pogre
Legend
Episode 4
Episode Four
"His camp does not look that different," Goldie observed. She began slowly walking around the perimeter of Gart Prillason's mining camp.
"Look at the water trough," Deadsmell remarked. The water trough was twisted and askew in the stream.
Graxxus ducked inside Gart Prillason's hut. There he found a mess. Graxxus put his head out of the hut's portal and called, "It looks like a twisting tempest came through here."
Deadsmell hustled over to the hut with Skullcrusher. As Deadsmell entered he gave a low whistle. "Big fight," Skullcrusher commented.
"You got that right Skully," Deadsmell responded. "Gart did not go quietly into the night."
"No blood," Skullcrusher noted.
"Whoever it was they did not bother clean up. They must have taken him alive," Graxxus said.
"Aye, screaming and kicking," Deadsmell remarked. Deadsmell removed a piece of floorboard and retrieved a bag. He quickly peered inside. "There's got to be a couple hundred worth of gold in here!"
"Well, at least we know they were not after gold," Graxxus stated.
"What kind of crazed, dirt-worshipping heathens are we dealing with!" Deadsmell exclaimed.
Goldie entered the hut and said she had found a trail with heel drag marks leading away from the camp.
"I better keep this with me," Deadsmell said patting the bag of gold.
"Let us make sure that is returned to its rightful owner," Graxxus said.
"Of course governor, my thoughts are only with Gart," Deadsmell said with a close-mouthed grin.
*****
The group followed the trail until it led into a clearing. A heavy rain broke through the trees as they entered the spot.
"This camp has not been abandoned long," Goldie said as she kicked a live coal out of a pile of ashes. "The trail seems to end here though."
"This rain is not helping us find a trail,” Graxxus complained.
Wolfclaw was looking over a tree near the center of the camp carefully. He called out to the others, “Does anyone know what tuft means?”
“Like a tuft of hair or grass?” Graxxus asked.
“Yeah, I guess, but I do not think that's what this means,” Wolfclaw replied. As the rest of the adventurers moved towards the tree the elven druid was inspecting, he pointed out some scratching in the tree bark that spelled out TUFT. There was also a circle around the base of the tree where the bark had been worn off in a shallow rut.
“I think there is a trader back in Goldcreek by that name,” Goldie offered.
“They tied him up here and he probably scratched this out hoping someone would find it,” Wolfclaw noted.
“The tree tell you that?” Deadsmell asked with a grin.
“No, I used my brain,” Wolfclaw snarled back. “You should try it some time.”
Graxxus held up his palms as if to ward off a further conflict and said, “I think we should head back to Goldcreek to pay Mr. Tuft a visit.”
*****
Tuft's Trading Post was a relatively new fur trading post in Goldcreek. A sign on the door of Tuft's read – Not Buying. Closed for Inventory.
When Deadsmell knocked loudly on the door a man in an apron answered and quickly informed them the place was closed and not buying furs. Deadsmell slid his foot into the door frame to prevent the man from closing it, “We don't want to sell some furs. We want to buy some. A LOT of furs.”
“We're closed!” the man shouted. He shoved Deadsmell back and slammed the door shut.
“Alright Skully, you and me have a problem here,” Deadsmell said.
“And I have the ANSWER!” Skully bellowed shaking his huge axe. Skully hefted the weapon in a wide arc, readying to deliver a blow to the door.
“Hold!” Graxxus shouted. “This will only get us in trouble with the watch. We need to think this problem through a bit.”
“This,” Skully roared, brandishing his axe, “is the ANSWER!”
“I thought only your people named their weapons,” Wolfclaw said to Goldie. Goldie responded with a playful slap. “He thinks that axe is the answer to every problem.”
“Answer,” Skully repeated patting the blade of his massive axe.
“Put your ANSWER away,” Graxxus replied. “We need to keep an eye on this place. There are only a couple of entrances. We could post a watch to see both.”
“Unless there is an underground entrance,” Deadsmell pointed out.
