StV: Another Attempt

Sophia Antonius stepped out onto the sidewalk, holding her bag and glancing back to make sure her boyfriend...

...was missing. Cedric was missing. She reached out for magic, found it, called it into herself. Then she extended her senses, reaching out... 

Cedric was just behind her, unconscious and invisible on the floor just inside the doorway. Two men she couldn't see were moving towards her, one coming out the door while another approached from the street. 

Her brother would have just murdered them, but Sophia was trying for a less lethal outcome. That didn't rule out making it painful, though.

"Cedric?" she called out, doing her best to sound confused about where her boyfriend might have gone. Under her breath, she was muttering rapid phrases and shaping energies... 

You'd better not have hurt him, she thought, as she wrapped them both in what would normally be shields and began to squeeze.  

Both men had apparently just come to a halt in the street, and were having difficulty breathing. Sophia held her grip where it was, waiting, and after a moment they were both visible to regular sight. So was Cedric, collapsed across the doorway... bleeding. 

Sophia clamped down with her shields, and heard the wet-wood snap of breaking bones. She hurried over to Cedric, and activated the general-healing spell that she'd stored in her necklace. Healing spells weren't her most-practiced area, but keeping one prepared in advance gave her time to think through the movements, phrases, and techniques she'd need... and kept her calm enough to use them.  

I may have overdone it

Looked at my To Do list on Monday and pushed through a whole bunch of it, and between that and everything else I am exhausted. And every time I think I'm starting to pull back out, it turns out that no, no I have not. 

 In the last six-or-so weeks: 

•  Secondborn started school and promptly got sick. 
• We got Firstborn into his dorm room, met his new roommate, and made it back home. This part, I'll note, while hectic, actually went pretty well. 
• I spent the next day working from home (as expected) and then was sick as a dog for the next week and a half (not as expected, and probably with whatever Secondborn had picked up at school).
• Just as I was starting to recover from that, I went into the kitchen and realized that the light fixture above the kitchen sink was dripping. This is not the sort of behavior I like to see from an electrical appliance.  
• The roofing guy came out and looked at it, and sealed some likely entry points on the roof. 
• Four days later a 2' x 2' square of the ceiling above the sink filled with water and collapsed, scattering insulation everywhere.
• My dad went into the hospital on a Wednesday for an inability to eat, developed an inability to breathe, and passed away that Sunday.
• After a certain amount of back-and-forth with the insurance company, we got the roof replaced. I do not, in all honesty, remember when exactly this happened; this particular bullet point may not be chronological.
• Beautiful Wife started a new job, at a good company with a good team and an absolutely batshit CEO. 
• The cat escaped on the following Friday night. We found him in the yard late Saturday night, but he escaped again. On Sunday, I put out the medium live-animal trap with some cat food and tuna. We captured a possum, and while we were trying to figure out what to do with that the cat meowed from just outside the fence. We managed to recapture the cat and release the bonus possum -- do not get those two reversed -- and then went the hell to bed.

It's just one damned thing after another, I swear.  

Duendewood: Children of Ruin, part twenty-one

It was a trio of gnolls that came towards the break. Two of them stopped thirty strides out; the the third, armed and armored, continued forward. 

When Jacques stepped out of the trees, it stopped, grunted whined... and then dropped back, motioning the robed gnoll forward. 

Jacques continued forward, putting himself will within bowshot -- and both of the apparent guards were armed with crossbows -- and stopping just two strides back of the robed gnoll. "You're the leader, here?" he asked. 

The gnoll ducked its jackal-shaped head. "I am," it growled, then raised its head to study him. "I am Graznir Toothtaker, researcher and scholar and accidental wizard."

Jacques grinned, but kept his teeth covered. "Jacques Fontaine, firstborn son of the King, and Baronet of Caristhium. I won't say it's a pleasure, since we came here following reports that you were raiding the local households, but I'm given to understand that while your recruiting is... unconventional... most of the captured locals will consider themselves satisfied if you pay whatever you've promised."

Graznir regarded him. "Are you a scholar, Jacques Fontaine?"

"A dabbler," Jacques demurred. "I was trained for the Court -- a bit of this, a bit of that. I have been reminded that the gnolls are descendants of the Formorians, who once controlled a puissant magical empire in what is now the desert not far from here."

"Just so," said Graznir. "Legend -- our legend -- has it that there was a vault, sealed away, that contained the core of our magical knowledge after our empire turned on itself. I have spent my life tracking down clues and references, and I believe that it is here."

"This temple?" asked Jacques. "Or beneath it?"

"Beneath it," the gnoll said, his voice soft with reverence. "If it proves true, we could reclaim the desert, reclaim our ancient cities, and perhaps restore the entire area to the life it once contained."

