A chronicle of the adventurers of Fornost, October 25–30.
There are tales of great heroes who set forth to challenge ancient evils, restore fallen kingdoms, and bring light to the darkest corners of the world.
This is not quite one of those tales.
For this tale begins with three wolf pups, a handful of hired swords, and a rather unfortunate horse named Fred.
Part I: The Wolves of Fornost
In the waning hours of an autumn afternoon, a company of adventurers departed the town of Fornost, bound for a wolf den hidden deep within the surrounding woods.
Their purpose was simple enough: capture the young wolves and sell them for coin. It was, by all appearances, a modest undertaking. Yet those who have wandered long upon the roads of this world know that modest undertakings have a peculiar habit of becoming anything but.
Among the company rode Sigurd, a formidable warrior whose great strength was matched only by his enthusiasm for danger. Beside him traveled his faithful war dog and the mercenary Karl. There was also Alok, a ranger well acquainted with the wilderness, and Sulde, a cleric whose talents and inclinations were somewhat less predictable.
Two mounted crossbowmen joined the expedition, having survived an earlier adventure in the company's service. Their confidence in these adventurers had evidently survived as well, though one would soon have cause to reconsider.
By evening, the party reached the familiar gully where Alok had once laid traps for wolves. The ranger crept ahead to survey the den, hoping to repeat his earlier success.
But fate, that most mischievous of companions, had other plans.
As Alok approached the ridge, he stumbled, scattering his belongings across the ground. Before he could recover, a wolf sprang from the undergrowth.
Steel was drawn. Sigurd charged with his hound, and the beast was quickly slain.
Yet the forest had not finished with them.
Two more wolves burst from cover and fell upon the horses below. In the confusion, one of the animals was struck down. Its name was Fred, and its rider grieved bitterly for him. Sigurd offered to purchase another horse, but the man wanted no replacement.
For friendship, even between man and beast, is not so easily measured in gold.
It was then that Sulde revealed the true nature of a curious golden ring he had acquired on an earlier adventure. Having paid a considerable sum to a learned man for its identification, he had discovered that the ring possessed the power to command the minds of mammals.
And so, with the wolves still feasting upon their fallen quarry, Sulde bent their wills to his own.
At his command, the beasts ceased their attack and rolled upon the ground like obedient puppies.
The fighting was over.
With the wolves under his power, Sulde led the company to the den, where three young pups were discovered. The little creatures were gathered into sacks, while the company searched the dark hollow for treasure. They found only bones, dirt, and the remnants of lives already consumed.
As for the two adult wolves, Sulde considered whether they might be tamed. But the ways of wild beasts are not easily changed, and such an undertaking promised years of uncertain labor.
He chose a swifter solution.
The wolves were commanded to destroy one another.
It was an efficient end, though not one upon which all companions looked with equal approval.
That night, the company camped upon the ridge. And when the darkness began to yield to morning, a mournful howl rose from the forest.
Other wolves had returned.
They found their den emptied, their kin slain, and their young taken.
The adventurers searched the trees but saw nothing. Still, as they made their way toward Fornost, the distant howling followed them through the woods.
By morning they had returned to town, where the three pups were sold to a dog breeder for thirty gold pieces. The wolf pelts brought a little more.
A modest profit, one might say.
Though Fred, had he been capable of expressing an opinion, might have disputed the accounting.
Part II: Seven Rats and Eight Dwarves
With their wolf-hunting venture concluded, the company turned its attention to a matter of greater consequence.
Word had reached them of dwarven miners operating in secret beneath the lands of Lord Guthrie. Gold was being taken from the earth without the lord's permission, and there were whispers of a kingdom in the northwestern mountains whose agents had established hidden outposts.
Sigurd and Sulde entertained a bold idea.
Why merely uncover the mines when one might—seize—the operation itself?!
They resolved to seek miners and men capable of working the excavations once the intruders had been driven out.
And so began what should have been an uneventful search through the streets of Fornost.
It did not remain uneventful for long.
Down a narrow alley, the party encountered seven giant rats—each nearly the size of a small dog. The creatures were feeding upon the refuse of the town, bothering no one in particular.
