Rael bite his lips as the group kept moving, this seem not to be the best time for him. He had been bitten, stabbed and clubbed unconscious and now he had a bad fall and a twisted ankle.

Rael was beginning to think someone placed a hex on him some misfortune charm. He would need to find someone who knew how to lift such curse. He would have asked the fae but seeing how the elf nearly fall as bad as he did Rael suspected Eldor was in no position to do curse lifting.

Instead Rael suck it up and kept walking, he picked a long limber branch to use as a walking stick to help elevate the pressure from his twisted ankle and focus his energy in not delaying the rest of the group.

 Having repeated the directions several times in order to commit them to memory after the fashion of the fundamentally preliterate (and isn't the image of Sir Adonis with a pen in his hand one to chill the blood?) the Campbell indulges in his entertaining brush with the laws of nature and hauls himself upright at the bottom of the cliff, brushing himself down a few times before looking both to Rael and Eldor's well-being, asking gruffly "Are you both well to go on?" with the air of a man perfectly prepared (if not necessarily able to carry anyone who answers anything other than 'yes'.

When his feet went from under him Eldor twisted and stuck his bow shaft into the ground to act as a break thankfully it worked but not before stabbing pain shot through his leg.

Coming to a stop he quickly examined himself and finding a nasty gash on his leg dug in his bag for some cloth. Puttingdone dried herbs on it he bound the makeshift bandage round the wound.

Pulling himself up and gingerly testing his weight in his leg he was releived that it could take his weight and that the pain wasn't as bag as he expected.

Gathering up his things once again he set off down the slope to catch up with the others.

"and if we are not?" Rael sneers at the knight then anger gone he lower his head "Apologies, what I need, what we all need is a week or two of rest..."

Shaking his head he continues "There is no rest, let us finish this cursed mission and be done with it."

Thomas does not mention anything about the other men bouncing down the side of the cliff. He merely checks to make sure that everyone is hale enough to continue and remains stoicly silent.

Karl just nods in agreement with Rael.

 "If you're not then I check your boots for spurs... and if I don't find any, I carry you." Adonis replies, seemingly not at all put out by the snapping reply, either too obtuse to recognise it or, more likely prepared to allow a considerable amount of latitude for someone who just y'know, basically fell down a cliff.

 Either way he lightly slaps Rael on the shoulder and then makes a 'come on' gesture to all and sundry, stretching a few times to be sure he's neither injured himself nor (even worse!) harmed his inherited armour before starting on with the directions given.

With all, albeit reluctantly, agreed upon the mission, Adonis leads east deep into the old forest.  The track is clear enough but narrow - ofentimes squeezing you into single file.
[If anyone wants a specific position in the battle order, just let me know.]

Even the blunt and simple Sir Campbell cannot help feel a drear wash over him as you move deep beneath the trees.  They are not rotten but somehow dry, and you hear no birds singing.




Somewhat past midday, reckoning by the glimpses you catch of the sun overhead, the path almost dissappears, becoming only a faint line between trees.  A slender fellow like Rael or Eldor might pass, but an Adonis or a Keith must needs clear away some branches, or find another way around.

[You reckon you are about a third of the way through towards the far edge of the forest].

Rael freeze in his place a look of pure terror run across his face.

"Halt..." he cries out looking about "This is a wrong place... its a ..." then Rael switch to his native tongue in a long and frustrate speech with a lot of hand waving and motioning to get back...

 There is only one response to drear circumstance and depressed morale and it's been ground into Sir Campbell as thoroughly as the knightly code and nightly prayer, his answer to the darkness about him and the weight of the forest being to raise his voice in one part of a four-part roundel and seemingly invite the others to join him (though he really doesn't seem to mind if they don't), "Summer has come in, Loudly sing, Cuckoo! The seed grows and the meadow blooms And the wood springs anew, Sing, Cuckoo!"

 Needless to say other verses follow with forced jollity as it turns out that the Campbell has a rather fine singing voice for a man of arms, his voice raising to sing out "The ewe bleats after the lamb, The cow lows after the calf. The bullock stirs, the stag farts loudly, Merrily sing, Cuckoo! Cuckoo, cuckoo, well you sing, cuckoo; Don't you ever stop now." and works his way on to the chorus of "Sing cuckoo now. Sing, Cuckoo. Sing Cuckoo. Sing cuckoo now!"

 He keeps it up for some time, knowing a fair range of different songs of one sort or another generally revolving around hunting, romantic tragedies and the True Faith for the most part, breaking off only at Rael's obvious concern whereupon he simply asks, "What is it man?"

Upon hearing Rael Eldor whispers " agreed halt." as he moved as swiftly as he could with his wounded leg up the line to where Rael was.