Jacques considered that. "That land technically belongs to Sol Povos, and thus to my father. Would you be willing to negotiate with him? A gnoll -- or Formorian -- barony within Sol Povos is not out of the question, but given the current state of the kingdom I wouldn't like to see it mistaken for some sort of rebellion. We have other, more meaningful, fights to undertake."

 "The elves have their own kingdom, in alliance with Sol Povos. Would your father consider something similar for a small kingdom of Formorians?"

Jacques chuckled. "Knowing my father, he would definitely consider it. Whether he could make it stick with the other nobles... I don't know. But if you keep a low profile and don't let on that there's anything here worth finding, I suspect he could play it off as a concession to someone who would keep order."

The gnoll's face twisted in a way that Jacques thought reflected a frown. "You are the Baronet of Caristhium? You are far from your home."

"Father's orders," Jacques said, and offered a small shrug. "And my friends came to deal with the raids... but if you aren't truly raiders, then another approach seems called for. So... do right by the ones you have working for you, let us help you, and let's see what we can manage together." 

"I think we have little choice," Graznir replied after a moment. "I had hoped to manage this without being noticed, but since you have come... Yes. Very well. Bring your people, and I will show you what we do here."

Duendewood: Children of Ruin, part twenty

Jacques slipped up to the doorway. "We're here to rescue you," he whispered. 

"You're what?" It was male voice, grumpy at being awakened, but still quiet so as not to awaken anybody else. 

"We're here to get you out and let you get back to your farms."

"We won't get paid if we do that." The man had risen, solid and stocky, light-haired in the darkness. "The gnolls promised us a reward if we helped them dig out the temple and the complex beneath it."

"They did?" Jacques let his surprise color his tone, audible even though they were whispering. "And you believe them?"

The man shrugged. "They didn't take our children, or our elderly. There's one of them can speak Common, and he says they're studying the ruins, hoping to find something under them."

"But they did kidnap you," Jacques pointed out. 

The man nodded. "They did, and there're some here as might resent that... but they've promised us payment once they get access to their temple, and so far they've been straight with us. No whips, no torments. Hard work, but no harder than running a farm. And if they find the gold they've promised us, well... we'll be well-repaid for our labor."

Jacques considered that. Beside him, Skyflower was frowning. Yvette asked, "You'd trust them?"

The man straightened, and his expression sobered. "I'd be lying if I said we weren't all a little concerned for our kids... but they know how to take care of themselves, and how to keep the farms in basic order.  Ellia had a newborn; they took her husband but left her behind with the kids. They aren't monsters, s'far as we can tell. They just took us because they needed help and had no other way t'get it."

Jacques made a decision, because there was no safe way to consult with the rest of his group. "Very well. Ask the one who speaks Common to come towards the treeline in the morning, and I'll meet him -- or her -- there, so we can talk."

"Just to talk?" asked the farmer, suspiciously. 

"Just to talk," Jacques reassured him. "I want assurances that the gnolls will pay you and release you when you're done digging for them, and I want more information about what they intend here. I don't intend bloodshed unless they do."

"Aye. All right, I'll tell 'im. You go your way now, before you bollix this whole thing up."

Jacques nodded, though he doubted the human could see him, and motioned for the others to back away. They slipped back out of the camp just as quietly as they'd entered, leaving one -- hopefully -- unconscious gnoll, and a pen with its door wide open.  

Duendewood: Children of Ruin, part nineteen

Skyflower led the way, silent and precise in her movements, and Jacques followed in her steps. Risk moved close behind him, surprisingly silent for all his bulk. 

Skyflower held up a hand and they paused; after a moment she lowered her hand and motioned them forward. Nobody spoke; they all just followed. Morrigan had turned into a massive bear, but moved with a surprising lack of noise for her size; she was sniffing the air, and apparently had some sort of communication worked out with Skyflower. 

Yvette was staying close to her brother's back, evidently trying to step exactly where Jacques stepped -- which he appreciated, since she was far more of a scholar and a spellcaster than a rogue. Rose and Ash trailed them at the back, half-blind in the darkness but making their way quietly along despite that. They dropped back just a bit before the prisoners' pen came into view, in something that was evidently a shared decision. 

A faint grunt reached their ears, and Jacques looked over just in time to lock eyes with the gnoll who'd just come around the corner of the pen. For a moment, he froze. 

Risk had no such hesitation. He dashed forward, struck the gnoll in the solar plexus and then the side of the neck, and grabbed it as it sank towards the ground, gentling its fall and cutting off its air at the same time. He returned to the group with silent steps, then used his hands to mimic breathing; Jacques took that to mean that the gnoll would live.

