Name: Todd Longfellow, Race: Human

Height: 5’6”, Weight: 130, Sex: Male

Archetype: Fighter

HP: 18 / 18, Mana: 0 / 0

Stats:

Physical: 4, Moxie: 2, Spiritual: 2, Luck: 2

Agility: 2, Magic: 2, Mental: 2, Energy: 3.

Relevant Skills: Intuitive Logic Leap, Physical - Awareness, Physical - Logging, Physical - Woodcraft

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Todd met up with his friends at the bank of a wide river. Rushing water flowed, carrying sticks, dirt, and fish. It had cut a path through the ground; only stone blocked it, temporarily, as it ran by.

Henderson waved at him and beckoned Todd over closer to his friends. Jax, Mark, and Reggie stood there. With care, Todd crossed over to his friends, keeping an eye out behind him for Charisse. The river drowned out all noises besides itself.

"Can we cross with magic?" Todd said when he got close, yelling over the torrent of water.

"We caulk and float!" Mark yelled.

"No, we attempt to ford!" Reggie said.

Henderson looked at Mark, then Reggie, then to Jax, and finally to Todd.

"It's a quote from a video… an expression from where we are from," Todd said.

The look on Henderson's face didn't change, but after a second, he focused on something behind Todd.

Todd caught a smile starting to form on the trapper's face. As the NPC glanced at Todd for a second, his eyes squinted then the smile disappeared. Todd withheld his smirk and turned around to try and spot Charisse.

Between some trees, Todd spotted movement, a faded brown and green blob moving carefully toward the group. The outline of a familiar backpack passed through an open space. Todd turned back toward the river and mulled over how to cross. Henderson alternated between looking at the river, then back behind Todd.

The narrowest point across the river that Todd could see was still about eighty feet. However, the water along the sides flowed by quickly but not very fast; the middle looked like it was moving pretty quickly. Banks on both sides sloped down into the water, some rocks poked out near the edges, but none in the middle.

Todd took a step closer to the river, ignoring his friends. Bending down, he picked up a golf-ball-sized rock, then threw it into the river. He didn't aim for anything;

As soon as the rock hit the water, it disappeared. It didn't even create a ripple or a splash, as if the river just swallowed it. Todd took a step away from the river and looked for a branch.

Charisse stepped out of the woods and waved as Todd's eyes hunted for a stick to throw in the water.

"What's the plan about the river?" Charisse slowly scanned the river as it twisted up and down from them.

"Magic," Mark said.

"Faith," Jax said.

"Boat," Reggie said as he looked at the trees.

"None," Henderson said. He waved a hand downstream. "We walk, during the Melting the river floods the banks and then some, this creates a path of sorts, we take it to Kamel, then we goto Tremain."

A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

"Sounds like a long walk. Couldn't we take a boat?" Todd gazed at the trees with Reggie. The back of his mind mulling over how quickly he could skill up carpentry or shipwright.

"Too fast, and the rock's rip ye to shreds. Unless you have a magical boat hiding in those backpacks of yours." Henderson's eyes lit up, and he focused on Reggie's backpack.

"Walking it is unless Mark can come up with a magical boat," Todd said.

"Sadly no, all the magical force spells are immovable for the most part." Mark sighed, then his face lit up, and he smiled. "I could dam the river."

"Half-day walk, would you be able to undam it after we get there?" Henderson said.

"More like two hours," Mark said.

"Even if you could dam it, the water has to go somewhere, end up flooding some village," Jax said. He took a few steps downstream before stopping and looking back at his friends. "No shortcuts, we put in the work, we're too close to fail because we got lazy."

"I've taken this path several times. If you watch out for death mud, you'll be fine." Henderson said.

"Death mud," Mark said; he quickly took a step back from the water.

"Just mud that you get pulled under and die, nothing to worry about," Henderson said. He shrugged and looked at everyone, Jax last. Once he had Jax's gaze, he motioned downriver, they both started walking.

"Was he making a joke?" Mark said.

"Not sure, but we should keep together and be ready, I'm guessing for quicksand," Charisse said.

"I fucking hate this game," Mark said. He followed Jax and Henderson. Todd, Reggie, and Charisse walked beside him.

For some reason, the statement from Mark struck a chord within Todd. He started laughing as a faint memory of all of them saying that statement throughout the past few weeks.

"We all do, Mark." Todd paused. "Maybe next time we just play D&D next time."

"As long as it isn't 1st, 2nd, or fourth edition, I'd be game. Though imagine trying to do actual combat with attacks of opportunity and that stupid five-foot rule." Mark's face paled, and he started making exaggerated gagging motions. "Not that I'd want to come back; I like my Role-playing games to be kept in the imagination."

"I wonder if we ever asked Furcas to switch the system," Todd said.

"Oh gods no, we'd end up in something worse."

