Book 1 - Chapter 5: Have Sword - Will Travel, or How the West was Fun(dead)

[Asta]

With nothing pressing to attend to you remain in Aite Aerd for next month, though the time is not spent idly. The court of the Righ is much more active than Thedrin's initial impression and has no shortage of intrigue... and parties. Quite a few parties. As a hot subject and guests of honor within the court, your group is invited to more than one soiree hosted by a variety of lords and ladies including one by your previous benefactor Bhenneit MacMhata.

Thedrin's constant elbow rubbing at these events provides both amusement and valuable insight into the politics of Aite Aerd. When not doing his best to bed tactfully chosen maidens (nobody too important so as not to end up in trouble), he manages to learn which minor lords are more aligned with the Righ's political nemesis Uisdean MacArtain. Important people to avoid in his pursuit of the crown's good graces.

Cecilia spends a good portion of her time pouring over various tomes and maps housed in the Righ's castle. Knowledge gleaned from the court wizard gives her a lead on the potential location of a long forgotten shrine that may be worth investigating.

Rhenri and Scathach for their part, spend much of their time in the lower rings among the common folk. Avoiding as best they can what Scathach refers to as "stuffy, stick-up-the-ass hobnobbery".

At the end of the month of Saedre the Feast of Athair Cairdeas comes and goes, its yuletide celebration the last major feasting holiday of the year. Minor gifts are exchanged, elaborate feasts are eaten, and merriment is had by all. It is a bright light to hold on to in the coming days.

The morning after the last day of Saedre, the sun does not rise in the east. The Dark Time has begun, and for the next fifteen days the world remains in darkness. Your thoughts may wander at times to the well being of those you know back in Telan, but remember that the militia is bolstered this year by Captain Maddox's men. Here in the capital the thick walls of the city protect from the roving monsters and the time passes in a tense peace.

At last the first day of Ius arrives and with it the Feast of Light's Return is celebrated, honoring the new year and a new start. Though it seems that a new year, brings new problems...


Location: Aite Aerd
Date: Ius 14, 796
Time: 1700

Your party has been invited to the keep for the annual reports from the towns and villages of The Steppe. Every year, representatives from the major holdings in the various regions of the country come to Aite Aerd to deliver news of the realm's well being. Caer Mog and Telan bring tidings of a mild Dark Time, and hopeful prospects for the coming year. The news from Baile Fada is much more dire... or rather, there is no news at all.

After waiting most of the day for a rider from the west, it becomes evident that something has happened. After some deliberation, it is decided that a small group should make for the western frontier to investigate. Due to Thedrin's incessant probing for "glorious quests" your party is selected to make the trip...

[pringerbeam]

     Finally glad to have an actual quest suitable to his skill, Thedrin set about getting provisions and asking about the region they were headed for. The life at court had been passable but all the fawning over their party's valiant defense of Telan eventually wore on Thedrin as he began to realize that his official standing was still little better than that of a favored mercenary and the prospect of something that might earn him a real title energized him, especially after passing the dark time in the city. He had been a little morose when he realized that the first dark time he would have spent as a knight back in Albion hunting monsters on the shores of the lake was instead being spent titleless wining and dining as the celebrity of the day.


[info]Shopping list
60 gp - 30 days of elven rations[/info]
[info]Diplomacy to get information about Baile Fada and the western frontier[blockquote]Rolled 1d20+9 : 20 + 9, total 29[/blockquote][/info]

[Asta]

[info]Thedrin's Diplomacy:
Baile Fada is the westernmost major settlement on the Great Highland Steppe. Despite the designation as a major settlement, its population really only makes it a small town. The town proper serves as a hub for nearby satellite settlements to the north and west that mine the hills and mountains. Ore and coal extracted from the mines is transported to the town proper where it is processed and then shipped to the capital.

Extra information from a high roll:
Transport of the raw materials is facilitated by a fascinating new invention purchased at great expense from Valtz. Something called a "steam engine" which burns coal or wood to power its movement completely free from the use of horses.

The western frontier of the Great Highland Steppe is much like nearly everywhere else in the region. Flat, relatively arid, and expansive. The foothills that trail off the western mountain range are known to be populated sparsely by ogres and the occasional clan of wildling savages which rarely venture down from the hills; largely in part because the steppe nomads kill any of their kind that they cross. Still, travelers to Baile Fada are advised to keep an eye out for trouble when the road passes near the hills.[/info]

[Throndir]

[info]Bought and consumed during the month in Aite Aerd:
Basic rations x30, 5s each

For the next 14 days:
Basic rations x14, 5s each
Blunt Arrows, x19, 2 gp each[/info]

[Asta]

With travel preparations complete you depart from Aite Aerd the following morning, riding east. Seven largely uneventful days brings you to Caer Mog and it is from here you move into new territory for your party.


