Runt grins as he snaps the reins of the cart, "Ya!"

Sally the mule seems completely unaffected, continuing on with her lethargic pace, one foot after the other.

"Easy lad, old folk like me and Sally don't always take kindly to being hurried on our way."  Rudyard chides kindly, though he still takes the reins back out of Runt's hands.

It was the last day of a week-long trip, which had been an accident of sorts for Runt.  He had been chased by Deng, who had been in a drunken, violent, holiday stupor early in the morning, likely having never have gone to bed in the first place.  Runt of course had run away easily, ducking onto a loaded wagon that had the benefit of a surly looking man with a crossbow standing on the other side who would be sure to give Deng second thoughts.

As Runt suspected, Deng never found him, though he still bumbled around for long enough that Runt accidentally fell asleep, huddled in the darkness in a nook under several bags that seemed to have a mixed sweet, earthy smell with another that was dryer like clay.

When Runt awoke, the cart was moving, and a quick look around proved that they were no longer in Craine, nor was the city anywhere in sight.  It didn't take long for the little stow away to be discovered.

"Yer coming with us."  Rudyard had said right away, once the shock and surprise had passed over.  "It's not safe, but it's safer than you trying to make your own way back alone.  You can find a caravan back when we get there easy enough."

The old caravaner had proved to be quite an accommodating host.  He entertained Runt often, telling him stories of the road and interactions with wild animals or bandits.  He let him sit on the seat of the cart with him and he made no qualms about sharing food with the boy.  He even at times let him drive the cart, though it seemed that there was not much effort involved in that task, as Sally mostly just followed the cart in front at the same pace of her regardless of any of the inputs of the reins.

Rudyard was patient but firm, and Runt had to admit that despite the unexpected detour, he had been enjoying himself on the road.  Of course, one more day and they would be in Three Corners, where he would have to find out where he should go from there, or else wait another day and then take the long way back along the Southern Road with Rudyard.

"What's that then?"  Rudyard says aloud as the carts ahead of him slow and he looks up over the cart ahead.

"Looks like a wagon."  Bakar answers from the cart up ahead.  "Broken down looks like.  Abandoned.  Right in the middle of the damn road too."

"I'll see what I can do."  Conal answers from the side, as he walks ahead of Rudyard's cart.  "We should be able to get it out of the road without too much trouble."

This is an exclusive thread for Runt

OOC it is 1200 on the 3rd of January.  You've unintentionally hitched a ride with a caravan going south to Three Corners that is made up of 6 wagons and 12 people, including yourself, Rudyard, 3 Caravan guards (of which Conal is one) and 7 other hired hands and workers (of which Bakar is one).  You're on your last day of the journey with about 6 or so hours left of the trip by Rudyard's calculations (who has made the trip several times along various routes).  You can assume that you took all of your money with you, or if you'd rather, it can still be safely buried in Craine which will mean you won't have access to it this adventure, just let me know which.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:45, Wed 08 Sept 2021.

Runt was disappointed having the reins taken from him.  How was he going to learn how to drive if he couldn’t practice.  At least he’d had some opportunities to try.  He was pretty sure that he could handle a cart on his own, at least if it was an animal as easy as Sally was.  Plus he had learned how to harness the mules, even if it took him much longer to do it than the teamsters, mostly due to his being so short.

Overall, the unplanned trip had been a good thing.  He’d had more regular meals than he’d had since he’d run away from the sporting house.  Then there were all the new stories he’d learned and was working on in his brain to retell to others.  And there was the bonus of Deng not being able to find him.  He was sure that Deng was going nuts looking for him.  For almost two months he’d been dodging the thug on a daily basis and now he’d disappeared completely!  Sure he had to help wash dishes, gather drop wood, and help care for the mules but none of that took much time each day and back in Craine he’d worked a lot harder and not gotten as much food.  On the other hand, it was cold – very cold.  The only time he was really warm was at night, bundled up sleeping in Rudyard’s cart.  Maybe he could get some warmer things to wear in this Three Corners place.  Another bad thing was all the nothing out here.  He’d never even been out of sight of Crain’s walls.  There wasn’t anything out here, no buildings, no people, just lots and lots of nothing.  And it smelled funny out here plus the sounds were wrong.  Things weren’t too bad during the day, the teamsters were up and around.  But once it got dark … the wolves started howling and every story Rudyard and others told him filled his mind.  The first couple of nights he had barely slept.  He couldn’t wait to get to Three Corners and get behind some solid walls.

