by A. C Carter
Arilee smiled. “Of course.” she said as she unequipped her leathers and they appeared next to the bunk.
Chip and Slicks claimed the bunks on the mirror opposite bunks. Slicks had claimed the Top Bunk and pulled himself to the top. Arilee giggled watching his tail droop over the side, swaying near Chip's head under it. She closed her eyes and sleep came over her, with no time to worry about the Morning might bring.
Quest Scroll - Escape
X
Escape the Forest
X
Follow the Scout Marshall to Safety
X
Report to the Commander
X
Report to the Trainer
Quest 4: Find the Goblin Cave
Chapter 15
Arilee awoke the next day to hear a knock on the door. The limited light outside told her it was still early morning. She could hear the light snores of her companions sleeping. Slowly she rose from bed to answer the door.
“Coming,” she whispered.
Her body felt even more sore today. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, selected to equip her leathers and boots, and walked over to answer the door.
It was a heavy wooden door that used a wooden latch across the middle to keep it closed. She opened the door to reveal Scout Marshall Bodwin, but a clean looking Scout Marshall. His face had been scrubbed, his hair combed and his beard brushed. Arilee stepped outside and closed the door behind her, leaving it just a little ajar. “Good morning, Scout Marshall.” Arilee said, rapping her fist on her chest mimicking the salute she’s seen others do.
The Scout Marshall, surprised, saluted back. “Good morning, Arilee. Are the others awake yet?
Arilee squinted in the morning light and responded quietly, “I woke up when you knocked, sir. The others are still asleep.”
Just then the door creaked open, and a sleepy Chip walked out, yawning loudly.
“Good morning Scout Marshall.” he said between the yawn, stretching his arms out.
“Well, best to wake up the rest of the group then. I have news and our next quest.” replied the Scout Marshall.
The door creaked open again, and Leela and a groggy looking Slicks emerged.
“No need, Ssscout Marshall. We are awake.” said Slicks. He turned to Chip. “Could you beee any louder, Chip? Alssso you sssnore.”
“I do not snore!” rebuked Chip.
“Yesss, you do.” replied Slicks.
Leela spoke up, “Good morning, all.” she said cheerfully. “What’s the news Scout Marshall?”
“The Commander thinks the Goblins are planning an assault on the Camp. He is not sure when, but he says the data points to an attack coming. But! Before you get excited, this is not where we will be. We have a new quest. And by we, I mean you. I will not be joining you this time.” said the Scout Marshall.
“Oh no, but Scout Marshall, we need you!” said Chip, genuinely remorsed.
“You all will be fine. I watched you during our fights. You have natural chemistry. And, you will not be completely alone. I am sending Scout Thomas with you. You met him yesterday in the Commander’s headquarters.”
“Sssso, what’ss the quessst?” asked Slicks.
“We think we know where the Goblin Cave is, and we need your group to scout the area, find it, and report back. Scout Thomas was on this quest when he was attacked. He thinks he was near the Cave before he was forced to return here. His location lines up with previous reports and our best guesses.” The Scout Marshall paused and brought out a map from his belt. “Here is where we were on the river when we were attacked. If you follow it up the right, instead of left where we turned, it leads to lake. That is where we believe the Goblin Cave will be.”
“What do we do if we are found, Sir?” asked Chip.
“This is foremost, a stealth mission. So use what I taught you and don’t be found. If that fails…” The Scout Marshall paused and thought to himself for a moment. He reached into his pack and retrieved a vial of something. “This is a special oil mixture I made with my Alchemy skill. It has magical properties that make it so that it covers everything that it touches. It only needs this little bit here in this container to cover an entire room. It is highly flammable. Be careful when you use it.” He gave the vial to Arilee, and then continued. “I know this quest seems daunting. But I have faith in you. Commander Bjorn does too. The commander...also does not want to risk any more of our troops in case there is an assault on the base.”
The group nodded, understanding. They were more expendable.
“So, do you accept this quest?”
Quest 4 - Find the Goblin Cave
Accept Quest
Yes
No
Quest Scroll - Find the Goblin Cave
-
Rendezvous with Scout Thomas
-
Scout the Lake
-
Report Back
Follow Scout Thomas
Chapter 16
The sun slowly rose in the sky on the still sleeping camp. Rain clouds were beginning to form in the distance. Arilee only saw a few groups of soldiers awake, all doing morning exercise routines. One squadron was jogging around the encampment while another doing morning stretches in the middle. Behind her, she could overhear Slicks grumbling to Chip about Scout Thomas coming with them.
