Quest Accepted, page 23
Knee fully healed, the giant scanned the area and saw his friend lying unmoving on the ground. His eyes stopped on his fallen brethren, tears welled in his eyes.
“Oh no…” the giant said quietly. “That…is my best friend, Deallan.” Pausing for a moment to gather himself before he continued. “We were just out gathering building materials…Next thing I know, this.”
He walked over and sat close to the slain giant. He placed his hands on the back of Deallan’s head and started whispering something that Evan was unable to understand. After a few moments, the fallen giant began to glow bright white. Slowly, the once dead giant’s body moved with returning breath.
“Woah,” Cami blurted out while watching the scene unfold in front of her. “That’s wild.”
The giant lying facedown was now taking deeper breaths. Loud groans began to rise up. Placing his hands underneath his hulking body, he pushed himself up to a kneeling position. He was completely pale-faced. He looked absolutely terrified, and like the other giant, seemed to be unaware of what had just occurred. The two giants talked in hushed tones, and after a few moments the first giant spoke up.
“Daellan would like to ask for your forgiveness for anything he may have done, and is hoping you will grant him free passage back to Stormhelm. He would like to check on his family.”
“What about you?” Holcash stepped forward and asked, scaly hand still clutching a knife.
“Me? I have not seen my family in over 80 years. I am not in a rush to go back. I would like to offer my help,” the now friendly looking giant replied.
Creswell flew close to Deallan. With a quick cast of a brilliant spell, he replenished his health. The giant nodded a slow thanks, turned, and headed off in the direction of Windchill Village. Holcash and Ganrol watched cautiously, clearly not agreeing with the choice to let him go.
“Thank you, kind travelers,” the friendly giant said in a deep gentle voice. “The debt I owe you will not be forgotten.”
Evan inspected the seated giant.
Lincovesarian
Level 4
Hill Giant
Builder
200/200 HP
“You’re a builder?” Evan asked, surprised. He was intrigued since he thought the giant was going to be some sort of healer after he revived his friend.
“Ah yes, dwarf. I have been a builder for nearly 150 years. I helped build the great giant city of Stormhelm,” he responded, slowly rising to his feet.
“What was that healing spell?”
“Giant Light. Giants are able to revive other giants if they should die. Unfortunately, it only works on other giants, and I will not be able to use it for two days now.
Holcash and Ganrol stood to the side, Ganrol with his hand on a boulder, and Holcash with his knives at the ready. Still not trusting the giant.
“My name is Lincovesarian, you can call me Linc. I want to thank you for sparing my life and that of my good friend.” Pausing for a moment to look at the group, he pointed down the path toward Helmere. “I do believe you may need my help if you are going to keep heading in that direction.”
Quest Updated:
Help the Archive to defeat the darkness
Linc has agreed to help you in your quest to defeat the darkness.
Do you accept his help?
Note: Linc has been corrupted by the darkness. There is a chance that if the darkness reaches Linc, he will once again do its bidding.
You have earned: 700 XP!
Evan thought about it for a moment and then made his decision. Linc should tag along. They could use the extra muscle, and he was willing to take the risk.
Evan reached out his hand toward the giant. “Glad to have you on our side.”
Linc grabbed Evan’s hand in his large one and shook it firmly before standing. The giant towered over the others, even Ganrol. Placing his hands on his hips, he stretched from side to side. Large cracks released from the giant’s huge back.
“All right then. Shall we?” Evan said while motioning for the others to join him. They headed down the path toward Helmere, the sky growing ever darker.
Evan didn’t think he could’ve made this up if he tried. So many different personalities and backgrounds, all fighting together toward a common goal. Ruelle had affected each and every one of them in some way.
They brought the horses back and hooked them up to the cart. It had taken a beating from the vallin, but was still solid. Evan had the others load the cart with a few surrounding boulders to serve as ammo for Linc.
The remaining daylight was almost blotted out and the deep red streaks in the clouds bathed the surrounding trees with an eerie glow.
Evan noticed something up ahead in the distance. “I saw that before. What is that over there?” Evan asked the others pointing at a crumbling tower.
“Cambria Keep,” Linc replied. The keep stood, but barely. The flames dying down.
Creswell flitted from Cami back to Evan, landing on his nose and lighting up erratically.
“It doesn’t look good, does it,” Evan said quietly, understanding how much Creswell had to be freaking out. This was where they were supposed to find Robere, and turn Creswell back to a gnome.
They rolled the cart to the keep’s main gate and everyone jumped out. Ganrol and Holcash took up guard positions on either side of the road. Evan walked cautiously up to the keep’s hulking metal gate. It had been ripped wide open, the hinges cracked apart.
A new notification appeared:
Discovered: Cambria Keep
You have earned: 200 XP!
Quest updated:
Help the Archive defeat the darkness.
It appears that there has been an attack on Cambria Keep. Search for any survivors and clues to what may have happened.
Reward: Unknown
Difficulty: Hard
Experience: Unknown
Walking to the keep and entering through an opening where a door once stood, Evan saw scattered chairs and broken bottles. He scanned the room finding some half-created elixirs and strewn ingredients in a nook off the main room. It looked as if someone was in a hurry to leave and was haphazardly collecting as much as possible before they left.