When the caravan slowed and stopped he stood up on the bench to see what the others were talking about.  As Bakar went forward to see about moving the abandoned wagon Runt jumped down from the cart and dashed forward towards the abandoned wagon.

“I’m gonna go see if der’s anything got left,” he shouted over his shoulder.


OOC – Very interesting start here.  So, when does the ambush start?  (snicker)  Anyway, yes, Runt would have all his stuff with him, he was planning on leaving Craine anyway, just hadn’t figured out where to go yet or how to get there.  Though most of his stuff is stashed where he sleeps on Rudyard’s cart.  Looking forward to this. :-)

Seeing the carts stopped ahead of him, Runt hops out off the seat alongside Rudyard and hurries off alongside Conal towards the wagon up ahead on the road.

Runt liked Conal well enough.  To be fair everyone had been nice enough to him once Rudyard had made clear that he was the one who was going to feed him and be responsible for him, but Conal had let Runt look at his bow, try and pull back the string (which he couldn't), and had joined in at times around the campfire, playing his lyre while Runt played the flute and sang.  He had even let Runt play the instrument, which was a little different than the mandolin (an instrument he knew something of playing).  Runt considered the instrument great zeal and passed along his flute, feeling that his own instrument, though perhaps more nimble, didn't quite measure up to the other which could play a whole octave at the same time!

The two stepped ahead towards the wagon, which sat motionless in the road, its two front wheels splayed out to the side like a child on ice skates.

"Looks like a broken axle!"  Conal calls, throwing his bow over his shoulder before he glances quickly into the compartment.  After a moments look, he ducks slightly under the front of the vehicle, searching with one hand as the other hits the ground to support him.  "Yup, front axle's sheared clean in two!"  Conal shouts back from under the wood frame.  "Wonder if someone's coming back for it?"

Runt looks over the wagon for himself as well, though his view is somewhat more stunted than Conal's.  The walls of the vehicle were low, though Runt still had to climb a little just to see inside.  The wood was still whole, though it was starting to show the gaps and wear of age.  The inside seems entirely empty, cleared out by whoever left it here.  The wheels too, seem mostly whole, with only a spoke or two broken, and their metal rim still fit snugly around the edges.  As Conal had mentioned, the front axle is broken clean in two, with the two sides of the break dipping down towards the ground as the bottom of the wheels flop akimbo towards the side.

"Come on then, let's move it out of the road."  Conal says to Runt, grabbing the front of it and bracing himself to heave the thing out of the way.

OOC:  I know right?  I'm becoming predictable.  Sounds good.  You have all your stuff.  Let me know what you have in which hands and give me a roll vs. perception.

Runt was a bit disappointed that there was nothing left in the abandoned wagon, at least at first glance.  Maybe after they got it out of the way he could go over it more closely, in the time on the road he’d already figured out a couple of good hiding places.

At Conal’s direction he followed the teamster’s example and started to help.

OOC – Not really predictable, but the broken down vehicle ambush is almost a cliché.  Plus there is all the talk of bandits in the other thread.  To be honest Runt has nothing in his hands, except for possibly the broken wagon.  Oh, nice picture there.
22:59, Today: Runt rolled 6 using 3d6 ((2,1,3)).  Good chance that made it.

Runt glances briefly in the cart, though as it becomes rapidly apparent that there isn't any items left along with the it he jumps down and grabs the yoke with Conal, looking to move the vehicle to the side of the road.

"On three now.  One, two..."

