The Kingdoms of Terror – Attempt 2, Part 5

Aside : At this stage, I almost don’t care if the movie’s terrible : One of my favourite ever songs combined with one of my favourite actors and one of my favourite characters?  I must have watched this trailer about twenty times…

Back to our story.

Lone Wolf is encouraging his brand new horse along the highway in the dead of night.  The horse, like the majority of Lone Wolf’s friends and companions, will doubtless be considered expendable before the quest is through.

Inevitably, I reach a crossroads, with a signpost indicating a choice between Amory and Soren.  After again checking my map of the Stornlands I can see that the Amory road appears to be a slightly more direct route to Tekaro.

Aside : Every time I read ‘Tekaro’, I keep thinking of ‘Tetsuo’ from the classic anime Akira.  You know the one :

Ah, memories of when that was considered cutting edge animation.

Back to my choice, even if I hadn’t been reading the comments of my loyal readers, I’d know that Roark, for all his whining, is obviously a noble of some kind, and riding into ‘his’ city is probably one of the stupider fights for Lone Wolf to (unnecessarily) pick.

He’s probably got “Wanted : For Defiance!” posters with a suitable portrait of my dashing features plastered to every tree within miles.

So Soren it is.

At last dawn comes, and by the sun’s first light I see a small village.

Interestingly, there is a bronze statue of a ‘roguish young man’ outside the blacksmith’s shop, and I am invited to examine it.

Do I wish to check out the interesting thing?

Yes, Mr Dever, I do.

An informational plaque at the base of the statue confirms that this is a depiction of a locally popular bandit, who, though a thief and killer, never preyed upon his home town and whose feats of daring won him acclaim.

I am invited to deposit a number of coins into a waiting slot, with the assertion that the homage to Vynar Jupe (the highwayman, who must have REALLY resented his parents for that moniker) will grant me safety on the road.

On our Earth, I’d guffaw loud and long at such stuff and nonsense.  However, on Magnamund, where such things as healing alcohol (!!) are a reality, nothing can be automatically discounted.

I throw 5 Gold Crowns into the slot, and hope for the best.

Then again, it could just be….

Is Lone Wolf smarter than Homer?  Here’s hoping.

I keep riding and, shortly before midday pass through another village, with this one being recently devastated by war.  In particular, near the church, there is an apparently wounded man covered with mud and staggering through the tombstones, crying for help.

Project Aon link – burned out church

I have to decide if I should stay and help.

My concern here is that this individual may be (1) a thief of some kind, leading me into a trap, or (2) a ghoul or zombie, particularly given his ‘grave’ location.

Be that as it may, I’ll have to risk it, or not be able to look in the mirror in the morning.

Sure enough, the second I approach, a dozen (!) of the (not) wounded man’s compadres jump up and attempt to waylay me.  Incredibly, the 12 (!!) men only have a combined Combat Skill of 17.

Lone Wolf – CS : 32, E : 26

Grave Robbers : CS : 17, E : 32

In a feat which must have been something to see, I rid the world of 12 disgusting thieves at the cost of only 4 Endurance.  Even though it was a trap, I feel satisfied with my decision to stop.

I search the men and have the chance to take their possessions.  Unfortunately, there does not seem to be any practical way to return their (obviously) ill-gotten gains to the graves, or to locate the relatives of the desecrated corpses.  I therefore, with a heavy heart, take Gold Crowns (back up to 50), a Bottle of Wine and a Mirror.  To make room, I discard one Meal, and one of my Alether Berries.

As the afternoon wears on, I pause to gather wild fruits for a meal, while also washing in a nearby ford.  Thankfully, Soren is now a mere 3 miles away.

I soon enter Soren, and note a caravel (a transport ship) with prices marked to :

• LUYEN—10 Gold Crowns
• RHEM—15 Gold Crowns
• EULA—20 Gold Crowns

Tekaro is (was!) another destination, but unfortunately is no longer available due to the ongoing skirmishes.

It seems common sense to get as close to my destination as possible, so I buy a ticket for Eula, and pay the eager captain my money.

The boat apparently leaves at midnight, because of course it does.

Later that night, after stowing my (doomed – come on, you all know it) horse in the hold of the ship, I emerge back on deck only to be accosted by the captain of the mercenaries who I drank with back at the Inn of the Crossed Swords. He (rather arrogantly, if you ask me) assumes that my presence means that I have changed my mind about joining his posse.

I must admit, there wouldn’t be a massive amount of other reasons why an obvious warrior would be journeying into a war zone, but anyway.

He and his men appear to be in mid pub-crawl, so I rather head to my bunk.

And there, my friends, I leave you.

Base Stats : CS : 17, E : 26, GC 30

Final Stats : CS : 32, E : 26

Weapons : Silver Bow of Duadon(+3), Sommerswerd (+8 CS)

Backpack : Potion of Laumspur (+4E), Rope, Tinderbox, Alether Berries (2) (+2 CS for one combat), Meals (1), Bottle of Wine, Mirror

Special Items : Silver Bow of Duadon,  Jewelled Mace, Copper Key, Map, Crystal Star, Shield (+2 CS), Sommerswerd, Padded Waistcoat (+2 E), Chainmail Waistcoat (+4 E) Blue Stone Triangle Pendant, Diamond, Ornate Silver Key, Dagger of Vashna, Quiver (4 arrows), Small Silver Key, Brass Whistle, Ticket to Eula

Magnakai Rank : Kai Master Superior

Magnakai Disciplines : Weaponmastery (+3 CS in Sword, Bow, Mace), Pathmanship, Divination

Kai Disciplines : Camouflage, Animal Kinship, Tracking, Hunting, Sixth Sense, Healing, Mind Over Matter, Mindblast (+2CS), Mindshield, Weaponskill (+2 CS in Short Sword)

Final Paragraph : 341