No," Michelle says, before hesitating and saying, "Maybe."

"What does that mean," Sharla asks anxiously. We just killed two men to protect you. Don't tell us we just murdered two innocent men!"

"There was nothing innocent about those men," Michelle informs them. She goes on to explain that her town, Riverbend, is under the control of a brutal Lord whose force of about 20 armed men control every thing and everyone in it. "Count Quinn killed most of the husbands and many of the sons and enslaved the rest of the townsfolk. He turned many of the women into whores for his men and for his brothel, which serves other violent men from around the region."

Sharla began, "How does this involve--"

But Wendy cut her off with a hand to her arm and the softly spoken words, "You were being forced?"

Michelle nods, sobs, and continues, "I ran away two times before, only to be caught. This time, you saved me, and you can save my town and my family and friends, too. You are heroes, I can tell. I see that. Please! You have to save Riverbend from Count Quinn and his men."

"First, we have to get to safety," Wendy says. She looks to Rachel (d20=14) and finds the girl returning to consciousness. "Can you stand? Can you walk?"

"Yes," Rachel manages, rising to her feet with help. "What happened?"

"You kicked fucking ass on those dickshits, that's what happened, girl," Wendy says proudly as she and Sharla flank their friend and help her off toward the woods.

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Characters:

• The "Guide"
• The PCs:
  • 
    Wendy -- Warrior, with long sword and steel shield.
  • Sharla -- Sorcerer, with staff, daggers (2), and magic book.
  • Rachel -- Elven Ranger, with bow, short sword, and daggers (2).
• Others:
  • Michelle -- a villager.
  • Count Quinn -- local despot of the village of Riverbend.
  • ~17 violent ruffians (occupying and controlling Riverbend under Quinn)
  • ~50 villagers

 

[TimTimTyner]

d20=14

The four women reach the woods eventually, but not without being seen. Luckily for them, the spying eyes belong to another of the villagers who has fled Riverbend for the safety -- though not luxury -- of the thick forest.

d20=13

This man, Marcus, makes his way through the forest along the tree line, intending to find the women and inquire as to whether they need help or not. (OOC: See the PM I will send you.)

The women rest a bit longer, then head into the forest. They get about halfway there when Marcus calls out from the foliage, "Hello!" He pauses, then after silence he says, "I'm not here to harm you. My name is Marcus. I'm here to help."

d20=18

"Marcus!" Michelle calls out. "Marcus, it's me, Michelle."

"Michelle?" the man calls back. His rushing through the undergrowth is obvious, then he pops out into view with a glad look on his face. "How are you here?"

The two move to one another and hug enthusiastically. Michelle turns to the other three, explaining, "Marcus is my cousin. Count Quinn tried to have him killed and he fled. I feared he was dead, until now."

They speak together about Marcus's life in the forest for the last few months, then the pair of them lead the others to the cabin. It isn't much, just a single room, wood hut with a thatch roof. A gently wafting pillar of smoke rises: Marcus explains, I've been living here since I discovered it a couple of weeks ago.

Inside, they find the place (d20=1) poorly equipped. Marcus explains, "I'm sorry, there is no food. I have no weapons for hunting, and my snares have been constantly visited by predators who scavenge the prey in them as fast as I trap them. I have a little bit of water, but it hasn't rained for weeks and the spring outside dried up, too."

They lay or sit down on the dirt floor, relaxing and recuperating.

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Characters:

• The "Guide"
• The PCs:
  • 
    Wendy -- Warrior, with long sword and steel shield.
  • Sharla -- Sorcerer, with staff, daggers (2), and magic book.
  • Rachel -- Elven Ranger, with bow, short sword, and daggers (2).
• Others:
  • Michelle -- a villager.
  • Count Quinn -- local despot of the village of Riverbend.
  • ~17 violent ruffians (occupying and controlling Riverbend under Quinn)
  • ~50 villagers

[/QUOTE]

 

[AmyRoberts]

Reaching the hut in the woods, Wendy and Sharla both grimace: it looks one good wind away from being blown over. Rachel, however, loves it. "My folks have a place just like this."

Marcus explains that there is no food and that his hunting has been a disaster because of predators. Again, Rachel speaks up, telling them without explanation, "I got this."

She's still a bit too unsteady to be hunting woods that are unfamiliar to her, though, and instead sits down with the others to rest. She's almost immediately asleep, as are the other two Sorority Sisters. Something that hasn't occurred to them is that while they believe they'd been unconscious for hours prior to this -- they were late into the night of a party last they recall -- they were actually at the party less than an hour ago; to their bodies, it is somewhere around midnight.

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d20=11

Just about dark, Michelle quietly awakens the three newcomers, gesturing them to remain silent with a finger to her lips. "There's someone in the woods. Marcus went out to lure them away if necessary."

(As previously determined by a great roll) The cabin in well hid in the woods beyond thick forest and a change in elevation of the land, something the Sisters had noticed. But Wendy is eager to go out and check on these intruders. Michelle and the other two women try to talk her out of it, but she's insistent.

"I'll go with you," Michelle says, "otherwise you'll likely get lost."

"I'll go, too," Sharla says. She blushes a bit as she contemplates what she wants to say, then explains, "I am intrigued by what happened out there today. Those spells I casted. I've long dreamed of having magical powers, and I always thought there was something inside me that was ... different! I need to be out there with you, please."

"If she's going," Rachel said, "then I'm going, too."

Soon, all four of them are venturing out into the woods. Michelle leads, as she knows the forest; Wendy follows close behind with her sword but no shield; Rachel insists on taking up the rear, in case something dangerous comes at them from behind; and Sharla, of course, is third in the single file sneak through the trees.

d20=17

After several minutes, an owl hoot causes Michelle to signal the others to stop. She hesitates, then repeats the hoot, following it with the chirp of a local insect that isn't vocally active after dark. The chirp sounds, then repeats from before them, and Michelle whispers to Wendy, "It's Marcus, and it's safe to move forward."

They do so, and soon they have joined him on a slight rise overlooking a small clearing where a fire burns, surrounded by men. (d20/5+2=5) Marcus raises his hand with his fingers splayed, mouthing in near silence, "Five." He moves closer to Wendy and whispers, "We should go back."

"No," she counters immediately. "We take them here and now, while we have the surprise."

