Farsdas, Moonstein, 234th year of our lord

Dear Diary,

Today was rather shit to be honest, I have been tracking this deer for 3 days but it seemed like my arrows would just not hit true, and I ended up losing my favorites! I fletched that from an eagle I shot down in the Amalthea Forest. Then! As I was trying to slice it up, a Goblin snuck up on me! The cheeky little blighter nearly got me too. The bastard, I was never as good with my sword as my bow, but he was too close to shoot. I couldn't bring up the blade fast enough and he simply side stepped it! Then he tried to attack Fluffers, my pet wolf! I couldn't get to him in time to save him.

That cheesed Fluffers off something awful, and the little blighter nearly took the Goblin's head off!

Something about the Goblin attack seemed off... All I could really remember, were that goblins normally traveled in packs, not all that useful but I felt it was an omen, and it was my time to go.

After I finished cleaning the deer, I packed it up to sell in Titania.

Sluhjdas, Moonstein, 234th Year of Our lord

I tried to sell the meat to the local butcher, and the hide to the tannery. I tried to get more money, a payment in advance for my hunt. That never works though, and they both told me to fuck off. The merchants in Titania are rude. Then I saw an old Friend of mine, he was being chased by the guard though. I wondered what the hell was going on... That's when I noticed the bags of gold he was carrying, and realized he was most likely to be arrested. I couldn't resist the temptation of easy gold though!

I yelled to him and joined the fray to fight the guards, I tried to take out one of the guards with my blade, but he easily batted mine aside and returned with his own...

I'm bleeding out now and I likely won't make it... If I die, I'd like everything in my posession to be left to the 5 adventurers I met:

To Geckle, the Halfling Druid: I leave my Spear, may it pierce the hearts of your enemies
To Ms. Zelenki, the Elvish Bard: I leave my Diary, I hope you find it's stories entertaining, and can weave them into great songs.
To Alexander, the Paladin: I leave the Scale armor of my Father
To Gwenaël, The Ranger: I leave my bow, may it fly your arrows true
Finally, to Fulsom, the Fighter: I leave my Shield,

What gold is left on my body is to be split between the five of you. Thank you so much for saving my life and ma

---

At this point, the Lawyer who had a hold of the "will" stopped reading, "That was the last thing he wrote, the wound he received was grievous, and pouring through this diary, I can not even tell you his name." The office was cramped, on the desk between the adventurers and the lawyers was a chest, inside laid five parcels, divvied out, monogrammed with the race and first name of each person.

The air was thick, and the wails of agony from the prison next door seemed to be the only thing capable of breaking the silence. After giving the adventurers some paperwork to sign, he continued, "In fact, we have no next of kin. You 5 are the only people who probably even knew he was alive. Such a shame, it's wrong for people to go out like this. The guards assure me that he was not in pain but..."

The lawyer grimaced.

"He was alive long enough to write out his last will and testament, and at the end his writing gets shaky and nearly illegible."

"I'm sorry for your lost."

He ushered the group out of his office after the paperwork was signed, and as they left, they saw a nearly inconsolable couple crying deep loud sobs as they passed.

Sitting in the lawyer's office in Titania, Iris the Bard looked at the diary and studied what was written about the goblin. She thought it was odd that the goblin was alone, but knew the man was correct in the feeling of it being an omen. The only time a goblin would really be alone was if they had been sent to scout out a place that was to be attacked. Also, the fact the goblin had attacked the man worried her even more, for it would only have done so if the whole clan of goblins was becoming aggressive. She had heard stories of goblin attacks, and they were not pretty.

Standing up she looked at the others with a serious gaze, "Goblins are planning an attack somewhere between here and the Amalthea Forest, and considering this is pretty close to the palace I don't really think the Queen would really like that. I bet you the guards or someone would pay to have us put the goblins in their place. How about it?"

Iris paused for a moment and thought of the songs and stories she had heard about goblins. "We'll know when they're about to attack if we see red smoke. Other than that I can't remember too much about goblin fighting. In any case, up to see if anyone is interested in our services?"

The spear the makeshift will had described rested easily in Geckle's hands, but all the same, he didn't feel quite comfortable with its weight now that its head glinted sharply out of the parcel. He felt like it would anchor him to the violence of the world forever. Nervously he slung it over his shoulder and tried not to look at it too much. At least I can throw the thing and keep my distance... Shuffling his feet and wringing his hands, he listened as Iris described the situation.

