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

"Got any silver on you ... just in case," John Carter asks with a grin while checking his pouch at his waist to see if his silver dollars made the time jump.

Alas, the pair had little on them save the Roman clothing they wore.

Out here, in the wilds, anyone they encountered was sure to be an enemy. Hunted by the tribes people AND their 'own' side, the Romans, they were truly caught between a rock and a hard place!

Carter led the way, the pair rubbing out the fire with sandle covered feet (known as a Caligae) and moving quickly, efficiently through the forest, they picked their way over fallen trees, bubbling brooks and made for the higher ground, as spotted by Carter when he found a clearing and hopped straight up!

Soon the trees started to spread out and the hill became steeper. Rocks split the treeline up until it broke completely and the pair were able to bound up a hillside, turning back to see a sea of trees around them.

The light was not good, and as usual it had started to mist up. At least it wasn't raining but the mist could be as dangerous!

Soon they crested the peak of the hill and turned, looking out into the gloom. The mist had rolled in so much now that visibility was only a few feet and the forest not visible from the peak they stood on.

That would hamper the vision of anyone seeking to track them. Then again it hampered their own, and both men had the thought that whatever tracked them relied less on vision and more on a sense of smell!

=========

They ran.

Pounding breaths matched the fleetness of foot. The power coursed through them, making the pack surge forward!

He turned, snapping at a huge wolf that ran too close and it responded with a warning growl...

Setting a pace no human could outrun the pack knew that only one thing would slake their thirst, sate their hunger... Their vision allowed sight in the deepening gloom but it was something else - the scent of their prey - that guided them unerringly towards their targets!

=========

The mist broke a little and the pair could see on the other side of the hill now, looking down into a valley.

There was a village in the distance, rude huts of straw and stray stones, held together with mud and roofed in branches for the most part. Smoke coiled from several small fires and villagers toiled in the mud to plant, wondering if this year the harvest would be enough to feed them, or whether they would go hungry and have to go raiding.

Starky glanced at Carter. They were dressed as Romans. The villagers would not look well on that... They would have to...

ARRRRROOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

The howl was close. Much closer than before! From the other side of the hill, the direction they'd come from! Even with the way sound carried the howl indicated the wolves were not much more than a mile or two away!

Though the villagers would be poor there may be someone in the village with a silver torq or goblet, if Carter still wanted one...

Admin wrote:Though the villagers would be poor there may be someone in the village with a silver torq or goblet, if Carter still wanted one...

"Right, so we are dressed as the occupying force being chased by wolves, looking for the most valuable item this village owns...what can possibly go wrong? I guess if we are looking for something silver, and or the most defensible position, I'd start with the biggest house and see if we can't impress the head man of this place. What do you think, Carter?"

Starkey managed to say between gasps. Though by no means unfit, he wasn't used to running around in the night with full Roman armour on either. To say he was beginning to feel a tad inconvenienced, was a total understatement.

Sj

"We have just a handful of minutes before those wolves are on top of us," John Carter decided, listening to the howls. "Maybe we should stay away from the village? No sense in bringing our problems on them! If we had more time I would have gone in there. We need a defensible place where they can not attack us from the rear and hamstring us! Once they do that, it is all over for us."

He looks over the trees wondering if he could augment his strength enough to knock them down and make a rude barricade to protect themselves and if he could do it in time? Otherwise, a pile of rocks they could scramble up on or a cliff to place at their backs would be the other best choices.

DavidMcMahon wrote:"We have just a handful of minutes before those wolves are on top of us," John Carter decided, listening to the howls.  "Maybe we should stay away from the village?  No sense in bringing our problems on them!  If we had more time I would have gone in there.  We need a defensible place where they can not attack us from the rear and hamstring us!  Once they do that, it is all over for us."

He looks over the trees wondering if he could augment his strength enough to knock them down and make a rude barricade to protect themselves and if he could do it in time?  Otherwise, a pile of rocks they could scramble up on or a cliff to place at their backs would be the other best choices.

Starkey looked a little unsure, but when it came down to it Carter was a man of war, he a man of well... too many things to list in one sentence. So ended up nodding in agreement. They'd not have much time, so as they moved he scanned the location for anything he thought might come in handy, whilst keeping a weary out of for the pursuers.

Sj

Opting to avoid drawing the wolves to the unwitting villagers, the pair looked about.

