TDD: The Prologue (IC)

[Hinzland]

Daxon chewed on a piece of rabbit leg. "Fur shure."

The guy scoots closer to the CAMPFIRE. Relaxing his shoulders, Daxon draws from the Dark Sun and channels a cantrip's worth of magic into the big black wand. Daxon then aims the rod at the runed stones near the flame.

ACTION: Attempts to gain control of the magical CAMPFIRE.

Action Attempted: Learn Spell… rolled 12.. adding INT modifier… (-2)…

Action Attempt failed. Although the rocks are inscribed with the Creation Runes of dispel weather, Daxon failed to understand their metaphysical meaning. He understands that they’re of mortal construction, and approximately created about 10 hours ago, and have 10 minutes left in the charge, meaning that the spell will only last about ten minutes.

[Nagakawa]

Suzume

-

-

Suddenly, the campfire had become quite a fair bit more lively. To Suzume's bemusement, it seemed that a couple of the others, Gundrak and Rosie in particular, thought him to be the creator of the dome. However that notion had come about, he wasn't sure - but he most certainly was not the creator of the dome, that much he knew.

"I didn't make the dome", he said, terse as ever, in response to both Gundrak and Rosie.

Having never been one for words, Suzume instead peeled open the latches of his box and gingerly opened the lid, rummaging around the various neatly-packed packages into which he had partitioned his stuff. He took out a large bottle-shaped parcel wrapped in a prestigious but somewhat faded paper, undoing the knot at the top of the parcel and pulling down the paper to reveal the full bottle.

"Want a drink?" he offered the bottle to Gundrak, seemingly having not heard Gundrak's question about his being a wizard. "This is kashu. Sweet liquor from my homeland-"

"Oh, I heard someone say liquor."

The young Elvish man who had stumbled his way into the dome and collapsed at Rosie and Daxon's feet perked up suddenly upon hearing mention of liquor, but was, evidently, still too exhausted to get up from where he lay, though he accepted Gundrak's drink readily.

"Thanks mate", he said to Gundrak, speaking the common tongue with a curious neighborhood accent. "And, uh, I'll pass on the jerky for now", he added to Rosie, "though I do appreciate the offer."

Both he and Suzume glanced over at the campfire, as Daxon attempted, unsuccessfully, to use magic to gain control of the campfire.

"Man, I'd help if I could", said the elf. "But I'm... well, I don't know how."

[Blargleyarg]

---

---

"I appreciate your offer Rosie, I will only take it if you have enough spare however, I have some food of my own."

From atop a small mound of snow on which she'd sat herself, Rosie responded. "It's no trouble, but if you'd prefer whatever you have on hand, I don't mind."

Maybe orcs don't like rabbit?

She glanced over at where Daxon was dutifully gnawing.

Eh, I'll take what I can get.

---

"I didn't make the dome."

Rose paused to consider this.

That'd make sense. Suzume's much too burly to be a wizard and Dax is the one who's pointing a wand at the fire.

I should probably ask, though. We've already had one misunderstanding on the subject, after all.

Before she had a chance to ask Daxon about his pyromantic inclinations, Suzume had pulled a generously-sized flagon out of his traveling chest. It seemed Gundrak would be taking the first swig and the new guy, who's name she didn't know, seemed intent on having the second.

Rose, on the other hand, planned on abstaining from Suzume's beer- she'd been drugged a few times by bounty hunters and the like, mostly through food or drink.

Come to think of it, that same suspicion might be why Gundrak and the rough-looking elf didn't want my jerky. Smarter than they look, I guess.

Then again, they're both planning on drinking an unidentified liquid given to them by a complete stranger, so maybe they just don't like rabbit jerky.

[Hinzland]

Inside the domed light of the campfire stands an eclectic group. By fate, divine intervention, or simple dumb luck, is up to your own interpretation. Unbeknownst to them, beneath their feet (or in Zeke's case, his arse), hidden by fresh snow and embedded by centuries of weathered dirt, lies an ancient crossroads: A hub of of communication and trade of the Imperial Triad. Coincidence? Most likely, but something drew them here, to this precise spot on the map. An abandoned camp of a solitary wanderer, hastily deconstructed, leaving behind only his pack and bedroll. A fire protected by a circle of Runestones, keeping the horrible conditions at bay. Who made it? Why did they leave?

