Volkanenborg

[Graybeard]

[OOC:

(ooc: I assume the 'screaming' you meant with the rocks was the pain of all the people Neverinal's killed seeping through, I think it works.

Actually, I meant literal screaming from Marcus and Saiko, but your interpretation is even better. Thanks!]

Grope shook his massive head, not quite sure what he'd just heard. Or did he actually "hear" it at all? Or was the shrieking something that resonated not with his ears, but with his soul? Hard to be sure; it had faded and a wind was coming up, so that any actual, physical noise was lost in the rustling of the trees. In any event, it was nothing he wanted anything to do with; either some Small Ones were having a very bad day, which was their problem and not his, or worse, some nasty magic was about. He remembered what the Robe had told him about the Red One and shuddered.

No, this was not his problem, but every cloud has a silver lining. While he was stopped to listen, a very large bird had come into sight, flying up the ridge from the direction of town. An eagle! What better to form his breakfast, and contribute its Wisdom? It was a very, very rare troll who was privileged to feast on such a noble bird. He made himself as small and still as a 9-foot-tall biped can, taking advantage of the similarity between his skin's color and that of the bark of the trees around him. In his favor was the wind, blowing in his direction and both speeding the bird on its way and keeping his scent (and that of the Robe) from reaching it. Yes, he might have a chance, the net was barely large enough to entrap such a mighty beast, but he had to try ...

Just as the eagle (for so it was) reached a snag to sit on, a bit below him and surprisingly close, Grope hurled the net. It was the first time he'd used it in many a moon, but trolls are instinctive hunters, and the muscle memory was there. It hurtled toward the huge bird, catching it by surprise, and tangling its wings and taloned legs in the net's folds. Grope recited a silent prayer of thanks to Growf and rose to capture the bird ...

... And just as he got there, it looked at him with a most un-bird-like expression on its face -- it had one -- and spoke, in a raptor's shriek that resolved into the tongue of the Farrelite Small Ones (since when could eagles speak?). "GREEAAHH! Let go of me, you big ape! Sherry is gonna be pissed..."

----------

Some distance away, Lucas Ravanel's Blood-Binding scar developed a weird, uncomfortable feeling.

[Sareth]

"Boyfriend?" My objections and complaints to the mission were derailed before they even got moving by that little comment. "He's less my boyfriend than whatsisbutt is your husband. Yeah... I caught that little hesitation before you said 'husband.' You might want to work on that." I smiled like a child does when she realizes it was fun catching the adults screwing up. "Not that I haven't thought about it, mind you. It's been months!"

But then I turned serious. "So you want me to wander around out in the middle of nowhere looking for a captive heiress that is also being looked for by several other organizations, several of which would love to shoot my cute little ass even if they DON'T mistake me for one of the kidnappers?" I sucked my lower lip for a few seconds as I contemplated the map. "Sounds fun. But I want a little more in the way of pay, and I want it in advance. I need a rifle."

[Graybeard]

Elke frowned. "Hmmm ... easier said than done in this town. But yeah, it's a deal. Head back down the road toward the ag center and I'll have someone meet you at the intersection with some heat. I'll even throw in a bonus that you might find useful. Now get a move on, we don't have forever. And take the map."

----------

Layla was having a very hard time concentrating on the terrain. Barb was insisting on draping herself all over Ace. Like a poncho covered in makeup and sleaze, Layla thought. At least they were high enough in the air that the airship wasn't in immediate danger of crashing into something as a result of a ... lapse of attention. The worst part was the bitch had the audacity to wink at her! How could anybody concentrate while that was going on? (Well, Ace seemed to be ignoring her ministrations, at least... but how could Layla?)

At least that was how Layla explained it to herself when Barb was the one to point out the unexpected sight below, not she. "Look. Down there at two o'clock, about a quarter mile out. Is that what it looks like?"

