Players only please.
Players:
Ivar Firewing (Level 0 Human Peasant)- Played by Ivar[]
Health: 17
Power: 5
Kerk Acksedge (Level 0 Human Soldier)- Played by Kenobi[]
Health: 22
Power: 5
Sperry Van Ness (Level 0 Wizard Healer)- Played by Natalie[]
Health: 28
Power: 4
Pindius Zwervus (Level 0 Wizard Spell Caster)- Played by Pinda[]
Health: 9
Power: 4
Cain III Inarachni (Level 0 Dwarf Skirmisher)- Played by Spider[]
Health: 10
Power: 4
Story[]
King Gongo was an honorable king. Not only that, but he was also an honorable man. He was beloved by people all across Peenda City and the western side of Ambodia. He was such a brave, kind-hearted man that was willing to do anything to help his people out.
King Gongo's 75th birthday was coming up, in just a day, actually, and his loyal men decided to give him the best birthday bash ever. But what would be a birthday party without a cake? Yes, they would need a cake, and not just any cake. They would need one of the best cake ever baked, but it would not be easy to make. Fortunately for Gongo's men, they had been working on this cake for weeks. Now, one day before his birthday, it was practically done. It just needed one ingredient. A secret ingredient. Deep in the outskirts of Peenda City, and even partially into darker forests ahead, a special type of leaf called a Bloka Leaf grows. In order to make the cake just right, the king's men would have to retrieve one of these leaves. But with how busy they were getting the party ready, they wouldn't be able to get the leaves in time! But people of Ambodia are always willing to help...
Two humans (Ivar Firewing and Kerk Acksedge), two Wizards (Sperry Van Ness and Pindius Zwervus), and a Dwarf (Cain III Inarachni) followed one of the kings soldiers out into the courtyard of Gongo's palace. Gongo was to be occupied elsewhere today while the men prepared for the party out in the courtyard. The soldier turned around to look at the five adventurers.
"This task will not be as easy as it sounds, but it must be done in order for the cake to be just right," said the man. He then walked a little further down into the courtyard to introduce the five to someone.
"This is chef Huyang. He has been working very hard on this cake for the last few days, and now all he needs are some of those precious Bloka Leaves."
"I trust you won't fail us," said Huyang. "This cake very much depends on your success with finding the leaves."
The King's man looked up at the sky. "Time is passing. It is about time for you all to set out." He then took a good look at the five adventurers.
"Are you all accounted for and ready to go?"
A long moment passes while the adventurers decide that they are ready and all check in.
"Very well then. Let the Quest begin!"
The Quest[]
Ivar, Kerk, Sperry, Pindius, and Cain all followed the King's man out to the back door of the courtyard, which was a secret exit passed the stone wall border of Peenda City. It would be here that the adventurers would leave the city and enter the wild in search of the Bloka Leaves.
"As others have said earlier, you must find these leaves. You will be greatly rewarded for completing this task, too. Good luck."
The five set out as the King's man watched them from the courtyard exit, hoping they would not fail.
The courtyard soon grew smaller and smaller from the heros' eyes as they continued on, going deeper and deeper into the outskirts of Peenda City. As they passed on, there were many different leaves that they went by, but none of them had matched the description of the Bloka Leaves. They continued to move on.
They soon came across a large river that stretched on for miles. Fortunately, it was only one hundred yards or so to cross it, and there was even a log there! How convenient and lucky of the adventurers!
But after taking a closer look at the log, they could all tell how old and unstable it really was. And it was quite a long way to walk on it to get across. They weren't even sure if it could balance their weight.
So now it looked like the adventurers had a choice. They could either go across the river on the log and save plenty of time, or they could continue down stream of the river (taking more time) and hope they find another way across.
After some deliberation, the five decided to cross the log, and Pindius would go first. He took a couple steps onto the log and could feel it's light weight and stature. As he could here parts of it snapping and breaking, he realized that this was a bad idea.
