Disclaimer: I don't own DnD 5e or anything, only my character. This is the first part of my new group's 5e campaign, starting with the module "Mines of Phandelver". As you will see, it didn't exactly...go as planned, which means it will be a wild ride as our sessions (and thus this story) continue. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the wild ride, o readers mine. And as always, feel free to favorite/follow/review/sense a PM, it means a lot.
Threx picked a bug out of his fur for the fifth or sixth time, groaning. The gnoll ranger put his hands back on his twin shortswords and continued walking along the wagon. Leading the wagon, filled to the brim with various supplies and mining tools, was Jack the half elf rogue, another hire of Gundren Rockseeker. And then there was-
"Boy! These kegs look mighty tasty!" A light voice yelled from the back of the wagon. Threx grimaced as Tommai rummaged through the contents of the wagon, eventually swinging around to show off the keg of beer he found. His lyre hung lopsidedly from the high elf's body as he took a long drink. Only to be nearly sent sprawling at the wagon came to an abrupt stop.
"What happened?" Threx barked.
"Come and see." Jack said, pointing ahead on the road. There lay two dead horses, black tipped arrows stuck in them. "I'm gonna check it out." The rogue said as he jogged forward, Threx drawing both his swords just in case of trouble. Jack found nothing in the saddlebags, they had been thoroughly looted, but he saw an insignia that was vaguely familiar, yet the young man couldn't quite put his finger on where he had seen it before.
"Hey, who're they?" Tommai yelled as he pointed to two shadowy figures in the tree line on the left of the road. The group squinted, but couldn't make out anything.
"I don't know," Jack said before calling out to them, "hey, who're you guys?" No response.
"Did you see what happened here? And do you have any fiiinnnee women with you?" Threx shot a look at the bard as he yelled this, but still no response came.
"We should keep going to Phaladin, we can drop this off and check it out later." Jack said as he climbed back onto the cart. Threx nodded in agreement, still keeping his swords unsheathed in preparation for trouble.
Thus he was unsurprised when a black tipped arrow slammed into each side of the wagon, and he saw a goblin run from the same directions towards the cart. Readying himself he grinned in preparation for battle, but not before a high pitched voice spoke quickly in what he could only guess was Goblin. He then saw that Tommai had seemingly disguised himself as a goblin through some magic.
"What ya going on about?" Yelled one of the goblins. "There be no army coming for us!" Tommai desperately waves his hands about, conjuring a new spell that released a number of yells and screams. Shaking it off the goblin nearest to him resumed his charge at the gnoll. Swinging his right sword Threx clashed with the goblin's own, before preparing a swing with his left sword at the Goblin's head, intent on decapitating the creature. Instead the goblin ducked underneath the swing, an easy feat when fighting the seven foot two gnoll, and slashed at Threx's arm, leaving a long but shallow cut.
"Watch out!" Goblin Tommai yelled as he stumbled and collided with the goblin, pinning him to the ground in a tangle of limbs. "Sorry mate." He said as he tripped/kicked the goblin in the face, who for his part recoiled and began cursing. As Reimar prepared to lunge again a straw arrow slammed into the goblin's chest, ending him.
Meanwhile on the cart Jack deftly dodged his own attacked before drawing his rapier and, with a flick of his wrist, decapitating the goblin. He quickly parried a blow as another goblin jumped from the roof of the wagon, only for him to be hit with another stray arrow. Jack turned towards the forest, where a goblin archer could be seen peeking out from behind a tree. A long arrow slammed into the trunk with a thundering crack, the goblin yelping as he ducked behind cover.
As Threx drew another arrow Tommai jumped up and gestured to Threx and Jack. "Hey guys, let me try this." He giggled as he grabbed a keg and approached the goblin. "Hey man, it's ok. Here, have some." The "goblin" said as he made his way towards the cowering goblin, handing him the keg. The goblin nodded and gulped down some of the alcohol.
"Thanks man. Those two are crazy aren't they?" He sounded panicked.
"Yeah…" Tommai trailed off, then jumped as Jack, who had snuck up behind the goblin, quickly thrust his rapier through his heart. "Oh come on man! I was making a friend!"
"A friend who tried to kill us." Jack retorted as he wiped the blood off his blade and began searching through the bodies, finding several gold pieces but nothing else. Meanwhile Threx quickly yanked a tooth from the goblin he had been fighting, slipping it into a pouch before approaching the others.
