Scourges of war - The first EN's World Dragonlance Story hour

[Guilberwood]

Anyway, let me tell you all reading about our campaign that it´s great: it´s a lot of fun playing it! I´ve been playing RPG and D&D for many years now (long before I started dating "Guilberwood" - no, I didn´t started playing by his influence) and I can assure you all it´s a great campaign.

Well, it's most fun to run this game too. In fact, the only reason this game exists is because we all have so much fun playing it!

It's easy to do it with such great players. All my inspiration comes from you guys!

Well, folks... I was about to get there but I guess that now is needless to say who is the DMM (Dungeon Master's Master)

"Long live the queen and let us live forever in peace!"

Hahahahaha. I am kidding but whenever our noble Storyteller tries some "smart moves" which put the players into serious danger there is a chance that he gets knocked out by a flurry of blows!

This is a serious acusation young man!

I'll let Cat reply as to wherther she is favoured in my games or not.......

Soon the readers shall read chapter 24 - "The one in which Dante "the former Destroyer" gets his ass kicked by an unnarmed Kobold, and comes home crying to his mama!"

 

[Guilberwood]

Lua sat with his eyes shut, feeling the morning’s sun embrace his body. In spite of his elven blood, he was starting to loose his war against the need to sleep This was the beginning of the 3rd day since that traveler had approached them, and during these three days Lua had not slept more than a few hours.

Ever since the stranger left, Lua saw in the nearby woods that greedy eyes were watching them, as if waiting for the best time to attack. The elf could not tell from that distance what kind of creature lurked around them, but it certainly meant trouble, and his travel would not be uneventful after all.

Honestly, he didn’t care at all. His only thoughts were about getting to a city called Lancton, some sort of big human city at the south. He had left his tribe in the woods of Southern Ergoth just to go to this city. In Lancton, people told him, there was a College of Bards, a place renowned for their lore. “Perhaps there I can find the translation to this riddle I carry”.

The riddle was given to him by his former master, a very old Qualinesti elf called Nimb (this was actually his nickname), who was a famous white-robed wizard. Lua had asked Nimb to train him as a wizard, and, in response, Nimb gave him that riddle and told him to come back after he had discovered what it meant.

Lua had caused shock in both the Qualinesti and the Kagonesi societies with his strange request. “A Kagonesi, a wlid elf, trained as a wizard? That is impossible. These creatures are wild, uncivilized, and would never understand the ways of the three moons” thought the Qualinesti.

On the other hand, the wild elves too were dazzled by the situation, and accused Lua of defying their tradition, becoming civilized, joining force with the enemies. “We already lost many of our people during the War of the Lance, when our brothers were enslaved by these city elves, and eventually became just like them. We must not walk out of the path of our father Kagonos.” his tribe leader explained to him.

It didn’t matter, no one understood him. No one seemed to realize he was doing that exactly to protect the Kagonesi as they were. He wanted to learn from the enemy, to understand how they worked, so he could fight them. In Lua’s mind, the best medicine against the civilized elves was to fight fire with fire, and that’s what he would do, even if it meant going out of his forest and entering in the world of men.

And that’s exactly what he did, he entered the world of men in the city of Ker-vakt, with a riddle in his hand and a belly pack in his back.

He met the priest at the docks of the city, just a few hours after arriving in that crazy, fast-spinning environment (the city was just a small hamlet). All that noise and movement made him sick. He just wanted to get out as soon as possible.

Apparently (for he did not understand all the words Darrien said), the priest was headed south too, and wanted some company on his travel. The elf was still a little reluctant to speak with humans, specially those who stared at him because of his unconventional appearance. But this was not the case with the old priest. He seemed like a nice person, and, besides, he did not know the way to Lancton, and he would not be able to get there just by himself.

Darrien also spoke about some thing called steel pieces, but Lua didn’t understand what they were used for.

As the elf remembered this events, bathing in the morning’s sun, he realized he had to open his eyes, and to do so quickly. Lua was a second away form sleeping, which would be the end of them.

