Elendor
Helping Cook Dinner
Two raiders from Dunland sneak onto a Rohan farmstead. They use stealth and then fire to attack at the herd of sheep and the farm itself.
Sort Date: no date set
Location: Gap of Rohan
Description: Night has settled on this rather isolated farm far out on the western border of the lands of the Rohirrim, and a few clouds drift lazily across the moon so that its white light only fitfully illuminates the landscape. When it does shine, though, it shows a farmstead with the ground newly seeded for the spring, a well-tended fenced pasture for sheep, a low, thatched-roof barn in which said animals are now housed.
Across from the barn is a another thatched-roof structure, from the looks of it the home of the farmers who tend this land. And yet no smoke of a cooking fire rises from the smoke hole this evening, for it is now late enough for the farming family to be asleep.
It's all so peaceful and tranquil, how this farmstead is laid out. The only thing that's out of place is a pair of shadowy figures that edge along the fence of the pasture. They're moving slowly, one a bulky figure that seems to be bent over with considerable weight. The other is slowly working along the fence, and the only sound is an occassional slopping noise that breaks the calm quiet of night.
Eventually the pair reaches the barn, very carefully the leaner of the two tries to work the door open silently. He works at a slow pace with frequent glances over towards the farm house.
[Dunsten(#24218)]
The barn door squeaks. Just a little, barely audible, but it might be a warning of things to come.
A slight wind stirs the grasslands surrounding the farm. Animals can be heard softly snorting inside the barn and certainly the distinct odor of barn can be smelled.
"Waste of good animals.." One of the two mutters softly, the one carrying the supplies. The other man responds, "Shh.. You want to try sneaking back with a herd of sheep?"
The two men both take up clay bottles and start moving gently amongst the sheep in the barn, casually dribbling the contents of the jugs over the animals as they move. Some begin to mill outside through the open barn door, but the brigands don't concern themselves with that.
When they've emptied the contents of the last of the jugs, which seem to be filled with some kind of sticky, alcoholic smelling liquid, a couple of the sheep are leashed with a stretch of rope. One of the men kneels down to carefully wipe his hands clean before he strikes a spark to light a small, shuttered lantern.
[Dunsten(#24218)]
The barn door now squeaks in the wind, louder and more insistent. And somewhere nearby, a dog starts to bark.
"Hush, Fang!" a child's voice scolds carrying on the wind from the house.
The two men exit the barn with the leashed animals in tow, both freezing in place for a moment when the dog barks. Then they begin to move again, crossing to the far side of the field as quickly as they can move, one tugging along the animals while the other keeps the lantern shielded from the wind.
[Dunsten(#24218)]
The dog barks again, louder now, and more steadily, and then a second dog joins in--and suddenly both dogs are barking and the door to the house is flung open. Two brown dogs of a healthy size come racing out of the house, barking, ears pinned back, looking none too friendly.
They are followed by a tall blond man in a nightshirt who pauses at the threshold, bare-bladed sworded in hand.
It takes mere seconds for him to assess the situation. "Raiders!!" his voice booms across the homestead. "Helga! Get the children!" And he is out of the house, racing toward the raiders.
Raiders.. of a sense. There are only two men, and they're halfway across the field when the farmer bursts out with the barking dogs. The two brigands only take a moment to assess the situation. "Now! Do it!" Commands the first as he yanks the two sheep he's been towing close. One bleets in protest.
The fellow with the lantern unshutters it and reaches in to pull out the waxy candle held inside. He holds the flame against the damp, sticky wool of the sheep, and it swiftly flares alight from the fire, quickly burning and spreading over the thick coat the animal has been growing all winter. He moves to the second beast and does the same.
The two animals are released from the rope, and they mill around nervously for a moment, aggitated but oblivious to unfortunate fate that's in store for them. The two men break away, racing for the far end of the pasture now.
It isn't long before the sheep realize that the uncomfortable warmth they're feeling is a Bad thing. The first gives a pained cry as the fire burns it's flesh, and begins to run in a panic across the field. It's motion fans the flames and some might say the running, flaming animal is an impressive sight.
The second animal is startled as much by the barking of the dogs as it's frightened brother, and begins trotting towards where the rest of the herd is milling about.
[Dunsten(#24218)]
"NO!!" The man roars, one moment chasing after the two raiders, the next hesitating at the sight of that burnign sheep. Behind him three more figures emerge from the house--a woman, a young girl and a boy of about 10.
