Hard to Find Good Help
Two weeks after Precision and Aberchak left to go their separate ways, Lethe is staying at the Rested Toad in Valdenstok. He has spent the past two weeks working on his spellbook as well as looking for new assistance in his travels. Having heard that a tavern called the Ring & Roost would be his best bet to find an effective mercenary, Lethe heads towards it. Unbeknownst to him, a young half-elf street urchin named Arro pickpockets his Bag of Holding along the way.
The Ring & Roost is a high-roofed oval-shaped building with a large fighting pit that makes up the center of it. When Lethe enters, he witnesses a fight between an orcish fighter and the resident champion, a tough dwarven paladin named Hjalmar Hammerson. Lethe approaches Hjalmar after the fight, saying that he is seeking hired help to accompany him on his journeys. He promises Hjalmar good pay and adventure, and Hjalmar accepts. When Lethe goes to pay for their drinks, he finds that his coin purse is missing and realizes he has been pickpocketed. Fortunately, he has cast arcane mark on it and so can track it down. Detecting that it is about two miles south in the Wilderwoods, he and Hjalmar set out to retrieve it.
Meanwhile, Arro returns to a small abandoned logging cabin in the forest. In the cabin is his companion, a massive lizardfolk barbarian named Kroq. They have been on the run from Eloqui adjutants and Tracery agents alike ever since Arro stole a mysterious book from an Eloqui mage. Arro and Kroq go through the contents of Lethe's bag, as Lethe and Hjalmar approach. The two pairs argue over the theft and eventually come to blows. Their fight is interrupted by the arrival of four Eloqui adjutants; mage hunters with arcaltium tattooed into their skin which grant them magical abilities. The four join forces to defeat the adjutants, and come to an understanding.
As Arro is pursued by the Tracery, Lethe offers he and Kroq to accompany him to Vergess, where he has learned Victor Elan has moved his base of operations to after a series of riots in Einstap; through past conversations with Aberchak Lethe is aware that Victor is affiliated with the Tracery. Lethe intended to return to Victor anyway to recover the arcaltium crystals he had hired Kara Diamonti to refine for him. The group tentatively agrees to travel together for the time being, and rest in the logging cabin to recover from their battle.
Chapter Forty-Five
"Hard to Find Good Help"
Ingame Date: 25th of High Harvest, 1855
Real-Life Date: March 12, 2023
Protagonists: Locations:
- Valdenstok
- The Wilderwoods
Remove these ads. Join the Worldbuilders Guild
Comments