“I truly appreciate the offer and I will speak to Talwarg about it. But, why did you come to me with it when you could have requested a meeting with Talwarg directly? I’m sure he would have agreed if only to see the wolf again. Frankly, he is quite smitten with the beast.” Ograch scratched Sanguineus’ ears.
“Well, that isn’t the only thing I needed. I wanted to ask you if you would be interested in a bit of an expedition. Ever hear of the city of Laethon?”
“No, I haven’t.”
“It was an ally to Caelis and was apparently famous for the quality of its soldiers. It is about a four day walk to the east of Caelis.”
“The Night Arrows haven’t ever traveled that far. I think I’ve told you before, the Depths has always been the limit to how far we can go in that direction. How did you find out about the city?” The hobgoblin leaned forward, intrigued.
“You remember the spirit I told you I met in the guild after I awoke?”
“Aye, Caelis, wasn’t it? The guardian of the city.”
“That’s her. I was able to move her from the guild to the monastery. It turns out the monastery was always meant to have a node for her, but the city was destroyed before it was completed. Regardless, she asked me to investigate Laethon. Because of how fortified the city was and how strong their army was, she wants to know why no aid ever came to Caelis and if Laethon itself was destroyed as well. On a more pragmatic note, I expect that even if the city has been destroyed, the reputation of their army makes me think that their gear may still be around.”
“Just free for the taking? I like it. I’m definitely interested in joining, but I will need Talwarg’s permission.”
“Of course. Another reason I would like you to join me is your class. You and Liv share the Scout class, although it is a subclass for her. With the two of you plus the furballs, I imagine that if any villages like Liv’s or yours are hiding out there, it would be much easier to find traces of them.”
“Makes sense to me.”
“I’m glad to hear it. Besides, I’m going to need some reinforcements if I want to reclaim the city and get the monastery to full power. See, I need to recover more nodes for Caelis, at which point she would actually be able to defend the monastery and help keep it running. But, there are some nasty threats that I can’t take on by myself.”
“Such as?”
“Well, there is a spider matriarch and her brood between the monastery and the pit. To the north, there are supplies I would like to relocate to the monastery to use in fortifying the place and arming people, but it is the home of a lot of ghasts and ghouls. Let’s see, there are now also wights showing up to the north and northwest. Oh, and did I mention the unknown number of orcs that may or may not be part of the dungeon’s forces just sitting on one of the nodes?”
Ograch stared hard at him. “You know, suddenly I don’t feel all that optimistic about your plan. Seriously, orcs and a matriarch?”
“Well, you never know, the orcs might be open to trade. They might even be friendly. As for the matriarch, I think she is actually being a bit of a buffer between the dungeon and the monastery.”
“Friendly orcs? I mean, it isn’t unheard of, but I wouldn’t hold my breath. If they don’t belong to the dungeon, then they would have to be either feral or very militant to have survived. Fuck it, I’m going to go talk to Talwarg. You should go get Liv and meet me at his hut, it is at the top of the hill.”
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“I’ll see you there. Go with Ograch, Sanguineus. I’m sure Talwarg will be happy to see you.” The wolf’s tail began wagging rapidly. “Yeah, yeah. I’m sure the chief will have plenty of treats, you glutton.”
Lanek returned to the forest, gesturing for Liv to follow him back into camp. “So, we’re going to meet with the chief. Ograch is probably filling him in on our plans as we speak.”
“Okay. Should I be worried?”
“Nah, the Night Arrows are pretty laid back. If I had to guess, I would say that Ograch thinks that Talwarg is going to want to ask you about your homeland. It seems that they didn’t know that the gaunts had spread as far as they have.”
Liv nodded in response, going quiet as they neared the chief’s hut. From inside, they could hear the two hobgoblins talking, although they were unable to hear the details. The chief’s hut didn’t have any guards, but the door was open so Talwarg noticed them and waved them into the hut in short order.
“Lanek! Welcome back, I’m glad that you are doing well! Apparently a bit suicidal based on what Ograch has told me, but I understand. Let’s get this out of the way quickly. Ograch has my leave to join you to explore Laethon. Furthermore, I also give him permission to join you on your mad quest to retake the city. It seems like your insanity is contagious.” Talwarg said with a wink to the two humans. “But, I do have a few conditions. First, I want Ograch to come back here periodically to tell me about your progress. Second, if anything happens to this village, you allow us to take refuge within your monastery.”
“Of course, I can agree to both of those. In fact, I will go a step further. You and your tribe are welcome to join us whenever you like, doesn’t need to be an emergency.”
“Thank you. I also have a request. It is not a condition, but I ask that you hear me out.”
“That’s the least I can do, you and your tribe have been nothing but kind to me.”
“Good, because as far as my tribe is concerned, you are a Night Arrow at this point.” Talwarg grinned toothily at Lanek’s surprise. “Why so surprised? You’ve warned us of danger, saved an expedition, and helped us find a new home.”
“It’s an honor, Talwarg. Thank you.” Lanek swallowed the lump in his throat.
“Now, as for my request. I want you to consider taking some of our noncombatants to your monastery when you return home. This will mostly be the elderly and crippled. Even though your home is in the dungeon’s borders, the building is much more secure than we have here. Also, they will not be useless to you, they can all contribute. Many of our elders have classes to do with construction, crafting, cooking, and even some medical skills. This should help you get your base going, yes?”
“I have no problem with that request, but it only benefits me as far as I can tell.”
“No, it benefits everyone. This place isn’t secure enough to keep them safe and warm this winter and likely won’t be complete before the snow begins to fall. However, if the tribe knows that our vulnerable members are secure, it will go a long way toward keeping their spirits up.”
“Okay, done. You know I have to ask, why not bring the whole tribe?”
“No. I will not commit my tribe to your cause without seeing how things go for you. That’s why I want reports from Ograch. If things go well, I am not against joining you, but it is still too early to say. In addition, you have no way of getting food in the city at the moment, correct?” He continued after seeing Lanek’s nod. “In that case, it makes more sense for the rest of the tribe to stay here and fortify this place. We can trade with you and yours for food, hides, lumber, and anything else. If we do end up joining you, having an outpost out here would be beneficial, too.”
“I’ll admit, I hadn’t thought about that, but you make a lot of sense. Can I make another request, then?” Seeing Talwarg nod, Lanek continued. “The monastery only has five fighters at the moment, myself, Liv, Ograch, Sanguineus, and Kazuma. Caelis, the guardian spirit, is not capable of manifesting and protecting the monastery. I cannot guarantee the safety of those you are sending to the monastery with so few people. Any fighters you can spare would be welcome and I would be happy to provide them with equipment.”
“Done. I can think of at least two individuals that will likely want to join you, but I will also ask for any volunteers. Ograch tells me that you are planning on going to visit Laethon as soon as you are done here?” Lanek nodded. “Then I will have the volunteers and the rest ready when you return.”
“Once again, I am grateful. Before I forget, I did bring you a gift.” Lanek rummaged around in his pack, before pulling out several tubes. “These are the maps I found in the city and I promised Ograch that I would lend them to you to copy or study.”
“I will get these to our shamans to copy immediately. When you get back, I will return these maps to you and have a long conversation with Ograch as to why he didn’t see fit to share this information with me.”
Ograch winced and wilted under Talwarg’s glare before excusing himself quickly, proclaiming that he needed to pack for the expedition.