Strange Lands, and Stranger Times.
- Thread starter IcePickLobotomy
- Start date
- Original
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Run for it. Try to outrun them and make it to the city.
It only takes you a moment to decide.
"We run, they're goblins we can outrun them easily. We need to warn the guard."
You take off at a brisk jog. You were a fair ways from the city still so you needed to conserve your strength while still moving quickly.
The two off you move through the woods as the sun's light dies, and the moon rises. Opaque shadows swallow up the woods, leaving a few pale silver beams to guide your way. As your eyes adjust, the world is rendered in shades of grey and silver. Dark blotches of leaves with patches of silver coins stand above bars of blackest night and brilliant silver and patches of pale moonlight stand against the inky blackness of the forest floor.
You are startled out of your revelry by a short shout of pain by John. Turning around you see him sprawled out on the ground.
"Are you all right?" you ask him.
He picks himself up, panting. "Yeah I'm ok, just tripped on something." He winces while rubbing his leg "How can you even see in this anyways?"
"The moonlight, I guess." You're not sure how to respond. Sure it was dark, but you could make out the trees, roots and other obstacles just fine. You grasp his arm, hoisting him up "Can you walk?"
"I told you I'm fine, let's go."
You nod in response, moving somewhat slower to avoid any more incidents. You'd have to move far slower if her injured himself, so it was better to avoid that.
Your next stop was a few miles after Johns fall, when spy flickering torchlight against the trees in the distance.
"He-"
"You wheel around, clamping your hand over his mouth as you whisper harshly into his ear. "John, you need to be very quiet." You glance back, biting your lip. It could be orcs, or bandits, or travelers. You needed to know for sure before acting. "Stay here, don't move. If you are spotted, shout and try to run for it. Understand?" You remove your hand and he nods.
"Good, I'm going to scout ahead, see if the light is friendlies or not. I'll come back when I know."
He nods, as you turn and skulk towards the light you hear him whisper to you "Be careful."
Crouching low you slowly make your way to the flickering light. You slowly peer your head past a tree, peering through a shrub. A group of three orcs, and a band of goblins holding torches are gathered around a clearing. You strain your ears, trying to hear their words.
"- Don't like being this close to the city. We could be found any day now. We don't have the numbers to deal with that."
"You don't have to like. The chief gave his orders."
"Gave his orders?! You mean how he's obeying a soft-skin's word? I don't trust this."
"Do you doubt the chief?"
"Yes, I do. He is a fool to trust that-"The orc is cutoff as the third orc, who had been listening silently, slams his fists into the first's chest. The orc doubles over, and is then brutally kneed in the face. The orc is thrown to nhe ground, where it clutches its face in pain.
"Watch your tongue, or I shall see it removed." The orc turns to face one of the goblins. "And you! Where are the hounds! We must find the soft-skins before they get back to the city. Discovery is unacceptable."
The goblin cringes and prostrates itself "We get dogs. We bring them. They be here soon soon! We find soft-skins! Yes, yes, we have best sniff-dogs yes! We find them, and then we eats them yes!"
"Good. When the dogs arrive I'll take on group south. Sultak, you will take a group south-west, and Turvat you'll take one south-east. We'll comb the woods for the two soft-skins."
You hear the other two orcs agree as you make your way back to John. Your heart hammers in your chest. This was bad; they were looking for you, and were bringing in dogs to sniff you out. You wrack your brain for any streams or rivers near you. There is one, but you're not sure if you will make it in time. Either way this will be close.
"John, we've got a problem."
"What?"
"They're bringing in dogs, they're going to track us by our scents." You exhale sharply, trying to calm your nerves. "This is bad, they know we're here, and they want us dead. There is a stream that feeds into the silver river a few miles from here. We can use that to mask our scent and it'll lead us straight to the city."
He smiles "Ok that's great, lets get moving."
"John. . .
[ ] yeah, let's go" The two of you will continue to move as a singular unit. This will slow you down, but you can't leave John on his own.
[ ] No, you go ahead, I'm going to slow them down" You needed to make sure word got out before the orcs ravaged the city and outlying settlements. You'd stay behind and draw off the search parties, allowing John to get to the city and alert the guard. Getting the word out superseded your own safety.
[ ] I'm sorry John but you'd only slow me down." You needed to get the word out and John would only slow you down. You give him the best chance you could but his life wasn't worth so many others. It was a bitter conciliation.
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Choices, choices. . . . So many options, so many . . . . consequences. Choose wisely.
It only takes you a moment to decide.
"We run, they're goblins we can outrun them easily. We need to warn the guard."
You take off at a brisk jog. You were a fair ways from the city still so you needed to conserve your strength while still moving quickly.
The two off you move through the woods as the sun's light dies, and the moon rises. Opaque shadows swallow up the woods, leaving a few pale silver beams to guide your way. As your eyes adjust, the world is rendered in shades of grey and silver. Dark blotches of leaves with patches of silver coins stand above bars of blackest night and brilliant silver and patches of pale moonlight stand against the inky blackness of the forest floor.
You are startled out of your revelry by a short shout of pain by John. Turning around you see him sprawled out on the ground.
"Are you all right?" you ask him.
He picks himself up, panting. "Yeah I'm ok, just tripped on something." He winces while rubbing his leg "How can you even see in this anyways?"
