Day 1: An Epic Journey

2022-12-09 New Entry (self link to subscribe to for updates)

The journey of Urtuk began in the asylum where he had been locked up for what felt like an eternity. Urtuk was short, quick on his feet, and had trained in deadly, stealthy arts. One night, him and 2 other prisoners managed to overwhelm the guards. They decided to travel together. The others were Pelenne and Beryth. Pelenne was a tiny, weak and pale appearing man carrying some tools and a staff. He claimed to be a weaponsmith who had made swords, axes, maces in the past. The other one was big and ugly, yet quick on his feet with legs like tree trunks, holding a greatsword that must have weighed more than Urtuk's leg. The sword was somewhat dull from use, but its sheer size would make anyone think twice about messing with Beryth.

As they escaped, they managed to steal a few charms from a chest that they located on their way out. Urtuk took charms that purputed to give him agility and "bleeding criticals", allowing him to be swift and deadly in his attacks. Beryth took posession of a Monster Heart that gave him vitality.

After escaping from the prison, they were looking for work. Work that would get them the Trilium they needed, and maybe some new companions. They heard of 2 situations where their skills might be of help: there were reports of a Javelinier adventurer who had gone missing in monster caves, and adventurers that have gone missing at an abandoned camp site. Knowing how dangerous the area could be, they decided to avoid the caves and instead pursued the abandoned camp site.

The group discovered tracks at the camp site. They were chaotic, with different prints and some of them must be from creatures being dragged on the sandy ground. Upon closer examination, Urtuk and his companions found dried blood in a couple of different places. Urtuk concluded that a struggle must have taken place here not too long ago.

The heroes followed the tracks and ended up discovering a hideout. The people were holding a couple of prisoners there, probably slavers. Urtuk said they couldn't just let them get away with this, and maybe the prisoners could be of use to our group when freed. Everyone readied there weapons when the slavers noticed them and pulled their weapons, closing in on them. They were equipped with swords and spears, and one of them even with a big morning star. Urtuk and his companions were on the high ground, but the slavers closed in on them rapidly.

Everyone looked at each other. Pelenne was clearly the weakest member of the group. He was holding a staff with some spikes on it. His physique was appallingly tiny compared to everyone else. His strengths appeared to lie in weapon smithing, not the battlefield. Urtuk and Beryth looked at each other, realizing they would have to try to take care of the situation.

The slaver with the spear was the closest. He was agile and quick on his feet. He would be in range to engage the group any moment, while the others were closely behind him. Fortunately, none of them had any ranged weapons. The group of heroes decided to lure the one with the spear to a corner behind a bush. Urtuk brought a few traps, so he quickly prepared that corner with an almost invisible trap on the ground that would distract the enemy and allow the group to get a few strikes in before the guy would know what was happening.

However, in the meantime another enemy was fast enough to close in, and both him and the guy with the spear hit Urtuk. Urtuk was still standing, but noticeably unsteady on his feet. One or 2 more strikes might be enough to overwhelm Urtuk. They completely ignored Beryth (or Pelenne who so far had been hiding a little further behind).

The group had to back up a little - enough for Urtuk to lay another one of his traps, just where the enemies weren't looking while they were trying to get another hit in on him. The second enemy stepped on it, losing his balance for a moment and allowing Urtuk and Beryth to injure him severely, though not enough to take him out. He managed to get another strike in on Urtuk, and now Urtuk was bleeding and distressed, and realized he had to get away from the action before it was too late. He went to hide behind an oddly shaped rock that looked almost human.

As the bounty hunter with the big morning star was closing in from behind, Beryth and Pelenne both ganged up on the second enemy, who by now was severely injured. Two strikes were enough, and the enemy collapsed on the ground, into a puddle of his own blood. The sight was too much for the guy with the morning star - his face turned green, and his look became panicky. He yelled: "Nooo!! Cenwy is down!" and tried to make a run for it, while the spear guy also collapsed from his wounds.

Beryth the bloodknight was surprisingly fast to catch up to the panicked guy with the morning star. Even with his huge blade that he was carrying, he caught up with the enemy within seconds, jumping and taking a huge swing at him. Beryth drove the giant sword into the enemy's chain mail, taking the air out of him. The latter stumbled, enough for Pelenne to find his way on his back and dealing a backstabbing blow to him. The morning star swung at Pelenne and managed to graze him, but Pelenne and Beryth had him engaged from both sides now, and after a few more hits, the chain mail shattered. The enemy had refound his composure in the meantime, and hit Pelenne twice with the morning star, wounding him and striking him so hard, that Pelenne was limping, making it hard to escape further blows.

But as the enemy kept trying to take another blow at Pelenne with the morning star, Beryth once again lunged at him, swinging his gigantic iron blade in a ferocious blow that struck so deep that this last remaining enemy crumpled, the last breaths fading away from him.

Everyone looked at each other. They got beaten up, but were still standing. They took some cloth from the fallen enemies and tended to their wounds. Then they spotted a big chest on the side, and a group of prisoners in primitive cages.

When they opened the chest, they found a Greatsword - similar in shape to the one that Beryth, the bloodknight was carrying. Beryth examined it closely and was pleased with what he saw. The blade was sharp, much sharper than the dull iron blade that he had on him from the prison escape. He decided to use this nice greatsword from now on.

The prisoners were relieved when Urtuk and his companions opened their cages. One of them, a hunter named Hayyel decided to join the group. He carried a crossbow, rusty and in poor condition, but he seemed to know how to handle it. Urtuk decided that having someone with a crossbow, even if in poor condition, would come in handy on their adventures.

Urtuk had taken the brunt of the beating this last fight. Beryth offered him the Monster Heart charm, and Urtuk gladly accepted it. He felt it's invigorating powers and realized this would give him some better protection in a future fight.