Zion: Light of the New Moon, Ch 1.1 Bannihar
Zion - Light of the New Moon Chapter 1.1
Bannihar Sundered Haven
Bannihar was successful in its last Event Arc. Bonus Story Seeds are awarded. Elesin received the most votes and is awarded an extra Experience Point.
The first several days were the most dangerous for the delegates after leaving Bannihar. The treacherous trails leading out of the mountain city were often the cause of numerous deaths, and the newest caravan was no exception: three wagons, and five lives were lost. The wagon leaders did not provide any time to mourn for the dead, though the clergy did lead prayers for them once the caravan was able to set up a reasonably safe camp.
The plan was to spend the night and most of the following morning at the spot chosen by Itskiy. The wolf did not often lead scouting parties as far away from the city but, on the rare occasion he did, the very spot chosen for the caravan was his preferred location. According to him, no major game trails or predator paths crossed it. Since the next Wayside, according to the map was still a day away the caravan leaders wanted to run an inventory and a head count to determine just what was lost in the wagons and who had gone to meet the Goddess.
Kayte spent the time seeing to the spiritual well-being of the travelers. She led groups in prayer for the departed, listened to worries and concerns, and granted mild blessings to restore the confidence in those who were shaken. Lord Raes joined her for many of the gatherings, making a show of swords to reconfirm the fact that the travelers would be safe from anything the Wild Lands had to offer. Between their activities and constant fly-overs by Sebastian, the gryphon the caravan had become quite familiar with, morale slowly came back.
By the time the caravan was ready for travel once again, the pilgrims were eager to be on their way, their faith in their path restored. It was during the initial restart that Kayte caught her first glimpse of Alexander since the conflict with the sun cultists. He kept to the edge of the caravan but she caught sight of him, and, spurring her mount, made her way over to where he sat atop a carriage.
"Hello, Alexander." she greeted him. The cat glanced in her direction, then looked forward once more. "I am worried about you." she added. He still didn't bother responding. She kept pace with the carriage and tried again, "I was hoping you might want to talk about what happened with the worshipers of the sun..." she watched for any reaction from him, but got nothing beside the flick of an ear. "It's bothering you... isn't it?" she asked. The cat still did not respond.
The priestess let out a sigh, "Alright..." she acknowledged, "I can see you still need time to be introspective about it. So long as you know that there are people in the caravan you can speak with when you're ready... okay?" Kayte offered a comforting smile... but Alexander didn't bother turning to look at it, "Okay." she answered for him and slowly led her mount away from the cat, "He's not ready to talk." she said quietly to herself.
Lord Raes, on the other hand, was having a much more vocal conversation about his topic for discussion, "I am saying that your recklessness is liable to get people killed." he continued trying to make his point.
"Of course it does," Elesin responded. The kangaroo was hanging off of the back of one of the wagons as Raes rode beside it, "it gets the enemy killed." There was obviously a disconnect in their thinking.
"If we do not stand as one in combat then we all fall separately. We must be a team." the dog explained.
"Isn't that what we were doing?" Elesin questioned, "That was being a team. You created a nice little battle line to attract their attention and I killed them while they were distracted."
"Battle mages apparently have a different opinion of tactics than true soldiers." Lord Raes stated flatly.
"Exactly. That's what I've been trying to say." the kangaroo agreed emphatically, "Soldiers are used to taking orders while battle mages are used to getting things done." At that point, the dog pulled on the reins of his mount, drawing the discussion to a close.
Further up the column, Roarg and Elias rode in a wagon together surrounded by the majority of the caravan's labor force walking along beside them. The two had spent most of their time together since the encounter with the cultists.
"You have some talent with stone." Elias noted, continuing their assessment of one another's more renowned jobs back in Bannihar, "or at least you can bring it out in others. Your quarry team was my favorite when it came to supplies for my larger projects... your boys never half-assed the blocks."
Roarg chuckled, "Well, just because we don't do any of the shaping doesn't mean we should deliver a sub-standard base."
"If only you weren't 1% of the work force... I'd have given up half of my laborers for just one of you." the Geomancer announced casually.
"I appreciate it, but I never was much for construction sites." Roarg admitted,"Besides... Sebastian isn't exactly a good thing for wooden supports and scaffolding."
"Mmm..." Elias confirmed in a non-comittal tone, "he's certainly an interesting creature."
Roarg chuckled good-naturedly, "Yea... 'interesting' is good way to describe him." the two shared a laugh. They continued their casual banter as the caravan drew nearer its destination, the Wayside which the map promised could be reached before nightfall.
By the time the caravan was approaching the indicated position of the Wayside, Iskiy was at the head of the column along with several other scouts. Motioning for everyone to stop and take position, the Wild Lander quickly realized something was wrong. Creeping closer to the Wayside, a large, stone tower, the antlered wolf was not entirely surprised to see that the large, double door at the entrance was torn asunder. He motioned quickly to the other scouts to fall back and nimbly followed them back to the caravan, calling it to a stop.
It took the clergy and wagon masters only a handful of minutes to gather and listen to Iskiy's report. There were many conflicting opinions of the situation but everyone agreed that any safe Wayside would have repaired its doors immediately. The discussion became more complex once word of the reason behind the caravan halting spread through the rest of the wagons. Guard were quick to restore order, but a number of laborers claimed the abandoned Wayside was a bad sign. Numerous guardsmen called for investigating it... and perhaps preparing to liberate it from whatever might be within.
Kayte called for silence among the leaders of the wagon train and looked to Lord Raes, "Lord Raes, what is your view on this?"
