Solo A Long Ride

[Samuel Longwell]

A Long Ride Date: 19th Summer Year 516 Location: The Kabrin Road Samuel Thoughts Others Samuel ran the brush over the horse's back, taking care to remove any dirt or burrs from the mare's coat. After the horse was clean, he lifted each of her legs in turn to check that her hooves were clear of stones. He had been asked to accompany a small convoy of supplies to the Mithryn Outpost in order to provide some protection, he just needed to saddle up and he'd be ready.“Squire, could you grab my saddle please” Samuel called towards a young boy nearby. As the squire ran up, Samuel smiled and thanked him. Taking the saddle he lifted it onto the horse then slowly and carefully secured it. “No use rushing and making mistakes” he thought to himself. After finishing he checked again to ensure the saddle was comfortable for the horse and that he would be secure while riding. Once he'd reassured himself it was correct, he led the horse out to where the convoy was assembling. Samuel nodded to the other knights who were also going to be protecting the convoy. He didn't know them well, but recognised the faces and could perhaps name a couple of them. Samuel knew that it was unlikely they would see any combat, the road to the Mithryn Outpost was relatively safe, but the presence of the knights was sure to make the rest of the convoy feel safer. Samuel admired the decision of his superiors to do so, especially as there had been some reports of increased bandit activity. Samuel mounted his horse, nudging her forward into a walk taking his place near the front of the group. Samuel adjusted his sword at his waist, keeping a careful eye on the surrounding forest as the convoy began the journey south down the Kabrin road. Samuel focused on keeping his body relaxed and tried to synchronise his movements with his horse, knowing he had a long day of riding ahead of him. Hearing a rustle in the bushes nearby he slowed his horse down. A man rode up beside him, pointing at a small amount of red in the bush. “It's a fox” Samuel said as he finally managed to spot the animal. Samuel turned to the person who had pointed at the fox and looked him up and down. A short man, with brown hair and intelligent brown eyes set in a weathered face. Samuel noticed the well worn leather armour and bow the other man was carrying. “Probably a hunter” he thought to himself. “You've got a keen eye,” said Samuel, “I guess that comes with the profession?” “It certainly does,” the short man replied, “Cuiro the hunter at your service” . “Nice to meet you Cuiro” the knight replied, “I'm Ser Samuel” . The two men continued to ride side by side watching the area close to the road. “You any good with that bow?” asked Cuiro after they'd been riding for a while. “I'm decent enough, but I'm better with my sword and shield” replied Samuel. “Maybe you'd like to come and help catch some food when we stop for lunch?” the hunter asked. “Aye, I'll do that.” said Samuel “It'll make a good addition to the bread and cheese I've brought” .

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others A shout from further back in the column made Samuel turn around. The convoy had stopped and the sound of raised voices could be heard. Samuel spurred his horse into a trot and approached the small group of people that had gathered. Samuel dismounted and pushed through the crowd to find two men arguing heatedly. Noticing the two seemed to be close to coming to blows, Samuel decided to step in. He placed his hand on his sword to make a point and said “What seems to be the problem here?”. After spotting the knight both men calmed down significantly. The younger of the two men pointed at the other and said “He just went crazy and started screaming in my face”. The older man went bright red, clearly fuming. “That little shyke said some disgusting things about my daughter, there's no way I'm standing for it!” he exclaimed, gesturing angrily. “Is that true?” the knight asked, turning to the younger man and frowning slightly. The younger man looked at Samuel standing nearly a head above him in heavy armour and his confidence seemed to drain from his demeanour. He sheepishly admitted “Perhaps I was a little out of order”. Turning to a scared looking young woman nearby he said “I'm sorry ma'am, it won't happen again”. The older man seemed to calm down at the apology, so Samuel decided to talk to the daughter. She nodded when he asked if the apology was good enough and so Samuel shouted out for the convoy to keep moving. Samuel took the younger man aside as the column started to move past. Samuel stood to his full height to press his point home as he said “I'd advise against making unpleasant comments in the future, otherwise you're going to get yourself into trouble. Stay near the back of the column and keep your head down till we reach the outpost.” The young man nodded and Samuel moved forward to remount his horse. Cuiro had held the reins while the knight was sorting out the disturbance and now passed them back. Samuel pulled himself into the saddle, nodding his thanks to the hunter and gently squeezed with his heels to get his mount to start walking. Several minutes after starting riding again, Cuiro glanced over at Samuel with a curious look on his face. “You were pretty harsh on that boy don't you think?” he asked. “I think I was perfectly fair, better he learns now that we don't tolerate troublemakers.” Samuel replied, “It'll be better for him in the long term.” The two rode in silence for a while longer as Syna continued her passage through the sky. Eventually a halt was called for lunch, so Samuel dismounted and stretched. It had been a long ride and Samuel was sore. Samuel took care of his mare's needs, making sure she was fed and watered and then went to go and find Cuiro. He was ready to hunt.

