GURPS Banestorm redux narrative thread

Culture
31

Ranar Bolijyr

As he enters the shade of the copse of trees, Ranar is surprised by the sight of a beardless dwarf. An exile? A deviant? A lunatic? With the aid of his shyness, he fights back the impulse to question the stranger and plays off his reaction as adjusting to the sudden change from bright sunlight to shade.

He happily sits by the fire to relax and enjoy the hospitality. As Sasha hands him a cup of tea he pauses for a moment to inhale the scent of home. Then a thought hits him - “Oh ha - what goes good with moss tea?” He rummages in his pack for a moment and then passes around what used to be a few crumbly mushroom shortbread cookies. He’s been saving them for awhile so they’re just broken bits of cookie now, but still taste like home.

“So ah, what direction are ye headed in yer travels?”

32

“I am here and you are here and the Heathen is here. We are here together, this is how it must be.”

Sasha looks into your bemused faces. He sighs and decides to try again.

“It is Fate. Look, this…” he gestures at a pebble on the ground, “this me. It is here, I am here, so it is. This…” he points to two other small stones nearby, “this you two. They are there, you are there, so it was.”

“That…”, he says, pointing at a stone further away in the other direction, “that is someone else.” He draws a line in the dirt from that one to the rest of them.

“They are there but will be here.”

He looks up, still unsure if you’ve grasped it yet. He draws a circle in the dirt around the stone representing himself.

“This was.”

Another circle is drawn around the three of you.

“This is.”

Then a final circle encompassing all of them.

“This will be. As it is written in these stones, it is fated. Nothing more can be done. We must travel awhile together until the stones release us.”

As he looks up to see whether you understand now you notice that his final circle includes a fifth stone, off to the side.

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33

Thwip

To his credit Thwip manages to not roll his eyes and sigh.

– Sweet virgin mother Mary who ascended to Heaven with her incorrupt body and sinless soul, the strange things people believe.–

Forcing a smile Thwip responds, “Tat’s good t’ here. Does tis circle haff Tredroy in it? Plenty off stones tere.”

34

Ranar

Listening to their host’s speech was relaxing and a bit comforting. With his stutter, Ranar had always felt a bit out of place in conversation, trying to push the thoughts from his mind out of his mouth while everyone else waited. Although Sasha spoke clearly, the simple, repetitive staccato pattern must have made him feel similarly.

When Sasha says that “they will be here”, he takes a quick glance back in the direction of the ruined fort, then pays closer attention until Sasha finishes. “Th-th … S-so ah, joining the circle, not trying to break it?” He nods and glances at Thwip. “Aye, more stones make a stronger foundation.”

“But here is not, may not, be where best to be.” He breaks a dried twig into many pieces and scatters them off to one side of the circles, but not far away, pointing at them. “They were, and may still be. And they are not stones. Tis a land o’ bandits.”

He leans back on the soft moss for a moment watching the sunlight on the leaves shift in the breeze. “Yet I could use a rest. And here’s better than the open fields. Is it written in the stones whether t’ camp or press on?”

35

Sasha

Sasha isn’t sure that you’ve properly understood, with Ranar’s twigs and Thwip’s talk of places, but at least you seem to have grasped the basics.

Addressing Thwip he says “Places they are not, people they are. See how they lie…people, not places!” as if this should be obvious to you.

He picks up the stones and drops them one by one into a tooled leather pouch.

“I am here and you are here and you are here and he…he is coming.” He holds up the pouch. “Then we will be together and Fate will hold us. I do not know what will happen but we will live our Fate until Fate lets us go.”

He selects three other stones and adds them to the others before putting the pouch away.

“Now we have met and now we have drunk and now we have foretold and now we will eat.”

36

Thwip

As the meal begins, Thwip’s far-hearing ears hear the distinctive beat of hooves. He quickly looks at his companions in a panic. They haven’t seem to have noticed.