Location: Road East of Caer Mog
Date: Ius 24, 796
Time: 1200

Two days ago you left along the eastern road from Caer Mog, it will be another five days yet before you reach your destination. The trip has been unusually peaceful. Though it stands to reason that monster attacks near the roads would be uncommon because of patrols, you have yet to meet a single soul traveling westward.

The air this afternoon is sharp with winter's chill. It is a dry cold, the altitude of the steppe means that it does not often snow here and when it does it is little more than a light dusting. Never the less, winter finds other ways to make your trip uncomfortable. The wind bites and leaves exposed flesh raw and aching, when it does not numb completely.

With the monotony of travel dulling even the sharpest sense, it stands to reason that you barely noticed the seated figure on the roadside before you were merely feet away.

It is an elderly man clothed in thin black furs trimmed with what looks like crow feathers. He sits by the road, a gnarled walking stick across his lap and a few black plumed birds scratch at the ground nearby or perch on his shoulders. As you ride closer he calls out to you with a voice that sounds like a whetstone on steel, thin and grating.

"Spare a coin or food for an old man alone on the road?"

[pringerbeam]

     Thedrin barely noticed the man and tossed a gold coin at him on reflex, forgetting that his purse was far lighter than he was used to and tossing a coin at the man like he had to so many beggars on the streets of Albion. Stopping, he looked around the plains and then back down at the man. "Uh... Why are you sitting out here in the middle of nowhere?"

[Asta]

The old man caught the coin in one hand without looking up then made a fist and rolled it across the top of his fingers, flipping it fluidly between the gaps in his fingers between the first and second knuckle before flicking it into apparent nonexistence with a small flourish.

Peaking up from under the slouching brim of his hat you notice that a dirty bandage is wrapped over the left half of his face. "Travelling and my legs got tired" he says with a grin. "Are you heading east? I'd be careful, wicked things happening out that way."

[pringerbeam]

     "Nothing a knight errant of Albion can't handle" Says Thedrin smugly. "We have been personally dispatched by the Righ. Neither measly ogre nor oafish giant could stand against us."

[Asta]

"With such a bold declaration I'm sure you lack not for skill and the roads are safer for it." The old man replies, appraising your group with his uncovered eye. "I suppose I have rested these bones for long enough" he continued, and rose slowly to his feet with a grunt. The few crows gathered nearby ruffled their feathers and cawed sharply. "'Afore we part ways however, I have a small token for you. A good turn in kind for your own."

Raising his gnarled hand upwards he held his hand with fingers outstretched, just level with his head. With a look of concentrating he then snapped his hand shut as if snatching some unseen object from the air before him, then turned his fist over and opened it once more. In the palm of his hand was a coin much like the one Thedrin had tossed him minutes before, though this one was bronze and dun. Those close enough to see it noticed that rather than being any form recognizable currency it bore the image of a rook, wings outstretched. The man held the coin forward for someone to take.

[pringerbeam]

     Thedrin took the coin and looked at it. "Hmmm... who did you say you were again?" He asked as he looked up from the coin.

[Asta]

"Just an old man traveling the roads..." The old man said with a smile, before his face took a more serious countenance. "A day's ride out from Baile Fada, leave the road and turn north. There will be a copse of trees there. Within you will find a shrine, long forgotten. Take this coin there and you will find answers to questions you did not know you had. Do not delay, for time is ever the enemy of good."

After giving his mysterious instructions the man turned and began to leave without further explanation, walking slowly with his gnarled stick.

[pringerbeam]

     Thedrin looked down at the coin in the palm of his hand and let out a sigh. "An old coin and a dirty hobo... It's supposed to be a beautiful lady and a magic sword in all the stories." He pocketed the coin and turned to the others. "Well the quest awaits. Guess we should get moving again."

[Asta]

As your group turns from the man and begins down the road once more you hear the flapping of a great many wings mixed with a cacophony of crow calls. When you turn to look the man and his birds have vanished from sight, leaving naught but the echo of caws and a single ebon feather.

"Well. That was right ominous" Scathach remarked dryly, scanning the landscape.

[pringerbeam]

     "Well it's either that or some horrible enchantment. Sir Ebonwall the Ferocious began his quest to slay the Lich of the Wailing Keep when an elven princess granted him a boon before ensorceling him to wake each morning deaf until the noon sun reached its zenith. Surely you've hear the tale or a similar one?" Replied Thedrin as a matter of fact as they headed onward. "I was hoping more for something like Sir Horje's quest to smite the Hag of the Lergbog. He was drawn into a fey queen's hidden castle to receive the Hagsbane blade before getting to bed her and her thirteen daughters."

[Asta]

"Right... I do guess that would be something you'd look forward to." Scathach answered before turning her horse back west.



Location: Road west of Caer Mog, Near Baile Fada
Date: Ius 28, 796
Time: 0900

Several days after your strange encounter with the old man, you find yourselves about a day out from Baile Fada. You have not seen another soul the entire trip, and even monsters seem to have avoided you. Suddenly Scathach stops her horse short.

"About here is where that odd geezer said to turn north. Are we going, or should we keep on to Baile Fada?"