Dark shadows of wolves begin to prowl around the periphery. Just as Gundrak suspected, this was not normal behavior for a pack of Barrens wolves, an abnormally large pack of them by the look of it. It is not mere hunger driving these wolves, as they normally fear larger groups, preferring to single out prey from the rest of the herd. Take poor, misguided Frankie, for example.

Something these wolves fear much more than these adventurers is urging them on. The wolves continue to move just outside the camps' light, circling. There are a few breaks in the patrol, perhaps one or two more lost souls from out in the storm would be able to sprint past.

Breaking the silence, that horrible howl shatters the stillness, overpowering the sound of the wind. It's closer now, instilling a small seed of dread in the hearts of the listeners. Whatever that is, is no wolf.

The shadows of the wolves freeze, and after the howl dissipates, there seems to be a struggle within the pack. Yelping, barking. Another short silence. Suddenly, four wolves burst into the dome of the campsite. They look old, injured, and diseased. The dregs of the pack, sent to test the resolve of the party. Aye, not normal behavior, or strategy.

Initiative Roll... Party Roll, 25... Wolf Pack Roll, Perfect 20! (Not even joking)

Wolf One - Attacks Gundrak... No Auto Evade... Melee Engaged... Rolled 9, Attack Failed.
Wolf Two - Attacks Suzume... No Auto Evade... Melee Engaged... Rolled 16! Attack Scored... Calculating Damage... Rolled 1.
Wolf Three - Attacks Rosie... Auto Evade Successful! Rosie evades engagement.
Wolf Four - Attacks Derp... Auto Evade Fail (Off by one point!)... Melee Engaged... Rolled 14! Attack Scored... Calculating Damage... Rolled 4.

Suzume suffers a half-wound.
Derp suffers one and a half wound.

Gundrak - Engaged with Wolf One. Full health.
Suzume - Engaged with Wolf Two. 5.5 Wounds Left.
Rosie - Idle. Full Health
Derp - Engaged with Wolf Four. 0.5 Wounds Left.
Zeke - Idle. Full Health.
Ceystile's Characters - Idle. Full Health.

[Ovstylap]

Gundrak had moved to be by his pack after returning his water skin which the elf had happily accepted, and had removed some leather scraps, which were wrapped around some wolfskin, which itself had dried blood upon it. He unwrapped the skin, and inside was some wolf's liver, and heart, as well as some other little tidbits. Why not treat himself to some of the best parts in celebration at having found refuge from the elements, and having actually met some other people. Even if he couldn't yet trust them, if they had hostile intentions, it'd be when he went to sleep, but they all seemed to not know one another and have their own focuses. Hopefully, they'd all keep one another on edge so much that they wouldn't do anything to him. Not to wish a bad thing on anyone else of course.

Gundrak looked up as Rosie spoke to him, whilst he was carefully choosing which of his three prized possessions- metal meat skewers, to use. Since they were delicate bits of meat and offal, he chose the thinnest. "Oh I'm very happy with what I have. If you had offered me a sack full of rabbit jerky, I'd have gladly accepted." He laughed, and began to cook his food in the fire. Suzume stated "I didn't make the dome", in a terse voice, and Gundrak looked up at him, frowning. "Well. If you say so. Daxon, what were you trying to do with the fire just now?"

Whilst he was inquiring about Daxon, Suzume offered him a drink. He didn't think much about drinking it, since Suzume had already held the rope and guided the others, strangers to him it seemed, back to the fire, and so likely wasn't go to try anything dangerous. He took a swig, not too much, as he didn't want to be rude, but then again an orc mouthful is somewhat more than that of a human. "Phroarrr" Gundrak shivered. He could handle his liqour but wow was the drink sweet. "It's, well, it's got a lovely after taste, incredibly sweet for an orc though. Thank you." He smiled at Suzume, and then offered the drink on to the elf. "Where is your homeland Suzume?"

