Game Log 12

## Sweet Dreams are Made of Thieves

(Mankar and Aud have a huge fight... details here!)

(Day 3 of the Festival - Wrestling!)

Shaman were said to exist half in this world and half in the spirit realm. That even when they seemed awake, they are half asleep; and when they are asleep, only then are they truly awake. Whether this factual or not, what IS true is that they slip into the world of dreams and spirits more easily than most. In the case of Mantis, the craft he rode was a pie filled with mushrooms of questionable safety.

He, along with the other heroes, talked to four spirits who wished to become the stead totem. Such an enhancement of the wider of the stead was welcome as strength and wisdom were always in high demand!

Mankar spoke first. "Though I lead, in this instance, I think a vote would be best after we pool our wisdom. If there is a tie, I will resolve it."

Mankar told them of the Bear who promised them less hunger in the winter and strength to their men in fights.

Ryala spoke of the Hawk who told better fishing, vigor so that the villagers who normally don't fight could function as warriors and the location of a secret Air Rune.

Astra relayed her conversation of Owl and its promise of advanced warnings when strangers came to the stead and the destruction of vermin that would eat their food.

Lastly, Aud told of Snake and its promise of stealth and healing.

"So, four choices is it? Personally, I think Owl is the most trustworthy. Bear, Hawk and Owl all promise less hunger, each in their own way, but Owl's gift lasts all year and applies to any sort of growing thing or stored foodstuff. Snake's offer is the most tempting after that but Owl is my preference." He had a wry smile, "Also, Hawk's threats if we happen to find the rune on our own don't sit well with me."

Mantis, Astra and Ryala similarly voted for Owl. Aud hesitated but finally said, "My preference is otherwise, but I'll cast my lot for Owl to make it unanimous."

By this time, the night had faded and no one felt the desire to return to sleep. Well, except for Ryala who found the others' desire to be busy at all times puzzling and rather tiring. Astra went to the Lankhar Mhy temple (as usual) and Mantis to the Eluria temple (also as usual) though he was grumbling about being 'stalked' before he left. He also made use of the deep shadows of morning, looking around as he departed.

As she was about enter her makeshift 'booth', Aud was approached by one of the organizers of the festival. "Honored healer, a moment?"

"Yes?" she responded, puzzled.

"The healing priestess that was scheduled to care for the contestants had to leave to care for a mother in labor and the child. May we ask you to take her place? You'll be compensated, of course!"

"I'll be glad to. Please take me there."

"Many thanks, this way!"

In the meantime, Mankar spent his time looking over his opponents. At this time, he had little fear of failing in the contests. Even at worst, he expected to come in first or second going forward and that would be enough. But, still, it would be pleasant to do WELL! He did, however, try to avoid the Lunars as much as he could. While he wasn't afraid of them, he respected their strength and didn't want to tempt it.

Then he spotted something strapped to the horse of a Lunar officer that caught his attention even at the distance he was at. "That is... very interesting. Very interesting indeed!" He wanted to investigate further but this was not a good time and he put the matter aside until later.

The wrestling contest went almost as expected. Mankar plowed through his opponents like a Stormbull through an alehouse. Even the actual Stormbull follower didn't last more than a few seconds against him. However, he was unexpectedly defeated by Carylon who used a trick that the warrior hadn't seen before... one designed for a smaller person to take down a larger one. He wasn't particularly upset by it as these defeats paved the road to future excellence. (Plus he looked forward to using the trick against opponents that were larger still than he was!) Still, he picked up a rather nasty contusion and strained muscles from his exertions.

He had been moderately surprised to see Aud manning the healing area but not terribly so. She always went to where she was needed, after all. Still, it was quite awkward for him to ask for healing given the events of the previous night.

"I suppose you want healing?"

"Yes," he said. And then added, "Please."

Instead of casting a spell, she opened a red pot of a healing compound that she normally used on cattle. Taking care not to get any on her own skin, she spread it roughly with a stiff brush over his injured areas.

It felt like she scrubbing molten metal into his flesh. Using reserves of will that he rarely had cause to call upon, he managed not to scream with the pain of it.

"Anything else?" the little healer said coldly.

"Urk. No. No, thank you. I can \*nnnn\* feel the healing!" He backed off quickly, deciding to spend the day caring for the horses and cats (one with oats, the other with fish from the river) rather than deal the incomprehensible nature of women.