Todd nodded his head and followed his friends along the riverbank. Occasionally the squishing of soft earth under his boots, causing his heart to jump and for him to stifle a scream. He couldn't remember the rules for suffocating but worried his fighter ability would drag it out.

Moving a few feet further inland, Todd looked around the underbrush; his eyes scanned over the foliage, looking for a long tree branch. Finding one around six feet, he grabbed it and pulled it from the ground. The wet soil gave a sucking sound as it tried to hand onto the branch. He pulled out a dagger and ran the blade over it, shaving the bark and bits still sticking from it. Once finished, he examined the slightly bent and narrow at one wooden end pole. Holding it in one hand, he caught up with Mark at the tail end of the group.

"No jokes," Todd said as once Mark looked in his direction. "If I get pulled in, hopefully, it will help keep me from going under."

"That's a good idea," Mark said, biting his lip between words. "If only I would have thought of it."

"I'm gonna ignore that, but your welcome to borrow my knife if you find one for yourself."

Todd watched Mark head off closer to the woods. Todd moved a little closer as Mark started getting slightly out of view. Then, for a moment, Mark ducked out of sight, and Todd called out, "Hey, stay where I can see you." And Mark's head popped back up quickly. He grinned at Todd as he held up a long, almost ten-foot branch.

He started walking before Mark could say anything. Using the stick to carefully poke bits of the ground, he avoided spots where the post sank in too easily. Then, walking quickly to catch up with the rest of the group, he kept an ear out for Mark to ensure his friend didn't fall too far behind.

Jax, Reggie, and Henderson were standing in an area of flattened grass. Jax was looking towards the trees, Reggie and Henderson were examining the area near the river. Todd and Mark slowed and stopped about thirty feet away.

"Something wrong?" Todd said. He scanned the trees and up the river. Mark was looking behind them, face tense as if he was trying not to fart.

"A large group came through here, trying to figure out why an army would disembark and cross here," Reggie said.

"There'd have to be hundreds of them, doesn't make sense; no boat that big would fit on the river," Henderson said.

Todd imagined a horde of soldiers walking out of the river and onto the ground for some reason. A memory of a Navy commercial where footsteps appeared on a beach between waves.

"The Navy Seals!" Todd blurted out. Everyone turned to look at him. "What if they didn't have a boat and walked out of the water?"

"I don't know of a water walking spell, but I could see if it," Mark said over his shoulder.

"Pirates of the Caribbean?" Reggie said. He moved toward the river and gazed into the depths.

"That would explain it better. We do know undead exist." Mark said. He turned around and placed a hand on Todd's shoulder. "Good catch."

Todd's face beamed as he met the eyes of his friends. Henderson's eyes almost looked cross-eyed. Todd walked up to him and explained the scene from the movie to the NPC. The trapper looked at him askance and slowly shook his head.

"I don't understand this film thing, but I do know of the undead," Henderson said. He looked up the river. "There would have to be a spot they entered the water. If we haven't seen it, then it must be miles upstream."

"How they got into the river, I don't think it is the issue; it's more where they went," Todd said.

"That I might be able to answer," Charisse said. She emerged from the trees, holding an old bone in one hand. "Found this near a bear carcass." She threw the bone onto the ground. "They headed southeast into the woods; I didn't follow the trail too far."

"If there is undead and the possibility they'll attack Kamel or Tremain, we should at least scout it out, kill them, or slow them down," Jax said.

"We can't fight an army," Todd said. Muscles across his body started twitching as if remembering the last time he was in a fight against a large group of soldiers.

"It's undead, and we can have Charisse scout. If a group gives chase, my invisible walls will come in handy." Mark said.

Todd felt a reassuring hand on his right shoulder. Looking over, he saw Charisse there with a smile. On his other side, Mark stood there nodding his head while looking at everyone.

With Charisse in the lead, followed by Mark, the group set off in pursuit. Todd and Henderson brought up the rear, with Henderson carving sharp sticks and sticking them in the ground.

"Whats the sticks for?" Todd said as they walked. "If you're worried about getting lost."

"Na," Henderson looked toward the group ahead and, with a lowered voice, said, "I've fought undead. Nasty business would prefer to run away from them. When running, there is never enough time to set traps, but these sharpened sticks, I can quickly stick in the ground for them to run into."

"Or if you stick one with it, the creature will trip or slow down others," Todd said.

Henderson smiled and nodded as he stepped over to a nearby tree, hacked off a branch then started using a knife to cut off or sharpen various points on the branch.

Todd pulled out a small hand ax and moved to another tree, following the NPC's lead with the branch in hand by stripping away leaves and tiny branches, then carving points to every other end. When he finished the tips, he cut a big long spike in the bottom. Then, sticking the branch to the side in the ground, Todd felt better.

The back of his mind nagged at him, are the undead in this game as stupid as others?