“That’s some massive bush,” Kildo the dwarven cleric exclaimed. “It be thicker than an elder dwarf’s beard.”
“Yes, I haven’t seen bush this thick since my youth visiting Madam LaRuso’s bord-”
“Can we stop staying bush?” Guo Gan the elven monk sighed interrupting Mufi. The elf appeared a little red in the face. His fingers were rubbing his temple, as if trying to ward off a headache. They were standing at the tree line on Scarlet Peek Island staring into the forest edge. They were starting to have second thoughts about traveling straight east to the Hillside Manor to try and get some answers.
Kai swiped his longsword at the foliage and from his frown also realized it would be a slog through it. “Alright, let’s head northeast along the coast and check out the area labeled ‘Goblins??’.”
The group nodded in agreement and began, but before they made it a few hundred feet up the beach, Guo Gan and Kildo saw three large creatures flying in the air and straight towards them. They were hippogriffs. The creatures had the body of a horse, with the wings and head of a hawk. Their forelegs ended in sharp talons similar to those found in birds of prey, while their hind legs had hooves. Their hides were a golden tan color with differently shaded feathers, while their beaks were a golden yellow. They were over 9’ feet long, each had a wingspan of 20’ feet, and each had a rider on them. They were dressed in bright orange, red, and yellows.
The party moved into the forest tree line.
The winged creatures landed and the lead rider waived in a friendly manner and yelled, “May we have a word!?”
The party walked out of the forest and Guo Gan said, “Hi, you don’t look like any of the other contestants.”
“No we are not. I’m assuming you are part of the scavenger hunt?”
“Yes,” Guo Gan replied.
“Jolly good. We noticed you spending quite a bit of time with that hermit. Did he say anything unusual?” the human rider asked.
“No,” Kai replied.
“We were looking to see if he had any truffles,” Kildo stated.
“Ah, very good. Did he tell you where you should go look for said truffles?”
“He said to go dig under some trees,” Kildo replied.
“Yes, of course. A word of advice. Stay away from that person. He’s a bad sort. We just wanted to ensure he didn’t send you on any wild goose chases.”
Kai said, “Oh yes. We understand hermits are mad.”
“Right you are.”
Kai said, “Thank you for stopping by and looking out for us.”
Guo Gan followed up and asked, “Do you live here?”
“No, no. “
“It’s amazing you are flying on eagle horses. Have you seen anything on the list,” Guo Gan said holding up the piece of paper.
“They are called hippogriffs,” the leader said with a deeper annoyance in his tone and continued, “We are not concerned about the items on the list.”
“But have you seen any goblin attacks?”
“No, but again, we don’t live on this island. We are part of the ‘Spiral’. It’s a few miles away. In any event, please see to it you have no further interactions with that hermit.”
“What hermit,” Kai said.
“Jolly good.”
The lizardfolk then asked, “Zzee wants to know is there a bounty on this hermit? What if he was dead?”
“No, no, no. There is no bounty, but no one would cry about it if he died.
Kai then put his hand firmly on Zzee’s shoulder and said, “Let these people be. I’m sure they are quite busy.
“Yes, we are. Now, good luck on your scavenger hunt. We are looking forward to seeing who the winner is.” The leader then motioned to the other two. The hippogriffs raced across the beach, kicking up sand, and launched themselves into the air.
After a minute, the group lost the hippogriffs in the sun. They were expert riders.
“That was weird,” Guo Gan said.
“Yeah, I think we need to pay that hermit a re-visit,” Kai agreed.
The group nodded an agreement. Peering down the beach, they saw that the hermit had been watching the exchange from his hut.
Kai and Guo Gan motioned to the hermit to go into the woods, but they weren’t sure if he understood. It looked like he was doing something, but they couldn’t tell for sure. The party then moved back into the forest and circled around ensuring they had ample cover overhead. Coming out of the tree line the hermit had laid out a path of sticks from the forest edge to his door. Guo Gan quietly crossed the path. Nothing happened as he reached the door. Knocking on it, there was silence. Checking and testing the knob, it looked normal. Opening it, the hermit was inside with his back turned.
“Call the others, but make sure they follow the path,” the hermit instructed.
Guo Gan motioned for the others and when they all had entered, he closed the door.
The hermit began, “I’m sorry you had to talk to them.”
