Session Log 5 - 7/26/04

DamaGM: Our intrepid explorers spent a lovely and somewhat damp night
in an abandoned shack that they had found. Jacen ticked off Evayne,
(not hard to do), was made a fool of by a sylph (also not hard), and
Jasper and Jacen ran amok looking for Evayne.

DamaGM: With the help of the sylph, Evayne discovered that the
groups' quarry (the Shev Evayne was sent to chase) are due north, and
can be reached by nightfall. Evayne is strongly encouraging the group
to leave. Now.

* Jacen hastily gathers his meager possessions and gets ready to go.

Jacen: He then struggles to mount the horse he was riding before.

* Jasper grabs his equipment and gets the horses set, hoping he
remembers how to ride well entough to do what must be done.

DamaGM: Kayden, grumbling at having to be rushed, gathers his
remaining items and awkwardly mounts the second horse.

DamaGM: Evayne lifts a finger to test the wind. She nods to herself
and turns to the group. "The sylph are not good at judging distance,
but I'd place the Shev about six or seven leagues due north. The sylph
gave me the impression they were running."

DamaGM: She looks to Jasper. "Can you make that thing," she gestures
to his horse, "gallop?"

Jacen: "Running? Do they know someone's chasing them?"

Jasper: "I can try."  He replies grimly.

DamaGM: Evayne shakes her head at the question. "I couldn't tell... I
just got a sensation of urgent speed. That's all. I'll try again
later."

* Jacen nods.

DamaGM: So saying, she approaches Kayden's horse and, after grimacing
a little, swings herself up into it in front of Kayden. "I'll lead.
Follow me."

DamaGM: Kayden grins widely for a quick moment, then immediatly
settles back into looking cool/bored.

* Jacen rolls his eyes and hangs on tight.

Jasper: "Right..."  Jasper grumbles, taking the lead and preparing to
make the horse go -fast-.

DamaGM: Evayne mutters something, grips the reigns and gives the
horse a swift kick. "YAH!" Her horse takes off at a gallop.

DamaGM: With Evayne in the lead, the two horses plunge recklessly
across the fields. The thundering of hooves echoes across the empty
plains, and the noise effectivly drowns out any attempts at
conversation. After a while, Evayne settles the horses into a ground-
devouring canter.

DamaGM: The leagues pass by slowly, and the landscape remains mostly
unchanged: fields, some plowed for farmland, most just miles of
untouched grassland, spread out in all directions, broken only by the
occasional hillock or clump of trees.

DamaGM: Occasionally, in the distance, large dark structures can be
seen, but their nature remains shrouded.

DamaGM: Around noon or so, Evayne calls a halt at a small stream near
the base of a hill.

* Jasper pulls his horse over as instructed.

Jacen: By this time, Jacen is far beyond pain. Or even moving
anything south of his waist. He's holding on tightly around Jasper's
midsection, face pressed into his back in a rictus.

DamaGM: Kayden's lips are pressed into a thin line, his only sign of
expression. He doesn't even leer as Evayne dismounts.

Jacen: "Are we there yet?" Jacen moans.

DamaGM: "Not quite," Evayne says. She turns to Jasper, "Can you see
to the horses?"

Jacen: "Oh. Then...are we dead?" He says this with equal hopefulness.

* Jasper secures the horses as well as he can in the current situation

DamaGM: "You wish," Kayden growls, and stiffly dismounts. "Get down.
Stretch your legs. It'll feel better."

Jacen: "...I have legs?"

Jacen: He opens one eye and peers down. "Good gods. Look at that."

DamaGM: Evayne smiles slightly. "I take it none of you are used to
riding."

Jacen: In answer, Jacen tries to get off the horse...

Jacen: For a moment he lands on his feet, catlike...then an agonized
squeak escapes his lips and he topples over.

Jacen: "It's not the riding," he mutters. "It's the bloody
galloping."

DamaGM: From his pack, Kayden withdraws some day-old bread and a
small flask. He tosses the flask to Jacen. "Here. Take a swing."

* Jacen adroitly snags the flask out of midair, even prone as he is.
He eyes the flask, winces terribly as he sits up, and takes a
swallow...which he immediately spits out again, coughing and
sputtering. "You DRINK this?!"

Jasper: "I used to be used to it."  Jasper reports evenly... taking
unnaturally wide steps.

