The mountains whispered with ancient winds as Weaver Bigfoot trudged along the jagged trails, his fur dusted with snow and starlight. He had wandered for years, searching for knowledge older than time itself. When he finally descended into the valley and the town of Astera, fate guided his steps to a quaint, lantern-lit shop tucked between leaning chimneys - Avery's Novel Little Bookshop.
Within those crooked shelves, Weaver found tomes even his long memory did not recall - scrolls bound in dragonhide, journals inked with starlight, words that hummed with forgotten power. For the right to study them, he offered Avery his service as an assistant. The deal was struck, and destiny quietly turned its page.
Morgrym haunted the smoke-hazed corners of the Trip Away Inn, a place where tales of the Great Old One were whispered between pints and lamplight. Each story fanned the embers of his obsession. Something ancient stirred beneath Astera's calm streets, and Morgrym intended to find it - or be consumed trying.
In a rain-slick alley, shadows twisted and Drakara emerged - as if the darkness itself had given her form. The Tinkers' Guild found her there, drenched and dazed, yet with eyes that gleamed like burning iron. They took her in, curious and cautious, unaware that destiny had just adopted one of its most unpredictable children.
Meanwhile, the bard Yotte strummed his lute beneath the golden lamps of the Trip Away Inn, chasing applause that never lasted. His songs told of heroes and monsters - unaware that soon, he would stand among them.
Then came Amber Bearskin, stumbling into Astera's square beneath a blood-red dawn. In her arms lay Rollo Moonrock, his armor shattered, his breath shallow - another victim of the orcish warbands sweeping across the countryside. The sight of them roused the town's alarm. Within hours, the mayor called the militia to arms.
Amber and Rollo were among the first to volunteer. They were placed in Platoon A, a strange fellowship bound by fate:
Together, they would march into the wilds - toward fire and shadow.
Amber remembered that the orcs that attacked her and Rollo did not seem to be wearing or have any identifyable tribal markers.
The Mayor explained that each militia team would be a given a map to follow, that would take them on a two week patrol. Team A's patrol woulds take them through 5 foot wide trails in the forest and up the mountain, before meeting up with the main road again at the Trip Away Inn. They would each be supplied with 14 days rations and paid 10 gp upfront. When they returned from the patrol, the Mayor of Astera would reward them each with an additional 40 gp.
Gimble and Himo slept in and missed going out on patrol with the rest of Team A.
On the first day of patrol, the bunch of random dudes stopped for lunch. They gave each other nicknames and learned they had a prankster among them as Drakara used her prestidigitation cantrip to make Rollo the halfling druid squeek with every step he takes while they were on patrol. Near the end of their meal, they were attacked by two large worgs. Rollo slowed their approach by entangling them. Even so, a worg with red fur chomped into Amber, dropping her from the fight. Fortunately her companions prevailed and healed her. They collected the worg pelts to sell later, while Amber took a worg skull as a trophy. Amber carried it all, proving that she was indeed, the Mule.
The Grimm annoyed his companions by insisting on travelling until it was dark while they were on patrol, instead of at the nice clearing by the big rock they arrived at around dinnertime which their map said "Camp Here". Instead, they pushed on, so the camp that night was not an ideal place to stop as four ghouls attacked them. The bunch of random dudes were able to defeat the undead monsters, eliminating another threat to travellers.
The second day was quiet, but on the third day, an owlbear attacked their camp. Fortunately, it had stepped on the hunting trap that Amber had laid out between the trail and their campsite, so the owlbear's mobility was limited, giving the bunch of random dudes a distinct advantage and allowed them to prevail against such a montrosity. Amber took a large owlbear feather as a trophy and tied it to her greataxe as decoration.
On the fourth day, they tracked down eight orc raiders and captured one, forcing him to take them to their base camp, where they recovered their ill-gotten loot and gear. The orc prisoner confessed that he and the others were outcasts from their tribe, kicked out for being cowards, so they were it. No more orcs were in the area attacking lone travellers. Amber proved once again she was the Mule and carried it all.
The fifth day was quiet, but an ogre attacked them the following night. By the seventh night, they were off the trail and back on the main road, right next to the Trip Away Inn and the Outdoor Market.
At the Trip Away Inn, Flip, the owner offered to the keep prisoner in the "special" backroom during their stay.
Once they arrived back in town, they took the orc prisoner to city guard and reported back to the Mayor. Amber returned to the Mayor of Astera all the small pieces of jewellry they found in the knott of the tree at the orc camp so that the Mayor could potentially identify the orc raiders victims. The Mayor directed them to his clerk to recieve the rest of their pay of 40 gp each. The clerk held his nose as he also provided them with a letter of mark for one night's rest at a local Inn, along with a coupon for a hot bath...with soap.
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