Prelude - The Pit: Ashes and Cinder

The Age of Magic is ended, Bhall, the Goddess of Fire, has succumbed to the whispers of Agares and fallen into Hell. Her worshipers and creations driven mad, and fire, which has been a powerful ally to man, has turned against him. Each good god was charged with the opposition of an evil god. Bhall was responsible for balancing Mulcarn, the God of Winter. Finding himself unopposed Mulcarn has broken The Compact and moved into Creation.

Creation was on the verge of another open war between the gods, that which they had outlawed with The Compact. To keep that from happening a deal was struck and the gods agreed that one god would enter Creation to challenge Mulcarn. That was Sucellus, the God of Nature. The two gods battled across the face of Creation, entire civilizations still recovering from the Burning Skies that marked the fall of Bhall were destroyed by their power. In the end Sucellus was killed and Mulcarn remained.

The Eternal Winter has begun...
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Re: Prelude - The Pit: Ashes and Cinder

Post by Vardaen » Thu Jan 14, 2010 11:38 pm

Ellsbeth kneels to look at the young girl Greit's ankle. Its twisted, but not broken, and some rest will do it wonders, for now however a makeshift splint will have to do. She wraps it up with some bangages from one of her two healer's kits and Griet is smiling and ready to move. Packing up quickly Ellsbeth considers their options a moment, and then the pack of kids is off moving quickly.
Heal: "Treat Caltrop": r18+10=28 Success! 1 Dose from Heal Kit and 1 Arrow used. MV I updated your sheet for the packs and moved them to the consumable page as well.
The group races eastwards through more ruins. The hounds are ever at your heels and there chance of out running them is unlikely, not with Jak and Griet with you. Vren pushes the kids up over walls, through small holes, and then once across a culvert still with some water in it that looks black and foul. Vren worries about leaches and disease, but there is little choice.

Soon the morning sun is starting to rise, which brings with it some hope for escape. "There!" shouts Gunner, always eagle eyed, as he points at a the remains of a ancient bathhouse. The roof and three of the walls are long since gone, but the water that fills the baths still has managed to remain. Rain, generally toxic in this area, keeps it refilled, and the sealed stone baths still remain watertight never letting the water out.

With some hesitation Ellsbeth agrees to brave the waters, it should be just the edge you need to throw off pursuit, which has been ever growing closer and closer and only by the skill of Vren have you avoided a second fight up till now. The kids dive into the water, and everyone splashes across the green covered water. It stings your open wounds, and burns open sores and the like, but you exit the long pool on the other side, and pray it will be just what you need.

Dawn is now bright red, the sun is rising higher and higher directly to the east when you once again hear the howls of your foes. A deep resonating howl breaks the still dawn air. The howl is not that of a Pit Hound, but of something far more sinister. Jak gulps, "Deamon!" He's right of course, its the sound of one of the Pit Spawn, a deamon, a beast from Agares, an agent of Hell. You can't see it, thankfully, but you know now that it rules the lands south and west of your location. The bellow comes a second time. "Run!" , screens Nessa as she and the kids take off at a bolt in utter terror. With a second wind Vren and Ellsbeth look to one another and chase after the kids knowing full well that whatever is out there is a foe to strong for the two of you.

*** Sometime Later That Day ***

Slumped among an ancient road marker, Vren looks over the sleeping kids at Ellsbeth. The Paladin herself stands at vigil over the kids, eyes ever westwards, mind racing. There will be no going to Peptine, not now, not with that Deamon prowling the boarderlands between here and there.

You sit where a small patch of grass grows, it is the furtherest to the east Vren or Ellsbeth has been. You are right on that fine line where the ruins meets the plains outside of Braduk. To the east lies a long rolling grasslands, to the west, the ruins of Braduk and the Burning Pit.

