I dreamt last night of a destiny calling. Dreams bathed in a crimson glow, I stood supreme on a mound of fallen foes. And now I ruled the land.
Oh Ishana! You are naughty! Looks like I’m going to have to up my game a bit. Stuck in an endless cavern next to a soggy halfling and semi naked weird guy isn’t going to propel me to the top of the pile by any stretch of the imagination. So here we are once again, stuck in this underdark hell. Everything is out to kill us and unless you count a few plants, we haven’t seen a single foe since we got here. Whilst the halfling dried out and the monk chanted to some unknown god ( I care not) I contemplated what else lay out there for us. Grimlocks? A settlement of some unknown underground creature? My ancestor’s? I have to say I don’t think I fancy running into them, they can be a little touchy if you’re not directly part of the family.
Before long we were back at it, trudging through more pools and sliding and slopping through boggy mushroom fields. None of us really fancied being eaten alive by fish so even I was being more careful. After a few hours of pushing across the landscape we rested atop a hillock. Thick mushroom flora the height of our thick skulled Dragonborn grew in abundance at the top. It felt like the trail had gone cold and now we were just following the captives by instinct, although the birdman was convincing enough in his insistence that we were on the right track. He was somewhere overhead, scanning the land.
And then something must have ruffled his feathers. Suddenly, raucous squawking and the unmistakable twang of bowstrings. Springing to my feet I could hear rustling in the mushroom forest, then shouting voices in a language I’d never heard before. Looking up I saw the birdman fire his bow, a shriek sounded in the dense undergrowth. The Dragonborn, looking intently into the swaying mushroom stalks, reached for the sword on his back.
He must have seen the cunning foe well before I did. The reptile smashed down the mushroom stalks and in one smooth move swung that heavy sword out in front. An cry of pain and a moment later, a small figure clutching its side stumbled out into the open. Despite it’s visible wound, I could see the fury in it’s mean little eyes as it tried to stab the Dragonborn. The blow missed by a stretch. In a battle of giant versus something small and nasty there was only going to be one outcome. Its little head shot from its shoulders, landing with a squelch next to the monk. Even before the rest of it had fallen headless to the floor, another one of creatures came charging out of the undergrowth, its own weapon perfectly positioned to stab the Dragonborn in the back. I caught it mid leap, just before it struck. Even I was surprised by the ferocity of the firebolt. Bits of flaming debris shot out in all directions and the charred remains of something dropped at the Dragonborn’s feet. He looked up, and even for me there was a moment of mutual respect. We could go back to hating each other in awhile. There was the soft flapping of wings and the birdman landed amongst us as we now all stood around the two fallen creatures.
“Gnomes. ” said the Halfing.
“Goodly folk known for their kindness and generosity, I’ve had many dealings with them over the years and they are clever, inquisitive people. It doesn’t make sense that they should attack like this.”
“Squawk! Squawk! It, Squawk! Shot an arrow, Squawk! At me! Squawk!” I noticed Boreff, now more or less able to stand on his own two legs bend down over the headless uncharred body.
“This one’s arrows are stained with a substance. Possibly poison. You can see where it has leaked onto the quiver here.”
“Nasty little poisoners! Well, we did a good job here then!” I said.
I could feel the Halfling staring at me but I knew she couldn’t say much. For all her blustering about how lovely, intelligent and friendly they were, even she couldn’t allow herself to agree with a creature that was prepared to inflict horrendous suffering on others by using poisoned weapons.
Gathering our things, we trudged down the hillock. I looked back and amongst the gently swaying mushroom forest, a small curl of smoke rose up. Probably should have put the other Gnome out. Oh well.
We seemed to be heading downwards again, the land had a slight incline and was much easier to traverse. Before long we reached a line of low hills which we able to easily scramble up. As we crested the top we then knew where we had to go. From our position we looked down upon a vast, endless underground lake. A narrow beach lay before us at the foot of the hills. I could see three small buildings near the lake shoreline. Also drawn up on the beach were two boats. From here I couldn’t see what condition they were in.
It was what we could see rising ominously out of the lake that got our attention. Both a feeling of dread and yet anticipation for the unknown ahead.
That’s it till next week folks. I hope you enjoyed this, please share, subscribe and like! Tell me what you think in the comments section. Feedback is always appreciated!
Stu our DM can be found here at his facebook page!
Credits to the following: Ki’rin – The Human Monk
Sheva- The Halfling Paladin
Boreff-The Human Rogue
Kyan-The Dragonborn Paladin
Kena-The Aaracokra Rogue
And to Stu for keeping it deadly and on our toes!
Thanks to D&D5E for an awesome game.
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