With the departure of the other magi for their long journey to the North Mariella prepares to accompany her brother on his mission to negotiate the release of the kidnap victims from the pirates.
Her intent it to remain firmly in the background protecting her brother with spells. However with the departure of both the grogs accompanying the other magi she does send for a bodyguard from the covenant.
It is two days before she and her brother depart to make the rendezvous with the agent of the pirates they are accompanied by the grog and two other monks.
[color=blue]OOC
I am largely going to narrate the events of this chapter over the next few days until I reach a point where other PC's may become involved.
On the day the other magi reach Lubeck Mariella , the grog , her brother and 2 monks set out into the forest, they are travelling to a rendezvous with a representative from the pirates, they carry a heavy chest of coin.
The journey as reported by Wilhelm (Grog in the service of Ad Fons), while drunk in the village tavern
It was a miserably damp day when we set out , and we spent an entire day travelling into the wood and being rained on. It was miserable those monks had no sense of humor at all and wouldn't chat with a bloke about anything, even worse when we stopped would they dice with me no all they wanted to do was to pray. It got so bad I was even thinking about chatting with that witch Mariella but the thought of what happened to the last man who tried anything with her , its enought to make you feel faint. ANyway with her along at least I didn't ahve to put up with any horses, horrible beasts only thing we have in common is not liking to be near her.
She was a fat lot of use all she did was a few chants and then arguing with the boss monk all day, anyone would have thought they where married . Now that I think on it perhaps they where it would explain why she was concerned for him , perhaps he went into a monastery in shame when he discovered her real interests.
Any way they was bickering along , and any time I asked her anything she snapped at me so vicously I thought I was going to start bleeding from the edge of her tongue. All she wanted me to do was watch the forest and not touch her or her brother. All I was doing was offering to help them over a stream , some people have no gratitude, she let one of those useless monks help her
(This may have had something to do with the Pe Te wards which would have destroyed his armour)
Any way when it started to get dark she told me to take guard and wake her up near midnight to take guard . Then she and the boss monk started arguing again, this time they where talking in Latin some of the time instead of that foreign gabble , the other 2 monks where more sensible still praying and such but at the far edge of the camp away from her.
Anyway while I was on guard I managed to hear what they where saying.
She was saying something about him being the only mundane who had meant anything to her until recently and not being about to let him go , that's why I think they used to be married and it explains a lot about her and her new lady 'freind' eh.
Anyway I woke her a bit after midnight , it took me a while to have the nerve to wake her and then I got some sleep. Good job I did condidering how horrible the next morning was......
The continuing Saga of Wilhelm the Grog
The day started off well enougth I woke up to the smell of breakfast one of the monks was cooking breakfast . Then the boss monk told us he was going on to the rendezvous with the kidnappers alone, when he said that he was looking straight at Mariella and the look she gave him was enougth to make you wet yourself. He shrugged it off and lead off th mule with the money. He hadn't been gone five minutes when she comes over to me and tells me we are following him I wasn't about to argue , one of the monks tried to but one look at her face and he stopped arguing and started praying.
Anyway we set off through the woods , she was quiet as a viper slithering through the forest and she wasn't happy with the noise I was making , what did she expect I ain't got no sorcery and had this armour , me shield , me sword and a couple a francisca. Anyway we clumped through the forest for about half an hur before she hissed at me to stop. We was looking out over this clearing and the boss monk was just standing around waiting , it looked like he was praying. She told me to stay there and look out for an archer and if I saw an archer stop him shooting the monk or I'd be sorry I was even born. Then she started creeping around the clearing and I lost sight of her straight away she musta used magic or turned into one of them crows all over the place.
Anyway I had been hanging around for ages and then I saw a miracle, just as the monk was sitting there this arrow comes flying out of the bushes and as it hits him it turns to dust on the spot , sure as I saw anything God was protecting that monk despite him being married to that witch, Then there was the most goddawful scream from the woods and this man staggerrd out dropping a bow , he looked like some maniac had been stabbing him repeatedly with a knife his guts where leaking out. Me I rushed out and knocked the monk to the ground and made sure no one else could shoot at him , when I looked around again Mariella was standing over the gut on the ground looking at him , and I realised I had knocked the monk out . She told me to talk to they guy on the ground and explain to him that unless he wanted to be "Peeled like a grape and and slowly fried to death" and some other thing stoo terrible to mention he had better tell her where he came from and who sent him . He sort of laughed and said what was she going to do to him worse than he was already sufferring . She smiled and I never want to see another smile like that again as long as I live and said something in latin and then he screamed a lot it was horrible anyway he told me everything she wanted to know and then I went and was sick , When I had finished being sick she told me to take the monk back to the camp and that she would be along later.
Mariella's report to the Covenant Council
" I accompanied my brother to pay the ransom . One of the pirates tried to murder him and steal the money. I stopped the assasination and interrogated the pirate he told me where the prisoners where being held and that there where only eleven pirates left , the rest having returned to the sea . I went to their camp and killed all I could find I think two may have escaped into the woods, released the surviving hostages and returned here to await your return and continue my studies"
Wilhelm continues his story
"Well I got the monk back to the camp he had a right bump on his noggin I can tell you I think I hit him a bit hard when I knocked him down . The other two monks fussed around like he as hurt bad and a bit later he came around . He was a bit groggy and wanted to know where Mariella was I told him she had gone off alone , he turned a bit pale and started praying for her. Don't know what he was worried about anything evil in those woods would have run a mile before getting in her way.
Any way it was getting on into the afternoon when a whole bunch of people turned up at the camp apparently they where the priests and people who had been held hostage. This little fussy guy was looking at the wounds of some of them and splitting his attention between them and Mariella who came back a bit after the others. She had a bandage around her upper arm but she was covered in blood looked like she had been rolling around in it . I was worried she was hurt and I was going to get into trouble but she told me it wasn't hers , and I didn't feel like asking any more questions. She and the monk then had an argument of some kind shouting at each other in that foreign language and then she turned around and told me we where leaving. We walked straight back here and I have never been so glad to be home. Then that little guy turned up a few days later and moved into the village. I think he's a surgeon .