EternalNewbie
Explorer
Gorak tossed the rope out, and opened the gate. Khalid barked out an order in the hideous infernal tongue and the hound dropped through. It had barely touched the ground when it leapt up, twisting its body in the air as the snow beneath it exploded. It sprang away as it landed and vanished out of sight.
Khalid had no time to be scared as he jumped out of the gate and took off running. Months of hard travel and dangerous living had given Khalid the eye of a seasoned campaigner. As he sprinted clear of the portal, he quickly assessed the battlefield.
There were maybe fifteen goblins arrayed against them, posted in a semi circle around the plateau, and two more archers hanging from the cliff face across the path. The trap that Khalid's hellhound had dodged was a fairly typical, poorly thought out, goblin affair. A net, buried in the snow, had been tied between two powerful canines. At the first sign of movement, the dogs had bounded to their feet and ran towards their handlers. Having failed to capture the hellhound, however, there was no resistance on the dogs and they raced clear across the plateau, inadvertently snaring two hapless goblins who were moving into position to attack. The four went down in a snarling tangle of fur, fangs, claws and rope.
The hellhound had darted away from the trap and being semi intelligent, ran towards a group of three rather surprised looking goblins. It stopped directly in front of them, and vomited out a wave of flame that scorched the stunned goblins. One of them toppled soundless over the edge, while the others shrieked and fired their small crossbows blindly trying to drive the hound back.
The air was filled with the sound of humming bowstrings as several more goblins fired small crossbows. The two archers on their narrow perch across the path were firing relentlessly if not particularly accurately. Khalid started to cast as Gorak dropped out of the gate. As he had predicted, a few of the more level headed goblins had held their fire and now loosed a volley of bolts at Gorak, who flinched and growled as several of the darts landed true. Recognizing the danger of the two archers on the opposite cliff, as they drew a bead on him, Gorak edged back to avoid being surrounded and launched into a spell.
By the time Shayla joined the fight, most of the goblins were busy reloading, or fleeing from the hellhound. She didn't even move as she dropped, catlike, out of the gate and spat out the words to a spell. Three glittering discs arced from her hand, the high pitched whine that accompanied their unerring flight turning into meaty thuds as they found their mark. A goblin took one in the chest and another in the throat, dropping instantly. The other disc veered sharply and grievously wounded a goblin frantically trying to load his crossbow.
As Khalid reached the pinnacle of his spell, he caught sight of three figures cowering near a jumble of rock; two distinct looking goblins in polished steel breastplates, and a suspiciously familiar looking humanoid in a long gray robe. With a gesture, he wrestled forth another hellhound, and dropped it beside the three at the same instant that Gorak conjured up a hippogriff. The huge beast took to wing immediately, and flew over to harry the two archers. The hellhound didn't even have to move to bathe the three enemies in flame.
The rapidly dwindling number of goblins fired another volley of bolts at Gorak, scoring a half dozen hits. Shayla returned fire, and felled another two goblins with bright lancets of force as Gorak raised his club with a roar, and half charged, half staggered into the goblin warriors, battering at them with his cudgel. Finally having the breath to speak, Khalid shouted, “Shayla, those three, yes, three to your left! Don't let them escape.”
Even as Khalid directed Shayla's attention, the lanky, robed figure abandoned the fight, and dove into a concealed tunnel near the edge of the cliff. The larger of the two remaining goblins clawed his way past the other, and followed the beast into the hole, as Shayla turned. Khalid and Shayla both began to cast, almost in unison. A flash of golden sparks blinded two panicked looking goblins, while Shayla destroyed another with a blast of flame. Gorak was still taking the occasional dart from the last remaining goblin crossbowman on the plateau as he warily circled an axe wielding foe, unable to gain the advantage. The hippogriff, having dragged one of the unfortunate goblins archers away from the cliff face, swooped down and crushed the other's head in its powerful beak.