Whether he wanted it or not, he had to stay awake, he fought with all his strength to stay awake . Darrien’s old body could not whiststand any more vigilance, and the priest was already snoring loudly at the elf’s side. Their safety relied on the elf alone.

Neither had slept that night. Worried about the eyes lurking in the dark, both had stayed awake, for the second night in a row, and a fifty-year-old man could not do this kind of thing anymore.

Still, each moment made is harder to control his need to sleep. Deep inside he knew that, sooner or latter, he would loose control of the situation. The stranger with the horse had to come with the rescue quickly, or there would be no rescue at all.

Finally, when all his strength was gone, the creatures decided to attack!

The small bastards made no effort to hide themselves. They had patiently waited for days until the travelers were completely out of strength to attack. They would be an easy prey, and so there was no need for secrecy. It was best to enjoy the desperate look on their faces before they started screaming, as the wicked knifes slashed trough their bodies.

Yes, this goblins were vile creatures.

In a matter of a few seconds, 6 goblins surrounded the broken wagon. Almost crouching, the goblins slowed walked towards the elf. These creatures were no fools, and they knew a hit from that giant sword could still knock out a few o them.

Branding his sword desperately, Lua’s keen eyes saw hope on the horizon. A cloud of dust was coming their way. It was just a matter of time. He HAD to buy some time.

And that’s exactly what the elf did. Using his skills to keep the goblins away (been coward creatures as they are, and lacking a ranged weapon at the time) Lua and the old man bought themselves enough time to be rescued by Dante, Elliot and Lynn.

As Darrien saw a chance of survival, he intoed a prayer to his Blue Phoenix God, and it was so beautiful and so moving that touched everyone’s heart, giving them an extra will in their fight.*

“Strange”, the priest still thought, “where’s Mr. Quilches? I see no sign of him…OH great, this means we’ll still be stuck here. And what is a gnome doing here anyway?” He kept this to himself tough. Right now, the goblins were all that mattered.

As the rescue party arrived, Dante and Elliot both dismounted (neither would risk injuring or loosing their precious horses). As soon as they were on the ground, both unsheathed their blades and ran into the melee.

Shortly after, a strange sound echoed. The sound was a mixture of bells and some sort of clockwork. No one had ever heard such weird noise before. Amazed, everyone looked around to find the origin of the sound, but the mystery was soon solved…

In the heat of battle, Lynn had jumped inside the broken wagon and was firing her repeating crossbow. In fact, one of the goblins fell with a shot on his chest, and the gnome gave a small cry of joy.

She was not happy with the goblin’s death, she was just glad to see that her invention really worked. In all this years, she had never tested it in a real combat.

The goblins were a menacing band, but no match for the fighters they faced. Dante’s greatsword ripped the creatures apart. Elliot’s blade killed with easy, and everyone was impressed with the elf’s strength and skill with such an exotic weapon.

As the goblins started to fall, the few who where still alive ran for their lives, leaving the party mostly unscathed. The rescue had been a success.

After the proper introductions, Lynn started to fix the wheel, much to the priest’s surprise. Not someone who just fix things, Lynn also installed an extra safety system, and put some belts to the wheels. “It’s an alarm” she said “this way you’ll know if the wheel is broken again”.

The way back to Hillfall was a light-hearted one. “job’s done” everybody thought. Elliot accepted the invitation of the priest to have a meal with them at the orphanage in Hillfall. The offer was the least Darrien could do after such a display of generosity. Only Dante had a huge weight in his heart, because he knew the time to say goodbye was coming.

Arriving at the city they were greeted by the children of the orphanage. With Dante and Darrien gone, there was no one to take care of them. The place was a mess, and all the kids ran to the wagon to see what goodies “uncle Darrien” had brought home this time. Unfortunately, most of the wagon was filled with rations (a meal the kids hated to eat) and other “not fun!” stuff.

