You wake from formless, violent dreams of strands of color attacking each other with insensate viciousness to a vale of green clover and willow trees between the sheltering arms of two ridges of granite.  The stars above are piercing clear despite it almost being dawn. You recognize such as the Big Dipper, but not the brightest star hanging directly overhead.

The smell of smoke hangs in the air.

PT

I lay on the ground for a few minutes, my head clearing and my sense of life filling me up once again.  It had been some time since I had experienced the feeling of death, but not death.

With a sigh, and a great sense of loss, I push the rising feeling of depression and scramble onto my feet.

"Well well, time to see what I have gotten myself into this time."

I take in a deep breath of smoke and try to determine where the smell might be coming from, determined to head in that direction if at all possible.

You walk out of the green vale, and into the dawn as the sun rises over a brown grassy prairie that looks as if it could go until the end of the world.  The sun highlights the spire of smoke rising skyward a few miles away.

You begin to hike, and on the way meet numerous small creatures.  You startle pigeons, a five foot long snake, and something that goes whump-whump away from you in the long grass.

And then as you get closer, you see a small rise in the plainsland, and you hear a wail of lamentation rise into the sky from the other side.  There is a smell of burnt meat, and wood, and ozone in the air.

PT

Slowing my walking pace just a tad, I hunch down and creep towards the rise in the hill, my instincts kicking in as they have at several other points in my life...er lives?...throughout my journeys.  I slink up to where I hear the noises and try and get a good view of what is on the other side without attracting any attention.

OOC:  I don't know if my character has ever had a proper explanation for what has happened to him in terms of versing and what not.  Not that I am saying he needs it, but just realised that he's lived like 3-4 lifetimes and still has no clue about the processes or anything that have been occuring.  Man that would suck...lol

You slip over the ridge, and see a devastated village of thatch roofed huts. Some are burning. You see a woman crying in the street, just collapsed. There are peculiar black burn lines on the thatch. some have caught fire some have not.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:12, Sat 02 June 2007.

I quickly cover my mouth with a hand as the devastation of the village hits my senses.  I shake my head slowly and then begin to run down towards the village.

"This feels like some sort of old movie, where the big bad guy destroys villages and leaves a wake of destruction behind them," I think to myself.

As I get closer to the village I keep my eyes open for anyone that I might be able to help, but I keep a closer eye on any signs that the whoever did this to the village might still be around.

OOC:  How big is this village?  Approximate number of huts?

You walk out, and see several wounded people, very poorly dressed in shedding furs.  They shrink back from you in fear.

One woman with an injured leg picks up a wooden pitchfork, and begins to stalk your way with murder obviously on her mind.  She seems frail next to your height and mass, but there's no doubting the fury on her face or the screams in some odd language she makes.

You have seen no men so far, only women and children.

PT

Instantly I raise my hands in the air, palms facing the woman with the pitchfork, and lower my head slightly so that my face is at a 45 degree angle to the ground but still able to eye the woman coming towards me.

Unsure of what language this woman might know I speak out 1 word.  "Peace."  I say it quietly but firmly, and then again.  "Peace."

OOC:  I can't remember, do I know any triage or first aid skills?

She howls her contempt, and lunges at you, but her leg collapses under her, and the fork droops to the side.

Yes, you have some first aid skills.  1@5 good enough?

PT

OOC:  To be honest I don't remember if that is good or bad any more...lol

I instantly dash towards the woman and come to her side, kicking away the pitch fork as I do so.  I raise a hand to my lips and make a "Shush" sound in an attempt to quiet the woman and somehow try and communicate that I am not dangerous.

I begin looking over her injuries to try and tell how bad off she is and look around to see if there is anything nearby that I might be able to use to help her if she needs it.

OOC: Average Amateur.

IC: After you've disarmed the woman, she cringes down as if she expects to be beaten.  When you look about, you find a robe that is hung upon a rope between two huts in what looks like a 1950's linedry laundry.  Its been slashed as if with a very sharp sword.

You take it back even as you hear from inside the hut you pass an English voice.

"Great lord, great lord...." it repeats over and over again.

You bind up her wound with no great skill, but she stares at you as if utterly startled.  Her wound is a slash through part of her calf by a very sharp sword.

PT

I stop and lay a hand on her shoulder and then give her a smile and nod. Then I stand and head back to the hut where I heard the english voices coming from.

"Hello?" I say, trying to sound as calming as possible, since clearly something horrible happened at this village.

"Hello there?  I am not here to harm anyone, I want to help."

"Great lord, great lord, thank you...um, there is no one in there. Well, no person, but an evil spirit has taken up residence.  We should burn the hut down."

The words spoken in the hut roughly match the babbling of the injured woman behind you.

PT

OOC:  A little unclear if the person saying 'GReat Lord' is inside the hut as well or outside now.

IC:

I stop for a moment, listening intently to the voices inside the hut and then duck my head and pop in, taking care to watch for any sign of attack from within the hut.

"To whoever is telling me that they might burn down this hut, I strongly suggest you rethink that.  I am coming inside and I won't be very happy if things start getting a little hot."

