Adventure #01 - A Duke in Distress

[Crusader1307 298]

Goodman twisted off his cloak to reveal his two swords (his Templar blade and the blade given to him by The Guards Commander). Flourishing them both at the same time in a clockwise motion, they both came to a rest firmly back in his palms. Goodman spoke. ?We are about The business of The Duke of Riverbourne. We wish no breach of peace in your Kingdom, nor will we tolerate assault.....Goodman stepped forward into the light of the campfire so the man could see his Templar Cross on his tunic. Often, fighters though twice about engaging one of ?God's Knights?.

[Lord_Chris 251]

While the guards that encircled him lowered their spears towards him, the commander of them leaned back a bit and shouted "Wait! - This man may wish to speak with Lord Richard. You are the group who I saw back at the camp, are you not?"

[Crusader1307 298]

"Aye," said Goodman. We are and we shall speak with your Lord Richard - post haste. Goodman turned to Sir Loring, managing a blink.

[Lord_Chris 251]

The remainder of the guards lowered their spears and turned around leaving their encirclement, and the officer mounted his horse again. Follow us, and we shall show you where he is.

 

Most of the soldiers rode of into the distance after the officer talked to another guard and he took command of that small group, and a few soldiers remained with the officer guiding the group who started a much slower trot. "So what was your duty, and how did you end up here?" asked the officer.

[Crusader1307 298]

?We were tasked by The Duke to regain his Kingdom from a group of Brigands?, Goodman said. Deciding to take a different ?tack? that that of The Guards Commander. After all, Goodman was somewhat injured and didn't feel like fighting much for now. Besides, this Officer could tell Goodman was leading as force of obviously well-trained men. He didn't feel this man wished a fight, only information.

Perhaps he not aware of Sir Lloyd and the 10 men ?stalking? them from well to their rear. ?Good man, that Lloyd.?

 

?I am actively recruiting men to join our Quest and rescue his Lordship. I am sure he will reward handsomely those who help him.? Goodman paused, waiting for some reaction.

[Lord_Chris 251]

"That's interesting indeed." remarked the commander. "My men serve Lord Richard, and while I would like to join the quest it is not a decision which I can make. "

 

The group trotted along the path, getting narrower and narrower, and the trees getting taller and taller, this was not a place that group wanted to be. Less sunlight was falling in the path and it was getting darker. To make matters worse, the path was closing in so that only two horses could be side by side virtually squashing them together. To their left, was a large 15 foot rise in the ground covered with chopped wood, grass and trees. To their left, a 50 foot drop to their death, should they fall. And to the bottom of the pit was a valley covered in fog and Pine Trees.

 

The group was very soon forced into a long line with Goodman and the commander near the end with many troops in the front, stretching for some distance. From the back, the path was that winding and narrow, and there was so little sunlight, that the front of the line could not be seen. Several Wagons were also at the front which was slowing progress down even more; every few seconds the line stopped as the wagons tried to climb over more trees, and mud which was very hard to traverse through.

 

Progress was even more slow due to the troops having to cut away branches at the front of the line for wagons to get past. No matter how hard they tried, the path would not widen and only the necessary gap was available. Next to the front of the line, trees were passable but only just, and on the left and right of the line. Passing these trees would lead the men into chaos and disarray, and each path would lead them into a maze which they would not recover from. This was their only option.

[Mathew Steel 151]

"Down! Down!" Whispered Lloyd, to the 10 men accompanying him. "You are not to arm your bow, nor aim it. Not without my word, is that understood?" The men looked at each other confused. Clearly they were not aware of the situation. After a brief moment, they nodded.

 

Sir Lloyd spoke to himself, "Goodman. What have we gotten ourselves into now?" Letting out a quiet laugh. He and the men continued to observe the scene from the small hill. Using the trees as cover as well as to remain unseen.

Edited October 17, 2015 by Mathew Steel

[Crusader1307 298]

?Strange lands and dangerous ways, Lloyd? Goodman said in a muse. ?If this Sir Richard is a friend, he will be a powerful Ally, if not...... ? Goodman's horse stumbled a bit, it's hoof's loosing traction. Small clumps of dirt ran down the sides of the cliff path. ?If these men meant us harm, I do not think they would have wasted their time with this journey. Best to have killed us back at the clearing.? Gooman paid attention to his front, lest he tumble to his early death.