Shortly after, they ate at the dining table. The priest served a thin soup. That was all he’s got to offer. It was at that moment that the visitors started to realize how poor these kids were, the terrible conditions they lived in, and how suffered must had been Dante’s childhood.

Even tough the priest tried, there seemed to be no way to make Elliot accept a reward for his help. Lua had no problem accepting the money the priest gave him, although he still didn’t know what these metal was. Probably, if he knew it back than, he would not have accepted it either, but Lua still had a lot to learn about the world of man.

Lynn’s payment was quickly done, as the history of the rescue was told to the orphanage’s children. “Good” the gnome thought “I am already reaching out for the future generations…my path to the legends is clear!”.

Since it was late, everyone stayed over and slept at the orphanage. The night was still not over yet, as one of the boys (Jimmy, actually) tried to steal Lynn’s tools. Luckily, she found out soon enough and managed to keep her equipment. All was well tough, because the gnome was not offended at all. “The price of being famous” she said.

Still, Dante did not miss the opportunity to reprehend the boy. Jimmy growing to be a dangerous teen, one of the few who gave him any trouble.

The next morning, they woke up with the noise that came form the outside. It was not the usual morning talk. A lot of people were gathered somewhere nearby, screams could be heard. It was like some tragedy had just happened.

All of them got out of their beds and went outside to see what had happened. In the front garden of a house nearby the whole neighborhood stood shocked. It was impossible to see anything, as a circle of people blocked the view of what was going on. Lynn made her way trough the people’s legs. Dante, Lua and Elliot forced their way into the center of the crowd.

At first, Lua and Elliot could not understand what had caused such a commotion. The house was a simple one, and it’s wooden door was closed. All was silent inside. The noise came exclusively form the people who stood in front of the house.

Strangely, there seemed to be nothing to be worried about. The only thing that looked out of place was a dagger, a fancy, red, beautiful dagger, which hung from the wooden door. Not realizing the gravity oh the situation, Elliot stepped forward and took out the dagger.

This move was followed by a collective scream. Everybody said “oooohhhh!!!”.

As he looked back, the ranger saw that perhaps he shouldn’t have done that. As he held the dagger in his hand, he watched as Dante stood completely frozen, just as horrified as everybody else.

Still, Elliot did not know what the hell was wrong with the dagger…..


*****************************************
* Blessing – The most powerful spell the party would see for a long time!



NEXT: Chapter II – The curse of the Red Dagger

 

[Guilberwood]

Chapter II – The curse of the Red Dagger


After the initial shock caused by Elliot’s daring move, the crowd started to go away. The residents of Hillfall were starting to get used to this kind of tragedy.

Elliot still held the red dagger in his hand, trying to figure out what it meant. Dante was not helping him much, as he still was speechless. Lua and Lynn clearly had no idea about what that thing meant either.

It was only about half an hour latter that Darrien arrived at the scene, and things finally started to get clearer.

With the arrival of the priest Dante calmed down, and started to think rationally again. Together, he and the priest explained to the others what the dagger meant.

Since the arrival of the new lord of the city, Ogrimar Darkcloak, a new set of rules had been established by the local authority. First, he had replaced the city guards, employing his own warriors: red-haired barbarians from a nomad tribe from the north. Second, the taxes had been brutally raised, and now 50% of the crops harvested by the citizens were given to the lord as payment for a dozen different taxes. And last, there was the red dagger.

As the local landlord, Orgimar had the right to pick any women in town to serve as his company for a night. People hated it, but it was his right nonetheless, and many other cities in the Ergothian empire had this very same rule, and the people knew they could not do anything against it. “He’s a noble, he was born a better person then us, we have to accept the will of the gods”, they always thought.

A red dagger in front of a house meant that Lord Orgimar had chosen the woman that lived in the house to be his partner for a night.

However, that was not the worst part. As if the suffering of delivering your wife to sleep with another man wasn’t enough already, a darker fate awaited the “victims” of the red dagger, for none of the women chosen by the dagger had ever returned.

Since Orgimar’s arrival, five women had already gone into the castle to spend a night with the lord, and none of them were ever seen again.