The man misses the burning sheep and turns toward his family. "Hengist!! Helga! Hrena! Get the sheep! Keep them out of the barn! Hurry!"
With that, the man of Rohan turns and, sword raised, races to follow after the nearest intruder while he calls to his two dogs to follow the first. The dogs seem quite happy to comply.
On instinct, the barking of the dogs has the sheep packing closer together, and a few begin to move towards the barn. That second, smoldering sheep reaches the herd, and that's when the animal realizes it's not safe at all and begins to panic. The liquid soaked into it's wool flares up with a breeze and suddenly there's a second beast that's aflame and emitting bleeted screeching. It bumps into it's companions and chaos breaks out among the herd.
That first sheep that was already a mote of fire is running around haphazardly in the middle of the field, completely out of it's senses.
The two culprits are sprinting across the grass, and the lean man makes a mad tumbling leap over the fence while the second, bulkier fellow is slower as he tries to push the candle back into the lantern without it's flame extinguishing.
"Forget the lamp! The sheep will finish the job!"
[Dunsten(#24218)]
Hengist Senior closes the distance on the bulkier fellow, and while he is trying to fumble with the lamp, the Rohir takes a mighty swing across the bulky raider's midsection, not caring that he himself is in a linen nightshirt and britches.
Hengist's family struggles to try to pull apart the flaming sheep from the others, but many burst into flame, throwing the herd into a panic. The boy and the woman settle for waving their arms and trying to scare off the sheep from the barn, driving them back down toward the a watering pond. But one of the sheep panics on being set afire and takes off for the grasslands on the edge of the farm....
As the farmer runs at him, the heavyset brigand finally gives up on the lantern and tosses it aside. He draws his own weapon, a hatchet, and brings it up to deflect the sword away, but still earns a glancing cut across his belly. "Your herd is burning, forgoil." He says with a hearty laugh. "I guess you're having lampchops tonight!" He swings the hatchet at the man's sword arm.
The other attacker is just beginning to climb back over the fence to help his friend when the dogs reach him and he's tangled up with fending off the snarling animals.
The first sheep finally collapses to the ground as the shock and pain of the fire overtakes it's senses, it's fur and flesh burned black.
[Dunsten(#24218)] The Rohir twists out of the way of that hatchet, and as he does so, he tries to swing his sword around the smash it against the back of the Dunlending's skull. But his farm -is- burning, and his attention is half on that..and then back on the raider. "Swine!" he snarls, adding anger to the force of his attack.
The smoldering sheep are forced away from the barn, some of them backing into the watering pond. But at least 2 or 3 have panicked and run for the nearby grasslands, and now the first smoldering of smoke can be seen from that area. Helga and the children, too busy trying to save herd and barn and house, do not yet see it. The smell wafts on the air, along with burnt wool.
The man fighting with the dogs manages to draw a short sword and begins stabbing at the canines, swearing profusely as he earns more than one beat from the creatures.
The larger raider with the hatchet manages to duck the sword, barely, then presses forward with another swing of his own weapon at the farmer. "I guess you'll be havin' lonlier nights now, with all your lovers dying in your fields."
[Dunsten(#24218)]
A fire now springs up in the grasslands, spreading slow, though spreading still. Unfortunately, it creeps toward the barn and house, and Helga screams, now directing the children to leave the sheep and fetch buckets to try to douse the flames.
"Venom of the enemy! Scum of the earth!" the Rohir snarls with rage. He jumps back out of the way of the hatchet, though the weapon catches on his nightshirt, ripping a large tear from the neckline and across his chest. The man now waves his sword blade in a wide arc, though he does not thrust an attack with the weapon, as if his aim is just to get the raider to leave.
The combatant seems as if he wants to press on and slay the farmer, but suddenly his friend that's still fighting with the dogs gives a high pitched yell as one of them chomps onto his leg. The raider waves the hatchet at the Rohir, then turns and runs to help disentangle his partner from the snapping dogs.
[Dunsten(#24218)] For an instant, the Rohir is torn: an enemy is getting away, but his home and livelihood are at stake. Then he turns and runs toward the fire, throwing his sword to one side and helping his family to throw water on the fire and the barn. A quarter of the sheep are dead from the fire or the ensuing panic, the grasslands still burn, that fire spreading with the wind, and a fire is now burning in the barn, which will collapse on itself as well. Horses, stabled in another nearby building, scream and stamp in panic at the smell of the fire, but they, at least are safe, as is the man's house. Thick black smoke curls into the night air, and by morning it will still be seen, if not smelt.