Sulde, however, saw opportunity.
With his enchanted ring, he seized control of all seven beasts. Thus did the company proceed through the streets of Fornost accompanied by a most unusual procession.
Before long, they encountered eight rough-looking fellows armed with clubs and daggers.
The strangers demanded the party's money and warned them to remove their peculiar pets.
The adventurers declined.
It was then discovered that the would-be robbers were—dwarves!
Battle erupted in the alley!
Sigurd and Karl fought with steel, while Sulde unleashed his rats upon the attackers. Small though they were, the creatures swarmed the dwarves, biting at their ankles and leaping upon their faces. Several rats perished in the struggle, but their interference proved useful.
As the dwarves began to retreat, Sigurd seized one of them and hurled him bodily back toward his companions, knocking the fellow unconscious.
Alok, attempting a similar capture, found himself caught in a dwarven bear hug. Yet he escaped the embrace, and the company pressed its advantage.
When the fighting ended, three dwarves lay dead, three had been taken prisoner, and two had escaped.
The captives were questioned about the illegal mining operations.
One admitted that the kingdom in the northwestern mountains had indeed been sending miners and appraisers into Guthrie's territory. Supplies moved secretly to their outposts, and the trade was apparently well known among dwarves in the region.
Here, at last, was something more substantial than rumor.
Unfortunately, the town guard arrived to find the adventurers standing beside several corpses, searching their pockets.
Explanations were required.
There followed many hours of questioning, paperwork, and the dull machinery of civilized justice.
Eventually, the company was released, and the prisoners remained in custody. Sigurd brought news of their discoveries to Lord Guthrie.
The lord was less impressed by the capture of street ruffians than by the possibility of finally striking at the illicit mining operations.
He agreed to lend the company a spearman for their next expedition.
Thus, armed with fresh evidence, an additional soldier, and a somewhat diminished collection of rats, the adventurers prepared to return to the burial mound of Yarbon.
Part III: Beneath Yarbon's Mound
On the twenty-ninth day of October, the company traveled once more into the wilderness.
Their path carried them through open grasslands and into the blackened remains of a forest that had suffered a great fire. Beyond the burned trees stood Yarbon's burial mound, a vast earthen monument whose ancient silence had been disturbed by excavation.
There, beneath the hill, lay passages of worked stone, forgotten chambers, and the workings of secret miners.
Theophrastus, a gnome skilled in the arts of thievery, joined the company, while the mounted crossbowmen remained above to guard their supplies.
The others descended into the darkness.
Their first discovery was an unsettling one.
A chamber they had visited before was now locked, and when its door was forced open, two shambling corpses lurched forward to strike Sigurd.
Their blows failed to find him.
Sulde raised his unholy power against the undead, and the creatures fell under its influence, wandering aimlessly about the chamber.
Yet something was amiss.
The room had changed since the company's previous visit. A wooden table and chairs had appeared, and an empty drinking glass lay upon the table.
Someone had been here.
Someone living, perhaps, who held little fear of the dead.
The adventurers chose not to linger.
Instead, they passed deeper into the mound, through a hidden stone entrance opened by a chain and pulley.
Beyond lay an extensive network of mining tunnels. Sigurd employed a magical wand capable of detecting precious metals, and the company found faint traces of gold within the stone.
They also discovered a great shaft descending into darkness, with a wooden lifting platform suspended above it.
From far below came indistinct sounds, as though tools were striking against the earth.
Whatever work had been done in these tunnels, it seemed the miners had not finished.
Beyond the great lifting shaft, the adventurers found a small chamber containing four boarded holes in the floor.
In one corner lay a weathered leather case.
Sigurd retrieved it, and from within drew a faded parchment.
It was a treasure map.
Upon examining its markings, the company realized that it pointed not to the mines beneath their feet, but to a mountain west of Oroth's fortress. There, on the mountain's far side, a hidden treasure was said to lie buried within a deep crevice.
A new mystery had been placed before them.
But for the moment, their attention returned to the holes in the floor.
Three were narrow shafts. The fourth was wide enough for a man to descend, and an iron ring beside it suggested that ropes had once been fastened there.
