Kreighton Lunaridge
Kreighton Lunaridge
A halfling rogue that has learned the trade in the Guild of Champions. Has been in the guild ever since he was 15 years old and will remain in the guild 'til the day he dies. He is pretty disconnected from the world outside of quests and dungeons.
Physical Description
General Physical Condition
Has a petite physique, similar to that of a 9 to 10 years old human child. Has round pointy ears like other members of his race. Taller than most other halflings.
Body Features
His body is dusted by soft freckles on his nose, cheeks, shoulders and chest. Pale skin with dark brown hair and eyes.
Facial Features
Big doe eyes that hide a professional rogue behind. Cheeks and nose dusted with soft freckles. Has boyish features that he hates, for the taller race keep confusing him for a kid at a glance.
Identifying Characteristics
Short size, freckles and iconic wide green headband and matching cloak that he always sports.
Physical quirks
Keeps checking on his headband and cloak to place them in the proper way. Keeps pulling on his sleeves when not wearing bracers.
Special abilities
Able to detect traps easily and quite resistant to fear effects. Fleet of foot, he can walk at the same speed as the taller races.
Mental characteristics
Personal history
A halfling orphan in a human city, he was adopted by a couple of human farmers. He has been working on the farm for the longest time, until his 14 birthday where he saw a group of adventurers from the Guild of Champions help get rid of ghouls festering in their well. He then was obsessed with become an adventurer himself, to help those in need. When he became 15, he enrolled in the guild and started to polish his skills as a rogue.
Gender Identity
Cis male
Sexuality
Homosexual, he has trouble finding love seeing how he is estranged from other Halfling because of his personality, and is afraid of being intimate with the races that are taller than him.
Education
Received very basic education from his parents, like reading, writing and a bit of mathematics. Learned everything else under the tutelage of the Guild of Champions.
Employment
Employed by the Guild of Champions as a Coal Bell Adventurer.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Survived an excursion in the Brine King's Temple, before the dungeon was restricted to Platinum Bells only.
Failures & Embarrassments
Has been demoted from Silver Bell to Coal Bell for events he couldn't have prevented or foreseen.
Mental Trauma
For reasons unknown by other adventurers, cannot stand being alone with someone taller than himself for long. Will go in a panic or frenzy if he feels trapped along with someone from the taller races.
Intellectual Characteristics
Very intelligent when it comes to the dungeon and ancient places where quests might lead. Has a very technical kind of intelligence, so to speak.
Morality & Philosophy
You have to work in order to gain something. No God or King, only men. You have to pave your own path to victory. Believing that you are blessed by a God's Will shall only bring one's downfall.
Taboos
Is fascinated by dungeon ecology and the monsters that roam the deep dark recesses of the World. Tries to understand the monsters and would very much like to have his own pet monsters one day. This is considered weird and creepy by other adventurers that believe monsters to be nothing more than evil creatures living in ancient places to feast upon them.
Personality Characteristics
Motivation
Determined to climb back to where he once was in the Guild's ranking. Wants to one day storm a Demi-Gods castle and bring an end to their tyranny like every other adventurer.
Likes & Dislikes
Likes: Lamb Stew, Good Wine, Mimics, Dungeons, Parkour
Dislikes: Being confused for a child, fire, torture tools, ultra spicy food
Virtues & Personality perks
An excellent rogue, able to detect traps from quite the distance. Has an exceptional insight when it comes to the dungeon. Humble and kind to his fellow adventurers.
Vices & Personality flaws
Tries really hard for people to see him as the adult he his. He'll indulge in any form of "adult" activities, be it drinking, gambling, etc in order to "prove" that he is an adult at a glance. In reality, doesn't care all that much about those activities.
Personality Quirks
Keeps pulling on his sleeves all the time, or replacing his headband and cloak when he feel them move too much.
Hygiene
Respects standard hygiene of the time and place.
