We had been many moons from home, the scribes had been rather slack in providing us with sufficient knowledge. In the interim we had been tasked with keeping our ears pricked for any signs of magic gone astray. It was in this drought that we had a most unusual encounter.
As the sun was setting, being far from a town or village, it seemed a night under the stars was in store for us.
As Ardilion used his centuries old knowledge to find an appropriate spot to set up camp he drew my attention to a flickering of light high up on the ridge.
Being a cautious fellow he gestured for us to approach and ascertain the intentions of our fellow campers.
As we closed in we could not see much, the flickering was emanating from a rocky outcrop, that was rather unfamiliar to the region.
“Quiet as you go green leaf,” Ardilion whispered as he picked up a rock from the floor and held it up in comparison to the out of place formation ahead. “There is definitely something off about the flow of magic here.”
With bow drawn I quietly made my way forward, keeping low so not to silhouette against the ridge.
“I’ll go circle the perimeter, you see if you can set eyes on them and then pull back.” Ardilion instructed. He set off back down the ridge and quickly traversed the terrain until he disappeared over the ridge. I could only hope that I would have even half as much dexterity in my old age compared to my long time mentor.
I slowly made my way to the top of the ridge, as I approached I could smell the familiar scent of roasted rabbit. It then became apparent to me that there was no entrance. I was able to rotate around the complete formation, noticing that Ardilion was nowhere in view. I looked for a decent foothold to scale it, after finding such a place I stepped up and attempted to climb.
“My dear fellow that is certainly not required!” A voice said as if from nowhere.
“Erm…” I was startled by the sudden voice, “Hello..?”
“Why, hello to you as well good sir,” The voice had a distinctly friendly tone, almost to the point of joviality. “May I suggest you merely enter from the side, here, rather than from any ill-perceived notion to descend from above?”
I climbed down and cautiously made my way towards the voice. As I did I was startled to find an opening in the rock, one that was most definitely not there before. As I crossed the threshold of the outcrop’s opening I found a rather well kept campsite. A strong fire blazing away in the middle, various chests and supplies arranged rather neatly and a figure of a man beyond the flames.
“Please, feel free to join me by the fire, you rarely get good company on the road these days!” The voice belonged not to a man, rather a half-orc. An incredibly well dressed one at that, “Tea?”
“Erm..” I was slightly perplexed by the situation, “Yes, yes please…”
“Splendid!” My would be host waved his hand briefly and a cup of tea, complete with saucer appeared before me.
“Thank you.” I said as I reached out to take it, my bow hummed with the presence of strong magic, and it was now that I could feel the emanating aura of goodness which was pouring out of this person.
It was then that I was startled by the appearance of a scruffy looking guard. He appeared from behind the strange man, through another opening, which also had not been there previously.
“Urgh! Shit! I got some on m’self-” The man noticed me and drew his sword, “Aw fuckit! Bandit!”
“Now, now, now! This fine fellow is my new friend from the road, he is no bandit!” The stranger defended me.
The guard reassessed me and huffed as he put his blade away. Then added, “Sorry ‘bout that guvnor, been a bit jumpy lately, mainly on account of some food of questionable origin…”
He gripped at his stomach, which in turn audibly creaked and groaned.
“Aw fuckit! I’m going back to piss in a corner, no more whatsthemthings... fuckit, no more... Snickers!” He then disappeared through the opening from when he came. Followed by the unmistakable sound of flatulence.
“Please forgive my companion, he suffers from a sweet tooth and... over-indulges...”, more flatulence, “He suffers from… many things…”
The stranger waved his hands, the only sound to remain was the crackling of the fire.
“I hope the tea is to your liking?” The man asked.
I sipped, it was the most refreshing tea I had imbibed in quite some time, better even than the elven tea leaves cultivated back home.
“That was… I’ve never had a tea so deep in flavour and dare I say so... restorative…” I said as I felt my vitality return.
The man was clearly pleased with this response, “I’m glad you like it, its a new blend from a far off land, let’s just say it’s extremely hard to procure and er, the import tax would be … out of this world.”
“What brings you this way? I’d imagine a man of your means wouldn’t have much interest in the back waters around here.” I gestured to his camp, I then added, “You should be careful, the bandits round here are known to work together when such a mark is about, no offense.”
“None taken! None taken! I wouldn’t worry about that, myself and my constitutionally challenged friend are just passing through. Although I won’t be staying long... I can’t help but get a certain feeling of... deja-vu…”
“Day jar what now?” I asked.
The man merely chuckled. “Apologies, I get a bit carried away sometimes.” He lent back and rested his arm on a chest next to him, it was a rather intricate lock which was clasped shut. Whoever this man was, he traveled well.
It was then that I remembered that Ardilion would be out there still. The man seeing my reaction raised a hand to reassure me, “It’s quite alright, he’s still making the rounds, in fact, I’m sorry to say that our time is up. As brief as this was, we must be moving on.”
I quickly finished my tea, “Th-thank you, for the refreshment?”
“Anytime, my new found friend! Anytime! Oh! Look, here’s your friend now!” He pointed behind me. I turned to look out of the opening and down the ridge was Ardilion completing his lap of the ridge, “The pleasure was all mine my new clerical friend!”
I turned back to the mystery man, in front of me was the fire and… nothing else?
Ardilion approached, “Empty huh? That’s strange, I saw no one on my reconnaissance.”
He gripped his bow, he could sense the feint aura of magic.
I stood up, still holding the cup and saucer.
Ardilion looked at them, “You better tell me what happened green leaf…”
I tried as best as I could, however I did not know what had transpired myself...