The two raiders battle off the dogs, finally cutting one down and scaring away the other. Then they run off into the night and leave the farm to burn as it will.
Across from the barn is a another thatched-roof structure, from the looks of it the home of the farmers who tend this land. And yet no smoke of a cooking fire rises from the smoke hole this evening, for it is now late enough for the farming family to be asleep.
It's all so peaceful and tranquil, how this farmstead is laid out. The only thing that's out of place is a pair of shadowy figures that edge along the fence of the pasture. They're moving slowly, one a bulky figure that seems to be bent over with considerable weight. The other is slowly working along the fence, and the only sound is an occassional slopping noise that breaks the calm quiet of night.
Eventually the pair reaches the barn, very carefully the leaner of the two tries to work the door open silently. He works at a slow pace with frequent glances over towards the farm house.
[Dunsten(#24218)]
The barn door squeaks. Just a little, barely audible, but it might be a warning of things to come.
A slight wind stirs the grasslands surrounding the farm. Animals can be heard softly snorting inside the barn and certainly the distinct odor of barn can be smelled.
"Waste of good animals.." One of the two mutters softly, the one carrying the supplies. The other man responds, "Shh.. You want to try sneaking back with a herd of sheep?"
The two men both take up clay bottles and start moving gently amongst the sheep in the barn, casually dribbling the contents of the jugs over the animals as they move. Some begin to mill outside through the open barn door, but the brigands don't concern themselves with that.
When they've emptied the contents of the last of the jugs, which seem to be filled with some kind of sticky, alcoholic smelling liquid, a couple of the sheep are leashed with a stretch of rope. One of the men kneels down to carefully wipe his hands clean before he strikes a spark to light a small, shuttered lantern.
[Dunsten(#24218)]
The barn door now squeaks in the wind, louder and more insistent. And somewhere nearby, a dog starts to bark.
"Hush, Fang!" a child's voice scolds carrying on the wind from the house.
The two men exit the barn with the leashed animals in tow, both freezing in place for a moment when the dog barks. Then they begin to move again, crossing to the far side of the field as quickly as they can move, one tugging along the animals while the other keeps the lantern shielded from the wind.
[Dunsten(#24218)]
The dog barks again, louder now, and more steadily, and then a second dog joins in--and suddenly both dogs are barking and the door to the house is flung open. Two brown dogs of a healthy size come racing out of the house, barking, ears pinned back, looking none too friendly.
They are followed by a tall blond man in a nightshirt who pauses at the threshold, bare-bladed sworded in hand.
It takes mere seconds for him to assess the situation. "Raiders!!" his voice booms across the homestead. "Helga! Get the children!" And he is out of the house, racing toward the raiders.
Raiders.. of a sense. There are only two men, and they're halfway across the field when the farmer bursts out with the barking dogs. The two brigands only take a moment to assess the situation. "Now! Do it!" Commands the first as he yanks the two sheep he's been towing close. One bleets in protest.
The fellow with the lantern unshutters it and reaches in to pull out the waxy candle held inside. He holds the flame against the damp, sticky wool of the sheep, and it swiftly flares alight from the fire, quickly burning and spreading over the thick coat the animal has been growing all winter. He moves to the second beast and does the same.
The two animals are released from the rope, and they mill around nervously for a moment, aggitated but oblivious to unfortunate fate that's in store for them. The two men break away, racing for the far end of the pasture now.
It isn't long before the sheep realize that the uncomfortable warmth they're feeling is a Bad thing. The first gives a pained cry as the fire burns it's flesh, and begins to run in a panic across the field. It's motion fans the flames and some might say the running, flaming animal is an impressive sight.
The second animal is startled as much by the barking of the dogs as it's frightened brother, and begins trotting towards where the rest of the herd is milling about.
[Dunsten(#24218)]
"NO!!" The man roars, one moment chasing after the two raiders, the next hesitating at the sight of that burnign sheep. Behind him three more figures emerge from the house--a woman, a young girl and a boy of about 10.
The man misses the burning sheep and turns toward his family. "Hengist!! Helga! Hrena! Get the sheep! Keep them out of the barn! Hurry!"
With that, the man of Rohan turns and, sword raised, races to follow after the nearest intruder while he calls to his two dogs to follow the first. The dogs seem quite happy to comply.
