Bear and the Mine

Tallying up the loot and loading it onto their mounts, the survivors prepared to push on. Thorkil secured the five captured horses plus Hossein's on loose lines in a handy clearing where they could graze in the hopes of being able to collect them on the way back, and heaped a cairn over their late comrade while Animir rode back to collect Akara the Kobold.

This done, they pressed on south, following the kobold's directions.

Ruoyna's Den Tavern, Northern Stryre, 10th April, 1601

Three days after setting out, the little band reached the tavern Ruoyna's Den, which marked the half-way point to their destination. Three timber buildings with thatched roofs, the tavern was warm and welcoming, and its' host stood outside quietly polishing a pint pot. He was a huge man, heavily built and strong despite his middle years.

As the group reached him, Animir eyed him carefully, not quite comfortable with a human this big and - well, hairy. Thorkil, however, greeted him courteously and introduced the party. The innkeeper scrutinized each deeply in turn for a moment, pausing at Akara, but then smiled, introduced himself as Bear, and invited them into his tavern.

Half a dozen other nondescript travellers were already seated in various places in the tavern as they entered, and Thorkil bought three tankards of ale. Lifting his, he toasted; "To Hossein,". Animir echoed him and they drank to their fallen comrade; Akara merely blinked bemusedly.

Refreshed and comfortable, the three sat at the bar, Akara hefting his tankard in both small hands. Bear chatted to them, and brought the conversation around to their wounds. When it emerged that they'd fought and beaten Krista Ferns and her band, he was amazed and impressed. "You have done my customers and myself a service," he declared, "making the road safer by removing those miscreants."

As they spoke, Animir noticed one of the customers turn rather pale, get up, and leave the tavern.

"It behoves me to do you a service in turn," continued Bear, and reaching forward, placed a giant hand on each of their shoulders. There was a brief surge of energy, and their pains and wounds dropped away, leaving them healed and fresh. Glancing up, Animir spotted the worn greatsword hanging over the mantelpiece; clearly Bear had been a paladin at one point.

Finally, the place wound down for the night, and the travllers staying overnight unrolled their bedrolls in the dining hall and dossed down. Animir, sleepless in the way of elves, remained awake, and pored over the worrying letter she'd taken from Krista Ferns. Finally, she woke Thorkil, and led him outside to show it to him.

The dwarf studied it at length, and his face grew grave. "This could mean big trouble," he said in a nervous voice. "If it's true, we've killed a servant of the King." Animir had only the vaguest idea of who and what the King of Stryre was, but judging by Thorkil's expression he wasn't a tolerant or jovial monarch. She squinted at the parchment again.

Suddenly, she realized that the writing where it said "Krista Ferns" was slightly different to the rest of the document. Close examination showed that the ink had been scraped off, and the half-elf's name written in afterwards. The document was a forgery!

Relieved, the pair chucked it into the fireplace on the way back to bed.

Mine Entrance, Vision Peaks, Northern Stryre, 12th April 1601

Finally, six days after setting off, the group reached their destination. Emerging from a narrow cleft in the rock, they found themselves at the lip of a chasm, 20' across and easily 15' deep, with a rushing river at the bottom. There had once been a wooden bridge spanning it, but it had been smashed down and destroyed - recently from the look of the damage.

On the far side, two large wooden doors were set into the mountainside.

Clearly, the first problem was crossing the chasm. It was too far for even the agile elf to jump, and way beyond the capabilities of Thorkil or Akara. They had rope, but no grapnels, and no realistic chance of attaching it remotely to the other side. Thorkil, however, had a solution; one of the items he'd inherited from the luckless Hossein was a potion of Jump.

Tying the rope to Animir, he spiked the other end securely into the ground and took a turn around his waist, in case of mishap. Then he handed her the potion, which she drank before taking a run-up and springing out into space.

The magic of the potion made an incredible difference. The elf described a graceful arc across the chasm, landing gracefully at the other side with ample space to spare.

Quickly, she pegged a spike into the rock wall, and secured the rope to it. Thorkil and Akara looped short lengths of rope over the main line as safety lines before working hand-over-hand across the chasm to the other side.

They were across. Now, for the mine itself.