Because Because Because Because Because...!!! (Mint & Winnow)

Sure enough, the bolts pierce the huge torso of the bird about three or four times before it crashes into the forest with many a scream and tumult. A few feathers float amid the wafts of breeze in its wake.

Winnow immediately begins crashing through the forest, with the crossbow and quarrels still, for the place where the thing came down. He will decide what to do when he comes close enough to see.

Winnow will note that the crossbow is specially made. The drawstring is metal wire rather than string and it requires exceptional strength (Amber or better) to load. This poses no impediment to him obviously.

The bird masses at least as much as an elephant. Absolutely dead, tongue lolling out of its beak, the bird lies broken amid the branches, part of one wing actually on the ground. The branches creek as the weight of the thing bears down.

No collar or other man-made ornament appears visible anywhere. It might occur to Winnow that the bird looks unusually clean and well-groomed. Someone clearly took care of the creature.

Various small animals flee from the immediate area. Mice. Squirrels. A vole. The branches holding the gigantic corpse begin to crack. At last they give way with huge boom and the bird's remains hit the ground. Parts of the wings snap, with bones sticking out now, and blood splashes here and there.

Winnow can see nothing new once the carcass hits the ground.

A phlying elephant? Must have had some magic to phly, most birds are very light weight, for their size.

"Shall you come through, milady? Or continue your observation?" Either way:

Winnow causes a monster cleaver to form, something you would normally chop steaks off a loin with, bone included, only up-scaled by ten or more.

He chops the thing's head off with two or three strategical whacks, with enough neck to taxiderm properly. He will pull out his Trump of the Amber hillside, and dump the head through. He keeps the contact open and firm, and calls loudly to the soldiers there until one rides into view.

"Have the huntsmaster take charge of this, would you, for me, Captain Winnow. Have him begin the preparation for mounting on my wall. Mind the beak."

"This was the observer. The real fight is yet to come."

At least the angle of the fall was away from Brandsburg and toward Gentryville.

Mint waves away the offer to come through. She watches out for any ambush aimed at Winnow via the Trump.

What happens from Mint's perspective when Winnow makes a Trump call while she is in Trump contact with him?

David wrote:[Best guess--kinda like looking over someone's shoulder maybe?]

(OOC:Very cool. This gives me all sorts of ideas for chain Trump calls. Carry on.)

After he has sent through the trophy he reforms his weapon into a wood-axe and begins to make a workmanlike redoubt out of his hilltop, using the felled trees, improving his abatis all around. He will keep a sharp lookout as he does, of course. His armor will be smooth and mottled, dull blue and grey, for the work.

Good thing this is self-cleaning. Sap, nectar, blood, dirt, leaves all are shed from time to time as a ripple goes through the armor. It looks something like a cross between a dog shaking and airing out a blanket in the wind.

This may get messy

Mint quickly pens a note.

It reads "Confrontation in woods near where I broke my leg. It could spill over. Take cover. The cottage should still let you in if needed. M"

Then she pulls a small mechanical man made of tin out of her pack. She winds it to its fullest charge.

I hate to let you out of my sight old friend.

"Play the seeking game. Find Corwin or Dierdre in Brandsburg. Give them this. Then return. If you can't find them in a quarter hour after you reach town then return. If I have left when you return seek me. Do you understand?"

The mechanical man salutes Mint then runs off through the cave. He runs at a truly amazing rate of speed.

He should find them and return in half an hour, or return in three quarters of an hour if they aren't there.

Mint remains vigilant.

If our enemies can detect Trump then one or more may come for me here.

Interlude...

Two Amber Guardsman approached the severed head of the huge bird. One just stands there staring. His name is Erroll. The other, Tim, gets a much closer look, straining his neck to check on details.

Erroll speaks first. "No way that is a sparrow."

"I dunno," says Tim, "it has some superficial characteristics o' the species." He, like his companion, has a pronounced lower-class accent.

"But, look at the plumage!"

"Sparrows in the Ruritanian foothills are purple, and they have a similar beak configuration."

"But they never get that size is my point. Plus they're non-migratory."

"What's that got to do with anything?"

"Nothing. I'm just sayin'."

Meanwhile, back in the forests of Iv...

In the distance, footfalls can be heard. Lots of them. Muffled by distance and trees, but make quite distinct by being in unison. Marching. In step. And at a fairly rapid clip.

Having a few years of familiarity with the sounds of marching from her time in the Amber Army before she was seconded to the Rangers, Mint can judge the direction of the Army, its size, its distance, and its speed quite accurately. Mint also knows the area quite well and can make a reasonable guess as to whether the troops came from Brandsburg, Gentryville, Hogswallow or someplace further afield. The troops direction might also imply that they were magically gated in.

(OOC: How long does Mint think they have before the troops arrive? Where does she think they came from? By what order of magnitude does she think they are outnumbered? Hundreds? Thousands? Tens of thousands? More?)

Somewhere around a thousand troops. Within twenty minutes at their current rate of movement. Most likely from somewhere in between the two largest, nearest habitations.

By now, a faint chant can be heard on the wind. The war march of the Queen's infantry.

" Oh wee oh, yee'oh um! Oh wee oh, yee'oh um! Oh wee oh, yee'oh um!"

No one knows what it means.

Brandsburg is tiny. So either Hogswallow or Gentryville.