"The moonlight, I guess." You're not sure how to respond. Sure it was dark, but you could make out the trees, roots and other obstacles just fine. You grasp his arm, hoisting him up "Can you walk?"
"I told you I'm fine, let's go."
You nod in response, moving somewhat slower to avoid any more incidents. You'd have to move far slower if her injured himself, so it was better to avoid that.
Your next stop was a few miles after Johns fall, when spy flickering torchlight against the trees in the distance.
"He-"
"You wheel around, clamping your hand over his mouth as you whisper harshly into his ear. "John, you need to be very quiet." You glance back, biting your lip. It could be orcs, or bandits, or travelers. You needed to know for sure before acting. "Stay here, don't move. If you are spotted, shout and try to run for it. Understand?" You remove your hand and he nods.
"Good, I'm going to scout ahead, see if the light is friendlies or not. I'll come back when I know."
He nods, as you turn and skulk towards the light you hear him whisper to you "Be careful."
Crouching low you slowly make your way to the flickering light. You slowly peer your head past a tree, peering through a shrub. A group of three orcs, and a band of goblins holding torches are gathered around a clearing. You strain your ears, trying to hear their words.
"- Don't like being this close to the city. We could be found any day now. We don't have the numbers to deal with that."
"You don't have to like. The chief gave his orders."
"Gave his orders?! You mean how he's obeying a soft-skin's word? I don't trust this."
"Do you doubt the chief?"
"Yes, I do. He is a fool to trust that-"The orc is cutoff as the third orc, who had been listening silently, slams his fists into the first's chest. The orc doubles over, and is then brutally kneed in the face. The orc is thrown to nhe ground, where it clutches its face in pain.
"Watch your tongue, or I shall see it removed." The orc turns to face one of the goblins. "And you! Where are the hounds! We must find the soft-skins before they get back to the city. Discovery is unacceptable."
The goblin cringes and prostrates itself "We get dogs. We bring them. They be here soon soon! We find soft-skins! Yes, yes, we have best sniff-dogs yes! We find them, and then we eats them yes!"
"Good. When the dogs arrive I'll take on group south. Sultak, you will take a group south-west, and Turvat you'll take one south-east. We'll comb the woods for the two soft-skins."
You hear the other two orcs agree as you make your way back to John. Your heart hammers in your chest. This was bad; they were looking for you, and were bringing in dogs to sniff you out. You wrack your brain for any streams or rivers near you. There is one, but you're not sure if you will make it in time. Either way this will be close.
"John, we've got a problem."
"What?"
"They're bringing in dogs, they're going to track us by our scents." You exhale sharply, trying to calm your nerves. "This is bad, they know we're here, and they want us dead. There is a stream that feeds into the silver river a few miles from here. We can use that to mask our scent and it'll lead us straight to the city."
He smiles "Ok that's great, lets get moving."
"John. . .
[ ] yeah, let's go" The two of you will continue to move as a singular unit. This will slow you down, but you can't leave John on his own.
[ ] No, you go ahead, I'm going to slow them down" You needed to make sure word got out before the orcs ravaged the city and outlying settlements. You'd stay behind and draw off the search parties, allowing John to get to the city and alert the guard. Getting the word out superseded your own safety.
[ ] I'm sorry John but you'd only slow me down." You needed to get the word out and John would only slow you down. You give him the best chance you could but his life wasn't worth so many others. It was a bitter conciliation.
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Choices, choices. . . . So many options, so many . . . . consequences. Choose wisely.
Last edited:
edmantgoog
init high just high
[x] No, you go ahead, I'm going to slow them down" You needed to make sure word got out before the orcs ravaged the city and outlying settlements. You'd stay behind and draw off the search parties, allowing John to get to the city and alert the guard. Getting the word out superseded your own safety.
- Location
- UK
[X] No, you go ahead, I'm going to slow them down" You needed to make sure word got out before the orcs ravaged the city and outlying settlements. You'd stay behind and draw off the search parties, allowing John to get to the city and alert the guard. Getting the word out superseded your own safety.
- Location
- Canada
Last one's out, as that sounds like a rather dickish move on our part. However letting him go ahead seems like a bad idea. He cant' see, is liable to get lost, or get caught, and we can always abandon him at a later time should it become absolutely necessary. Letting him go on ahead needs to wait until there are some landmarks that will let him not get lost on his own.
[X] yeah, let's go" The two of you will continue to move as a singular unit. This will slow you down, but you can't leave John on his own.
[X] yeah, let's go" The two of you will continue to move as a singular unit. This will slow you down, but you can't leave John on his own.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
You mean aside from the orcs, goblins, and half-feral wolves trying to find, kill and eat you? Not really. Your close enough to the city that spirits and the like are pretty rare. As for John getting lost, you about a mile from a stream that leads straight out of the woods. You'd really have to get turned around to miss it, and as long as one keeps the moon to their left they'll get there, as long as they don't ambushed by orcs or something. So it is very unlikely that John would get lost.
- Location
- Canada
Hm... Not changing my vote. If we're that close to the stream, that leads to the city, we can probably make it as a unit. After all, the goblins have to go all the way back to camp to get the dogs, so we have a bit of time before they catch up to us. And I highly doubt our ability to significantly delay them. After all, there are multiple groups searching for us, and we can probably only delay one of them before capture/death. That still leaves most of the groups unimpeded, and thus only negligibly improves John's chances. After all, they know that they are looking for two people, so they won't stop if we get captured.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
As a note, the goblins were already getting the dogs and are likely on their way back with them.