Yes, you idiot, that is a tree, Layla thought, but then decided she'd better check it out. And lo and behold ... there was a troll down there. It appeared to be hunting; something unrecognizable was thrashing around in a similarly unidentifiable bag or sack or something that it was holding. And for a moment, its attention was diverted -- and it looked right at them.

"Wow. Troll. I thought they were extinct around here," Layla said, professionalism and curiosity overcoming her annoyance that the strumpet had beaten her to the punch. And she had to admit that she might not have noticed the troll even if she hadn't been distracted; Barb's eyes were good, as advertised. But the annoyance returned when Barb replied, using her most condescending possible tone.

"They are, child ... in normal conditions. But times aren't normal, are they?"

[Sareth]

The map, nicely esconsed away in my clothing, I strolled dow the street towards the Ag center, taking my time. It'd take a bit of time, I was sure, for Elke to arrange my bonus. But it'd be worth it. Going out and playing tag with all those different groups, most of which wanted my hide on the wall, range to reach out and touch someone would make a big difference. I had every belief that there was nothing wrong with doing unto others before they even had a fair chance to do unto me. After all, I only had so much blood I wanted to keep inside my skin, while the rest of the universe had soooooo much more than I.

I stopped by a streetside vendor. It was still fairly early, but this one was up and running, offering roasted meat on a stick. Breakfast. I quickly handed over a few coins, taking a few sticks and beginning to gnaw away at the not yet tough meat. Next to me a couple of working stiffs handed over coin of their own for their morning repast.

"My left elbow is aching."

"Bad weather coming, then?"

"No, you damn fool. That's the right elbow. And my left knee means a cave in at the mine, my back means means I'm gonna have another fight with the misses, my big tow on the right si"

"Enough about that fact you have more aches than my grandmother. What's the left elbow mean?"

"There's trolls out there."

I snorted, which fortunately was covered up by the sound of the other fellow snorting even louder. Trolls. What would they think up next?

I walked on down to the ag center.

[Graybeard]

"You're Jamie, right?" the anonymous man said as Jamie reached the turnoff to the ag center. "Elke says these are for you."

He handed her a long, slender package that had that high-velocity rifle feel to it, and two smaller packages. "Elke says these weren't part of what you asked for, but she's throwing them in anyway. The smaller one has some manner of Tsuiraku crystal doohickey in it. She says it's useful for keeping track of where you are. You'll be wanting to head off on the trail that leaves the road about half a mile south of here, where it starts to head up to the pass. It's supposed to show up on the map in this thing."

"And what's the other item that I didn't ask for?"

He hefted the second small box. "Ammunition."

-----------

Grope was still struggling with the netted eagle as he became aware of another noise in the distance. It sounded like the same thing he'd heard the previous day, but higher and maybe farther away; once again, a vibrating, pulsing sensation that was heard as much as it was felt. He paused to look skyward, where the sound was coming from, but there was simply nothing there. The tribal interpretation of air spirits or demons or whatever was beginning to look a little more feasible --

"SKRRIAAAH! You'll PAY for this!" the improbably loquacious eagle shrieked, taking advantage of his lapse in attention to sink a razor-sharp talon into his upper arm. As Grope flinched momentarily, he thought, Well, at least I'll have a scar to show for this little battle...

[Sareth]

I'm pretty sure I was still blushing as I exited town. Damn Elke and her smugness. I roughly shoved several .44 rounds into the new lever action rifle I'd recieved at the ag center. Damn her delivery boy too! I jacked in several more rounds. And damn that loverboy of hers. I hope all three of them catch an itch from one another! I jacked in a few more rounds, then found the weapon wouldn't take any more.

I blinked in surprise. I hadn't been paying attention as I loaded, and I realized I had no idea how many rounds I'd put in. I swiftly grabbed the box I'd been pulling the rounds from and did a quick count of how many were left. Out of a box of 20, I found I had loaded 16 of them. I turned back to the rifle, examining it more closely.

"Dayumn! That's NICE!"

Good balance, nice magazine load, not too heavy... I closed the lever action, brought the weapon up to my shoulder, squeezed the trigger...

