Journal - Fontainver and a New Direction

Fontainver

At last the citadel of Fontainver is in sight, still standing with Elven pennants flying proudly from the somewhat battered walls. The journey here was troublesome, with all manner of other-worldly creatures hell bent on destruction and death roaming freely around the countryside. The forest to the north was even more ominous that usual, with screeches and cries from within, and all that ventured there disappeared without trace. Even the animals seemed to shy away, and as we came farther east they all but disappeared. The farms had been looted and burned, with no food left to be scavenged. I had travelled with other men at times, but several had been hunted down and killed along the way. Luckily I had perfected the art of running faster than others and hiding well, with a little help from Essere when things got desperate. At least there was still meat to feed her then, now an increasing tide of humanity had stripped the land bare and all were heading for the one place left to find food - Fontainver. Despite the desperate times the people were uplifted - a massive army of demons had been defeated and there was still light and hope in these dark times. The strong were helping the weak and the fortunate sharing their goods with the starving.

Occasionally a small convoy would pass us in the other direction, under heavy escort by the armoured Elves, and each contained the same thing - farm supplies and equipment with a scared but determined family that knew the trade. They were off to make a new start of the farmland, a necessity if this number of people were to survive for long in one place. I thought of the things we had seen lurking around the farms and shuddered - best of luck to them. The closer we got to the walls (it was farther than I realised - the size of the place was impressive, despite the damage) the more I noticed that humans were no longer the norm, and instead it was Elves that made up most of the swelling columns snaking their way to one or other of the gates ahead. Despite the victory there were a lot of grim faces, and I did not hold up much hope of finding a hot meal and a warm bed that night. Piles of bodies were being burnt to avoid disease, and at least there seemed to be far more of the enemy in these pyres than of the Elven defenders. The lands around were not safe, but nor were they impassable, so there was still hope that peace could come again with the help of the Elves.

A temporary bridge had been built across the wide river to the south, allowing entry by more than one route, splitting those seeking shelter and making the approach more manageable. Despite this we were still pressed together as we entered an outer courtyard that swelled with refugees. We were near the harbour, which at least gave a breath of sea air to refresh us. The pace had slowed to a trudge and hunger beset us all. Marshalls gave out small flags with numbers, dividing the column into three and directing us towards areas where we could find a little shelter. I was intrigued to see the sign of Odin on these Elves, as I had not seen or heard of Odin's mark until those warriors engaged in the great battle with Malenwe spoke of Odin's light shining eternally to mark their victory, and here it was again. Here they gave out a warming soup and blessed those around, warming the soul as well as the body.

There was much destruction from the recent siege and battle, and signs of fighting could still be seen. The defenders' focus seemed to be on the people first and not their defences, which I took as a good sign for our safety. What pack horses there might have been were all gone, probably for food, and the only beasts left were the warhorses that the caravan escorts were using to take their precious farmers back out into the world. Now that I was closer to these Elves I could see that they did not resemble the forest folk we had seen from the Efferendil, and they acted in teams with rigid organisation, carefully dividing the people and seeing that their basic needs were met. My skin crawled to see that there was no freedom to move around, but I could understand the need to ration food and water carefully, at least for now. Besides which, those few that did not want to comply with the directions they were giving were treated harshly, like criminals, and beaten or worse until they had no choice but to conform.

By chance I had moved nearest to the docks, where it was clear that efforts to bring what food could be taken from the sea were as serious as those to restart farming. A strange ship, clearly not Elven, had just put in and a dour reception ceremony, heavily armed, looked likely to strip it of anything useful. In their way, though, was a figure armoured in a way I had never seen, face hidden behind a grotesque shaped mask with a helmet also hiding any hint of expression within. As they eyed each other up, a priest to one side shouted out to his fellows that this figure had been sent by Odin and that he had been gifted a vision of this arrival. This made me shudder again, as I too had seen strange visions at night. Admittedly this was not unusual after smoking good weed, but these had been particularly vivid and showed me a demon greater than any I had seen sweeping through the forest and besting even a great Elven mage. More than anything else this had made me avoid the dense forest and take a longer route here to the south. Desperate to escape our regimented progression, I dared to approach and speak of my own vision - at least this would be a curious diversion. The priest seemed to think that my sudden appearance was also Odin's will, and invited me to take food with him and the strange warrior, which I readily accepted.