On instinct, the barking of the dogs has the sheep packing closer together, and a few begin to move towards the barn. That second, smoldering sheep reaches the herd, and that's when the animal realizes it's not safe at all and begins to panic. The liquid soaked into it's wool flares up with a breeze and suddenly there's a second beast that's aflame and emitting bleeted screeching. It bumps into it's companions and chaos breaks out among the herd.
That first sheep that was already a mote of fire is running around haphazardly in the middle of the field, completely out of it's senses.
The two culprits are sprinting across the grass, and the lean man makes a mad tumbling leap over the fence while the second, bulkier fellow is slower as he tries to push the candle back into the lantern without it's flame extinguishing.
"Forget the lamp! The sheep will finish the job!"
[Dunsten(#24218)]
Hengist Senior closes the distance on the bulkier fellow, and while he is trying to fumble with the lamp, the Rohir takes a mighty swing across the bulky raider's midsection, not caring that he himself is in a linen nightshirt and britches.
Hengist's family struggles to try to pull apart the flaming sheep from the others, but many burst into flame, throwing the herd into a panic. The boy and the woman settle for waving their arms and trying to scare off the sheep from the barn, driving them back down toward the a watering pond. But one of the sheep panics on being set afire and takes off for the grasslands on the edge of the farm....
As the farmer runs at him, the heavyset brigand finally gives up on the lantern and tosses it aside. He draws his own weapon, a hatchet, and brings it up to deflect the sword away, but still earns a glancing cut across his belly. "Your herd is burning, forgoil." He says with a hearty laugh. "I guess you're having lampchops tonight!" He swings the hatchet at the man's sword arm.
The other attacker is just beginning to climb back over the fence to help his friend when the dogs reach him and he's tangled up with fending off the snarling animals.
The first sheep finally collapses to the ground as the shock and pain of the fire overtakes it's senses, it's fur and flesh burned black.
[Dunsten(#24218)] The Rohir twists out of the way of that hatchet, and as he does so, he tries to swing his sword around the smash it against the back of the Dunlending's skull. But his farm -is- burning, and his attention is half on that..and then back on the raider. "Swine!" he snarls, adding anger to the force of his attack.
The smoldering sheep are forced away from the barn, some of them backing into the watering pond. But at least 2 or 3 have panicked and run for the nearby grasslands, and now the first smoldering of smoke can be seen from that area. Helga and the children, too busy trying to save herd and barn and house, do not yet see it. The smell wafts on the air, along with burnt wool.
The man fighting with the dogs manages to draw a short sword and begins stabbing at the canines, swearing profusely as he earns more than one beat from the creatures.
The larger raider with the hatchet manages to duck the sword, barely, then presses forward with another swing of his own weapon at the farmer. "I guess you'll be havin' lonlier nights now, with all your lovers dying in your fields."
[Dunsten(#24218)]
A fire now springs up in the grasslands, spreading slow, though spreading still. Unfortunately, it creeps toward the barn and house, and Helga screams, now directing the children to leave the sheep and fetch buckets to try to douse the flames.
"Venom of the enemy! Scum of the earth!" the Rohir snarls with rage. He jumps back out of the way of the hatchet, though the weapon catches on his nightshirt, ripping a large tear from the neckline and across his chest. The man now waves his sword blade in a wide arc, though he does not thrust an attack with the weapon, as if his aim is just to get the raider to leave.
The combatant seems as if he wants to press on and slay the farmer, but suddenly his friend that's still fighting with the dogs gives a high pitched yell as one of them chomps onto his leg. The raider waves the hatchet at the Rohir, then turns and runs to help disentangle his partner from the snapping dogs.
[Dunsten(#24218)] For an instant, the Rohir is torn: an enemy is getting away, but his home and livelihood are at stake. Then he turns and runs toward the fire, throwing his sword to one side and helping his family to throw water on the fire and the barn. A quarter of the sheep are dead from the fire or the ensuing panic, the grasslands still burn, that fire spreading with the wind, and a fire is now burning in the barn, which will collapse on itself as well. Horses, stabled in another nearby building, scream and stamp in panic at the smell of the fire, but they, at least are safe, as is the man's house. Thick black smoke curls into the night air, and by morning it will still be seen, if not smelt.
The two raiders battle off the dogs, finally cutting one down and scaring away the other. Then they run off into the night and leave the farm to burn as it will.
Players: Finnian (temping), Dunsten (temping)
Located in: Dunlending | Rohirrim
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