[Last Time, on El WHAT?!: Our heroes compared tattoos, revealed the tattooing to various other people, and then tried to sleep. Sadly, such was not to be. The howling of wolves wouldn't let them sleep properly, and now they're on the run. They're not entirely certain how many wolves there are, but it's been enough to make the horses panicky as they set out into the night towards the last remaining escape route.] [Now they've got to cover what would normally have been another two days of riding as fast as they possibly can, or face off against an unknown number of foes, in the dark.] [We open as our heroes, such as they are, are just riding out into the night. Unfortunately, there's suddenly one person too many, which cool make the flight awkward.] [Session... START!] * Howls break out all around you as the chase is taken up. For some unknown reason, Harold is suddenly riding double with Sophie, and for reasons equally unknown, Thundar doesn't appear to be complaining. ... eheh. What the--? * Tiffany nervously pats Max, trying to calm them both down. * Sophie looks back at Harold, and does a double take. * Harold would react more if not for the mortal peril the group was in at the moment. "Everyone, listen! The wolves will come at us from every side and... I don't get the feeling they're just hunting for food. Something's fishy about this." ... oh, and hello, Emmet. * Emmet turns his head swiftly this way and that. "Uh, hi. We're in trouble, aren't we?" * Harold tries to be nonchalant about needing to keep a hand on Sophie's waist to stay balanced. "Yes. We're surrounded by wolves. Get ready to fight." Harold... You might be right. There's only one way left open, and it suprises me they haven't moved to close it yet. Bloody hell. We're being lured somewhere. * The howls indicate that they ARE moving to close it. There might not be enough of them to do that. Yet. * Emmet's horse rears in terror as a howl erupts no more than a hundred feet away. For now, we've got no choice but to try and keep from being encircled! * Emmet manages to retain his seat. Barely. * Emmet grunts his surprise and clings to his horse as best he can. "Fine, but can we hurry?" That is the general idea, Emmet! Good! C'mon... C'mon... * Emmet tries to get his horse to run toward the apparent gap in the wolves' circle. * Harold is just along for the ride, so he makes a point of securing his gear and getting his crossbow ready. (Well, as much as he can without falling off, anyway.) * Just you finally get the horses going again, a massive wolf lunges out of the darkness and snaps viciously at Emmet's leg. * Emmet's horse bolts, but he hangs on tight to the reins and manages to direct it in the right direction. A moment later, the rest follow. * Emmet winces as he is jolted along in the saddle, but does not complain about his leg; he doesn't know yet whether or not there's anything to complain about. * Sophie holds the reins in her left hand and draws her sword with the other. * Emmet has little interest in doing anything other than make sure his horse doesn't do something stupid, like drop him. Shall I try sniping some of them off while we go? * As the horses keep running, giving their all, Thundar seems to be falling behind. He's quite a bit bigger, but quite a bit heavier, too. Couldn't hurt. Just don't fall off. Y... You're not going to hit in the darkness anyway. * The howling intensifies as Thundar starts to fall significantly behind. * Nick looks back, mace in hand. "..Dammit." If we could distract them, the whole pack would leave us alone. I'm not sure they _can_ be distracted. There's some purpose driving them. * Two wolves come streaking out of the darkness from the rear, one closing on each side of Thundar, leaping into the air for SOphie... or maybe Harold. * Harold fortunately still has his quarterstaff close enough at hand to switch off weapons. "Sophie! Could I have the reigns for a moment?" Are you joking? You can't possibly steer from back there! * Harold sighs, and doesn't even try to explain to her why he'd wanted them-- he's not sure how. He just jabs down at the oncoming wolf with his stave before it's too late. * The wolves drop down as quickly as they appeared, left behind as they lose all their speed. * Three more wolves loom out of the darkness ahead, closing in from the sides on Emmet, Tiffany, and Nick. As they're passed, they leap up and snap wildly, catching small bits of cloth from Emmet and Nick. * Nick swings his mace at the attacking wolf. * Emmet jerks away from the wolf's attack, and focuses his attention almost entirely on not being thrown from the horse. * The wolf drops barely out of the way as Stu runs on, panic barely kept in check. Good horse. Bad dog. Try to kill one! That may make them think. * Tiffany holds the reigns tightly and turns to look over her shoulder. Her mouth opens and out flow arcane words... which are interrupted by a curse as Max bounces her in her saddle. * Sophie can't help but laugh. "'You killed our brother! Now we will hunt you down for revenge!'