“True,” Graxxus admitted. “Goldie, do you think that is a concern.”
“Not likely,” the dwarf templar responded. “The proximity of the river would make tunneling here problematic.”
“Excellent, let us set up a watch then,” Graxxus suggested.
“Right, I'll take 3rd watch. I'm off to get a mug of Goldcreek's finest,” Deadsmell said.
“Skullcrusher and Answer like that idea,” Skullcrusher added.
“No, we need too all stay close in case something happens,” Graxxus said. Skullcrusher and Deadsmell responded with despondent groans.
“Did he just refer to himself and his axe in the third person,” Wolfclaw asked Goldie.
“Yes, but I will say I would not want to go into battle without either one of them!” Goldie replied.
*****
“Wakey, wakey,” Skullcrusher said in a horse whisper as he nudged Goldie awake.
“What is it?” the dwarfess asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
“Company,” Deadsmell hissed, pointing toward the door of Tuft's. “I'm going around to tell the others.”
Goldie just managed to catch a glimpse of a hulking figure in a cowled cape duck inside Tuft's after a brief greeting from someone within. The figure had to duck to enter the building. “He's a big one,” she whispered.
“Be low one soon,” Skullcrusher replied patting his axe.
The rest of the group scrambled back around the building to Skullcrusher and Goldie's position. “How long has he been in there?” Graxxus asked.
“Not long, maybe twenty minutes,” Goldie replied.
Graxxus was about to say something else when the door opened again. The large figure under the cowl emerged and behind him was a rather rotund man wearing a fur cloak and hat. The pair hustled off down the alleyway towards the town gate and river bridge.
Wordlessly, the adventurers followed at a safe distance.
*****
The long trek through the wilderness ended. Cresting a wooded, low hill they spied a clearing in a valley. A large, circular, stone dais had seven men stripped to the waist and chained down to it. Obscene runes were engraved into the white surface of the dais. The runes almost seemed to glow beneath the stark firelight of dozens of freestanding torches surrounding the dais. A half dozen Bugbears surrounded the dais looking out into the darkness. Barely visible, in the half-shadows of the flickering light of the clearing was a number of crude wooden cages. There were three large skin tents on the other side of the clearing. The cowled figure stopped to talk to the Bugbears, while the fat man disappeared into one of the tents.
“Charge?” Skullcrasher asked hopefully.
“No,” the entire group answered in a whispered chorus.
“I think I see our man Gart,” Deadsmell whispered.
“Where?” Goldie asked.
“He's the one moon-bathing on the left side of the dais,” Deadsmell answered.
“Oh my, he looks terrible,” Goldie said.
“Getting strapped to an evil altar for a ritual sacrifice does that to a person,” Deadsmell replied.
“I think we should work our way around the clearing and approach from behind the tents,” Wolfclaw suggested.
“Good idea,” Skullcrusher replied.
Wolfclaw arched an eyebrow questioningly in response.
“Get us closer for charge,” Skullcrusher said.
The group crept through the woods around the clearing and as they were about to emerge they saw the fat man come out of one of the tents. He had changed clothes into dark robes, he was carrying a large scroll, and held a long black-bladed dagger in his opposite hand. The fat man ascended the dais and began reading the scroll in a chanting rhythm. The bugbears surrounding the dais answered in chants, accompanied by the occasional moan from the men chained to the dais.
“What is he saying?” Goldie asked.
“It is not good,” Graxxus replied.
“I think we can rule out a fertility rite or good harvest prayer,” Deadsmell answered.
“Right, we need to distract the scroll reader,” Graxxus began.
Wolfclaw began invoking a prayer to the woods and a short time later two wolves appeared. He then unslung his bow and nodded to Skullcrusher. Skullcrusher burst from the woods with a mighty war cry and charged towards the dais.
“I really wish someone let me in on these plans before they go into action!” Graxxus protested.
The rest of the group charged after Skullcrusher as Wolfclaw's arrow struck home on the scrollbearer. The fat man yelped in pain at the arrow's impact. The confused bugbears turned to look at their master and quickly realized they were under attack. Four of the bugbears rushed forward to meet the adventurers' charge, The remainder formed a guard around the fat man.