He wound his way up the curved staircase to the first level, which opened into a small loft. The loft was in a similar state of disarray as that of the main floor. Papers and clothes were strewn about. A small bed stood unmade with blankets falling messily on the floor.
As he moved to the end of the bed he spotted a small footlocker. Creswell climbed onto Evan’s nose, trying to communicate with him. Evan shooed the bug and watched as he flew away, landing on the edge of the bed.
Bending down, Evan inspected the footlocker. As he touched the metal of the lock, he was thrown violently into the wall across the room. He landed at the top of the stairs, trying to catch his breath. It hurt. Bad. He took a look at his health bar and noticed he had lost over a third of his health with that little flying act.
Cami peeked her head over from the bottom of the stairs. “You ok?” she called out after hearing the thud.
“Yep! Good!” Evan quickly responded, face flush with embarrassment.
He walked back to the footlocker knowing it must hold something worthwhile for it to have a trap attached. Picking up a scrap of wood that had splintered off the bed, he tossed it over to the footlocker. It landed on top of the box with a thud. Nothing happened.
He hesitated slightly as he approached once again. Looking around he made sure no one was watching before he reached down. He cautiously grabbed the lock. It was relatively small and lightweight. Evan gave it a quick tug in attempting to open it.
He grabbed his hammer, thinking it would only take one strike to break it open. He raised Vitality and swung at the lock. As the hammer made contact, a giant ball of flame rushed at him, engulfing his face. The smell of burning hair made him nauseous.
He heard laughter but he could not see where it was coming from. A few seconds later, Cami removed her stealth, still laughing uncontrollably.
“Evan! Your beard!” she said through tears of laughter. “You’re on fire!”
Evan caught his reflection in a broken mirror across the room. She was right, his beard was on fire. He ran over to Cami. “Put me out, put me out!” he said in a panic.
Cami grabbed a bowl in the corner of the room that was about half full of water and threw it in his face.
“Thanks,” Evan said through the dripping water.
“Why didn’t you just call me up? You know I am a rogue, don’t you? I may have opened one or two of these before.”
“Oh. Sorry, I didn’t even think about that. Can you open it?” Evan asked, with a little too much excitement.
Cami crouched and inspected the footlocker. She pulled a small tool out of her belt that looked like a dentist’s pick, and her hands worked feverishly. Within a few seconds, there was a small click.
Evan stood next to Cami. They smiled at each other and focused on the footlocker.
Evan flipped open the lid, bracing himself. Nothing happened.
A pale purple glow came from within, illuminating a couple of scattered items. Evan reached in and grabbed the first item. He thought it looked awesome.
Exquisite Dagger of the Wolf
Damage: 15-25 HP
Quality: Rare
Chance on strike to inflict disease, rabies. Slows target by 40% for three seconds.
Evan watched as Cami’s face lit with excitement.
“Cami, I think I’m going to go ahead and hold on to this one,” Evan said with a serious tone.
The shocked look on her face made him feel a little better after she had given him such a hard time about catching his beard on fire. He pretended to search for a spot on his waistline to store the dagger.
Cami watched him with a scowl. Evan glanced up at her. “What? I’ve been looking for a good dagger.” She remained silent and turned around, hiding her disappointment.
Evan felt he had messed with her long enough. He stood quietly and tapped her on the shoulder. He held out the dagger as Cami turned around. She grinned and turned a shade of bright crimson as she quickly swiped the dagger out of his hands.
As she inspected her new dagger, Evan felt genuinely happy. It felt great to actually do something to help. There had been so much sadness lately, it was nice to see a smile. Evan returned to the footlocker, hoping to find something for himself.
Reaching in, he grasped something very solid and heavy. He pulled it out and stared at it for a moment.
Great Helm of the Warrior
Strength: +2
Constitution: +2
Special Ability
Warrior Focus: Grants wearer increased focus, resulting in an occasional additional attack.
35 AC
Evan laughed. It was as if the game had specially tailored this item to him. He wasn’t going to complain about the increased focus though, he’d take all he could get.
It looked uncomfortable, but as Evan placed the helm on his head, he was amazed to see how nicely it fit. The helm covered most of his head, with his mouth and beard showing at the bottom. His ice-blue eyes peered from two fierce-looking holes.
Evan ran his hands along the side of the helm, feeling the intricate details running along its surface. Giving it an adjustment, he took a deep breath and swore it felt as if the party in his brain had just calmed. Wow, is this what it feels like for everyone else? He surveyed the rest of the room one last time.
Cami walked over to Evan, reached up, and knocked on the helm a couple of times. “You in there?” she asked playfully. “Looks good.”
Evan smiled but turned serious as he looked back down, noticing that there was one thing remaining in the footlocker. A small folded piece of paper lay in the middle of the footlocker. He opened it and saw three words written hastily across the paper.
Helmere.
Ruelle.
-Robere
Evan showed the note to Cami, who responded with raised eyebrows.
He dropped the note and received a quest update:
Quest Update:
To Cambria Keep!
You have earned: 500 XP!