The hellhounds sprinted over, and mauled the axe wielding goblin facing Gorak, who took advantage of the goblin's plight to cave in his skull with his cudgel. The crossbowman, seeing overwhelming odds and no chance of mercy, gambled and leapt off the top of the pillar, hitting the ground below with a sickening crack. As Shayla turned on the goblin in the breastplate, and began to advance on him, he immediately threw his sword on the ground and croaked out, in passable Westron, “I surrender!”
“Oh yeah,” Gorak growled as he marched over to Shayla. “And jush why should we care about that?”
“I know what you want,” the goblin said hastily, dropping to his knees, “and I can help you get it.”
“Izzat so?” Gorak growled, his voice laced with scorn. He did, however, stop advancing.
“Yes,” the goblin replied, emboldened by the chance to barter. “You seek a way through the mountains. Even for three such as you, the path will be difficult. I can help you!” he blurted out in a rush.
“Bah,” Gorak spat. “Like I'd trush you to lead me anywhere other than onta a goblin spear!”
“Perhaps, yes, perhaps we should consider this for a moment, Gorak.” Khalid said, placing a restraining hand on Gorak's arm.
“What harm can I do you, bound and watched?” the goblin pressed on, sensing a potential ally in Khalid.
“Typical goblin treashery,” Gorak sneered, “Swishing sides as fash as he can speak tha words.”
“Consider this, Orc,” the goblin retorted, his voice seething with anger. “The two men who ordered me up here, solely to their own personal benefit, are currently running away from here as fast their cursed feet will carry them. Why should I show them more loyalty then they have shown me?”
“We can at least hear him out, while we clear outta here.” Shayla interrupted as she quickly scavenged the goblins for anything useful. Disappointed, she shouldered her pack and examined the hidden escape tunnel.
“Fine! But thish don't mean I won't drop you o'er the edge of the cliff.” Gorak slurred.
Khalid frowned and peered at Gorak, who turned his back and walked over to the knotted mass of fur and rope that was the end result of the goblin's failed trap. He practically fell to one knee when he reached it, and fumbled at his waist for his belt knife. Khalid walked over to him, concern etched on his face, while keeping a wary eye on the goblin. Immediately, he could see that Gorak was in trouble. His hands were trembling, and his skin, normally as black as obsidian, was ashen gray and slick with sweat. Gorak glanced up, and Khalid could see a line of blood on the left side of his face, which now seemed to sag down in a rather peculiar way.
“Poishun,” Gorak muttered. “Thosh bassard's had poishun arrows. I'm jush about finish'd, but don let that goblin shee.”
With a shaking hand, Gorak pulled out his belt knife. A hound, the only thing to survive the disastrous trap, whimpered softly as Gorak put it out of its misery. Then, taking a deep breath, Gorak forced himself back up to his feet. Walking stiffly, he shouldered his pack with a grunt and moved towards Shayla.
Before he reached her, she turned turned around with a disgusted look on her face. “We can't go down the same way they did. They jammed up the tunnel good, and you don't wanna know with what. If we want down, I think we're climbing.”
“Ah, perhaps we should make camp here again tonight?” Khalid offered, with a glance at Gorak. “With the tunnel blocked, yes, blocked, the goblins will be most unlikely to attack again I should think. Yes, quite.” He looked hopefully at the goblin.
The goblin nodded, looking somewhat pained. “You have slaughtered many of the best scouts and warriors of the tribe. I do not think they will dare to climb up here to face you three again. I think tonight, the remaining warriors will be busy inquiring of the spiritwalker how the auguries could have been so misleading.”
They kept watch for several hours from the edge of the pillar, to see if the goblins would be foolish enough to return. After several hours of seeing little but falling snow, they retreated into Khalid's magical shelter.
There was some debate, initially, as to whether or not the goblin was going to be brought into their hiding space, but eventually Gorak relented. They agreed on a watch order, and hauled him up the rope. Loosing his bonds a bit while they ate, they discussed the goblin's arrangement.
