After the Flood
Page 4
"But power comes from many places, Slicks." said Leela. "The caravan I grew up in use to sing of a tale. it took place before the Great Flood in the Old World, when Elves had domain over the land. The tale of Galindinal and Larinlynn, whose power of Love and Hope saved all the World, and gave them the strength to overcome the powers of the Dark Elves and drive them back."
Slicks snorted and flicked his tongue out.
Chip banged on the side of the cauldron get to their attention. "But most importantly, power also comes from the food we put into our bodies. Dinner is served everyone. Grab a bowl and dig in!"
Trouble in The Forest
Chapter 8
The sun rose early for the recruits the next morning. Arilee hugged her blanket around her tighter against the cold morning air. The sweet smell of a burning campfire still lingered. She could hear the rustling of the others as they stirred from their sleep. She opened her eyes to see the first rays of light bathing the campsite, glistening off the morning dew. Today was the start of their big quest. It was time to get up, she thought to herself.
Scout Marshall Bodwin was the first awake and about. He was just coming back to the campsite with wood for a morning fire. He began piling the wood in the still warm embers from the night before. Arilee sat up from her lying spot. She felt dirty dressed in the clothes from the day before. She wanted to bathe. She grabbed a nearby waterskin and splashed water on her face, rubbing off dirt and grime. After taking a swig, she passed it to Leela, whose sleeping spot was next to Arilee’s.
Arilee then looked at her leathers and boots next to her and selected them to equip. Her boots felt more worn from all the use the day prior.
“Fiur”
It was barely more than a whisper, but Arilee looked up in time to see Chip starting the morning fire. He looked back at Arilee with a warm smile. As if to say “Good morning!” without wanting to disturb the morning quiet.
The Scout Marshall had no such wants though, as his voice loudly broke the silence. “Alright everyone, up and at ‘em. We’ve got a big day and I want to start early. Leela, you are on breakfast duty this morning. Everyone needs to take turns cooking over the next few days to keep your Cooking Skill up. The rest of you suit up for the day and grab your weapons. Meet me in the clearing on the other side of the hill when you are ready.”
Arilee equipped her daggers, her bow, and a quiver. The Scout Marshall had a bundle of twenty crude iron-tipped arrows in the supplies for her. Arilee hoped she would get to use her bow today since she did not yesterday.
Slicks was next to her, his shield on his back and sword on his hip. He looked at her bow on her back, his tongue flicking the air. “I am going to be very upssssset if I get an arrow in my back, Half-Elf.”
Arilee laughed, “You just keep them in front you of you and do your job. I’ll do mine.” she paused for a second. “Lizard-person.” She finished with a smile and wink. She didn’t know much about Slicks yet, but she was pretty sure he didn’t have a sense of humor.
“Cheer up Slicks.” said Chip, coming over to them, his red mage robes on staff on his back. “We’re a team for now and we won’t get out of here if we don’t trust each other.”
“Trust. Hmph,” responded Slicks, his tongue angrily flicking the air, but he said no more on it.
When the group had eaten and were ready, they met up with the Scout Marshall on the other side of the hill. They saw him standing in a clearing on the edge of a deciduous forest.
“Alright everyone, the river is just a few miles into this forest. This area is not Goblin Territory yet, but keep your voices low and your steps light. With luck, we will build all your Stealth skills a bit. Look out for anything unusual.”
The group followed the Scout Marshall into the trees. “Stay close and step where I step.”
Arilee was careful to avoid stepping on branches on the ground. She was watching her feet constantly. But even still for all her effort, she could hear a crunch every few steps from behind her, followed by a “I’m so sorry.” whisper from Chip. Leela dodged and weaved through the forest with no trouble. Surprisingly, Slicks too seemed to manage as well.
Arilee stepped to the side of a thorny branch, turned and used her sword to hold it back Leela and the others to step over. Leela waited next to Arilee. “Everything is so green. I love the smell of a forest. The leaves, the flowers and mushrooms. This part of the forest feels so alive.” she whispered quietly.
A dialogue scroll appeared for Arilee:
Dialogue Scroll
-
Hush her, say nothing.
-
Agree - the green forest is nice
-
Tell her you never really liked trees
Leela has been so nice so far, and it did feel nice to be walking off the soreness from yesterday. The Dialogue Scroll updated.
Dialogue Scroll
-
Hush her, say nothing.
x
Agree - The green forest is nice
-
Tell her you never really liked trees
Arilee whispered back, “It does. It feels nice to be in nature. And it’s getting easier to walk quieter with every step. I feel like I don’t have to focus as much.”
Leela smiled wide, her voice lifting. “Ooo I bet your Stealth skill is improving. You should check.”
Arilee pulled up her Skill Scroll as she walked, and Leela was right. The scroll added a new line for Stealth.