Kai asked, “Who are they?”
“They make sure I don’t interfere in things.”
“Why?”
“My job is to keep my eye on them.”
“So, you’re keeping your eyes on each other,” Kai questioned.
“Yeah.”
“Are they afraid of you?” Kai asked.
“Yes.”
“Why are they supposed to be afraid of you?”
“They likely detected magic when I did some scrying to see if you were part of the cultists in the area,” the hermit said.
Guo Gan asked, “Wait, there are cults in the area?”
“Yeah.”
“Are we going to have bee hives on our head?” Gao Gan quested with a quiver of nervousness in his tone?
“Depends on which cult you run into.”
Mufi asked, “Why would the griffin riders be keeping an eye on you.”
“Hippogriff riders,” the hermit corrected. “Because I’m more powerful than them.”
“Are they part of a cult?” Kai asked.
“Yes, but I don’t go to their meetings.”
“Of course. They seemed worried about you telling us something. What would that be?” Kai questioned.
“I can’t be for sure, but they might think you are agents in touch with me about something. They might think you are part of the competing cults who might be cooperating with me. It’s all speculation at this point. All they know is that you are not part of their cult,” the hermit answered.
Kai said, “They seem to think you have knowledge they don’t know, so are you willing to share that knowledge with us? We don’t care about all of these cults. We are here on the scavenger hunt, which seems suspect. We are just trying to make some gold, so we are not going to mess with what you are doing. However, if there is something to keep them from killing us, then we’d like to know.”
“The less you know the better.”
“But, knowing is half the battle,” Kildo mumbled under his breath.
“Why the scavenger hunt then?” Kai asked.
“It happens every year and the cults are likely using it as cover for something else.”
“Why are there so many cults on this small of an island,” Kai asked.
“If you know your history, in the before times this island used to be larger, but then the waters rose. This place used to hold different places of power. So, when people are looking for said power, they go to where it used to be,” the hermit explained.
“So, the cultists on this island are in search of ancient secrets and lost knowledge. So, whatever is going on, as far as you know, is the scavenger hunt pure side-show and no one cares if we find these items, or is it legitimate? Do you know the prize?” Kai asked.
“It happens every year to celebrate the slaying of the dragon decades ago to liberate the island. However, this year is different. There is a prize that all of the cultists want. So, they decided to use this year’s hunt to decide who gets it. However, I don’t know what it is,” the hermit said and then continued. “Here is my advice. If you want to make some money then do the hunt. If you win, sell the prize, and leave the island. Then you don’t need to worry about these cults for the rest of your lives. The other option is to go down the rabbit hole.”
Kai asked, “You seem pretty concerned about these cults on the island. What concern is it of yours?”
“Cults are interested in power and not for the benefit of the greater good. My job is to keep an eye on things,” the hermit said.
“How many cults are on the island,” Guo Gan asked.
“Probably six or seven.”
“That’s a lot of cults for such a small island,” Kai commented.
“Most are from other islands,” the hermit said.
“When was the last time there was an intervention?” Mufi asked.
“A few hundred years ago, but I’ve only been here for a few years and only since they started to become active,” the hermit said.
“So, who sent you here,” Mufi asked.
“My bosses.”
The lizaredfolk asked, “Zzee wants to know what’s in it for you when you pass information to your bosses? What do you get?”
“Probably depends on the information I give. Whoever is running this hunt wants to be the new dark lord of the area.”
Guo Gan asked, “Who gives out the prize?”
“The city council and each city council member is part of a cult.”
“So, we will receive offers for the prize if we win?” Guo Gan followed up.
“Not all the groups are cultists. However, to answer your question, yes, the cultist may pay you or kill you for it. Either is likely.”
Zzee then spoke up, “Zzee knows. Whoever wins get the ability to raise Tromokratis.”
“Yeah…” the hermit said slowing eying the lizardfolk with doubtfulness.
“One of the groups on our ship killed the other,” Guo Gan explained.
“I’m not surprised. They don’t like or trust each other.”
“So, it seems we are the most trust worthy people here. So, if we ‘go down the rabbit hole’ and if we win and if we bring the prize to you, would that change the information you give us?” Guo Gan asked.
