I picked my battlemage orc, Gonna-Kick ur Ass's game back up on Saturday (the Gent had a prior commitment and the weather was too nasty to do anything outside).
Having him be amnesiac is great because I cannot remember wtf I was doing the last time I launched his game. He was sat at the Chorral Fighter's Guild table for breakfast (I've been roleplaying a bit more in this game, so actually eating food items for three main meals, sleeping at night etc), and speaking to Oreyn revealed Kicks had to pick between going to Cheydinhal or Anvil for further contracts.
As an orc, Kicks would feel more comfortable in Cheydinhal (and also I fancied doing the Corruption and Conscience quest) so I headed towards the main gate. On the way out Kicks was distracted by a man seeming distressed running into the Grey Mare, so went to investigate.
Within, he meets Valus Odiil worrying about his boys trying to defend their farm but also runs back into Guilbert Jemane. The Jermane brothers revealed that the exact location of their family farm had been lost, and could Kicks help them find it? He likes the brothers... well, he likes Guilbert at least, so off we went, back to the fighter's guild, to talk to Sabine Laul who knows where the farm is. She obliges, so it's off to Weatherleah and some orc killing.
Once the brothers were safely ensconced on the farm and Kicks had a good night's rest, off we went, bound for Cheydinhall.
Kicks is not good at wayfinding. Kicks has trouble remembering the cardinal directions. Kicks got lost a lot trying to ride from Weatherleah through the Great Forest to the Red Ringroad (I was feeling tired and a bit stupid). No worries, we eventually made it to the road, and killed a couple of opportunistic bandits on the way up to Sercen, the Ayleid ruin at the point where the Silver rd meets the Red rd.
Kicks was ready for the bandits. Kicks was not ready for the minotaur. As the first of the arrows struck his horse, he dismounted and ran towards the ruin. Then there was a whinny behind him, and he whirled to see his horse being attacked by the minotaur. The horse ran off. The minotaur ran off. The bandits ran off. Kicks stood stupidly in the middle of the road for a moment, before lumbering off after them. But he was in heavy plate, carrying the spoils of previous battles and a heavy mace. There was no chance he was ever going to catch up in time.
By the time he arrived, his horse was dead, one of the bandits had been killed by the minotaur, the minotaur was on its last legs and easily dispatched and the bandit archer was hiding in fear until Kicks turned up and then took her out too. So there he is, not even noon, and his day is screwed. He has to walk the rest of the way to Cheydinhall (part of the RP is trying not to reload saves and no quick travel).
Stoicly, off he trundles and makes the Roxey in by noon, so he stops in for lunch. There, he learns about some mage terrorising the area. But alas, there's no time to help; he needs to make it to Cheydinhal. However, while eating, he does run into Pranal, the Heavy Armour trainer. After pestering Pranal with ale and dinner, the retired soldier gives in and says that he'd train Kicks on the condition he finds a nice set of silver glasses and a carafe for the woman Pranal is interested in. It's a fair trade, so Kicks takes it.
With that settled, Kicks makes his way to Cheydinhal. Halfway up the Blue rd, with night closing in, it starts to rain. The rain soon turns into a rolling thunderstorm, so it's a cold, wet, tired and thus very grumpy orc who meets another pair of bandits almost outside the city gates. Needless to say, they do not last long.
The porter greets Kicks with a towel and a smile as he trails mud and rainwater into the Fighter's Guildhouse. Upstairs, he sheds his armour and changes into nearly dry clothes. A hot dinner and some good conversation go someway to chasing away the woes of the day, and Keld tells Kicks that the horsemaster outside the city has beasts for sale.
Come morning, it's still drizzling and damp, but Kicks makes a good sale to Borba gra-Uzgash of the crap he's been toating around and forgets all about bitching Keld was making about the fines once Burz gro-Khash gives him his next assignment; he's to go back to Leyawin county, to a village called Water's Edge. On his way out of town, he stops to enquire about the cost of a horse but discovers that, even with the sales he made, 5000 gold is still too rich for his blood. He'll be making his way to Leyawiin on foot...