Marcus eyes Wendy with surprise, as do the others. She smirks the way she does when she's involved in a successful sporting event and knows victory is assured and tells the four, "We can take them here and now. It makes sense. They aren't expecting us, we have the surprise."

She looks to Sharla, asking, "Do you think you can pull one of your magical surprises to give us the advantage?"

Wendy doesn't want to do this, but she's never been able to tell Wendy no. She considers the request and says, "I can cast a Shine spell again. I think it strikes them with bright sunlight, blinding them like stepping out of a dark house on a sunny day."

"Good," Wendy tells her. She looks to Rachel. "You shooting the first man will be Sharla's sign to cast her spell. I will get as close as I can and signal you, you fire--"

She looks again to Sharla. "You cast your spell, and we'll just keep attacking until they're all dead."

"We're really going to kill these men?" Sharla asks timidly.

"They were going to kill us," Wendy reminds her, adding, "and they're here now to kill us. So yeah! We're gonna kill them."

They go over the plan again, adding the sole male of the group to the mix with the use of Rachel's short sword. Wendy and Marcus carefully head down the slope, taking their time; no one's in any hurry to get this going, only to end it successfully. [d20+4 (for surprise)=14] They get to where they're going with the only concern being when one of the men rises, thinking he's heard something. But he dismisses it as being the horses and sits back down again.

Sharla -- who had removed her bracelets for fear they would reflect the light of the fire -- now uses her sword's surface to flash light in the direction of the group's archer. (d20+5=22) The men don't detect the signal, but Rachel most certainly does. She draws an arrow and looses it at the back of the nearest man.

(d20+5 for surprise=8)

Rachel's unbelievably bad luck persists, and the arrow sails right past the man's neck and sticks instead in a tree on the far side of the fire. The men hear the sound (d20=13), and while they know it to be a loosed arrow, they do not detect its source.

As Rachel is drawing another arrow, Sharla presses a hand to the ground and calls out, "Shine."

But nothing happens. She repeats with desperation, "Shine!"

Again, nothing. Suddenly, Sharla somehow understands the problem: "The sun isn't out! It's night! It won't work!"

Wendy and Marcus are poised to attack, but without the distraction of the spell, the former tells the latter to wait. Another arrow flies through the air, (d20+5=12), sinking into the leg of one of the intruders. He screams out in pain, dropping to the ground as the other 4 men are totally on guard, waiting for an attack.

"I got it!" Sharla suddenly calls out. She looks to the campfire around which the men are gathered and calls out, "Flames!"

d20=17

Suddenly, the fire explodes as if someone has thrown a pint of gasoline onto it. (d20/4=2) 2 of the men are thrown to the ground, while the other two hurry away from the fireball. Wendy sees this and tells Marcus, "Now!"

The two of them rush out toward the men, just as Rachel is again loosing an arrow at a standing man: d20+5=13, the arrow enters the man's weak side shoulder, resulting in him crying out, too. But he's still able to swing his sword as (d20/10=1) Marcus reaches him, swinging Rachel's borrowed sword. (7,7,20) The two men clash swords, then again; the intruder stumbles, and Marcus slashes a third time, nearly taking the man's head off.

To his right, Wendy is attacking the second standing man. (11,5,17) The first exchange does no damage, but Wendy's second attack unbalances her; the man slashes and it appears he is going to miss the University student, yet the tip of his sword catches the front of Wendy's thigh, ripping a slash for several inches. She cries out in pain, but steadies herself, drawing on her experience with athletic injuries to tough it out. The man charges, not realizing that he is opening himself to her attack, and Wendy puts her sword deep into his chest.

The two men who'd been affected by the Flames Spell have recovered, (4,9) but they are contending with more arrows being fired their way. They crouch, looking for the archer, and thinking they know where she is, they both charge her way.

Meanwhile, Sharla has been contemplating her role in this fight. She'd used Mud earlier in the day, not all to successfully, of course, so when she sees the two men heading her and Rachel's direction, she casts that spell again. (5) Again, there is little result, with the men only slightly slowing down.

Marcus is already heading at the two, (15) and although he successfully catches up to the nearest, (2,6), the exchange of blows doesn't fair well for him: he is stabbed in the chest, then slashed across the arm before miraculously blocking a third attack.

Two more arrows fly through the air without success, but a third sinks into the back of the man standing over Marcus. Wendy, struggling with her bleeding leg, is hurrying for the last man standing, but he is too quickly approaching Rachel, Sharla, and Michelle in the trees.

"His-s-s-s-s!" Sharla calls toward the man who is less than a dozen feet from her and moving fast. (18) The man stops suddenly, and although Sharla cannot see the man's face -- the fire silhouettes him -- she senses that his expression is one of sheer terror as he believes he is seeing a large snake standing tall before him, support much of its (16) 16 foot length on the coiled remainder of his body.

Rachel notches another arrow and looses it. (9) It misses again! But Wendy has caught up with the last man; her first slash cuts him across his back, causing him to spin around to face her as she sinks the blade deep into his body.

The man falls to the ground, and the fight is over. Wendy falls to the ground as well, calling out her need for help for her sliced leg. Rachel and Sharla hurry to her, and Michelle rushes to her brother, who presses his hand against his bleeding chest while his arm simply bleeds openly.

"We have to get back to the cabin," Rachel says. "My God, Wendy, this if bad. This is bad."

Wendy is able to walk with help, and several minutes later, they are inside the cabin. With their knowledge of first aid, Rachel and Sharla use tourniquets to stem the bleeding, then find some rags to rip into bandages. Michelle puts water over the fire -- for reasons her ancient mind doesn't understand -- and when it's ready, the wounds are thoroughly cleaned.

(15, 12) Sharla's wound, which hadn't hit a major vessel, it closed up more easily than is Marcus's stab to the chest. They don't believe that his heart or lungs are damaged, but the bleeding persists. Wendy looks to Sharla and asks, "You got anything in that magical bag of tricks that'll help us?"

"I dunno, I just, I just dunno," she says. She backs away and contemplates, then heads outside and looks both about the forest, then up into the sky. Something, anything! Tell me what to do! Tell me what to do! (3,3) But nothing is coming to her. She goes back inside and apologizes, "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."

"Put my daggers into the fire," Wendy tells Michelle. "Rachel's, too."