The goblin, it turned out, didn't know the way through the mountains. But he know somebody that did. The goblin would lead them to this friend in exchange for his freedom.
“And what's the catch?” Shayla asked him shrewdly, as she absently twirled a strand of her fiery red hair around a finger.
“The catch,” the goblin continued with unpleasant grin, “is that the bastard that's caught him, is not going to let him go without a fight. I will aid you of course.”
“Ah, yes, well, I'm not quite, yes, quite sure that I'm just going to burst in on some poor chap and assassinate him, on the word of some goblin,” Khalid said. “Ah, no offense,” he added, with an apologetic look at the goblin.
“None taken,” the goblin said with a smirk that showed his pointed teeth. “But you must understand something,” he continued as the grin faded away. “Killing this man will be doing the world a favor. This place is not so desolate as it first appears and these mountains are home to far more things than goblins. This thing preys on them all. The goblins learned long ago to avoid him; they have neither the will nor the strength to fight him. And neither did I,” the goblin admitted, “until that son of a bitch took my friend. You three are different though. You're organized, and you're strong. Strong enough to kill him.”
Khalid watched the goblin carefully as he spoke, absently stroking his beard. He detected no falsehood in the creature's speech, and his face betrayed nothing but sincerity. Still, Khalid admitted to himself, he didn't have a lot of experience dealing with goblins in any fashion other than setting them on fire. “Ah, what has this friend done for you, to inspire such courage?” he asked curiously.
“He did me a kindness once,” the goblin growled. “Unasked for, and expecting nothing in return. That's pretty damn rare around these parts and he deserves the same. And besides, I know of no other who has traveled the mountains as extensively as he has. He will not only set your feet upon the path, he will show you the way through the mountains,” the goblins said sagely.
Gorak, Shayla and Khalid conferred together, in low whispers as far away as they could get from the goblin in the tiny space. In the end, they decided to at least keep the goblin around a little longer, to feel out his story a bit more and see if he'd slip up.
Khalid, in an uncharacteristic fit of charity, volunteered for the middle watch, and immediately regretted it upon being woken by Gorak. Finally dredging his mind out of its sleep shrouded fog, he picked up his spellbook and absently scratched out a few formula. His eyes kept drifting up however, to look at the goblin, who was awake and staring back at him. Realizing he wasn't going to get any serious work done, he abandoned his book and moved closer to the goblin. “Ah, you're an odd one, aren't you?” Khalid asked in a low whisper, not really expecting much response from the surly goblin.
“I suppose I am,” he agreed with a nod. The goblin's whitish gray skin blended well with the smoky horizon created by the spell, making it look at times as though he was sinking into the surroundings. “I suspect that you'll want to discuss your foe?” he whispered back with a look of cunning on his tiny face.
“Ah, yes, quite,” Khalid agreed and opened his spellbook to a blank page to take notes.
“Then let us plot and scheme my friend,” the goblin said wickedly, “for those are traits I share with my kin, in abundance.”
Unfortunately, what the goblin did know was sketchy and based mostly on hearsay and rumor. He was able to rough out a passable map of the entrance to the beast's lair but knew little more of value other than their foe was some sort of magi or wizard and had his friend imprisoned and quite possibly enslaved somehow. Much to Khalid's delight, the goblin was also able to confirm his suspicions about their mysterious stalker. The creature was almost certainly Arbaq's informant: a foul tempered and half deranged gnoll.
Although not particularly relishing the prospect of a brisk, early morning climb down an icy cliff face, Khalid managed to make it down without much difficulty, as did Shayla and the goblin. Gorak dislodged the grapple and tossed the rope down, before shifting form and swooping low off the cliff. He circled around their heads twice and then flew off down the path. They pushed on for several hours, reaching the split in the path and taking the other fork, which the goblin assured them would eventually lead them out. They kept careful watch ahead and behind, for any sign of goblins but by the time they could go no further, they had seen no signs of pursuit.
