12-19-2020, 01:20 AM
Episode 23
The rain and fog had ended, and now a frigid breeze blew droplets of rain from leaves onto her damp hair. Eilwen knelt by a swollen branch of the river in the long damp grass by the bank, and took a long drink. The main river followed the road, but this branch had turned south east, further into the woods.
Scratched hissed at her when she dropped the pack down with a thumb. Scratch’s head peaked out, looking at her with indignant eyes.
“Well, go on then. Out with you.”
Scratch hopped out and then scrambled up on a nearby rock and looked down at himself in a placid part of the river. His sinuous neck weaved back and forth and he hissed at his reflection and then splashed down into the water.
“First time seeing one of your own kind?” She asked with a smile as she washed the blood from her forearm. The wound stung, but the cool water helped numb the pain. Then she pulled out some bandages and started to tend to her wounds. She Looked at her own reflection and saw her dark eyes and touched her long braid. She thought of her mother and the thoughts led to worried wondering. She sighed and pressed her lips together more firmly. She would find out the truth.
Heal move. Roll + wits
8 = 6[d6]+2
17 = 9[d10]+8[d10]
A miss. Man... she can not catch a break. That was as good as she could roll too.
5/24 (Optional XP rule)
She wound the bandage around her arm and heard rustling. She spun, heart thumping, but saw only Scratch, getting into the supplies.
“You! No! That’s my food!” she dropped her bandage and rushed for the bag, but it was too late, he had torn open a package of dried meat and had devoured it in a single gulp.
(From the miss, -1 supplies now 2/5)
“Bad... bird...lizard! Vulture--whatever you are!” she pointed a finger at him. He cocked his head as if considering it a snack and snapped at it. She jerked it away. “No!”
She shoved him with his foot and he hissed and, then tackled her foot, gnawing at her boot’s leather laces.
He...did he want to play?
“Get off!” she said smiling, but frustrated too. “You...are a handful,” she said, and with some difficulty managed to extricate him. She flicked his snout, and he hissed and snapped again, but backed away. “Now stay!” she said firmly..
It sat back on its haunches and looked at her, its head cocked.
She wanted to find her brother, but for a moment she felt glad that Aron wasn’t here to see all this. He would have said something infuriating.
“I’ll find you,” she whispered to the wind. “And you’ll see... Scratch will come in handy.... someday...I hope.”
Scratched hopped away and then tracked a dragon-fly that buzzed near the river.
“Idiot,” she muttered, but had to smile at his backside moving back and forth catlike as it intently watched the insect. Then Scratch leaped atop a rock and spread his own small wings and began flapping them then dove face first into the dirt.
She chuckled, “Those wings aren’t full grown yet. Don’t try jumping off any cliffs.”
Scratch looked about himself, nose in the air then tracked the dragonfly again. After a moment of stealthy hunting, it attacked, gulping down the bug. It looked back at her with obvious pride, a tongue snaking in and out.
“Don’t get cocky,” she gave a small laugh. “It’s just a bug.”
She continued to tend to her wounds.
Another Heal move... Come on, we need to do better this time.
7 = 5[d6]+2
8 = 2[d10]+6[d10]
Yay. A strong hit! She gets 2 health back. Health is now 3/5.
The sun eventually came out and the wind became a brisk breeze. She set her clothes out to dry on a rock, then bathed in the river, washing free the dirt, grime, and blood. Scratch curled up on a rock and watched her, an unreadable expression on its face. Then, it yawned, its forked tongue wagging red, rows of sharp teeth glinting in the sun, with a contented sigh, it closed its eyes, and fell asleep, snoring gently.
Eilwen pulled on her leather clothing again, re-braided her hair, then reapplied the bandages to her wounds and even dozed off for a brief nap.
Heal move again.
7 = 5[d6]+2
15 = 5[d10]+10[d10]
A weak hit. She gets 2 health back but suffers -1 supply. So health is now 5/5 and supply is now 1/5.