Marcus's sister understands and does as told. Minutes later, they remove one glowing blade after another from the flames and press them to the wounds. Marcus's chest would is seared closed, and while his arm wound and Wendy's leg wound rip open once again each, they manage to finally close them with a second and third application of painful heat.

As the two injured fighters lay back to relax and seek sleep, the others watch over them. Rachel moves away at one point and sobs. When Sharla goes to her, the Ranger cries, "I failed. I failed Wendy. I missed every time. Every time!"

That wasn't true, of course; she did hit once. But she was devastated by how poor her performance had been. Sharla sooths her friend's bruised ego, "This isn't like shooting at round targets on the range or hunting deer, Rach'. Those were men. Flesh and blood men. You shouldn't feel bad for not killing them."

Sharla checks on the injured, finding Marcus passed out from blood loss and pain. She tells Wendy, "I have some ideas on some herbs that might help us. I'm taking Rachel with me. She knows more about identifying them than I do."

(9,20) The pair goes out into the woods surrounding the house, and while they can not find the herbs that Sharla somehow knows will help with the pain, they
do find some others that will aid with preventing infection. They return to the hut and get to work, preparing them.

It is only a few hours before dawn (18) when Marcus opens his eyes, smiles, and asks, "What's for dinner?"

He is not going to bleed out after all it appears, (1,4) but as morning arrives, they find both Marcus and Wendy suffering from fevers as infection begins to set in. They clean the wounds again, but it's obvious that they need another fix.

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Characters:

• The "Guide"
• The PCs:
  • 
    Wendy -- Warrior, with long sword and steel shield. Injured; sliced open thigh that is becoming infected.
  • Sharla -- Sorcerer, with staff, daggers (2), and magic book.
  • Rachel -- Elven Ranger, with bow, short sword, and daggers (2).
• Others:
  • Michelle -- a villager; Marcus's sister.
  • Marcus -- a villager; Michelle's brother. Injured; stabbed in the chest and sliced left arm; becoming infected.
  • Count Quinn -- local despot of the village of Riverbend.
  • ~17 violent ruffians (occupying and controlling Riverbend under Quinn)
  • ~50 villagers

 

[TimTimTyner]

"The village has a Healer," Michelle reminds the others. They'd spoken of Martha earlier, but with it still dark, it seemed unsafe to go to the town. Now, with the sun up, they can at least see danger coming. "The Healer will have medicines. We must go, or my brother and your friend will die."

They head out (OOC: which are up to you), using the forest as far as possible, then the tall fields of grass and wheat, then finally the open. (7) They are spotted as they are entering town and approached by just one of Count Quinn's men. He recognizes Michelle (17), but she is lucky in that he isn't aware of her flight from the day before.

"Where have you been?" he inquires. "You appeared to be coming from the forest, but I don't see any basket of mushrooms or edible flowers or such. What were you doing out there?" He looks to the other(s) and asks, "And who are you? I don't recognize you."

(OOC: If she/them don't pull off a good story, he might get suspicious.)

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Characters:

• The "Guide"
• The PCs:
  • 
    Wendy -- Warrior, with long sword and steel shield. Injured; sliced open thigh that is becoming infected.
  • Sharla -- Sorcerer, with staff, daggers (2), and magic book.
  • Rachel -- Elven Ranger, with bow, short sword, and daggers (2).
• Others:
  • Michelle -- a villager; Marcus's sister.
  • Marcus -- a villager; Michelle's brother. Injured; stabbed in the chest and sliced left arm; becoming infected.
  • Count Quinn -- local despot of the village of Riverbend.
  • ~17 violent ruffians (occupying and controlling Riverbend under Quinn)
  • ~50 villagers

 

[AmyRoberts]

Rachel and Sharla both decide to accompany Michelle to Riverbend, hoping to offer her protection if it is needed. As it turns out, the lone soldier they met is unaware of Michelle's renegade status and shows more attention to the two new girls.

Fearing that their appearances might lead to questions they couldn't answer, Rachel and Sharla took precautions. The Ranger dropped her bow and quiver in the tall grass just outside of town, slung her sword farther back to be less conspicuous, and swapped her beautiful cloak for the dirty, raggedy one Marcus had been wearing when he first came to the forest weeks earlier.

Sharla had done something similar. She had left her satchel behind as it simply screamed of value in a world now dominated by crooks. She'd also shed some of the most intricate and costly layers and decorations of her Druid clothing, then tied the leather thongs that kept her cloak closed to hide her other layers.

"And who are you? I don't recognize you."

The easiest lie to remember is the truth, Rachel thought to herself, so she told the Soldier, "My friend is injured. I would like to see the Healer, please."

 

[TimTimTyner]

The soldier gives Rachel an extra long look, then steps closer; she had tried to hide her Elven ears with her cloak's hood and her forward swept hair, but the man sees the tall points.

"I've never fucked an Elf before," he says with a lewd tone and smirk. "Is your friend hurt enough for you to lift your tunic and dropped your trousers and fulfill one of my life long dreams? They say that once you've put your cock inside an Elf, there's no going back to regular pussy."

 

[AmyRoberts]

Rachel's heart begins pounding faster as the Soldier makes his proposal that they be allowed to see the Healer only after she lets the man fuck her. Her blood begins to boil, and inside her bound cloak, her right hand shifts back, looking for the scabbard in which her sword awaits.

But a quick thinking Michelle prevents bloodshed by moving up close to the Soldier and lying in a seductive tone, "You don't want to do that, sire. My Elven friend here has been promised to Lord Quinn. But I'm not promised to anyone--"

As she talks, Michelle reaches a hand to the man's crotch and cups his manhood. She smiles to him, purses her lips for an air kiss, and says, "Let me show my friends to the Healer's home, and then you and I will find us a quiet place."

 

[TimTimTyner]

The soldier is disappointed to learn that the Elf is destined to spread her legs for his boss, but feeling the local girl's hand grasping his balls alleviates some of the pain. He smiles, saying, "Send them ahead, and you can stay here with me. They don't need you to escort'em. It ain't that big a town."

If Michelle agrees, the soldier will let them pass and then take Michelle off to behind one of the nearby houses for a quick fuck. If she doesn't, well, we'll see.