Social
Contacts & Relations
Known by everyone in the Guild of Champions of Elderfalls. His list of contacts is long, but few are those that want to side with him these times.
Family Ties
Is on good term with his adoptive parents, brothers and sisters. Their farm is on the outskirts of Elderfalls and he goes often to see them.
Religious Views
Believes in the dungeon and the dangers it poses. Those so-called gods and demi-gods are only stronger creatures, nothing more.
Social Aptitude
Has trouble connecting with other Halfling since he was raised amongst humans. Also has trouble with interaction with non-adventurers, since his hobbies and interests are all tied to dungeoneering. Would like to connect with others, but the current situation prevents him from doing so, no matter how much he tries.
Mannerisms
A polite fellow to those he encounters for the first time. Can curse and become quite sarcastic to those he knows well. A snarky fellow that says it like it is.
Hobbies & Pets
All of his hobbies are tied to dungeoneering, be it trap making, dungeon ecology, etc. Has a pet dog and cat back at the farm. Has other pets in his own home that he keep secrets from those that might want to destroy them...
Wealth & Financial state
Has accumulated a vast amount of wealth that he uses to help his parents' farm from time to time. Owns a two story house in Elderfalls, not far from the Guild Hall.
A cynic with nihilistic tendencies, he has been fine tuning his skills as a dungeoneering rogue for years. A loner by circumstances rather than choice. Impatient, yet capable of keeping his cool when it really matters.
View Character Profile
Alignment
Neutral Good
Honorary & Occupational Titles
Nine Seals
Age
32
Date of Birth
27th Sea of Mercury, 1426
Birthplace
Kingdom of Naeya, Elderfalls
Children
Current Residence
Kingdom of Naeya, Elderfalls
Pronouns
He/Him
Gender
Male
Presentation
Masculine
Eyes
Dark Brown
Hair
Dark Brown
Skin Tone/Pigmentation
Pale
Height
4 ft 1
Weight
47 lbs
Belief/Deity
Agnostic
Aligned Organization
Back to the Main Quest
After the mess that was the Dragon Hoard and the "Cult of Gnomism", it was good to finally be back home. It didn't last long though, we had to go back to the Quest we had accepted from the Guild initially. It seemed like the next thing to do was to ask around the places where the kids had disappeared. A part of the group went to see the Grand Duke of Elderfalls, to ask him about what transpired on the night his children vanished without a trace. As for Jib, Nabintou and I, we had the task of infiltrating a local orphanage.
The Head Mistress was acting suspiciously if we can give value to the stories told to us by a woman working there. And was apparently seen bringing orphans outside in the dead of night, only to come back empty handed. We were pretty sure this would lead us to those responsible about all this mess. The gang decided that the best way to go about this would be for one of us to pose as an orphan and wait 'til night fall, snoop around the place a bit to gain intel. Of course, all fingers pointed at me to take the job, the traitors. Kept saying stuff like I was about as tall as some of the kids, or that I could easily pick the locks in the building... In the end, even if I protested, this was the plan and everyone voted for me to infiltrate the orphanage. And so, Nabintou brought me under the guise of a child she had found in one of her adventures.
For some reason, everyone working there thought I was a Half-Elf child or something? I hate this and I hate having to play stupid games with kids that don't know better. On top of that I had to tolerate the general bullshit Jib kept throwing my way, like doing wet fart noises in my head or commenting about me trying to blend in. Yeah, not a good day in general.
When night came, I went straight for the Head Mistress's office and dug around for a bit. Turns out there wasn't anything super interesting, general things about running the orphanage, nothing more. When I got back out and into the corridors, I came face to face with the woman in question. She asked me to follow her outside for a moment. This was a great opportunity to learn more about the situation, so I followed. I signed for Jib and Nabintou that something was up. Turns out she was indeed bringing children to people dressed all in black, though she wasn't the real Head Mistress but someone from the cult in disguise. I shouted for my teammates to get into the fray so we could question them later. Sadly, this didn't come to pass, for we were all knocked unconscious.