[Crusader1307 298]

The long line of mounted men rode onward. Their horse's twisted and stumbled over the ever shrinking path. Goodman wondered just when this trek would end. He hoped his own Troops were able to keep up and avoid detection. They could ill afford to lose even one.

 

After what seemed liked hours, the path began to open up. What was once barely enough space for one horseman, grew to two, then three and finally and downward sloping trail. The troop of horsemen eventually worked themselves into a forested clearing with tall unusually green grass. Goodman could hear rushing water nearby. The air was sweet and mossy.

 

Goodman leaned forward to the Guard at his front. ?Is this the place?? he said in a low tone.

[Lord_Chris 251]

[OOC] You ruined my ambush attempt :(

 

My own fault really, I should have tried to find time yesterday.

[Crusader1307 298]

OoC: Not really, you could have still bushwhacked us! But sorry, if I jumped the gun........?? :p

[Nigel 71]

OoC:? hehe, don't worry, Chris. I am sure we will still give you ample opportunities to assasinate us. Even if we have escaped this time.

 

Sir Loring and his men, who had been following in the? "rear guard", stepped forward into the clearing. Curiously he approached Brother Goodman and Sir Richard and cast a questioning look at them, wondering what their new commander's next step would be.

[Crusader1307 298]

Goodman looked at Loring. "Well, Sir Loring", Goodman said with a smile, "We should know all presently if we are among friends or foe, eh?"

[Nigel 71]

Sir Loring gave Brother Goodman a short nod and stepped forward to introduce himself to Lord Richard.

 

"Sire, my name is Charles Loring, by your leave. Brother Goodman may have mentioned my name. We have been traveling in the same company for some time now and I my sword is at the service of Duke Christopher.

 

If you will allow me to mention, we have a wounded man with us - a bodyguard of the Duke himself. If you could send your surgeon to see to him, I would be grateful."

 

"You are lucky, young knight, that the Duke's surgeon is traveling with us.? He may attend the man presently." With that Lord Richard waved to an elderly man who came forward and let Sir Loring guide him to the wounded sargeant.

 

"This is the man I would like to trust into your care.", Loring told the physician. "He has lost much blood, but I hope your skill can save his life." Then be bent closer to him and whispered: "And if you would like to cast a glance at my friend, Brother Goodman. He is trying to conceal it, but I fear the fighting has not left him unscratched. I would feel much better if I knew that a doctor was looking after him, too."

[Crusader1307 298]

Goodman watched as Sir Loring spoke to The Surgeon. He felt hot. He felt weak. He felt....ill. Perhaps he had waited too long in attending the wound he received. ?Deo Volente? ?God Wills It?. Doe he? Why did Goodman just not stay in The Middle East. A slight smile crept onto his face. ?Because of the loss of Jerusalem, dolt!? Goodman chided himself. The Order was in shambles. With Baldwin dead on the throne, only bad things were to happen.

Goodman took one step then seized. He hardly felt the ground as the blackness came upon him, or the sleep he was now forced to take!

[Lord_Chris 251]

"Goodman - is that you!? Goodness me, what has happened to you?!" cried Sir Richard. "You left with several cohorts of men and returned with barely any!"

[Crusader1307 298]

Goodman awoke in a haze. He looked around what appeared to be field tent. It smelled of age and by the firelight looked to be light blue in color. He reached down towards his leg. It felt numb. It was encouraging to find that it was still there.

?You are very lucky? said a soft voice from Goodman's left side. He turned his head to the direction of the voice. ?A day longer, and you would have either loss your leg or died?. Goodman tried to focus his vision. He beheld a Old Man wearing a robe. He wore a Creveche on his head and looked to have the makings of s small gray beard.

?A Physician?? Goodman asked. The Old Man shook his head in the affirmative. ?How long until I can move about?? The Physician looked at Goodman ? waiting to speak as if to ?dramatize? the effect of his response.

