Aching from his many bruises, Jim stiffly pushed himself to his feet and began to remove his small camp that he’d collapsed into after exiting the city. As he slowly rolled his bedroll up, he realized how lucky he was that it hadn’t rained the night before.
“Need to keep going,” he muttered to himself before pulling out his journal that held the map he’d made so far. “Haven’t gotten anything from the north side of the peninsula, better get that now, while they think I went further south.”
Tucking his journal away, Jim prepared to move when two light thumps rang out behind him and he quickly dove to his feet and rolled away, drawing his Trick Knife to defend himself as he came to a stop, crouching and looking behind him at the two chests that had appeared behind him.
Breathing heavily from the sudden motion, Jim looked around the area before cautiously rising to his feet and wincing as another bruise made itself known. Carefully, he approached the two chests and knelt in front of them while he slowly looked in every direction for the expected ambush. When none appeared, he turned back to the chests and examined both of them, frowning at their shared description.
Small Chest: A chest that is smaller than the average. Usually chests of this size are used by nobility and wealthy merchants to hide large amounts of wealth and riches. Occasionally, they are used by children to hold toys. May also be a mimic, look for tails.
“Is that a reference to something?” Jim wondered aloud as he examined the two iron-bound wooden chests more closely. Seeing nothing, he shrugged to himself and pushed the first chest open, flinching at the notification that flashed before him.
For completing the Quest: Escape the Cabal, your rewards were held until you were determined to be safe. These rewards are: One (1) book titled: Intermediate Rune Carving: An Advanced Alphabet.
“Oh sweet,” Jim said as he pulled the thick, leather-bound tome from within the chest. “I think I was coming up on the limits of the basic alphabet. Wonder what the next one is.”
Reaching to open the next chest, Jim waved away the notification that flashed before him without reading it to look inside the chest and see his rewards immediately.
“A pair of boots, boring,” Jim said as he rooted around inside the chest, pushing the items aside to see if anything was beneath it all. “A red potion, probably healing. A string? Weird. Anything else?”
Finding nothing, Jim began to inspect each of the items, examining them and reading through their descriptions.
Healing Potion: Every great hero’s go-to fix-all! Right after a healthy dose of Fireballs!
Arachne’s Spun String: A string of silk spun by an Arachne. The silks of Arachne are prized for softness, flexibility, and hardiness. This one will serve very well as a bowstring.
Boots of Striding: A pair of leather boots that have been enchanted with runes of Striding.
Striding: Will keep the wearer’s balance more easily and allow the wearer to maintain speed on more difficult terrain.
“I was right about the potion,” Jim said, tugging the cork out and sniffing the oddly sweet red fluid inside. “But I guess the string is pretty great for having a bow made, and the boots are going to be a big help going forward. Should I take this now?”
Looking at his health that sat happily at 100% despite his aching bruises, Jim sighed to himself and tucked the potion carefully away.
“Guess not,” he muttered to himself before pulling his old, tattered pair of boots off and sliding his feet into the new pair. As the soft, inner leather of the new boots hugged his feet gently, Jim sighed in relief as a bone-deep ache he had been ignoring in his feet was alleviated slightly.
“I really need to get some stuff for my feet,” he said to himself as he wrapped the string around itself and placed it in a smaller pocket on his rucksack. “That’s something that Uncle Frank always said he learned you need to do in the Army. ‘Take care of your feet and they’ll take care of you.’”
Rising once more to his feet, Jim checked his compass before hefting his pack onto his shoulders and setting off to the north to begin finishing his map.
“Dammit,” Jim whispered to himself as he watched the large group of Undead congregate around a beautiful woman in a tattered dress. His examination of her had already told him that she was indeed a Greater Undead. The Banshee Queen.
“Come along, darlings,” the Queen called out in a melodious voice as she gathered more of the Lesser Undead to her. “Come along now, there’s a little rat scuttling about the Master’s territory. We need to find it and squash it.”
I am so screwed! Jim thought to himself as he watched three Meat Puppets swell the growing horde with their own followers and more and more spectral Undead flashed into sight before fading away.
“I think it’s time that you left here, Jim,” a familiar voice came from beside him, making Jim jump away and nearly crashing into the armored Paladin that had laid on his other side.
