Chance and his friends departed in the early hours of the morning, leaving the men behind in their newly established camp, to continue working on it and the gardens, to prepare for the coming winter. Chance had promised Daf that as soon as he could arrange for it, he would have bread and flour and cheese, as well as a few other necessities that they couldn’t produce locally, shipped back to them, goods that were to be shared with the kobolds as well.

Chance had mixed feelings upon leaving. While he was proud of what had been accomplished, there was still the lingering doubt that he might not have done the right thing, and that when he was gone it could all go bad, unable to do anything about it. He took a look at the parchment as they walked along the path; matters had improved since earlier on, but that was no guarantee it would remain so.

Expansion Point One:

Population: 13 Humans

Morale: Decent

Supplies: Decent

Habitation: Decent

Resources: None. (Farm Plot under construction)

He would have to keep an eye on it remotely, and hope that all went well.

They pushed on through the day, camping out for the night, before continuing on the following morning, arriving back at Theras’ farm before the middle of the day. The farmer was, as usual, working his crops, but this time with his family helping him out, no longer hidden away. The crops, having been enhanced by Chance’s druidic magic, continue to flourish and grow. Theras smiled broadly at the sight of them and the kids waved, especially to Snarl. The big gnoll laughed and returned the wave.

“You have returned,” Theras noted.

“As we said we would,” Chance told him “We are here to gather up the stolen supplies that we stored here before pushing on towards Estethford.”

Theras nodded. “Of course. There has been a slight issue; a small amount appears to have gone missing during the previous night.”

Chance frowned. “What happened?”

“I had at first thought it the work of rodents, which are always an issue, but then I noticed that some tools were gone as well. Nothing much, but that would imply someone had snuck in and taken them. We had thought all that behind us.”

A sigh escaped from Chance and his heart sank. It must have been Lahanal on his way through, he realised. If the man caused any more trouble beyond that… He was beginning to regret his choice to let the man go, but what else could he have done? They couldn’t lock him up and the alternative was unacceptable. ”Let me know if anything else goes wrong,” Chance told him. He took out the pouch of coins that the troll Maedryn had given him, and from it picked out one of the smaller coins. “Here, for your troubles and your losses.”

Theras’ eyes fairly bulged at the sight of the gold coin. “I couldn’t possibly take it,” he protested. “You have already done so much for us.”

“It was my fault,” Chance told him, “So I insist.”

With a great deal of reluctance, Theras took the offered gold coin, looking at it glittering in the sunlight on the palm of his open hand. “Thank you,” he said softly, closing his hand around the coin and squeezing it tightly. “This will go a long way.”

Chance favoured him with a smile. “No worries. Right, time to start loading up. You said that we could borrow your cart?”

“Of course. I’ll show you where it is.”

The farmer escorted them over to where the cart was stored, a rickety old thing that had seen better days, but still large enough for their needs. They began to load it up, stacking it up with the recovered goods from out of the shed in which they had been stored. It took them into the afternoon to load all of them up, to make sure that they were secure and that the cart was able to bear them all.

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“You should stay here for the night,” Theras told them. “It is a full days travel to reach Estethford.”

“Which is why it is best that we leave now,” Chance responded. “I don’t want to arrive there when it is growing dark. If we leave now, we can make it there in the afternoon, which will allow us to find out how things are in the town, and to start to try and arrange for all this to be returned to the rightful owners.”

“I understand,” Theras said. He offered his hand to Chance, who took it and shook it.

“We will be back along this way at some stage,” Chance promised. “We will look in to see how you are faring.”

“You are welcome here anytime,” Theras said. “Besides, your gnoll friend has promised a surprise to my kids the next time he is here.”

Chance laughed. “Of course he has. Well, the sooner that we leave, the sooner we can return and he can fulfil his promise.”

One of the recovered horses was hitched up to the cart, while the others were led behind it. With a final farewell to Theras and his family, they set off, heading down along the path that led towards Estethford. Chance led the horse and cart on foot, rather than ride on it, as he wasn’t sure of his ability to actually drive, even with his animal empathy, and none of the others had any experience with it either. The horses were still a bit skittish around them, and Chance had to concentrate almost as much on them as leading the cart, to keep them calm.

They travelled on into the early evening, the dark settling down around them, before setting up camp for the evening, on the banks of the stream as it flowed out over the grassland plains. They made the horses secure for the night and made a small fire, for light and for Snarl to prepare a meal on. Thoughts on Lahanal kept troubling Chance, of where the man had gone and what he was going to do now. Daf had been correct; he probably shouldn’t have let him go. But he had, and now he was worried about what the consequences of that were going to be.

With all of the weighing upon him, getting to sleep was troubling and it was a restless sleep as well. At some point during the night, he was awoken by a soft sound coming from Shags, a low warning growl that ended abruptly. Chance sat up, grasping for his staff.

What is it?

Movement, Shags responded.

I will check it out, Chance replied. You wait here. Slowly he rose to his feet, peering out into the night. A few clouds had drifted across the night sky, covering the moon, and there was little light to be had beyond the last few coals from the fire. Even with the advantage of dwarven sight, it was hard to make out much across the plans but for shadows.

With a softly whispered word of power, Chance took on the form of an owl once more, lifting up into the air, silent as the night itself. He ghosted above, slowly circling higher, listening intently to his surroundings, every sound amplified by the hearing of the owl. He could hear the gurgling of the stream, the soft breeze rustling the grass, the scurrying of small animals seeking out food. One noise stood out though, larger and louder than the rest, of something moving through the grass.

He drifted towards where the sound was coming from, and as he did, the clouds above parted, allowing some moonlight to sweep across the plains, bathing it in an ethereal silver glow. He saw, crouched down in the grass, a man, his bald head reflecting the moonlight, holding something in his hands. Only as he drew nearer and the man stood up did he see what it was; a sling. The sling began to whirl around and then it was unleashed.

Damage Received: Low

Health Remaining: Unknown:

Status: Grounded.

Searing pain tore through his left wing as the stone slammed into him and it folded up, unable to support him anymore. Down he tumbled, out of control, spiralling to crash heavily into the ground.

Damage Received: Medium

Health Remaining: Unknown:

Status: Grounded.

“Got you now, druid,” a voice spat from out of the dark. The long grass parted and Lahanal stalked forward, his eyes burning with hate, his face contorted by it. He drew a long knife that he had obtained from somewhere, advancing slowly on Chance as he lay dazed and in pain, uncertain as to what to do, still in his owl form, wing flapping uselessly. “I knew that you would be coming back this way. And I know all your tricks now, druid. You ruined everything. Oh, I have waited for this moment and now it is here.”

Chance froze, unable to think straight, his mind scrambled from pain and fear and doubt. He couldn’t use any magic while in the form of an owl, he couldn’t fly away due to his damaged wing and he couldn’t concentrate enough to pull himself out of owl form, back into dwarf form. The words just didn’t come to him, he couldn’t grasp his power in his troubled state and he couldn’t take his eyes off the knife that was coming at him.

A snarl erupted from out of the grass and Shags came hurtling forth, a silver streak in the moonlight. So intent had Chance been on Lahanal and his knife and his pain that he hadn’t felt the approach of the wolf. He could feel him now though, and the wolf was enraged. Ready to kill.

Chance had to stop it before there was another death on his hands.