That was “the curse of the red dagger”, and that’s why the town was shocked to realize that a new women would disappear forever in the castle.

And soon it became clear to the foreigners (Lua, Elliot and Lynn) why Dante was so shocked when he saw the dagger. Apparently, he knew the women who would be next victim. As a matter of fact, he knew her very well.

The girl’s name was Gisele, and she was married to a good friend of Dante, called Gordon. He and Dante had been friends since childhood, and both still remember the days spent playing “knights” or “rescue the princess”. Gordon was a little older, and did not have live in the orphanage, for he had his own family. In his childhood, Gordon had learned how to read and write, eventually becoming the city’s scribe…such a happy ending was not for the orphans such as Dante, and it depressed him.

Therefore, when Dante saw that Gisele was “cursed” and that he would never see her again, that his good friend would become a 25 years old widow, that their children would have no mother for the rest of her life, all because of a Lord’s petty right, he was shocked…and very angry.

As he regained control of himself, he slammed at the door of the house, desperate to talk to Gordon and his family, to offer them a little comfort (if any was possible), to see if there was anything he could do for them.

For a long time, no sound came from inside. Dante’s hands were already hurt after hitting the door so many times. The door itself was starting to complain, cracking loudly.

Finally, a shout came form inside “Go away”, it said “go laugh at someone’s else tragedy”. By the looks of it, whoever said that had been crying for a long time.

It took Dante the whole morning to convince Gordon to open up the door. As Dante, Darrien and the others entered the house, they immediately became more saddened than ever. A beautiful blond woman cried in a corner, with a 2 year old child in her lap, a poor creature who probably did not understand what was going on.

Gordon and the visiting party talked throughout the whole day, but all Gordon wanted was that Dante and the others to leave him alone (seconded by the priest, who agreed with this). Enraged, Dante wanted to do something against the incoming tragedy. Ellitot did not like any kind of injustice, and was sympathetic to the cause. Lynn was more than happy to help, thinking of the whole thing as “another adventure to give me fame” she thought. Lua did not care, he wasn’t understanding much of the talk anyway, and if helping them would mean going in the direction of Lancton, he would gladly help.

Against Gordon’s better judgment (his intuition told him this would not end well), after hours of continuous talk, the villager decided to let Dante and his new friends help him in some way. In the end, he would not behave like a sheep, allowing his beloved wife to be stolen without a fight.

Now, it was just a matter of how to escape the curse of the red dagger.

According to the previous experiences with the red daggers, the city guards would come in 2 days to pick Gisele, and she was supposed to return in 2 more days, something everyone knew would never happen.

Many plans were discussed. Bribing the guards, wrecking havoc in the whole town, insufflating a riot among the villagers, and many others, but none seemed good enough.

Only after a long time planning, the group came up with a reasonable strategy (although they all agreed it was not a good one, it was just the less likely to fail).

This was the plan: Gordon and his daughter would abandon town, claiming they could not withstand what was about to happen, and had decided to leave the city once and for all. They would take the priest’s wagon, along with all their belongings. Lua, Elliot and Lynn would accompany them, in an attempt to evade security.

Gordon and his daughter would than head towards the city of Gulfport, while the other secretly went back to town, by climbing the city walls (they were not that big) or swimming trough a river canal.

Meanwhile, Dante would act as an escort to Gisele, supposedly awaiting beside her until the guards came to pick her up.

Latter, they would secretly reunite at Gordon’s house, and when the time came, the plan was to fight the guards and run outside the city. Unfortunately, they knew that once the guards realized Gisele was trying to escape the dagger, the city’s gates (located south) would be closed and the path blocked, leaving only one option: the forbidden forest – a dangerous and haunted place north of town nobody dared to enter. In his whole life, Dante had only been at its borders once, and that was enough to convince him never to come back again. Sadly, that was the only way, so they decided not to think about it until the time came.

