Target Confirmed

413WeTaCo

The twang of wire was the only indicator that something was wrong as a bolt whistled past the party and buried itself into a barrel of apples next to them. A crash and groan of pain followed and following the screams of people they found one of the watchers pulling themselves from the ruins of a stall. Untangling the fabric of the shade cloth that was suspended above the wooden frame they looked to the party.

“I spotted them. They nearly hit you with the bolt but I hit them first.” she paused, catching her breath. “However I didn’t expect them to rush at me and knock me off the vantage point and down here. They took off north from here” she pointed to emphasise her point as she touched a wound on her ribs. “I need to clean up here. The other watcher is taking pursuit but we have confirmed that they are after you. So be careful as in our experience when the target is confirmed and the assassin knows that we are aware they either raise the ante or they will change tactics completely. I will catch up in a moment.”

Taking off and allowing the watcher to make amends with the shop owner and tend to her injury the party head north. If the assassin was aware that they were close then they may feel cornered and be irrational. People were pointing and muttering about a chase happening on the rooftops as they passed. Quickly asking bystanders they were able to trace the steps of the suspect and the watcher to an abandoned church.

Drawing their weapons they entered the door and began searching. It didn’t take them long to hone into a tower at the back of the building – the only part of the church that had roof access. Climbing the stairs they heard a rattle in the room at the top of the tower, one that was level with the roof judging by one of the windows. Pushing through the door the first adventurer was pushed against the wall by an unseen assailant – a large thin dagger pressed against their throat. After a split second the figure withdrew the dagger and stepped back – slumping against the wall.

“Thank god it’s you.” the figure spoke. He was young and dressed like the other watcher but clutching his stomach. “I followed the assassin in here. I can’t believe I chased him like a rookie. Next thing I know I get a few swift hits in the stomach and he dashes out the window. I thought you were him coming back to finish me.” he said as he stood up slowly. “I’ve got to follow him.” he said before pushing past the party and climbing onto the roof.

As the party stood there in the silence the sound of something dripping could be heard from deeper in the room. Following it they found a pool of dark blood and a young man that had been stashed in the rafters of the roof, stripped down to his undergarments. “This isn’t good. That’s John” came the familiar voice of the female watcher from before. “and it looks like our assassin has their hands on a watchers outfit now.”

---

The Hobgoblin Threat

412WeHoTh

Search parties departed and followed the infrequent and nearly non-existent tracks left by the attackers. After searching the bodies they found a mixture of goblins and orcs had been amongst the bodies. However the injuries on the bodies of the guards were too accurate and efficient for normal goblin and orc swings.

As the party guarded the wagon Sal looked nervously around and several of the Iron Harvest guard leaders spoke to her in hushed whispers. The Wagon was filled with thousands of gold pieces worth in weapons and armour and the shock of the attacks from the night before and the mystery in how no one in the camp had heard what had happened had the camp nervous.

However as the sound of thundering hooves reached them from between the trees nearby as muffled shouts came. A horse burst from the trees only two hundred feet from where they stood and they saw that it was one of the scouts riding back. The man was barely holding onto the reigns of the horse as it powered towards the camp. “We are under attack!” the man called as an arrow whizzed past him and buried itself in the dirt.

Soon the figures of hobgoblins appeared at the edge of the forest as a volley of arrows reached the back of the guard, his face contorted into a silence scream as he fell from the horse who rode past the party – stumbling from both exhausting and a few arrows that had missed the light barding of his coat.

---

Soon the hobgoblins were rushing forward, goblins and some orcs were amongst their ranks but it was clear that the hobgoblins were in charge and that they had orchestrated the attack last night. As the guards clashed with goblin, orc and hobgoblin the party fended off a few creatures as arrows crashed against them and the wagon. Soon the guards were falling back and a gap emerged between them and the wagon. Sal drew a blade and a small shield from next to where she sat and she joined the party. After a moment several other guards, all experienced captains ran to aid in the defence of the wagon.

“Surrender the princess, enough of this trickery. Give her up and spare your lives!” a lean, well armoured hobgoblin called from the front lines of the battle. As he called, several guards rushed at him, cursing and rejecting his offer. A few swift sword strokes saw those guards lose their heads with deft, deep blows.

“Sal, we need to retreat. Get on the wagon and let’s get out of here.” one of the guards called. Nodding but hesitant Sal climbed into her seat, the party grabbing onto the wagon as they dashed away, some guards throwing themselves at the attackers who gave chase.

