The First Node

Once he learned of the first Node of Mana, Lancelot gathered his troops and rode out of Landfall Castle. (Due to my illness I was unable to ride with them; I stayed on defense at Landfall). After much hard riding, the Sentinels arrived in a valley that gradually narrowed to a point. At the very end of the valley was a cave. Lancelot stopped and consulted the map provided by the sorcerer. It looked like the place but he was not sure.

Then one of his troopers spoke: "This must be the place, Lord Lancelot."

"Why do you think that?" Lancelot asked.

"Look," the trooper replied as he pointed across the valley. A band of voidlings had appeared and were racing toward the cave. Lancelot was about the give the order to ride for the cave when a loud roar split the air. Then, from the cave appeared a reptilian head. It was followed by another and then another until several were writhing from the cave.

"A hydra!" one of the Sentinels said.

The Sentinels dismounted from their now skittish horses and began to rush to the cave. They and the voidlings arrived at the cave mouth at the same time. As if by mutual agreement, the bitter enemies ignored each other and instead attacked the hydra.

With a roar, the hydra began lashing out at the invaders, striking with its jaws and spewing gouts of flame. Many a warrior was burnt or bitten, leaving bodies strewn upon the battlefield. The Sentinels unleashed a storm of archery upon the beast while the voidlings hacked and stabbed with fury. One by one, the heads were severed, until the creature shuddered and died.

But the battle was just beginning for the Node was inside the cave. Now the Sentinels and voidlings turned on one another. Lancelot cut his way through the enemy and reached the Node. He grabbed it and began saying the incantation to claim the Node. Then a voidling crept up behind him and knocked him senseless. This time a voidling grabbed the Node. The Sentinels rushed it and sliced it to bits. The Node was knocked aside and rolled around the cave floor. Hands tried to grasp it but it kept rolling about. Finally, a voidling seized it and raced out of the cave. The Sentinels gave chase but could not catch it. The Node was gone.

The remaining Sentinels tended to their wounded. They revived Lancelot and told him the bad news. He shook his head in dismay as he pondered the fate of his home. Would this defeat usher in the beginning of the end? But then he steeled himself.

"They may have won this battle." he firmly stated, "but we will prevail in the end."

His troops nodded in agreement as each vowed to fight that much harder next time.

OOC Notes

• Rufus does not appear in this account because I am the reeve for the scenarios. I guess Rufus will be stay at home defending the castle, although I did have an illness (a cold) this week.
• I don't recall all the details of the battle although I remember Vibe's and Artimis's archery with Lancelot and Beast on the front line. Many others contributed but I was closest to the Sentinels and was most aware of their fighting (sorry Kage).
• Lancelot first reached the Node, Rage was the voidling who grabbed it next, and XIII was the one who raced off with it. Congrats to Kage for their victory.
• Thanks to Barnabis, Holly, Ryan, et. al. who served as the hydra. And thanks to Mercy for being a second reeve.
• Finally, I made a slight oversight and forgot to tell the teams that the rope represented the cave walls. A couple of members of Kage rushed around the hydra and ran through the walls. Oops.