![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
In the morning, Cor, May, Hastvest, Pockwarn, and I set out rather early. Thymelixen, Jack, and Mocutanz were going to become birds and meet us in the foothills in a day or two, which would be faster. Cor and I were in the lead, and we had one horse with more of our gear but no riders.
It was foggy, but I thought it would clear by midday. We started heading south, going around the south end of the diamond-shaped area of the Forest Lord, riding along the southeast border until we were at the eastmost point. May turned into a hawk to go up and scout, but there wasn't much to be seen in the fog. We decided to go due east to get through the area of the Forest Lord's allies more quickly, then turn north. In retrospect, this was perhaps not the best decision...
The forest became less dense (and less foggy), and started being a little uphill, with rocks breaking through the ground every so often. We stopped for May to renew her blessing, and Pockwarn scouted around. When he came back, he mentioned he'd seen a wolf. It headed back east of us, so we decided to go northeast to avoid the pack.
And then we saw another wolf ahead of us, and it went back into the woods. We decided to keep to our current bearing, not going any more north.
The forest opened up more, with more rocks, and streams running down. We reached a point where northeast was diagonal up a hill, and eastward it was flatter, heading into a valley. We headed east, and ahead of us, I saw a male dolo, a full-sized one. Cor saw two wolves with it, and we realized that they were likely either people or animals in the service of the allies of the Forest Lord, who Jack thinks are non-classical magic users. They headed south, so we assumed their base was south of us.
And then we saw three rocks leaning together. We stopped, and debated for a while what to do. We headed north, upslope, going more slowly so we could keep an eye out for triplets of rocks. And we saw one grouping south of us, downslope. We headed east after that, not wanting to try to deal with the horses along the ridge, and assuming we were north of whatever the rocks were warnings of... assuming we were on the correct side of them at all.
And then we managed to miss one grouping. Which we found out when there was a metallic sound like a bell, and a shimmer in the air. I resisted something-or-other... and fell on the ground when the horse vanished beneath us. Luckily Cor wasn't injured too much either.
It came from the southeast, and Cor told us to back up. We heard a noise, and now noticed three small rocks previously hidden by the bushes.
May went up as a hawk. She saw some gaps in the treetops about two miles southeast of us. We assumed it was a settlement, and debated going to it, or going on over the ridge without the horse (Cor didn't want this, saying we'd need it for the return trip), or waiting for a wolf to show up and try to act friendly. Of course, there's no way to know where the horse went; it's possible it was sent to the settlement, but just as likely it's dead off the side of a cliff somewhere. Without talking to someone, there's no way to know.
We ended up waiting. I bandaged Cor, then we all kept an eye out for animals. I saw a dolo far away in the trees, Cor saw a wolf, and Pockwarn saw two wolves. Cor and I tried to say things to them, and they all left, going south.
After another round of debating, we decided to wait longer, and cook some food, have some tea.
Then we heard a howl from the east southeast, then from the east, then a few barks and yaps in the distance, to the east. They came closer, in a wide band. Something was coming for us, and it didn't sound at all friendly. I quickly put His Mighty Shield on Cor, May, and Pockwarn. Then the wolves ran by, two bands about 50 yards north and south of us, streaming past, yipping. We heard a larger, metallic, lumbering sound behind, and a large shape appeared, about twelve feet tall, vaguely humanoid. It was covered in shell plates, had four arms, and springy legs with two-clawed feet. It had two spiny antennae with a shimmering between them, though no head. Suddenly, it was facing us.
May started casting her Blessing, and I cast Presence of the Guardian on Cor. Cor and Pockwarn attacked it directly, and when it fought back, blades came out of its arms. It hit Cor, then managed to throw him rather far. I backed away, and put Presence of the Guardian on Pockwarn. I went farther on, and started casting His Holiness Revealed, the first time I was truly using this blessing. It was a very hard battle on both Cor and Pockwarn, who each were unconscious for a while. May became a bear, and once she grappled it, the tide of the battle shifted. I was able to heal Pockwarn and Cor enough for them to recover and fight, and in the end, just when it seemed we'd all be killed, it gave up the ghost, vapors rising up from it as it fell over.
Now that there was time to think, I remembered that this was a pcktrake, one of the immortal war machines that had been made millenia ago. They can reform after being hacked up, and are singlemindedly bloodthirsty, with Tacomic magics between its antennae. Luckily its memory is short, so getting away from here should be enough to keep it away from us.
