The Crystal Forest
Negrata, Micaforo, and the Crystal Forest
8 May 451
Tristan, reaching the crest of a small hill in front of them, held up his hand, warning the rest of the party to stop. They all slowed. Tristan's horse danced nervously, neighing quietly.
They had only been on the road two days, but it felt longer. No one had really slept well, camping under the open stars finally driving home that they were actually out of Kethem and far from civilization. They had passed a few small settled areas, the largest at most a half dozen or so buildings, all built for defense. These had become sparser as they continued along. The last settlement they had passed was more than four hours behind them.
"Not a friendly area" commented Krin as they rode without seeing a soul.
"The areas far from the city states are not pleasant locations, Krin" said Tristan. "There are many things that can harm you out here, some natural, some not. The southern part of Pranan, where we are, is not as bad as the north, but there are still many things to be cautious of."
Krin looked at him strangely. "Not natural? What do you mean?"
Tristan had merely smiled at her. "With any luck, you'll never need to know."
At the time, she had been slightly miffed. Now, she found herself hoping that he had been right, and that she would not.
Tristan motioned, and El Sid and Tanaka moved forward. Krin followed a few paces back. Ahead, she heard a tinkling sound, like wind chimes, perhaps. As she reached the crest of the hill, she gasped. Beneath her was a small forest. The trees swayed gently in the breeze, and where branch or leave touch another, the ring of crystal was clearly heard. Even from this distance, she could see that the trees were encased in something that looked like ice forming a thin layer over every branch, leaf, and pine needle. Occasional flashes of prismatic light glinted in the forest when the sun hit a branch at just the right angle. It was beautiful and frightening at the same time. She listened to the three in front of her. Tristan was doing most of the talking.
"..around the periphery of the crystal forest" he was saying. "To the right, I think. Not many have traveled past this point, and that may mean trouble. We need to keep our eyes open from this point on."
El Sid responded "Can't we just go through it? Skirting it is going to add at least another half day to the trip."
Tristan shook his head negatively. "The stuff is razor sharp. I've seen small pieces sold in Kethem as curios. They are fragile, but a swipe with one will open a cut you wouldn't believe, and that is the least of the damage. The wound becomes infected with some kind of disease that spreads through the body. People have died from it."
El Sid looked thoughtful. "Sold for curios? Perhaps we can recoupe some of our expenses here."
Tristan shook his head again. "You need something to pack them in. Anything we have on us is going to break the stuff, and have a high probablility of stabbing someone with splinters. I'd even want some specialized equipment just for gathering some samples. Plus, we don't know if there is a market where we are going."
El Sid saw the reason in that. "How far does it go?"
"Not too far, according to that merchant in Negreta... maybe five miles on a side. We should be close to clearing it by the end of the day."
Delrin, who had joined them, suddenly spoke. "What did this... abomination of nature?"
El Sid frowned at him, then shrugged and answered before Tristan could. "Pranan was one of the more significant battlegrounds during the fall. There was a lot of strong magic, sometimes desperate magic. Spells that powerful are sensitive, and difficult to control. There was a lot of unexpected interaction, unexpected results." He glanced down the hill to the crystallized trees. "The death of a forest by such a macabre method must have been an accidental byproduct of such a situation."
Delrin looked angry. "Accidental byproduct, perhaps, but that forest is not dead... it is alive, but perverted, somehow"
Tristan looked startled. "Not dead? Are you sure?"
Delrin glared at him, but it was Krin that answered. "Of course he's sure, you idiot, he's a Druid."
Tristan blushed slightly. "Oh, yea. Sorry."
El Sid looked thoughtful. "Under the circumstances, we should stay a reasonable distance from the place. I am not worried by a petrified forest, but a forest that is alive in a fashion we have no familiarity with... this I do not like. Clearly, some have come and gone, since Tristan tells us that items from here make it to Kethem, but still... we should be cautious."
Tristan nodded his agreement. "We have to stay close enough to follow the edge, but I think a half mile will be more than sufficient."
