Meric the Storyman: Rega and the Dragonstones

Orff made it safely back to Striplind’s shoreline. His passengers had remained quiet once the boat had pulled away from the shore. He knew better than to ask about their business. The less he knew about them, the better.

The boat slowly landed at a single dock which was located east of Striplind. The landing had been built to allow certain parties to avoid going through the city itself. Orff was one of the few who knew its location. Dexir and Doman were waiting there with the wagon.

“Rega.” said Dexir. “You made it. How was the mission?”

Rega glanced over to the dwarf, but before he answered, Orff said, “Don’t worry. My loyalty is to Luxod. He has saved my hide more times than I can count.”

Rega then answered, “It was successful.”

The thief then turned to Orff. “My thanks for the ride. I’ll make it a point the next time I see Luxod that he knows about your good work.”

He reached into his pouch and gave the dwarf ten silver coins as a tip.

The halflings, brownies, Doman and Lobaki climbed in the wagon. Rega got on his horse. It was time to head south. Soliat should be letting him know about the next Dragonstone soon.

When they had gotten far enough away, Dexir rode his horse up to Rega. “What was that all about with the dwarf?”

Rega answered, “It was some extra insurance.” Seeing the puzzled look on his friends face, he added, “The dwarf works for Luxod. But when he gets word about what our mission really was, he may be tempted to drop off some information to the dwarven officials. I just had to make sure he remembered his loyalty to Luxod.”

“Then what about the tip?” asked Dexir.

“It was nothing more than a tip. He safely brought us from Cromwell to the mainland. It was worth the tip.” answered Rega.

The lock finally clicked open. Doman was free. The guard had brought him here and locked him up last night. He had been accused of murder.

Doman knew he was innocent. The person had been murdered in his home on the northeast part of town. Doman had stayed in the southern part all that day. It was the only place he could afford to go to.

Earlier that day, Doman had been buying something to eat from a food vendor. All because he had money, a nearby guard felt he must be guilty. The guard called for reinforcements and made the arrest.

They brought him in and told him he would be hanged for his crime. Doman insisted all the while that he was innocent. They laughed in his face.

He decided that the only way to avoid being executed was to escape. So, using the small lock pick he had hidden in his clothes, he started working on the cell’s lock.

Now that he was free, Doman headed to the front door. Hopefully he had timed it right and the guard was sleeping off a few too many drinks. He was in luck! The guard was asleep.

He quietly walked to the door. When he was about halfway there, the guard woke.

“Hey, where you goin?” he asked the half-orc, pulling out his long-sword.

Doman made no reply. He stood and waited for the guard to come closer. When he was within reach, Doman punched him. The guard dropped to the floor, losing his grip on the long-sword.

Doman jumped after the weapon, getting to it right before the guard did. The guard slowly got back to his feet. Once upright, he dived for the half-orc. Doman brought the sword down on the man’s arm, cutting through flesh and bone.

He reached down and picked up the severed arm and then began to club the guard on the head with it. Soon, the man was unconscious.

Doman then ran for the door. He opened it and ran away from the building. A woman, who was nearby, saw the half-orc running away from there. Doman saw her as well. Then she let out a scream. Looking down, he saw the blood-covered sword in one hand and the severed arm still in his other...

Doman woke up in sweats. Rega, the current person on watch, had not been alerted. That was good. He did not want to explain about these nightmares.

He laid his head back down to try and let sleep return. He tossed for almost an hour before it did.

They spotted a lone figure on horseback, obviously waiting for them. It had been two days since they had left Striplind with the Ruby. There was no sign of pursuit.

As they neared the figure, they could see that he was an elf. He was sitting on his horse. His deep green cloak was wrapped around him. His bow was slung over his shoulder not in use, but easily accessible.

Not knowing what he wanted, and seeing his non-threatening posture, they continued.

They slowed as they got nearer to the elf. No other elves were in sight, but that did not matter because if an elf wanted to not be seen it could hide very well. The elf waited.

Finally, Rega called out to him. “Hello, good sir. Can we be of assistance?”

“I am here to pass on a message.” said the elf. “I need to speak to one named Rega.”

“I am Rega.” replied the thief. “What is the message?” he then asked back.

The elf answered, “Soliat regrets he couldn’t be here personally. He said to tell you that the next phase of your mission is to proceed to the elven city of Estu. There you will get the blue Sapphire. After that, you are to proceed to the halfling city of Leafbourn to get the Emeraldstone.”