But then it happened. That chilling, bestial, mysterious howl. It had penetrated the dome above the wind. That in itself was foreboding. Moments later, the wolves were howling again. They were close. Gundrak stood straight to his feet, moving the skewer out of the fire, and lifted his axe into a ready stance right as four wolves burst into the dome. They launched their attack immediately, but they were seemingly not in their prime. One of the wolves was closest to Gundrak, and moved towards him, hesitating only slightly as it realized that unlike the others, Gundrak was already preparing for an attack. Not quite holding his weapon in a position to strike as he turned to face the threat, Gundrak swung the base of the axe-shaft towards it, causing it to move to the side and foiling its attack. Changing his grip, Gundrak swung directly down at the wolf.

Outcomes: Gundrak has avoided the first attack, and is now launching an ATTACK on Wolf One.

[Nagakawa]

Whilst he was inquiring about Daxon, Suzume offered him a drink. He didn't think much about drinking it, since Suzume had already held the rope and guided the others, strangers to him it seemed, back to the fire, and so likely wasn't go to try anything dangerous. He took a swig, not too much, as he didn't want to be rude, but then again an orc mouthful is somewhat more than that of a human. "Phroarrr" Gundrak shivered. He could handle his liqour but wow was the drink sweet. "It's, well, it's got a lovely after taste, incredibly sweet for an orc though. Thank you." He smiled at Suzume, and then offered the drink on to the elf. "Where is your homeland Suzume?"

"This is kanzaki-kashu", said Suzume, politely taking the bottle back with a faint smile, before himself taking the tiniest sip from it. He swirled it around in his mouth thoughtfully, as if chewing on something solid, and tilted his head back ever so slightly to allow the liquid to trickle down his throat slowly, setting the bottle down in the snow. Then, in response to Gundrak's other question, he added, "I am from Wado, in the northeast. This is the best liquor from my homeland. Only seventy bottles produced in one year."

"What's it taste like?" The young Elvish man lying on the ground wearily hauled himself up into an upright sitting position and made to scoot over, only to suddenly be cut off by a blood-curdling howl rising from far and echoing across the frigid lands. The ground beneath him felt as if it was growling.

Suzume, it seemed, had felt it too, for he had sprung to his feet, seizing his club and turning outwards. The howls continued.

"Wolves", the wrestler murmured to himself.

The sound of some kind of scuffle filled the tense silence. The silhouettes of the wolves seemed... abnormal. They were fighting amongst each other. Or perhaps there was something else entirely, and the wolves, too, had become the victims to some greater being.

"I don't like the sound of that."

From outside the dome, four wolves - old and wounded ones - pounced towards the party, one of them charging straight for Suzume, who instinctively blocked with his forearm, only to be bitten. Not at full force, thankfully, for the wolf seemed to be in pain itself, but enough to draw blood. The wrestler flinched, the frigid air numbing the pain somewhat, before furiously shaking the wolf off of him and raising his spiked club, ready to counterattack.

>OUTCOME: Suzume suffers 0.5 wounds from Wolf 2
>ACTION: Suzume attacks Wolf 2 with his club

[Blargleyarg]

Rosie

---

"Oh I'm very happy with what I have. If you had offered me a sack full of rabbit jerky, I'd have gladly accepted."

Rosie gave the orc a little grin.

"Well, if I find a sack of the stuff lying around, you'll be first one to kno-"

Wolf Three - Attacks Rosie... Auto Evade Successful! Rosie evades engagement.

As the deafening howl echoed through the wastes, Rosie found her words petering out into silence.

Good gods, what the hell was that?

Suddenly quite alert and looking about for the source of the sound, Rosie's eyes happened upon the congregation of wolves that had accumulated just outside the glowing borders. Most were giving the dome a wide berth, but four of them, either stupider or bolder than their compatriots, seemed intent on getting closer to the fire. As she surveilled the crowd, her eyes locked with those of one of the four. What with it's uniformly pale fur, it might've been beautiful, but it's heavily deformed spine and bloodstained, salivating maw rather ruined any chances of that impression. Slightly disturbed by their ocular connection, she looked away.