After some curt exchanges in a language I did not recognise, the warrior left his ship and we both followed the priest, Baldir by name, as he led us towards a makeshift temple in the early stages of construction. Despite the damage to the defences, this seemed to be the one structure that was being worked on by any great number of people. They seemed better fed as well, perhaps to keep their strength up for the task set upon them. As I watched with amazement, a group of acolytes joined in prayer caused food and water to appear from nowhere upon what had been empty tables, and it was soon being divided up to be taken out to the camps I had originally been headed for. There were fires burning, giving warmth to the place, and some ale was handed round in some small measure of celebration for the solstice. Odin's name was spoken in thanks for every offering, and I decided that if it were not for the food I would probably prefer to be in the mass of people outside. As I turned to survey the area I was surprised to find that another man had followed us, dressed in greens and browns, armed, looking more like the forest Elves I was aware of and eyes set upon Baldir. He introduced himself, as the latter also took note of his presence, as Rhion from Walorin. This set my nerves tingling, as that was the name of the mage from my own vision! The foreign warrior was Takeda... and a bunch of other names I could barely follow, but Takeda seemed to be his given name, and he was related to the legendary Lanzi-Bao, the most powerful mage to walk the land since Lastar! This was indeed a fated meeting.

Baldir was wary, and excused himself to pray for a moment. Rhion claimed to be an elf in the service of Malenwe and his descriptions certainly matched some of my own visions. Perhaps he had some knowledge of the mage's "tree" that he had seemed so desperate to defend in my dreams. If nothing else there might be some knowledge of dweomer to be found there, but he seemed reluctant to be drawn on the details of the forest paths. He recognised Odin's followers, but said that he was "for Frey." Baldir returned from his prayers and claimed that Odin had guided him and that our company was to be entrusted with a task, and that Takeda would guide us. I didn't sign up for any quests!

Takeda explained that he was seeking a lost standard of his family (apparently mislaying a flag was a source of great shame where he came from, and no you can't just make a new one - who knew?) The last known location was at Vorsaykarai, which as it happened was where Lanzi began his journeys in our lands. My interest was piqued now - the chance to follow in Lanzi's footsteps (and with some well armed allies) was too good to pass up. We agreed to rest and meet at noon the next day so that we could prepare for our journey, and I was told that a mage at the keep would assist me in the morning, but the night was our own. We were all invited back to Takeda's ship, but I quickly made my apologies and got away to spend some time elsewhere. Let's just say that I wasn't expecting to see much female company once we left Fontainver... I also heard that there was some ridiculous argument about honour and who got to sleep where on the boat, so just as well I avoided that!

On the morrow I made my way to the keep to meet this "Merion" I had been directed to. The guards there were, understandably I guess, not happy about some disheveled guy turning up and claiming to be on important business, but mention of the name I was to meet and that Father Thomas (Baldir's boss) had sent me was eventually enough for them to escort me in. I was greeted by a kindred spirit, not armed and without armour, badly shaven gray hair, brown and black clothing in the style of Farass, blue eyes, and nearby a nice looking staff with ivory twists holding a green gem stone at one end. We shared some herbs, trying them in pipes and relaxing whilst we chatted. It was relatively quiet here, and for the first time I really noticed how much noise the mass of people had been making as I lived among them outside. He offered me a small bottle of purple liquid which he swore could make me fly. I know a few herbs like that, but they are strictly not to be taken near any long drops; this, though, I was assured was the real stuff. He warned me to drink it all in one go, though, and not sip at it or the effect could be unpredictable. He gave me some ointment for wounds, and a best of all a scroll with dwemoer that would send a group of men or creatures to a deep slumber mid action. This I spent some time scribing to my own spellbook for use later. Once our pipes were done I bid farewell and made my way slowly through the throngs towards the wharf and Takeda's ship.

Father Thomas was there and had arranged for us to take on the role of escorts to yet another group of farmers travelling out with supplies, heading south and west in the direction I had come from so I knew what to expect. The Lawrence family, as they were called, were to be in our care until we reached a farmstead and we would then continue on our own. A large oxen pulled cart was their transport, but we would travel by foot as horses were too scarce to spare.

