Ch. 1 - The Keep on the Borderlands

The larger party sits not quite at ease, anticipating the scouts' return. Echoes of rustling leaves and snapping twigs make them feel uneasy, as if anything could be out there. . . .

"They've been gone too long! Something must have spotted them!" Delfarious anxiously announces. But then come the sounds, and the illusionist cannot help but creep forward for a better look. Are the scouts returning?!

Kraagor's eyes dart with every sound, his pacing having ceased. When the Purple Prestidigitator speaks suddenly, he jumps!

"Quiet, man! I am trying to keep aware of any ambushes!"

Father Petronius puts his hand on the shoulder of the illusionist. "Patience my friend, we can only trust in our scouts' skills. They could have been delayed for any number of reasons, not all of them dire. Lets remain vigilant and hope our friends return safe and sound."

Glowering at the dwarf, and then the priest, Delfarious works his mouth wordlessly for a moment, before he hissingly whispers, really quite loudly, "Yes! Vigilant! Good idea!"

And so the encamped party waits, stewing in their unease but trusting the canniness of its companions. . . . Morgan is just as trepidatious, but bides her time in quiet thought.

Just when it seems as if the scouts will never return, three familiar forms come rustling through the brush. Ezra, Farem, and Robin return to the party, no worse for wear but perhaps a little spooked.

"And where have you been?" Morgan jabs playfully, breaking the silence and probably making someone jump. "Stealing away with the treasure, huh? Certainly took long enough."

"There was a big camp down there, but it was deserted. People left in a hurry it seems, fleeing to the woods... We also found a stone construction in the center of the clearing, with what seems to be the beginning of a tunnel going down!" says Farem quickly, eager to share what the scouts have discovered.

"A large camp? Can you tell what sort of camps it was? Bandits, loggers, trappers... And how many people did you estimate were living there? And did you find any trace of the stumbling forms we spotted from the hill?"

Delfarious lends an eye to the description of what was found as well. "The priest has it!" he interjects enthusiastically. "Who are they?! Why were they here, and how long ago did they leave?!"

"Stone?!", says the dwarf, apparently unaware of stereotypes. "And nobody around? Let's go now before they return!"