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<blockquote data-quote="the Jester" data-source="post: 4357954" data-attributes="member: 1210"><p><strong>Garbage Plot</strong></p><p></p><p>The city of Brindol is not as large as Alathion, by any means; yet it is still a large enough city to have walls, a busy road running through it and a mass of vendors on the streets. There are somewhere over eight thousand inhabitants; it is clearly a fairly prosperous community that has made its way in the world mostly via farming. </p><p></p><p>Our heroes rest a night in town, then spend a portion of the next day shopping. Barouk is disappointed to find that he cannot locate a lajatang. The memory of his father’s work in the hands of the earl burns within him. He could commission one, but how long will it be before he can return to Brindol to reclaim it? And the party must keep moving- they are heading into danger, after all, heading to aid the folk of Drellin’s Ferry with their goblin problem.</p><p></p><p>By mid-afternoon, our heroes leave town and head down the Dawn Way towards Drellin’s Ferry. But though the shadows are lengthening, it is not yet evening when they hear a plaintive cry for aid. </p><p></p><p>“My baby!”</p><p></p><p>Our heroes hurry towards the cry, and soon they find a sobbing peasant woman. “My baby is gone!” she wails. “Please, I can’t find him!” </p><p></p><p>“It’s okay,” Kifla tries to comfort her. “We’ll help you find him. Tell us what happened.”</p><p></p><p>The woman sniffles. “I was gathering mushroom, near the edge of the woods,” she explains. “I didn’t want to actually go in very far, because everybody knows that there are fairies in there, and if you aren’t careful, they’ll steal your baby. Well, I didn’t think I was too deep in- but I must have been, because I turned around, and she was gone!” The woman starts to become hysterical again; but Kifla and Severin, together, soothe her. </p><p></p><p>“We’ll find your baby,” Severin promises her. “I’m a tracker. Have no fear! Just show us where you were when you lost her.”</p><p></p><p>The weeping woman- whose name is Amara- leads the party on a short walk, then indicates the baby’s last known position. </p><p></p><p>Kifla wrinkles her nose. “What’s that smell?”</p><p></p><p>“The dump,” Amara informs the party. She points. “It’s just a couple of miles that way, not far from here. When the wind shifts, you can sometimes smell it here.”</p><p></p><p>“Eww,” Kilfa opines.</p><p></p><p>***</p><p></p><p>Severin leads the party into the woods, his eyes scanning for tracks. He moves with confident speed, but soon slows down. The tracks are starting to become confusing- doubling, vanishing, turning back on themselves.</p><p></p><p>“The lady might have been right,” the ranger muses. “The involvement of fey would explain a lot here. And they <em>are</em> said to steal babies sometimes...”</p><p></p><p>“Maybe I can help,” Kifla suggests. “I know a little about trickery and illusion. If they were using magic to cloak their journey, I might be able to help guide us to them.”</p><p></p><p>“I’ll see if I can see anything from up this tree,” Barouk says, and starts climbing. Once he gets up to the top, he looks around in all directions for anything unusual, but he doesn’t really know what to look for.</p><p></p><p>Almost as if she’s reading his mind, Kifla shouts up, “Barouk, look for rings or circles of some kind! That might show us where the fairies are!”</p><p></p><p>“Humph,” Barouk mutters to himself, “fairies.” But he has a good look around, and he notes what appears to be a ring of mushrooms on a nearby hill. He drops out of the tree, slowing his descent with his monkish skills, and reports what he saw to the others.</p><p></p><p>“It sounds like our best lead so far,” Severin says. “Let’s check it out.”</p><p></p><p>The party walks a few hundred yards uphill until they reach a clearing on the face of the hill. There is, indeed, a ring of mushrooms on the hillside. The party spreads out and searches around, and soon Severin turns up a secret door in the hillside! </p><p></p><p>“Let’s be careful,” the ranger urges his companions, drawing out <em>Frogspaw.</em> He can feel a surge of squirming power run through him while he holds it. </p><p></p><p>The party moves into the cramped passageway revealed behind the secret door. Barouk and Kifla hold torches aloft; all three of them have their eyes peeled. Into the hill they go, into the earthy smell. It is cool but not unpleasantly so; the air feels moist but not wet. </p><p></p><p>In no time at all, the passage opens up into a chamber. And there, our heroes find the baby, as well as his fairy kidnappers. </p><p></p><p><em>A lot</em> of fairy kidnappers.</p><p></p><p>The baby looks perfectly happy; she is playing with some small blocks. The fey watch the party impassively as they survey the scene. There are almost two dozen small, winged fey figures in the room. </p><p></p><p>“We’ve come for the child,” Barouk barks.</p><p></p><p>“I think not!” squeaks one of the sprites. </p><p></p><p>“He must go back to his mother,” Severin states.</p><p></p><p>“He is not safe with her.”</p><p></p><p>“Safe!” the ranger exclaims. “And you think that he is safe here, with you?”</p><p></p><p>“Safer here than out there,” the little man replies tartly. “At least we don’t have garbage trouble!”