The NEW Vanguard TEAM UP! Haunt Issue #13 with special guest star Steeplejack!

"So, do we need to get in that fight," John Carter asks the others, pointing to the fort, "or bypass it? Can you tell which direction the Grail is in, Alucard?"

Admin wrote:[color=#0033cc]OOC Force Manipulation boosts Effect value of Starky's sword to 7 and has 1 body. His armour is boosted to Body 7 and is italicised so it substitutes for Starky's own body stat. Feel free to use inventive ways to 'boost' the stats of equipment but note you are limited to a total of 15 points. Generally that limits his boosts to equipment he himself uses.

OOC: [i]That is so cool

Starky turned his attention back to the others, OK so what's next. Assuming our good Baron/Celtic mage here is right, we should hone in on the grail, right?

Sj

Alucard scowls "The accursed Grail is heading north right now. I feel it. Somehow... I feel that we are linked to it, that we must accomplish some feat or trial or we will be trapped here forever in the past!"

"Your appearance, my voice even, is all altered. Luckily we can still understand each other. This is the Grail's doing. Our prey has used it against us and somehow the magic of the grail has transported our very essence, the fabric of our beings, through space and time to inhabit these people in the past." he looked at the distant Celt army and saw they were passing fiery brands about. "It seems that the people in that fort are doomed. We can do nothing for them." he said, coldly. "Ever it is the way. The strong shall vanquish the weak, but it is a surprise to me to see the might of Rome laid low but perhaps I should not be surprised. Was Rome not cast out of its conquered lands when the Barbarians crashed against the very gates of her seat of power? This though... I am a historian of sorts, and of battles especially. Before I was... afflicted... I was Vlad Dracula, a warrior and general. Many of the Roman tactics were required readings when I was young."

He eased himself to his feet painfully and shook his head. "I need to return home, to Transylvania, but I will not do so without Mina at my side! Even now who knows what the... our... enemies are doing! I can only hope those two demi gods we call companions can thwart them and restore us, otherwise we will be doomed."

There was also something else to consider - Alucard/Dracula's thirst!

The Vampire/Druid pulled a hood over his wizened head and looked at the sky. "Thankfully this misbegotten land of mist and gloom was never long bathed in sunshine. We must push on, north."

He squelched forward and muttered "I must conserve my strength."

Carter glanced at Starky who, though dressed almost identically, wore an upgraded suit of armour and his sword shone like a mirror! The victorian pllayboy inventor could it seemed adapt to any situation, though he would have to disguise his powers as would Carter himself until they discovered what their task was and how to perform it.

=========

"UhhhhAHHHH!!!!" cried the face painted woman in her tent!

She rose to a seated position and glanced about fearfully. Her tent, and all the mystical equipment - eye of newt and so on - were as she'd left it. She rose, dusted herself off and pulled the tent flap open. Barking an order she called out and a powerful looking warrior - again with painted face - rushed over. "Mistress! You call, I answer!"

"Find me ... six men. Bring them here, bound and on their knees. Also... a wolf."

"A wolf?"

"Are you deaf? Seek one in the forest yonder, near where the stream falls from the rocks into a pool. An old male is waiting near there to pounce on an unwary deer." she hissed.

The warrior looked on fearfully at the small woman in ragged robes. Then he nodded and barked orders. Others started dragging Roman prisoners from where they were gathered and bound them, hands behind back.

She had seen a vision. The Grail, finally in her grasp and with her power she intended to twist it, corrupt it! The first step would be to gather the tribes. The foolish woman, Boudicea, was burning Camulodunum. She had, in her way, done well but it would bring the wrath of Rome on her and she would end her days not long after. Morgain had forseen it! She had also seen something else as she rode the mists of time. A boy king, a sword from a stone, a son dressed in gold. A table, round, and more beside. All of that would come to pass, as would her eventual downfall but there was a way to steer the future to a different path. She would become immortal, unending, and her alliance with dark powers was just the first step.