(As an aside, several people saw him talking to the animals but chalked it up to some crazy barbarian superstition.)

In the meantime, Mantis and Astra approached lord Garhound about changing the living arrangements for Mankar in case (as seemed likely) of his victory. They argued that he couldn't leave their village for so long and that the rules didn't explicitly state that he HAD to live in Garhound.

"Is that all? There's no problems here. Just relocate all your villagers here! We have plenty of unused fertile land nearby and the festival champion has some of the best of it, naturally, since he's to receive the blessings of the Oat Goddess."

At this point, the heroes had a distinct problem: Garhound's arguments were all very, very sound. On the surface, there was no way to refute any of them. Still, they tried!

Garhound listened and then countered, "Say girl, you arguing as a Lankhar Mhy... I think it'd be more fun if you did it during the next competition... the intelligence test! The old Lankhar Mhy is no fun anymore since we added the drinking component to it so maybe this will rouse people's interest." He hit his desk firmly. "Yes, yes that's the best plan! Bring your best arguments tomorrow and we'll see how it goes!"

(Day 4 of the Festival - Intelligence! ...and drinking.)

The 'intelligence contest' had been a display of wit and erudition in years past... so much so that people who weren't complaining about being bored were asleep. The Duke had instituted a change that made it much more popular... drinking! Except for the Lankhar Mhy priests, that is. To say they now viewed it with disdain hardly did credit to their actual emotions.

The less that was said about the actual questions, the better, but in the end the favorite to win pulled ahead: the Stormbull follower, of course! Mankar, surprisingly, did quite poorly though perhaps it was because he used his usual sized mug which was significantly larger than the typical amount.

While the audience (partiers) were busy, Astra managed to win a solid victory over the local wise man further souring his mood. Still, she was quite resplendent in a fine beard that was crafted for her by Aud and perhaps this helped propel her to victory!

As they were nearing sleep, the heroes got an unexpected visit from Speak With Liars. The little dragonewt was deft as slipping into shadowy areas and found them without incident. Again, Mankar did his best to repress the headache he felt listening to the creature. Aud, of course, was the best at interpreting what it said.

"One of their number wants to experience 'betrayal' in this lifetime and going against the orders of its lord is a great betrayal. So he's coming here to do what?"

At that moment, screams sounded from the outskirts of the village, breaking the relative calm of the night.

Mankar swore and dashed toward the sounds of struggle, closely followed by the others. There they saw a horrific scene: a tailed dragonewt had just literally ripped a small girl in two. When he saw Mankar, he hissed something and rushed for them. Aud yelled, "The ultimate betrayal... slaying your lord!"

Mankar and Ryala leapt to attack, their weapons giving them a much better reach than the unarmed dragonewt. Unfortunately, its scaly hide was as good as fine armor and deflected nearly all the energy of their blows. With a swipe, it nearly tore off Mankar's leg, breaking through his shield to do so! Again they attacked, doing slightly more damage, aided by Mantis's spells as the Shaman feared shooting his bow into the close melee in the dark of night.

This time the lizard crippled Ryala's arm, forcing her to wield her axe with just one hand. Fortunately the rough, though strong, claws left enough flesh that the limb didn't fall completely.

Balanced on one leg, Mankar trigger his medallion, boosting his strength significantly even as his blood drained onto the ground. He hit the dragonewt again, and again did superficial damage to the beast. "Is this lizard made of iron? Die now!"

In the end, no single blow took down their foe, just the steady accumulation of damage while it continued to tear into the two warriors. As Ryala's axe took the last of its life, Mankar imagined he saw a satisfied expression in its alien eyes.

Almost as one, Ryala and Mankar sank to the ground, still bleeding profusely as Aud rushed over to heal them. In the distance, Mankar saw the bisected little girl seemed to be whole if not perfectly healthy. He said, "Ryala first." Mankar managed to hold onto consciousness and give himself some very small heals but not good enough to staunch the bleeding, much less reattach his leg. Finally finished with Ryala, Aud put her hands on Mankar and he felt the comforting light bind his leg back into place. Oddly, she hadn't healed all his wounds, just the worst ones.

Then he saw the red pot and stiff brush in her hand.

Mercifully, he passed out shortly thereafter.