• Graded • I Walk The Line

[Darius Baer]

Arc 721, 16th of Saun

A single bead of sweat worked its way down from Lars' headline, past his temple, and into his cheek, before it finally fell away to the hot Faldrass soil. The droplet, liquid in form, kicked up a tiny cloud of volcanic dust, and within a matter of trills, had evaporated into non-existence.

"It's hot," the wilderness man observed, to which Darius nodded.

"Aye," the settlement leader agreed with a wry grin. "Whoever thought being on a volcano at the height of Saun was a good idea is a madman."

The pair chuckled quietly as they both looked up to see a pair of suns hanging in the sky.

There was a third with them: a cadouri mouse, 3ft tall, stood alongside the Hopetoun pair, but he didn't join in on their joke. He was far too occupied with a bunch of red grapes that was slowly diminishing, one by one, as the pieces of fruit disappeared into the creature's mouth.

Despite how different the mouse-like creature appeared to be, he was an essential member of the party. Marvin was an engineer who had agreed to lend his skills and expertise to Smooglenuff Manor. Darius and Lars had met the cadouri at the manor, and the trio were walking the road to Hopetoun as way of responding to claims that the route through the wilderness was unsafe. Marvin was there to take care of any issues with the road itself, while Lars was on hand in case anything about the surrounding land might be endangering travellers.

Darius lent his fellow Hopetounian his waterskin, and though Lars had his own, he accepted the symbolic gesture. Taking a swig of the refreshing elixir, he wiped his mouth and offered it to Marvin, but the cadouri silently declined with a wave of his arm. Evidently, his grapes were enough to quench his thirst.

And with that, the trio moved onwards, making their way towards Hopetoun.

[Darius Baer]

The group walked for almost a break before they encountered their first issue. As the road made its way through a gully, there was a landslip off to one side. It wasn't large in size, but small quantities of dirt had been steadily falling, and the road was half-blocked.

"This won't do," Darius sighed.

While there was enough room for the three to step past, and a rider on horseback could have done likewise, but a cart wouldn't have fit through.

"If we ever need to send supplies down this road," Lars observed, "they won't make it through."

The two men turned to look at Marvin, who was patiently finishing off one of his grapes, before he delicately placed the bunch into a satchel that sat on one of his shoulders. The cadouri then took his time to put on a pair of glasses and adjust his hat before taking a closer look.

The engineer worked in silence for a bit or so, then rummaged in his satchel, from which he pulled out a small shovel that he could use with one hand. He scooped up some of the dirt and rubbed it between his fingers, before tossing it into a nearby ditch.

"The soil is good," he eventually squeaked, "but we will need to put in some strengthening work prevent it from collapsing further."

Darius nodded. What the cadouri had said made sense.

"How do we achieve that?" he asked.

"A retaining wall would stop any further erosion," the cadouri replied without hesitation. "We can build it with stone and mortar and let gravity do the rest. There will need to be some piping or a trench to assist with drainage so that the wall doesn't experience too much pressure..."

Darius and Lars nodded as the cadouri went on, providing details that showed his expertise, and their thorough lack thereof.

[Darius Baer]

Another break or so had passed by the time the group found their next reason to stop. The suns had shifted, and the trial had begun to noticeably cool as clouds had drifted across the sky. Marvin had risked overwhelming Darius and Lars with his impressive knowledge of engineering at the landslip, but he had concluded his lesson just as he was about to lose the attention of his audience. Now, he had resumed eating his bunch of grapes as the three individuals arrived at their next destination.

It was a cave entrance that they found themselves in front of. Situated less than fifty paces from the road, it rested in the side of a small hill. The trio left the path and made their way towards it.

The mouth of the cave appeared to widen as they approached, the thick, grey rock almost looking like it had been carved into the hillside. Within, the soil was dry - not a surprise during Saun - but it also gave them some reprieve from the breeze that had accompanied them on their journey.

Darius watched on as Lars stepped further into the cave, kicking at the floor and casting his gaze over the dimly lit area.

"There's no sign of any creatures making this their home," the wilderness man observed.

Darius nodded, and ran one hand along one wall of the cave. The rock was dry.

"The road between Hopetoun and Smooglenuff Manor isn't particularly long," Lars noted, "but this cave can provide some shelter."

"Aye," Darius nodded. "Walking this road is simple enough for us on a warm trial. But during inclement weather, or for those who are less physically capable than we are, having a place to rest could be valuable. For the weary traveller, it could be quite the boon."

"Most rest places in the wilderness are makeshift," Lars added. "Small clearings or anywhere to hide from the wind. But a cave also keeps people dry."

"We could build into the rock wall," added Marvin, as he popped another grape into his mouth and pointed at different parts of the cave. "We could carve a bench into this wall here, and make a platform there that could double as a bed or a table. And we can use the offcuts of rock for the retaining wall back up the road..."

Darius and Lars watched on again, exchanging an impressed grin as the cadouri once again waxed lyrical about all of the engineering options that could be used to provide travellers with a more comfortable form of shelter.

[Darius Baer]

By the time the trio had left the cave, the twin suns of Saun were beginning to lower themselves towards the distant horizon, signalling that the dusk-like night of the season would soon be upon them. Darius was pleased that it was this time of era that had them in the wilderness. They would be able to get much less done, if the end of the trial was followed by the pure darkness of other seasons.