The fat man turned and invoked a spell of magical lightning that shot out from his outstretched palms. The bolt lit up the night air and struck home on Goldie and Graxxus. Skullcrusher had managed to leap aside and continue his charge. Graxxus and Goldie were stunned by the electrical discharge, but got their respective guards up in time to stop the bugbear weapons bearing down on them. Skullcrusher jumped, spinning high in the air, and came down like a whirlwind of death on one of the bugbears. The bugbear stumbled barely able to hold his ground after the onslaught.
The fat man invoked another spell. This time burning orbs came flying from his fingertips and struck home on Skullcrusher. The half-orc bellowed in pain as the night air was filled with the odor of scorched flesh. Deadsmell made his way around the back of one of the bugbear's flanks and buried his twin blades in the creatures torso making its knees buckle. Goldie finished the bugbear off with a slice through its jugular with her blade.
Twin wolves tore at another bugbear. Wolfclaw shot his bow repeatedly at the humanoid and finally, summoned a wolverine to finish the bugbear. The druid could see the fat man rising off the ground in his peripheral vision. As the bugbear fell, be quickly refocused on the enemy spellcaster. The dark-robed man was now thirty feet off the ground and began flying away from the clearing. The druid drew his bowstring back and fired.
Graxxus was staggered under the blows from the fierce bugbear pummeling him. He was bleeding from a couple of cuts and even blocking the bugbear's attacks was causing him to strain every muscle. Realizing a straight up fight might be his doom, Graxxus scooped up a handful of dust and flung it into the bugbear's eyes. The creature instinctively raise its arms to its face and Graxxus planted his blade deep underneath its breastbone. The bugbear's arms flailed wildly and dark lifeblood bubbled from its lips. The bugbear slowly rocked and fell back dead. Graxxus stood atop the creature and pulled his bloody blade free by leveraging his foot against the bugbear's face.
Graxxus slumped his shoulders trying to catch his breath as a pair of magical bolts lit up the sky. The bolts traveled down and impacted Skullcrusher. Graxxus realized the half-orc was in desperate trouble despite the three dead bugbears that lay at his feet. He also could see that the fat man had abandoned the dais and was now floating at least 30 feet up in the air.
Skullcrusher stumbled back from the last bugbear. Blood was streaming down in his eyes and he had to squint to even make out the bare outline of the creature. His lungs felt like they were going to burst. His rasping breaths came through his mouth as his nose had been broken at some point during the melee. He roared in rage. To his amazement, the bugbear turned and fled. Skullcrusher rocked back on his heels and passed out.
*****
Rowin Tuft viewed the battle from on high. His bugbear minions were defeated. His chance at the ritual was destroyed. Much of his magical energy was spent. He knew he had an obligation to his dark lord to live on to fight another day. As a speeding arrow missed him by the narrowest of margins he began his flight away from his sacred area. He did not leave before he burned the images of those interlopers in his mind. Someday, he would exact his revenge. He then flew swiftly away from the clearing across the canopy of treetops.
*****
The grateful woodsmen, fur trappers, and miners were unbound from the dais. The crude temples and tents were burned along with the bodies of the dead bugbears. Skullcrusher's and others wounds were administered to and healed. Deadsmell held up a large scroll on the dais and called out, “Hey look, the fat boy left us a present!” He took the scroll over to Graxxus. “Can you read it?”
“It is in the dark tongue. I cannot read it thankfully. However, it appears to be some sort of demonic calling ritual. Apparently, it calls an avatar of Harakhan the demon.”
“This Harakhan fellow has just earned a spot on my litany of grudges,” Goldie swore.
“Let's kill him!” Skullcrusher shouted.
“Eh, let's go get our reward and get drunk,” Deadsmell countered.
“Let's get drunk!” Skullcrusher shouted with equal enthusiasm.
Graxxus shook his head and set the scroll afire.
