Griff pockets the coin with a nod of thanks.

Coming finally out of the cave with the borderers, pregnant, injured and traumatised, the group sat about on the rock shelf and took stock.

Hadrick set Jon down away from the others and all the borderers stayed well clear of him now that the signs of his affliction were fully revealed by the light. Brannon stayed nearby for now but did not touch Jon again...

Aphail gathered the borderers to him and they saw that Boyd had been among those fighting above, he cradled the dead body of Aiden in his bloody arms, " He wouldn't listen....".

Lann carried the head of the priest in its sack as he emerged from the dark.

Usopi grasped the hilt of the black blade and pulled it from the stone with a heave...it slid out seemingly undamaged by its stony scabbard.  Usopi inspected it for a few moments, it was metal to the touch but seemed more in common with obsidian to look at....and left a slick feeling on his fingers.

He moved forward towards Chlainn and Griff and began carefully removing the helm of one of their foes, he feared he would find signs of plague but what was revealed to him was stranger still.  The form was heavily muscled but covered in short black fur, the fingers had solid spade-like nails rather than claws beneath their gauntlets.  But the face was where they departed furthest from man in form.  A broad sloping brow over pink rimmed black eyes, the ears were small and pressed flat against the side of the head. The nose and mouth were joined into a short blunt muzzle or snout with wide nostrils and prominent canines....Usopi found it somewhere between hound and boar....or perhaps some form of ape though he had only seen pictures in books as a child.....but another memory stirred...one he recalled from his time as a squire. A tale in a fireside inn about wild men of the woods or wodewose who were as strong as three men, a wild hairy woman married to  hermit who never showed her face until her veil was snatched off and she fled forever and a performer at a tourney dressed in bearskins and burlap being displayed in a cage by a Kurlander as a wudewuus. Though the armour was not part of the tales he had heard he supposed some dark force could make use of such things...

Usopi, his head spinning, approached the gathered wailing and weeping borderers.....

In reply to GM (msg # 531):

Lann walks up to the borderers declaring,"You have suffered much but he comforted that your oppressor is now dead." Saying that, he throws the bag on the floor. He continues in similar vein to encourage the borderers.

He then approaches the bravest looking borderer to find out how the group got captured and who their liege is.
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:22, Thu 15 Mar 2018.

Chlainn falls to his knees in jest as he stands in awe as Usopi removes the sword from the stone.  "The land and the King are one!  Long live the King!"




Chlainn mutters to himself darkly…  "Damned farmers!  We should restrict the raising of livestock to the mentally intact!"
This message was last edited by the player at 03:55, Thu 15 Mar 2018.

Drake sits down with Jon beside him, allowing the sick man to rest for a bit. He looks up at the huge knight Usopi, gesturing with his head towards the gathered and wailing Borderers.

"Time for your speech Knight. And after, we make for the nearest town with a church or temple. Aphail would know..."

The mercenary goes looking for the Borderer shepherd to inquire about the nearest place where Jon might find aid for his malady.

Usopi nods his head and pushes through the sudden dizziness as he places a hand on one if the weeping borderer’s shoulders.

”My friend Lann is correct. Your tormentors are dead, and while there will still be trials as you recover, the worst is now over. I believe it safe to say your wilding has concluded as well. Gather yourselves, aid each other, and lead us to your homes. We shall protect you on this journey, and we shall speak to your elders about the events here to ensure you recieve the care you require. If any of you are well enough I require information about your home. Is there a church or healing facility? Are your elders understanding or disdainful? How far away is it? With proper information we may save as many of us as possible by making the best choices as for what to do next.” He says hoping that they will be roused to action by his speech.

In reply to Usopi Venia (msg # 535):

Boyd rose to his feet and kicked the bag of head away, " My folk have suffered and seen horrors enough, we need no trophy. Only that we're not beaten and tortured and raped....we''re thankful to ye. But theres need of kindness here.", he said turning towards Usopi as he started speaking.

" I do not know this church you speak of, but there are healers amongst us.  But I ask you not to bring him back with us. The plague has killed many in the past even this far north, and our laird will nay have it brought into settlements. Best he lay out in the wild and let the healers come to him if they so wish.", Aphail replied. " Our Laird Taran Hewell, is a good man, he is, but theres a deal of ill feeling as we've been Clan Cernach since the dawn times and the name Hewell sits uncomfortably on our shoulders."