. Sounds familiar." Would you *please* not mock the people trying to kill us?! What's with the sudden attitude change, Nick? You were all for it earlier. I'm not in my element, dammit. * Nick's wolf darts between Thundar's legs, but is too busy avoiding the REAR legs to actually venture a decent snap at anybody. * The gap between Thundar and the rest of the horses continues increasing. * Nick looks over at his torn sleeve and sighs heavily, before whipping the reins again. * Two more wolves catch up with Thundar and leap, snapping at Sophie's legs. * Sophie takes a slash at them. She doesn't like things trying to eat her. * Harold swings down at the remaining wolf with all of his strength, letting out a hoarse shout from the effort. * The wolf drops back away from Sophie's cut, barely avoiding losing its nose, only to have Harold's staff stave in its skull. * The wolf falls to the ground and quickly vanishes from sight. * Three more wolves come racing from ahead, indicating that the jaws of the trap are nearly closed, or may be closed already. All around you there's nothing but plains, with no cover for miles around. Dammit, it's still on it's feet! * Tiffany leans back again. "How many are there?" Her voice bounces with Max, showing just how poorly she would be casting... if she was. Hundreds! * The wolf that leaps up at Emmet actually draws blood as its teeth sink into his calf. We've no way of knowing! Don't worry about it! * Emmet stifles a yelp of pain, and tries to focuses on keeping the horse moving. "No, really. There are hundreds of them out there." -- what, you're _sure_?! * Emmet sounds stricken. "Positive." Hooboy. * Tiffany grips her reigns tightly, and patting Max, turns back to cast again... this time, without profanity. Then distracting them or outrunning them is our only chance! * Thundar struggles valiantly to keep up with his smaller, faster counterparts. * Yelps of fear come from behind Harold, Sophie, and Thundar. They can smell a faint smell of... zoo? Yeah, they smell like a zoo. There! that should dissuade a couple of them from going after y'all. Comeon! Hurry! We're almost there! * All the horses, even the smaller, lighter ones made for running, are foaming quite heavily now, and you're beginning to think they might collapse before too long. Almost _where_? SHUTUP and be POSITIVE with me here! * Ahead of you, the foothills and mountains are coming up fairly quickly, all things considered. The terrain is getting rougher, and you can actually hear many of the howls getting fainter as the wolves running beside the road begin to have trouble progressing. * Nick seems to be getting into the mood, whooping loudly. * Sophie rides on anyhow. "Look for a cave or... I don't know, a bottleneck or something, where we can hold them off!" * Still more wolves begin closing in on the road as the terrain beside it gets more difficult. Several of them leap up at you as you pass. This is kind of fun! * Emmet's leg is badly mauled now, and the pain is excruciating. * Emmet hisses through clenched teeth. "Speak for yourself." Nick, shut up! * Nick looks over at Emmet's leg and winces. "..Sorry.: * The grey light of false dawn begins to brighten the sky. * Sophie rides a little closer to Emmet. "You'll be fine; I'll cover you." * Emmet winces. "Thanks. Don't kill Thundar trying to do it, though. You've got Harold to worry about, too." He seems about to say more, but the pain in his leg makes him think better of it. * As the sky begins to brighten, you can all see quite a bit better now. Spread out behind you are well over a hundred wolves, and that's not counting the dozens more that are spread out to each side, struggling to keep up in the more difficult terrain. * Nick ruffles Stu's mane with one hand, keeping the other on the reins. * Emmet takes the opportunity to get a quick look at his leg. * Nick and Tiffany are finding it harder and harder to urge their mounts on, and they finally slow down enough that even Thundar can keep up. Unfortunately, this means that the wolves are rapidly gaining ground. My kingdom for a squeaky ball.. Nick, shut UP. * Emmet looks back over his shoulder at the others. "Hurry!" Dammit, if I'm going to die, it's not going to be with a giant stick up my ass like you! I'll have some *fun!* Mmm, yes, I must remember to laugh at Nick next time he gets shot in the foot with an arrow. After we get out of this I am going to _take_ my giant stick and _beat_ you to death with it! * Nick flashes an impolite hand signal and keeps urging Stu on. * Emmet pants. "There's a little pass up ahead, guys. If we stop there, we can take the wolves on a few at a time." * Tiffany chants quietly to herself in her strange tongue before breaking into a more common voice with an arcanely-amplified "HELP!" Just what I'd hoped for. * The mountains ring with the scream of HEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP! HEEEEEEEEEEEELP! * The small pass quickly comes into view. It's not entirely secure, but it's certainly better than definitely being overrun. A moment later, you're in it, and the horses are grateful to stop. * The moon begins to set, and the sky brightens still further, indicating that dawn can't be too far away. * Thundar stands bravely in the middle of the pass, but there's plenty of room on either side of him for wolves to get around. * Tiffany speaks in a more reasonable voice for a moment, though it looks like she's whispering to do it. "I'll try to get help... can you all hold them here?" Sure. We'll bloody well try. We've no choice. * Harold dismounts and looks for a place he can snipe