Episode 1: Canis and Familiaris
Starq the Human Sorcerer was starting to get worried: his master, the Halfling Sorcerer Condros Silverfingers, had been missing for a week. Sorcerers tend to be a bit unpredictable in general, so at first Starq hadn’t been too worried. Condros, however, was actually surprisingly regular in his habits, and so Starq finally reached a peak of concern and started looking for him in earnest. He knew that Condros had been raised in the forest village of Filo, three days’ journey from his current home in the small Halfling-founded port city of Culdin.
Starq set out from Culdin and arrived in Filo, and knocked on one of its inhabitant’s doors. The door was opened by a Halfling lad. Starq asked where the Silverfingers lived. The lad told him that old grandma Silverfingers had left on a voyage, but that Condros’s Wizard sister lived at the miller’s house.
Starq went to the miller’s house, which was by a stream at the edge of town, and knocked on the door. A chubby Halfling woman wearing a silver robe opened the door and introduced herself as Marigold Goldfoot. Starq said that he was looking for a woman by the name of Silverfingers. Marigold informed him that Silverfingers had been her maiden name. Starq asked her if she knew where Condros was. Marigold had no idea where the sorcerer might have gone, but told Starq not to get too worried about wandering sorcerers. Her husband Polo Goldfoot, the miller, came up behind her and told her that she could use that “finding staff” she had. Over her shoulder, she told him that the staff was too valuable to use unless there was an emergency.
Meanwhile, Eltana the Halfling Druid, riding Blade the wolf, had meandered her way to the village of Filo in the course of her personal druidic nature-walk. She saw a handful of people gathered to catch the gossip around the miller’s house, and stayed to watch. Erannar and Dreneil, the Elf Ranger cousins, had also made it to Filo on their search for a Rangerly adventure. They had collected a small crowd themselves, due to their height. They too joined the group by the flashing mill-wheel.
Starq stood at the door, wondering what to do. A hawk flew past his shoulder and into the house, landing on Polo’s shoulder. Polo exclaimed to his wife in distress, for this was their son Yulin’s hawk, and it looked injured. In the midst of her concern, Marigold begged Starq to go help Yulin, promising him the staff in return. Starq agreed. Polo told him to follow the hawk back to Yulin.
As Starq made ready to leave, Erannar and Dreneil offered to help him, since this seemed like an adventure. Eltana, feeling for the injured hawk, offered her services to Marigold, who explained that Yulin had just set up for himself as a Druid and a riding-dog breeder out in the forest, poor boy. He still needed some looking after.
Starq, Erannar, Dreneil, and Eltana set off, Eltana riding on Blade, following the hawk as it fluttered in front of them. They introduced themselves to each other, finding that they all hailed from Culdin. Starq explained that he was helping Yulin so that he could get the staff with which to find Condros.
The party came to a more open part of the forest, where the hawk flew to land on Yulin’s shoulder. The unfortunate Halfling was fifteen feet up in the air, clinging to the trunk of the large oak tree which served as a central pole to the roof of his cottage. Below him, a male wolf was growling and snapping at him.
Erannar attempted to command the wolf to “lie down,” but it ignored him. Yulin yelled for the party to “get the wolf off him.” Dreneil and Starq moved closer to the wolf, but decided to give Eltana a chance to calm it. Eltana also told it to “lie down,” and it listened. Yulin carefully walked around on his roof to the far side of the tree before climbing down. He hurriedly thanked the party for rescuing him and begged them to come with him to his kennels, because he thought he had heard more yelping over the wolf’s snarls. Starq and Dreneil obliged him, Eltana and Erannar staying to watch over the wolf. The wolf decided it had had enough of “lying down” and moved to run away, but Eltana tempted it with a bit of food and successfully put a rope through its collar. Erannar examined the collar and found it to be spiked and rusty, and somewhat poorly made – certainly not Elf handiwork.
At the kennels, Yulin’s worst suspicions were confirmed as he found one of his beloved dogs injured, with blood on its muzzle, and four other dogs missing. Eltana and Erannar came to the kennels as well, Eltana leading the wolf closely on its makeshift rope leash. Dreneil examined the confusion of tracks around the kennels and pronounced them to be four dogs, one wolf, and one goblin. Following the tracks further up (northeast), they could see that the wolf tracks went both ways, and that a second wolf had broken off toward Yulin’s house. Erannar surmised that the goblin was riding one of the wolves, and that the wolf they had caught also belonged to the goblin.