 

[AmyRoberts]

Michelle gently kneads the soldier's man parts in her hand while rising on her tippy toes to give him a soft kiss. She whispers, "Of course. But, let's go to my home. I don't want to do this behind some chicken coop or sow's pen."

d20=9

The soldier seems hesitant, so Michelle kisses him a second time while still fondling his balls and growing cock. She whispers, "My bed is soft and warm, like me."

d20+4=9 (fuck!)

Still, the man only looks between Michelle and the other two women with skepticism. Rachel steps closer, offering, "And I'll join the two of you. I don't think my friend is woman enough for such a handsome, brave, strong soldier."

d20+6=15

The soldier's lips spread in a smile at the thought of having two naked women in bed pleasuring him. He nods. Michelle takes him by the hand, turning him toward her home; she lives with her extended family in the house that is most centrally located on the village's southside. (Image) The other women fall in behind the pair.

They reach Michelle's home. The village girl gestures the Sisters toward the next structure to the east, saying to Sharla, "That door, there on the south end. The healer is there. Go, get help for our friends."

She takes the man's hand and urges him to her home's door. Once they are inside, the darker interior forces them to hesitate to adjust their eyes. At that moment, Rachel pulls one of her hidden daggers and lunges at the soldier. (d20+4 for surprise=22). The blade sinks deep into the man's back as Rachel covers his his mouth with her hand, smothering his cry of pain. He falls to his knees, then to his face, dead.

"Let's get to the others," Rachel tells Michelle; the latter has a shocked expression on her face from an attack she hadn't expected. The Ranger looks out into the village for prying eyes (7) and sees no one of concern, just villagers walking about and a couple of armed men who don't seem to be too interested in this part of the community. "Let's go."

They cross the open space between the home and the Healer's (14) without any undue attention. Sharla has already spoken to the Healer of the injured, and when Michelle arrives, it is easy to convince the woman to help. Martha puts together a small bag of herbs and poultices and such.

Looking out of the house, (2) they find a trio of soldiers near, too near to allow them to return to the woods. They would have to wait: were the soldiers looking for their missing man, were they just wandering about, were they going to leave?

 

[TimTimTyner]

d20=12

The three soldiers continue to mill about; they are looking for the now-dead watch stander but -- honestly -- they aren't looking too hard.

But it seems obvious that the trio isn't going away anytime soon as they gather around a cart full of straw and chat.

 

[AmyRoberts]

"We have to do something," Sharla whispers to the other three women.

"There're too many of them," Michelle warns.

"We need a distraction," Martha suggests.

"No, we need to kill the bastards," Rachel growls. The other three look to her with surprise, but she continues, "We're gonna try to get these guys out of this town, right? Kill them, kill this Count of theirs? We're not going to do that by hiding or running away."

"But we don't have Wendy here to help us," Sharla says. "We don't have her sword."

"We don't need Wendy's sword," Rachel says, pulling out her own. "I may have been shit last night with my bow, but I can stick this thing into a guy's gut just as easily as Wendy can."

They talk about options, coming up with a plan. The Healer emerges from her place of service, gestures frantically to the three soldiers, and calls, "Please! Help! She's dying."

(13) The men hesitate a moment but then hurry across to the door, through which Martha has once again disappeared. Then they enter, they find the Healer hovering over Sharla, who is sitting on the floor and leaning against the wall next to the hearth, in which a modest fire is burning.

"She fainted and I don't think she's breathing!" Martha continues as the men enter. "I think she might be dying."

(11) One of the men moves forward to help, but the other two stop just inside; one of them looks around as if thinking an ambush just might be in the works. (11) He sees something suspicious and turns to check out a space behind some furniture.

Suddenly, Sharla opens her eyes, pushes Martha aside as she slips a hand into the ash and coals of the fire -- ignoring the pain of the heat -- then extends her open palm and splayed fingers at the man coming her direction. "Flames!"

(21) The flames of the fire explode outward, splashing against him like a wave. He cries out in a mix of surprise and pain, catching fire. The man who'd been nearing the hiding Rachel, spins toward Sharla, just as the Ranger leaps up and comes up from behind him with her sword aimed at his back. (24) The blade penetrates flesh and bone, coming out the other side. The man collapses to his knees, and as she pulls the blade out, he falls forward, essentially dead.

The man in the middle of the floor was shocked by the attack of fire, (8) but not enough so to not see Michelle emerge from hiding, waving the Healer's staff about. But, this is all a distraction. As she screams at him, feigning being a serious threat, Rachel is coming up quickly behind him. (21) Again, her sword sinks deep into a man's torso, killing him before he ever hits the hardwood floor.

(10) Silence would be reigning in the house at this point if it weren't for Sharla's crying at the pain of the burns to her hand. She had sensed that without being able to directly contact the earth, she would need to contact the stimulus for her spell, the fire in the hearth. But now her hand is burned, from the fingertips to above the wrist.

Martha moves to her quickly, cleaning the wound, applying a pain killing salve, then wrapping it in a poultice. She feeds Sharla a balled up leaf surrounding a nasty tasting paste; the Sorceress doesn't realize it's opium in both its powdered and leafy form. It'll take about ten minutes, but eventually Sharla will be pain free -- and a bit loopy.

They hide the dead in the home's back room, then check outside of the building again (-2) finding absolutely no one in sight. Hurrying, all four women head for the forest, picking up Rachel's bow and quiver on the way. (1) They escape to the woods and reach the hut without being seen.

"How is he?" Michelle asks Wendy about her brother. She hurries to him; (8) he is unconscious and feverish, but he's still breathing, barely. Martha gets to work on him immediately, and Michelle joins the other two women as they are checking on Wendy. "How are you?"

(5) Wendy, surprisingly, looks horrible, despite being conscious. They tend to her wounds again, applying salves and poultices and feeding her some of the opiate pain killer. Sharla feels worthless until she remembers the Tome of Spells she'd left behind for the trip to the town. She opens it to search for some sort of Healing Spell, (8) but she finds that most of the spells are in a rune that she doesn't understand.

She finds one that has symbols that would seem to indicate it has a medicinal purpose. She goes outside and sits under a tree, looking over the spell, studying its symbols, speculating on what they might mean. (16) It takes more than two hours, but suddenly, the runes begin to make sense. She continues to study and speculate, and soon she believes she knows enough of the spell to take a shot at it.