On the far side of the village the valley rose on each side. One was sparsely wooded, the other scattered with loose rocks, boulders and fallen trees, suggesting a rockslide at one point.

Starky ran his hands across his sandles and they seemed to glow slightly. When Carter took off for the far side of the valley he glanced back, hopeful that Starky could keep up... No such worry!

The inventor bounded along as well as Carter could, but laughing as he did so, finding the experience exhilarating as they both covered huge distance with each leap! They approached, then leapt over the village!

A youngster playing in the mud gaped, turned to his father in the forge to point out what he'd seen but it was gone!

=========

Behind large boulders the pair scanned the misty valley for the wolves.

Nothing so far? Maybe they'd lost the scent... Perhaps they could... no! There!

Carter and Starky gaped as they saw what looked to be horse sized wolves creeping from the gloom, sniffing about. A couple snapped and growled at each other but turned back to the task of tracking their prey. Leaping had confused them but their senses were supernatural... One of the Wolves turned, then stood on its hind legs, like a man! It turned, then pointed a long hairy muscular arm ending in claws... and pointed across the valley!

OOC The half Dozen wolfmen will be moving from one side of the valley to the other, through/around the village then up the steep slope where Carter and Starky are. You don't have much time, but perhaps enough to come up with some daring plan to thwart the evil!

Admin wrote:OOC The half Dozen wolfmen will be moving from one side of the valley to the other, through/around the village then up the steep slope where Carter and Starky are. You don't have much time, but perhaps enough to come up with some daring plan to thwart the evil!  

Looking about at the obvious pattern of debris, Starkey started to see if it were possible to start a second avalanche!! A localised one that would terminate before the village rather than engulf it. He looked to Carter, something of a mad gleam leaping to his eyes, as they flashed. What do you think? No, leave that to me, I'm thinking what if we could start another avalanche and bury those things beneath a pile of readily available but oh so precariously balanced rocks above us here?

Starkey thought it was brilliant, but he did have an overdeveloped sense of his own abilities. But as he got over the euphoria of the idea, he started to look to see if it were even achievable and if achievable in what way without his weapon of mass destruction ending up burying all the unsuspecting villagers below.

Sj

"How much time do you need," John Carter asked. "I will lead our furry friends to the trap since it looks like they may go through the village we bypassed, I will need to lead them around it and to your trap."

DavidMcMahon wrote:"How much time do you need," John Carter asked.  "I will lead our furry friends to the trap since it looks like they may go through the village we bypassed, I will need to lead them around it and to your trap."

OOC: Looks like we have a plan,::looks to Paul:: ...what do I need?

Sj

Starky glanced about, quick wits forming a plan. He needed to get a lever...

Pulling the roman sword from it's sheath he ran a hand over it... then slashed at a medium sized tree! The blade sank in deep with little effort but took several swipes to slash through!

He glanced over his shoulder and saw a dot in the valley as Carter raced around, seemingly allowing himself to be cornered and chased about by the wolf men only to leap high over their heads and their grasping claws! He couldn't tease them for ever though!

The villagers were in turn petrified and determined to defend their home but couldn't help but stare and point in confusion as it seemed a mad Roman was leading the biggest wolves they'd ever seen a merry dance!

=========

Carter revelled in the chase! With sword in hand he ran and leapt about, causing the creatures to swerve here and there!

Every now and again he glanced up at the hillside but dare not get too distracted... these things were BIG! Enormous! Bigger than bears and far, far faster...

They ran on hind legs as much as all fours and couldn't be reasoned with or persuaded from their purpose it seemed... Even with the sword in hand he wasn't entirely sure if it would do anything to harm them. It seemed awfully small and puny compared to their iron hard hairy sinewed forms...

He glanced again. Starky was waving!

Turning, he ran for the hillside then stumbled! Two of the creatures caught and leapt at him, but crashed into one another, snapping and snarling as he scrambled away! Close! He leapt, then again, and again, and put some distance between them. There was no need to glance back - he could practically feel their breath on his neck!

=========

Starky glanced at the rocks. He'd 'enchanted' his wrist strapping and hefted the tree about like it was weightless but now he needed to use his mind...

OOC int 8 + Scientist 5D (!) + Roll(7d12)+0: 3,8,12,1,10,6,11,+0 Total:23 (no doubles???) (31) vs
OV7 + Roll(2d12)+0: 3,9,+0 Total:12 (19) +5 (to 11 Will) vs RV7=4 RAPs

Success and four of the six are caught up in a rockslide!