It was late night when the party left Gordon’s house. Darrien had already left a long time ago to take care of the orphanage. To their surprise, a red-haired guard was already lurking nearby, patrolling the house, in case anyone tried something “funny”.

With all the details solved, they went back to sleep at the orphanage, knowing they would have tough days ahead of them.

Their plans were executed with perfection on the next day. Elliot, Lua and Lynn escorted Gordon and his children out of town. The guards at the gate were intrigued by this sudden decision from Gordon, but they did not have any real reason to stop them (even though they wanted to). On the other side, Dante stayed home with Gisele the whole day. She was extremely quiet, and cried a lot. They did not exchange many words during their wait.

Elliot and the others walked a half-day journey escorting Gordon, and them turned their backs and headed back to town. They got back just in time to see the sunset and the 2 moons (white and red) appear on the sky, alongside the other constellations of Gods.

They secretly climbed the city walls and joined Dante and Gisele at Gordon’s house. Luckily, the guard posted in the front didn’t notice their entrance trough the back, and so they all went to sleep (or at least they tried to), waiting for the next day, when the guards would come to pick Gisele up.

In the next day, it was almost night when the red-headed guards knocked at the door. It had been a very stressful day, and although nobody wanted to face what was to come, they almost felt relieved when the guards came….at least this damm waiting was finally over!

What came next was a complete mess. There was not much tactics implied, nor much thought about what do after the initial surprise attack was over.

When the door opened everyone busted through the entrance, knocking down most of the guards around. Unfortunately, a few of them were still awake, and so they blew their bells and whistles, calling for aid from other guards nearby.

As the party finished off the remaining guards (most of them surrendered) and stared their escape, more of the red-headed brutes came to help their fellows. The party moved along trying to dispatch the guards with as few hits as possible, but there were too many of them, and soon they would be overwhelmed.

They had to do the exact same thing they did not want to do. They had to go to a place none of them wanted to, the one thing they were delaying, hoping something could prevent it…but that “something” never came.

“What the hell, any place is better than here right now” they thought. Realizing there was no other way, they headed straight north to the forbidden forest, clearing the guards along the path.

Even though the guards made a good opposition to the party plans, luckily no one got seriously hurt (not to the point of falling to the ground at least) and the five of them arrived in one piece at the forest borders.

Running trough the city had attracted a lot more attention from other guards, and now a real mob of law-enforcers were right at their heels. It would not take long until Gisele got fatigued ant started to stay behind, but something stopped the guards from running forwards.

As the party entered the woods the chase was abruptly over. No guard dared to enter the forest, and so the party entered the woods undisturbed (or at least they thought).

Feeling strangely safe in the most dangerous place possible, they moved for an hour or two into the forest, but their mussels could not take it anymore, and begged for a well deserved rest…

They did not know what awaited them, they did not know what creatures lurked nearby….



Next: Chapter III: Escape into the Forbidden Forest!

 

[Son_of_Thunder]

Dragonlance Forever!

Ah yes,

Dragonlance. My preferred setting. But I haven't been there since that 5th Age business. I'll be reading.

 

[Guilberwood]

Ah yes,

Dragonlance. My preferred setting. But I haven't been there since that 5th Age business. I'll be reading.

Hope you enjoy it!

Rest assured... none of the "5th Age Business" has any space here.


By the way, any feedback is apreciated.

 

[Lua Azul]

Cheguei!

Here is the ever slashing Kagonesi!
Can't wait for the fourth charpter ("The damm elf in red").
I hope you got all this in Portuguese for the website!!!

 

[Guilberwood]

Chapter III – Escape into the forbidden Forest


After escaping the chase from the city guards and entering the woods, the party needed rest, a lot of rest. Most of them hadn’t slept much in the last night anyway. Gisele was so tense she could not move an inch forward, now that the her blood had cooled down and fear overwhelmed her.

Sensing it would be useless to fight the fatigue, the party decided to rest exactly where they were. Sleeping in the forest was something they wanted to avoid, but there was no way to escape this, since it would take at least 4 or 5 days to cover the forest’s grounds until it was safe to return to the open space.

