Kidnapped!

The halfling was one of a dozen sent running to gather the Scouts. She ran as quick as she could to reach the house in the woods north of the gate. She turned along the path, feet pounding the dirt of the trail. She didn’t know why Therrus Ironshod had sent her to this cabin in the woods, but she saw the boy she was sent to get.
Ivan spent every morning just before dawn splitting wood, then a half hour practicing with a bow. In the evenings, he split more wood and practiced with his sword while his dad taught him. The little halfling girl came running up the path behind him as he fired his third quiver. She could barely get the words out, but Ivan heard enough and began his own run towards town.
He arrived twenty minutes later at the Barracks. Rick, Bobo and Serifina were arriving as he came running up. Therrus was waiting outside, looking haggard and wearing his full armor.
“Last night a sizable group of kobolds entered the city. They grabbed two of your friends, the couple who got elected May princess and prince. We don’t know why they were taken, but they were targets. The kobolds thence stole a boat and headed up the river. Most of the guard is out dealing with some goblin attacks out by the farms, so we need you to find the kobolds. Once you know where they have taken you friends use this wand to send up a signal, and some of our rangers will come running.”
The scouts laid into arguing as they went to the docks, where a boat with some ponies was waiting. Ivan didn’t want to ride the pony, Serafina didn’t want to cross the river, Bobo just wanted to go back to bed. It took the better part of an hour to get them across the river and the horses off the boat. Once they got in the saddle, the young adventurers settled into a solid rhythm as they rode along the river. Ivan and Serafina searched the shoreline for signs of the boat while Rick and Bobo kept an eye on the woods.
After nearly five miles, they found where a boat had come ashore. The paw prints of kobolds readily apparent along the shore and some took off down a game trail. They stood arguing. Rick wanted to summon help thence, Ivan wanted to keep riding, but in the end they decided to follow the kobolds into the old forest. Ivan took lead and they followed the kobolds for hours.
As the afternoon settled in, the youths spent some time discovering they had lost the trail. They spent some time going back until they found the kobolds prints again. It was nearly four hours later when they found a hole with the tracks heading down into it. Serafina fired the magic flare into the darkening sky, hoping she had not led the rangers on a wild goose chase.
Bobo and Serafina used their arcane energy to make their staves glow, and the party went into the hole. It opened into a cavern, and they slowly made their way. Ivan and Rick explored with the magic users following behind. For hundreds of yards they found nothing but dead ends, or mud pits. After they had found a flat long corridor, Rick turned a corridor and faced a flurry of thrown spears.
Letting his chain take the brunt of the damage, Rick charged in into a small group of the dog like creatures, his sword glowing with the power of his faith. After a couple of wild swings, he dropped behind his shield. Serafina threw a cloud of daggers into the knotted group. Blades of mystic energy sprung to life, slicing a pair. Bobo threw a bolt of dimensional energy, striking a kobold towards the back. Ivan took a moment, summoned his concentration and fired an arrow into the heart of the kobold in front of Rick. Rick stepped to the side and struck a blow to one of the kobolds not in the fog of daggers. As she continued concentrating on the first spell, Serafina summoned a bolt of arcane energy and shot one of the kobolds caught in her spell. It fell to the ground lifeless. Bobo called on the energy from beyond this plane again and struck the kobold to the back.
That kobold issued a fierce growl, then mumbling. A bolt of red energy launched from it claw, narrowly missing Bobo. The other living kobold struck Rick, narrowly missing a hit from Ivan’s longbow. Serafina summoned the energy for another bolt, but it failed as it reached the pair. Rick shouts out to Bahamut, and swings through one of the kobolds, as Bobo opens a small hole between the dimensions in the other, biting a chunck out.
As the adrenaline starts to fade, they examine the room. They found a rope leading up into a hole, Serafina searched the dead kobolds and found dragon scales on them. Deep red scales from a young wyrm by the size.
As the party made it outside, they found themselves near an old road that ran towards the mining camp. Two riders came up the road, wearing the colors of the town’s rangers. The party relaxed as they prepared to make their report.