Starky set to levering one rock... then changed his mind and ran to another! In his minds eye he could see a chain of events. If that one were set rolling then that one... no... THAT one would... yes... YES!

carter was getting closer and closer and the creatures were hot on his heels! They were a pack, ravenous, and dwarfed him with mouths than would tear a leg off at a bite!

Then he heaved and the rocks started falling... "Jump!" he cried to Carter and his companion JUMPED!

Over the rock fall which gathered pace and dragged bigger and smaller rocks with it! Four of the creatures were catapulted from their feet and went down amidst the rocks and debris in a huge cloud which obscured vision... which left only two!

They shook their heads, glanced back at the cloud of debris on the valley floor and turned to their prey!

OOC keep running or make a stand?

Admin wrote:They shook their heads, glanced back at the cloud of debris on the valley floor and turned to their prey!

OOC keep running or make a stand?

OOC: Wow, that worked much better than I had even hoped or imagined.

Looking back to Carter, Starkey quipped, I'm a lover and a painter and a dancer and occasional cad, but I guess it's maybe time I got used to using the pointy end of this thing and wave it at those things. What do you think Carter, will cold steel make any difference? Not sure if I can outrun them, but willing to give it a try?

Sj

"Don't know but first ...." John Carter said, picking up a large rock/smallish boulder and maxing out his Strength, threw it at the closest of the two wolfmen who weren't caught by the trap.

ooc: Have no idea if him using his sword or throwing rocks has the best chance of harming these wolfmen but let's start with a range attack before getting in close.

Carter scooped up a rock - far larger than even a weightlifter could manage - and hefted it.

The problem was, he could throw a heavy rock a short distance or a small rock a larger distance! He dropped that one, scooped up another which was hefty but still manageable and tossed it in the direction of the Wolfmen!

OOC Power Reserve 5 into strength (now 8)

Av4 + Roll(2d12)+0: 2,9,+0 Total:11 (15) vs
OV6 + range 3 + Roll(2d12)+0: 12,9,+0 Total:21 (30) well wide!

The rock sails high and wide and Carter knows he'll only get one more chance at that. Even so, they'll be on him given their speed. Might he be better defending with a sword?

Meanwhile Starky fished out his home made telescope and looked through it to see the rocks and smoke from below... he saw a furry hand move boulders aside! The rock fall had slowed the creatures down but hadn't completely stopped them!

Now the pair had two Wolf men sprinting up the steep hill and charging at them - they'd be there in moments!

OOC The Wolf men are only fifty feet away now. You have one round still to act then they are in claw slashing distance! The others in the rock fall may have survived but will need time and effort to climb out of that mess, so it's 'only' two you need to worry about. Run/leap or make a stand?

Admin wrote:Now the pair had two Wolf men sprinting up the steep hill and charging at them - they'd be there in moments!

OOC The Wolfmen are only fifty feet away now. You have one round still to act then they are in claw slashing distance! The others in the rockfall may have survived but will need time and effort to climb out of that mess, so it's 'only' two you need to worry about. Run/leap or make a stand?

"Much as I admire your strength and prowess, my friend, I think this calls for more finesse. The bad news is the others are alive still. Yeah, I don't know how either." Starkey said pulling a face as he removed the telescope from his eye. "The point being my friend even if we take these things on, one wonders if we can even harm them let alone kill them. They, I suspect, have us at an advantage. We may be better off making a run for it!" He said pulling a face at the thought of being pursued by creatures they had fewer options to stop in their tracks. He wondered at that point where the count had got to, would he have any success with such beasts?

OOC: OK I'll go for a last stand if that is what you want Dave, but I am thinking we might be better off running for it and if it comes to taking a stand doing so from a place where we can defend ourselves better. If only there was a way to break the link or the charm that had made these creatures possible, we could take preemptive action rather than running away. Clearly when it comes to magic, pretty much all my characters have been so blindsided by it.

Sj

"No way we can really escape them," John Carter said with a frown, "they are as fast or faster than us.  We could run and then trying to jump in the sea or a wide, deep river and hope that they can't swim.  Not sure how close to the sea we are.  If there are no wide, deep rivers or the sea, then they will catch up to us and we will be forced to fight tired."