“Stop that wagon!” roared the hobgoblin leader as the sounds of horns mixed with the blood chilling sound of guttural howls as the outriders of the hobgoblin army rushed forward to cut them off. The sound of crashing armour, breaking bones and howls of pain from goblins, beast and man heralded that they were not quick enough and soon worgs were circling them, waiting for the signal.

---

The Cult of the Dragonslayer

411WeCuDr

Something told the party that the red stain on the captain’s clawed gauntlet was not something from the food market outside. As he pushed into the room and undid his helmet the bronze Dragonborn, Garius, looked across the party and at Duplicity. “There is a cult in Yole. We have a location to meet a contact but we don’t have their headquarters. But that is where the complexity comes in, and perhaps this is an opportune meeting that we have here.” he paused as he watched the gears turn over in the lieutenants mind.

“You can’t be serious, Garius. The council will never approve this.” she spat as her complexion grew a deeper purple. The faint smell of sulphur wafting in the room as tension grew.

“Deadly so. I need someone who can get the information I need and Tymora has granted me an adventuring party.” he paused as he cut off a rebuttal from Duplicity. “They know our members, they can suspect that we know but they may not suspect outsiders to the city. They call themselves the Cult of the Dragonslayer and they will be looking for more recruits as they lost a dozen on the attack at the parade. I fear that this is just the beginning.” he said as he scratched at his scales.

---

As the party sat next to the beggar playing three dragon Ante at a barrel near the Bearded Ent tavern. After a few hands the party produced the card that had been given to them. A Dragonslayer card which had been defaced with a symbol on its face which caused the beggar to add in a single bent copper to the ante. After a few moments the beggar stood up, swayed once and declared loudly that he was done. This was the signal the party had been waiting for and after a moment excusing themselves from the same they followed the beggar about fifty feet behind.

A few twists and turns later they found the beggar sitting on the steps of a building, his face illuminated by the pipe he was chomping on as he inhaled deeply. “You play a mean game of Ante. Do you also seek the truth of this world?” he asked, his face watching theirs with great intensity.

---

The Ironwood Forest

410WeIrFo

Sweat beaded down Kevin’s nose as he paused amongst the trees waiting for something to lunge outwards. They had been travelling towards the druids grove, at the centre of the Ironwood forest when they had found something. Drag marks in the earth, fresh ones, that looked like someone was pulled into the bushes ahead and with Kevin and his Carters he didn’t want to be next.

As they stopped and waited the feeling of being watched to pass it only increased and the forest became full of noise. Movement in the bushes, a shriek or call in the distance in one direction then a heavy thud in the soil elsewhere. Soon the resilience of the Carters was wavering and it was not long until one panicked and ran forward out from their cover and into the clearing in front of them. Immediately one of the Carters fell over and was dragged backwards into the brush as tentacle like vines thrashed at them trying to get purchase on their limbs.

As they rushed forwards they were just in time to witness vines launch downwards towards the man who moved first to constrict and haul him upwards into the branches ahead. Slashing and sawing at vines and branches they tried to free their friends, briefly, before having to change the heroic rescue into an effort of self preservation. The vines lashed out, twisted and wrapped as branches slammed into the bruising carters.

Though the men had some experience fending off wild beasts and smaller hostile humanoids on the road their experience only lasted so long and they were tiring. Kevin struggled to free himself to begin cutting at the vines that had taken his last fellow Carter, Joel, into the brushes when he became aware of another presence, a group of adventurers launched forward to begin attempting to free him and his men.

The battle was brief yet ferocious as the newcomers’ blades, projectiles and magic made short work out of the living forest. But, it was not enough. Out of the five men he entered with, three could not be recovered, one would not see the night through and the other was unconscious and bleeding profusely. exhausted and thankful for being alive Kevin looked up at his heroes and knew, this is what would bring him glory. Travelling with and helping these heroes as a full time adventurer.

---

Queen under the Sands

408WeQuUnSa

The ground appeared to rumble and shake as the sand disappeared through some rents in the crust below. As the sand pooling down into nothingness slowed Norturi watched on with awe as she pawed over the maps she held in front of her.

“This is it. All my notes led to here and behold I was right. A kingdom below the sands where the wares, goods and treasure of a hundred caravans lay!” Norturi could barely contain her excitement as she pointed and bounced next to what was being revealed. A great archway, door and stairs now was slowly appearing as the sand had moved to the side and the door lay waiting before the. Inscribed beautifully and crafted exceedingly well the stonework looked to be made by a skilled set of hands.

