My Adventures in the Land of Thea - Part 6

Over the previous few weeks, some of the supplies in Ostoya had gone missing, and there were rumors of robbers and bandits in the area. The village decided to send out a hunting party to track down the bandits. Their tracks led us down to an abandoned mine shaft, where we found the bandits succumbed to the local poisonous flora. After carefully protecting themselves against the poisons, the first expedition managed to recover a small amount of materials. One of the more keen eyed members of the expedition also discovered that the poisonous death cap was the work of a group of trapped Spores, or field demons. Letting the demons go gained a blessing for three of the party's members.

As the expedition continued to travel, the villagers continued to craft new weapons. One day, the scavenger Bozena came to the village. We welcomed her with open arms and accepted her as one of our own. Soon after, Sobeslav grew up as a warrior. With the extra hands Ostoya began to thrive.

On the way to the Goblin Village, the first expedition encountered another group of Orcs. After helping them, the expeditions continued on its way and talked to the goblin Mukashir. To prevent losing armors that they were wearing, the expedition camped just outside the village and send a naked Snovit in with a load of armors in for trading. He ended up with a decent amount of various types of leather, but lost his shield in the process.

After trading with the goblins, our scouts found another group of wandering slavers. We decided to head them off before they had a chance to attack our camp. After dealing with the slavers, the first expedition managed to rescue just one child. After being rescued, Mania grew up to become a warrior. Following Bozena's foot steps, the scavenger Moymira joined Ostoya and was also welcomed with open arms. With our numbers swelling, we started to plan yet another camp to gather silver and coal.

Before coming back, the first expedition scouted further east, where they encountered many goblins and fell into a vipers' nest. After calming down the snakes, the party was able to climbed back out without any casualties. One of the snakes responded particularly well to our tactics, and joined us. We named him Zmey's Minion.

As we moved eastward, the first expedition encountered a man who proclaimed himself King Arathor of Camroth. King Arathor was trying to retrieve a sword half buried in a large rock when we met him. He knighted the whole expedition as Knights of Camroth and enlisted us to retrieve the sword. Upon the completion of the task, we were released from our obligations, and Arathor told us about a bridge where we would be presented with a test.

While the expedition was roaming the land, the gatherer Naslava joined Ostoya, and the warrior Leshko went on another mushroom run. During his run, he spotted yet another group of wandering slavers near by. As our primary expedition was still away from home, we decided to stay together in the protection of our village and keep an eye on them until the expedition could come back and take care of the slavers. More worryingly, our Mushroom Camp was visited by a Dark Mist.

As we only had Sobiebor and Tosia in the camp, we had no choice but huddled together and waited for the mist to pass. While they both survived the encounter, it wasn't without consequences. Both were cursed. We now had to make plans to bring them back to the Dziody to lift the terrible curses. Leshko and Veroslav left Ostoya to temporarily operate the camp while Sobiebor and Tosia came back to the village.

The next day, another scavenger joined Ostoya. Just like the others before her, we also welcomed Sulislava with open arms. With the new member, we decided to form a new expedition to both deal with the slavers and lift the curses on our members. The second expedition consisted of eight members: Dobrognieva, Sobeslav, Tosia, Yanko, Naslava, Sobiebor, Miroslav, and Vshebora, leaving only four behind: Zoska, Bozena, Moymira, and Sulislava.

The group's first task was convincing the slavers to hand over a child. Afterward, they went to visit the Dziody. After giving them a few months worth of food and passing the challenges, both Sobiebor and Tosia were cured of the curses. They then proceed back to the village, taking a slightly more scenic route in order to clear out some of the threats.

While the second expedition patrolled near Ostoya, the first expedition went to the Arathor's bridge, where they passed the test and was shown yet another map. Both expeditions encountered many challenges, and both were up to task. Even the new people at the Mushroom Camp had a brief encounter with a Leshy that they did not stick around to fight. Then the first expedition spotted a Shadow Horde, a group consisted of a Mroki and six Shadow Creatures. Emboldened by their success, the expedition decided to attack.

Looking back, it would have been better if they had not engaged the group of giants. By the time they got close enough, the group realized their mistake. The Mroki alone could easily wipe out the whole party with his giant war hammer. Knowing they had no hope of coming through alive, the group scattered.

Running as far as they could, the tattered first expedition set up camp and once again hoped and prayed that they survived the night. That was probably the longest night of their lives. Mila worked tirelessly, even though she was injured herself. As the first ray of light peeked through their tents, the group breathed a sigh of relief. While they were still injured, most have made it past the critical stage, and should heal back to full health given enough time.

While everyone was still camped, Ostoya was visited by a group of refugees. They pointed us in the direction of their old village, which was taken over by Orcs. We also tried to convince them to join us without success. However, seeing the arduous journey up ahead, they left us the children to be raised as our own.

With the recent encounters plus dismantling and constructing of items, our craftsmen figured out how to make war hammers. However, they had also exhausted most of the village's meager resources in building other equipment. The decision was made to send Yanko, Sobiebor, Bozena, and Moymira to form a new mining camp. Because of the mountainous terrains, the Silver Mine was more than a day's walk from Ostoya.

With the expedition away, Ostoya was attacked by a group of scavengers. We managed to fend them off. A few nights later, Mishka grew up to be a warrior.

Mean while, the first expedition found the peninsula to be full of giants. They had to slowly backtrack to avoid being squished. Once out, they headed to the location of Arathor's rewards, which turned out to be a lake. The lady of the lake then blessed them with health and even enchanted one of the weapons.

Hot on the heel of sending out the expedition to form the Silver Mine, our village sent Tosia, Naslava, and Sulislava out to form the Steel Mine.

A few nights later, the Silver Mine was set on by a small group of angry looking Wood Elves. Out numbered and out skilled, they had to forfeit all their equipment to the elves. The next night, Moymira passed away from injuries sustained from fighting the elves. Without her, the Silver Mine no longer had enough personnel to gather all of the desired resources. Mean while, back in Ostoya, a craftsman named Tatomier joined us. The first expedition also briefly stopped at the village to drop of their findings before moving toward the location of the old refugee village.

With the Silver Mine no longer viable, we decided to break camp and bring the survivors toward the Steel Mine.