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The evening draws to a close naturally, people start to claim their sleeping positions and eventually there is no one left except those who are on guard duty. Even the animals bed down for the night calmly, Laddie curled up close to Elsbeth and Eddie perched in a small stump conveniently close to Jesse. The horse and pack animals seem calmer and more settled than you have seen in the past, with very little stomping and snorting as they settle down. The first watch passes quietly, and so too does the hand over to the second watch. Even that is going quietly with next to no disturbances or even much rustling in the surrounding undergrowth. When suddenly:- The watch are startled by the blaring of a horn, in fact so loud is the horn that all of you are shaken from your sleep. As you sit up, rubbing your tired and bleary eyes, you see a weird and eerie sight. Rushing straight towards you, there is a series of green flashes breaking across the ground. The horses, Eddie and Laddie start to panic - Eddie flying straight upwards, Laddie howling and barking and the horses whinnying and stomping and pulling against their securing picket rope. The flashes approach rapidly, so rapidly you can do no more than get your loosened armour tight and pull your main weapons to hand - and then they are on you. At the last moment they seem to swerve around you and you can see that the flashes are green flames licking from the mouths of a pack of black hunting dogs and breaking from the earth as their feet touch the ground. As the pack race past, you glimpse a large black skinned figure, proudly bearing antlers apon his head and grasping a spear, running easily along behind them. As they pass you feel a great urge to jump up and run along with them. --------------------------------------- OOC - Roll d100 for me - LOL - If you roll a 25 or less you are going with them. BTW - you can choose to fail the save if you would like to …. |
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Mandrake watches in amazement as the green flashes head straight for him. As the distance shortens, they finally resolve into dark hounds of some description, and they seem to be closing on him for the kill. His hand drops to the short sword at his belt, almost too late to do anything as they are upon him. Mandrake's eyes are wide with fear and wonder, his thoughts crowded with a mixture of emotions and his legs stuck, too heavy to move. At the last, Mandrake throws himself to the ground, burying his face in the grass, hands above his head with the blade of his sword pointing upwards and thinking himself flat. Expecting to feel the bite and tear of rabid teeth into his back, Mandrake tenses. Nothing! Not the intense pain of canine teeth tearing through clothes into the flesh beneath, nor the burning of their breath on his face, nothing but the sound of the chase now behind him. (OOC: I rolled just to see, and failed, but an inquisitive gnome like Mandrake, who just survived such an ordeal unscathed, he'd follow whatever ;-) "WOW!" Mandrake jumps to his feet and chases after the pack. (OOC: I don't know what kind of mental effect the scene has on him with a failed roll of 97, but if it's not all consuming and he can still think about anything else, he will pick up his pack with his scrolls inside it) |
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OOC 97 is a sucess - you can choose to go or not - it is only on a roll of 25% or less you are going whether you like it or not. |
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Elsbeth sits up, her eyes wide, her scimitar in her hand. She makes no move to comfort Laddie, simply watching as the spectacle approaches, her eyes on the strange being leading this pack. Her breathing becomes faster, her body trembles. With a wild cry she leaps up, sword in hand, her hair flying about her unbound. Elsbeth doesn't hesitate- running to join the pack, running with them into the night. |
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Smilo |
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"Whada!?" Smilo rubs his eyes. Green lights. The rest awaken. A hunting pack. The excitment tugs at him. A hunt! Even the bizarre appearance of the huntsman doesn't put him off. He leaps out of the covers--still in nightshirt--and runs after the apparation, as fast as his little hobbit legs will carry him. "Wait fer me!" |
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OOC: sorry, my mistake. He grabs his pack and follows then. |
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Yuri stands, his head furiously turning left and right trying to take in everything. Though running with the pack initially seemed inviting, the reaction of the animals and carelessness of his companions makes him uneasy. "Wait...", he begins as Mandrake scoots off. "But...", he starts as Elsbeth takes to her feet, anything else he was about to say lost in her shout. Smilo joining them goes unseen as Yuri flounders, unsure about what to do. Surely he's not the only cautious one! |
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Before the sound of the horn ends Madelyn is on her feet, sword in hand she is looking in all directions for the threat. The animals whinnying behind her, she sees the lights virtually upon them. A sense of fear creeps up her spine, and she feels the hair on the nape of her neck stand on end. Before she can move the pack swerves, and she glimpses a large black skinned figure running along behind, closely followed by Mandrake and Smilo. She senses movement at her side, and before she can gather her senses, Elsbeth brushes past her in hot pursuit. Without thinking, Madelyn throws out a hand to try and stop the woman from following, grabbing at loose clothing or anything she can get a grip on. |
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Madelyn's grasping hand seems to clutch at Elsbeth for a split second, and then loses it grip as Elsbeth speeds off with the pack .... |
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Woken by the horn, his first thoughts are for the animals. Reaching for the cutlass, he breathes a sigh of relief when then the pack veer round the party. Seeing Smilo, Elsbeth & Mandrake follow the pack, his doubts surge up, follow to protect or not. Following his natural instinct he rushes to the animals to ensure they are safe. OOC: rolled 46 |