Yulin urged the party to come with him to rescue the dogs, and they agreed. They followed the tracks until Erannar spotted the goblin. It was kneeling beside a bush, trying to free one of the dogs whose leash had got tangled. The other three dogs were tied to a tree, and the goblin’s she-wolf mount was standing nearby. The she-wolf also spotted the party. As they approached, their captured wolf began to whine and tug towards its mate, alerting the goblin to the presence of the rescue party.
Yulin magically charmed the she-wolf. Dreneil ran towards the goblin, accosting it in its own tongue. As he only snarled at her, she took a swipe at it with her longsword, but missed. Everybody tried to hurt everybody else with various magics, arrows, and blows, but all came to naught. In the midst of the confusion, the charmed wolf went to follow Yulin as he cut his three dogs loose from the tree. The he-wolf attempted to pull away from Eltana towards its mate, but she managed to keep it on a short leash and instead joined the fray about the goblin. Finally, Dreneil took another swing at the goblin and hurt it badly, and Starq knocked him unconscious with a magic missile. The he-wolf, upset with the party in general for hurting its master, and upset with Eltana in particular for keeping it from its Yulin-following mate, tried to bite her. She avoided the attack and moved the wolf away from the goblin and towards its mate, again succeeding in making the creature lie down.
Yulin freed the tangled dog, and Starq roped up the goblin. Eltana stabilized it. They divested it of a piece of leather armor, a small morningstar, and a pouch with 20 gold pieces. Starq picked the goblin up, despite the stink, and carried it to Yulin’s house. The party restored the dogs to Yulin and also made him a present of the wolf pair. In return, Yulin gave them a magical feather token which, when planted, would immediately grow into a large oak like the one he lived under.
Yulin then wished to visit his parents the Goldfoots in Filo to assure them of his safety. The party contemplated keeping the goblin overnight so they could question it in the morning, but Yulin was opposed to keeping the stinky dog-thief in his house. They decided to bring him back to town and give him to the jailor.
The party trooped back to Filo. Marigold was overjoyed to see her son, and rather grudgingly gave the party the willow Staff of Divination, which she kept reminding them was worth “at least 15,000 gold pieces.” She also explained that it had two spells of Locate Creature remaining in it, which they could use to find Condros. All one had to do was think of Condros, and then turn slowly around until one sensed the proper direction. She also told them that they would have to go somewhere else to use it, because the water from the millwheel would block its effect.
The party thanked her and left her to fuss over her son. They now possessed the Staff.
Experience Points:
Following Yulin’s Hawk: 20
Getting to Know Each Other: 25
Wolf: 75
Going to Kennels: 20
Wolf and Goblin: 130
Putting Live Goblin in Jail: 20
Getting the Staff: 30
Total Experience Points: 320
Starq set out from Culdin and arrived in Filo, and knocked on one of its inhabitant’s doors. The door was opened by a Halfling lad. Starq asked where the Silverfingers lived. The lad told him that old grandma Silverfingers had left on a voyage, but that Condros’s Wizard sister lived at the miller’s house.
Starq went to the miller’s house, which was by a stream at the edge of town, and knocked on the door. A chubby Halfling woman wearing a silver robe opened the door and introduced herself as Marigold Goldfoot. Starq said that he was looking for a woman by the name of Silverfingers. Marigold informed him that Silverfingers had been her maiden name. Starq asked her if she knew where Condros was. Marigold had no idea where the sorcerer might have gone, but told Starq not to get too worried about wandering sorcerers. Her husband Polo Goldfoot, the miller, came up behind her and told her that she could use that “finding staff” she had. Over her shoulder, she told him that the staff was too valuable to use unless there was an emergency.
Meanwhile, Eltana the Halfling Druid, riding Blade the wolf, had meandered her way to the village of Filo in the course of her personal druidic nature-walk. She saw a handful of people gathered to catch the gossip around the miller’s house, and stayed to watch. Erannar and Dreneil, the Elf Ranger cousins, had also made it to Filo on their search for a Rangerly adventure. They had collected a small crowd themselves, due to their height. They too joined the group by the flashing mill-wheel.
Starq stood at the door, wondering what to do. A hawk flew past his shoulder and into the house, landing on Polo’s shoulder. Polo exclaimed to his wife in distress, for this was their son Yulin’s hawk, and it looked injured. In the midst of her concern, Marigold begged Starq to go help Yulin, promising him the staff in return. Starq agreed. Polo told him to follow the hawk back to Yulin.
As Starq made ready to leave, Erannar and Dreneil offered to help him, since this seemed like an adventure. Eltana, feeling for the injured hawk, offered her services to Marigold, who explained that Yulin had just set up for himself as a Druid and a riding-dog breeder out in the forest, poor boy. He still needed some looking after.
