Annie's war efforts

[Verrath]

After a talk with Yashia and Cirion, Annie felt that she had finally found something that she could contribute to their efforts. Sure, Hano had accepted her, but she felt certain that they were still trying to keep her out of the heavy fighting, and it rankled.

She grudgingly adimtted to herself - though she would never have said it to any but her brother Ruddy, that they were probably right. She had come to be fairly handy with the scythe - though she detested having to use it - and all things considered, she would probably be more hinderance than help if she were to enter actual battle. She had considered offering her deft skill at healing, and likely she would, in time.

But this... this might just be a useful idea.

These thoughts went through her head as she made her way towards the edge of the woods. There, she shifted - a large hunting cat would simply get better speed - and swiflty loped to those spots where she knew druids might be hiding, those who did not mingle with humans, those who did not yet know their home was in danger.

Reverting to human form, she worked to enlist their help and that of their animal companions - keep your eyes peeled, try to find out where the enemy is camped, where their troops are hiding. Don't go too close, keep yourself shifted or camouflaged so they will have no reason to look at you twice, and don't take risks, but report your findings to the Keeper as quickly as you can.

It took some convincing, and she left each and every one of them still undecided, but she was confident she had given them a good reason to help. There was no time for more persuasive work, there was much ground still to be covered.

Her final stop was the Grove. The Keeper regarded her solenmly when she came in tired and footsore - and before she even turned human again, he knew why she had come - she was asking if he knew anything yet that would be of interest to the war effort - that surely he has ways to see what the forest sees, that she was going to ask him what else could be done. And surely, too, he must wish to preserve the grove and surrounding country, if perhaps not the city itself.

Returning to her original form, she awaits the Keeper's response.

[Verrath]

(( OOC addendum: If the event takes place tomorrow, I probably won't make it Annie would be trying to make herself useful healing and helping behind the scenes... ))

[Verrath]

Annie awoke groggily in the unfamiliar surroundings of the Triumvirate Barracks. Someone had put a blanket over her during the night, but she was still wearing her dusty traveling clothes, which were the reason she had woken up at all, tweaking her in most uncomfortable ways. It was dark except for the fitful sputter of a torch near the door. The sound of deep, regular breathing - and the occasional snore - came from the other bunks in the room.

For a moment, she just lay there trying to remember why she was here instead of in her little room at Aunt Millie's, or the Druid Grove.

Then she remembered.

The mad run for nearly two days trying to find more druids and enlist their help had left her tired and glad for a respite. Then came Hano's request to look into the odd things happening at the Temple of Umberlee... It had never occurred to her to say no, despite wanting nothing more than a good night's sleep. Something needed doing, and all available hands got to it - that's how things worked on a farm - that was how she had grown up.

Fortunately, there had been quite a few others who had volunteered, though Calandra had been needed elsewhere, much to her disappointment. Some of these volunteers were seasoned trackers, most of them looked like they could use the blades they wore, and she felt sadly out of place with her old - if very sharp - gardening tool and the drab but practical hide clothing she preferred.

It had come as an utter surprise when Hano had assigned her the leader... She'd half expected protest from the others, some of whom seemed so much more accomplished. But only one had even commented - had spoken as if she must be the worst choice ever. At least it had not stopped the man from coming along - they needed every one.



On entering Port Avanthyr, the sickly sweet smell of rot was faintly in the air, covered up by the ever present smell of salt water, stranded tang, and fish. By the time the little group stood at the Temple doors, it was nauseating.

They looked to her.

"What do we do now, Annie? You're the leader." The others asked, looking at the sigil of Umberlee engraved into the doors. It seemed the large double doors must bulge with the stench they contained.

Momentary panic seized her. They were asking her for decisions! She had no experience with this! What to do? Why had Hano chosen her, of all people? What if she made a wrong decision, and things went bad?

Then she shook herself. Well, he had, and that was that. She had better pull herself together or there would be bad choices - or none at all. Her jaw set stubbornly. A man was missing and they were going to find out what had happened to him.

She looked over her companions. Tarin and Arawen looked the hardiest, and they were carrying their weapons with calm confidence. She told them to go in ahead, and they did so, to her secret astonishment.