Episode Four
"His camp does not look that different," Goldie observed. She began slowly walking around the perimeter of Gart Prillason's mining camp.
"Look at the water trough," Deadsmell remarked. The water trough was twisted and askew in the stream.
Graxxus ducked inside Gart Prillason's hut. There he found a mess. Graxxus put his head out of the hut's portal and called, "It looks like a twisting tempest came through here."
Deadsmell hustled over to the hut with Skullcrusher. As Deadsmell entered he gave a low whistle. "Big fight," Skullcrusher commented.
"You got that right Skully," Deadsmell responded. "Gart did not go quietly into the night."
"No blood," Skullcrusher noted.
"Whoever it was they did not bother clean up. They must have taken him alive," Graxxus said.
"Aye, screaming and kicking," Deadsmell remarked. Deadsmell removed a piece of floorboard and retrieved a bag. He quickly peered inside. "There's got to be a couple hundred worth of gold in here!"
"Well, at least we know they were not after gold," Graxxus stated.
"What kind of crazed, dirt-worshipping heathens are we dealing with!" Deadsmell exclaimed.
Goldie entered the hut and said she had found a trail with heel drag marks leading away from the camp.
"I better keep this with me," Deadsmell said patting the bag of gold.
"Let us make sure that is returned to its rightful owner," Graxxus said.
"Of course governor, my thoughts are only with Gart," Deadsmell said with a close-mouthed grin.
*****
The group followed the trail until it led into a clearing. A heavy rain broke through the trees as they entered the spot.
"This camp has not been abandoned long," Goldie said as she kicked a live coal out of a pile of ashes. "The trail seems to end here though."
"This rain is not helping us find a trail,” Graxxus complained.
Wolfclaw was looking over a tree near the center of the camp carefully. He called out to the others, “Does anyone know what tuft means?”
“Like a tuft of hair or grass?” Graxxus asked.
“Yeah, I guess, but I do not think that's what this means,” Wolfclaw replied. As the rest of the adventurers moved towards the tree the elven druid was inspecting, he pointed out some scratching in the tree bark that spelled out TUFT. There was also a circle around the base of the tree where the bark had been worn off in a shallow rut.
“I think there is a trader back in Goldcreek by that name,” Goldie offered.
“They tied him up here and he probably scratched this out hoping someone would find it,” Wolfclaw noted.
“The tree tell you that?” Deadsmell asked with a grin.
“No, I used my brain,” Wolfclaw snarled back. “You should try it some time.”
Graxxus held up his palms as if to ward off a further conflict and said, “I think we should head back to Goldcreek to pay Mr. Tuft a visit.”
*****
Tuft's Trading Post was a relatively new fur trading post in Goldcreek. A sign on the door of Tuft's read – Not Buying. Closed for Inventory.
When Deadsmell knocked loudly on the door a man in an apron answered and quickly informed them the place was closed and not buying furs. Deadsmell slid his foot into the door frame to prevent the man from closing it, “We don't want to sell some furs. We want to buy some. A LOT of furs.”
“We're closed!” the man shouted. He shoved Deadsmell back and slammed the door shut.
“Alright Skully, you and me have a problem here,” Deadsmell said.
“And I have the ANSWER!” Skully bellowed shaking his huge axe. Skully hefted the weapon in a wide arc, readying to deliver a blow to the door.
“Hold!” Graxxus shouted. “This will only get us in trouble with the watch. We need to think this problem through a bit.”
“This,” Skully roared, brandishing his axe, “is the ANSWER!”
“I thought only your people named their weapons,” Wolfclaw said to Goldie. Goldie responded with a playful slap. “He thinks that axe is the answer to every problem.”
“Answer,” Skully repeated patting the blade of his massive axe.
“Put your ANSWER away,” Graxxus replied. “We need to keep an eye on this place. There are only a couple of entrances. We could post a watch to see both.”
“Unless there is an underground entrance,” Deadsmell pointed out.
“True,” Graxxus admitted. “Goldie, do you think that is a concern.”
