A side adventure: There's nothing like the country!

Adventure Journal: Day One

 

The Longest Vacation

We have decided to go out to the country to rid ourselves of the growing despair that threatens to overcome us. Having done all that we could for the gods, church and the good people of Corvis, it was decided that all of us would go out to the estates of Jesse's family and endeavour to relax and enjoy ourselves if only for a few days.

After arranging the use of our good friend Gunnar's river barge we set sail down the Black River. Our trip down river would take two days and we would then have to travel over land half a day to reach the manor house. The people on board were friendly and I even had the chance to learn a few sea shanties, although some of them were so lacking in decency that I would be hard pressed to repeat even a single line without blushing furiously. Time passed pleasantly but far to quickly and all too soon we were disembarking for the next leg of the journey. Another traveller got off of the the barge with us, a dwarf in fact but it seemed that he did not to want any discourse with us and quickly left in another direction but not before Elazain deemed it necessary to share with dwarf, "his distrust of those who do not have beards". My dwarven is pretty good but I must have missed something, fore why would Elezain insult all of us who were clean shaven (including himself!) to a stranger who did not want to have anything to do with us. Elves are simply not like us! No offence intended to Elezain or Jesse, of course.

What could possibly go wrong?

With but a few hours travel we arrived to the escarpment that protects the southern approach to Jesse's family manor. The day was hot and the sun had just started its descent towards the horizon when we spied the watch tower on the far off hill.

Something did not seem right and our suspicions were confirmed when we saw the remnants of a cavalry party heading towards the tower with some vile goblinoids in hot pursuit. Upon closer inspection we saw that the mounted men were from Jesse's family keep and they were almost being overrun by four Goblin wolf riders followed by 8 orcs with an ogre and a handler, the slowest of the group, bringing up the rear. Even as we watched another rider was felled by goblin arrows and the last rider made his way into the tower.

Jesse, ever headless of danger, ran off right away up the path towards the tower while the rest of us tried to make the best of a bad situation. Pallas and myself ran off after Jesse with Elezain's insistence that he could use his bow to bring down the mighty ogre.

Pallas and I realised that we could not hope to catch up with Jesse and feared for her safety and so decided to try to antagonise her orc perjurers to break off and come after us which was easily achieved when My crossbow bolt took one of the evil creatures in the throat.

Jesse meanwhile had reached the fort only seconds behind the goblin riders and charged two of them even while the other two entered the tower after the lone cavalry man. Jesse's fine duelling blade easily carved into the goblins but their mounts would not prove to be so easily taken out of action. Assaulted on both sides she went down several times the wolves tearing at her legs but in a last mad tousle she eventually rose from the fray, two dead wolves lying at her feet.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the path, Elezain drew his bowstring to his cheek and let loose his shaft only to see it fall short of his mark. Cyric decided to hold his shot until the ogre came into his range. Sadly shot after shot was sent at the ogre but only two hit and of the two only one scored through the armoured brute. At even closer range, Cyric's bolts seemed only to skip off the mark and the ogre handler charged in to combat leaving the goblin swearing and shouting orders to his large friend.

Having got the orcs attention we set about shooting down our foes. One by one they fell, hurtled backward as our heavy shafts felled them with apparent ease. What with the slow reload times of our crossbows, three of the massive brutes made it to our lines but Pallas easily slew two while my bolt took the last one in the chest.

The ogre's first mighty swing caught Elezain on the shoulder throwing him back and onto the road behind him. Cyric landed a swing on the creatures leg but the blow seemingly hurt it not at all as again a huge over hand swing brought the cleric to his knees. Elezain brought up his arms in arcane gesture but the restrictive confines of his armour foiled his movements, his spell dying on his lips. Cyric again attacked but for nought as yet another blow sent him reeling backwards and onto his side.

Elezain then attempted another spell this time targeting the small handler. With frantic gestures he called Upon the marks of friendship and charm and brought the goblin under his influence and commanded him to halt the ogres attacks. The ogre looked to his companion in confusion and seeing his opening Cyric called Upon his dominion of strength and landed a sound strike on the beasts side breaking flesh and bone however an enraged back swing took the priest of Menoth under his shield and lifted him off of the ground and once again sent him sprawling. The goblin again tried to bring his ogre charge under control as Elezain drove two shafts into his huge chest. The ogre reeling from pain was at this point easily dispatched by my two companions and their new found ally.

Pallas and I were the first to reach the tower after Jesse had followed the rider in and we found her helping the badly beaten cavalryman to his feet and we were surprised to learn that he was in fact Jesse's younger brother Vincent and we were even more surprised to learn that Jesse was his older sister! Well, how embarrassing. To think that we all had drank, fought shoulder to shoulder and bled together but had never guessed that Jesse was born The lady Jessica. Elves are indeed strange folk!

