The Bracers ::-Haru|Anna-::

[Anna]

​

Marlow listened intently as Kor explained that his people tended to stay in the mountains, a curious look of awe gleaming in her hazel deep blue-green orbs as she peered up at him. His response caused so many more questions to spring to life in her mind, but she kept them there for now. There was a time and place for everything right? Instead of being too nosy for now, she offered the goliath a gentle smile and nodded. “Well! I’m real’ grateful and lucky that I get to call ya my friend, then!” She concluded, the childlike hope that showed in his own expression enough to melt her heart. If he wasn’t nearly eight feet tall, there was a good chance she wouldn’t be able to help the urge she had to grab him and coddle him for lookin’ so damn cute. All she could really do considering his size though was give him her own little reassuring pat, on his arm though instead, just near his shoulder, which she had to of course reach up to manage. She didn’t have many friends, either. She figured her teacher was a friend, but back in Mooncrest, everyone was too busy looking down on her, as they all still saw her as the little girl running around shooting at makeshift targets throughout the village and clumsily getting herself into trouble in one way or another…

But now she had a friend. Kor. And Val too, she hoped! And hopefully more friends down the line as well! But for now, she was happy just knowing that Kor saw her as a friend.

After a little rest, which was occupied mostly by Marlow forcing down her portion of ale, they were getting back to the road, with Marlow faced with the choice of making it by nightfall or not, depending on their pace. “Only if you think the horse can handle it, would be mean to make it strain too much.” She decided, after a moment of thought. He probably knew a little more about horses and what their limits were, as she’d never rode a horse so far, and especially never when it was pulling a heavy load. As she spoke, she didn’t fail to notice the way his sweat made his uniquely colored skin shimmer in the light, highlighting his muscles and inducing the very sudden and very odd urge to trace the beads of sweat down the crevices of his defined muscles with a finger. An urge she very much resisted, though the thought alone had her biting her lip and fighting not to stare.

To distract herself, she turned her attention to his baldric now, getting a better look at his Bracers patch as he set it facing upward. It was a combination of being very pretty and very elegant. She wondered then if it was something every Bracer had, and if they used it often to ward off those who might try to pull something… which made her figure that the Bracers had to be a pretty popular group if others not only recognized the patch, but were deterred by it.

She’d have to show it to her teacher when she went back home! Maybe he’d heard of the guild, back when he himself was an adventurer! Which was something he rarely ever spoke about with her, much to her frustration…

But that was neither here nor there. For now, she shifted her attention back to their task, watching the way Kor would flag people down to ask about Thornhold. And, while there was no real news from the people they spoke to about Thornhold, there seemed to be a lot going down instead at a village called Amphail. She didn’t expect Kor to ask her opinion, but it made her feel like she was a real part of the team that he did, giving her enough confidence to really speak her mind on the matter without feeling like maybe he’s just laugh at her for it. He didn’t seem the type to do that, but she wasn’t used to people really caring about her opinion too much.

“Well… I mean. Raids are no good for anyone, so it would be the right thing to do. Plus! Maybe the raiders will have something to do with our missing scholars? I think it’s worth at least checking out… right?” She didn’t want to seem too certain. Athenia had given them their mission, and it had nothing to do with Amphail, buuuut what if the two incidents really WERE related? There was a chance! And if nothing else, it sounded like the people of Amphail needed a little help. She could only imagine being in their shoes. She’d want someone to help her out if the tables were turned.

 

[Haruchai]

​

As Marlow proclaimed him to be her friend, the purple-skinned goliath gave her a smile, a genuine smile, and in truth the expression looked quite nice on his face. It was obvious that Kor was a gentle soul, from everything that Marlow had seen, and the smile looked much better than a scowl.

After a moment of though on Marlow's words, Kor nodded and turned their cart around. They'd passed the junction where on could use the High Road, or move a bit more eastward and use the Long Road. Kor had not taken the Long Road northward for quite some time, but hearing that there might be trouble, he had to agree with Marlow. He could only hope that making this decision did not lead to more trouble regarding the diplomats. They couldn't simply ignore this.

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The small jaunt back to the junction only took an hour or so, and they passed a few people on the road heading south, presumably to Waterdeep. Turning northward again, the Long Road seemed as well traveled and maintained as their other route had been, but as they traveled they did not run across a single person coming southward. Almost two hours into their ride a small hamlet came into view.

"Rass'lant'r." Kor explained, remembering the name.

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This small hamlet consists of six walled farms. A caravan stop along the Long Road, and just north of Waterdeep, it centered around a spring-fed pond which drains into a stream and then emptied to the east into the Stump Bog; a sprawling and desolate marsh. To the west of the farmhouses there is a narrow patch of trees referred to as Keep Woods, and which now grew up around the ruins of Rassalantar's Keep. To the east of those ruins was the Sleeping Dragon Inn.

Under the protection of Waterdeep, a barracks had been constructed adjacent to the Sleeping Dragon which held soldiers dispatched from the city. These soldiers each served a month before being rotated out for another squad, save for the commanders who had made their home permanent in Rassalantar.

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As their cart drew closer they could see nobody coming to greet them, soldier or villager alike. The place seemed quite quiet, and as they got closer still they could see that several of the farmhouses had recently been on fire, with rafters showing, and partially burned holes in the walls that surrounded them. The clopping of the hooves of their horse roused several carrion birds, who took to flight with cries of alarm. Low burning embers could be seen now, with wisps of smoke rising from the ruins of several farmhouses.

The source of the carrion birds could now be seen as well; several bodies on the road, soldiers by the look of them, their chain mail split open. Blood dried in the dirt, staining it dark, though from your vantage point this is all you can see so far.

At the sight of the bodies Kor frowned and drew his axe from where he had set it aside, his dark eyes now scanning their surroundings more diligently as he hopped down from the cart.

 

[Anna]

​

Rassalantar wasn’t where they had been warned about, so it wasn’t even a place that Marlow even considered, her mind so focused on Amphail that she forgot the possibility of their being village in between until she heard Kor simply state the name of the little hamlet they were approaching. At first, the sight wasn’t too disturbing. Just a few small houses, it looked like, similar to Mooncrest… but the smell of smoke was unusual. Or rather, the density of the scent. There was also the fact that the road here had been so empty, and as they drew closer, it became apparent that the little hamlet itself was just as empty. That is. Aside from the corpses that could be seen, guards splayed along the road, armor hacked open, leaving a bloody mess of blood and what was once probably guts before the birds got to them.