There had been something else. Three strangers from beyond wearing faces not their own. She understood little of it but one was a Meddler, destined to foil her plans and thwart her. He was immortal, and cursed. His power could be turned, twisted, used... and she could use it to create an army of darkness with her at its head! "Your Meddlin' shall be your downfall, dark stranger... as I twist your power and purpose to my own and ensure the boy king is never born!"

=========

Three hours later the trio trudged to the peak of a hill.

"At least the mud is less deep and stinking here." muttered Alucard. With his powers much reduced he dare not transform or use them much beyond sensing the path of the grail, but even there he had been led astray and off the trail. The three looked down in a valley and saw... flames! A village afire and the distant dots that were people, screaming!

"They are doomed." hissed Alucard, with nary a care about them as much as someone might not care for an ant beneath their heel!

Carter peered and couldn't make out too much. It seemed like a Roman squadron was attacking villagers. Starky went one better and rolled up a wrap of leather into a tube and picked about for a stone in his pocket from the riverbed they'd stopped to drink from an hour earlier. Glass like, it suited his purpose and he fiddled it into place as a rough makeshift telescope!

His power unconsciously and without effort morphed the thing into something useful and he zoomed in to see... Roman soldiers laying waste to a village! One of the soldiers seemed to be arguing with his leader, protesting perhaps at the treatment of the natives. For some, strong reason, Starky knew that man was important. He was young and dressed as a legionary but otherwise unremarkable.

Passing the telescope to Carter so he could see the distant scene (OOC 7AP telescopic vision making it appear only a couple of hundred yards away or so) he saw his companion blink, adjust his sight and gasp. Carter felt COMPELLED to save the man as he was dragged by soldiers from his own side, stripped of his weapons and beaten before being dragged up against a tree... they were going to hang him!

Pulling the sight glass away, he saw they were dots in the distance again. Somehow, the pair knew that young man who protested at his own armies cruel treatment of the natives was important!

OOC It's dusk now the sun is setting and the fires which are torching the village are setting the valley aglow. The village is some two miles away.

Admin wrote:OOC It's dusk now the sun is setting and the fires which are torching the village are setting the valley aglow. The village is some two miles away.

Looking at Alucard, and back again to Carter, Starkey gives a knowing nod. Looks like we've found the next clue on this most extraordinary treasure hunt. A fellow companion at arms, if we can save his life and stay his execution, without bringing about our own.

Taking the stone bead from this cylinder of leather before rolling both away safely about his person.

OOC: It's off to work we go, I guess...

Sj

"I will go and grab that man, you two find a way to keep the path open for our escape," John Carter, Warlord of Mars orders the two. "I do not know why but I am compelled to save that man. He is a brave warrior who deserves a warrior's death, not the death of a criminal or coward!"

He starts running to the village, sword out, and then leaps!


ooc: I got to remember his Virginia Gentleman's code of honor and his absolute authority over tens of thousands of warrior, which gives him a certain mind set. He is much more proactive and also willing to jump right into the middle of almost hopeless situations if he feels it is needed.

So that said, put the points into Jumping. With the darkness and confusion, he figures he can run/jump up to the village. Once inside the village, use his new identity and run up to the mob surrounding the man he feels he needs to rescue, shifting his power reserve so he has 5s in all 3 physical stats. Then he is going to cut down the soldiers preparing to hang the man, hoping the man is able to stand on his own feet and can grab a nearby weapon to fight with, backs to the tree.

Then hope Starkey can come up with a plan of distraction that will allow him to shift his energy reserve back into jumping and grab the man and jump away into the darkness.

DavidMcMahon wrote:Then hope Starkey can come up with a plan of distraction that will allow him to shift his energy reserve back into jumping and grab the man and jump away into the darkness.

Hardly believing what he saw as the headstrong Carter was gone before Starky could find the words to protest. He too had felt the same compulsion but needed to rethink - if Carter was going in headstrong and bullish, then he had to be the brains of this little operation. Distraction was what came to mind. He needed a way to distract the guard so that Carter didn't end up being mincemeat.