Stats Scroll - Level 1
Bow
10/100
Dagger
6/00
Stealth +4
4/100
She showed it to Leela.
“4 skill points! And we’ve barely been walking over an hour. You must have been really focusing. It’s like the Scout Marshall said, ‘Perfect practice makes perfect.’” Leela tried to lower her voice to imitate the Scout Marshall, then giggled, covering her mouth.
Arilee smiled. “We must be getting close soon. I think I can hear water in the distance.”
Confirming her right, Scout Marshall Bodwin signaled for the group to stop. He waved them to come around him. Arilee gathered in close as the Scout Marshall went over the plan.
In a hushed voice he began, “The river is just up here. I’m going to need everyone to fan out and search for clues. As I told you, there were reports of Goblins in this area, and we need to find out what they were up to. Look for broken branches, footprints, something they could have left behind, any signs of disturbance.”
Arilee and the others nodded and moved into position. They spread out in a horizontal line keeping a few yards in between each. Arilee judged the area they have to cover and figured it would take them at least a few hours to sweep this side of the river.
It wasn’t long though into searching when Arilee noticed Slicks flicking his tongue incessantly. “What’s the matter Slicks? Getting bored?”
“No, not that. Ssssomething is different in the air.” Slicks responded.
“What’s different?”
“I’m not sssure. The air tastes...dirty.”
“Dirty? Do you thi-” Arilee was cut off by Leela’s voice rising over the chatter of the forest.
“Hi, I think I found something. Over here.”
Scout Marshall Bodwin walked over to see what Leela found. “What is it, Elf?”
“The other trees have moss and mushrooms growing around them, but this tree is bare. It looks like there might have been some growing here but was scraped away and harvested.”
Chip joined the group holding a purple mushroom stalk in his gloved hand. “I also just found this on the ground over there. It looked different from the rest.” He said, handing it to the Scout Marshall.
Arilee looked over at Slicks. “Do you think this fungus was throwing off your tongue?”
“Nooo, it wassssn’t that. The taste is stronger now. Sssssomethings are close.” Slicks said, lightly touching the hilt of his sword.
Scout Marsh
all Bodwin looked over, “What’s that?”
“Slicks said the air tasted dirty,” said Arilee.
The Scout Marshall’s face dropped. He paused, looking around as he placed the purple stalk into his bag. The forest was now quiet. Where before was the singing of birds and noises of nature, was now silence.
The Scout Marshall slowly placed his hand to the hilt of his axe strapped to his back.
“This is a trap.”
Quest Scroll - Scout The River
X
Scout the river
X
Find Evidence of Goblin Activity
-
???
Quest Interrupted
Chapter 9
High pitched yells and yips suddenly filled the treetops above them. Goblins emerged from above, swinging down on ropes to the ground below. The air shimmered and warped around a thicket of trees and bushes behind them. Then suddenly, as if out of nowhere a half dozen goblins appeared where the bushes were a moment before. Crude swords, axes, and clubs in their hands. The iron and wood chipped and jagged. Their green hideous faces and bulbous noses snarled as they appeared. The group was surrounded.
“Curses!" Shouted the Scout Marshall, quickly grabbing a vial of a black, oily substance from his bag. “Everyone get around me quick."
The Scout Marshall started pouring the oil in a circle around the group as the Goblins began to close in. "Slicks guard the far side. I want Leela, Arilee, and Chip between us. I count 9 of them.” Slicks had drawn his sword and shield and was hissing at the Goblins.
It only took a few moments for the Scout Marshall to finish pouring the vial before he yelled.. “Chip! Spark this!”
Chip quickly rubbed his hands together, producing a subtle glow.
“Fiur”
The fire leaped from his hands and arced through the air. It ignited the oil on the ground. Flames erupted around the group, momentarily cutting them off from the Goblins. The Scout Marshall reached for his axe on his back. Arilee saw him whisper something quietly into his hand, and then rub it over the golden symbols, causing them to shine and burn brighter. He shouted to her.
“Arilee, shoot these Goblins through the flames with your bow. Slicks, if anyone of them are dumb enough to cross those flames, slam them with your shield back into the fire,” shouted the Scout Marshall.
Arilee drew her bow and knocked an arrow. Her heart was pounding. She drew back the string, held it briefly against her cheek, and took aim. The howling of the Goblins on the other side of the fire as they taunted and jeered was making hands shake. She took a deep breath and found her mark. One of the Goblins was getting a running start to jump through the flames. Arilee narrowed her eyes and let the arrow loose.
The loud shriek of the Goblin rang in Arilee’s ears as the arrow sunk into his eye. The taunts of the rest of the Goblins went silent. For a moment, everything was still.
