Post
by Sharkforce » Sun Apr 11, 2021 2:19 am
Orlam Rolfsom, Journal Entry # 10: Not the Vorst Guy
I must say, some people have the oddest idea of how to prepare for an adventure. I'm not talking about Taras (although he came along on this one), who always seems inclined to over-prepare (except, of course, for the times where he prepares exactly the right amount, which is why I don't mind that too much). No, I'm talking about a recent adventuring companion of mine, an Elementalist who goes by the name "Orfen" (which reminds me of a play where one character asks if they've ever known an orphan, and they answer "often" in a funny accent that makes it sound like they're just repeating orphan... but I digress).
Anyways, she was telling me she was an adventurer and would like to learn a spell or two, and I was shocked to discover that she did not know even the most basic of attack spells. I mean, certainly, there is more to adventuring than combat, but really, you should be prepared for that eventuality!
In the midst of our discussion (I was willing to teach in principle, but I'm not going to teach just *anyone*) when Taras came along as I had mentioned, and asked me to help with some sort of mystery involving a person who looked a lot like Taras but was not Taras. Something about him being behind strange animal migrations, it turns out the group that had previously been looking into the matter were mostly not available and Taras had recommended me as a Magician. Orfen got roped in too, which made me a little nervous because as previously discussed she was completely unprepared for a fight, but unfortunately we didn't have time to remedy that before leaving.
Following Taras, I met Arphen, an Elf Scout, and once again met Nergae (she helped in the matter of the living scarecrows that Clem the incompetent hog farmer made from tainted straw). The next few days mostly consisted of everyone calling each other the wrong names and being confused about why they didn't get answers as we headed to Ironbark Grove, which is where our employer was to be found. We arrived, sorted out the fact that Taras was not the person we were looking for, and met Gudrun, head of the local organization alchemists as I understand it (strange that I'd never met her before).
We got some basic directions, started tracking, found our quarry, and then found out he was not our quarry because he was simply trying to restore an imbalance he saw in nature, rather than seeking to harm the local villagers, or so he said (none had died, so we were inclined to trust him... a little bit. We agreed to meet with another Questor of Jaspree known to Arphen to confirm that he was not an imposter Questor himself, when some other group showed up wanting to kill the fellow out of hand and cheat us of our reward for resolving the situation. Taras told them to shove off, they decided to attack us, and it turns out our archers were better than theirs. Also, our new... well, friend seems excessive, let's call him an acquaintance, had the most devastating feline I have ever met. Glad they were on our side, sort of.
Turns out this other group had been pursuing a different bounty than us for the same person, prompting us to do our best to figure out how to get paid twice (I don't think our new acquaintance, one Zazeth Venskum, cared much for the discussion, but I do so like double paydays). Not wanting to get shot in the back, but also not wanting to steal valuable possessions or leave them unarmed in the wilderness, we took all their arrows and left them to sort themselves out. Actually, I think Orfen may have snuck in some physician practice on them using their medical supplies while I wasn't looking, I'm not sure.
Anyways, turns out Zazeth was not just a lunatic, and he had a plan to restore a local imbalance (I didn't see any major signs of imbalance, but perhaps I simply didn't know where to look or what to look for... certainly, I'm not accustomed to receiving visions from Jaspree letting me know one way or the other). It involved bringing some large-ish flightless birds, called dough-doughs, from far to the south. Good thing I was getting paid twice, because that took some time, even with Zazeth's magical flute skills to lead the birds, which were not very fast.
Turns out we were being tracked by a pack of wolves, which did not adequately account for the fact that we were Adepts. While defending ourselves, one of them died, but most of them ran off with little damage to our flock. Also, for someone blessed by the Green Father to enact a vision from him, Zazeth was really not ready for the job. Especially considering his previous migration attempt, which he tried to do solo, led to the death of his entire migration.
Oh, and Orfen spent most of her time handing out slightly more effective air armours and being a chew toy or pincushion. She definitely needs an attack spell. I'll see what I can do about teaching her.
Thank the Passions that at least *some* of us came prepared for this...