A Farming We Will Go

The first day was slow going, as we were travelling against the flow of people still making their way towards the fortress. We had food for only two days travel and then would have to fend for ourselves, so I was glad when we turned from the road and headed west along what was once a thick hedgerow that had been flattened for the advancing army now departed; the ground was hard enough for the cart to make good progress and my spirits lifted a little to be out and free in the countryside again. That said, there was still no sign of wildlife and smoke rose from several spots near and far where something had suffered at the enemy's hands. We camped without much shelter and stood watches looking for danger.

I was on first watch with Rhion, and he hissed a warning after a few hours - his elf-sight had picked up movement to the south, so I quietly woke the others. Once we were up and ready Rhion loosed an arrow and a gurgling sound suggested that it had found its mark. Baldir moved forward, but I stayed by the cart to keep watch over the family there (and avoid any unnecessary fighting). Now both Rhion and Baldir were loosing arrows, and hitting their targets from the commotion they were causing. There was some arrow fire back, but it was ineffectual. Finally I could see some ugly humanoids moving towards us (Essere gives me the ability to see in the dark through her senses, but it has a limited range). Baldir let up a warcry to Odin and charged into combat, seemingly eager to do so. Rhion stayed back, hitting another target with an arrow. Takeda, who was still struggling to see in the darkness, also loosed an arrow but it went wide. I summoned dweomer to use my one tried and tested battle spell, with a shout of "missile" a green bolt streaked towards one of the beasts, felling it as its chest was pierced (although the dweomer leaves no visible mark that I can see, having studied many such bodies). Baldir put one down with his spiked mace, although he received a nasty wound in return. The rest was settled at bow shot, with Takeda killing one and Rhion two more to leave none standing. The rest of the night, thankfully, passed without incident and Baldir was able to treat his wound with prayers making the flesh visibly knit.

The morning brought the opportunity to loot the dead, although I doubted that such filth would carry any dweomer. There was a small argument between Takeda and Baldir over whether the farmers should receive some of the coin. Baldir thought that they would be better served by the donation going to the temple, would would in turn offer protection and equipment, but Takeda believed (probably rightly) that by the time the coin got from Baldir's money pouch to the temple they would have lost the opportunity to benefit at all. Takeda was getting less careful about how he addressed us as he became more familiar with our company, and it now sounded as if he called us "Fon", "Ron" and "Boulder"a - not that this bothered me, and in fact his accent made it quite amusing, not that he would see the funny side if I laughed, I'm sure. I forget which side of the argument won, but noted that I should try to pocket my own coin from time to time to avoid any such discussions.

After a meagre breakfast we continued our slow journey west, with Rhion scouting ahead for danger. The weather was damp and the cloud low, so having someone able to give warning was useful. After a while he signalled to us and crouched down, and a few moments later we heard something pass over us in the cloud above. Baldir noticed movement below us and to our left, some way off, but Rhion was focused ahead and loosed an arrow at an unseen target. He started moving to his right, shouting for us to protect the cart, as a group of figures started running at us from where Baldir had sighted them. They were calling out, and thankfully the language was Elvish - Baldir translated for us "take cover!" Rhion was runninng back towards us, pursued by five figures that were clearly not Elves, and there was still something above us in the clouds. I had climed up onto the cart to get a better view, and to provide cover from arrow fire, but suddenly a grotesque creature with the shrivelled torso of a woman and eagle like legs swooped down and tried to grab hold of me. I reacted just in time, using the cart's contents to shield me and its talons raked the boxes around me. I raised a shield of dweomer to protect me from it, as Takeda reacted with impressive speed, putting four arrows in it in quick succession! I followed up with a magic missle that finished it, and it came crashing down onto the side of the cart, thankfully rolling off onto the floor.

Takeda changed target, killing one of the approaching creatures, and Rhion picked another one off. I had a good look aroung for threats and thankfully most were a long way off, so I hopped down and started plucking some feathers from the beast. They might be of some use for research, and I suspected (rightly) that the others would appreciate a few for making more arrows. Essere picked at its wounds, enjoying fresh meat for a change. Takeda kept up his rate of fire, killing two more hobgoblins (that is the name we used for them anyway) and the last thought better of approaching and ran. The Elves reached us shortly afterwards, a little late for battle but a welcome sight nonetheless. They were from Fontainver and had been hunting the harpy (that is what they called the flying creature) since they encountered it at a farmstead not far from here. Note: let someone else check the buildings when we get to our destination. Baldir thanked them and formally blessed them and they went on their way, heading back towards the fortress now that their task was done.