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others Samuel found Cuiro fairly quickly and watched as the hunter strung his bow. Cuiro had it held tightly between his legs and he pressed on the top of his bow to move the string into position. Apparently satisfied, Cuiro turned round and greeted Samuel. “I'm ready to go” said Samuel. Cuiro smirked as he looked at Samuel dressed in his loud heavy armour. “I think you need to lose that, no animal is going to stick around when they hear you coming” the hunter explained. Samuel shuffled his feet, embarrassed. “Aye,” he said, “you're probably right.” Samuel stripped off his armour, immediately feeling much more vulnerable. Strapping his sword to his waist he grabbed his bow and arrows. Cuiro still looked amused but gestured for Samuel to follow him. Cuiro moved out into the forest, making very little noise and eyes scouring the ground. Samuel tried to mimic the movements, stepping carefully, but he made much more noise than the hunter. After several chimes of making their way through the trees Cuiro knelt down to study the ground. “It's a deer track”, he said softly, pointing at the mud. Samuel knelt down to look at the track. He tried his best to commit the shape to memory, he wanted to be able to recognise it in the future. The pair moved off again with Cuiro in the lead. Samuel tried to watch the ground for more tracks and was pleased when he spotted one. Pointing it out to Cuiro he said “We're going in the right direction, it's another deer track”. Cuiro looked over, a condescending look on his face. “We've been following those tracks the whole time, of course we're going in the right direction” the hunter said. Samuel frowned slightly, perhaps he should have explained that he knew very little about tracking. However just watching and copying Cuiro had been helpful in learning how to correctly hunt. Cuiro motioned for Samuel to stop and the knight obeyed, kneeling down in a small pile of leaves. Samuel winced at the rustling sound they made and Cuiro rolled his eyes as he pointed at a deer a fair way away. Samuel readied his bow, looking dubiously at the distance to the deer. It was a difficult shot to make at the best of times, but with the mass of trees in the way Samuel was not feeling confident. Glancing at Cuiro he saw the hunter looking at him expectantly. Sighing, Samuel slowly stood and notched an arrow. He tried to account for the wind, pulled back on the drawstring and released. As soon as he fired the arrow he knew that it wasn't good enough. The arrow struck a tree several metres away from the deer, which looked up at Samuel and bolted away. Samuel fired another arrow as quickly as he could, but this shot was even wilder, and the arrow didn't even come close to hitting the deer. “I know you said you preferred your sword, but I expected better than that.” Cuiro commented sarcastically, “Let's see if we can follow that deer so this trip isn't a total waste.”

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others Samuel was not enjoying the way that Cuiro was currently treating him, the other man seemed almost gleeful at Samuel's inability to hunt proficiently. The pair were still moving through the forest as quietly as they could, one with more success than the other. Samuel's feet seemed to tread on every twig possible and they cracked and snapped under his feet. Cuiro turned to him and said with a slight sneer “Why don't you take the lead for a bit. Clearly you need the practise more than I”. Samuel grimaced and reluctantly agreed, moving to take the place at the front. He examined the ground and slowly walked forward. He hoped to find another deer track, it would be a good indication that he was leading in the right direction. Several chimes passed and Samuel was still clueless about what direction he should be going in. Finally Samuel found a broken branch on a tree, it seemed like something had come through this way in a hurry. Samuel turned to Cuiro to discuss what he'd found, but Cuiro was nowhere to be seen. “I wondered how long it would take you to notice that I was gone.” Cuiro said from somewhere nearby, “You knights are all the same, utterly clueless about how to survive outside your high walls without a group of your buddies.” Samuel heard something in Curio's voice that hadn't been there before, hatred. Samuel immediately regretted the fact he had no armour, but moved towards where he thought the voice had been coming from. The sound of Curio's laughter now came from behind him and Samuel spun round. “I'm going to enjoy killing you” Cuiro said. “This guy is crazy, has he just come out here to try and kill me?” Samuel thought to himself as he unsheathed his sword. A movement from Samuel's right drew his attention. Cuiro had an arrow nocked and looked like he was about to fire. Samuel threw himself side, the arrow lightly grazing his arm before he hit the ground. He rolled clumsily before pulling himself to his feet and charging at the position his opponent had fired the arrow from. Cuiro had another arrow nocked and was moving away from Samuel. “I really wish I'd brought my shield” Samuel thought as Cuiro prepared to fire. Samuel darted to the side, the arrow barely missing his face. Samuel closed the last few metres quickly, swinging his sword in a wild slash that put the hunter on the back foot. “I'm really hoping he's not too keen on melee combat, otherwise that armour is going to give him a significant advantage!” Samuel thought as he pressed the attack. Cuiro's expression seemed to confirm Samuel's suspicions, as soon as Samuel had got up close Cuiro's face had completely drained of colour. The resulting fight was short, Samuel managed to find a gap in the hunter's armour and thrust his sword in. His opponent collapsed, dying. Samuel tried to question the dying man about his reasons for attacking him, but the hunter just spat blood onto his face. Samuel decided that he wouldn't get anything out of the man, and seeing as he probably only had hours left to live he put him out of his misery. Cleaning his sword on some leaves, Samuel turned to head back to the convoy. “Ah,” he thought to himself, “which way did I actually come from?”