Finally Ellsbeth speaks. "We make for Falcon's Hollow." The statement is both strong and commanding. "It was once a holding of Braduk, to the northeast. I have never been there myself, but the surviving Merchant Guilds still trade now and then with the Lumber Consoritum there. It is a perhaps a weeks travel from here if we give The Pit a wide berth. The kids will need food soon, and its growing cold out and none of you are dressed for that weather." She is in fact correct, since arriving here Vren has noticed that the weather is cool, certainly cooler than she's ever used to.
Taking some control here just to keep things moving forward. The Prelude is nearing the end, and I want to make sure the point is made for going to Falcon's Hollow, and instead of PM MV with info, I just posted for Ellsbeth.
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Last edited by Vardaen on Wed May 12, 2010 8:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Re: Prelude - The Pit: Ashes and Cinder

Post by paradoxa » Fri Jan 15, 2010 12:28 am

Vren simply nods, to weary to even comment. She's never admit that openly, but right now she is glad to have someone set a clear goal. If it's Peptine or Falcon's Hollow.. well, it's all the same to her, as long as it promises safety and leaving the Pit behind for good.

She shivers and crosses her arms to keep in the warmth. Being tired to the bone and finally sitting still on the cold stone after hours and hours of running makes her well aware of the cooler temperatures.

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Re: Prelude - The Pit: Ashes and Cinder

Post by MadVlat » Fri Jan 15, 2010 9:34 pm

As the other children slumber, Ellsbeth withdraws a bundle of clothing from her pack and hands it quietly to Vren. "It may be a bit loose in certain areas but at least you will be a bit warmer". The paladin noticing the occasional shiver from the young girl. "I just wish I had something for the others to wear"...
Giving Vren my extra explorer's outfit...

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Re: Prelude - The Pit: Ashes and Cinder

Post by paradoxa » Fri Jan 15, 2010 10:35 pm

Vren takes the warmer clothes, a bit reluctant to accept them, and looks to the sleeping kids. She puts the tunic around her shoulders for now.
"I'll pass them on to Jak or Griet later... I'll be warm enough once we're moving again. ", she makes a compromise.

The girl smiles wryly.
"You know.. I'd been wondering why you had that warm stuff. Guess I found out now. "
Remembering what chain of events lead to the opportunity to gain insight into Ellbeth's belongings, she looks away from the older woman, a bit embarrassed. But she doesn't apologize.

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Re: Prelude - The Pit: Ashes and Cinder

Post by Vardaen » Fri Jan 15, 2010 10:55 pm

The group manages a few more hours of rest, the kids need it, and deamons or not you just have to risk staying here for a bit. Its many hours later when finally the group is up and on their way again. The explorer's outfit from Ellsbeth is given to the kids, pieces here and there are taken in and tied around skinny shoulders, and it help the little ones greatly. Soon the six are on the move, traveling through the afternoon as clouds rollin from the west. The sun is hidden and the warmth from it fades. The last edges of the ruins of Braduk are left behind, this is the further from her home that Vren or any of the kids have ever been, and there is both releif and saddness in the event.

The terrain turns from ancient ruins and blasted lands to old dead farms and fields to rolling rass lands to hills and streams. By night fall you have clearly and cleanly left Braduk behind. Nessa stands in grasses up to her knees, "This is so beautiful. I didn't know this even exsisted." She looks back at Vren and smiles, "Thank you Vren, thank you Ellsbeth." She turns to look away from the pair back to the fields where the other three kids are rolling around laughing with one another already having forgotten the horrors of yesterday.

The trip will take many days, but the true dangers of Braduk and the Pit are gone. The weather turns cold, far colder than it should at this time of year, and each morning there is a thick layer of frost on the ground that lingers longer and longer each day until finally on the fifth day the frost simply doesn't leave and remains on the ground as snow.