from. * Emmet tries to reign his horse in near the big one. He's sliding himself off of the animal as quickly as he can and readying bow and arrows for a desperate battle--preferably from somewhere a little higher up. * Nick dismounts as well, drawing the short sword and swapping it into his right hand. The mace rests in the left hand. * Emmet glances at Harold, and instintively takes up the opposite flank. We need to be far enough back that we won't be surrounded. Nick, Sophie, do you mind holding the center with the horses? * Sophie dismounts. "That'll never work." She stands next to Thundar nonetheless. * Fadi appears next to Thundar, staring down the barrels of a hundred charging wolves and wondering where the hell he is. Hey, Fadi. Ready to fight? * Fadi pauses, his sword drawn when he appeared. "Apparently. Tell me, what did ya do to piss of this many dogs?" I think it was something YOU did, Fadi. I seem to recall a weretiger. * 3 * 2 Fadi! Good! Join the front line. Emmet, move to the rear, please, you're injured. * 1 * Nick pokes Fad in the side with his sword and braces himself. Probably accidently stepped on their continent. * Emmet staggers back a few steps... Here they come. * Fadi takes a ready stance. "Yeah, whatever." * The wave of wolves impacts. * Tiffany watches the line of her friends form behind her and presses on deeper into the chasm, yelling for help. "Hold out just a little longer, Max... a little longer." * The wolves seem to be rather confused as many members of the pack shy away from Thundar, causing confusion in the ranks. * Thundar rears and lashes out angrily at the wolf that dares confront him. * Harold tries to open on the wolves, with no time or ability to set up a crossbow shot. His balance is faulty, however, and he just ends up slamming his staff into the ground. * Emmet keeps an arrow at the ready and scans the line of his companions for signs of weakness--or a good shot at a wolf. * Fadi's sword lashes out and THROUGH the wolf in front of him, which staggers but keeps moving. * The mountains ring with the continued cry for HEEEEEELP! * Nick leans forward and stabs at the wolf in front of him. * The wolf is stabbed right in the side, then Nick's blade slides out and the wolf looks entirely unhurt. * Thunder rumbles across the sky. * Behind you, the sun rises, and the first rays peek over the mountains, blinding the wolves in front of you. * Fadi takes the opporunity presented to take the sword and bring down right on the Wolf's head. * The rumbling increases, even as Fadi slices down and through the wolf in front of him. The wolf quickly shimmers and forms into a short, slim, and entirely naked elf, heavily tattooed all across his body, kneeling unconscious in front of Fadi. Don't decapitate this one! Bloody hell, I don't even care anymore. You're British, it's expected! * Nick goes for another stab at the wolf. * The entire pass seems to be shaking, and the sound of thunder behind you is getting louder and louder, not stopping even for a moment. Sod off, Nick. Why don't you go laugh at Emmet's injuries again? Bastich. * Fadi brings the sword around and swings it around... deliberatly avoiding the wolf and instead striking at the wolf that's attacking Nick. * Emmet tears his eyes away from the fight before him and looks around to see what is causing that sound. I didn't know he was injured, dammit! Of course you didn't, you inconsiderate twit! * A massive cloud of dust seems to be emitting the thunderous noise, and it's bearing down on you quite swiftly. Uh... guys... -- out of way, people! * Sophie gets out of the way? * Emmet stuffs his readied arrow back into its quiver and grabs the reigns of one of the riding horses--possibly both of them if he can--and limps out of the way as quickly as he can manage. Run! * Fadi takes one good slash at the remaining one, dashing out of the way right afterwards. * Nick heads for the cliffs. * Harold tries to make his way over to one of the cliffsides as quickly as he can. * Fadi heads to one of the cliffsides too, trying to escape over it. * Sophie goes too, and brings Thundar with her. * The wolves have just enough time to clear the rising sun from their eyes and realize that they're about to die when the dust cloud crashes into them. Quite literally "crashes". The cloud resolves into rank after rank after rank of silver-armored knights, riding silver-armored shining white horses, bearing silver-tipped lances. Said lances are now being used quite efficiently to skewer wolves, and in less than a second, fifty wolves die. * The remaining wolves scatter, and the knights seem content to let them go. * Emmet watches swift deliverance of carnage in awe-stricken silence. * Nick hangs by his feet from the cliff, watching without much interest. * Sophie watches it warily. * Fadi grins as he watches from the cliffside. "Note to self. Cavalry really works." * When the carnage finally ends, there are easily seventy five dead elves lying on and around the road, and an equal number of mounted knights bearing bloody lances. * Emmet absently pats the noses of one of the horses. "You guys aren't so bad after all," he mutters. * The apparent leader, if the elaborate banner mounted on his back has anything to do with that, anyway, rides up to Sophie and raises his visor. Staring down at