6 Kelen, 718
Real-Time: 08/14/98 Game #6

6 Kelen, 718: 1st Watch (Midnight to 4am)

The party remained happily abed.

6 Kelen, 718:2nd Watch (4am to 8am)

(5am) A few seconds before the knock on the door Caius and Fenelisa groggily raised their heads to hear someone shouting at their neighbors to get up, and get out into the courtyard.
As the banging began on their door Caius called out "We're up and we'll be out shortly!" A surprised messanger stopped his banging and left.

It was wet and drizzly out again. The legionnaires rose, and (after Caius checked with his counterpart) dressed in full battlekit. They formed up at the courtyard within half a candle from being called. Phillipus of Coranan led the unsupported maniple (10 men + him and his squire) out of the Fort and down to a thickette just beyond Sipazer. There they waited, crouched in the damp grass, for the bandits they were to ambush. Phillipus had his horse lay down behind a fallen tree near the river bank.

(6:30am) After quite a bit of waiting, a scraggly bunch of men and women snuck into the thicket, whispering among themselves. They took up positions near the riverbank, and hunkered down to wait. Two of them brought a man in a litter, and put him down near the edge of the thickette after making a clearing. The man on the litter is calm and still, but cannot be recognized by the legionnaires at the river bank. The rain stopped at last, but the legionnaires were starting to get achy from waiting at the edge of the river.
(7:45am) Phillipus is surprised by one of the bandits who steps behind the tree to relieve himself. Everyone hears "Hey! There's a …ooof." And then silence. At Phillipus's command, the legionnaires attack the bandits.

The 12 bandits are greatly outmatched by the shivering legionnaires, and only one legionnaire is injured in the fight. Of the 12 bandits, 4 died in the initial rush forward. 3 were sevearly wounded, and 3 surrendered once they realized the force of arms against them. When the battle was over, the man on the streacher was discovered to be the Fort's missing Quartermaster - Micheal. Few among the party thought it wise to move him, but the skys were again threatening rain. The maniple formed up, with the unwounded offering grudging support of the wounded.

6 Kelen, 718:3rd Watch (8am to noon)

(8am) The first Tenaci grudgingly admitted (more from body language than outright admission) that the bandits were the missing second tenaci of Fobin I:I. The group
The squire, who was told to wait in Sipazer, was sent to fetch a cart and a horse for the wounded. They made relatively good time along the wet road from Sipazer to Fobin. About half way along Caius streached his tired back just in time to have an arrow go sailing by his chest and burry itself in the grass beside the road.

(8:45am) Caius cried out "Archer" and the maniple formed up (as best it could what with the wounded, and their prisoners) around their Mani, Phillipus, who quickly dismounted (and shouted at his squire to do the same.)

Caius and Corneillius rushed out into the field, while the first tenaci held back to offer covering javelin fire, if necessary. Fennelisa tried to keep up. Caius spotted the grass moving and Corneilius followed his lead. Together they caugt the archer sneaking through the grass. In the fist-fight that followed, Corneillius was severaly battered about the head. Once the archer was caught, Corneillius gladly returned the blow, almost breaking the archer's neck!

Caius found what he thinks is an elven heartbow and 12 red-fletched arrows. Both Caius and Corneilus recognized the fletchings to be of clan Jeredosta, sworn enemies of Clan Wytel.

(9am) about a candle out from Fobin, Caius is certain he's being watched by archers everywhere. Fennelisa sees V'lasta everywhere. But when she turns her attention upon them they disappear like images in the fog. Corneillius recognizes it as a spell (possibly Savorian) that's been cast upon the party (making him feel edgy.) Looking around he sees that everyone is overreacting (except the wounded) to the calm day and open streach of highway before them. Everyone that is but Phillipus.

Corneilus informs Phillipus of the spell, and asks Phillipus to try and dispell it. Phillipus manages to do so, but not before Corneilus gets an idea of the person who cast it. Corneilus is nw sure they were being watched - through some method of scrying. The caster is within a Hârnic League of them, and is not use to being subtile.

(10am) When the maniple returns to Fobin, they deliver the injured to the physician's assistants and retire to the bath house (where Mitch shows everyone how to call forth a slave - he throws a sesterci on the ground and promises two more for prompt service. It works.) Grain cakes with honey and butter are served to the cold and muddied legionnaires while Phillipus informs them why they ambushed the bandits, and that Corneilus and Caius will receive a special commondation (usually money) at the next pay day.

