Oops, where did it go?
Time flies swiftly by and suddenly I notice I have not posted for three weeks in my Lj. You think having my Iphone would have upped that but no, school work and Amy's wedding have taken my brain power. To think my little bitty sister is getting married in two weeks. Ah well. Speaking of lovely things I should update the Houses game. A note: these are the last session for a month and a half due to wedding! and October we are playing Call of Cthulu, run by John.
So Count Rukio was coming to celebrate his birthday at the house of Griffin. Josha, as his seneschal, counseled against harming the Count while he was in the house. Lombu mentions that he was still going through with his plan to take out Telanni's husband regardless of the Count's prescence.
When the carriage arrives, it is Karrina Steele, his mistress, that is with the Count and not his wife. She gets in contact with Josha to tell him that the Count has brought an unblooded woman with them for some nefarious purpose. She doesn't know why but does know that the lady is in the Count's room. Josha and Karrina return to the dinner to find that the Count is giving his host a present, as is expected when one visits. It is a fine sword with a small hidden conpartment in the pommel.
After dinner the men retire to the game room and the ladies out to the gardens. Okehole, Telanni's husband, comes over to talk to Lombu about his musicians. As music snobs, they are on equal ground. Much to Lombu's delight, Oke is very distracted by the artists in his band. The others not having such refined tastes turn to games to amuse themselves. The Count suggests a new game that is sweeping the countryside. It involves throwing daggers at targets while your opponent stands in front of it. Griffin and Tyron play against each other, at the Count's urging. Griffin would have much rather played the Count. The Bear starts out strong, but in the end Griffin incapacitates him to take the lead by one point. They look for applause from their leader.
He has underestimated the effects of brandy and fallen asleep. With a sigh, Griffin escorts the Count back to his rooms, letting him lean on his shoulder. Josha takes a much more direct route to see who it is the Count has brought.
It is the old maid that Griffin had bedded back at Telanii's. The Count was going to use her as leverage to trade the lands between Telanni and Griffin. Josha's spy had taken the lock of hair she took as evidence of the night so there was no worry about her still being alive. They had not counted on her getting pregnant. Rukio was going to offer to blood it if Griffin would owe him a favor. Josha had a man among the guards and thought he could get her away. Taking a bottle of wine, he splashed it between her legs and told her to start screaming. She, believing Josha when he said that he would blood the child no matter what, did as he said. The guards knew nothing of childbirth. One look at the red spilled everywhere and they became very concerned. Josha's guard said he would stay if they ran and got the Count. While they were out, Josha slipped her the poison he had already used once on Lombu awhile back. It only paralyzed and gave the impression of death.
By that time the guards had come screaming down the halls to where Rukio was supported on Griffin's shoulder. The Count, Griffin, and the guards came back to see Josha shaking his head over the body. He told them all there was nothing he could do, not even to save the child. The Count inspected her but seeing no breath allowed that the body should be removed. He told Griffin that it had been his child and that was the end of it for him. On the other hand, Josha had the woman removed to his castle where she could have her child in peace and not be a bargaining chip against his liege.
The ladies out in the gardens took Tyron with them after his wounds were tended to from the game. The night air was cool enough with the breeze off the sea and the nocturnal flowers opened up to drink it in. Suddenly, Telanii gasped! There was a small shape among the bushes. It wove erratically towards them. Coming to their rescue, Tyron caught it. It turned out to be two orks, one of them being Bojo the little talking one they had captured in the caves and the other looked very similar to him, giving the name of Jobo. Griffin came down from putting the Count in his rooms to find the orks had chewed the way out of the room he had stuck Bojo in, after Jobo had knocked out the guards. Heaving another sigh, he instructed his men to stick the two in iron maidens and inform him if they heard any voice not belonging to these two. A few pebbles were tossed into their new cages as food.
Late in the night, Lombu managed to touch Okehole while he was listening to the music of his artisans and sent him to sleep. With the aide of his valet, Lombu took Oke out to where Eria had showed him the "getting lost and not coming back" place. Left there with a note and strange dagger, he would not be around much longer. As another precaution, Lombu posted his valet out that side of the castle to see if anyone wandered out there.