She gathers herbs and other bits of nature from the forest near the cabin, heads inside again, and does her best at acting out what she believes the Healing Spell is telling her. (14) It seems to be working on Wendy -- or maybe its the salves and poultices -- and after several minutes, the Warrior who'd passed out during Sharla's studying opens her eyes and asks meekly, "Can we order pizza?"

The other Sisters laugh, and Sharla moves to Marcus to repeat the steps with him. (18) Even though he is in much worse shape, he, too, opens his eyes and smiles to his sister. It'll be until tomorrow, possibly even longer, before either of them is well enough to be up and around, but the hope is that they will in fact survive their wounds and infections.

 

[TimTimTyner]

The sun rises. Martha checks and changes bandages and poultices. (4, 14) She is concerned about Marcus; his fever has returned and he won't regain consciousness. Wendy, however, is recovering; her fever has broken and she's able to stand on her injured leg.

Martha then tells the others, "I must return before I'm missed, or before the bodies are found in my shop."

"You'll need help," Michelle tells her. "I'll go with you."

The two head back to town, (2) but on the way they are intercepted by 2 soldiers on horseback. The men question them about coming back from the woods so early in the morning. One of them recognizes Michelle as a woman who was being groomed as Count Quinn's new play thing.

Can they come up with a story that will keep them out of trouble?

 

[AmyRoberts]

"I am the Healer," Martha tells the two mounted soldiers when she and her companion are intercepted. "I gather from the forest in the mornings, while the dew is still upon the fruit."

The men didn't know any better, and they had no reason to doubt the woman who had often tended to their wounds, though, often begrudgingly.

"Aren't you the Count's new girl?" one of the men asks Michelle. "I heard you ran."

"You heard wrong, my good sir," Michelle says, giving him a respectful curtsey. "I am on my way home after helping gather in the forest, to bathe and dress for our master."

(14) Her presentation to the man is good enough that he tells her, "Get on with it then. The Count will be up and around by now and will be expecting food on his table."

(18) Without any more fuss, the two men ride off toward the south -- toward the forest in which the cabin is found -- to look for the men who were supposed to be on watch.

Meanwhile, Martha and Michelle gather some others who they know they can trust. They wrap the dead men and -- after pulling up the floorboards -- hide them under the Apothecary, knowing that if they can't get the corpses out of town in the next day or two, the natural scent of the building will help cover the smell of the rotting bodies.

Many of Riverbend's men had been killed early in Count Quinn's takeover, but there are still a dozen or so who are fit and brave enough to stand up, if they feel they can will a battle with the Lord and his force. They confiscate the dead men's weapons and hide them about the village for near-future use, based upon the description of the three newcomers that they are given by Michelle and Martha.

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Meanwhile, in the forest, Sharla and the limping Wendy have returned to where they'd killed the soldiers the night before. They find 5 horses, still peacefully standing where they'd been tied, and begin gathering weapons, coin purses, and other things of apparent value.

(17) Wendy is a bit shocked at how many coins the men have between them. "I mean, I'm not sure how much this is worth here, in this time, in this place, but I've watched Lord of the Rings and Vikings and Merlin, and this looks like a lot of coin for a handful of common thugs."

(OOC: You haven't created the money system yet, but I did roll a 17. )

Once they have everything they think they should scavenge -- including some more capes, cloaks, hats, and other local wear that might help them blend -- they head back to the cabin. Marcus isn't fairing any better, so Sharla returns to studying her Tome of Spells. (18) She had found an unusual tree that intrigued her; she sits below it while she studies the Tome, feeling it will help her to better understand the runes that, thus far, have eluded her comprehension.

(17) Finally, after just minutes of study, the Runes begin to make themselves clear to her. She realizes that she hadn't accurately read the Healing Spell. She studies it further, returns to the cabin, and tells Wendy, "Come help me. This takes two people, not just one."

They flank Marcus, and as she puts the Warrior to work administering an assortment of herbs left behind by Martha, Sharla begins chanting over the dying villager. (12) after an exhausting 2 hours of attention, the gently writhing Marcus goes peacefully still; (5) the fever won't break, though, and after another 2 hours, he looks as though he might actually getting worse.

"I must study more," the Sorceress tells the Warrior, returning to the Special Tree. She tells the unconscious Marcus before leaving, "I will figure this out. I won't fail you."

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Again meanwhile, Michelle and Martha have been quietly moving about the village in an effort to gather assistance in overthrowing Count Quinn. He is a hated man, and there is now help from strangers who already have killed 11 of the Lord's 20+ men in less than a day.

(1) But there is trouble, serious trouble: Count Quinn has been alerted to the fact that many of his men seem to be missing. He sends a messenger on the West Road to gather (3) men who are on a job; another messenger leaves on the East Road to ask for assistance from his brother, who has a small army (17) of his own. (4) (Of course, Quinn's brother very much dislikes his brother, so odds are he might not send help or if he does, it will only be after Quinn is defeated and the troops sent are being done so to take over Riverbend for the brother.)

In the meantime, Quinn calls on the rest of his men -- 15 left-- to immediately gather all of the villagers for questioning.

Will someone break? What will Quinn do to get answers? And will our Heroines realize what's happening in time to do something about it?

 

[TimTimTyner]

The messenger on the West Road has a (20) minute long ride to find the 3 men who Count Quinn sent to a small hamlet to collect taxes; the messenger on the East Road only has to ride (4) miles, but once he gets there he has to convince Count Windom to send some or all of his small army of 17.

Quinn's remaining 13 men (after the absent messengers) begin rounding up the villagers, going from house to house, hut to hut, field to field.

Seeing this, Michelle calls a small boy to her who (20) is very aware of where in the forest the cabin is located. (17) he hurries south of the town, into the fields; his small stature and caution gets him away easily.

He arrives at the cabin as Sharla is studying under the tree. He tells her that the villagers are in danger.

 

[AmyRoberts]

"We have to help them," Wendy says upon hearing that the villagers are in danger.

"You're injured!" Sharla reminds her friend. When Wendy insists, Sharla goes to her and attempts to heal her more with the spell (14) that is continuing to understand more. "Does that feel any better?"

(8) "Not particularly, but I don't see that that matters," Wendy says, gathering up her sword and daggers, as well as some of the dead soldiers' weapons. "We're going."

Outside, Wendy asks the boy, Robert, "Can you ride a horse?"

(20) "Of course," he says. "I am a messenger, first for our noble lord, now for Count Quinn.

