[Completed] - Rhodri/East - 4 May, 1 VC

[Keehnelf]

May 5, 1 VC - 3:00 am

Kennit gives a long look at Rhodri's doleful face before he turns and flees into the night, leaving his bedroll and backpack behind for the sake of sheer survival. The gnolls give a series of short barks of mingled delight and frustration, but Kennit has the advantage because the presence of the firelight fouls any darkvision they might possess.

Rhodri sees a whirl of cloth as the halfling bolts off into the darkness and a swift patter of feet on the stone and grass before he is gone. Once the hobgoblin has Rhodri's hands bound, the gnolls lope off after Kennit, unslinging their longbows to aid in putting down their quarry. The hobgoblin leader simply smiles again as he tightens the bonds around Rhodri's wrists one last time and motions to another of the goblinoids to gather up the packs and supplies spread out around the firepit.

Since Kennit has more autonomy about what he does, I'll continue his thread here and move Rhodri's story to a private thread.

Kennit scrambles across the stone and grass until he's blind, the moon having been dulled by the pall of smoke in the north that has spread a haze over the lands south and made for very dark nights of late. However, after what seems an eternity he finds a small crack between two large fragments of broken stone overlooked by a stubby bush with a bit of leaf cover and squeezes himself in, panting and heart thumping. Some time later, he hears the quiet padding of dog-man paws approach in the middle distance, followed by an exchange of unpleasant yips and whimpers before the sounds once again recede. Somehow, he has escaped detection--for tonight, at least.

Kennit hiding 90% [1d100] = 40

[KingOfCowards]

Kennit does his best to get as much uncomfortable sleep as he is able to, given the circumstances. At dawn he will leave his sanctuary to start looking for tracks, starting with their abandoned camp from the night before.

[Keehnelf]

Update here soon! Finally starting to get Rhodri settled, and the outcome there will determine what comes next here. I apologize to everyone for this month's delays!

[Keehnelf]

May 5, 1 VC - 9:10am

Kennit wakes with a spine of stone jabbed painfully into his very stiff back, gathers his wits in the thin light of dawn and begins casting about for signs of the way back to camp. After an hour or so of false starts and wrong turns, he spots the lee of stone and the lightly smoking ruins of the fire and approaches as stealthily as he can. There is no sign of any occupant, but the party's packs are missing and the abandoned bedrolls reek powerfully of urine. Rhodri's bedroll also has a large swath of half-congealed blood still glistening from the night's condensation, mostly in a a creased section that looks like something heavy might have lain there.

[KingOfCowards]

Kennit will look for signs of tracks from the gnolls or hobgoblins. They came from somewhere, presumably the north or east, and he intends to find out where they have taken Rhodri.

[Keehnelf]

May 5, 1 VC - 10:10am

Several sets of tracks enter and leave the camp, and Kennit spends a long time trying to decipher them in order to be best informed about his next step.

Both he and Rhodri are light enough not to leave any notable tracks, but the seven-foot tall gnolls, in armor and with dog's feet, leave clear animal prints, while the short hobgoblins are wearing heavy yo nailed boots and large packs, so their trails are fairly clear.

The tracks from both groups seem to enter the area together from the northeast, and depart together to the southeast. Separate from these, the gnolls depart alone to the west and return from the southwest. A set of tracks from the hobgoblins departs to the southwest and returns from the south.

[KingOfCowards]

Satisfied that he had correctly predicted the direction that the hobgoblins had come from, Kennit follows the tracks to towards the southeast. Alone and concerned, he wonders to himself where Rhodri is leading them.

[Keehnelf]

May 5, 1 VC - 3:30pm

Kennit heads southeast from the demolished campsite, rubbing at his empty stomach as his hunger grows throughout the late morning and lunch passes by with no respite. His mouth is also starting to feel dry--he hasn't had any water since dinner the night before.

By early afternoon he spots the wide crack of a deep, low-lying chasm crisscrossing the terrain east to west up ahead of him, long enough that it disappears out of sight. The tracks, fainter now, seem to approach the edge of the crack and continue along its rim to the east.

[KingOfCowards]

With no end to his painful journey in sight, Kennit follows the tracks eastward into foreign territory.

