Dragons and Magic II: The Hunt for DreamWeaver

[LittleSprite2]

Idrial had looked up at the stars in the night sky as O'Bonn drew her attention to them and listend to his words, wondering what it was he was trying to tell her, and how to reply. Feeling Ona brush her arm, and seeing O'Bonn's and Cromic's reactions Idrial's attenion went to the forrest around them as well.

She watched silently as the three went to investagate and stayed to guard the camp. She watched Aranel and the other's seeing them prepare themselves for the other's return, or call for aid.

Standing Idrial moved with out sound to stand near Aranel as she looked out at the night and said. They will be alright, they are good warriors, and will call should they need aid.. and I am hear with you as well. She said doing her best to quietly reasure her that things were under control, even as she too turned to listen to the night her own sword drawn and resting in her hand but ready to be used if need be.

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Khan

Khan moved towards the sound of the chanting, and found himself back in the room with the big tubs of blood. He watched with curiosity as the blood spilled, and then started to come together in a rather large red amoeba. See something new everyday, thought Khan, looking up at the red blob as it slowly moved closer. Khan had seen many things in his long lifetime, but never something like this. Khan tried to estimate just how much of a threat an animated blob of blood could pose to him, and finally decided that it didn’t pose much of one, but he wasn’t go to risk his life on it.

Khan pulled out his shield, and prepared to run past the blob, keeping his shield between him and it. Taking a deep breath, he made his dash.

 

[AmenRa]

O'Bonn bowed his head to Dolomas. He silently sheathed Talon, and stepped to stand beside Cormac.

"I am O'Bonn of the Northern Lands," he said. "I have seen the path of the dead in Kent, and have heard the tales from the other villages of which you speak. Our thoughts are with you."

 

[Mantra]

Dolomas's Camp

At last, Dolomas motioned to his companions to lower their weapons.

"My apologies for our mistrust, but these are wicked times and we have little left to loose. Still, please come and share our hospitality. At least we can offer a fire, coffee and bacon."

They all moved back into the small cluster of wagons save for a handful of the men who remained on the lookout. A hole had been dug to make a place for a smallish campfire over which sat a cast iron pot. The black liquid within giving off a strong, rich aroma and nearly a dozen people, mostly older folk, women and children werr gathered around watching the newcomers with mixed expressions.

"Sit." Dolomas said, motioning towards the campfire. "Tell me of the way ahead. What news is there from abroad?"

 

[AmenRa]

O'Bonn adjusted his armor and sat. He looked over Dolomas and the ones gathered around the campfire. He could tell some of the children, and adults, had never seen elfkind before. He smoothed his long, white-blonde hair over his pointed ears and gave a smile to them with his amber eyes.

"A garrison commander at Gilad said rumors are about that the warlords of Ur are once again raising their armies towards the East," O'Bonn said. "Of this there is no proof, but I can tell you there is a certain darkness that has begun to fall all the lands." O'Bonn then fell silent, waiting for others to speak.

 

[rengadeirishman]

"Aye there is that." Cormac said, agreeing with O'Bonn. "If your heading toward my people friend, youd be better off coming from the south, the northern marches are fair teeming with various undesirables, its a longer journey, but safer."

 

[Optimas]

Borgus confused???

Doorna gave Borgus a half-smile and hodded appreciativly.

" I admire your zeal Borgus WarChief, but it is not the walking dead that I was tasked to destroy, at least not yet."

"The United Clans have any enemies about us. Surely you would agree that our own territories must be free and under our control in order for us to confront the threat of the Dead Ones and the Mountain. There is an outpost, a garrison of wood elves that could threaten our flank and disrupt communications and supplies. They are allies to those who would be our enemies and must be removed."

"I have been given the honor of exterminating this garrison and striking the first blow against your enemies. I will give this honor to you and act as your second. My own tribe is a part of the force I have been given to lead and will fight under your leadership."

"If you are successful and do well, then I shall speak on your behalf and nominate you as War Chief to lead our armies against the Dead Ones."

"Do you accept this charge?"

Borgus looked a bit puzzled, and he scratched a horn, "Me listen to you, you tell me who to kill. Tactics of war fine to Borgus, but who to kill bigger picture is for you smart cat-man. I will do anything you ask." Borgus looked tired and he placed the bow on the floor, and propped himself down against a tree.

