Lady Ceiling's Journal
Lady Ceilings Journal
(the Blasted Glade)
We plodded onwards for
hours and hours getting hotter and hotter. The bright blue sky seemed to press
us into the grass. Fortunately this was still short so it was not too tiring to
march through. Instinctively we pressed tighter together though we kept Verdini
scouts ahead and on each side whilst Natalie hovered to our front.
“Is there no sign of the Placki Riders
yet?” Druid Barbver kept asking with Natalie responding “No!” every time. The
flattish grasslands just went on and on!
Vaggson told us that there should
be a stream where we could stop for lunch long before we reached the border. It
never seemed to appear! Graf Silth said that we would need it to water the mules
and we should just keep on until we found it.
After the large breakfast and the feasting of the night before none of us
was very hungry.
“I don’t feel very well! I beseech you
let us camp here Graf Silth?” said the Nurse Lema
“I see something ahead!” said Natalie,
“I am not sure what?”
“It must be the Placki!” declared Druid
Babver. Soon we could all see a smudge on the horizon. “It is not riders! It is
tree trunks on a ridge” said Vaggson and he was right. Of course being taller
the humans could see further than we dwarves. Although the plain appeared flat
there were some low undulations in places. “There is movement there.”
“It is a herd of deer running off away
from us!” called down the cherub Natalie.
Now even I could see that
there was a low ridge dotted with dead trees ahead of us.
“I have heard of this
place, it is called the Blasted Wood!” said Vaggson. “It means we have veered
more to the east than we wanted too. However there should be a stream with ponds
there. It is a good camping place. It may be rather early but we could camp
there for the night?” So we plodded on towards it and for we weary dvaus it
seemed like the answer to a prayer. That even though the trees were mostly just
bare trunks with no foliage at all. “A dragon flamed it years ago, almost wiping
out a Lawic force.” Vaggson told us.
“Beevil may be there! I can see one of
his Imps on one of the stumps to the right.” called down Natalie. “We must be
cautious! Who knows what new monsters he may have drummed up!” shouted Graf
Silth. So we carried on and I thought I could actually see the Imp waving at us
on a large stump. Then one of the Verdini scouts on our right called out. “There
are riders coming.” So we all looked that way.
“It must be the Placki come to guard
us.” said Barbver.
“They are coming very quickly.” said
Vaggson.
“People on horses do travel much faster
than those on foot!” I told them from my readings of historical accounts. Then
Nurse Lema sank down in a faint. “It must have been all that bacon she ate this
morning!” exclaimed Abigail Shapa bending over her.
“Should we wait for them before finding
what Beevil has in store?” asked the Princess.
“They are now coming even faster!”
worried Vaggson.
“I think that they are Huns! I saw some
on campaign in Hamora.” shouted Smak.
“Yes they are Huns! There are ten of
them!” called out Natalie.
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Graf Silth started shouting
orders and pushing people into the formation he wished us to be in to face the
huns. The Princess ordered us to heave poor Lema onto one of the already heavily
laden mules. “He will not carry that load very far!” cried out Muleteeress
Pouth. “We do not have far to go!” snapped Princess Griselda, but we took some
of the gear of that one and put it on another. Meanwhile the huns had halted and
started firing their bows at us. Fortunately what hits they did achieve were on
our well armoured dwarves and took no effect. Our two crossbowmen returned the
fire with Graf Silth directing it at a large bald headed hun that he thought was
their leader. Abigail Bonny reloaded the one whichever was not being fired, as
normal. We could really do with more crossbows! Graf Silth urged us to move
closer to the Blasted Wood but the huns moved closer. Climbing onto the ridge
exposed some of our less well armoured people and the huns started firing at the
mules. Two of the Verdini were hit, one killed and the other sore wounded. Nurse
Poma moved to bandage him. But Natalie cried out “Here come the Placki at last!”
and indeed as I climbed the hill I could see more horsemen following in the
track of the huns. Their leader now fell to one of our crossbow bolts, so the
rest of them fled away to the northwest. Before we could cheer there was a loud
squawk! An immense bird monster rushed over the top of the ridge on our left, a
tree stump turned into a brown clad woman and Beevil and another woman appeared
on the top. One Verdini fled from the great bird but another died fighting it.
The three on the top chanted in some uncouth tongue and there was a blinding
flash! When my eyes had cleared I just glimpsed them all departing over the
ridge. Chase them ordered Chieftain
Vaggson so some of his warriors surged forwards. However, even though the
fugitives veered across in front of them they got away unscathed. I suspect that
fear of the great bird creature diminished their enthusiasm. If only they had
had bows for I believe that Beevil and the other two did not have the protection
of the Gheist Flache. Natalie agreed when Graf Silth asked her to check both his
daughter Shalaka and Chieftain Vaggson for magic influences. Lady Shalaka was
free but Vaggson had had a curse laid on him. Natalie said that almost certainly
he would have an Imp watching his every move from the Spoinage Flache, ready to
thwart him at inconvenient moments. Although an Imp was seen watching from a
stump on the far ridge, he soon disappeared and a search found no more of
Beevil’s creatures in the wood.
Meanwhile Chief Yameh of the
Placki had joined with seventeen of his horse archers. He asked for money up
front, hinting that we dwarves had a poor reputation with regard to making
payments. He said the agreed price for escorting us into Hamora was 500 Gilden
Pezzi. “Not agreed by us!” exclaimed Graf Silth. Some spirited bargaining
followed. The final price was to be 350GP paid immediately, provided that they
were permitted to call at the Li Lo market on Marketday the 20th
Fourth Moon. They brought in the body of
the hun leader whom they said was named Baldie. They said that he had a twin
brother who would probably want to avenge him! Cant recovered the crossbow bolt
that had killed him. His money pouch was empty although I suspect one of the
Placki had taken anything in it. He had a poor quality sword, a bow and a quiver
with just one arrow in it. These we gave to Vaggson. We pitched our camp between
the two ponds. In the midst of doing it Nurse Poma fainted like Lema had! Cherub
Natalie said that Vaggson was not the only one who had been cursed! Poma like
Lema soon came round in a rather dazed state but neither of them was fully fit.
We buried both the hun and the two Verdini who had died.
We and the Placki kept a good
watch that night but no enemies were seen. We questioned the Placki about the
market at Lo Li. They said that it was held outside the city walls. They were
looking for some new horse harnesses but many other goods would be on sale. Graf
Silth asked if there would be crossbows and they thought that there would be.
“Ones with magic quarrels for firing at things in the Gheist Flache?” he added.
“There might be. There is a wizard who
sells magic items at very high prices there!” replied Yameh.
“Graf Silth, we could do with some more
mules as these are too heavily laden!” said Muleteeress Pouth.
“I agree!” said Princess Griselda, “If
as is likely Beevil rouses out more enemies against us, we may need some spares
to carry wounded.”
“Yes I expect Beevil will try to gather
as large a band of huns as possible to attack us at some stage.” said Vaggson.
“There will need to be a very large
number before they try to take on us!” declared Chieftain Yameh.
The next day we moved on at
a slow walk. Lagin the wounded Verdini, was put onto one of the Placki horses,
whose rider then had to walk. Payment of two Gilden Pezzi made this more
agreeable for him.
That night we camped at a
small stream at a place the Placki reckoned was just out of sight of Li Lo.
Distant campfires were spotted to our northwest. “That will be your hun
friends.” said Yameh. “They will probably follow you all the way to the Hamora
border hoping you fall on hard times.”
“That Beevil will try to rustle up more
enemies for us.” suggested Druid Barbver. “And
with an Imp watching Chieftain Vaggson the whole time, they will always
find us!” .
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