"Winnow, we have a thousand fighting men en route. Fifteen minutes away. Twenty at most. Your thoughts?"

"Unless you like them or want to treat with them, I say we break them. Teach them a lesson about what's real, and what's Shadow. And that means to attack. I can flank them, completely undo them, rout them, and if I get in over my head, you can pull me out, or I can pull you through."

While Winnow has a commander's affection for his own troops, he has very little for others' especially of Shadow. And he knows that unless they are elite veterans, or have magical courage, they will break.

"...and perhaps I can cut my way to their commander, and cause them to strike their colors."

"Have fun cousin."

Mint uses the time to compose a letter to Maleficent. She also places a tripwire trap carefully hidden at the near entrance to the cave to alert her if anyone enters.

High above, V shapes begin to appear in the sky. Three formations, of twenty one figures each. Mint probably recognizes what these must be.

Flying monkeys.

This is impressive. What were all these forces doing way out here? Why were they anywhere near this place, and on such alert it took them so little time to muster out for an attack?

Capital. More scouts.

Winnow will start to circle toward the sound, heading either left or right, whichever sends him through the rougher, higher ground and forest. He will reduce the armor to short pants and sleevless hauberk, conformal to his body, all the weight in central places, vitals covered, colors muted. He will run very fast, but relatively silently. The main body won't hear him above their own marching but they might have scouts out. He will watch for them. He will try to stay out of view of the flying monkeys. Apes' eyesight is not particularly good. Not like a raptor bird.

He will stay well away from the troops or any scouts he sees, with the intent to get on their flank or to their rear. Any formed body of troops marching must of necessity be strung out on a road, else they would be mobbing through like natives.

Oh, and all things being equal, he will go downwind, so his scent does not carry to them.

Once he believes he is on their flank, he will force his way in very quickly. If he is spotted by a scout or anyone he will immediately charge in, spike-armored head to toe, shield and mace, aiming to terrorize whole units, crush their officers, and bring their leader to his or her knees.

He will roar the whole time such phrases as "Vengeance is upon you! Lay down your weapons or die! Flee, flee for your lives! None can stand against me!"

He will not get fancy. He will just batter his way through.

[Think Sauron on the battlefield. Or at least a cave troll.]

David wrote:This is impressive. What were all these forces doing way out here? Why were they anywhere near this place, and on such alert it took them so little time to muster out for an attack?

Three possibilities leap to Mint's mind

1. Ivma was spotted near here and we got caught in the net.

2. Melificent has devoted a major portion of her magic to transport in order to send massive forces through.

3. 'Julian' did something to cause this to happen.

None of the possibilities excludes either of the others.

"Feel free to toss any you grab through to me. Disintegrating them with a touch may make you look even more formidable. Also dawn will rise in less than half an hour. You may want to consider that when picking your position."

Mint will indicate the direction of Dawn to Winnow.

[Sorry, I thought it was already daylight...thought I was reflecting sunlight with my mirrors, etc. Besides, who marches formed troops at night? And how can I see monkeys flying high? David?]

(OOC We definitely arrived at night and originally Mint planned to leave for Brandsburg to arrive there at dawn. Exactly how much time has passed is a GM call.)

OOC Post:

The sun was shining on the sea,
Shining with all his might:
He did his very best to make
The billows smooth and bright--
And this was odd, because it was
The middle of the night.

The moon was shining sulkily,
Because she thought the sun
Had got no business to be there
After the day was done--
"It's very rude of him," she said,
"To come and spoil the fun!"

I'm perfectly good with an unusually large moon, a surprisingly early dawn, or even the sun coming up in the middle of the night. Iv is something of a storybook world and occasionally impossible things do happen.

While Winnow is slicing and dicing the troops, he hears a roar. From the rear of the assembled warriors comes the rumbling sound of something big. The green warriors with their curved spears part, retreating from Winnow as the creature suns into view. It is twice Winnow's own height, with a shark-like mouth and fur thick, tough and matted enough to serve as armor.
Worryingly, it doesn't seem to feel pain, or at least doesn't react to it. And despite the huge bulk, the thing is as fast as a cat. The saliva that drips from its jaws burn and poison plantlife.

Mint recognizes it as one of the most dangerous wild animals in all of Iv. She'd heard of them, seen illustrations, but never seen one in the flesh. This is the frumious BANDERSNATCH.

Busy as Winnow is, he likely doesn't notice when winged monkeys begin to hit the ground, pierced by arrows. High above, made a silhouette by the huge full moon, Mint can see the monkeys trying to swarm an airship. A cluster of teardrop shaped balloons are attached by elaborate rigging to what looks like a warship, large enough to carry a crew of maybe a dozen or more.

Mint double checks the bonds and unconsciousness of her prisoner. Confirming the solidness of both she leaves him and makes her way toward the mouth of the cave and just out of sight from anyone and anything outside.

(OOC: What did Winnow do with Mint's crossbow and quiver? I think he still has them.)

Mint isn't worried about Winnow although she will rack her brain for any lore about Bandersnatches that she might have read or heard. Does anything come to mind?

Mint is more concerned about the Airship which is well and truly outnumbered by flying monkeys. So she evaluates how she might help out if she joins the fray. What missile weapons do the ground troops have that she could appropriate? Does the airship have any ropes dangling or even better an anchor dropped? How close do the tops of the still intact trees come to the airship?