He thinks a bit.

"Do you have someway of blinding them and messing up their sense of smell?  If you can do that, we might get far enough away that they won't be able to track us.  Otherwise, make our stand here?"


ooc:  If you can rob them of those two senses for at least a minute or so, we could try fleeing, water to hide our scent from them and maybe leaping from tree to tree like Tarzan.  If not, last stand with us having a height advantage seems to be the next best choice since this was the best ground we could find as they approached.

DavidMcMahon wrote:"Do you have someway of blinding them and messing up their sense of smell?  If you can do that, we might get far enough away that they won't be able to track us.  Otherwise, make our stand here?"


ooc:  If you can rob them of those two senses for at least a minute or so, we could try fleeing, water to hide our scent from them and maybe leaping from tree to tree like Tarzan.  If not, last stand with us having a height advantage seems to be the next best choice since this was the best ground we could find as they approached.

Starkey pulled a face, this was stretching them both...well himself perhaps more than an adventurer like Carter. But with a shrug of his shoulder, he looked about as he thought through what he had inventoried about his person since arriving a stranger in this strange land.

OOC: Dave makes sense is there anything I can put together in the short space of time with anything to hand?

Sj

ooc Ancient pepper spray!  Or ammonia or bleach or combine ammonia and bleach which was one of these gasses used in WW1

OOC Posting this in all the game threads but...

APOLOGIES FOR THE ENFORCED ABSENCE! Exams at work then 18 hours without internet/land line (not just me it seems, an entire postcode it would seem which is dozens of towns and villages) has left me high n dry! Anyway, back at it...

=========

Starky looked about and tore up a handful of heather...

Pulling several widgets and doohickeys from a 'man bag' Starky frowned and concentrated.

Carter pulled his sword and made ready to make a stand. At the speed these things moved, with endless endurance to boot meant running was a tactic doomed to fail eventually. Could they take two of these things on?

Suddenly there was a FWWWOOOOOSSSSHHHH!!! as a powerful gust of air roared from a fan like device in Starky's hands! He grunted, digging in his feet and trying not to slide backwards as he directed the torrent of wind at the heather covered hillside...

The spores and pollen from the planets were blown up and whipped in the face of the oncoming werewolves! At first they slowed... then they stopped, and started sneezing! The wind was so powerful that dust and pollen filled the air and for an onlooker some distance away they would have seen a dust storm building up from a mountain top and blowing down the mountain!

Moving away and keeping the torrent of air blasting at the plants/floor the pair started moving around the mountain and were able to put some distance in between them and the ravenous beasts!

=========

The pair watched from the cover of the woods and waited.

Nothing yet.

They were on the edge of heather strewn hills and had jogged away, blasting up a storm of dust and pollen. The creatures had been affected, for sure!

They'd bought time but those things would be back on their trail....

OOC Continue the pursuit of the grail or find some way to permanently deal with the werewolves...?

"Let's see if we can get away from these things," John Carter suggested, "use hard ground to hide tracks, jumping from tree to tree to hide our scent and use of rivers and such as well. Then we can continue after the Grail."

DavidMcMahon wrote:"Let's see if we can get away from these things," John Carter suggested, "use hard ground to hide tracks, jumping from tree to tree to hide our scent and use of rivers and such as well.  Then we can continue after the Grail."

Starkey nodded, but added, Sure but let's see if we can direct ourselves toward the grail. I'd really like to get this thing and go home. I've got this hot tub, grab my Pipe and maybe a pretty lady on my arm, to rub out all the burs and sores. Man, I am going to ache into the beyond, once this is done.

Starkey said his ole cheeky grin plastered all over his face, defiant despite their predicament.

Sj

The pair, tracked like wounded animals but defiant and determined not to go down without a fight, made for streams and river beds, bounding and leaping like no one else could!

With his steam powered flying apparatus (jet pack) Starky could have found them an easier way to go. As it was spring loaded sandals gave him the ability to keep up with Carter and the pair made good progress, always heading in the direction the Vampire, Alucard, had indicated.

Soon it was night fall, and they'd covered miles. Both were now wet through, exhausted and hungry. It never seemed to stop raining!

The land was mostly heather covered or forested, wild, with a natural beauty somewhat spoiled in later centuries by mass farming.

As both sagged against a tree breathing hard they discussed (quietly) who would take first watch and what to do about food. Carter could hunt, and outrun pretty much any deer or rabbit.