I don't know how long we were out of it, but when I came to, we were in an underground prison stripped of our possessions and left in itchy white tunics. The others were still sleeping, and I realised that we were all wearing some kind of iron ring on our fingers. Don't know what this was all about, but we needed to find a way to get out of here and fast. Nothing good could come out of this situation.
Oh and Sir Christofre was here for some reason...
Fun...
And by fun I mean that this made a terrible situation just plain awful. It didn't take long for him to start bitching about this and that, about how terrible of a person I am and that he wished he could be anywhere else at the moment. Yeah pal, like, same. I kindly asked him to shut the fuck up, that he was like the greatest asshole this world had ever seen and I couldn't care less what he wanted.
Yeah, take that fucker!
Anyway, eventually the others came to and we could finally start to think about a way to get out of here. Or not, cause Sir Christofre made it a point to explain how I got my Seals of Treasons (that were now plainly visible for all to see, yeah this day sucked) to everyone and explain how I was a nasty adventurer and person. Thankfully, the others seemed not to care, or at least not care about this right now. They decided to focus on getting out first, bless them.
Anyway, some of us decided to mess with the guard in order to get out and this lured to Warden to us. He explained that we would be put to work and he would know at all times our status and location because of the rings we were wearing at the moment. Cool stuff... In the end, after he went away, we took our chances and knocked the guard unconscious, stole his shit and ran out. Hiro and R'Egrul started riling up the other prisoners, convincing them to rise against their captors. It didn't take long for the Warden to get back to us, but we were smart about it and got to his office before he could get to us. We found our belongings and kicked his ass.
Turns out we were in the cults HQ or something in Elderfalls, for we found the kidnapped children, but also the laboratory where they had experimented on them. There was so much blood, and organs kept in jars of liquid, who knows what they did to these poor souls. Only one of the twins had survived, but it was better than nothing. We were praised by the Guild Master for finding the children and taking care of the Cult, though the story didn't end there. There was a lady in a crystal at the bottom of the prison, turns out they were trying to dig her out. They thought she was an Avatar of their deity, there to bring back Night Eternal. R'Egrul spoke with her a bit, tried to learn what she knew and who she was, though she remained elusive. She told us to find someone name Xian Jun in Thel Kundrim, that he would be able to get her out and give them answers.
By asking at the Guild of Champions, we found out that he was an adventurer that had been with the Guild for around 200 years! Anyways, we sent a message to Thel Kundrim asking him to come meet us in Elderfalls, for we had the crystal with a mysterious lady inside.
The only thing we could do now, was wait for an answer.
(Oh and for some reason I had to be the one to keep the crystal in his home?! They even destroyed my stairs going to the basement and all that.)
Dragon's Hoard and Other Tales
Nabintou got back to being a woman! Hooray! All thanks to River the Witch. and to the great disappointment of Jib'ammajig.
We got to exploring the catacombs, at long last I was in my element. Turns out the tombs had been pillaged by small creatures that had chipped through the stone. While looking around, we found that a portion of the wall had been destroyed and was just large enough to let us through, bu not a Storm Giant. Behind were ancient dwarven ruins, forgotten for who knows how long. A lot of traps were in our way as we advanced carefully. Were we in a vault?
Eventually we reached a grand room with a deep pool in the middle. Kobold corpses littered the floor and had nasty burns on their bodies. We found out that the water was acid, and treasure was at the bottom of the pool, just out of reach. A nymph was living there and Hiro talked to her for a bit. She had been there for a long time, feeding on kobolds and other creatures, longing for the outside world. The dwarves that lived here had kidnapped her and put her there to protect their precious artefacts. One day, she heard sounds of fighting and then she was alone until we came along. She asked us to free her, to bring her back to a river or a lake. Hiro promised that we would do so if she gave us the treasure she was guarding in exchange. She agreed and we went on our way, trying to find what could have been poisoning her pool for it had been pure water while the dwarves had been there.
