Trajan's Journal - Awakening

I woke up after the poisoning incident chained to a bench in a crampt wagon. Duncan was to one side and Ilmer to another. All but Hendrick had awakened. We took stock of our situation and made brief introductions. Cassius volunteered that he had palmed a lockpick into his hair, and he and Zakkur got to work on the locks. I pointed out to Duncan that as the strongest people here, it was, pretty much, going to be up to us to lead the escape. When we got the chance, I would lead and he would follow up. We then set ourselves to using our joint strength to break away some of the restraints.

I'm not sure if they heard us talking, or pulling up the chains, but the wagon stopped and they opened the door to investigate. I created a fuss in an effort to distract them from the fact that most of us had slipped our bonds. Satisfied he began to close the door. That's when I lunged.

The guy was in light armor with two swords strapped to his back. If I was to have a hope, I knew that I needed to engage him on equal terms: to wrestle him before he could draw weapons. My lunge knocked the door into him, and bowled him over. I leapt out on top of him and began to wrestle. What I did not know was that there was another guard, with a very big sword backing him up. He closed on me, but there was little I could do. If I got up, the two-sword guard would be up in no time and they would both be on me.

Fortunately, Duncan did, indeed, come out after me. He engaged the big-sword fighter with his chain. The others began to emerge and pitch in. Duncan managed to disarm the big-sword fighter, and tried to arm himself (unweildly as the blade was) but it slipped from his grasp. Ilmer conjectured that they had a mage in the bushes casting grease. A few magic missiles from Miasma sent him running and eventually felled him.

I, eventually, got the better of the two-sword figher and called upon him to surrender. He declined, most insultingly, and declaimed that "Lady Raya is coming". There being no other option, Ilmer finished him off. I had no problem with Raya being on her way. I figured she had Column and I wanted him back. After a few cures we were back on our feet. I tried to get people to take to the trees, knowing the damage a mounted rider could do. The rest were more interested in recovering their gear from the wagon. So I took watch to prepare, as I could, for her attack.

Unexpected, she blundered into the middle of us, having had Silence cast upon her to quiet her armor. A novel, though not tactically brilliant, approach. She wailed upon Duncan and had him down before I could engage. I didn't have my favored weapon, and she was quite well armored, but I gave a fair accounting of myself. The rest did as well, and showed up the folly of trading off the advantage of being mounted for the advantage of surprise. Too late her horse joined the fray but not before she realised she had underestimated us. She fled the scene, throwing behind the key to the wagon to distract us.

The immediate danger gone, we took a throurough inventory of the wagon and found everyone's posessions (other than mine), plus well stocked arms and provisions, and quite a few items of magical nature, although mundane purpose. Upon analysis it was apparent that Raya and crew were from the Kaarsteni empire on a slave hunting mission. Distasteful enough in itself, it spoke to politics and policies of a far more wide ranging nature that were quite disturbing.

Having had more time to aquaint ourselves with one another, Zakkur revealed he was from the Old World and was sent here on a vision from a psysic master. He felt that we were part of "his destiny". Skepticism varied, but we did all agree that getting our freedom (and selling what we had recovered as recompense) was something we could all get behind.