Snot Gets Food!
[Snot(#31661)]
The night is fresh and warm.The trolls are about, thick as flies! They just seem to be buzzing in like giant body snatching mosquitoes, grabbing folks and darting off! With the great beast Oliver in possession of a young bather named Keldean, the confusion allows for another to spring forth.
Snot, upon seeing Ollie running off with the foods and not sharing was angered. Until his eyes spotted more of the snacks! Setting his run at the woman with the shortest steel, Snot snatched her up and has started running to the northeast. While Oliver is chased along the river to the north, snot is swiftly crunching the underbrush as he tries to get him and his prize into the thicker woods!
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
What a bit of ruckus! The night is full of it! Folk are, or have, dashed off and orders are being shouted in the darkness. Someone has thrown more wood onto the fire to blaze it up and spread some light.
In this confusion, the unarmed, bound man has finally been jostled from his lethargy. For the past few days Rhifaroth has sat, ridden, or walked in silence. Eyes often unfocused as though withdrawn, not often hearing those who speak around him. But doing whatever he is bid without argument.
Now, however, the man seems to have woken up from his state enough to register that something bad is happening. Still with his hands tied, the tall man manages to get to his feet and blink, looking into the darkness and wary.
Squeezed in the troll's oversized hand, Cordelia is somewhat like a squishy sticky bun, only with arms and legs sticking out either end. "Put me down! Put me down -now-!" she demands of Snot loudly, as if reprimanding a huge toddler. "I'm not good to eat!" She tries pounding the troll's back with her fists, though her dagger is still in one hand.
Your attack against Snot mildly wounds him!
[<#24844>]
'Rhifaroth!' There is a loud whisper somewhere above him. Caelwen's pale face is peering down from between tree-branches. "
[Snot(#31661)]
If Snot even registers the pounding on his stonish body by those hands, he shows it not even slightly. In his rush through the thick woods, the behemoth is not so kind to his 'snack'. The swinging of his arms as he leaps and runs surely slaps Cordelia through some branches and bushes. The thundering of his footfalls begins to recede swiftly as anything in his way is quickly pushed aside by his other arm. He chances a look back, the sight of his stoic persuants only increasing his pace.
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
There is confusion, but indeed some of the Rangers give pursuit. Someone had shouted at him to stay where he was, not that he was about to go bludering into the darkness unarmed anyway.
The tree above him whispers his name! A bit disoriented, not sure where he is or what is going on, Rhifaroth glances about and suddenly moves a little away from the tree, tense.
[Giliath(#9838)] Giliath has gone after Oliver, as swift and fast as he can. But the troll didn't go far, and Henleg and Nauthcel were close behind. And so the elf, the memory of a second troll behind him, and people, children no less, left behind who cannot defend themselves, has turned on his heels and fled back through the woods towards these. Henleg and Nauthcel must deal with Oliver themselves.
He appears in the trees not far to the north a shadow among shadows, running towards where Caelwen, Rhifaroth and Liuni are, as well as the frightened horses.
"Ow!" Sure enough, branches and twigs snap into Cordelia's arms and legs as the troll tears through the forest, and the girl's annoyed screams are probably enough to wake the dead--or at least let the rangers follow the trail easily. "Put me down now, dammit!" she tries again at the troll. No sense beating at the thing's back--it doesn't seem to feel it, though she does consider that dagger in her hand.
[<#24844>]
Caelwen's eyes gradually focus again though she still looks north. Her face tilts down again. 'Rhifaroth!' she hisses, louder and more frustrated. "
[Caelwen(#24844)]
A moment later, Caelwen has slithered to the ground, her bright curly hair scarcely mussed. She approaches Rhifaroth with a dagger in hand, green eyes wary as she looks about.
[Snot(#31661)]
The troll doesn't pause in his mad dash, the earthquake of his stampede finally whithering away. He has left a clear trail of destruction and squashed foilage in his wake. Eventually he finds himself with a good distance between himself and the chasers. Now is a good time to pause and examine the sqirming thing he has caught he thinks.....
[Rhifaroth(#27282)]
For just an instant, an elvish looking woman coming down out of the tree towards him, holding a knife in hand, makes Rhifaroth back away from Caelwen at step. His bound hands are held ready as though he would defend himself against her.
But then, the Dunadan stops and closes his eyes, breathing a little fast. Everything has been turned inside out, dreams and waking, and tied up again...
[Giliath(#9838)] There are still trees and a fair bit of distance between himself and his goal. Giliath is fast, but he cannot cover ground instantaneously. Caelwen will have plenty of time to cut Rhifaroth free, if this is what will happen, before her husband can get there. He is glancing around as he runs, but there is no sign of either Cordelia or the other troll. A second of hesitation - to go after them, or stay with these.. then he notices that more than the two rangers who followed Ollie are missing. They must have already started after Snot.