While exploring, we came upon a massive room filled with gold and gems. So this was a vault after all! Everyone got to filling their bags, but we kept on our toes. This felt wrong and the Kobold corpses that filled a corner of the room weren't helping us feel at home. It didn't take long for the master of the place to show itself. A great Black Dragon plunged from the top of the hoard, ready to feast on our flesh. The Kobolds had probably been giving offerings to it, stealing from the Giant's tombs in the hope that the dragon would spare them. A sad fate, really.
It was spitting acid and got to R'Egrul who was starting to pale, looking almost like a corpse. Everyone got to work, trying to chip away at the dragon's armour. We all got quite the beating, for it was no easy feat to bring it down in its den. At long last Asher gave the final blow and the dragon fell. He wasn't like usual though, he was breathing hard and there was a mad twitch behind his eyes.
In an instant, he turned and ran his sword through me. He just wasn't the same, the Asher I know wouldn't have turned on an ally.
The only thing I could taste was blood and I could barely feel the cold coins under my fingers as I fell down. I heard the commotion around me, everyone was yelling, but I couldn't make what they were talking about. It was getting difficult to keep my eyes open, my vision going spotty. Anyway, I wouldn't have wanted to see my own state at that moment. Too many bad memories would have come to the front if I had done so.
It didn't take long for me to just go under.
When I woke up, my wounds were healed, as if nothing had ever happened. For a very long while, i couldn't stop the tremors from my hands, I couldn't steady them at all. Asher came to see me and apologized profusely, saying he lost control and that he couldn't even begin to atone for what he did. I could see that this was eating him up, that whatever had happened had deeply scarred him. He was so young, so new to all of this, I couldn't let him be consumed by guilt, I knew too well what it did to someone's psyche. I tried to stop my hands from shaking and smiled, I assured him that it was okay. That I was alright and that I accepted his apologies. I had to prevent myself from relapsing, from becoming more afraid of the tall folks because of this accident. I had to stop thinking about it. Asher was a good kid, he didn't mean to hurt me.
And then came Jib...
Kept praising Asher, that he was glad to see there was a big ol' shard of chaos in him. That he should let it consume him more often, that he was relieved to see he could let go.
I had almost died and this bastard was glad for it, but what pissed me off the most was that he didn't care about Asher at all. You could taste in the air that this conversation was making his mood worse, that he was losing faith in himself or something. I lashed out at Jib, simply yelled at him that what we had seen wasn't the kind and well-mannered Asher that we know. Letting go from time to time was one thing, but this wasn't letting go, this was something else. This needed to be addressed, of course, but openly praised? Give me a break! Jib kept laughing it out, saying he was right and we were all wrong. That little bastard, I unsheathed my dagger and asked him to take back his words. In an instant, I got stopped by Asher and R'Egrul who told me to let it go.
I got away from the situation, this just wasn't like me. It wasn't me to defend a cleric or paladin, but then again I felt like Asher was different from most of them. I wasn't as afraid of him as I was others. It just irked me so much to hear Jib rub in his face that- that... The more I though about it, the more I wondered why I had lashed out in the end. This was none of my business after all. Perhaps Asher would feel better if he let go of the discipline he wore like a second skin. I knew close to nothing of him, and I had simply assumed that...
There was the guilt again. There were the memories again. I knew that all of this meant nothing, that people could hide their true colours. After all, I had seen so with Sir Christofre.
I shivered just by thinking about him.
I had to keep telling myself that Asher was different, that this was just a messed up situation and that he had apologized, at least. Sir Christofre had never done so himself...
The mood in the camp was grim and it remained so as we got to the surface and released the Nymph to the river near Elderfalls with River (ha!) and Hiro's help. We got back to the guild and bumped into Sir Christofre (of fucking course) and his new teammate, a Thiefling girl named Isadora. I didn't pay much attention to the conversation, I was honestly just hoping for it to end as quick as possible so that I could go back home and go to sleep. The cleric proposed that we team up to resolve the situation with the kidnappings in Elderfalls. Well... that was new. Never expected him to want to team up with the group I was in. Jib was adamant about working by ourselves, and so it was set in stone that he wasn't welcomed.
