An
interrupted Journey
5/4/10,122 - Thailot Foothills
To late Molin & Tharla watch the fleeing V'Duuyek riders disappear into the distance, with a shrug Tharla searches the corpse of the chased rider whilst Molin rifles his pack & saddlebags.
Illyra gingerly feels the cold air on her chest through the rent in her armour, beneath, bruised flesh tingles to her touch, searching out the scorched, smoking & now hairless Kilite she asks if, when he's finished smouldering, could he possibly have a look at repairing her torn hauberk.
Within the courier's tunic, for that is what he appears to be, is a small leather scroll case in which are two rolled pieces of parchment. Unrolling the parchment the first seems to be a ciphered text, Tharla soon has a headache as the words, themselves unreadable, dance about the page. Putting it to one side she unrolls the second & gasps, it contains four concise sketches & a brief description of her & her friends, calling to Illyra & the now redressed Kilite to have a look they ponder the omens of the couriers package.
It is clear that some sorcery has been cast upon the text to render it unreadable, Illyra, fumbling in her pack, produces a small polished mirror with which she uses to view the reflection of the text, unfortunately the effect of the spell remains. Undeterred she holds the parchment up to the light but its thickness is to great to read it from behind. Kilite, calming himself, commences to cast a spell of counter magic but abandons the task mid way through realising it would be ineffective. Finally they decide to see if one of their flask living friends can assist, Molin, objecting to the use of Erimmes requests they use Magda, citing that he still doesn't trust the perverted elder spirit.
As Magda swirls in the gentle breeze she tells that she can clearly see the text on the parchment, the sorcery having no effect upon her own mind, however its contents make no sense, Kilite asks her to transcribe the parchments content letter by letter, as she does he makes a meticulous copy on parchment from his own scroll case.
Once completed the group ask Magda as to whether it would be possible for both Erimmes & herself to inhabit the same jar & if so whether they would care to do so. After a hurried conversation between the two spirits Magda embarrassed agrees that yes they would be pleased if it could be done. Slowly the two mists rise from their respective jars, rather than coalescing into separate forms, the mists corkscrew around each other & retreat into Magda's jar. Popping home the seal, Magda's jar is hidden from prying eyes, whilst Erimmes's more fanciful jar is part filled with dirt as well as sprinkling of Illyra's much coveted powders & stored such that any search will leave it easily visible.
Whilst Kilite slowly inks in the text the others search the fallen V'Duuyek riders & the remaining contents of the couriers saddle bags, as Molin throws aside the saddle he catches sight of a split seam in the saddle itself, sliding his knife between the loose stitching, a small square of folded parchment is exposed. Unfolding it Tharla is disgusted, it contains a brief message, however it is written in the same hand as that seen within the museum halls in Athalau, presumably that of the Zr'gsv, & is therefore unreadable to her & her friends.
Illyra declares that the V'Duuyek riders carried nothing of interest, however a further search by Tharla & Molin reveals that Illyra was remiss in her search, several items of interest are found. Molin is persuaded to cast detect magic which confirms Tharla's suspicion that one of the composite bows & a buckler are more than they appear, Tharla's own divination's identify the buckler as having a spell of protection woven about it & the composite bow to be magically enhanced.
Grimly Kilite approaches the others advising that his burns were not all superficial & that without aid he will not be able to continue, realising the extent of his wounds Illyra digs out the healing bowl recovered from Athalau. Administering its waters to Kilite's lips the crisped & swelling flesh falls away to reveal fresh pink skin beneath, whilst not entirely healed Kilite passes himself fit to travel.
Conscious of rent in her armour Illyra reluctantly adjusts one of the two sets of lamellar armour recovered from the scene of the earlier skirmish, accepting that any repair courtesy of Kilite will have to come later. She sheepishly admits that her search was not entirely unfruitful as she produces a pouch containing a resinous compound, which she declares to be the finest Krrf money could buy (an expensively prepared hallucinogenic drug used in only the finest of houses) As if to prove a point she crumbles a pinch, burns it & inhales the smoke only to collapse in a fit of giggles.
Realising that Illyra is clearly incapable of sitting astride her dog Molin is forced to lash her across her saddle, hands & feet strung under its belly.
Looking on Kilite shakes his head & turns towards the uninjured & rider less V'Duuyek mount, tentatively he attempts to mount the creature, however after several failed attempts Molin assists Kilite's one-legged dance, after which Kilite, uncomfortably, sits astride the animal.
