Koller Wolves and Wannabe Merchants

A soft hush falls as the envoy leaves the Pymm tradepost, laden with shellfish, spruce lumber and pearls, bound for Marltique. A horse nickers in quiet complaint as the slack in the traces between the team and the freight wagon is taken up and the full brunt of the weighty load descends upon their backs. The trademaster whistles sharply and cracks his whip, and the teams begin their struggle up the steep divide and across the narrow wooden bridge toward the mainland.

Tagne's team breaks north at the first intersection, intent on hauling their tradegoods to Dacona. The leader of the trade group, a more experienced merchant by far, shakes his head in silence. Toerlion has plenty of lumber, he recalls from the rumors and threads of gossip he has heard. The best the offshoot party will do is with their pearls and perhaps some of the rarer seafood that does not spawn in the colder northern clime.

He watches for a moment as the smaller team departs, then turns his wagon teams along the southern road toward Marltique Harbor. The chill coastal air feels good, he muses as he glances to either side of his formation traveling the wide cobblestone roadway. The warriors ride, sword hilts hidden beneath their traveling cloaks yet within reach in the event of trouble. There is almost always trouble, he grimaces.

They cross the invisible border from Pymm to Koller. The road surface changes slightly as their wheels catch in the less-maintained roadbed and are tugged by clumps of coastal mud. As the inherent protection of Naztari's chosen lands drops away, the tension of the group increases notably. No more are they within the lands of her providence - and that is never good.

The road curves toward the peninsula of Koller and its rugged cliffs; the forest thickens and grows dense with undergrowth and ominous darkness even at the height of day. The envoy guards' eyes dart from side to side, watching the shadowy cover, wary against attack. They do not have to wait long.

A howl pierces the foggy overhang, followed by a chorus of snarls. The din grows as the distance between the trading party and the threat narrows, falsetto owwww! bouncing through thick stands of coastal cedar.

With a hideous growl, the leader of the wolf pack leaps from the underbrush and onto the flank of the nearest rider's horse. The steed screams in agony and collapses, rolling sideways and sending its passenger flailing into the cobblestones. The man curves upward and leaps to his feet, sword drawn and at the ready, spinning to search for the attacker. A wagon skids off the canted road and tumbles into the weeds at the side of the roadbed, spilling several crates of pearls and lobster. A shout goes up near one of the rear wagon teams as a wolf's claws tear into the leg of a battle mage caught unawares.


[... pause here to go get coffee and sit back to watch the action... keep in mind this is all happening in a text game... what a hoot!]