After that we simply went our own way and I want back to my bed at long last. I felt dizzy and my scars were itching again.
I hope tomorrow is gonna be better, I don't want to feel like this again.
Cult of Gnomism?
The quest we got from Naena was as follow, some kids are being kidnapped in Elderfalls and we need to get to the bottom of it. The Grand Duke's kids got involved in this mess somehow, and a great reward is promised to those that will bring them back safe and sound. We had begun our investigation, trying to gain some more information about the kidnappings, find out who could be behind it. We met with a Tallman named Robert in the guild, a druid with a pet Grizzly (like, who the fuck just wanders around with that giant thing?) that was willing to help us track the missing kids. We were about to go back to our quest, when we heard it again.
Ever since we had started our journey in the guild, we also started hearing a strange noise following us. Turns out a gnome was following us and was also the one whispering the noise in our heads? I can't even begin to understand the chaos that followed afterwards. The guys decided to go after the gnome and find out what was his deal. In the end, we followed him to a warehouse to the North of the capital. He was cornered and we got to ask him what was the point of him doing the noise.
That's when things got real weird.
Apparently he was part of a cult that wanted to transform everyone in the world into gnomes? Through the noise? I couldn't have made that up if I wanted to. Then he said that his group was operating from Arvelone in an old abandoned church. Everybody decided to just, go there and prevent the gnome menace from reaching its dark goals. I... I just can't deal with this right now. This is just too stupid, to be perfectly honest. Anyway, after that they killed the gnome and Jib got to butchering the poor sod. Said something about gnomes being a delicacy to goblins!? I just couldn't stay any longer, I felt like I was about to puke any moment. I ran from the warehouse and emptied my stomach on the doorsteps, and it didn't help that I had been drinking pretty heavily the previous day too. I sat down and tried to resist the urge to scratch my scars that started to itch like crazy.
I just felt sick. I wanted to go back home and curl up in bed, forget about what I had seen.
Eventually we got on the road to Arvelone, but that wasn't the end of our problems, of course. As we got closer to the bridge that would lead into the city, we met a pretty angry Storm Giant. He almost crushed Nabintou into a pulp! With R'Egrul's help, we got to talk with him at least. We learned that the Giant's ancestral tombs were being attacked by some of the smaller races, and thus he was trying to prevent anyone from approaching their territory. This, of course, was a problem for the many caravans coming from the South. And as we eventually got to Arvelone, we saw a mass of angry people that were wondering when they'd be able to use the road again. The Giant told us that if we wanted to help, to find a Witch named River in Arvelone, that she was already working on the case.
Oh yeah, I forgot to write about this, but Jib gave a cursed belt to Nabintou that transformed her into a man. She, understandably, got quite angry at the goblin witch.
Anyways, we eventually found where the abandoned church was located. There we found a gnome cleric and everybody started screaming and asking the guy to start talking, and-
I couldn't handle this stupid shit, they'd have to resolve this by themselves. Asher and I simply remained on the steps of the church and waited to see how this would all unfold. In the end, it was revealed that there was no plot and no Cult of Gnomism. The gnome we had killed was simply coo coo crazy and had used a prank spell made by the gnome cleric we had just met. There was no curse, no cult, no nothing. What a waste of time.
And so, we got back on track and went to the local tavern, got in touch with River and teleported with her to the Storm Giants' catacombs. I was ready to explore those ancient tombs and do something constructive for once.
And that's pretty much it! Just, a weird few days.
A Job Well Done!
Guess those Basilisks won't be a problem anymore!