“Like I already said, if you want truffles, go see the rich folk at Hillside Manors. However, I haven’t seen any goblins. My job is to find out what happens. Who wins. I don’t know what the prize is or what it does. I just know there is a lot more cultist activity, so it wouldn’t surprise me if we find dead cultist in the woods.”
Mufi then pulled out their make-shift map of the island, pointed to the area marked ‘Goblins??’ and asked, “If there are no goblins, what would be there then?”
“Rabbits.”
Sighing heavily, Guo Gan said, “I think we should take our leave.”
The hermit said, “Good idea. The spell will only last so long. If you need to come back, yell for me from the tree line, unless the Hippogriff riders are dead.”
“What should we yell? What is your name?” Guo Gan asked.
“You can call me the Gardner.”
* * *
The party continued northeast along the beach and two and a half hours later, they found a campsite near the forest tree line a few days old. The area was littered with trash. There was a small campfire and surrounding it, as if thrown or discarded, were numerous rabbit bones. Finding numerous small humanoid prints, the group concluded there were more than four, but less than twenty individuals. There were no fresh tracks and it was impossible to determine the direction they were heading.
Kildo started to check the tree lines for any disturbances. He first heard the buzzing of flies and then the smell hit him, like rotten eggs, but worse with a sickening scent of cheap perfume. Scanning the area, he then saw it. A mound of clothing, attached to dead bodies. They had been dragged into a pile. “Over here!”
As the other joined him, Kildo turned them over with his boot. The smell was worse. There was a half-orc, a human, a dwarf, and a halfling. They were the four hobos that had joined Imago, the only survivor of the Order of the Axe on the Emerald Eel. Each had been stabbed from the front, some with larger weapons. There was no sign of Imago.
“They ain’t be dead long, as we be seeing them six hours ago,” Kildo said and added. “There be tracks too. One be heading towards the larger lake, but another set be heading towards the hermit’s hut.”
“We’re closer to the lake and Scarlet Peek and heading back towards the hermit will be counterproductive. We’ll have to assume the Gardner can take care of himself,” Kai said.
“Agreed,” Kildo said and started to leave, but Kai continued, “Hammerhand, wait.”
“Woit?”
“As the group’s resident holy man, shouldn’t you say a few words over their bodies?”
“Bah! I’m not a man. I’m a dwarf. Second, just because Rigga decided to start listening to me, doesn’t make me holy.”
“Alright…as the group’s resident cleric, shouldn’t you say a few words over their bodies?”
The others nodded in agreement.
Sighing heavily, Kildo pulled out his water skin. Sprinkled some over the four bodies, held his holy symbol around his neck, and muttered quickly, “Life is Death. Death is rebirth. Rebirth is life. Let’s go.”
After the brief ceremony, the party continued. The weather was warm and dry. The landscape was hilly with sparse, scraggly trees. The area seemed only fit to produce sunbaked rocks. After a while, they saw the lake in the distance. Approaching, it was pretty clear, shallow, and the water fresh. It was being fed from two streams from the Scarlet Peek Mountain.
“I’m going to see if I can find any dragon scales that might have washed into the lake,” Kai said as he waded into the water. He wasn’t down too long before re-emerging.
“Find anything?” Guo Gan asked?
“Nothing. Just a few fish and no dragon scales.”
As it would be getting dark before too long, the party then followed the creek northeast towards the Scarlet Peek Mountain and towards a cave opening that was drawn on the map of the island as a possible way in and shelter for the night. The sun had begun setting when they saw a well-worn path leading to the cave’s opening in the distance, but it would be dark way before they’d reach it. Deciding to stay there for the night they followed the trail. Cresting a hill, the party saw a bright light emanating from inside the cave. Someone was already there.
“Wait here, I’ll go see who is in the cave,” Guo Gan said. The elven monk was gone for about twenty minutes when the rustling of some bushes announced his return. There are twelve dwarves camped inside with a couple watching the entrance. They had chain shirts and leaning on halberds. There was a large table inside a little ways, but I couldn’t see what was on it.”
“What were they doing? Did they have any emblems on their clothing?” Kai asked.
“Just sitting around and talking. No crests,” Guo Gan replied.
“Since there weren’t any groups made of dwarves, I say we go meet them. Any objections?” Kai asked?
Receiving nods of approval, the party walked up the path straight towards the cave.
“Hello!” Kai called out.
“Oi! Are you being part of the scavenger hunt,” said one of the two dwarven guards outside the entrance.
