The Strike of Saarii - Chapter V

After a whole day of riding, luckily without any more intruders, the warriors arrive at the capital city of Midgard, Enligt. Here they were stopped at the gates by the guards and asked why they needed to enter the city. Upon saying that they needed to talk to Lord Runo, they were allowed to pass through, but they knew that they would be followed for the security of their ruler. Having arrived in the evening, they decided to meet Lord Runo the following morning, and headed towards the inn, The Pint and Nap. Here they had a decent meal, paid for a room each and passed the night.

In the morning, they regrouped outside the inn, after having breakfast, Dan took much longer than the rest, eating twice as much. Walking as a group towards the keep, they noticed that they were being followed by two guards, keeping their distance. Once at the door of the keep, they were asked to wait until the Lord gave them permission to enter. After a while the group was granted access and were escorted to the throne room, where they all knelt down in front of their leader, an act performed by every man who wanted to keep his head attached to his neck.

"Rise," he said, "and tell me what happened." Dean introduced the group and explained what had happened out at sea. Trouble was clearly visible on Lord Runo's face, a whole naval force lost before engaging with the enemy is not what a king wants to hear about a month after they were dispatched. "Come back tomorrow morning and we will talk again of the matter," he told the group and left the throne room through a side door. The group was escorted out of the keep and spent the day touring the markets, taking a relaxing day at last.

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The following morning, they were all ready and waiting for the Lord to arrive at the throne room, kneeling again as he entered. "You bring grave news," the Lord stated, "but all is not lost. I task you now to climb up the White Mountains, using the passage directly to the North of this castle, and meet the Master Druid at the Druid's Plateau. Tell him, that I sent you and ask him if there is anything that is stopping the navy from arriving at Saarii. The guards will give you gifts which you will give to the druid and some money to for you to acquire anything to help you on your trip." Saying this, he dismissed the group, who used their newly acquired money to purchase better weapons and trinkets to improve their chances in future battles.

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The Saarii Strike - Chapter IV

Out of the trees to the West emerged a whole cavalry, in full armour, spears in the hands of the riders in steel plate mail, golden lining shining on the armour of the leading warrior as well as his horse's. A dark green cape with a golden dragon emblazoned on it flowing behind this leader showed the men in the clearing that this army belonged to the military base of Joki, allies, some good tidings at last.

Hagan Garth, the general of the Army of Joki, dismounted his horse and approached the fighters, who were still panting and trying to recuperate from the battle. After introducing himself and the army, "I see we arrived a bit too late," he said, "it seems who were capable of dealing with the beast on your own. Who are you to have managed to defeat it?" Duryraen still not in the right state of mind, said nothing, and Dean still being healed by Amal, Dan explained how they got there, how they were the only survivors from the naval force and how Amal was helping them get to Enligt. "Not good tidings at all, but you are welcome to join us back to Joki, you can rest there, and we can provide you with some decent armour and weapons, I believe you are lucky to have survived at all in those rags."

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The group got back onto their ox cart and followed the army back to Joki, where they rested for two days, food being provided by the military. Here, Amal deposited the swords at the armoury, the swords which he had lent to the four survivors. On the third day, they were summoned to the general's quarters where he asked them for details of what happened out at sea, as he wanted to report it to Lord Runo. Once there, the group explained again that they were the only survivors from the storm that wrecked the entire naval force sent out to Saarii, how they were run out of Kalastaja, fought wolves and the troll. Being impressed by their resilience and capability to fight off multiple enemies, even a cave troll which could have easily smashed five warriors had they not been as strong, he tasked the group to travel to Enligt and inform Lord Runo themselves. This time however, they were provided with a horse each, a great help if they were to get to Enligt quickly. Amal asked if the army could take care of his ox and cart, which Hagan happily agreed to.

Hagan also signed a form for them to acquire some armour and weapons for free from the armoury in Joki. Dan got some good plate mail, a shield and a two handed war hammer, Dean and Duryraen got leather armour which allowed quicker movement but provided some defence, Dean also got a better bow and some arrows to provide better damage. Amal and Uuragan on the other hand, could not find items that would help them, as Joki was a military base focused on traditional military, not of the magical kind.  However, they were informed of a good alchemist and jeweller in Enligt that could help them once they arrived there.

Once they were satisfied with the gear provided, the men mounted their horses and were on their way to the capital of Midgard and seat of the throne, Enligt.

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The Saarii Strike - Chapter III

Having packed their belongings, the group started moving again, deeper in the woods in Joki's direction, following Amal Cal as he was the most knowledgeable of the area. After a few hours of travelling, they arrived at a huge clearing, several uprooted trees laying around and tree stubs which seemed like they were mowed down by something much larger than any of them.

At the edges of the clearing, they could see carcasses of creatures they could not immediately identify due to their bodies being mutilated beyond recognition. Duryraen, however, did recognise the thin legs as those of spiders, and these particular spiders being as large as they were, he immediately knew where they were from. Suppressing a tear, he urges his team mates to keep moving. As they were moving Eastwards towards the edge of the clearing, heavy footsteps started pushing through from the North, trees being pushed away and uprooted as something sped towards them.

Most of the group started to move faster, getting away from danger being their priority. Duryraen, however, was rooted on the spot, facing the moving trees, daggers out and eyes glaring, determined to get back at what killed the spiders who raised him. As the last trees were uprooted, an enormous arm emerged first from the dark, followed by a cave troll of immense dimensions; horns covering its entire body except the face and chest. A belt made of bones and skulls was tied around the beast's waist, grass used to cover up its lower body; blades hanging at the end of this cover-up. In its right hand was a huge wooden club with what seemed like swords and pieces of armour stuck to it, trophies of its enemies it dealt with in the past.

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Duryraen instantly started running towards the troll, screaming at the top of his lungs. Seeing their friend in this state, understanding that something in his past was connected to this situation, the rest dropped everything and joined in the fight. Glad that it did not have to chase its meal, the troll was prepared to take them on. Being much faster and smaller than the troll, Duryraen and Dan found it easy to start striking it with their weapons and Dean shooting arrows at it from afar, but no strike seemed to draw blood. The frost coming from Uuragan's hands did seem to irritate the beast, Amal noticed this and shouted "Freeze his feet!"

Taking the hint, the guys at the front provided some space and Uuragan focused all his energy to try and freeze the feet of their colossal enemy. Although at first it did not seem to be working much, it did slow down the troll. Screaming in rage, the troll hit his own foot to break off the ice, breaking off a part of the foot in the process. The subsequent scream was blood curdling to say the least, but seeing the frozen meat on the ground, the fighters at the foot of the monster started striking the areas which Uuragan froze. In its rage, the troll started swinging its club around savagely, managing to hit Dan in the process, sending him flying through the air and smashing against a tree. Seeing this, Amal ran towards him and focused all his power onto his downed friend, healing his injuries as fast as he could.

In the meantime, Uuragan had managed to freeze both the troll's legs, and after a lot of hard work and strikes of daggers and swords, one of legs broke off. The troll's screams could surely be heard from Joki, if not further. Falling over, the troll dropped his weapon, quite defenceless as it was still in agonising pain from the lost leg. Uuragan quickly ran up to the fallen beast, aiming his ice at the troll's neck, Duryraen hacking away at it and Dean joining in with Dan's sword, finding it much easier than expected, as its skin seemed to be much thinner on the neck. After what seemed like hours, the dead was done, head rolling, the guys dropped to the floor, panting, Uuragan's hands feeling colder than they ever were before. As the group were trying to recover their energy, horses could be heard galloping twards them from the West.

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