“Not likely,” the dwarf templar responded. “The proximity of the river would make tunneling here problematic.”
“Excellent, let us set up a watch then,” Graxxus suggested.
“Right, I'll take 3rd watch. I'm off to get a mug of Goldcreek's finest,” Deadsmell said.
“Skullcrusher and Answer like that idea,” Skullcrusher added.
“No, we need too all stay close in case something happens,” Graxxus said. Skullcrusher and Deadsmell responded with despondent groans.
“Did he just refer to himself and his axe in the third person,” Wolfclaw asked Goldie.
“Yes, but I will say I would not want to go into battle without either one of them!” Goldie replied.
*****
“Wakey, wakey,” Skullcrusher said in a horse whisper as he nudged Goldie awake.
“What is it?” the dwarfess asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
“Company,” Deadsmell hissed, pointing toward the door of Tuft's. “I'm going around to tell the others.”
Goldie just managed to catch a glimpse of a hulking figure in a cowled cape duck inside Tuft's after a brief greeting from someone within. The figure had to duck to enter the building. “He's a big one,” she whispered.
“Be low one soon,” Skullcrusher replied patting his axe.
The rest of the group scrambled back around the building to Skullcrusher and Goldie's position. “How long has he been in there?” Graxxus asked.
“Not long, maybe twenty minutes,” Goldie replied.
Graxxus was about to say something else when the door opened again. The large figure under the cowl emerged and behind him was a rather rotund man wearing a fur cloak and hat. The pair hustled off down the alleyway towards the town gate and river bridge.
Wordlessly, the adventurers followed at a safe distance.
*****
The long trek through the wilderness ended. Cresting a wooded, low hill they spied a clearing in a valley. A large, circular, stone dais had seven men stripped to the waist and chained down to it. Obscene runes were engraved into the white surface of the dais. The runes almost seemed to glow beneath the stark firelight of dozens of freestanding torches surrounding the dais. A half dozen Bugbears surrounded the dais looking out into the darkness. Barely visible, in the half-shadows of the flickering light of the clearing was a number of crude wooden cages. There were three large skin tents on the other side of the clearing. The cowled figure stopped to talk to the Bugbears, while the fat man disappeared into one of the tents.
“Charge?” Skullcrasher asked hopefully.
“No,” the entire group answered in a whispered chorus.
“I think I see our man Gart,” Deadsmell whispered.
“Where?” Goldie asked.
“He's the one moon-bathing on the left side of the dais,” Deadsmell answered.
“Oh my, he looks terrible,” Goldie said.
“Getting strapped to an evil altar for a ritual sacrifice does that to a person,” Deadsmell replied.
“I think we should work our way around the clearing and approach from behind the tents,” Wolfclaw suggested.
“Good idea,” Skullcrusher replied.
Wolfclaw arched an eyebrow questioningly in response.
“Get us closer for charge,” Skullcrusher said.
The group crept through the woods around the clearing and as they were about to emerge they saw the fat man come out of one of the tents. He had changed clothes into dark robes, he was carrying a large scroll, and held a long black-bladed dagger in his opposite hand. The fat man ascended the dais and began reading the scroll in a chanting rhythm. The bugbears surrounding the dais answered in chants, accompanied by the occasional moan from the men chained to the dais.
“What is he saying?” Goldie asked.
“It is not good,” Graxxus replied.
“I think we can rule out a fertility rite or good harvest prayer,” Deadsmell answered.
“Right, we need to distract the scroll reader,” Graxxus began.
Wolfclaw began invoking a prayer to the woods and a short time later two wolves appeared. He then unslung his bow and nodded to Skullcrusher. Skullcrusher burst from the woods with a mighty war cry and charged towards the dais.
“I really wish someone let me in on these plans before they go into action!” Graxxus protested.
The rest of the group charged after Skullcrusher as Wolfclaw's arrow struck home on the scrollbearer. The fat man yelped in pain at the arrow's impact. The confused bugbears turned to look at their master and quickly realized they were under attack. Four of the bugbears rushed forward to meet the adventurers' charge, The remainder formed a guard around the fat man.