- Location
- Canada
Yes, but once we get to the river it's a straight run for the town. Can orcs/goblins run faster than we can? If not then once we get to open ground we're basically safe - barring any orc archers.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yes, as a general rule humans have the edge in speed compared to orcs who have better endurance. This doesn't mean your guaranteed to outrun them, keep in mind that both John and Rose have been on the move most of the day where as the orcs are probably better rested.
Not trying to change anyone's mind but I do want you guys to make a informed decision here. So I'm just making you guys aware of the bigger factors at play here.
[X] No, you go ahead, I'm going to slow them down" You needed to make sure word got out before the orcs ravaged the city and outlying settlements. You'd stay behind and draw off the search parties, allowing John to get to the city and alert the guard. Getting the word out superseded your own safety
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] No, you go ahead, I'm going to slow them down" You needed to make sure word got out before the orcs ravaged the city and outlying settlements. You'd stay behind and draw off the search parties, allowing John to get to the city and alert the guard. Getting the word out superseded your own safety.
"Wait, what! The hell are you thinking?!" John stands up "I can't just leave you here."
You grab him roughly by his shoulder, "You can and you will. Keep the moon to your left and you'll hit a stream in about half a mile. Follow it down river to the city, the water will take care of your scent.
"So come with, we can out run them. Besides what was all that about knowing your limits? Don't tell me you can take on all of them."
You shake your head, "You can't outrun them, not in the dark. I won't just leave you to your fate either, but we need to get the word out. This is the best solution I came up with."
"By the lady's light, you're serious aren't you?" he whispers.
"Of course I am, this is important, more then you or me. We have to warn the guard. I'm not planning on sticking around; I'll ambush a patrol, draw them away from you and slow them down. Once you're clear I'll lose them in the woods and make my way back to the city."
John stops looking like he was going to refuse on principal. "damn it all!" He smashes his fist into a tree, shaking loose a few leaves. "Fine. I'll go." He fumbles with his belt, and hands you his short-sword "Take this, I hope you don't need it but. . ."
"Better to have and not need and all that."
"Yeah." He sighs "Anything else?"
You nod "Contact the Woodsmen as well. Tell Jurgen what happened, and. . ." You swallow the lump in your throat "If, if something happens ask him to let my parents know. They deserve some closure."
He nods, before taking off into the woods. Turning around you look for a good place to set your trap. A few minutes later you found a good place. A thick clump of trees would provide you with cover, and a few hundred feet back was a thick patch of brambles. You would use those to slow them down, give you time to set up another ambush or get away. Now you waited for the baying of the hounds and the flickering hell-fire of torches to appear. It wouldn't be long now. . .
-----------------------------------------
Sulvrik stalked through the trees, a band of goblins with torches and three dogs in front of him. Two intruders had been detected and had to be dealt with before they alerted the other soft-skins. Then the dogs began to bark, having picked up a scent. They broke out into a run, the happles goblin being dragged along.
"Go get going. Find them, and kill them!" He bellowed to the goblins as he broke into a swift jog. The goblins scurried along, trying to keep up. Yes, soon they would run them down and kill them. It was only a matter of time.
Then the lead dog yowled in agony, and arrow sprouting from its side. By the time Sulvrik realized what had happened the second dog was struck.
"Find that archer! And Protect the dog-" He felt like something had just punched him the chest, looking down he could see a arrow shaft protruding from his chest. Collapsing against a tree he could see the last dog lying on the ground, whining piteously. Ignoring the sharp pain he withdrew his horn, and brought it to his lips. He inhaled, ignoring the pain as he felt his lung rip apart. He would not let the chief down.
A single long bellow echoed through the woods. Parties of orcs turned to the sound, chasing after it, running towards the moon.
For Sulvrik, his life blood ebbing away, and the coppery taste of blood in his mouth, he could only grin. He had done his duty, and what finer death was there then one in service to the tribe. As the night dimmed, he could make out the sight of someone bounding through the woods, bow in hand.
The chase was on.
-----------------------------------------
You weren't sure how long it had been, but you could only hope that John got away. After you had ambushed the first group everything went to hell. You had ambushed two more patrols, and evaded several others. Thankfully they had only had a few dogs, most of the patrols being goblins lead by a orc or two. A minor consolation as the woods was now crawling with them.
You put away your waterskin, casting your eyes for the orcs. You had tried to double back, but the patrols were too numerous to evade. They had pushed deeper into the woods by a few miles at this point.
You still had over a dozen arrows, and if you ignored the goblins you could stretch them a ways. At the edge of your vision you saw the flickering orange light of a torch appear, and then another some ways away from the first. Then a third, and a forth, you'd really stepped in a wasp nest this time. Still, John would likely be arriving at the city by now, or so you hoped.
-----------------------------------------
He pounded on the wooden door "Get up, some-one get up and answer the damned door already! There's orcs in the woods!"
The door opened half way. "What was that about orcs?" growled out one of largest men John had ever seen. A thick brown beard and hair that trailed to his shoulders look down on him.
"Orcs, in the woods."
"I heard." The man replied, "that is grave news indeed. I'll alert the others." The started to close the door.