Guo Gan said, “Yes, we were wondering if you have a table full of stuff we are looking for.”
“Oi, Copperlocks! We have another group here!” the guard shouted over his shoulder inside the cave.
“Send them in! Send them in!” a gruff female voice, who must have been Copperlocks, called back.
The group hesitantly passed the two dwarven guards, who were stout and strong and about as wide as they were tall. They didn’t seem to be worried about the party.
“Come on! Come on!” Copperlocks called out.
Entering the cave, the floor was surprisingly neatly tiled with stone. There was a small furnace with an anvil and a few weapons strewn about. Deeper inside appeared to be a well-organized mining operation. The party saw a group of eleven dwarven males and one dwarf female. She wore thick leather clothing with pouches and tools strapped all along her legs, waist, and back. She had braided, copper colored hair, but didn’t have a beard. She held a wooden board with a piece of paper tacked on the top with two nails.
“I be Copperlocks. Which group be you?”
Guo Gan said, “We’re the Emerald Eels.”
“Right, the green team. One of the last ones,” Copperlocks said and she scratched something off the list. She turned towards the table and the group saw four red dragon scales sitting on top. Grabbing one, she edged past Guo Gan and Kai and headed straight towards Kildo. “Well, well, well…You be looking like a massive ride,” Copperlocks purred as she handed it to the cleric. It was tear-shaped and seemed to be comprised of hundreds of tinier scales.
Zzee moved in closer to examine the dragon scale and asked, “Is there an option for Zzee to get more of these scales? Zzee will give you one gold piece for each.”
“No,” Copperlocks answered placing her hands on her hips.
“Are there more inside the cave? Why can’t I get more?”
“Listen gecko, there be ten group and I be having ten scales. I don’t be allowing anyone but me crew inside me mine,” Copperlocks said.
Kai asked, “So you do this every year and hand out dragon scales?”
“Yes, I be on the city council and we’ve been warned about dragon scales being on the list. So, if I be letting every idiot group inside and trouncing around in me cave, someday there won’t be any more dragon scales,” Copperlocks explained.
“What are you mining here?” Kai asked.
“We be trying to get silver out of this mountain.”
Kai then asked, “Have you heard anything about cults or cultist activity?”
“No, what cults have you be hearing of?”
“I don’t know. We just heard there were cultists here,” Kai said.
Guo Gan followed up, “I also heard there were some goblins on the island. Have you seen them?”
“Them goblins be the stupidest goblins there ever be if they be thinking of coming into me mine. It probably just be rumors,” Copperlocks said.
Guo Gan replied, “I don’t think it would be something someone would make up.”
“If it be true, then it be making sense for them to be killed. So, kill them if you be seeing them,” Copperlocks said.
“True enough,” Guo Gan nodded in agreement and then followed up. “Do you have any truffles, like maybe in a sandwich?”
“No. Now, ye best be off. However, if that one be wanting to stay the night, he’d be welcome,” Copperlocks said motioning with her chin to Kildo.
Kildo cleared his throat and said, “No thank ye. I be appreciating the offer, but we be having a scavenger hunt to win.” He then began to grab members of the group and helped guide them out the door.
Heading south down the path and away from the cave, Mufi caught up to Kildo who was striding forward and leading the way. “Hey Hammerhand! Copperlocks seemed to be into you. Why did you turn her down?”
“Bah! She be too skinny lad. Besides, I need a good dwarven woman with a beard you can really hang onto.”
* * *
The moon was up, but provided little light as the party continued to walk south towards the village and Hillside Manor. In the distance, there was a flicker of a fire. The embers must have been low and soon to die out. Carefully approaching, there were two lean-to, rustic shelters built for campers. A campfire was between them. The area was littered with trash and rabbit bones.
“Bre-ark!”
The party looked up as four goblins jumped down from the trees. Standing about 3.5’ feet tall, they had flat faces, broad noses, pointed ears, and small, sharp fangs. Their foreheads sloped back, and their eyes were red seeing in infrared vision. Their skin color ranged from yellow to green. They were dressed in dark leathers and soiled, likely due to poor hygiene and wielded crude scimitars.
Taking an offensive stance, Guo Gan swiped with his quarterstaff, but missed. The monk then spun around and side kicked the creature in the throat. It gasped, but couldn’t breathe. Its wind pipe crushed, it fell to the ground and gurgled in its own blood.