</p><p></p><p>“What do you mean, garbage trouble?” Barouk asks. </p><p></p><p>“There is an infestation of terrible monsters in the dump,” the little fey man answers. “Living garbage. They try to wrap around you and take over your body.” He strokes a lock of the girl’s hair with a tiny hand. “The very young are especially vulnerable.”</p><p></p><p>“Well, then, what if we took care of the garbage monsters for you?” Severin asks. “Perhaps they are even vermin!”</p><p></p><p>Negotiations break out, and soon the sprites are convinced to release the baby- <em>if</em> our heroes can root out these “garbage monsters”. They return to Amara, who looks despondent when she sees them returning without her child; but when they explain that they saw the baby, she was healthy and they are still trying to get her back, the peasant woman seems to gain some hope. “Thank you so much,” she tells them. “The Light be with you.”</p><p></p><p>So our heroes set out for the dump. It’s only about two hours away, cross country; it should take a little under an hour to get there. They are nearing the outskirts of the dump when a wind springs up. A pile of garbage, mostly the rags of discarded old clothing, starts to swirl about. At first, it appears to be carried by the gust; but suddenly, it starts to advance on our heroes. It is obviously no normal pile of garbage!</p><p></p><p>A few blows cuts the trash into smaller pieces, and whatever spirit animates it seems to flee the scene. The garbage falls back to the ground, unmoving. “Weird,” comments Barouk. </p><p></p><p>“Stinky,” answers Kifla.</p><p></p><p>The party continues, closer to the dump. The stink has become much stronger, and much fouler. Kifla keeps waving her hand in front of her nose and wrinkling her face. </p><p></p><p>Something clatters to the side, in a pile of garbage as big as a small hovel. A dire badger trundles out and charges. </p><p></p><p>It is wrapped in bits of old cloth, jewelry and scraps of rope. A worn and tattered burlap sack covers its back. </p><p></p><p>“Another one of them!” exclaims Barouk.</p><p></p><p>Kifla tries her <em>color spray,</em> to no avail, while Severin and Barouk spring to flank the hapless badger. It growls and yowls and bites and claws at them, but they are experienced, savvy warriors. They hack and punch at the badger from both sides, keeping it from inflicting more than a few minor wounds before they manage to slay it. </p><p></p><p>“This could get pretty ugly, before it’s over,” Severin states, bandaging a cut along Barouk’s arm.</p><p></p><p>Just at that moment, a pile of trash nearby moves- and our heroes realize it isn’t a pile of trash at all: it’s a strange creature, with several long, strong-looking tentacles, one of which has eyes at the end of it. Its drooling mouth is stained with offal. In its non-eye bearing tentacles, it holds some kind of chest or box.</p><p></p><p>“It’s an otyugh!” exclaims Severin.</p><p></p><p><em><strong>Next Time:</strong></em> Garbage Plot, part 2!</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="the Jester, post: 4357954, member: 1210"] [b]Garbage Plot[/b] The city of Brindol is not as large as Alathion, by any means; yet it is still a large enough city to have walls, a busy road running through it and a mass of vendors on the streets. There are somewhere over eight thousand inhabitants; it is clearly a fairly prosperous community that has made its way in the world mostly via farming. Our heroes rest a night in town, then spend a portion of the next day shopping. Barouk is disappointed to find that he cannot locate a lajatang. The memory of his father’s work in the hands of the earl burns within him. He could commission one, but how long will it be before he can return to Brindol to reclaim it? And the party must keep moving- they are heading into danger, after all, heading to aid the folk of Drellin’s Ferry with their goblin problem. By mid-afternoon, our heroes leave town and head down the Dawn Way towards Drellin’s Ferry. But though the shadows are lengthening, it is not yet evening when they hear a plaintive cry for aid. “My baby!” Our heroes hurry towards the cry, and soon they find a sobbing peasant woman. “My baby is gone!” she wails. “Please, I can’t find him!” “It’s okay,” Kifla tries to comfort her. “We’ll help you find him. Tell us what happened.” The woman sniffles. “I was gathering mushroom, near the edge of the woods,” she explains. “I didn’t want to actually go in very far, because everybody knows that there are fairies in there, and if you aren’t careful, they’ll steal your baby. Well, I didn’t think I was too deep in- but I must have been, because I turned around, and she was gone!” The woman starts to become hysterical again; but Kifla and Severin, together, soothe her. “We’ll find your baby,” Severin promises her. “I’m a tracker. Have no fear! Just show us where you were when you lost her.” The weeping woman- whose name is Amara- leads the party on a short walk, then indicates the baby’s last known position. Kifla wrinkles her nose. “What’s that smell?” “The dump,” Amara informs the party. She points. “It’s just a couple of miles that way, not far from here. When the wind shifts, you can sometimes smell it here.” “Eww,” Kilfa opines. *** Severin leads the party into the woods, his eyes scanning for tracks. He moves with confident