Dawn breaks on a new day in the Margeldan plains. Kristov and Jabari spend a leisurely morning breaking camp as they trudge westward in search of the long-forgotten tower of legend that holds the treasure they seek.
It’s not long before Jabari’s keen senses alert him to a disturbance in the pathway ahead. Warning Kristov that something seems off, he draws his sword and readies his shield for action. Kristov reaches for his trusty spyglass.
Looking forward to the plains before them, he spots two other travelers along the path. One appears to be riding a large shaggy dog or perhaps a wolf. At the same time, the other is vaguely humanoid and entirely unaware of what’s behind him.
The pair of travelers decide to sneak into the bush to avoid being spotted as they watch the eventual meeting between the new strangers before them. Kristov strains to stay silent, his old body unused to such hard work staying low in the bush.
Eventually, the two new travelers come into view. A strange-looking man walks alone, whistling a jaunty tune wearing a garishly red robe and strange blue hat. Behind him lurks a goblin in leather armor riding on the back of a nasty-looking wolf. The goblin is cautiously stalking the dark-skinned man with intense curiosity. The goblin’s mount grows frustrated with the pace and lets out a growl followed by a sneeze.
The strange man whips around and pipes up in a squeaky voice, “Who goes there!”
The goblin and wolf sheepishly come up to him with arms raised and paws low. “We followed your music,” the goblin says. “I’m Jabbles. Jabbles is a good goblin! This is my wolf Jango.”
Getting a good look at the man now, Jabbles is astonished at the sight before him. The strange is about the same height as the goblin, with dark fur all over his body. The man has a rat-like nose, with incredibly large ears, awkwardly large hands, and hilariously sized yellow shoes. Jabbles is dumbstruck at how such a creature could have come before him.
The robed man peers back at the goblin, alarmed but ready should the armed creature or his ferocious wolf cause him any harm. He responds to the goblin, “That is nice to know, but it’s impolite to sneak up on people,”
Jabbles looks at the ground for a moment but perks up, reaching into his squalid pockets he brings out some jerky. “I offer meat in good faith,” Jabbles says.
It is at this point that Jabari looses all composure. Bursting forth from the bush, he strides into view of goblin and robed man.
“If he won’t take the meat, I will,” the wolfkin declares. He starts gnawing on the jerky as the two strangers gawk at the towering, muscle-bound wolfman who appeared suddenly.
“Jabari! What do I pay you for? We were perfectly well-hidden,” Kristov exclaims as he leads his donkey out of cover.
Sensing the awkwardness of the situation, the weary traveler reaches into his mysterious sack and pulls out several steaks. He throws one to Jabari, one to the wolf, and one of Jabbles.
“Here, I apologize for the surprise. We are fellow travelers as well,” Kristov says.
The goblin looks over the old trader and notices the poor shape his donkey is compared to the wolfkin and the human.
“If you feed the donkey here more than your friend here, maybe it wouldn’t look so old,” Jabbles says.
Kristov chuckles and replies, “Rudy and I go way back. We’ve had our fair share of adventures. He’s happy how he is.”
Meanwhile, Jango and Jabari both chow down on the steaks while tentatively sniffing at each other.
Walking up to Kristov, Jabbles says to him while pointing at his wolf, “When I first meet Jango, I give him meat. And now I give wolfkin meat, then you give me meat — that makes us friends! I am Jabbles.”
While the rest of the group is occupied, the robed man tries to sneak away, but the goblin’s keen eyes catch him. Jabbles races to catch him, saying, “You said you had medicine.”
The mousey man turns and says, “I have no idea what you’re talking about. What is this medicine that you speak of.”
Instead of responding, the goblin is entirely preoccupied with looking over the man. Eventually, he determines that the strange man is slightly shorter, but that his large ears give the illusion of extra height.
“Don’t be mad because Jabbles is the big man,” Jabbles says.
“Now listen here, big fella,” Faus exclaims in his squeaky voice. “You said you needed medicine, I don’t have any.”
“I need it for my wolf. He allergic to sneaking,” Jabbles responds.
Kristov ambles over and intervenes in the situation. The peddler explains that he and Jabari were traveling to find a treasure horde of legend and that they would welcome extra help if the new friends were willing.
Hearing the possibility of riches, the robed man lets down his guard and introduces himself.
“I am known as Mick E. Faus,” he tells the adventurers. He nods his head, puts on his tall blue cap, and slowly starts walking down the path as the rest of the group follows.
The fellows spend the rest of the hike trading stories and truths about each other.
“Jabbles not good with money. You say you get money or riches, and some take silver for water and food, but some take silver for weapons. Which is it?” Jabbles asks ashamedly.
Kristov realizes that he may have taken advantage of the young goblin who is clearly insecure with the ways of the “civilized” world.
He responds, “Don’t you worry. I’ll take care of the money.” That does little to assuage his guilt over coercing the goblin to join them.
While making a brief stop, Jabari goes over to Jango to greet the wolf in his people’s ways. After sniffing each other for a moment, he says to Jabbles, “The wolf doesn’t smell sick to me. He just smells like you.”
“You wolfman, so I trust you,” Jabbles. He offers his hand in friendship, but Jabari refuses to take it. The goblin seems unafflicted by the slight.
