June 20, 5634 AE
My colleagues and I have been on the road for a day now. Obviously, this would imply to anyone who read my previous journal that I have lived through my day's endeavours. They were, individually, rather unfulfilling, but I catch canny glimpses of a bigger picture. I cannot see it all yet, but I feel it is there to be found.
Digression aside. I resolved to write of the mercenaries' guild's (it still hasn't officially been named) exploits thus far, to encourage my own though process, and perhaps see the bigger picture mentioned above.
I suppose it started when we met in the wizard's home. He toyed with us using invisibility for a bit, and showed us our rooms. Ronald's contained a silver dagger and a sleeping lion, which it turns out was tame. My own room was furnished with (among the paltry actual furnishings) an anvil. I didn't bother leaving any of my possessions there; I didn't trust the cheap chest or the broken lock on the door to keep my belongings safe, especially when I can carry them in my Haversack (which can carry considerably more than it would seem to be able to, without ever seeming to get heavier) and guard them myself.
The wizard introduced us to another wizard I don't know much about; therefore, I feel I can reveal his name. Benus, as far as I can tell, has been spending a few hundred years trying to make some kind of elf-troll hybrid to serve as his guards; he's had some minor successes, it seems. At least, they're alive, which is more than most people who've dabbled in creating creatures can say. The creatures are perfectly adept at standing and looking imposing, but they are incapable of speaking or independent thought. Well, Benus wanted us to go to some dwarven ruins and pick up some large cages and rare metal bars. So we went back through the portal (I suppose I haven't mentioned that the wizard set up a portal from his house to Benus'?), the wizard gave us a cart and a horse to carry it, and we set out.
We were ambushed by some of the least canny kobolds I've ever met, and I've met a good few. They had set up a ballista, which would have been a sound plan... but they missed us, and even the horse. They hit the cart. Really, they should have taken longer to aim. We were even stopped to talk about going to sleep, they had all the time they needed! But, Ron and I dived for the bushes and took them out sneakily, while the monk went rampaging around, jump kicking every kobold he could reach. When we were done, the others were too tired to even bother picking up the kobolds' loot; I dutifully picked up every sling and bullet, plus the ballista and the spears it was using as ammunition. Then we rested, and moved on... and got to the ruins after three days of travel. We had to dig out the entrance with pickaxes, thus explaining why it hadn't been found yet.
I can't believe I'd forgotten to bring a light source. I didn't even have any alchemist's fire to use as a candle! Thankfully, the monk had a lantern (which he'd found in his room), which we used to navigate. At one point, we unwittingly stepped on a trap which started to fill the room behind us with water, but Ron managed to close the door in time to avoid us even getting wet. The room inexplicably emptied itself. Beyond that, there wasn't much of note there; we found a nice circlet and some gemstones, an animate skeleton (which attacked us but was vanquished no time at all), and eventually we found our way to the prison: which was full, naturally, of huge, high-quality cages, and one naked bard, whose possessions were locked in a nearby box. We were then assaulted by some easily-dispatched orcs. We brought the cages to the cart, where I elected to watch over them.
Apparently, while they were down there, the others defeated an orc chief (or something) named Gurg, and recruited an orc barbarian. Also they found the platinum bars. They brought back a bunch of magical weapons and armor. I wish I could've helped in that fight, but someone had to watch the cart. We'd already been ambushed once, after all. We took all the loot back to Benus, and were paid a hefty sum (half of which the wizard took for himself).
We went to town the next day to sell our plunder and purchase some new gear, and met the sorceress at the item shop. She was the clerk. I, personally, finished my purchases and went to sell the gems, while the bard stayed to buy more items. Before I'd gotten very far, the magic shop was on fire, and by the time I got back there, the bard was hauling the sorceress out of the building as it collapsed. Naren talked to one of the town watch about what had transpired, and ended up being propositioned for a job. Apparently there was a group of Imperial Assassins that some other Empire wanted gotten rid of, and who better to do it than witnesses to the destruction of a magic shop?
At this point our adventures became more intriguing, but I'll continue this some other time. Possibly tomorrow; riding all day is uneventful, but it gives one time to think.
Also, I rearranged my skills just a little... I took two points away from skills I know I'd used on that last rogue level and bought a skill trick with them instead. Stand from prone for free? Yes please.
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Topic: D&D: The mercenaries - Game Concluding (Read 128356 times)