"There's a path there." Threx pointed at said path, winding through the dense forest.
"Spooky." Tommai replied, ending the illusion and appearing as his usual elf self once more. "Should we check it out?"
"But what about our job? We still need to bring those supplies to Phaladin." Jack replied.
"We can always come back. Besides, the dwarf has our coin waiting for us in town." Threx grunted as the three turned back to the cart.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Threx brought the cart to a stop outside of Gundren's shop as the other two jumped off the cart. The town was a small one, populated mostly by humans, elves, and dwarves. He got some scared and suspicious looks as the group went to the shop door, but he had grown used to them. Even if his tribe had renounced the demon Yeenoghu and partnered with nearby villages, the actions of his blood crazed kin always reflected on him. Shrugging it off he turned his attention back to the present.
"It seems no one's home." Tommai said as he peered into the windows.
"That's weird, cause Gundren said he and () would be here." Jack said. "They're probably just late, we can wait for them." Spotting a blacksmith's shop he quickly ran there, entering the establishment. A stone forge took up most of the shop, with a low counter on the left side. Racks of weapons, ranging from daggers to mauls larger than Jack himself, glinted in the orange glow cast my the forge's flames. The blacksmith, a large burly human, looked up and saw the young rogue enter.
"Ello there lad." The blacksmith said as he approached. "Anything I can do for you?"
"Yeah, do you have any longswords?" Jack asked.
"Sure, have a couple here you can try." The blacksmith took several swords down from their racks and laid them on the table. Jack grabbed one and swung it a few times.
"This should work, how much do I owe you?"
"Six gold pieces if you will." Jack nodded and handed him the pieces, then ran out the door back to the cart. Meanwhile Threx and Tommai decided to make their way to the bar, Tommai shaking his head in despair at the apparent lack of 'fiiiiine women.' Entering the bar the elf made a beeline for the bar, plopping down on the nearest stool.
"Hey barkeep! I need some of your strongest stuff!" He yelled as a stout human came over.
"A-alright then sir," he said, taken slightly aback by Tommai's enthusiasm as he prepared a complex drink before dropping it in front of the bard. "That'll be three gold. And what for yourself?" He asked Threx.
"Just an ale if you would." The gnoll grunted as he flipped a coin onto the bar. Tommai meanwhile downed his drink in a single go, throat burning and immediately feeling the full force of the alcohol.
"Threexx my man, wanna give me a sip of that?" Tommai leaned in as Threx downed half of his own drink.
"Tommai, this is mine. And at this rate I'm gonna need all of it." He deadpanned as he sipped his drink more.
Tommai pouted for a moment, looking around the bar before his eyes lit up and he all but jumped out of his seat. For there was gambling to be had.
Threx noticed how quiet the bard had become, and glanced to his side. Only to see him running over to a far table and slamming some money on the counter. Sighing he took another sip of the ale and walked over, leaning against the wall a few feet from the table. This would go poorly, he was sure.
Within minutes he was proven right, as Tommai slumped forward and put his head dramatically in his hands as a dwarf dragged a small pile of gold towards himself. "Wait wait wait." Jack said, having appeared at the table silently and startling a few patrons nearby. "How about I play you for my friend's winnings?"
"I'm quite good ending it here lad." The dwarf laughed.
"Well how about double or nothing?" Jack suggested as he dropped more gold onto the table. It didn't take long for the dwarf long to agree and begin cutting new hands for each of them. But what he didn't see was Jack replace some of the cards with his own, hiding the excess ones in his sleeve. Threx noticed the small motion, and grinned. This would either go brilliantly or horribly, and he hadn't had a good barfight in a while.
It turned out that no fight was to happen, as Jack's sleight of hand had netted him the victory he needed. Threx laughed a bellowing hyena laugh as the dwarf muttered and shoved the gold towards the rogue, who laughed as he pocketed it before leaning in close to a happy Tommai. "Listen. Don't gamble as often, because you suck at it."
Tommai grumbled. "It's fine, I am good at it."
"No, you're not. I am. Let me demonstrate." Jack quickly hurried to the bar. "Hey barkeep, can I borrow a table and some chairs?"
"...I'd rather not."
"Please? I swear I'll return them!" Jack pleaded with a devilish grin.