Scout Thomas was just up ahead, waiting for them at the gate. He looked healed from the day before, the scratches on his face beginning to fade. He was wearing leather armor, dyed in the Overlord’s colors. He was holding his helmet in his hands and his scraggly red hair looked disheveled. In the morning light, Arilee could now see his paler skin and freckled face. He had two curved daggers on his belt and some potions and vials. He was much younger than Scout Marshall Bodwin. Maybe only a few years older than Chip, Arilee thought to herself.
>Level 15< floated above his head.
As they approached, Leela waived and called out “Good morning Scout Thomas! Good to see you are feeling better from yesterday.”
“Good morning.” replied Scout Thomas, a little snarky. He had a nasally, high-pitched voice. “On the table here are some basic supplies. Let me know when you’re ready?”
The group looked at each other, shrugged and nodded.
“Alright then, lets go.” said Scout Thomas.
New Scrolls appeared in front of the four. Arilee’s read:
[Group formed]
Slicks - Warrior
Chip - Mage
Leela - Priestess
Arilee - Archer
Chip said smiling, “Cool! Guess we’re a group now.” Everyone waved away their scrolls.
The group followed Scout Thomas out of the gate and into the hills. Arilee noticed the rain clouds that were gathering earlier were beginning to move in overhead, the sky darkening.
“Looks like it’s going to rain today.” she said quietly to Leela, who was walking next to her.
“It does, doesn’t it? It doesn’t look like it will be too bad though. Hopefully just some light showers.”
“I hope you are right. It won’t be fun walking through a muddy, wet forest. Do you think your Protect spell will shield me from the rain?” Arilee giggled.
Leela thought for a second, “I’m not sure actually. It might. We should try it out when the rain starts!”
Chip, who was walking ahead of them, slowed down his walk until he was next to Arilee.
“Did I hear Leela offering Protect spells for the rain?” he said, grinning to himself.
“For everyone but you!” she teased playfully back.
The rain started to trickle down as the group hurried its way to the forest. Scout Thomas was always a few steps ahead of the group. Leela tried her Protect spell but it broke as soon as the first drop touched it.
Arilee noticed it was more quiet this morning than it had been on the previous days. There were no birds or animal noises. The group soldiered on, pulling there hoods and cloaks tighter around them.
; The group stopped in shock when the forest came into view. The once thriving forest now looked decayed and dead. The corruption had spread quickly over everything. The vibrant green leaves had fallen and the wood turned a greyish purple color. A sick decaying smell hung loosely in the air. Scout Thomas, who seemed unphased, called the group to gather around him.
He grabbed a nearby stick and started drawing a map out in the mud with it. “Here we are next to this X. We are going to make our way up to the river and cross it into Goblin Territory. Then follow it along this path alongside the river. This will take us to the lake. Please, try to remain quiet. It was hard enough escaping last time and I don’t have it in me to save any of you as well. I’m still not sure why the Commander made me bring you four.” said Scout Thomas, barely waiting anytime before turning and walking into the forest.
Leela leaned over to Arilee, concerned, and whispered “Well, he doesn’t seem very happy to have us.”
Slicks who was listening in, whispered back “Sssomething seems wrong.”
Chip, also worried, looked to Arilee, “What do you think?”
A dialogue scroll appeared for Arilee -
Dialogue Scroll
-
Reassure the group - “I’m sure everything will be fine. The Scout Marshall seemed to trust Thomas.”
-
Agree- “I agree. I have an uneasy feeling about this. We should be extra alert.”
Arilee looked around. The rotting woods... the worsening rain storm... Scout Thomas. She agreed.
Her dialogue scroll selected the second option, and this time it lingered as she spoke.
Dialogue Scroll
-
Reassure the group - “I’m sure everything will be fine. The Scout Marshall seemed to trust Thomas.”
x
Agree- “I agree. I have an uneasy feeling about this. We should be extra alert.”
“We should be extra careful. Slicks is right. We should walk in formation in case there is another trap ahead.”
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Arilee’s Dialogue Scroll flickered, and changed to the Group Scroll and new text appeared.
