CHAPTER ONE
The young man pulled his chair closer to the table as he set up the opaque screen so the others sitting around the table couldn't see his notes, drawings, graphs and books. They were teenagers, some of them just barely so, but teenagers all the same. It was a rare occasion for them all to be in the same room with the same goal, what with sports practices, driving tests, parties, college applications and some of them getting ready for the first summer of the rest of their lives.
Several sets of dice began to roll across the table, pencils scribbled down numbers in boxes on paper specifying statistics such as strength and constitution, pages turned in books as each player looked up specific bonuses and feats they could or could not use.
Finally, as the blank map of squares was rolled out across the table, plastic miniaturized characters were placed in specific points and foam landscape pieces were set, the Dungeon Master began his tale.
Heavy footsteps in weathered leather boots crunched down dirt as the burly man emerged from the woods heading for the town ringed by 100-yard-tall walls. Along with the boots, the man wore leather fighting gauntlets he had made himself, a bear pelt with the head as a hood hung off his back, ragged cloth coverings adorned his torso and bottoms, and a handmade leather belt with a daily sharpened knife of draconic scale iron the size of a male human's arm hung at the man's waist - the only metal he ever used.
The man had shaggy brown hair that flowed to his shoulders, and his graying beard flowed down to the top of his chest. His lake blue eyes were nearly bloodshot - not from drinking, but from spending every night and day surviving in the wilderness. He had defended his family and their druidic village as long as he could, but one day as he was out on hunt, tragedy struck as a band of orcs ravaged half the forest leaving nothing but burning trees and corpses behind along with a single bloodied blade - the two-handed blade that now hung at his waist. The man now had no choice, but to move on to a new life, using what he had grown on and learned and possibly learning something new. But first, he was going to sign up with a hunting party and wipe every last stinking orc off the face of the map.
"Hello stranger!" A chipper and distinctly female voice said coming over the hill to the man's right.
The man turned to look as a slender woman wearing a simple but eye-catching tunic with what appeared to be a flute strapped to her back appeared walking across the hill. She had blonde hair that almost glowed in the sunlight as it flowed just past her shoulders, with the slightest hint of subtly-pointed ears peeking out. She wore a modestly ornate string of emerald jewels around her neck which matched her emerald-flecked-with-silver eyes, and a pair of silver buckled but very understated sandals covered her feet. She also wore a green satin, silver buckled belt that held two leather pouches on it; one pouch was a bit heavier and looked a bit more like a bag made of leather, the other looked somewhat like a box and had a small silver buckle on it.
"If I may ask, where ya' headed?" The woman asked as she got closer to the man.
"Low-San." The man replied gruffly as he gestured toward the walled city, "Looking for work."
"Do you mind if I walk with you?" The woman asked, "I'm headed the same way to visit some of my relatives."
The man shrugged, but as he didn't say or indicate no, the woman began to walk a little behind him and to his side. The two continued to walk until they reached the large front gates of the city, and a window to their right - about eight feet off the ground - opened in the wall revealing a man with a metal helmet atop his head and a large graying mustache that covered his mouth.
" 'Ello travelers," The helmeted man said with a thick accent, "Why 'ave you come to Low-San?"
"Looking for work." The man from the woods replied.
"Visiting relatives." The woman replied.
The helmeted man looked the two travelers over before turning to his left and barking something in a language neither traveler understood. A reply in the same language come from somewhere in the wall.
"While we normally don't accept travelers without the proper paperwork," The helmeted man started as he turned back to them, "Our town population and morale 'ave both been unusually low, so I've been told to let you lot in. Welcome to Low-San."
As the helmeted man stated the last sentence, the gates opened just enough to let the two travelers in. The two walked into the city as the window in the wall closed and the gates closed behind them.
The first thing that struck any newcomers to Low-San was the aroma: baked goods, fried meats and cheeses, a fresh deli, a sweets shop and a tavern dealing only in top-shelf quality drinks were the first businesses to meet travelers. As one would walk further into town, they would be met with makers of fabric ranging from fine to humble, a few blacksmiths as well as woodworkers and equipment enchanters, makers of potions that could do anything from increase one's overall health by double or suck out one's soul and put it in the bottle they just drank from. Further down the street resided several inns as well as homes of those that offered rooms for rent. The wide street then broke out into the rest of the city, homes lined some streets, trees lined others, and one led to a very large but simple castle.
"If you're looking for work," The woman started as she and the man from the woods looked around, "I would start at Lucky Baldwin's Tavern & Inn. Even the busboys make a pretty penny, no matter the day or the season."