According to Robere’s note, Ruelle is headed to Helmere. Head to Helmere to find Robere.
Do you accept this quest?
Reward: Unknown
Difficulty: Unknown
Experience: Unknown
They hurried out of the ruined keep and informed the rest of the party. They loaded back into the cart and headed down the road. As they left the keep, dark red streaks smoldered across the crumbled walls, spreading with each minute, slowly covering the remains in a shadowy red glow.
After around twenty minutes the path widened, opening to a clearing atop a large hill. A breathtaking city came into view. The sea behind it acted as a natural barrier on the far side. Reaching from the sea and wrapping around the city’s walls, in a giant U-shape, lay a brightly glowing trench. It was a stark contrast from the darkening sky and landscape.
From this distance, they could see the outlines of the huge walls surrounding the city. Inside the walls, a border was created by hundreds of houses and shops. A great spired castle with four towers stood alone in the center of it all.
A dark pillar of smoke rose from one of the towers. Working their way closer, they stuck to the edge of the dwindling forest. On their right, the tree line cut away sharply leaving a huge open area, devoid of cover.
Cami pointed to the glowing trench. “Yar’nel Trench. It looks stunning, but don’t let that fool you. That’s deadlier than anything we’ll find in that castle.”
They worked their way closer. Guarding the main gate, they spotted a large group of vallin snarling and growling fiercely. Evan swore he could hear the sickening clicking sound of their razor teeth gnashing furiously.
“How are we going to get in without getting swarmed by vallin?” Cami inquired.
Evan studied the castle for a moment. As he spotted three large boulders on their side of the trench he had an idea.
“We go over the trench,” he responded matter of factly.
Holcash and Ganrol exchanged worried looks, while Linc stood with his hands on his hips, staring out at the trench.
“We what?!” Cami responded emphatically.
Evan turned and gave Cami a quick smirk. He moved to stand next to Linc.
Finalizing his plan, Evan crouched by the tree. They were going to have to move fast in order to not be seen. This might actually work, he thought as a smile crept onto his face.
With his new helm and increased focus, his creativity was in full force. It was the first time in a long time that he felt he was making his own decisions, instead of relying on someone or something else to make them for him.
Gathering everyone around he drew a diagram in the dirt with Vitality. “We are going to jump it.”
Evan watched as everyone exchanged worried looks, and returned to his diagram. “Here are the boulders. Linc and I will go first and set up the ramp. Linc, are you able to carry two trees?” The giant nodded in confirmation. “We are going to use the momentum of the cart to take us over the trench.”
“You’ve lost your mind,” Cami said, wide-eyed.
“Please trust me. We are not going to be able to go through the front. Look there.” Evan pointed to a darkened area of the walls beyond the trench. “It’s unguarded, if we can get there we can take them by surprise. It is so dark they will not be able to see us until we get closer to the trench.”
Cami threw her arms in the air. “You better not get us killed!”
Evan motioned for Ganrol to move the cart closer to the edge of the trees. Once there, Evan unhitched the two large stallions and with a slap on their hindquarters, sent them on their way back toward Firestone Mill. Evan was surprised that worked. Usually animals do everything in their power not to listen to him.
After a few steps the horses stopped. Ah, there we go, Evan thought, shaking his head. The horses stood completely still. Cami walked over and whispered in their ears. They shook their snow-white manes and continued. She turned around, giving Evan a sly smile and took up her place again next to Holcash.
The cart was still packed full of boulders from earlier. Evan motioned for everyone to climb aboard. Looking slightly suspicious, they abided. Holcash and Ganrol sat in the front, with Cami in the back. The cart’s wheels creaked under the added weight.
Evan motioned for Linc to follow him into the forest. Linc pushed multiple trees over as he attempted to keep up with Evan. Ducking around branches and stepping through overgrown bushes they reached two fallen trees laying side by side.
“Do you think you can carry those for us?” Evan whispered, pointing at the large trees.
“Not a problem. I’m a builder, remember?” Linc responded, flexing his muscles comically as he sized up the trees.
Evan knocked off branches with his hammer. Once cleared, Linc bent down as if competing in a weight lifting challenge, grabbing both trees in his arms and swinging them up over his left shoulder.
Evan watched in amazement. Taking a few steps forward, the giant’s pants began to slide down. Holding the trees with one arm on his shoulder, he grabbed his oversized, sagging pants with the other, an embarrassed smile on his face.
When they returned, Evan led Ember and Eggz back to the front of the cart. Grabbing the reins, he instructed the mounts to clamp down on them with their mouths.
Evan walked to the front of the group. “Ok, everyone ready?”
“This isn’t going to work.” Holcash said skeptically, leaning cautiously toward the edge of the cart, as if he were ready to bail at any minute.
Ganrol looked over to Holcash, shrugging his enormous shoulders and motioned for Holcash to wait.
Creswell landed on Eggz’s head. Blinking wildly, he either thought that this was a good plan, or an absolutely horrible plan.
“Ok, hold on!” Evan said, a large smile on his face.
Climbing onto the giant’s huge foot, he steadied himself. Wrapping his short arms as far as he could around Linc’s shin, he took a deep breath.