Conal begins to push, though Runt has all but ignored him, focused instead on a bit of scrub ahead at seems to be moving... and standing... and holding a bow.  Runt's confusion is short lived, for even as he is contemplating the bush with the bow, he sees another man rising from the scrub farther back, along the left side of the road in the brush they had already passed.  This one seems to have a hatchet held at the ready by his shoulder.  On the other side of the road, Runt swears he hears more rustling bushes and footsteps...

OOC:  No action yet.  Your excellent perception roll has allowed you to see the two men on the south side of the road (the direction you are pulling the cart) and hear the two on the north side of the road (behind you).  While no combat has started, Runt can obviously put together the pieces this is an ambush, though the details being discussed in the other thread are unknown to you.  Let's do 3 seconds worth of action.

You are labeled on the map, with Conal right next to you.  The ambushers all have the archer picture, though only the one on the left side (on the south side of the road) has a bow that you can see.  The other caravan guards are also depicted, with most of the other workers still in their wagons.  You can safely ignore the dead horse next to you on the map.

OOC - Slight confusion on my part, but is south to the top of the pic or bottom?  Great pic by the way.

The boy got ready to help Conal move the abandoned wagon when a bit of movement in the brush caught his attention.  He straightened up and focused on the area, the first thought going through his mind was that it was a wolf.  He prepared to jump into the bed of the wagon when a man with a bow rose up followed quickly by another man appearing with a hatchet behind a different clump of brush.  Runt puzzled over this as he made out sounds that could be more men from the other side of the road.  In a flash the stories of bandits that Rudyard had told around the campfires flooded his mind.  These were bandits!


As loud as he could Runt shouted “AMBUSH,” pointing with both arms at the men he could see. “An some on the other side of the road too.”

OOC – truthfully he wouldn’t think of doing anything else at this instant.  This kind of thing is all new to him.  Once fighting starts though, things will change.  At least the archer will have an additional – 2 to hit him if he gets targeted.  :-)

"Ambush?"

Conal repeats the word loudly but unsure, immediately snapping his head up to attention.

Twang!  The bowstring hums from ahead, though the arrow sails high, far over Runt's head and even going over Conal's head by a good five feet.

"To Arms!"  Bakar shouts out from the first wagon, scrambling on his seat to find a weapon with which to defend himself and the shipment.

All at once, chaos breaks out!  Men are charging from every direction, weapons are drawn, and all Runt can do is stare at the scene with his mouth agape!

Zip!

Another arrow streaks from somewhere south of the road, though this one too falls useless, thunking into the wall of one of the wagons.

Two men charge at their wagon from the north, and Conal first grabs for his bow, but realizing there is no time, he grabs instead for his axe, barely pulling the weapon free as the two are jumping upon him from the edge of the road.

To the south, Runt sees the bowman pulling another arrow from his hip and placing it on his bowstring...

OOC:  Battle map below - apologies that there aren't any hexes on it for tactical maneuvering.  1 -Quarterstaff, 2-Axe, 3-Bow, 4-club and shield, 5-Unknown (outside your view).  R-Runt, C-Conal(Axe), B-Bakar(Club).  The other two pictures that are the same as Conal are the other two guards and other caravan workers will share the same pic as Bakar.  Let me know if you have any questions.

Let's do 2 seconds of actions this time.

It seemed like everything happened at once, arrows flying, bandits pouring from the brush, and shouts from the caravan.  The stories certainly made it sound much simpler.  He saw only four bandits, though he wasn’t positive that was all.  Even if he missed some, the ten and one caravaneers were a lot more.  Still, he should do something more to help.  The bowman was probably the most dangerous.  He’d shot twice so fast that Runt hadn’t even seen the second shot.  Everyone else was going to be busy so he should do something to distract the bowman’s aim.  He grabbed a loose stone from the ground and let fly at the bowman.

OOC – I actually rolled randomly for what Runt would do since he’s never even seen a combat like this.  And I’m know that the bowman #3 didn’t fire twice (I don’t think), but that’s what the kid believes.  No problem on the lack of grid, I can guess scale.

15:30, Today: Runt rolled 8 using 3d6 ((5,2,1) - no idea on any modifiers.