"Wait!" John stepped into the door, ignoring the pain as the door slammed down on his foot. "I'm looking for a Jurgen, Rose has a message for him."
The door swung open, fully revealing the man, whose left arm was in a sling. "What was that about Rose?" he asked gravely.
"You're Jurgen then?"
"Yes, I'm Jurgen" He growled out "Now tell me what is this about Rose?"
"She said to tell her parents in hookcrest so that they knew what had happened to her if she" John shrunk under Jurgen's gaze.
"If she what? Boy!"
"Die- didn't make it." He quietly muttered.
"I think, you should explain from the beginning" Said Commander Salmer, who had appeared behind Jurgen.
"Right, so she saved me from some goblins in the woods, and there were some orcs too. She figured that we needed to tell the city, but they brought in dogs and we weren't going to out run them. Rose stayed behind to slow them down and draw them off while I got the word out. She'd try to double back to the city later."
Jurgen closed his eyes for a long moment before speaking. "I'm going to get my things."
"Jurgen. You can't be serious" Salmer stated flatly. John had the good presence to step back and remain quiet. "How do you expect to even find her?"
"I have my ways Salmer, you should know that by now."
"And what about your arm?" The commander added icily.
"I have two" He replied.
"Jurgen-"
"Salmer, don't push me on this. You can't stop me and you know it."
"I wasn't going to Jurgen. I was going to suggest taking Sal and Allen with you."
He hrmmed in response. "I'll do just that."
"Where we goin?" Allen asked as he stepped into the hallway.
-----------------------------------------
They were trying to drive you into a ravine. You could make out the flickering lights on the other side of it as well as from behind you.
You stooped to think for a moment. The ravine was about 20 feet wide, very steep on the sides and mostly bare of trees. You were more or less surrounded by orcs, and going down into the ravine would likely very bad idea.
[ ] Try and slip by the patrols behind you. They were somewhat close together, but they didn't have dogs so you had a chance.
[ ] Punch through them. Hit the orcs to send the goblins into disarray and make a run for it during the confusion.
[ ] Hole up and hide. Find a good place to hide from their patrols and hope they don't bring anymore dogs out.
[ ] Other. Write in.
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Whew, I'm like 90% sure that this is the single longest update so far. You'll note that I changed the view point at a few points. Main reason was to disguise the short timeskips, as most of what Rose did could be described as : Shoot dogs and a orc or two, then run away. Not something that I felt warranted a huge amount of verbage here. Anyways, let me know if you had any strong feelings on the viewpoint shifts or not.
"Wait, what! The hell are you thinking?!" John stands up "I can't just leave you here."
You grab him roughly by his shoulder, "You can and you will. Keep the moon to your left and you'll hit a stream in about half a mile. Follow it down river to the city, the water will take care of your scent.
"So come with, we can out run them. Besides what was all that about knowing your limits? Don't tell me you can take on all of them."
You shake your head, "You can't outrun them, not in the dark. I won't just leave you to your fate either, but we need to get the word out. This is the best solution I came up with."
"By the lady's light, you're serious aren't you?" he whispers.
"Of course I am, this is important, more then you or me. We have to warn the guard. I'm not planning on sticking around; I'll ambush a patrol, draw them away from you and slow them down. Once you're clear I'll lose them in the woods and make my way back to the city."
John stops looking like he was going to refuse on principal. "damn it all!" He smashes his fist into a tree, shaking loose a few leaves. "Fine. I'll go." He fumbles with his belt, and hands you his short-sword "Take this, I hope you don't need it but. . ."
"Better to have and not need and all that."
"Yeah." He sighs "Anything else?"
You nod "Contact the Woodsmen as well. Tell Jurgen what happened, and. . ." You swallow the lump in your throat "If, if something happens ask him to let my parents know. They deserve some closure."
He nods, before taking off into the woods. Turning around you look for a good place to set your trap. A few minutes later you found a good place. A thick clump of trees would provide you with cover, and a few hundred feet back was a thick patch of brambles. You would use those to slow them down, give you time to set up another ambush or get away. Now you waited for the baying of the hounds and the flickering hell-fire of torches to appear. It wouldn't be long now. . .
-----------------------------------------
Sulvrik stalked through the trees, a band of goblins with torches and three dogs in front of him. Two intruders had been detected and had to be dealt with before they alerted the other soft-skins. Then the dogs began to bark, having picked up a scent. They broke out into a run, the happles goblin being dragged along.
"Go get going. Find them, and kill them!" He bellowed to the goblins as he broke into a swift jog. The goblins scurried along, trying to keep up. Yes, soon they would run them down and kill them. It was only a matter of time.
Then the lead dog yowled in agony, and arrow sprouting from its side. By the time Sulvrik realized what had happened the second dog was struck.
"Find that archer! And Protect the dog-" He felt like something had just punched him the chest, looking down he could see a arrow shaft protruding from his chest. Collapsing against a tree he could see the last dog lying on the ground, whining piteously. Ignoring the sharp pain he withdrew his horn, and brought it to his lips. He inhaled, ignoring the pain as he felt his lung rip apart. He would not let the chief down.
A single long bellow echoed through the woods. Parties of orcs turned to the sound, chasing after it, running towards the moon.