 

[Mantra]

Khan

Khan sprinted forward, attempting to dodge either past or through the blobby thing, but as he charged, the thing lurched bodilly at him, meeting Khan as he made to pass between the wall and the blob. He raised his shield, but the thing smote into him with such force that Khan was suddenly slammed against the wall.
The blow, stung, but did little to actually hurt him. It was loke having a bucket of water dumped on him except this 'bucket' didn't just spalsh over him. More threatening, the blob-thing pinned Khan against the wall and quickly smeared itself over his face, filling his mouth and nose with sticky, thick blood. The metalic, salty taste of blood was overwhelming as his lungs fought for air.

 

[Bladesman]

Draken leapt from the tree and landed a short distance from the horse. He quickly scooped up the reins and tied them to a nearby sapling. As soon as he had secured the horse, Draken leapt into the trees and began to run silently along the tree branches, leaping from branch to branch with nary a sound from his movements. Ahead running along the ground was one of the wood elves, the heat from his body was clearly visible to the heat sensitive vision through which all drow possessed. A small smile crossed Draken's face as he unsheathed the enchanted dagger that the old woman had enchanted.

Running faster, Draken passed over the wood elf and then dropped onto his back, the dagger slipping into the base of the elf's spine. The elf dropped to the ground and did not move. Draken wiped the blood off the the dagger and quickly moved back into the tree and continued to hunt the last wood elf.

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Khan sprinted forward, attempting to dodge either past or through the blobby thing, but as he charged, the thing lurched bodilly at him, meeting Khan as he made to pass between the wall and the blob. He raised his shield, but the thing smote into him with such force that Khan was suddenly slammed against the wall.
The blow, stung, but did little to actually hurt him. It was loke having a bucket of water dumped on him except this 'bucket' didn't just spalsh over him. More threatening, the blob-thing pinned Khan against the wall and quickly smeared itself over his face, filling his mouth and nose with sticky, thick blood. The metalic, salty taste of blood was overwhelming as his lungs fought for air.

Khan slammed into the wall, and was pinned by the blob of blood. As he slowly suffocated from the blood blocking his nose and mouth, Khan's mind was racing. Then he remembered Dukar. The blade was special, and had unique abilities. He drew the blade, and as he did, the white light from it became a white fire.

He cut what was in front of him, the fire of the blade turning the blood it touched into dust instantly, evaporating the liquid on contact.

The connection between the main blob and what had him pinned was cut and the stuff that had him pinned fell to the floor. Khan took the opportunity to put distance between himself and the blob by rolling away to the right, which incidentally put him closer to the man. Khan also took the opportunity to take deep breaths, clearing out the blood that had blocked his airways.

With shield in one hand and Dukar burning with a white fire in the other, Khan made ready to fight.

 

[Mantra]

Dolomas's Camp

"You speak truer words than you know friend." Dolomas said. "We have seen and lived through hard times before. Life at the edge of the swamp has never been easy. Always there have been difficulties and hardships to compensate for the rich soil found there. Skirmishes with the lizardlings and even the occasional goblin or orc was not unheard of. Always there were tales of swamp banshees and will-o-wisps and hags in the dark, and I cannot say that some of there stories are completely without merit. Still, it was none of these things which drove us from our homes."

Dolomas paused to pour another cup of the rich liquid from a kettle set by the fire. He took a long pull, clearly hesitating and compiling his thoughts before continuing.
"It was the dead. The dead of who knows how many generations, how many reatures left to the swamps. They came upon us with mindless determination. Our arrows did little to stop them and we were not warriors, not well enough or numerious to stem the tide, so we fled. What else was there to do?"

"On the road we discovered that we were not alone in our misery. Other villages had suffered the same fate, we banded together and made our way North, looking to escape the nightmares. Two days out of the swamp was when we encountered the goblins. We were easy picking for them, but we had numbers that time, and at least we could hurt goblins and their wolves. We drove them off but two days after that, we encountered the orcs. Thankfully, they were few and only picked off a few, but much of what little livestock we had was lost to them."

He sipped again, pausing.

"But that was not the worst of it.... there is something else, something worse back there. Some of us have lived for many a generation in the swamps. We knew the way of the land, the laws of nature and we were a hearty folk. I myself have never been one to fear the night, but in recent times I have found myself shivering more often."

"And I will never go back. Never."

