Savior
Chapter 15
"Who are you?" Rick asked him. Once he was awake, that is.
"Roy. …Who are you?"
"I'm Rick. What happened to you?"
Roy looked at him warily. "Why should I tell you anything?"
"Because I'm the one who carried you up out of that hole. Also, the one who revived you. Now, tell me what happened," Rick demanded.
"Fine! No need to get offensive. I was bushwhacked, attacked if you like, by my... Well, they weren't friends, exactly, since we only just met. They beat me, tied me up, and threw me into that hole. I tried to escape, but I was too weak from them beating me. I resigned myself to my fate and gave up."
Then Roy looked around and saw that there were others. "Who in blazes are you?"
"I am a Ranger. My name is Rick. This is Roy, a Paladin, a Servant of Pelor called Meredith, and Kate, a Sorceress. Now, what are you?"
"I am a sixth-level Rogue and a second-level Lasher," Roy replied.
Rick frowned. "Lasher? Never heard of it."
"A Lasher is someone who uses whips," Roy explained patiently. "I have two; one to attack and another to do things with. I can snuff out a candle in your hand from 15 feet without damaging the candle."
"It seems they stole nothing from you," Rick remarked.
"Oh, but they did. They took all my gold. I only have a few copper pieces left. Bastards!" Roy hated them fiercely. "So there are two Roys now? What are the odds of that?"
"Given that it's a common enough name, I would say pretty good. Now, the odds of both of us being together are rather long," Roy told him.
"Good point," Roy acknowledged. "So, two Humans, a Half-Orc, and an Elf. You're quite the group."
"If you like, you're welcome to join us, or we can send you on your way," Rick told him.
"My track record on joining a group is poor, but I'm willing to try it. If you'll have me, I'll travel with you," Roy told them and waited.
"Welcome to our group, Roy. We won't beat you, tie you up, or throw you in a pit. We're too, well, too good to do that. After all, we have a Paladin and a Servant of Pelor," Rick told him.
"Good point," Roy conceded.
"Let's go then. We have a long walk ahead of us. You see, we're kind of lost," Rick admitted.
"Really? The road is right over there." He pointed to it, but they didn't see it. So Kate walked over to where he pointed. "He's right, it's the road. A path is more like it, but it is a road."
oo0O0oo
It took them two days to reach Mosstone. Now, Mosstone was a trading town where Caravans, both large and small, came through there every day. They spent the night and moved on.
It had a permanent population of about 3,000, but that swelled depending on how many Caravans were in town and how big they were. Mosstone was about 70% Human, 14% Halflings, 10% Half-Elf, 3% Half-Orc, and 3% Other. So they all felt right at home there.
They found a general store first, and each bought two weeks of trail rations, giving them about three weeks worth. Then they hit an inn. Dryad's Dreams, it was called. It actually had three living trees growing inside it.
The guest rooms of Dryad's Dreams had three locks and complete soundproofing for extra privacy. The entire place smelled natural and pleasant, vaguely reminiscent of vegetation, wildflowers, and spices.
They ate dinner and got three rooms since a large common room for them all wasn't available. Kate and Rick made love to each other, and Roy and Lanie did as well. Just not Meredith and Roy.
Come the morning, after using the bathroom, they each took a hot bath, had their clothes cleaned, and went downstairs for breakfast. They needed to decide what to do now and where to go.
Roy went out to find a map. Being successful, the man came back and spread it out on the table. "The next town is through Wealdath Forest and is called Imnescar. However, there's a town a day's walk or two to the coast called Murann. Now, between here and Imnescar is the Small Teeth Mountain. We have to go up this coastal road for quite a ways to reach Waterdeep and whatever is north of that," Roy told them and pointed. "I know that Murann is a city much larger than this town and the town of Imnescar, which is all I know," he said.
"We could explore the Wealdath Forest for a while, then come back here before traveling onward to Murann or Imnescar," Kate suggested.
"You and your Forests," Roy told her, shaking his head.
"I'm an Elf, so shoot me," Kate said defensively. "Beats being down in some cavern."
Rick chuckled. "She's got you there, Roy."
Roy gave in. "Fine. We can explore your Forest, then come back here."
Kate smiled. "Thank you, Roy."
"Let's move out. It shouldn't take more than a few hours to be deep into the Forest. You coming, Roy?" It felt strange using his own name.
"Where else would I go?" Roy asked him.
oo0O0oo
They traveled for a few hours looking and watching for anything. "What's that?" Rick asked and pointed.
"Whatever it is, it's downright ugly," Kate said. "And it's attacking!" she screamed as she cast Fireball at it as quickly as possible. The Fireball blew up on it, but whatever it was kept coming.
Roy took out one of his whips and hit it while it was still 15 feet away. His whip had daggers on the end of it. Three of them, to be exact.
Roy, Lanie, and Meredith took out their weapons, and Meredith made ready with her shield. Rick got out his bow, nocked four arrows, and fired, causing damage.
Roy, Lanie, and Meredith got in the first swings and did damage. It reached them, swung one time with its claws, and hit Lanie, doing damage.