OOC: OK I am looking for a way to create a distraction - something big and explosive would be great but might have to go for the simple "Hey men, enemies are upon us" Type of thing. One idea I have is to create an audio horn something into which I can make the sounds of clashing or noisy oncoming army, so that my faint has some element of credibility to draw the men or at least their attention my way suitably long enough to get them away from Carter and the captive.

Sj

ooc: Just some ideas here but not sure if you have the points for it. "LET'S GET CREATIVE!" Sorry be rewatching Darkwing Duck on Disney+ and his trademark cry, "LET'S GET DANGEROUS!"

1. We are dealing with relative primitives who believe in gods and monsters and such, like ghosts. Maybe a visual and sound image of some ghosts wailing towards them? Maybe the Romans have been here long enough to learn of the Huntsman and the Wildhunt?
2. Flash bombs after yelling to Carter to close his eyes?
3. Lightning Strikes near or on some of the guards closest to prisoner and Carter? And your voice claiming to be Jupiter, whose wrath they have summoned by harming this man?
4. ZOMBIES!

Just have fun with it, to most of these we three will seem like gods to them or at least demi-gods.

DavidMcMahon wrote:ooc:  Just some ideas here but not sure if you have the points for it.  "LET'S GET CREATIVE!"  Sorry be rewatching Darkwing Duck on Disney+ and his trademark cry, "LET'S GET DANGEROUS!"

1.  We are dealing with relative primitives who believe in gods and monsters and such, like ghosts.  Maybe a visual and sound image of some ghosts wailing towards them?  Maybe the Romans have been here long enough to learn of the Huntsman and the Wildhunt?
2.  Flash bombs after yelling to Carter to close his eyes?
3. Lightning Strikes near or on some of the guards closest to prisoner and Carter?  And your voice claiming to be Jupiter, whose wrath they have summoned by harming this man?
4. ZOMBIES!

Just have fun with it, to most of these we three will seem like gods to them or at least demi-gods.

OOC: This so cool, this power is all new to me, but this is a great way to exploit its potential in creative ways. So let's see Paul what we can get away with.

Sj

"Foolish." said Alucard "but his physical prowess should prevent him from coming to harm. What are you...?" he said, turning to Starky who glanced about and ran over to the scattered bones of a dead sheep, plucking what he needed, a horn.

"What are you doing with that?" asked the Vampire, glancing at the clouds overhead and pulling his hood more over his head.

Starky glanced over the old horn in his hand and felt that mental tickle inside his head, turning the horn over and over until it was a magnificent polished artifact with brass fittings on each end.

"How on earth did you...?" asked Alucard...

Starky raised it to his lips... and blew!

==========

John Carter (of Mars) sprinted down the hill, turning it into a bounding leap and covering hundreds of feet in moments!

He varied his course, coming around from the other side of the village to get to the soldier who was about to be strung up on a tree! behind him there was a huge "BAAAAAAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

The gathered Roman troops and many of the Celt villagers turned to see the distant hill and a dot on it, the sound carrying far more than it should and causing everyone to stop what they were doing...

Into this Carter arrived and skidded to a halt. The guards around the prisoner were holding an arm each. The man had been beaten and despite the fact he was wearing the same uniform as the Romans they had beaten him badly. It appeared his protests about the treatment of native Britons had not gone down well and he was being made an example of!

With sword drawn he marched through the mud of the village and a Sergeant (optio) shouted at him to identify himself!

Ignoring him Carter marched forward and the Optio shouted for two guards to attack!

OOC Trying something.

It's a way to speed up battles against mooks. If you win initiative you gain an extra die on your attack. All attacks oppose each other (seeing as this game uses Dex vs Dex anyway) so each side will roll and attack roll and the highest total 'wins' and inflicts damage. Where it doesn't work is if you use dice for defence. I'll think on that.

John Carter (of Mars) AV5 + extra die + 3D weaponry + Roll(6d12)+0: 1,9,10,2,1,3,+0 Total:19 (24) vs
OV3 + 1d weaponry + Roll(3d12)+0: 1,9,9,+0 Total: 18 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 12,5,+0 Total:35 (38)
OV3 + 1d weaponry + Roll(3d12)+0: 7,12,9,+0 Total:21 (24)

The first attacked is met by Carter who parries but caan't find a way through the defences of the man. He is attacked from the side however and cries out as a blow finds it's way through his defences!

