The Hundred Horse Chestnut Tree
Lukos the Forester stoked the embers of the campfire with a stick and threw several more branches onto the fire. He lifted his head and watched the smoke of the fire slowly rise up into the branches of the great chestnut tree. A strong breeze from the west carrying the smell of the sea gently swayed the branches. A chorus of twinkling caused by hundreds of trinkets tied to the branches filled the air.
The Hundred Horse Chestnut, named for the fact that the branches could shelter 100 horses, was a famous landmark in Traladar. Travelers have for centuries made their camp under its shade. Lukos had been here a week and seen many people come and go. After travelling across Traladar looking for recruits he had set-up camp to wait and see who would take him up on his offer.
The first to arrive was a Bladedancer of Ianna, Lozen the Lioness. Lukos was pleased beyond words; to have a Bladedancer in his adventuring party would be a boon. She was young and inexperienced, but showed promise. The next to arrive with a rolling gait was a human named Vilhelmus Hastinov, a swashbuckling sailor with a famous last name. There was some initial tension between Vilhelmus and Lozen
Several hours later two elves walked up to the camp, they were in fact twin brothers, Avery and Carrick. Avery was a Spellblade and his brother was………. Well a bit shady, possibly someone with a criminal background, maybe a Nightblade, Carrick was not very forthcoming.
As the sun began to set, a woman approached the camp. Dressed in elven armor and carrying a shield with a black swan device, the woman introduced herself asIvanova Hastinov and she had come to join Luko’s adventuring party. It quickly became clear that Vilhelmus and Ivanova were cousins and they had history together.
Two Hastinovs, two elven twins and a Bladedancer, this was adventuring party was shaping up to be a interesting one. Lukos explained to the group what his intentions were. They would be travelling to the prefecture of Ourosco and the borderlands. Along the way they would be making a few stops along the way to gather recent information coming out of the borderlands. The group settled in for the night.
The next morning as the group was breaking camp a man came running up. Out of breath, he announced his name was Atticus and he was a teller of tales and singer of songs, he had come to join Luko’s adventuring party. The ever growing group hit the road. They travelled for several hours and soon arrived at the Fane of the Fallen, a temple dedicated to the goddess Calefa, the mother of mourning. Lukos gathered some interesting rumors and the party then heading to the famous fortress of the Black Eagle.
The Black Eagle Fortress
The party arrived in the late afternoon to the outskirts of the town surrounding the Black Eagle Fortress. After settling in, the party spent some time relaxing and gathering information about the borderlands. The next morning the party set off towards the borderlands. There last stop before crossing over into Ourosco.
Travelling along the imperial road they came across a wounded ass who charged pass them. Further up the road, a body lay in the middle of road. A ragged figure was hunched over the body chewing on it, the Vilhelmus and Avery drew weapons and charged the creature. Atticus noticed a crying noise coming from a nearby crofters hut and ran to see if any one needed help. The ghoul was quickly dispatched, but with a thunderous crash Atticus came flying out of the hut and landed with a bone-crunching thud on the imperial road.
Charging out of the hut came a ragged female humanoid. Exhibiting incredible strength and speed, the foul-mouthed creature who called herself Agrippa taunted and terrorized the party. The partys attacked it with weapons and magic but the creature seemed to be only mildly inconvenienced. It was only when Lozan smashed a vial of holy water against Agrippa’s head that it retreated to the safety of the dark woods. Ivanava and Vilhelmus gave chase……….
