Avellios sighed, checking the stars. He had only been out for a few minutes, and already it was getting tedious. Oh how he longed for a tracker, they spent so much time in the woods one would be invaluable. Even a priest would be able to commune with his god to find his way about. Lacking either, Avellios slumped against a tree, about to light his pipe, when he noticed small, fresh footprints in the mud. They appeared to be humanoid, and whoever made them wasn’t wearing shoes. It was quite apparent from the size that whoever walked this stretch of land did so recently, and was likely quite young.
Avellios was immediately worried- in a forest as large as this, any child would likely be in danger. Avellios set off, nose close to the ground, following the prints. He wasn’t entirely how far he went before he came upon a small mound made of dirt and discarded wood. Curiously enough, it had a small hole inside it.
Of course, Avellios did what any suitably curious adventurer would do if he was looking for something. He stuck his head inside the hole, and cried out. “Hello! Is anybody in here?”
As the earth and tree roots surrounding him began to wrap themselves around his arms and limbs, he realized that he had made a significant mistake. Heart filled with fear, he glanced down at his rapier- kept agonizing inches out of reach.
As he mulled over his options, a small creature stepped before him seemingly out of nowhere. He looked human, but he was only three feet high. He resembled a gnome, though his features were smoother and less chiseled. His hair, including a small pointed goatee, was a rich green shade. He wore brown slacks, to which a wicked looking scimitar was strapped. On his back lay a gratuitously large rice hat and three spears of varying lengths. Around his neck lay a line of teeth.
“Good sir!” Avellios began, “would you kindly do me the favor of-“
The small men held up a hand, his expression sour. “What are you doing in my home?”
“Well, it seems as though it kind of swallowed me, to be blunt.” Avellios replied dryly.
The small man frowned. He lowered his hand quickly, and the land around Avellios melted back into place. Avellios stepped out, stretching the crick out of his neck. This guy was moody, but he was damn good… Avellios had an idea.
“Hey, what’s your name?” He inquired.
“Bebog… Why are you still here?” The man named Bebog replied.
“Well… To be honest, I have a bit of a proposition for you Mr. Bebog.”
Bebog’s expression, miraculously, managed to make itself even more sour.
“I am a member of a group of… Vagabonds. We work for adventure, gold, excitement, triumphing over evil, etcetera. And, well, at the moment we require a uh… Well, what do you like to be called? Priest, Druid?”
“Hermit.” He answered gruffly. “And you want me to leave my home, to go adventuring?”
“Well… Yes. But before you say no, consider this; no matter how secluded, a forest can still be awful noisy- other druids, animals-“
“Wandering elves.”
“-and other things. Adventuring, however, is almost synonymous with spelunking. Spelunking in deep, quiet, calm dungeons with no one there except for three other individuals, all completely silent so as not to draw the attention of the dark necromancer who may very literally have ears in the walls.” Avellios finished seductively.
Bebog’s ears twitched and his eyes grew wide. “Alright, great idea. Let’s just go.”
“Don’t you want to gather up your stuff fir-“
“No. Go. NOW! Before it’s too late!” Bebog said urgently.
“I’m not entirely sure I-“ Avellios was interrupted by a huge crashing noise in the trees behind him. From the noise, he distinctively heard a boisterous, slightly stupid sounding voice ring out.
“HEEEEEEEYYYY BEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!”
Avellios spun around, and whipped out his rapier, standing on the balls of his feet with his eyes darting from side to side. “The source of the noise… do we kill it?” He inquired. A dark spot appeared on the horizon. “I asked DO WE KILL IT!?!?!?”
“I’m thinking I’m thinking!” Bebog snapped. He sighed “No, I guess we shouldn’t. I know him, a bit. He’s more or less harmless. Annoying, but harmless.”
Avellios nodded as a golden-skinned Elvin man burst from the woods, his silver hair flowing behind him in the wind. His eyes were completely silver, and he held a long lance in his hands. He wore animal hide, but it was immaculately kept despite its inherent rustic nature. He rode atop a very furry horse, with a wild look in its eye though it was also well groomed. The man had a somewhat dull look on his face, despite his well groomedness, although he also appeared to be screaming loudly. He cried out “HEY BEEEE! A LITTLE HELP!?!?”, and the small druid sighed.
