"Well, that was a waste of time," scoffed Calvin followed by a deep drink from his cup.
The five of them had ended up in the Candleglow Inn after their little talk with Berran. They found a table on the bottom floor, ordered a round of cheap ales, and spent a good several minutes drowning their failure. Even Brian, who didn't partake in alcohol much in general, found himself on his second helping.
The party had never suffered a loss like this. They'd never completely and utterly failed to accomplish their goal. Sure, all but one of them had failed many a time at the game Dungeons & Dragons, and even in real life, but to miss at both combined simultaneously was not a sensation any of them were prepared to face. Brian wasn't entirely sure how to deal with it. The only one who seemed particularly well adjusted was Tiffany, which made sense because she wasn't getting hit by a double whammy of bullshit.
"It's not that bad, Cal," Tiffany said. "We got a few names out of it."
"Yeah, we got the names of a prisoner, and a dead guy, because that's so helpful," Calvin said.
"I'm tempted to agree with Calvin," remarked Ylva. "We aren't really any better off than when we started."
"Four days!" Calvin exclaimed with a slam of his mug upon the table. "We wasted four whole days on this! And for what, a few names? What the fuck?" He drained the last few drops from his drink and set it down. This was his third.
"Well, when we get back, we can just look up those names. We won't know if we'll find something until we look," suggested Hector.
"Yeah, you do that. I'll go back to hauling grain in the meantime," Calvin said.
"I don't even want to think about the return trip. We just got done walking all that distance. Any more, and I'll be sore my entire life," Tiffany said.
"There's no reason we can't camp out a few days here, take some time to recuperate," Ylva said.
"Yeah, except that if we don't complete contracts within ten days of each other, we can't stay at the guild hall anymore," said Brian. His comment brought a brief silence to the table.
"Well, that's just fucking great!" Calvin accentuated the last word by leaning back with a double-handed smack on either side of his empty cup.
"All the more reason to go back sooner, then," Hector said.
"We can ask for a job the moment we get there," added Ylva.
"Yeah, and then do more walking," complained Tiffany. "I haven't been this exhausted since my cheer coach made us run laps every other day."
"I've been thinking about that, actually. The walking, not cheerleading," Brian said, and then quickly amended. "Why don't we invest in a cart and horses, just like the Might Nein? We'd have to be a bit more responsible with them, of course, so no bringing them into danger, but we could at least use them to get from town to town."
"Not a bad idea." Ylva shrugged. "I'm sure there's a coper in Trostenwald."
"A what?" Calvin asked.
"A horse-dealer," answered Tiffany.
"We can certainly look into it." Hector nodded.
"Excuse me," said a voice from behind Brian.
It took every ounce of strength within him to keep from jumping out of his skin. By the confused reactions of the others, none of them saw this individual approach, either. He turned to the source of the voice, and found no one. After a second he glanced down, and it made sense why no one had noticed this fellow. Instead of a human or other tall race, whom he looked upon was a gnome. The little man wore a deep blue captain-style coat, a white shirt beneath, pale yellow breeches, and heavy brown walking shoes.
"Um... sup?" Calvin said with a raised eyebrow.
"What can we do for you, friend?" Hector took a much more amicable approach.
"Are you sellswords, by any chance?" The gnome cut straight to his point.
The entire party hesitated. Glances were exchanged between the five of them, ones that Brian read as suspicious and uncertain. That's what he tried to convey himself, anyway. Just when he felt the moment begin to draw on, Ylva broke the silence.
"What makes you say that?" She asked.
"Well, the swords, for one," the gnome said. "You don't have any sort of uniform, but you're sitting at a table, fully armed and armored. If you're not soldiers, then you're either sellswords or weirdos."
"A fair assessment," Hector nodded. "We're with the Adventurer's Guild, actually."
"Oh, goodie!" The gnome clapped once in pure joy. "My name is Klyppik Pirimpep. I'm the master of a caravan waylaid here in town," he said.
"Waylaid?" Hector took the obvious bait.
"Yes, unfortunately. We were making out way to Trostenwald with seven wagons of various goods, when the mercenaries we hired decided to take the half of the payment they'd already been given, along with a few higher value goods, and run off into the night. We've been stuck here for three days, since."
"Alright," Calvin said, "what does that have to do with us?"
"Well, I'm sorry for eavesdropping, but I couldn't help but overhear that you all are making your way back to Trostenwald? If you're going that direction anyway, would you mind escorting a few traders along the way?"
Again, glances went around the table. The exchange was overall shorter this time, however. For his part, Brian certainly didn't like that some stranger had been listening to them talk about their failures. The offer was enticing, though. It would give them something to do, at least.