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others Samuel sat down and tried to work out which direction he should go to make his way back to the group. “I shot an arrow into a tree not too long ago, if I can find that then I'll be on the right track,” he thought, “This is where I discovered that Cuiro wasn't behind me, so I probably came from that direction?” He started to walk in the direction he had decided, thinking “I can't be that far from the group, we've been gone less than half a bell.” It wasn't long before he reached the arrow and he marked the way he had just come from so that he wouldn't forget. Now came the hard part. Samuel carefully searched the area near to the arrow for a sign of where he and Cuiro had walked, slowly moving further from the arrow. Samuel spent several chimes searching and eventually found a boot print. “I now have a direction to travel in, hopefully I'll eventually reach the road if I stay straight.” Samuel moved through the forest at the same slow pace he had come in, hoping to look for signs of where he'd passed before. Now that he was following his own tracks he realised that he had made no effort to hide his passage, his boot prints were easily spotted in the soft mud. “If I ever want to avoid being tracked that's something I need to consider, mud should be avoided. I guess it's worked out well for me this time though.” he decided, “I'm going to take better care to keep track of where I am next time I'm outside the city.” A few chimes passed and Samuel found himself walking on harder ground. He could no longer spot his tracks, so he simply continued in the vague direction he was travelling before and hoped for the best. Thankfully he found the road fairly soon after and Samuel realised he was not too far from the group, he could see them several hundred metres away. Happy to have managed to find his way back, Samuel walked back to join up with the convoy.

[Samuel Longwell]

Samuel Thoughts Others After he rejoined with the rest of the convoy, Samuel explained what had happened with Cuiro and apologised for slowing the group down. Quickly eating some lunch and re-saddling his horse, Samuel put his armour back on. He enjoyed the reassuring weight of it and vowed he would be more careful about when he'd take it off in the future. Samuel made himself ready to continue on the journey, pulled himself onto his horse and eased her into a walk. Samuel spent most of the rest of the ride thinking about why the hunter could have attacked him. It troubled him that there were still people who lived in Syliras that didn't respect the knights. “We are all that stands between them and chaos, how don't they see that?” he thought to himself. The rest of the journey passed quickly for Samuel due to his pensive mood. He paid very little attention to his surroundings as they passed through the fields which the outpost protected. It wasn't till his body started to complain about the long ride that he snapped out of his pondering. Seeing that it wasn't much further to the outpost, Samuel dismounted to walk the last little bit and give his backside a rest. He lead his horse the rest of the way, enjoying the feeling of the evening sun on his skin. When the convoy arrived at the gates he tied up his mare and walked over to where the wagons were being unpacked. Seeing an old man struggling with some heavy looking boxes, Samuel stepped in to help. His muscles straining, he pulled the boxes off the wagon one by one and placed them into a pile on the ground. Samuel spotted the young man he had reprimanded earlier standing nearby and called over to him. “Lad, would you mind helping move these boxes to where they need to go, I'm sure he'd appreciate the help.” Samuel suggested, gesturing at the old man. After the young man nodded, Samuel turned back to inspect the other people around him. Satisfied that the unpacking was proceeding fine, Samuel went to make his report at the barracks.

[Dove Brown]

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Samuel

Skills

• Animal Husbandry 2
• Land Navigation 1
• Wilderness Survival (Forest) 1
• Horsemanship 1
• Riding 1
• Observation 4
• Endurance 1
• Socialisation 3
• Weapon: Longsword 1
• Investigation 1
• Logic 1
• Politics 1
• Acrobatics 1
• Stealth 2
• Bodybuilding 1
• Tracking 2
• Weapon: Shortbow 1
• Hunting 2

Lores

• Cuiro: a hunter
• Cuiro: dislikes knights
• Armour: not suitable for hunting in
• Tracking: deer tracks
• Archery: allowing for the wind
• Tracking: mud makes tracks easy to see
• Backtracking to find a way out
• Not everyone respects the knights

Miscellaneous

• Shield points +3 (helping people)

Comments:Wow, you packed a lot into that. Enjoy your grades