Seekers of Truth RPG

[Crystal Heart]

Sandrina glanced up, her eyes widening at the sound. She relaxed only slightly when she saw Raen come up, but his expression of stress and fear were easy to recognize in his face. She knew what he had heard. She knew what she had heard. It was them.

She looked around at the group, her heart racing. This was the moment of justice in her mind, but a cold fear grabbed her.

"Is that noise them?" Sandrina whispered, hoping deep down that it was not. Raen nodded his head in response. She took a jagged deep breath and let it go slowly. She licked her lips nervously, trying to clear away the shakiness that she was feeling deep down inside her stomach.

"Then we must bring them to justice. How do you suggest we do that, Raen?" Sandrina whispered, edging her horse closer to him. She prayed that he had a plan for she did not and had not thought to even construct one. The only thought that had been racing through her mind was to bring them to justice and return to her family. She had not thought of how and now that the moment had risen to do it she was as scared as a rabbit. She only hoped that he or Hama or anyone for that matter had had enough insight to create a plan during their short journey to the Lightheart estate.

[Firefoot]

Harold shifted uncomfortably but disguised it by craning around to see what Samuel was doing. He shook his head in disgust; the fool boy was dumping out most of his supplies and tending for the horse. What had he called it? Wise-tail? Harold sneered. Such a foolish, weak name, fitting since it was given by a foolish, weak son. Did the boy not know that a horse with a broken leg was as good as dead? He did not seem likely to be catching up any time soon, so Harold turned back to Arthur and his questions.

“Going? We are not really going anywhere. As you have mentioned, Edoras is entirely too far away, and any of the nearby towns are too small; Sandrina and Henry would catch word of us immediately. Rather, we will circle around the estate and return to it in a week or so. This way we will be able to see for our own eyes what is going on there. We cannot just abandon the estates at any rate, because once Sandrina is dead there will be no one left to run it.” Harold was mostly improvising as he went here. He had not planned much of this out in advance. “As for them discovering important information, there is not much for them to discover save by questioning the workers, and none of them know very much that could be useful. My men will be too afraid of what I would do to them for speaking up, and they do not know much that Sandrina and her new friends will not have figured out already. The only one that might have useful information is Cerdic, and he is too loyal to do such a thing. All the important documents and papers I brought along in my saddlebags for such a reason. Does this answer your questions?” Arthur nodded, though Harold wasn’t sure whether he meant it or not. Frankly, Harold did not care whether Arthur accepted the answers, because it was the best that he would get.

Harold glanced back again. Samuel was still tending to the horse, and Harold judged that he had a few minutes before Samuel would catch up. He turned once more to Arthur.

“What do you think about Samuel? Will he stay loyal to us, or will he try to aid Sandrina?” he asked. Harold thought he understood Samuel’s position fairly well, but as his brother Arthur might have some different ideas on it. It would also give Harold a chance to see where Arthur stood. Arthur looked distinctly uncomfortable, and hesitated before speaking.

“Well, I’m not exactly sure-” he began, and was cut off by the sound of hooves behind. Harold spoke softly so as not to be overheard by Samuel. “Well, think about it and you can tell me your thoughts later, when we have a moment together.” Arthur nodded again. Samuel caught up, and they rode on in silence, each one alone with his own thoughts. For himself, Harold was spending his time trying to figure out what Sandrina would do upon reaching the estate. Cerdic had said she was gathering a small force to herself, so Harold supposed that meant between five and ten men. The idea that she might bring women did not even occur to him. It was the men that concerned him more than Sandrina, that and he did not know where Henry was in all of this. Leaving Henry out of his calculations would be a dire mistake. So his thoughts went, until the sun was high overhead and it was nearly time to stop for a break and lunch.

[Himaran]

Raen could see the desperation in Sandrina's eyes, and felt Hama's keen stare pierce through him. Braedon and the others stood by, waiting for a reply. Yes, of course you have a plan. Tell them! He decided to use the safest of his several ideas. "We cannot go after them untill your home is cleared. There is a band of trees that runs from the top of this hill down to the estate's wall, by the stables. We can approach behind it, unseen. Doubtlessly there are enemies, waiting for us to enter. Perhaps some of us should go through the gate, while others scale the wall."

"At any rate, let's get down this hill," said Braedon. "On foot, though." The others tied their horses to nearby trees and followed the rangers, weapons at ready. But Raen was already worrying greatly. This is a fool's plan. Archers could pick us off easily. But as the group headed towards the outer wall, under the cover of the trees, no shafts harrassed them. It was as if the residents had merely... left, without a rearguard of sorts. Such a situation was almost too good to hope for, Raen mused.

They stopped at the wall. Knowing that the gate was around the corner, Raen hesitated to give any further orders. It was Sandrina's decision, yet she looked to him for answers. Decided to take charge, he whispered to Hama. "Take Sandrina and the others up to the gates. Wait there; Braedon and I will climb this wall and have a look around."

Raen clambered up, and promptly helped Braedon over. They jumped down onto the grass and looked around. "There's someone here," murmured Braedon, and his companion merely nodded. But where...

