>>18900297
Just keeping an eye on our surroundings, can't be too careful. It's better to be overcautious than to not pay enough attention.

Also I was replaying Cu punching Eames over in my head, it was a rather funny incident don't you think.

>>18900503

A smile flits over the young woman's features.

"I still can't believe it happened. Cu thought Eames had actually kidnapped me? I doubt the man would wilfully harm a fly. He would make a good Druid if he wanted to."

The smile remains as she leans out towards the window. Despite being early in the afternoon, the valley lets in barely any light. Two towering green hills on either side block the sunlight.

>>18900603
He doesn't think things through, is brash and hot headed. But he's a pretty nice guy.

Tell me about Druiding, I'm not really familiar with it in the least. I know it's magic of a sort and that it is heavily tied into nature, but beyond that I don't really know anything.

>>18900645

"That's where you're wrong, Sir Thol. Druidry is not magic. Magic relies on man's ether and often quite a bit of studying. As a result, it is tiring and when a magic user exhausts his ether, he must rest and allow it to replenish. However, Druids rely on no such thing. I have no measure of ether as far as I know. It is my Pact with the Ram that gives me my abilities. It is as inexhaustible as my devotion, so long as I am true to my Pact. However, my talents are not as diverse as yours or Eames. But they have their uses."

She reaches her hand out the window. The grass outside the carriage moves as if a wind blows, yet you feel no breeze. The blades swirl up from the ground and dance along the side of the carriage. When she retrieves her hand, she holds a small, white flower.

"When we reach Homme, our Green Lord Arethos will teach me the final art of Druidry and send me on my way to Rooksland. There, hopefully, my art can restore the country to its natural splendor."

>>18900780
Interesting thing you have there.

What exactly is this "final art of Druidry" it sounds important, and possibly self-sacrificial.

>>18900861

"They call it the Call of the Wood. It is only bestowed to the most faithful and responsible of Druids, originally taught to the first Green Lord by the Ram himself. If I knew it, I would be able to turn this flower into a shrub without placing it on the ground. Or block off this entire valley with a forest of trees. But... as of now, this is about as much as I can do."

She holds the flower up, the petals spinning around the center.

"It requires no sacrifice. And that is why it is such a sacred art. We must only use the Call of the Wood in order to restore the balance of the world. It is forbidden to grow the wild where it cannot flourish."

She keeps her eyes on the flower, not seeming entirely convinced that a sacrifice isn't required. However, before you have the chance to ask anything, the carriage makes a steep turn, tilting and almost tipping over entirely.

"Princess, stay in the carriage!" You hear Cu call. "Thol, we need you out here!"

The carriage has come to a stop. Glancing outside, you can see Cu and Eames, already on the ground. There is a wall of flames cutting off your path entirely and, behind it, you see at least four figures in the mist.

rolled 64 = 64

>>18900993
TIGER WARRIOR!

>>18900993
What color is the flame?

Get out our Dao and our short javelin and prepare to kill some mysterious figures.

>>18901037

The flames aren't green, but that certainly doesn't make them any less dangerous. You arm yourself and go outside to stand with the others. The larger man has opted to bring his greatsword instead of the shorter blade, whereas Eames is scrawling circles on the ground as quick as possible.

"A Shenlong weapon." Cu glances down at your dao. "I hope you're good with it."

The four assailants draw nearer, not seeming to be particularly cautious. Three wear leather armour and black cowls over it. One wields a greatsword, whilst another carries two daggers and a third is loading another arrow into his bow. The fourth stays behind them, not wearing armour. Instead, he wears a long black robe, the hood shrouding his features.

You have time to act, but not enough to stand around and talk.

>>18901202
If we have our javelin throw it at the robed and hooded man. Always target the wizard first.

Otherwise charge, our first target is the bowman and then the mage behind him.

>>18901302

Roll a ten-sided die. He's quite far so you'll need at least a seven to hit.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18901302
Hopefully the Javelin does what it is supposed to do.

rolled 9 = 9

>>18901302
Yup. Let's slice some rougues up!

Rolling to stick the wizard.

rolled 3 = 3

>>18901337
Didn't see the 1d10 post.

>>18901331

It's an awful throw. It almost hits Cu, who is charging towards the group. Luckily, it doesn't. It does, however, hit the one with the daggers in the foot, pinning him to the ground. Cu leaps over the wall of flames and clashes with their swordsman. The robed enemy chants, a fire sparking in his hands, whilst the bowman aims an arrow directly at you. You can dodge, requiring a 6 on a 10 die, or attempt to block, which would require a 8, but would also allow you to take another action immediately.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18901413
Dodge, our first priority is to not end up with an arrow in us.