“Cobb!” he hissed to the older man that had reached out to steady him and hold him down to the ground where he’d been laying. “How long have you been here?”
“Long enough to find out why Grindel suddenly ordered us to come get you,” Garric’s voice came from his other side. “Come on, we have to leave this area before we can use Master Ripspell’s token.”
Letting the two Paladins lead him away from the growing horde of Undead and the Greater Undead that led it, Jim realized that he was being forced to leave his Job unfinished.
“Wait!” he hissed quietly, prompting the two Paladins to look back at him. “I haven’t completed the map! I can’t go back now!”
“That doesn’t matter now,” Cobb said. “Grindel sent a Divine Message to us that we were to remove you from the Ubarion Peninsula, and that’s what we’re here to do. If we have to drag your unconscious body to a safe place before we use the token, so be it. I will not fail my god!”
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“The map’s only half done,” Jim insisted. “I can’t leave it unfinished like that!”
“You have no choice,” Garric said firmly, grabbing Jim’s upper arm. “Grindel has ordered you removed from the peninsula, you shall be removed from the peninsula. This is our duty.”
“Let me go or I’ll scream,” Jim threatened Garric.
“This is taking too long,” Cobb said, stepping forward and swinging his fist, catching Jim in the jaw and sending him to the ground as darkness overtook his vision.
“Did you have to knock him out?” the gentler voice of Sera, the Priestess of Grindel from before asked as Jim came too.
“He was giving us no choice,” Cobb’s voice answered her. “Garric! Do you have him?”
“I do,” Garric said firmly, squeezing his hand where it rested on Jim’s thigh as the ground swam into Jim’s view.
“Urgh, what?” Jim asked groggily as he began to become aware of Garric’s chainmail-clad shoulder digging into his stomach.
“We’d best hurry,” Garric urged the other two. “He’s waking up.”
“Put me do-” Jim started before everything became swirling lights and colors and he felt a sharp pulling motion in his already turbulent stomach as everything popped back into place with a sharp snap, the leaf-strewn floor of the forested area from before replaced by the smooth stone floor of wherever they were now.
With a sudden heave, Jim vomited down the back of the Paladin that carried him, splashing the poor man’s back, feet, and legs with the contents of his stomach.
“Grindel, give me strength,” Garric said in a resigned voice as other people began to approach and he carefully removed Jim from his shoulder.
“Is this him?” a rougher, older voice asked as a man with gray hair, shorn short to the sides and back of his head stepped into view next to a slightly familiar Halfling man.
“It is, Sir Nargen, High Priest,” Cobb said, snapping to attention as Sera offered a slight bow to the two men.
“Excellent. What happened, Garric?” the Halfling, Chesterfield, Jim finally remembered his name, asked.
“He was worried about leaving the map half-finished,” Garric explained. “Sir Cobb was forced to take more drastic measures to ensure that he didn’t force us to leave him behind or die. That, coupled with the teleportation effect of the token, caused him to be sick just now.”
“I see,” Chesterfield nodded grimly. “You are excused, Paladin Garric. Go wash yourself up.”
“Thank you, High Priest,” Garric said gratefully before leaving as fast as he was able to.
“Cobb, Sera, thank you both for your service to Grindel,” the Halfling said to the two remaining. “Why don’t the both of you go and see to yourselves for now.”
“High Priest,” Sera said with another bow of her head before leaving.
“High Priest, Sir Nargen,” Cobb saluted the both of them before following after the other two.
“Jim is it?” Chesterfield asked in a gentle voice. “I’m sorry about the methods that were employed to bring you here, but it is good to see you alive and well. Thank you for your efforts to aid the Church of Grindel.”
“Why did you want me back?” Jim demanded as he pushed himself to feet and tried not to sway at the unsettled lurching in his stomach.
“Grindel informed us that you had achieved your goal admirably enough that we could grant you your rewards,” Chesterfield explained as Nargen looked him up and down critically. “He also ordered us to remove you from the Ubarion Peninsula as soon as possible, else you would have been killed. Again, I am sorry that Sir Cobb was forced to use extreme measures to bring you back.”
“I wouldn’t have fought him if he’d told me that I was still getting my rewards,” Jim said unhappily. “He just told me that they were sent to get me, not why.”