I reach out a little bit in my head, trying to see if possibly I could read the mind of the person speaking the strange language and to hopefully gain a little bit better understanding of what has happened here at this village.

10100010000000101101010101

....

You pull back from the contact with your mind buzzing with Boolean numbers.

You see a small black 'amulet' of plastic on a neckchain laying against a wall.  The words are coming from it.

"Great lord, a demon is in the hut.  Please, don't hurt yourself.  Let us burn the hut to drive out the demon."  The device says as behind you the woman babbles.

PT
OOC: Clear as mud, now?

I raise a hand to my head, rubbing it slowly as I try and focus on the numbers and what they might mean.  "Binary?  I remember a Star Trek episode about that...but what could it mean?"

As I glance over and see the voice-emitting amulet over beside the wall and I go over and pick it up.  "Well let's see if this thing is 2 way..."

"Hello there?  Who is this?"  I speak into the amulet with a firm voice.  "I demand you tell me your name."

OOC:  Okay yeah I am a little confused...but intrigued :)

It seems you psionically contacted the 'amulet' and its computer.

"Activating two-way communication." A voice comes from the amulet.  Its calm, neutral, slightly feminine.

There is a long pause.

"Demon, I will not give you my name for you to work your magics on me.  You may call me Swordwoman for your evil master cut my leg with his razorsword."

PT

I stop for a moment, a little stunned by what I am hearing on the other side.

"I am no demon, and for all I know you're the one I should be trying to exorcise.    I have no master, and I have no idea what this sword is that you speak of.  I am holding some kind of amulet and speaking to you through it.  It's sort of strange."

Tired of playing little games I decide the direct and honest approach might be a good thing to try for once.

"I am in some kind of village that has been attacked and appears to be in very bad shape.  Did you do this to the village and should I be worried?"

"I?"  The wounded woman staggers up to you.  "You have your pet demon accuse me of raiding my own village?  You speak a foul tongue, no doubt born of Hades, and accuse me?  If my own man were not slain, I would have him take your head."  She bows down and begins to wail, or ullulate out her sorrows that no one is about to avenge her insult, and avenge her lost kin.

Its...very loud, and quite piercing.

By this time you're aware that the 'amulet' is translating the conversation between you and the wounded woman.  She thinks the amulet is a demon.  You realize the amulet has some sort of binary code in it, and it looks like a tech device faked up to be a primitive amulet, like something you'd buy in a tourist shoppe in Hawaii or something for 7.99.

PT

I sigh and then bend down on one knee and look at the woman straight in the eyes.

"I did not do whatever it is that you think I did woman.  I just now showed up here and saw the carnage and wanted to try and help.  Will you let me try and help you and anyone else that might be in need here in your village?"

The amulet was an interesting intricacy but I figured I would have time to examine it a little bit later after I had dealt with this woman.


OOC:  Hope you don't mind the slowish posting rate.  I will also be leaving for Honduras from July 1st to 16th on a trip with 20 high school students.  I will not have any internet access during that time.

She looks intensely skeptical, but she's willing to allow you to help under close supervision.  You spend the next several hours helping out the wounded, putting out fires, and assessing the damage.  Your assessment of the sword damage is that the blade would have to be scalpel sharp.

Your translator amulet is invaluable, although it also provokes fear.  However you do learn a few Maelander words on your own. 'Water', 'hurts', 'demon', and something that is probably a curse word which the amulet is unable to translate.

It seems from the tale that a Demon on a Nightmare with many Goblins came through.  He cast fire from his hand making the fires and cutting the black straight lines in some walls, and the Goblins all carried very many sharp swords that could cut through the bronze blades of the villagers.  He killed or captured all the men of the village.

This is also to be expected as the Demons come and go.  At least once every generation for as far back as stories are told.

PT

After the slog of several hours of tending to other people I take a moment to relax, getting off of my feet for a few minutes.  The whole experience had been very odd, with the talk of demons and goblins.  But my run ins in my other ... lives ... had made me ready for anything and I was starting to surprise myself with my ability to simply roll with whatever was given to me.

I was curious whether these people were interpreting some literal things in a fanciful way or if I was in some place where things like Demons and Goblins existed.  The Nightmare could easily be a horse and perhaps the goblins simply wore strange garb.  I figured I would find out more of the answers eventually.  Standing again, I wandered over to find the same woman who I initially met so that I could speak with her.

"I wonder if there are others around who have had run ins with these folks.  Maybe I can find out what direction these goblins came from and try and track them down or at least find out more information."

She takes you on the trail that the invaders made.  The Nightmare or horse makes very deep tracks, nearly six inches in soft places.  Its fairly easy to follow once you get out of the village and into the grass because of the number of raiders.

You spot the place where they wait and gather for the last charge.

And then about ten miles away, you come up on a circle of blackened sod about fifty feet across.  The grass is burnt to ash in that area.

"This is where they ascended from Hades.  The infernal fire still clings to them until they get wholly into our world."

PT