“My God,” Marlow gasped under her breath, her heart panging hard against her ribs and her brow immediately furrowing. She was on her feet in seconds, bow strapped across her back and shortsword sheathed at her side as she hopped down off of the opposite side of the cart that Kor had let himself down from. She shared one glance with the goliath, a very worry-filled glance, before she shifted, removing her longbow from her back and moving toward one of the nearby houses, doing her best to be dead silent as she moved around the back side, peering in through the windows or any gaps/openings as subtly as possible.

She didn’t know what she’d find, and was hoping for nothing, honestly. She didn’t want to try and stomach more corpses, especially those of children or defenseless men and women… All the while, she did her best to listen for Kor, or any sign that he might be in trouble. The place looked abandoned, though, so she wasn’t too worried initially about the ones responsible for the carnage being around.

 

[Haruchai]

​

As Marlow crept around the first farmhouse her footfalls were almost silent, and behind her a ways she could hear the horse snuffling a little, and the larger form of Kor as the large axe-wielding goliath moved to keep her in sight. The would-be Bracer had her first sight of true barbarism as peering in the window of the farmhouse she could see the origin of some of the smoke; a pile of two, perhaps three, burned corpses. Skin bubbled and peeled back, charred, faces unrecognizable, mouths pulled into rictus grins as the skin had drawn taut and bared teeth. Though the sex of the bodies was impossible to tell from the body parts themselves, Marlow was still able to easily discern that the clothing that was not utterly ruined was all male. There were no gowns or jewelry (not that farmers would be able to afford much), and the bodies were certainly not child-sized.

Kor moved from house to house, nowhere nearly as varefully as Marlow. Though he did not call out to bring attention to them, he looked in each house, and it seemed that they had both come to the same conclusion.

"No wom'n, no childr'ns." Kor said, brow furrowed in worry. All the bodies they had seen were male, and most seemed to be the soldiers that Waterdeep kept posted here. A few were farmers, and that would account for the patriarchs of each household, which meant that whomever had done this had taken the women and the children.

Motioning around the place, Kor gestured to where the Long Road passed through and the copse of trees as well, toward the mountains that split the High and Long Roads. "'ard t'say where they came fr'm, b't yeh think yeh c'n pick up sum tracks?" he asked her, looking concerned. "If'n th'wom'n was tak'n an'th'kids... no tellin' if'n we c'n save 'em, b't we gotta try." he said, his voice resolute.

 

[Anna]

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She could feel bile rise in her throat at the grisly sight laid out before her, wanting to look away from the corpses, but that somehow felt like the wrong thing to do. These people had suffered unimaginable pain in their last moments alive, moments that likely had been filled with terror beyond comprehension to most. Her jaw clenched as she forced herself to look amid the charred, seared flesh for any sign of who may have done this, but all she could manage to focus on was their faces, lulled back, skin dried and peeled with cooked muscle, fat, and tissue festering beneath. Hair was singed and gone, as was cartilage… but what remained was their teeth, seeming to smirk at her through their lack of lips.

She couldn’t look any more, reeling back and bracing herself against the wall beside the window as she did her best to calm her breathing, but there was no stopping the vomit that followed. Her stomach wretched, and up came the nice lunch Val had bought them along with the ale and anything else she has consumed since then. She did her best of course to hide this reaction from Kor, hoping she was in a position he couldn’t see when she spewed her guts out, but there was no hiding the way her flesh was cold and clammy when she finally moved to meet with. She had wiped the tears from her eyes, but her skin was blanched, paler than usual, and there was a slight shake to her knees as she approached the giant of a man.

Her head swam as she stood beside her friend, nodding when he mentioned that the road now before them as where the attackers must have come from, though she herself wasn’t sure. Kor knew his stuff, so she trusted him, and she completely agreed that they had to at least try and save anyone who had been taken, who, by the looks of it, had been women and children primarily.

She was grim as she took up Kor’s suggestion, but she feared she would fail due to her current uneasy state of mind. She had to clear her thoughts and calm down if she was going to be of any use, she reminded herself. Whoever had attacked, or whatever had attacked, were clearly merciless… they had to find just a trace that others had survived, that was all they needed.

With her back to Kor as she did her best to lead him northward along the Long Road, searching for any sign, or clue, keeping her eyes down and moving carefully until, finally, she saw something that was very out of place. It was a print - but not just any print, it was a canine of some kind, and it was very large. Larger than any dog print she’d ever seen, that much was for sure! Immediately, her body tensed as she lowered herself a bit, tracing the print carefully with the tips of her fingers as her brooding gaze shifted to follow the tracks.

Shooting Kor and uneasy glance over her shoulder, she sneered toward the tracks and followed them steadily, halting only when she noticed the prints moved from the road, toward the west. “Here, look!” She called to Kor, stepping off of the road as well and moving to push some low-lying bushes and weeds aside so the goliath could better see what she was seeing.

“I’d say… maybe five people, a couple looking to definitely be children. But the canine prints, I’m really not so sure about - there are lots.” She grumbled, her heart thumping nervously against her ribs.

“Where could they be going? What’s to the west?” She sounded unsure and a little hopeless as she stood and looked up at Kor, a frown tugging at her lips. She didn’t know the area well, but she already knew that whatever the case, they had to follow the tracks. They had to find the people who had been taken, and they had to save them, if they could! And yet, she felt a nagging, deep fear - a fear she was very resolute to not let show, for fear of Kor thinking her a coward. She didn’t want to end up like the people back at the village, but there was no way she could sit back and do nothing when she knew others faced that possible fate.

 

[Haruchai]

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Kor found nothing but death and destruction as he looked around the farmhouses, and his ire rose as he took in what had happened, piecing it together. He had not had the same gut wrenching reaction as Marlow, but he frowned and took note of her pallor as she came back to him and how she seemed a little unsteady. One massive hand moved to drop onto her shoulder, a steadying and comforting hand.

