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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Fighters of Midgard - Part 1

These are characters my friends created for a session I Mastered. After the session, I took it upon myself to give them a bit of context and bring them to life through a bit of history. Their background is useful to understand the following post - The Strike of Saarii. 
This post is continued in the next post, which can be accessed here.

Dan Scott, son of Dun, from the dwarven family Scott. Dun was one of the famed Fighters of the North, from a dwarf from Joki. From a young age, Dan learned what he could on the art of war, hunting for orcs who dare camp close enough to the military base with his father's guild. Learning how to ride a horse without falling off, he joined the Joki Cavalry when he was 68 years old, he joined in the hunt for frost trolls closer to the mountain range North of Joki. At the age of 76, he was cut off from the rest of the fighters on a hunt when his horse died, facing then a group of five trolls, each about twice as tall as he was, each of them ended up beneath his feet after a massive strike of his trusty two handed war hammer. At the age of 130, he joined the Army of Joki, being enlisted to any war Lord Runo declares and to protect the lands of Midgard from invaders.

The dark elf, Duryraen dar'Vuzmur, son of Filaren and Ahlysaaria, should have been dead a long time ago, which was the plan of the bandits who attacked his family when they were travelling from Portti to Enligt when he was still very young. Unreal as he thought it was, a group of large spiders emerged from the woods , killing most of the bandits and scaring off the rest, saving the young dark elf. Unfortunately, he was the only survivor of the the family, The spiders took Duryraen and raised him as best they could, but he left them at the age of 19 for civilisation. Capable to defend himself, he continued the journey towards Enligt, the journey that led to the death of his parents and little sister. Having nobody to help him on his arrival, he turned to the Thieves Guild of Enligt for help; he helped them acquire whatever they wanted, giving him a cut of the profits, which was more than enough for Duryraen. Although it was not what he intended to turn to, at times, he did resort to killing people who stood in his way, driving his daggers into a man's chest or slitting his throat if it was necessary. Learning of the prize set by the Lord of Enligt to every able bodied man or woman to join the army for an attack off the shores of the mainland, Duryraen quickly left the Thieves Guild and joined the army, where he could make a fortune while earning a living as one of the noble warriors of Enligt instead of being the face on a wanted poster.

Of human descent, Amal Cal grew up with the priests of Eir, the Goddess of healers, in one of the temples in Enligt. Many warriors came back from battles with grievous wounds and hunters with bites and scratches were healed at the temple, impressing the young Amal, he started learning alchemy to help them in making revitising potions and other cures to help the recovering patients. However, when he was of age, it was revealed to him that he possessed magical power, and given aid by the priests, Amal gained the much revered skill of healing magic. Never knowing who his parents were, he never had any ambition to find them, the priests of Eir were his family and he became a healer just like the men who raised him, using the spells he learned to cure illnesses and wounds alike. At the age of 48, he joined a group of soldiers from the Army of Enligt who landed in Kalastaja to help get back to Enligt to report back to Lord Runo.

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