– Ah! Of course they wouldn’t! Dwarves would have ears for hearing underground and the earth moves sound much further than the air. There’s a book in finding out how this sort of physical selection by environment happens. Not now. –

He quickly grabs Ranar by the arm. “I hear hooves. Mebee centers. Otter side off t’ trees.” He gestures at Sasha, “Company! Mebee bad. Keep yir head doon and git riddy t’ fight ifin they’re centers!”

– The fire to make the tea? They would have spotted it already. No time to douse it.–

Thwip readies his rifle the best he can and takes up a concealed position.

– I wonder if I can redesign this for one handed use? –

He peers out across the scrub land and hopes that Ranar won’t have to bury a broken goblin and a mad dwarf.

37

Ranar

Ranar’s adrenaline kicks him into action, although he can’t help himself from grumbling about having barely gotten a bite in. “Welcome to the circle, Sasha.”

Taking up a position within the edge of the grove, about 5 meters away from Thwip, he props his shield up against a tree and shelters behind the tree and shield, readying his crossbow and scanning the area to the north.

38

GM POST

@DaakSyde @William_George @MalevolentPixy @strokeybeard @enceladus

A scruffy-looking human is running towards you, pursued by three mounted men. It looks like they’ll catch their prey just before reaching the trees.

The person on foot is about a hundred yards away, the horsemen about fifty yards behind.

39

Right on time, Sasha thought, and followed by something sharp - the stones do not lie.

Arming his prodd he moves through the grove to get a clear view of the incoming person. Noting the riders he thinks back to a deep mine shaft, the slow, insistent creak of the props, the sudden terrifying crack as the ceiling gives way…

He holds that feeling on the tip of his mind as he waits for the riders, and more importantly their horses, to come into range of his spell…

40

GM POST

@DaakSyde @William_George @MalevolentPixy @strokeybeard @enceladus

Peering through the brush over the top of his shield, Ranar looses a crossbow bolt with a loud twang. The central horsemen notes the sound of the shot in time to look towards the woods, but not in time to avoid it. The bolt punches through his mail shirt, burying itself deeply in his chest.

Although the rider is obviously grievously wounded, he retains his seat. Bending low over his horse’s neck, he urges his mount forwards and reaches back for the shield slung on its haunches. Meanwhile, the other two riders spread slightly to the flanks as they also ready their shields.

As they pass sixty yards, Thwip lets fly. Although his aim is severely hampered by his broken arm, the shot is miraculously on target. The bullet blasts through the horseman’s armour, visibly sending blood spraying through the links on his back. Somehow, he still retains his seat.

But not for long; after another twenty yards, he slumps from the saddle and crashes to the ground. His horse continues onwards regardless.

Switching his focus to the leftmost target, Ranar snaps off a second shot. Without the benefit of careful aiming, this bolt flies far wide. Cursing, Ranar drops the bow and snatches for his axe.

Meanwhile, Thwip gets off a second shot at the right-hand horseman. Once more, he focuses through his pain to keep the rifle on target. However, his injury takes its toll on his aim; the shot finds the horse instead.

The horse bucks and rears as the bullet strikes home, but the rider controls it and continues to charge.

Photo 16-7-17, 8 45 49 pm.jpg1155×1399 573 KB

Green is shrubbery/canopy, brown is tree trunk

[Player cue: the human has reached the edge of the woods, but the two remaining horsemen are only a second behind. Ranar, you have your axe and shield ready; Sasha, they’re currently about 15 yards away, but closing at 10yds/second; Thwip, you’re reloaded; Hayu, time to step in]

41

Hayu

Crisse. These guys are determined. Whatever they want her for, it’s more than just a couple of minor baubles lifted in the marketplace. Not that she stopped to ask – when maniacs start charging at you with swords, it’s hardly the time for polite conversation. Usually, though, guards will stop at the city limits, whereas these bâtards sent horsemen to continue the chase. Three of them, from the sounds of it, though she doesn’t dare lose the time it will take to look back. She needs to get to the trees. The horses won’t be able to run in there, and the guards’ fancy armour will work to their disadvantage.

A small voice in her head notes that she could get a smidge extra speed if she abandons her pack but she squelches it by arguing that she’d lose speed getting out of it, and it’s everything she owns.