They set out again, taking a tangential course away from the forest, then paralleling it for the rest of the afternoon. They set camp just before sunset, choked down some dry rations, and set up watches.
Krin had just fallen asleep when someone shook her shoulder. It was Tristan. "Yes?" she asked blurily.
"Your watch, Krin" responded the man.
"My watch isn't until early morning" she said in confusion.
"It is early morning."
"Oh." She shook the sleep out her eyes and stood up, shivering slightly in the cold air. The state of the fire and the wood they had gathered to keep it going told here that indeed, some time had past. It was still dark, the only light from the stars, moon, and flickering flames from the fire. Tristan rolled himself into his bedroll, and quickly feel asleep. Krin walked around briskly to keep warm. In the distance, she could hear the strange ringing of the crystaline forest.
She stopped. The ringing... it seemed a bit louder than she remembered when they set up camp, and yet, it did seem any more windy. Maybe something about the approaching dawn? She was about to call to El Sid, when something came flying out of the dark at her, something that looked like a giant beetle, but glinted like cystal.
[IMMEDIATE ACTIONN REQUIRED]
-------------------------------------- BREAK, SOME MECHANICS:
The following roll against alertness says how long it takes your character to get up (if not on watch) and join the attack as follows.
SPEED > roll + 6 (up immediately)
SPEED > roll (up in one turn)
SPEED = roll (up in two turns)
SPEED < roll (up in three turns)
ROLLS:
El 7
Don 9
Glorm 16
Del 9
Tan 8
Fuji 11
Krinn 8
Aron 12
Trist 6
If there are any specials (you are using a magic or quality weapon, you aren't in armor because you don't sleep in it, etc) tell me... too many details for me to track.
------------------------------------- TACTICAL HEX MAP
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
____ ____
____ ____
____ ____
1
/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
2
/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ BLT2 / \ / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
3
/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ / \ BLT1 / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ KRIN \___ / \____/ \____/
4
/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ BLT3 / \ / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
5
/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ BLT4 / \ / \ / \ /
\
/ \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
6
/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ HORSES____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ v / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \|___/ \____/
7
/ \ / \ / \glorm / \ /| \ / \
/ \____/ \____/tristan____/ \____/ | \____/ \
\ / \ / \ /\\//\ / \ | / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ FIRE \____/ \|___/ \____/
8
/ \ / \ aron / \ [__] / \ /| \
/ \
/ \____/ \____/ dom \____/ \____/ | \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ | / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \|___/ \___Sid at
9
/ \ / \tanaka/ \delrin/ \ /| \
/ 9 15->
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ | \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ | / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \|___/ \____/
10/ \ / \ / \ / \ /| \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ | \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ | / \ /
\____/ FUJI \____/ \____/ \____/ \|___/ \____/
11/ \ / \ / \ / \ /| \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ | \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ | / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
12/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
13/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
14/ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \
/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \
\ / \ / \ / \ / \ / \ /
\____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/ \____/
NOTES: UPPERCASE = UP
lowercase = down
Horses are tied to log; takes one movement point or
3D6 save vs. dex to move through them
BLT
are crystal beetles
Cyrstal forest is in general direction of Fuji from
the fire
------------------------------------ CONTINUE STORY
Krin hardly had time to get her sword up before the crystal beetle was on her, with a second right behind it. They seemed to know the meaning of the sword, and veered to avoid it, but she managed to score one slighly. Krin's mind flashed back to the journey on the Golden Sunset.
It was just after sundown the first evening after the Sunset had set sail. Fuji announced that he had completed the branding iron. He displayed a small, finely detailed coin about 3/4" in diameter. It was a precise image of Glorm's dragon pipe overlaid on his sword. She walked up to him and greeted him with a nod. The Kandayan seamed oddly peaceful, as if the sea reached back to his Stangri roots. When Krin spoke up, she was terse as usual.
"I have considered your offer and decided to join in your Sa Kajok. The strength of our party lies in unity!"
