Pathfinder: The Trio: Side quest

(Author’s note: you should probably read the previous stories first)

It was a new morning in the large town of Fiddler’s Vale, and three recent arrivals debate their next move.

Goruza, Emerald, and their new friend Milah sat at a small table in the dining area of the inn they had come to the night before, talking as they ate breakfast.

Emerald asked Milah, “You’ve been in this town, where do we go for help in rescuing Besh?”

“Well, since it was apparently a very powerful sorcerer who took her, we need magical help. There is a Wizard’s quarter as they call it, not far from here. That might be a good place to start.” Milah replied.

“You dont have to come with us.” Goruza said to Milah.

“As I said, I now have an issue with the sorcerer who kidnapped your friend. If I can cause him some inconvenience, I will, and if I can help save your friend in the process so much the better.” Milah replied.

Plans made and breakfast finished, the three left the inn and began to explore the town proper. As they headed for the Wizard’s Quarter. Milah told the other two that reputable wizards and other magic users had formed a Mage Guild, and they should seek one of them.

“What does the guild do?” asked Emerald.

“Among other things, guild members have a special ward set on their workplaces. It protects potential clients from charm and hypnosis spells, so you can feel sure you arent going to agree to something you might regret.” Milah stated.

“That’s quite ... impressive” Emerald said.

“Just good business.” Milah replied.

The three of them walked through the city for a while, then suddenly, Milah whispered “We are being followed. At least two people.”

“Shall we find a quiet spot to turn the tables on them?” Emerald whispered back.

Goruza grinned and said in a surprisingly quiet voice, “Sounds good to me.”

The three hurried around a corner and went into a side alley, and then turned, waiting.

Three men turned the corner, and stopped, suddenly realizing their prey was not going to be taken by surprise. Despite this, the three attacked.

“Chord of shards!” Emerald shouted, and magical shards flew out and struck the three men. Before they could recover, Goruza barrelled into them, knocking one down.

With that, Emerald and Milah also came forward to engage the trio of thugs. They (and Goruza) were at a disadvantage because they were trying to use non-lethal means of fighting, while their foes were trying their best to kill, but despite that, within a couple of minutes all three of the thugs were unconscious. Goruza had been bruised by several blows from a sap, Milah had suffered a cut from a sword thrust in the arm, and Emerald had taken a crossbow bolt to her left leg, but during their search of their foes they found a trio of healing potions, which restored all of them to full health. Milah then asked the other two to watch their foes while she ran for the town guardsmen, and not long after the thugs were in custody and a reward was split among the three heroes.

Once the unpleasantness was over, the trio continued to the Wizard’s quarter. Once there, Emerald asked Milah, “Any suggestions?”

“When I was last in town, a wizard named Kevdak helped me get out of a jam. He’s powerful, and reliable. The only thing is, he’ll almost certainly ask us to perform a quest for him in exchange for his help.”

“I would hate to leave Besh in the hands of that sorcerer any longer than we had to. Should we try someone else?” Goruza asked.

Milah shook her head, and said, “I dont think it would matter. Most wizards powerful enough to help us wouldn’t need gold, or anything else we might have on us, and would demand some kind of favor or quest in exchange for their help, and he’s at least not likely to ask us for something beyond our abilities.”

The three got to the Wizard’s Quarter, and Goruza and Emerald discovered that Kevdak had set up a tent like structure that was attached to a large house.

They also discovered they weren’t the only ones who seemed to be wanting the wizard’s help - or maybe they were acting as guards ...

There was a woman dressed in the robes of a high priestess of a local temple, and beside her was a young looking half-elf dressed in studded leather armor and with a longsword on her hip.

The priestess introduced herself to the trio, saying “I am Arwen Kari, priestess of Mitra. This is Tamarie Taarpa a Magus who works for our temple. May I ask who you are, and what you want with Kevadak?”

Goruza, Emerald, and Milah introduced themselves, and Milah said, “We have a friend who has been taken prisoner by a sorcerer. We are seeking magical assistance to rescue her.”

Arwen looked shocked, and then said, “Please come inside. Believe it or not, we’ve been ... expecting you.”

Once inside, Arwen introduced the trio to Kevadak, saying “I believe these are the three people my goddess sent me here to find.”

“Please, tell us your story” Kevadak said to the three.