Group Scroll
[Selected Group Leader- Arilee | Members: Slicks, Chip, Leela]
[Group Stance set to Alert: Increased chance to detect stealth]
Stats Scroll
Perception
5/100 | +5
Leadership
1/100 | +1
Relationship with Chip
1/5
Relationship with Leela
1/5
Relationship with Slicks
1/5
Arilee looked in confusion at the new scroll. She did not know what it meant that she was the leader. Or what the leadership skill was. The Scout Marshall never mentioned this. Arilee made a mental note to ask him next time she had a chance.
Tightening their walking formation, the group proceeded to follow Scout Thomas through the dark, wet woods. Arilee could overhead Scout Thomas mumbling to himself even though he walked ahead.
The rain began to fall heavier. Arilee noticed the group was much better at remaining quiet this time after getting the training yesterday... Chip was no longer breaking as many twigs and her own feet were finding their way naturally through the tangled roots and mud.
After awhile, Arilee could finally hear sounds of the rushing river. They were getting close.
Arilee gasped when she saw the coursing river. It's coursing blue water had turned a dark corrupted purple.
“This must be how the corruption spread so fast,” said Leela, as she touched a wilting tree next to the riverbank. The wood was rotten and molded.
"This river must be carrying the corruption through the entire island," said Chip.
"Are we getting close, Scout Thomas?" asked Arilee.
Scout Thomas walked up to a decaying log laying across the river.
"Yes, it is just across this bridge."
“We’re supposed to cross that on that!” said Chip in horror, pointing at the river and then at the haphazard bridge.
Scout Thomas paused at the foot of the fallen tree. “Come on. We are already late and don’t have time for this.” he said, hopping onto the tree and quickly, yet carefully crossing the bridge like a balance beam.
“Late for what? I don’t want to cross that.” said Chip, confused, to the group.
“I ssstill don’t trust him. We should turn back.” said Slicks.
A Dialogue Scroll appeared for Arilee
Dialogue Scroll
-
Reassure the group - Cross The Bridge
-
Turn Back - Don’t Cross the Bridge
Arilee thought about it hard for a second. The first option appeared selected.
Dialogue Scroll
X
Reassure the group - Cross The Bridge
-
Turn Back - Don’t Cross the Bridge
She hopped onto the fallen tree. “It’s okay. We saw him cross the bridge. It should be safe enough. Just go one at a time. Don’t forget, we’ve been working on our footing for a few days now too.”
Perception
5/100
Leadership
2/100 | +1
Relationship with Chip
2/5 | +1
Relationship with Leela
1/5
Relationship with Slicks
1/5
The scroll disappeared.
Arilee tiptoed her way across the bridge, trying not to worry about the rushing waters below. The tree was wide enough to walk across, but it still felt extremely unnerving. When she was half way over, she turned briefly and waved to the group to let them know it was okay. She looked ahead again to see Scout Thomas anxiously awaiting for the rest of the group to cross. She didn’t let his stare bother her and kept making her away across. When she reached the end, she hopped off, smiling triumphantly at the grimacing Scout Thomas.
Chip was next to cross, followed by Leela, and then Slicks. When Slicks, placed his feet on the other-side, he looked up suddenly, his tongue flicking about wildly. Arilee remembered last time, and started looking around.
“Wait!” she said in a hushed shout to everyone gathering on the trail.
The group stopped. Scout Thomas glared at her. Arilee crouched and quietly walked ahead on the path a little way, signaling for everyone to stay put. She peered her eyes down the path. There was a small grouping of bushes and trees that shimmered slightly when the rain hit their leaves. She turned and went back to the group.
“There’s an illusion up ahead I think.”
Scout Thomas replied, “I’m sure everything is fine. Let’s just keep going.”
“I trussst Arilee.” said Slicks, showing no signs of moving.
“So do I,” said Leela, stepping up next Arilee and Slicks. Chip followed suit.
Scout Thomas glared at them and thought to himself for a minute. Then he smiled mischievously.
“Fine then. It doesn’t matter. There’s another path we can go. “
And instead of following the path right toward the trap, he lifted a branch to reveal a much smaller path to the left.
"Follow me."
The group looked at each other. Slicks rested his hand on his sword, ready, and followed first.
The Group Scroll briefly appeared for Arilee.
Perception
10/100 | +5
Leadership
3/100 | +1
Relationship with Chip
3/5 | +1
Relationship with Leela
2/5 | +1
Relationship with Slicks
2/5 | +1
Strung Up In The Corrupted forest
Chapter 17