While watching the goblin and the robed man, Jabari is irked at this change in formation. He challenges the pair on why they should be allowed to join them in the search. Perking up, Jabbles dazzles the group with a deft display of archery and offers up some herbs that he foraged, explaining that he is an excellent scout.
“There is no reason to eat leaf matter,” Jabari responds.
Kristov graciously takes the herbs saying, “As you age, you need fiber.”
He quickly realizes that the goblin had found chamomile, and makes a note to steep the herbs in hot water later. Chewing the herbs do ease his headache and guilt.
Faus looks over at the other three, ponders for a moment, and then says, “No doubt my appearance disturbs you. Know that I am trained in several magical arts. An experiment went awry, causing my current misfortune. Lately, I have changed my studies to a different arcana altogether.”
When pressed, he merely states that he “hates to see anything go to waste.”
Continuing on after their break, the quartet runs into a wall of hedgerows that causes them no end of difficulty. It takes them so long to get through the hedges that they are forced to camp for the night. Thankfully, Jabbles expertise at foraging and Faus’Faus’s quick work of the campsite leads to a tasty dinner and a roaring fire that keeps them safe for the night.
Continuing on the next morning, the group finds themselves entering a low river valley. Making it to a wide river, they finally see the ruins that they sought. Across the waters, on a small deserted island, lay a small tower that, while ancient, was still standing.
Making their way along the river banks, the group found the plant life had been warped and twisted by an unknown force. Jabari yelled at Faus saying, “You claim to work in magic. Tell us, what caused the blight to these trees?”
Faus is irritated at the wolfkin’s demands but looks over the twisted tree growth. What he finds unnerves him, and he snaps at Jabari for his impertinence.
Jabbles is unconvinced by Faus’ posturing and wants him to bring the trees back to life. “Necromancy doesn’t work on trees,” the sorcerer sighs.
Paying the bickering trio no mind, Kristov pulls some wooden tools from his sack. Laboring for some hours, he manages to build a raft to reach the island, but the crafting ultimately expends his strength. He barely manages to crawl to shore before collapsing. He is broken.
As he fellows draw near, all they can hear him murmur is, “the trees. The trees!” Jabbles screams, “The trees! The trees have cursed him!”
Faus races to Kristov’s side and begins to try to apply aid to the old peddler’s aches and pains. Jabbles quickly makes a gross poultice from herbs found in his sack and speeds the peddler’s recovery. After resting for the afternoon, Kristov recovers his strength.
Leaving Rudy the donkey along the banks of the river, the group hops onto the raft and heads for the island. When they get to the other shore, they are met with even less vegetation, and what plants and trees there are look misshapen and twisted.
Marching cautiously toward the tower, the men spy what appears to be birds circling above them. However, the “birds” quickly grow in size and noise as they come closer.
“Jabbles can’t shoot that far,” the goblin says.
Not missing a beat, Kristov reaches into his sack and pulls out a longbow. Jabbles lets out a squeak of excitement at seeing this strange magic.
“Here,” Kristov says as he hands the bow to the goblin. “That should reach them.”
Jabbles quickly notches the bow, takes aim, and lets loose a volley of arrows. He manages to hit one of the flying creatures, causing it to shriek out in alarm.
The trio of bird creatures swoops down on the group, and now the men can see they are dealing with a pack of harpies. The evil creatures shriek and yelling exclaiming, “New meat! New meat! Time to eat!”
“Forget the longbow,” Kristov growls as he pulls out a vial of poison. He turns to Jabbles and smears the poison on the goblin’s arrows. “This should help.”
The harpies try to swipe at Jabari and Faus but are unsuccessful. Jabari dodges out of the grasp of one harpy, while Faus smacks the other’s claws away with his staff.
Jabbles takes the arrows, now dripping with poison, and lets loose another volley. It strikes the largest harpy dead-on, and the poison quickly takes effect. The hallucinogen grips the monster’s mind, causing it to go into a panic. It flies away screeching, and its sisters rapidly try to follow.
One isn’t quick enough, though, as the wolfkin manages to grab its legs and pull it down before it can escape. Jabari demands to know why the harpies are on the island and why they attacked the party.
“Our nest is here, you smelly wolf,” it responds. “We search for fresh meat. The meat of men!”
Pressing a blade to its neck as Jabbles notches another arrow, Jabari squeezes the harpy for more information. Seeing that it cannot escape, the monster says its flock chose the island because it’s quiet and safe. However, the flock has seen a “princess” that occasionally stalks the island. It lets slip that the princess is a ghost. Faus immediately perks up at hearing that but is also unnerved.
Continuing his hold, Jabari asks the harpy if it will guide them to the tower but is just hisses in response. Losing his temper, the wolfkin snaps the harpy’s neck.
“Can you bring it back, necromancer?” Jabari asks Faus.
The wizard explains that while he can, the macabre ritual will take some time to prepare. He suggests the party make camp and begin the ritual in the morning. Hearing that, the party trudges on and manages to make it to the ruins by nightfall.
With the moon beginning its lonely rise, the group takes note of their travails the past day and grip their weapons tight as they prepare to spend the night alone on the island…
JesseFolk.com 