Ep. 2: Not Far from Town
The crowd massing near the bridge out of town had become
restless. The trades that depended on this route were being cut off without
much of an answer as to why. And although the safety of the town may have been
at risk, its economy would begin to suffer soon. As more and more people
crowded near the gate, the guards began to feel overwhelmed.
“ADVENTURERS HAVE ARRIVED! WE ARE HERE TO SOLVE ALL OF YOUR
PROBLEMS!” a voice boomed over the chaos of the crowd. The mass of people and
tradesmen turned to see an interesting sight. A gnome had perched on the
shoulder of a goliath’s imposing form and was hollering with a voice that
seemed uncharacteristic for such a small frame. Behind them stood a paladin,
genasi, and tiefling, all approaching the crowd with purpose.
After having decided to band together at the tavern, THE
Adventurers had decided to make a quick pit stop, gathering several items
including a map, some rations, and tools. Uthal, with a stroke of luck, managed
to get his hands on an unassuming meal sack that appeared to hold more than it
could. Nolan, despite the advice of Wren, purchased a two person tent, stating
that it was very important to him for getting a good night’s rest. With this
gear in tow, the unlikely band headed towards the gate. Wren the bard used his
powerful voice to clear a path through the crowd. The many faces looked back at
them, splashed with a diverse array of emotions ranging from confusion to hope.
Out of the crowd, one of the tradesmen made eye contact with
Ezekiel, and shouted thanks. Ezekiel nodded and told him “You’ll be trading
goods again before you know it!”
Upon reaching the guards, Wren hopped down from the
shoulders of Uthal and explained “we are THE Adventurers, and we have been
contracted by your mayor to clear the area beyond this gate of any evils it may
contain.”
The guards nodded, opening the blockade to allow for
passage. The adventurers passed through, and started down the road towards
their quest. As the woods to the north came closer in their view, the village
behind them faded, until it was no longer visible. The road seemed peaceful and
quite in comparison to the chaos of the town they had just left behind. The
group found peace in this quiet, and took it in before they entered the
difficulty of the task at hand. They conversed of many things, a plan, and
various kills. Nolan and Wren spent some time arguing over the use of a tent
when they each had perfectly fine bedrolls and plenty of shelter. Of course, no
time of peace lasts forever.
Uthal and Wren saw it first. Up ahead in the distance, a
wagon had been turned on its side, with goods scattered through the road. Uthal
equipped his Warhammer, which Wren grabbed onto, and used as a ride to the
ground where he readied his bow. As this happened, the rest of the crew became
alert, and looked around for anything suspicious. Readying weapons and spells,
the groups cautiously approached the wagon.
Ezekiel broke the silence. As he observed his surroundings,
he saw either a bug or bird fly out of the woods. Following its path lead
Ezekiel to look directly into the sun, from which he cried out in pain.
Suddenly, two Goblins became alert and appeared from behind the wagon. “So much
for stealth!” Nolan muttered as the brawl began.
Wren struck first, calling insults out at the Goblins, “Only thing uglier than that goblin is his
friend!” Although they seemed like meaningless words, they were potent with
magic that stung the goblins minds. Ultal and Nolan took this opportunity to
charge and attack. The goblins swords clashed with the Warhammer as Uthal swung
down, creating mighty craters in the ground with every miss. Nolan sparred with
the other goblin, swords clashing with the sounds of battle. Ezekiel began to
cast his spells, and fire along with the sound of thunder erupted from his
staff.
While all this was happening, Torment was searching through
the ground for sticks. Picking a stick up of the ground, he observed it, deemed
it unsatisfactory, and tossed it aside. He needed a very specific stick for
what he was trying to accomplish. “Hey! Any help you can offer would be much
appreciated!” Nolan called out from the fray.
As Nolan shouted, three more Goblins emerged from the bushes
along the roadside. It was an ambush! Wren saw them and adjusted the aim of his
bow, throwing more stinging insults towards them as he loosed an arrow. The
arrow zipped by the shortest goblins head, nicking his ear. One of the goblins
caught up with the sparing match between Nolan and his foe. Nolan was
surrounded, and took a devastating blow to the gut. He crumpled to the ground
unconscious.
Uthal let loose a mighty roar and swung his hammer true
flattening his foe and immediately turning to deal with the vermin who had just
struck down his newfound friend. But another goblin managed to reach Ezekiel,
who although powerful with magic, was having a hard time dealing with direct
combat.
Wren saw the state of the fight, and decided they were not
going to win this by direct means. “Torment! Get over here!”
Torment looked up from the stick he was observing and saw
the current state of the fight. He ran over to Wren who grabbed him and pulled
him close. “Listen, Goblins are cowards. If we can’t fight of their numbers-”
“We can scare them off!” Torment exclaimed! Wren breathed a
relieved breath. Regardless of the tiefling’s origins, it seemed that in this
fight, he was on their side.
“Can you shake the earth?” Wren asked. Torment smiled and
began his incantation. Wren thought of the most terrifying beast from his
childhood in the forest. An owlbear would be enough to scare these pests off.
He cast his spell, but made a mistake. The sound of the biggest owl any of them
had ever heard began roaring from the woods. Torment looked at Wren confused,
and Wren just shrugged as he readied another arrow.
Another crunch of bone was heard from the impact of Uthal’s
Hammer against a goblins head. But as Uthal turned to assist Ezekiel, he saw
the wizard fall from a wound in his side. As this happened the earth shook, and
the sound of whatever creature was in the woods began to frighten some of the
goblins off. Uthal turned towards the woods to see one last goblin still
willing to fight. But before the Goblin could reach him, an arrow landed in his
chest, and he fell to the ground.
The three still standing looked around. Torment ran over to
heal Ezekiel but upon seeing the amount of blood, began to panic. Wren ran
over, and was able to stop the bleeding, and stabilize the wizard. Nolan
however, was lost.
They gathered around as Nolan uttered his final breath.
Uthal was the only one to hear him. Wren looked up at Uthal who was lost for
words. “What did he say Uthal?” Wren pleaded.
“He… he told me that we should wrap him up in his two person
tent, and lay him to rest in that ditch over there,” Uthal said with a confused
expression. They all stared at him, and at each other.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Wren said flatly. “You only
get so many dying words and he had to waste them on that stupid two person
tent.”
They all chuckled, saddened by the loss, but appreciative of
the humor. They did as Nolan requested, and looked at the wagon. Uthal tried to
lift it back up onto its wheels, but the battle had taken its toll on his
strength. Not sure what to do next, they all decide to set up camp, only one
mile from where they had started. “Well this has been a trip” Torment muttered.
Wren played a song on his dulcimer, spun from the memories
of his lost friend. Creatures of the forest gathered to listen, and the mood of
the group seemed soothed. They settled in to rest off the wounds of battle,
tend to the wizard, and plan for the next day.
What none of them saw was a dark mysterious figure, looming
at them from the woods, that had arrived midway through Wrens song. It stayed
there, and watched. After a long while, the figure backed away, disappearing
into the shadows behind, and vanishing from sight.