[Hama Of The Riddermark]

Hama was furious at being told what to do by this ranger. He was a member of the Rohan royal guard of King Eomer himself, not some lowly peasant incapable of tactical thought. He was about to voice this, when he noticed that Raen and Braedon had already gone and he cursed loudly under his breath. Sandrina looked at him disapprovingly, but soon shook her head. "We should get to the gates, in that case." Hama said clearly, trying and failing not to lte his irritation shine through his voice. Drawing his sword he loped round the walls, the others close behind him. His armour clanked as he ran, and he muttered. Surely now they'd know of their presence.

They reached the gates in just under five minutes. Raen and Braedon were already there, and looking ver disconcerted about something. "What kept you?" Raen put to Hama. "Oh, there was the small matter of a raiding party of dunlendings, a few orcs and the desire for a few less pompous rangers." Hama said sarcastically. Raen's brow creased as he heard the last words, "There is someone round here, we just don't know where. Get in here and help us...we don't know who they are or what sort of weapons they have, it could be dangerous." Hama's mouth contorted to a slit as he tried to supress his frustration. Of course it was going to be bloody dangerous, stupid bloody rangers thinking they know everything.

[Crystal Heart]

Sandrina couldn't believe how incredibly rude Hama was being, especially during a time of great danger. She placed a small hand upon his forearm and turned him to her. Her eyes were filled with seriousness and she shook her head.

"Just stop it Hama. You may not like others, but that does not give you the right to endanger our lives by being sarcastic. Please, just get along with Raen. We are in a place of high danger and must be on alert. So I beg you, please Hama stop. Not for everyone else, but for me. My life hangs in the balance. Your actions are not helping me," Sandrina whispered forcefully.

She let go of his forearm and stepped over to Raen.

"What do we do if they are surrounding us, Raen?" She asked, trying not to look over at Hama. She could feel him staring, could feel his eyes staring into the back of her head. She had no idea what his problem was, but once they were semi safe again she would ask and find out. Otherwise she knew that she would have to send him. She hoped that she would not have to do that.

[The Perky Ent]

Arthur was bored out of his wits. He had no idea what he was doing there. He could sense that whatever was suppost to work, didn't work. Time felt like riding a horse with concrete feet. Thinking of nothing to pass the time, Arthur began to speak:


We were so weak and febel,
but now, we're rich and regal.
We booted out my stupid old uncle
he was just a stupid bile of junk...el...

Samuel began to laugh. Seeing his brother try someting that obviously wasn't his forte was amusing. Stopping to give Arthur confidence, he continued

So now we ride, away from home
and through the wilderness we now must comb
for until we're safe, together we must roam.
So soon we'll return,
though I don't know to what effect.
And who knows? Maybe, our homes won't be beref...t

Samuel gave a small appaluse, but Harold just shook his head and sighed, and he lead the way into the distance.

[Firefoot]

Harold sighed at Arthur’s attempts to turn recent events into verse. Whatever his elder son might be, a poet was not one of them. He tried to block out the sound, and concentrated instead on how far they had gotten thus far. He estimated they had been travelling for about seven hours, since the sun showed the time to be mid-afternoon. Seven hours... two or three leagues per hour... makes about 18 leagues. That sounded right. It also meant they were almost sufficiently far away from the estates to start circling back around. He began to turn around to tell his sons this when he became aware of another sound, previously unheard because of Arthur’s pathetic attempts to rhyme: hoofbeats. He could not see the riders yet, as they were still a good way off and the land was not flat, but they were coming closer. Harold did not want to be seen. Under normal circumstances they would not draw attention, but rumors of Sandrina’s return would have reached other ears, and the three of them heading away from the estate... No, he did not want to be seen.

“Hurry, follow me!” Harold hissed, cutting Arthur’s words short. Harold heeled his horse into a full gallop and turned sharply off the road. There was a downward slope in the land only a few hundred yards away; if they could get that far, then they would not be seen. They drew nearer, but so did the hoofbeats. Harold did not dare turn around to see if the riders were visible yet. Then, he had reached it. He slowed his horse so that it could get down, and saw that Samuel and Arthur, who had been only a little way behind him, were doing the same. The slope was just deep enough for them to be unseen from the road. Harold crept back up the slope to see whether they had been spotted or not.

What he saw made him worry. There were three of them, and they had slowed to a walk approximately parallel to the road. One of them was pointing in their direction and scowling; the other two were shaking their heads and their reins as if impatient to be moving on. Harold knew they had been spotted. Now what? He sighed in relief when the riders again booted their horses into a faster pace. Apparently they had somewhere to be in a hurry, and it was lucky for them. All he could do was hope they would not remember seeing the three of them. There was nothing more to be done for it, so he returned back down to where his sons and the horses were waiting.

“We were not seen,” he lied. “There were three of them, and they just went right on past.” He wondered if they believed him or not. Somehow he doubted it, but they couldn’t prove otherwise.

“As long as we have left the road, we may as well continue. We are far enough away from the estates to start circling back around. Within a few days we will return there to see what has happened. If Sandrina is dead as she should already be, we will have no more need of plans. If not, we will decide what to do then.” What he really meant was that he would decide and they would listen, but he wasn’t about to say that. He mounted his horse again and headed off across the country.