His voice was croaky and held a stammer when he answered. "W-well, I suppose, considering what we, er, do, I might maybe say this is our kind of job... R-right?" Geckle shrugged, a little helplessly. Adventurers was what they were, wasn't it? "Yes, of c-course, I'm sure there'll be s-somebody near the palace who might, er, hire us for the, er, problem." He picked at a thread on his sleeve and tried to consult his own mental library for advice on how to approach a goblin 'problem'. In his private opinion, 'Somewhere between here and the forest' told him little about how the party could act. "Let me think, j-just for a second. I'm sure I might know something about g-goblins myself."

What did he know? Goblins were green (like frogs!), but often they had hearts as black as ravens... And like ravens, they could get aggressive over things they liked. Books and old trees could all tell how goblins liked treasure that sparkled in the light. The Palace isn't too far. Even the floors are shiny there. I'd be surprised if they had something better to target. Geckle stood up a little straighter and offered his thoughts. "If the goblins are, er, behaving aggressively, then they are pr-probably planning a raid... Goblins would love to get their hands on what's in the Queens own palace, right? I think they might r-really be that, er, daring, considering what they'd be able to steal from there."

Alexander was praying in the corner when the will was being read. His bronze symbol was in a firm grip in his hands. "He was a good man, but his greed did him in. I can only wish him best in the next life now." he paused after he spoke. He placed his holy symbol back into a special pouch on his bag, and continued, "I will gladly raise my halberd against any threat that terrorizes the land, or any sinner who marks against it." he said firmly.

He started to remember all of what he knew about fighting goblins. His memory was a bit foggy of the top but all of what he remembered. "Goblins.. Goblins.. Why yes, goblins. They are sneakily little things, who use black powder charges, bows and magic. However, by far their most threatening attack is their ability to control fire. Goblins are greedy though and could possibly be bribed off, but you would need to know Draconian."

"I am a bit foggy on goblin raid strategy, however goblins will be a dangerous enemy. We must be prepared. I suggest we alert a town official immediately." Alexander said with a respectful, but almost demanding voice.

Gwenaël held the bow in his hands. It was a solid weapon, made of good wood, the kind from a tree that bends in a gale instead of breaking. Gwenaël had always fancied the weapon, ever since he had met the man at the lodge. The hunter had been his first friend after he moved south out of the Frozen North; he introduced Gwenaël to the other hunters and helped him start a new life in Lysithea. It was a horrible shame he met his end; an embarrassing end for such a hunter to be taken out by a lone goblin.

At the very least, Gwenaël could give his old friend some vengeance. The ranger searched his memory for what he knew about Goblin tactics, and figured that the main attack should happen around a week after their screens move in. "If we're going to try stop the Goblins, we need to get moving immediately. If he was attacked by the scout three days ago, the goblins should already be on the move. They might strike in a few days - near about the amount of time it would take us to cover the ground to where he was attacked. If we can hurry, we might be able to cut them off before they make their attack. If we don't, we will likely arrive too late to be of any help."

Dammit, Anoriath, you always leave a mess for others to clean, the ranger cursed silently to himself. It was time to hunt some goblins.

Alarei sat uneasily upon the chair; it was disconcerting to him that he could not recall this person that left him the shield in their will. A blur of faces flickered between his memories, but still he could not match the face to the person that had thought of him in the last moments of their impending death. He wasn’t one to stand idly as people came into any kind of snag, he was a well-seasoned adventurer, lending a sword arm to all those that required it, but the idea that this person thought of Alarei in their final moments cracked open the hardened exterior of the proud warrior, and made him grieve privately for this man’s tragic passing.

He listened carefully as each of the other able-bodied travellers received their gifts, watching as they revealed their intentions to stop this Goblin plague and avenge this man’s death. “I agree with the little one,” he rubbed at his face thoughtfully before continuing “We should alert the Captain of the Guard to bolster their watch for the next several days, to ensure that the palace is well protected from danger.” As the hunter spoke his turn Alarei chimed in once more “Aye, it’s more than likely that they’ve already dismantled their camp and have begun marching.” He cleared his throat and devised the beginnings of a strategy , “Maybe we could separate the raiding party, I know from past encounters with Goblins that they're quite touched in the head, we could take advantage of that. At the very least we could scout ahead and see how large this raiding party is, because they can number anywhere from between three to a couple of thousand.”

