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Message: <blockquote data-quote="cthuluftaghn" data-source="post: 217383" data-attributes="member: 4799">Chapter 2: Walk in the WoodsChapter Two - Walk in the Woods 27 Coldeven, Noon: The companions walked out past the newly built fortress that marked the southern edge of Hommlet, and into the wilderness beyond. Joman had informed them that the trip to the moathouse would take several hours, but they could expect to reach their destination before dark if they kept up a decent pace. The group marched in silence, their individual thoughts shrouded in darkness. The members of the Order of the Eagle feared for the life of their master and life-long friend. Gann Tolar was concerned about the apparent influence of evil spreading rapidly across the land. Tyris felt lost and afraid in this strange new world that seemed so alien to her. Only Davok seemed content as he munched on another piece of dried fruit bread that he had purchased at the old trading post. After about three hours of steady marching, the road spilled out into a wide clearing as it crested a low rise. Willow called a halt as she noticed that a large number of small forest creatures were scrambling out from the underbrush, approximately thirty feet behind the party and to the left. Weapons were raised, and Gann started to move slowly towards the tree line to investigate. The forest went deathly silent for a split second before a man-sized insect creature crashed out of the bushes several meters in front of Gann.“Ankheg!” yelled the cleric as he raised his mace in a salute of honor toward his foe. Before he or the creature could move, Tas and Endora had each fired an arrow deep into its flank. It reared its head in pain and rage and turned to charge the party…. just in time to catch Gann’s mighty weapon crashing through its skull. It’s head exploded in a shower of sticky goo, which splattered across Gann’s chest. It quivered for a moment, and fell to the ground with a heavy, wet thud.The party had no time to celebrate their first victory together in battle. They watched helplessly as Gann clutched at his throat, choking and gasping for fresh air. “Acid,” he croaked, as the ankheg’s corrosive fluids ate away at his chest piece. Noxious plumes of yellow smoke rose from his chest, and straight into his face, as he struggled to remove his tunic and armor. As he flailed blindly about, a second figure came charging out of the woods straight towards the vulnerable cleric.“Yaaaaaaaaaaaah!” bellowed the lone human figure as he plowed his way through the undergrowth. With a wild look on his face and a dagger held aloft, in position for a deadly strike, the man charged straight towards Gann Tolar. Acting on instinct, Willow fired a single bullet from her sling at this newly arrived threat. The speeding stone struck the man square on the kneecap.“Owieeee!” he yelled, clutching his wounded knee. “Wutcha do that for. Ooooh… ow!” The man hopped around in circles in a most comical fashion for a moment or two, until his eyes caught site of the dead insect beast before him. Suddenly forgetting about his injury, the odd fellow gripped his dagger once again in both hands and plunged it to the hilt into the ankheg’s back. With a triumphant look on his face, he removed his weapon, wiped it off in the dirt and slid it back into its sheath. “I got ‘im, I did,” he exclaimed. “I got ‘im yes indeed. Me name’s Del the trapper, a trapper I am. Got me squirrels and foxes and badgers I do. If a pelt ya need, a trapper I am. Got me squirrels and foxes and badgers. Now I got me one o’ these big bugs too… weeooo!”“Pardon me,” said Gann in a grim monotone, finally able to breathe. “This is our kill. It was I who slew this creature.”“No it wasn’t,” said Del. “I killed it meself with me mighty dagger, I did. Ya saw me too, ya did. I killed it with me dagger, just like I killed me squirrels and foxes and badgers.” The old fool bent over the beast and started prying off a piece if its shell. The rest of the party approached and started to gather around behind Gann, who was growing red in the face.He picked up his mace and approached the old man with fire in his eyes. “Excuse me, sir,” the cleric began in a venomous tone. “This is our kill, and you have no right to claim it as your own. Now if you’ll kindly step aside…”“I killed the big bug with me dagger,” Del retorted with glee. “I got me squirrels and foxes and badgers, and now I got me this big bug, I do. Weeooo.”“If you don’t stand aside, you’ll have my mace in your face!” shouted Gann indignantly.Del stared at Gann for a moment, and then diverted his attention to Tyris. “Not very friendly, is he lass? But you, pretty thing you are, you are. You could use a pelt from Ol’ Del, could ya? Got squirrels and foxes…”“…and badgers, I KNOW,” Tyris finished for him.“This guy’s an idiot,” said Tas. The halfling’s sharp eyes had already appraised Ol’ Del’s meager possessions and, seeing nothing of value or interest, he quickly lost interest in the conversation. “I say we ditch him and keep going.”“Maybe he can help us,” suggested Endora. “Ummm Del ? We’re looking for someone who is missing somewhere around the moathouse. Maybe you’ve seen him. Do you know a man from Hommlet by the name of Spugnoir?”“Spoooooooooonwaaaaaaaar,” cooed Del happily. “Of course I knows Spooooonwaaaar, I do. He buys me pelts from me, he does. Me squirrels and foxes AND me badgers he buys. ‘Tis to make me go away, says he, he says. Yes, I do, I know Spoooonwaaaaar.”“Well, have you seen him?” asked Willow , Tyris and Gann simultaneously.“A week ago, I did. He boughted me pelts. He went to the moathouse, but I don’t go there. Nope, nope, nope. I’m a trapper, I am. Only things walkin’ around the moathouse are already dead, yes they are. Not gonna kill ‘em again, not me. Just got me squirrels….,” seeing the look in Gann’s eye, Ol’ Del finished quickly, “… and badgers too.”Gann grabbed the old man and glared at him. “Did you say the dead were walking around!?” Del looked back at him with a mixture of fear and confusion, but for once didn’t say a word. Gann tried a new tactic. “Tell me what you know, and I’ll let you keep the ankheg.”Ol’ Del thought about this for a minute, took a deep breath and considered how to respond. With all the seriousness he could muster, he looked Gann square in they eye, leaned close and said, “I…. don’t know…. what an awwwwnkheg is!”Disgusted, Gann pushed Del away and gathered his things. The party agreed that they were wasting valuable daylight with this crazy old coot, and they prepared to move on. As they continued down the road, they heard Ol’ Del holler after them, “Good bye, then. Remember Ol’ Del if ya need any pelts, ya do. If ya need a squirrel or a fox or a badger. And mind yerself around the dragon. Buh bye, now!”The group paused for a moment. Gann shook his head slowly, and they kept walking. According to their information, they still had three or four more hours to go before they reached the moathouse. They couldn’t afford any more interruptions if they wanted to arrive before night took them. They resumed their silent march, until Tas piped up an hour later. “Did he say dragon?”</blockquote>

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