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

"I agree, let's move one. As you said, our current weapons would be useless," John Carter replies. "Perhaps along the way we can find a monastery or a noble's stronghold and, though I find this distasteful, acquire some of their silver. Crosses, cups, silver coins, with such as those can you not make us silver weapons, Starkey? I doubt we would find an enchanter or such who can quickly make our current weapons enchanted so stealing the silver we need may be our only choice."

DavidMcMahon wrote:"I agree, let's move one.  As you said, our current weapons would be useless," John Carter replies.  "Perhaps along the way we can find a monastery or a noble's stronghold and, though I find this distasteful, acquire some of their silver.  Crosses, cups, silver coins, with such as those can you not make us silver weapons, Starkey?  I doubt we would find an enchanter or such who can quickly make our current weapons enchanted so stealing the silver we need may be our only choice."

Starkey ever the pragmatist, thought for a moment before adding, "Works for me!"

Sj

Alucard nodded. "Then I shall lead on."

The group moved on through the night across the dark, forested land. The settlements they came across were of the farming type mostly, a few rough made huts of mud and straw with branches for roofs. The land was wild, untamed and beautiful though perpetually clouded in rain and near darkness.

"I shouldn't complain." said Alucard as they stood under the cover of a tree and the rain absolutely lashed down. "I can walk in the daytime in this sun forsaken land and fear not being turned into a pile of ash."

Carter and Starky glanced at each other. The nature of the beast they travelled with made them wonder whether he had his own agenda...

=========

"They still follow." said Alucard, pulling the hood deeper over his face and glancing up at the daylight trying to break through clouds.

"The rain slowed them though and we managed to at least maintain our distance."

The Vampire had changed into a bat and circled back to see how they were doing whilst the other two pushed on in darkness. "We have... an hour or more we can spare I believe if you want rest."

Mud splattered, drenched, exhausted, the pair knew it would be a risk to stop but more of a risk if they were to exhaust themselves and have to fight!

"Something else." muttered Alucard. "I sense a holy ground some few miles to the east. It would not be of the Christian god, probably of some pagan but they may have the materials you require. Plus you can eat and rest for a short while. Or we can push on. The Grail is getting closer now." he added, looking uncomfortable.

"Let's try going to this "Holy Ground" and see what we see. Maybe it will also hinder our foes? Perhaps we can find weapons to fight with. I think it is a better option than staying here to rest and then trying to hurry there as our foes close in on us," John Carter replies, wondering if Alucard would be able to enter it or not.

DavidMcMahon wrote:"Let's try going to this "Holy Ground" and see what we see.  Maybe it will also hinder our foes?  Perhaps we can find weapons to fight with.  I think it is a better option than staying here to rest and then trying to hurry there as our foes close in on us," John Carter replies, wondering if Alucard would be able to enter it or not.

Starkey looked a little sceptical but otherwise shrugged his shoulders and nodded indicating that he would follow on.

SJ

Alucard moved like the wind, running faster than any human had a right to, about the same as a horse! Starkey and Carter leapt, and all three covered the ground over trees, streams and heather covered ground in minutes towards the place where Alucard had indicated.

The Vampire stopped short and stifled a curse as the sun broke through the clouds and without a word moved quickly to the cover of trees, hissing as a stray sunbeam burned the back of his hand!

"I would not be able to enter the place anyway but the temple is in that direction." hissed the Vampire. "I shall watch for the were creatures and try to delay them."

Starky and Carter glanced at one another then crossed the cleared ground towards a small village. At the centre of a collection of rough huts and farm yards was a larger circular building with pointed roof. Though it, too was made of rough brick, mud and straw materials the roof seemed more substantial and closer inspection revealed the walls weren't just of mud. If you removed all the mud between the stones this would be a circle of standing stones, much like stonehenge and other 'holy sites' like it.

The people moving about were native Britons, clad in skins, furs and rough cloth. Generally unshaven and unkempt, they seemed happy in their lot even if it mostly involved trudging around in mud eking a meagre living from an unforgiving land.

The pair - still dressed as Romans but plastered in mud for the most part - had not been seen and the idea they got was that not many visitors came out this way. The village was atop a hill and the centre building/stone circle was in the middle of it. Perhaps it was the home for a leader or holy man.

Whatever it was, the pair of time travellers knew time was running out and they needed *something* to help them!

OOC march straight up or play it cagey?

Admin wrote:OOC march straight up or play it cagey?