>>18901413
We should ask Eames to deal with the robed man. He is a mage so he should be bale to deal with them better.

>>18901423

You easily clear the arrow. The archer and mage have not yet prepared their next attacks, and the one with the daggers has just dislodged the javelin from his foot, discarding it to the ground.

Eames's wolf is already ready for action.

"Thol! What should we do?!"

>>18901449
Have your wolf eat the mages face. Keep the archer from firing effectively, you don't need to win just make sure none of us end up with an arrow in the back.

I'll deal with the guy with daggers while Cu is taking care of the swordsman.

>>18901467
Sounds good enough.

>>18901467

"Actually, I think he's a pryomancer!"

And with that, the wolf leaps at said pyromancer. The mage finally prepares his spell, but panics, and ends up sending a fireball up into the air. You make a dash straight for the rogue and end up landing a surprise slash directly on his chest. You can't tell if it gets through the armour or not, because he soon recovers as if you hadn't scratched him. He comes at you. If you plan on direct combat, you need to roll a ten die.

rolled 2 = 2

>>18901568
It seems like it's time to kill this rogue.

rolled 10 = 10

>>18901568
Lets. Do. This. TIGER SLASH!

rolled 1 = 1

>>18901597

Your training with a dao adds an 8 to that, giving you a combat score of 10.

The rogue's daggers add a 6 to whatever I roll here.

>>18901633

Luckily for you, the javelin to the foot seems to have thrown off his game and, although you're a little nervous due to this being your first taste of real combat, you manage to evade his slashes easily and, with a single upward swipe of your dao, you sever his wrist, costing him an entire dagger. The rogue reels back. However, he soon recovers and rushes you again. He doesn't even seem to be bleeding from the stump. At the same time, you see the archer aiming another arrow at you. Given that you're closer now, you would need a 7 to dodge and an 8 to deflect.

rolled 8 = 8

>>18901742
Deflect! Tiger reflexes!

>>18901769

You just manage to deflect the arrow, and it sears past your face. But you still have a one-handed rogue about to swing at you.

rolled 9 = 9

>>18901782
Now go for the TIGER SLASH!

rolled 4 = 4

>>18901803

The rogue's roll.

>>18901782
>>18901803
DECAPITATE HIM!

>>18901819

17 > 10

You wait, like a tiger stalking its prey, as the motions of the rogue seem to be in slow motion. His dagger is aimed in a horizontal slice directly at your throat. In a single stroke, you deflect the blade, causing his slice to fly high into the air. Then, as if the very spirit possessed you, you unleash a deafening roar and bring your dao across his arm, cutting it from the shoulder. The force of the blow knocks the rogue off his feet entirely.

"Thol!"

You hear Eames call. He is dancing left and right, and you can see why. The archer is training an arrow on him instead. The wolf has vanished altogether, but under the pyromancer's hood, you can easily see how well it did. Unless he always had half his face ripped from his skull.

>>18901895
Let's go after that archer, the mage is hurting bad from the looks of it. How is Cu doing?

>>18901929

The archer sees you approach and attempts to aim at you. However, you decapitate him and his arrow flies uselessly into the distance. Eames rests his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

"Th-thank you, Thol. I can't... summon anymore..."

You take the time to look at Cu, and find yourself facing an odd sight. He has his sword driven right through the belly of the other swordsman, yet they are both struggling madly. The enemy seems to be holding Cu's sword in with one hand, whilst trying to hit him with the pommel of his own, now broken, sword.

"Blast it, Nomad! These bastards are Undead! We need to decapitate them or they'll just keep coming!"

Just as Cu explains, you see both the rogue and the mage pick themselves off the ground. The mage chants and weaves fire between his hands once again, whereas the rogue comes running right at you, leaping from the ground to aim a fly kick directly at your chest.

rolled 1 = 1

>>18901986
Say goodbye to that leg FOOL!

>>18902021

Given your skill, it would have been difficult to miss his foot entirely. Your dao slices right into his sole. However, it stops about halfway up his ankle due to the poor swing, and the rogue ends up colliding with you. You both fall on the ground and discover that your blade is lodged deep, and as hard as he struggles, it seems like it's not coming out. You also see that the pyromancer has concentrated the flames into a ball and is about to throw it directly at you.

rolled 5 = 5

grab his leg, spin him and throw him at the mage

rolled 9 = 9

pick up the rogue and use him as a shield

rolled 10 = 10

I get an odd, I go with
>>18902053
I get an even, I go with
>>18902065

>>18902073

You wrap your free arm around the rogue's other leg and, as you stand, direct him towards the pyromancer. You do just in time, too, the ball exploding against the rogue's rear. The force knocks you both backwards, and the dao finally saws through the bone and comes free. The mage immediately begins preparing another spell, whilst the rogue comes at you yet again, aiming deft kicks at your head and chest. He clearly does not care for his own bodily safety.

rolled 2 = 2

>>18902106
Off with the rogues head!

rolled 5 = 5

Rogue's roll. He has a bonus of two to unarmed (HAHA) combat.

rolled 7 = 7

grab your dao and take his head!