Sigurd cast a burning torch into the darkness.
It fell some forty feet before a terrible screech rose from below. In the flickering light, a long black leg passed across the shaft.
The company considered its options.
Then came the fire.
A flask of burning oil was hurled into the pit. Flame roared upward, scorching the air and destroying the webs below. The hideous screeching grew louder, then faded.
Believing the danger reduced, the adventurers lowered Alok into the shaft to investigate.
He discovered the charred remains of large spiders and the ruined webbing of their nest.
But not all the creatures had perished.
Several surviving spiders crawled along the walls toward the dangling ranger. His companions hauled him upward, yet not before one beast struck and sank its venom into his flesh.
The poison was weak, but insidious. It would sap his strength slowly as time passed.
Alok survived the bite, though the danger of remaining beneath the earth had grown considerably.
The company debated whether to retreat immediately.
And, as so often happens when treasure and curiosity are involved, they decided to examine just one more chamber.
Part IV: The Dwarves and Their Gold
The chamber held precisely the sort of company they had come to find.
Six dwarves stood within: three miners bearing heavy pickaxes, and three armed guards. Two of the guards carried a large chest.
Both parties saw one another.
There would be no ambush, no easy concealment, and little opportunity for misunderstanding.
Sigurd and his companions attacked.
Bolts and arrows flew through the chamber as the warriors closed the distance. Their dogs leapt upon the miners, and in the first rush of combat all three fell.
The guards, enraged by the deaths of their companions, abandoned their burden and drew their swords.
The battle grew fierce.
One dog suffered a grievous wound. Sigurd himself was struck, and in the confusion Sulde's curse fell not upon the enemy alone, but upon Alok's own hound.
Yet the dwarven guards could not withstand the onslaught.
Two were slain, and the last, wounded and surrounded, surrendered.
This time the company took care to preserve a prisoner.
The chest proved to contain a large nugget of nearly pure gold, valued at roughly one hundred and thirty gold pieces, together with heavy rocks of gold-bearing ore. Another forty gold pieces were found among the fallen dwarves.
At last, the hidden mining operation had yielded proof that could be carried into daylight.
With a prisoner in chains and treasure in hand, the company retraced its steps through the tunnels. They passed the silent room of the undead, locked the great iron door behind them, and emerged from the mound into the evening air.
Alok's poison had taken its toll, but its effects had finally ceased.
They made camp away from the mound, guarding their captive through the night.
And for once, the darkness passed without incident.
Part V: The Return to Fornost
The following morning, the adventurers began their journey home.
Their passage was slower now, burdened with a prisoner, wounded companions, and the spoils of battle.
Along the forest's edge, they encountered a patrol of seven knights in the service of Lord Guthrie. Some recognized Sigurd from earlier training, and when the company explained the prisoner and the stolen gold, the knights agreed to escort them to Fornost.
Thus they returned not as wandering treasure hunters, but under armed escort, bearing evidence of a trespass against their lord's domain.
Guthrie received them and examined their prisoner.
The dwarf had grown silent, unwilling to reveal what he knew. But the lord seemed confident that the man's secrets could yet be uncovered.
Pleased with the company's success, Guthrie awarded them an additional three hundred gold pieces.
And so, by the afternoon of October the thirtieth, their venture had come to an end.
There was gold to divide, wounds to mend, and much to consider.
For they had entered the wilderness seeking wolf pups, and returned having uncovered the workings of a hidden mine, captured servants of a secretive dwarven enterprise, and discovered a map to yet another buried fortune.
But many questions remained.
Who had furnished the chamber of the walking dead? How deep did the dwarven excavations descend? What lay beyond the wooden lift? And what treasure waited in the crevice beyond Oroth's fortress?
These were matters for another journey.
For gold has a way of drawing men into the darkest places of the world. And more often than not, those places were dark long before the gold was ever found.
So ends this chapter of the adventurers of Fornost.
They had survived wolves, thieves, the walking dead, venomous spiders, and the servants of a hidden kingdom.
And somewhere beneath the earth, the miners' secrets still waited.