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Chapter 1
Escorts
9:29 Dragon, 2nd day of Firstfall, Autumn
progress thus far ...
In the town of Redcliffe (population about 400) on the shores of Lake Calenhad, Bran took a job from the Chantry to provide escorts for a 'cargo' traveling east to South Reach. Reverend Mother Bona told Bran the cargo would need three or four escorts in total; the Chantry was willing to pay 60 sp for 'swords' and 30 sp for 'others.'
Bran walked outside the Chantry and accosted the first people he saw, none of which had the slightest interest in leaving the safety of the village. Bran went up the hill to Roland's tavern, ordered an ale and two servings of bread pudding (one for Dog) for breakfast. There, Bran met Daniella, a fit young woman with a very fine looking Dalish bow. The two went back down the hill where Daniella took target practice. All watching were well-impressed with her speed and accuracy.
Less martial, but willing to join, were a young villager named Terlithy and a scribe called Landon. The lot presented themselves to the Reverend Mother and were told to gather at the town gate in the morning to 'load' the cargo.
Said cargo was a young Circle Mage, Mythrellen; she had no experience at hard traveling, and was woefully unprepared for several days walking in autumn. Also, the roads were said to be infested with wolves.
Indeed, during the first day's travel, the bunch were attacked by wolves and Blight wolves. More specifically: the blight wolves were chasing the wolves! We slew a couple of the wolves, and all of the Blight wolves (mostly by Daniella's arrows). Dog and Landon were seriously injured when they put themselves between the wolves and Mythrellen, but Mythrellen healed them.
9:29 Dragon, 3rd day of Firstfall, Autumn
During the night, a wolf approached our camp, and led Bran to the site of a massacre! A dozen or so wolves had been viciously torn apart by Blight wolves; the Bunch decided to follow the Blight wolves to their lair and put an end to them. Fortunately, Daniella's tracking skills proved sufficient for the task, and we proceeded by torchlight for a couple of miles.
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The lair turned out to be a hole on a riverbank - too small and prone to collapse to venture within. Bran used his massive strength (and maul) to collapse the tunnel. We moved off a couple hundred yards along the river and set a rough camp in some large rocks on the shore. About dawn, we heard some distant grumbling and murmurs back where the Blight wolf lair had been. Bran and Daniella sneaked closer, and saw three genlocks trying to repair the Blight wolf tunnel entrance. A quick ambush with arrows and Bran's maul put an end to the dark spawn (even with the presence of a fourth, unexpected genlock). The genlock daggers were taken as proof of dark spawn presence in peaceful lands. |
We washed in the chill waters and proceeded back to the road and onwards towards Lothering. Daniella confided to us that her parents were assassinated, and her seven siblings were lost in the Brecilian Forest. In fact, her father was an (apostate, shhhh!) mage and her mother a Grey Warden bard! [ There are only a couple dozen Grey Wardens in Ferelden.] The siblings were lost (hopefully literally) while searching for a ruin within the Forest; Daniella wants to enter the Forest and find them.
Around noon, we reached a traveler's inn alongside the highway; Dog's ears went up and he went on alert. The inn seemed undamaged ... but that smell ...
400 XP each
on to The Dead Rise