"Give us a moment to discuss," Ylva said slowly to the gnome.
"Of course." Klyppik bowed his head and stepped back. Not, Brian noticed, far enough to be out of earshot. He rolled his eyes before joining the rest of his companions in leaning over the table.
"I say do it," Calvin said in hushed tones.
"Now, wait a second, Cal," Hector warned. "Let's not just jump into things. That's gotten us in trouble before."
"Are we even allowed to do work outside of the Guild," Tiffany asked a fair question.
"I don't see why not." Ylva crossed her arms. "Our contract with them says nothing about exclusivity, as far as I'm aware. And, it's not like we're breaking any sort of moral guideline, here. We'd just be escorting a convoy. It's the same kind of thing we'd do on a regular job."
"That's a good point," Brian agreed.
"Alright, but let's say we're not allowed. What then?" Proposed Tiffany.
"Edgar doesn't have to know," said Calvin.
"Come on, do you really think he won't find out?" Tiffany continued.
"Okay, then, who says were escorting a caravan? We're just going back to town and just happened to have a little company. Nothing wrong with that, right?" Calvin said.
"I really don't think that'll be necessary." Ylva shook her head. "But, I guess it's an alright excuse."
"Are we all agreed then?" Hector asked of the table. He waited for protests to come in, but none did. He turned to the gnome. "Alright, Klyppik, we're in."
"Wonderful! Simply excellent!" The gnome celebrated. "We leave early tomorrow morning. Are you staying here?"
"We hadn't actually decided on that yet, but I guess we could." Hector looked t his companions for confirmation and received nods.
"I'll send one of my people to fetch you when it's time, then. I look forward to working with you." Klyppik approached the table.
"And us with you," returned Hector. The two of them shook hands, and the deal was brokered.
And that was how the party ended up on their first job outside of the Adventurer's Guild. Despite everything they had determined, Brian was still a bit nervous about it, both because he'd never escorted a caravan before, and because he wasn't sure they should be doing it in the first place. True, Edgar never said anything about exclusivity to the Guild, but it wouldn't be the first time he forgot to tell them something. He hoped they didn't get in trouble for taking the job.
The party got two rooms, Calvin and Ylva covering the costs respectively, and then went right to bed. In the morning, Klyppik did indeed send one of his people to fetch them. Though, to call it morning would've been generous. The sun hadn't even come up yet. The person tasked with collecting them was a female Dragonborn, yellow of scales and with gems inset in the ridges above her eyes. Unlike with most other races, the only things that denoted her as a woman were her size and the pitch of her voice.
This Dragonborn led the party to the outskirts of town where the caravan was already gathered and ready to go. Just as they had been told, the convoy consisted of seven large horse drawn carts covered in white cloth that honestly reminded Brian of American pioneer wagons. Klyppik introduced them to each of the wagon masters, and then they were off.
Brian thought, if nothing else, it would be more entertaining to travel with a large group than just his five friends. Immediately after leaving Alfield, he was proven wrong. Not including Klyppik, there were seven other people along on the journey with them, all of whom drove a wagon. Brian lacked not for people to talk to. The only issue was he knew none of them. He had always found it difficult to meet new people. How did anyone start a conversation with some random person he didn't know? Even though there were plenty of folks around, he found himself completely incapable of speaking with them. That meant he spent most of his time walking with one of his guildmates and keeping quiet.
Even so, the first day went off without a hitch. He expected the trip to slow down with such a large train to weave along the roads, but the opposite was true. The horses, even at a walk, kept a faster pace than most people could. Having to keep up with them made things faster. While he doubted the possibility of cutting a whole day, they might actually make it to Trostenwald late on the third day.
To bed down for the night, they found a mostly flat spot off to one side of the road. There, they circled the wagons and slept in the middle. As the guards, the responsibility of taking watches fell upon the Adventurer's Guild members. So, they used their regular schedule, for which Ylva had the excellent idea of sitting atop the wagons. The only one who didn't do this was Calvin, as he feared his weight would crash through the white canvas.
A thick fog rolled in the next morning. If Brian stood at the back of the wagon train, he couldn't see the front. He paced out the length of the covered wagons to get a rough estimate of their dimensions. Given that information, he had about twenty feet of decent visibility before things rapidly declined. That sounded halfway decent, until put into perspective. It felt like he couldn't see his hand in front of his face.
The fog made everyone a bit jumpy, and rightly so. Calvin continually looked around, often leaning forward to get a better look at things he thought to have seen in the distance. Ylva made constant laps of the train, her best attempt at widening her field of view. Hector had long ago sent his bat Noche on a scouting run, and currently was looking through his eyes while Tiffany clung to his arm, leading him along. Brian approached the latter pair.