OOC Attack 38 vs 24=14 difference or +5 Effect. That boosts the attack from Ev3 to Ev8. Carter has 5 Body, armour granting +1 RV and takes EV8-RV6=2 Damage. Carter is on Body 3/5

Despite taking a wound that would stagger or kill an ordinary man, Carter is undeterred and faces the two legionaries on his own!

=========

Alucard mutters "That fool will get himself killed. His prowess is... commendable... but his weakness on his left side against these soldiers has meant he will be vulnerable."

Starky glanced at the Vampire. He was surprised that he could see from so far away but probably more that he was versed in military tactics and swordplay!

"The Romans are used to fighting together in pairs or larger groups. Where one occupies, the other attacks and downs the foe. There is no honour in such a tactic but the Romans were more interested in scything down their foes in their masses rather than seeking glory on the battlefield." explained the Vampire.

"I suppose I should intervene." he mutters, and transforms into a bat, taking off in the direction of the village!

That left Starky on a distant hill looking down at twenty or thirty Roman soldiers who were about to launch in on Carter!

Admin wrote:"I suppose I should intervene." he mutters, and transforms into a bat, taking off in the direction of the village!

That left Starky on a distant hill looking down at twenty or thirty Roman soldiers who were about to launch in on Carter!

For a moment Alucard's bold move stunned him. Then pulling himself together realising the enormity of what Carter was doing, and how overwhelming was the numbers against him, he too lept off as best he could. All the while looking about for inspiration in his mad dash trying to think of some plan to get them out of this mess.

OOC: Uh Oh, suddenly combat is a whole lot more lethal and we've got 30 soldiers and Carter has taken more than a third off his body and there is another 30 odds ready to pile on and he is our tank! I think you've been playing Haunt too long Dave!

Sj

John Carter smiling grimly, enjoying true life and death combat, while wishing he had a radium gun or good ole fashion six-shooter on him attacks the soldiers who attacked him.

action: multi attack the two. If he can get them down, he wants to grab the soldier he came to save and leap away into the gathering darkness.


ooc: Yeah, was hoping for surprise attack and getting out, rather than fighting a legion.

Ignoring the wound as best he can Carter raises his sword and attacks both Legionaries!

OOC We'll revert to standard rules...

You actually get 5 points to allocate so Dex 6 (+2) Str 5 (+2) Body 3/5 (+1)

Multi on two AV6 + Weaponry 3D (0D Acro) + Roll(5d12)+0: 3,8,8,5,5,+0 Total:16 DOUBLE plus Roll(2d12)+0: 7,2,+0 Total:25 (31) vs
Highest Ov3 + Multi 2 + Roll(2d12)+0: 1,4,+0 Total:5 (10) +6 (to 12EV with weapon +1) vs RV3+Multi 2=4 RAPs. Both Legionnaires are DOWN and OUT!

This time Carter shows dazzling skill with a blade and drops the soldiers as if they were wheat before a scythe! He then turns and scoops an arm around the battered prisoner, switching his internal energies to leaping... but before he can spring away more soldiers surround him, blades bared!

"What is the meanniog of this?" roars the Roman officer. Carter notes that he can understand the man even though he speaks latin!

"Drop your sword and get on your knees!" bellows the officer. Carter counts... six... seven around him... he's completely surrounded!

========

Starky glances down at his sandles and chuckles to himself. With a touch they grow minature wings and he runs like the wind!

Soon - in heartbeats - he is in the village and he switches his power, unconsciously creating fabulous devices with but a thought and now posessesing near impregnable armour and a mighty shining sword!

He looks overhead and sees the bat that is Alucard... who flies in amongst the midst of the Legionnaires and THOOM a cloud of smoke and his dark, hooded, wizened figure stands amongst them!

"Back! BACK MORTALS!" he roars. "I am ... a Demon and I will curse you and your bloodline forever if you do not depart!"