"Yeh a'right?" he asked softly, and there was genuine concern in his eyes.

He was proud of her as she did as he said, not because she simply followed orders, but because she did not shy away from the job at hand. As Bracers they were duty-bound to help in this situation, and this was an immediate and tangible problem, as opposed to the diplomats which were a mystery at the moment.

Marlow moved northward along the road and Kor followed slowly, axe in hand, though he was relatively sure that whomever had done this was long gone. Then Marlow gave a shout and he picked up the pace, kneeling down to inspect the places she showed him. He was no tracker, no expert, but she was certainly right - no normal animal had made these prints. His brow furrowed as he looked to the west.

"Th'mount'ns and sum woods." he said simply and then stood and looked back over his shoulder. "We can't taje th'orse an' cart. We'd 'ave t'go on foot." he said. "Nev'r been t'th'mount'ns but there's all kindsa stuff t'live there. No peeple, monst'rs." he explained. He heaved a sigh.

"We c'n go back t'th'city, g't 'elp... or see to it ourselves." he said. "Likely not enuff time t'get 'elp." he went on. They had no idea just what they might head into, but there were definitely women and children that were missing and would most likely be in danger. "I say we go t'elp. But we gotta leave th'orse an' stuff 'ere. Secure it. I dout they be comin' back." he explained, as the farmhouses had already been sacked. There was no reason to come back.

Looking at the lovely little human, Kor waited for her answer and soon he had it. They needed to investigate.

Moving quickly back to their supplies and the horse Kor would secure the animal to one of the many fenceposts, along with ready access to some food and water, dragging over a trough from one of the farmhouses. He'd have secured the animal somewhere more secure, but the smell of death lingered and the horse became skittish. Soon he was ready, making sure he had a waterskin filled with water, and grabbing a couple things to put in his pack he thought they might need; mostly some of the adventuring equipment that they had taken from Essimuth's.

Now quite prepared, or feeling like it, Kor would head to the wet with Marlow, staying a little behind as he let her move out in front of him by about ten feet so she could keep an eye on the tracks. The large tracks were deep in the earth as they got close to the stream, the ground a bit softer, and even on the other side, Marlow was able to stay on top of them for nearly half a mile. The woods here, known as Keep Woods, barely were able to hide the ruins within. Luckily for Kor and Marlow the trail actually seemed to skirt around the woods themselves, so it did not appear as if those they followed were in the ruins at all.

Sticking to the trail Marlow and Kor were able to follow the tracks util the ground started to turn more rocky, and they had been walking for almost two hours when Marlow lost the trail. The Sword Mountains were very close now, and much further and the two of them would definitely be in rough terrain.

"I'm used t'th'mount'ns. Wanna keep goin'?" Kor asked.

 

[Anna]

‘Yeh a'right?’​

Marlow nodded, perhaps too quickly, when Kor asked if she was alright, genuine concern lacing his voice. She had no right to be so weak in that moment. These people had suffered, and there were missing people who would suffer a similar fate - or an even worse fate - if she and Kor did nothing. “I’m fine.” She blurted, forcing a small, tight smile to her lips, though her voice was strained with unease. The large, warm hand on her shoulder was certainly reassuring, though, calming her nerves to know that Kor would be with her. She had no experience in this endeavor, but he did. That was the whole point of the mission, though, right? Putting a greenhorn like her with a seasoned adventurer. Perhaps their initial goal wasn’t to hunt down a bunch of monsters, but she still felt like perhaps this attack and the missing diplomats could be linked. If not, then she figured the diplomats weren’t even in any real danger, and they could wait, because there was simply no way they could walk away from this change in events.

She helped Kor secure the horse and cart as well as they could, but really, there weren't many places to tie the horse. She felt bad leaving it simply tied to a post, but hoped their adventure would be quick enough, so the best they could do was leave some food and water accessible and hope no predatory animals came scavenging. That done, she took what she could from the wagon, primarily the compass, as it was easily concealed, and one of the chains, which she slipped into the pack with her other belongings. She couldn’t carry much else without being weighed down, and her mind was too focused elsewhere, anyways.

Soon enough, she had found the tracks, and they were on their way.

It felt good to be back in the forest, surrounded by the sounds of insects and birds, but the tracks they followed kept her very much on edge. The large canine-prints… what could they be? She had never seen anything like them, and she had spent her whole life in the forest! Of course, not THIS forest, but she had always assumed all forests had similar inhabitants. So, these beasts had to be special in some way. Maybe unnatural, or not indiginous to this area…

As the wheels in her head spun round and round, and followed the tracks as best she could, desperate not to let the captives down. But when the ground began to grow more dense and rocky, and the trees began to fan out, it became evident that the terrain was changing. And with the harder earth, the tracks became more and more slight, until there was simply nothing left to follow.

Immediately, Marlow’s heart jumped high into her throat, her breathing becoming quick and shallow as panic gripped her chest. “B-but… how are we gonna find them?? The tracks are impossible to see..” She tried not to sound as panicked as she felt, but without the trail, wouldn’t they be walking blind? And she had no experience in the mountains, she had always stuck to the forests and avoided mountains due to the harsh landscape.

Before she could slip into despair, though, she found some relief when Kor piped in that he was used to the mountains. Vigorously, she nodded when he asked if they should press on. “Of course, we shouldn’t stop! We have to find them. I’m just sorry that I lost the tracks…” She sighed, looking back toward where the tracks had come from, and taking out the compass to at least look at which direction the tracks seemed to be headed in. If the captors had a specific destination in mind, they maybe they would be making a beeline for it. Meaning if they went the same direction, they might have a chance at finding those they followed.

 

[Haruchai]

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Kor gently patted her shoulder. "Yeh cannae always be keepin' th'tracks in sight. 'Specially wit' th'rocks. We'll find 'em ag'in. Besides, judgin' by th'size o'th'm prints, we'll be lookin' f'r snapp'd branches an' stuff. Sumpthin' that large cannae hide itse'f f'r long. Jes' keep yer eyes peel'd." he told her.