Knowing that everyone will have to do their part, Runt stoops down to the dirt path, picking up a stone that fits neatly in his fist, planning on hurling the thing at the archer who is now pulling back the bowstring and aiming it somewhere behind the wagon that Runt is pulling.

All around him Runt can hear shouts and the loud thwack of weapon blows.  Trying to ignore the distractions to the best of his ability, Runt pulls the stone back and hurls it forward, hoping to at least spoil the aim of the archer.  The stone whizzes out of his hand, flung to the very reaches of Runt's strength, but it just barely misses his mark.  Runt watches as the archer releases another arrow with a low thrum of his bowstring.  He does not have the ability however, to see if the missile lands.

Just behind him, Runt hears Conal scream!  Runt turns to watch his friend fall to the ground, one of the bandits with an axe leaping away towards the caravan, while a man with a staff, bleeding freely from a rent across his chest, staggers towards Runt his weapon raised!

OOC:  Your awareness of the larger fight has dwindled significantly based on what's happening much closer to you.  Conal is on the ground, unconscious.  The staff wielder looks like he's coming after you now that Conal is out while the other man that had charged him is now behind the wagon you were pulling and out of sight.  The archer hasn't moved significantly, but it's hard to keep tabs on him now that you've turned back towards the other fighter.

One thing you can say for sure is that there is lots of screaming going on, and there are people on each side of the fight that are likely taking injuries.

Runt’s awareness narrowed to what was just around him, primarily the bleeding man almost on him.  If it had just been that one person, he might have tried to outlast him, but with all the other bandits, especially a bowman now behind him, the only thing he could come up with was to get away.  He ducked deep into the brush to his left.

Runt turned slightly, trying to keep the staff carrier off to his right side while keeping a half an eye on the man with the bow... but mostly just trying to head as fast as he could towards the brush!  As he moves he sees the man with the staff step forward, swatting the thick end of the weapon towards Runt's shoulder.

Runt squirms and twists to get out of the way of the weapon, though the staff comes faster than he is expecting!

The bandit with the staff was closer than he thought.  He tried his best to avoid the swing, but it hit his shoulder with a sharp blow.  It hurt more than anything he had experienced before but he managed just barely to stay on his feet.  He made it into the brush, but a lot slower than he could normally go considering the rough terrain.

OOC - 20:42, Today: Runt rolled 12 using 3d6 with rolls of 5,2,5.  stun.
20:53, Today: Runt rolled 14 using 3d6 with rolls of 6,4,4.  Running at full.  Looks like I made the stun roll barely, but blew the running one.

Runt flails his body away from the staff, thrusting his body and shoulders away as fast as he can, though....

Thwack!

Pain burns through the back of Runt's right hand as his body spins, reeling against the pain!  But Runt runs on!  Bare feet and all he crashes into the brush, the sharp sticks and thorny leaves of the desert vegetation digging into his feet.  But Runt cannot stop!  He bites back against he pain and leaps clear of the brush, only turning to look behind him when he knows he's got enough clear area ahead to go into a full sprint.

Behind, it seems the fight is going very poorly indeed!  The man with the staff seems to have left the chase of the youngster, moving to find more rewarding prey.  Conal is down, his body limp at the foot of the wagon.  Another of the Caravan fighters, Erwin is fighting off a bandit, sword in hand, though both are bloodied and slow.  The bandit swings his axe with a ferocious chop, and though Erwin wildly tries to deflect the blow with his sword, the attempt is too feeble and the axe clashes through the sword, sending it to the ground as spilling Erwin's blood freely across the ground!

Everywhere, the caravan troop are falling!

Twang!

An arrow shoots across Runt's field of view before it disappears behind one of the wagons and Runt hears a scream!  The whole roadway is bedlam!

OOC:  Sorry again for the delay.  No map this time, mostly because of the amount of time it takes, but also I'm not sure the "tactical" map is going to help you much with your decision making.  Roll vs. IQ.  If you succeed, it is clear that the odds of the caravan team winning this fight are slim to nonexistent.