The log snapped and Pindius fell in the water right away, losing 4 health. The others watched in horror as the current pushed him down along downstream. They tried running after him on the side of the river, but they couldn't keep up. In order for them to catch up, they'd have to jump into the river and swim after him with the help of the current. And so they did. The river pushed them all for a long time before they finally saw something that could help.
What they saw was a boat. If they had only kept walking, then they would have found the boat and just would have been able to use that to get across! The current pushed them all next to the boat, allowing them all to get in and row across the river. By the time they had made it across, they were all tired wet, and had lost 3 power each.
They all continued on, now with the river behind them, to three objects in front of them. There was a small tree, a rock, and a bush. They knew that they all had objects under them, some that could heal some of them. But it took them so long to cross the river that they were limited on time, so they could only pick one.
Which will they choose for items, the tree, the rock, or the bush?
They had chosen the rock. After flipping the rock over, what had they found? Why, they had found a goblet! And it was still full of liquid! While it may sound disgusting, some of the adventurers recognized the liquid and knew that it could increase anyone's Power by a total of 5.
The group decided to split the liquid and distribute it equally. Every adventurer would get 1 extra power from the liquid. They moved on, knowing that they were getting closer and closer to the Bloka Leaves.
As they moved on, the trees started to become taller and thicker. They were entering forest territory now. As they were approaching one large tree in the distance, they spotted something moving by it. Not only that, but there was also a club and a large pile of bones by it. It was a troll! And it was blocking the adventurer's path! This definitely complicated things.
The adventurers decided that Pindius would try to use his magic to bring down the tree on the troll. Sperry would then use magic to levitate the troll's club and hit him with it while Ivar, Kerk, and Cain all attacked it with their weapons up close. The adventurers all got into position and prepared to put their plan into motion.
Pindius was waiting behind the tree for the signal. When he got it, he started zapping the tree with all he had. But since he wasn't even level 1 yet, it didn't do anything! The troll heard right away and came rushing over to the back of the tree. It growled at Pindius and prepared to attack him, but Sperry wouldn't let that happen.
"Don't you dare touch him!" said Sperry as she levitated the troll's club (she was able to do this becuse it was simpler magic) and through it in his face. The troll collapsed to the ground right away. Ivar, Kerk, and Cain released battle cries and they ran towards it to finish it off.
But the troll was already up on its feet by the time the three made it over to him. It quickly defended itself by swiping it's stubby hands at Ivar, Kerk, and Cain, taking away 2 health from each of them.
"Retreat!" shouted Pindius, who was already running from the tree. The others followed him.
The troll then just watched as the others ran away. He growled in anger at the adventurers attack.
The group continued running for a while to be sure they had escaped the troll. Despite them getting some minor injuries from the attack, they were still on course with where they had to go. They soon came across a very tall tree. They knew that they were very close to the leaves now, but they weren't sure about the leave's exact spot. Climbing up the tree could help for them to scout ahead, or they could just continue going down the path.
The group decides to climb the tree and scout ahead. Cain does this while the others either prepare to catch him or go down the path a little ways.
After much climbing and lots of effort, Cain had made it to the top of the tree and could see much of the surrounding forest. He then spotted something in the distance.
"Leaves... I see leaves in the distance!" said Cain. "I see leaves!"
"Where?!" asked the others. "How far away are they?!"
Cain didn't respond until he had made it all the way down the tree, which annoyed everyone else because of how slow he was. Once he got down, he didn't answer the other's questions. Instead he just started running. Being a dwarf, Cain wasn't able to run so fast so the others just jogged behind him. After going a little ways, they had made it to a large tree with rocks surrounding it.
After arriving, the group was happy, yet at the same time confused. They had found the leaves! But the question was, what were the leaves? There were a bunch of leaves around the tree and rocks!
"Well," said Kerk taking a look around. "The only way to tell if it's the right leaf or not is to taste test it. The Bloka Leaves should taste very sweat and slightly minty." Kerk was just about to take a taste of a leaf when he was interrupted by Sperry.
