The Dragon Warriors
Aethelfrith – ThaneSir Erich of Barton – Knight
Solaran - Elementalist
The Silent Man - Assassin
The wolves had taken a large toll on the health of the band
of warriors, so much so that they decided to head back to Worsted to lick their
wounds and see if they could salvage some monetary value from their encounters.
They quickly stripped the bodies of the bandits of anything useful and then
turned their skills to skinning the wolves for their pelts.
They returned to Worsted using the same route they had got
to the clearing, and as a result there were no further encounters.
The Village
of Worsted
It took them a day to travel through the woods and their
first port of call upon return was the tavern. The innkeeper said that they
could rest up for a short while in his spare room to recover from their wounds
and re-equip themselves for further searches for the mayor.
After they had taken stock of their purloined goods, they
decided to head to the trading post and blacksmiths to see if they could
off-load some of them in part payment for the money owed for their weaponry and
clothing presently on hire from Beckett’s Trading Establishment.
However, just as they headed out of the door of the tavern
they spotted the magic using nobleman, Brannon Byrne, again. He had just
completed some ritual when another of the statues around the pool in the church
yard came to life. Again, the person was dressed as a monk and only had a habit
and an amulet to his name.
Brannon Byrne was negotiating the release of Solaran’s
amulet as the rest of the adventurers approached them. Solaran was prepared to
hand over his amulet for study in return for a sharing of the knowledge that it
brought forth, and after meeting the adventurers and hearing that their story
was the same as his own he also managed to negotiate for them all to be healed.
Brannon Byrne was happy with the trade and he cast a spell that closed all of
their wounds and returned everyone to full health. The noble Byrne then took
his leave and headed back to his home in Glissom.
After this second meeting with Byrne, the adventurers headed
off to where they were going in the first place; Beckett’s trading
establishment for Aethelfrith, and the blacksmith’s for Sir Erich. Aethelfrith
was able to negotiate a few items of clothing and a piece of pumice for Solaran
in return for the wolf pelts and equipment they had recovered from the bandit’s
bodies in the forest. The surplus went towards paying off the rest of their
debt. Meanwhile, Sir Erich put in his order for a sword with the blacksmith,
and was informed it would take around two weeks to make.
On is way back to join the others at the trading post, Sir
Erich was called aside by a young girl. Hiding behind the village buildings,
out of sight from the main thoroughfare, she asked if the party could look out
for an old woman in the forest and let her know that Becky was looking for her.
Sir Erich, chivalrous to the bone, agreed to pass on this message for the
damsel.
The Elk and the Wolves (Day 14 to Day 16)
The party stayed the night in the room offered by the tavern
keeper; Aethelfrith got roaring drunk and boastful, but was dragged off to his
cot before he could start a fight with the locals.
The following morning they collected together their
equipment and headed out of the village and back into the forest. Before they had
got too far, however, they were approached by two farmers who asked them to
look out for their prize ram whilst they were on their travels. Again, the
party agreed to keep an eye out.
Two days passed but they could find no trace of the mayor,
the wise woman or the prized ram. Towards evening of the second day, the party
had stopped and were about to make camp when they heard a rustling in the
bushes. Aethelfrith and Sir Erich prepared their weapons whilst the Silent Man
headed into the shadows. The assassin moved quietly and was able to sneak up on
a stag elk and its two does. He made a couple of shots with his bow which
struck their mark and the stag ran for freedom with Aethelfrith and Sir Erich
in hot pursuit. After just a few minutes they were able to catch up with the
wounded animal and dispatch it. They returned to camp where they skinned it and
started to fill their bellies.
Unfortunately, the smell of the kill had attracted predators
of another kind. An hour or so after they had started to eat their prize, the
party heard the rapid movement of several large creatures approaching through
the forest. The warriors readied themselves for battle and Solaran began to
focus upon his pumice stone.
As soon as the wolves burst out of the forest cover, the
assassin started to shoot arrows into the midst of their pack; his arrows picked
out wolf hides whilst his companions fought tooth and claw with cold steel. Eventually,
the numbers of the wolves started to tell and the adventurers started to take
many serious wounds, especially Aethelfrith and Solaran who were in the thick
of the fighting. Solaran cast a few minor fire cantrips but they seemed to have
little effect on their assailants. Eventually, Sir Erich, fighting on the
flanks, gave the killing blow to one of the wolves which freed up Aethelfrith
so he could attack with his spear rather than defend with his linden shield.
His flurry of blows felled another wolf just as Solaran turned up the heat and
blasted the lead wolf with a cone of fiery energy. A final arrow from the
assassin forced a fourth wolf into the path of Sir Erich’s mighty blow, and
Aethefrith skewered a fifth wolf with his ashen spear. The last of the pack
turned tail and fled, leaving the spoils to the victors.
The wounds that Aethlfrith and Solaran had taken were quite
severe, so the adventurers decided to head back to Worsted once again to heal
up, carrying several wolf pelts and an elk’s rack of antlers and hide for their
troubles.
The Mayor (Day 17 to Day 18)
The weary travellers headed straight to the tavern for
refreshment and a place to lie up whilst they recovered, but the room that was
offered up to them so eagerly before was not forthcoming this time. The village
was not hostile to the party but there was an air of disappointment and
possible frustration about the place. This forced the party to consider
alternative accommodation, so they headed to the chapel and made camp there.
As it was going to take Aethelfrith and Solaran a long time
to heal properly, the Silent Man decided to try his luck searching for the
mayor on his own. He knew where they had covered already and where still needed
searching, so he fancied his chances.
The following morning he headed out alone to continue on
with the searches. He was not gone long before he spotted a small group of
people in the distance through the forest greenery. He approached them cautiously
and hid himself within the bushes close. He began to eavesdrop on their
conversation. The three were adventurers looking for some strange grey-skinned
creatures who had been raiding the caravans and villages around Glissom.
Realising that these adventurers posed him no threat, the assassin stepped out
of his hiding place and approached them. He found out that they were a knight,
his squire and vizier on the hunt for what they could only describe as
not-humans. The Silent Man offered information on the Reivers but they
concluded that they were not the same people they were hunting. The knight and
his party decided that they would head to Worsted to talk to the rest of the
adventurers to see how each party could aid the other.
The Silent Man continued with his searches in the forest and
the following day, just as he was about to give up on that particular area he
espied a person in the distance, stumbling along the path in the direction of
Worsted. He approached carefully and saw that the man was naked, wounded and
confused, but not confused enough that he was able to tell the assassin that he
was indeed the mayor they were looking for and that he had been lost in the
forest for many days. The assassin offered him his cloak, some food, and a
shoulder to lean on whilst they headed back to the village and safety.
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