Conal was dead.  Erwin was dead.  The bowman had killed a bunch more.  Some of the bandits were hurt but all were still alive and killing everyone from what he could hear.

And there was nothing he could do.  If ten and one adults together couldn’t fight off a few bandits then what could he do to help.  Absolutely nothing.  If he tried to go back and help then he was sure he would be dead too.  So he did what he always did, run and hide.

OOC - 21:57, Today: Runt rolled 7 using 3d6 with rolls of 4,1,2.  IQ.  No problem figuring the odds.  He will continue through the bruh, and small clear spaces, going perhaps 20 – 25 yards further and then hiding in the largest stand of brush he can find.  He’ll wait there until things change.

Runt looks back at the train in horror, realizing all too clearly that the fates were on the side of the bandits.

Without a second thought he turns his back again and runs, figuring his only chance of hiding will come as everyone is still absorbed in the combat.  A stone's throw away, Runt spies a thick growth of low-lying shrub and hurls himself toward it, glancing again once over his shoulder to make sure no one is behind him before he gets down on his belly and thrusts himself into the thicket...

Sharp, hard desert scrub scrapes against his skin and tears at his thin clothing, but Runt is not perturbed.  If there is one thing he has learned on the hard streets of Craine, it is how to survive.  He no longer has a clear view of what is happening, buried as he is in the bush, though Runt manages to glean something through the sounds that make their way to his ears.

A scream.

Another shout.

Twang!

Then, a booming voice.  "Yield!  You are of more use alive than dead!  We just want the goods!"

There is a brief silence, another shout.

Then, Rudyard's voice.  "Put it down Peter!  Would you rather be robbed or dead?...  We yield, alright?"

The first voice again.  "Throw your weapons down!  Pick up and tend to your wounded if you wish, we are no savages."

Scuffling footsteps, Runt holds his breath.

"Where's the kid!"  Rudyard calls out, a note of stress to his voice.

"There was a runt that scampered off that way!"  Another voice calls, this one deep and rough like rocks grating together.

"Go on!"  The first voice says again, and Runt can hear more movement, scuffling feet, from off in the direction of the train.

OOC:  Roll vs. Stealth.

The bandit chasing him had given up, probably not considering him to be a threat.  He made it through one set of brush, across a small clearing and dove into a fairly dense thicket.  As he wormed his way further into it down on his hands and knees, a bolt of pain shot up his right arm when he put weight on it.  He managed to keep from screaming in pain, but not by much.  Making himself as small as possible he brought his hand up to examine it.  He couldn’t get his fingers to move at all, working at them with his left hand was a bad idea, it hurt too much moving them.  Something was really wrong and he had no idea what.

The sounds of the battle filtered through his examination.  Not everyone was dead!  But they were all now captives.  He hunkered down, hoping to stay unseen and overlooked.

OOC - 12:39, Today: Runt rolled 11 using 3d6 with rolls of 6,1,4.  Stealth.  Missed that.
12:40, Today: Runt rolled 10 using 3d6 with rolls of 4,3,3.  HT.  Made it!

Wanting only to not be found, Runt lays in the brush, his clothes torn and his face leaning away from the worst of the prickers, he waits as silently as he can, though he can't seem to quiet his breath from their deep, sucking gasps after the short sprint.

Footsteps approach him.  One... two men.  Runt can feel one of their shadows cast over the very bush he is laying in and he closes his eyes, willing them not to see... not to hear the traitorous drumbeat of his heart which screams in his ears.

Time stretches on like a bowstring and Runt waits as his fear eats away at him.

"Scarpered, seems like."  The man standing over Runt's bush says as the footsteps slowly pace away.

"It matters not,"  The deep voiced man.  "Niall isn't looking for kids, there's no time to search for him."

OOC:  Despite appearing to fail your stealth check, you get a +1 bonus for not moving at all and you barely scraped out both of the two men's perception checks.  You have a couple of options here:  You can wait for the bandits to clear out and try and follow them, or you can wait for them to leave and try and make your way on your own to Three Corners.  You know that this was the last day of the trip, so you aren't all that far from the town, and the path, though newly blazed, is easy enough to follow.  If you have any other ideas you are welcome to do whatever makes the most sense to you.