Got rid of them in front of the ancient ruins, though a few of their kids got away in the process. We'll see how that goes, the good news is that the parents won't cause any problem for the local adventurers anymore. Gotta say I'm glad that I wasn't one of the poor sods that got turned to stone. Thankfully, we had a lot of Basilisk blood on hand to turn them back to flesh. The only thing I regret, is that there wasn't a single egg in sight. Would have loved to try and tame myself a Basilisk, would have been nice to protect the house when I'm not there.
What else? Oh yeah, after Jib carved his name into the arm of some poor bastard that had been turned to stone, we went on our merry way, this time by following the main road. Eventually we got to a small town mainly populated by hunters and woodcutters. We found a shitty inn at the edge of Mellowglade and decided to stay there for the night. It beats staying outside and having to deal with monsters, the weather and who knows what else. Since there weren't enough rooms for all of us (#1 problem when in small towns in the middle of nowhere), some of us had to bunk together. Nabintou had called dibs on a room alone since she's the only woman in the group, so that left the rest to determine our sleeping arrangements.
In the end I was paired with R'Egrul'Ebrel (I still am not sure if I'm writing it correctly, to be honnest) the Illithid bard.
I tried to keep calm about it, I mean the guy is what? 6 foot 6? He's like a fucking giant! If he wanted he could probably hurt me, or kill me. I prefer not to think about it. I just kept quiet, unfurled my bedroll in a corner of the room and tried to curl myself to sleep. R'Egrul found it weird of course and asked me about it. I panicked and told him I was normal, I think? I don't remember everything I said, I was just too focused on making sure he wouldn't make any suspicious moves. Then something really weird happened. The man simply stated "You're not afraid of what I am. You're afraid of my height?".
Like, that's not normal! He was clearly reading my mind! How else would he have known about this! There's just no way! And if he had since this, what else had he seen?
I wasn't ready to face this hornet's nest, so I simply excused myself from the room and dashed for the main hall. Found myself a nice beam, high enough that I wouldn't be bothered, and got to sleep there. Gotta admit though, it wasn't all that bad! Had worse sleeping arrangements in my time.
In the end, I got woken up by Jib. He was trying to steal from the Innkeeper or something? Made signs for me to steal the keys that were on the man's belt. I was too tired to argue and quickly got what the goblin wanted, then got back to sleep. The next morning, Jib gave me some gold, said it was my share or whatever. I gotta say I ain't proud of this, but what's done is done.
We got back to Elderfalls and to the Guild of Champions, got quite the boon from this endeavour at least. Asher thanked me for my help, said it was nice to have a veteran in the group, that I somehow had saved their asses. It... I don't know, felt good? It had been a while since someone had told me that I was wanted and useful. That I was praised for my work. After that we sat ourselves in the tavern of the guild and got to eating and drinking. We started showing off, doing backflips and shit, I don't know.
In fact I don't remember much after a while, I know we had quite a lot of fun. but I'm not sure how I got back home in the end. I'm not as young as I once was too, and had a massive headache the next morning. Apparently, R'Egrul was the one to bring me back, as he left a... somewhat ominous note behind? I'm not sure about it, but we'll need to talk about all this mess.
Had to go back to the Guild and face the rest of them anyway, we had another quest to pick if we wanted to get that Brass Bell of the Living as soon as possible.
Hope it's gonna go as well as this time! One can hope!
Gryphon Omelette, anyone?
We weren't even gone for a full day and got attacked by a couple of Gryphons on the road. We all got rid of them pretty easily, to be honest, and it seems like we have a good team synergy already. Glad to see I'm not too rusty after a year and a half of inactivity. The only one weird enough was Hiro, the Aasimar Monk from the Mutsutori Isles in the South. He kept trying to strike a conversation with the Gryphons while we were bashing their brains in. Of course it's not gonna work if we keep hurting them while you're trying your hand at diplomacy, you idiot.
*Sigh* I shouldn't judge too easily. They are noble, proud and intelligent beasts after all. Perhaps talking to them first would have been the better alternative. Gotta keep that in mind for next time.