"No lad, I'd rather not."
"Well can I have some mugs please? Three would be great, and yes I'll return them the second I'm done."
The bartender sighed. "Fine. Here you go, but if you break them you pay."
"Oh don't worry I'll be careful." Jack insisted as he grabbed the three mugs and stood in the middle of the tavern. "Watch and learn." He whispered to Tommai before addressing the entire tavern. "Anyone here want to win ten gold pieces? Fair and easy game by yours truly."
Several of the patrons glanced between each other and hesitated, not wanting to accept the rogue's wager. Finally a half-orc rose his hand, clad in the armor of a paladin. "What the heck, I'll take ya on kid."
"Excellent." Jack said as he quickly took a seat at the half-orc's table, Tommai and Tgrex standing nearby watching. "Alright, hand over ten gold pieces sir, and I'll add some of my own." They each dropped ten coins in front of Jack. "Now, I'm going to hide it in one of these mugs. You guess which one it's in, you get the gold. Nice and simple." He placed the pile underneath the middle mug.
The half-org watched attentively as the half-elf mixed and shifted the order of the mugs, but not carefully enough to see him slip the coins soundlessly into his lap and then into his pocket. Finally he stopped. "Alright, which is your first choice?" The paladin pointed to the rightmost mug, which Jack pulled away to reveal as empty. "Ouch, one more try."
"Hmm." His fellow gambler mulled it over before pointing the to leftmost mug, which again was empty. "Damn, so it was still the middle one?"
"Of course! See?" Jack quickly flashed the mug in question before quickly scooping it up with the other two, too quickly for the half-orc to spot his deception.
"Well played then my friend!" The half-orc laughed as he went back to talking with his friends as Threx walked over to Jack.
"As fun as that was, we should check and see if Gundren is back." The gnoll said. Jack nodded and the trio went back outside. They saw no Gundren, but did see a woman standing inside the shop.
"Hey there!" Tommai waved. "You work here?"
"I do." The older human woman replied. "What do you folks want?"
"Well, Gundren hired us to escort some supplies here, you seen him around?" Jack asked as he gestured to the wagon.
"I haven't seen him all day, he was supposed to arrive before you all."
Realization hit Threx like a bucket of cold water. "The horses, and the symbol on the bags." The other two looked at him, realization dawning in their faces as well.
"Well, looks like we're meeting those goblins again?" Tommai tried to laugh, but nothing more than a Gnoll curse form Threx and a sigh from Jack.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
"Well, we're back at memory lane. Where to now?" The bard hiccuped as he asked, the others looking over the remains of their previous battle. After three hours of walking the effects of Threx's ale had worn off, but unfortunately for their sanity Tommai was still fully under the effects of his binge.
"Let's go that way, it's where the goblins came from anyways so that's our best bet. Follow me." Jack rattled off as he began sneaking along the path, dragging Tommai with him as Threx followed close behind. They crept through the foliage for some time as the sun set, golden rays dancing between the trees. Occasionally the drunk Tommai would act up and yell, but so far nothing had come of it.
"Wait." Threx whispered, causing all three to stop. A clearing in the forrest was before them, with two goblins sitting around a fire. Behind them was a cave entrance.
"I'll take care of the one on the left." Jack said, dropping Tommai as he snuck off. His footsteps were silent as he all but disappeared into the shadows, before reaching the edge of the clearing. Lunging out with his longsword he struck the first goblin through the heart, landing on top of him as the other goblin spun in shock. Seeing his opportunity Threx roared and broke into a charge towards the other goblin, twin steel blades cutting deep into his chest.
"I'll get Tommai." Threx said as he stood above the dying goblin and loped back to the bard.
"Guys!" Tommai yelled/cried as Threx lead him into the clearing. "Why'd you have to kill them? They could have been reasonable!"
"I highly doubt that." Jack said as he casually slit the last goblin's throat. Just to be sure he was well and truly dead. "Now, I think the ringleader is in that cave, he'll have Gundren." Nodding Threx dragged a still upset Tommai after Jack as they descended into the yawning mouth of the cave.
After creeping through the tunnels for some time the tunnel opened into a large open area, filled with flickering torches. A goblin stood next to a throne of stone and bone, while another stood with a bow and arrow on a ledge leading to a different level. And on the throne sat a monstrous bugbear, clad in rusted armor adorned with the bones of enemies. A snarl was on his face and a massive mace of black twisted steel rested at his right side.