Runt held his breath as he heard one, no two bandits approach his hiding place.  His heart was racing fast and loud, so loud he was sure the men could hear it.  They were standing right over him, he had now idea how they didn’t see him.  He listened carefully to their talk as they left.  He couldn’t see what they looked like, but he heard their voices and would definitely remember them and what they said.

After they walked away he slowly let his breath out and stayed put, not positive that one of the bandits wasn’t watching nearby.  He settled in to wait for the bandits to leave with their loot and captives.  As long as he wasn’t discovered he could probably make it to the town and get help.  But he needed to know where the bandits were going.  If he followed them back to their hideout he could lead the soldiers to the rescue.  That would help make up for his uselessness in the fight.

OOC – Runt will stay in place until the bandits leave.  He’ll wait a few minutes after that and then try and follow them at least part way back towards their lair.  If any bodies are left at the ambush site he’ll  scavenge anything warm he can get off the bodies.  If he doesn’t get caught, then he’ll head to Three Corners and get help.

Runt barely dares to breathe as the sounds of the horses and men slowly begins to fade into the dull heat of the afternoon.  Only when he is sure that there is no one near does Runt peek his head from his bed of scrub, his body scratched and bruised in the process, to search the horizons for the caravan.

The scene before him distracts him however.  Though the carts and horses, his friends, even Conal are gone, there are ribbons of bright crimson littering the ground around the road.  The pools of blood seem particularly bad around where Conal lay, though there is no trace of his body, and it seems he had been taken with the others despite his injuries.  The broken down cart, the one that had distracted the convoy in the first place, still lays whence it began the morning, a curio left to distract passers by just long enough to spring the trap.  The sight of it angers Runt, and reminds him of his attempt to find his attackers.

For the briefest of moments, Runt is sure that he has lost them.  Though after a few minutes of looking, he picks up the train of carts on a distant hill, far off the road, though it is a marker which is easy enough to get to, and likely easy enough to spot them from.  Runt hustles along, keeping the marker in front of him, and keeping at a good clip...  Hopefully fast enough to make up some time so he won't lose their trail.

This process continues for some thirty minutes.  Runt peers across the landscape from a hill, panics for several moments as he searches desperately, then eventually sees the convoy some half-mile on, he picks a landmark, flies towards it at top speed, and then panics again until he finds the convoy.

Progressively, the path of the cart train seems to wind its way down into the saddles between hills, down into a gully where a thin stream winds down the center and the rocks climb up on either side.

Runt is just about to stop again and search for the wagon train from an area of cover when he realizes that on the south wall of the canyon, just at the base of the cliff is a large cave, some five feet wide or more.  Runt glances to the other side of the gully and sees another cave, this one higher, some thirty or forty feet up the slope on the northern wall...

OOC:  You have successfully tracked the caravan to the vicinity of this gully, though you don't have their immediate location.  If you wish to know exactly where they passed, roll vs. Tracking (which defaults to Per-5) with a bonus of +6 for the size of the group and how recently they passed.  If you wish to do that, also please roll vs. stealth.  Alternatively, you can start looking towards the caves to glean information there, or go further down the gulley, or anything else you can think of.

Runt looked carefully over the sight before him, taking in every detail, making sure that he didn’t miss anything important.  That done, he turned and retraced his route back to the ambush site.  By the time he got back, it was approaching mid afternoon and he figured that the sun would be going down in two or three hours.  Rudyard had said that the town and fort were six more hours from here.  But that was by wagon and he could move faster than the caravan could.  He glanced up at the sun and thought for a moment.  He would be walking in the dark for two to three hours and dark was when the wolves came out and now he wouldn’t have a wagon to sleep in and a camp full of men around him to keep the wolves away.  He looked around for a stout stick to take with him to keep the vicious man eaters away.  With his protection in hand, he headed off down the trail towards Three Corners.