Chapter #1112
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+ THE ADVENTURERS +
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+ Epic VI +
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+ Many of the locations, non-player characters, spells, and other +
+ terms used in these stories are the property of Wizards of the Coast +
+ which has in no way endorsed or authorized their use. Any such +
+ property contained within these stories are not representative of +
+ Wizards of the Coast in any fashion. +
+ The player characters depicted in these stories are copyright +
+ 1991-2022 by Thomas A. Miller. Any resemblance to any persons +
+ or characters either real or fictional is utterly coincidental. +
+ Copying and/or distribution of these stories is permissible under +
+ the sole condition that no money is made in the process. In that +
+ case, I hope you enjoy them! +
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+ Belphanior 18th/18th/18th level elven fighter/wizard/thief +
+ Paige 13th level human female warrior +
+ Razor Charlie 12th level human fighter +
+ Skektek 14th level human wizard +
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+ Rillen 18th level human warrior monk +
+ Songa 13th level human huntress +
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+ Date: 4/18/586 C.Y. (Common Year) +
+ Time: late afternoon +
+ Place: the Timberway Forest, in the land of the Fruzti +
+ Climate: cold +
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+ "I'm just trying to do what I've always tried to do." +
+ "Which is?" +
+ "Get people to leave us the hell alone." +
+ - from _Justified_ (episode _Coalition_) +
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MCXII. Intentional Recluses
Through the use of powerful magic, Belphanior and his three companions
have already tracked down and caught up with Mongo and Halbarad. The next
leg of this journey has taken them several hundred leagues across the
continent, north and east...to the frigid lands of the Frost Barbarians.
Moments ago, they arrived in the depths of the Timberway Forest, a sizable
woodland in the southern reaches of the Fruzti kingdom.
Skektek: (looking around the forest, he frowns) I guess we're not going
to find an inn anywhere around here.
Paige: (draws her thick cloak more tightly around her, pleased that she
had the foresight to prepare for any type of climate while away on this
trip) Brr.
Razor Charlie: (able to see his own breath due to the cold, he grimaces)
Skektek: Where will we find your friends? We certainly can't talk to all
of these people today, and it's getting late.
Belphanior: (eyeing the tall trees surrounding the group) The map led us
here, so they can't be far. Hell, they'll probably find us first.
In the two previous cases today, the elf had brought the group to points
near (but not close to) those he was searching for, due to the presence of
others and the desire for some measure of discreetness. Here, in this
remote forest far from civilization, he wasn't worried about strangers or
what they might think of foreigners suddenly appearing in their midst.
Belphanior: (consults the scroll again) They're here...I mean literally
RIGHT HERE. (he scans the surrounding area again, more intently) Aha.
Skektek: What?
Belphanior: (looks upward, toward the thick canopy of branches a hundred
or more feet overhead) Show yourselves! We come in peace!
There was a rustling then, as something long and thin snaked out of the
trees above, wriggling its way down toward them.
Skektek: (eyes wide, he shouts in alarm) Beware-
Belphanior: Relax. It's only a rope.
Indeed it was, as they all saw momentarily. The thin vine was knotted
every so often, which allowed one to more easily ascend...or descend, as
a tall, lithe figure was doing even now.
Songa: (soon reaches the forest floor, dropping to the ground lightly)
I don't understand. We haven't seen or heard from you in years, and
now you just show up in our home?
Belphanior: Nice to see you too.
Paige: Hah. (she takes her hand off of her sword's grip)
Skektek: (eyeing the dangling vine) It looked like a snake. Those do
live in forests, you know.
Paige: (ignores him, studying Songa)
The warrior-woman knew a kindred soul when she saw one, although Songa
would have made a strong first impression on anyone. At six feet and four
inches, she towered over the rest of them, her powerful limbs corded with
lean muscle, her skin tanned and healthy. Her light brown hair was tied
back out of the way, and her icy blue eyes regarded the visitors to her
domain.
Paige: (to Belphanior) You not only have interesting friends, but plenty
of them.
Belphanior: You have no idea. (to Songa) Rillen must be around here
somewhere, yes?
Songa: He is above, ready to put an arrow through anyone not a friend...
which is pretty much everyone these days.
Belphanior: But surely not us.
Skektek: Arrow? (he looks around nervously)
Paige: I don't like this.
Songa: Don't worry. If you'd been a foe, we wouldn't be having this
talk right now. Fortunately, we know the elf.
Belphanior: Fortunately.
Songa: (looks up, as a rustling sound heralds the descent of another)
Everyone keep your wits about you. That will be my husband, making his
own way down.
Rillen soon joined them, his massive form moving with the simple grace
and raw power of a wild animal. Like Songa, he appeared to be in peak
condition...and also like Songa, he did not look happy.
Belphanior: (nods) Rillen. Well-met.
Rillen: Belphanior.
Belphanior: I can't remember who's met who in the past. These are my
companions...Skektek the wizard...Razor Charlie, master of blades...
and Paige, a great warrior from a faraway land.
Songa: (nods to them all, curtly)
Paige: (wondering why these two are so unfriendly, she is about to say
something sarcastic)
Belphanior: (he regards the pair) Did I do something in the past, to
upset the two of you? Something that I somehow know nothing about?
Rillen: (sighs) You did not. These are just bad times. As I'm sure you
know, the last few years have been filled with chaos and bloodshed, and
in the case of this area, vile trickery as well.
Songa: (grimly) That's putting it mildly. My homeland - and those of
the other two barbarian lands to the north - were united in the most
glorious cause in our history, and that army swept to the south to claim
the lands and spoils that are its birthright...only to learn too late
that the entire thing was a lie, and they'd been used.