Two of its comrades swiped at the monk, but Guo Gan weaved out of the way.
“Bre-ark!”
Another five goblins armed with short bows came from around a large rock to the northwest.
Zzee hissed as one of the tree goblins, slashed, but missed with is longsword.
Kai also swung with his glaive, but missing the darting and dexterous creatures.
Mufi then began casting, as a knife made of ice materialized in front of him. Grabbing it, the druid flung it at the five goblin archers. It embedded in one. The knife exploded, killed it, as ice shard struck the other four.
Kildo touched his holy symbol and began casting; Bless. A faint aura appeared around Kai, Mufi, and Zzee.
Guo Gan swung his quarterstaff back around striking a tree goblin, crushing its skull.
Recovering from the ice blast, the four goblins fired their crude arrows striking Kai with one and Mufi with the other three. The druid was worse for wear from the missile weapons, as the half-dwarf, half-orc began to fall. However, the druid braced himself on his knees and rose back up, only pausing to spit blood.
The remaining two tree goblins gave a half-hearted swipe at Guo Gan and their moral broken began to run off.
Zzee chased after one of them and slashed his longsword into one of their skulls.
Kai pulled the goblin arrow from his chain mail shirt, which hadn’t penetrated deeply and then laid both his hands on Mufi. The worse of the druid’s wounds had begun to close themselves. The half-elf quartermaster wasn’t a fighter, but a paladin.
The druid nodded in thanks and began casting as another ice knife appeared. He threw it into the four remaining archers. It stuck and killed one and then exploded, killing two more. Only one archer remained. He was bigger than the others with scavenged metal plates for armor. He also had two spears on this back with two humanoid skulls hanging off of one. The creature then pulled out two crude axes.
“It’z a goblin bozz! Get it!” Zzee shouted.
Guo Gan sprinted up and smacked the goblin boss with his quarterstaff, but its armor absorbed part of the blow.
“Bre-ark!” the only remaining tree goblin shouted, which seemed to loosely translate to “I’ll save you boss!” The goblin slashed at Guo Gan, but missed. However, the attack distracted the monk allowing the goblin boss to smash one of its axes into Guo Gan. The elf succumbed to the attack and fell to the ground. The goblin stood in shock downing the monk. It began to dance in place pleased with itself. However, it turned at the snap of a twig, and failed to see the advancing lizardfolk.
“Bre-ark?!” was the last thing the goblin uttered as Zzee’s mouth clamped around its neck, snapping it.
Kai and Mufi began chasing after the goblin boss. It’s evil-red eyes wide in panic as it was quickly cut down.
Kildo with his shorter legs, lumbered after the party and arrived as Zzee was shaking the dead goblin like a dog toy. His multi-colored casque on the top of his head was fully erect.
Kai cringed and his eyes squinted as the half-elf commented, “That’s disgusting and horrible.”
Spitting the goblin carcass to the ground, Zzee replied, “Tasty Znack.”
Kildo, who to this point was in charge of the scavenger items, took one of the boss goblin’s axes and in one fell-swoop removed its head. He placed it on a nearby rock to bleed out. The cleric then moved over to Guo Gan, who was holding his side wounded from the boss goblins axe. Placing a large, meaty, hands on it and holding his holy symbol, the area began to glow and all the wounds immediately closed up.
“Whoa, that’s impressive. What do I owe you doc?” Guo Gan asked twisting from side-to-side without any pain.
“Nothing. Ye be fighting goblins, so me services be free,” Kildo replied.
Zzee then started to move back towards the lean-to shelters.
“Where are you going?” Kai questioned.
“Sleep.”
“Oh, you need to rest. Do you need anything else? Like some kelp, seaweed, or some shells to sleep on?” Kai asked, but in a condescending tone.
ZZee hissed at the half-elf paladin.
Kildo walked up to Kai and said, “We all be needing some rest. Regain our strength and continue in the morning. We be having five out of the six items. Not a bad day’s work. Tomorrow, we be ending this thing and be finding out the truth.”
06/19/2021 – Treasure
· 1 Purple, wide-brim hat
· 1 Intact conch shell
· 1 Giant craw claw
· 1 Dragon Scale
· 1 Goblin Boss head
Comments