The Dragon Warriors
Aethelfrith – ThaneSir Erich of Barton – Knight
Solaran – Elementalist (absent)
The Silent Man - Assassin
A Return to Worsted (Day 32 – Late morning)
Sir Erich, Aethelfrith and the Silent Man drew the cart to a
halt in front of the tavern and stepped down from the board. Solaran, their
sometime magical companion had disappeared back into the woods again to carry
out his own quest.
Just as they were unloading the wares they had gained on
their latest foray into the forest, they were approached surreptitiously by
Becky, the girl who had asked them about the wise woman of the woods. The party
had to answer that they had been busy hunting down bandits and killing orcs and
had not managed to find the wise woman thus far. Becky pleaded with them to
please try harder and Sir Erich, a sucker for a sob-story, promised that they
would look for her the next time they ventured out.
A few moments after Becky had left them, Mary approached
them with a savage scowl upon her face. She began to berate Sir Erich for not
letting her go with them and for turning her over to her mother. Sir Erich
tried to placate the ferocious child whilst Aethelfrith and the Silent Man
entered the tavern for a well-earned lunch; smiles on their faces that Sir
Erich was the one being beaten up over the slight.
After lunch, the party headed down to Beckett’s trading
establishment and ran through the inventory of goods they had managed to
accumulate on their journeys. They suggested he sell them on their behalf, take
a modest trader’s fee and pay off their debt with the proceeds. The party
agreed to this as they did not have the time or wherewithal to get good deals
with the soon to be arriving merchant caravans.
The party spent the night in the tavern, telling tales of
their derring-do, Aethelfrith boasting at every chance he could to impress the
villagers. After a goodly few ales and haunches of venison had been sunk, the
party wandered off to their cots in the chapel and prepared for their journey
into the northern foothills the following morning.
An Encounter with a Bear (Days 33-36)
The following day, the party headed north out of the village
towards the foothills of the mountains. They were going in search of the old
wise woman for Becky’s sake, but also were travelling in the hope that they
might pick up more clues as to the whereabouts of the bandit camp.
The party travelled for a couple of days but encountered no
person or beast. However, just as they were about to make camp for the night of
the third day out from Worsted the Silent Man motioned for them to be quiet as
there was a disturbance ahead. The warriors drew their bows in emulation of
their silent companion and nocked arrows onto the strings. Suddenly an angry
bear burst through the undergrowth. Simultaneously, all three let loose with
their shafts. Two of the darts hit their intended target which raised the bear
into a state of frenzy, and it proceeded to bear down on Aethelfrith. After a
short and brutal melee, during which Aethelfrith picked up a nasty bite wound
to his arm, the bear decided that it had had enough of being stuck with sharp
spears and swords and made to run off back into the woods. Aethelfrith would
have none of this and set off in a pell-mell chase through the hills, his
companions struggling to keep up. Eventually they caught him in a small glade,
a bear corpse at his feet and a triumphant look on his face.
Sir Erich skinned the bear, whilst Aethelfrith bound his
wound the best he could. The party decided to head back to Worsted to allow
their injured companion to heal.
A Village Militia (Days 37-39)
An uneventful day’s travel brought the companions back to
Worsted. Upon walking into town, they noticed that the first of the merchant caravans
had arrived and Beckett was seen busy trading both the village’s wool stock and
the party’s goods with them.
Aethelfrith retired to the chapel to rest up for the next
few days in the hope of recovering from the bear attack. Meanwhile, Sir Erich paid
a visit on the mayor to discuss the formation of a village militia. He said
that both he and Aethelfrith would be happy to train them in some rudimentary
combat to allow the villagers to at least be able to put forth a respectable
response to any bandit incursions that appeared after the mayor had left on his
quest and the party had done their best at reducing the numbers of Reivers in
the area. The mayor agreed that this was a good idea and immediately set about
calling in any who would be interested in such a venture.
The following morning, five people were gathered upon the
village green to begin training; Mary (the wannabe adventurer), Andrew and
Aaron (Beckett’s two sons), Richard (a scrawny young lad) and Timothy (a quiet
but very capable apprentice). The blacksmith looked on from a distance with a
scowl on his face; he had finished Sir Erich’s sword for him but Sir Erich had
chosen not to pay for it – in the confusion of the negotiations when it was
made, a misunderstanding had arisen.