"How's he doing?" He asked of Tiffany.
"I'm not sure." The blonde shook her head. "He hasn't said anything for the past twenty minutes, or so."
"Well, I guess that's not bad. No news is good news," Brian shrugged.
"It's kinda creepy, if I"m being honest," Tiffany said after a moment. "I mean, he's just standing there, completely unresponsive, like a zombie or something."
"Let's hope he's not a zombie. The last thing we need right now is an outbreak." Brian was only semi-kidding. "Thankfully, I have a plan."
"A plan for what?"
"The zombie outbreak, obviously," Brian said. Tiffany continued to give him a quizzical look. "Come on, everyone has a zombie plan."
"I don't. I've never even heard of something like that."
"Well, you should get one. It could happen at any time, so you need to be ready."
Tiffany hesitated. "I can't tell if you're kidding or not."
"Only a little bit," Brian said. "I do have a zombie plan, but more for the fun of having one. I don't expect to ever use it."
Before this conversation could continue further, Hector came out of his trance. His eyes, which were previously pure white, returned to their normal dark brown. He took a deep breath and looked around, blinking rapidly. Brian was extremely grateful for this. If Tiffany had the chance to ask what his zombie plan was, he would have been extremely embarrassed. It just wasn't something you talked to a non-nerd about.
"Are you okay?" Tiffany asked Hector, still holding onto him.
Hector looked at her as if he had no idea who she was. Recognition flashed across his face and, with a shake of his head he was back to normal.
"Yeah, sorry. Just getting my land legs back. Echolocation is weird anyway, but the fog makes it worse. It's like static on an old T.V." he explained.
"You didn't see anything, then?" Brian said.
"No, sorry. Noche couldn't see any better than we can, and the fog made it hard for him to echolocate."
"Well, at least we tried."
"I don't like it," Ylva said from behind them. She came up to stand next to Brian.
"The fog, or my bat?" Hector joked.
"The fog," clarified Ylva with a wary gaze to the right. "It doesn't make any sense. There aren't any rivers near here that I'm aware of, this isn't a valley, and we aren't close enough to the Ustaloche, so where is it coming from?"
"You think it's magical?" Brian asked.
"I think Exandria is a fantasy world, and doesn't follow the normal laws of physics," determined Ylva. "Still, we should keep an eye out."
They walked on for about five minutes more, Brian now more on guard than ever. What Ylva said made a whole lot of sense. Being from New York, and thus always close to the water, Brian never really thought about where fogs came from. In perfectly flat, relatively dry land like this, such a thick layer of mist really did make little sense.
They hadn't made it far at all after this conversation when a cry erupted from one of the rearward wagons.
"Bear!" Screamed a voice Brian recognized as the female Dragonborn.
"They're in the mist! Bandits!" Shouted an unidentified male voice.
In an instant Brian, Tiffany, and Ylva had drawn their weapons. Hector fumbled with removing his spellbook from the pouch hanging from his right shoulder. Brian looked around for his barbarian friend. While he couldn't find the big man, he did hear him shouting.
"Just once! Just once, I'd like to get through a job without you assholes showing up!"
"Everyone spread out, don't let them surround us!" Ylva shouted, but it was too late. The road erupted in chaos.
Brian's position between Tiffany and Ylva put him in the middle of the pack. Up ahead, the road took a turn to the right. He charged forward, up just past the apex of the bend. Through the fog he saw a figure stand, doubtless ready to charge in, a human with an unnatural head. He gripped his holy symbol with his left hand. The right pointed palmward at the figure as a prayer left his lips. Golden light traveled through the holy symbol, down his arm, and out of his hand. It engulfed the figure, leaving behind only ashes. The fog around it burned away like paper alight at the edges, but more mist began to fill the space.
Behind him a fire erupted from the ground beneath the third wagon in the column. The horses shrieked and reared. Their tugging at the bit combined with the sudden flame allowed the leather leads which attached them to the wagon to snap. They bolted in opposite directions, disappearing into the fog.
Tiffany had no idea what was happening, but she knew an unseen spellcaster was bad. She walked around the wagon a few steps behind her until a hill on the left of the road came into view. A single tree sprouted from the ground on it, right of which a Druid man with a living snake around his neck pointed a long gnarled staff at the fire he'd just made. Beside him, a murder of crows had just taken flight. To the other side of the tree, a woman who appeared to have slathered herself in honey. Tiffany lined up a shot on the Druid and fired, but the fog threw off her aim. The bolt embedded in the tree. She cursed under her breath and reloaded.