First meetings

Each year young adventurers eagerly await the chance to work as scouts for the Watch. This year was no different as Rick watched the other youths gather outside the Barracks. He was going to have to risk his life with them and was glad to see a diverse group gathering. Some he knew from when he learned how to read and write at Pelor’s temple, others he had only heard about through the adults in the market.

Therrus Ironshod called from across the room, “Go out there, Rick. I will be along as soon as I have a word with the Captain.”

Rick shouldered his weapon and went outside, the soft sound of his chainmail clicking as he exited. He knew Bobo (pronounced Bob-o) from the group of boys he spent his free time with. Oxzeldan was new to that group, but he too had come to wait for a mission as a Scout.

Bobo had come with Serefina. It only made sense since they both studied in the Dalefor’s Tower. Serefina had gone on to study there before Bobo, so Rick only half remembered her.

Harriet came running up with the afternoon sun behind her. And bowled into everyone in her boisterous way. As soon as she got there, the young squires fell quiet for a time. They were filled with the excitement of finally being allowed out on their own, but at the same time, they all knew the dangers that lurked outside the tall palisade that protected the town.

Therrus strode out of the Barracks and stopped on the last step outside the door. His red hair still bright, even though streaks of grey shot through his beard. Scars crossed his face from the many battles he had fought, and they shown white under the red and grey of his beard. He cleared his throat, and the youths all came over around him.

“I don’t want to brief you too much, so you should choose: shall you go north this night or to the south?”

The kids set to arguing as if a dam had burst. “South is warmer.” “It is straight into the woods to the north.” “South has the King’s Road.” As suddenly as they started, they fell quiet again. Serefina chimed in, “We want to go south.”

Therrus nodded and started speaking with his deep voice, “This past winter, someone abducted Vunoz Halbrok. We found tracks heading to the ice on the river, but lost them in the woods over there.”

All the scouts knew Vunoz. Before the midwinter festival, he would give small cookies fresh and warm from the oven to all the children. He was a brilliant baker, and had the kindest of dispositions. They had all seen his bakery sit dark, but no one would talk to them about it. Now they knew, he had been kidnapped.

“I want you to follow the road until you reach the old southern bridge. Cross into the woods, and have a look around. See if you can find anything, thence return by tomorrow.”

And like that, the scouts had their first mission. As they started to leave, a young human came running up to them as fast as he could. “Glad you could make it, Ivan,” Terrus chuckled. “Help these scouts once they get to the woods.”

As the small party headed out the gates a little bit later, Rick got everyone talking again. Rick had been studying to be a holy warrior for Bahamut, and though his prowess had been climbing, he missed the easy chatter of school friends. Ivan introduced himself to everyone, he studied woodcraft with his father in the northern woods and had been building a reputation for himself with his bow. Serefina and Bobo both started talking about their time in the tower, tho Bobo seemed more unsettled with his studies than Serefina. As Harriet started talking about her time in the Elvish compound learning how to tap into the primal forces, Ox felt worried. His training had been more quiet and required him to not share information.

As the sun set to the west, the troop reached and crossed the bridge. They took a short time to eat some dinner as they looked at the woods. The northern forests were peopled by lots of humans, halflings and elves. The elves guided the humans and halflings in their lumber operations, and had thus helped build a healthy forest that was well patrolled. This forest though, was dense with underbrush, and the trees were tightly packed. There was an air of menace as they entered a small path they found a ways upriver from the bridge.

Ivan led the group, as Serefina and Bobo used their magic to light their staves. Ivan followed deer paths, and found alod roads lost to the forest as the group passed deeper into the primordial forest. Ivan came up short as he found a second path, and with his keen eyes spotted the roof of a house against the moon. The party travelled up a low hillock to find a cabin atop it. The area was grown up with weeds, but cleared of the forest. A single light shone from a window, but other than that silence reigned.

“Where are the crickets and other bugs? “ Ivan whispered.

Ox stepped up, “Ivan follow me, and try to stay quiet.” The pair made their way the last forty feet up to the cabin window. Inside they saw a lone candle on a table in the room. They could hear movement, but could not see what lay inside. “I’ll check the back door, you head to the front.”

Ivan nodded and set off as quietly as he could towards the front of the lonely cabin. As he rounded the corner, staying to the shadows, he found the front collapsed with no way in.

