End of the Hunt

Final of the Hunt:

Having finished off the redcaps and dire wolves in the Guinness Warehouse, the trio of Knights are once again following the rangers through the Fae Lands. The final three redcaps have gone to ground, but the rangers have an unerring link to them, mostly all the blood that redcaps love to shed.

An hour into the trek through the wilds, the rangers abruptly make a left turn in the middle of a field and double their pace. Unfortunately, they can’t keep up the speed for long, as Ragnall can’t maintain pace. The rangers then have to make three more abrupt turns, running around in a huge circle. The redcaps had left their hiding hole and were running around looking for new places to hide.

Inevitable:

The scale difference between the Fae Wild and the “Real World” means that there is no distance the redcaps can cover that the sidhe can’t compensate for easily. The rangers and the knights step back into the real world just after dusk. This time there are no features to give them a clue as to where in Ireland they have exited. They are in deep forest, and the rangers are wholly in their element now.

Their cloaks and armor shift in colors and the four sidhe practically fade into the trees. The knights with them have trouble of keeping track of them even while keeping eyes glued to them.

They finally come upon a game trail and it leads directly into the classic ideal of a Druid Grove. A perfect circle of trees and a handful of heavily carved, inscribed stones ring an altar rough hewn from blue granite. Twig men and skulls hang from all the branches and Mistletoe is everywhere.

Mercenaries:

The setting of this final fight holds little appeal to the knights, it is the figures within the circle that hold their sight. On one side of the altar; the final three redcaps, with a couple of dire wolves. Standing at the altar, a cloaked figure. On the other side of the altar, a trio of Trolls.

Now, these are Fae Trolls, not to be confused with the ugly earthy brutes of Scandinavian lore. These are very large men, with broad features and swirling tattoos in their flesh. Standing 12 feet tall and carrying six-foot-tall mauls in a single hand.

David: Christ, it’s like three tattooed Incredible Hulks!

The redcaps hand over large sacks to the Hooded-man, who then turns and pays the trolls for their services.

Should have Quit While Ahead:

The trolls scare the shit out of Ash and he states it plainly. The rangers snarl and say that they will handle the trolls if the Knights will finish off the redcaps. They jump to the attack without waiting for an affirmative from the knights.

The hooded man steps back from the altar, raising his hands, “I’m just the negotiator, I’m gone.” He takes three steps back and gets swallowed by the shadows between the trees. And just like that it’s on. The four rangers run to the right, taking on the trolls and the knights go to the left taking on the wolves and redcaps.

A wolf jumps at Ash and he ducks it, ignoring the animal as he heads towards the fae. Dave is less lucky as the other dire wolf grabs his leg and stops him dead in his tracks.

Its ON!

David trips and the wolf rolls on him, holding him down. One of the redcaps ties up Ash and the other two avoid the elf and head over and stab at the prone David. David yells as the blades bite deep, and Ash is annoyed that the redcaps have avoided him. He lowers his defense just slightly and the redcap beside him stabs him in the hip.

Ragnall shakes his head, both of his fighters are already bleeding. He blesses the agility of their movements, trying to bolster their defenses. Ash retreats back to stand over David and he takes a wide slash at both wolves and the redcaps. His blade breaks the backs of the wolves, killing them instantly but the redcaps escape his wrath.

David also wildly swings on the redcaps and they back up further, this gives him a chance to get back to his feet. Back to back with Ash they are now more formidable. Ragnall steps up to the Duo and heals Davie.

Extra Effort:

Davie and Ash move in tandem, Ash portals to behind the redcaps and Davie steps into their faces. Both men attack the small fae, cutting and bruising their foes, but these elder redcaps are pretty damn tough.

Ragnall takes a glance toward the other side of the battle and is horrified to see that all of the sidhe rangers are battered and bleeding. The trolls are slapping them around like a dog with a kitten. As he watches, one of the rangers takes a hammer blow to the head and goes down like a ragdoll.

On the redcap side of things, the small vile creatures keep up a constant string of profanity as they try to attack Ash. But the lithe elf avoids the worse of the blows. He steps amongst the fae and whirlwinds his blade at all three redcaps. Three small heads hit the ground and with a smug grin, Ash wipes the blood from his blade.

Brave, but not Smart.

With the redcaps down, Davie doesn’t even hesitate to turn and charge across the grove into the trolls. Ragnall shakes his head and starts to summon a lightning strike from the heavens, the clouds roil above the clearing at his call.

Dave charges into one of the three trolls, and bounces off the creature, his own vanquisher blade merely cutting a shallow line on the troll’s hide. The remaining three sidhe rangers take advantage of the moment, as the tolls laugh at Davie’s efforts. The three sidhe swarm over the one troll, concentrating all of their attacks in numerous lightning quick sword strokes.

Ash reminds everyone that he not just a crazy swordsman, and unleashes a fireball. It explodes behind the trio of trolls and ignites their hair and clothes. The flare of heat and the trolls sudden screams are deafening. The giants drop to the ground and roll around, giving the rangers and David a chance to step back and regroup.

Bolt from Heaven:

One troll puts himself out, staggers to his feet, and gives the group the finger. “Ha! I am not defeated!” And a bolt of lightning strikes him. Knocking him back off his feet and bursting open his shoulder and chest. BUT he still gets back up to his feet, burned and broken and dazed, he still stands. The other two put out their flames and also stand.

Ash, Dave, and the 3 rangers all jump on the staggered and broken troll. Their swords smack into his broken flesh, and even dazed the Troll just won’t go down, he won’t die. The wounded troll backhands Ash, hitting with a thunderous blow, but Ash twists reality and soaks the damage away into an alternate world.

Ash skips back to Ragnall, breathing hard, and the foul-mouthed priest heals him of his previous damage. Healed, Ash turns back to the staggered troll and charges, he uses Davie as a stepping stone and leaps up to attack the troll’s head. Crack! The first troll is finally dead.

Surrender:

The remaining two trolls immediately surrender, dropping their arms and sitting on the ground with their hands on their heads. It surprises everyone for a second. But when you think you’re invincible and one of your number dies, it tends to remind you of your own mortality.

Troll: “We’re done! We were only hired for a job and you already killed our bosses. Contract done.” [Notes on this game are a little spotty here… but the lightning troll might have died and Ash might have just killed a second troll, the rest of the notes state only ONE troll is still living at this point, but at no point before this is there a mention of when the first one died]

They interrogate the troll for a while and get a little information. Nothing special. The trolls knew nothing other than the fact that the hooded man was a middle man making a deal. They were just bodyguards.

Ragnall wanders around healing the sidhe and really earning their respect. The Low Hunt is done, the escaped redcaps are all dead. The rangers are truly impressed with the Irish Knights and enroll their names into the scroll of the Hunts. Meaning that at some future time they might be called to participate in a High or Great Hunt.

The troll is allowed to leave, without his arms and armor. The rangers then offer to return them to the point from which they departed, and Ragnall asks if they could be dropped closer to Castle Berg. The sidhe agree.

Camp

They walk through the fae wild again, through a field of lavender this time, and then step out into the middle of the night. In the light of the moon they can see the castle is less than a mile across a field. The knights decide to camp.

Once again, the sidhe express gratitude and name the knights as heroes of the seelie fae.

END ACT IV

Conclusion:

This is the end of the ACT though it was the beginning of the session for that night. Next week we will see that traveling with the fae has unforeseen side effects, and we get the Knights locked on the main story line that will run through the rest of this series.

Next week, Castle Berg.