Skyflower nodded and blew him a kiss; Risk grinned. 

There was door near the corner of the pen, heavy wood crudely fastened together and held closed with a pair of bars on the outside. Risk glanced at Jacques, who nodded and made a go ahead gesture. The half-dragon slipped forward, slid first one bar and then the other quietly free of their clasps, and then caught the wooden door as it fell towards him. That left him balancing a wooden beam and a door, but Morrigan came forward and braced the door so he could set the bar quietly aside. 

"Who's there?" whispered a voice from inside the pen.  

 

Duendewood: Children of Ruin, part eighteen

Intrigued, Jacques watched as his siblings and the children of Ruin sorted out who would venture into camp and who would wait at the edge of the trees. Jacques himself would venture into the camp; he was stealthy, and he could see in the dark, and he might possibly even be able to provide a distraction if they needed it. Somewhat to his surprise, his sister Yvette joined him; she could see in the dark, but wasn't as practiced at stealth. Their brother Julien, on the other hand, shook his head and drew back; he would wait to cover them. 

Of the True Elves, the cleric Tybalt went to stand beside Julien, reaching up to put a companionable hand on his shoulder. The paladin Ash, however, came forward to join Jacques and Yvette. Somewhere in there, she'd switched out her scale mail for a simple buff coat -- a heavy leather arrangement that offered decent protection but wouldn't slow her down or make her clumsy. The paladins of Amun and Helios generally wore the heaviest -- and most magical -- armor they could get their hands on, and had all the grace and stealth of an iron golem. A paladin of Ruin, on the other hand... apparently they were more subtle, or could be if they wanted to. 

Azrael went and joined his brother. He was armed and armored and looked ready to fight, but Jaques thought that his decision to remain behind was correct: he didn't look at all sneaky. Skyflower slipped up beside Jacques, grinned, and strung her longbow. The two who looked like regular elves -- the druid Rose and the werebear Morrigan -- also joined their group. That brought the three animals -- the wolverine Brick, and the wolves Geri and Freki -- over to join them.

Too many, Jacques thought. "Can you send the animals over to wait with the others?" he asked quietly. "I'd like to keep them in reserve."

Skyflower glanced back at him, smiled, and touched the haunch of one of the wolves. All three animals quickly retreated, settling in around Julien and the others. 

Seven to enter the camp, Jacques thought. Eight to watch our backs. He wasn't sure that his tutors in the study of military theory would have approved of this, but then they tended to focus on movements in squads and divisions and wings -- and even they admitted that the presence of Solari always threw things off. Not that anybody here even remotely qualified as Solari... but if they all had anything in common, it was a tendency to throw things off. 

"We're going to try this," he said, glancing at Skyflower and offering a smile in return. "If anybody finds that they're hearing themselves move, just slide back and join the others. It looks like they used the trees they cut down to make the pens -- so we're looking for less solid entry points to open up. The gods alone know what they might have used for doors, so keep an eye out -- and keep an eye out for guards. Moonset is almost here, so they'll be relying on darkvision just as we will. We might have the edge in hearing and smell, so use that. If we can get everyone out before we're noticed, great. If not, then we're covering their retreat. It's well past midnight, so hopefully most of the gnolls are asleep and we can pick them off a few at a time -- or bluff our way out."

Behind him, "Sun, Scar, Julien..." Tybalt's voice was firm. "It's a clear night, so the rest of us can see a little, but we're working by starlight. You're the ones who can actually see in the dark, so stay alert. Don't neglect listening, and keep an eye on how the animals respond. We may need to follow their lead. Or, we may be able to wait back here and escort people away. We won't know until it happens."

Duendewood: Children of Ruin, part seventeen

"Hold up," said Skyflower. "I'm not opposed to talking to them, but I'd like to do it with the prisoners safely out of the way first."

Beside her, Morrigan nodded. "If we could break them out, then deal with the gnolls..."

Jacques considered that. The True Elf Paladin and his sister Yvette were both nodding, and he could see their point. "So... try to set the prisoners free without the gnolls noticing?"

Skyflower nodded. "I say we hold up here, wait until dark, and then see if we can get them out without the gnolls noticing."

"I seem to recall being reminded that the gnolls can see in the dark," Julien observed quietly. 

Skyflower nodded at that. "They can, but only so far out. If we can get to the prisoners without being seen, then we might be able to pull it off."

"And if we can't?" Jacques asked. 

Skyflower shrugged. "Then we back out and try diplomacy."

"I think..." Ash, the paladin, looked thoughtful. "I think I prefer this approach."

"Does anybody oppose it?" asked Jacques. 

Risk shrugged. "If we aren't fighting anyway, we might as well try this first."