The Boy and his Spoilt Milk
General Summary
I also noticed some markings on his neck. When we asked him about them, he replied that while he was paralyzed that the Hag Zoathra had put the markings on him. He didn’t know what they were for. I cast a Detect Magic spell and drew some information about them but decided not to share the information at this time.
After Bing had calmed down, we left town. I asked Bing if he had summoned his mount yet. He said that he had not. I thought it was a good idea that he did it now and know what to expect before he needed it and not know if he was going to be able to even get in the saddle. He acquiesced and went into a field to summon Triton. It came to him as a war pony so he would be able to ride it. At least that fell into place.
We headed out to Belleria once again. Hopefully we will make it farther this time. On the road we decided to bypass the structure that we had seen in the crevasse and continue to Belleria. A short way farther down the road we were attacked by three Ankhegs. Nasty beasts that use acid in addition to a vicious bite that they can inflict. One of them tried to grapple Ti’ock, who easily escaped, another one tried to grapple Oriana and failed but it was able to deal quite a lot of damage with a couple of bites before she was able to turn into a black bear and escape. The third one tried to grapple Bing. All the Ankheg failed to grapple their initial targets, looks like the odds are starting out in our favor.
After Ti’ock had moved out of the Ankheg’s range, the Ankheg then attacked and was successful in grappling Mirra, damn, there goes things happening in our favor. She was able to escape, but that was another of our party that took a lot of damage and was in danger. Ra Di Gas cast a spell that caused one of the Ankheg’s to be blinded, which helped a lot, and allowed us to focus of the other two. During the battle Bing jumped on one of the Ankheg’s back and tried to tell him that he should retreat and we were not their enemies, it either ignored him, or could not understand him, but chose to continue the attack upon us. Ti’ock was doing what he does best and was dancing in and out, continuing to attack the beasts. Ra Di Gas was able to hit the one that attacked Mirra with magic missiles which finally killed it. I was only able to get a single hit on one of the beasts but Red Dog was able to land multiple hits and help kill one of them before the last one escaped. They were able to do some severe damage to Oriana and Mirra but at least none of our party died.
A short time had passed and the group was focused on healing our injured when a flying monkey threw acidic poo at Oriana that hit her with a loud splat! I have never seen a Druid that looks like a big target before, but it appears that she has one painted on her that these unnatural beasts are going for. The group was able to shoot it down before it got out of range. I then collected the teeth and claws of the dead Ankheg and Flying Monkey to possibly do a trade with someone down the road.
About an hour down the path, we met a rider going the opposite direction with some horses. He was an older gentleman that goes by the name of Rye. Ra Di Gas had heard of this trader so he was greeted with a warm welcome and he showed us his wares. I was able to barter from some dragon steaks for mending some of his equipment. Oriana was able to inform me that she would like a horse and saddle, so I purchased one for her, since she was still in bear form. Ra Di Gas also purchased a horse and saddle. So now Ti’ock is the only one left on foot, but he is fast enough that being on foot is more to his advantage rather than being on a mount. I just wonder how many of these horses we will still have by the time we finally reach Belleria, which is only about a day’s ride away.
Rye also informed us that there was a dead boy in the river farther up the trail, so if we decide to get some water from the stream, it would probably be best if we got it upstream from where his body was laying in the water. This seemed very intriguing so we headed down the trial until we arrived at the stream.
When we arrived at the stream, we noticed a pot with what looked like a whiteish liquid in it. Ti’ock did a search of the area and found the boy. To our surprise, he was not dead, just unconscious. Ti’ock used his healing belt to bring the youth back to consciousness. It appears that he had just overheated in doing his task of filling the pots with the liquid. We tried to ask him several questions, but he refused to speak, but it was not that he was being rude. When I asked him if he could speak, he shook his head no. He understood quite plainly what we were saying, just could not respond verbally. Bing then asked him to open his mouth and informed us that he still had his tongue. I asked Ra Di Gas if he knew of any magic rituals that might cause an apprentice to not be able to speak, but he had no idea.
Bing then put his hand in the white liquid and was about to taste it until he smelled its offensive odor and decided that it was spoiled milk. Why would a boy be putting spoiled milk into pots along the river? Why would he be dressed in black robes during the heat of the day?
We then took a vote on what we should do. Should we follow the boy, go into town, or go upstream and see where he came from? We decided to follow the boy, ensure his safety, and see where he came from. In a short while he was out of milk from his jug and headed back upstream.
It then struck me like a heavy mallet, was the boy part of the “Black Robed” magicians that I had heard stories about? Maybe I need to ask Ra Di Gas about what he knows about the Black Robes before we go much farther. Maybe it’s not such a good idea to follow the boy. But then again, it might just be an out of luck boy, in black robes, during the heat of the day.
Comments