For Sulvrik, his life blood ebbing away, and the coppery taste of blood in his mouth, he could only grin. He had done his duty, and what finer death was there then one in service to the tribe. As the night dimmed, he could make out the sight of someone bounding through the woods, bow in hand.
The chase was on.
-----------------------------------------
You weren't sure how long it had been, but you could only hope that John got away. After you had ambushed the first group everything went to hell. You had ambushed two more patrols, and evaded several others. Thankfully they had only had a few dogs, most of the patrols being goblins lead by a orc or two. A minor consolation as the woods was now crawling with them.
You put away your waterskin, casting your eyes for the orcs. You had tried to double back, but the patrols were too numerous to evade. They had pushed deeper into the woods by a few miles at this point.
You still had over a dozen arrows, and if you ignored the goblins you could stretch them a ways. At the edge of your vision you saw the flickering orange light of a torch appear, and then another some ways away from the first. Then a third, and a forth, you'd really stepped in a wasp nest this time. Still, John would likely be arriving at the city by now, or so you hoped.
-----------------------------------------
He pounded on the wooden door "Get up, some-one get up and answer the damned door already! There's orcs in the woods!"
The door opened half way. "What was that about orcs?" growled out one of largest men John had ever seen. A thick brown beard and hair that trailed to his shoulders look down on him.
"Orcs, in the woods."
"I heard." The man replied, "that is grave news indeed. I'll alert the others." The started to close the door.
"Wait!" John stepped into the door, ignoring the pain as the door slammed down on his foot. "I'm looking for a Jurgen, Rose has a message for him."
The door swung open, fully revealing the man, whose left arm was in a sling. "What was that about Rose?" he asked gravely.
"You're Jurgen then?"
"Yes, I'm Jurgen" He growled out "Now tell me what is this about Rose?"
"She said to tell her parents in hookcrest so that they knew what had happened to her if she" John shrunk under Jurgen's gaze.
"If she what? Boy!"
"Die- didn't make it." He quietly muttered.
"I think, you should explain from the beginning" Said Commander Salmer, who had appeared behind Jurgen.
"Right, so she saved me from some goblins in the woods, and there were some orcs too. She figured that we needed to tell the city, but they brought in dogs and we weren't going to out run them. Rose stayed behind to slow them down and draw them off while I got the word out. She'd try to double back to the city later."
Jurgen closed his eyes for a long moment before speaking. "I'm going to get my things."
"Jurgen. You can't be serious" Salmer stated flatly. John had the good presence to step back and remain quiet. "How do you expect to even find her?"
"I have my ways Salmer, you should know that by now."
"And what about your arm?" The commander added icily.
"I have two" He replied.
"Jurgen-"
"Salmer, don't push me on this. You can't stop me and you know it."
"I wasn't going to Jurgen. I was going to suggest taking Sal and Allen with you."
He hrmmed in response. "I'll do just that."
"Where we goin?" Allen asked as he stepped into the hallway.
-----------------------------------------
They were trying to drive you into a ravine. You could make out the flickering lights on the other side of it as well as from behind you.
You stooped to think for a moment. The ravine was about 20 feet wide, very steep on the sides and mostly bare of trees. You were more or less surrounded by orcs, and going down into the ravine would likely very bad idea.
[ ] Try and slip by the patrols behind you. They were somewhat close together, but they didn't have dogs so you had a chance.
[ ] Punch through them. Hit the orcs to send the goblins into disarray and make a run for it during the confusion.
[ ] Hole up and hide. Find a good place to hide from their patrols and hope they don't bring anymore dogs out.
[ ] Other. Write in.
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Whew, I'm like 90% sure that this is the single longest update so far. You'll note that I changed the view point at a few points. Main reason was to disguise the short timeskips, as most of what Rose did could be described as : Shoot dogs and a orc or two, then run away. Not something that I felt warranted a huge amount of verbage here. Anyways, let me know if you had any strong feelings on the viewpoint shifts or not.
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- Location
- Canada
POV shifts were fine, as long as you don't mind us using OOC knowledge that is revealed in them.
As to our action, I think punching through is just a plain bad idea. They outnumber us, and the orcs appear to have a strong sense of duty - and likely enough discipline that we are unlikely to be able to get through. Given that they have dogs, hiding is just a bad idea. They'll find us quickly, and even if we get a really good choke point, they can just send in goblin fodder until we run out of arrows, then kill us in short order (assuming that we actually hold the goblins off long enough to run out of arrows). Unless we assume plot-armor (which is way too meta-gamey) we can't assume that we'll hold out long enough for help to arrive. As such I'm going to go with:
[X] Try and slip by the patrols behind you. They were somewhat close together, but they didn't have dogs so you had a chance.
Incredibly risky (especially with our lowish stealth skill), but it seems better than the other options.
As to our action, I think punching through is just a plain bad idea. They outnumber us, and the orcs appear to have a strong sense of duty - and likely enough discipline that we are unlikely to be able to get through. Given that they have dogs, hiding is just a bad idea. They'll find us quickly, and even if we get a really good choke point, they can just send in goblin fodder until we run out of arrows, then kill us in short order (assuming that we actually hold the goblins off long enough to run out of arrows). Unless we assume plot-armor (which is way too meta-gamey) we can't assume that we'll hold out long enough for help to arrive. As such I'm going to go with:
[X] Try and slip by the patrols behind you. They were somewhat close together, but they didn't have dogs so you had a chance.