In the morning, it went unnoticed that Oke was missing. Telanii said nothing and the company was aware of Lombu's plan. Many others showed up for the Count's birthday, including Tetewan, Pip and Laiaho, and even Leela, Josha's wife. They took lunch before setting out on a hunt, which is what Rukio wanted to do. He made Eria the head of the hunt seeing as she knew the land the best. Lombu breathed a sigh of relief when she said they would go out the opposite way from where Oke was stashed.
At lunch, Josha talked to Lombu about his opera house. It was suggested he write one about a young lover who gets in trouble going after an older married woman. Only thinly veiled are the comments in that line of conversation.
On the hunt, Eria and Griffin took their kids, a pair of twins. Eria had not planned on having twins but the ritual was done for her by Rukio's wife, Huia. Out on the plains that they used as a favorite hunting grounds, Eria and her daughter were nothing alike. Father and son, however, really could have been twins. Griffin's son was actually a better swordsman than him even.
The orks in these lands were borrowing bird-like one with sharp claws and razor beaks. When the company arrived, the grounds were very quiet, only a few little ones about. They had to get off their horses because all the burrowing made the ground full of holes and sinktraps. When they had walked out to the middle and still not seen any adults of the orks, Eria began to worry. This meant they had most likely hidden and were waiting in ambush for the company. Sure enough, the bird-like orks soon attacked.
It was a massive fight with dust everywhere obscuring the feints and strikes. A ven would appear out to be stabbed by a beak and dragged into a hole. Pip was one of the first the beasts went for but her savior in Tyron stepped foward. With his personal guard, he kept the winged foes at bay. Rukio charged right in, cutting one's legs out from under it and another swing took off its head. Behind his Count came Griffin and he was grabbed by those sharp talons of two big birds. Eria turned and in one motion, nocked and fired the arrow that took one of them off her beloved husband. Back to back, their son and daughter accounted for the death of two more beasts.
As Rukio was dragged into the biggest hole by two of the biggest orks, Griffin turned to see them disappear. He could not let some orks kill the man who had taken so much from him. Griffin dove into the hole right after the orks and the Count. AS the dust cleared, the beasts were all gone or dead and the company was missing three people, the Count, Griffin and Karrina.
Down in the tunnels, Griffin and Rukio killed the rest that come in after them only to find the bodies of all their slain foes blocking the exit out. Griffin stood in front of Rukio and did not sheathe his sword. He was using the one the Count had given him the day before. Rukio sheathed his blade and said they were done.
On the bloody bird corpse covered plains above, the twins went after their father into the tunnels. Eria and Josha went after the twins. Lombu went after Karrina. He discovered that the path through the grasses was much larger than the beautiful maiden he followed but still had ven footprints in it. He only followed it a little bit before realizing it was the shape of someone being dragged through the grass.
Below, the twins discussed Griffin's plan and fragments of their talk echoed back to Eria and Josha. Kill him...where it can be seen...make for good revenge. These worried the two and they tried to catch up. It was made that much easier when they all came upon the wall of corpses in the small tunnels.
Behind those broken bodies were Griffin and the Count. Griffin took a step foward and swiped at Rukio with his blade. Being a Wolf, he knew that Rukio would draw his own sword in defense before taking wounds. With a clang of good steel, they met in the middle of the small chamber. Both were excellent swordsmen. Griffin had a secret though. He only needed to hold the Count off until they cleared the bodies out of the exit tunnel. With a few exchanges, Rukio was certainly the less bloody of the two.
Lombu finally caught up with the person dragging the other ven. It was Laiaho, who had not come on the hunting trip citing business to be dealt with. He was dragging a passed out Karrina through the tall grasses. When stopped and asked about it, he easily admitted his plan. Karrina is a spy for both Josha and the Count. She was reporting about all the nobles in the area, including his little Pip. He thought taking this cahnce to get rid of her would be a good idea. Lombu of course sympathized but being the noble he was could not let a servant do that to a poor married woman. He had her put back in the castle and kept Laiaho with him so as not to do anymore women harm.
The harm was being done to Griffin by the sword Rukio wielded as an extension of himself. With the four of them working, the twins, Eria, and Josha were down to the last big body. Just as they slid it out of the way, Count Rukio delivered the fatal blow to Griffin, through the heart.
His oldest son ran and caught his father in his arms. "Avenge me," said Griffin with his last breath. Rukio sheathed his blade and said he would see them in the Senate if they wished to claim Revenge!
