Bogor and Liaathvain make their way around the city walls, looking to free up their horses from the stables. Upon walking across the main road however, a knight on guard at the gates sees them, and starts making his way towards them. Upon realizing who they are, he draws his sword and attacks them.
He proves to be a very worthy adversary however, and the fight lasts for longer than they both expected. Liaathvain, concerned that she is at risk of losing her god's favour has been attempting to subdue him, rather than kill him which makes it a bit more difficult for her. Bogor on the other hand is trying to use him as fertilizer for the grass, and as the knight succumbs to the blows of his enemies, he mutters his final words "My blood will feed the wolves," and then Bogor ends him. It appears as if the knight was a member of the wolf cult, for his final words were very ominous.
As the two enter the stable to free the horses, Liaathvain has a change of heart, and believes the glowing light was a gift from a praying Eric, and now that the glowing has ceased, and she has the horses, she is willing to travel back with the group.
Meanwhile, Arradel and Radamyr are waiting for them to return. They ask the fighter what kind of person Baltham was, and he doesn't tell them much besides the fact that he was a grumpy old man, and that he doesn't have any information on the magical compass. He then takes his leave, and runs off into the night.
Arradel takes this time to confess to Radamyr that she lied to Liaathvain, and that she could find no sign that the wizard was evil. This revelation troubles them, and they question the princess' motives. Why would she claim that he was a man of ill repute? Surely she would have known more about him.
Liaathvain and Bogor soon ride up, and tell them of their encounter with the evil knight. Arradel soon suggests that rather than head back to Greyholt, they leave and travel south through the forest, until things blow over. Liaathvain does not understand why they won't finish their mission and return to the Princess, but since there is no arguing with them she reluctantly goes with them.
Before they leave however, they hear a horrifyingly loud sound come from the Forum. They listen closely, and they discern it is the sound of wood snapping and cracking. There are terrible crashing noises coming from the city. They are too far to see anything, but the fact that the sound is travelling this far suggests something terrible has just happened. The sound lasts for several minutes, and once it has quieted down, they leave.
They ride south on their horses, Snowball and Fireball, for a long time, until they reach a safe area of the forest for them to set up camp. Liaathvain agrees to take watch first, and after an hour or so she once again experiences a vision. This time it is Eric, and he is kneeling next to what appears to be a very small lake. She also sees various animals in her vision, and notices a deer in particular. The vision then fades, and she is left bewildered. That is until she sees a deer poke it's head out from the forest. It looks at her with curiosity then turns around and begins to walk away.
The paladin follows it until she comes across the same body of water from her vision. There is no sign of Eric however, and as she approaches the water, a small gust of wind blows by her, and she begins to hear a strange sound of wood snapping. She turns around to see that the exposed trunks of nearby trees are carving expressionless faces out of their wood. The night air warms around her, and the mouths begin to move, and a powerful voice fills her head.
She receives the message, and realizes that her god has just spoken to her. As soon as the message is received, she returns to the camp, and is left to question the strange encounter she just had. She smiles though, knowing her god has not abandoned her.
No comments:
Post a Comment