Interlude 1 - Jelmine
Day one patrol - Jelmine: Astorl, Henetha, and Tamarkorda (Garik can join this one if he would like.
It is a cold and windy day. The clouds above promise rain the days to come. You go out with five of the Jelmine Weapon Thanes. Your patrol is taking you on the southeastern flank of the hills. Toward midday Astorl notices tracks. After a few minutes, and conferencing with the Weapon Thanes, you decide to follow the tracks a little way into the hills. As you do, it becomes clear that these are Broo tracks. They are about a day old, so they could have been part of the force that attacked you, but these tracks are leading deeper into the hills. You come to a stream that comes from up hill, and you find Broo excrement on the banks. Best not to drink the water.
After another hour following the tracks, Bermakt, the leader of your patrol, and Murval Weapon Thane, orders you to reverse course. "We need to tell the Elders that there are Broo in the Hills." When asked if you should continue, "during this season, the hills are extremely dangerous. Not for the Broo, but for landslides, flash floods, and animals. Once it gets dark, we will have to find shelter. We won't be able to follow this trail come nightfall."
[Private to Astorl: Astorl, Bermakt is correct about the others. You could continue, as you know the hidden trails of the hills, but it would be fool hearty for you to confront the Broo alone. There are paths from Jelmine that would lead into the area you suspect the Broo are hold up. It is a place you would normally avoid.]
"Some fool-hearty people have tried to establish homesteads in the hills, but most fail, and this is the season they fail in."
Night one patrol: Bingling, Ullr, and Saberak will be with the trolls.
Dying Moon
Saberak, it is Dark. While most of the Uz move ahead, Bingling and Ullr hang back with you and another human from the Garlin family (Desanth, a decent warrior, but not a weapon thane. He is very good with a sling). The night patrol goes uneventfully.
As you travel, it begins to rain. Before you left, you had heard from the Weapon Thane Bermakt that there were Broo tracks leading into the woods. Desanth agreed to help the trolls follow the paths into the woods. Others advised against it, but Zelda was determined to find the Broo. The evening is filled with misadventures as a landslide diverts you from your course, and then a flash flood forces you to scramble up the hill.
You return to Jelmine wet, miserable, and empty handed. Zelda is in a fit that they did not find the Broo.
Day two patrol (afternoon to evening) - Lunar Horse: Saberak
After some rest, Saberak joins one of the far patrols heading to the northwestern flank of the mountain. This is the side that faces Snake Pipe Hollow, which is quiet. Your leader, Danus remarks on it. By quiet, I do not mean calm; I mean that there are no sounds coming from it. You get the sense of a calm before a horrible storm.
Day two patrol (morning to afternoon)- Jelmine: Astorl, Bingling, Tamarkorda, and Oligur.
You follow the path that the Uz took into the Hills. Astorl is able to guide the patrol down animal trails into an area he suspects the Broo may have gone. As you get closer, you start to see items hanging from the trees. There is a feeling of wrongness in this palce.
Astorl steers you past these, and then up onto a ridge that overlooks a plateau.
[Private to Astorl: Some of the farms that failed left behind spirits and ghosts. Some even the animals avoid. This is one such place. The charms were left by you and other hunters as warnings, taboo. These charms were made by Sandein, the Shaman of Daka Fel in Jelmine.]
There is no sign of life on the plateu. As you circle, you eventually find a Broo trail leading off back to the southeast. You start to press on, but as the day starts growing darker, it is decided to return to Jelmine. At least you have a better idea of where the Broo are heading.
Night two patrol - Ullr and Henetha.
With the information from the other patrols, the Uz go off in search of Broo. This is the night of the Black Moon, so Ullr hangs back with Henetha.
It takes hours, but this time the Uz are better prepared for the weather and its consequences. You eventually come upon the remains of a camp. It had not been abandoned for long, and the excrement of the broo were everywhere. By smell alone the Uz began to track until the sun began to crest over the hills. It is obvious that the Broo are circling back to the Northwest. The Uz think about pressing on, then Zelda stops. In anger, "we must return." Looking at Henetha. "This is the day of the Earth Festival, is it not? The Fire Witch will have our heads if we do not attend."
"Your head, perhaps," says Umgar, Runelord of Zorak Zoran. "I will continue to follow them."
OOC: I'm going to give a few days for everyone to finish any comments, then we will move to scene 2, the festival. (I'll start that thread on Tuesday).
