Animosity V - The Fated Blade, turn 2 map
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In the darkness mist curled around unshod feet as a pirate crew padded through
the icy pathways on the boundary between Empty Heart and Eight Pillars. They passed unheard and unseen across the cold flagstones of
the streets and the uneven cobbles of winding alleys.
They reached their destination and quickly found hiding places. They settled-in to wait, tucked into shadowed corners and
alcoves.
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An hour or so later, two of the orruks stood watching a group of aelves from a
doorway. They were concealed by shadows that were just a little too
deep and dark to be entirely natural but not enough to stand out in the murky Frorholm twilight.
Kommodore Deffgit’s one good eye had the
piratical gleam of old. Even though his companion, Rognor the shaman, was
blind he could feel Deffgit's tension and readiness for the coming fight.
"Which I said, you didn't has to worry none boss. Ain't the aelfs here, exact
where and exact when, I promised?" whispered Rognor.
"Aye, they are mate." whispered Deffgit in reply. "You weren't wrong, not by
a jot."
The aelves advanced cautiously, wary of the moving shadows around them and clearly unused to the darkness.
Borgo and his lads moved behind them, cutting-off any chance of the aelves
retracing their steps or retreating.
Umog grinned as he took careful aim his primed swivel-gun... but in doing so,
accidentally put a little too much pressure on the trigger and released the
hammer: A thundering boom echoed back and forth down the narrow streets. The
blast of shrapnel screeched and zinged as it ricocheted off walls and
flagstones around the aelves. Umog looked over his shoulder at the Kommodore
guiltily.
Deffgit sighed and jumped out from his hiding place.
"Well, it ain't the signal I planned on, but.." he muttered to himself. Then
raised his voice to the level he used to give orders on a ship in a storm.
"Away, all boats! Scupper the blasted picaroons!"
The aelven gunners recoiled in shock - they immediately opened fire, almost at
random, on anything that moved in the darkness - they were already on edge but
the sudden eruption of guttural roars on all sides stunned them for several
moments!
Their leader was not so shaken; she snapped-out a rapid series of orders, in a
dialect none of the Gloomwyrms recognised.
The two warbands fell upon one-another in the twilight as the swivel-guns
thundered repeatedly, in a sporadic and uncoordinated rhythm.
Borgo and his watch were in the thick of the action immediately.
Kommodore Deffgit worked toward the aelf leader and Reef the stab-grot darted
forward gleefully brandishing his pair of viciously-sharp knives.
One of the aelf snipers got a bead on Deffgit, but the darkness seemed to close
around the Kommodore as they pulled the trigger and the shot went wide.
As Borgo's lads pushed the aelf lines back, Hubble the pot-got sloshed his
potions round, to keep the Gloomwyrms fighting hard.
Sogut and Gruk took advantage of the chaos and kicked in a door - they
intended to start looting an abandoned house.
While Jag found himself surrounded and outmatched, he went down in a rain of
bright glaives.
The abandoned house was occupied! But both the aelves inside met grizzly ends
in the dark, from the wicked hakkas of Gruk and Sogut.
Udrom uncorked a blue glass bottle and a thick shadow-mist flooded out of it -
he wove the magic around the pirates and made it even harder for the aelves to
see them, and so tipped the balance in the pirates favour once more.
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A lone raven, perched on a nearby roof, watched with beady eyes as the Gloomwyrms passed below it. The orruks were loaded up with captured loot - a mix of aelven weapons and gear, and the choicest picking from the ruins.
Borgo, carrying a box filled with small bottles, turned to Jag and quietly said,
"What did you get mate? Wasn't you worrying of bad omens or some such, before the aelfs arrived?"
Jag narrowed his eyes and looked sideways at Borgo, making sure sport wasn't being made of him before he replied.
"I got me-self a nice bag a bits - things from their armour, for the mostly, couple of knifes and that." said Jag with satisfaction. "And the omens showed which there was going to be bloodshed mate, they didn't portend whose." he added with a low chuckle.
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