A Solitary Venture (Days 39-47)
Whilst Sir Erich and Aethelfrith were training the militia
(and healing), the Silent Man decided the spare time he had would be best spent
trying to explore a bit more of the forest to the east and south in the hope
that he could find some clues of his own to help out the party in their quest.
He wandered around for several days, quartering the ground
in search of clues to the whereabouts of the wise woman and the bandits (and
just maybe the lost prized ram). During this time he encountered a few wild
forest animals, which he escaped by climbing trees and a party of two
well-armed knights, who were also looking for something. He saw them on several
occasions during his journey, and they seemed to be using the same methodology
in their hunt for magical beasts to destroy.
Realising that time was getting short now he decided he
should return to Worsted with his news. However, one particular evening he
espied two more travelling warriors and decided to follow them to get a closer look
at who they were. Whilst following them from the cover of the trees, he noticed
a very faint wisp of smoke from deeper within the forest; he decided to investigate this on his way back
after following his new quarry.
He realised they were dressed and armed in a remarkably similar
way to the Reavers the party were hunting down. He followed them for a day or so to
work out where they were headed and then returned back north to Worsted. On his
way through the forest he paid a visit on the glade from which he had seen the
wisp of smoke rising.
In the middle of the glade was a turf constructed hovel with
thatch for a roof. There was no chimney, and the smoke made its way through the
thatch in a leisurely fashion. He crept up to the door to knock but before he
got there a voice from within called him into the hut. Perplexed, he decided to
follow the instructions and entered the building. Inside was a small hearth
area. The fire, with a cauldron bubbling with foul smelling liquid upon it, was
being tended by a bent old woman. She called him in to take a seat and asked
him what brought him this way. As soon as he mentioned Becky’s name she moved
to a small shelf, took down a small vial and mentioned that she must drink it
soon to be relieved of her condition. He also mentioned the mayor, and she
replied that if the mayor wanted to resolve his quest he but needed to pay her
a visit. During all this time she would not look up and meet the gaze of the
Silent Man. His final question before leaving her was about the location of the
bandits known as the Reavers. All she could tell him was that they were located
to the south and were holed up in a run down manor house. He thanked her for
her wisdom and headed back out into the wilderness.
The final leg of his journey was interrupted by a large orc
patrol that scouted south of the village
of Worsted
Back on the Bandit Trail Venture (Days 48-50)
Upon his return to the village, the Silent Man paid a
discreet call upon Becky and handed her the potion that the wise woman had
given him. She couldn’t thank him enough and skipped away with a big smile on
her face.
When he got back to the chapel, he saw that Sir Erich and
the now fully restored Aethelfrith were putting the finishing touches to that
day’s militia training. The drill was coming along well from what he could see,
and the trainees had a small crowd watching them appreciatively.
The following morning the adventurers headed out of the
village with renewed hope in their hearts. They were determined to find the
bandit lair this time now that they had several more clues to its whereabouts.
They travelled south into unexplored country for a few days
before they got the feeling of being watched. The Silent Man realised that they
were being trailed so slipped off the trail at the first opportune moment. The
two bandits following the party continued to follow Sir Erich and Aethelfrith
who were oblivious to all this going on.
Suddenly a cry went up from the bushes at the side of the
woodland path they were following; the Silent man was being attacked! The two
stalwart warriors quickly spun round and noticed two bandits had drawn their
bows and were aiming to loose arrows at them. Aethelfrith charged straight
towards the bandits but not before they had both loosed their shafts. The two
adventurers were struck by the arrows but their newly won armour caused the
darts to skim away without causing injury.
Combat was joined and after a short flurry of blows, the
Silent Man burst from the undergrowth to join his companions on the path
closely followed by two more bandits. The melee was short lived as the two
mighty warriors quickly struck down two of their assailants whilst the Silent
Man kept another busy with his dagger. Eventually Sir Erich was able to
cleave down the third bandit with his two-handed axe whilst Aethelfrith beat
their last assailant into unconsciousness.
The party now had a prisoner from whom they could gather
information about the bandits and their location. Unbeknownst to them, though,
a fifth Reaver had seen what had happened and was at that moment winging his
way back to inform his fellow cohorts of the approach of the party.
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