However, before the Norturi or the party could investigate further the sounds of laughter could be heard from behind them, at the top of a sand dune. “Well it was pretty easy to track you, harder to stay hidden but here we are. We’ll be taking that treasure if you would be so kind.” one of the men from the Den of Thieves, the tavern from a few nights back. Except it was more than just four that were at the bar, there were over a dozen men this time and several looked like they could handle themselves in combat.

“We got here first, I’ve been searching for this treasure for years and we did all the work in finding it.” Norturi began “Besides you don’t even know how to open the door.” she continued as she started to look around at the men that outnumbered her and the party.

“Sure we do. Tim, that’s your queue.” the man at front said as a man stepped forward from the crowd as the others strode forward. The sheer number of them was enough for Norturi to sigh but give the signal to the party to let them through. The party was surrounded and not disarmed as the group of thieves and thugs stood between them and the door. Time passed as Tim read the door, or attempted to, as he looked for a lock to pick.

“What’s taking so long!” the bigger man yelled out.

“I can’t find the lock boss!” Tim called out, but as he did the sound of clicking and grinding stone could be heard from the archway.

“Great work Tim, knew we kept ya around for a reason!” the boss called out, to the cheering of many people.

“That wasn’t me boss. I didn’t do nothin’ ” Tim responded as the door opened and several large imposing figures loomed forward from the portal. The laughing of all the thieves stopped immediately as the large ant-like humanoids stepped up the steps to stand just above several of the thieves and party.

“what the…” was all that one of the thieves managed to get out before he was grabbed by large claw-like hands and dragged backwards, down the steps and into the yawning passageway below. Chaos erupted with some thieves rushing forward to attack, some being grabbed and taken, and several trying to run through the party to get away from the large insectoid race. However a scream on the other side of the dune quickly indicated that something was not right.

---

Unsubtle Lies

407WeUnLi

Together the party climbed the mountains, avoided the creatures the elf El’thirnol had warned them about and with some luck they were making good progress. As part of the wager Callum had told them all roughly where the nest was. However, instead of waiting until dawn like the others, Callum and his sellsword were gone by the morning and were likely ahead of the party.

The village they had come from lived amongst the mountains and was largely left alone by the hostile creatures that lived nearby. It was probably the seasoned hunters that were stationed on the walls and towers around the village. The trek into the mountains didn’t take long and even as they marched onwards shouts could be heard from other parties who were attempting the same climb. It sounded as if the other people racing the climb were finding the paths just as difficult or running into trouble.

As the party ascended they became more acutely aware of the large creatures flying above them, griffons. They were the least of their worries as they moved stealthily but alerting the real monsters of these cliffs would only bode poorly. The Griffons and Tritnol’s weren’t the only master of the cliffs here. Wyverns had been known to live in this area – preying on griffons and their chicks as well as taking down the Tritnol when they were feeling particularly bold. But the elven huntmaster had told the party how to overcome the difficulties of the terrain and how to hide from the predators and so far it was working.

---

As the chosen adventures climbed El’thirnol watched with spyglass in hand. They were nearing the nest that he had sought and with any luck the parents were not around. But something was troubling him. The Tritnol’s were flying overhead as normal, large lumbering creatures that appeared to defy gravity as they flew. But the volume of them looked suspicious. When they gathered like this they normally found dead griffons and even wyverns the following days.

He watched the creatures in the area from his perch. His trained eye picked out where they all lived and he watched them. A few griffons lay still as they watched the Tritnol’s closely like the alpha predators they were. Despite being the huntmaster of the village, and widely known as being a master at his craft he had yet to take down a Tritnol. Their thick hide seemed to evade all arrows, bolts and even a ballistae had no effect. They were truly a strange creature.

But as he watched the creatures below he noticed that a group of hunters approached one of the nests. As the parent rose from the nest he glanced away towards his vigil on the flying giants and something odd occurred. A flickering, like the disruption of a spell, was coming over one of the Tritnol’s. As he watched he heard a shriek of pain as the Tritnol disappeared completely. Looking at the source, a wounded griffon with an arrow shaft in its leg. A moment later the sharp talons separated foolish hunters heads and limbs from bodies as the griffon’s partner swooped the hunters.