=========

Ready for a fight Carter whirls about, also ready to leap away faster than they can follow until his companions show up!

The Roman soldiers back off, eyes wide. One of them mutters about 'The Gods' and the others pace away, fear on their faces! A moment later they are running from the village and even the Officer - without his men - feels the need to flee!

"My... thanks..." said the soldier they saved, before he swoons, unconscious in Carter's arms!

Starky watched the Romans depart but knows they'll be back, and in greater numbers. Rome cannot be allowed to be seen to have weaknesses, nor can it be known they are superstitious and fearful of the unknown!

Admin wrote:[b]"My... thanks..." said the soldier they saved, before he swoons, unconscious in Carter's arms!

Starky watched the Romans depart but knows they'll be back, and in greater numbers. Rome cannot be allowed to be seen to have weaknesses, nor can it be known they are superstitious and fearful of the unknown!

Looking Alucard, Starky remarked That was...effective. Come on Carter let's get out of here before we get burned at some stake by that lot.

He moved to take in their surroundings and suggest a course from where they were that was the opposite of where the Romans had departed to.

Sj

"Lead the way," the Warlord of Mars replies, "I will carry out friend and follow you"

The trio squelched their way through shin deep boggy ground to where trees grew and the ground became firmer.

Setting the Roman down Carter stands and looks out across the fields. The hamlet/village was a collection of rude huts made of trees and rocks loosely patched together with a mud/straw mix. Starky looked down at his mud splattered appearance and pulled a face. One must always maintain appearances but in this place that was the ultimate challenge!

Alucard sagged onto a tree stump. "That.... too more from me... than it should." He looked up at the pair and they recoiled, seeing his bloodshot eyes! "I... hunger..." he hissed.

The Roman stirred and despite his injuries - he'd been beaten severely - he sat up and groaned then looked around. "I... my thanks... I suppose my protestations to the treatment of the Britons finally spurred them into action and a way to crush any further future resistance. There are not many like me but enough, I think, to make a difference."

"The Iceni may think they are winning but the Legio IX (9th Legion) is en route to smash her. I argued that violence begets violence and that we should use the lull as an opportunity... ach. I waste my breath. I am but a single Legionary and the people who make decisions are so far removed from me. I am Sétanta" the young man said.

His accent suggested he was Welsh or Irish, perhaps. The Romans conscripted from the natives to replenish their stocks and it seemed this young fellow was one such. "The Romans took me from my family to be a hostage to keep my father in check, who is a powerful warlord in my homeland. It appears they forgot about me anyway because they made war on my homeland and I had a choice to die on the spot or be cast to the mercy of the Legion. I will return one day to free my people."

Alucard frowns. "The name... familiar. My mind is a whirl but I know of legends and tales. Mythology and the like."

Carter knew something else. The Romans were gathering again and some of them were on horseback. They also had dogs, pulling their handlers along on leashes as they tracked across fields and guided them to where the four were hiding in the trees!

Admin wrote:Carter knew something else. The Romans were gathering again and some of them were on horseback. They also had dogs, pulling their handlers along on leashes as they tracked across fields and guided them to where the four were hiding in the trees!

Starky looked at Alucard, he wouldn't last long and would only get worse as time went on. But the immediate problem was evading pursuit. Looking about her surveyed the land looking for some idea as to how to use the terrain to their advantage. The bog might hamper the dogs, but perhaps Carter had a better idea.

"Carter, what do you think? We need to evade our pursuers but these two aren't going to be going far fast? Any ideas - you must have some notion of how to throw off pursuit, surely?"

OOC: OK looking for clues, in the landscape, ideas that might come to us, ways by which we can either blend in, hide or and avoid further tracking esp by the dogs.

Sj

"Walking through rivers, jumping or swinging from tree to tree," John Carter says with a shrug. "Finding a skunk, killing it, and dragging its body behind us. Those would be the best ways to hide our scent and confuse the dogs and the first two would also hide our tracks. Moving among a mass of people or a herd of animals would be another to do both."



ooc: John Carter wouldn't know to think of this but can Starkey use his powers to heal him? He is still on his feet only due to the Power Reserve giving him extra body. And the Roman's name doesn't mean a thing to me unless it is another name for Arthur. In all this time with Dracula I hope someone asked if vampires can drink something other than human blood. If not, Carter will ask him if he can drink cow's blood or something.

