Return to Camelot: The Untold Arthurian Legend(OPEN)

[Malverne]

Tam had, in fact been awake for a while, but didn't really care that someone was walking through her camp. However, because she hasn't had a good' night's rest in a while because of her leg, she was actually trying to get some sleep before she continued on to Camelot.

"I take offense to that," Tam said, eyes still closed and turned away, "I'm not an ass. I'm just a lazy person. Also, if you're looking for unusual stuff, a group of bandits attacked a traveling party headed to Camelot. That'd be the cause of any commotion." Tam pulled[ her jacket over her head in a rather vain attempt ti shut out the conversation.

[Sly]

Aldreda studied the two before her carefully. So, they really didn't seem to know anything of much help to her current situation; she hadn't expected them to, but it didn't hurt to ask. It also didn't hurt to be kind and make some light conversation with the man; he didn't seem threatening and was good enough to oblige her curiosity. She hadn't known about the bandits, but she doubted that they were anything other than just a normal band of theives and smugglers. But it was good to know that there had, indeed, been an ecampment in the woods. Though she was a little curious as to why the group was headed to Camelot. Shaking her head a bit and finally coming out of her own thoughts, she answered the man with a smile.

"My name is Aldreda. I live just in town."

She took a moment to stare down at Tam, before addressing her prone form.

"Thank you, Tam...I appriciate any information that I can find on what goes on around this forest."

She sighed and continued talking to both of them.

"So...I take it then that the two of you weren't traveling together...?"

Now that she thought about it, Tam would likely account for some of the strange commotion she had noticed last night.

"Might I ask what either of you were doing in the forest then? You don't seem to belong to the encampment that was headed into Camelot, and you certainly don't look like bandits to me...still it is dangerous to travel this forest alone...."

[Kinslayer6788]

"Oh if you want info on the bandits you can always reanimate the decapitated one in the bush on the other side of the road. I woke up to him last night. Not the most plesant of things to wake up to, not the worst mind you. You should wake up next to an angry hag after a rough night of drinking. Finding yourself in her bed and married to her no less. That is a sight to behold."

"I heard someone screaming as I walked out of the ditch I was trying to sleep in. I ran into the woods to see if I could cause mischeif.....I mean see if I could help. I ran into this one," he kicked Tam again in the foot, " when she fell out of a tree."

[Malverne]

"Bandits don't have 'info,'" Tam said, scooting out of reach of Robin's foot, "They just hang around in the forest, looking for victims. But they're dead now, so they probably won't be much of a bother anymore." Tam grinned despite herself.

"Robin's mostly staggering around drunk, you can tell from the stink, and he sort of attached himself to me last night. So, no, we weren't travelling together, but we are now. Unfortunately. Please, feel free to take him off my hands, I don't do well with other people. Especially people who won't let me sleep."

[Sly]

Aldreda listened to Robin's vague answer with a raised eyebrow. "See if (he) could help," indeed. She sighed. It didn't really matter what either of these two were doing out here; her previous suspicions had been confirmed, and there was no danger in these two travelers. She answerd Robin, a slight smile twitching the corner of her lips.

"Reanimation is not a part of my skill set...nor would I want it to be. Whatever it is you were doing here, I think you for indulging my curiosity as much as you have."

She bowed her head to the man again. When she addressed Tam, her smile had widened considerably.

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe I can help in ridding you of your unwanted companion. Like yourself, it would seem, I prefer to travel alone. Besides, there are enough people and not nearly enough room where I am going, anyway; I'm afraid we would have no choice but to shove Robin there in a cupboard somewhere."

She chuckled a bit at her own joke and excused herself to the two travlers. In spite of not really having had any of her questions answered, she could not help but to feel slightly uplifted. The weather was nice, the sun shone through the trees, and the forest was alive with many happy sounds this morning. The walk home would be pleasant, at least.

She had not ventured more than a few steps from the other two, however, when the sounds in the forest began to change. Things were getting restless, upset. There was a heavy feeling in the air and Aldreda could feel her skin tingle in anticipation of...something. What, she did not know, but she had a feeling that leaving the forest quickly would probably be the best thing to do right now. Still she stopped, closed her eyes, and listned for a moment. Very distinctly, she heard someone or something scream, but the sound was faint as if heard from far away. She wasn't certain if one of the others could have heard the same sound or not. It didn't matter; none of them were safe here now, that she knew for sure. She addressed the two in as calm of a voice as she could muster, still looking a bit shaken.

"I think perhaps...the two of you should leave now. You are welcome to come with me as far as the city if you wish. The forest is not safe for you right now...or for anyone. Of course, you may take your chances, but I dearly hope that I may persuade you to do otherwise."