We continued west once more, and the weather started to brighten up a bit. As visibility improved we could see quite a way down the slope to our right, towards the forest, and noticed some movement between two columns of smoke. We resolved to keep an eye on the area to see how they reacted to our presence, unable to avoid contact whilst with the ox cart and unwilling to abandon the supplies within. After a score of minutes it was clear that the figures below intended to intercept us, as they moved to cross our path. Rather than ignore this threat we prepared a defence, unloading crates to serve as temporary barricades and sending the family with us to hide some way off. As the enemy (for they were more of the hobgoblins) approached we judged their numbers to be around thirty, all armed and dressed in black. We were all nervous about these odds, but Rhion discussed tactics with the others and carefully made his way around the flank so that he could surprise them and possibly divide their strength as they closed.

They spread out as they closed, and we could now see the crude symbol of the great skulled wand that I knew from my dreams belonged to the great demon, Orcus. Takeda started loosing arrows at extreme range, hoping to deter them, and killed two. Baldir killed one with two carefully aimed arrows, but they showed no sign of reluctance as they jogged up the gentle slope. The arrow fire continued for a little longer, and Baldir and Rhion both killed one, but Takeda again was faster, killing three in the same time. But then the mass of creatures was close enough to scream and charge at us, hardly slowed by our makeshift defences.

I was anticipating this moment, and used the scroll that Merion had given me on the creatures flanking us around the cart, as a magical sand drifted through the air to settle on them they fell to the ground mid-charge and slid to a stop in a deep slumber. About half a dozen were affected, and Takeda put arrows in the necks of the first two to jump the barricade, so we had halved their number at least. Having done what I could I turned and ran as far as I could, leaving the warriors to do their thing! I lay prone in some heather, peeking out to see what would happen next. Rhion picked one off from his vantage point, finding easy targets now that they had their backs to him. Takeda killed another before it could attack. Baldir smashed the head in of the first to approach him. So far so good! One creature climbed the cart and leapt onto Takeda, trying to bear him down, but he rolled his body as it landed, dumping it onto the floor and put an arrow through its head, pinning it to the ground; it twitched and lay still. Meanwhile Baldir had bested another, pitching it back over the barricade, and Rhion picked another off at range.

It was clear that these creatures were no equal to my new friends, and over the next few minutes Rhion and Takeda had killed two more each and Baldir another. By this time I had sat up to enjoy the show, lit my pipe, and started to preen Essere with the little brush I carried for her. The fighting styles of Baldir and Takeda were very different, the former deflecting and countering blows and the later seeming to flow around them so that swings failed to connect and the creatures were immediately off balance. I should note that neither were flawless - they both took nicks and blows and by the end they were clearly in some discomfort. When only one was left standing, Takeda dropped his weapon, twisted low under his opponent's blow and grabbed it in a headlock, squeezing hard until its eyes rolled up and it fell unconscious. Apparently it was a great honour to take a prisoner, although I'm not sure what we were supposed to do with it.

Baldir called on Odin to heal his wounds, and Takeda's, as Rhion joined us again. There was certainly power in his faith, and Odin visibly answered his prayers - I had heard Odin being praised after the battle with Malenwe and again at Fontainver, and I could see why. The creatures had, unfortunately, slaughtered the ox in their frenzied attack, and I set about removing its guts before it spoiled the meat, slipping a little liver to Essere as a treat. Baldir was all for executing the sleeping foe, as well as our prisoner, which seemed a little unpriestly to me, but Takeda would have none of it anyway and in the end they were woken individually and shown the massacre of their fellows which soon had them running off. Baldir set about arranging the dead bodies into the shape of an eye of Odin, which would eventually leave a mark on the land. Meanwhile I was helping to cut up the ox to carry the rest of the way to the farm; at least we would eat well today.

Thankfully it was not far to our destination and we were able to manhandle the cart with some effort down the slope to a ruined farm, although the shells of buildings were not too badly damaged. We helped to shore up the worst of the damage so that the family would at least be protected from the elements as they set about rebuilding and tending to the land. Baldir and Takeda made several trips back up the hill to loot the dead and search for usable arrows. We had ox for lunch, and for dinner, but it was most welcome and filling. Finally we sat around a fire discussing our next move, enjoying a good smoke (well I was, and Rhion shared my pipe) now that our first task was done.