Ox crept towards the back. He had just started to lean around the corner when he saw it. The woman stood nearly seven feet tall, he frame gaunt, skin taut and greyish in the moonlight. Her hair was unkempt, a mass of knots. Under one arm was a large sack, her other arm twitched as she looked about. She set off towards the woodline at a speed Ox had never seen before. He shivered as he watched her unnatural progression. He heard the rest of the party approaching behind him, and he felt assured in their presence.

As the group approached, they heard a clamor from the building, and two figures emerged. One was an orc, but even from twenty feet away, the young adventurers could tell it had died and been brought back. The other was a skeleton, moving with supernatural surety.

Ox struck first, running at the zombie he jabbed with his short sword. The strike was true and cleaved through the zombie’s leg, staggering it. Bobo had been summoning up the extradimensional power he had been training with for the past year, and unleashed it in a burst of light and sound. The ball of eldritch energy struck the zombie and it fell to the ground. Ivan rounded the corner and fired an arrow at the skeleton, but it missed. The skeleton turned towards Ox and jabbed at him with a long spear. Ox saw the hit coming and let the spear shoot just past him. Serefina had recognized the undead and knew her most powerful spell would have no effect. She called up her arcane focus and shot the skeleton with a burst of light and force. The skeleton staggered and its spear arm fell off.

The corpse of a dwarf staggered out and drew an ax, but no sooner had it stepped outside than Rick summoned Bahamut’s power into his sword. The strike was glancing, but the holy power disrupted the necrotic energy animating the creature and it fell limp to the ground. Harriet leapt around Rick, transforming her body into that of a wolf, and bounded in a pounce on the skeleton. Between the weight and the snapping jaws, the energy animating the skeleton came apart and the undead were put to rest. Slowly the sounds of the forest come back to life.

Ox immediately set to checking the doorway, and the party marveled at their fortune and once Ox called the clear, they set to searching the cabin. As they searched around the kitchen, they found this to be where the most activity was. In the pantry area, a bag had obviously been taken from the shapes left in the dust. Two more bags remained, holding flour.

Harriet stared at the bags, “I bet that...thing has kidnapped the baker.”

“But why? Why would some creature risk coming into town and kidnapping them?” Rick offered.

They all started speaking at once trying to work it out. Finally they decided it would be best to return to town and report what they had discovered. As they filed out of the decrepit cabin, Rick and Harriet noticed a pair of yellow eyes staring at them from the far edge of the woods. As the party prepares to rush, the sounds begin to die away again. Many more sets of those eyes begin to open and appear in the woods, malice roiled from those stares. The young adventures began to run, returning to the river; the silence and those eyes following their reckless journey. Not until they had crossed the bridge, did the night return to its noisome normality.

Our story has a beginning...

Our story before we begin.

Varlot's Town was founded nearly a hundred years ago. A massive orc horde had swept down from the mountains threatening the Realm of High King Varian. The king sent out a thousand Knights of the Stone to slow the horde while the kingdom readied its defenses. The knights left their varlots to hold the supplies and guard the river expecting the orcs to focus on the main roads. An orcish fleet of river boats attack the young squires, out numbering them at five to one. These young warriors fought smart using their wits and daring to defend the river and surrounding farms for seven days. When the knights returned, they dedicated the battle to Bahamut and built a keep and temple, establishing the town so that none would forget the young fighter's bravery.

With large farms to the east, rich timber camps to the north, and mining camps at the origins of the river in the mountains, Varlot's Town has grown into a bustling frontier town. The many peaceful races mingle freely inside the pallisade. Human and halfling artisans work in the markets trading their wares while living in the Commons nearby. A gnomish factory has been built with housing for gnomes and dwarves processing the bountiful mines upriver. The elves established a conclave with fey spirits and guide the townsfolk in harvesting lumber from the forests allowing the town access and helping build a healthier forest. A council of seven oversees the day to day running of the town with a mayor elected to lead them. A veteran watch of twenty protects the town and oversees the protection of caravans. Ever since the town was founded, it has trained adventurers. Trained by the watch, during the summer months young adventurers are used out scouts to explore the deep forests and gather the information to keep the town prepared and safe.

Map of Varlot's Town

The Lands around Varlot's Town