Falo, Ozgar, and Mystikos met on the bridge leading out of Fironia Vie. "I just talked to Tessica," said Falo, "she said that she will meet us at the Lake of Ill Omen zone."
"Aye, that's good," said Ozgar. "Wurzin is in Butcherblock now and should also be with us as soon as he catches the boat."
The three raced along the river to the Lake's zone where they met Tessica. After exchanging pleasantries, Mystikos led them to where they were all going to meet Wurzin. The rain made the mossy grass quite slick, but Mystikos knew where he was headed, and before long, they arrived near the Swamp Of No Hope zone, close to where the giant arbors had a camp. As Ozgar passed around the fish wine and Falo notched a few more arrows, Mystikos explained to his friends the reason for them being there.
Mystikos had met with Captain Nealith earlier, in which the captain told him of his fears of something that seemed to be going on near the Fironia Vie outpost. Many of the pilgrims that guarded the outpost just beyond the bridge had been showing up severely wounded or not showing up at all. A few weeks previously, there were reports of some heavy activity among the pirates and the drolvargs, and since that time, the drolvargs appeared to become that much stronger and bolder, and a few had even breached the bridge and had nearly reached the bank before they were turned back. The captain needed some adventurer who was willing to take a risk and try to sneak into the drolvarg temple that was nearby to see what information they could come up with. "And this is where we come in, my friends," said Mystikos, "for I'm afraid that the adventurer that he asked this boon from happens to be me."
"Har-ar-ar," laughed Ozgar, "now why does that not surprise me?"
Just then, out of the gloom, came a figure. The four readied themselves, hoping it was Wurzin, but instead, it was an Iskar skeleton. "He cons blue to me," said Falo. "Shall we?" The four agreed, but little did they know that this was a mistake, for that skeleton was actually the Ancient Jarsath, a skeletal monk that had a very high aversion to magic. Falo hit it with an arrow, and to Falo's surprise, the monk was on him so fast he barely had time to draw his sword. Mystikos and Tessica tried constantly to cast snare or root, even several DOT spells, but they had little or no effect on the monk. Despite the heals that Ozgar kept casting on Falo, the monk was a flurry of feet and hands until finally, Falo went down. The monk then turned his attention on Mystikos, but Myst was having none of that. "RUN for the zone!" he shouted to his friends and made a mad dash to the swamp zone. Once they crossed the zone, the monk lost interest in them, shouting at them "WIMPS! You have to do way better than that if you ever wish to take my medallion away from me!" The three returned back so that Ozgar could resurrect Falo. Tessica had started dressing Mystikos' wounds when another figure appeared out of the mist, but this time it was Wurzin. "I see you guys couldn't wait for me," he said with a smile. "Yeah," said Falo as he rubbed his bruised jaw, "guess we just had to find someone to add to my revenge list while waiting for you."
Once they got themselves back in shape, Mystikos led them just outside the drolvarg temple. "I'm going to cast camouflage on all of us once we take out the guards in front, but be extremely careful because these drolvargs have a keen sense of hearing and smell." Wurzin harmonized with one guard while Falo got the other guard's attention with an arrow to the throat. Both Ozgar and Tessica cast DD spells while the others clubbed the guard into submission; then they just as quickly disposed of the other one. Mystikos then cast the camouflage spell on them, and they slowly crept through the temple entrance. They were almost all the way through the temple entrance when Mystikos saw a sight that chilled him. There, in front of them, were two drolvarg warlords. They had on gold breastplates with royal purple fringes on them. It was quite possible that the adventurers would have gone unnoticed had it not been for a drolvarg growler with a parchment in his hand who ran smack dab into Mystikos. "Human in our midst!" screamed the growler, and at once, they were on Mystikos. Tessica went to cast a heal on him but ended up revealing herself also. "Run to the zone!" Mystikos yelled just before he went down. The drolvargs went after Tessica out of the temple and on into the woods. She got herself a good head start, and once she figured she had drawn them far enough from her friends, she gated to the lake zone. Meanwhile, Falo and Ozgar grabbed Mystikos' body by the heels and dragged it out of the temple while Wurzin covered their backs for them. Once they had cleared and pulled back to a safe spot, Ozgar resurrected Mystikos. Tessica had also returned by this time.
"So we have been detected," said Ozgar gloomily, "what should we do now?"
"The thing to do now is to go back into the temple," said Mystikos. "The last thing they would expect would be for us to return, but we are going to have to approach a little differently this time." And with that, they once again entered the temple, this time with Mystikos, Wurzin, and Tessica harmonizing all the guards, while relying heavily on Falo and Ozgar to finish them off quickly. Mystikos did not see the warlords anywhere, but he figured that with the element of surprise gone, the warlords wouldn't hang around if they were on a special mission. When they reached the back of the temple, they found that it had opened up to a cul-de-sac into the woods again. Here, there were remains of an even older temple that had once stood. Falo found a vacant, level spot near the back to one side, and it was decided that this was where they would set up camp.
They had planned on having Falo pick off straggling drolvargs and draw them to their campsite, and in the meantime, Mystikos was camouflaging Tessica and Wurzin in turns so they could inspect the old ruins and report what they found. This plan was working nicely until Wurzin was caught sneaking too close to the center part of the ruins by a drolvarg snarler. "Bring him to the camp!" Ozgar ordered, but instead of there being just one that followed him, there was a squad of six on Wurzin's tail. The battle that followed was bloody and fierce, but the adventurers won out in the end. Sitting down to meditate, Mystikos wondered to Ozgar why a squad would suddenly attack like that when Tessica shouted, "Here they come again! This time a lot of them!"
"No wait," said Falo, "look, they are splitting, and look Myst, there are the two warlords you were looking for!" Sure enough, as Mystikos looked, he saw that the main force was heading towards the temple with the two warlords and what looked like a chest that they were carrying. But he had little time to dwell upon this, for once again, another squad of drolvargs were upon them. The adventurers once again fought off the squad, but it was quite apparent that they were fading fast. Falo's bow arm was no longer usable, and there were holes in Wurzin's jerkin with blood seeping out. Tessica's beautiful face had many cuts and bruises on it that would take some time to heal. "Well," said Ozgar, "what shall we do? We can try to follow those warlords, but I think we won't make it!"
"No, my friends, I don't think any of us need to go on any suicide missions today," said Mystikos. "It is best we call it a day." And just as the third squad of drolvargs was about to lay into them, Mystikos waved his arms into the air and quickly teleported his friends to Butcherblock Mountains.
Mystikos thanked his friends for their help, and leaving Ozgar in charge of ministering to the others' health, Mystikos returned to Fironia Vie to report to Captain Nealith. Although the captain seemed emotionless as Mystikos recounted the events that happened, Mystikos still could see the worry that laid in the captain's eyes. "Thank you for that report," Captain Nealith said, "and please tell your friends for me that I greatly appreciate what they have done. If at any time my men or I can be of assistance to you or your friends, just ask, for you have done this outpost a great service. Now please excuse me, for I must speak with others. What you have told me is quite serious, Mystikos, for those warlords are from Karnor Castle, and all I can hope is that you and your friends have put a major dent into their plans." And with that, the captain was off. Mystikos departed quite happy with the reward that he had received for this mission, but at the same time, he was quite worried that he had brought back to Captain Nealith more questions than answers. What was in the chest that the drolvargs had jealously guarded? And more importantly, what did the drolvargs from Karnor Castle have planned? Mystikos guessed that only time would tell, and he hoped that his friends had helped in preparing the outpost for the worst.
Take care and quest well,
Mystikos Samaritan