Sophie out of the helm are the angular eyes of an elf. * Sophie looks right back. I'm sorry you had to be caught up in that, ma'am. Welcome to The Gap. If you'd like an escort, it's not far." ... that might be good, yes.... * Sophie nods. "If it wouldn't trouble you too much, I believe we could use one. We haven't had a full night's sleep since...." She thinks for a minute, then says, "Since we left the last town." * Emmet looks down at his leg with a frown. "As long as the horses aren't going anywhere," he mutters and kneels to see if there's anything he can do to dress the wounds. Mount up, then. We'll get you the rest of the way safely. Sorry you had to get caught up in the hunt like that. * Nick drops down from the cliff, doing a flip in midair before landing easily on his feet. He gets onto Stu without a word. * Sophie mounts onto Thundar. "The hunt? What hunt?" * Fadi walks over to Sophie. "Look, I know it's rude, but could you tell me what the hell is going on?" If I had any idea, Fadi, I might. We got chased out of the forest and we just got saved. Anything else will have to wait for later. Good enough for now. * Fadi sheathes his sword. * The commander pumps his lance in the air twice, and the knights form up. "They called the hunt. I'm not certain why, but they were after somebody. Otherwise they'd never have dared get this close to The Gap." * Sophie sheathes hers, as well. She seemed to have forgotten it was drawn. Who called it? * Harold thinks over what the commander says, and decides it would be best not to state what he's thinking. Hard to say. We don't have one to question, and I didn't see a packleader, so he must've gotten away." * Emmet cleans and ties off his wounds as best he can and walks the remaining horse over to the others. "Excuse me sir, but what *were* they?" Elves. Wild ones, to be specific. Wolf tribe. * Fadi raises an eyebrow. Oh. I see. * The commander pumps his lance once, and the knights begin moving out in orderly fashion, keeping it slow so your exhausted horses can keep up. * Emmet looks back in the direction that the wolf tribe fled, and then mounts his horse somewhat clumsily. He and the mount fall into line without further comment. * Sophie rides Thundar at a steady trot. * Fadi looks about. Is there a horse actually there for him? * Fadi is forced to walk, as are all of you, really, because the horses are too damn tired. * Fadi walks. Not like he really cares. * But that's okay, you've got a heavily armed escort. Just a few minutes later, you discover Tiffany at the side of the road tending Max. * Emmet walks, then, but carefully. He nods to Tiffany when they reach her. * Tiffany glances up from her work. She looks tremendously relieved to see everyone. "Max... might not be ok. But I'm glad to see the knights reached you in time." Good work, Tiffany. I'm not sure I had much to do with it. They didn't even stop to ask what was wrong before riding by. * Tiffany walks alongside Max, keeping him moving as slowly as possible so as not to agitate the wound. You okay Tiff? * Nick is oddly silent, running his fingers through Stu's hair. * The commander smiles from behind his helmet. "Actually, if it weren't for the mountains echoing your call for help, we wouldn't have known to ride. We always have a contingent of cavalry ready to ride during full moons, but without that scream, we wouldn't have known we were needed." * Tiffany looks up at the commander. "I.. I'm glad I made it then. I'm fine, Fadi. I wasn't wounded during the ride, just tired out." Emmet needs to get treated as soon as we're in the city... * Fadi nods. "They cause trouble pretty often, then?" * Emmet looks up at Harold with a faint smile. "I'm alright, really. I'm just glad we're all okay." * An hour or so later, thanks to your leisurely pace, you come through a massive pass, easily fifty feet across formed by a pair of cliffs at least a hundred feet tall, and you're through, and there's The Gap. Blocking passage through it is a simply massive castle, dwarfing anything you've seen back home. It's a castle straight out of fairy tales, all towers and walls of shining white, ascending high into the sky. * The knight commander gestures grandly at the castle and says loudly, "Welcome to The Gap." * Fadi whistles. "Daaaaaaaamn. Nice." Wow. That's spectacular... * THe commander removes his helm and smiles broadly, shaking his head as his ears pop free. "Well. Since you had the grace to be rescued by me, please do me the honor of appearing tonight in the grand hall for dinner and court." * Tiffany blushes a bit and nodds. "I'm... not sure we have appropriate attire for such things." * The commander is perhaps twenty years old, with long blond hair and clear blue eyes. NOw that his ears are free of his helm, they nearly stand as tall as the crown of his head, and he's got a decidedly pretty look to him, in spite of being quite muscular, from walking around in fifty pounds of metal all day long. * Fadi chuckles. * Emmet quirks a smile, but lets Tiffany do all the talking. Yes, we'd definitely need to borrow some clothes... Nonsense! I'm about to collect the boundy on seventy eight wild elves of the wolf tribe. I can afford to be generous. Then I'm sure after an afternoon of rest we'd be honored to accept your gracious invitation. Excellent! [Session... end!]