"Wait, no!" said Sperry. "Some of these leaves could be poisonous!"
"Oh, I wouldn't mind dying," said Kerk. "Then some new cool guy could take my place."
"It looks like we'll have to choose wisely here," said Ivar.
Cain then, after taking a few moments to decide, takes some of the darker green leaves from the tree and puts a little into his mouth. Immediately, he starts coughing and gagging a little. He spits them out right away, losing 2 health.
Cain then takes many different leaves, both from the ground and the tree, and quickly shoves them down his mouth. He starts violently coughing and doesn't taste sweetness at all! He also loses 8 health because of this.
Cain had lost a lot of health, but he had not given up yet. He then moved on to try the dark green vine. He trembled as he put it in his mouth. It tasted... sweet and minty! He had done it! They had done it! The group had finally found the Bloka Leaves.
But their victory was short lived, as they heard large thumping and the sound of trees crashing down in the distance.
"Stand your ground!" shouted Ivar. A large troll, the same one from earlier, then came out of the bushes, armed with a club. It attempted to attack the adventurers right away.
"Let's do this," said Kerk as they all charged the troll.
Kerk then charged the troll head on and took the lead in the fight. The troll quickly slammed its club into the ground, but Kerk was able to dodge it. He then quickly slashed at its hand while it was down on the ground pulling up the club. While Kerk did this, Cain threw his tomahawk directly between the beast's eyes with a fair amount of force. The troll then moaned in pain as it lost 8 health from both of these attacks. As the troll moaned in pain, the two wizards attacked it with magical spells while Ivar slashed at it from the back. The troll lost 9 health because of these attacks. Altogether, the troll had lost 17 health from the first round of attacks, but now it was his turn to attack.
The troll violently swung his club at the group, taking away 2 health from Ivar, Sperry, and Kerk. Unfortunately for the troll, that was all the force it had. The adventurers then prepared for their second force of attacks.
Cain and Kerk both charged the troll full on again, this time with a normal amount of force together. The troll then lost 6 health from their attacks. Next, Ivar charged into battle using over half the force he had left in him. Meanwhile, Pindius blasted the troll with his magic while Sperry used lightning spells on it. From Ivar, Pindius, and Sperry's attack's the troll had lost 11 health. Altogether, the troll had lost 17 health again from the adventurers attacks.
The troll was now desperate. It quickly swung its club at Sperry, who was barely able to block it with her staff. The troll then charged at Cain, who wasn't defending himself, and punched him right in the face. Cain, being a small dwarf, flew quite a ways across the grassy surface, losing 8 health. The troll then smacked his club into Ivar's face, who also didn't defend himself. The hit sent Ivar flying into a tree, taking away 8 health from him too. The troll then, in one last final attempt to rid the adventurers, tried to grab Pindius and Kerk. He succeeded in grabbing Pindius and slowly started to squeeze him tight while he swung his club, which had a few successful hits, at Kerk. Pindius then used a light stun spell to escape the troll's grasp, but he had lost 4 health. Kerk was soon also able to avoid the troll's club, but he too had lost 4 health. The troll, though, was done. He had had it with fighting this group. He then bolted into the forest, with just 11 health left.
"We need to get out of here... now!" said Sperry as some of the others picked themselves up from their injuries. They all also bolted into the forest, the oppossite direction of the troll. They were soon lucky enough to find a cave, which they rested in for a short amount of time. The sun had completely set and the group didn't want to be ambushed by any worse dangers in the night. They would have to wait until tomorrow, King Gongo's actual birthday, to turn in the leaves.
The adventurers all got up fairly early the next morning. The sun was just rising so it was a great sight to see altogether. They walked a little ways until they had made it to a tree and some rocks.
"That's the Wippletree!" said Ivar.
"The what?" asked Cain.
"The Wippletree!" said Ivar again. "It is said to be a good compass for people like us who are trapped in the woods. It looks like we have three options of where to go. There's the southern path (the way we originally came), the straight path (it is said to have less rough terrain that way), and the northern path (it is said to be a very quick short cut). Hmm, which path should we take?"