The day's gruelling hike, the first after several days of relative inactivity, weighed heavily on all of them. Frustrated by the hard climbing and lack of progress, Khalid opted for first watch in an effort to spend some time putting the finishing touches on a new set of formula. By the time his shift was over, Khalid was wide awake and engrossed in his work and sleep was a long time in coming. Just as he put his head down, it felt like it was time to get up and start moving again. In foul humor, he ate in silence and jumped out of the portal as soon as Gorak indicated it was clear. The path ahead, looked if anything, more ominous and treacherous under the harsh glare of the morning sun than it had the evening before. At their left was a sheer rock face, several hundred feet high, while on their right the path sheered away sharply, falling a thousand feet or more into the valley below. It was narrow and steep and crusted with snow and ice. They set a cautious pace with Gorak out in front, breaking the trail, and Shayla following close behind. Khalid, was at the very back, keeping an eye on the goblin in front of him. While he felt exposed at the back of the group, he certainly didn't mind walking on a well trodden path. As the day wore on, the path began to take them up higher into the mountains, instead of lower as it first appeared. Soon they were wading through snow up to their knees and the bright sun flashed off the surroundings, blinding and disorienting them.
Khalid glanced up in surprise as he heard a sound that he'd never heard before, but recognized instantly. He grabbed at the cliff face as huge weight of snow fell on him with a deafening roar. Blinded and crushed, Khalid somehow managed to hold his grip as the avalanche eased and the noise abated. Frantic, he clawed at the snow in front of his face and burst free of the snow, taking in a huge gulp of air. He saw Gorak emerge at the front, shaking the snow free of his dreadlocks.
The seconds passed as Khalid, still panicked, struggled to free himself from the weight pinning him to the ground. His legs were bent awkwardly under the snow and he couldn't get a firm hold or the leverage to free himself. He glanced up as Gorak called out a warning, but the words were lost to him as a terrible thought dawned on him.
“Gorak!” Khalid shouted, “Where's Shayla!”
*Heh, this was mostly my plan, but I was just as happy it didn't succeed. As a player, the prospect of easy XP appealed to me, but really, from Khalid's point of view, it was pretty despicable.
**Sheesh. You'd think we'd learn.
Khalid had no time to be scared as he jumped out of the gate and took off running. Months of hard travel and dangerous living had given Khalid the eye of a seasoned campaigner. As he sprinted clear of the portal, he quickly assessed the battlefield.
There were maybe fifteen goblins arrayed against them, posted in a semi circle around the plateau, and two more archers hanging from the cliff face across the path. The trap that Khalid's hellhound had dodged was a fairly typical, poorly thought out, goblin affair. A net, buried in the snow, had been tied between two powerful canines. At the first sign of movement, the dogs had bounded to their feet and ran towards their handlers. Having failed to capture the hellhound, however, there was no resistance on the dogs and they raced clear across the plateau, inadvertently snaring two hapless goblins who were moving into position to attack. The four went down in a snarling tangle of fur, fangs, claws and rope.
The hellhound had darted away from the trap and being semi intelligent, ran towards a group of three rather surprised looking goblins. It stopped directly in front of them, and vomited out a wave of flame that scorched the stunned goblins. One of them toppled soundless over the edge, while the others shrieked and fired their small crossbows blindly trying to drive the hound back.
The air was filled with the sound of humming bowstrings as several more goblins fired small crossbows. The two archers on their narrow perch across the path were firing relentlessly if not particularly accurately. Khalid started to cast as Gorak dropped out of the gate. As he had predicted, a few of the more level headed goblins had held their fire and now loosed a volley of bolts at Gorak, who flinched and growled as several of the darts landed true. Recognizing the danger of the two archers on the opposite cliff, as they drew a bead on him, Gorak edged back to avoid being surrounded and launched into a spell.
By the time Shayla joined the fight, most of the goblins were busy reloading, or fleeing from the hellhound. She didn't even move as she dropped, catlike, out of the gate and spat out the words to a spell. Three glittering discs arced from her hand, the high pitched whine that accompanied their unerring flight turning into meaty thuds as they found their mark. A goblin took one in the chest and another in the throat, dropping instantly. The other disc veered sharply and grievously wounded a goblin frantically trying to load his crossbow.