DavidMcMahon wrote:"Walking through rivers, jumping or swinging from tree to tree," John Carter says with a shrug.  "Finding a skunk, killing it, and dragging its body behind us.  Those would be the best ways to hide our scent and confuse the dogs and the first two would also hide our tracks.  Moving among a mass of people or a herd of animals would be another to do both."



ooc:  John Carter wouldn't know to think of this but can Starkey use his powers to heal him?  He is still on his feet only due to the Power Reserve giving him extra body.  And the Roman's name doesn't mean a thing to me unless it is another name for Arthur.  In all this time with Dracula I hope someone asked if vampires can drink something other than human blood.  If not, Carter will ask him if he can drink cow's blood or something.

Starkey, took a moment to look at Carter, the normally athletic man looked to have gone a few rounds and come out the worse for it. "Here let me take a look at you a moment" Whispering to Carter as he worked he said, "The count is going to need to sup soon, or he will not help. I think we might need to find some suitable animal, we'd probably best do it away from our Welsh Rabbit here, we don't know why he is with us, but we don't want him to be frightened by our undead companion."

OOC: Starkey will use his medical skills to try and help Carter recover. And I agree with Dave that we let the count sup on whatever animal we can find, be it bovine or otherwise.

Sj

Alucard scowled. "I can drink any blood but become ill unless it is of the human variety."

Sétanta was shocked! "You... you drink blood? You really ARE a demon..." he said, moving back, fearful.

"You have nothing to fear from me young man." muttered Alucard. "Those romans, however..."

He looked at Carter and Starky, but it was an imperious stare stating 'this is what I am going to do' rather than asking for permission!

"I shall thin the herd following us and slake my thirst." stated the Baron.

Carter and Starky glanced at each other. Carter was injured. Bashed up somewhat and with some need of rest. Starky grabbed moss, some herbs, tore strips of cloth and soaked them in clean water from a stream. His survey of the land suggested Britain at this time to be lightly farmed in a few places but for the most part it was forested or moorlands. Plenty of places to hide and throw someone off the trail. Skunks were never native to Britain unfortunately and Carter would find it hard to track something down that didn't exist here!

Starky placed the poultice on the various wounds of Carter and they glowed slightly as his unconscious power created microscopic nanites that helped to close the wound by knitting the tissue together where it was broken and applying heat and pressure to get the blood flowing in those areas. Not regeneration as such but certainly sufficient to speed up the healing process.

OOC you guys ok with Alucard going off to 'thin the herd' as he says?

Starky attempts to heal Carter...

Int 8 + 2D medical + two extra dice using Force Manipulation 7 to give dice on top of the medical treatment + Roll(6d12)+0:
11,11,4,2,5,10,+0 Total:22 (double) plus Roll(2d12)+0: 3,4,+0 Total:29 (37) vs
Damage Taken 2 + Roll(2d12)+0: 9,8,+0 Total:17 (19). +6 (to 12 Will) vs Rv2=10 RAPs.

Carter makes a recovery Check

Body 5 + Roll(2d12)+0: 7,9,+0 Total:16 (21) vs
Ov0 + Roll(2d12)+0: 12,8,+0 Total:20 Close!!!
+1 Effect (to Body 6) vs Rv0=6 RAPs. Carter is on Body 5/5



Carter frowned and scratched at the poultice that had just been placed to the wounds on his arms and legs. The fight had been fast and furious and he cursed himself for a fool for taking on two seasoned Roman Soldiers... it had been good though to rely on cold hard steel again!

He scratched at the bandage and was about to ask what Starky had put in the poultice when it fell away. There was bruising but the wound had closed and scabbed over! He moved his arm and felt no pain! Miraculous! The other cuts and bruises were the same and aside from looking a little banged up he was fine!

