Here we are back in the world...hang on, four actual play posts in a row? Wtf? Need to get some characters done this week.
ANYWAY. Here we are back in the world of Abhaile, where our heroes are resting after clearing out a kobold nest. The villagers put them up in a barn (best they have, but it's fine), and the four of them relax and settle in to sleep for the day.
Aisling notes that while they won the fight, it was unpleasant, and Clara (sporting some good goose eggs on her head) agrees. Zook notes that his father, an adventurer himself, used to say that not everyone was called to adventure, and being called for it was something you had to discover. They all talk about their lives and how they felt that call - Clara is following wanderlust that led her down out of the hills. Dara says that she felt called to leave the Enclave of Thorns and go out into the world to help people. Aisling, of course, is following the tradition of her people that leads her to discover and/or write new songs.
Zook also tells a story that his father told him - when he was out adventuring with a crew and they were looting a vault, they ran afoul of skeletons that kept getting back up when killed. One of Zook's crew managed to channel some divine magic and put them down, but Zook himself was knocked down and injured during the fight. It was then that he was convinced that adventuring had to be about something more than treasure. "And that's why I didn't see my father much when I was growing up," he concludes.
Aisling says that this story was great until the last bit, and then it just got sad, but Zook was just stating a fact. The four of them bed down and sleep. Dara, as an elf, just meditates for a few hours and then gets up and goes to help out the villagers with weeding and planting. She winds up talking to a few youngsters about the kobolds, and telling them to stay out of such things - they're needed here. A younger girl asks if her village needed her, but Dara says that her village benefits more from her being out in the world. There are enough hands in the Enclave.
As evening falls, the others wake up. Zook studies his magic book to refresh his memory on his spells, Clara performs her morning kata, and Aisling tunes her harp-lute. They are all invited out for dinner and given mutton, bread, and wine, and the villagers again thank them for their help. They note, though, that some of the kobolds got away, so they'll need to hunt them down, lest the little buggers come back.
An old, old woman sits down next to Zook and whispers that she's been waiting for him...but calls him Zeb. She takes his hand and puts it on her leg under the table, and Aisling, amused, plays a little love song ("Lovers 'Neath the Pine Tree") for them. Zook is not amused, but keeps quiet so as not to upset the old lady. He figures he'll talk to her tomorrow; he's told she's more lucid in the morning.
Night falls, and the villagers all start heading back to their homes. And then from the far end of the village, the adventurers hear screams and terrified pig-squeals! Aisling runs toward the sound, past villagers running, and sees an immense figure silhouetted in torch-light. "THAT LOOKS TASTY!" it bellows, making for a pig-pen. "THAT LOOKS PLENTY!"
Thinking fast, she spins her sling and hurls a rock at it. She strikes it in the head, and it turns and sees her, and starts lumbering toward her, away from the pigs. Dara catches up with Aisling and notices a small band of kobolds walking with the creature - an ogre - warily looking at it as though they aren't quite sure it isn't going to eat them. They're brandishing rocks and sharpened bits of bone, and looking hungrily at fleeing villagers. Aisling pulls out the magical globe she found and activates it, spreading sunlight all over the village and making the kobolds squeal!
Dara casts a spell, and roots and weeds shoot up, entangling the ogre and a couple of the kobolds. The ogre easily rips itself free, but can't get close enough to harm anyone, and that allows Clara to get into the mix.
She runs toward the monster and flings a dart, and braces for hand-to-hand combat. Zook throws a firebolt at a kobold, singeing it, and the little beasts split up (two are still entangled, the others chase after villagers but can't quite reach them).
The battle is joined! Clara leaps, ducks and strikes, pummeling the ogre's gut, but she misjudges a kick and the ogre strikes her with its club ("I MAKE JELLY OF YOU!"). The blow knocks her senseless! Meanwhile, the kobolds close in on Aisling and Dara. Dara wraps a thorn-whip around one of their little necks, killing it, and Zook throws some magic missiles into the mix, dropping a couple more, but the slimy beasts stab at Aisling and one of them hits her with a thrown rock. She drops to the ground, but the light remains.
Zook backs up and throws more magic missiles, but the ogre is still up and still angry. And suddenly, the heroes hear hoofbeats! A man on a horse rides into the village, leaps from his mount and roars a challenge to the ogre! The ogre responds in kind, and the man charges, hacking at the monster with hand ax. Zook hits the now-distracted ogre with a firebolt and burns it (and also singes off half the man's beard; he gives an angry shout at Zook).
Three other strangers approach from the crops. One, a young man in traveler's robes, throws a firebolt at one of the trapped kobolds, but Zook notices that he doesn't use the ritualized form of a wizard. Another, a human woman in a hood, nocks an arrow in a longbow and kills one of the kobolds facing off with Dara. The last, who appears to have horns, stares at the remaining kobold, and it covers its ears and falls to the ground, dying.
The tide turned, Dara casts a spell and flings an ice-knife at the ogre, piercing its heart and killing it. It lands with a thump, and Dara revives Clara. Clara tries to stabilize Aisling, but her neck is tweaked at a weird angle. The bearded man walks over and holds up Aisling's head, and then twists! There's a terrifying crackle, and she opens her eyes to find herself staring up at the strapping young barbarian.
The group of adventures introduces themselves: The barbarian is Fearg, from the northern plains. The ranger is Belle, originally from a village in the east, while the young man (a half-elf, as it happens) is Keenan, a sorcerer from the plains of the west. The other woman is Losh, a tiefling, and she grew up in Cian, rejected by her parents. The four of them have been tracking the ogre for the last couple of days, and just caught up during the battle!
The two groups make friends and talk about their experiences thus far. Zook trims Fearg's now-singed beard, Aisling and Losh trade songs and Aisling shows her the harp-lute. Clara engages Belle in small talk (which she's polite enough to do, but clearly isn't crazy about) and Keenan enthusiastically talks with anyone who'll listen.
During the day, all of the adventurers help out in the village, and Zook goes to talk to Maggan, the old lady. She is indeed more lucid during the day, and realizes who Zook is. She tells him that Zeb had a gift for him - a small box with a magical lock that would only open for him - but she doesn't know what it was. He talked of his son often, she says, and he taught her how to shoot a bow. She also says that he was kind enough not to ask her to leave the village with him - he was an adventurer and she was a cowherd. They had what they had, and she loved him, but she also knew where she belonged. She asks if Zeb ever came home, and when Zook says he didn't, she expresses hope that he's still out there somewhere. She says that Zeb intended to go south from here, but if he told her anything more specific, she doesn't remember.
Zook thanks her, and talks with the others. Belle, upon learning that Zook's father was the famous ranger Zeb Timber, is impressed, and she heard stories of him growing up near Fiadh, but nothing specific or verifiable enough to tell where one might find more word of him. She mentions that as they were tracking the ogre, they saw a village off to the southeast of here flying a mourning banner (common practice in this part of Abhaile; if the village is in mourning they fly a banner so that visitors or merchants know to strike the right tone when entering). They assumed it was because the ogre had killed someone, and Aisling suggests that the village might like to know that the ogre has been slain. They decide to head that way, while Belle's group continues west.
They spend one more night in the village, and Aisling and Fearg share a bed (well, a hayloft). They wake and say their goodbyes, and Aisling gives him a ribbon. He ties it around his wrist and she says that maybe if she suffers a blow to the head again, she'll wake and see his face. He smiles and kisses her, and the two groups part.
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