But no one answered, as they were all looking at a terrible sight. It was the troll again! He just wouldn't leave them alone!
"I'll fight," said Cain, taking out his weapons.
"No," said Pindius, signaling for Cain to put his weapons down. "We've fought enough already. This time we run. But we must choose a path first."
"We'll take the south path then," they all said. The troll must have understood them, because it immediately started running after the group and chased them down the south path. The chase continued on for quite a while until the adventurers actually conjured up a plan.
"To the river!" said Sperry. "We'll get in the boat from earlier!"
The group raced as fast as they could to the river, the troll trumping through every tree and plant that got in its way. When the group did get to the river, they didn't see what they expected.
The boat was gone! And there was only a log in its place!
"We must have taken a wrong turn," said Kerk. The others looked to see that the troll was gaining on them. "We'll have to cross the log to get across!"
"I'll go first!" said Ivar. He then quickly made his way across the log. He could hear it creak, but it never broke. Kerk went next, him also hearing creaking noises but the log still didn't break. Cain went third, although the log started to snap as he began to cross it.
"Cain!" shouted Ivar. "Come on! You can make it!" Cain then ran as fast as dwarves could and made it across. The two wizards, Sperry and Pindius, were next. Sperry crossed first, with Pindius right behind her. But going at the same time was a bad idea.
The troll had finally made it out of the forest and began to close in on the group. Luckily, Pindius was already half way across the log, Sperry being near the end. The troll then carefully began to crawl across the log. It slowly edged itself closer and closer to Pindius, who was at the back, each time.
"Go faster! Come on!" shouted Kerk. Sperry then made it to the end, and just in time too. The log had then fully collapsed, taking the troll and Pindius into the water.
"Pindius!" shouted Sperry. A moment of sadness had fallen on the adventurers as they saw no sign of Pindius in the water. They could, however, see the troll struggling to stay up in the river. The current quickly took it away for good. But there was still no sign of Pindius. He was gone.
The adventurers stood in silence as they thought of Pindius. Yes, they had got the Bloka Leaves, but Pindius had disappeared into the river.
"I'm not going anywhere" was all the adventurers heard to break the silence. They all then looked to see a soaked Pindius standing on their side of the river.
"Pindius!" they all shouted. He had made it! Although he had lossed 8 health because of his fall. The group then all got together and pushed on toward Peenda City. Today and yesterday had been hard, but they had some leaves to deliver.
The Conclusion[]
As the group made it into the courtyard, they could easily tell that it looked different. There were tables and chairs everywhere, and even tents were set up by different vendors and such, for many people would be here tonight. The King's man and Chef Huyang were waiting in the courrtyard, in the same spot yesterday, actually. it was almost as if they waited there the entire time.
"You made it!" yelled the King's man. "Some thought that you wouldn't..." he said, looking towards Huyang.
"That does not matter," said Huyang. "All that does matter is that you got the leaves." He then took the leaves from the group. "Thank you very much, now the cake will be perfect!" He walked away to add them to the cake.
The King's man approached the group. "Thank you," he said. "The King will be very pleased tonight. He looked at the group. "You look hurt," he said. "Come, let some medics tend to you."
"Maybe tomorrow," said Cain. "But tonight, we party."
The party went exactly as planned, and it was planned to be great. There were many people and some great food, too. But the biggest piece of food was the cake. When the giant cake was presented towards King Gongo, he was overwhelmed. "This is fantastic!" he said. "Thank you all." He winked at the adventurers.
King Gongo turned 75 that day, and with it he would have another year of being king of the great people of Peenda City, and all the people on the western side of Ambodia. Because it's the little, everyday deeds like the adventurers had just done that keeps away the darkness. It's smaller things that really make a difference. And make a difference, they did.
The party continued for most of the night, and it was one of the best nights Gongo had ever had. The cake wasn't half bad, either.