Incredibly risky (especially with our lowish stealth skill), but it seems better than the other options.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Using information form POV shifts, interludes (yes I plan to get around to that), and lore-updates is fine. If I didn't want you guys to use that info I wouldn't have given it to you.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
To be fair that describes most of the choices for this debacle.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Yeah they will. Even something as giving more details on how you intend to do a selected option can influnce things.
That said, I won't make having a write-in as the only way out of a situation either.
edmantgoog
init high just high
[X] Try and slip by the patrols behind you. They were somewhat close together, but they didn't have dogs so you had a chance.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Try and slip by the patrols behind you. They were somewhat close together, but they didn't have dogs so you had a chance.
Hiding would only get you killed, and attacking them had put you in this position. It was time to leave. Looking back you could see the dark spaces between the torches, the wide trees breaking up lines of sight, and brush to slow down pursers. It'd be a close call, sneaking by, but it was the best out of bad choices. You loosen the short sword from its sheath; it wasn't likely that you'd have time to ready your bow.
You manage to sneak past the patrols well enough, the torchlight ruined the orcs night vision and the goblins had poor eyesight as it was. Those weren't the problem. Crouched behind a tree you cursed the orc leader. He had anticipated this move and had left a picket of sentries, without torches, to keep you from slinking away. Worse yet it was only a matter of time before they caught on to your tricks. This was the weakest link in the picket, the line of sight from the other sentries blocked by thick trees and shrubs. Still, that left a pair of orcs blocking your way with no real way of sneaking past.
That was when the wisps arrived. They glowed bright, a small cluster swarming over the orcs, ruining their sight and distracting them. One appears in front of you, a pale blue translucent orb.
Follow. . .
And you do. It guides you past the last of the picket, its fellow running interference when needed. After clearing past the orcs it stops, before floating back into the forest.
Run. . .
You clear past the orcs and break into a swift run, bounding through the trees and shrubs, ignoring the burning ache in your legs. The orcs would realize you'd escaped, but by then it would be too late. A feral smile pulled at your lips as you dart through the woods, wind pulling at your hair and the moon shown down in brilliant silver streams. You were almost there, just a few miles now.
-----------------------------------------
"We not find human. Human not here." The goblin said, ducking his head in fear. It wasn't unheard of for orcs to take their displeasure out on the goblins.
The orc furrowed his brow in thought "This is a canny one, slipped the net he did. " Kurak was surprised at this, he had thought that the human would try and slip by, but to evade the sentries as well? Truly this was a clever opponent.
"What now Kurak?" said a nearby orc. Most of themhad congregated to Kuraks position awaiting their orders.
Kurak was contemplated the next move for a long moment. Finally he came to a conclusion. "Call of the search, return to camp. The humans know that we're here, break camp and head north. We'll meet up with the chief later. Understood?"
The orcs replied and began to gather their goblins. Kurak gave a sharp, long whistle. A massive wolf burst through the brush. He mounted it and called out to the others "We can't catch the human on foot. I'll take Yurlia and try to catch him."
"Kurlak, why? I thought you said to call of the search?"
"Because, this human is canny. It has been too long since I had a good chase." He set the wolf of at a trot "If I fail to return by first light then I failed, Breger is in charge in till the chief appoints a new hand."
With that, he set off at a swift loping run. The chase was on.
-----------------------------------------
You were almost there; you could make out the end of the woods, a few hundred more feet. That was when you heard it, something large moving through the woods, at you. You spun and adrenaline spiked throughout your body at the sight.
A massive wolf loping at you, its teeth pulled back in a bloodthirsty snarl. Atop the creature was an orc, its torso armored by a crude iron breastplate and a large axe held aloft. The orc was grinning savagely.
You draw and fire an arrow in a single motion. The orc reacts quickly, twisting so that the arrow strikes at an angle, gouging a groove in the metal, but not doing any harm. You shift your aim to the wolf, striking it in the front of the chest. It yelps in pain but continues to move.
You fire off a third arrow, striking the orc's left arm. He grunts in pain, but he is closing fast. He lashes out at you with the axe, and you almost step out of the way, receiving a nasty cut to your back. The orc wheels the wolf around, and attacks again, but you have enough time to draw the sword and parry.
The impact almost wrenches the sword from your hand, and leaves you stumbling. The orc comes at you again, and again you barely manage to block the blow. Once more, the orc rushes at you, and you ready yourself for the blow. That is when the wolf pounces on you.
The impact drives the wind from your lungs, and you feel something snap in your side. Snapping snarling jaws rush down to your throat, and you throw your left arm in the way. With a sharp clack the jaws snap shut, and you cry out as fangs tear at your arm. It tries to snap its jaw to the left and rip your arm from its socket, but you slash at its exposed throat with your sword.
A thick spray of steaming hot arterial blood splatters down onto you. The orc shouts something, and the wolf releases your arm before toppling to the side. You roll onto you're your stomach, coughing as air fills your lungs. Using your god arm you stand up, blood dripping through the clenched fingers of your left hand.
The orc pushes the wolf off his body as he stands up, his axe discarded during the fall. You ready your blade and the orc charges you. You try to stab into his unarmed side, but the orc grabs hold of your sword, trying to wrestle it from your grasp. You try in punch his throat with your left hand, but he tucks his shin in causing your fist to glance off.