The titan in the sky, the Tritnol’s form wavered from that moment onwards, as if injured itself. El’thirnol mused. Something was odd here and the injured and odd acting Tritnol and corresponding with a Griffon being wounded was not something he would write off as coincidence.

---

Unholy Arson

406WeUnAr

Although the fire at the Gilded Lily had been a mystery without witnesses or cause, the newest fire that lapped at the wooden beams of the Fatty Pheasant was different. As they pulled people from the burning building the guards and fire wardens asked who did it. Many did not respond in their panic and talked nonsense. But a few mentioned watching the bouncer, Gareth, approach a passer by before the front of the tavern, and Gareth, was enveloped in flames.

It was not hard to find Gareth, a mixture of burnt skin, flesh and leather amongst the injured. He was badly injured but he was alive, somehow. The guard hurried him off and quickly sent out a request for healers, for trackers and for anyone who could assist them in their investigation. The burly form of Gareth Fletcher was carried by no less than six guards as they protected the burnt man from any and all dangers. As the only one who may be able to identify who or what caused this they needed to protect him with their lives.

---

As they hurried him away on a large stretcher, a middle-aged man watched from a nearby building. His hands trembling from the realisation of what he had done in the moments of clarity and freedom of his own mind and actions. But no quicker than the clarity had washed over him it disappeared. A cold slimy feeling moving along his spine and worming its way through his brain which froze the memory of the fire, the heat and the look of pain and disbelief on the minds of the man out front of the Tavern.

Pulling up his hood he walked from the shadow, limping slightly from an old wound as he moved towards the bridge that took him over the river to where the next target was. One that was not yet full of panic and fear to taint the taste of the feast that awaited him. Despite the rational man trying to claw back control of his own mind and body eventually the chilling pressure was too much and it wasn’t until the next morning that he woke up. His hands covered in soot, blisters and blood as he looked around at what the morning brought him. 

Even in his dazed state he could not remember what had happened from the night before. He remembers taverns and fire, that would explain the heat in his hands, the blisters and soot. But he could not tell where he had come from, how he had got here and how he had escaped the fire. Looking over the city of Hawks Creek he noticed three plumes of smoke. “Not again,” he muttered, trembling. “I hope no one was hurt. Someone’s got to stop this arsonist.” he said as he stood up on tired limbs and moved to the nearest plume of smoke to help search for survivors, the dead and to clear the wreckage. After all, as a cleric of Ilmater the pain in his palms was nothing to the suffering to what those poor unfortunates were going through.

---

Avermeet Caves

405WeAvCa

Although the captain of the guard, Kirili had been convinced of their innocence and their story backed up by the lords request for outside aid the chargers weren’t fully dropped. With no witness to the elk being captured by the party or something else little could be done to dissuade the advisers’ accusations into the party having captured the creature themselves.

The one saving grace was the chance to redeem themselves, find the true source of the trap, its owners and then bring them to justice. So the party found themselves returning to the clearing where they had stumbled across the elk with Kirili and some other Avermeet Guard to assist. Investigating the clearing there were now additional tracks, animals if they weren’t mistaken which appeared to move about the clearing to where the party believed the trap was set up.

Investigating further the tracks led towards the bushes at the base of the rocky outcrop that they had been watching before the guard appeared. Pushing through the brush they came to a small game path that led next to the stone face. As they walked along the path while following the same tracks the tracks began to disappear before completely vanishing. Retracing their steps they felt a light gust of a breeze as they passed a rather large bush.

Pushing it aside they were astonished to find that the bush was concealing the entrance to a cave.

The cave itself descended twenty or so feet with a series of worn down ledges. The smell of animals leavings and blood permeated from further below and soon it was evident this is where the poaching was coming from. Cages hung from the ceiling with bound animals within. Drag marks moved deeper into the cave and the sound of creatures deeper within echoed faintly into this enclosed area. Kirili looked around wide-eyed at the animals within the cave, most of them, listless and in various stages of being unwell.

The answer to the source of the poaching lay before them, the way to clear their name and with Kirili and the other Avermeet guard here. But as they moved around the cave the first of their obstacles revealed itself. A crude trap sprung forward and nearly impaled the party, missing by a matter of inches before damaging the shield of one the guards. The racket down further in the cave quietened down as the guard pulled his now damaged shield from the device. 

Whoever had captured these animals had laid traps as a deterrent and it was only a matter of time until they found the adventurers and guards snooping around.

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