Hillfall was nestled in the base of a very large chain of mountains that grew to the north, so the forest, being in the north of the city itself, was already in the mountain reaches.

As they unrolled their sleeping bags, Elliot started to think about what would be the best way to travel inside the forbidden forest, dodging most of the wood’s dangers. The most secure (that is, less dangerous) path would be to walk trough it’s borders heading west, never entering more than one or two miles into it’s depths.

During the night, they heard a thin voice nearby, talking in a strange language a few trees away. Lynn woke up and, curious as she was, went a little further to investigate, taking care not to be seen, even though it also prevented her from seeing the owners of that strabge voice herself. As a matter of fact,Lynn found out there was more than one voice actually, and they seemed to be talking, or arguing…hard to say. The language was sibilant and sneaky, and apparently no one could understand what was being said. Feeling a little (or a lot) afraid and not willing to risk their luck, they left the voice undisturbed and went back to sleep.

It was only on waking up in the next day that the party could see the forest in it’s true self. Just by taking this first look at it Lua could see this was a very old forest. The trees were big, supported by enormous roots and covered with mold and some small plants. All kinds of animals and herbs grew around, and Elliot was sure many magical beasts made that forest their home. Lucky, there were no signs they were being followed by the city guards.

The day went on, as everybody tried not to trip at the roots of some big tree, while distracted by a red butterfly or any other exotic and beautiful thing of that sort. Shortly after lunch, the party had to stop the march: the path was blocked by the chunk of this huge tree, that had capriciously fallen right where the track was.

It took them only a few moments to realize that was not a coincidence of nature. That tree had been dropped for a reason, but it was already too late! Javelins were flying from the top of the trees and from behind the dropped log. A surprise attack from goblins had just started.

After the initial surprise was over, the party regained their feet and jumped into battle. Besides javelins, the goblins were also using nets to grapple their enemies. Luckily, no one got entangled, and, as a matter of fact, the nets backfired, since Elliot, Lua and Dante used the net’s rope to bring the goblins to the ground. Lynn was using her crossbow (and the strange noise that came along with it) to kill the goblins nestled in the trees. The others took care of the small creatures on the ground (those stupid enough not to run away) while still protecting Gisele. Some of those javelins had hit their marks though, and everybody was hurt.

After the ambush their joruney went uneventful. The next day, Elliot got up earlier than everyone else and decided to hunt something for breakfast. He found some habits that would make a lovely soup. Elliot felt somehow strange tough, as the forest was strangely quiet...nothing made a sound. This was even more strange since yesterday that same woods were exploding with wild life.

The smell from the soup waked the party up, and they all enjoyed a marvelous meal. However, during breakfast all the noise from the forest came back. Actually, it came back a lot louder than ever before. Instants latter, small animal started to appear near the party’s camping site. They were all running in the same direction, as if running away from something.

Together with the sound of the running animals came the sound of big and heavy feet stomping in the ground, which was probably what the animals were running away from.

Shortly after that the reason for all this mess was spotted: not one but two giant monsters, covered in feathers, with a owl head and a bear body were coming their way, rampaging and destroying everything on their path!

Elliot knew what those creatures were, and knew they were too much to handle. This time, and for the first time, brute force was not an option: they needed a plan. In a burst of courage, he ordered everyone else to climb on a tree, while he remained on the ground, thinking about what to do next.

The owlbears arrived at the camping site and went straight to the habit soup, which they drank from the cauldron in a single move. Hiding in the trees, Dante, Lua and Lynn were shooting arrows, bolts and darts at the beasts, attempting to take the attention away from Elliot.

The plan worked, and the Large monsters went to attack the shooters. One went to Lua, and the other went to the tree Lynn and Gisele were in. Elliot had no option but to attack this second owlbear “Lua can take care of himself”, he thought. He swung his sword, taking an extra care to use his blade to deflect the massive blows he knew would soon come. Luckily he scored a hit it, and the beast sounded a horror full roar.