He stood up in one brisk move, his posture straight and his face brimming with confidence. “Like the hunter said, we should get moving, time is of the essence so the quicker we move, the sooner we can intercept them.” He stopped for one moment, taking a look at each of these adventurers, taking stock of each of them. “If you need supplies, I think it best you stock up now, otherwise we should alert the Captain of the Guard, plan a strategy and move out!”

Iris looks to the lawyer, "Can you do us a favor and send a message to the Palace that the Goblins are planning an attack and are probably already on the move? Tell them to watch for red smoke."

The lawyer nods, "I'll get right on that."

Turning to face the others, Iris says, "I don't know about you all but I think I'm set for a bit of a walk. I don't want to walk for 4 days though, and get there right as the battle starts, so I think I'll see if I can't find a horse or something."

With that she walks from the room, and wanders over to some vendors who appear to be selling horses just across the street. A portly man with a scraggly beard stood near several horse stalls. He, and the entire building, smelled of horse manure.

"How much is the cheapest horse you have?" Iris inquired of the man.

He looked her up and down. "My cheapest horse is 3 gold." He smirked, his browned teeth showing through slightly.

Iris grimaced, knowing that was all the gold she had. "Would you be willing to go any lower?"

He bobbed his head from side to side considering it. "Perhaps."

"What if I pay you full price later? I'm off to help the palace with a goblin attack, and I need to get there quickly. But once I do I'll probably be rewarded and could pay you well then. How's about it?" she offers.

He ponders this for a moment and nods. "Sounds good to me. Rog, bring out the gray one!"

Roger, the stable hand, brings out a small gray horse and hands it over to Iris. "Here's your horse, ma'am."

"Thank you," she smiles, nodding to the both of them, and then goes to wait outside the lawyers office for the others. She knows a single horse won't put a dent in their travel time, but if the others could haggle some off of him too, or pay for some, they could probably get there faster. If not, a horse was at least nice to have around.

Geckle listened to the party's knowledge at work, nodding vigorously whenever he was noticed. The plan, though still developing, sounded solid to ears inexperienced in strategy. The druid had perhaps more fight in him than he let on, but standing against a goblin raid was not the same as fending off a small swamp crocodile from inside a boat. He felt conscious of the light weight of the spear. Just fight where they point you. That's what you'll do, and you'll remain Geckle otherwise. Raising his head when Iris left, an idea came to Geckle at the mention of a horse. He attempted to clear his throat and spoke. "I have an idea that may, er, help us. A little. I mean, if it's needed, and it w-works, and maybe if I can find what I need in t-town and..." Fading into a mumble, he backed out of the room with an awkward wave, stumbling slightly on the doorstep. Well, that could've been done better.

Geckle wasn't one to mind a long walk; He could set a good pace even on a halfling's legs. A horse or donkey would still be a valuable asset, though, and it could certainly move faster than himself, if needed. And it could carry a human. With this in mind he set off around the town, looking for a place where he might find some kind of... Spiritual guidance, he supposed. There were plenty of old or failed sorcerors in town who might be willing to sell him a book, if he could find them.

It took him a while to reach a street where it appeared that arcane dealers had clustered together, by which time his bald head was burning in the sun. Scampering into an appropriate-looking building, he leaned against a wall and rested for a few seconds. The building was filled with old books, jars of strange- and sometimes vile-looking potion ingredients, and other miscellanea.

"Choose your object. I'll name its price." An old woman in heavy robes spoke boredly out of a corner, and Geckle flinched before he nodded and ducked behind a disorganised shelf. Books with potion recipes... Empty spellbooks... Papers in languages he couldn't read. Not much use for a druid. Maybe, not such a good idea at all... A word on a title caught his eye as he turned to leave 'Mounted'. Geckle pulled away the book and examined it, reading 'Study of the Soul and Power of a Mounted Horse'. Lucky find. Perfect. The old woman raised an eyebrow and Geckle nodded.