 

[AmenRa]

The High Warrior listened to Dolomas' tale. He watched him impassively and without expression until Dolomas came upon the part about the dead coming upon them. O'Bonn's eyebrows raised.

The walking dead. The work of a necromancer, such as that of the dragonkind they sought. Like the one he had killed in the inn at Gilad. And these people had seen them as well.

Was it now that an army of undead came forth?

O'Bonn glanced to Cormac, then to Idrial and the others.

"Master Dolomas," he said, "I would ask you to tell us of these things. My companions and I have been tasked to this. We ask you to tell us of this thing, so that we may know it, and so we may destroy it before it consumes all that is good."

 

[LittleSprite2]

Idrial turned from watching the woods looking at Aranel, Gar and Valanthe around the small fire. She was begining to worrie for O'Bonn,Ona, and Cormac for they had not yet returned from searching the forrest around them..nether had sent word that all was well. Were they captured or killed while she sat there helping to guard the camp ..

Idrial dismissed the thought refusing to think the worst until she had a chance to investagate the situation further. Speaking to Aranel and the rest of the camp she shethed her sword and sholdered her bow and quiver of arrow's. I am going to scout around and pick up O'Bonn's and the others trail and see if i can discover what has become of them.. Valanthe i leave you in charge until i get back. I shall return as swiftly as possable.

On the silent feet of a half elf and ranger Idrial slipped into the tree's it didnt take her long to uncover the others trail and follow. Keeping to the shadows and staying hidden incase something or someone was watching... she didnt like that all of them had simply disapeared with out warning.. one of them at least would have made it back she thought even if wounded... which led her to belive they were ether captured or dead... let me find them alive she prayed silently..

It wasnt long until Idrial found the camp, and silently studied the group around the fire.. They appeared to be a band of gypsy's or a group of straglers who had banded together after an attack... they were gathered around the fire and looked to be having a meeting of sorts, probably decidng on which direction to travil in.

Idrial didnt see Cormac, and the others around the fire at first, and nearly moved on until one of the people moved and allowed her to see thru the crowd.. There alive.. that was a releaf.. Idrial decided to wait and watch them a bit further to see if they were captives or guests... looking about she couldnt get much closer as the band of people were in a small clearing, she would simply have to hope she could hear some of what was said from this distance.

 

[Mantra]

Borgus

Doorna lowered his head, covering a smile with his hand. "So be it." he said finally. "Come with me and we shall confront our enemy this very evening."

Doorna walked away to a relativly clear and flat spot. He then removed from a pack on his back, a large, rolled piece of heavy cloth. Taking one end he flicked it out and let it billow out to become a 4x6 carpet of deep red.

"Come." Doorna said, settling himself cross legged onto the carpet at one end and motioned Borgus to the other end behind him. Borgus was confused but did as he was asked.

"Away we shall go." the cat-man said. Borgus started when the carpet, barely big enough for the two of them, rippled and lifted itself up from the ground. Another start and the two of them wizzed away, dodging through the trees at a speed that made Borgus's eyes water. Some fifteen minutes later, the carpet slowed, finally coming to hover above the ground in a clearing among a dozen or so little tents hidded and dispersed among the foliage. three or four other cat-men were moving about, looking up as Doorna and Borgus arrived. The carpet finally touched down and the two riders stood, Doorna stepped off, speaking quickly to a second cat-man in a language that was unknown to Borgus. The other cat blinked, his gaze looking over Doorna's shoulder to Borgus and back again.

"This is Eiku, my second among the tribe." Doorna explained to Borgus. "Eiku, alert the tribe, we will move in a hour. Come Borgus, I shall tell you our plan."

Doorna led Borgus into one of the many tents partly obscured by brush. The ground was covered by many small carpets, similar to the flying one they had come on, but fortuenatly, none of these moved when stepped upon. A pile of pillows sat in one corner and a very low table sat right in the middle of the space with a large plush pillow one either side. Doorna settled himself onto one of the pillows arouns the table and motioned towards the pillow opposite him.

"Do you wish to smoke? A refreshment perhaps?" He asked. He waved his hand a an oddly shaped glass bowl appeared atop the table. Two tubes were coiled about the bowl, extending down from the top. Doorna took one of these tubes, placing one end between his lips and inhaled. There was a gurgling sound from the bowl and Doorna exhaled a fine, whitish and scented smoke.