She stared him straight in the eye daring him to make some wise ass reply.
"It can not be. Do not fear however, Elf, you will be able to declare that you are Erum to our clan, that is like, um, chattel. As such we will protect you. Perhaps, one day we will ask the Sonsang Nim how if you may join us in Sa Kajok. You must not come to our ceremony. Glorm, you must be prepared to declare our Erum, family name, at the ceremony. We have heard of strange Kethem Erum like Smith, Jones, Lee, but we prefer articles of nature, Oak, Elm, Obsidian. You should decide whatever you feel right whether it is Kandayan or wrong we will abide. And the last detail is we must decide who is Hyung Nim, oldest brother. It is he who must bleed and join us. When we reach Pranan, we will hunt, we will need a fresh kill for the ceremony. Perhaps we can find sheep."
Tanaka had chided him. "Kajori Mornum!" and, turning to the rest of them, repeated in common "after combat. After first blood, we will bond."
It looked like the first blood would be hers, and she wasn't even allowed to join the party afterward if she survived.
El Sid
It had been an uneventful journey so far. He liked sea travel. He always had. The smell of salt. The cry of gulls. The spray. Freedom. Plenty of time to reflect upon the events leading up to his escape from Salta. There would be a return. He swore it.
Tonight on guard duty the Sid had hunkered down in front of a small clump of scrub brush, the better to escape detection by any intruder. Earlier, he had had to remind Aron not to silhouette himself against the campfire and taught him to how to avoid looking directly into it to protect his night vision. The big man showed promise as a woodsman despite his protestation that he was a confirmed city boy. Now, Sid cradled his heavy crossbow and hoped the weather would hold as he figured out an angle on the Crystal Forest...
Razor sharp shards that induce infection, eh? GOT to be useful stuff. Sure, a cure disease would undoubtedly handle the bug, but on the battlefield and in plenty of other places a cure disease would be hard to come by. The question was weapons delivery: How? The crystal was too brittle to fashion a blade from. Maybe mount shards in the end of a wooden war club the way some of the more primitive Tawhiem tribes did? He'd seen the back of an Urakai after it had been laid open by one. Suprisingly effective. Might be worth it as a one shot weapon. As arrow heads? Maybe ground up and mixed with clams? The eater would assume it was merely clam grit until he collapse from fever, which could be in just a few hours according to Tristan. What about crushed and sprinkled into bedlinen? The victim crawls into bed, straightens his legs and shreddo...
"ALARM! ALARM! Ghods what ARE those things!" Krinn's strident cry shattered the night!
El Sid half-whirled at the shout, then keeping low, immediately rescanned his perimeter. Nothing. Dashing through the horse line behind him toward the commotion, he hefted his crossbow in one arm, drew a dagger and slashed Johny Rotten's tether, freeing the massive warhorse. A crystalline ringing buzz grew louder and louder. From ABOVE! Red firelight cast a hellish reflection off large, insectoid carapaces dropping out of the night sky. "FLEE THE FIRE! THEY SEE THE FIRE!" he screamed, "DOM! ROLL! NOW!" He dropped to one knee and loosed his bolt at the nearest creature. With it flying almost straight at him, the constant minute of arc made the shot easier than a moving target would normally have been. Shield, Bow or BLEND? he thought furiously. He dropped to a crouch in SHADOWS and tried to determine if he would be more effective with sword and shield or reloading his crossbow (which could double as club in a pinch). That would depend on how fast the Jocks mobilized. El Sid wasn't front line material and he knew it. If those things landed, he might get a solid cleave on one from behind. If any remained hovering, then his crossbow from a distance was his best bet. Then he wondered if a FLASH SPELL might blind a night-buggy's vision. He grasped the hilt of his sword, and shouted a warning...