DamaGM: Kayden grins, limps over to Jacen, and picks the flask up.
"Of course. Keeps the mind off legs."

DamaGM: Evayne shakes her head. "I'll be back in a minute." She heads
off towards the top of the hill.

* Jacen makes a loud raspberry noise as he tries to spit more of the
stuff off his tongue. "Aye...now if you break my arms, I'll have
nothing left." He begins massaging his legs through his breeches.

DamaGM: One of the horses, the tall black gelding, suddenly rears in
fright and spins away from the river. The white mare follows it.
Thankfully, neither horse goes to far away.

* Jacen twists around. "Wha...oh. She's doing that thing again. She
might have warned us."

DamaGM: The source of the horses' fear appears to be a dark shape
near the stream's edge.

* Jacen squints. "Uh...she didn't go that way, did she?" He points at
the shape.

* Jasper sighs and makes sure his quarterstaff is in hand as he turns
toward the dark figure.

Jacen: "Bloody..." Jacen starts struggling to get up onto his stiff
legs.

Jasper: "Animals spooked.  Menacing vissage.  Near ancient, possibly
haunted ruins.  ...  Maybe it just wants to borrow a cup of sugar."

Jacen: "Hang on..."

DamaGM: The shape, whatever it is, doesn't appear to be moving.

Jacen: "It looks kind of...dead."

Jacen: Jacen breaks into a jog towards it...moving surprisingly well
given his theatrics earlier.

Jasper: "That doesn't mean it can't hurt us."  Jasper warns gravely.

* Jasper follows Jacen as quickly as he can, eyeting the thing to try
and get an idea of what it is before he gets too close.

DamaGM: Kayden follows also, but at a slight distance. He eyes the
surrounding terrain, one hand on his sword hilt.

DamaGM: It's a body. A dead body. A dead Shev, to be exact. The man
lies slumped over onto his side, facing the stream, one hand trailing
in the water. A large, two-handed axe lies on the ground nearby, the
wooden haft broken.

Jacen: "Something killed this guy," Jacen observes, clearly
impressed.

Jacen: He puts his foot out and pushes the body over so they can see
his front.

* Jasper attempts to determine how recently the man died... carefly
poking around the scene... trying not to disturb too much.

DamaGM: Kayden calls out, "How long has he been dead?"

* Jasper yelps as Jacen boots the corpse over.

Jacen: "Uh...he's not all purple yet!" Jacen calls back. "He's a bit
stiff though."

Jasper: "Jacen... please, it's best if I can look at the dead people
before they've been manipulated post-mortem too much.."

Jacen: "Look all ya want," Jacen offers graciously.

Jasper: "By manipulation I mean moving them around..."  He points at
where the corpse had been lying a moment before.

Jacen: "Then look faster?"

DamaGM: There is a large, circular hole on the left side of the man's
chest. It looks as though something punched a hand into his body,
gripped his heart, and ripped it out.

Jacen: "I mean...really, what's there to look at."

Jacen: He looks. And gasps. "Oh wow. Look."

DamaGM: The grass where he had been lying is soaked in blood, as is
the front of his tunic.

Jasper: "I've seen this man before..."  Jasper frowns.

Jacen: "A Shev? Where?"

Jasper: "A shev?"  He looks up suddenly.

Jacen: "Yeah." He points at the body.

Jacen: "Where did you see a Shev before? Oh...in the town?"

Jasper: "He was the one that came off the roof of the inn."

Jasper: "The murderer, presumably."

Jacen: "Huh. Guess justice is done. By someone...really strong."

DamaGM: Kayden stumps over to you both. "No sign of tracks." He
appraises the dead body calmly.

Jacen: He squinches his face as he looks at the terrible wound.

DamaGM: Evayne returns. She's slightly breathless. "I think I've
found..." She notices the body. "Dear Light, it's one of them..."

* Jacen nods. "Don't worry. Managed to take him out before he could
get you, milady."

DamaGM: Evayne lifts an eyebrow sardonically. "Really?"

Jacen: "Aye!"

Jacen: "See? He's dead and everything!" Jacen beams, utterly
straightfaced.

Jasper: "Yes."  Jasper says calmly, to reinforce Evayne's suspicions.
"We split his heart between the three of us to absorb his strength...
we should have saved you some."

* Jacen licks his lips and pats his belly.

DamaGM: Kayden smiles. "A little gamey, but mostly decent."

Jacen: "As hearts go."