Vincent had grave news for us. The Ashkervon keep had found itself besieged for the last two days. Luckily Vincent knew of a secret tunnel in to the keep which we made immediate use of. I greatly enjoyed what would become my brief visit to the Ashkervon Manor, despite the goblinoid army camped all around the walls we were treated with great courtesy and respect. For two days we assisted on the walls doing what we could to keep the relentless hordes of humanoids from gaining control of the keeps walls.

On the third day after our arrival it seemed to us that the orcs had overstepped their capacity and did not have the means to sustain their assaults on the walls. The surviving men at arms took heart and I did believe that we might actually survive our vacation to the country.

The fates however had other plans for us and as we reached the main barbican we saw the largest orc that I had ever seen riding into the centre of the now deserted village calling out for mortal combat between champions. His boastful cries and derogatory remarks lashed at the defenders but none took them to mind save for one among us, the young Lord Vincent. Many tried to talk him out of this action but he stood resolute. Neither family nor friend could dissuade him from going out to meet the orc chieftain and in the moment of such bravery I decided to go out with him to give what little moral support that I could and decided whatever the outcome, I would write a piece worthy of his noble act. And so it was that I rode out carrying a banner that I had never seen, for a lord that I did not know for a cause that I did not think that I would return from.

When we met the orcish chieftain in the centre of town I called out for all to hear, the names of the two principles and from which noble families that they hailed. I then pulled my horse to the side and started to play an elven song that I had remembered about great triumph over an almost unbeatable foe in hopes that it would strengthen Lord Vincents resolve in the upcoming conflict. The song was doubly important because it detailed the deeds of the ancestors of Lady Ashkervon herself.

Of course you have all heard by now the rather infamous Charge of Lord Vincent so I will not go into to o much detail here save that many mighty blows were given and received but in the end it was by the cruelest of fates that Vincent was cut down by the mortally wounded orc chieftain. In barbaric rage the orc then turned on me and cut me from my saddle where I had sat unable to react as my elven flute pulled the notes from my lips. Luckily My notes had kept the orcish army at bay and a party rode out from the castle and collected both myself and Lord Vincents body and returned us in to the protective walls of the keep, where Upon I was brought back with the power of Cyric's prayer.

With the death of the orcish chieftain we hoped that the orcs would then disperse but as night fell we heard the sound of distant war drums and knew that reinforcements had arrived and that they were not friendly to us! Hobgoblins!

We had hoped that the newly arrived force would take time to set up for a prolonged siege but we were further dismayed when once again we heard the orcish war drums pounding out the advance and this time joined by the shrill pipes of the hobgoblin musicians.

Battle raged on all sides of the walls and it was impossible to know what was happening on any other front save that which you were fighting. I played rousing military marches and fought side by side with the beleaguered defenders giving what hope my craft could give. Many died on the walls this day but for every one fallen defender, 15 goblinoids were sent to their dark gods. But still they came.

During one of the many lulls in the battle I heard the call of alarm from the front gate and having gained relative control at the wall to which I was stationed I had no choice but to run to it's defence. The situation at the front gate was indeed dire as several of the foul attackers had reached the walls with ladders and were even now gaining purchase on the battlements. I rushed to the nearest defenders to give what aid that I could. Singing and fighting we held for as long as we could. Just when I feared that I could no longer parry another blow, the rest of our party arrived to give battle to the enemy.

Pallas, Jesse and Cyric charged the orcs and single ogre that had made it through the front gate while Elezain put shaft after shaft into the greenskins. Outnumbered and alone I tumbled off of the wall to get a better position and my foes were forced to run down the stairs that led to the front gate area.

We all fought and many of us went down but when the last blow was struck it was myself and my valiant comrades that had won the day, even though two of our number were unconscious and had very nearly died, we were all alive.

Excuse me! Did I miss the vacation?

The keep then slept. Seeing that the enemy had nearly all been killed or fled all of us left alive fell into a deep slumber and I fear that ten orcs could have taken the fort by merely walking through the front gate.

When we awoke, our wounds were tended by the kindly remaining clerics and we broke our fast in the main hall with the other survivors. I found out that last night during the attack, the rest of the party had uncovered evidence of a traitor who had broken the large and heavy lock on one of the secret doors that we had used over the previous days. The heavens help that man when he was found.

We were joined by an unlikely acquaintance, the surly Dwarf from the boat ride up. It turned out that his name was Kazak and he had come to see over the negotiations for a long since abandoned mine that was close by. The mines in ages past had belonged to the Dwarves of the area and Kazak had hoped to enter some agreement with regard to the Mithril that had been recently discovered in one of the older sections.

While we talked, one of the keeps foresters who went by the name of Orchrist, came up and had more news for us. Although we had driven off the orcs and other humanoids from attacking the castle, Orchrist had seen many more at the mines and had in fact been captured the day earlier and would now be dead except for the timely arrival of Kazak. When questioned about this, Kazak said that he was merely checking out the mine before negotiations began.

