You hear Petronilla scream and the boar grunt.  Then there's silence.  You continue to run.

As you push further into the woods, you think you can hear soft voices.  From where they come, you can't say.  You're not even sure you are really hearing them.

...you left her...

...left her...

...her.  no more...

...poor thing...

...someone's guilty...

...guilty guilty...

You can see a break in the trees up ahead.  It looks like you're coming up to the foot of a hill.  You can climb it or skirt around the base to the left or right.

I’ll climb it.  If I can, while I do so, I try to get an idea of where those voices are coming from.

You scurry up the hill. It's at an incline, but you're young.  You tough it through and pull your self up onto the crest.

Someone's stuck a torch into the ground at the top of the hill.  Huddling beneath it, trembling, is a fox.

“Hello, Mr. Fox,” I say quietly.

The fox glances at you and then back around.  It slowly, and warily, gets to it's feet.  Paws.  Whatever.

Two things happen simultaneously.  |

First, you hear the growl of dogs.  Big dogs.  The noise seems to surround you from behind.

Second, a large spear thrusts itself into the ground beside you.  It's a huge spear.  You doubt a normal man could handle it.

The fox tenses up and goes low to the ground.  As if it's going to rush away.

You can tell someone besides the dogs is standing behind you.

I turn and look, while simultaneously getting ready to run.  (I know, difficult... but I try it.)

By the way... am I still in the form of a human boy?  I'm wondering if I've been changed...

So, I'm trying to do three things at once here.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:25, Thu 25 Apr.

In reply to Tristan (msg # 88):

Yes.  You are still a boy

Behind you is a large, rough looking man.  He's wearing leathers and some kind of ornate helmet covered in stag antlers.

Around him, a pack of large hunting dogs...more like hunting wolves...are growling at you.  Their eyes are glowing a reddish color.

You hurry down the hill as the man pulls the spear out of the ground.  Beside you, the fox dashes along.

Do you have an Area Lore ability?  I can't recall.  If so, please make a Area Lore/Int test for me please.  Thanks

OOC: I have an Area Lore, but it’s from my exploring childhood and I don’t know if it applies to where I’m at now.  Should I still roll?

Yes.  In this case, the specific knowledge may transfer

20:43, Today: Tristan rolled 9 using 1d10 ((9)).

In reply to Tristan (msg # 92):

Now that may be your best roll yet.

You recall something as you run.  A legend from your home village.

A hunter and his pack who travelled the night and hunted the guilty.  The Wild Hunt.

They would chase down a guilty person.  If the person could survive to sunrise, they were allowed to live.

If not...

For some reason, this situation reminds you of that legend.

You and the fox reach the bottom of the hill.  It stares at you, as if waiting to see what way you are going to go.

You can head into the forest, either to the east, west, or north.

I'll try east.  Any sign of the sun rising yet?

By the way, if the Fox chooses to run in some other direction, I won't complain about it in the least.

No such luck in seeing the sun.  The moon doesn't look like it's budged at all in the sky.

And the fox seems intent on following you.  It rushes in the same direction, veering back if you try to go another way.

You just aren't getting much of a break.

Rushing under the trees, you soon lose sight of the hill.  And then the folliage overhead swallows up what little light the stars were giving you.  Soon you are stumbling through the darkest of darks.  If it weren't for the fox, you would probably be fumbling into trees.

But the fox seems to shimmer.  There's a slight glow to it's fur, and though not enough to make out your surroundings, it is enough so you don't careen into a tree.  The two of you come out onto the bank of a stream.

The stream is not very wide, though too wide to jump.  Maybe five paces across.  You can't tell how deep it is.

On the other side, you can see someone.  A big man is slumped under a tree.  Rulf maybe?

Behind you, in the distance, you can hear the wolves start to howl.

Crossing the stream to get to Rulf?  Or heading along the bank on your side?

I try crossing the stream, cautiously.  How strong is the current?

The current isn't strong at all.  It turns out the problem here is the depth.

You take two strides out.  The water is cold, but it barely rises above the top of your feet.  So it's more an annoyance than a problem.

That third step though.  What a doozy.

Apparently the stream bed falls away at that point.  You step down and your foot continues to descend.  It's a bit of a miracle you pin wheel your arms and make yourself fall backwards.

Landing on your behind on the shallow bank, you blink.

You'll have to swim across the stream.  It's not far.  You should be able to do it in ten or so strokes.

No problems at all.  Right?

Diving in?

Seeing no credible alternatives, Tristan dives right in.  And prays.

The water turns out to be incredibly cold.  It's a shock to your system.  So much so, you lose your breath, and only a great amount of flailing manages to keep you afloat.

Fortunately there aren't many strokes to the other side.  But you feel chilled.  All the way down to your bones.

For the next twenty posts, any roll for physical activity you need to make will be at a -1 penalty

The fox is beside you, nosing you from one side.  It's dry as a bone.  How it managed to do that you don't know.

The man laying in a pile is indeed Rulf.  He is breathing, but seems to have taken some kind of blow to the head.  There's a big gash above his ear and there's a fresh mush of gore seeping out.  He needs a bandage probably.

Tristan takes a quick look around to be sure he isn’t about to get jumped by anything, then does his best to tend to Rulf, first checking to make sure he’s even still alive.  As he does this, he watches the Fox warily, not trusting it at all.

You'll need to make a bandage...a strip of Rulf's own tunic should work.  His chest is rising and falling.  So you think he's still alive.

The fox sits and stares at you intently.  In the distance, the wolves howling is reaching a crescendo.

As you wrap the bandage around Rulf's head, you feel something tug on your sleeve.  It's the fox.  It's biting the elbow of your shirt and seems to be trying to hurry you along.  As if urging you to abandon Rulf and run away.

"I'm not leaving him here.  If you want to run on, go ahead."

Rulf moans and sputters something.  His eyes open halfway.  He seems to hazily try to focus.

"...uhmmmm....I...thatchu?...young master..."

The fox goes a few feet off and sits on it's haunches, growling in your direction.

Rulf starts to try to sit up.  He's obviously still dizzy.  "...stick?...or...sword?"
This message was last edited by the GM at 02:05, Mon 13 May.

"Try to come to your senses, Rulf.  There is danger coming.  But I don't think this Fox is the threat, but rather what is pursuing it."

Rulf seems to be trying to gather his wits.  But they must have been pretty scattered.  But he manages to right himself onto his feet and stands there-barely-and shakes his head.

"I...uh...what...which way..."

He seems able to walk.  You think.

I try to get him moving while simultaneously taking a quick look around for approaching threats.

You can follow the creek downstream, upstream, or strike out into the woods.

Upstream is the direction you came from, but you were on the other side.  This area seems to be the closest thing to a ford.

The woods look quite dark.

Downstream seems the most navigable with an injured man.