As Khalid reached the pinnacle of his spell, he caught sight of three figures cowering near a jumble of rock; two distinct looking goblins in polished steel breastplates, and a suspiciously familiar looking humanoid in a long gray robe. With a gesture, he wrestled forth another hellhound, and dropped it beside the three at the same instant that Gorak conjured up a hippogriff. The huge beast took to wing immediately, and flew over to harry the two archers. The hellhound didn't even have to move to bathe the three enemies in flame.
The rapidly dwindling number of goblins fired another volley of bolts at Gorak, scoring a half dozen hits. Shayla returned fire, and felled another two goblins with bright lancets of force as Gorak raised his club with a roar, and half charged, half staggered into the goblin warriors, battering at them with his cudgel. Finally having the breath to speak, Khalid shouted, “Shayla, those three, yes, three to your left! Don't let them escape.”
Even as Khalid directed Shayla's attention, the lanky, robed figure abandoned the fight, and dove into a concealed tunnel near the edge of the cliff. The larger of the two remaining goblins clawed his way past the other, and followed the beast into the hole, as Shayla turned. Khalid and Shayla both began to cast, almost in unison. A flash of golden sparks blinded two panicked looking goblins, while Shayla destroyed another with a blast of flame. Gorak was still taking the occasional dart from the last remaining goblin crossbowman on the plateau as he warily circled an axe wielding foe, unable to gain the advantage. The hippogriff, having dragged one of the unfortunate goblins archers away from the cliff face, swooped down and crushed the other's head in its powerful beak.
The hellhounds sprinted over, and mauled the axe wielding goblin facing Gorak, who took advantage of the goblin's plight to cave in his skull with his cudgel. The crossbowman, seeing overwhelming odds and no chance of mercy, gambled and leapt off the top of the pillar, hitting the ground below with a sickening crack. As Shayla turned on the goblin in the breastplate, and began to advance on him, he immediately threw his sword on the ground and croaked out, in passable Westron, “I surrender!”
“Oh yeah,” Gorak growled as he marched over to Shayla. “And jush why should we care about that?”
“I know what you want,” the goblin said hastily, dropping to his knees, “and I can help you get it.”
“Izzat so?” Gorak growled, his voice laced with scorn. He did, however, stop advancing.
“Yes,” the goblin replied, emboldened by the chance to barter. “You seek a way through the mountains. Even for three such as you, the path will be difficult. I can help you!” he blurted out in a rush.
“Bah,” Gorak spat. “Like I'd trush you to lead me anywhere other than onta a goblin spear!”
“Perhaps, yes, perhaps we should consider this for a moment, Gorak.” Khalid said, placing a restraining hand on Gorak's arm.
“What harm can I do you, bound and watched?” the goblin pressed on, sensing a potential ally in Khalid.
“Typical goblin treashery,” Gorak sneered, “Swishing sides as fash as he can speak tha words.”
“Consider this, Orc,” the goblin retorted, his voice seething with anger. “The two men who ordered me up here, solely to their own personal benefit, are currently running away from here as fast their cursed feet will carry them. Why should I show them more loyalty then they have shown me?”
“We can at least hear him out, while we clear outta here.” Shayla interrupted as she quickly scavenged the goblins for anything useful. Disappointed, she shouldered her pack and examined the hidden escape tunnel.
“Fine! But thish don't mean I won't drop you o'er the edge of the cliff.” Gorak slurred.
Khalid frowned and peered at Gorak, who turned his back and walked over to the knotted mass of fur and rope that was the end result of the goblin's failed trap. He practically fell to one knee when he reached it, and fumbled at his waist for his belt knife. Khalid walked over to him, concern etched on his face, while keeping a wary eye on the goblin. Immediately, he could see that Gorak was in trouble. His hands were trembling, and his skin, normally as black as obsidian, was ashen gray and slick with sweat. Gorak glanced up, and Khalid could see a line of blood on the left side of his face, which now seemed to sag down in a rather peculiar way.
