As the last of your attackers collapses at your feet, you turn and run headlong down the steep hill track. Arrows and spears whistle past on all sides as you endeavour to outrun the remaining ambushers. By dint of luck and speed, Nathor and his troop of Court Cavalry have survived the Eldenoran ambush with little injury and no loss of life. You see them in the distance, gathered in a group on the valley floor, and you wave to them to show that you are still alive. Immediately Nathor gallops away from the troop and comes speeding up the track to your rescue. As he gets nearer he slows his horse to allow you to leap astride its rump. Once aboard, he pulls his steed about and descends once more towards the valley floor, cheered on by his anxious men.
‘Follow me!’ commands the Lord Constable as he gallops past his troop without slowing. You glance over your shoulder and see them spur their steeds forward, their faces set in expressions of grim determination. Upon entering the village, you note a number of frightened women and children who are huddled beside stone walls or lying beneath hay carts. Some are cradling the bodies of their dead menfolk who lie scattered in the fields nearby. Then you catch sight of a group of Eldenorans in the grounds of the abbey. All are laden with loot, yet even so there are some who are squabbling amongst themselves in an effort to grab an even bigger share of the booty.
Nathor brings his steed to a halt and you both quickly dismount. As your feet touch the ground, you notice a drunken Eldenoran come lurching out of the doorway of a nearby cottage. He has a flagon of ale in one hand and a young woman, with a crying baby in the other. He sees you and, in a moment of drunken panic, he drops the flagon and unsheathes a dagger from his belt. It is clear from his actions that he intends to stab the screaming child.
(I can use Magi-Magic, a bow ,or Kai-Surge if I want. I choose KS)
Using your Discipline, you launch a concentrated burst of psychic energy at the drunken thug. The bolt penetrates his mind and stuns him, causing him to freeze like a stone statue (reduce your ENDURANCE points score by 1).
Unfortunately, this temporary paralysis also prevents the young woman and her child from breaking free from his grasp. After a few moments the thug emerges from his state of psychic shock in a murderous mood, and you are forced to draw your weapon and rush towards him in an effort to stop him before he can enact his revenge on his innocent captive’s child.
Moments before you reach him, he throws the young woman and her child to the ground and spins around to face you, his dagger held poised to slash at your throat. He strikes and you dodge his first clumsy blow with ease. As he is about to strike out for a second time, you raise your weapon and aim a scything blow at his head.
Eldenoran Thug (drunk): COMBAT SKILL 30 ENDURANCE 30
(+27 CS. Is this a joke? I roll a 3 and then a 7 - dead in two turns, I lost 2 EP. This stuff is clear CS and EP creep for the game. A drunken thug would be like 10 CS in the first five books. Maybe 12 or something)
Thank you, thank you … ’ cries the young woman, whose child you have just saved from certain death at the hands of the drunken thug. Sobbing with gratitude, she collapses at your feet. Gently you lift her by the arm and assure her with kind words that her ordeal is over. She smiles, reassured, but her expression quickly changes when she spots something moving behind you.
‘There he is, that cur Holkar!’ she spits. ‘He’s the murdering leader of these bandits. This chaos is his doing.
You turn to look at the object of her hatred, and see a swarthy brigand dodging between the gravestones that line the abbey grounds. He has a sack full of loot slung over his shoulder and he is hurrying towards his horse which stands close by the abbey’s perimeter wall. Determined not to let him escape, you rush across the road and into the grounds of the abbey to give chase.
The brigand leader mounts his horse, but before he can make good his escape, you take a running leap over the abbey wall and drag him out of the saddle. Together you crash to the frost-hardened ground and desperately he kicks and struggles to break free from your steely grip.
Out of his boot he snatches a stiletto blade and thrusts it viciously at your throat. You dodge your head aside, avoiding its razor-sharp tip, but in doing so you let the brigand slip out of your hands. He rolls away and begins to rise to his feet, but then he freezes, his eyes wide with fearful recognition, as he stares at your face.
‘L … Lone Wolf!’ he gasps, mortified, as if he is confronting a ghost.
‘Drop the dagger and surrender!’ you order, levelling your weapon at his head to reinforce your command. Swiftly the brigand’s expression changes from one of shock to one of sneering defiance.
‘You’ll never take me alive!’ he spits, and to your shocked surprise he thrusts his dagger deep into his chest.
(I do not have Deliverance)