Emerald told of how Milah had come to their aid, but how they had been unable to prevent the sorcerer from taking their friend Besh.

“That corresponds to what you told me to expect, Arwen.” Kavadak said.

“What do you mean?” asked Emerald.

“Here, let my goddess explain.” Arwen said, and began to chanting.

The room darkened, and then a woman was standing in front of them.

Afterward, each of the people present would describe her as beautiful, but each would also describe her very differently.

She said, “I know what Emerald and Goruza seek, and I can help them achieve it, if they are willing to do a service for me.”

Emerald asked, “What would you do to help us, and what do you want from us in return?”

Mitra replied, “A party of adventurers just left this town to deal with the bandits the sorcerer employs. I will aid them, and they will find and rescue your friend. In exchange, I want the two of you to retrieve an artifact that was stolen from my temple last year.”

“What artifact?” Goruza asked.

“A sword. It was a gift to me from one of the gods of war, but one of his worshipers apparently tried to retrieve it for him. Before he could be stopped, he went into the mountains nearby. There he apparently found an abandoned temple to his god with a underground complex beneath it, and unfortunately, died at the hands of the great troll who had moved into the complex. The sword is there. Will you attempt to retrieve it for me?”

“My Lady, by ourselves, we would be unlikely to succeed.” Emerald replied.

“Not by yourselves. I will go with you, if the Goddess and you two ladies approve” Tamarie said, “I owe your priestess here a debt, and my skills as a Magus would come in handy.”

“I will go with you as well.” Milah stated,” It sounds like an excellent adventure.”

“Of course the two of you may go. If Emerald and Goruza agree.” the Goddess said.

Emerald looked at Goruza, who nodded, and then she said, “We will go, the four of us then.”

The Goddess smiled, and said, “So be it.” Then she vanished.

Arwen then said, “in the Name of my Goddess, let me help you. Let us go to the market, and get whatever supplies you will need for your trip.”

They all said goodbye to Kevadak, and went to the market. There, they were able to find a horse to help Champ in carrying their supplies. They named the horse Star, because it had a star shaped mark on its forehead, and the seller promised them that the horse had been bought from mountain people, so was sure-footed, and also trained to defend itself and its owner.

Tp Goruza’s surprise and the other’s amusement, the horse almost immediately picked her out for special affection.

To the horse they added some additional supplies; A pack saddle, a large tent with fur lining, some extra blankets, a set of cold weather clothing for each of them plus a set each of cold weather covers for Champ and Star, a couple of extra waterskins, and some elven-cakes that would do for the animals should there be nothing for them to graze on.

Arwen also gave them a map that would take them from the city to the mountain where the temple was, and a scroll which had the druid spell communal endure elements on it with 3 uses.

Once they were set, they said goodbye to Arwen, and made their way to the gates. They went to the riverbank, planning to follow the river upstream for some distance. They passed a small dock where some fishermen were unloading their catch, and as they passed, one of the fishermen told them they should be cautious upstream, as there had been reports of some mounds which were possibly the work of giant ant lions.

Sure enough, just before noon they spotted a circular depression in the sand beside the river, and Milah suggested that if they could dig a small path from the river, they could divert enough water to fill the depression, and force the creature beneath it out, if indeed it was still there.

Emerald had a small shovel in the pack that Champ carried, and Goruza quickly turned a tree branch into a workable tool, and since the ground next to the river was soft sand, soon enough they had a good sized diversion headed straight for the mound, and then they pushed the lip of the mound aside, and the water began to fill the space.

As soon as the water began pouring into the sandtrap, the beast within was forced to the surface, and the four adventurers were able to attack. The antlion was large, and strong, but its own sand trap, which was filling with water, prevented it from quickly being able to retaliate against the four, and eventually, Tamarie called on her Magus ability to channel spells through her sword, and sent a jolt of electricity through the insect, killing it.

The four adventurers then moved a short distance away from the remains, and ate a quick lunch and had a short rest before carrying on upstream. Within a mile, they saw two more mounds, but decided they were too far back from the river to be able to use the same trick, so they instead cut down some nearby branches and created a couple of warning signs to prevent any unwary travelers from falling prey to the creatures, and resolved that should they succeed in their quest and return, they would inform the fishermen of where the creatures had placed their traps.

With that task done, they continued upstream, focused on their quest - and their captive friend ...

To be continued ...