Storyteller's note: I was not the one with the idea to kill Griffin. That was his player's plan and wow, we were all stunned as it happened so neatly. Ken (the player) used his wagers to keep himself on the edge of being alive until they cleared the bodies then used his last round of combat wagers to kill his character stylishly.
So Count Rukio was coming to celebrate his birthday at the house of Griffin. Josha, as his seneschal, counseled against harming the Count while he was in the house. Lombu mentions that he was still going through with his plan to take out Telanni's husband regardless of the Count's prescence.
When the carriage arrives, it is Karrina Steele, his mistress, that is with the Count and not his wife. She gets in contact with Josha to tell him that the Count has brought an unblooded woman with them for some nefarious purpose. She doesn't know why but does know that the lady is in the Count's room. Josha and Karrina return to the dinner to find that the Count is giving his host a present, as is expected when one visits. It is a fine sword with a small hidden conpartment in the pommel.
After dinner the men retire to the game room and the ladies out to the gardens. Okehole, Telanni's husband, comes over to talk to Lombu about his musicians. As music snobs, they are on equal ground. Much to Lombu's delight, Oke is very distracted by the artists in his band. The others not having such refined tastes turn to games to amuse themselves. The Count suggests a new game that is sweeping the countryside. It involves throwing daggers at targets while your opponent stands in front of it. Griffin and Tyron play against each other, at the Count's urging. Griffin would have much rather played the Count. The Bear starts out strong, but in the end Griffin incapacitates him to take the lead by one point. They look for applause from their leader.
He has underestimated the effects of brandy and fallen asleep. With a sigh, Griffin escorts the Count back to his rooms, letting him lean on his shoulder. Josha takes a much more direct route to see who it is the Count has brought.
It is the old maid that Griffin had bedded back at Telanii's. The Count was going to use her as leverage to trade the lands between Telanni and Griffin. Josha's spy had taken the lock of hair she took as evidence of the night so there was no worry about her still being alive. They had not counted on her getting pregnant. Rukio was going to offer to blood it if Griffin would owe him a favor. Josha had a man among the guards and thought he could get her away. Taking a bottle of wine, he splashed it between her legs and told her to start screaming. She, believing Josha when he said that he would blood the child no matter what, did as he said. The guards knew nothing of childbirth. One look at the red spilled everywhere and they became very concerned. Josha's guard said he would stay if they ran and got the Count. While they were out, Josha slipped her the poison he had already used once on Lombu awhile back. It only paralyzed and gave the impression of death.
By that time the guards had come screaming down the halls to where Rukio was supported on Griffin's shoulder. The Count, Griffin, and the guards came back to see Josha shaking his head over the body. He told them all there was nothing he could do, not even to save the child. The Count inspected her but seeing no breath allowed that the body should be removed. He told Griffin that it had been his child and that was the end of it for him. On the other hand, Josha had the woman removed to his castle where she could have her child in peace and not be a bargaining chip against his liege.
The ladies out in the gardens took Tyron with them after his wounds were tended to from the game. The night air was cool enough with the breeze off the sea and the nocturnal flowers opened up to drink it in. Suddenly, Telanii gasped! There was a small shape among the bushes. It wove erratically towards them. Coming to their rescue, Tyron caught it. It turned out to be two orks, one of them being Bojo the little talking one they had captured in the caves and the other looked very similar to him, giving the name of Jobo. Griffin came down from putting the Count in his rooms to find the orks had chewed the way out of the room he had stuck Bojo in, after Jobo had knocked out the guards. Heaving another sigh, he instructed his men to stick the two in iron maidens and inform him if they heard any voice not belonging to these two. A few pebbles were tossed into their new cages as food.
Late in the night, Lombu managed to touch Okehole while he was listening to the music of his artisans and sent him to sleep. With the aide of his valet, Lombu took Oke out to where Eria had showed him the "getting lost and not coming back" place. Left there with a note and strange dagger, he would not be around much longer. As another precaution, Lombu posted his valet out that side of the castle to see if anyone wandered out there.
In the morning, it went unnoticed that Oke was missing. Telanii said nothing and the company was aware of Lombu's plan. Many others showed up for the Count's birthday, including Tetewan, Pip and Laiaho, and even Leela, Josha's wife. They took lunch before setting out on a hunt, which is what Rukio wanted to do. He made Eria the head of the hunt seeing as she knew the land the best. Lombu breathed a sigh of relief when she said they would go out the opposite way from where Oke was stashed.
