In the village…

Elmis had sprinted as fast as he could back to the village. His mind raced as the forest blurred past him.

He had explained what he found to the elder, the suspected location of the dungeon’s entrance.

Previously, he had told the elder of the new spider monster, which went about as well as he had thought it would. The elder was very disturbed by the strength Elmis claimed the monster seemed to have.

Even with this knowledge, the elder was wary about sending anyone into the dungeon, at least from the village.

Elmis was the strongest fighter the village had to offer, after all, and he wasn’t confident in his own ability to deal with the spider that was somewhere inside that dungeon - rather, he was confident he wouldn’t be able to deal with it.

Instead, the elder thought Elmis should travel to the nearest adventurer's guild, and put a request in there.

However, the nearest guild was in the nearest city, which wasn’t very near the village at all. It would take a few days to get there and another few days to return - then they would have to wait for an adventuring party to take the quest and arrive at the village.

At least Elmis could take his son this time. So they packed their things, and prepared to set out for the city of Roforid.

They departed before the sun dipped below the horizon.

Including time for resting, making camp by the side of the road, it took about 3 days to reach the city. The journey was largely uneventful.

It was the evening when they arrived. The city walls towered over them, 20 feet tall and constructed of a mix of wood and stone.

They were stopped at the city gate by a pair of men from the town guard.

“I have come from a village, 3 days from here,” Elmis explained to the guardsmen, “We need help from the adventurer’s guild.”

After a brief conversation the guards allowed the pair to pass into the city.

It was a nice place, but the village was more to Elmis’s liking. There are too many people here. Not enough wildlands. Not enough prey to hunt. Kel however, seemed to be enjoying it immensely. He looked around at the buildings with wide eyes. This was the first time Kel had been in a large city like this. Elmis smiled down at his son.

Were they not on an urgent errand, he would have loved to take Kel around the city. But they were, and so he hurried along to the adventurer's guild near the center of town.

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The guild was a large building. Stone columns lined the front entrance. They headed inside the main hall, a sort of dining area - a built in tavern. Elmis walked past the groups of people, the parties of adventurers, towards the back of the room and towards the quest board and the guild’s receptionist.

As he approached, an elf looked up from his desk, “Good evening. I haven't seen you before. I take it you are from outside of town?” the elf asked.

Elmis nodded, “A small village, Lindin.” The elf nodded. Figures a guild receptionist would know where it was. “I need help. My village needs help.” Elmis said urgently. The elf raised an eyebrow.

“What’s wrong?” the elf inquired, taking out a notebook to write some stuff down, dipping a white quill in an inkwell.

“A dungeon. A dungeon appeared in the woods by my village. The creatures I saw were… they were dangerous… very dangerous.” Elmis said quietly.

The elfs eyes widened. He immediately stood up, “Come with me. You need to speak with this branch’s guildmaster.” the elf stated. The elf gestured for Elmis to follow, and walked out from behind the desk, heading to a set of stairs to the side. Elmis nodded, and quickly followed - Kel close behind.

The guildmaster’s office was large, but not overly so. A large man sat behind a large desk, examining papers. He glanced up when Elmis, Kel, and the receptionist entered his office unannounced. Normally he would be upset, but he trusted his clerk. This must be important.

The man stood up, an abnormally tall human, standing at 7 feet tall. He had black hair, and a scar over one of his eyes. He wore a simple tunic, but Elmis could see the muscular form under it. This man, the guildmaster, was strong - no doubt. “I am Evan. The guildmaster of this guild branch.” the man, Evan, said gruffly. He extended his hand forward, and shook hands with Elmis. “This must be important, Laed never barges in unannounced…” the man glances at the receptionist. “Please, sit. Tell me what the issue is.”

Elmis sat down in one of the chairs in front of the desk, and Kel sat beside him. Evan sat back down, and Laed remained standing. “There… is a dungeon… which I discovered near my village - Lindin,” Elmis began, “It started with a bird monster - what looked like a monstrous version of a common bird. It was big. A spider was next, even bigger than the bird and monstrous in the same manner. That spider…” Elmis shivers and Evan raises an eyebrow, “Could have killed me, easily.”

“Interesting… you seem a competent fellow. I see it in your eyes, in your frame.” Evan said, “A monster that dangerous warrants investigation by itself, much less if there is a new dungeon involved. Please, continue.”

“It took me a long time, but I did eventually find the entrance to the dungeon. It's behind a waterfall, I believe. I am not foolish enough to go and check and verify by myself, but the bird was perched nearby it - and it was even bigger than last time. The spider was nowhere to be seen, I assume it was inside the dungeon.” Elmis explained.

Evan nodded as Elmis spoke. Kel watched the pair in silence, looking back and forth between his father and the large man. This was a serious discussion, and Kel knew better than to interrupt.

“That is highly concerning. I will organize a team to investigate the dungeon immediately. It may take a day or two to gather them. I will provide a room for you to stay in at the guild, I will need you to lead my team to the dungeon itself.” Evan said. He nodded to Laed, who left the room. “A new dungeon isn’t some trivial concern. This will be taken care of by the guild, at no expense to you or your village.”

Elmis smiled, “Thank you, guildmaster,” and bowed his head. Kel did the same. Evan smiled as well.

After a discussion of further details, Elmis and Kel were taken to their room.

In a few days time, they would have a team with them at the dungeon.

Just a few days…