Episode 1

Kray's arrow thunks into the phantom's torso, maybe under the heart, but hopefully into the liver. From afar it looks like it should be a serious if not fatal hit.

The robed man is knocked back by the hit, or he stumbles at least - stepping back a step or two and shifting his body weight back and forth to steady himself.

Maeriks makes some more space of separation.

The injured masked man looks down at the arrow, then back up and outward to the opponents before him. In a smooth but quick motion, he sheaths his long knife in his belt scabbard. With the free hand he grips the arrow and pulls it straight out in a rough jerk and then throws it aside in the grass.

After that, the phantom sails straight backwards into the gas - It is as if he is pulled from a great cable or rope tied to his back, he shifts so abruptly through the air, with a movement that is in no way bodily or natural. Instead it is like he was moved by another outside force.

The gas smoke swallows him up, whirls for a bit, and then is calmed again like nothing passed through it at all.

Maeriks, looking back, slows down his run when he gets to Thorn. He then stops entirely and stares intently at Ivor running towards him enraged. He shifts into a wrestling stance and gets ready to fight.

The smoke gas beyond seems to have stopped expanding. It is mostly contained to the small ring of trees near the base of the large dead tree.

Now the menacing branches of that tree are seen above a ring of gas that lingers on the ground beneath, hiding it's trunk and whatever is near it below.

Maeriks looks at Ivor carefully, making sure he is not going to be attacked. He looks at Thorn briefly and then to the ground off to the side. He stares down for a while. Then he looks back at the cloud where the Phantom disappeared. And then back to the ground.

Then Maeriks turns abruptly and starts stomping through the woods, in his peculiar way with his arms stretched straight down to his sides. He is walking at an angle to the north east, towards the gas field but not directly at it.

J, I think Thorn'll wait with his autobiography when it's a little less... gassy. Ez, Jabes, do the three of us need to have a group huddle about what we're doing next, or is it best to regroup back at the cabin like Ez said? As far as your characters know, Bear and Goat are still a threat, right? Also, I suppose it might be worthwhile to go and check to make sure Fingol is not just mostly dead. What do you guys think?

As Ivor, Kray, and Thorn talk, Maeriks moves on towards the gas cloud, walking with his awkward stiff gait.

He gets closer and closer to the area of the gas cloud, but then stops. He looks around and then bends down to pick something up off of the ground. It is an old burlap bag, rugged and worn.

Without even looking in the bag, Maeriks turns and begins to walk back towards the others, looking at the ground. He carries his poor-man's sack in his right hand, down at his side.

The crowd talks for a little longer and keep sights on the gas cloud tree as they move.It is clear now that the gas is dissipating, thinning out and drifting in the slight wind. There is more visibility in the tree cluster area every minute.

Away from commotion and battle, the men can hear the normal sounds of the swamp forest. It is a lulling of sensory, a return to hearing mundane natural sounds, after the series of supernatural occurrences. Most of these men are familiar with battle though, and familiar with the strange shift to normal perception, noise, and a lulling of the world setting back to normal in the moments after being swept up in violence, death, and killing.

Their battle fatigue and strain is now settling in upon them as their adrenaline levels begin to adjust.

There are no immediate threats to be seen at this very moment, but still perhaps a feeling of danger pervades this place.

It is a short walk to the inlet and small pier where the few small boats are parked. Thorn leads the others there.

Fingol's body lies in the grounded boat, right where Thorn had left it. The witch man's eyes are closed. For the first time, Ivor and Kray get a good look at the Dannein man up close. He is a big man, muscular. He is also perhaps a bit older than he seemed initially, now that his apparatus and costume trappings are ruined or removed. He has a receding hairline.

There is a gaping wound in the center of Fingol's chest. Predictably, it is the size of Thorn's greatsword. Blood has drained out heavily in the small boat, congealing up in thick dark pools of sludge in the low corners of the bow and the board seats.

Upon inspection, there is no sign that Fingol has moved, reanimated, or returned from the dead.

Maeriks does follow the mercenary team, but at a distance. He looks away and keeps his distance, standing in silence looking towards the cabin, while everyone else is talking and inspecting the body.