Starq, Erannar, Dreneil, and Eltana set off, Eltana riding on Blade, following the hawk as it fluttered in front of them. They introduced themselves to each other, finding that they all hailed from Culdin. Starq explained that he was helping Yulin so that he could get the staff with which to find Condros.
The party came to a more open part of the forest, where the hawk flew to land on Yulin’s shoulder. The unfortunate Halfling was fifteen feet up in the air, clinging to the trunk of the large oak tree which served as a central pole to the roof of his cottage. Below him, a male wolf was growling and snapping at him.
Erannar attempted to command the wolf to “lie down,” but it ignored him. Yulin yelled for the party to “get the wolf off him.” Dreneil and Starq moved closer to the wolf, but decided to give Eltana a chance to calm it. Eltana also told it to “lie down,” and it listened. Yulin carefully walked around on his roof to the far side of the tree before climbing down. He hurriedly thanked the party for rescuing him and begged them to come with him to his kennels, because he thought he had heard more yelping over the wolf’s snarls. Starq and Dreneil obliged him, Eltana and Erannar staying to watch over the wolf. The wolf decided it had had enough of “lying down” and moved to run away, but Eltana tempted it with a bit of food and successfully put a rope through its collar. Erannar examined the collar and found it to be spiked and rusty, and somewhat poorly made – certainly not Elf handiwork.
At the kennels, Yulin’s worst suspicions were confirmed as he found one of his beloved dogs injured, with blood on its muzzle, and four other dogs missing. Eltana and Erannar came to the kennels as well, Eltana leading the wolf closely on its makeshift rope leash. Dreneil examined the confusion of tracks around the kennels and pronounced them to be four dogs, one wolf, and one goblin. Following the tracks further up (northeast), they could see that the wolf tracks went both ways, and that a second wolf had broken off toward Yulin’s house. Erannar surmised that the goblin was riding one of the wolves, and that the wolf they had caught also belonged to the goblin.
Yulin urged the party to come with him to rescue the dogs, and they agreed. They followed the tracks until Erannar spotted the goblin. It was kneeling beside a bush, trying to free one of the dogs whose leash had got tangled. The other three dogs were tied to a tree, and the goblin’s she-wolf mount was standing nearby. The she-wolf also spotted the party. As they approached, their captured wolf began to whine and tug towards its mate, alerting the goblin to the presence of the rescue party.
Yulin magically charmed the she-wolf. Dreneil ran towards the goblin, accosting it in its own tongue. As he only snarled at her, she took a swipe at it with her longsword, but missed. Everybody tried to hurt everybody else with various magics, arrows, and blows, but all came to naught. In the midst of the confusion, the charmed wolf went to follow Yulin as he cut his three dogs loose from the tree. The he-wolf attempted to pull away from Eltana towards its mate, but she managed to keep it on a short leash and instead joined the fray about the goblin. Finally, Dreneil took another swing at the goblin and hurt it badly, and Starq knocked him unconscious with a magic missile. The he-wolf, upset with the party in general for hurting its master, and upset with Eltana in particular for keeping it from its Yulin-following mate, tried to bite her. She avoided the attack and moved the wolf away from the goblin and towards its mate, again succeeding in making the creature lie down.
Yulin freed the tangled dog, and Starq roped up the goblin. Eltana stabilized it. They divested it of a piece of leather armor, a small morningstar, and a pouch with 20 gold pieces. Starq picked the goblin up, despite the stink, and carried it to Yulin’s house. The party restored the dogs to Yulin and also made him a present of the wolf pair. In return, Yulin gave them a magical feather token which, when planted, would immediately grow into a large oak like the one he lived under.
Yulin then wished to visit his parents the Goldfoots in Filo to assure them of his safety. The party contemplated keeping the goblin overnight so they could question it in the morning, but Yulin was opposed to keeping the stinky dog-thief in his house. They decided to bring him back to town and give him to the jailor.
The party trooped back to Filo. Marigold was overjoyed to see her son, and rather grudgingly gave the party the willow Staff of Divination, which she kept reminding them was worth “at least 15,000 gold pieces.” She also explained that it had two spells of Locate Creature remaining in it, which they could use to find Condros. All one had to do was think of Condros, and then turn slowly around until one sensed the proper direction. She also told them that they would have to go somewhere else to use it, because the water from the millwheel would block its effect.
The party thanked her and left her to fuss over her son. They now possessed the Staff.
Experience Points:
Following Yulin’s Hawk: 20
Getting to Know Each Other: 25
Wolf: 75
Going to Kennels: 20
Wolf and Goblin: 130
Putting Live Goblin in Jail: 20
Getting the Staff: 30
Total Experience Points: 320
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