Chapter 2: Fell Tunnels

Two weeks have passed since the day you stopped Boltstrike tower from being taken by the Three. Some of your fame is starting to spread, but you are still seen as mere adventurers and simply mercenaries by the icons you have relationships with. At some point during your well earned rest, you each get a letter.
You all meet up at the Fighting Pawn tavern in Anvil. You pack your things and head out. The road is long, and it will take you about 11 days to get to Anvil. There is an optional stop you can make in Fort Triumph along the way. It will cost about 5 sp per day, or 5 gold and 5 silver per person to buy rations for the trip, unless you intend to hunt for your own food (though some rations are recommended on the days food is hard to find).

Makasi feels a tinge of confusion at being singled out by the Great Gold Wyrm. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, she thought, but it starts to feel different when that "friend" calls in a favor...

In the Anvil Tavern, she greets Hrafe with a hearty hug, and Edgar with a warm arm clasp. Seeing a new face in Ylliane, she introduces herself. "I'm Makasi Nkuyu, mother of Lukumu and Kivuvu. I'm an, ah... what do you folk call it? Paladin allied with the Great Gold Wyrm. I suppose you know what you're getting yourself into joining our company?"

Hrafe had been engrossed in a game of chess with the owner. Surprisingly the brutal warrior was not merely winning - he was dominating the board. Underneath feral and shamanistic savagery was the calculating insidious plays of a master strategist. As he stood to hug Makasi he made sure she and Edgar noted the web of murder he had set for his opponent. After a warm hug was exchanged he returned to the game and baited a trap. One move, sacrificing his queen's knight, would start a series of attritional losses that he would come out on top.

"You should read this letter. It seems we are in service of the Emperor this time." He looked Ylliane directly in the eye with a confident grin. "Ellie-Anne? Did I get that right?" He passed his orders to the newcome mercenary. Turning back to the game where the happless Tavern keep dove deep into his web of intrigue. "Mate in four." He announced, taking the offending bishop with his kings knight. A master's eye showed that the loss of material was actually a ploy to open long files, each file exploited by a bishop and his queen. Turning back to Ylliane. "I assume you understand the weight of these orders, you don't look like an amateur." Full warm confidence practically radiated from the young Bishop's face.

"I am Edgar Skullbreaker," the former assassin introduces himself to their new companion. "I used to be a tad shorter and hairier." He strokes a bare chin.

"I am skilled... in stealth and subterfuge," he adds.

Ylliane protrudes out of her hooded cloak enough to wave away the letter she's being offered, although it's worth noting that her wizened hand doesn't wave in quite the right direction, nor do her cloudy eyes look directly at the man. Her voice, on the other hand, is as strong as a young woman's, and her speech is not clipped, but efficient, as she doesn't waste a single breath she's not required to. "Thank you, I have my own. I have been called to serve the Empire, not the Emperor. But I cannot imagine what help the dwarves need that requires an archer, though my bow will be ready. And it is Ee-lee-ann."

She nods to Edgar, sort of. "There is great value in stealth. Almost as much as not having to fight at all."

Ylliane has arrived ready to go. Her pack is at her feet, and is tightly packed with the supplies she'll be taking along.

You gather and get acquainted or reacquainted. You have a choice to make as a group. Take 12 days to reach your destination but visit Fort Triumph halfway there, or save a day and be in the wilderness 11 straight days. You must also decide how many rations to bring (5 silver per 1 day of rations, 10 silver in 1 gold)

I edited your comment with the prices as I saw in the book

The party talks about their plans and agreed, despite Ylliane's desire, to add the extra day to their journey to stop in Fort Triumph to resupply and have at least one day of their journey in a nice bed (as opposed to the hard ground). Ylliane buys 6 days of rations (3 gp), while everyone else buy 12 (6 gp), so they are all set for the first half of their journey. Makasi and Hrafe pick up a good amount of gear and the rest keep what they have, perhaps spending some of their gold at Fort Triumph.

The road to Fort Triumph is a fairly simple one. There isn't much chance of getting lost on the well worn dirt path. On your second day, you see a pair of halflings, a man and a woman, running towards you. As they get closer, you realize they are running out of terror of something. Eventually, they yell, "They look well armed! Maybe they can save us! Hey! You four! Please! We're being chased by a beast!"

What do you do?

"What manner of beast?" Edgar says at the same time as he draws his daggers and scouts into the direction they came from. "And how far?"

Makasi squats down to meet the halflings' eyeline. "And is anyone hurt?"

The halfings pant and catch their breaths.

It's an Ankheg! Those blasted beasts ate our mules! They love small folk like us, so now they are chasing us!

They can dig underground... No idea where the buggers will appear!

As the man finishes, the ground begins to shake as it sounds like something is coming to the surface. With the shaking, no one has the chance to move, but those who have not yet done so manage to draw your weapons.

The Ankheg burst out of the ground in two different locations, each on a different side of the road. They seem hungry... As if the mules were the main course but the halflings are the dessert...

Makasi & Edgar & Ylliane can now go in any order. Please reference the battle information thread in the GM Public Notes section for initiative, enemy damage taken, active effects, and battle map.

Reminder that the map is not a set grid. Everyone is near everyone right now. If you are next to an enemy, you are engaged with them. Otherwise you are free. If you wish to be far from anyone, tell me and I will try to represent that. Generally you are far if you are roughly half the map away from someone.

Edgar sighs and quickly moves forward. He picks up the closest the halfling and tries to toss it out of harm's way on the side of the road. "Get up in the trees!" he shouts at both halflings.

Edgar approaches and engages the ankheg that just attacked, picks up the 40 or so pound halfling in front of him, and notices the large tree overhead (the one causing the shade in the image). He then throws them up as high as he can, allowing the halfling to grab hold. The male halfling is now high enough that, unless the ankheg knocks down the tree, he should be safe. The female is still in harm's way, however.

Makasi adopts her most matronly demeanor and addresses the female halfling: "You too, young lady. Flee! And don't stop running till we're far out of sight! We'll find you when this is over."