---
The early afternoon sun had gone behind a bank of clouds. Her arm still stung, but not nearly as bad as it had. She looked at her back of supplies. Between herself and scratch, food was running low. She sighed and sat up.
“Wake up Scratch! Back in the pack,” she said and pointed.
Does he go?
(50/50 | 6[d10]) Yes, but...
But not without some effort from her part.
He came but then looked at the back and then sat down in front of it and looked up at her hissing.
“What?”
It hissed again and then darted to the left around her legs and then halfway up a tree. He really could move quickly.
“Yes, you are amazing...Now stop showing off!”
It leaped from the tree at her and she yelped, leaping out of the way. It hissed at her snapping at her.
“Now is not the time!” she said laughing. “Into the bag! Now!”
It licked her face and then sniffed at the meat bag.
“You already ate your share.”
It hissed and then gave her-- Was that a sad face?
“Heralds beneath,” she whispered. “Just get in the bag and I”ll give you a small snack okay?”
It hissed at her as it entered headfirst, then turned inside the bag and his bony head peaked out, unreadable watching her face.
“Good,” she tossed him the snack, and it caught it, in the air, the moment it left her fingers. She felt the warmth of its breath.
“Finally...” she said and shouldered her pack and picked up her belongings. “Soon, you’ll be the terror of the lowlands.” She started looking for tracks of some game she could bring down. “And I hope on my mother’s grave that I can find this Penry Seith mentioned before you do any real damage.”
---
Eilwen followed this branch of the river that flowed east. She found some fresh droppings of a deer, and climbed atop a ledge that offered a height advantage. It obscured her from view. She settled in to patiently wait, careful not to make noise and to keep her scent downwind from her quarry.
Secure an advantage + shadow
8 = 5[d6]+3
13 = 9[d10]+4[d10]
Weak hit that is short lived. +1 momentum (now 4/10) but no bonus. Oh well.
The deer came into view, a young buck. It sniffed the air and then began to drink. She quickly aimed before the wind shifted.
Secure an advantage + edge for aiming she gets a +1 with her archer advantage:
8 = 5[d6]+3
11 = 6[d10]+5[d10]
A strong hit! Choose 1, make another move now and add +1 or add +2 momentum. I’ll act now.
The deer’s head suddenly raised and looked about, and she shot.
Resupply Move
1d6+3 (with the +1)
4 = 1[d6]+3
5 = 3[d10]+2[d10]
I got lucky there. Another strong hit. She needed this. +2 Supply. Now 3/5.
Her shaft flew true and found its mark. The red-haired deer bawled in pain, leaped away, bounding left then right over boulder and brook, but soon it faltered as its strength ran out.
She hopped down, following the blood trail and found it gasping for breath in the undergrowth. She whispered her thanks to the creature and then finished its life with her dagger.
Then after harvesting its meat, darkness had set in, and she settled in to make camp, cooking the meat in a sheltered fire between three large moss-covered boulders.
What if Aron were dead, because you didn’t go to his aid, a part of her said. You should have gone after him sooner.
“Then we both would have died,” she answered, frustrated, stabbing at the fire with a stick and seeing the sparks rise into the night.
But she knew she had made the right choice to run. Her strength had been waning in this morning’s fight. Flight had been the wisest choice. Aron would have wanted her to do that: to act queenly, to get out of danger. Then again, if he were captured, he probably didn’t want her to come help him either. Tomorrow, she’d hopefully know either way.
She flicked some meat to Scratch who snatched it out of the air, then turned around three times before settling in by the fire. They watched the sparks drift up into the dark sky, each red spark blending their light with the glittering stars above.
Make Camp. Roll + supply.
Lets see if she can get another lucky roll.
5 = 2[d6]+3
10 = 3[d10]+7[d10]
A weak hit. She’ll relax and get +1 Spirit. Now 3/5.
