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Post by Storyteller on Jan 7, 2021 5:23:15 GMT
I feel thrilled, but almost solemn at the same time. This is an important task, for not only is this to honor Mikkel Ironeye, but also to learn something of the road ahead and to earn the respect of the clan to whom I am to be, temporarily, the Sentinel.
Iritari, I think. I hope you are proud of me.
In that moment, I understand something, or at least I begin to. Iritari's sacrifice was not only, as Mariner Petemet considered it, a barter for peace on the sea. No, it was more than that. It was a beautiful boy's suffering for the good of others. As I am aiming to do for this clan, or at least, as I am trying to prove myself willing to be.
Aloud, I say, "Captain Aberana, lead on! After all, the Captain does lead."
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Post by Diocles on Jan 10, 2021 23:45:41 GMT
Aberana leads the way, and he is an expert traveler, keeping to the coast and avoiding all movements of people and beasts, and after some time of sleeping and traveling--you're not sure, what with the lack of sunlight!--Aberana stops and points. The moon is up, so the landscape is drenched in blue light. "See there? That's the hole the wurm made." You see the jagged, tumbled land before you, and all is silent.
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Post by Storyteller on Jan 11, 2021 1:51:48 GMT
I hardly know how to begin, for I am an Enchantress, no Sentinel, but I have set myself this task, for the sake of Mikkel Ironeye, who was my friend. I square my shoulders.
"Let us approach then, quietly," I say. I wonder how far the horses can go, and I remember the fall of Saxon beneath the river ice.
Can I see any signs of the wurm's recent activity?
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Post by Diocles on Jan 11, 2021 1:53:36 GMT
WIS check
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Post by Storyteller on Jan 11, 2021 1:56:24 GMT
(I failed, but not botched)
I hesitate, unsure of what I am seeing. I ask Aberana, "What looks different from when you last saw it?"
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Post by Diocles on Jan 11, 2021 1:58:04 GMT
As you are asking this question, Aberana's horse slides on the ice you'd not seen. It isn't just some natural-forming crusty ice. It's smooth, as if the snow had melted temporarily and re-frozen. Aberana tumbles from his saddle, and he is pinned under his mount!
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Post by Storyteller on Jan 11, 2021 2:01:07 GMT
I refuse to let this new friend die in this cold because I could not spot ice!
I reduce the horse in size by 70%. Is that sufficient to pull Aberana from beneath him?
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Post by Diocles on Jan 11, 2021 2:03:03 GMT
Aberana howls as you heroically pull him from his predicament, but you notice at once with sinking dread that his leg is shattered. "Mairwyn, help me."
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Post by Storyteller on Jan 11, 2021 2:07:29 GMT
There is no hesitation. I have the potion that my cousins and Drusinicus gave me, and I pull it from my pouch. I give it to Aberana to drink, and I resolve to try to brew another as soon as I can.
"It is not my magic," I say. "It is Galadrin who helps us now."
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Post by Diocles on Jan 11, 2021 2:09:07 GMT
Aberana, shivering and pale, takes the potion and quaffs it, and the magic is at once evident on his calm, smiling countenance. "I'm fine now." He points to his horse. "But my steed is done for." You look and see the horse trying to rise on the ice but unable to do so. It whinnies in fright and pain, for its foreleg is broken.
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Post by Storyteller on Jan 11, 2021 2:12:10 GMT
"I have no more potions," I say. Does he carry a sword? I glance at his side to see. Otherwise, the dagger the Prince--King Shak-amen--gave me will have to draw its first blood on this poor suffering beast.
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Post by Diocles on Jan 11, 2021 2:15:18 GMT
Aberana rises, reading your intention. He draws his scimitar. "I'll have to cut his throat." Now that the horse is smaller, though, it's easier for Aberana to wrestle it off the ice. In several horrifying moments, you watch as the hot blood pours steaming onto the ice, and the flailing horse soon lies weak, its eyes rolling, and then in another moment, it is dead. The captain weeps quietly and cannot speak.
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Post by Storyteller on Jan 11, 2021 2:18:06 GMT
I lay my hand on his shoulder, for already I am fond of Bindi, and he has been my companion for only a little time. For the Captain, this loss is that of a friend!
I look over to Bindi, making sure that he is not in danger of slipping on this treacherous ice. I also think, even as I comfort the Captain. This ice is smooth, that is, it was melted and froze again. So this must be the result of the wurm's activity. Is there anything else I can make out?
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Post by Diocles on Jan 11, 2021 2:20:23 GMT
"The wurm's back is red hot," the captain explains, "and that's what must have caused this ice. It's quite a defense, since it makes the approach to the hole impassable on foot."
With sudden insight, you understand that the wurm is still here. Why else take the time to defend the area with ice? This is its lair.
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Post by Storyteller on Jan 11, 2021 2:26:05 GMT
"The wurm is still here," I say at once. "This is its lair. That is why it is defending the area in this fashion." I look over at Captain Aberana and Bindi. "Perhaps you will not be able to go any further?"
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