"You are all sorcerers!" gasped Sétanta...

DavidMcMahon wrote:
"You are all sorcerers!" gasped Sétanta...

"No, I'm a Virginian from across the Western Sea," John Carter says with a smile.  "Can you do the same to our non-Roman friend, Starkey, and heal him?  Or are you just bruised, friend?"

"As for you, Alucard, I am reluctant to allow you to feast on the blood of humans but ... you have been weakened and we will need you and your knowledge and strength shortly.  Can you feast without killing?  Without cursing a person by your bite?  I no not much lore of vampires here, so I will have to be guided by what you tell us.  I would have you limit yourself to only those Romans who are on our trail and close to finding us, in any event.  And your word you will do so, since we cannot follow you."

Starkey looked hard at Alucard his face pale and yet torn in their desperate circumstances. Alucard was an abomination to his sensibilities, but this is what he was - whether he'd chosen it or not it was how he 'lived' did he have the right to impose his own values on him? Listening to Carter's words, Starkey agreed, a temporary measure at best but one that stood better between being practical and principled.

I agree with Carter, subdue but don't kill. As to the other stuff, I'm sure Carter knows more about that than me. But we're here to capture a noble artefact that doesn't look kindly on evil. I'd rather not endanger our mission by stepping out of line.

Sj

Sétanta scoffed "All know there is nought beyond the isle to the west. Vast, endless sea save when it drops off the edge of the world, where the dragons live."

"However, you have saved me, and I thank you for that. They will hunt you down. Perhaps we should part the ways." he said, glancing at Alucard.

The Vampire pulled the hood over his head and glanced at the sky. "With every step I grow weaker and the powers I use wane faster still when I even think of using them. If the hunger grows too strong..." he glances at Carter and Starky with bloodshot eyes...

"I shall... endeavour not to let the beat in me drain someone till death. Perhaps that would be better anyway, to make the Romans fear us..."

He turned, looking North. "The Grail is... different here. It is heading north though. Use the position of the sun in the morning to find the North and keep travelling in that direction. I shall catch you up." said the Vampire. He looked for all the world like a very frail old man, about to keel over!

Sétanta offered a hand to shake. "Care not for my wounds. That my neck is not stretched is the best reminder that one should accept life's gifts where they are offered and not ask why you have not been given more. Farewell my friends. I shall not forget you."

=========

Without company other than themselves the pair made decent time.

Starky 'enchanted' his sandals to grant him the ability to leap and run faster than an antelope whilst Carter could call on that ability anyway. They travelled North, stopping for rest and to eat, as well as catch their bearings. This country was wild, untamed. Where the Romans or Iceni (or one of dozens of other native Briton tribes people) had tried to make the land their own was obvious - it wasn't covered in trees. For the most part they moved through forests and over streams, ever northward thanks to Starky somehow being able to craft a compass from little other than a tree bark bowl of water and a twig.

"It's a kind of magic." he grinned.

They settled down for the night, hopeful to find the grail, and whoever had it.

=========

Elsewhere...

The forms gathered about the fire. One held the head of a Roman soldier, still dripping from where it had been separated from its body. Around them were gathered warriors with painted faces and fearful eyes. The weakest of them, the inform, those too injured to be useful or the craven too scared to fight had been brought before the druids.

A man with tattooed features and a trident beard chanted in their ancient tongue and growling was heard, snapping and snarling too. Muzzled with leather straps, six wolves were pulled and pushed into the cave, the warriors around twitching, feeling for weapons. The druid spoke, chanting, and finished by tossing the Roman's head on the fire! The fire flared and the eyesight of those gathered in the large cave went blind for a moment.

When it cleared they saw the wolves without muzzles sat in front of each of the half dozen men selected for their cowardice, infirmity or because they were outcast or criminal. They stared ahead, as if in trance.

The Druid spoke (translated).

"The cup of life has been taken from the Romans! They thought it some trinket, to be paraded and passed about! It is not! It is POWER and with it we shall not only drive the Romans out but conquer ALL other tribes, to become the one! I have seen it in my visions brought on by burning the plants with strange leaves!" he roared.