The crows flew low to the ground, engulfing Tiffany. She swatted at them with her crossbow while protecting her face with the other hand. She was about to draw a dagger when she realized they weren't hurting her. Instead, they lighted all over the wagon behind her and began to peck at the leads holding the horses in place.
Hector looked all around him, but couldn't see anything. He had to get rid of this fog. He walked up next to Brian. The wizard made a broad circle in front with his arm, arcane words on his breath, and thrust his palm through the center of it. A great gust emanated from his palm. It blew away the fog in a column before him. But the mist was thick. For all his work, he only managed to reveal an elven man with dozens of feathers stuck in his waist-length golden hair.
The cultists on the right of the road swarmed in. One went up to the second wagon in the line, right next to Calvin. Instead of attacking the big barbarian, he cut free one of the horses, which fled into the fog.
"Hands off the merchandise!" Calvin shouted. He smacked the cultist hard in the back, but the man with a wolf's jaw for a hat completely ignored him. It was as if he didn't even feel the pain.
A cultist with a shirt made from raw pig hide rushed up to Ylva. He made a slice at her with his arming sword but the shieldmaiden blocked. Ylva countered with a thrust, but the man dodged to the right.
Another still ran up to Brian. The cleric braced himself for impact, but the halfling with an orange cat's tail sewn to his rump simply continued on past without even a glance at his supposed opponent.
As all of this was happening, a group of enemies from the left side of the road went on the attack. A second one rushed up the to wagon Calvin guarded and cut away its last horse without acknowledging the barbarian. One went over to the wagon a several feet behind Tiffany and began to cut away the leads, while a dwarf did the same one wagon up. All of them wore some sort of gory accouterments.
Finally, the bear made its move. It was a black bear, smaller than Calvin would have thought, but that didn't' really matter as it loped on up to him.
"Oh shit!" He called as his club spun to deflect a swipe from vicious claws, and then a bite from terrible teeth.
Brian didn't like that a cultist was completely ignoring him. Whatever this halfling was up to, it couldn't be good. The cleric grabbed onto his holy symbol as the enemy ran past. He reached out as black tendrils consumed his hand. A slap passed them into the halfling, who withered and died mid step. When he fell it was with a sickening crunch, like a bag of leaves hitting a gravel driveway. One threat dealt with, Brian moved on to the cultist dwarf to his left, currently trying to free a horse.
The Druid ran from his hill and cut a line through the fray. He avoided Tiffany to stand next to the wagon she currently guarded. He pointed his staff at the very last vehicle in the group. Just as before, a great gout of fire rose up between the horses and the wagon itself. The beasts tore at their leads and sprinted off into the fog.
Tiffany knew she had to stop this man from committing his evil deeds. She aimed at him and fired again. This time, she managed to pierce straight through his thigh. The Druid screamed out in pain, but didn't acknowledge her in any other way. Frustrated, Tiffany reloaded.
While all of this was happening, the murder of crows went unassailed as the swarming creatures worked to free a horse. By beak and talon they managed to cut one loose. Just like the others, it vanished in the mist.
Hector agreed that this Druid had to be stopped. He took a trio of simple pecan tarts from his component pouch and crushed them. Next he waved a feather at the Druid. That now quite familiar pink cloud wafted from him over to the enemy. The Druid seemed briefly aware of the effect for a moment, but shook it off with a great convulsion.
The cultists continued their work, using the battle as a distraction. Calvin looked to his left just in time to see two enemies set loose the horses from the first wagon in the line.
The one engaged with Ylva slashed down at her right shoulder, a blow that did just enough damage to crack something. The Norsewoman retaliated by striking low into the pig flesh on his ribs. She summoned her strength to then cut across his throat. He fell to the ground, gasping, hands clawing at the gash leaking blood from his neck. Ylva had no time to worry about him. She moved over to the Druid.
The cultist right next to Calvin moved away form him. The barbarian tried to get a hit in as she went, but the elf covered in honey pulled off a Matrix-level duck to escape. Free of danger, she dashed all the way up to the middle wagon. The man already at this one liberated a horse. On down the line, the dwarven cultist struggled to cut at the reigns.
With his failure to stop the one from moving, Calvin instead turned his rage on the bear still dueling with him. He smashed it over the head. For his trouble, he received claws through his right leg and a bite which took a chunk from his opposite flank. Calvin grit his teeth. This beast would not see him bleed.
Brian raised a prayer to Bahamut as he raised his warhammer. Divine fury guided his hand as he brought it down into the dwarf trying to set free one of the horses. The extraplanar aid only lasted one swing, but even so the cleric brought his weapon around and down again. The cultist weathered all of the abuse and remained standing, wholly focused on his task.