“We didn’t tell him all of the why,” Nargen said as Chesterfield winced. “We felt time was of the essence and we were forced to move quickly. You have our apologies.”
“Indeed,” Chesterfield said with a slight bow. “If you’ll come with us, we’ll give you your rewards for this Job.”
Warily, Jim followed after the two men as they led him from the empty room and through the Church’s halls as they moved toward a room that was clearly on the opposite side of the Church’s building.
“Here we must ask that you stay put,” Nargen said as he and Chesterfield stopped before a door. “Beyond this door is the Church’s Vault. There are many dangerous items within that we keep out of the public’s eye while we seek out ways to destroy them.”
“I can stay here with him,” Chesterfield said to the larger, Human man. “You know what to bring out, yes?”
“I do,” Nargen said with a grateful nod to the Halfling before pulling a large, ornate, heavy key from nowhere and inserting it in the large, equally ornate lock on the door. As the heavy door swung open, Jim caught sight of large chests overflowing with jewelry and precious metals and coins as well as shelves filled with various items that seemed to glow with power, some casting light on the items around them and others filling the shelf they rested on with deep shadow. As Nargen stepped through the open door, the large door began to close, leaving Jim standing outside of the room with Chesterfield.
“Now, Cartographer Jim,” Chesterfield said, turning toward him. “Were you able to finish any of the secondary objectives?”
“Kind of,” Jim said. “Do we need to do this here?”
“We do,” Chesterfield nodded. “Go on.”
“I can tell you that there are at least seven members of the cabal,” Jim said. “One of them said that he doesn’t care about the others and he has control of a Dread Knight. I think if you can find him and speak with him, you can convince him and his Dread Knight to stay out of this fight.”
“A Dread Knight is a horrible creature that cannot be allowed to remain,” Chesterfield said as though that solved the problem of dealing with it.
“Karmich said that he just wants to study magic and learn,” Jim said.
“Karmich?” Chesterfield asked as color drained from his face. “Did he name the Dread Knight to you?”
“Said it was named Harald,” Jim said with a nod.
“This Karmich is a vile Lich that rose to power before my time as one of Grindel’s servants,” Chesterfield said. “How did you escape him?”
“He let me go,” Jim said simply. “He said he didn’t care about whether the other ones lived or not, he was planning to find a deserted island and leave them all behind.”
“Does that mean that the cabal is planning to construct ships and attempt to sail the deep seas?” Chesterfield asked.
“I think so,” Jim nodded. “It seemed like there were a few of them that were planning to make Karmich use a ritual on an abandoned city they were staying at. The ritual would have made it easier for them to avoid Grindel’s sight without whatever they’re doing now.”
“At least seven members, all of them congregating in a ruined city by the ocean, working to create ships for sailing away from the continent,” Chesterfield muttered to himself. “What about where to create our fortress on the peninsula?”
“I found a pretty nice mountain that I marked somewhere,” Jim said, reaching into his bag and pulling out his journal to search the pages for the mountain in question. “Seemed like you could use it as a source of stone and a place to lookout around you for attackers. Plus, it’s got a river that starts at the top of it and flows into a pretty large plain at its base. It was the only mountain around so it stood out to me.”
“Fresh water, stone, fertile farming land,” Chesterfield said to himself as Jim showed him his journal and the marking he’d made. “I think it will do nicely as well. That is both secondary objective’s complete as well. Your rewards will be increased. Is there anything you can think of that you’d like aside from money?”
“I kind of need a new bow,” Jim said, holding the nicked and scratched starter bow out to Chesterfield. “Some new armor and maybe a new quiver too. Think you can do at least some of that?”
“Easily,” Chesterfield said, taking in Jim’s appearance with a critical eye. “I’ll reach out to some crafters I know, once they give me answers, I’ll send you their way.”
“Here we go,” Nargen said as he pushed the Vault’s door open and presented Jim with a large sack. “The rest of your rewards are in there. Except whatever Chesterfield said we still owed you.”
“Thanks,” Jim said, accepting the Large Bag of Holding. “I’ll be going unless there’s something else you need from me.”
“Thank you once again for your service to Grindel,” Chesterfield said with a bow as Jim turned to leave before stopping and looking back at the two of them.
“Which way is out?” he asked with a sheepish grin.