"You might find it enjoyable." he said, offering the second tube to him. With a second wave a heavilly engraved bottle appeared withvtwo equally engraved, golden goblets next to the smoke bowl. Doornal poured a fine red liquid into each goblet and sipped one, sighing with pleasure afterwards.

"A good smoke, fine drink and a glorious bloodletting on the horizon. All we might need to find is some pleasurable company afterwards and one might even forget the hardships of war, yes?"

 

[Mantra]

Draken

The second elf died without ever knowing just what was happening, the dagger severing the spine as it penetrated the base of the elf's neck. Draken took a moment to wipe the blade clean before leaping into the trees again.

It was in that split second that things went wrong. There was the familiar 'thwipp' of an arrow cutting through the air. Draken twisted to one side as he climbed, but there was no place to really go as he was exposed upon the tree trunk. The first arrow glanced off the side of the tree, chipping away bark flecks and drawing a bloody scratch along one of Draken's cheeks. A second arrow thunked into the wood on the opposite side of the tree he was climbing, but a third arrow slapped into his left thigh, piercing his armor and biting into the flesh and muscle beneath.

Three arrows, not one, but three...

 

[Bladesman]

An explosive curse burst from Draken's lips as the third arrow pierced his thigh. The curse was in Infernal or one of the common language of Demons. Quickly opening a portal, Draken dove through it and appeared on the other side of the portal behind a massive pile of rocks. Then gritting his teeth, he placed his hand on the arrow and pulled on it. The arrow loosened and almost came out of his thigh as he cursed again. The sharp pain nearly caused him to black out as he pulled the arrow from his thigh and looked at it.

It was a yew shaft tipped with a razor broadhead, the fletching was from the silver eagle and it had the runes of wood elves carved all over it. Draken muttered a quick spell to see if the arrow was magical. A faint glow confirmed his thoughts. The arrow had a minor spell cast upon it. Draken put the arrow in his quiver but seperate from the other arrows and looked around, there was a small cave near by. The cave would be perfect for a summoning, an infernal summoning.

He quickly moved towards the cave, keeping his body low and weaving from side to side so as to make it harder to be shot. Diving inside the cave, Draken sealed off the cave with a large stone and breathed a sigh of relief. Removing a small sacred black candle from his cloak and lit it with a quietly whispered spell. He began to look around the cave and was suprised by what he saw. The cave had been used for summoning demons and creatures of the shadows before. Glancing at the summoning circle, he was pleased to see that the circle was still intact and the runes of holding were still intact.

Draken pulled a scroll from within his cloak and began to read it. A harsh and grating dialect began to rasp from his throat as he read the words of power. A dark fire began to cover the center of the summoning circle and two horns began to rise from the ground. These horns were sprouted from a small bat-winged demon better known as an imp. The imp snarled and darted towards the Warlock. A concussive thud was heard as the imp was knocked back into the center of the summoning circle.

Satisfied, Draken dismissed the imp and lowered himself down to the floor, his falchions on either side of him. He began to chant again, this time the dialect was much harsher and rumbled from his throat. Dark flames exploded in the circle once more as a horned dogs head began to rise from the molten floor. The horned dog's head was soon followed by a broad muscular body, two of its four arms ending in pincers. Draken smiled grimly at the sight of the glabrezu standing before him but bound by the holding spell.

"Freedom Glabrezu? For time to fill your thirst on the blood of wood elves? Renting their foul flesh with your claws, being able to spit in their foul gods face?" He watched the demon's face for a moment then uttered a spell, a powerful spell bound the demon to a certain task then would banish it, the benefit of the spell was that the demon was bound not to . He grabbed the wood elves arrow and uttered the spell again. The second uttering would bind the arrow to the demon giving it a taste of the wood elves scent.

Once he was sure that the demon was bound by the spell to fulfill the task set before it, Draken released the holding spell and the demon moved outside and its roars began to fill the night as it started to hunt the elves. Draken grinned slowly and opened a portal to where the horse was secured. He stepped through the portal and seconds later appeared beside the horse. Mounting up, Draken was forced to rein the horse in roughly as it reared due to the smell of blood. Forcing the horse down, Draken checked the enchanted knife to see the correct direction which was still east. Once he was sure of the direction, Draken whipped the horse into motion, not bothering to set an easy pace for the horse.