DON PERIGNON
"-OM! ROLL! NOW!" The familiar voice and his reflexes had him moving before he knew he was awake. He remembered falling asleep with his sword in his hand. Now he was logrolling away from the campfire and trying to gather his feet beneath him. There was the loud, chattering sound of hundreds of small steel blades being clashed together. What th-? More confused shouts and the scream of terrified horses-"FLASH SPELL!"-Don shut his eyes hard and lanced his sword up into the air towards the oncoming noise. Red light flooded his lids. He opened his eyes into the night, slashing for his life...
El Sid
"FLASH SPELL!" he bellowed as he screwed his eyes shut and keyed the charm in his sword. He cast it in the direction of Krinn. He wasn't sure of the range of the spell but he directed it behind her so that, in case she didn't hear his warning, she would be looking the other way and the bugs toward it. She needed help if anyone did, meeting the monsters head on. "MOVE AWAY FROM THE FIRE!" he shouted again hoping that was what had really attracted the huge insects and not their own personal, succulent bodies. Then he lapsed into silence as he went into SHADOWS and threw his BLEND SPELL. He retrieved his crossbow and began to rapidly recock it keeping a wary eye out. Damn me for a fool!, he cursed himself, We should have pushed on rather than camping so close to this accursed woods. NEXT time, NO mistakes! Assuming there IS a next time, he mentally amended. The party was mainly up now. He couldn't see Perignon! Was the Don all right?? He raised his bow and sought a target of opportunity...
Don Perignon
Two of the racketous monsters buzzed right into Aron and Tristan! Whirling blades and refractive wings and legs instantly became a blurred confusion. Tanaka, to his left, rising, appeared torn between aiding his brother Fuji thirty feet away or flanking the bug in front of Aron. No such hesitation slowed the Don. The Kanday Boys wore chain and would have to fend for themselves. Their third guard on watch, KRIN, was cut off and unsupported. The Dom crouched and sprinted away from the fire attempting to round Tanaka and help the half-breed Elf. OOOPH!! That OAF! The Kandayan had made up his mind and, in an intent rush to help Fuji, had smacked into his back! The Dom stumbled forward but managed to keep his balance. He resumed his sprint, a silent, lethal killer with a purpose...
Tristan
He watched in satisfaction as one of his blows landed, cracking the carapace of the beetle in front of him in two. Krinn, with the help of Don, had taken out one of the two beetles attacking her and appeared to be doing well at fending off the other one. The Kandayans might be in some trouble; Tanaka had dropped his sword, and Fuji was laughing so hard he could barely manage a decent swing. As he watched, however, Tanaka dropped to one knee, grabbed the sword hilt and with an incredibly delicate yet blinding fast motion brought it up sharply, impaling the bug on the point of his sword. It too shattered into thousands of pieces.
All in all, the bug closest seemed like the best target, the one after Aron. Tristan shifted slightly, looking for an opening. Aron half glanced at him... and the beetle lunged past the big man's defense, ugly clawed arms cutting a shallow but bloody wound through Aron's leather armor. Aron batted it away, but was clearly in some pain. Tristan cursed and watched for another opening...
GLORM
Glorm cracked a bleary eye. Something was happening near the campfire. He ought to wake up. Darn that Trollish brandy; it really knocked you out. As he watched through slitted eyes, a crystalline beetle lunged at Tristan, who had been sleeping next to Glorm. A brandy induced illusion perhaps? The ring of steel and shouts of alarm finally penetrated his foggy brain. This was real. It really was time to get up or miss all of the fun. Glorm stood, grabing his shield and hammer in one fluid motion. Even half asleep his natural grace was apparent. There was one beetle zipping back and forth in front of Aron's face. With a well timed, almost casual swing of the hammer, Glorm hit it smack in the center and watched it turn into shards of powdered glass. He felt a deep disappointment. He had gotten up for swatting some bugs? That hadn't been much fun at all.
------------------------------------ BREAK FOR MECHANICS
Delrin cures Krinn to normal Delrin cures 4 points for Aron; he is down three
I upped Aron's common to 50%... decided his storyline, a man about town in Salta, doesn't jive with barely being able to speak common!