By now the terrain was definitely more rocky, with outcroppings that made traversing things more difficult, but also provided great cover. Kor, just as he had told Marlow, kept his eyes out for anything amiss. Those prints had looked canine to him, but he wasn't entirely sure about that, nor exactly what the beast might have been. All manner of creatures lived in the foothills and the mountains and despite his experience he was sure he'd not encountered all of them.

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Irgozz watched the duo enter the Territory, and he exhaled slowly. He wasn't worried about the human girl, she was just meat. But the goliath, he could be a problem. They'd come from the direction of the village, which was to be expected, and just why he had stayed behind, by order of Kikk, to watch the trails. It had paid off, and now he could head back to the Pack and tell them what to expect. Since there was only two of them, this should be easy.

Standing from where he had been hidden, and still far up the mountainside from the duo, Irgozz set off for the Pack... but as he stood and turned some loose rocks clattered down along the pathways, and he cursed, whirling around to see if either had noticed.

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Kor had a small pack, but he'd strapped it so it covered his chest, his axe across his back. His large form moved over the rocks easily, actually showing quite a bit of agility for a male his size. Marlow was following along, but now and then, if she had trouble, Kor had her grab onto his back, using the haft of the axe as handles, and he carried her easily.

They were just coming around a big outcropping when the clatter of rocks up ahead drew their attention. Immediately they both looked that way, and Kor shielded his eyes against the sun. Marlow, her eyes shaded by Kor's shadow, had her eyes adjust much more quickly and ahead up them, and partway up a large rock face, was a furred creature of some sort.

By now it had turned to face them, and it quickly drew a bow. The creature looked like a huge bipedal dog of some sort, and the armor it wore was a silver grayish color that blended well with the rocky terrain. That bow came up and an arrow was hastily loosed, arcing toward Kor and Marlow. It was obviously wide and clattered against some rocks nearby, but the figure was already pulling back another shot, obviously intent on sending it their way.

Kor charged ahead, knowing that if they both ducked behind the rocks they'd have cover - but would also give their enemy the chance to get away and slip out of sight, leaving them to try and follow a foe that could watch them and wait where they might not be able to do the same. So the goliath drew his axe as he moved, trying to close the distance, though it would take him several long seconds to do so.

 

[Anna]

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Marlow offered Kor a small, hopeful smile when he reassured her, warmth pooling in her cheeks at the way his large hand dwarfed her slender shoulder. He was capable of being surprisingly gentle, despite his very large and strong build. Now was hardly the time for noticing such things, of course, but it was something she noted and locked away in the back of her mind as the duo made their way up the mountainside.

She kept up as best she could, but was again surprised by how spry the large man was among the loose rocks and sloped earth. She was light on her feet and usually sure-footed, but she was not used to this type of terrain in the slightest. The loose rocks skidded and rolled beneath her feet when she tried to move too briskly, causing her to slip and stumble on occasion. There was also the slight discomfort that came with knowing they were climbing higher and higher, slowly but surely.

“You sure?” She would ask Kor hesitantly when he offered for her to ride on his back, wondering if she’d slow him down or cause him to lose his own balance. After all, she truly didn’t want to be a burden. But once she had climbed into his back when the slope was too steep or the ground was too unsteady, she found that he carries her with no strain at all. It was as if she weren’t even there on his back. Even with the added weight of her own pack added into the mix.

For the most part, though, she tried to walk on her own two feet, so long as she was able to do so without slowing them down any. It was just after she had hoped off of Kor’s back and was trailing cautiously behind him when the sound of tumbling rocks caught her attention. Immediately, her head snapped in the direction of the sound, and her eyes grew wide at the sight. Some kind of… dog-like being, it seemed. Nothing she had ever seen before, that was for certain!

“What the hell is tha—!” Her words cuts off when the creature shot at them. It missed completely, but that didn’t mean it would continue to do so. And with Kor now charging head-long at the thing, Marlow went into her hunter’s mindset immediately and followed Kor at a slower pace, drawing her long bow as she moved closer to the creature and stopped after moving roughly fifteen feet after it to lift her own bow and let loose an arrow of her own. Her breathing was steady as she did so, her mind zoning in on the task at hand - bringing down the prey, for that was what the beast became the moment it assaulted them. This wasn't to say she was suddenly calm. Not at all. She wondered if this thing had left behind the canine tracks they had been following, and of course, she worried that he wasn't alone. But there was no time to sit and ponder. Kor was charging the creature, and wisely so, considering they didn't want it escaping. And so she knew she had to provide him some cover, making it as difficult as she could for the creature to fire right at Kor as he raced toward it.

She continued shooting arrow after arrow of her own as he ran at the weird dog-being. She would move fifteen feet closer, let loose an arrow, and repeat the process. There was little time to try and find cover of her own, but she felt no fear of being injured in that moment, only focus. And that focus was on trying to bring the creature down before it could hit Kor - preferably without killing the thing.

 

[Haruchai]

​

Kor had heard of these beats before. Gnolls. Hyena-like humanoids that worked in packs, and often kept regular hyenas as pets. They were cunning, but not horribly strong, and relied on numbers and intimidation. It was a bit unusual to see them this close to the city, but they'd most likely been the ones to decimate the villagers, judging by the prints.

As Kor ran forward, the gnoll exchanged fire with Marlow, and Kor glanced over his shoulder to see the feisty redhead with her bow, advancing and firing. Good girl!

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Irgozz let out a few short barks as he exchanged arrows with the smaller one, all too aware of the goliath that was closing in fast. He was loathe to show them his back, but gnolls were craven, and though his first shot hit the girl, arcing over the charging goliath, his second shot clattered against rock and he turned to retreat, yipping out to his Pack. Clambering up the rocks the human girl didn't seem to be fazed and her arrows struck true, his armor pierced as the shafts pierced into his back and the last hit his shoulder to turn him right back around and he lost his footing and fell onto his rump.

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Marlow let fly, her bow singing as she found herself in her element, her bow like an old lover and she knew just how to pluck those strings. One of the creature's arrows found its' mark and she'd feel the warmth of blood as it ran down her hip from where the arrow now stuck in her side, but the next shot by the beastman went wide. Her own aim was much better, piercing the creature with all three shots, and she saw it drop down and out of her line of sight.