DamaGM: Kayden nods agreement.. "As hearts go."

DamaGM: Evayne looks slowly from man to man, then her eyes narrow.
"Are you trying to be funny?"

* Jasper sighs and continues similarly evenly, "He's been dead for an
hour, maybe two.  Whatever -actually- ripped his heart out may still
be nearby... and something big enough to do that, if it needs to eat
at all, can probably eat more than one a day quite comfortably."

Jacen: "Awww..."

DamaGM: Evayne nods at Jasper. "Then we should leave at once. We're
making good time, and catching up to the others." She smiles
maliciously at Jacen. "We should catch up in another three or four
hours. Hard galloping, of course."

Jacen: "Go on...I'll catch up."

DamaGM: Kayden pushes Jacen. "Move, lad. If I've got to ride, so do
you." He hauls Jacen towards the horses.

Jasper: "Very good."  He nods.  "Though, if the two were traveling
companions... it is not inconvievable that our heart-ripper has stayed
with the other... in one way or another."

Jacen: "Yah yah..." He goes with Kayden resignedly.

* Jasper grabs the horses and makes sure they're caled down and ready
to go.

DamaGM: Evayne glances at Jasper. "Two? There was another one?"

Jasper: "This one and... the other, or however many... we are
tracking."

DamaGM: "Ah." She mounts smoothly and glances down at Kayden.
"Coming?"

* Jasper mounts and helps Jacen up if necessary... making a point not
to look like he's offering.

DamaGM: Kayden looks at the horse and climbs up, moving more
gracefully then he was before.

* Jacen scrambles up onto the horse, by now having regained most of
his mobility.

DamaGM: Evayne nods to the group. "Ready?"

Jacen: "Aye!" Jacen pipes. "Let's get 'em!"

DamaGM: Kayden grunts. "Let's see if you maintain that enthusiasm."

Jasper: "Off we go then."  Jasper nods cooly.

DamaGM: Evayne urges the horse into a trot, and then a canter.
Jasper's horse follows. And soon, you've left the stream and the dead
Shev behind.

DamaGM: Now, as the afternoon waxes and wanes, the landscape begins
to take on a more hilly aspect. The ground rises and falls, much like
the waves of an ocean.

DamaGM: The dark structures from before begin to resolve themselves
as, nearing one hill, a black ruin of stone juts out of the ground.
These stone ruins of varying shapes and sizes quickly dominate the
scenery. It slowly becomes apparent that you are traveling through
what used to be a city. This must be the ruins that Marl told you
about.

* Jacen looks around as they ride. "Wow...I didn't expect it to be a
whole city. I figured it was just some old rocks..."

DamaGM: The terrain quickly becomes hazardous, what with rocks
jutting everywhere, and Evayne slows the horses to a walk to avoid
accidentally laming them.

Jasper: "Most rocks are old."  Jasper mutters absently.  "It's all
about when they were last used."

DamaGM: She answers Jacen, "Most of northren Hewnon is covered with
ruins like these, although they can't compare to those at the
Eldenwood."

Jacen: "Who used to live here? And what happened?"

DamaGM: Kayden surveys the ruins as well, but for different reasons.
"This place is perfect for an ambush. We wouldn't notice them until
they were right on top of us."

Jacen: "But they don't know we're following them, right?

DamaGM: Evayne shrugs. "Elders, probably. Most likely elves or the
like. The remaining records aren't clear."

Jasper: "We have a Slyph.  Who knows what they have."

DamaGM: "Who knows?" Kayden echoes and drops one hand to his sword's
hilt, not quite grasping it.

Jacen: "Huh. Elves..." He reaches out to touch a passing jut of
broken stone.

DamaGM: Evayne notices. "Don't!" She says sharply.

Jacen: "How come? It's just rock."

DamaGM: Evayne scowls at Jacen. "Half these 'rocks' are ensorcelled.
Spelled. If you just casually touch one, who knows what you might set
off?" She huffs as she turns back around. "So... don't. Touch.
Anything."

DamaGM: "I'm not even sure I want to summon a sylph here," she
mutters absently.

* Jacen rolls his eyes and sits sullenly back.

* Jasper shudders and emphasizes Evayne's words gravely, "The elder
magics can twist your life into endless misery... and worse."

DamaGM: "Something about this place feels... off."

Jacen: "Maybe that relic has something to do with it."