[Keehnelf]

May 5, 1 VC - 7:10pm

Kennit continues eastward for several hours, until finally ahead he spots the end of the chasm--between him and that point, however, something dark is lying shadowed by the evening sun on the ground quite close to the edge of the ravine. It does not appear to be moving, and there is nothing else visible nearby, so the halfling approaches for a better look. He discovers that it is the body of a hobgoblin, likely one of the ones he had encountered the night before, lying face down with one arm dangling over the edge of the cliff into open space. It is still armored as before, but its pack, boots and weapon appear to be missing.

[KingOfCowards]

Kennit will approach the body carefully, now famished from his trek to this point. If he can get close to the body without trouble, he will prod it with his sword.
Assuming that the hobgoblin appears dead, he will search the body for clues of its demise. Afterwards, he will need to find more tracks to know which direction they were heading.

[Keehnelf]

May 5, 1 VC - 7:20pm

Kennit finds the body lifeless and rigid--it appears to have been killed some time ago; many hours, perhaps last night or this morning. As he rolls the body over, he finds numerous large puncture wounds on the neck, chest and arms, as though the goblin was attacked by several deft attackers with stilettos: several of the puncture wounds on the forearms indicate that the hobgoblin attempted to defend itself by putting its arms up as a shield against these attacks. There is very little blood around the wounds, however, and the ground itself is surprisingly free of bloodstains despite the body lying on its chest. The skin itself is pale and clammy.

[KingOfCowards]

Kennit is disheartened to see the fleeing hobgoblins so far ahead of him.
Well, Kennit Buckthorn, you're in it deep now. No way back, and barely a way forward. You'll be as dead as this poor sap a'fore long., he gives the dead hobgoblin a kick with his boot while talking to himself. Still they must rest eventually, a better luxury than you have. No choice but to find them and hope that they are at least feeding Rhodri.

Kennit will find the direction the gnolls tracks head off to in the waning sunlight and follow in that direction. He will continue his funeral march throughout the night, not changing direction and hope that the hobgoblins stuck to a straight path.

[Keehnelf]

May 6, 1 VC - 5:20am

Kennit continues his slog, moving more slowly as the light fails and his awareness of the depth of the nearby chasm grows into an uneasy vertigo gnawing at the back of his mind. He manages to keep sight of the tracks, and eventually as the deep cleft in the earth dwindles to nothing, the tracks curve immediately toward the south. The very first hint of sunlight begins to appear on the horizon to the east when the gnoll tracks he's following merge into a much larger, and broader, disturbance in the soil. A massive group of some kind, perhaps an army, has passed through this area in the recent past. There are marks of bootprints, animal paws, and even shallow ruts in the soil from wheels both narrow and stout. To one side of the main track, he even sees massive footprints, almost two feet long, which have left deep impressions between the stones of the moor. The direction of motion seems to be west.

[KingOfCowards]

So Rhodri found an army...he always did have the worst luck imaginable. The halfling speaks to himself, bemused temporarily from his current dilemma. He licks his cracks lips and shakes his head, realizing he is probably starting to go mad.
He then follows the tracks westward until the point of exhaustion.

[KingOfCowards]