Anyway, after that Hiro kept talking about it being a couple and most likely a nesting pair. That meant a nest, and most likely eggs or younglings. Some people felt that we should seek the nest in order to save the baby Gryphons, since their parents now lay in a pool of their own blood. Jib couldn't care less though, said it was a waste of time and effort. Seems he changed his mind quite quickly when I mentioned the price tag on Gryphon eggs and babies, though. And so we found the trail and went off road in the hills in order to find the nest.
That first night out was a pure nightmare. Nobody had brought tents and, of course, it started raining like crazy just as we went to sleep. The wind was so powerful I had to tie myself to my grappling hook and fix it to the ground so I could get a few minutes of sleep in. Jib, ever the resourceful Goblin, dug a burrow and slept in it. He didn't offer to share though, the little bastard. In the end, he was the only one that got a good night sleep. Everyone was grumpy and exhausted the next morning, yet we still had a lot of ground to cover in order to reach Mellowglade. We simply carried on with the task at hand, I guess.
Eventually, we reached the edge of the forest and with it a group of 6 Trolls camping there. For the sake of efficiency and the little time we had left, since we had gone a bit off track, we decided to sneak around the Trolls and into the woods. It went mostly ok, with most members of the team being quiet enough. That is until Asher started moving in his idiotic, bulky, LOUD full plate. Didn't even take a step and the Trolls were already on to us.
I swear to God, these people...
Can't be quiet to save their lives.
Trolls are messy to deal with too. They won't die unless they suffer some kind of acid or fire damage, regenerating any limb lost with ease. Thankfully, we had some members in the team capable of doing such damage. After that it was only a matter of hitting them enough so that they would fall down. I got a few close shots with the Trolls though, even if I did decent damage to them. A few of them got lucky hits on me. Got hurt quite badly by them, in fact.
It shouldn't have happened in the first place, I know. I guess I'm just rusty after all... or getting old.
I prefer not to think about it too much.
After a while all the Trolls lay dead, except for one that got away. They didn't even have that much on them, so it wasn't as fruitful an endeavor as I would have liked. Oh well, you win some, you lose some. As the folks were taking care of their injuries, a few of us tried to see if there were other clues of the nest's whereabout in the vicinity. Turns out those Gryphons did a number on the surrounding trees and it would be quite easy to follow the path of destruction to their nest. Score!
With the location figured out, I started to take out my own supplies to take care of my wounds. That's when Asher came about. Kept offering to use his magic to heal me, that it would be done in a flash. I kept refusing of course. I just hate healing magic, it keeps reminding me of that time in the dungeon. I keep having these phantom pains whenever I'm healed by Clerics or Paladins, it just hurt as if I was stabbed over and over. I know it's all in my head, but it won't stop it from hurting even if I keep reminding myself of it.
Asher kept insisting of course, said I would bleed out if he did nothing. I ended up letting him do as he pleased. I don't know why I accepted, guess I was just that exhausted to begin with. The whole time he cast his divine magic I felt like dying. It was as if I was back there all over again. As if I was in that dark damp room with Sir Christofre doing as he pleased, or with Strezius just... cutting away... Just healing and cutting away. Healing and cutting. Healing and cutting. Healing and...
It was done, the pain was gone and Asher simply said I was good as new. He was kind enough not to ask why I was frowning and looked as if I wanted to merge with the floor, to disappear. He simply got back up and said he needed to tend to the others.
I didn't feel good as new. I felt like broken goods.
In the end we did find the nest, and with it 4 eggs in perfectly good condition. Jib was very helpful in bringing them down, what with his dimension door allowing him to go up and down so easily. At least it was worth it in the end.
We kept wandering the woods, trying to go back on the main road in order to reach the dungeon where we would need to get rid of the Basilisks. It was quiet, peaceful for a while. The others went for a swim in a nearby river, it looked nice (except for Jib peeing upstream, the evil bastard). Maybe someday I'll feel comfortable enough to go for a swim too, to remove the layers and not be afraid of what others will think.
