In reply to Virgilio Hohlfeld (msg # 891):

"I could use quite a bit, they are in dire straits,  and it is a risk for me to try again"
This message was last edited by the player at 14:49, Tue 13 July 2021.

In reply to Reanna Draegan (msg # 890):

doubtless the armor and weapons, being of good quality,  are quite dear. they each have a broadsword, the one not carried off by its horse has a staff, each has a knife and a pouch with a vial and coin; they each wear a ring.
Also there are three horses left.

armor wise, the two orange and the one yellow all wear brigandine, the redshirts have DR5 helms and DR3 cuirasses  and DR 5 gauntletszms over padded armor and heavy boots. they have shortswords and crossbows.

somewhere near is a fourth horse and a brigandine wearing corpse hanging from the stirrup that had a staff.
This message was last edited by the GM at 14:56, Tue 13 July 2021.

In reply to Narrator (msg # 893):

The one carried off by his horse...can Reanna track him down? Is a tracking roll needed?

[Private to GM: Rolled IQ, no tracking skill.]

In reply to Reanna Draegan (msg # 894):

IQ -5 to track, but it's highly linely they didn't leave the iter

In reply to Narrator (msg # 895):

So Reanna failed tracking roll will be just looking around for it then...

"I am no healer, but I can Lend Energy repeatedly if necessary.  Let us begin with this."

He reaches out to touch the healer's arm as he gestures with the other hand -- but something goes wrong...

[Private to GM: 17:01, 17:07, Today: Virgilio Hohlfeld rolled 18 using 3d6.  Lend Energy (roll to cast, 15) (10 FP).  Seriously?  First cast is a genuine crit fail.  SMH.  Okay, what happens?]

In reply to Virgilio Hohlfeld (msg # 897):

Alice collapses, shivering and pale as bluish vapors of energy are drawn from her and wrapp around Virgilio before dissipating.

In reply to Alice Abernathy (msg # 898):

Reanna raises her crossbow, aiming at the head of the now very suspect prisoner...

"No!  Nonononono!"  The former prisoner drops beside the collapsed healer, seemingly unaware of the crossbow pointed at him.  "This is the problem.  It's always been this way -- any mage will tell you spells sometimes just go wrong, but when mine go wrong, they do it in a big way.  Usually it just affects me, but that time..."

He begins speaking arcane words, gesturing broadly with both hands, and a second later reaches out with both hands to once more touch the healer.  Only afterward does he look up and see Reanna and her crossbow.

He lets out a soft wolf whistle, and raises both hands in a "stop" gesture.

"I'm not certain, but I think the first casting came out backward.  I felt a knuckle catch during the gesture, but I couldn't react in time to stop the spell.  If I'm right about that, this should undo that.  Only problem is, if it's like overspending your energy in casting, it may have manifested as injuries, and I don't have the ability to heal those, only to replace the energy."

[Private to GM: 05:00, Today: Virgilio Hohlfeld rolled 11 using 3d6.  Lend Energy (roll to cast, 15) (10 FP).]

“I think I’ll recover my energy the old-fashioned way, if it’s all the same to you,” Dne mutters, leaning the back of his head against the tree.

In reply to Dne Utrotare (msg # 901):

Alice sits up blinking.
"I just had the strangest dream..."

"I am so sorry, miss!  I believe my spell backfired.  This happens sometimes -- as you surely know; it can happen to healers, too.  In my case, if any casting fails, I get something worse than just wasting my energy; it often injures me, when it happens -- but rarely others."  The tall, thin, dark man offers his hand to help the healer up.

"The Crop Doctor back home always said I was sure to summon a demon by accident someday, but not yet, not yet.  I've studied and practiced for years, trying to make every little thing perfect, but this still happens sometimes.  I guess it's the cost of being able to cast and cast and never get tired."

In reply to Virgilio Hohlfeld (msg # 903):

"Lets try this again..."


Dilandua  you get 8 hp back

In reply to Alice Abernathy (msg # 904):

"Alice, you ok? Dne, was that deliberate? Just say the word..."

She maintains the crossbow at his head...

Dilandua stirs and lifts themselves up to a crouch, patting the still hot scorch across their chest.

The Shadow Elf gives Alice a thin smile and a nod.  "Thank you."

The tall, thin mage in brown looks at the rising shadow elf as if he'd never seen such a being.

"What kind of person is this, then?"  His mutter is barely audible.

"Good day!  I am Virgilio Hohlfeld of Bon Chance, lately apprentice and prisoner of the Mage Guild."

In reply to Virgilio Hohlfeld (msg # 907):

a somewhat charred person...

Dilandua takes him in, then picks up the spears and rises slowly (as though maybe unsure their limbs will hold) to their feet.

They give the ex-prisoner a shallow bow, "Dilandua, Messenger for the Twilight House," you might be mistaken, but despite the flat emotionless tone, they almost sound perturbed saying 'Messenger'.

The slim, small warrior then turns surveying the scene, and affectlessly asks, "Reanna, we're missing one mage... and a horse.  Did they escape or were they taken down in the trees?"

In reply to Dilandua (msg # 909):

"One horse with a badly injured rider did leave,. but I doubt it got far."

The crossbow remains pointed.

The erstwhile prisoner looks Reanna in the eyes over the crossbow, his expression suddenly changed from "happy to be free" to "ready to wreak havoc."

"Would it help if I assist in slaying that remaining mage?  Guild mages aren't on my good side today."

His voice then drops to the mutter you've heard before.  "Fire, I'll use fire, fire's so easy."

In reply to Virgilio Hohlfeld (msg # 911):

"It would go a long way to building trust, as long as there are no more 'accidents'..."

"Well, that's the thing with accidents.  You can't predict them.

"I can assure you that something like what happened the first time I tried to aid your healer is a rarity; even when a spell goes wrong, it usually either does nothing, spectacularly, or harms me.  I will promise, however, not to Lend my Energy to anyone without their permission or request; that will limit the risk to others.

"My main job as an apprentice was research, so about half of the magic I know is knowledge based.  I have a few light spells, a few fire spells, and I can create and purify water -- I hadn't had a chance to start learning earth or air magic, or other schools, before my talent was discovered, and after that, Lending Energy was pretty much my only job.

"But I can be a lot of help.  Ask your mage how tiring it would be to extinguish all the fires, from candle to conflagration, in a space eight yards across -- and how long it would take him or her to recover enough to do it again.  I can do it over and over, as quickly as I can cast.  The same goes for creating a fire that size that burns for a time without needing fuel."

"What direction did they ride off in?  I can begin hunting"

The warrior looks around, "And someone should get Guillaume, he can round up these horses and check them for injuries."

"I would welcome the chance to help hunt down that remaining mage.  I'm no woodsman, nor even a combat mage, but if I can find, borrow, or make a staff, or a sling, I'll do what I can with those.  If we can kill them, it might be weeks before the Guild realizes they didn't make it to Northport -- and when they do, they might think I was killed, too.

"And the longer the Guild thinks I'm dead, the better I'll like it."

The former prisoner begins looking over the bodies of the fallen for a staff, a sling, or even a pouch full of sling stones or bullets; an empty pouch or knife of any kind will wind on on his belt as well.

In reply to Virgilio Hohlfeld (msg # 915):

Reanna points in the direction she last saw them go in.

"They went that way...Dilandua, can you watch over the prisoner while you hunt, and we get these bodies off the road and out of sight? After what he did to Alice, I am short on trust of him."