Night watch is so boring. Nothing has happened during the
whole trip. Nothing to do but walk round, get drizzled on, add the occasional stick to the
banked cook fire, smell the cattle, hear the cattle, avoid cattle left overs …
You have just completed your round of the temporary cattle pen, and are about as far as
you ever get from the center of the camp, when something huge (much bigger than a man)
crashes out of the darkness and bushes directly at you.
Enter a Bear
I scream at the top of my lungs and wait until the moment before contact then leap to
my right (using my leaping(17) augmented by Orlanth's Mighty Bull-Dodge an improvised feat
- try for a +2).
Your mighty leap actually carries you a bit further than you intended, into a rather
thick set of bushes. You get back to your feet and look back and you see a very large bear
moving towards the center of the camp. There is no immediate action at the main camp in
response to your shout.
Cedric will prepare spear and shield while moving toward the bear and improvise a
combat feat (+1) of Orlanth's Thews Hold the Gate which will add to his strength. He will
close, shouting at the bear and try to draw him into another charge where he will ground
his spear vs charge. (Close combat 1w.) If the bear doesn't charge he will prod him and
keep him distracted until help arrives.
You rush at the bear shouting and clashing your spear on your shield.
The bear turns towards you at bats at your spear with one paw, and says "Why do
you harass me?"
There is no response from the main camp yet.
In surprise, Cedric's sharp toungue (13) gets the better of him.
"Well excuse me for being an alert sentry. Someone approaches the camp, in the
dark, gives no warning and rushes at me. It's my job to harrass you."
"Now that we have established that you are a speaking interloper lets do this
by the proper tradition. Stand and identify yourself. Are you friend or foe?"
Cedric is now actively using his recognize foe (17) and acute hearing (17) - he is
aware that he has now has his back to the woods and is concerned about being snuck up on.
He is prepared to set versus charge is the bear attacks.
The bear snuffles at you. "Hmm, you don't smell like one of them. Perhaps you
are not." The bear stiffens as the faint, yet obviously approaching, call of a
horn comes from the darkness. "He comes. Help me to escape him and I will grant
you a boon!"
Cedric's sympathies switch to the underdog. (Or in this case the underbear.)
"Ah you are pursued. Do they track you by scent, print or magic? What manner of
individual is the hunter? Give me your word you will harm none of my camp and I will do my
best to aid you."
Cedric, perhaps foolishly, lowers his spear and turns to look towards the sound of the
horn.
The bear replies:
"He is the hunter and he has his ways. Alas, I am the hunted. As for your camp,
I wish nothing but to flee for safety. I must leave now. The hunter approaches!"
The horn sounds much nearer. You think you can also hear the barking of dogs.
"Run around the camp to that rock and wait for me there." Cedric points to a
tall stone on the far side of the camp, downwind of the cattle.
Cedric takes off at maximum speed (Running 17) cutting through the camp. The other
sentries start - and Cedric yells at them that someone is coming from back the way he came
- they should check it out while he gets the run-away calf.
[Narrators Note: Strangely enough, you don't seem to see any other sentries and the camp
is very quiet.]
He stops briefly at the supplies wagon and grabs four empty grain sacks and their ties. He
pauses to smear the sacks in a conveniently located cow pie and resumes his run to meet
the bear.
"Hold up a paw." Quickly, Cedric ties a sack around each paw. "These won't
stay on for long, but while they do they will disguise your scent and print. Now go and
Orlanth run with you."
Cedric then begins to circle around the rock, deliberately scuffing up the prints.
He starts pounding on the stone with his spear butt and yelling "Open up in
there" while waiting for the hunter/s to arrive.
Enter a Hunter
Sure enough, a short time later you hear a nearby blast from the hunting horn, followed
by crashing in the bush and then a moment later a man riding an elk, followed by two very
large dogs, comes crashing up to you. He seems somewhat puzzled by your activites and asks
"Sir, I hunt the bear. Did the brute trouble you?"
Cedric jumps as if startled.
He peers closely at the hunter and his retinue.
"Bother me. I'll say." Cedirc pauses to pound some more on the rock. "Open
up in there."
"The *#$@* thing made off with a calf." Cedric tries to lever the rock up with
his spear. He moves around trying from a couple of different angles.
"I was right on its tail, but it was faster than me." Now Cedric starts piling
up sticks and branches around the rock.
"Then it ran up to this rock, split the thing open and went inside before I could get
here." Cedric uses every bit of fast talking (5w) he can - and he is ready to put a
hero point into it. "Help me light this fire, we'll smoke him out."
Cedric pauses to peer suspiciously at the hunter again.
"Say - who are you anyway? And why are you hunting at night, how can you see the
trail?"
Conflict
The hunter stares at the rock. "Zounds but he's a tricksy beast. But he'll not get
away that easily. After him hounds!"
[Please delete 1 HP for modifying Fast Talk vs Tracking contest].
Outcome
And with that the hunter, his elk and the two hounds leap into the rock and disappear from
(your) sight.
You stare at the rock and after some time the bear comes back and stares thoughfully at
the rock too. "Well, that wasn't supposed to happen" says the bear "but I
shant complain. The hunter is well lost now."
"And now I owe you a boon. Your quick tounge has saved my hide therefore my hide I
give to you. May it protect you as well as it has protected me."
And with that the bear fades from site but when you look down you immediately notice a
complete bear skin at your feet.
This page last modified May 03, 2001
|
Table of Contents