It felt like an eternity passed for Arilee as the two groups stared at each other through the flames. But as soon as the Goblin's body hit the ground, the group erupted into howls and screams once more. Louder. Where they were once willing to wait for the fire to go down to attack their prey, now they were bloodlusted. One of theirs had fallen. Arilee had struck first blood. The Goblins charged, screaming.
The Scout Marshall Bodwin screamed back. Five goblins charged from the front. With the deep yell of a barbarian warrior, the Scout Marshall leapt to them. Through the flames, his giant axe seethed in the air in front of him with a powerful swing. The Goblins froze in terror at the massive warrior. Arilee watched as he cleaved three of the Goblins with just the first swing. Following that swing up with a combo backswing, the Scout Marshall’s axe swung back into the other two goblins.
A loud shriek caused Ailee to rapidly turn towards Slick, her bow drawn. She caught the tail-end of Slicks using his shield to throw two of charging goblins back into the fire. Leela followed up with her sword, stabbing them as they lay defenseless on the ground.
That left only one Goblin alive.
Arilee spotted him through the fire and took aim. For a brief moment, the lone green Goblin had the look of something that was questioning its decisions that brought it to this moment. Arilee didn’t let it finish its line of thought, as she loosed the arrow. The arrow sailed through the air, but instead of a refreshing thud, she heard it scattering in the bushes far beyond. She missed.
A spring of joy leaped into the Goblin’s face with realization he was still alive. And that the dwindling fire separated him from the group.
He took off running into the bushes towards the river.
“After him quick! Don’t let him get away!” screamed the Scout Marshall.
Arilee hastily slung her bow behind her back, and took a quick step back to leap through the flames. As she pressed down on her heel to push off, a gust of wind pushed past her as the Scout Marshall blurred by. Arilee didn’t let herself hesitate and followed. The flames barely licked her as she jumped through.
It was only a few dozen yards through the bushes and trees to the river. Arilee almost fell into the Scout Marshall when he abruptly stopped at the end of the bank. She was just in time to hear a splash in the large rushing river. She kept her eyes on the surface, scanning for any sign of movement. Then, a few dozen yards down the river, she saw the Goblin. The rushing currently swiftly carrying him to safety.
“He got away.” said the Scout Marshall, defeated. “We will need to report back to the Commander. That was a high level illusion spell that hid them in the forest. Far beyond the reach of Goblin magic. Let us go back to the others and make sure everyone is okay.”
Arilee followed.
Quest 3 Escape
Chapter 10
By the time Arilee and Scout Marshall Bodwin returned to the group, the ring of fire was reduced to ashes. The fire had charred the ground black. Droplets of blood and goblin bodies filled the area. Chip, Leela, and Slicks stood at the ready, unsure what Arilee and the Scout Marshall would bring back with them. They relaxed upon seeing only the two of them emerge, but looked at them questioningly.
Arilee understood and shook her head, signaling they didn’t catch the escaped Goblin. Somberly, she stooped down to recover the arrow she missed from the ground as she walked by it. The guilt weighed heavily on her that she let it get away. It must have shown on her face, for the Scout Marshall spoke up.
“Do not blame yourself Arilee. I take full responsibility for this. You should not have been in that position to begin with.” He raised his voice for all to hear, “That goes for all of you. You all were not ready and I failed you by bringing you here. I should have been more careful.” He paused for a moment, thinking. “That being said, if I had just sent one of my scouts like normal, they would have been overrun and killed, or worse, captured. In a way, it was fortuitous I brought all of you along.”
“What do we do now?” asked Chip.
“We don’t have that much time before the one that escaped comes back with friends." He reached into his bag, "Here, I want you all to take these. They were meant to be your rewards for completing your training, but slaying these goblins was a worthy accomplishment and easily should have netted you the points you need. We also might need them soon.” He drew out eight rolled up small scrolls from his bag and began handing them out. Arilee noticed that the first scroll she received had a soft blue glow to it, and the second scroll had a soft green glow.
When he was done handing out the scrolls, he quickly explained, “I’m sorry I do not have the time I need to properly explain these. The green scroll is your Level 2 Scroll, and the blue scroll is a Skill Scroll. These scrolls are made by Trainers, who create them with magic to imbue its reader with special knowledge and power. They work by holding the scroll with both hands and overlaying it on your Stats Scroll. This will trigger a reaction for the Stats Scroll to absorb it. First, use your Level 2 scroll. This will increase your level, stats, and allow you to learn the Skill Scroll. I chose a different skill for ea
ch of you depending on your fighting style and weapon choice. As you use your skills in combat, they will become stronger and more dependable. You should have received five new stat points, distributed between what stats you trained most during your leveling.””
Arilee called her Stats Scroll in front of her. Carefully she unrolled the Level 2 scroll and layed it over the Stats Scroll. The scrolls shimmered with light for a few seconds and then disappeared with a flash.