*BLAM!*

Frowning a little, I looked at the tree trunk I had fired at. The round had carved a notch a good two inches over and three down from where I had aimed. Shrugging, I worked the lever action and fired again.

*BLAM!*

The knot I had aimed at originally puffed out splinters as the .44 round slammed into it.

"A little Can'tuck'ay windage on that thing, but nice!"

I replaced the two rounds from my stash of ammo (now down to 58 rounds, including those in the rifle) and carefully lowered the hammer. Yeah, this would do. This would do nicely.

Next I turned to Elke's other toy. I jiggered with it a bit, quickly figuring out which button turned it on, and then how to move the small projected map above it. I scanned around, enjoying the options, then flipped it over to read the bottom. "Go Ogle Maps, huh? Questor's Map is nice because it can give you a route, but I have to admit, this thing sure has some pretty detail work." I flipped the device back upright, keyed in a general overview, and turned up the small path heading into the hills. With this thing, I should be able to start finding the various cave mouths and shacks pretty easily. This might be fun after all.

[Graybeard]

His attention now back on the raptor that had just sunk a talon into him, Grope listened as the bird continued to shower him with threats, imprecations and plain old abuse. When the bird finally had to pause to catch a breath, he cleared his throat (an effect not unlike distant thunder) and spoke.

"Whoever or whatever you are, let me point something out to you. You are caught in a net. You will not escape unless I let you go. If you do not escape, I will eat you. And if you do not escape, your 'Sherry' will never learn what happened to you, so that she can never do all of these horrible things to me that you threaten me with. Only I will know.

"Now tell me: why should I not eat you for your Wisdom, and make life easier for myself by doing it? Think quickly; I am getting hungry."

The eagle subsided and sank into thought, as two gunshots could be heard dimly from far to the west.

------------

"Ace, what do you think?" Layla said, pointedly ignoring the floozy. "Should we fly back and report that troll? It isn't what we came for, but maybe it's important."

"Hmmm ... let me check our instructions." Ace pulled out the packet that Faye, or someone, had sent with them. (Layla was half amused, half disappointed to see him put on a pair of reading glasses.) "Our orders are to reconnoiter the ridge and look for cave openings or mine entrances, and look for signs of human life. For some reason 'human' is emphasized, I don't know why. Whatever that thing is doing down there, it seems to be a side show. Let's get back to what we're here for; I'm going to move us to the other side of the ridge, since we're not seeing much on top."

Barb extracted a small, pearl-handled -- seriously -- derringer from her ample bodice and leered. "Well, maybe on the way back we can use Mr. Troll for some target practice."

"Don't be ridiculous," Layla snapped. "We have a job to do, and besides, you can't hit anything with that toy that's more than about 20 feet away."

"Don't tempt me, child..."

-------------

Guard duty, the kidnapper reflected, was hours of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror. However, even the long, boring part had its moments. It was amazing how much noise the forest made, and it wasn't just things that go bump in the night; the morning was just as full of weird noises as the evening. Much of it, of course, could be attributable to the fun that was being had with their guests underground, and so he didn't think much about the high-pitched screaming of the eagle. Distance had blurred the words into random noise, just like someone being slowly flayed might be expected to make.

Gunshots, however, were a different matter.

"Did you hear that?" he asked his partner as two muffled reports rang out to the west. "Yeah. And you know what? I'm thinking that Mimi is overdue to get back from town with a message. You don't s'pose somebody shot her down, do you?"

"Shoot down an eagle? Good damn luck," the first man snorted. "But yeah, something feels weird about those shots. You stay here and get hunkered down, and I'll go report it." He crept from his hiding place and headed east, toward the cave complex.

-----------

OOC: Sareth, hope you don't mind if I edit your latest so the Henry rifle contribution works; don't use the quotes when referencing a URL.

[Sareth]

OOC: Not at all. Had it borked things? I hadn't even noticed. Sorry about that...

