come.
Gairoth's mind
fixed on the idea. He would take a quest of his own. It sounded right to him, a
straightforward solution, something he could concentrate on and never forget.
He would follow Delroth, and find him, and smash him with the club. BAM!
He stood up and,
his stomach growling with hunger, he tossed aside the torn and empty sack. It
had been a good sack. Gairoth found the footprints of the group along one of
the clear quest-paths.
The ogre followed
them.
Tallin woke the
others more than an hour before sunrise. He rubbed his little hands together in
the crisp air and blew steam from his mouth. "Come on, let's get
going." He nudged Bryl on the ground. "We've got a hex or two of desolation
to cover. I've never been out of the forest before."
Bryl rubbed his
eyes. "Whose quest is this, anyway?"
Vailret held his
hands over the still-warm embers of the fire. He flexed fingers that were red
with cold.
"He's
right." Delrael got up, stretched, then folded his blanket. "The terrain
should be easy to follow."
Together, the five
of them crossed the abrupt line that severed the hexagon of forest terrain from
the desolation ahead. The lush health of the forest disappeared entirely,
leaving the ground stricken with blight, dying away into a wasteland. The soil
became barren and rocky. Stalks of prairie grass stood in brown patches,
dotting the ground.
The coming dawn
left a curtain of deep shadow on the flat terrain. The dark Spectre Mountains
were visible in the distance as a black jagged silhouette blocking the rising
sun. A few stars still prickled the deep blue dome of sky.
As they walked
deeper into the hexagon, the dead earth became cluttered with oddly identical
boulders, as if something had cut them out of the dirt and scattered them
across the plain. The flat ground had a strange, patterned look ahead of them.
In the dim light,
and with his poor eyesight, Vailret stumbled upon a series of deep hexagonal
wells rimmed by a low mound six feet across. He caught himself, called out to
the others, and stared down. The sharply defined hole plunged into the
blackness of catacombs beneath the terrain.
"I can't tell
what it is," he said.
Delrael picked up a
rock and tossed it down. They heard it strike the bottom a moment later.
"Not very deep," Delrael said. He tossed another stone at an angle.
It pinged against the walls, but gave no real hint about the depth of the
tunnels.
"Could be just
a labyrinth left over from the early days of the Game," Vailret said.
"Back when characters did nothing but wander around in dungeons and
catacombs, looking for monsters to fight and treasure to steal."
Tallin pointed
across the desolation as the daylight grew brighter. "Do you see those
other openings? I can make out at least a dozen more holes scattered
around."
They moved ahead,
and the wells became more and more frequent until they seemed like pores on the
surface of the land, connected by an underground network of tunnels.
"We've got a whole hexagon of this to cover?" Bryl said.
"Now I don't
see why any character would want to leave the forest terrain," Tallin
said.
"All this is
starting to make me remember something," Vailret said. He slowed his pace,
taking time to look around.
"Come on, I
want to get out of this place," Bryl said. "Something unpleasant
could crawl out of those holes."
"Don't worry.
Be happy," Journeyman said.
"We're stuck
anyway," Delrael said. "According to the map, there's another hex of
desolation after this one, and we can't go any farther than that today."
Vailret nodded.
"It's in Rule #5."
Bryl bit his lip
and said nothing. He pulled the folds of his blue cloak tight around him. The
orange dawn behind the Spectre Mountains looked like fire across the
desolation.
Then, between a
cluster of the hexagonal wells, they came across a place where the dusty ground
was churned and broken. A glossy dark shape lay half buried in the earth.
Journeyman scooped
dirt off the polished black form. "Holy
Gairoth's mind
fixed on the idea. He would take a quest of his own. It sounded right to him, a
straightforward solution, something he could concentrate on and never forget.
He would follow Delroth, and find him, and smash him with the club. BAM!
He stood up and,
his stomach growling with hunger, he tossed aside the torn and empty sack. It
had been a good sack. Gairoth found the footprints of the group along one of
the clear quest-paths.
The ogre followed
them.
Tallin woke the
others more than an hour before sunrise. He rubbed his little hands together in
the crisp air and blew steam from his mouth. "Come on, let's get
going." He nudged Bryl on the ground. "We've got a hex or two of desolation
to cover. I've never been out of the forest before."
Bryl rubbed his
eyes. "Whose quest is this, anyway?"
Vailret held his
hands over the still-warm embers of the fire. He flexed fingers that were red
with cold.
"He's
right." Delrael got up, stretched, then folded his blanket. "The terrain
should be easy to follow."
Together, the five
of them crossed the abrupt line that severed the hexagon of forest terrain from
the desolation ahead. The lush health of the forest disappeared entirely,
leaving the ground stricken with blight, dying away into a wasteland. The soil
became barren and rocky. Stalks of prairie grass stood in brown patches,
dotting the ground.
The coming dawn
left a curtain of deep shadow on the flat terrain. The dark Spectre Mountains
were visible in the distance as a black jagged silhouette blocking the rising
sun. A few stars still prickled the deep blue dome of sky.
As they walked
deeper into the hexagon, the dead earth became cluttered with oddly identical
boulders, as if something had cut them out of the dirt and scattered them
across the plain. The flat ground had a strange, patterned look ahead of them.
In the dim light,
and with his poor eyesight, Vailret stumbled upon a series of deep hexagonal
wells rimmed by a low mound six feet across. He caught himself, called out to
the others, and stared down. The sharply defined hole plunged into the
blackness of catacombs beneath the terrain.
"I can't tell
what it is," he said.
Delrael picked up a
rock and tossed it down. They heard it strike the bottom a moment later.
"Not very deep," Delrael said. He tossed another stone at an angle.
It pinged against the walls, but gave no real hint about the depth of the
tunnels.
"Could be just
a labyrinth left over from the early days of the Game," Vailret said.
"Back when characters did nothing but wander around in dungeons and
catacombs, looking for monsters to fight and treasure to steal."
Tallin pointed
across the desolation as the daylight grew brighter. "Do you see those
other openings? I can make out at least a dozen more holes scattered
around."
They moved ahead,
and the wells became more and more frequent until they seemed like pores on the
surface of the land, connected by an underground network of tunnels.
"We've got a whole hexagon of this to cover?" Bryl said.
"Now I don't
see why any character would want to leave the forest terrain," Tallin
said.
"All this is
starting to make me remember something," Vailret said. He slowed his pace,
taking time to look around.
"Come on, I
want to get out of this place," Bryl said. "Something unpleasant
could crawl out of those holes."
"Don't worry.
Be happy," Journeyman said.
"We're stuck
anyway," Delrael said. "According to the map, there's another hex of
desolation after this one, and we can't go any farther than that today."
Vailret nodded.
"It's in Rule #5."
Bryl bit his lip
and said nothing. He pulled the folds of his blue cloak tight around him. The
orange dawn behind the Spectre Mountains looked like fire across the
desolation.
Then, between a
cluster of the hexagonal wells, they came across a place where the dusty ground
was churned and broken. A glossy dark shape lay half buried in the earth.
Journeyman scooped
dirt off the polished black form. "Holy
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