Starkey looked sideways at Carter, "I'm all for seeing if we can just play it safe and pretend, but I think anyone who looks for more than a moment is going to figure out we aren't from around these parts. And with time against us...although I imagine these folk will seek to defend the place from the likes of us, we might have a fight on our hand front and back if we aren't careful? Maybe we go bold but we go trying to impress the natives...perhaps a parlour trick or two to convince them we are mages or some sort of holy men - what do you think Carter?"

Sj

"Go in bold and demand to speak with their Holy Man, telling them that monsters will be attacking here before the sun reaches high in the sky," John Carter says, "You want to do some sort of magic to help with our story, be my guest!"

DavidMcMahon wrote:"Go in bold and demand to speak with their Holy Man, telling them that monsters will be attacking here before the sun reaches high in the sky," John Carter says, "You want to do some sort of magic to help with our story, be my guest!"

Starkey smiled a knowing smile, as he rummaged in his pack to make some fire, lights and hopefully 'magic' to back up their need for a discussion with whomever had charge over the shrine.

Sj

Dressed as Roman legionnaires the pair drew wary glances from the villagers.

The Britons knew that Romans acted only in groups and nervous glances went out over the valley and surrounding woodlands.

Word had gotten to the Chief who was an ageing warrior with a deep scar on his face and several roughly stitched wounds. Whatever else he was, this man did not shy away from defending his people even at great personal cost. With him were several warrior guards and a middle aged woman in furs and skins. It was she who stepped forwards.

"Romans. You are not welcome in our village or on our lands. We have paid our tithes in fish and meat and there is no more to give! Would you starve our children and see our village die? Who would feed you and your legions then?" she said, though there was an edge to her voice. Perhaps fear or... or something else.

"Leave Romans." grunted the Chief. The people in and around their huts had stopped to watch the exchange, and women pulled children inside huts. Chances were that they saw these two Romans as scouts and if they were dealt with forcefully and quickly none would know that they had ever come to this village!

Admin wrote:"Leave Romans." grunted the Chief. The people in and around their huts had stopped to watch the exchange, and women pulled children inside huts. Chances were that they saw these two Romans as scouts and if they were dealt with forcefully and quickly none would know that they had ever come to this village!

With a nervous glance toward Carter, Starkey came forward. "You misunderstand our presence here. We do not seek the wealth of your lands, or your food. But we are more than we seem. Behold" And with this, Starkey generated some intricate lights along the length of his sword as he drew it carefully forward. "My companion and I are warriors of old, come now to fight a great evil forced to walk in the guise of Romans to move about freely. But we are pursued by a terrible evil, wolves that move as men untiring, unstoppable and insatiable. They will rend all flesh before them unless we can stop them and finish our quest. A quest to rid the land of evil not to allow it to be brought to these shores."

Starkey stopped made no more threatening moves but looked to Carter hoping that where he might impress them with smoke and mirrors, Carter could impress with his warrior prowess something, they perhaps could relate to, more readily.

Sj

John Carter leapt straight up into the air, not bothering with anything fancier than that after Starkey's display.

"These wolfmen," he said once he landed, "are immune to bronze and iron. Only silver and magicks have a chance to kill them. We lack the types of magicks that would kill them and have not enough silver to make silver weapons. We ask if you have either with which we can make weapons to kill them. They may not be able to enter holy ground or may be weaken by it, we do not know if either will be true."

"If you cannot help us or will not help us, then we advise you to flee to the center of the nearby holy ground and pray that they cannot enter and kill you all. We will go our way and hope to find someone who can give us what we need to kill these monsters. Your fate will be your own then."



ooc: You know, in some ways JC is a pertinacious git. Though that's probably because he has a strict warrior's code that values bravery and skill in battle. He's kind of fun to writer. A bit different than the Haunt.

There were gasps and people moved back, clearly astonished by what they'd seen!

The Chief gaped, his axe falling from nerveless fingers, whilst the woman, some kind of priestess or shaman, hissed. Glancing at her and trying to save face, the Chief gathered his courage.

"In order to save our people from your dark magicks, we will consider your ... request..." he said, hoping that it would sound like he had a choice. "We want no part of a war with Rome, nor with these dark magicks you say you saw. And for..."

He glanced up and down again, and at Starkey's sword which left a blazing trail of light as he swept it about from side to side..

With a gulp the Chief beckoned for the pair to follow whilst keeping a nervous eye on them. The guards looked terrified but followed the Chief.

Inside the hut it stank of incense and stale sweat. A long table was covered in half eaten food, meats and drink. A fire burned and only partially filtered through a rough chimney, leaving a smoky air in the place. Hounds looked up from the floor then got back to crunching on bones or growling at each other.