Her lungs are burning and her heart feels like it’s going to burst when she hears a grunt and one of the guards shouting that it’s an ambush, which is news to her. Then one of the horses screams and the sound is enough to give her a little burst of speed that she hadn’t thought possible. While Father Louis might argue many reasons why “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” might be false, right now, Hayu is willing to give thanks to whatever God, god or gods has provided her with this gift and sort out the intentions of these third parties, after they and hims fight. All she needs is to reach cover and catch her breath for a minute… maybe an hour or so. Just a little bit further…

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42

Thwip

When the rider falls and the horse screams its pain, time slows for Thwip.

– Why did I kill that pinkie? Because my remaining friend is in danger. But he created the danger. The rider did nothing to me. –

He slowly moves his sights to the wounded horse. Or perhaps he moves them quickly. He cannot tell.

– Why am I going to kill this horse? It’s in pain. Is that really why? I caused its pain to begin with. –

He finds himself yelling. He does not know how loud it is though it’s booming to his ears.

“Flee, befare yi die!”

– We are killing strangers for no reason. We know nothing of this situation. We don’t know anything of that pinkie we’re murdering for. We know nothing of the thumb behind us. Why are will killing as a first resort? That poor horse. Did the centaurs or the elves kill our old horses? Why are we doing this? Why am I doing this? I pride myself on my intelligence yet I have rarely used it this past week. My friends have died because of it.–

Thwip fires at the injured horse.

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43

Ranar

Ranar hefts his axe and tracks the leftmost horseman, aimed and ready to hurl the axe if the horseman reaches the trees, then crossdraw the other one for melee. He won’t miss again.

– So much fighting, so many lost. I hope the beardless one knows what he’s doing with his stone reading. – he thinks.

Upon hearing Thwip’s shout, he opens up with his own deep-throated roar “Begone, ye!”

44

GM POST

@DaakSyde @William_George @MalevolentPixy @strokeybeard @enceladus

As Hayu dives between Sasha and Thwip, Ranar steps forwards and Sasha mutters under his breath. Thwip draws a bead on the right-hand horse as he shouts his warning. Ranar brandishes his axe as he bellows his threat.

The horseman on the right appears confused, jerking his horse to a halt. The left-hand horseman, however, does not hesitate. He charges at Ranar, bent low over his horse’s neck with his arm outstretched as he seeks to place his tulwar’s point in the dwarven warrior’s heart.

Hayu scampers to the flank as Ranar and the horseman clash. Ranar’s axe swings first, but merely glances from the Wazifi’s shield. In return, the horseman’s swordpoint sneaks past Ranar’s defence, but is stopped cold by the dwarf’s substantial armour.

As the other horseman hesitates, Sasha stamps a foot and a firehose of dirt sprays from the ground behind the tree he is sheltering beside. Meanwhile, Thwip’s rifle wavers but remains aimed at the chest of the stationary horse.

Photo 19-7-17, 10 32 19 pm.jpg902×777 218 KB

[Player cue: Ranar, you’re in a lively melee; you don’t have any attention to spare for the events near Thwip and Sasha. Thwip: shoot or not? Sasha: the Fear spell fizzled, but you’ve got a nice little hidden pit dug between Thwip/yourself and the horseman, although Thwip is not aware of that. Hayu: hang back, or try to help Ranar? If so, how? Sorry for the delay on this one; been a bit unwell.]

45

Thwip

Thwip holds his shot. He shouts at the hesitant horseman once more in Arabic.

“Retreat or you vill be killdt!”

47

Hayu

Let’s make this interesting. These strangers have been kind enough to even out the odds, and she’s never been shy about returning a favour.

She takes two quick steps to the side, pulling out one of her knives. The downside to fighting on horseback is that it’s harder to fend off attacks from two directions at once. Sticking two fingers in her mouth she lets loose with an ear-piercing whistle, before letting fly with the knife.

