Under a Dark Sun(2nd Ed. AD&D)

[Armen]

Tamora

In response to Lorath’s question, Tamora spoke to them all. “Bas’ magic has stabilised my leg but it is weak. I think I can travel slowly but fear any shock will break it again”. She looked in the direction Balth’s trail lay and sighed. “But our quarry is moving away form us as we speak and staying near the sight of this battle holds its own risk.”

She looked at Lorath speculatively. There was no visible sign of the wound he had taken but his movements seemed tentative and not all damage would necessarily be visible. “How serious are your injuries? If you feel able to continue perhaps you are right and we should make what distance we can before resting the night.”

[ 06-20-2007, 02:25 PM: Message edited by: Armen ]

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Lorath's mouth opened agape at Anne's questions. "You.. you mean they died in their sleep? I had no idea! I just did a total sweep of the fortress as soon as I found where the portal went and examined everything thoroughly to find out what it was that caused all of these people to die! Do you think I'm as reckless as you are? I don't run into situations headlong before assessing the full risk compared to potential rewards, and I especially don't do it once it looked to be terribly dangerous! You may not think it's safe to sleep there, but I know from experience that staying there over a short period of time isn't going to kill me. You're quick to jump to the conclusion that it's some sort of persistent curse or something similar, but it could just as easily have been poison in the food or water - which, I will note, I've never tried for that reason."

He paused to catch his breath, and rest his forehead on his thumb and forefinger as hs hand wrapped around his nose. Then he raised his head again when he heard Tamora's reply. "Then we should proceed carefully. I'm in the same condition as you are; my wound feels like it might burst open again if I stretch it in an unusual way, but it shouldn't totally stop me from moving. If you feel your leg can take it, we should go after him at a careful pace."

[Armen]

Tamora

“I agree,” Tamora replied to Lorath. “From my reading of the tracks we don’t seem to be making much ground on Balth and can’t afford the delay. I’d like to avoid combat for a say or two in any case.” She picked up Anne’s spear and passed it back to her with a smile. “Thanks for the loan,” she said, “I’ll stick with this one for now.” She lifted the thri-keen weapon slightly and then tested it’s use as a walking staff to take some weight of her leg. It would serve.

[PurpleXVI]

(OOC: Assuming the general mood is in favour of advancing, and also that no one, besides Lorath, feels safe using the portable fortress for resting in.)

Lorath, Tamora, Anne, Bas

Despite Lorath and Tamora's injuries, the party managed to make decent time and when they eventually camped for the night it was without further ambush or other incident.

Thanks to magical healing, however, they were back to normal in a matter of days, which proved fortuitous...

Balth's trail soon became much less of a straight line, zig-zagging around cliffs, down through narrow canyons full of spiders and worse and occasionally seeming to go in circles just for the hell of it. But the trail always remained fresh, rarely more than a day old.

Three days after their fight with the Thri-Kreen, covered in bug-bites and exotic rashes resulting from patches of poisoned brush that Balth's trail had lead them through(of course they hadn't known the plants were poisonous until it felt like their skin was itching on the inside.), they were once more headed towards the mountains.

As evening fell and they searched for a place to camp, they saw something up ahead that they hadn't seen in over a week: A campfire they hadn't lit themselves.

Creeping carefully closer, they could see one figure by the fire: A solitary halfling. A halfling woman, by the look of it, though she didn't look vulnerable for being alone. She was dressed in heavy furs, matted with blood, had several weapons slung on her back, stained with blood and what little skin was visible was heavily scarred. One of her eyes was covered by a cloth patch, and the scarring around the socket suggested the orb was no longer with her, she also looked like she wasn't born yesterday. Though she looked as young as any halfling, there was something about her remaining eye which said she had probably lived longer and seen more than most of her kind.

The clearing around the halfling looked like a butcher's shop, bone and the occasional severed limb or chunk of unidentifiable meat were scattered everywhere. Near the far edge lay a pile of dead halflings, all badly mutilated, and scattered around the clearing was a pack of dead Sloths like the ones Tamora, Bas and Anne had fought before(but more than the small group they'd defeated.). The halfling appeared to be roasting pieces of a smaller one, impaled on a stick, above the fire.

(OOC: This is Reynolds' character, so try not to kill her on sight. If I missed any TOTALLY IMPORTANT things, I'll leave it up to Reynolds to describe her in detail. For the moment she hasn't noticed you, so first action is up to the party.)

