wilderlogs | THE SQUAD'S SPA RETREAT ON WEATHERTOP [log post] [free-for-all] [modplot]

THE SQUAD'S SPA RETREAT ON WEATHERTOP
OOC POST
The hills the squad travel through make an undulating ridge, often rising almost to a thousand feet, and here and there there are low clefts or passes leading into the land beyond. In the low-lying areas there are the ruins of walls and other buildings, and on some of the hills lie the ruins of different forts and watchtowers.

The highest hill in the area is Weathertop and this is where the squad will make camp on the fifth night of travel. This hill will provide them refuge but no refuge can truly keep them safe. As the crows said, they are the ones that were Chosen by the Green and the darker forces of this world have already found out about their existence.

However, the night starts normally. They make camp and set up watch and the hours pass without much reason for worry. A waxing moon rises into the sky, casting a gentle glow on the world. There is a light chill but nothing insurmountable due to their campfires. All is calm and peaceful.

That's why what happens next probably seems strange at first. Even those who aren't on watch may find themselves suddenly jerking out of sleep due to strange feelings of dread seemingly coming from nowhere. Those with holy magics, blessed weapons, or banked holy spells will find themselves feeling some kind of evil approaching. Those with cursed weapons or unholy powers will feel a sick sort of welcoming feeling, like something dark is approaching, yes - but that they should be glad.

Then the feeling of dread reaches them all, regardless of powers or weapons, clutching at every heart. Even those normally immune to fear may find themselves feeling the cold reaching its way inside them with prying fingers.

That's when the calm, misty night is shredded by the first screech, something inhuman, half-animalistic, half metal scraping over concrete. Another screech answers it from a different side of the hill, like the sources of the screeches are pack hunting and slowly closing in. More cold rolls in and the feeling of despair deepens as the sky starts to blot out with floating shadow shapes. The dementors aren't the source of the screeches but they're being spurred on by them, as if the unearthly shrills are calling out orders of some kind. The cold that sets in makes those that can feel cold feel as if they'll never be warm again.

But that isn't the worst of it. There are loud pops as living human figures pop in around the hilltop and its various trails downward. The ceramic and metal masks of dark wizards glint in the moonlight and spells start sparking from their wands as they start firing at the group - and at the dementors and approaching Nazgul. Cackles and sadistic laughter fill the air. Their leader is a woman with a cackle that sounds more mad and more sadistic than the others.

As the first of the cloaked Nazgul approaches from beyond the ring of stones, practically exuding darkness, one of the Death Eaters steps forward. She is shaking and though she pretends it's all rage and the thrill of potentially killing, at least some of it is fear. Even the Death Eaters can feel the chill from the Nazgul and dementors. Lestrange tries to cover that up with her usual sadistic glee.

"Naughty naughty, trying to steal my mistress' prisoners out from under her nose," she crows, flinging curses. "They're not your toys to play with and we'll send you back to your pathetic formless master with your tails between your legs. You may not be able to die for good but we'll make you wish you have!"

She cackles with shrill laughter and the fight begins in earnest. The Nazgul and dementors descend on the group and the Death Eaters do as well - and both sides attack each other, too, not caring who's in the middle. In the space of minutes, the Squad is in the middle of a deadly battleground.

Fortunately, the hill isn't the worst place to make a stand with its ruins providing cover and good vantage points and there are woods to escape to in the lands below if they make a run for it. Maybe, if they're very, very lucky, they might survive the night.

But their odds aren't great. The Death Eaters are a sadistic force to be reckoned with, and the dementors are no less horrifying for having changed sides to work with Sauron. If anything, they're even worse now, and their orders are that only a few need to be captured for Sauron and the Nazgul - the rest can be killed or have their souls sucked.

And many have fallen at the hands of the Nazgul and all flee before their faces - save the one who desires to have the Nine deliver the Squad into his hands, where they can be broken in the deep dungeons of Barad-dûr, where no light has ever touched.

NOTES
✦ Post in actionspam format. Plots and mod-run events in the game are meant to be in actionspam format to keep a brisk pace.

✦ Free-for-all Post. This event will be in "free-for-all" format, meaning that threadhopping is encouraged and that threading should be treated in the same conversational way as network posts.

✦ NPCing. Players can feel free to godmode the Nazgul and dementors in their own threads, as these npcs don't talk, and have very little personality beyond being pure evil. Please just make them realistically difficult to drive back as they're very powerful, unkillable enemies. However, the mods will npc the Death Eaters since they're intelligent speaking people. A thread will be available in the OOC post where players can link to their threads to request a Death Eater npc to participate.