" Best place for the young'uns is to go see Blaine Lyssen, who dwells in the Dell of Lalliwick. He's one for the old ways and his wife is strong in the healing arts....if you'll bring the afflicted one. Best we leave him in a building outside the broch and village and then...whether he comes through or not...burn the place to the ground after."

" I'll swear to Boyds and the others story being true, so there won't be much in the way of naysaying.  But there will be wailing and mourning...there was a lot of our peoples future lost here. And we've boys who may never be counted as men...and girls who...there will be decisions to be made...and reckonings may come."

" As Gill said we're not to far off from Lalliwick, we might even catch the cattle up if they've been dawdling."

He looked at the bestial form of the dark armoured ones, " Never thought I'd see the like..."

Usopi held the blade unsurely but nothing untoward happened as he gazed at it....

Behind them Dann roused and struggled to sit himself up wondering what he had missed and wincing in pain. ( Danns on 1hp)

In reply to GM (msg # 536):

Chlainn solemnly presents Dann with the silver comb, booty looted from the fallen or just picked up off the ground.  He pats him on the shoulder and praises his god that everyone came through alive.

Chlainn just wants to loot the remainder of those 'farm atrocities' for hardware that might be worth anything.  He will not let anyone ride his horse without permission and not any sick person.  He will allow Dann to ride until he pulls himself together.

In reply to Chlainn Vacrolann (msg # 537):

Lann approaches Dann and touches him.

OOC: Cast Heal Injury. ( +3 hp to Dann )
This message was last edited by the GM at 04:47, Fri 16 Mar 2018.

In reply to Toirneach Lann (msg # 538):

Ok, forget it.  Dann's good enough for another 15 rounds already.

Brannon regards Jon cautiously. "Are there parts enough for us to make a stretcher? I'm not sure how far he'll walk, and it's probably... unwise to stay in such close contact."

Usopi nods his thanks at the borderers as they answer his questions.

”Yes,” he says at Brannon’s suggestion, ”let us form a streatcher from timber and hide. Perhaps Chlainn would be good enough to pull it behind him as he rides? If we come upon the cattlemen during our journey be sure to keep Jon well back. It would not do to infect the cattle. Once we arrive, we can set Jon down well outside the settlment where this Blaine Lyssen resides. There at least one of our party can stay with him, while the rest of us lead these young ones to their homes, inform their leaders of the events that have transpired here, and seek out Lyssen to ask for his aid with Jon?”

As he awaits thoughts on his suggested course of action he moves over to the corpse of the warrior who’s sword he now holds and attempts to find and remove a scabbard or sheath if one exists. Once his new sword is safely stored on his person, he stands once again and speaks to the borderers.

”when we set out from here I shall carry whomever you all decide is the worst off. Those of you who are able, please begin looking for something to fashion walking sticks or stretchers for those of you who unable to do so yourselves.”

In reply to Usopi Venia (msg # 541):

Chlainn is ok with dragging Jons carcass around.  He does want to loo the farm atrocity that went flying.  Sure these guys had no gold on them?

Dann looks around, painfully stands and recognizes Chlainn first. He ignores the gift, but says faintly: "I... I thought I was dead." as if to convince himself that he really isn't.

After Lann gives him more strength, he mumbles a thank you and keeps quiet for a while. He slowly catches up with the situation and tries to go back to his senses.

"You nearly were." Brannon grins at Dann as the warrior comes to. "You're lucky not to wake up on a funeral pyre.  Indeed, lucky to wake up at all. Though you took a good few lumps out of the enemy... enough to carry the day. Let us hope Jon is as hardy - dark magic has befallen him, and his strength is sorely tested."

Then he adds, almost to himself: "At least, I hope it is magic. I've never seen it take hold so quickly. It would usually be a matter of days, which would mean..."

He shakes his head. "That would make no sense: magic it must be."

The corpses of the black-clad beastmen are stripped of their armour and weapons, though no scabbards are found which would fit the huge blades.

Usopi manages to find some leather and cut enough strips that he can lash the blade over his shoulders and pack for the meantime.

Though traumatised and weary the borderer youths are stubborn and none of them request assistance down the stone steps. Fashioning walking sticks and the like from the remains of crude cots within the cave which is beginning to fill with smoke. Another pyre is made on the stone shelf and the remains of the wadwose and the priests head are tossed upon it.

Usopi and Brannon guess that most of the pregnancys are probably at about mid-term now....too late for any herbal treatments that Brannon knows of to harm the child without harming the mother. It seems the future will hold many uncertain things...