As they make ready to depart, a casual glance to the skies brings heart to mouth, three eagles lazily circle high overhead, realising in daylight they can do no more than continue they move back onto the trail. Molin is forced to lead Illyra's dog due to her self induced stupor, whilst Kilite balances precariously astride his new best friend.
A mile or so later they can stand Illyra's nonsense no more & Molin gags Illyra to prevent her continued raucous caterwauling.
As dusk draws in, the ever circling eagles slide across the horizon, two heading back in the direction of Brev, the third turning, possibly, towards Thailot. Once Molin is sure they have truly departed he leads the others of the track to the sound of yet more wolves feasting on the corpses to their rear. Moving across country, intending to continue through the night, a cloudless sky is lit by the near full moon making travel relatively easy, particularly once Illyra has recovered sufficiently such that she can be released. Aware of the possibility of being tracked & of the omnipresent howling, Tharla all but obliterates sign of their passage.
As dawn approaches they worm their way into a copse of trees doing their best to conceal themselves from above during the daylight hours. Alternatively snoozing, repairing clothes & tending their mounts the day drifts by. Kilite makes a passing repair of H's hauberk, or at least good enough until the rings can be reforged. Late in the afternoon her shakes the others from their slumber & quietly points to the skies where a number of eagles can be seen quartering the terrain, fortunately their cover hides them from prying eyes.
Later, as Molin leads them into the foothills towards his home, he espies something off to the west not to distant, moving towards it the silhouette of a figure can be picked out slumped against a tree &, off to one side that of a collapsed eagle. Seeing no movement it is clear something is amiss & edging closer it is soon apparent that both rider & eagle are dead, more so ripped apart, just as were the guards from the way station the day before.
Realisation strikes Molin, he recalls the legends told to scare the clan cubs around the hearth by elders when he himself was no more than a half-breed urchin. Sketchily he tells the others of the giant winged fox's said to haunt the mountains in years gone by. Stronger than the bears of the Ust-Alayakits & bigger than the giant eagles that bare the Sky City riders to war, these creatures were dismissed as merely tales to make children be quiet or be beaten. In later life occasionally rumour would come to his clan from some friend of some person had seen one, or odd droppings & ravaged bones were found but rarely would any person stand tall & claim to have seen let alone fought one, now it would appear one of those childhood tales was real & was close.
Leaving the butchered remains for the wolves the friends are fortunate to find a shallow overhang of rock under which they can shelter during the day to come however later that day luck does not shine upon them.
As Kilite sits half asleep listening to the snores of the others he is startled as something alights beyond the rocks. Peering around he is terrified to see a huge winged beast nosing the dog shit from their own beasts, not daring to turn & raise the alarm he sits as a statue hoping beyond hope that the creature passes them by.
Regrettably fate takes a hand as one of Tharla's dogs snaps over a shared morsel, instantly the creature raises its vast head, sniffs the air & turns toward the watching Kilite, with a scream he jumps to his feat & lunges with the staff as the beast snaps at his face. In hindsight of his earlier misuse of the staffs power Kilite ignores its capability to flame & lands a mighty blow against the beasts flank only to see it shrug the strike aside. As the beast skips away from the overhang, Kilite lets fly with a small portion of the power remaining within the staff & with some satisfaction sees scorched flesh across the creature's hindquarters.
Behind Kilite the others, alerted, shake themselves into action, Illyra pulls forth the pouch of summoning & throws the claw of an eagle to the skies commanding it to attack the beast, Molin, with his recently acquired bow, lets fly several arrows whilst Tharla thrusts at its face with her two handed spear. Kilite, using the last of the staff's dilapidated power, watches in horror as the flames wash over the beast to no effect, luck is against the four as both arrows & spear go wide of the mark. All feel an overwhelming revulsion pass over them as they circle the snapping beast, however the distraction of the summoned eagle keeps the full attention of the creature from them.
Tharla, hoping to use the power of the sword, looks to the sky but is dismayed to see clouds drifting across the sun, risking all she strikes for the creature as it batters the summoned eagle to the ground in a flurry of blood. Belatedly fate smile favourably on Tharla, her swing catches the beast below the knee of its front right leg nigh on shearing it asunder. With a deafening howl the flailing monster explodes into the air ripping out the throat of the summoned eagle as it passes & lurches its way across the sky.
Panting, the friends take stock, it could have been worse, far worse, other than the flailing eagle, which Illyra releases from its bond, only a few minor scrapes have been suffered by the four, something which the Ust-Alayakits would be proud off.