"However I have also seen three travellers from a far away land, like the ones who told us of the cup of life. Before they left they told us that in order to gain the power we need those three travellers must die! Therefore we give these six as sacrifice and they will be reborn! Reborn so that only the flesh of those three will provide sustenance! No other shall slake their thirst, quash their hunger! Now... CHANGE!"

The wolves leapt at the throats of the men knelt in a trance about the fire, and the warriors and tribes people, all hardened and used to death, even they gasped and shied back as the wolves ripped at flesh and fed!

And started to grow... and swell...

=========

Sétanta reached the sea. He looked at the glittering waters and knew it would take a monumental effort to cross the sea to his home, but he would make it.

He had come close to death, and knew he would take this gift of the rest of his life and do something with it. Something good, something meaningful.

=========

Hundreds of years later...

"King Uther!" cried the Knight in Armour, raising a goblet. "Drink with me!"

Uther blinked. He rubbed his throat and had the strangest feeling, like he'd come close to death without ever knowing why. He looked across the table at the Duke of Cornwall. The man he would make peace with and unite the land against the tribes from over the sea. A peace brought about by a sea of blood and death. Finally an end to it. Still, that feeling, like a... an ancestor had been saved. He glanced at the wine in the goblet. Potent stuff indeed!

"Uther! You may be King, but shall never be as lucky as I!" said Cornwall. "Behold my wife Igraine, the fairest lady in all the land!"

Uther Pendragon looked up and beheld her, and in that moment he knew love... but unwittingly had doomed himself again!

=========

The darkened forest...

The small fire roasted the venison. Carter had proven adept at hunting and the pair feasted well. They watched and listened, but the sounds of the forest offered no threat to such travellers as these.

Then came a distant howl. Distant and yet... stronger, more fear inducing than that uttered by ordinary wolves! What manner of creature was in this dark forest with them?

OOC You are on the trail of the Holy Grail and stopping to rest but know nothing of that which follows! And wants to feed on you!

Admin wrote:Then came a distant howl. Distant and yet... stronger, more fear inducing than that uttered by ordinary wolves! What manner of creature was in this dark forest with them?

OOC You are on the trail of the Holy Grail and stopping to rest but know nothing of that which follows! And wants to feed on you!

OOC: Impressive weaving together of different themes there Paul. Your narrative skills are really up and jumping mate.

Starkey felt a cold shiver go down his spine, I'm a man of science, but I've seen enough to know that science is only one discipline among many. When it comes to the great outdoors, I prefer to be indoors. But unless I have eaten some bad meat do my ears deceive me, does that howling sound...off to you? Wolves wouldn't come near an open fire, but somehow that howl makes me feel shivery all over. But I am no coward! How about you Carter, have you heard a howl like that? What do you think we should do if it's the Roman's again?

Sj

"They sound like wolves," Carter said, tilting his head to hear better. "Wolves usually do not attack men unless they are very hungry and it is not winter so they should not be that hungry. However, since this time is not our own and we face strange foes, it is probably better to move on and find a better, more defensive place to make a stand, if they hunt us."


ooc: I'm thinking some kind of outcrop of rocks that we can jump to the top to, high enough that it makes it very difficult for others to climb unless they can jump just as high but also near woods so if we look like we are going to be overrun, we can try leaping into the forest and lose or foes. Second best choice would be a high cliff overlooking a lake or the sea, so that they can't surround us, can only attack from the front or side, not our rear.
Don't want no wolfbite on my butt!

[quote="DavidMcMahon"]"They sound like wolves," Carter said, tilting his head to hear better.  "Wolves usually do not attack men unless they are very hungry and it is not winter so they should not be that hungry.  However, since this time is not our own and we face strange foes, it is probably better to move on and find a better, more defensive place to make a stand, if they hunt us."

OOC: I'm right with Dave on this one.

Starkey nodded, a slightly nervous look in the direction of where the sound was coming from. He wasn't sorry to be on the move despite sorely wanting some rest. And a good whiskey, and a cigar.....

Sj