The fat man turned and invoked a spell of magical lightning that shot out from his outstretched palms. The bolt lit up the night air and struck home on Goldie and Graxxus. Skullcrusher had managed to leap aside and continue his charge. Graxxus and Goldie were stunned by the electrical discharge, but got their respective guards up in time to stop the bugbear weapons bearing down on them. Skullcrusher jumped, spinning high in the air, and came down like a whirlwind of death on one of the bugbears. The bugbear stumbled barely able to hold his ground after the onslaught.
The fat man invoked another spell. This time burning orbs came flying from his fingertips and struck home on Skullcrusher. The half-orc bellowed in pain as the night air was filled with the odor of scorched flesh. Deadsmell made his way around the back of one of the bugbear's flanks and buried his twin blades in the creatures torso making its knees buckle. Goldie finished the bugbear off with a slice through its jugular with her blade.
Twin wolves tore at another bugbear. Wolfclaw shot his bow repeatedly at the humanoid and finally, summoned a wolverine to finish the bugbear. The druid could see the fat man rising off the ground in his peripheral vision. As the bugbear fell, be quickly refocused on the enemy spellcaster. The dark-robed man was now thirty feet off the ground and began flying away from the clearing. The druid drew his bowstring back and fired.
Graxxus was staggered under the blows from the fierce bugbear pummeling him. He was bleeding from a couple of cuts and even blocking the bugbear's attacks was causing him to strain every muscle. Realizing a straight up fight might be his doom, Graxxus scooped up a handful of dust and flung it into the bugbear's eyes. The creature instinctively raise its arms to its face and Graxxus planted his blade deep underneath its breastbone. The bugbear's arms flailed wildly and dark lifeblood bubbled from its lips. The bugbear slowly rocked and fell back dead. Graxxus stood atop the creature and pulled his bloody blade free by leveraging his foot against the bugbear's face.
Graxxus slumped his shoulders trying to catch his breath as a pair of magical bolts lit up the sky. The bolts traveled down and impacted Skullcrusher. Graxxus realized the half-orc was in desperate trouble despite the three dead bugbears that lay at his feet. He also could see that the fat man had abandoned the dais and was now floating at least 30 feet up in the air.
Skullcrusher stumbled back from the last bugbear. Blood was streaming down in his eyes and he had to squint to even make out the bare outline of the creature. His lungs felt like they were going to burst. His rasping breaths came through his mouth as his nose had been broken at some point during the melee. He roared in rage. To his amazement, the bugbear turned and fled. Skullcrusher rocked back on his heels and passed out.
*****
Rowin Tuft viewed the battle from on high. His bugbear minions were defeated. His chance at the ritual was destroyed. Much of his magical energy was spent. He knew he had an obligation to his dark lord to live on to fight another day. As a speeding arrow missed him by the narrowest of margins he began his flight away from his sacred area. He did not leave before he burned the images of those interlopers in his mind. Someday, he would exact his revenge. He then flew swiftly away from the clearing across the canopy of treetops.
*****
The grateful woodsmen, fur trappers, and miners were unbound from the dais. The crude temples and tents were burned along with the bodies of the dead bugbears. Skullcrusher's and others wounds were administered to and healed. Deadsmell held up a large scroll on the dais and called out, “Hey look, the fat boy left us a present!” He took the scroll over to Graxxus. “Can you read it?”
“It is in the dark tongue. I cannot read it thankfully. However, it appears to be some sort of demonic calling ritual. Apparently, it calls an avatar of Harakhan the demon.”
“This Harakhan fellow has just earned a spot on my litany of grudges,” Goldie swore.
“Let's kill him!” Skullcrusher shouted.
“Eh, let's go get our reward and get drunk,” Deadsmell countered.
“Let's get drunk!” Skullcrusher shouted with equal enthusiasm.
Graxxus shook his head and set the scroll afire.