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Kor drew his axe when he was crossing the last bit of distance, and he raised that curved blade, though found the gnoll with no weapon in hand, and his arms raised in surrender. He had heard it call out though, and likely there were others on the way. The blood pooled under it, three arrows in it, and Kor shook his head. It wouldn't live long enough to answer questions anyway, and his axe fell on the creature, sinking deep as it failed to defend itself.

He turned to Marlow as he wrenched the axe free. "Shur t'be more on th'way! We need t'find a place t'def'nd!" he called out, now not worried about whether they were heard or not. They had to find a defensible position and wait to see if others showed up. Hurrying back down he would help Marlow up to a ledge that had a shallow overhang, perhaps going back about eight feet or so. The place where the gnoll had been hiding. He could see why it had stayed there, and if it had kept its' wits it could have sniped them easily.

 

[Anna]

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The terrain made it difficult to give chase nearly as quickly as Kor was capable of, but she was able to stay within range of the strange creature, so wrapped up in the adrenaline of the chase that she scarcely noticed that an arrow had pierced her leather armor at first. She did feel a slight pinch in her side, followed by the flow of warmth beneath her clothes, but it didn’t slow her pace. She noticed the creature trying to scramble up the side of a cliff, and that was when she got him, pinning him with all three arrows like some kind of pin cushion. Then, the creature fell out of view, and so did Kor as he reached where the creature had fallen.

What WAS it?? Her mind raced as she ran as fast as she could then toward the fallen creature, unsure if it was even still alive. When she caught up as best she could with Kor, the ledge still mostly blocking her view, she knew then that the thing was dead. She was assured that it was, indeed, very dead upon finally catching up to Kor though. She didn’t see the creature at first from her point below the ledge, and instead hurried to reach one her free hand to take Kor’s own as her other held her bow, heaved easily up by the goliath as he spoke to her urgently.

“You think the others are nearby, then?” She asked, her heart racing and her breath still coming out quick and shallow as she followed him further back onto the ledge, looking to where the definitely dead creature lay, slain. It was then that she felt it - a throbbing in her side. Furrowing her brow, she pushed her cloak aside to look down and see that she, too, had an arrow sticking out of her. It was imbedded just below her ribs, having pierced her armor. It was finally starting to hurt, but she didn’t think it had pierced anything vital inside of her. It was mostly just in the way, so as the two moved back further into the overhang where the creature had been hiding, she set her bow against the rocky mountain wall to snap the end of the arrow off. Leaving enough to pull the damned thing out later, but breaking enough off so that it wouldn’t be in the way of her arms. It hurt to break, of course. She hissed a little, her breath catching harshly in her throat and her body jolting, but there wasn’t much more that could be done.

Her mentor had taught her a minor healing spell, but she hadn’t really used it on herself before, and didn’t feel the situation was dire enough to waste time on it in that moment. “Do you know what that thing was?” She asked as she busied herself with arming herself with her bow once again, readying herself for the potential of more coming but unable to keep herself from peeking back up at the goliath now and again as she stood mere inches from his side. He was large and there wasn’t a lot of room, but she didn’t mind it at all. As they ‘hid’, though she wasn’t really sure it was hiding at this point as much as it was waiting for a more dangerous fight to befall them, she keep an eye out on their surroundings, trying to keep a lookout for more of the dog-like beasts.

 

[Haruchai]

​

Kor nodded at Marlow's question. "Oth'rs are always nearby. Dese are p'ck beasts, so they don' sep'rate by m'ch. Dis wun was likely a scout or watch of sum sort." Kor told her and he looked at her as she snapped off the arrow, his eyes narrowing. "Yeh 'urt?" he asked, obviously getting a bit riled. Only once Marlow would reassure him she was ok would Kor answer her next question.

"Gnolls. Hyena-men. N'sty and danger'us, but cowardly wh'n alone. S'why it tried t'run." he explained, gesturing to the body of the one close by. Shit! They hadn't moved the body...! Just then a soft call could be heard. A high pitched grunting-yip sound, hard to describe, but obviously another of the gnolls, probably calling out to the one they'd killed. Kor shook his head and looked at Marlow, putting a finger to his lips. A slight scuffling could be heard along the rocks, but the exact direction was hard to say. However, Kor shook his head as he could now, and should have, predicted what would happen next.

A short high pitched burst of sound as the body was spotted, then a hasty retreat by those that had answered the call. They weren't going to come close enough to be ambushed or surprised, and Kor looked at Marlow. "If dey make it b'ck they'll alert th'oth'rs. Or we c'n go b'ck an' leave it alone." he offered, but he knew she needed to make her mind up quickly.

 

[Anna]

​

Perhaps it was the adrenaline, but Marlow could hardly feel the pain that the arrow in her side should have caused her. She felt the pressure of the foreign object embedded in her each time she drew breath, but there was no real discomfort to speak of. “I’m fine,” She answered simply when he furrowed his brow and offered his concern, but they had more important tasks at hand now as the beasts began to howl and yip as they made their quick retreat from the area.

Their next course of actions seemed like it should have been the obvious answer. If they made it back to alert their companions, then the people they had taken would be in more danger with their captors under duress of being followed. “Then it sounds like we are going to have to stop them before they make it back!” Marlow quickly added as she did her best to make out where the sounds had come from. She had never fought their ilk before, but she had hunted plenty of prey. If she could make out where the sounds had come from, then they could make chase.

“The sounds really echo in the mountains, though, don’t they?” She huffed rhetorically in her frustration, moving toward the body to try and see if there was any sign of its retreating friends. “If we can find where they went, I may be able to pick their tracks back up and decipher how many of them there are.” As she spoke, she looked toward Kor for guidance. She was worried, but not for herself. She wasn’t afraid of oversized-mutts! This was what she convinced herself, anyway.

No, her fear was for the children they had taken. However, Kor was the seasoned explorer here, and he knew his way around the mountains. No way could she hope to track them on her own.

 

[Haruchai]

​

Actually proud of her that she wished to press onward, Kor knew this young woman was cut out to be a Bracer. It showed in that eagerness to help and the tenacity to carry through wit her convictions. "S'good. We'll move quickly now so try'n keep up." he warned, and set off at a jog. Neither of them would be horribly adept at tracking over such barren and rocky terrain, so he was hoping he could catch up enough to catch a glimpse of them to see where they might go.