speed, but soon slows down. The tracks are starting to become confusing- doubling, vanishing, turning back on themselves. “The lady might have been right,” the ranger muses. “The involvement of fey would explain a lot here. And they [i]are[/i] said to steal babies sometimes...” “Maybe I can help,” Kifla suggests. “I know a little about trickery and illusion. If they were using magic to cloak their journey, I might be able to help guide us to them.” “I’ll see if I can see anything from up this tree,” Barouk says, and starts climbing. Once he gets up to the top, he looks around in all directions for anything unusual, but he doesn’t really know what to look for. Almost as if she’s reading his mind, Kifla shouts up, “Barouk, look for rings or circles of some kind! That might show us where the fairies are!” “Humph,” Barouk mutters to himself, “fairies.” But he has a good look around, and he notes what appears to be a ring of mushrooms on a nearby hill. He drops out of the tree, slowing his descent with his monkish skills, and reports what he saw to the others. “It sounds like our best lead so far,” Severin says. “Let’s check it out.” The party walks a few hundred yards uphill until they reach a clearing on the face of the hill. There is, indeed, a ring of mushrooms on the hillside. The party spreads out and searches around, and soon Severin turns up a secret door in the hillside! “Let’s be careful,” the ranger urges his companions, drawing out [i]Frogspaw.[/i] He can feel a surge of squirming power run through him while he holds it. The party moves into the cramped passageway revealed behind the secret door. Barouk and Kifla hold torches aloft; all three of them have their eyes peeled. Into the hill they go, into the earthy smell. It is cool but not unpleasantly so; the air feels moist but not wet. In no time at all, the passage opens up into a chamber. And there, our heroes find the baby, as well as his fairy kidnappers. [i]A lot[/i] of fairy kidnappers. The baby looks perfectly happy; she is playing with some small blocks. The fey watch the party impassively as they survey the scene. There are almost two dozen small, winged fey figures in the room. “We’ve come for the child,” Barouk barks. “I think not!” squeaks one of the sprites. “He must go back to his mother,” Severin states. “He is not safe with her.” “Safe!” the ranger exclaims. “And you think that he is safe here, with you?” “Safer here than out there,” the little man replies tartly. “At least we don’t have garbage trouble!” “What do you mean, garbage trouble?” Barouk asks. “There is an infestation of terrible monsters in the dump,” the little fey man answers. “Living garbage. They try to wrap around you and take over your body.” He strokes a lock of the girl’s hair with a tiny hand. “The very young are especially vulnerable.” “Well, then, what if we took care of the garbage monsters for you?” Severin asks. “Perhaps they are even vermin!” Negotiations break out, and soon the sprites are convinced to release the baby- [i]if[/i] our heroes can root out these “garbage monsters”. They return to Amara, who looks despondent when she sees them returning without her child; but when they explain that they saw the baby, she was healthy and they are still trying to get her back, the peasant woman seems to gain some hope. “Thank you so much,” she tells them. “The Light be with you.” So our heroes set out for the dump. It’s only about two hours away, cross country; it should take a little under an hour to get there. They are nearing the outskirts of the dump when a wind springs up. A pile of garbage, mostly the rags of discarded old clothing, starts to swirl about. At first, it appears to be carried by the gust; but suddenly, it starts to advance on our heroes. It is obviously no normal pile of garbage! A few blows cuts the trash into smaller pieces, and whatever spirit animates it seems to flee the scene. The garbage falls back to the ground, unmoving. “Weird,” comments Barouk. “Stinky,” answers Kifla. The party continues, closer to the dump. The stink has become much stronger, and much fouler. Kifla keeps waving her hand in front of her nose and wrinkling her face. Something clatters to the side, in a pile of garbage as big as a small hovel. A dire badger trundles out and charges. It is wrapped in bits of old cloth, jewelry and scraps of rope. A worn and tattered burlap sack covers its back. “Another one of them!” exclaims Barouk. Kifla tries her [i]color spray,[/i] to no avail, while Severin and Barouk spring to flank the hapless badger. It growls and yowls and bites and claws at them, but they are experienced, savvy warriors. They hack and punch at the badger from both sides, keeping it from inflicting more than a few minor wounds before they manage to slay it. “This could get pretty ugly, before it’s over,” Severin states, bandaging a cut along Barouk’s arm. Just at that moment, a pile of trash nearby moves- and our heroes realize it isn’t a pile of trash at all: it’s a strange creature, with several long, strong-looking tentacles, one of which has eyes at the end of it. Its drooling mouth is stained with offal. In its non-eye bearing tentacles, it holds some kind of chest or box. “It’s an otyugh!” exclaims Severin. [i][b]Next Time:[/b][/i][b][/b] Garbage Plot, part 2! [/QUOTE]
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