Our curiosity peeked we decided to go to the mines and see what the humanoids were up to. Kazak being a stout fighter offered to join us and we set off at once.

After a brief skirmish at the front of the mines we entered and followed the lead of our dwarven companion trusting his underground experiences over our own. After much scrabbling in near total darkness we happened into a great unnatural cavern that had a walkway stretching across it's length to another tunnel on the opposite side. In the middle of the walkway flanked by two other heavily armoured figures stood the Ashkervon Sergeant at arms Turk!

The former Sergeant Turk started to put down the Ashkervon's and seemingly wanted to go into some depth about his betrayal as villains often do but the party sprang into action and with blinding speed his villainous body guard were felled by arrows through which entered eye slits and other exposed areas and they fell to the ground dead.

The turncoat Turk put up more of a fight but was overcome and in the end lay at Jesse's feet crying like a baby begging for mercy. We left him hog tied and without equipment and ran further into the mines as the blubbering Turk had not only been free with his bowel but tongue as well and apparently he cried between sobs "a greater evil was being brought to bear" further into the mine.

As we rushed into the last room, our senses were flooded with such a surrealistic vision that we all stopped and watched with amazement. In the centre of the room, a giant beam of incandescent light shone through the ceiling and lit the centre of the room which was dominated by a single amazing tree. Around the tree was an arcane circle that throbbed with power seemingly with the eldritch chanting that permeated the room. Behind the tree was a black marble statue of some large and better forgotten beast.

A figure came in from around the tree and was instantly recognised by Jesse as being the younger brother of Duke Maligant, Lord Damien. His arms were held high and it was his voice that dripped of the magical incantations. Behind him were three woodsmen that unerringly cut at the tree.

Strangely, I felt as though the tree was trying to communicate it's pain to me and when I looked up and saw Elezain's face I knew that he too was feeling the same. Elezain and myself started to ease our way closer to the woodsmen in the hopes that Jesse could keep the evil sorcerer busy with double talk for it seemed that the two were at one time engaged to be married and that was the true reason that Jesse had left the comforts of home, to escape the arranged marriage.

The Lord Damien drew an arcane gesture in the air about himself and the stout Dwarf was now unable to move falling under some spell of binding.

Elezain let fly with his deadly arrows but the protective circle deflected the wooden shafts and the woodsmen were showered with harmless splinters. I attacked the woodsman closest to me but he avoided my blade and sent such furious blows at me that I was forced to give ground or perish. Jesse meanwhile was attacked magically and fell under the control of the vile wizard even as another one of his spells took him high above our heads on some unseen arcane wings.

Cyric put a crossbow bolt into Damien and moved to attack one of the Axemen. The upstart woodsman would have none of it however and when Cyric's mace smashed into his shoulder he countered with a vicious blow that felled Cyric like a log.

Jesse, still under the effects of Damiens arcane spell, tried to convince Elezain to give up his attacks on her former betrothed. Damien tried to shore up his impending victory over the party by trying to charm Elezain to his will but the stern elf would have none of it and the spell failed.

I renewed my attack on the woodsman but he quickly overpowered me and I fell backwards near death. My vision blurred as I took out my pistol with a numbed hand and pulled off a shot at the chopping woodsman. The recoil jarred my body violently and my grevious wounds opened further and I fell into unconscience next to the fallen woodsman.

The rest after this was told to me by Elezain after my miraculous recovery by the magic of the Tree of Eldamar as we were raised to the surface in one last show of power before the ancient evil was to awake and destroy what would become our patron force, but I digress.

Apparently after I fell in battle Elezain and Jesse almost came to blows but for good fortune the Dwarf was freed from the evil spell and went about subduing Jesse while Elezain shot Lord Damien down with many shafts.

Elezain felt a great pain from the tree and he found that his bow was drawn to the tree and when the weapon was placed to the tree it was absorbed into it's rough bark. Elezain even took from me my flute which turned out to be one in the same with the fine bow we had bought unwittingly back in Corvis. The tree took back the flute as well and the tree then told Elezain that it was dying. The tree had been enchanted centuries before to hold back an ancient evil, but it seems that Elezain would be given a given a choice. Would you all perish now and go peacefully to your promised paradise or would you be saved from the immediate danger of the awakening demon but forever earn his wrath and be marked.

We were raised up to the surface and quickly left for the keep. On our way down the cliffside conveyer we met up with a personable halfling by the name of Solomon sunnytop who was headed to the keep as well.

At the Keep we were surprised to find that Jesse's older brother had returned and rather than degenerating into a rant I will just say this, after reporting our findings and checking up on some of the people who had befriended us we left the soonest that was possible. More about this I will not say nor anything about the Young Lord Ashkervon.

Solomon or Solly as he preffered decided to travel to Corvis with us and even hearing about the trouble that seemed to follow us he seemed eager to acompany us. As we arrived in the harbour I thought that our arrival had not gone unnoticed and I despaired that there would be no rest for us any time soon.