I was in luck. According to the map, the first candidate cave was probably only a minute or two away. It was too close to town to be likely, but it certainly was a step in the right direction. Hoisting the rifle over my shoulder, I started my hike.

Trudging up the hill wasn't too terribly bad an ordeal. After all, I was traveling fairly light (I hoped someone had the good sense to grab my pack from the hotel. While most of what was in it was perfectly replaceable, there were a few keepsakes in there,) the morning was pleasantly warm (for the foothills of a mountain range,) and I had me a new toy. Several new toys, in fact.

I gave the map a quick glance, looking for the tail tell marking that indicated a cave entrance, grateful that my uncle had taught me some map reading skills along with the shooting skills. Zooming out the map had made it fairly easy to get a feel for a good search pattern of local caves and shacks. The first of those would be a cave, followed by a shack, then another couple caves, all along the ridge. I didn't have high hopes, but about a half mile along, stop number five looked to be a small cave complex, quite handy. Having multiple exits would make it a good bolt hole for the criminally intent. In fact, if I remembered from my youth, Richi the Ferret and I had used that very cave complex once just for that reason, though "criminal" might be a bit extreme a term for what he and I had been up to.

As I walked, I swatted at an odd sounding bug a few times before realizing that it wasn't changing in sound no matter how I tried swatting. I paused in my walk, looking around for the source, but finding nothing, shrugged it off. Maybe there was a giant conclave of locusts down in the river, and they were doing that elven thing that Ferrel had grown fond of... K'ri oke. I didn't know. All I knew was that nothing was biting me, so I filed it away as "low threat" and whipped out my map.

The first cave was just over the other side of the ridge from where I estimated I was. The path followed the ridge about fourty feet below the crest for a good mile or so, and the cave was about an equal distance away from the crest on the other side. All I needed to do was pop up over the ridge, get a better fix on my position, and look for what appeared to be a distinctive cluster of rocks, and I was in like Richi the Ferret had been. Well, except a little less clumsily. And probably for longer. Jerk.

I climbed over the ridge, and began looking for the cave entrance. But before I could find it, two things happened. The first was that I heard the cry of an eagle, if eagles could be said to swear like a Port Lorrel Dock Hand. The second, was that my eyes fell on a peculiar human-ish shape. Only big. And bulky. And covered in leather... scraps.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaawe hell. Tell me that's not a troll."

[Graybeard]

Grope was so startled by Jamie's sudden appearance that he almost released the eagle. It clawed mightily at his arm (more scars would result) and was half free of the net before he was able to control it again. The bird screamed invective at him until he lost patience and bopped it on the head with one of the net's weights. It lay still, but it was still breathing.

"Is this ... yours? Are you ... Sherry?" he roared at the distant figure as it dove for cover, and he did the same. But as he hid, he thought, I think I have seen that Small One before...

[Sareth]

Real smart, Jamie. Why don't you just talk out loud while staring at the large, powerful cannibalistic creature you just stumbled across? I chastised myself, my back against the boulder I had just thrown myself behind. I cradled my rifle at the ready, thinking hard. Trolls, I had been told, were very tough creatures. My rifle might not be enough, if the rumors were true. Maybe I should have asked for a mortar. Not that I knew how to use a mortar. Cannon either.

"Who's Sherry?" I called out as a stalling tactic as I tried to think of what to do next. I had to think! If the rifle COULD take down a troll, well, that was mighty fine. But if it couldn't... then what? I had few illusions about managing to outrun a troll in a sprint back to town. And trying to out sneak the darned thing seemed pretty darned unlikely, considering it had managed to darned well get the drop on me even when it should have been the other darned way around. Darn it.

"Look... You're not hungry are you? Cause... Ah... I'm all skin and bones. No meat on me at all! I'm sure that bird would be much more filling, and you've already caught it and all..." I leaned around the rock just enough to get a look to see if the troll had stayed put or was moving around to eat me.

Momma told me there would be days like this... Maybe I should have listened.