Roy, Lanie, Meredith, and Roy were able to get in a swing, and it fell. "It's regenerating its wounds! What does it take to kill this blasted thing?"
Lanie swung her weapon at the body as it lay there and she did damage it, but while they watched, it regenerated some of the damage it had taken. So she swung at it again and hit it, doing more damage. But still, it continued to regenerate its wounds.
"I don't believe this. It's regenerating as we stand here." Rick looked at them. "Anyone got any ideas on how to kill it?"
"We could try burning it." Roy took out one of his flasks of oil, poured it on the body, and lit it. The fire caught immediately.
"Eww! It smells even worse now." Kate held her nose closed.
Holding their noses, they all watched it burn. "That seems to be working," Roy said. "I think."
They watched it burn until the oil ran out, and it looked crispy. "So fire kills one of those, it looks like," Rick said. "Good to know."
No one went up a level after this encounter.
"All right. That thing had to come from somewhere," Rick insisted. "I think we should look around and see if we can find it."
They did some looking and finally found a cave. Rick poked his head in and jerked it right back out again. "Back up, back up!"
Another whatever-it-was came out of the cave, so Kate cast Fireball at it and caused damage.
Roy hit it with his whip from 15 feet and did some damage.
Roy, Lanie, and Meredith waited for it while Rick put four arrows into it, doing damage.
It finally got close enough for them to swing and hit it, damaging it. But it swung in retaliation, hit Lanie and damaged her. Then she, Roy, Meredith, and Roy all swung weapons at it and killed it. Or at least it fell to the ground. This time, they knew what to do; they poured oil on it and set it on fire. They backed up and watched it burn while holding their noses. "Why does it stink like that?" Kate asked, not expecting an answer.
Eventually, the fire went out, and they saw what remained of it was nice and crispy-looking.
No one went up a level after this encounter.
They went inside the cave and searched it. They found some gold, silver, and some copper pieces. While they counted it, Kate looked around and thought she had spotted something at the back of the cave. "Hey guys, I think I found something."
That got Roy up after counting and looking for himself. "I think you're right. Lanie, help me move this stone."
They found 1,455 gold, 2,566 silver, and 1,289 copper pieces, making it 242 gold per person plus one and 427 silver per person plus one.
Lanie joined Roy, and together, they tried to move the stone. It took them a little while, but finally, they moved it enough to get through it.
Inside, they saw darkness. So Roy took out a torch, lit it, and poked his head in. "It's a stonework corridor. Someone made this." He led them inside. It went back about 40 feet, turned right, and lasted about 90 feet when it turned right again.
It was all of five feet wide, meaning they had to go in one at a time. It went about another 110 feet, ending in a metal door. Roy tried it. "Locked. I need Kate for this."
Kate worked her way forward, cast Knock on the door, and watched as it burst open. She let Roy go first.
Once inside, he saw a 40 by 40-foot room with two sarcophagi sitting off to one side. He and Meredith went into the room with Kate standing in the doorway.
Roy shook his head. "I don't recognize them."
"Me neither," Meredith said. "Anything could be inside them. From a Vampire to a Mummy, to nothing at all. Looting was possible long before now."
"Help me open the first one," Roy asked her and got ready to push, as did Meredith. Kate stood by, ready to cast Magic Missile if needed. They cracked it open and looked inside.
"Empty," Meredith said. "Except for a skeleton. Likely looted long ago."
Together, they cracked open the second one and found the same thing. "Empty. Only a skeleton wearing rags remains," Meredith told them.
"I wonder who they were?" Roy asked quietly but left the room, as did Meredith, and they worked their way back outside.
Roy sighed. "Very little was useful. At least we got some gold and silver out of it."
oo0O0oo
They stopped for the night. Rick went out hunting and returned with an Orangutan again. He gutted it and cut it up while the others collected firewood.
"This tastes just like the last one," Kate mentioned.
They eventually got ready for bed. "This tent is amazing!" Roy said in awe. He went back outside, walked around it, and came back inside. "Simply amazing."
This time, Lanie and Roy got the bed while the others slept on their bedrolls.
In the morning, they went outside to take care of business. Then they ate more roasted Orangutan, packed up, took down the tent, and moved out.
It was about noon when they spotted something. It was another cave opening, but it was dark inside after a few feet. Roy lit a torch and went in with Rick right behind him. Then Roy, Lanie, and Kate brought up the rear.
After a while, they realized they could go straight or right. Since there was no left turn, Roy went right. They walked about 40 feet when they came across some tracks with a cart close by. "This is a mine," Roy realized. They followed the tracks as they went left.
"Hang on." Rick stopped him and looked at the floor. "More light, please." So Roy put the torch close to the ground.
"These are Dragon tracks. A Dragon has come and gone this way." Rick looked up at Roy. "They go right, not straight, following the cart tracks."
"Dragon? Can you tell what kind or how old it is?" Lanie asked him.
"No, but these are recent," Rick told her. "I would say somewhere between 24 and 48 hours old."
"It could be asleep," Meredith offered.
Rick shook his head. "I don't think they ever sleep." And he followed the tracks.