 

[Mantra]

Khan

The blood arm fell to the floor with a great splatting sound as the white-flamed sword severed it. The blood thing moved back briefly, letting Khan scramble away, coughing and spitting blood. The severed arm liquified into a shapeless mass and slipped and slithered back until it rejoined the greater blob monster. Meanwhile the severed arm mearly reformed, oozing out from the stump until the arm was completed again.

Khan readied himself as the monster slid forward again. It suddenly exploded forward, lunging towards Khan, arms reaching forward as well as nearly half a dozen bloody tendrils sprouting from various locations around the creature's torso. Khan's sword flashed out, meeting it halfway. The sword cleaved into the monster's torso, hissing and burning as it passed through. There was a metalic, scorched smell but the sword failed to even slow the monster's progress. Once more, Khan was slammed backwards as the thing impacted his upraised shield, but this time, the monster 'liquified' even further, enveloping Khan's shield, fist and forarm in its own body. Khan was suddenly looking over the bloody mass that was his shield, directly into the creature's featurless face as the head loomed over his enveloped shield.
Khan reared back and drove his flaming sword forward, piercing the blood head straight through.. The head hissed and then burst, like a great bubble, but the thing did not withdraw or release Khan's shield or arm.
The human laughed, watching from among the hanging corpses.

 

[Mantra]

Dolomas's Camp

Conversation broke up for a moment as the sentries brought Idrial forward and her identity was confirmed. O'Bonn assured Dolomas and his people that she was not a threat to them and finally, Idrial was finally ushered to the campfire to sit.

Tension about the camp had not lessened with her arrival however, in fact, it seemed to have heightened with the sudden appearance of another stranger. Dolomas seemed both relieved to have been interrupted from his dark thoughts and irritated at his picket's inability to locate Idrial until she was directly upon them. He attempted to mask his mood by digging an iron skillet into the coals and plopping about a half dozen strips of bacon into it.

"Er, anyway." he began again, passing Idrial a nother earthenware mug of strong coffee.
"Ya, so we were run out of our homes and started meeting up with others who have suffered like we have. For the most part, it's all the same story. Dead walking in and chasing out the folk, killing those who couldn't flee. We took what we could carry and ran, only to discover that we didn't have any place to run to...so we all agreed to leave the swamp lands."
"There was something else though. We didn't want to leave any of our kin behind so some of us who knew the swamp better than others went as scouts ahead of the others. That's when we crossed paths with Boar's Back. No one had seen anyone from Boar's Back village, so we went to check it out. I was one of them. We expected the worst, but..."

He hesitated, trying to vocalize what he was thinking. "It was wierd...We expected some scene of carnage, some massacare. Zombies all walking around and the folk being...well, you know. But there weren't any zombies or nothing. The people, they were dead, all of them but it looked like they just all alid down and died. ...Every one of them was dead, just...laying around everywere. Not just the people, but everything, pigs, chickens, birds...everything just looked like they up and died. Not even crickets chirping."

"Didn't look like a fight happened or nothing. I don't think they ever even knew that whatever happened, happened. Guess there's a small blessing in that, but they're all still dead."

The lot of us, we turned and ran. It wasn't natural and we sure as Hadies didn't want to see what had happened. That was the last village we had to look at, and we've been on the move ever since."

 

[AmenRa]

O'Bonn listened to Dolomas' words carefully. When he had finished speaking, O'Bonn turned to look at his companions, each in turn.

He knew he did not need to give voice to his thoughts. He felt they were probably thinking as he was.

The village of Boar's Back should be their next stop in their journey.

 

[Ithica]

It had been awhile since the others left the camp to investigate the noises. Idrial had been so quiet that Aranel had forgotten that she wasn't the only one there. She was happy for the company but the night remained quiet and she began to worry about the others. As Idrial explained where she was going, Aranel nodded and watched as she walk off.

 

[rengadeirishman]

"Boar's Back you saw? a shame truly, twas a fine little village." Cormac said meeting O'Bonn's gaze. He knew what he was thinking. Cormac nodded his assent, there didnt seem to be two ways about it. They were going to Boar's Back.

 

[Jedi_Khan]

Khan

The blood arm fell to the floor with a great splatting sound as the white-flamed sword severed it. The blood thing moved back briefly, letting Khan scramble away, coughing and spitting blood. The severed arm liquified into a shapeless mass and slipped and slithered back until it rejoined the greater blob monster. Meanwhile the severed arm mearly reformed, oozing out from the stump until the arm was completed again.