The orc slams its head into yours, than drives his knee into your solar plexus. Your breath is forced out of you and stars explode into existence within your vision. You drop the sword and the orc wraps its other hand around your throat. You are lifted off the ground and slammed into a tree as he begins to choke the life out of you.
You fumble with your left hand, before grasping your knife. You viciously slash at the orcs face, cutting a deep line from his cheek and through his right eye. He cries out in agony before hurling you away. The orcs throws you half a dozen feet, and you hit the ground hard. You lay stunned for a moment before wearily climbing to your feet. Gasping for breath you hear the orc speak.
"You dropped your knife." The orc growls out, one hand pressed against his ruined eye.
You knife lay on the ground, next to the orc. You'd dropped it when you'd been thrown.
The orc removes his hand from the ruined eye and cracks his knuckles. "What are you going to do now?" he taunts.
You respond by drawing the bone knife you had taken from the swamp troll.
The orc sees this and looks at you cautiously. "You are kidding me."
Still panting you crouch low, your knife held ready. Your only response is to smile.
The orc gives you a hard calculating look, and then looks behind you.
"You fight like a she-wolf in her den." He smiles wide "I'd win this fight, but lose the next. " The orc turns is back and flees into the woods. "I look forward to the next fight!"
You waver a moment before collapsing in a heap. You heart hammers in your chest, blood rushes through you head, every limb is on fire, a sharp pain lances through your ribs, and blood drips from your left arm. Your head swims and you gasp for breathe. You smile. You had won, you had made it. As your vision blurs and your eyes fall shut, you can hear Jurgen calling for you. You're so tired; you just rest your eyes for a moment. A quick nap, then back to the city.
Interlude Selection.
[ ] Distant Shores and Dangerous Plans.
[ ] The Butcher's Bloody Bay.
[ ] By Dawn's Dying Light.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whew, I'd like to point out that this was the first time I've really written a fight scene, so please drop some feedback on what you thought of it. I planned to do the interlude later on, but after writing out the update this felt like a more natural endpoint. I really did enjoy writing this whole section here. You had some tough choices here, and a won;t say you made any wrong choices you guys basically picked hard mode when you decided to stay behind. That said you will be getting something out of this whole thing, don't worry
Hiding would only get you killed, and attacking them had put you in this position. It was time to leave. Looking back you could see the dark spaces between the torches, the wide trees breaking up lines of sight, and brush to slow down pursers. It'd be a close call, sneaking by, but it was the best out of bad choices. You loosen the short sword from its sheath; it wasn't likely that you'd have time to ready your bow.
You manage to sneak past the patrols well enough, the torchlight ruined the orcs night vision and the goblins had poor eyesight as it was. Those weren't the problem. Crouched behind a tree you cursed the orc leader. He had anticipated this move and had left a picket of sentries, without torches, to keep you from slinking away. Worse yet it was only a matter of time before they caught on to your tricks. This was the weakest link in the picket, the line of sight from the other sentries blocked by thick trees and shrubs. Still, that left a pair of orcs blocking your way with no real way of sneaking past.
That was when the wisps arrived. They glowed bright, a small cluster swarming over the orcs, ruining their sight and distracting them. One appears in front of you, a pale blue translucent orb.
Follow. . .
And you do. It guides you past the last of the picket, its fellow running interference when needed. After clearing past the orcs it stops, before floating back into the forest.
Run. . .
You clear past the orcs and break into a swift run, bounding through the trees and shrubs, ignoring the burning ache in your legs. The orcs would realize you'd escaped, but by then it would be too late. A feral smile pulled at your lips as you dart through the woods, wind pulling at your hair and the moon shown down in brilliant silver streams. You were almost there, just a few miles now.
-----------------------------------------
"We not find human. Human not here." The goblin said, ducking his head in fear. It wasn't unheard of for orcs to take their displeasure out on the goblins.
The orc furrowed his brow in thought "This is a canny one, slipped the net he did. " Kurak was surprised at this, he had thought that the human would try and slip by, but to evade the sentries as well? Truly this was a clever opponent.
"What now Kurak?" said a nearby orc. Most of themhad congregated to Kuraks position awaiting their orders.
Kurak was contemplated the next move for a long moment. Finally he came to a conclusion. "Call of the search, return to camp. The humans know that we're here, break camp and head north. We'll meet up with the chief later. Understood?"
The orcs replied and began to gather their goblins. Kurak gave a sharp, long whistle. A massive wolf burst through the brush. He mounted it and called out to the others "We can't catch the human on foot. I'll take Yurlia and try to catch him."
"Kurlak, why? I thought you said to call of the search?"
"Because, this human is canny. It has been too long since I had a good chase." He set the wolf of at a trot "If I fail to return by first light then I failed, Breger is in charge in till the chief appoints a new hand."
With that, he set off at a swift loping run. The chase was on.
-----------------------------------------
You were almost there; you could make out the end of the woods, a few hundred more feet. That was when you heard it, something large moving through the woods, at you. You spun and adrenaline spiked throughout your body at the sight.
A massive wolf loping at you, its teeth pulled back in a bloodthirsty snarl. Atop the creature was an orc, its torso armored by a crude iron breastplate and a large axe held aloft. The orc was grinning savagely.