The small trail leads from the pier, through the shrub trees, over a low spot in the ridge, and into the clearing behind the witch cabin. The trail enters the back yard at the north west corner. Looking to the right through the trees, the group can see the lake again. Looking to the left they see the separated storage shed that sits across from the house.

The group crosses the open clearing, loops around to the east side of the house and around the large structural center tree upon which the house is partially built. They come around to the high ground near the base of the tree, where Kray was previously firing arrows across at the Bird man while Ivor was fighting him.

Upon closer inspection, even from here they can see the bird man, unmasked, lying on his side in a pool of blood on the upper deck. There is a low ditch that separates the men from the upper south deck from this location. On the deck, the four tripod icons of Rutcrana stand erect. Also her small burning bowl can be seen on the far side, near the edge of the deck that faces out over the water. The witch herself is no where to be seen on the deck however.

Hearing sounds below, the group keeps moving.

Looping further south, and descending the root-covered slant that leads from the massive tree down to the low ground below the deck, the team approaches the area that was previously the center of the battle - where the bull man was felled by Kray's stab, where Qiu was grabbed by the bear man and pulled into the lake, where Talius ran from to save Qiu.

As they get closer, they see Rutcranna. Near the edge of the water she stands over the body of the bull man. She has a large axe in her hand and it is covered in blood. One of the bull's legs has been hacked off, as has his other foot and one of his arms, at the forearm. The extremities lie separated from the body. Blood is everywhere on the wet ground. Rutcranna's lower legs and arms are splattered with blood as well.

Though the others are unfamiliar with the previous layout of the scene after the battle, Kray instantly takes note that the bull's body has moved. Previously near the south corner support beam of the deck, now the body is closer to the water, along the line of lower support beams by probably 20-30 feet from it's former position.

Also, the bull previously laid upon his back in death, after Talius knocked him over and collapsed his chest with a hammer strike to the sternum. Now the bull lies face down, his large snouted mask tilting his head and shoulders up at an odd slant.

Rutcranna, standing near the bull's head, looks up at the group as they approach. She says nothing at first, perhaps letting the scene sink in and anticipating questions.

Then she shifts from a two handed axe stance to a more casual and upright stance with the axe in one hands. She breathes a heavy breath, as if resetting after a strenuous exertion.

She makes eye contact with all of the men. Lastly, when she sees Maeriks trailing behind, coming down more slowly from the slanted rise, her eyes widen and her face softens - as if pleasantly surprised to find something familiar.

She throws the axe down, wipes her hands together, smiles and then extends her arms outward as she walks towards Maeriks, approaching to receive him in an embrace.

"Maeriks, Son of Mahan," she says endearingly as she hugs him. "And the last Son of Ardent Hannoc. So be it I say." She smiles and laughs a small laugh of joy.


Maeriks looks to the side and to the ground as the woman pulls him close. He keeps his arms to his side and makes no movement to return the embrace. The lack of return affection does not stop Rutcranna's. She backs up and looks at the big man with delight, putting her hand on the side of his face adoringly. Finally Maeriks shows a sign of emotion. His eyelids close and he tilts his head towards Rutcranna's hand, dipping his head downward, eyes still closed.

"It will be alright, you great and strong man. I am delighted that you are here."Quickly Rutcranna steps away and looks at the others. She steps forward carefully in her bare feet. With dainty and graceful movements, she straightens and looks at all of the men, then bows her head and kneels down before them, tilting her head forward, her arms held out delicately to the side, the palms of her small hands up.

"My saviors, my champions, I owe to you my life and new freedom. I mourn the loss of your comrades who fell in battle. I would honor their names if they were told to me, and I will spend these days of my life seeking to prove worthy of their sacrifice. I am Rutcranna, Daughter of Eilmay and Sansun, and I am your servant who wishes to save you from danger, and yet still I am a beggar who must plead for your help."

Rutcrana looks up at Kray, from a head-bowed position to staring him right in the eyes. She holds his gaze briefly, and then shifts to Ivor left, hold, then to Thorn right, hold again. Speckles of blood are still on her face. She suddenly does not look like anyone subservient, not someone who is pleading for something.