“What could he wan-“ The tiny hermit gasped in shock. The ground beneath him began to tremble, and he heard a loud crack as a terrible creature burst from the trees. It was a large creature, about 10 feet tall. It looked like a dead, mobile tree though it had a wicked looking face carved into it. Riding atop it was a leather-clad woman, with red hair wielding a rusted glaive.
“You don’t happen to know that thing as well, do you?” Avellios asked nervously.
“No. There is no way in a million life times that I know that thing.” Bebog shuddered.
Avellios nodded, taking a moment to secure the ring on his finger. “That’s all I needed to know.” Translucent blue smoke swirled about his feet, before he took a massive running jump, landing right amid the branches of the dead tree, also cleanly piercing the woman’s flesh below her shoulder.
It was now that Avellios got a good look at the tree, seeing its thick, somewhat fleshy gray bark, as well as the hot, tar-like sap that spilled from it and the fruit which hung like sacks of flesh from its twisted, gnarled branches.
The woman was about a head shorter than Avellios, and her back was humped. Patches of her skin was gray with rot and death, and her hair was stringy. She had rotted teeth from which green saliva dripped, and her wound was currently bleeding dark purple blood.
The moment Avellios landed, Bebog set his hat in front of him like a shield and tossed one of his spears at the tree, sticking it and causing sap to geyser out of the wound.
The man riding the horse turned around at this point, to face his foe. He hoisted up his finely crafted lance, and charged forward, piercing the exterior of the tree. He ran it almost completely through, ripping its rotted bark and enticing it to let out a foul, bloody screech.
Now it was the turn of the wicked sorceress and her steed. She swung her blade, though Avellios easily deflected it. The tree attempted to smash the hapless elf, but succeeded only in clawing its own head. Avellios turned to the woman now, holding his blade forward. “Now, either surrender or-“ At this moment, Bebog sent a javelin literally through the woman’s neck, and she fell to the ground. “-Perish…” Avellios finished, a little disappointed.
As the tree swung at the horse riding sun elf, the sun elf responded with a slash from a glowing long sword. Avellios took this opportunity to swing his blade overhead, and stab the tree square down in the head. Avellios leapt down, as the tree toppled forward- thoroughly dead.
Avellios turned to the sun elf, and whipped off his sword. He tipped his hat, and bowed. “Excellent fighting there good sir! My name is Avellios Moonwhisper, you would be…?”
“A nuisance.” Bebog muttered.
“Well howdy! My name’s Cri!” The sun elf replied.
“Well then, would you be interested in joining our-“
“There is absolutely no way-“ Bebog began. He was interrupted, however, by several moments of shock and chaos. Bebog let out an unearthly shriek, as what they thought was a corpse leapt up at him, fingernails digging into his throat, and she delivered a single kiss. Bebog swatted her away, and decapitated her with his scimitar, before doubling over. His skin was pallid and greenish, and his hair was starting to shed. He looked up at Cri and Avellios, before letting out a heave of vomit.
Avellios turned to Cri. “Little guy gets more action than I do. Do you know anything we can do?”
Cri nodded. “I know of a Dryad in the northern woods. I can take him there on my horse.”
Avellios nodded. “I’ll try and follow in the trees if I ca-“
Bebog let out a hoarse, bloody cough. “I’m going with the elf.”
Avellios looked on dumbly. “Are you jo-“
“There is no way in hell you’ll get me to ride with THAT oaf.”
Cri sighed. “I’ll ride ahead then and tell Phelia you’re coming. Just go north.” With that, he leapt upon his horse and rode off.
Avellios hoisted up the small man and held him securely on his back. He got a running start, before bounding forward atop the trees. He was leaping as fast as he could, knowing full well that if he didn’t hit the right branches, if he didn’t jump fast enough, he and his cargo may both very well die.