You draw and fire an arrow in a single motion. The orc reacts quickly, twisting so that the arrow strikes at an angle, gouging a groove in the metal, but not doing any harm. You shift your aim to the wolf, striking it in the front of the chest. It yelps in pain but continues to move.
You fire off a third arrow, striking the orc's left arm. He grunts in pain, but he is closing fast. He lashes out at you with the axe, and you almost step out of the way, receiving a nasty cut to your back. The orc wheels the wolf around, and attacks again, but you have enough time to draw the sword and parry.
The impact almost wrenches the sword from your hand, and leaves you stumbling. The orc comes at you again, and again you barely manage to block the blow. Once more, the orc rushes at you, and you ready yourself for the blow. That is when the wolf pounces on you.
The impact drives the wind from your lungs, and you feel something snap in your side. Snapping snarling jaws rush down to your throat, and you throw your left arm in the way. With a sharp clack the jaws snap shut, and you cry out as fangs tear at your arm. It tries to snap its jaw to the left and rip your arm from its socket, but you slash at its exposed throat with your sword.
A thick spray of steaming hot arterial blood splatters down onto you. The orc shouts something, and the wolf releases your arm before toppling to the side. You roll onto you're your stomach, coughing as air fills your lungs. Using your god arm you stand up, blood dripping through the clenched fingers of your left hand.
The orc pushes the wolf off his body as he stands up, his axe discarded during the fall. You ready your blade and the orc charges you. You try to stab into his unarmed side, but the orc grabs hold of your sword, trying to wrestle it from your grasp. You try in punch his throat with your left hand, but he tucks his shin in causing your fist to glance off.
The orc slams its head into yours, than drives his knee into your solar plexus. Your breath is forced out of you and stars explode into existence within your vision. You drop the sword and the orc wraps its other hand around your throat. You are lifted off the ground and slammed into a tree as he begins to choke the life out of you.
You fumble with your left hand, before grasping your knife. You viciously slash at the orcs face, cutting a deep line from his cheek and through his right eye. He cries out in agony before hurling you away. The orcs throws you half a dozen feet, and you hit the ground hard. You lay stunned for a moment before wearily climbing to your feet. Gasping for breath you hear the orc speak.
"You dropped your knife." The orc growls out, one hand pressed against his ruined eye.
You knife lay on the ground, next to the orc. You'd dropped it when you'd been thrown.
The orc removes his hand from the ruined eye and cracks his knuckles. "What are you going to do now?" he taunts.
You respond by drawing the bone knife you had taken from the swamp troll.
The orc sees this and looks at you cautiously. "You are kidding me."
Still panting you crouch low, your knife held ready. Your only response is to smile.
The orc gives you a hard calculating look, and then looks behind you.
"You fight like a she-wolf in her den." He smiles wide "I'd win this fight, but lose the next. " The orc turns is back and flees into the woods. "I look forward to the next fight!"
You waver a moment before collapsing in a heap. You heart hammers in your chest, blood rushes through you head, every limb is on fire, a sharp pain lances through your ribs, and blood drips from your left arm. Your head swims and you gasp for breathe. You smile. You had won, you had made it. As your vision blurs and your eyes fall shut, you can hear Jurgen calling for you. You're so tired; you just rest your eyes for a moment. A quick nap, then back to the city.
Interlude Selection.
[ ] Distant Shores and Dangerous Plans.
[ ] The Butcher's Bloody Bay.
[ ] By Dawn's Dying Light.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Whew, I'd like to point out that this was the first time I've really written a fight scene, so please drop some feedback on what you thought of it. I planned to do the interlude later on, but after writing out the update this felt like a more natural endpoint. I really did enjoy writing this whole section here. You had some tough choices here, and a won;t say you made any wrong choices you guys basically picked hard mode when you decided to stay behind. That said you will be getting something out of this whole thing, don't worry
- Location
- Canada
Didn't expect the wisps, but it ties into our nature lover trait, and we were rather deep into the woods, so it isn't completely out of the blue. Interesting way for things to go.
Good fight scene with the orc. Like how our bone knife was remembered. Not a great weapon, but infinitely better than having no weapon at all. We should start carrying more than one real knife on our person though, so we have something better than bone for our stuff. Also, this orc seems like he would be a great nemesis for us. He's reasonable intelligent, a good fighter, and just generally awesome.
Can't give much more feedback that.
As to the interludes, I have no clue what they do so lets arbitrarily select:
[X] By Dawn's Dying Light.
Good fight scene with the orc. Like how our bone knife was remembered. Not a great weapon, but infinitely better than having no weapon at all. We should start carrying more than one real knife on our person though, so we have something better than bone for our stuff. Also, this orc seems like he would be a great nemesis for us. He's reasonable intelligent, a good fighter, and just generally awesome.
Can't give much more feedback that.
As to the interludes, I have no clue what they do so lets arbitrarily select:
[X] By Dawn's Dying Light.
- Location
- Seattle, Washington
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Good that you caught that, I was a little worried that wisps might seem a bit too random. Your taits do effect the quest, and this was a good place for that to come into play here. As for Kurak, well he just kind of emerged organically as I wrote the update. This isn't the last you see of him, I'd be a waste to introduce him and never do anything with him again.
As for the interlude I'll give you guys a hint.
Remember the first choice in this quest? two of the three choices will relate to the two other items you could have grabbed.