His intuition paid off, and Kor caught sight of the hunting party, well ahead, but unable to hide as they moved from cover to cover, and... they still had live victims, and that was slowing them down. Kor paused and looked to make sure that Marlow was keeping up, and he gestured to the gnolls in the distance. "It's lookin' like we be in luck. Ev'n if'n they make it t'th'lair, the confines shou'd fav'r us." he explained.

This was certainly the stuff that legends were made of; following an enemy with greater numbers back to their base of operations to rescue innocent victims.

-----​

Over the next thirty minutes the two Bracers followed their quarry, who seemed wholly unaware of their presence. Much of that was due to Kor, who thrived in the mountain terrain, and would often carry Marlow if she started to lag behind, or they needed to traverse a particularly steep area.

In time they could see the gnolls disappearing into the mountainside, and if they'd not been following them then the deceptively hidden entrance to the cave would have been hard to find. Setting down the slight woman, Kor nodded at their destination. "Seems we kno' where they be. I suggest we be goin' in soon. We cannae be sure wh'n they might be 'avin a feast." he said, hinting at the demise of those that had been taken.

With a look of concern his eyes moved to the blood on her. "Yeh alright?" he asked.

 

[Anna]

​

Marlow hated feeling useless or in the way, and when Kor had to carry her over the rougher terrain, she definitely felt like a burden. But it was that or slow them down dramatically, losing footing due to loose ground or taking forever to scramble over steep slopes, so she accepted it for what it was and gratefully accepted the man’s help. She was just lucky that she was so slight in stature and that Kor was so strong, carrying her like she weighed practically nothing to him - which was likely the truth. Regardless, she was relieved when they finally made it to what seemed to be the gnoll’s current den. It was likely where the captives were, but the idea of the gnolls ‘feasting’ on the victims caused her heart to nearly plummet in her gut, like a stone tossed into a dark lake, breaking the stillness and leaving unsteady ripples in its wake. She didn’t know how she’d handle it if they were too late, and she tried not to think about it.

“I’m fine.” She reassured Kor when he looked to her bloodied leather armor, offering him the best smile she could considering the situation. She was wounded, but it was nothing serious. There was no gushing of blood, and while movement and breathing was uncomfortable, she wasn’t in agony, so she took that to mean no vital organs were likely wounded. “I think the captives may have more than just a minor arrow wound - I’ll tend to myself as soon as we do what we can for them.” She sighed shakily, looking back to the hidden cave and nodding lightly, agreeing that they should head in before anything happens.

“I could go in first. Try and be sneaky, and see if the people they took are alright… then I can pluck off as many as I can with my bow. They don’t seem to be highly intelligent; once they spot me, I can back out of their sight. Assuming they are cornered in there, they will have no choice but to come after me - and they’ll run right into you.” As she suggested her idea, she looked to Kor for his opinion. He knew infinitely more about gnolls than she did, so he’d know if it would be smarter to just charge right in.

“If you want to just storm in, I can have you back, plucking them off from a distance. I’m decent with my sword as well, if it comes to that.” There were pros and cons to both ideas, but being the novice, she felt it wise to look to Kor for his opinion.

 

[Haruchai]

​

She was thinking about the captives and Kor nodded, though raised a brow as she mentioned going in first. He shook his head. "Nay. I'll go t'draw 'em out. We'll set yeh up a place t'snipe 'em wit' yer bow." he said, and looked around. "Sumpthin' like th't." he said, and pointed to several places where she could have cover and would have a good field of fire.

"Once I draw 'em out I'll move t'cut off th'retreat." he said. Then, suddenly, he bent and kissed her forehead. "Be caref'l." he told her, and he moved off, slowly, toward the entrance to the den, giving her plenty of time to pick her vantage point and make it there, turning to keep an eye on her now and again so he knew where she was at.

 

[Anna]

​

She wouldn’t admit it, but hearing his idea calmed her nerves a bit. She didn’t particularly WANT to go in alone, it had merely been an idea - an idea she was glad didn’t need to happen. Though, she did feel worried for him, going in on his own. She knew he was strong, but there were an unknown number of gnolls inside that cave--

All thoughts left her mind for a moment when Kor knelt down and, unexpectedly, planted a surprisingly gentle kiss to her forehead. She didn’t know if it was the shock of the display of affection, or the fact that he actually cared about her when HE was the one putting himself in danger, but her heart suddenly slammed against her chest, her belly erupting into a storm of butterflies. Her cheeks immediately burned a soft, warm shade of red, but she was quick to respond to him, even if all she could manage was a nod.

She knew now was no time to entertain any funny ideas, so she did her best to shove the thoughts and rising emotion aside as she turned to find herself a good perch. They were still in the mountains, so finding herself a decently sized boulder just above the cave within range of the entrance was easy enough. She watched Kor, then, notching an arrow and taking aim... her forehead still lightly tingled from the kiss.

 

[Haruchai]

​

The large form of Kor was easy to keep track of, but only because Marlow knew where he'd started from. Even without really trying the form of the huge male slipped in and out of sight, his skin blending easily into the rocks, almost the same color, especially in the shadow. Marlow found what many would have described as the perfect place, with a clear field of fire, and very hard to reach without staying in that field for a long time.

Kor stopped and then started again, and then when he moved placed himself directly in front of the cave entrance and for lack of a better word... roared. The cry was a definite challenge. It echoed off the rocks, masculine and deep, vibrating into Marlow's bones even from that distance. Kor gripped his weapon in both hands, feet set, and Marlow had a bird's eye view as the gnolls swarmed from the cave.

Perhaps it was the stance, the bold challenge, the roar itself; but whatever it was the somewhat canny gnolls from before were now a slavering berserk group, a true pack mentality. They swarmed the goliath, and it seemed he might get overwhelmed, but his blade cut in huge swathing arcs. Marlow, so long as she kept her aim away from Kor could fire with almost impunity and likely hit a target of one sort or another.

Letting fly, her arrows streaked into the mass of gnolls, felling several of them even as Kor's blade dispatched several as well, though the goliath did not escape unscathed, and dark blood ran down one leg.

