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 yell at the top of my lungs to alert the others and fire a Lightning Arrow at the
intruder using my Skirmish skill to gain a better firing position.
There's a brilliant flash of light that blinds you and a crack of thunder that deafens
you followed by an immediate explosion that almost knocks you from your feet
[Narrator Note: didn't I mention something about not firing those things at close
quarters? No? -3 on all skill levels for the remainder of this event.]
As your vision, hearing and balance return there is no immediate activity from the main
camp but you do see what apparently is a large bear struggling to three legs (one
appearing to have been blown off).
Once the bear gets up it faces you and says "Brother, why do you harm me? Why
do you help them?"
"Oh my brother! I am so sorry! In this darkness I thought you were someone
trying to steal the cattle. Let me help you."
Rushes over and attempts to bandage the wounds. [Butchery with Modifiers, better that
First Aid for you]
"I help them because my clan needs my aid to move to a new land. I must clear
the trail for them northward. Why do you ask, brother?"
You manage to staunch the worst of the bleeding but you know you didn’t do a very
good job.
Meanwhile, the bear looks confused.
“The same clan? You don’t smell the same as them, nor do you hunt me as
they do.”
In the distance, you now hear the faint raising of a horn. The bear starts.
"Oh brother, they come. Aid me and I will grant you a boon."
There is still no response from your main camp.
"I will aid you, my brother."
I use my Find Shelter (17) combined with Skirmish (1w1) to find a well protected hiding
spot for my brother. I then use my Strength of a Bear feat(17) to carry my wounded brother
to the spot and hide him. Finally, I use my Track (17) and Skirmish (1w1) to cover our
tracks and make new ones in a different direction (probably needs Agility (1w1) too).
You quickly discard the idea of carrying the very large bear, and as it seems capable
of slowly limping along you direct it to/through a thicket of thick brush. You then begin
to cover the tracks and marks of your encounter.
You don't have much time before you hear a much closer blast of the horn and a moment
later a man riding what appears to be an elk comes crashing out of the brush.
Enter a Hunter
I ready another Lightning Arrow and call on the hunter to halt. Using Heortland Culture
(13) and Seen Many Lands (13), I attempt to identify the intruder. I also whistle for Ost.
Ost comes bouncing up to you as you study the stranger on the elk. An elk? There should
be any elk around here! The stranger carries a spear in one hand and a horn in the other
but otherwise appears to be but lightly armed and armored.
Meanwhile the stranger has halted and appears to be studying you with interest as well.
As the two of you stare at each other a pair of very big dogs crash out from the brush and
pull up at the sides of the elk. The stranger speaks.
“Well done brother! You’ve blooded the brute. As you have drawn the first
blood I offer you the hunter’s portion. Come, let us finish him off.”
I attempt to get the stranger to identifying himself using Fast Talk(6). When that
fails 8), I attempt to convince him that the bear was destroyed by my Lightning Arrow
using Fast Talk(6) and the Mythology of the Thunder Brothers (17) and as many hero points
as necessary. I also recommend that he leave the area lest he suffer the same fate.
Well, as your thoughts turn to the lore of the Thunder Brother you are now struck by
the similarities between what's happening and the Heroquest of Odalya Hunts the Sky Bear.
When you ask the visitor to identify himself he replies:
"Why I am the hunter and the bear, of course, is the hunted. Which are
you?"
[You have not yet tried to convince him the bear is dead. You think a body (or enough
bits to make a body) would be useful evidence.]
"I am a hunter too, but I am sworn to the service of another and cannot leave
my post."
I walk over to some bushes where I stashed the leg, retrieve it, and tell the following
story using Fast Talk(6) and all the hero points necessary to convince the hunter:
[Narrator Note: you can only use 1 hero point to modify a die roll. Please deduct 1 HP
from your character.]
"I engaged the bear with some new arrows I acquired. I was rendered insensible
by bright light and thunderous sound when the arrow struck home. When I recovered my
senses, this leg was all I found. I could discern no tracks leading away, so I can only
presume that the bear is gone."
The stranger looks impressed. "That must be some arrow. Well, let's just take a
quick look around to see if any other pieces are nearby. No point in wasting anything if
there's anything to be had."
"It was. My ears still ring some from the explosion. I must check on the
cattle, but I will be back soon. Good luck."
I head back to the cattle pen and scan it for any unusual activity. I'll then kill
sometime checking the integrity of the pen. After about 10 minutes, I'll return to the
site where I met the hunter.