Man, I would LOVE to participate but it is so late now. I need to sleep.

>>18902153

You're quick on the draw, but so is he. Just as your dao diagonally slices right through his head, he lands a hard kick to your chest, winding you for the moment, and giving a -2 to all physical rolls. The rogue pulls his leg back, holding it cocked as if ready to launch out in a kick again. Then, finally, he topples over.

"Good form, Thol, good form!" Eames cheers and claps. "Not that you're not doing bad, either, Cu!"

The guard in question stands over the undead swordsman. It seems he was cut into four pieces with two diagonal slices, whilst Cu bleeds, but not too heavily, from his brow. You are both breathing quite heavily.

"What do you say we do about that, Nomad?"

He gestures to the pyromancer. The robe has fallen down, revealing a discoloured, bald head, the flesh peeled entirely from one side of his skull. From his hand, a giant lash of fire hangs loose. He is clearly waiting for you two.

>>18902193

Sorry to hear it, bro. We'll back Monday night, a little earlier, too. Hope you can join us then and be sure to catch up in the meantime!

>>18902208
"Do you think they can think Cu? We should get some informations if we just "hurt" that fella"

Also Try making you and Cu running into opposite sides of the Pyromancer

rolled 2 = 2

>>18902208
This pyromancer is about to get... burned.

take the bow and arrows from the decapitated archer and fire at the pyromancer

rolled 1 = 1

>>18902338

oops

>>18902312

"They're not mindless ghouls, Nomad. These are full fledged Undead. I'm not sure we'll be able to make him talk, given how driven to kill us they seem!"

You tell him your plan and he nods. You both make a run at the pyromancer. He swings his fire lash high above his head and swings a wide arc at you both. Clearly, he's aiming for you first as you're still recovering from the kick. You can roll for free beneath it, or you can jump over it with a 6 and get a free action after it.

>>18902367

Kind of a good thing I didn't read that in time, huh?

rolled 3 = 3

jump and take his head off

rolled 10 = 10

>>18902399
TIGER LEAP!

rolled 9 = 9

Odds
>>18902474
Evens
>>18902483

>>18902474

By the time you catch your breath and ready to jump, the whip hits you in the gut. It has the force of a punch and sends you flying, your mantle on fire. Eames rushes to your side and pulls the garment off you, but you're heavily winded and your forearms are in searing pain.

Cu manages to roll under the lash and makes some distance towards the pyromancer but you're exhausted and winded.

You need to roll an even to get pull yourself together.

rolled 2 = 2

Iron Heart Surge!

rolled 8 = 8

man up thol

>>18902603

You manage to focus rather quickly and Eames helps you onto your feet. Your arms still hurt like hell and you're beginning to get too tired to fight, but for now, you're still good to go. You can see Cu is in trouble, however. The pyromancer has his whip wrapped around the warrior's sword and they struggle for it. However, given that the undead caster has an endless supply of stamina and Cu doesn't, you can tell that it's not going well for your ally.

rolled 2 = 2

get behind the fire mage and saw his head off

rolled 8 = 8

>>18902633
This mage is gunna get his ass whipped!

>>18902662

You attempt to flank the pyromancer, but he sees your plan and, uncoiling his lash from Cu's sword, he aims it at you. You need a 7 to dodge or a 4 to block.

rolled 9 = 9

block with sword

>>18902771

You easily block, throwing his whip away. He lashes at Cu, but the swordsman manages to do the same. You're closing in on him now. He lashes at you again. You need a 5 to dodge and a 2 to block.

rolled 7 = 7

>>18902805
Dodge!

>>18902814

Free action.

>>18902822
Tiger slash!

>>18902845

You're close enough that you have free aim, too.

go for the neck!

>>18902852
His head is gone!

>>18902856

With a single, furious stroke you take the pyromancer's head clean off his body. The lifeless corpse falls to the ground, the flame whip disappearing into nothing. Finally, there is peace on the valley. The mist has cleared, too. You and Cu are both very tired and your arms are still in terribly pain, marked bright red. You turn and see both Eames and Siobhan running towards you too.