The halfling brothers looked at each other when the elf mentioned the Emeraldstone.

“Very well.” said Rega. “Thank you.”

“I will ride on ahead to inform my King that you are on your way.” said the elf. “There will be a guide waiting for you once you near Estu.” He then added, “By the way, congratulations.”

With that, the elf rode off south on the Great North/South Road. Now that they had put some distance between them and Cromwell, Rega and the group could continue at a slower pace.

Traveling was rather pleasant. The midsummer weather was comfortable in this location of the land. Occasionally, farmers with early summer produce were seen on the road. The Midsummer Celebration was close at hand.

During one of the rest periods, the brownies went in search of provisions. As luck would have it, they happened to come across a wild healing-pepper plant. Healing-peppers came in three varieties. Green ones would have a liquid inside that would cure most upset stomachs. Yellow and orange ones would have a liquid that cured minor wounds and bruises. Red ones would have a liquid that could actually restore severed fingers or toes. The brownies found a red one with two ripe healing-peppers. They brought these back to the group and they were placed into the wagon for an emergency.

The other advantage of a healing-pepper is after the healing liquid was used, the actual pepper could be used for cooking, adding a very nice flavor to whatever meal they were included with. The only disadvantage is since they were organic, healing-peppers had a limited amount of time to be used. The liquid could be saved in vials, but it still needed a preservation spell to be used so the liquid wouldn’t spoil. Healing-pepper liquid was a highly sought-after component by alchemists for making the best healing potions.

Doman mentioned, “My mother told me when I was young that a druid was responsible for healing peppers. He placed regular bell pepper seeds into the ground and called upon the earth’s power to help the plants grow. This resulted in the first healing pepper plants. It was later discovered that healing pepper plants need to grow in soil that has some earth-magic, otherwise they will just produce normal bell peppers.”

A few days after meeting with the elf, five since leaving Striplind, the party had another encounter. Doman had been on Rega’s horse, scouting ahead on the road. Suddenly, he came rushing back.

“There is a small group of orcs some ways ahead.” he told the rest of the group. “They appear to be blocking the road. Do you think it has anything to do with Cromwell?”

“No.” answered Rega. “They are probably out tormenting some farmers and stealing their produce. The pig-faces...uh, no offense Doman.”

Having learned about Rega’s history, Doman felt no offense.

“Doman, let me take the horse. Dex and I will go on ahead to take care of the problem.”

Doman got off the horse and climbed up to the seat on the wagon. After Rega and Dexir left, and while Stice and Lano prepared the wagon for a possible attack, he took out the necklace his mother had given him and placed it around his neck.

Rega and Dexir soon saw the orcs. There were five of them. All had shields with the red dragon symbol.

“This should be similar to when we saved Lobaki’s neck.” said Rega to his friend.

They both charged with their weapons ready.

Unlike their attack on the orcs days before, these orcs were prepared. Very prepared. One of them blew an alarm horn. Before the two men could even reach the orcs on the road, over twenty more, all with spears, had come out from places along the sides of the road. Rega and Dexir were soon surrounded.

The wagon was stowed away. The brownies had hidden all of the party’s valuables in secret compartments. Lobaki had sent Barg on ahead to see if there were any new developments.

A few minutes later, Barg returned with the news. Rega and Dexir had been ambushed. The small group of orcs had grown considerably in size. There had been no choice but to surrender...surrender or die.

Doman had the halflings pull the wagon further off the road. Once they found a suitable location, the brownies got to work camouflaging it. Certi and Ardi also knew a few spells which could be used for guarding the wagon. The rest of the party would have to try and rescue their friends.

Instead of taking the road, they went along a path running parallel with the road, hiding behind trees and bushes. As they neared, they began to overhear some of the conversation.

In addition to some druid spells, Doman’s mother, Latala, had the foresight to teach Doman a limited amount of the orcish language. She had also taught him some elven and dwarven. It was the orcish that became valuable now.

“Elf said...large group...should be halflings...human.” said an orc. “Take prisoners...we wait for others.”

The beginnings of a plan came to Doman. He reached deep inside and felt the anger. He began to let it build up in him. This anger would make it much easier for what he had to do.

Grabbing the nearest one by him, which happened to be Lano, he walked out into the open and said in perfect orcish, “Here are others. Me found them hiding behind trees.”

Once again, the orcish alarm horn was blown.