Angry, the owlbear used all his strength (which was a lot!) to hit Elliot, and the blow was almost lethal. The beast hit with both claws, and they teared trough his breast, blood and flesh were all over his clothes. This wound would leave a scar Elliot still carries to this day.

Lua and Dante had no other choice other than to jump down and help his friend dying firend. They would not watch him die alone. The situation was critical: everyone knew they were no match for the beasts. Death would come soon for this young adventures.

But, instead of death, hope appeared on the horizon. Arrows coming out of nowhere hit the owlbears, as 2 centaurs and an elf arrived to assist the poor party. The elf was blond and slender, he wore a green cloak and wieled two thin blades, which seemed to be covered by some sort of vine. One of the centaurs was a female, dressed only with a leather armor protecting her torso, her horseback nude. The other was a male, completely nude. Both were beautiful and dangerous at the same time.

Inspired by this sudden change of fate, the party charged the owlbears with their full strength, and together with the newly arrived reinforcements they killed both creatures.

After taking care of the many wounds from the battle (without any magical healing to assist them), the party began to understand who were this exotic rescuers. Apparently, the centaurs, named Calion and Valdara were married. The elf’s name was Elasil, a qualinesti who lived in this woods with the centaurs, though the reason for that was not clear.

Elasil talked with the party, specially Elliot and Lua for quite a few time. He explained how dangerous this forest was, and that they should leave as quickly as possible. As a matter of fact, they should start moving right away, since they were in the middle of the goblin territory.

On the other hand, the centaurs remained quiet and apart. They were glad to help those strangers and kill savage owlbears, but they did not like the idea of strangers on their woods. Apparently, just like goblins, centaurs were a territorial race.

In a little more than an hour the party was ready to move again. They thanked the centaurs and told them goodbye. Elasil was too worried to allow the party to wander alone in the forest, and decided to join them until they were out and safe.

The centaurs went east and the party headed west, now in the company of Elasil. It would still take 3 days until they left the forbidden forest but it was much easier walking in the woods with the elf, as he seemed to know quite well that forest. During their journey, Dante and Lynn were always near Gisele, helping her trough the rough paths. A little further, Lua was always looking out for any possible treats, while Elliot and Elasil went ahead talking and tracking the best route to follow.

This elf turned out to be a very outgoing person, and he kept talking about the woods and it’s secrets, like the strange cloaked figures who used the forest to go to the mountains north, or the beautiful (yet dangerous) fey who lived deeper in the forest. Elliot paid a lot of attention to the elf, and he eventually learned how to make a special healing balm, made from tulip petals and milk - an old and secret elven recipe few remembered how to prepare.

The journey went uneventful for the a day and a half, when the party had to deal with yet another goblin ambush, although this time they were prepared for it, and with Elasil’s help those creatures were not much trouble.

Another day and a half latter and the party was finally at the borders of the forest, “and still alive” they thought. The party bade goodbye to Elasil and went ahead. From now on, they would be climbing down the hills until they were on the plains again, and them move south to the city of Gulfport. Before departing, Elasil invited Elliot to come back again latter, and learn more about the forest and it’s secrets.

As the party climbed down the mountain, leaving the dangers of the forbidden forest behind them, one thing still worried them, specially Elliot and Dante. Something so simple and yet so crucial, something that could rend all the effort they went trough useless….they were running against time!

When Gordon and his child went to Gulfport, it was decided they would only wait for seven days for Gisele and the party. If they did not arrive in a week, it meant that their plans went wrong, and he should run away with his child as far away as possible, leaving no tracks behind, since Ogrimar and his guards would come out after him seeking revenge.

Five days had already passed, and two more were needed to arrive in Gulfport. They were up agaisnt a very tight schedule.

“Two days, only two days” Elliot thought. “We’re not gonna make it….Oh well, too late to worry about it now anyway, we had to move on…no matter what, we have to move on….”


Next: Chapter IV - Meet Ragash and the bloody hands of Gulfport