It was foggy, but I thought it would clear by midday. We started heading south, going around the south end of the diamond-shaped area of the Forest Lord, riding along the southeast border until we were at the eastmost point. May turned into a hawk to go up and scout, but there wasn't much to be seen in the fog. We decided to go due east to get through the area of the Forest Lord's allies more quickly, then turn north. In retrospect, this was perhaps not the best decision...
The forest became less dense (and less foggy), and started being a little uphill, with rocks breaking through the ground every so often. We stopped for May to renew her blessing, and Pockwarn scouted around. When he came back, he mentioned he'd seen a wolf. It headed back east of us, so we decided to go northeast to avoid the pack.
And then we saw another wolf ahead of us, and it went back into the woods. We decided to keep to our current bearing, not going any more north.
The forest opened up more, with more rocks, and streams running down. We reached a point where northeast was diagonal up a hill, and eastward it was flatter, heading into a valley. We headed east, and ahead of us, I saw a male dolo, a full-sized one. Cor saw two wolves with it, and we realized that they were likely either people or animals in the service of the allies of the Forest Lord, who Jack thinks are non-classical magic users. They headed south, so we assumed their base was south of us.
And then we saw three rocks leaning together. We stopped, and debated for a while what to do. We headed north, upslope, going more slowly so we could keep an eye out for triplets of rocks. And we saw one grouping south of us, downslope. We headed east after that, not wanting to try to deal with the horses along the ridge, and assuming we were north of whatever the rocks were warnings of... assuming we were on the correct side of them at all.
And then we managed to miss one grouping. Which we found out when there was a metallic sound like a bell, and a shimmer in the air. I resisted something-or-other... and fell on the ground when the horse vanished beneath us. Luckily Cor wasn't injured too much either.
It came from the southeast, and Cor told us to back up. We heard a noise, and now noticed three small rocks previously hidden by the bushes.
May went up as a hawk. She saw some gaps in the treetops about two miles southeast of us. We assumed it was a settlement, and debated going to it, or going on over the ridge without the horse (Cor didn't want this, saying we'd need it for the return trip), or waiting for a wolf to show up and try to act friendly. Of course, there's no way to know where the horse went; it's possible it was sent to the settlement, but just as likely it's dead off the side of a cliff somewhere. Without talking to someone, there's no way to know.
We ended up waiting. I bandaged Cor, then we all kept an eye out for animals. I saw a dolo far away in the trees, Cor saw a wolf, and Pockwarn saw two wolves. Cor and I tried to say things to them, and they all left, going south.
After another round of debating, we decided to wait longer, and cook some food, have some tea.
Then we heard a howl from the east southeast, then from the east, then a few barks and yaps in the distance, to the east. They came closer, in a wide band. Something was coming for us, and it didn't sound at all friendly. I quickly put His Mighty Shield on Cor, May, and Pockwarn. Then the wolves ran by, two bands about 50 yards north and south of us, streaming past, yipping. We heard a larger, metallic, lumbering sound behind, and a large shape appeared, about twelve feet tall, vaguely humanoid. It was covered in shell plates, had four arms, and springy legs with two-clawed feet. It had two spiny antennae with a shimmering between them, though no head. Suddenly, it was facing us.
May started casting her Blessing, and I cast Presence of the Guardian on Cor. Cor and Pockwarn attacked it directly, and when it fought back, blades came out of its arms. It hit Cor, then managed to throw him rather far. I backed away, and put Presence of the Guardian on Pockwarn. I went farther on, and started casting His Holiness Revealed, the first time I was truly using this blessing. It was a very hard battle on both Cor and Pockwarn, who each were unconscious for a while. May became a bear, and once she grappled it, the tide of the battle shifted. I was able to heal Pockwarn and Cor enough for them to recover and fight, and in the end, just when it seemed we'd all be killed, it gave up the ghost, vapors rising up from it as it fell over.
Now that there was time to think, I remembered that this was a pcktrake, one of the immortal war machines that had been made millenia ago. They can reform after being hacked up, and are singlemindedly bloodthirsty, with Tacomic magics between its antennae. Luckily its memory is short, so getting away from here should be enough to keep it away from us.