[ 06-22-2007, 05:36 PM: Message edited by: PurpleXVI ]

[dplax]

Anne

As soon as Anne saw the halfling she motioned for silence and half-moved in behind the trunk of a thick tree, to be less in sight.

She rapidly pulled her hand in front of her throat, indicating cutting someone's throat, then pointed at the halfling, then looked inquiringly at her companions.

[Armen]

Tamora

Tamora acknowledged Anne’s gesture but her face retained an expression of unease. She had left her home forest full of suspicion and mistrust but had learned to work with and trust others, first the lizardmen and how her companions and had even come to see this change in her as part of her journey. But Balth’s betrayal and the violent rejection by the thri-keen had shaken her badly. Still, she was, above all, a creature of the forest and from all they had learned these halflings were too. She had no doubt that they were savage creatures but evil? She wasn’t sure. Even the near cannibalism that more than Balth had referred to, while abhorrent to her, was a cultural difference rather than a natural one and this world was harsher than most. And besides, Balth’s trail ran straight to the clearing.

She held out her hand palm face down to Anne and lowered it a little way to the ground, indicated herself then swept her arm to the left around the clearing. She pointed to Anne, held her palm out towards the rogue, then insistently back to herself and only then to the figure at the fire. Then, after a quick glance to check that Bas and Lorath had seen the exchange, she slowly and quietly moved around the clearing. She didn’t rely on the darkness; mindful of the possibility that the halfling would possess infravision much as she did she stayed within the cover of the trees and cautiously moved round to the pile of corpses and the halfling woman’s back.

[Kazilan]

Bas watched Anne and Tamora pass signals while he crept behind the nearest tree. After multiple violent encounters he had no doubt in his mind that this meeting would end badly, most likely in violence. He kept a firm grip on his staff while waiting to see how the others would act.

If combat follows, he will rush to aid them with his magic. Otherwise he will stay hidden.

[Reynolds]

The halfing turned the stick her meal was cooking on away from the fire, poking at the meat with a finger. Seeming satisfied with the results of her roasting, she digs into the juicy sloth-kabob. She seems oblivious to the group of adventurers spreading out around her, more concerned with her meal.

As she works at gnawing her supper down to the bones, the skulking individuals creep ever closer. She sighs, tossing the greasy stick and the sloth remains to one side of the rock she's sitting on, near the fire. The halfling reaches up and removes her broad-brimmed hat, scratching at her head...revealing that she's bald, with four lines of warpaint on her skull. As if she simply dragged her fingers from forehead back, smearing on the black paint. A circle of more black paint surrounds her good eye, as well.

Relaxing, she glances at a dead sloth for a moment...possibly pondering preparing more meat to save for later. She sighs, though, looking away...staring at the dead halfings piled together. They seem to have been moved from where they fell, unlike the sloths, most of their equipment carefully looked through and stacked off to the other side of the camp, near the one remaining halfling.

[dplax]

OOC: sorry for not many posts from me recently, I have a bit of a keyboard problem at home, which makes writing long posts a pain, so I prefer sneaking in posts from work.

Anne

Anne circled in the opposite direction from Tamora taking care not to step on any dry branches. The halfling may be alone, but Anne knew nothing about what the halflings in this world were capable of. Erring on the side of caution was preferable. Behind the halfling's back she signalled to Tamora, indicating that she was going to step out from the cover of the tree-canopy. She also indicated to Tamora to remain hidden.

She spoke even before she stepped out, preferring the common tongue as she did not know whether halfling's had aversions to elves.

"Can you understand me?" she asked.

[Man Who Fights Like Woman]

Unlike Anne, Lorath didn't have the patience to stumble through the awkwardness of a first contact scenario. That, and from seeing how these people acted when faced with new things, Lorath was simply astounded they had lasted this long. The way to go from here would be his own straightforward way.

He didn't try to move with any stealth - if the halfling knew he was coming, then she would be less likely to attack out of surprise. When he arrived at the clearing he reached up and put a hand on Anne's shoulder and said quietly to her, "You know, if she can't understand you, asking 'Can you understand me?' is useless since she doesn't know what you're saying." Then he took a step sideways from Anne and kept his hands out at his sides, palms facing the halfling to indicate he wasn't hostile, and slowly walked forward. "Hello," he said slowly, breaking it up into each individual syllable. His voice was slightly raised to make sure he wouldn't be mumbling, and continued. "We are following the path of an elf who may have went through here. Have you seen him?" He gave a quick description of Balth in the same speaking manner, and very slowly crouched onto one knee, waiting patiently for an answer.