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Herloch awakes quickly and jumps up, quickly strapping on armor and readying his mace. His breathing gets heavy, like a bull, and his stance suggests he would take on the entire pack. Then, he spots the mysterious figure wearing antlers. There's a real warrior! He's nothing like the rest of these people he's been travelling with. He's not afraid of battle, the glory of the hunt! The pack and their master pass by. Did Herloch see him motion to join him? Then he sees Elsbeth and Smilo chase off after them. "What! You're not warriors! Where do they think you're going?" he calls out incredulously after them. He turns to Kerim and says, "Wait, what?, what's going on?!?" Herloch's obviously disoriented by the whole experience. |
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Rolf wakes from a troubled sleep with a start, hand already reaching for the hilt of his sword. As the green lights come towards him, he has a brief thought that perhaps it's part of his nightmares. He jumps to his feet, but stares in amazement as the light shows itself to be huge dogs, behind them a magestic figure with antlers. He feels their call, the desire to be on the hunt. This is something he can well understand, to put aside the trappings of civilization, to pit ones cunning against ones prey. The lure is strong, seductive, he finds himself drawn forward. [OOC: it was at this point I rolled the dice thing, scoring a whopping 11. Good in a way, I don't have to make the decision for Rolf.] Following the habits of a lifetime, Rolf quickly scoops up the bow and arrow before tearing off after Elsbeth. In his veins, the excitement of the hunt burns his blood, lending him strength and stamina unknown to him before. His nostrals flare with the scent of his prey, his skin tingles as the cool night breeze flows over it, his teeth flash in a predators smile. The hunt is on. |
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Peter rouses from his sleep at the blaring horn, tightens his armour and grabs for his shelid and dagger. But this takes a while as he is still unused to it. As he is preparing the hounds and their master stream past. The urge to join the hunt is there, but a single shake of the head dispels such a notion. Why would he, a scholar, want to go chasing off after a strange hunt? Again he shakes his head in confusion as he sees so many of the others dashing off - but is jerked back to reality by Kerim's shouted concern with the animals. Seeing as the strange sight, and many of his companions, are retreating from view - he drops his shield and quickly thrusts the dagger back in his scabbard as he runs to help Kerim calm the horses and mules. "What the hell was that?" he calls hoping to get an answer from anyone still left around. |
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Flea awakes and sees the hunt charging straight towards her. Her initial reaction is to run, but the ground forces her to run directly away from the approaching lights. Soon however the Hounds and their master go flashing past on each side of her, and before she knows it she is caught up with the pack and running along side them ... Rethe and Jesse, on the other hand, awake and quickly prepare for battle. Rethe drawing his scimitar ansd Jesse taking his long sword in his right hand and a short sword in his left. Both look somewhat wild, dressed in leather armour and hair flicking in the light breeze, they are clearly experienced and ready to fight. As the hounds and thei master become clear, both seem to relax slightly. Then they glance at each other briefly and break into broad grins, before turning and running along side the hunt. As he turns, Jesse shouts, "Eddie, stay clear - scout" before losing himself in the glories of the hunt. |
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Madelyn loses her grip on Elsbeth as Rolf dashes past on the other side. Somewhat getting her whits together, Madelyn quickly assesses the situation. Her two closest companions have run off with the strange crowd, she quickly looks around and sees that Kerim and Peter are calming the animals. Herloch is standing, looking somewhat confused. *What the heck* she thinks to herself. "Wait for me", she shouts running after the disappearing hunt. |
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Elsbeth runs, her hair flying wildly about her, weapon in hand. She sees nothing, hears nobody. For her, all there is runs on either side and before- the rest of the pack. Her breath rasps in her throat as she runs, for the woman is unused to running. Her legs ache. She doesn't care. Her soul is lost and given to the pack, to the hunt - wherever it leads... |
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Yuri's shoulders slump forward as he gives up, resigned to the fact that most everyone around him is bolting off. Whilst feeling the pull, Yuri is still in no frame of mind to go galavanting around the countryside, so he consoles himself with the thought that at least some people need to stay behind and look after the animals and equipment. If Laddie stays behind, Yuri sits down next to the wolf and starts talking to the animal, tho he does call him "boy", having not been told his name. Otherwise he will experiment with Edgar's friendlyness, having no idea the bird fully understands him, and can talk back. This of course all presumes Kerim does not need help with the horses. |
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OOC: Why bother with a dice roll? This looks like fun. Callum leaps to his feet as the hunt thunders past. A huge grin spreads slowly over his face and with an almighty whoop he pulls his sword over his shoulder and races along with the pack. |
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As Mandrake hits the deck, Edgar squawks in surprise and fights to remain airborne long enough to perch safely upon a branch ... but then it hits him - the call to join the headlong rush of the Hunt. The urge to fly along after the pack of hounds and their strange master is pressing indeed, yet he is able to marshall his resources and resist the pull ... if only just. However, seeing the bulk of his new friends rushing off, and uncertain as to whether some do so out of choice, is too much for him. With a most unbirdlike sigh, and a hurried "Someone's got to look after them ... wait for me !" (no doubt to the great surprise of Yuri), he takes to the air, wings beating furiously as he hurries after them. |
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