((Take this possible action however you want, it can ammount to nothing if anyone so chooses. I was just tired of standing in the forest and yammering all day. And I forgot the last couple of posts that Aldreda's text was in a different color...Oops. )

[Malverne]

Tam's sleep was interrupted for the final time that morning when her ears picked up the scream. Her head popped up, ignoring the words being spoken behind her.

"The hell's that?" She muttered, rolling to her feet. Tam ignored the stiffness in her leg, sending healing energy to it as she scampered toward the sound.

"Oi, Robin," she called behind her, "You wanted mischief, right? Here's your chance." Tam scooted off through the forest, her curiosity getting the better of her. She made sure her bow was strung, and her arrows were orderly as she jogged silently from tree to tree, occasionally pausing to listen for more sounds.

Once Tam judged that she was relatively close to where the scream had originated from, she turned back, looking for the vagabond that seemed to be attached to her.

[Kinslayer6788]

Hob was about to react to the noise when Tam got up and called after her to follow. Robin agreed that this may be the best chance for mischeif at this moment.

Robin turned to Aldreda, "I thank you for your kind offer mistress drud, but my companion seems to have run off to her death so I feel obliged to follow her and laugh at her when she gets killed. If you want to follow us, you are more than welcome to. I hope it gets hairy!" Robin starts spinning in place arms out to his side. "I pray to the queen of the fey, and all the fair folk that this adventure be a grand one!"

Robin then ignoring the girl ran after Tam. He finnaly caught up with her and smiled.

"We facing down death yet?"

[Malverne]

"Technically, I guess we are," Tam said, stepping into the small clearing. Taking in the scene, she relaxed the tension on her bowstring. Arrows would be of no use here.

Scattered around the small clearing were a handful of bodies, but more remarkable was the magic circle painted on the ground. Tam recognized some of the symbols on the ground from some of the symbols she'd stared at at home. Just to make sure she was right, Tam sent her healing senses into one of the bodies to see what the cause of death was. There was nothing physically wrong with the person, aside from the fact that her heart had stopped beating. She'd spent all of her energy on something.


"Necromancy," Tam said, "They were trying to raise the dead. And it looks like they did it, for a short period." The seventh body, in the center, was long-dead, but flies were nowhere to be seen.

"Seems like they didn't have the energy to fully reanimate him."

[Sly]

Aldreda stared after the two for a moment, shaking her head at their impetuousness. However, it wasn’t long before her own curiosity got the best of her and she followed after them stealthily. It didn't hurt to find out what was going on, besides at some point she needed to ask this Robin just how he happened to know about her little secret. She gave a resigned sigh; the feeling in the woods had somewhat dissipated, but she still didn’t think anything good could come of pursuing things farther. She had a good mind to tell the other two just that, however when she arrived behind them and saw what lay ahead her words died in her throat. Suddenly her mouth had gone dry.

She looked down at the painted circle and the ring of dead bodies within with a mix of apprehension, disgust, and wonderment. She stood silently for a few moments, studying the dead before her. A glittering…something…caught her eye, and she stared at the corpse in the center of the circle, trying to see what the shining object was; there appeared to be some sort of talisman around the corpses neck, though she couldn’t make it out from this far away. Feeling that same pull of curiosity, Aldreda took a few steps forward, lightly pushing past the other two and stopping just at the edge of the painted circle.

“Be the Triad with us, and her cloak around us.”

She whispered this last (something her mother had always said to invoke protection) before stepping into the circle and heading straight for the corpse in the center. As she got closer, she covered her mouth and nose with one palm; if looks were not enough, the smell of the man’s body made it quite clear that he had been dead some time. He wore a simple peasant’s clothes and no shoes could be seen on his decaying feet. The way the man was sprawled out, it looked as though he had been standing upright and suddenly fallen to the ground. Around his neck there was indeed a braided leather cord; Aldreda recognized the amulet that hung from it almost immediately. She removed her hand from her face and bent down to get a better look. She spoke aloud, but to no one in particular. In truth, she had temporarily forgotten about the other two still standing a little ways off.

“This is a Druid symbol.”

Taking a shaky breath, she stood back up. Her eyes burned and her face felt warm. Death was sacred, the dead were sacred and the indignity this man had apparently suffered at the hands of these necromancers was beyond her capacity to forgive. She closed her eyes and stood perfectly still, willing the forest to give her any details that it could about what, exactly, had happened here.

[Kinslayer6788]

Hob looked at the carnage in front of him. He had not seen this type of ritual in many many years. He half smiled. It was definately her work. Robin got a little excited, this was proving more fun than he expected. She would have a way back to the court for him. If she didn't, well at least he could get rid of her.

Robin watched as the druid made her way into the circle, to the body. He thought that the Triad would not help her here. When she bent over the body, he went over to her. He waited until she had calmed herself down before speaking.

