EPISODE 4: THE ROAD TO THE RUINS

Party: Toth’s Troopers

Adventure: #3 “The Road to the Ruins”

Session Number: 6

Session Date: 9/22/26 (Thaumont 28 – Flaurmont 4 AC 1000)

Adventure Background:

The party leaves Guido’s Fort and travels toward the Elven ruins outside Rifflian.

The Troopers:

Toth Casksword (L) Male Fighter 1. Leader of the group.

Alzador (N) Male Magic User 1

Aladana (L) Female Elf 1

Varis (L) Male Fighter 1

Sergei (C) Male Thief 1

Yarlov (L) Male Cleric 1

“Hey Mule” (N) Pack mule and the senior party member.

The group left the Fort at dawn, heading south along the river toward Kelvin. The weather was clear and, while the warmth of spring had not quite yet arrived, the cold had lost its bite.

Varis, leading Hey Mule, was bringing up the rear, was accompanied by Yarlov, the new member. He found that he and Varis’ shared faith made a good icebreaker. Varis, for his part, was pleased that the Immortals had provided him with a source for their wisdom. His was a fairly simple faith, but what it lacked in nuance, it made up for with sincerity.

“You will be a mighty warrior some day, Varis.” mused Yarlov to his new friend, “Halav will no doubt be on your side.” It was a harmless ploy the cleric would use, to see how someone reacts to praise or criticism, depending.

Varis looked slightly abashed but then his face grew thoughtful. After a moment, he replied, “That’s awful nice. But I would rather that I knew that I was on his side.”

Yarlov was taken aback. Then laughed loudly enough to cause the others to turn at the sound. He slapped Varis on his huge shoulder and said, “Well done, lad! Well done indeed!”

Up ahead Aladana turned to Sergei walking nearby and asked, “What do you suppose that was about?”

The young man shrugged disinterestedly, “Who knows? Stuff about gods, probably. Yarlov is a cleric and Varis is really into that stuff.”

The elf nodded “Sounds likely. I take it the Immortals are not a subject you spend a lot of time thinking about?”

Sergei thought for a second, “Suppose not. They never seemed to take much interest in me, so I’m just returning the favor.”

The road from the Fort to Kelvin was not well-maintained, but it was easy enough to follow. The group made good time and reached the city walls well before nightfall. Toth entertained the idea of pressing on and making a bit more distance, but decided stop early for the evening in town and avoid the risks of camping in the wild. He also hoped that the extra time getting to know each other would help them form a tighter team.

They found a clean inn with a stable for the mule. Toth paid for the group’s lodging out of his funds, which were still augmented by Kon’s money that the group “inherited.”

In the morning, the weather held and the group was back on the road early. A quick ferry crossing (and a few coins) later, and the party was heading North again, but on the West side of the fork. Rifflian was only a few miles upriver and the party reached the town by midday.

Alzador was eager to hear Aladana’s thoughts on the elven settlement. Like many wizarding types, the mage had a keen interest in elves, as magic was so well steeped into their culture. Despite his studies, the young mage was still a bit of a “tourist” when it came to such things.

Aladana answered his questions patiently. The town seemed quite plain to her, as she grew up in it. But based on what she had seen of human settlements, she acknowledged that Rifflian would seem quite unusual to them.

Once again the group stayed the night in town, with Toth paying for the rooms. While there, he plied some locals with drink and asked about the recently uncovered ruins. One elf told him that they were about two days’ hike to the west and just north of a rocky stream . Other than that, Toth learned little more.

The next morning, the party left Rifflian and headed west into the trees. Depsite there being no roads, the trails near town were well worn and the group made good time. Aladara found her way confidently. She was always a “town elf”, but even she would spend a fair amount of time on these trails. By evening, they had covered several miles and made camp in a small clearing.

“I thought being out in the trees like this at night would be spookier.” Sergei mused as he chewed on a bit of dried meat.

Alzador replied, “They say the elves placed wards throughout the forests in ancient times. Carved waystones and the like. They were supposed to keep evil things away.”

Aladara smiled, “I have seen those stones.” she said. “I don’t know that they carry much enchantment. Bad things can certainly be found under these trees. I remember a group of Elvenguard coming into town a few years back. They came from this direction and said their patrol was ambushed by bugbears. They had fought them off, but some of the patrol was slain.”

Sergei looked around more nervously. “Great. Thanks for that.” The elf lauged.

Toth set the watch as the group settled in for the night, but nothing came near the campsite that night.

At dawn, the party awoke and broke camp while Yarlov completed his prayers. It was a misty and cloudy morning, and it was difficult to get their bearings at first. In fact, the group found themselves turning south for a long stretch before they realized their error and had to backtrack.