"I'll look into it." The man said before someone bumped into the woman.
"My apologies." The person said in a gruff but feminine voice from under a dark hooded cloak.
"Don't worry about it." The woman said as she put her hand on her hip, "Hey, that thief stole my gold!"
The man turned to the direction the cloaked figure had gone and saw the figure breaking into a sprint as they ran into other people and through some of the open shops and stores. The man from the woods and slender woman both took off after the cloaked figure, following the path of toppled street market carts, displays and people picking themselves up.
The cloaked figure darted down a street to the left, turning over a cart of baskets behind them.
"Keep after them!" The man from the woods called out as he put his time climbing everything from trees to mountainsides to good use.
Without hesitation, the man jumped with a perfect foot placement on a windowsill propelling himself upward to the second story and up on to the roof of a tavern. He then scrambled across the roof and jumped across the alley from above and continued across rooftops following the cloaked figure as the woman with the flute followed behind in the street.
The cloaked figure expertly maneuvered between two horse carts coming from opposite directions and lost the woman due to oncoming traffic. The man from the woods, however, kept up by jumping rooftops and using clotheslines over streets as tightropes. The cloaked figure dared a look back before rounding a corner into an alleyway that opened onto a different street and another block of town.
As the man expertly used a cloth canopy and empty street cart to get down from his rooftop and begin following the figure through the streets, the figure turned to see the shine of blades flying through the air in their direction. The cloaked figure spun around as they dodged three blades, and as their face came back around they were knocked flat on their back by a large figure sporting a shield made of tree bark over a sheet of dense metal.
The man from the woods slowed as the hulking figure with the shield grabbed the cloaked thief by the scruff of their cloak and lifted them off the ground.
"Well now," the large figure stated in a husky voice over small but prominent tusks in his lower jaw, "What have we here?"
"Not sure." Replied a small figure in a high-pitched, feminine but threatening voice as it dropped down from a clothesline and brandished a knife blade the size of a grown man's finger, "Let's cut it open and find out."
"Well stranger," The large tusked man said firmly to the cloaked figure, "Is my friend here gonna have to cut ya' open, or are ya' gonna tell us why you're running around toppling people over and generally causing mischief?"
As the man from the woods stepped forward a bit, the tusked man shook the cloaked figure just enough for the hood to fall back revealing the assailant; a woman - ginger red hair cut to fall just above the chin, deep brown eyes, a scar over but not through the right eye leaving the mark but not causing any blindness.
"Excuse me Miss," The man from the woods said as he approached and pointed at the cloaked woman's hand, "I don't think that belongs to you."
The woman looked at the pouch in her hand, then at the tusked man, then dropped the pouch on the ground.
"Thank you." The man said as he grabbed the pouch off the ground.
As the woman with the flute came onto the scene, a swarm of soldiers wearing helmets similar to the soldier at the gate covered that block of town and pointed their spears at the five travelers.
"What the hell is this?!" The small knife wielder asked, "I thought we had a deal with Jade!"
"Your deal still stands," The woman with the flute replied as she took the pouch from the woodsman, "That's exactly why they're here, they're protecting both you and me."
"And who are you supposed to be?" The cloaked woman asked without taking her eyes off the tusked man.
"I'm the King's niece," the flute woman said, "My name is Alma Jade."
Not even an hour later, the four travelers - minus Alma, and the cloaked woman now in handcuffs - stood before the King of Low-San, Freyus Jade. The room was silent, no one dared to move a muscle until the King spoke. The King, however, was reading a report on what had happened in town and had brought these people to his throne room.
"Well then." The King started as he handed the report back to the head soldier, "The three of you sought to protect my niece without even knowing who she was, and I shall show my thanks for that in due time. At the moment, however, I have other problems to attend to - and perhaps, the Fates have brought you here to help with that. I understand you all may not exactly enjoy each other's company, but I have a request for you all - if you wish to accept it."
The woodsman looked at the tusked man and the knife wielder, then to Alma who stood off to the right of the King's throne.
"What exactly is this request?" The woodsman asked.
"I will only be able to tell you if you choose to accept it." The King replied.
"Are you serious?!" Asked Logan indignantly, his age apparent in the cracks in his voice.
"Is this in or out of character?" James asked from behind the Dungeon Master screen.
"Whichever answers my question!" Logan replied as he held up his druid's character sheet, "Why can't I know what the request is before I accept it?"
"Because railroading is a thing." Bethany joked from the other side of the table as she looked over her half-elf's stats.