Wendy and Rachel equip two of the horses with the confiscated weapons, telling Robert, "We are going to ride into the town, whooping it up to get attention. We'll be on the, what, what direction are we looking again?"

"That's north," Robert tells her, pointing toward town. He smirks as he points twice again, saying, "West, east."

"Okay, smartass, we'll be on the west, the left," Wendy continues. "You come in from the east with the horses and get those weapons to anyone who can use them. Understand?"

As Robert is nodding yes and mounting one of the horses with a boost from Wendy, Rachel points out, "You didn't ask either of us if we can ride a horse."

(20, 1, 13; R, S, W) "We were at riding camp in 5th grade, dummy," Wendy says to Rachel. "Hell, you're a better rider than anyone I've ever known, so get in the damn saddle and let's go."

They both look to Sharla, who is suddenly looking very concerned. She tells them meekly, "I've never been on a horse."

"Fuck, seriously?"

Sharla shrugs to Wendy. "My family didn't believe in beasts of burden. We never even had a dog or cat, 'cept for the stray cats that adopted us and lived out in the yard or garage."

"Why can't she ride with me?" Robert asks. "She can ride on back 'til we get to the edge of town."

Sharla isn't at all excited about riding a horse, but agrees. She goes up to the horse Robert is about to mount and pets its nose while whispering sweet nothings about how she is sorry to make it serve her in such an unforgiveable way.

Wendy watches in silence, finally saying, "Once you're done proposing marriage, get on the damn thing. Let's go!"

"What about Marcus?" Sharla asks with concern. Without waiting for an answer, she rushes back into the cabin and attempts to heal him further.

(20) Miracle of miracles, his sweats stop within seconds and he opens his eyes. Weakly, he asks, "What's a pizza?"

Sharla laughs with great relief; she can see that he is suddenly getting better but -- beyond that -- she can feel it deep in her soul as well. "We are going to town to help you sister. Stay here, don't move. We'll be right back."

Without really thinking about it, Sharla leans forward and kisses the handsome man on the mouth. She pulls back, blushes, giggles, then repeats, "Don't move. I'll be back soon."

She runs outside, smiling wide. Wendy asks, "What's going on?"

Sharla says nothing about the kiss, instead only saying, "I think Marcus is going to be fine."

In her mind, she's thinking Marcus IS fine!

(8) They reach the edge of the wood and scan the open plain before them, finding the 3 mounted soldiers riding nearby but away from them. That interrupts their plan for Robert and Sharla. They backtrack a bit and stick together, riding through the forest until the reach the riverbank to the west. They follow it until the reach the forest's edge and can see Riverbend.

"We're going to go right up the road," Wendy tells Robert and Sharla. She points to the right of the structure that is Michelle's home and the next that is the Apothecary, and tells the boy, "You ride that way and come in from behind."

They wait for him to follow the woods easterly before he heads out into the open, then the two of them kick their horses forward. Sharla has her shield over her back to hold the reins in one hand and her sword in the other; Rachel -- the equestrian archer -- is standing upright in the stirrups, knees pinching tightly for balance, with an arrow drawn in her bow.

She hasn't had much luck with her primary weapon so far, but something about being on horseback gives her great confidence.

(OOC: Pausing here for you to describe what's happening in town.)

 

[TimTimTyner]

There was fear amongst the villagers as they were being rounded up. All totaled, Riverbend had a population of 50 men, women, and children. There had been 10 people working in the forest or in distant fields, and only 5 of them had returned, fearful of what might happen to their children.

Rounding the villagers up were only 10 of Count Quinn's soldiers as 3 of them were over the hillock at the forest edge, unaware of what was happening in Riverbend.

Michelle couldn't be certain that Robert had made it to her Sorority Sisters, and even if he did, would they come to the villagers' aid? She skipped away from the gathering and hurried toward Quinn's house.

(6) "Where do you think you're going?" a soldier at the doors asked, cutting her off.

"I'm here for Lord Quinn," Michele said, curtseying with her eyes down. "I believe he's been waiting to spend some time with me, if you understand my meaning."

(13) The soldier was hesitant, but he escorted Michelle inside. Just inside the door, though, he searched her for a weapon, just in case her intentions weren't as advertised. Michelle had expected this and wasn't carrying.

"M'lord, someone to see you," the soldier announced.

Quinn emerged from his bedroom; he was being helped into his clothing by yet another of his young play things. (14) He seemed relatively happy to see Michelle and, after ogling her, dismissed both soldier and the other young woman.

"Help me dress," here commanded, returning to the bedroom.

Michelle followed Quinn, but once in the bedroom began untying the ties to her dress, asking, "Wouldn't you prefer to be taking off your clothes, m'lord?"

(19) Quinn smiled at the suggestion and the view of the pretty, young blonde unfastening her clothing. He told her, "I think that is a much better idea."

Michelle moved slowly; she was in no hurry to have this monster's cock inside her and was only offering herself to him in the hopes that nothing horrible would happen outside without the Count's presence.

Pulling the shoulders of her dress outward, she let the gown fall to the floor about her tall boots. Her beasts like the rest of her were young; the firm orbs seemed to defy gravity, and the sudden chill of exposure caused her nipples to swell large.

Quinn waggled an extended fingertip at the slip that still hid her body from the waist downward. Michelle hesitated, then pushed the garment off her hips. It collected around her calves.

Quinn obviously approved as his gaze took her in from head to legs. Michelle had a delightful, hourglass figure, and Quinn's body reacted as expected. Knowing that she'd been expected in the Count's bed, Michelle had shaved her legs and trimmed her bush. It was something that the Royalty and Nobility liked, and the self-titled Count had told Michelle it would be expected of her as well.

Without direction, she moved to the bed, laying in the middle expectantly. (1) But before Quinn could begin removing his clothes or even simply pull out his cock to fuck Michelle over the edge of the bed, the soldier from earlier pounded on the door, calling out, "M'lord! We are under attack!"

Quinn looked at Michelle, wondering immediately whether or not she was acting as a distraction for the ambush. (8) He did, of course. "Bring her. As she is!"

The soldier rushed the bed, but Michelle rolled away, screaming, "Please, m'lord, I didn't do anything! Please. Please, don't hurt me!"