“Poishun,” Gorak muttered. “Thosh bassard's had poishun arrows. I'm jush about finish'd, but don let that goblin shee.”
With a shaking hand, Gorak pulled out his belt knife. A hound, the only thing to survive the disastrous trap, whimpered softly as Gorak put it out of its misery. Then, taking a deep breath, Gorak forced himself back up to his feet. Walking stiffly, he shouldered his pack with a grunt and moved towards Shayla.
Before he reached her, she turned turned around with a disgusted look on her face. “We can't go down the same way they did. They jammed up the tunnel good, and you don't wanna know with what. If we want down, I think we're climbing.”
“Ah, perhaps we should make camp here again tonight?” Khalid offered, with a glance at Gorak. “With the tunnel blocked, yes, blocked, the goblins will be most unlikely to attack again I should think. Yes, quite.” He looked hopefully at the goblin.
The goblin nodded, looking somewhat pained. “You have slaughtered many of the best scouts and warriors of the tribe. I do not think they will dare to climb up here to face you three again. I think tonight, the remaining warriors will be busy inquiring of the spiritwalker how the auguries could have been so misleading.”
They kept watch for several hours from the edge of the pillar, to see if the goblins would be foolish enough to return. After several hours of seeing little but falling snow, they retreated into Khalid's magical shelter.
There was some debate, initially, as to whether or not the goblin was going to be brought into their hiding space, but eventually Gorak relented. They agreed on a watch order, and hauled him up the rope. Loosing his bonds a bit while they ate, they discussed the goblin's arrangement.
The goblin, it turned out, didn't know the way through the mountains. But he know somebody that did. The goblin would lead them to this friend in exchange for his freedom.
“And what's the catch?” Shayla asked him shrewdly, as she absently twirled a strand of her fiery red hair around a finger.
“The catch,” the goblin continued with unpleasant grin, “is that the bastard that's caught him, is not going to let him go without a fight. I will aid you of course.”
“Ah, yes, well, I'm not quite, yes, quite sure that I'm just going to burst in on some poor chap and assassinate him, on the word of some goblin,” Khalid said. “Ah, no offense,” he added, with an apologetic look at the goblin.
“None taken,” the goblin said with a smirk that showed his pointed teeth. “But you must understand something,” he continued as the grin faded away. “Killing this man will be doing the world a favor. This place is not so desolate as it first appears and these mountains are home to far more things than goblins. This thing preys on them all. The goblins learned long ago to avoid him; they have neither the will nor the strength to fight him. And neither did I,” the goblin admitted, “until that son of a bitch took my friend. You three are different though. You're organized, and you're strong. Strong enough to kill him.”
Khalid watched the goblin carefully as he spoke, absently stroking his beard. He detected no falsehood in the creature's speech, and his face betrayed nothing but sincerity. Still, Khalid admitted to himself, he didn't have a lot of experience dealing with goblins in any fashion other than setting them on fire. “Ah, what has this friend done for you, to inspire such courage?” he asked curiously.
“He did me a kindness once,” the goblin growled. “Unasked for, and expecting nothing in return. That's pretty damn rare around these parts and he deserves the same. And besides, I know of no other who has traveled the mountains as extensively as he has. He will not only set your feet upon the path, he will show you the way through the mountains,” the goblins said sagely.
Gorak, Shayla and Khalid conferred together, in low whispers as far away as they could get from the goblin in the tiny space. In the end, they decided to at least keep the goblin around a little longer, to feel out his story a bit more and see if he'd slip up.