Even so, their visibility was reduced, and by the time they were walking in countryside that was familiar to Darius - which suggested they were only half a break or so from Hopetoun - the suns were low and their glare caused all three to strain their eyes.

Then, all of a sudden, Lars slowed his pace and lifted a hand in caution.

"The birds," the wilderness man whispered.

Darius listened, and quickly realised that he could hear no birdsong at all. In fact, the only thing he could hear was Marvin eating another one of his grapes.

That and the click.

After the click came a whizz, which was in turn followed by a squelch, and then a thunk.

Marvin let out a cry, and Darius turned to see that a crossbow bolt had skewered the cadouri's bunch of sustenance and pinned it to a nearby tree. The engineer let out a squeal of fear, and scurried to hide behind the very same tree just as a second crossbow bolt buried itself into the trunk.

It was, Darius would later realise, the fastest he'd seen Marvin move all trial.

Lars and Darius were quick to move about, too, drawing their blades even as they strained their eyes into the golden light that hid their attackers.

Another bolt came flying, and Darius only caught sight of it at the last moment. It glanced off his blade, but it was only by sheer luck that he had changed direction at the last possible moment. They were at a disadvantage, and being positioned out in the open was making them easy targets. They would get hit, sooner or later.

"Move back," the bearded Scalvorian hissed at Lars, and the pair hastily left the road, fonding themselves crouched down behind the same line of trees as a very frightened Marvin.

"Looks like we gots 'em on the run!" came an unknown voice from the other side of the road.

Darius looked to Lars, who was brandishing his hunting knife and trying to peer out from behind one of the trees.

"If you want to get out o' 'ere alive," the voice across the road called out, "you'll be givin' us all your nels!"

"Cur!" Lars yelled back. "This is Baron von Smooglenuff you're dealing with! He won't let you get away with this!"

"A baron?" replied the voice. "I bet a noble be worth plenty o' nels, then!"

Darius sighed. Lars, realising his mistake, sent the settlement leader an apologetic look.

While Marvin whimpered, Lars whispered: "I can't see anything but sunlight. If we can hold on for a few bits, the suns might clear the horizon and we'll be able to see more."

"No," Darius shook his head. "They have the advantage now. If they've got half a brain between them, they should have already pressed their advantage."

In fact, the blond Scalvorian was surprised that they hadn't already, and that was what prompted him to act before they could.

Reaching into his knapsack, Darius felt for something and pulled his hand out. In his palm was a small wooden carvingBaer's Bear - see CS for details!, which he lobbed over the road before ducking back down again.

"Oh no, he's throwing rocks at us!" came the voice in a sarcastic tone, followed by the laughter of at least one other person.

Darius smirked at the thought that they had mistaken a wooden carving for a rock. They clearly weren't the most intelligent bandits.

The Scalvorian closed his eyes, and a few trills later, the laughter turned to screams. A beastly roar erupted, amidst a clamour of scuffling and a clatter of steel. The bear's roars were enough to convince Darius and Lars - but not quite enough for Marvin - to step out from their hiding place.

As the bits passed, the roars and thuds continued, but the amount of yells and screams slowly reduced, until they eventually faded into silence.

And then the light shifted. It was as if the suns themselves had been holding themselves in the sky just long enough to see what would happen, before finally deciding to slip behind the horizon. As they did, and the glare vanished with them, the hulking shadow of a bear revealed itself. Its fur was matted with blood in places, but it appeared unharmed. Around it lay the bodies of four bandits in various states of grisly, bloodied gore, their weapons and other possessions scattered in every direction.

Darius shuddered at the sight. He did not recognise any of the bandits, and it seemed that none of them were Hopetounians, but it was immediately clear that they had not died well. It did, however, give him some reassurance that the road was now safer to travel.

[Jackalope]

Experience: +10 xp

Knowledge:

Engineering: A retaining wall can help to stop erosion.
Engineering: Carving something lasting into a cave wall.
Field Craft: Putting nature's resources to good use.
Leadership: Taking control of a situation.
Tactics: Seize back advantage.
Tactics: Don't be afraid to play your trump card when the time is right.

Skillplay: Appropriate to level

Loot: Nearby Darius et al find yet another small cave containing the campsite of the four bandits. There is nothing of significant monetary value there, but the occupants’ personal effects and food supplies make it clear they were previously sailors, probably only recently marooned.
Injuries/Overstepping: n/a
Renown: +5 for fighting crime. Also, for uncovering evidence of a native bear population on Faldrass.
Wealth Points: None.
Collaboration: no
Magic Experience?: no

Consequence: The effects in the bandit cave include a journal from one of them, who called himself Salgard. It reveals that he and the others (the journal lists their names as well, feel free to develop them as you wish) had been crew members aboard a pirate ship called the Dread Otter. The Otter’s crew had only formed recently, and were having little luck at piracy. The four were marooned here on Faldrass after a failed mutiny against the captain, a man named “Demba”. Demba and his Dread Otter are presumably still at large in the nearby waters. What will Darius do with this information?

Comments:

An interesting trio of characters - or should I say, quartet. Marvin and Lars each seem to bring something valuable to endeavor, so Darius obviously was wise to bring them along. Reading Marvin get carried away with his ideas for engineering projects was amusing.

I wonder why the bandits weren’t using the cave themselves.

I loved the way Darius introduced the bear. People will probably say it was really the Chief Ranger.

Enjoy your rewards!