Quinn had already left the room, carrying his boots and weapons belt, which left the soldier alone to catch Michelle, and she wasn't having it. She ran about the room, grabbing and throwing anything she could find at the soldier, screaming the whole while.

Finally, she thumped him on the head with a heavy vase. It only disoriented him for a moment, but it was enough for her to get past him, out of the house, and into street, still stark naked.

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Moments earlier:

One of the soldiers gathering the villagers hears the sound of fast approaching horses. He looks to the southwest, and his eyes widen in surprise: 2 women -- one of them standing tall in the stirrups and loosing an arrow -- are nearing the gathering at a full gallop.

(OOC: Wendy has the same hit chance, however, the damage is doubled. Rachel has a +5 to hit with her bow while on horseback, and if she successfully strikes, her bonus increases +1 with each kill. She's a fast learner.)

 

[AmyRoberts]

Wendy and Rachel are approaching the gathering of villagers quickly. Rachel is feeling more confident than ever, standing tall in the stirrups as she looses an arrow at a soldier facing the pair, calling out, "Alarm! Alarm! We are under attack!"

(15) The arrow hits the man in the shoulder, causing him to begin pulling back, grasping at the wooden shaft. Rachel is already notching another missile, firing: (16) this arrow penetrates his thigh, dropping him to the ground and out of the fight.

The pair continues forward; as the soldiers turn their attention to the southwest, (6) the vast majority of the men, women, and children panic and scatter, uncertain of whether the attackers are anymore friendly than the soldiers with whom they've been living for most of a year.

To the east, Robert is slowing his horse near the Apothecary. Sharla slips off the horses back, (4) and sees a pair of soldiers coming her way with their swords at the ready. Once again, she presses a hand to the ground, reaches the other out before her, and hollers, "Mud!"

(19+4) Her eyes widen and she laughs out loud as the 2 soldiers practically fall into the ground as it magically becomes a bog. The two flounder as Robert dismounts, pulling the leather-thong bound swords and daggers from the saddle. He doesn't realize the significance of the Mud spell and hurries past the soldiers.

Sharla is about to call out a warning to him not to get caught up in the suddenly soppy soil and yet he runs right past the men -- the soil is still as firm as can be to him. Robert looks for men to take the weapons he is carrying (4), but not avail him of the blades, instead running past him, seeking safety from the battle taking place on the other side of the nearest buildings.

Sharla is shocked to see such cowardice. She calls for the adults -- she speaks to men and women both, being a woman of the 21st century -- but other than look her way, none show heed to her words. She hollers at the 20 or so adults within her view and casts a spell she isn't even consciously aware she knows: "The Power of the Earth be with you!"

(16) The villagers are mostly farmers, with a handful of goat and sheep ranchers as well, and the words coming from the Druid bring forth the power of the earth on which they earn their living. Most of them stop, looking at Sharla and looking at one another, and suddenly they begin turning back and rushing toward the battle!

Meanwhile, on the west road coming into Riverbend, Rachel has been loosing more arrows as quickly as she can draw them and find targets: Rolled 1 D20: 14, 8, 11, 16, 12, 14 become (with the bonuses) 19 (dead), 14 (disabling hit), 17 (soon dead), 22 (right in the eye!), 19 (through the heart), and 23 (through the man's throat!)

Rolled 1 D20: 9, 14, 20, 15, 15

Wendy, meanwhile, is swinging her sword as she rides by soldiers, sending one to the ground with what will be a life ending injury, then killing another four men in rapid succession. When she finally brings her horse to a stop and dismounts to look for more foes, she realizes that there is no one left standing any longer other than the villagers and her own team.

All around her, the villagers are cheering; some are stomping on or beating the soldiers, who are dead or near death. Wendy looks off toward the ruins of the former Lord's keep and finds one last man striding toward the mayhem. She knows by his body language that he must be Count Quinn.

(18) She would expect him to find a horse and flee, but instead he continues proudly and confidently forward, his sword in one hand, a large dagger in the other. One by one, the villagers go silent at the sight of their oppressor coming their way. Soon, the only sound in Riverbend is that of the wind blowing through the structures. (6) A few of the men who have taken up arms stand their ground, but it's obvious that none of them are willing to be the first to fall to Quinn's blades.

Wendy knows that she must be the one to face him, and she strides out before the villagers, who themselves are backing away or even leaving the Village Center. She is conflicted about her next actions: she isn't a Warrior in the true sense, with her most aggressive activities prior to the last days having taken place on the Rugby field. But she has killed today; she killed yesterday; and she will once again kill today if necessary.

(12, 16, 22) But then, the sound of an arrow cuts the air, and the missile sinks into Quinn's dagger-carrying arm. Wendy flinches in surprise, looks to her right, and finds the still mounted Rachel loosing another, then another arrow at the man who has so terrified this village for so long. The second arrow hit the Count in the chest, the third his neck. He drops to his knees, clutching at the blood spewing through his fingertips, and a moment later, he collapses to the ground, dead.

There is stunned silence for a moment, then more cheering. (16) A moment later, someone calls out, "Riders! Riders to the south! It's Count Quinn's soldiers!"

The 3 soldiers who had gone to the south woods to look for their missing comrades are returning at a gallop. Sharla is the nearest of the Sisters, and as Rachel is riding up to near her, she reaches a hand out and calls, "Shine!"

(19+4) Not only to the men react to a perceived blast of light in their eyes, but the horses react, too; one of them comes to a dramatic stop, throwing its rider, while the other two leap and lurch and spin dismounting a second rider and putting the third at a disadvantage of having to struggle to hold on.

As Rachel looses more arrows (19, 9, 17), a dozen villagers shoot past her and Sharla. They take the men down, beating and stabbing them until all three are dead.

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Earlier, in the next town east:

"M'lord, your brother requests your assistance," the Messenger delivers the news to Count Quinn's brother. "He fears his missing men have been slain by unknown forces, forces that may then become a danger to you, m'lord, should they get past Riverbend and travel this direction upon the East Road."

(6) Count Turan isn't fond of his brother, and to be honest, he doesn't really care whether or not Quinn survives whatever is happening in Riverbend. But, like the Messenger says, a threat to his brother's town could be a threat to his own, too. He calls his Captain, telling the man, "Take 6 men with you to Riverbend. Look into this threat. Aid my brother is you believe you can without getting your own selves killed. I will not waste good soldiers on a lost cause."