✦ Fairy Swaps. Now that the fairy swap mechanism will be in place, players can make their quest characters and Brugh characters magically swap places whenever they want, including during the event itself.

✦ When it Takes Place: ICly this is 5 days into the Squad's journey through the hills.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[The moment Ange falls to the ground she stands up, breathing heavily. She's seeing in her mind all the years she has lived, the loss she has suffered and everything she has endured, and she feels so angry she's almost feeling reckless now. She just wants all of it to stop, and right now she sees some guy with a robe and mask who just attacked her. Running away should be her priority, but she's not in mood to do that.

Which is why she runs forward to cling to the Death Eater, grabbing his robe the best she can and trying to push him to the ground. He's already weakened, she thinks even she can hold him down while Sothe finishes him]

[ Dodging, thankfully, is one of Sothe's specialties, and the onslaught of magic doesn't intimidate him - he just keeps moving, side to side, ducking, jumping -

- until he sees Ange tackling the Death Eater, and it's not hard to guess what she's angling for. He closes in swiftly, knife flashing, and goes straight for the throat. ]

[The Unfinished Princess' army is vast and has many types of evil beings in it. For more physical fights meant to destroy others, she sends in dragons, warriors, and other fighters from her horde. The Death Eaters are most often deployed by the Unfinished Princess against other mages, in fights that involve wildly flinged magic and ducking and dodging. At other times they're sent to take down innocent non-magic users that are pure civilians, who can be taken by surprise. Or they're sent to menace noble warriors that fight with sword and axe, who aren't prepared to fight at range.]

[Their evil reputation in the Wilderlands also sometimes causes others to cower or freeze before them.]

[That means the evil wizards aren't prepared for this kind of fight. Their reputation means nothing to these strangers, they're not civilians, and while many of them wield magic or magical weapons they're not born mages and are used to fighting physically.]

[In short, the Death Eaters aren't used to their enemies fighting dirty.]

[That means the Death Eater is taken by surprise when Ange shoves him. He falls to the ground and is held down. He whips his wand towards Sothe, a spell on his lips -]

[And then just gurgles nothing as his throat is cut. A spurt of blood spews forth and behind the mask, his eyes go wide. After a few gurgling breaths, his wand hand falls away and he's still.]

[When Sothe goes for the throat Ange winces a little. She's no stranger to brutality, but it happened so close to her face she can't help but recoil]

...I really wish I wasn't so defenseless right now.

[Not that she fights much. Running away in order to survive is the most valid option, as far as she's concerned, but when the opponent has magic you can't just run away. You dead, Death Eater? Ange stands up, looking a bit shaken up. It's from the dementors' influence, yeah]

[ Well, in an ideal world, he'd try not to do it close enough to get blood on the rest of the party, but in an ideal world, they wouldn't be getting attacked in the first place. What can you do.

He pulls his knife free and gives it a quick shake to get the worst of the blood off. ]

You okay?

Yes, I'm fine. I simply don't feel so well right now.

[It's so cold, and she's outclassed. No surprise she's not feeling well. Oh, right, she should thank him, shouldn't she? She's not into thanking people, but she has to admit this time she'd have been doomed if someone else hadn't intervened]

...thank you.

[ He just nods in acknowledgment; thanks hardly seem necessary, in his mind. They're all pretty screwed if their numbers get whittled down here. ]

We need to get out of here. There's no way we're going to beat this many of them.

[ And that's before adding in the part where only some of them are squishy human mages. ]

Let's go!

[Getting out of here, let's go. Without even bothering to look back and trusting he's keeping her pace, she gets into the ruins, trying to stay in the shadows. The forest seems like the best bet]

If everyone's like you then we all have good odds of getting away.

[ He's held back a little by the fact that it's hard to run fast when your legs are shorter than everyone else's, but he's fast for his size. It helps. ]

Sadly for us, I'm pretty sure everyone's not.

[ But even if most of them don't seem to have as much skill for sneaking, hopefully they'll at least have a similar sense of self-preservation. ]

Then this world is as good as doomed.

[If 3/4 of their saviors die here then it means the spirits are really bad at choosing saviors. Way to go, fairies]

[ Shrug. Man, he's got basically no idea what the selection criteria is, he's just some sneaky little twerp from the slums with nothing important about him at all? Way to go indeed, fairies. ]

THE SQUAD'S SPA RETREAT ON WEATHERTOP [log post] [free-for-all] [modplot]

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