Jasper: "Maybe the relic had something to do with that Shev's
cardioectomy..."  he refers to the hideous slaying in the scholar's
tongue.

Jacen: "Ooo...black magic ritual!"

Jacen: "And then they bring it here, to tap into that elder magic."

Jacen: "And then they will RULE THE WORLD!!" Jacen cackles evilly.

DamaGM: Kayden shakes his head. "Why does everything end with 'ruling
the world' with you?"

* Jasper nods thoughtfully.  "I wouldn't be surprised, actually.  We
should at least try to get killed in the -attempt- to stop them... so
we miss living in the abyssal pit they'll make of the living realms."

* Jacen shrugs. "It just sounds neat."

DamaGM: Evayne looks like she's about to speak her mind, then breaks
off abrubtly, squinting instead at something just ahead.

DamaGM: "There's something ahead of us. It looks..." She turns to the
others. "It's another body."

Jasper: "Approach carefully.  Don't trust the dead... especially so
near to ancient artifacts and elder ruins."

* Jacen peers around Jasper's shoulder towards what Evayne is seeing.
He draws his sword. "I'll lop its foul head off," he promises.

* Jasper cringes at something, and glares into the distances.

DamaGM: As the horses approach, it looks like Jacen's vow will go
unfulfilled. This second body is also Shev, dressed in animal furs
like the first, and sprawled across the path. It has no head.

* Jacen looks mightily disappointed.

Jacen: "I...guess I could lop an arm?" he offers.

Jasper: "I guess he'll never be the head of his tribe..."  Jasper
notes with gravity that belies the content of his statement

Jacen: "It must be a heady feeling," Jacen agrees.

Jasper: "Learn this well:  Never lose your head when traveling
amongst the elder ruins."

* Jasper shakes his head.  "Ah... I will surely be punished for such
uncalled-for levity."

Jacen: "He likes to drink, but he doesn't have a head for liquor."

DamaGM: Kayden sizes the dead man up. "Huh... I guess we're about the
same height, now."

* Jacen chuckles.

Jacen: "Okay, so...a heart and a head."

Jacen: "I still say black magic."

Jacen: "Next guy will probably be missing his hands."

DamaGM: "Not magic," Evayne says shortly. She urges her horse around
the body.

DamaGM: It goes reluctantly, but soon appears eager to leave the
corpse behind.

Jacen: "Not magic? C'mon. Why behead him then? And rip out the other
one's heart!"

Jasper: "Fun and profit."  Jasper mutters darkly.

DamaGM: Evayne shrugs. "I'm much rather interested in finding the
others before they're killed, too."

DamaGM: "No profit to be found out here," Kayden says solemnly. "This
was all for fun."

Jacen: "Hmph. Alright, fine. Let's find them and show them our own
brand of fun."

DamaGM: Regardless of the terrain, Evayne sets the horses back to a
trot. As the group continues to wind their way through the ruins, she
becomes progressivly more distracted. She continously sweeps her head
from side to side, as if looking for some sort of landmark.

* Jacen also starts looking alertly around.

* Jasper doesn't sweep around, so much as glare darkly, seemingly at
random rocks and perturbations in the terrain.

DamaGM: Then, with the sun still several hours from the horizon, a
loud bellowed warcry is heard a short distance to the east. Evayne
immediatly turns in that direction. "There!" She kicks her horse into
a gallop.

* Jacen raises his sword and gestures forward with it. "Charge!"

* Jasper does his best to keep his horse after Evayne's.

DamaGM: The two laden horses burst out from a ring of masonry into a
large clearing at the top a rise. At the bottom of the rise are a
small group of figures embroiled in fierce combat.

DamaGM: Two of the combatants are Shev: one male, wielding two
handaxes, the other a female with a spear. They are surrounded by
three other Shev. As you watch, the male goes down, a sword in his
gut.

DamaGM: Evayne curses. "That's them!"

* Jasper says quietly, "Can we afford to wait for them to whittle each
other down before moving in to grab a survivor?"

Jacen: "Uh...which is them? The Shev, or the other Shev?"

DamaGM: She points to the woman. "No! I need her alive! I have to
take her back alive!"

Jasper: "Righto."  Jasper sighs, wielding his Staff.  "Give the word,
we'll go in and give them someone else to stab."

DamaGM: [And, cue dramatic fight mu... whaddya mean we don't have it?
Well, get it! Oh... fine... Cut! That's a wrap, people...]