"Oh shit." Jack ducked back behind the lip of the tunnel when he saw the bugbear. "That's one big guy in there."
Threx laughed quietly. "We can take him. But we need to deal with those goblins first. Tommai?"
"Hiiiii Threx!" Tommai said with an unsteady grin, though mercifully quiet.
"...just, try to help in this fight if you can." Threx sighed. "We'll need everything to beat this guy. I'll take care of the one with the bow." The gnoll said as he drew an arrow and readied his bow.
Jack nodded and once again crept towards the nearest goblin on the floor. Throwing a glance at Threx he jumped and swung at the goblin, but his foot kicked a small stone in the process, sending it ricocheting into the stone wall. The goblin looked up and twisted at the last moment, the longsword grazing his non-weapon arm. At the same moment Threx released an arrow at the other goblin. The ranger was rewarded by a satisfying thump, but the goblin's death screech alerted the bugbear to their presence.
"Intruders!" The yelled as he jumped to his feet and grabbed his massive two handed mace. "You punt fools dare challenge the mighty Klarg."
"Yes!" Jack yelled as he dived out of the way of the goblin's axe. "And we're gonna beat you!"
Klarg laughed, only to be cut short at Threx let out a battle cry of his own and attacked him with both his shortswords. The first bounced harmlessly against his armor, but the gnoll twisted as he passed the bugbear and left a small slash along Klarg's cheek with his second sword.
Klarg roared and swung at Threx, who barely managed to roll out of the way. Meanwhile Jack partied another blow from the goblin before decapitating him with a deft swing of his longsword. Seeing Threx dodging the bugbear's blows he rushed forward and swung at his arm, leaving a long gash. This hardly phased his opponent though, as he swung the weapon in a wide arc at both rogue and ranger, with Jack barely able to dodge.
Threx was not so lucky. As he tried to stay out of range the large weapon clipped him in his side and sent him sprawling. Though his scale mail kept it from being a death blow, his side exploded in pain as the weapon left a serious wound and the gnoll was sent tumbling to the side.
"You see now! None can defeat me!" Klarg boasted with his bellowing voice.
Seeing his companions struggling, Tommai grabbed a dagger from his belt and threw it at Klarg. However, due to his alcohol-inhibited coordination, the dagger missed him by inches and clanged uselessly against the wall.
Jack rushed forward again and swung with his longsword, but Klarg raised his braver and deflected the blow back into the half-elf, the sword biting a bit into his shoulder. "Hey ugly!" Tommai's voice rang out. "Take this!" The bard ran forward and swung his metal reinforced lute into the side of the bugbear. The instrument simply bounced off Klarg's armor as he looked down with a sinister grin, before grabbing Tommai and slamming him to the ground.
"On second thought le-" Tommai was cut off as the mace slammed into his chest, flattening it as his lifeblood, along with most of his chest cavity, splattered all around the cave floor. Immediately Jack ran forward to avenge his fallen friend, but Klarg was faster and slammed his mace into the rogue's chest, sending him flying to the far wall. Cracks spring out like spiderwebs form the force of Jack's impact. He was dead before his he hit the ground.
"NOOOOO!" Threx roared in rage and sorrow. He hadn't known them for long, but he couldn't deny the connection they had. This wasn't supposed to happen. Not again.
"Want to join your friends filth?!" Klarg roared, gesturing Threx forward with his hand.
Threx roared just as loud as he charged forward, all restraint or conscious thought replaced by blind rage. "I'LL KILL YOU!" He screamed as he swung his blades wildly, some parties hit others leaving deep gashes and stab wounds in the bugbear, who roared in pain. "I'LL KILL YOU I'LL KILL YOU I-" Threx was cut off as a blow sent him tumbling, barely breathing because of the pain. As his world went black he still crawled towards Klarg, jaws snapping in a vain last attack.
A/N: See what I mean about wild first session? In all seriousness, don't worry there have been more sessions and I am in the process of writing them up now. Also, I mentioned in my other main stories that I was planning on making a discord for readers to said stories, so I'm happy to announce that it is live and ready, link is below (remove spaces parenthesis and typing it, fnet hates links). Feel free to join if you want, and I'll see you all in the next one, o readers mine.
Link: https:)/ / cGSUfn