At lunch, Josha talked to Lombu about his opera house. It was suggested he write one about a young lover who gets in trouble going after an older married woman. Only thinly veiled are the comments in that line of conversation.
On the hunt, Eria and Griffin took their kids, a pair of twins. Eria had not planned on having twins but the ritual was done for her by Rukio's wife, Huia. Out on the plains that they used as a favorite hunting grounds, Eria and her daughter were nothing alike. Father and son, however, really could have been twins. Griffin's son was actually a better swordsman than him even.
The orks in these lands were borrowing bird-like one with sharp claws and razor beaks. When the company arrived, the grounds were very quiet, only a few little ones about. They had to get off their horses because all the burrowing made the ground full of holes and sinktraps. When they had walked out to the middle and still not seen any adults of the orks, Eria began to worry. This meant they had most likely hidden and were waiting in ambush for the company. Sure enough, the bird-like orks soon attacked.
It was a massive fight with dust everywhere obscuring the feints and strikes. A ven would appear out to be stabbed by a beak and dragged into a hole. Pip was one of the first the beasts went for but her savior in Tyron stepped foward. With his personal guard, he kept the winged foes at bay. Rukio charged right in, cutting one's legs out from under it and another swing took off its head. Behind his Count came Griffin and he was grabbed by those sharp talons of two big birds. Eria turned and in one motion, nocked and fired the arrow that took one of them off her beloved husband. Back to back, their son and daughter accounted for the death of two more beasts.
As Rukio was dragged into the biggest hole by two of the biggest orks, Griffin turned to see them disappear. He could not let some orks kill the man who had taken so much from him. Griffin dove into the hole right after the orks and the Count. AS the dust cleared, the beasts were all gone or dead and the company was missing three people, the Count, Griffin and Karrina.
Down in the tunnels, Griffin and Rukio killed the rest that come in after them only to find the bodies of all their slain foes blocking the exit out. Griffin stood in front of Rukio and did not sheathe his sword. He was using the one the Count had given him the day before. Rukio sheathed his blade and said they were done.
On the bloody bird corpse covered plains above, the twins went after their father into the tunnels. Eria and Josha went after the twins. Lombu went after Karrina. He discovered that the path through the grasses was much larger than the beautiful maiden he followed but still had ven footprints in it. He only followed it a little bit before realizing it was the shape of someone being dragged through the grass.
Below, the twins discussed Griffin's plan and fragments of their talk echoed back to Eria and Josha. Kill him...where it can be seen...make for good revenge. These worried the two and they tried to catch up. It was made that much easier when they all came upon the wall of corpses in the small tunnels.
Behind those broken bodies were Griffin and the Count. Griffin took a step foward and swiped at Rukio with his blade. Being a Wolf, he knew that Rukio would draw his own sword in defense before taking wounds. With a clang of good steel, they met in the middle of the small chamber. Both were excellent swordsmen. Griffin had a secret though. He only needed to hold the Count off until they cleared the bodies out of the exit tunnel. With a few exchanges, Rukio was certainly the less bloody of the two.
Lombu finally caught up with the person dragging the other ven. It was Laiaho, who had not come on the hunting trip citing business to be dealt with. He was dragging a passed out Karrina through the tall grasses. When stopped and asked about it, he easily admitted his plan. Karrina is a spy for both Josha and the Count. She was reporting about all the nobles in the area, including his little Pip. He thought taking this cahnce to get rid of her would be a good idea. Lombu of course sympathized but being the noble he was could not let a servant do that to a poor married woman. He had her put back in the castle and kept Laiaho with him so as not to do anymore women harm.
The harm was being done to Griffin by the sword Rukio wielded as an extension of himself. With the four of them working, the twins, Eria, and Josha were down to the last big body. Just as they slid it out of the way, Count Rukio delivered the fatal blow to Griffin, through the heart.
His oldest son ran and caught his father in his arms. "Avenge me," said Griffin with his last breath. Rukio sheathed his blade and said he would see them in the Senate if they wished to claim Revenge!
Storyteller's note: I was not the one with the idea to kill Griffin. That was his player's plan and wow, we were all stunned as it happened so neatly. Ken (the player) used his wagers to keep himself on the edge of being alive until they cleared the bodies then used his last round of combat wagers to kill his character stylishly.