Laying a hand on his shoulder " take a deep breath" he whispered " now formulate the words then tell me what you feel"

Looking round at the trees as shiver runs down his back " I agree there is a strangeness here that I do not like, the trees are not healthy here but there is no decay this disturbs me"

With that he took out an arrow and readied his bow

Rael fall silent when the elf touch his flesh, taking a deep breath he tries again. "I've seen places like ..." he points ahead "If you go inside... and I stay here, I will grow old but for you only a heart beat had passed..." he sighs "It is the place of the Good folk... "

After the first stanzas of Adonis' forceful but often rather grating chant are heard, a shushing and rushing sound runs around through the dry leaves of the trees around you, though there is no wind to speak of.

A few moments after he stops singing, the path east opens a little wider, as though, out of the corner of your eyes the trees draw back a little.   It will be a squeeze, but even the larger of you might pass.

Seeing the trees part slightly, or at least seem to, he smiled to himself.

"I feel you are right my young friend it does seem that we could be in the presence of the Good Folk.... make sure you leave the milk out tonight for them if you wish for a good harvest."

He squeezes Rael's shoulder to reasure him " but it depends which court we maybe walking into... Stay sharp and keep your wits about you."

Moving on to stand by Adonis " Allow me to go first if it is indeed the work of the Good folk seeing one of their own in the group may hold their hand for a while."

Rael shakes his head "It matter not which court it is, it would only spell the difference in our doom."

Looking about "We should turn back... and if not... turn our cloths in out and out in... salt would be good and a prayer for your one god may work as well."

When the tree moves Rael blades are drawn "No ..." he shakes his head "Tis is a trap..."

 There are some definite advantages to being a man of fearfully limited wit, and one of them is demonstrated as Adonis looks back at the group to assess Rael's mood during the parting of the trees, and then turns once more to indicate the newly opened path, striking his brow with one hand theatrically as though astonished to have missed it and even commenting, "Why I would have sworn there was not a clear way but a moment before." then slapping Eldor cheerfully on the shoulder as he makes his offer and remarking, "Why not, if you feel able to set the pace!" before picking up the song once more, gesturing again for the group to pick up the melody.

 ---

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJvF9xucG90
 And I imagine that with remarkable good looks, Sir Campbell actually has a quite delightful singing voice, but that's just me. ^_^

The forest dampens the spirits of Sir Thomas quite a bit. Despite the obivous lust for life Sir Campbell has, the forest continues to suck away at his spirit. The singing does help some and Thomas does manage to hum a bit of the tune now and then but mostly he plods on.

Eldor takes up the lead and though still limping slightly moved forward deeper into the forest.

He kept his bow low but with an arrow notched, he maybe dealing with his own kind here but he was no fool.


15:01, Today: Eldor Leaf-fall rolled 4 using 2d10. awareness roll.
This message was last edited by the player at 15:02, Mon 24 Jan 2011.

You have begun to move east again through the reopened path when Adonis stentorian tones grace your ears once again.  Within a minute or so the trees have closed up again and Adonis and Thomas are almost stuck.   The rest of you can extricate yourselves with a bit of effort.


Except for Adonis, you all now feel rather glum and if truth would be told would rather lay down and rest, than march along listening to his hollering.

Karl totters a moment nearly losing his balance.  "Ungh"  He recovers quickly though.

 It's a fairly natural sort of response on Sir Campbells part - when the trees close in, reach for a good steel blade to drive them back from the path. Of course, he hasn't got a good steel blade, he's got a rusty hunk of pick-iron hammered out of bog metal by a cross-eyed shaman squatting over a campfire who had once had a sword described to him by someone who had seen one in the distance once, but he reaches to lay his hand upon it nonetheless as he leaves off his song at the end of a roundel to call out, "Fair warning to you who guard this place, we be men of arms and courage, bearing cold iron and the means to bring forth fire. Lay off I say, and we shall pass here with no ill-will.", the words bravely cast forth into the gray.

 Of course, in the event that there's no reply, there are other songs he could be raising.

Thomas sighs heavily and eyes the offending woodlands. He has no energy to actually do anything about moving forward but he was warned this place was dangerous. He offers the greatsword to Adonis without a word and just leans tiredly against a tree.

Rael crouch in his place like a cat ready to leap, his eyes darting left and right expecting an attack any second his blades are raised in a protective stance.

They had continued despite his warning, there was no use to complain about it now. Now he had to focus on one thing staying alive.

While the others are extracting themselves from the trees Eldor walks on a little then crouches slowly he thrusts the fingers of his left hand into the soil before him and lets his mind drift out into the earth sending calming thoughts through the connection he has created to try to counter act the natural magic at work.

There is a moment of absolute silence after Adonis' last stanza, but even the most lethargic among you feel a rising tension in the air that matches the strain on Eldor's face.

Kjaelos throws back the cowl of his cloak and looks about himself worriedly, muttering.


[Adonis, if you wish you may take Thomas big sword and use it as a machete].