Part Two - Boom

  Present:

• Abellinut "Able" Ugwistan, 31, Moor Arian Fighter from Septum - Jeff
• Aulius "Owl" Lucius Decanter, 25, Polytheistic Fighter from Gades - Jamie
• Elia Ildaria, 24, Basque Pagan Barbarian from Gasteiz  - Richard
• Luigi Abundus Bertolini, 23, Roman Nicene Priest from Ravenna - Chris
• MARMALADE: Merkel, 24, Vandal Arian Temple-fighter from Gades - Kevin
• MARMALADE: Vanker Polyester, 22, Vandal Pagan Rogue from Gades - Shane
• Velito Rosso, 24, Roman Nicene Barbarian from Venice - Darryl
• Victor Koshenko, 24, Alan Arian Thief from Gades - Ian

by Jeff

[See later post for stuff that happened already]

Between Hispalis and Astigi

After a brief lunch stop at Segida, the party set off towards Astigi, the next major town where they would be staying for the night. Expecting trouble to be waiting for them there, Elia and Owl took the Spear off the coach and headed across country. Their plan was to bypass Astigi altogether and meet up with the caravan between Astigi and Carbula.

Since they were not travelling with anyone else, they took the opportunity to converse with Geryon.

"Calling Geryon, calling Geryon" thought Owl.

"WELCOME CHILD, HOW GOES IT?"

"Well, this big ole spear is becoming an issue. Is there any chance you could maybe, like, shrink it down a bit?"

"NO"

"But it's so big that everyone can see it. The nasty Nicene priests and soldiers are after us"

"SOUNDS LIKE A YOU PROBLEM"

"Can you do anything to help?"

"SEND ME MORE SOULS!"

Late that afternoon, Elia and Owl spotted a group of nuns camping out in the bush. Making a lot of noise they approached and inquired as to why they were there. Their two guards had died from some disease (St Martin's Fever) apparently, so Elia offered to guard them overnight in return for some of their provisions. 

"Souls?" whispered Owl.

"Sod off you dick" whispered Elia right back.

It turned out to be a quiet night, and in the morning the nuns headed off towards Astigi.

"You might want to go that way if you want to arrive in Astigi" Elia pointed out.

Shortly after leaving the nuns, Elia and Owl encountered a young family. Wife, husband, and small child pushing their worldly possessions in a wheel-barrow.  

"Souls?" whispered Owl.

"Sod off you dick" whispered Elia right back.

Later again that day, while forcing their way through the open bush on their way around Astigi, they spotted two figures crouched behind some shrubbery ahead. They were roughly dressed in scrappy robes and were clutching bows. They appeared to be waiting to ambush somebody!

"Ambush" whispered Elia.

"Souls?" replied Owl.

"You bet" muttered Elia as she slipped off into the darker undergrowth and flanked the two figures.

Owl quietly unwrapped the Spear and grasped the shaft. His mind seemed to expand and his awareness spread out into the forest around them. He felt not just two ambushers, but a number of other minds nearby. And the strong presence of Geryon himself burst upon him.

"KILL THEM AND FEED ME THEIR SOULS" reverberated into Owl's mind.

"Charge" yelled Owl, leaping to his feet and sprinting forward.

The bush seemed to withdraw from in front of Owl as he charged, carrying the Spear like a lance.

One of the ambushers stood and yelled "Stand and deliver"

Owl lowered the Spear, stared the ambusher in the eye, and charged forward with a grin. 

Dodging the expected arrow, Owl thrust the Spear into the ambusher's chest.

"BOOM"

The ambusher exploded in a cloud of blood and offal.

"ONE" boomed Geryon in Owl's mind.

Elia, off to the side somewhere and just about to shoot the second ambusher in the back, heard some noise from just further off. Turning silently to look she spotted four other figures who were rushing forward.

"Oh shit" she quietly exclaimed and tried to cough out a Geryon fireball.

Nothing happened.

The second of the original ambushers bravely charged towards Owl, sword drawn. The Spear tip hovered threateningly in front of of the charging figure, but he casually knocked it aside with his sword and struck Owl in the leg causing a nasty cut. As Owl staggered back, blood welling from the deep cut, Elia made a second attempt at a Geryon fireball, directing it hopefully towards the four figures charging towards them.

"BOOM"

A massive bust of fire shot from Elia's mouth and burst just at the feet of the charging figures. One tumbled back, smoke billowing off his dirty clothes, and crashed to the ground, dead. 

"TWO" boomed Geryon in Elia's mind.

A brief flurry of blows from the other three flashed around Elia, just one striking a massive hit on her head, the rest missing completely. Nearly stunned by the huge blow, Elia maintained her feet and breathed out another fireball.

"BOOM"

Another figure spun to the ground, burned to a cinder about the head.

"THREE" boomed Geryon in Elia's mind.

Pondering on the wisdom of their pathetic ambush plan, the remaining two bandits a hasty retreat.

One collected the Spear in his back after a masterful throw by Owl.

"BOOM"

He exploded in another cloud of blood and offal.

"FOUR" boomed Geryon in Owl's mind.

As the last of the ambushers disappeared into the bush, Elia staggered across to Owl and suggested that some healing by using the Spear would be pretty helpful. Alas, no healing was forthcoming. Geryon must have been too busy playing with his four new souls.

Fortunately, First Aid was able to be applied by Owl, both to Elia and to himself.

Following the path of the fleeing bandit, Elia and Owl found a small camp site. A meal was cooking over a small fire, and assorted gear was scattered around. Signs of a hasty retreat were all about the place.

"A good place to rest for the night" suggested Owl.

"Look" said Elia, "A red ruby"

Meanwhile, the rest of the party had arrived at Astigi. A group of local Nicene guards dressed in white robes (The local bishop's men) met them at the gates to town, and after some heated discussions with Centurion Rodrigo and a thorough search of the coaches and wagons, let us into the city of Astigi.