?It will take several day of rest to recover your senses, but several weeks to heal well, Brother.? Goodman focused yet again upin the Old Man's clothing. He was able to make out a faded white Cross stitched to this front robe. A Brother of St. John. ?Deo Volente, Friar Healer....Deo Volente?.

[Nigel 71]

Sir Loring, who stood behind the physician, breathed a sigh of releave when he heared his friend talk.

 

He stepped forward and placed a hand on the wounded man's shoulder.

"You need some rest, Brother Goodman. It will be a while until you can ride again, but sure enough you will be sitting again at the council table and discus our strategy. But for now you need sleep and rest more than anything. With your permission, I will speak to Sir Richard and see what I can learn and where we will take things from here."

[Crusader1307 298]

Goodman looked at Sir Loring. A good man and none better Commander in the Field he had seen.?Fine, I will rest awhile. Go and learn what you can. Your judgment will be key to our next move?.

Goodman thought a moment. ?Tell the remainder of our Forces that I am well ans only slightly wounded. The good Friar Doctor has me well taken care of. We don't need deserter's now?. Goodman extended his hand and arm to Loring. They shook. Time would tell of the information Richard would convey.

[Nigel 71]

Sir Loring approached the circle, where the leaders of the company were gathered around the fire.

 

"Sire, if you are looking to rescue the Duke we share the same objective. If you allow me into the circle of your councillors, I may have news to tell you."

 

Lord Richard motioned the young knight to join him and Charles explained how they had found the battlefield and heared the voices and sounds of the Duke beeing captured. "He cannot be gone for long and if you will allow me small band of skilled rangers, I trust that I can find his tracks and see which direction he has been taken.

 

But if you have different plans for your company, please share them so that we may work together on the Dukes rescue."

Edited November 26, 2015 by Nigel

[Charles of Tours 69]

Lord Richard leaned back and scratched his chin. "Hm, very well, take a dozen rangers and do with them what you will, but I expect every man to return alive! We will need every last one of them if we are to enter battle again ..."

[Nigel 71]

Sir Loring gathered the men and set out.

From the way his men moved he could tell that they were skilled scouts - no rookies. He felt sure that he could rely on them.

 

He circled around until he came close to the area of the battlefield.

"Fan out - but keep within "signal distance" - remember the cry of the owl. We know that the Duke has been taken away by force. This must have been done by several men and they must have left tracks for sure."

[Nigel 71]

The men combed the area and it was not before too long, when the "cry of the owl" was heard.

 

Gatering around the ranger who had given the signal, they could clearly see the tracks of many feet dragging something heavy with them. [OoC: sorry Chris, no intention to make persumptions about your body weight].

 

They followed the trail for some time. "Where does this track lead us, can you tell me? Are they going to the Duke's Castle?" Sir Loring asked the rangers, who must be familiar with the area.

 

"Sire, they are going in the direction of the caslte all right. But not in a straight way. For some reason they seem to slinger left and right. Almost as if the group was trying to avoid an encounter or as if they were beeing chased by someone - or something ...."

[Lord_Chris 251]

They quickly turned around with the body and attempted to return back to the camp, slowly, but from the trees on the right of them a noise cold be heard. One ranger turned to see what the noise was, and as soon as he turned, a wolf darted out from the trees and attempted to kill him. Swishing his sword, and jumping back, he managed to quickly kill him off.

 

They started walking back to the camp and after every turn found them looking for any possible lurking wolves. They turned into a clearing and before them several wolves jumped down from the nearby cliff. They had clearly been stalking them ....

 

The group attempted to fight them off but there were too many, and they had to retreat back towards the castle, which did not look promising. But it wasn't long until they realised this was not the Duke at all, but rather a dead corpse left behind that looked similar.

 

And before they knew what had hit them, more wolves began attacking from both sides of the forest. "We'll never make it like this!" shouted the commander. "We'll have to drop the corpse or they'll slaughter us. There are just too many!" He looked For Sir Loring's acknowledgement.

[Nigel 71]

"All right, then. Let's drop the body and rescue our own skins." Sir Loring called out.

 

"Take one last look at his face and see if you recocnize it or at least remember it. When the wolves are finished with him, there won't be much left to recognize. If it is not the Duke, then who on earth is he?"