Day one - a baptism by fire

Exploration Phase Cards Drawn:

[K♣, 5◆, 9◆, 10◆, Q♥]

The day was already drawing to an end as Brer made her way South and East through the potato fields, already showing signs of growth even this early in the year. Hillfar had always been blessed with fruitful produce as rain falling on The Tops filtered its way to a fertile plain. Her target was Coral Rill, the source of this watery bounty and the boundary marker between Hillfar and the Other Lands. Brer had been fishing on the Coral, as they called it, and had even been lucky enough to see one of the rare creatures that it was named after, but had never actually crossed. Today would be that day as she planned on camping on the far bank.

Coral Rill, a fast stream

It was not far; two hours of steady walking brought her to very close to her target; while she had never crossed, like most of her peers, there were ways to get over safely that were taken by Rook hunters and traders. One of these was a wide shallow ford, marked on both sides by a huge tree that had been planted there specifically as a guide. After a short rest in the shade of the drooping branches Brer tucked her trousers into her tall boots, pulled her sword from its scabbard, and instructed Bea to fly up and ahead of her to give warning of dangers on the other side. The water, when she entered it, was flowing fast and was cold where it splashed against her legs and dripped down into her boots. Fortunately even in the middle where the channel was deeper there were stones placed at a convenient distance apart and she was able to hop from one to the next and stayed mostly dry.

Suddenly she was across, and in new territory.

Into the Rook's maw (Q♥)

Her feet were pretty wet, even if she had avoided a worse soaking, so when Brer climbed the far bank she sat beneath the other tree and took her boots off to dry while she ate a snack. Her plan was to maybe even spend the night here before striking out into the unknown. As she rested her back against the rough bark and stretched her toes she looked at the path ahead. The terrain was very different on this side of the Coral; where "home" was a flat flood plain this side climbed steeply with short wiry grass and scattered trees. Far in the distance, barely visible in the late evening gloaming, were the ramparts of Room End a mythical place that was only known in tales and songs. That was her ultimate goal.

She woke with a start; it was now fully dark and she realised she must have dozed off in place, exhausted by excitement and walking. Something must have woken her - normally once asleep that is it for a solid eight hours. What was it?

Brer reached for her boots and found them not quite dry but she still slid them on then stood, reaching out with her mind to find Bea; then she realised that it was Bea who had roused her, sending a warning message before flying up into the branches above: "SOMETHING IS COMING!"

[Combat A◆, 8♥, 2◆]

[Play A◆ against Q♥ - loss] - Suddenly everything turned upside down - the ground was shaking and rumbling and cracking. Brer found herself flung high in the air, rocks smashing into her head and shoulders as they rose with her; when she hit the ground she wasn't sure how far she had travelled or how high she had gone but something cracked in her left wrist and pain shot up her arm causing her to cry out. More rocks and debris continued to fall around her, some of it striking her painfully on the torso as she struggled to her feet and fought to keep her footing. Bea cried out in sympathetic pain while hurtling through the sky as fast as her props would take her.

Finally the shaking stopped, the air cleared, and Brer was able to make out the terrifying sight of a Rook bearing down on her along the river bank. She could now see that she had not been thrown as far as she feared but she knew that her wrist was broken and her sword was still propped up against the tree trunk which was itself on the other side of the rapidly advancing bulk of animated stone. She could see the creature lifting up its club shaped appendage that it had smashed into the ground for its first attack.

Electrical Attack strikes the Rook

[Play 8♥ against 6◆ - win] - Before Brer could make any aggressive move of her own Bea swooped in out of the darkness, electrical forces building and crackling and forking angrily. The Rook reached down and used its club to sweep up dust and gravel towards the small annoying flying thing however Bea was ready and dodged easily before unleashing the full power of Electric Magic in a focused stream of power right into the heart of the creature. It staggered back, dropping the club, and as the power continued to drain deep into it there were flashes and minor explosions throught its body and suddenly its left side collapsed and it sank to the left, grinding and shaking but unable to move for the moment.

[Play 2◆ against A♣ - win] - Brer realised that this was her chance, maybe her last chance, and gasping with pain as the bones in her wrist ground together she sprang towards the incapacitated beast and threw herself towards the centre of its mass. The crack that had been briefly illuminated by the sparks from Bea's successful attack was still open and visible there was the heart of the Rook; a Rookling with a small club shaped appendage and identical in every way to the larger host. With a cry of celebration and pain comingled Brer snatched the life from the attacker and then collapsed back to the dust and dirt, rolling at the last minute to avoid being crushed as it collapsed lifeless onto its front.

[Result - win with one wound (minus one EXPLORATION). Reward - Rookling (plus one attack)]

It was several minutes before she moved again.

Links and Credits for pictures:

1. Coral Rill - https://elkvalleycoal.com/construction-begins-on-fording-river-water-treatment-facility/
2. The Electrical Attack - https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2015-12-07/lightning-facts/6993880