BellaOnline Forums Hobbies and Crafts Role Playing Games RPG: The Mainland (Scene 2)

The group had emerged high on the far side of the mountain, well away from human civilization. Farther down the slope, they could see what must be the exit of one of the tunnels with all the traffic in the main cavern, the one that led away from Artesia.

Torches line a road that heads into the forest. The traffic seems mostly in the direction of the cavern, an impressive movement of goblins and materials from what, in the distance, looks like a rude collection of huts, but probably passes for a goblin city.

The immediate area seems safe enough for a camp.

Randol was growing tired of being mocked by this woman but he figured she was doing it to hide her own insecurities. He hadn't thought about her taking a watch and then using that time to abandon the group...no...he couldn't start thinking like that. He had to be able to trust her. He couldn't be watching her and watching out for trouble as well. He needed to be able to focus on the task on hand and the trouble that may be ahead. He hoped that she needed them as much as they needed her to get out of this place.

As the others slept, Randol watched the area for any sign of trouble. He would walk to different areas and peer into the distance and from above. He saw nothing out of the ordinary except the bright full moonlight shining down and accenting Derissa's features. This was the first time that he could look at her face without her looking back or hiding it. Some hair fell across her cheek and he gently brushed it away. She moved and he jumped back.

What would possess him to do something like that? What if she awoke and saw him kneeling over her? She would probably reach for a dagger and kill him. It was then that he decided to gaze at her from a distance.

For the next couple of hours, he looked for any signs of trouble and saw there was none. Gently, he woke up Kam for her turn to watch and told her not to mess with the goblin that was secured nearby in some brush.

Soon, he allowed himself to drift off to sleep.

Much to Kam's disgust, her watch passed without a horde of goblins descending upon the camp. She woke Derissa at the end of her watch, and rolled herself into a blanket to sleep.

Midway through Derissa's watch, a bit before the first hints of dawn would start to show in the sky, she heard a branch break in the woods, followed by the footsteps of someone trying to move stealthily.

Derissa moved silently into the woods a bit, allowing the person to move past her to the edge of the camp. It was a human, a man who looked gaunt and ragged, his face and arms scratched from thorns and branches.

He paused, looking over the sleeping group, indecision in his face.

Fight.
By using a lesser spell, Derissa was certain she could either make this guy into an ally or make sure he didn't bother anyone. She could invoke her assassin knowledge and slit his throat before he had the chance to slit anyone else's. She could alert Kam and know for sure the problem would be taken care of.

Flight.
She could just sit back and watch the man destroy the camp. She was, after all, already hidden--she could continue on her way and accomplish her objective. She could just let this disgruntled hunk of male flesh do whatever dastardly deed he was going to do and just go on about her life as if nothing had ever happened.

But something had happened...

She looked at the camp--at Randol, at Kam, at Benedict...and that stupid goblin. Her eyes went back to Randol. She closed her eyes and sighed.

Fight.
Stepping from the shadows, she snaked her arm around the man's neck and shoved a crossbow bolt into his back. It felt like a knife...sorta. "Listen, pal, I don't know who you are, but you and I are going to become fast friends. See that girl over there, sleeping? Be glad it's not her watch." She maneuvered the man towards Randol and kicked Randol's leg. "Wake up, we have a guest."

Turning the man around she looked him over, then looked to Randol. "You wanna talk to him? Or should we wake Kam?"

"No, we can talk to him and if he doesn't give us the answers we want, then we wake Kam. Let's move him away from the camp and to a more secluded area."

Randol looked at the man and saw he was cut up by brambles and bushes and he looked nervous as well.
Randol then smiled because Derissa woke him instead of running away or letting the man kill them all, if that was his intention.
Derissa looked at Randol and said, "Stop smiling. I still need you guys...for now anyway."

They walked a bit further into the woods and then she whispered to him, "If you ever touch any part of me, especially my cheek again without my permission, it will be the last thing you touch with that hand. Got me?"

"Sorry, but I just wanted to see if your skin was as soft as it looked and it is." Randol said with a smile.

The man's expression alternates between fear and relief.

"Are you from Artesia? You are, aren't you!" He swings toward relief. "I knew Connor would get there and send a rescue party!"

He sits on a log, clearly exhausted.

"When Connor escaped, they moved us from the caverns to the goblin city, what there is of it. I was only able to get away because they've taken nearly all the goblins away."