Khalid, in an uncharacteristic fit of charity, volunteered for the middle watch, and immediately regretted it upon being woken by Gorak. Finally dredging his mind out of its sleep shrouded fog, he picked up his spellbook and absently scratched out a few formula. His eyes kept drifting up however, to look at the goblin, who was awake and staring back at him. Realizing he wasn't going to get any serious work done, he abandoned his book and moved closer to the goblin. “Ah, you're an odd one, aren't you?” Khalid asked in a low whisper, not really expecting much response from the surly goblin.
“I suppose I am,” he agreed with a nod. The goblin's whitish gray skin blended well with the smoky horizon created by the spell, making it look at times as though he was sinking into the surroundings. “I suspect that you'll want to discuss your foe?” he whispered back with a look of cunning on his tiny face.
“Ah, yes, quite,” Khalid agreed and opened his spellbook to a blank page to take notes.
“Then let us plot and scheme my friend,” the goblin said wickedly, “for those are traits I share with my kin, in abundance.”
Unfortunately, what the goblin did know was sketchy and based mostly on hearsay and rumor. He was able to rough out a passable map of the entrance to the beast's lair but knew little more of value other than their foe was some sort of magi or wizard and had his friend imprisoned and quite possibly enslaved somehow. Much to Khalid's delight, the goblin was also able to confirm his suspicions about their mysterious stalker. The creature was almost certainly Arbaq's informant: a foul tempered and half deranged gnoll.
Although not particularly relishing the prospect of a brisk, early morning climb down an icy cliff face, Khalid managed to make it down without much difficulty, as did Shayla and the goblin. Gorak dislodged the grapple and tossed the rope down, before shifting form and swooping low off the cliff. He circled around their heads twice and then flew off down the path. They pushed on for several hours, reaching the split in the path and taking the other fork, which the goblin assured them would eventually lead them out. They kept careful watch ahead and behind, for any sign of goblins but by the time they could go no further, they had seen no signs of pursuit.
The day's gruelling hike, the first after several days of relative inactivity, weighed heavily on all of them. Frustrated by the hard climbing and lack of progress, Khalid opted for first watch in an effort to spend some time putting the finishing touches on a new set of formula. By the time his shift was over, Khalid was wide awake and engrossed in his work and sleep was a long time in coming. Just as he put his head down, it felt like it was time to get up and start moving again. In foul humor, he ate in silence and jumped out of the portal as soon as Gorak indicated it was clear. The path ahead, looked if anything, more ominous and treacherous under the harsh glare of the morning sun than it had the evening before. At their left was a sheer rock face, several hundred feet high, while on their right the path sheered away sharply, falling a thousand feet or more into the valley below. It was narrow and steep and crusted with snow and ice. They set a cautious pace with Gorak out in front, breaking the trail, and Shayla following close behind. Khalid, was at the very back, keeping an eye on the goblin in front of him. While he felt exposed at the back of the group, he certainly didn't mind walking on a well trodden path. As the day wore on, the path began to take them up higher into the mountains, instead of lower as it first appeared. Soon they were wading through snow up to their knees and the bright sun flashed off the surroundings, blinding and disorienting them.
Khalid glanced up in surprise as he heard a sound that he'd never heard before, but recognized instantly. He grabbed at the cliff face as huge weight of snow fell on him with a deafening roar. Blinded and crushed, Khalid somehow managed to hold his grip as the avalanche eased and the noise abated. Frantic, he clawed at the snow in front of his face and burst free of the snow, taking in a huge gulp of air. He saw Gorak emerge at the front, shaking the snow free of his dreadlocks.
The seconds passed as Khalid, still panicked, struggled to free himself from the weight pinning him to the ground. His legs were bent awkwardly under the snow and he couldn't get a firm hold or the leverage to free himself. He glanced up as Gorak called out a warning, but the words were lost to him as a terrible thought dawned on him.
“Gorak!” Khalid shouted, “Where's Shayla!”
* * * * * * * * * *
*Heh, this was mostly my plan, but I was just as happy it didn't succeed. As a player, the prospect of easy XP appealed to me, but really, from Khalid's point of view, it was pretty despicable.
**Sheesh. You'd think we'd learn.
