Long Post
Chapter One: The Black Hearts
The story begins with Arrador, Necross the Mad, Valster and Malachai sitting having a drink at The Three Heads. Desperate "Des" Tern is over at the bar, his unsightly wife is in the back and his three beautiful waitress are tending to tables. Lis, the party’s waitress for the night, comes over to fill their mugs and offers them freshly prepared fish stew. The tavern is friendly with The Alliance, the thieves guild in Dyvers, and the party has only recently been recruited.
Necross, feeling brave, decides to chat to Trinny, another waitress. Trinny finds him charming, but has other things on her mind. When Necross questions her, she explains that her neighbour disappeared mysteriously recently and no one seems to know why or who is responsible. Trinny goes to the back of the tavern, seeming distant, so Necross questions another waitress about the disappearance of the woman. Hennah explains that several people have disappeared of late, but she knows nothing about the matter.
Necross finally rejoins the group and explains what he has heard, staring at the tower of empty bowls next to Valster. Just then a dirty looking, freckled boy named Jez bursts through the door and runs straight to the party. Arrador allows a glance up at the energetic young lad who explains that Mutch, the parties handler for The Alliance, wants to meet with them at a tavern down the street at 8 bells that evening. Knowing nothing more he rushes off to deliver his next message. The party have a couple more mugs of ale before deciding to head out. Just then, an old bard begins playing a soulful Elvish melody in the corner.
The Handler
After arriving at the One Eyed Mug, a quiet local with a few strange characters keeping to themselves, the party meet Mutch in his usual corner booth. He treats them as good friends, but after a round of drinks he gets straight to business.
He explains that the job is to obtain the Lady’s Teardrop, a well-known gem, from inside the Manor of Lord Bastonvar. The aging lord, once lived with his daughter, a powerful mage, who has not been seen for some time and is believed to be dead. Mutch explains that the party is to sign up for work detail at the Manor the following , they will be required to complete various odd jobs for the Lord, such as gardening or painting, and to use this opportunity as cover, allowing them to investigate the property and plan a way to get inside without being caught. The Teardrop must be taken that same evening, before the Lord embarks on a journey.
After Mutch finishes the briefing, Necross decides to confront an elf sitting off to one side. The elf does not look pleased and tells him to leave. The party decide to head home for the night, although Valster decides he wants to grab one last mug of ale and sits near the bar.
The Night Assault
On the way out from the tavern, Necross hears the sudden scream of a woman in the distance. Asking if his colleagues heard the scream, he runs off up the street. Arrador calls back to Valster to come join them and the three head after Necross. As they get close, however, a crossbow bolt flies out of nowhere and hits Necross on the side of the helmet. The party duck for cover around him and to check if he is ok. As it happens, the bolt glanced off his helmet and he is unscathed.
Arrador tries to sneak further up the the street, in the direction of the rogue bolt, moving as silently as possible. Suddenly he spots another bolt speeding towards him from a side alley and attempts to evade, but bolt catches him in the stomach, impaling him. Blood gushes from the wound as Arrador collapses back in pain, desperately trying to manoeuvre himself in to a position of cover against the nearest wall, away from the alley. With blood pooling on the cobbles, Arrador tries to heal the wound magically, but the pain is unbearable and his magic fails him. He can smell death, his own.
The sorcerer, Necross, bravely runs up to him, staying close to the wall, and begins using his own magic to heal the horrible wound. In the chaos, Malachai hears the attackers around the corner and readies himself for an imminent attack. Valster draws and cocks his crossbow and takes aim. The atmosphere is tense.
Arrador and Necross, together, manage to heal the wound and staunch the flow of blood. The bolt is slowly pushed from the wound as the elf’s flesh knits together.
Healing completed, Necross glances around the corner and spots the attackers. A tall grey-skinned orc, wielding a crossbow, with a mighty claymore scabbarded across his back, takes aim at Necross' face and fires. The, incredibly lucky, sorcerer manages to pull away, just in time, as the bolt shatters against the wall where, moments earlier, his face had been.
It all happened so fast, yet he still managed to see two other figures, one carrying the unconscious form of a woman. Glancing around the corner, once more, Necross sees Orc drop his crossbow and run straight at him, the enormous sword in hand. Thinking quickly, Necross casts “Dragons breath” and spews forth flames from his mouth, hitting the left arm of the orc directly. Screaming in pain and anger, his flesh melting off his bones, he attempts to grab his claymore, but trips and falls just as Valster fires a bolt into his leg. The orc collapses to the ground near Arrador who draws his dual daggers and leaps on the orc, stabbing both directly into his chest. The orc takes his last breath and expires.
Necross rushes down the alley, finding the woman seen carried by the mysterious figures, lying in a crumpled heap on the cobbled street. It was Trinny, slowly bleeding out from a slit throat and on the verge of death.
Immediately, Necross casts spell of healing on the young woman, which instantly begins closing the wound. With time being of the essence, he picks her up gently, and carries her over to the others. The woman’s injury does not prevent the party from looting the orc’s corpse before they move her back to The Three Heads.
After laying her down in a back room of the tavern, Des thanks Necross and promises him free ale for life for saving Trinny. Bonus! Now worn out and exhausted, the friends head off home to get some rest.
The second part to follow once typed up!