He swings back toward fear again, looking up at Randol and Derissa.

"They're going to attack Artesia! We have to warn them!"

"Whoa! Easy there. Who is going to attack Artesia? Who are they? Why are they going to attack Artesia? Who took the goblins away" Randol fired at him. He couldn't go back to Artesia now. He was so close to what he needed. He may never be this close again.

The man then passed out from exhaustion.

"Derissa, we have to wake the others and let them know what is going on. We also have to hear everything he knows. What do you think?"

Still not exactly happy with his attempt to flirt with her, Derissa glared at Randol. "I think we should find out his name and why the heck the goblin prisoners keep passing out or dying. Funny, they only seem to do that when engaged in conversation with you..." She gave her sacchriny sweet smile, sarcasm dripping from the corners.

"You go wake the others. They won't assume you're trying to steal from them... I'll guard him and try to get more information."

Randol grumbled, but Derissa's glare convinced him it was probably better to just do as she said. Derissa watched him leave then smirked to herself, "Train 'em early..." She looked at the prisoner and sighed, then reached into her pouch for some smelling salts she carried...along with everything else. When the man came to, she stared at him a moment and asked her own questions.

"First of all, calm down. We already know the goblins plan to attack. That's part of why we're here. Second of all, what's your name?" She glanced beyond him to make sure Randol was still trying to keep Kam from killing him. "Answer me that one question and I promise no one from my camp will harm you on my watch."

"My name? I'm Dorian." He seems a bit alarmed at the thought that he'd need protection from other humans.

The others in the group wake and gather around as Dorian continues his tale. Kam drags the goblin prisoner over and sits him on the ground in front of her, keeping her hand on his shoulder.

"Connor, me, and about half a dozen others were captured by goblins on a fool's errand of a treasure hunt. They kept us in the caverns for a while, where we heard they were planning on attacking Artesia. After Connor escaped, they moved us to the city."

"The place is practically deserted! Most of the goblins are moving into the caverns. How they plan on getting across the channel I don't know, but they must think they can. They were moving us back into the caverns yesterday, and I took advantage of the lack of guards to escape."

"There are only a few of us left back there. Some died trying to escape. It's just Kalira, Caleb, and Borst, now that I've gone."

Dorian shakes his head.

"We overheard them talking about keeping us alive for a sacrifice to one of their gods, to 'open the way'. I don't think the others have much time, but there wasn't much I could do against even the few goblins that were left. By now they'll be in the caverns, and headed toward a grisly end."

The goblin prisoner, quiet until now, pipes up.

"Yes", he says cheerfully, "ritual sacrifice very messy. First they cut off their -- Ow!" That last as Kam slaps him in the back of his head.

Derissa's eyes flicker. "Kalira, Caleb, and Borst...man, I'm suddenly hungry..." She frowns as her mind wanders for a moment, shakes out her head and looks back to Dorian. "Alright. Don't panic. Why don't you go ahead and rest for a little. My..." she paused and looked at the motley crew, "...compatriots...and I will discuss this information and figure out a plan of attack. We'll get your friends, don't worry." She gave a slight smile and clapped his shoulder with her opposite hand.

Dorian curled up and Derissa removed her long cloak, draping it over the man for some warmth while the rest talked. Her eyes distractedly flicked over to Randol...who was staring. "Put your eyes back in your head...it's just leather." She was dressed in black deer skin leather from head to foot. It was close fitting, but breathable. Rather protective, but distracting enough to any male foes that she could get just about anything she wanted.

"Now. What do we want to do? I'm sure Dorian could be convinced to fight with us. We've got the goblin who...I'm fairly certain will do what we say and request with the utmost honesty." Here she grinned sweetly to the goblin and then nodded back to Kam, whose hand tightened a bit on the goblin's shoulder.

A disturbing grin of acceptance spread onto his lips. Behind it, the hint of your deaths will be very painful when I get to be King lurked. Derissa seemed to know his thoughts and just smiled even more.

The silent communique was understood and accepted. Derissa moved on. "We'll use the goblin to get to where we need to be. It'll take some work on my part, but, I'm sure I could craft a goblin masque and attire. Perhaps it will help get closer to--"

"No," Randol interrupted.

Derissa sighed, "Then what, oh great fearless leader, do you suggest?"