That night, as Varis sat next to the embers of the fire, a small sound caused him to turn. In the trees stood four white horses. Suddenly Varis realized that the creatures each had a spiral horn.

“Unicorns.” He breathed.

The sound of his whispered voice was enough to alert the creatures. With a shimmer, they vanished. Varis debated waking the rest of them, but the unicorns were gone. Legend said they were good creatures, so they likely meant no harm. He decided to let people rest, but he would be extra watchful for the rest of his shift.

Back on track for the ruins the next day, Toth sighed with relief when he spied the rocky stream the fellow in town described. The current was swift, but the water shallow. And there were many stones to step along.

As the group approached the stream, Hey Mule became agitated. Toth called a halt and gestured for quiet.

“HM’s spooked.” he whispered. “Sergei. Slip up ahead and look around.” The thief nodded and took his bow off his back, nocking an arrow.

Shortly after he had slipped into the trees, the mule brayed loudly as it stamped the ground. Before Varis could calm it, the noise was answered by a bellow from somewhere ahead. The bushes parted violently as Sergei burst out at a run.

“Giant. Giant! GIANT!” he shouted as he sped past “Run!”

A crashing was heard not far off. “Let’s go!” shouted Toth, and pointed in roughly the same direction Sergei went. The party turned and ran.

Varis handed Hey Mule’s reins to Yarlov, “Take him. I have to watch the rear.”

Yarlov replied, “You’re big, lad. But no match for a giant!”

“I’m not going to fight it if I don’t have to,” Varis said, “But if it catches up, it’s my job to slow it down. Toth said ‘watch the rear’, so that’s what I have to do.” With that, he slowed his pace a bit to put some space between the cleric and him. Yarlov tugged at the reins and hurried along. As he ran, he offered a prayer to Halav on behalf of the fighter. “He’s a good man, Mighty One,” he finished, “and they are rare.”

Varis, for his part, kept checking over his shoulder for signs of the monster as he ran. He was rewarded with a glimpse as it passed through the same clearing as he had run less than a minute before. While he had never seen a giant before, he had no doubts that it was one. It looked like a savage man, but at least twelve feet tall. It wore crudely stitched pelts of various animals and carried a club that was basically just a tree it had ripped up. It didn’t seem to be sure where the party was, but it was definitely on their trail. It was too far away to be sure, but it looked as if it was scenting the air to track them as much as it relied on what it saw. Varis sped along, keeping track of the giant and the party ahead.

It was past midday before Toth called a halt to their scrambling through the trees and brush, trying to lose their pursuer. They spent a tense several minutes in silence, straining for any sign of the giant. At last he blew out a gust of air and said, “I think we’re good. Everybody OK?” Other than breathing hard from exertion and a few scrapes from running through underbrush, the group seemed unhurt.

“Where are we?” asked Yarlov.

Aladara looked around. “We kept pretty straight south, despite being chased. If we turn back north, we’ll have to hit the stream again at some point along it.”

Toth nodded, “Good point. Sergei, when you spotted that thing, what was it doing? Did it look like it lived near there?”

The thief shook his head, “It was just drinking from the water, like it had just stopped along the stream. He was downstream a ways, maybe a hundred yards or so, but I didn’t see any kind of cave or house or anything. When he heard HM, his head whipped up and he grabbed his club. I think he was out hunting. I’d hoped to stay put a minute to see what he would do but he ran straight toward me. Gods it moved fast for something that big!” he took a sip of water, “Anyway, it was going to plow right into my spot, so I hightailed it out of there. To warn you, of course! So, you’re welcome.” he said with a grin.

Toth smiled, “Well done.” He knew the thief had a selfish streak in him. That was hardly surprising considering his trade. Toth didn’t entirely trust Sergei, but he didn’t think the man would leave his companions to die. Not if their survival would increase his own odds of living at least.

After the break, the party started moving back north. Sergei and Aladara were in the lead, looking for any sign of the giant.. Other than a few snapped limbs from where it had chased after them before, they saw nothing.

They crossed the stream a couple hours later and, as the shadows grew long and the light dimmed, the first tumbled stones of the ruins came into view.

“It looks as though there had been several outbuildings” Alzador commented, looking over the scattered stones. The real prize is likely that blocky structure at the far end there, next to that rock that looks like…” his voice trailed off.

Suddenly the mage dove behind a crumbled wall. “Get DOWN!” he hissed.

The rest of them had been looking at the nearby ruins, so they didn’t know what the mage had seen, but Toth gestured for the rest to follow and the all got behind the wall and Varis held Hey Mule still.