Moving to the end of the hall where a throne of sorts was raised higher than the rest of the place by a foot or so, the Chief winced, then gestured to the guards. They nodded and dragged a small chest from behind the throne and opened it.

Inside were a healthy but not overflowing stash of coins. Also there were some items of crude jewellery and some of those - a goblet and a torc - were of silver.

The Chief holds up a hand as Carter heads for the chest. "Wait! A peaceful trade. I want that!" he said, pointing to Starkeys' sword which shone like silver and glistened in the smoky air, shining with glittering lights. The Chief looked greedily at it. "I will give you a Roman sword taken from a soldier we... found... in return so you are not armed. With such a weapon I can better defend my village and ensure rival tribes stay away!" he said, eyes fixed on the glittering weapon in Starkey's hand.

Admin wrote:The Chief holds up a hand as Carter heads for the chest. "Wait! A peaceful trade. I want that!" he said, pointing to Starkeys' sword which shone like silver and glistened in the smoky air, shining with glittering lights. The Chief looked greedily at it. "I will give you a Roman sword taken from a soldier we... found... in return so you are not armed. With such a weapon I can better defend my village and ensure rival tribes stay away!" he said, eyes fixed on the glittering weapon in Starkey's hand.

Starkey made a pained face, looking over the still glowing weapon he nodded for them to show the Roman glave they had as a trade-off. Truth be told he wasn't especially fond of swords, and one was as good as another in his mind. Provided it had a pointy thing and one end and a handle to hold at the other, he wasn't going to fuss about it. He didn't know how long his 'enchantment' would last but mumbled something about it needing sunlight after every night. And hoped that what his quick and gifted mind had done, would still allow the sword to go on powering itself by means of what he had endowed it with.

"Now..." he said, "Better get working or else we will be in trouble."

And with that, he took the silver and other items and began to chant in French words of a love song he had once charmed a young lady with over the sword as he mixed the silver with the iron and steel for him and Carter to use.

Sj

Recognizing the language but not the words, John Carter looked around at the others as Starkey worked.

"Just in case, you might want to move your people to the holy ground until we have finished these wolfmen that follow," he said to the chief. "You have a couple of spare shields we could use too? they can help us in the fight. Should be a wonderful fight to tell your children and your children's children too on cold or rainy night."

He grinned fiercely at the idea of soon coming into contact with their foes.

ooc: Not sure if we have shields or not but probably not what with all the running and jumping.

DavidMcMahon wrote:Recognizing the language but not the words, John Carter looked around at the others as Starkey worked.

"Just in case, you might want to move your people to the holy ground until we have finished these wolfmen that follow," he said to the chief.  "You have a couple of spare shields we could use too?  they can help us in the fight.  Should be a wonderful fight to tell your children and your children's children too on cold or rainy night."

He grinned fiercely at the idea of soon coming into contact with their foes.

ooc:  Not sure if we have shields or not but probably not what with all the running and jumping.

Starkey looked across at Carter, "You not supposed to be enjoying this!"

He said looking somewhat disgusted. To Starkey, a fight was a necessary evil like doing one's taxes. Carter, Starkey mused, looked like someone had told him his horse had just won the derby!

Sj

Starkey looked across at Carter, "You not supposed to be enjoying this!"

He said looking somewhat disgusted. To Starkey, a fight was a necessary evil like doing one's taxes. Carter, Starkey mused, looked like someone had told him his horse had just won the derby!



"A man needs challenges if he is to call himself a man," John Carter replies with a laugh. "You love to challenge yourself to make new things out of nothing. Mine is to test myself and my skills against foes who would kill me. I've have been a warrior for as long as I can remember. Centuries perhaps. It is who and what I am."

Starkey pondered on Carters words then seemingly gathered useless stuff from nearby. Discarded bricks, sticks for fuel and a fire, mud in handfuls...

The Britons peered over his shoulder then gaped as he stood, dusting his hands off and looking at the mini furnace/mould he'd crafted! Molten silver would flow from a feed into the mould which would hold first Carter's then Starkey's Roman swords and coat the weapons. A borrowed bucket of water next to it would cure the silver!

"How...?"

"What...?"

"Witchcraft!"

"Did you see...?"

"What did the Roman do?"

"How..."

A minute later the 'furnace' - actually a manifestation of Starkey's will combined with any old rubbish and formed to look like the object in his mind's eye was glowing orange and the goblets were very slowly buckling and started melting down. However it seemed that the process would take a long time... if it happened at all!