They went left, then right, and they started around a corner when they saw sunlight coming ahead. So Roy put out his torch and took out his weapon, as did everyone else, including Rick, who readied his bow.
They walked into a massive cave with a hole in the roof and saw a Green Dragon on the far side. "Spread out. By doing that it can't breathe on us, not at the same time," Roy told them, and slowly, they did just that.
Kate couldn't wait; she cast Fireball at it, awake or not.
The Dragon bellowed a roar deafening to hear. It looked at them and decided to attack. There was close to 110 feet between them and it. Even charging, it didn't quite reach them, allowing Kate another chance at firing Fireball at it.
The Dragon headed straight for Kate since she was the magic user of the group. "Just what I needed," Kate told herself. "I knew I should have cast Mirror Image instead."
It reached her and bit her, causing damage to her. She screamed in pain; that bite hurt a lot.
Roy, Lanie, Meredith, Roy, and Rick all attacked it. That was the good thing about it being such a large creature. There was a lot to hit.
They weren't sure which hit did it, but it died all the same. It fell to the ground right at Kate's feet, and she began breathing again. She cast Magic Missile at it just to be sure it was dead.
"Nice work, Kate." Rick knew who killed it. It was her Fireballs that did it. Otherwise, they'd still be fighting it.
"Let's see what goodies we have," Roy told them as he walked toward its hoard. Meanwhile, Kate took out her Wand of Cure Light Spells and touched herself four times, healing most but not all of the damage. She was the last to approach its hoard.
They got busy counting coins. There were 5,355 gold, 6,467 silver, and 10,456 copper pieces, meaning they had 892 gold each plus one, 1,077 silver each plus one.
Additionally, they found six gems worth an estimated 300 gold pieces each and one magical item, or so Kate's Detect Magic told them. It turned out to be a manual of How To Build A Stone Golem.
"Hey, I can make myself a Stone Golem. What's a Stone Golem?" Kate asked them.
None of them achieved another level after this encounter, but they were closer to doing so.
They retreated from the Dragon's lair, got far enough away to feel safe, and set up camp. Rick went out hunting and came back with three good-sized rabbits. Rabbit meat wasn't much, but it was enough. The rest of them collected firewood while he was gone and already had a fire going by the time he returned.
"I'm sorry I didn't see anything larger." Rick felt like he had let them down.
Kate kissed him on the cheek. "Rabbit is fine." She looked around. "I wonder what else is in this Forest?
"Probably a lot. Especially close to the road. Attacking Caravans, say a day or two out from the road," Roy offered.
"So we should stick close to the road?" Kate asked him.
"That or we take our chances farther away from the road," Roy said.
"Either way is fine with me." Kate was just happy to be in a Forest for a change. It beat being in a jungle and a desert.
They settled down on their bedrolls, and it was Meredith's and Roy's turn to use the bed.
Come the morning, after doing their business, they broke from camp and took down the tent.
"I still like that tent," the other Roy mentioned again.
They headed out, trying to stay two days off the road, more or less.
They watched as an Ettin came out from a space, collected water, and then went back inside, setting the rock back in its place.
"That was definitely something," Roy said. "The question is how do we use it?"
"It'll take two of us to move the rock," Rick told them. "Maybe we just move the rock and back off getting it or them to come to us. What do you think?"
Roy thought and came up with a suggestion. "If we can get far enough away, that will give Kate a chance to use her Fireball on them. It won't kill them, but it'll weaken them."
"All right. We should try it." Rick and Roy got into position while Kate readied her spell.
Roy and Rick struggled to move the rock, the same one that took just a single Ettin to move. But they did it, and then they ran for it.
Immediately, three Ettins came out and looked around. Kate cast her Fireball, which blew up in the middle of them.
They took damage, enraging them, so they came charging out toward Kate, who was far enough away that they couldn't rush her. That gave Kate a chance to cast Mirror Image, and suddenly, there were four of her.
Roy hit them from 15 feet away while Lanie and Meredith charged them, intercepting them before all of them could reach Kate.
The Ettins would not be denied their vengeance on the woman. All three reached her and swung at her. Two hit an image, which instantly vanished before them, but the third one hit her, causing her to scream in pain.
Rick fired four arrows from a long distance and killed one of them.
Lanie and Meredith swung their weapons, causing damage. The one on Lanie died while the one on Meredith lived.
The final Ettin swung at the two Kates, hitting an image instead of the real woman. Lanie and Meredith hit and killed it.
"You have my thanks," Kate said gratefully.
They went into the Ettins' hideout, searched it, and found some gold, silver, and lots of copper pieces. After counting it, they had 344 gold, 677 silver, and 1,567 copper pieces, meaning they gained 57 gold each plus one and 112 silver each plus one.
Meredith and Roy each went up one to the ninth level after this encounter. Meredith also gained a fifth-level spell, some skill points, and a fourth feat.
Roy gained a level in Lasher. He also gained Crack of Fate, which meant he gained one extra attack each turn, one feat, and a few skill points.
So now Roy, Rick, Kate, and Lanie were tenth-level while Roy and Meredith were ninth-level.