“What is it?” whispered Toth. He had never seen Alzador so rattled.

The young mage took a breath to calm himself, then whispered back, “It’s a DRAGON. A lousy, cursed dragon of all things!”

Toth was shocked. Surely not. Something a significant as a dragon at the ruins would have been talked about. He peeked over the wall in the fading light. He could see the building Alzador had mentioned, and the large rock. The rock did have a sort of draconic shape, he supposed. A carved statue, maybe?

Then the rock moved.

A long neck stretched out and a pair of leathery wings shook as though drying themselves. Its movements resembled a cat waking from a nap. The dragon, and there was no doubt that’s what it was, paced around the building. It seemed to be sniffing. Toth was profoundly grateful that the breeze was faint and was blowing towards them instead of the creature.

“It’s looking for a way in.” Whispered Yarlov, peering out next to Toth.

“So it’s not its lair, then.” replied Sergei. “That’s some luck, I suppose.”

Alzador asked Aladana, “Any rumors of a dragon around here?” The elf shook her head.

“It is a forest type.” she noted, “So it could be local.”

“Can the chatter!” whispered Toth sharply, “They have ears as well!”

As sunset turned to dusk, the party remained still and quiet behind the ancient wall. Luckily, Varis had found some dried apple to keep Hey Mule occupied. If he scented that dragon, Varis worried, there’s no way he’ll keep quiet. He momentarily considered cutting the poor beast’s throat, but the noise and the scent of blood would be more likely to bring ruin down on them all. He felt relief that such measures weren’t going to be useful.

Toth swore to himself, then whispered “In a few minutes, we won’t be able to see that thing in the dark. Aladara?”

The elf shook her head, “It is too far for me to see its warmth.”

Suddenly there was a screeching sound, like an enormous bird, and the sound of wings. The dragon was taking off! Toth reached for his bow and prepared to sell his life dearly. But then he saw the beast wheel off to the west and fly away. Soon it was out of sight and the sound of its wings faded.

“That’s twice we got STUPID lucky!” Sergei exclaimed.

Toth grinned, “Well, we were unlucky first for even running into those things. So I guess it balances out.”

Yarlov nodded, but frowned, “I have a nasty feeling that thing will be back at some point.”

“But why was it even here?” asked Varis.

Alzador shrugged, “It might be looking for a new lair, but dragons are typically interested in one of a three things: Food, treasure, or a mate.”

“Like Sergei!” quipped Varis.

Toth and the others laughed out loud. Even Sergei chuckled at his own expense. The witticism was unexpected from the big man, but it was also a welcome release of the tension they’d all been under.

Sergei pondered a moment, “But seriously, Al. If that’s true, it could be that the dragon thought there was treasure in there, right?”

The mage thought about it, “Maybe. There are stories of dragons being able to smell gold.”

The thief clapped his hands together and said, “Good enough for me!”

Toth thought for minute before replying, “All right. We came here to explore the ruins, so I say we should do just that. But let’s limit our time here to just a couple days at most. I don’t want to be hanging around when that thing decided to visit again. We go in. We focus on any portable loot we can find, and get out. Alzador, that means we can’t translate every ancient inscription we find. You and Aladana need to be ready with Sleep spells so we don’t bogged down in a fight.”

The elf and mage nodded. “Sergei, we’re not hitting every nook and cranny right now. We can’t sepnd all day checking every inch of wall and floor. You need to focus on scouting and possible traps in our way. Also, any locks are likely up to you. It might be faster, but I don’t want the noise of Varis kicking in doors to alert every thing in there unless there’s no other choice, got it? This is minimum risk, maximum reward, OK?”

The thief gave a thumbs up, “You had me at ‘portable loot.’”

“Yarlov,” Toth continued, “These sorts of places often have undead creeping around. First sign of anything like that, you and you Immortal friends are up. Keep them off us.” The cleric placed his hand on his holy symbol at his chest and nodded.

“Varis,” Toth said turning to the other fighter, “You and I are the first line of defense. Our job is to guard the rest while they do their jobs, right? No glorious battles or heroics. You OK with the rear again?”

Varis nodded seriously. “Whatever you say.”

Yarlov had not seen Toth take charge in this kind of situation before. He always seemed happy to let the others’ use their own judgment. The fighter’s confidence was reassuring. He seemed to have an instinct for when to step back and when to take the reins.

“We’ll rest for now. No fires.” Toth continued. We’ll check out that temple, or whatever it is, in the morning. Maybe there’s a good place inside to tether HM out of sight. Now get some rest and make your preparations.”

End Session.