I hope it will all work out in the end. Even if I am still afraid, still uncertain...
I like this team already.
New Team, Old Problems
Finally! I'm back in the game!
Found various weirdos hanging around the Guild Hall one day, all of them got rejected multiple times by parties of adventurers. This was my chance, I just needed to take the first step and talk to them. Problem was, except for the weird Goblin Witch that kept staring at the Aasimar in disgust (and maybe judging the fact he was facing a wall whilst drinking alone? How is that supposed to be normal?), they were all tall races. I don't do good with them, I just can't get myself to trust again after all that happened. I just needed to pick one, try to hold my sanity long enough to strike a conversation and we'd be golden!
Got a hold of the Illithid guy, was dressed all fancy and rich, saw him strike a conversation with a few bards in the hall. They seemed enthused to see him, was a good indication of his character if he can have friends in this world where many are judged for the err of their ancestors. Thankfully, the deed was done in seconds and he agreed right away to form a party with me. Only took a few minutes more to rally all the other weirdos in the Hall under the same banner and we were now an official party of the Guild of Champions!
Seems like Kylin Naena, our Handler now apparently, still holds a grudge on me. I couldn't even get close to the counter without her eyes throwing daggers my way. Thankfully, my companions looked competent enough to take care of simple paperwork. Gotta admit, I got scared for a bit when Asher suddenly dashed towards me. He just wanted to make sure we weren't being scammed.
Smart.
Anyway, we got a quest in Mellowglade where a family of Basilisk is camping in front of a beginner friendly dungeon. The reward could be better though, but you never know what you'll find along the way, so not all is lost.
We all got our separate ways, except for Asher and Nabintou that ended up crashing at my house since they had nowhere else to go (apparently R'Egrül'Ebrel has a room at the Bard College, whilst Jib and Hiro are gonna sleep in the basement of a tavern next to some kegs? Not sure I got the whole story there). I warned them not to go in the basement and not to touch the chests littered around the house.
Jonathan and Lord Emerald have taken the habit lately to imitate chests that are already there, and I didn't have the time to find out where exactly they were before the guests came in. Thankfully, I knew where the rest were, so it was mostly safe to assume there would be no issue. Well, gotta admit Asher came close to figuring out what was up with the chests, his hand got stuck to one in his room. Probably was Jonathan, mostly harmless and most likely just wanted to check out the newcomer. Always had a good grasp of character that little bugger, I guess that means I can mostly trust Asher, if the Paladin wasn't attacked?
We'll see.
Gotta get back on top of things there, though. It's been so long since anybody came home that I forgot that this isn't considered normal, or safe I guess, by most other adventurers. Anyway, that's no big deal. Everybody's safe and sound and I actually enjoyed having people over for once.
T'was a nice change of pace.
I missed this.
Anyway, we went on our merry way towards the southern gate of Elderfalls where we had agreed to meet, not long after dawn. Mellowglade was around 2 days away on foot and we had five to complete the mission. Seemed simple enough, but I guess we'll see what fate has in stock for us.
Looking for Group?
This is getting ridiculous. How am I still looking to join a party in the Guild of Champions? We got a flock of new adventurers not so long ago, and they keep pouring through the front door lately. I don't know where they're coming from, or why suddenly we have this onslaught of new recruits, but there's one thing I know for sure: Someone in the Guild Hall is saying nasty things about me, ruining my chances at joining them. I don't know who it is, and for all I know it could be all of the adventurers of the Guild. I'm not well loved and haven't been for the past year and a half, but that's not the point right now.
I just need one chance, one group to team up with. If I don't find one soon, I might have to give up being an adventurer for good. After all, it's written on the wall with all the other Guild rules: No one can accept Quests if they are alone in their party. I simply don't care at this point, I'd even go with a group comprised only of people taller than I.
Guess we'll see if my luck has changed today with the fresh batch of newcomers.
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