As Kennit struggles across the wilderness, his mind wanders to what his family would think about his current predicament. Before long, that progresses to an argument with himself within his own weary head, from two or sometimes three points of view.
"Well look at you Buckthorn, you've certainly seen better days. What do you think you're doing?""
"I'm running."
"Is that what you call it? Doesn't look very fast."
Kennit grunts and quicken his pace, albeit momentarily. "I'm tired...hungry. I'm thirsty."
"You're a pathetic excuse for a halfling, that's what you are. How'd you get in this mess?"
"I gotta find Rhodri"
"Hah...the elf? He's probably dead by now."
"He's alive. They took him."
"Why would you want to help him anyway? He never did nothin' for you."
"Loyalty. It's something you maggots know nothing about."
"I'm hurt. We always looked after you Kennit."
"You abandoned me. Sent me north after I killed that sheriff for you...for the clan."
"You drew too much attention to yerself. You were a liability."
"You set me up. You just wanted someone to take the fall. I was expendable, that's all."
"Well, I can't deny that. We had to do what's best for the family. We couldn't afford to have lost me or Ike?"
"Bah. I'm a better fighter than you or Ike put together. I plan on showing you if I ever see your sorry asses again."
"Like you showed those hobgoblins?"
Kennit growls to himself. "They had me outnumbered. There was three of 'em...and two gnolls."
"You're nothing special, Kennit. That's why you are where you are. Who have you ever bested in a fight?"
"I killed a dire wolf...I killed Nine Tongues." Kennit remembers fondly, beaming with pride.
"The goblin? Yeah, nice kill that. Besides the big man did all the work."
"You weren't there. Lug and Orrin went down, and I took off Nine Tongue's head." He chuckles to himself, until he remembers his old companions and a dark cloud passes over his face.
"That's funny. Where are your friends, Orrin and Lug? If you done so much for them."
"Gone. They left...because of Numen."
"Ain't he the other elf, where's he?"
"He betrayed us."
"Hah, what a joke. One elf stabs you in the back and here you are about to die trying to save another one. This seems to be a common trend for you, Kennit. Help someone out, and then get left behind. I guess we weren't the only ones to abandon you. You think you'd have learned your lesson the first time."
"I'll kill Numen, too. Just wait. That's why I need, Rhodri. He'll help. He knows what Numen has become. Rhodri will help me catch him. Rhodri will help. Rhodri...will...help." So sure of himself he is, that the voices seem to fade away, finally. And then its just him again.

[Keehnelf]

May 9, 1 VC - 10:10am

Kennit follows the trail of the advancing army westward, using the churned-up earth to cover any tracks he might make as well and trying his best to keep out of sight. At one point during the first day, he cautiously tops a low rise and sees the assembled force moving ahead of him. Two columns of armored hobgoblins with pikes march along either side of the track the army is making, with outriders on wolves and spiders to either side. A handful of ogres or small giants lumber along in the midst of the army, fronted by a chaotic press of gnollish archers. Bringing up the rear is a small contingent of heavily armored goblinoids of various type, with nasty looking swords and spears, all mounted on horses and wolves. They are led by a goblinoid in rust-colored banded mail with a tall, brightly-plumed and horned helmet and a vicious polearm. A long red cape is draped over the back of the figure's mount, which as it waddles from side to side appears to be a massive insect of some kind. In all, the army numbers perhaps two hundred and fifty.

Kennit continues behind, more cautious, and thankful as well for the bits of dropped food, including some bloody meat, that he finds along the track to keep himself alive during the pursuit. At one point, he stumbles upon a heavily dented steel canteen half-buried in the churned-up mud, and prying it loose discovers that it has some water left inside! He takes a greedy swig, his parched lips burning with the contact from the nearly-rancid water inside. It's piss-warm and has bits of something floating inside, but it will nourish him enough to keep him alive, he thinks.

Scouting the army over the next couple of days, Kennit spies no sign of Rhodri moving among the soldiers--but he does find himself forced to hide several times per day as patrols of outriders circle back--at one point he was nearly caught by surprise, but a chance word spoken by one of the hobgoblins gave him the chance to throw himself down in the mud face-first. His clothing, already caked with filth, was able to hide him from the scouts' eyes as they passed.

On the morning of the third day, however, Kennit sees the thin plume of smoke on the horizon that marks the hearth-fires of Vaul just out of sight, and as he spends a moment in contemplation, mercilessly exposed to peering eyes, a scout at the head of a small group of hobgoblin riders spies the halfling. A cry goes up, and Kennit sees three hobgoblins on wolves racing toward him from the north, lances bouncing in the morning sun. They are approximately 300 feet distant, the army itself nearly half a mile to the west.

[KingOfCowards]

Kennit runs from the charging lancers. Is there any cover available to him from his current position? It sounds like they have the northern side of him, which means the forest is most likely the wrong direction and if the army is west, they stand between himself and Vaul.

[Keehnelf]

Just to the south of his current position, maybe two hundred feet distant, there's a steep-sided knoll that has some tumbled half-worked stone clustered around it near the top of the north face. If he could make it that far, he would have some cover from charges by the riders.

[KingOfCowards]

Sounds better than I could have otherwise hoped for, he'll need to travel 200 feet before the riders cover approximately 500 feet. Kennit makes a break for the knoll.