She then looks over her shoulder, at the body of the bull man, and then back to Kray's eyes as she stands up. Her beauty is undeniable. She still wears only a silk loin cover, belt, and some necklaces. There is a magnetism about her that is almost palpable.

She steps towards Kray in fluid quick motions, reaches her hands out to hold him by the shoulders. It seems like a movement of affection, not aggression - and it happens so quickly.

Her big brown eyes hold onto his the whole time, until she is close, and then she brings her face to the side of his and looks past him. Now her mouth is right next to Kray's ear.

After whispering these words, she pulls back smoothly and reconnects with Kray eye-to-eye, her face close to his. She nods and looks at him questioningly, as if asking for his confirmation that he understands, and waiting for him to nod back. Her breathe smells like cinnamon.

She looks to her left and right, to Ivor and Thorn, as if to put them at ease that she means no harm. She slowly raises her index finger to rest against her nose, a request and signal to maintain silence and guarded speech. She nods to them, seeking to read if they understand and if they are willing to comply with her request.

Rutcranna whispers to Kray again. She pulls back slowly again, to look Kray in the eyes. She smiles pleasantly and nods her head at him. She is so close to him it is like she is about to kiss him. She smiles and then takes his hand briefly and pulls him along gently for a time before letting go of his hand as she adeptly steps along the slick rocks on the ground, walking ahead of him towards the mutilated body of the bull costumed man."Yes, Commander. I will tell you what I know of these powerful foes. I know that they cannot be felled by wounds and blows like normal men. Even when they are pierced, cut, their organs split, their skulls cracked - yet still they move on. Still they stand to slay us."

She looks back at Kray, and then to the others. Gives a quick nod of understanding. Then she continues.

"Because of this I have come to believe that it is best to cut off all of their appendages, including their heads, so that they might finally be stopped or at least made to be less dangerous. See. Even now this one, who was once struck dead, now moves with the look of life."

She's right. It's not much, but the bull's last attached hand is moving. It is slowly gripping into the gravel upon which it is laying. The arm is slowly starting to move also.

"Come, help me take off this fearsome mask so that we might behead this fiend. Hurry. Maeriks, my bulwark. Come. Help me. Pull loose these straps here that connect the mask to this one's harness that he wears wrapped along his back and belly."

Maeriks gets to it and slides the straps free. Rutcranna looks up at everyone and nods. She is crouched down on the ground beside Maeriks and shifts over to pick up a handaxe that is lying nearby. Ivor recognizes it as his hand axe, the one that he had thrown at Fingol in the smoke-filled confusing first moments of the battle at the cabin above.

Rutcrana continues, "We must leave the island and go south as soon as we can consolidate. With your forces, we must quickly make a full assault against our enemy, at the heart of their strength, before they have time to regroup. We can unify with your main group east of Driftwood, join up with the remnant of resistors, and then move by secret paths to the Barrow Hills. There we can enter the tunnels under Nahrooma. With the weapons that you brought, together with my magic, I believe that we can confront all of the Scath and even Glaaki itself. Under the coming new moon, we can defeat this menace if we remain unseen and pick the right time to strike."

She looks at Kray. "Do you think this is possible, Commander? Will you help me and the small Bat Hannoc resistance as I had asked in my message out to you?"

She tilts a hand, as if inviting Kray to respond.

After unbuckling the straps of bull's helmet as he was instructed, Maeriks picks his burlap bag back up off of the ground beside him and stands up. He looks away at the ground with his arms at his sides, holding his bag in his right hand, while Rutcranna is talking.

Maeriks then looks over at Thorn, in an obvious manner. Thorn notices immediately.

Maeriks looks at Thorn's midsection, scanning through his equipment it seems. He stares at Thorn's sword handle, that extends up over the Yuoric's shoulder, but he does not look at Thorn in the eyes.

Then the big imbecile looks away again to the side, holding a fixed look away for a long while.

You never know... Kray may be that sort of exception.