Then... almost as if in answer to his own challenge, a roar from within the cave could be heard, the cave acting almost as a megaphone and amplifying the sound, rippling along the ground. The gnolls immediately backed off, though their cries and yips echoed off the rocks. Kor was breathing a bit heavy, even Marlow could see that, and he wiped blood from his eyes as a form exited the cave. Taller and larger than even Kor, the twisted form bellowed angrily and stalked toward the goliath.

Marlow had heard tales of the Fomorian giants. A formerly beautiful race of giants that had been cursed by the Fae for their hubris, they had been driven underground. The sun was low on the horizon now, which likely had prompted the bold exit of the twisted being. The gnolls backed off, barking and snapping at one another as the apparent leader of their pack closed in on Kor.

 

[Anna]

​

Marlow had never felt as helpless as she did in that moment, watching as the giant lumbered angrily from the cave, so large that it towered over even Kor! And Kor, brave soul that he was, was wounded. It took every ounce of control in the red headed girl not to just jump down and rush to the scene, and instead she kept her ground, perched within perfect view of the hideous giant. To try and distract the disfigured being, she called out to it, speaking in Giant as she lifted her bow and drew back an arrow. “Look this way, you ugly bastard!” She cried out, hoping it would be distraction enough to grant Kor time to land a blow as she let the arrow fly.

She was terrified. The giant was, well, GIANT. But she was more afraid for Kor. He was big and strong, but she felt like she was leaving him stranded, and it was a feeling she hated. If only she could get her hands on him, she could heal him… it was frustrating!

 

[Haruchai]

​

"F'ck!" Kor cursed as the Fomorian lumbered into the area beyond the mouth of the cave. He knew that there'd be some sort of chieftain or warband leader, but he had expected a large gnoll, or perhaps even an ogre. But a giant was another thing entirely.

Just then he heard some yelling and glanced to see Marlow, her slight human form, waving and distracting the enemy. With a grin he turned back to the giant, the gnolls yipping and crying out as they noticed Marlow as well. Then the arrows came. The lovely little human was taking her shots at them while she could, her elevation and strategic placement giving a rather nice advantage.

In fact, the Fomorian yelled in pain as an arrow sunk into an eye, that massive arm swatting at the empty air, the none-too-bright monstrosity tried to make the sting go away. Kor growled and darted forward, his axe swinging low and then brought up in a strike that caught the giant on the inner thigh, the steel biting deep and almost immediately blood began to pump from the wound, almost black.

Yelps from the gnolls could be heard as Marlow defended her position, arrows finding their mark even though Kor dare not look. The giant whirled, faster than he had thought it might and a clubbing blow caught him in the shoulder, whirling him around from the impact and sending him tumbling to the dirt. He rolled, his shoulder dislocated, and he grimaced in pain as he got back to his feet. Luckily the giant was flailing wildly, eyes full of blood, effectively blinding it.

That didn't mean its' gnoll subordinates had given up though and Kor found himself beset by two of them as the rest tried to get to Marlow. Even with his arm held close to his side, the Bracer laid the gnolls low, though he now bled from a couple more wounds and could feel his strength beginning to fade. The blood loss from the massive wound on its' leg made the giant falter, and it stumbled. Kor drovved his battle axe and grabbed the hand axe on his hip, letting it fly. The blade sunk deep in the giant's shoulder and it roared, finally getting a bearing on Kor and turning its' one good baleful eye upon him.

Kor stumbled as the world seemed to tilt, the malice of the giant slamming into his psyche like a hammer. The shoulder that was out of place shifted, and Kor groaned in pain as his body tried to rebel against his mind. Fumbling for his other handaxe he found it and threw blindly. It hit, but clanged off the skull of the giant with the blunt side - but enough to distract it. Kor grabbed for his axe again, but the ringing in his head was just too much. Luckily, another well placed shot from Marlow into the throat of the Formorian brought it low. Blood filled with bubbles wetted the dirt, and the giant lapsed into agonal breathing as it struggled for breath.

Even seeing this creature in this state had Kor wanting to end its' misery and he finished the job with a skinning knife, but then collapsed in the dirt, exhausted and bleeding.

 

[Anna]

​

Victory seemed unlikely. There were just two of them versus so many gnolls on top of the arrival of the giant... honestly, if she had been alone, she may have been tempted to flee at the sight of the giant. But watching Kor fight on gave her courage that she didn’t know she was capable of, aiming with better accuracy than she had ever done before - that, though, could easily be credited to her position above the scene. She picked off the gnolls one at a time, but was quick about it. An arrow to the side of the skull here, through the spine there; but it felt like no matter how many she picked off, more came crawling out from the rocks, like roaches. They nipped and bit and picked at Kor as he fought both them and the giant. He took out a good deal of them, but not unscathed.

“Kor!” She couldn’t stop the way his name tore from her throat as he was struck hard. She was too far to assess the damage, but the way he swayed was a bad sign, and the dark blood against his blue skin was frightening… but it was also the cause of the deep, hot raged that swelled within the bird-boned girl’s small chest. With an amazing stroke of luck and red hot anger behind the attack, she managed to piece the giant’s throat with another arrow. Kor has enough strength in him to finish the job before he collapsed among the mountain of gnoll corpses, beside the body of the giant.

Panicked, pure adrenaline burned through her veins as she scrambled down from her perch, obtaining a few fresh scrapes and cuts as she went, more blood gushing from her abdomen where the arrow stuck from her flesh, but she paid none of that any mind as she raced to Kor’s side. Panting and gasping for breath, she kept over corpses until she was at the side of her companion.

“I told Lana I’d look out for you, you’re not allowed to die!” She half chided half pleaded as she put her hand to his side, using what little magical capacity she had to use a good deal of her dwindling energy to try and heal the giant of a man. Healing was not her forte, though; she stopped the bleeding, cured him of his smaller superficial wounds, but there wasn’t a lot she could do in that moment for his shoulder or for the blood he had already lost.