"Simple, Priestess..." the dog stated, "The Wayside is a gift from the Moon Goddess... if something has tried to defile it then it is our duty and my personal honor to cleanse it."
"Corporal?" she asked of Iskiy.
"In the Wild Lands you have to pick your fights." he answered cryptically.
"So you think we should run?" Elesin snorted, "Typical of a scout." Iskiy shrugged, without comment.
"I think he means we need to get more information before making up our minds." Roarg pointed out.
"That's a less cowardly way to put it." the kangaroo confirmed. Iskiy snorted in response, but still made no counter comment.
"and, speaking of more information..." the badger pulled the conversation away from Elesin once again. He motioned to the sky, where Sebastian glided down to join them in the circle, "So, Gryphon... what'd you see?"
"Orgs." Sebastian answered simply.
"Orgs?" Elesin inquired with no small amount of glee, "I love Orgs!" she clapped her paws together, tattoos on her arms crackling with mana, "They are very... conductive." little sparks of electricity arced between her fingers.
"Truly, it is a joy and a privilege to have you in our midst." Lord Raes responded coolly, "Apparently there is no challenge that cannot be overcome with the application of enough force."
"If magic does not successfully solve your problem then you simply aren't using a powerful enough spell." the kangaroo acknowledged, "Barring that, having a sword to back up your spells never hurt anyone... except your foes, maybe."
"What about speaking with them?" Elias questioned, interrupting the flamboyant kangaroo's rant.
"Orgs don't usually negotiate." Iskiy answered.
"Even when they're so obviously outnumbered and outmatched?" Lord Raes questioned. The scout shrugged a non-committal response.
"The Wayside is obviously not as protective as it once was." Elesin suddenly added, "We have a Geomancer... between the two of us we could probably take the whole tower down and solve the Org problem decisively."
"Thank you for your input, Lady Elesin." Kayte spoke up, "I think we will take your advice into consideration... would you please check in on the guard and make certain they are keeping watch?"
"I'm being dismissed, aren't I?" the kangaroo challenged.
"Yes!" confirmed at least half of the gathering.
"Fine. But consider this: the Wayside is compromised. Possibly losing soldiers in an attempt to retake it can cause a lot of unnecessary deaths, and leaving it be means we're risking the Orgs having a base of operations." and, piece spoken, the kangaroo walked indignantly off back toward the wagons.
"Damn..." Roarg sighed, "She would be easier to write-off if she didn't make a valid point."
"It is not a valid point." Lord Raes contested, "We will not destroy a holy site given to the faithful by Tah'aveen. Even if we chose to-- which we WON'T, the mana required for such a feat would exhaust our mages."
"Maybe not." Elias spoke up, "With the correct application of mana it may be possible to--"
"We cannot destroy a holy site!" the dog reiterated, "It would be an affront to Tah'aveen!"
"So you think we should lay siege?" Iskiy asked.
"It isn't a castle, Corporal." Raes countered, "We take several groups of soldiers into the Wayside and send the defilers to oblivion."
"Sebastian could fly a few troops up to the balcony." Roarg motioned to the ledge toward the top of the tower, "It would allow us to attack them from two fronts."
"Maybe one at a time." Sebastian agreed, "Except for you, Badger... you're fat."
"You're assuming I'd trust you not to drop me, Feather-Brain." Roarg countered.
"Thank you, Sebastian... Roarg..." Priestess Delier acknowledged the idea, "I think this will take some consideration."
"I don't mean to rush you, Priestess..." Iskiy spoke up respectfully, "But Orgs gain much strength during the night... they are nocturnal."
The priestess glanced to Iskiy and nodded, "Then I'll consider quickly." she smiled, "Meanwhile, I need someone to gather up two groups of soldiers. Lord Raes. please see if you can located Alexander, and Elias, please collect Elesin."
"So you DO plan on an assault..." Elias ventured.
"I'm not certain yet, Geomancer... but if that is what we do then I want to make sure we can carry it out quickly." she glanced to the sun, already dipping below the horizon, "If we only have til nightfall then I don't want to waste any time." On that note, the group quickly split up to make preparations.
* * * * *
The Bannihar Caravan is on its way to Zion!
The first part of Chapter 1 presents the group's first of many decisions.
Contributing readers now get to choose the way the party will face this situation. Banniharian Contributing Readers each get 1 vote on how to proceed. Anyone may spend 1 Willpower to get a second vote (with a successful social roll, Target number of 20). The following options are available:
1) Send a small force up top with remainder attacking the front entrance. Contributing Reader characters will be involved in combat and may risk injury or death but will earn additional full Event Arc bonuses. SUCCESS.
2)Attack the tower in force through the ground floor. Caravan guards will be sent enmass to retake the tower without any risk to Contributing Reader characters. Story Seeds will be provided in full but only half of the Event Arc bonuses will be provided. SUCCESS
3) Level the tower with magic. Elias and Elesin will both expend 1 Willpower and gain 1 Major Fatigue and 1 Minor Fatigue. If their magic is successful the Wayside will be leveled and the party will receive full bonuses for completing the Event Arc (and lose 1 Favor). Though this option does not cause a failure it does not count as a success.
4) Leave it be and move on. The Event Arc is considered failed. Full Story Seeds will be provided but the party will gain no bonuses and suffer from the failure of an Event Arc. No experience is awarded. FAILURE.
Contributing Readers, make sure you make your vote before midnight (pst) on Friday, June 3rd.
In case anyone wondered, Elesin won the reader approval from last chapter, and gains +1 Willpower for being AWESOME.