Khan readied himself as the monster slid forward again. It suddenly exploded forward, lunging towards Khan, arms reaching forward as well as nearly half a dozen bloody tendrils sprouting from various locations around the creature's torso. Khan's sword flashed out, meeting it halfway. The sword cleaved into the monster's torso, hissing and burning as it passed through. There was a metalic, scorched smell but the sword failed to even slow the monster's progress. Once more, Khan was slammed backwards as the thing impacted his upraised shield, but this time, the monster 'liquified' even further, enveloping Khan's shield, fist and forarm in its own body. Khan was suddenly looking over the bloody mass that was his shield, directly into the creature's featurless face as the head loomed over his enveloped shield.
Khan reared back and drove his flaming sword forward, piercing the blood head straight through.. The head hissed and then burst, like a great bubble, but the thing did not withdraw or release Khan's shield or arm.
The human laughed, watching from among the hanging corpses.

Khan was starting to get rather frustrated with this blob, and he was also not liking the fact that the human was laughing. Thinking quick, he withdrew his blade, muttered a few more words, and struck again.

This time, instead of simply evaporating the blood, the fire of the sword set the blood on fire, consuming it as it would oil. The fire would not be put out, no matter how hard the blod tried, it simply spread, consuming more and more of the blood. Of course, there was a fail safe for Khan, and that was that the fire would not harm Khan, because he was the master of Dukar, from which the fire had come.

The fire would burn away the blood that held Khan's arm, but Khan would only feel a slight warming sensation on his arm, until there was no blood left to consume, at which point the fire would dissappate.

 

[LittleSprite2]

It had surprised Idrial when the sentrys discovered her and casused her to wonder what had given her away, but she went with them knowing it would be easer to discover the truth of things once she was able to speak with the others.

After O'Bonn and the others reasured the band that she was no threat to them and a part of there group she listend quietly as the man Dolomas who appeared to be the leader continued his explanations.

Idrial looked at Dolmas having caught O'Bonn's nod to Cormac she knew that they were all thinking the same thing and Cormac's words confirmed it as she spoke Can you tell us in which direction Boar's Back lies perhaps we can discover what is causing the dead to rise and it seems the best place to begin looking.

It was the best way to prhase things that Idrail could think of with out giving away there true reasions for being in the swamp it was only partal truth but still truth, once they compleated there quest releasng dreamweaver the dead she hoped would return to there graves.. a trip to Boars Back wouldnt hurt especally sence there was no garnetee that Dreamweaver guarded the item the necromancer used to hold his soul... in all honesty the item could be anywhere or kept on the necromancer him or her self...

They would need to go back and gather the rest of there party before moving on but that wouldnt take long..Idrial brought herself back from her thoughts paying attention to what was being said.

 

[Mantra]

Draken

Draken clamored onto the back of the horse, his damaged leg still leaking blood. He snapped the reigns, forcing the animal to leap forward, the little cart bouncing behind them as they ran. Somewhere in the dark behind them, the summoned demon was still stalking his prey and Draken did not want to be around in case his 'distraction' managed to slip it's bonds....

Draken whipped the horse forward for nearly an hour before finally slowing. There had been no sign of the elves nor much else to bar his way. He drew up on the reigns, bringing the horse to a stop. His thigh throbbed from the injury and his own blood had soaked into his clothing and run red streaks down the greaves of his armor and flecked along the horse's flanks as well. He slid down, finally going around to investigate the cart that had been bouncing along behind them. The contents in the wagon had been jumbled about by the rough ride, but it looked to be mostly foodstuffs. The elves must have been forraging for supplies when Draken had come across them.
Nearly two dozen small game birds and rabbits had been snared and skewered, a jumbled mass of mushrooms, acorns and wild berries lay scattered about and six sewn and full waterskins lay in the middle of the mess. Likewise Draken identified two elvish made longbows and several arrows mixed in with several snare traps, a length of coiled rope and a hand axe. The wagon itself was a simple, two wheeled cart that hitched to the horse with leather straps and brass buckles.

He checked his dagger again. He was getting close, very close now.

 

[Mantra]

Dolomas's Camp

Dolomas looked at each of them for long moments, a mixture in disbelief and suprise on his face.

"You all want to go to Boar's Back? Are you mad? I mean, I've had to fight goblins and lizardmen and the like, but how do you fight...fight... death?"