Paige: (notes how the other woman uses the word "barbarian" in a way that
makes it sounds like the highest of compliments, rather than an insult
as most people would intend)
Belphanior: (nods) I am familiar with the story of the false god Vatun.
Rillen: You should have lived through it, as we did.
Songa: (angrily) Aside from an alliance with our former enemies the
Stonefists, our people were also tricked into invading and destroying
the Duchy of Tenh, to the south. It was all for nothing, and now the
barbarians must work twice as hard re-forging old alliances and undoing
all the damage. So these are not happy times. And you should not have
come here.
Belphanior: I actually visited you - and others...Mongo and Halbarad, so
far - to see how you were doing. I've been...away.
Songa: You must have been pretty damn far away, then.
Belphanior: Actually...
The elf proceeded to recount the same tale he'd already told twice this
day, although this version was shorter and more succinct. The huntress
and her husband seemed to relax a bit when they realized that not only had
the elf truly missed the entirety of the wars, but that he sought nothing
from them and was only checking in on all of his old friends.
Skektek: I have to ask, what's with the ropes and the trees? (he eyes
the treetops far above) Are you living up there or something?
Songa: (nods) We are.
Skektek: ...oh.
Rillen: We have made our home amidst the branches above, which allows a
great deal of privacy. Not to mention a tactical advantage in a combat
situation.
Paige: (smirks) I like it.
Songa: Those coming from the north must pass through this forest to reach
Ratik, though such traffic tends to be to the eastern edge, not deep in
here where we live. With the Griffs to the northwest and the Rakers to
the southwest, we have a good natural barrier against random traffic
from that front.
Rillen: And the city of Djekul, is several days' ride to the northeast,
should we need to go there.
Razor Charlie: (silently wonders how they would ride without any horses,
since horses can't live in the treetops)
Songa: The Fruzti and Ratik are jointly working on building a roadway,
through the narrow strip of flat land between the forest's edge and the
sea line.
Belphanior: Is that a good thing?
Songa: Probably not, but it will strengthen both lands, not to mention
their ability to aid each other. It's...necessary. (she frowns)
Rillen: It wouldn't have been necessary if not for all the fighting.
Skektek: I know this isn't much, but consider it anyway. At least your
homeland is relatively intact. (he shakes his head) I was born and
raised in Aerdy, which by all accounts is now little more than a wild
wasteland filled with undead lords and their minions.
Songa: (regards him, considering this)
Skektek: Just saying.
Songa: (sighs wearily) Strange little man...you have a good point.
Rillen: (nods) We don't mean to whine and complain, but it's been a
rough few years, for us and for everyone, probably most of the world.
Belphanior: Yeah, we gathered that from talking to Mongo and Halbarad.
Songa: Are you going to talk to Arnold as well?
Belphanior: He's next on the list. I surmised that he'd be up this way.
(thinking of the mighty teleportation powers of the Eye of Celestian,
he mutters to himself) Not that it really matters.
Songa: You'll find him in Djekul. He's the general of their armies now.
Belphanior: WHAT?
Rillen: That's what we heard, when we last talked to someone from there.
Songa: Many moons ago.
Rillen: Arnold apparently had quite a bit of success in the various
battles, accounting for himself well and performing many heroic feats.
He shouldn't be hard to find at all.
Belphanior: Thanks for the tip.
Songa: And now, we must be going. It's late, and tomorrow's a hunting
day. We must prepare.
Skektek: Right.
Paige: (realizes that they're not going to be invited up into the treetop
home above, which she had kind of been looking forward to)
Razor Charlie: (still thinking about horses and trees, he finally gives
up, and just grimaces to himself)
Belphanior: Well...okay. We'll make our way to Djekul, then, and check
in with Arnold and his family.
Songa: And it should go without saying - don't bring anyone else here.
(she thinks of the last wilderness home, which they had to abandon many
years ago) The last thing we want or need is people running around in
this forest. (with that, she grabs the vine and begins climbing upward
with surprising speed)
Rillen: (watches her disappear into the treetops, then turns to the
visitors, sighing) I'm sorry for...well. As we've said, and as you've
heard from more than one old friend, the last few years have been more
than a little trying. For all of us.
Belphanior: I get it. And we all have one thing in common.
Rillen: What's that?
Belphanior: We all have someone deserving of our retribution.
Rillen: That's for damn sure. If you ever take on the demigod who posed
as the barbarian god and deceived tens of thousands of people, feel free
to seek us out. (he turns and takes the second vine, quickly ascending
up and out of sight)
Belphanior: (considers the warrior's words) Hmm.
Skektek: A demigod? Really?
Belphanior: Why not? (he frowns) But this isn't the time. And it seems
we have one more stop before the day is done. (he retrieves the Eye of
Celestian) Prepare yourselves. We'll soon be walking into Djekul, one
of the larger cities within the kingdom of the Frost Barbarians. I've
never actually been there, though we were once within a day's ride of
the place. (he thinks back to those times, over a decade ago, when he
rode with Peldor, Ged, and all the others on random adventures) A long
time ago.
next: Arnold of Djekul
www: http://www.peldor.com/download.html
homepage: http://www.peldor.com/
email: tmiller@peldor.com
released: 6/17/2022
notes: We haven't seen Rillen and Songa since 11/20/580 (which was
episode 1091) when, like Halbarad, they had all just returned from the
lost island adventure.
I think each of these people/pairs that Belphanior's seeking out have
a story to tell, and each of those stories ties into both the wars and
the potential adventures ahead in the future. And don't worry, there's
a big picture in all this.
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next chapter (#1113)