STATS:
Edge 2
Heart 1
Iron 1
Shadow 3
Wits 2
Health: 5/5
Spirit: 3/5
Supply: 3/5
Momentum: 4/10
Debilities: None
Failures:
4/24 (Optional XP rule)
The rain and fog had ended, and now a frigid breeze blew droplets of rain from leaves onto her damp hair. Eilwen knelt by a swollen branch of the river in the long damp grass by the bank, and took a long drink. The main river followed the road, but this branch had turned south east, further into the woods.
Scratched hissed at her when she dropped the pack down with a thumb. Scratch’s head peaked out, looking at her with indignant eyes.
“Well, go on then. Out with you.”
Scratch hopped out and then scrambled up on a nearby rock and looked down at himself in a placid part of the river. His sinuous neck weaved back and forth and he hissed at his reflection and then splashed down into the water.
“First time seeing one of your own kind?” She asked with a smile as she washed the blood from her forearm. The wound stung, but the cool water helped numb the pain. Then she pulled out some bandages and started to tend to her wounds. She Looked at her own reflection and saw her dark eyes and touched her long braid. She thought of her mother and the thoughts led to worried wondering. She sighed and pressed her lips together more firmly. She would find out the truth.
Heal move. Roll + wits
8 = 6[d6]+2
17 = 9[d10]+8[d10]
A miss. Man... she can not catch a break. That was as good as she could roll too.
5/24 (Optional XP rule)
She wound the bandage around her arm and heard rustling. She spun, heart thumping, but saw only Scratch, getting into the supplies.
“You! No! That’s my food!” she dropped her bandage and rushed for the bag, but it was too late, he had torn open a package of dried meat and had devoured it in a single gulp.
(From the miss, -1 supplies now 2/5)
“Bad... bird...lizard! Vulture--whatever you are!” she pointed a finger at him. He cocked his head as if considering it a snack and snapped at it. She jerked it away. “No!”
She shoved him with his foot and he hissed and, then tackled her foot, gnawing at her boot’s leather laces.
He...did he want to play?
“Get off!” she said smiling, but frustrated too. “You...are a handful,” she said, and with some difficulty managed to extricate him. She flicked his snout, and he hissed and snapped again, but backed away. “Now stay!” she said firmly..
It sat back on its haunches and looked at her, its head cocked.
She wanted to find her brother, but for a moment she felt glad that Aron wasn’t here to see all this. He would have said something infuriating.
“I’ll find you,” she whispered to the wind. “And you’ll see... Scratch will come in handy.... someday...I hope.”
Scratched hopped away and then tracked a dragon-fly that buzzed near the river.
“Idiot,” she muttered, but had to smile at his backside moving back and forth catlike as it intently watched the insect. Then Scratch leaped atop a rock and spread his own small wings and began flapping them then dove face first into the dirt.
She chuckled, “Those wings aren’t full grown yet. Don’t try jumping off any cliffs.”
Scratch looked about himself, nose in the air then tracked the dragonfly again. After a moment of stealthy hunting, it attacked, gulping down the bug. It looked back at her with obvious pride, a tongue snaking in and out.
“Don’t get cocky,” she gave a small laugh. “It’s just a bug.”
She continued to tend to her wounds.
Another Heal move... Come on, we need to do better this time.
7 = 5[d6]+2
8 = 2[d10]+6[d10]
Yay. A strong hit! She gets 2 health back. Health is now 3/5.
The sun eventually came out and the wind became a brisk breeze. She set her clothes out to dry on a rock, then bathed in the river, washing free the dirt, grime, and blood. Scratch curled up on a rock and watched her, an unreadable expression on its face. Then, it yawned, its forked tongue wagging red, rows of sharp teeth glinting in the sun, with a contented sigh, it closed its eyes, and fell asleep, snoring gently.
Eilwen pulled on her leather clothing again, re-braided her hair, then reapplied the bandages to her wounds and even dozed off for a brief nap.
Heal move again.
7 = 5[d6]+2
15 = 5[d10]+10[d10]
A weak hit. She gets 2 health back but suffers -1 supply. So health is now 5/5 and supply is now 1/5.