** Five Days Later **
Cold and hungry, tired and weary, the group has travel northeast to the banks of a river of which you don't know the name of. You've followed it north on its course toward the sea on the coast there. Another day perhaps and you should reach the ford that will take you to Falcon's Hollow.
You guys are well out in front of the other groups at this point timewise. Feel free to backpost traveling through light woods, rolling hills and grasslands. You are a day from Falcon's Hollow and the end of the Prelude!
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Re: Prelude - The Pit: Ashes and Cinder

Post by paradoxa » Sat Jan 16, 2010 12:37 am

I'd sure like to do some RP until the other two groups have finished their preludes as well. I think there is plenty to talk about, and Vren and Ellsbeth could use the time to get to know each other, right, MV?
Vren is at first amazed at the grass and the trees, the sheer abundance of vegetation - compared to the ruins - but especially the clear, running water in the streams. But the sense of wonder is somewhat dampened when she thinks back to what she has left behind. Not the Demons, Hound, and countless other dangers, but the life she had. Her parents, friends, almost everyone she knew is gone, except for Nessa and Gunner, Jak and Griet.
So instead of joining the kids in their enthusiasm, she stays with Ellsbeth and just watches them playing in the grass, with a hint of melancholy in her gaze.

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Re: Prelude - The Pit: Ashes and Cinder

Post by MadVlat » Sat Jan 16, 2010 2:34 am

Correct Para.
Ellsbeth simply watches the children play, a great joy filling her kind heart. Griest does a backflip and the paladin smiles. "You know Vren, the children shall flourish because of the decision you made back there in the ruins... You did right by them and should be proud". Ellsbeth turning to look at the young woman. "Another day or so and we will reach civilization. I look forward to a good nights sleep and a bath". She closes her eyes and tilts her head back as if remembering times long ago. "Have you ever had pheasant and roasted potatoes?"...

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Re: Prelude - The Pit: Ashes and Cinder

Post by paradoxa » Sat Jan 16, 2010 3:42 am

She's not sure what to think of the prospect of civilization. A good night's sleep really is the most enticing item on the list.

But... "Potatoes?"
That sounds familiar. She furrows her brows, trying to bring back childhood memories. Even if that was just some years ago, it all seems so far away.

"We had those. There were some small fields within the castle walls... potatoes were about the only thing that we could grow. "
It's clear that the 'we' Vren speaks of is not just her and the four kids. Realizing she's starting somewhere in the middle of the story, she tries to explain what she's talking about.
"The castle... at least that's what we called it... was the place I" - she corrects herself - "we were born. "

After hesitating for a moment, she shrugs, not really knowing what to add to this. She's not sure if she really wants to talk about the past, or if Ellsbeth even wants an explanation. To cover that, she changes the topic.
"What's a pheasant?"

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Re: Prelude - The Pit: Ashes and Cinder

Post by Vardaen » Mon Jan 18, 2010 8:15 pm

Sounds good to me. I'm just going to let you two walk and RP as you walk until its time to sync you up with the others.
The kids roll around in the grasses and play out in front of the pair of 'grown ups'. They are mostly involved in their own things, and don't bother Vren and Ellsbeth as the two womean speak. Soon you'll be in Falcon's Hollow, what Ellsbeth is calling civilization, and the trepidations of that loom over Vren.
"He that breaks a thing to find out what it is has left the path of wisdom." - Gandalf
J.R.R. Tolkien, Council of Elrond, The Fellowship of the Ring

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Re: Prelude - The Pit: Ashes and Cinder

Post by MadVlat » Tue Jan 19, 2010 7:51 pm

Ellsbeth looks puzzled at first but does her best to explain pheasants to Vren, "They are a game bird, most delicious if cooked properly. Perhap's we will come across some in our travel's". The paladin smiles and reaches into her pack. "Until then we will have to make do with these". She pulls two days worth of rations out and calls to the playing children. Ellsbeth breaks off a small corner of the hard bread and passes the rest to the others. "We must conserve what little we have, but I can here your belly's yelling from across the field, and we can't have that"...

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