Road to Kebnegard, Chapter One

The Chase, part I and Mage-Swapping
Sunday, December 18th, 987 AD

When awakening in the morning at the duchess', we find out that agents of his Lord Vladimir came in the night to take Slim away. He left us a note explaining not to come after him because he was sure his actions have merited this response from his Lord. He also leaves a page that he copied out of a book in the duchess' library containing information about the list of animal parts we're probably supposed to get. Reynaldo hems and haws and finally insists on moving out. The duchess asks if we're departing forever, and we reply no. She asks to please inform her before we leave for good. We promise to do so and take off. Edward divinates and God says that Agnia didn't make all the way to the lake where she was headed. Instead, she made it only halfway. We go to there and ask if anyone has seen anyone of her description. We're told that she boarded a ship called Chernamir going towards Chernigov. We follow the river up to Chernigov. It's nightfall when we arrive in town and we are stopped in the middle of the road by a man wearing a scarf. His face is not visible to us and Reynaldo is visibly worried. The man then calls Reynaldo's name and he nearly fries the man. But he quickly removes his scarf and Reynaldo, Thalia, and Wong immediately recognize him as Jean-Claude. Apparently, he's been traveling after us nigh on a month now. Reynaldo and he quickly get to learning spells from each others' books. We sleep in Chernigov for the night.

The Chase, part II
Monday, December 19th, 987 AD

We continue north. We fight some Rusalki along the way and beat them handily. When night approaches, we are forced to sleep in the woods. We come with a plan to stay warm but not show off any light. We dig a pit in the earth and put our fire in it. We then place a darkness stone that faces only into the pit. The fire warms us, but no light escapes to tell any creatures where we are.

The Chase, part III
Tuesday, December 20th, 987 AD

We get to a fork in the river and so we ask around the settlements. A nun says she saw the boat with a kid in the riggings going in the direction of Novgorod Severski. When we reach the city, the guard tells us to be careful because a thief has just stolen all the town's treasure. We all look at each other. Once in the town, we learn that this was in fact Agnia. She had the townspeople put all their treasure together under the lie that she was going to double it. All the treasure was placed on a tarp. She started some bogus incantation and then called on her Valkyrie friend, Hildegund, who flew with her and the treasure to Kebnegard, presumably. Reynaldo kicks a lot of things and gets something to drink. We rest in the city for the night.

Not Happy Traveling
Wednesday, December 21st, 987 AD

We make our way back to Kiev, stopping at the fork for the night.

A Skirmish of Things to Come
Thursday, December 22nd, 987 AD

When we reach the outskirts of Kiev, we are stopped by a group of people at the bridges leading into Kiev. There are five main personages: two men in black armor on horseback, one of which holds the leash to a third man wearing little clothes who seems somewhat feral, a woman in red clothing, also on horseback, and a second woman dressed in black standing in front of the rest of them. There are also a lot of armed men behind them. The woman in black is the only one who speaks.

Woman: You cannot go into the city.
Reynaldo: Why not?
Woman: Because we said so.
Edward: And who are you?
Woman: Those saying you can't go in. We know all your tricks, you know. They won't work on us.

Fighting ensues and we quickly figure out that these are tailed people. Jean-Claude and Reynaldo fry a bunch of the foot soldiers taking almost all of them out, proving that our tricks do in fact work on them. However, the man in black up at the front says "Wing" and the flail goes crazy and starts to hit Anna. She closes it with "Claig," but it is now useless to us for the foreseeable future. The battle rages for a long time, with all of their foot soldiers succumbing to sleep, holding, or death. We figure the girl in red to be a mage and the man in black not attacking us to be a priest. The others seem to be fighters of one sort or another. At the end of the battle, the mage and the feral man are dead, and the priest is taken hostage. The woman and the other man flee on their two remaining black hell horses, or night mares, or whatever. We get ready to question the priest.

End Chapter One
Next: Road to Kebnegard, Chapter Two