As he eased his aching form up Carter turned, and Starky glanced in the direction he was looking...

Silhouetted in the trees was the dark form of a man, no details in the evening gloom, stood some twenty feet away in the shadow cast by bushes and looking upon them! Friend... or Foe???

Admin wrote:Silhouetted in the trees was the dark form of a man, no details in the evening gloom, stood some twenty feet away in the shadow cast by bushes and looking upon them! Friend... or Foe???

Starkey was tired, cold and hungry. The persistent rain, despite their physical exertion, had only kept them from getting warm and now they stopped the cold was beginning to bite a bit harder. Turning to Carter he reached for his sword, confident he still had a little of that pizzaz he had that seemed to be able to gadget himself something in every desperate move.

"OK open to suggestions but bluffing is going to be high on my list of options right now." Starkey said quietly from the side of his mouth as the sword came free of its scabbard and he raised it in a defensive posture.

OOC: OK ready to defend myself, assuming our visitor makes any sudden moves. But otherwise conserving my energy for whatever comes next.

Sj

We shall see what we shall see," John Carter said philosophically.

"You there! Identify yourself! Friend or Foe?"

He pulls his sword out as well and goes into a defensive stance. Watching, not just the figure in the gloom but around him as well, he maybe a distraction for others who might circle them.

"It is good to see you are paying attention." said Baron Alucard as he stepped from the shadows!

Still dressed in druidic robes he looked younger, healthier and more vibrant than before. His wounds from the burning sun had gone, and he had regained his air of arrogant nobility about him. His flushed cheeks, full lips and piercing stare reminded the heroic pair they travelled in the presence of a vampire, and one it seemed who had fed recently.

"You are tracked by creatures of a supernatural origin." he said, walking to stand with his back to the fire, silhouetted against the flames. "I flew here, tracking your scent and saw them. They are... abominations. The creatures of the night I can speak to, command, as is my right. These? They were summoned and despite the rockfall you caused they are none the worse for wear. I would suggest an enchanted weapon or silvered blade..." he more or less spat the word "would injure them and give them pause for thought. Despite your, I must say, remarkable speed and endurance, they are hot on your trail and only a few hours behind, closing rapidly and untiring."

He turned, looking out into the darkness of the forest. "The grail is moving ever North. As I said before though, it is changed. Different. Perhaps in this era it takes on a different shape or gives off a different aura. All I know is that when it reaches its destination it shall be taken from this land and over the seas as a prize, there to be lost to the land of Britain forever."

Starky and Carter glanced at each other. That would change the course of history, and prevent the legends of Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table from coming to pass! Whether the pair thought that folklore or not, the fact the grail existed also suggested a grain or more of truth in the takes of Uther Pendragon and his line. It would also change history for them, and they might even wink out of existence or appear back in their own time as changed people or at least not knowing one another!

"The Grail must be found. I cannot approach the thing but I can lead you to it. Even here, with it's goodly..." again the word spat "aura it is an abomination to my existence."

"I suspect the 'pagan raiders' who took it were more than they seemed. The druids whom I ... encountered were eager to spill what they knew in return for a few more moments of life. Strangers from a far away land bid them find and steal the grail and hand it to powerful warriors who would spirit it away. In return they would be given the power to turn away Roman invaders but only after they had used that power to thwart three powerful servants of Rome who could perform wondrous tasks like Hercules of old."

AROOOOO!!!

A distant howl from miles away rang through the near silence of the forest.

"That is not of a music kind that I consider sweet." growled Alucard.

Admin wrote:AROOOOO!!!

A distant howl from miles away rang through the near silence of the forest.

"That is not of a music kind that I consider sweet" growled Alucard.

Starky grimaced, giving an involuntary shiver. It wasn't clear to him whether it was being around Alucard or the howl, but he added to cover his discomfort "We'd best keep moving. We've got no weapons to fight these things and whilst we try the grail slips away. We need rest, though and that is going to be the worst of it. With untiring beasts that can keep marching right after us, I guess we'll end up having to take a stand somewhere."

Starky was not a physically strong as the other two, his skill with weapons was more in creating than using them what he wouldn't give for his steam-powered suit, the means to fly at least a short distance and put some space between them and their pursuers whilst closing in on the grail. Perhaps that would itself aid them against their supernatural pursuit.

Sj