[<#24844>]
Caelwen stops, watching Rhifaroth with a bewildered expression. Her head bows a little, her eyes still on the man, and she holds a pose of acute listening for a while. 'Rhifaroth.' She says his name a third time. "
Cordelia -is- still squirming--wriggling every which way to get out of Snot's grasp if she can, scrawny thing that she is. It's of no use, of course--the troll has her firmly at the moment, though as the beast slows up she tries to use the time to gather her wits about her and try to think. "I'm not good to eat," she tries to Snot. "I'm bitter and foul tasting. I turn your stomach to stone."
You walk north along the eastern shore of the Mitheithel River.
East Shore of the Mitheithel
You are on the eastern shore of the Mitheithel river, just north of the Last Bridge. The river is fairly broad and obviously cannot be crossed except by the bridge. The banks are fairly steep, but not too steep to be wooded. Further east, the woods grow denser and darker, and the terrain grows very rugged. A ravine yawns just under this ridge of land along the river, and you cannot go east from here. These are the infamous Trollshaws, where trolls from the mountains come down to hunt for victims during the night and hide in the deep woods during the daylight.
[Snot(#31661)]
The troll pauses for a moment as he comes across a bit of a clearing in the woods. With the moonlight looking down, Snot opens all but one finger of his hand. This last digit he leaves pressed across the woman's abdomen, clinching her tight across his giant palm. He peers at her intently for a moment, not saying a word. Then slowly, he raises her up to his face, sniffing. The huge mouth opens, rancid breath wafting out hot and steamy.
"UGH!" Cordelia can't help it, choking on the troll's stinking breath. "I'm...I'm like a poison berry..." she says, thinking in a hurry. "Sweet smelling on the outside and nice to look at--I -look- like food. But inside I make you rot and turn to stone. Plus...I know where to find you some nice food. Juicy. Tasty. Easy to eat...."
[Snot(#31661)]
The mouth opens just a bit wider...
Out comes a....
TONGUE!
The troll flicks his slobbering tongue out in a taste test, obviously not quite sure if he should believe the woman's statements on her own flavor. The rough thing is still quite wet as it makes a pass over her and returns to it's home. He sniffs again, the smelling seeming pained and clogged and lowers back down a bit from his face.
Holding Cordelia at half arm's length away he finally speaks, slow and methodically in a dull voice, "'Aht's a berry? Do it taste good?" The olog stares hard at the woman, eyes squinting.
"Aaaargh!" Cordelia screams and shudders in disgust all at once. "No!! NO! Wrong!" she barks out an order at the troll. "It does NOT taste good! It is NOT for eating! It will cause you PAIN! Much pain! Like fire! Put it down and it will find you REAL food!"
[Snot(#31661)]
The troll scratches his forehead absently with his free hand, scraping off a bit off moss that had somehow attached there. The wheels in his head seem to be turning....very slowly. "Taste pretty good fer me." His eyes search himself, "No pains. No fires. Snot wanna eat it." He says the words as though to himself.
Sounds quite a distance in the south make the troll look that way for a moment and glare.
Well...that line of "reasoning" failed. Cordelia frowns, desperately trying to think of how to get out of this situation--eyes going toward the south as the troll looks that way too. "THe other troll stole your food..." she suggests quietly. "He's probably eating it right now. You'd better hurry and find him before he eats it all up."
[Snot(#31661)]
That gets a reaction! Snot's face twists up in anger and a big bubble of his namesake bursts from his nose. He nods head, "Food right! Da other one steals! Snot double hungry!" The sounds to the south grow slightly louder and Snot curls his lip. Slowly all the fingers come back down across the woman, careful not to 'tenderize' before mealtime.
Once again Cordelia squrims, though this time it's to avoid getting snot dribbled on her. "If he sees you bringing your food, though, he's going to try to steal it too!" she protests. "Better to hide your food from him before you go try to get back what he stole!" All the while she is talking, her fingers struggle against the troll's grip on her midsection--then she tries stabbing his stony fingers with her knife, even!
COMBAT - Wielded: Dagger
You attack Snot with your Dagger...
[Combat(#13388)->Cordelia]
Your attack against Snot mildly wounds him!
[Snot(#31661)]
The skin doesn't even give way to the knife in her hand. More of a clink and a slight dent really. If he even cares, he doesn't show it. He just clenches all the fingers down again and looks at the squirmer, "Food finds food! It tell me! Find Snot 'real food'!" He sucks in through his nose the wet phlegmy sound echoing from his nasal caverns. He glances south one more time and takes off running again. through the thick trees and brush he holds Cordelia untenderly, thrusting her through it all.
"Ow! Ow! Put me down!! I'm not food! Put me down!!!" Cordelia leaves a steady stream of curses and shreiks through the woods as Snot runs, screaming and screeching anything that comes into her head in the hopes that someone--ANYONE--will hear and come get her out of this situation.