Though she had kept her composure up until now, she couldn’t hold herself together now that they had dealt with the immediate danger. Hot tears swelled in her eyes, her hands shaky and unsteady and she pressed them to Kor’s skin, trying to help him sit upright. She knew she should have been worried about the captives, and she was! But Kor was her foremost concern at that moment. “A-are you alright?” She asked gently, her voice tense and desperate. She needed him to be okay. She literally didn’t know what she’d do if he wasn’t.

 

[Haruchai]

​

Kor was definitely a little weak, but his grimace of pain relaxed as the healing warmth from Marlow stopped the flow of blood and knitted shut the worst of his wounds. He opened his eyes, those dark orbs taking a moment to focus before he found Marlow's face, her expression of worry immediately concerning to him. Are yeh 'urt? Yeh ok?" he asked, his voice a bit raspy, his throat dry. "I gotta prot'ct yeh, me luvly lil' duv." he said, his large hand moving over her, looking for wounds, her well being foremost on his mind above even his own.

Then, with Marlow's help, he managed to get to his feet and the sun setting in the sky urged them toward the nearest shelter. The cave. It was dangerous enough traversing the rocky terrain in the light of day, and under cover of darkness, in his weak and hurt condition, it could very well be deadly. Relatively sure that nothing else was within the cave, the duo entered. Once inside, and once their noses became accustomed to the musty smell of gnoll, the interior was actually not too bad. The cave went rather deeply into the mountain, though they had no need to explore too far. Just inside the entrance it was dry at least, and provided shelter for the night.

Though the going was slow, Kor managed to build a fire, as the materials needed were all in one place by a firepit that had been dug. Soon they had a nice fire to warm the place and also to give them some light, and Kor began to to peel away the armor and clothing he had that covered his wounds so they could be repaired, and so he could see how badly he was hurt. He wished they'd been able to bring their supplies along, but as it was they could get back to them in the morning.

His expression was soft and warm as he looked to Marlow. "I'll be a'right. Thank yeh f'r 'elpin' me." he said.

 

[Anna]

​

... me luvly lil' duv…

Marlow’s cheeks lit up as the surprisingly gently spoken words left the goliath’s lips, and even more so when his large hands carefully pawed against her body, looking for any wounds. Aside from the arrow, she was alright, of course. “You’re the one hurt here!” She chided him, but there was relief in her strained voice - relief that Kor was alright, more or less. With some rest, he’d be back to his normal self. But for now, they needed cover, as darkness was falling, and fast. Acting like a tiny crutch for the giant of a man, Marlow did her part in helping Kor hobble to the cave, where her eyes scanned for any sign of life, hoping to see any sign of the people from the village, but they didn’t go deep enough. Wounded and exhausted, they needed to recover before they ventured deeper… still, she hoped they were alright.

She felt guilty, but she couldn’t stop thinking of what Kor had called her. His lovely little dove. She would have smiled, if not for everything else that was going on, but it still warmed her cheeks.

Slowly, she sat down beside Kor as he began to build a fire. She helped where she could, but it was mostly a one man job; she was just glad when it was lit, illuminating the portion of the cave they inhabited, and allowing the teen to watch as Kor shed his armor, one bit at a time, his clothes as well. What covered his wounds, anyway.

She knew he was built, but seeing him partially naked? It only solidified the imagery she had painted of him in her mind. Perfectly chiseled, like a great statue! Clearing her throat a little, she forced herself to look away, shedding her cloak and hissing a little as she peeled away her own leather armor vest, leaving her in just her simple cotton button-up blouse that was now stained in blood. It wasn’t as bad as his wounds, but it still hurt a good deal. Peeling the shirt up, just over her ribs, she lightly pressed at the skin around where the arrow shaft stuck from her abdomen. The arrow head was partially visible; a sign that it wasn’t too deep.

Without her armor adding bulk to her frame, the goliath would get to see just how petite and delicate the girl's frame truly was. She was slender enough that one of his massive hand could likely fit more than halfway around her waist, the flesh of her bared belly smooth and creamy, the portion not currently smeared in blood reflecting the warm glow of the fire.

“D-.. do you think you could do me a favor?” She asked him in a shaky tone, biting her lip as she turned to show him the wound. “Could you pull it out? I.. I don’t think I have a strong enough grip..” She admitted somewhat bashfully. She had broken most of the shaft, and besides, she didn’t think she was hardcore enough to pull it from her own body. She was dizzy just thinking about it.

“After we rest, we should look deeper in the cave… those kids, they have to be here somewhere.” She murmured to distract herself.

 

[Haruchai]

​

Already the natural hardiness of the goliath of a man could be seen, as the healing from Marlow had helped clear his head. He was still wounded, to be sure, but the pain would subside, and his senses cleared as Marlow peeled off her own armor, leaving just the thin cotton shirt. She was thin, but definitely feminine, and Kor tried to pry his eyes away from her softer bits. This was not the time for such thoughts.

His expression grew serious as she made her request, her exposed belly smooth and taut, the swells of her breasts just above where she held her shirt. He winced at the sight of the arrow still in her, but nodded as she asked him to help her extract it. He'd done things like this many times, but never on someone as small as Marlow, though he knew she was not frail by any means. Kneeling beside her he inspected the wound. She'd snapped off the shaft of the arrow, but he frowned. "If'n I try t'jes pull it out, yer skin will rip'n tear. Yeh'll 'ave a nasty scar. It might'n 'urt a bit, but I can push it th'rest o'th'way thru'. Th'cut'll be clean an' jes' a sm'll 'ole."

He kept his onyx colored eyes on her as he spoke, and he'd brought up one hand to gingerly touch the wound, amazed by the smoothness and flawlessness of her skin. He didn't wait for an answer though, and suddenly, with a sharp push of his palm on the end of the shaft, he pushed the arrows through, the bladed head cutting out the other side clean and then he pulled it out. There was a definite sharp sting, but Kor dug into a pouch at his belt and handed a small vial of blue liquid to Marlow.

"Drink this lil' duv." he told her. He'd managed to get a few healing draughts from Essimuth back in Waterdeep, but he'd brought them for the girl, not for himself.

As she mentioned the captives his eyes lit up. He'd totally forgotten, in the face of the battle and now he hoped they were not too late. "We shood be look'n f'r them." he agreed. He stood, towering over the new Bracer, and there was no way he could hide the concern in his eyes.