"THE Adventurers" Ep. 2: Not Far from Town

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.