"More realistically, and to the point," James started, "Because that's how a King would operate for the best interest of his country."
"And because railroading is a thing." Marissa said without looking up from adding info to her bladesinger's sheet, to which the table laughed.
"Shut the hell up." James said with a smirk and bit of a chuckle.
"If it makes you feel any better," Matthew said as he put his half-orc's sheet down, "This is James's first time DM'ing, just like it's your first campaign."
"To that point," Julia added as she put her rogue sheet down, "He's run a few things by me, and this is the only way to make sense of suddenly throwing us on this quest."
"Fine." Logan said as he looked back at his sheet and notes.
"I accept this request." The tusked man said heartily.
"Where he goes, I go." The small knife wielder proclaimed as she pointed to the tusked man, "I'm in too."
"I also accept." The woodsman said begrudgingly.
"Uncle," Alma started as she put her hand on the King's shoulder, "I'm going with them."
"I appreciate your bravery my child," the King said as he turned his head to speak to her but stay seated forward, "But the last thing we need is you out on some adventure, getting lost or getting yourself in trouble again."
"My King," Alma said the slightest hint of bitterness in her voice as she walked around to face him, "I am no longer a child, I have proven myself over and over. I am more than ready to prove myself again, if that is what it takes."
"You still have much to learn." King Freyus replied, "But if you are willing to prove yourself, I shall put you to the test. Take this thief with you as part of your party."
Alma looked at the cloaked woman, then back to the king.
"I accept." Alma said curtly.
The king raised an eyebrow but motioned for a soldier to take the woman's cuffs off. The woman rubbed her wrists but didn't say anything.
"You will all be given anything you need from the shops throughout the kingdom free of charge." The King said, "Weapon enchantment, rations, equipment, clothing, armor, spending money, anything you need - even if not metal based or other special orders."
"I don't mean to be rude." The cloaked woman spoke up with a heavy but intelligible accent, "Thanks for the perks and all, but what exactly are we doing?"
"You will be freeing not only our land from a terrible affliction, but the entirety of the world along with us." The King started, "I'm sure you're all familiar with the old stories of the Lichqueen Valinda and her army of living death. While she was not only defeated, it was made certain that she would never come back, but that no one would ever be able to use such power on such a scale for resurrection purposes ever again. Although this remains the truth, something very evil is brewing where Valinda once tread. At night, and even on dark stormy days, it is apparent that someone or something is moving and experimenting in the woods. Strange lights, horrific sounds and even tremors in the ground and air itself. Any scouts we have sent to find out why have never returned - except one group. This group could only tell us that they had seen creatures resembling men grown to the size of trees stumbling through the forest. Some appeared to have been burned and scarred, others appeared to be fatter and younger. A small figure was seen casting a blue aura upon these hulking creatures, but would then vanish. The creatures would then stand taller, and the young ones would then appear older. We're not sure what these large creatures are, or who or what the smaller creature is. We want you to find out - and if necessary - put a stop to it."
The five travelers looked at each other, sizing each other up and trying to determine who - if any of them - would be the weakest or strongest link. As the King stood to send off the party, the doors to the throne room swung open as a small man with a fiery red beard, beautifully handmade armor and a large (for his size) great-axe ran into the room.
"Forgive the intrusion, my king." The dwarf said as he knelt before the throne, "I was delayed."
"Ah, Hedram." The king said, "You're just in time to learn the names of these brave souls who are venturing into the forest with you."
The five looked at each other, the dwarf and the king awkwardly.
"I'm Terrin Varsk," the halfling knife wielder stated before pointing to the half-orc with one of her blades, "The big guy with the shield here is Klom Bronthal."
"Hedram Bagdrod," the dwarf said as he hefted his axe, "At your service."
"As I said before, I'm Alma Jade." The half-elf said before looking to the cloaked woman, "This thief here, if reports are accurate, is Mira Vespar. And you are?"
All eyes turned on the woodsman before he spoke up.
"Jacob Thraine." The druid replied, "Last Druid of the Northern Woods."
The room was quiet, aside from a paige scribbling in a scroll to keep track of the meeting, before the King spoke.
"Well, you all better get going." The King said, eager to change the subject, "Your pay for saving my niece waits for you when this quest is finished."
As the six travelers left the throne room, one of the King's right hand men walked past them into the throne room. Both Alma and Jacob, being the only two in the party able to use or detect any true magic, felt a coldness follow the man as he began to close the doors of the throne room behind him. The man smoothed back his jet black hair as his already blue eyes pulsed slightly with blue energy and the smallest of a smile spread across his face as the doors closed.