Now:

The Messenger and the 7 soldiers from Greenhill arrive at the East Bridge in time to see the devastation. A villager had seen them coming and called out, and now Wendy, Rachel, Sharla, a redressed Michelle, and a backing of 9 armed men await just past the west end of the bridge.

What happens next? Will the soldiers attack, negotiate, or depart?

 

[TimTimTyner]

At the Riverbend East Road Bridge:

Captain Warton, his 6 men, and the Riverbend messenger wait at the east end of the bridge. The force on the west end of the bridge is only slightly larger, at only 13 combatants.

But Warton can see from here that half of them are women. Women! What threat does a woman present to men of war. Right? Yet, even from here, Warton can see the bodies of men in his brother's colors littering the packed dirt road and village center, and other mostly adult villagers are gathering around the buildings on the north end of town, watching for what might unfold here on the bridge.

"Have them send a representative to the middle of the bridge to speak with me," Warton tells the messenger. When the man seems hesitant to ride into the jaws of the dragon, the Captain tells him, "Or, I can kill you here and now and send one of my own men across to speak to them."

The messenger goes across the bridge tentatively, and once he is on the other side, an anticipating Warton begins walking his horse slowly out onto the bridge, planning on stopping in the center.

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Characters:

Wendy -- Warrior

• Picture, Profile
• Weapons: long sword, daggers, and steel shield.
  • Hit Bonus: +5
  • Damage Bonus: +4 on horseback

Sharla -- Sorcerer

• Picture, Profile
• Weapons: Staff, daggers (2), and magic book.
• Hit bonus:
  • Staff: she is yet to practice with it, so right now it is Zero.
  • Daggers: again, unpracticed.
• Magic Book: Spells include:
  • "Mud" (+3)
  • "Shine" (+3)
  • "Flames" (+2)
  • "Hiss" (+1)
  • "Power of the Earth" (+3)
  • "Heal" (+5)

Rachel -- Elven Ranger

• Picture, Profile
• Recurve bow.
  • Hit bonus +4 on the ground
  • Hit bonus +6 on horseback
  • Hit bonuses increase +1 with each battle including multiple, successive, successful hits.
• Short sword and daggers (2): no bonuses yet as she hasn't used them.

Others:

• Michelle -- a villager; Marcus's sister.
• Marcus -- a villager; Michelle's brother. Injured; stabbed in the chest and sliced left arm; becoming infected.
• Marth -- Apothecary Healer.
• ~50 villagers: 8 men, 14 women, 28 children
  • Notes about Riverbend residents:
    • Count Quinn's conquest resulted in the deaths of 20 men, 12 women, and 4 children.
    • Also, 6 men, 12 women, and 16 children were taken away as slaves. (No more about these people is known at the time of this posting.)

Bad Guys:

• Riverbend: its Lord was killed by Quinn; no living relatives to inherit.
  • Deceased -- Count Quinn: local despot of the village of Riverbend.
  • Deceased -- ~20 violent ruffians (occupying and controlling Riverbend under Quinn)
• Greenhill: controlled by Quinn's brother, the self-appointed Count Turan.
  • Count Turan: the now-deceased Count Quinn's brother.
  • Captain Warton: Turan's Captain of his Guard.
  • Turan's army: 17 men.

 

[AmyRoberts]

At the Riverbend East Road Bridge:

"Have you ever heard the saying, 'Don't kill the messenger'?" Wendy asks the man delivering Captain Warton's message. The man nods. Wendy gestures toward the ground. "Dismount. Drop your weapons. And run away. Or I will pretend as if I haven't heard that saying before. Understand?"

The man looks about the men and women facing him, then toward the Village Center where the dead are being stripped of their valuables, including the boots and most of their clothing. He immediately dismounts, disarms, and runs back across the bridge, passing the Captain as he goes.

"I'll go talk to him," Wendy says.

"I have your back," Rachel says, displaying her bow. She smiles. "I did good back there, didn't I?"

"You did good," Sharla says, smiling. "We all did."

"Can either of you believe that this is fucking happening?" Wendy asks. Her Sorority Sisters both shake their head. She urges her horse forward, and a moment later she is near the middle of the bridge facing Captain Warton.

(OOC: I adjusted the damage Wendy causes on horseback as we earlier discussed in PM and downgraded Marcus's injury status. I also increased Sharla's "Heal" spell. I love the new look, btw.)

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Characters:

Wendy -- Warrior

• Picture, Profile
• Weapons: long sword, daggers, and steel shield.
  • Hit Bonus: +5
  • Damage Bonus: double on horseback

Sharla -- Sorcerer

• Picture, Profile
• Weapons: Staff, daggers (2), and magic book.
• Hit bonus:
  • Staff: she is yet to practice with it, so right now it is Zero.
  • Daggers: again, unpracticed.
• Magic Book: Spells include:
  • "Mud" (+3)
  • "Shine" (+3)
  • "Flames" (+2)
  • "Hiss" (+1)
  • "Power of the Earth" (+3)
  • "Heal" (+7)

Rachel -- Elven Ranger

• Picture, Profile
• Recurve bow.
  • Hit bonus +4 on the ground
  • Hit bonus +6 on horseback
  • Hit bonuses increase +1 with each battle including multiple, successive, successful hits.
• Short sword and daggers (2): no bonuses yet as she hasn't used them.

Others:

• Michelle -- a villager; Marcus's sister.
• Marcus -- a villager; Michelle's brother. Healing -- chest stabbed, left sliced.
• Martha -- Apothecary Healer.
• ~50 villagers: 8 men, 14 women, 28 children
• Notes about Riverbend residents:
  • Count Quinn's conquest resulted in the deaths of 20 men, 12 women, and 4 children.
  • Also, 6 men, 12 women, and 16 children were taken away as slaves. (No more about these people is known at the time of this posting.)

Bad Guys:

• Riverbend: its Lord was killed by Quinn; no living relatives to inherit.
  • Deceased -- Count Quinn: local despot of the village of Riverbend.
  • Deceased -- ~20 violent ruffians (occupying and controlling Riverbend under Quinn)
• Greenhill: controlled by Quinn's brother, the self-appointed Count Turan.
  • Count Turan: the now-deceased Count Quinn's brother.
  • Captain Warton: Turan's Captain of his Guard.
  • Turan's army: 17 men.