OOC Ok not sure if Starkey can generate 1000 degrees heat with his power limitation. If you guys have any ideas of how to build up a fire/heat enough to cook silver that might speed things along...

OOC Did some looking up. You need 5APs of heat in this game to generate around 1000 deg c. 7APs does that easily.

Starkey frowned and looked about, then Carter gave him a nudge.

The Britons had moved back, shielding themselves from the intense heat and even Starkey had to admit it was pretty darn hot! Moments later he watched liquid Silver flow down a funnel and into the mud mould. Lowering the heat slightly to approach it and flip the blade over... then pull it free, plunge into the bucket... and repeat...

The Chief gaped as he held the twinkling sword and beheld the two Roman swords that now shone like mirrors!

Carter also noticed... and saw the hungry looking gaze of the warriors who all of a sudden decided a shining silver sword would look good on their belt! However, at that moment...

ARRROOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

The distant howl was some distance away but the fact it could be heard meant the werewolves would only be minutes away at the speed they ran!

"Looks like you finished those in time, my friend." John Carter looks over the men who had avarice written on their faces, "Would any of you like to step forward to claim a sword to fight the manwolves that will be here soon? I do not mind giving them to you. After all, you are our hosts and can claim host rights if you wish. I can wait until all who claim host rights are slaughtered by them before taking up one of these swords to fight them myself."

He grins ferally at them, less bloodthirsty as the joy of battle in his eyes.

The gathered warriors all of a sudden were less interested in the silver coated glittering blades that Starkey had expertly crafted and more towards peering out into the fog/gloom to see what kind of creature could issue such a spine curdling howl!

The Chief was pale faced and looked unmanned... "By the gods..." he uttered. "What manner of creature ... that is no wolf I ever heard!"

The villagers started to panic, with the women and children leading the way. Gathering things hastily they started to leave the village towards distant hills. It seemed they had a bolthole of sorts in case of attack by other tribes or by Romans.

The warriors looked very reluctant to stay and some muttered about 'protecting the women and children' despite the Chief ordering, then imploring them to stay!

Starkey held up a Roman gladius, now steaming and coated with silver. He and Carter were now armed with something that should help against the were creatures... and somewhere out there Alucard would use his considerable abilities to help, hopefully, though the man had his own agenda.

Now the question was whether to wait for the creatures to arrive and attack, or venture out into the fog/gloom to fight them or perhaps hide and hope to set some kind of ambush...

"Unless you can see in the dark, I suggest we stay near the campfire so we will have light to fight by," John Carter suggests to his companion.

DavidMcMahon wrote:"Unless you can see in the dark, I suggest we stay near the campfire so we will have light to fight by," John Carter suggests to his companion.

Starkey nodded, "You'll get no argument from me, besides unless we can see in the dark they'll have the advantage so staying close to the fire, fire and me real close...yes sire close!"

Starkey's emphasis on the fire and its protective light and heat clearly gave him the courage he seemed to be struggling to pull together. He was after all an inventor, not a fighter. His physical prowess was limited at best. Carter was the warrior, but he had to hope to get in a few good licks before...well best not think about what came next if he should miss.

Sj

With the majority of the villagers/warriors departing as quickly as they could with what bundled possessions they could gather in furs wrapped with hide strips, the heroic time travelling pair peered out into the gloom.

Between poor light and mist there was little to see and both had to be careful not to stare or even glance at the flames otherwise their eyes would be affected and their vision impaired...

The howling of the creatures got louder and closer... the seconds ticked away. Starkey tried to control his breathing but his heart was pounding in his chest... Carter had seen the things up close and the gladius in his hand seemed woefully small and flimsy...

There was silence, save for the general patter of rain on the ground...

Then to the left! A growl! Squinting into the gloom Carter saw the glare of eyes in the darkness as something big - as big as a horse or larger - moved with speed and stealth in a circling motion. Starkey pointed to another shape circling from the other side... They were being surrounded!

As the pair went back to back and expected to face one each, another growl, much louder, came from their side...



The thing was six foot at the shoulder and as broad, with huge jaws and claws! It stood twenty - thirty feet away slavering and eyeing the pair as they stood with the fire behind them... Then its eyes narrowed, and it seemed to slow start to crouch...

OOC Want to do anything before the dice start rolling?

Admin wrote:OOC Want to do anything before the dice start rolling?

OOC: Yes can I have a saving throw versus illusion as I pinch myself and try to disbelieve ;-) Otherwise no, try and find my backbone and get ready not to stub my toe or trip over my boots and be stabby, stabby at these things and not cut anything off myself I might later regret!

Sj