The doors swung open easily, and the smell wafting out was the foulest thing Annie had ever smelled.

After a few moments the two scouts called to say it was clear inside. Clearing her throat, she followed inside with the rest of the group expecting nothing but havoc and carnage inside.

There was only a cleric, and some odd-looking, greenish-brown oily spots in the ground.

The cleric almost managed to convince them all that she had not seen the man come, and that everything was fine here, nothing to worry about, and would they please leave. She was ready to turn back and report failure, but Sain plucked at her sleeve.

"S-something's n-n-not r-right."

And they still had no clue where the stench came from, after all. She nodded to Sain, then turned to the cleric deciding to try one more time.

"But the smell? You can't tell me you don't notice it."

"What smell?" the cleric asked. "There is nothing wrong," she persisted.

"You can't be serious. It's smells bad enough to-"

"I told you everything is fine!"

The cleric's eyes suddenly grew blood red, and she snarled lunging towards them. making them start back. The next instant, she turned into black smoke that wafted towards one of the doors. Something stirred, shuffling, slurping steps and anguished groans sounded all around them.

"We're under attack!" Someone yelled.

"Vampire!" Yelled another.

Weapons flew out of sheaths, and Annie was hardly aware of having ripped her gardening tool from its strap on her back. She barely had time to put magical flame to it and strengthen her hide, before they were overrun by stinking, decaying corpses, shuffling towards them from all direction. Their stink alone was enough to make lesser ones faint.

"Ambush!" It was a different voice then the first, and suddenly everybody was fighting for their lives.

Grimly, almost automatically, she made the slashing motions she had learned at home when cutting hay. It seemed to work here too, as the dead things that happened across her way found their legs cut out from under them. Too startled by the sudden change of pace to feel sickened, she still tried not to look too closely at what her scythe wrought. She was dimly aware of the others having formed a circle around the mage, Taja, slashing at the things coming from every side.

And then it was over. They all still stood, and for a wonder injuries were minor. The floor around them was thick with rotting goo and already rapidly decomposing corpses - real corpses now. The clerics of Umberlee, by the shreds of clothing some still wore. Annie felt ill.

"What of the vampire?"

Annie looked around, her eyes settling on the door it had seeped under in its gaseous form. She pointed.

"We go after it. Carefully. Be ready."

The door was locked, but luckily, Elijah had nimble fingers and managed to pick it. Behind it - waited more carnage.

And the next door yielded the same.

Except...

"There are two other beings in the back!" Herger shouted. "They look stronger than these ghouls."

Grimly they hacked their way onward - Annie for one was beyond feeling sickened by now and was merely reacting to the foulness, the wrongness of these creations.

Then there were only the two vampires left, and they were deadly things indeed. Every time they struck one of the companions, their own wounds seemed to heal.

"The coffins! Destroy their coffins!"

But Annie was surrounded. Frantically she called on her powers, and lightning tore through the room, crackling and sizzling, burning dead flesh and wood alike - but the coffins remained unharmed. At least she seemed to be harming the vampires, so she tried again, and again.

Taja was hurling magical missiles, and between their fire and the sword slashes, suddenly everything was quiet again. One of the vampires crumbled to dust at their feet.

"Where's the other?"

Black smoke oozed through the back door even as someone asked it.

"After it! It there are people outside - it will harm them!" Annie said.

"But there are still ghouls..."

"Bar the doors. We'll come back for them later."

No-one needed further urging, they wedged the doors and hurried after the escaped creature.

All the way to Sestra they followed its trail, past frightened commoners and pallid corpses who had fallen prey to its hunger. There they were able to corner it in the Exarch's Keep, and at last finish it off.

Exhausted but gratified at their success, the group made their way back to Sundren City to tell Hano of their efforts - and of the probable fate of the man who had gone before them to investigate.



She remembered Hano's grim face at the news, and even more, she remembered his praise, and that of her companions, leaving her irrationally proud of herself, and shamed by this pride. Also, she was suddenly very aware of her drab appearance and bedraggled look after the adventure.