Gods above, the wolves? But- how are they here? At a walking pace they wouldn't have been here for at least hour or two, which means they were running. But they wouldn't do that in this weather unless they were chasing something, and there's not much to eat around here. I suppose that they might've been chased by whatever was howling earlier, but if that's the case, why would they be wasting their time with us?

None of this is normal wolf stuff, there's got to be some other cau- oh, bollocks!

While she'd considered these theories, the whitish-colored one and it's comrades had rushed through the dome's walls and begun a small assault, each wolf taking on one of the travelers (except for the new guy, who was probably just distasteful to the wolvish palate). This was, again, not normal behavior in the slightest, but Rosie was a bit preoccupied with the snarling canid barreling towards her to think about it.

Luckily for her, this wolf had been having a bit of an off day, so a quick sidestep and a good kick in it's ribs was enough to put it off balance and leave Rosie with enough time and distance to work her magic. In but a few moments she'd snatched the lighter of her two crossbows from her back, fished out an iron bolt from one of her pockets, loaded the device, rested a finger on the trigger and pointed it towards the wolf's furry head.

Should've stuck with your pack, stupid.

OUTCOME: Rosie successfully evades W3, suffers no damage.
ACTION: Rosie attacks W3 with light crossbow.

[Ceystile]

Pip and Ariana stood up, brushing the snow from their clothes as Pip attempted to gauge the distance from the hopeful campfire. "Well, no use standing around and freezing to death, ma chere."
"Ma chere?"
"It's a habit, where I come from." Pip said somewhat sheepishly, Ariana shrugged, a bit of scarlet just pinking her cheeks.
"Nah, it's cool. I don't mind it. We should probably be off, I believe I saw the fireglow this way..."

The further they walked, which had become quite a bit easier since the snow cleared up significantly, they heard a faint howl in the distance. Pip's hand immediately flew to the pommel of his sword. "Did you hear that?"
"Wolves...maybe if we're quiet they won't bug us." A little further up, as the orange glow grew brighter the howls themselves got louder, and there was something that sounded like...shouts, maybe?

"People are being attacked!" The two of them made their way toward the campfire running as fast as they could, to see a motley group of individuals fending off quite fearsome wolves. One of them charged toward Pip, who swung at it with his sword. "I've always wanted a wolf pelt."

[Hinzland]

Gundrak Attacks Wolf One... Rolled 9, Total 18... Attack Scored... Damage Roll Natural 6, total 11. 7 Wounds Dealt
Suzume Attacks Wolf 2... Rolled 7, Total 13... Attack Scored... Damage Roll 2, total 5. 1.5 Wounds Dealt
Rosie Ranged Attacks Wolf 3... Rolled 18, Total 23... Attack Scored... Damage Roll 4, Total 8. 4 Wounds Dealt

Wolf One DESTROYED!
Wolf Two is slightly wounded.
Wolf Three is severely wounded.

Gundrak's axe fell with swift fury upon the wolf, which was slightly stunned from his deft block. The wolf was cleaved clean in half, spraying warm blood across Gundrak's clothing and face. It had hardly registered the massive blow before the cold embrace of death enveloped it.

Meanwhile, the taste of Suzume's blood had perhaps invigorated the wolf that had bit him. It made no attempt to escape the blow of Suzume's club, and when it made contact with it's skull, it let out a loud yelp, flinging backwards onto it's back. Quickly springing to it's feet, it snarled and launched itself at Suzume again. (Wolf Two attacks Suzume... Attack Scores, Deals 1.5 Wounds)

The third wolf began tearing into Derp's body was surprised by a sudden and powerful bolt of pain in it's midsection. With a crossbow bolt sticking out of it's side, it was hard to breathe. Weezing and wimpering, the wolf turned tail and attempted to flee. With the intense pain it was under, it barely noticed the figures it was charging toward.

Pip quickly dispatched the severely injured wolf charging away from the battle.

During the scuffle, one of Suzume's feet knocked over the satchel left behind in the campsite. Spilling out next to Zeke was a rolled up piece of parchment with a map sketched on it. Apparently nearby in the mountains is an old underground Thraan citadel, which could be reached through a cave.