"Excellent work, Nomad." Cu grins and offers you a fistbump. You return it.

In a few moments, you are all sitting by the carriage, Siobhan emptying the water flask slowly over your burns.

"They'll heal... but... well, I'm sorry to have dragged you into this, Sir Thol. You got hurt because they were going after me. Yet... if you were not here, I know we would not have survived. You have my eternal gratitude." She leans forward, careful not to touch your arms, and wraps her arms around you for a second. "You all do." She pulls back.

Eames comes back from the battlefield with your mantle. Or what is left of it. And it's not much. The stitched on pieces of fabric have come off, showing the original markings of the Lolua tribe, but the entire front side is burned away.

"Sorry. Couldn't do much to save it."

>>18902924
"Thank you...This will do"
also tell Eames to rest to get his Summoning Spells at ready

>>18902924
We are alive and that is what matters. Anybody seriously injured? I've never seen undead before.

>>18903007
second

>>18902973

Eames scratches his neck, looking rather downcast.

"I'm afraid I'm all out, Thol. I need time to replenish my ether."

After having his head bandaged by Siobhan, Cu moves towards the horse and starts untying it from the carriage.

"Princess, I'm afraid we need to leave the carriage behind. We can buy another when we come to Rickenlest, but for now, we need to leave all traces of your identity behind. Now let's move. We need to be long gone from here by the time more Undead come for reconnaisance." He taps his sword against the wheels of the carriage, which clearly bear the symbol of Thulstry. As he rummages inside to pack up their belongings, Siobhan pulls her robe over her head and undoes the clips in her hair which, too, bear the royal symbol. Beneath, she wears a simple pair of tunic pants and a white cotton top, baring her pale arms and showing just how small the young woman's body really is. Of course, Eames can't help but stare. Cu saddles the horse and attaches all your bags to it before helping Siobhan on.

"Thol, would you mind summoning a horse for us? I'll ride, you just focus on keeping it formed and let your arms heal."

Eames leans down and scrawls over the ground with his chalk. You're physically tired, but mentally sharp, so it should be no problem maintaining a summon.

Can we loot the bodies before we go? Leather armor would be nice

>>18903007

Cu shakes his head. Eames and Siobhan both seem entirely unharmed.

"You fought excellently, Thol." Eames smiles up at you whilst drawing. He seems entirely impressed, perhaps even awed.

"To undo the curse of the North would be to rid the world of undead. The necromancy keeping them alive would stop, and they would all fall," Siobhan speaks with a certain sadness. "Those cursed are as human as you or I. Naturally they will fight to survive. But alas, they are not the only kind kept alive by the curse. Rooksland is home to all manners of ghouls and phantoms, and the curse spreads to more than just man. We must be rid of it, Sir Thol. I hope you understand the importance that I reach Homme safely."

>>18903196

You mention the idea of taking what you can from the undead. Everyone seems shocked at the idea, apart from Cu.

"I... forgive you for being unwise to the ways of the world, Sir Thol." Siobhan's brow furrows, clearly angered by this suggestion. "But if you wish to rob the dead, I would not be able to travel with you. Allowing and condoning such behaviour is contrary to my vows."

"The Princess is right, Nomad. I understand you are concerned mainly for our safety. But these Undead fought well. We should respect them, despite their goals."

>>18903231
Shrug and continue on I guess

ask about her vows?

>>18903231
We are not without honour Cu. Give me a moment to prepare this summon and we shall depart.

>>18903361

"My vows are many... but, primarily, I am to protect, nurture and respect the balance of life. When something lives, I must help it. When something dies, I must let it die and rest in peace. To desecrate the dead, even the bodies of our enemies, is blasphemous against the Ram."

"And she has a vow of chastity, too." Cu proclaims loudly, eyeing Eames as Siobhan's face turns bright red. Finally, Eames finishes the circles and you summon the horse. He helps you onto the horse first, minding your arms, before climbing on infront of you and taking the reins.

After you are all ready, you push off, making your way, finally, to the other side of the valley.

Thanks for playing, everyone, but I believe it is time to call it a night. I will most certainly be on Monday night, and at an earlier time, too. And sorry some posts took long, my net was dipping all night. So many router resets. So many.

Anyway, I hope you all had fun and I hope you come back again for another round of...

TIIIIGEER WAAARRRIOOOR QUEEEESST

>>18903431
Good night man

>>18903431
Can't wait man. See you then!

>>18903422
ya'know, a vow of chastity doesn't mean "no sex."
it means no sex outside of marriage

a vow of celibacy Does mean no sex. at all.

had fun with the quest OP, will definitely be there next time.

Bump. Waitan for next session.

bampu