The Druid had to get this sword-wielding woman out of his face. He removed a piece of iron smaller than his pinky finger and pressed it against her cheek, all the while uttering some words in a language he didn't speak. The iron glowed and vanished, leaving behind an immobile combatant. Ylva followed him with her eyes and, though she tried with all her might, couldn't move. She screamed internally as the Druid moved up between Hector and the wagon on his left.
Tiffany saw what was going on around her, the battle, the magic, the horses. The latter seemed like the most important, to both herself and the enemy. She shouldered her weapon and fired at the one closest to her. It passed clean through her neck, a gout of blood and honey. As she fell, Tiffany reloaded.
Just as they had before, the ravens cut free the final horse on the cart they had been working with. As the animal fled for its life, the swarm flew on to the second to last wagon in the line.
The enemy's game was pretty obvious to Hector. They only wanted the horses. To that end, his goal had to be the elimination of the ones closest to that objective. That meant spinning around to attack the one at the wagon behind him. He held out his staff and made circles around the tip with his opposite palm, each rotation carrying more fire with it. Three blazing streaks issued forth. One went wide, the second hit the cultist in the shoulder. The third passed straight down his throat as he cried out in pain. Smoke escaped from his mouth, eyes, and ears as he crumpled, immolated from the inside out.
The men to Calvin's left dashed away from their recently liberated vehicle to the one Tiffany had just saved. One of them made it to the horses, but the other only reached the back side. In the same breath, the final horse was freed from the second to last wagon, despite Brian's best efforts to stop it.
Calvin watched all of this happen, but was useless to stop it. The bear he dueled with effectively cut him off from the rest of the battle. That filled him with a rage more palpable that the one that already pumped through his veins. He gave the creature a smash over the head. It countered with another claw strike to the same injured leg. What followed was a bite, but Calvin was ready. He put his club in the way so the teeth met it instead of his body. Expecting to tear soft flesh, the bear clamped down hard. Calvin felt something crack as the powerful jaws clamped down on the studded wood weapon. The bear reeled back, lower jaw hanging misaligned to one side.
As both the horses and the enemies dropped like flies around him, Brian knew he had to end this. He smashed his hammer over the head of his current opponent one more time, a blow strong enough to bring them down.
The Druid saw the attack coming to a close. One last time he enthralled a flame to sprout beneath a wagon. The horses ran away. The Druid took a cue from them and also fled. As he ran away from Hector, the old wizard struck out with his staff. Though he lamped the Druid across the temple, the man remained upright. He dashed into the fog.
Hector gave chase. Once he regained visual, he put a drop of water atop his staff, slashed it down with ice blue trailing the tip, and thrust forward. Out from the arc shot a blue glacial shard. It tore through the Druid's side to land in the ground before him. The Druid dug his own staff into the ground and used it to redirect his movement a split second before the shard detonated. He escaped, not unharmed but still standing.
The crows pecked free the final horse and took flight into the mist. The final remaining cultists did the same.
Calvin looked around him and saw that the other enemies had all fled. The only one left was this bear that had antagonized him. With a cry for the gods of rage, Calvin struck down upon it. The bear's legs gave out from underneath it. The thing hit the ground chin-first in a heap, motionless.
Brian stood motionless for a moment, a sentinel over his kill, blood dripping from his hammer as he looked all around for any remaining enemies. A minute passed, maybe two, but the plains were silent. Quickly as they came, the attackers vanished.
With them went the obfuscation. The fog dissipated, but the cultists were nowhere to be found. Wagon masters emerged from hiding within their covered wagons to behold the truth which slowly sunk in to Brian as the landscape became visible once again. They were alone. The horses were gone. The caravan was stranded in the middle of the road.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: A lot of excellent rolls in this one, not much missing or failed spells. Even Brian held his own in melee combat, which he hasn't been very good at thus far. There were orignally two more cultists, but I found they too easily overwhelmed the party, so I lowered their numbers.
The Druid was casting Create Bonfire to burn free the horses. Technically, this would damage the animals, but not enough to come near killing them so I ignored it. He escaped the fight with two whole hit points.
The bear's entire purpose was to hold Calvin in place. It's last attack was a natural 1, but I wasn't sure how to make a bear fumble since it doesn't have hands or weapons, so I went for a broken jaw that removed its bite attack. I almost had Tiffany move up and take a shot at it, but I wanted to give Calvin the glory of defeating a bear in single combat, because that shit's cool. It wouldn't have made a difference, I don't think.
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