48

GM POST

@DaakSyde @William_George @MalevolentPixy @strokeybeard @Macro

Scampering around a tree, Hayu snatches a knife and aims at Ranar’s foe. Meanwhile, Ranar lets his axe fall and snatches the rider’s leg, grinding bones under his ferociously strong grip. The Wazifi swordsman desperately hacks at the danger, but the dwarven warrior deflects the cut with the rim of his shield.

As Sasha aims his prodd, Thwip continues to shout his warning. Confused, the horseman looks to his embattled companion, and spurs his horse across to assist. As he does so, the horse steps directly onto Sasha’s pit, tumbling to the ground as the cavity collapses beneath it. The rider, however, smoothly rolls clear of his falling mount.

Unable to take a clear shot at the other man without risk of hitting Ranar, Hayu instead lets fly at the horse’s flank. Although the blade only lightly wounds the horse, the cut is sufficient to startle it. As the horse rears, the inevitable consequence of being anchored to a three hundred pound armoured dwarf takes effect, and the rider tumbles to the ground.

Dropping his shield, Ranar adds a second hand to his hold and gives the leg a mighty wrench. With a shocked scream and a loud crunch from his knee, the horseman’s lower limb twists into a direction that it was clearly never meant to go.

With a look of desperate panic, the third horseman scrambles to his feet and sprints back towards the first rider’s unoccupied mount. Upon reaching it, he flings himself into the saddle and gallops off back in the direction from where they appeared. He does not pause for a backward glance.

The rider on the ground faints as Ranar gives his knee a final twist. His mount turns and runs after the fleeing horseman.

[Player cue: you’ve got an unconscious rider at Ranar’s feet, a rider in unknown health on the ground out in the open and one seriously wounded horse trying to struggle to its feet]

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49

Thwip

– This was absolutely unnecessary. I am feeling deeply angry right now. I must focus though.–

In an attempt to keep the situation from making an even bigger outhouse splash, Thwip begins barking orders.

“Ranar! Grab wat healin’ kit yi kin and meet mi at t’ fallen man!”

As he begins trotting into the open towards the likely dead guardsman, he shouts at his new acquaintances. He points to the unconscious man who man never walk again.

“You two keep an eye on Ranar’s man tere. Ifin yi harm him furter yi’ll be answered t’ us.”

He runs out into the open, hoping that the adrenaline and air of authority is enough to keep the others from realizing they could easily beat him up.

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50

Ranar

Surprised at himself for haven gotten so carried away while dismounting his opponent, but satisfied that the attacker is out of action for the moment, Ranar grabs the horseman’s sword and tosses it a little ways into the copse. He then looks around to check on the others. As Thwip runs out into the open giving orders, he catches Sasha’s attention, nods, and points to the downed horseman with a ‘hold’ hand sign. Then, grabbing his shield and axe, he trots after Thwip.

Catching up, he positions himself between Thwip and the woods, as a bodyguard would, scanning to the east, where the riders had came from and one was retreating.

“T-th-they - w- we don’t know them.” he says, pointing back toward Sasha and the new arrival. “Or them.” pointing toward the fallen rider. “A-and the one that got away, may - might be - could bring - others.” A growl slips out. “Questions yes, but keep them short, we ne - must move soon. Find out what we’re now mixed up in.”

He looks over the fallen rider to see whether first aid could be useful, distractedly glancing back at the fallen horse.

51

Thwip

Thwip approaches the downed man. He stops just short and then turns to Ranar.

“I preciate yir freindship and admire yir skill at fightin. But we got t’ be smarter from now on. Were alone. We got a ring tat are friends all died fir. Were far from savety. We know notin about tos two tere. We do know tat tese are guardsmen and tey will be missedt. We can’t be shootin’ first because we don’t know ifin were ever gonna git home. We need t’ be clever and we need t’ get carful are were gonna git killdt.”

Thwip turns back to the man. “Let’s see ifin tey’re alife.”

Thwip sighs and says a prayer over the body.

“Ranar. We need t’ bury tis one. Could yi carry him fir me back to t’ trees? Ten we should tend to t’ hoss and t’ otter man.”

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