Phillipus's story:

Our esteemed Triberties Linari Primus, Horik Baral, received a note the other day. It told him that the bandits had Micheal and were waiting/willing to trade him for goods or money. But he recognized the handwriting to be that of his missing lover (yes the one the previous Quartermaster was thought to be dallying with, no the previous Quartermaster didn't get hung for that - he got hung for selling too much to the black market, and leaving us short… now where was I?)

The Triberties Linari Primus suspected a plot and thus wanted us in position as early as possible this morning. There were lookouts (the support for the maniple) in place up to an hour before we got there (not that I saw them. Sniff.) Since no one tried to contact us I assumed that there was no trouble. The man on the streacher is our missing Quartermaster, and the bandits were the missing men from Fobin I:I:II, pardon me - the old Fobin I:I:II. (he says nodding to an indignant Caius, Fennelisa and Corneilus.)

(11:30am) Time to clean the armour. All that river mud, grass and wet.
Note to players: you'll have to spend up to a day getting your cloaks rewaxed and oiled sometime this 10day, less they begin to degrade. The cloth cloaks are no longer any protection from the rain. The leather cloak is starting to smell, and its smooth surface is pocked with dirt.

6 Kelen, 718:4th Watch (noon to 4pm)

Shortly after noon the unsupported maniple formed up, again in full battlekit, and marched out of the Fort, this time heading north. Phillipus explained that his orders were to search all the ruins along the Rethem-Tharda border for bandits. He hoped it could be done in a day, but was unsure.

The rain had stopped at last, but a cold wind from the east began blowing.

At each ruins, the maniple formed up and marched through the area.

(2:30pm) Other than two rabits (one killed by Corneilus with a Javelin, the other by Caius with a taburi) they discovered nothing unusual.

(3:30pm) In the ruins near ______________ they found a cold fire pit. Mitch thought the pit had been used recently, but the rains made it hard to determine when, exactly it had last been used. From the amount of ash within it, it was commonly used.

6 Kelen, 718:5th Watch (4pm to 8pm)

(4pm) In the ruins near _____________ they found odd standing stones. Fennelisa acted strangely around them, she kept hearing a mantra of "getmeouttaheregetmeouttahere…" as did Corneilus, when he touched on. Everyone else thought the area to be haunted. The stone was of high quality, and yet this set of ruins had the most stone than any other set of ruins the troup had seen today. Obviously the peasantry was too scared to steal much stone from this area. Therefore the place must be haunted. Caius found a shield of the same metal as the helmet. After some digging the men found rougly 24 golden sesterci (that's 48 drachma folks.) They were called out of the ruins by Phillipus (who was getting tired of watching his men scramble for gold.)

Phillipus refused to allow them to do more than sup at Fort ____________ because of its condition.

(6:30pm) The troup comes across an area of ruins were there's hardly a standing stone remaining. Corneilus and Fennelisa came across a shepard who explained most all the stones were now parts of the surrounding villages. The troup made camp in an area that previously was a much larger legion's encampment.
After duties and cleaning, the troup settled down into its watches. Caius's tenaci was given dawn watch.

6 Kelen, 718:6th Watch (8pm to Midnight)

The party slept. And dreamed …

Four men hunched around a campfire.

It is drizzling rain. Miserable weather, yet the fire does not go out, nor even dampen from the rain. Beyond the fire is a chained unicorn. It's fighting valiently for its life, but its head is chained down sideways onto a bord and steel bands hold its horn in place. Its body is wrapped in white linnens and golden chains which it cannot break. An axman (his face covered by a leather mask) stands overtop of the chained unicorn. He is looking at the campfire.

The four men are muttering among themselves. The first wears a crown of gold sitting atop a head drenched in blood. His hair is matted, his beard clotted, and his clothes are all blood red but perfectly clean. His skin is sagging and beneath the blood he looks ancient. The second is a fat merchant dressed in senatorial robes. Upon his fingers are a million gold rings - but the rings are all brass, not gold. And the senatorial robes have been sloppily patched. The third is a legionnaire. But his belt is empty - and his weapons rusted, and dull. He's overweight, and lethargic. The fourth is a clean man in a simple robe he turns from his companions and looks evilly - directly at the dreamers, he stands and claps his hands.

7 Kelen, 718:2th Watch (4am to 6am)

(4am) Thunder sounded and the party awoke simultaneously. It was their watch.


This page was last updated on January 23, 2002
Questions/Comments should be directed to the Webmaster.
All works are Copyright their respective authors, 2002.