"Of course it is a Druidic symbol. Normal magic does not have the truest capability over life and death. The druds are one with nature,ever since they received their gifts from the fey."

Robin bent over the corpse, poking at it with his staff. This man must have been important to have ao many people try to raise him. Normal necromancy is done by one or two very close individuals. Not this many. By his dress Robin had figured out what he must have been.

"They were trying to raise a powerful wizard. And almost suceeded."

[Malverne]

"I'll object to that thing about only druidic magic having power over life and death," Tam said, inspecting another body, "I'll admit that it has incredible destructive potential, but its power is over nature, and living things. Not life." Satisfied with whatever she was looking for in that body, Tam crossed over to the long dead one, barely noticing the smell. She performed a quick physical inspection, then extended her magical senses into the body.

"He's not a druid," Tam said, "Druids don't embalm their dead. He's been dead for a long time. Years. The body is in surprisingly good shape, besides the caved-in skull. Probably an axe, but he was poisoned beforehand I think. The decay makes it hard to tell. I could figure more out with time, but its probably better we burn him. Just because they failed the first time doesn't mean they can't try again." Tam stood up, and looked around. Something seemed...wrong. She counted the bodies:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7...She looked at the circle, and there were seven spaces for the necromancers to stand. But there were only seven bodies...

"There should be another body," She said. "Tell me I'm wrong, but seven's a powerful number, right? If it's a big deal to 'em, then they'd wanna have seven people trying to resurrect...whoever he is. There should be seven necromancers, plus the subject. So...where's the eighth body?"

[Sly]

Aldreda had been listening to the forest for several minutes when Robin spoke from beside her. Sighing, she opened her eyes and quickly bent down to grab the end of the man’s staff as it was jabbed towards the corpse on the ground again. All of what Robin had just said she already knew; what she didn’t know and desperately wanted to find out was why they had been trying to resurrect this man. With an annoyed huff she shoved Robin’s staff further up into his hands before standing to face him.

“How would you like it, good sir if when you meet your end we were to poke and prod at your body? The dead do not take kindly to being disturbed…by anyone.”

She crossed her arms over her chest and continued looking at Robin. The self-assured way the man assessed the situation annoyed her greatly.

“Well, if you know so much about the Druids then perhaps you’ll recall that Necromancy is forbidden amongst most circles. Although certain among us do, actually, possess the power. As I said, the dead do not like being disturbed, Robin. But I’m sure you already knew that.”

She eyes Robin shrewdly before continuing.

“What’s important here, I believe, is why they were trying to resurrect this man and just who they were.”

She gestured around at the other corpses strewn about their feet.

“Would you not agree…Robin?”

She turned to Tam with a raised eyebrow.

“No, he is not a Druid…but the charm around his neck certainly is.”

She considered Tam’s question with a frown. Where was the eighth body indeed?

[Malverne]

"Dead don't care," Tam said, "They're dead." Tam circled the clearing, focusing on the spot where the seventh mage would have stood. She sank down to one knee in the dirt, her eyes taking in every detail. The space was mostly untarnished,the dirt undisturbed by the falling of a corpse, nor were there drag marks of someone being taken away. There were no scuff marks in general. It was as if the seventh mage just...

"There isn't an eighth body," Tam said, mostly to herself, "The necromancer ran off. She's probably the one we heard scream. Someone survived, and is probably headed to Camelot." The young witch stood up and regarded her two 'companions.'

"What should we do?" She asked, "Given time, I can probably find more about these people, but is that indignity too much for these dead to bear?" She said this last part sarcastically towards the druid.

[Kinslayer6788]

Robin took in what the two were saying. And answered each in kind.

"I know who these people are, well not these excact people are, but the group they work for. Or atleast have a reasonable assumption. The man himself is not important anymore, since I tend to agree with Tam about burning it.

Robin opened his second sight, gazing at each of the corpses and the way the last necromancer probably fled. He then looked very hard at the dead man in the center.

"Whoever it was he was very strong in life, and strength like that does not dwindle in death.Tam the scream you heard was from this guy," Hob kicked the pile of bones again, "He was alive again for about 25seconds. If you sense the body closely you can feel slight warmth of life from around him."

"I say we burn the bodies. Clear the evidence. And then chase after this last fellow and trick him into telling us what he knows. By any means necessary." Robin started brimming from ear to ear.

[Malverne]

"How long he was alive doesn't matter," Tam muttered, "And I did sense him closely." Robin's patronizing tone grated on Tam's short nerves.

"But the other guy, or girl judging from the footsteps, is long gone. If she had any common sense, she'd still be running. We won't catch up, but we can follow her trail. Now, c'mon, let's burn these bastards. I take it you guys know how to burn bodies without attracting too much attention, or burning the forest down, right?" Tam started rolling the other bodies into a pile in the middle, scuffing out any markings she walked by.