Vadim convinces us to head north to round up the Black Crows
before they get eaten by Nohai
Khut notices black birds circling in the distance
We book it full speed,
running strait like an arrow to the circling battle-to-be
We arrive, just in time to see the Dust sneaking up on the Black Crows
And a cloud of small, black spikebeaks ("ripclaws")
(trained as hunting birds by the Black Feather warblers)
And a crew of emaciated, Empty-Circle nohai charging after the Dust,
running on all fours
... Because FREE FOR ALL
The birds dive after Ithunn, and she punches them out of the sky
Sorquitani fires some fire over their heads...
Ado fires a screamer arrow at them as well, scattering half the flock
Squee jumps between the Dust and Black Crows
screams (magically loud) "Everyone stop!"
Vadim runs for the Black Crows and tries to steal the best-looking beast
Barruk charges the Empty Circle nohai and swings for the fences...
lightning falls from the sky, strikes his axe, and roasts a nohai
... One of the Empty Circles glares at Barruk, Sorq, and Khut
causing us to briefly snap into the Fade from which they come...
Another leaps at Barruk, and lands, hanging on his shield...
The Dust turn and open fire on the empty circle...
impaling the shield-hanger...
The Black Crows, two-to-a-beast stare at squee but stay out of the fight...
Khut keeps and eye on Ithunn, just to make sure she's alright,
then scalps one of the Empty Circles with an arrow
Ado pegs it clean through the heart...dropping it...
Squee waxes cute, pouts at the Black Crows, points at the Empty Circle
and the Black Crows charge into the battle...
They crash in and send an EC Nohai flying...
Vadim vaults onto a loose, rampaging warbeast
turns it towards the Empty Circle...
They scatter...
Barruk rears up and pile drives the one on his shield flat into the ground...
The others stare at Barruk with empty-black eyes and
he falls asleep...and it goes for his throat...
the mauling wakes him up...
Another howls and the spikebeaks turn and swoop after Barruk...
and bounce off his shield with the sound of metal on metal...
The Dust circle up, back to back, and train arrows on everyone...
Ithunn spike-kicks the last bird on her...
Which is apparently hilarious...
one of the ECs starts laughing hollowly and uproariously...
it runs out of the dust cloud kicked up by the warbeasts...
...and gets railed with an arrow from Khut
hurling it back to land at Barruk's feet...
Barruk kicks him up into the air and impales him on his horns...
which is still hilarious...
Ithunn leaps and and brings her staff down on the nohai
driving it down on the horns to the base...
the laughing finally stops...
Vadim's warbeast rears up and crushes another EC Nohai...
then the dust cloud parts as Vadim lights up the ECs and birds...
One of the birds diving for Barruk dies
with one of Ado's arrows through its throat...
The other runs and Khut shoots it out of the sky...
Sorq keeps talking and bowing, trying to pacify the Dust...
Then gets hit in the face with a small sack of gray dust...
We make friends with the Black Crows
We head to their tribe, which is on the move...fast...
Running in a staggered V formation,
superior warbeasts plowing a big path for the herdbeasts...
The biggest strongest leaders running in front...
with the most awesome warbeasts of course...
Khut (or mostly Ado perched on his shoulder) talk to the clan-father
("Khaza Shield-Breaker")...
Fractured leadership...families come and go from the tribe regularly...
Heavily Black-Shaman...they stay out of politics
The war-leaders of the vanguard, lead by consensus...
Hellhorns (a vanguard clan) are most ferocious...
massive, ebony-skinned, small horns...
take very good care of their tusks)
We convince the "Shield Breakers" to go south with us...
a scouts/cadet clan of one of the "Axe-Teeth"...
one of big vanguard clans...
Vadim, Ithunn, and Sorq run off to steal some cows...
...end up in "Hellhorn" territory
Find sticks woven with tufts of grass...
obvious shamanic magic of some kind...
Rich and well appointed with felt yurts and
beautiful Drowned River made rugs...
Beasts several cuts above what we have in our herd...
Vadim finds the Rosebud of breeding stock...
a beautiful young cow with turgid udders,
rosey hide, and the lineage of kings...
and ... pisses off a Shaman...
Vadim grabs "Rosebud" and RUNS...
JUMPS...
barely avoids a lightning bolt as he books it away with the cow...
Sorq and Ithunn slink away...
Khut, Ado, Squee, and Barruk chat with the Shield Breaker leader
talk about how they might gain glory but crushing the Dust...
Ithunn runs into the tent and warbles about Vadim's escapades...
Khut yells that Nohai have stolen Hellhorn beasts
and the Hellhorns are rushing to steal the glory...
We run out at full speed...followed by three young upstart scout clans...
"Shield Breakers" "Bentblades" and "Sureshafts"
ride hornbeasts/scoutbeasts and are horse archers with longbows
Khut picks an intercept path...
Squee and Barruk give rousing speeches as we run to boost their morale
Ithunn calls in the warbler cavalry...
