“Betwtixt the trees, and stones, she sang, the wind came forth and-... fuck. Winds, not wind.” Soren sighed, looking down at the little harp he was playing alongside his singing. This was certainly much harder than the books made it out to be. He knew verbatim the instructions for how to modulate his voice and to pluck the strings of the instrument at his hands, but it was another thing to do in practice. With a shrug, he set it aside to get a drink from his waterskin. It was only after he was done that he heard at the very edge of his ears something was up.

“Hold.” He murmured into the ear of the ass pulling his cart, leaning into its ear. Metal upon metal. That was never a sign of anything good. 

He could go the other way of course, and already started the slow and arduous process of getting the animal to turn the other way around on the narrow road. But it was a sound, a sound of some unnatural power that made it clear this was no ordinary highway robbery. No, this was something raising his curiosity. He checked his pistol hidden away in his long greatcoat, making sure the powder was dry before cocking the hammer back. Gently he retrieved his crossbow then, grunting with effort as the heavy string strained metal and wood to heave the great bolt loaded in. 

Walking off the road, he headed towards the commotion, ready at any moment to run in the opposite direction if it seemed like it was far too much. He wasn’t some professional ranger, but moving between charred corpses of buildings he did his best to at least not step on any of the clearly visible twigs and leaves that might make a crunch heard for miles.

In part, he hoped that even if he was spotted, people would be far too busy with their own fighting to try and deal with him. However, most fights he had seen seemed to end in moments, rather than theatric duels of many minutes. He would almost certainly have to leave the beast and cart behind. 

But he supposed that was worth it to sate his curiosity, and so kept on. 

What he came upon was… well, not wholly expected. Magicians, yet they were dressed as Northmen. Their victims seemed to be struggling to deal with this assault, save one that seemed to wholly ignore the supernatural being thrown at him. 

What a marvelous specimen! Now he had to stay. If this fellow died, he’d need to take him apart piece by piece and do every single possible test he knew of to study this man’s cadaver. What could make such an effect? He had to wonder.

But perhaps it was a more viable exemplar alive, for that would be where the most interesting studies could be made. That aside, staring from behind a bush at these Mage-Knights masquerading as Fenrisians, he knew he had no tolerance for their kind regardless. 

A decision was made. Using a branch to steady his weapon and shoulders, he sighted down the crossbow. Breathing steadily, he aimed at one of the Mage-Knights, waiting, trying to time the shot with another warrior’s clanking of blades. So it was that he pulled the trigger mechanism, and the loud snap of the steel limbs of the weapon propelled a bolt with might speed and force at one of the foemen. He ducked down, taking cover out of sight behind a collapsed hut, reloading the weapon. Based on the numbers involved, there was a good chance even his intervention would not lead to the defeat of the Mages, but perhaps the elements of surprise of his shot and the one he would be delivering as soon as he loaded the next bolt would suffice to turn the tide. 


[hider=results:]
[quote]Roll 1d10 guile: 7+1=8
contested roll: 5
damage dealt = 1 out of the enemy's 2[/quote]
[/hider]