You only get a short distance when you hear the dogs start yapping and then the hunter
shouts "Oho! We have the brute!"
I curse to myself and run to the sound of the commotion.
The stranger has the bear backed against a tree. As the two dogs snarl and distract the
badly injured bear the stranger thrusts at it with his spear and carves a long bleeding
gash in its side. The stranger shouts "Oho! He's mine now. And now you die brute,
just as you did for Odalya."
Conflict
I mutter a very fast prayer to Odayla asking forgiveness for interfering with a hunt
and for true aim. Making sure I'm out of the blast range this time, I fire another Thunder
Arrow at the stranger (5w) and use a hero point to ensure a hit.
May Odayla have mercy on my soul.
The hunter had not seemed to notice you but one of the dogs did, and the arrow intented
for the hunter instead impacts on a leaping dog. There it detonates with a tremendous
crash and flash leaving little bits of dog scattered about the neighbourhood.
The battle comes to a momentary pause. The hunter looking decidedly less than pleased,
turns and charges you, leaving the remaining dog and the very badly injured and bleeding
bear squared off.
I fire another thunder arrow (using a hero point if need be to ensure a hit) and begin
skirmishing with the hunter (ie. fire an arrow and move) using archery (5w), skirmish (1w)
and agility (1w). Subsequent shots will be with normal arrows unless they are ineffective.
Narrator Note: I interpret this as you wanting to maintain distance between you and the
hunter (skirmish 1w1 vs ride 1w1). If you are successful you may also be able to get off
an arrow shot. If you are unsuccessful the hunter may be able to make a melee attack. Also
note that you did hit the hunter last turn. The effect was the death of one follower (ie.
Action Point Loss). Also note that you are still suffering from the effects of the earlier
arrow blast though your agility will help to offset this.
At a pause in the battle you take stock of the situation.
A dangerous game of cat and mouse ensues with you desperately leaping around the
campsite, seeking a moment to release an arrow, while the hunter attempts to ride you
down.
Things went well at first (please delete 1 HP) with you badly injuring the hunter's
elk. But twice the hunter has managed to corner you. Once Ost saved you by distracting the
hunter but he nows lies unconscious or dead. The second time earned you a spear thrust in
the shoulder.
Now, without his Elk, the hunter is having some difficulty in cornering you but you are
unable to take much advantage of this as your shoulder wound hinders your archery. You
feel that you could probably indefinitely avoid fighting now but your unlikely to cause
much further injury to the hunter. Your shoulder is bleeding badly while the hunter is
limping from his fall from the Elk (though his hunting magic helps him move faster than he
should).
Meanwhile, the bear and the other hound have pretty much neutralised each other.
Neither seem to be in very good shape but the bear is bleeding badly from the wound (you)
inflicted earlier.
The hunter shouts "Leave me the bear and I shall leave you. You risk much by
opposing me in my quest brother."
I shout back "I risk as much by leaving you the bear. I tried to avoid this
confrontation, brother, but you have forced me in to battle and given me no reason to
stop. So I ask you again, who are you, what clan are you and what is your quest?"
I continue to avoid close contact using skirmish(1w1) and agility(1w1). If he continues
to attempt to close and the opportunity appears to get a shot, I will use a Thunder Arrow
(with a hero point if need be) at the hunter.
The hunter gives up the debate and charges you, swerving to keep obstacles between you
and him to hinder your aim. You make a desperate leap to the top of an adjacent rock and
gain a momentary view of the hunter. You shoot ... and hit the hunter in the chest (No
Hero Point expended). The resultant thunderclap knocks you from your precarious perch and
you land heavily.
Dazed, you stand, easy meat for any attack but none comes. You hobble over to where you
last saw the hunter and there he lays rapidly bleeding his life out on the turf. His
clouding gaze wanders to you and with a last gasp he says "And what will become of my
clan now?"
A final bubbling of breath and the hunter fades from sight.
You hear a desperate howl from the dog, who then launches itself at the bear's throat.
The bear falls but with a desperate strike from its remaining foreleg disembowels the dog.
Outcome
You rush over and vainly try to staunch the bears wounds. It lays there gasping and
says "Well, you tried your best for me so I suppose I should do my best for you.
Once I die, bath yourself in my blood. A day will come when you will need this."
With that, the bears gasps, shudders and dies.
I bathe in the bear's blood as instructed. When finished, I rush over, weeping, and
tend to Ost.
This page last modified May 03, 2001
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