---
The early afternoon sun had gone behind a bank of clouds. Her arm still stung, but not nearly as bad as it had. She looked at her back of supplies. Between herself and scratch, food was running low. She sighed and sat up.
“Wake up Scratch! Back in the pack,” she said and pointed.
Does he go?
(50/50 | 6[d10]) Yes, but...
But not without some effort from her part.
He came but then looked at the back and then sat down in front of it and looked up at her hissing.
“What?”
It hissed again and then darted to the left around her legs and then halfway up a tree. He really could move quickly.
“Yes, you are amazing...Now stop showing off!”
It leaped from the tree at her and she yelped, leaping out of the way. It hissed at her snapping at her.
“Now is not the time!” she said laughing. “Into the bag! Now!”
It licked her face and then sniffed at the meat bag.
“You already ate your share.”
It hissed and then gave her-- Was that a sad face?
“Heralds beneath,” she whispered. “Just get in the bag and I”ll give you a small snack okay?”
It hissed at her as it entered headfirst, then turned inside the bag and his bony head peaked out, unreadable watching her face.
“Good,” she tossed him the snack, and it caught it, in the air, the moment it left her fingers. She felt the warmth of its breath.
“Finally...” she said and shouldered her pack and picked up her belongings. “Soon, you’ll be the terror of the lowlands.” She started looking for tracks of some game she could bring down. “And I hope on my mother’s grave that I can find this Penry Seith mentioned before you do any real damage.”
---
Eilwen followed this branch of the river that flowed east. She found some fresh droppings of a deer, and climbed atop a ledge that offered a height advantage. It obscured her from view. She settled in to patiently wait, careful not to make noise and to keep her scent downwind from her quarry.
Secure an advantage + shadow
8 = 5[d6]+3
13 = 9[d10]+4[d10]
Weak hit that is short lived. +1 momentum (now 4/10) but no bonus. Oh well.
The deer came into view, a young buck. It sniffed the air and then began to drink. She quickly aimed before the wind shifted.
Secure an advantage + edge for aiming she gets a +1 with her archer advantage:
8 = 5[d6]+3
11 = 6[d10]+5[d10]
A strong hit! Choose 1, make another move now and add +1 or add +2 momentum. I’ll act now.
The deer’s head suddenly raised and looked about, and she shot.
Resupply Move
1d6+3 (with the +1)
4 = 1[d6]+3
5 = 3[d10]+2[d10]
I got lucky there. Another strong hit. She needed this. +2 Supply. Now 3/5.
Her shaft flew true and found its mark. The red-haired deer bawled in pain, leaped away, bounding left then right over boulder and brook, but soon it faltered as its strength ran out.
She hopped down, following the blood trail and found it gasping for breath in the undergrowth. She whispered her thanks to the creature and then finished its life with her dagger.
Then after harvesting its meat, darkness had set in, and she settled in to make camp, cooking the meat in a sheltered fire between three large moss-covered boulders.
What if Aron were dead, because you didn’t go to his aid, a part of her said. You should have gone after him sooner.
“Then we both would have died,” she answered, frustrated, stabbing at the fire with a stick and seeing the sparks rise into the night.
But she knew she had made the right choice to run. Her strength had been waning in this morning’s fight. Flight had been the wisest choice. Aron would have wanted her to do that: to act queenly, to get out of danger. Then again, if he were captured, he probably didn’t want her to come help him either. Tomorrow, she’d hopefully know either way.
She flicked some meat to Scratch who snatched it out of the air, then turned around three times before settling in by the fire. They watched the sparks drift up into the dark sky, each red spark blending their light with the glittering stars above.
Make Camp. Roll + supply.
Lets see if she can get another lucky roll.
5 = 2[d6]+3
10 = 3[d10]+7[d10]
A weak hit. She’ll relax and get +1 Spirit. Now 3/5.
STATS:
Edge 2
Heart 1
Iron 1
Shadow 3
Wits 2
Health: 5/5
Spirit: 3/5
Supply: 3/5
Momentum: 4/10
Debilities: None
Failures:
4/24 (Optional XP rule)
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