"I didn't do it alone," she said, meaning it. "Everybody did their share."

"Ah, modesty. I like that." And Annie felt even more awkward.

Hano stepped up and touched her forehead with the back of his hand. "You must be exhausted. Why don't you all get some rest - you've earned it."

Annie could only nod. She was spent.

This was when Sain, Herger and Tarin volunteered to head back to the Temple as soon as possible to make sure there was no nest of vampires there, and if there was, to deal with it before it could grow too powerful. Annie envied them their energy - she could hardly keep on her feet. They assured her it was okay for her to stay behind, and went on their way. She hoped they wouldn't find anything they couldn't handle - as it was they had come close once already. Vampires! Hells!



She twisted uncomfortably on the bunk - folds had formed in her shirt that pinched her skin, but she was still tired, so tired.

Hano had asked her to write a report, so she decided she'd better get up and get right to it.

Right.

She yawned. Maybe just one more hour. Quietly she slipped out of her clothes and crawled back under the blanket in her smallclothes.

She'd write that report... for him.. she would...

Moments later, sleep took her again.


(( OOC disclaimer: due to multiple lag-outs, I lost the logs, so must rely on memory on who did what. I'll try to keep it suitably vague. If there are errors, feel free to correct me on them
Oh yes, and it turned out longer than expected, so I deliberately glossed over a few details.. Sorry. Annie's ~condensed~ Report will be in a follow-up post. ))

[Verrath]

The next day, Annie hands in the following hastily scrawled report to Hano:

We all went to Port Avanthyr as you asked us, to investigate the stink coming from the temple of Umberlee.
We found out that all the clerics are probably gone and turned into undead, which we destroyed, and two vampires were there. We managed to destroy one, and followed the other all the way to the Exarch's Keep in Sestra, where we managed to beat it finally.
Everybody fought well and everybody helped in coming through this. These were the people that went - I'm just going to put them in alphabetical order so nobody feels slighted:

Annie
Arawen
Edgthar (but he didn't come far)
Elijah
Herger
Sain
Taja
Tarin
Veront, though he lagged behind a bit and then was gone.
Hurik - we lost sight of him as well after a short time.

(( Some of these presumably lagged out and couldn't stay through the event - and I apologize here and now for any I've forgotten)

[kovah]

Tarin's legs were sore. He guessed that chasing vampires would have that effect. No matter, he was surrounded by strong competent folks and a leader that did not hesitate to direct them. That's why not one, but two vampires had been wiped from the face of Toril this evening.

They all met back up in the Triumvirate barracks where Hano awaited them and their report. After some time of exchanging stories the others, including Hano, noticed that Annie was about to fall asleep standing on her feet and he insisted that she sleep. Herger, Sain and Tarin all agreed and Hano escorted Annie off for her well deserved rest.

But there was still the matter of the Temple of Umberlee in Port Avanthyr. After the first vampire was destroyed the second fled the temple. There was no time to lose and Annie's quick thinking saved countless lives. Some of the men wanted to stay and fight the remaining ghouls but Annie knew that the threat they presented was minimal at best compared to the fleeing vampire. She ordered the doors barracaded and then the group took off after the vampire.

The Temple still needed to be cleansed.

The three men standing there in the Triumvirate turned to each-other and decided it best to return to Port Avanthyr to make sure the job was finished. Weary and sore they headed out once again. The Temple was still dark when they arrived. Caution was taken as the men slowly entered the front door and eyed the situation that was left. Everything appeared to be as they left it just hours before. The doors were still blocked and there was still movement to be heard on the other side.

Without hesitation the doors were thrown open and the ghouls began pouring out. The three men made short work of the weak creatures. It was not long before they were standing there panting with nothing beyond themselves moving.

Herger called upon Illmater to cleanse the Temple while Sain and Tarin looked around to make sure there were no further signs of undead. The remaining coffins were taken outside and burned. The three men nodded to each-other considering it a job well done. They left from there heading off to find their own place to rest, each happy in having made new friends and allies.

[Verrath]

(( bump because I was sort of waiting for a DM to respond to the first post in here *puppy eyes* I should probably have asked better ))