Vadim rides at full speed, then Semek's wife shows up and peels off...
he follows...
Sorq runs back to our nohai and
paints them with the symbol of her tribe (to differentiate)
"Lust" -- "The ones that breed cattle"
 |
| The 'Cattle-Breeders' Tribe |
chats with Ado, and demands booze...
Ado tells him to inform Ganbaatar that we are attacking the Dust...
Ado threatens him and he staggers off into the wind (utterly drunk)...
Still running...Khut notices a woman among the Shield Breakers...
slows...runs along side staring up longingly...
and stammers out "Can I ride with you"...
She scoops him up...obviously she is from the "Sureshaft" clan...
Ado, impatient with Ripper not running fast enough, leaps on a warbeast
yells "Can I take over"...
Barruk acrobatically leaps up, grabs Ado,
manages to bring the beast under control despite the crazed warbler
Squee...shouts directions from her perch on Khaza'a head,
and somehow manages to point him in the right way...
Ithunn squeels out on her flute,
waking up all the birds behind us, sending them screaching into the air...
Vadim, riding like hell...
fumbles out a potion and quaffs it...or was it poison...
nope its a potion...whew!
HEALING POTIONS SMELL LIKE MINT or CUT GRASS
Vadim leads the Hellhorns through a ravine and they burst out,
full speed, strait into the Dust camp surprising both sides...
Lightning streaks toward the Nohai...
Fire-Eyes comes out hammer blazing and launching fireballs...
Dead hornbeasts choke the opening of the ravine,
Hellhorns storm through the fire, nohai climb over nohai to tear at them...
We arrive at the top of the hill,
Shield Breakers and Bentblades charge down...
Khut pegs Fire-Eyes with a shrieker arrow...
he takes it on the shield and is forced to cast the shield aside...
Barruk charges in on a hornbeast, eyes glowing,
leaps towards Fire-Eyes bellowing a Challenge...
Squee whips out some bundles of grass and starts cheering Barruk on...
Ado heaps insults on Fire-Eyes head...
Nohai fire a volley then charge up the hill towards the Sureshafts...
Ithunn leaps down the hill and starts beating nohai with her staff...
A massive Hellhorn in black armor goes berserk and charges Fire-Eyes...
Vadim casts a vine around his leg,
but he pulls it loose without blinking...
but wiffs on his swing at Fire-Eyes...
Khut pegs him with an arc'd shot from the midst of a pack of nohai...
Fire-Eyes swings his hammer at Barruk...missing by a mile...
but then grabs him with a claw and savages with his teeth...
Barruk declares a Vow of Enmity...and tags him with a great axe...
Squee continues cheering and waving her pom-poms...
Ado drops a heal on Barruk and
illusions up the sound of a thunderbird...
which lasts a little longer than he thought...
Ithunn unleashes a flurry of blows and launches two gnolls off the cliff...
Khut pulls out his knives and slashes,
boots, and sends the other two tumbling down to join them...
Vadim runs to the culvert and finds one hellhorn warbeast
not-quite-dead from the initial blasts...
he heals it up and hides the warbeast and Rosebud...
Squee smiles at the big raging hellhorn...
whispers that the other Hellhorns are stealing his beasts...
and sends him raging into his own clan...
smashing knees into the other Hellhorn's faces...
and gets burried under his own bodyguards trying to hold him down...
and the nohei taking advantage of the distraction...
Ithunn runs into a pack of Nohei, drawing them towards the Hellhorns...
but gets torn up...
Vadim rides in, grabs Ithunn...
books it for where Ganbaatar is riding in from the South...
Ado leaps into the fray near Ganbaatar
unleashes a thunderwave blasting the pressing pack away...
Khut scrambles up the hill
fires at the back of the pack pressing Ganbaatar
crying "Drowned River is with us" to focus the Sure Shafts
Sorq and her pack of Nohai sneak into the fray
hunt out the tent of "Hundreds of Dust" (the Dust shamaness)
She finds a tent with heavy runic beadwork...
with no fire or fighting near it...
She tries to set fire to it...
then realizes there are books inside...and..."decides not to"
Vadim, still riding away with Ithunn, gets shot and slumps in the saddle...
Ado runs after and heals them both...
Barruk and Fire-Eyes keep circling and striking...
the hammer misses, the axe hits...
and again...
AND...Barruk brings the axe up and under and Fire Eye's head goes flying...
The battlefield freezes...and a howl erupts from the Nohai...
Barruk raises Fire-Eye's head and shouts for everyone to stand down...
The Hellhorns withdraw...heavily weakened...
The Shield Breakers are super happy...and one of the strongest cadet clans...
The Nohai gather around Barruk
Hundreds of Dust comes out of her tent to find Sorquitani standing there...
And so we add the Shield Breakers, 20 warbeasts left behind by the utterly wrecked Hellhorns, and more than a hundred Nohai to our ragtag little tribe.
No comments:
Post a Comment