Jon is lashed to the stretcher and mostly handled down by Drake with Griff taking the other end and putting a lot of space between himself and the man on the stretcher.

Over the next hour or so the injured, gravid and malnourished make their way down and Chlainn finds the other bodies and fetches both his horse, the other gear left behind and Lute who has been deep in conversation with a nearby treestump.

Aphail gathered the borderers together and got ready to set them off with Boyd in the lead and him bringing up the rear.

OOC:

Chlainns loot stripped from Black Riders:

5 suits of full maille, stained black.
1 suit of full maille, black with silver filigree around the terminals.
5 claymores ( 2-handed sword)
6 bucket helms
6 sets of black stained gauntlets
6 sets of black stained reinforced boots
An assorted collection of mouse skulls, shiny pebbles, feathers and other flotsam.
2 florins hidden in a boot.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:58, Fri 16 Mar 2018.

In reply to GM (msg # 545):

OOC: Does Lann see enchantment still works? If so can he sense any magic in the loot?
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:56, Fri 16 Mar 2018.

OOC: The only item that registers to Lann before his power fades is the blade that Usopi has claimed.
This message was last edited by the GM at 23:57, Fri 16 Mar 2018.

GM:

Chlainns loot stripped from Black Riders:

5 suits of full maille, stained black.
1 suit of full maille, black with silver filigree around the terminals.
5 claymores ( 2-handed sword)
6 bucket helms
6 sets of black stained gauntlets
6 sets of black stained reinforced boots
An assorted collection of mouse skulls, shiny pebbles, feathers and other flotsam.
2 florins hidden in a boot.

Just trying to visualize the entire crowd.  We'll focus on carrying this stuff back.  I got the vaguest idea about npcs, Jon we'll try to help so he gets no loot.  For now at least.  Aphail?  Boyd?  Lute can get the silver comb, might do him some good.

Chlainn passes out the entire 22 silver florins to the border youths.  If its uneven he'll keep the remainder.

We'll wrap the zweihanders with the mail and somehow we'll tie most of it on the horse.  Chlainn will not ride it if its carrying as much gear as it can.

Once we flog these we can allocate the remainder of the gold.  I'll deduct 20 and 2 from above.

Oh I forget, I gave 10 to Brannon.  Then Chlainn deducts 10 and 2 from the pile above.</Orange>
This message was last edited by the player at 03:22, Sat 17 Mar 2018.

OOC - perhaps the comb belongs to one of the still surviving borderers? Otherwise I have no questions about any of that, and will help to carry the loot since mone of the borderers want to be carried.
Also, I’m assuming we have rejoined with those two sentires we subdued earlier? I don’t recall if they ever came up to help us or if they staid down here. Don’t want to leave them behind if they’re still alive.

Usopi smiles warmly at the borderers as he watches them pass him, ensuring that they do not fall down the slopes at particularly perilous points. When the whole group is travelling on predominantly flat ground, Usopi will make a circuit from front to back as they walk, too constantly show his presence to them as their guard while they travel. (Assuming I can walk faster than them to get up to the front of the pack without to much exertion.)

He also regularly pats Gat on the head, proud if the dog’s performance in the fight despite the enemy armor.

Griff rubs his sore hands chafed by the crude stretcher and prepares to move out, keeping half an eye out for any unexpected danger.

In reply to Griff Koehler (msg # 550):

Lann walks and keeps a lookout for danger. He spent the night before moving out mainiaining n cleaning his armour.

In reply to Usopi Venia (msg # 549):

As the group moved through the mountain forest Usopi and Lann walked point around the group, Usopi noted that one of the two sentries had fallen beside Griff and consoled the other lad as the walked. Gat busied himself bringing smiles to weary, broken faces as they travelled.

As they walked there was some discussion as to where the strange brutal group had come from but the borderers were unable to help much as they did not speak the wadwoses language and the priest spoke very little.

Slowly they drew closer to their destination, thinking back over the events of the past week or so....

In reply to GM (msg # 552):

As the group travels, Lann heals injured memebrs when near dusk, expending all his magical energies before the recharge.

OOC: WIll this walk take a few days? If so, can we heal everyone? Wish Kores was here.
This message was last edited by the GM at 21:00, Tue 20 Mar 2018.

Dann keeps most of the time silent during the trip, focused on gathering his strength and recollecting the events which led to his almost demise. He still helps the weak and wounded borderers he accompanies as much as possible.