"...If you're interested in that old thing, you can take it for one gold. I don't know where I found it." She shrugged and Geckle paid cautiously- He didn't have much money to go around. "You'll be leaving now." Geckle nodded again and scurried back into the sunshine, clutching his precious book. Cheaper than buying a horse, yes. I'll just see how far my shifting can take me in this case. The idea's worth trying, once I've studied this.

"I need to commune with my god, if you would excuse me, I will be at the nearby church. I too have preparations I need to make." Alexander said. He immediately got walked out after he collected his things. He immediately walked to the church without any delay, and entered. He walked up to a clergyman and asked for a private room for him to commune with his god in peace.

The clergyman nodded and shown him to a homely room. He got down on one knee, and started to pray. "Oh, great and merciful god, I plead for your help in the coming battle. I wish to slay any goblin who seeks nothing but to raid and pillage the land and whose heart is nothing but a black speckle of coal. Please, allow me some of your power so that I can defend these fair people."

Alexander paused for a moment to catch his breath and gather his thoughts, "If you may, great deity, allot me the ability to be unharmed by fire and a tongue which knows no boundary caused by language. As always and forever, I will accept any vow you deem necessary to keep holy in this life and the next. Please, give me your divine approval for this question which I am about to part take." He then sat there, and prayed while he waited for a response from his deity.

And his lord doth replied, "You shall have these gifts, no flames will lick your feet, and your words will be heard by all, for you will be speaking in my own tongue, but in exchange you will not use my gifts for lies. You will also suffer no evil on your doorstep, but smite any evil creature that would cross your path." The Paladin then felt flames leap from the floor board, licking at his armor but he did not feel heat.

For the lord sayeth, it shall be.

Gwenaël nodded curtly as the others melted away to do their self-appointed duties. As more than half had left, the ranger excused himself to go visit the hunters' lodge to grab a pint before they left to hunt goblins. When he entered, a loud, cheerful voice greeted him, "Oi! Gwenaël! Yer back from that lawyer's office already? You gonna leave us now to live on some manse with yer cushy inheritance?"

Gwenaël found himself a seat at the bar. The large, smokey common room of the lodge was nearly empty, but that would change as the sun fled over horizon. "I'm afraid I'm not so lucky, Urist. T'was Anoriath, the one with the wolf, you know? Sucker got unlucky with a goblin and left me his bow."

"Anoriath?" a portly, one eyed dwarf behind the counter replied. "He was one of me better customers, him. A shame to see him go. Goblins, you said? An ill omen, so close to home."

"Aye. Tell your patrons to be careful when they hunt; I'd hate to see you lose this little shithole. I'll have a pint." the ranger replied. Ill omens indeed, he thought, what will be next, blood-hunters? "In fact I'll be leaving the walls tonight. Where there's one goblin, there will be more. I'm to try to find out what they're doing. I'll need my bird."

The dwarf nodded and left the common room. A short while later he returned, a tankard in one hand and a cage draped in cloth in the other. "That'll be a gold, friend." he said, setting both on the counter. "And, since you're apparently Anoriath's next-of-kin, there's the matter of his tab. He hadn't "

"I'll pay his debts, but put this one drink the tab too. He was a good customer right? I'll give you a share of whatever I take from those goblin wretches." Gwenaël raised the tankard to the dwarf. "Now, a drink for the friends we've lost?"

The dwarf studied the ranger's face for an intense moment before going back to his genial façade. "Aye. A drink for the lost."

"Ye know I can't give free drinks, Gwenaël. But you've been good to me, so I'll give it some time. A drink for the lost." The dwarf replies before heading off to attend to the other patrons. Gwenaël spent a few hours quenching his thirst before moving to the city gates to wait on the others, his eagle close at hand.

He entered out into the daylight just as everyone else scattered ahead of him to prepare for the hunt. The fighter figured he’d do the same; his breastplate must have been repaired by now, so the first stop was the local smithy. He parted through the thick crowds of varying races, at one point knocking his knee against a gnome, altercating in an exchange of flustered expressions on the shorter man’s part before he scurried away, flapping his arms above him in the air and muttering unpleasantries. Alarei shrugged it off with a chuckle as he finally found his way to the smithy.

“John, how did the breastplate come along?” he entered the shop rather clumsily, hitting his head off of one of the horseshoes hanging from a tethered rope to the ceiling. “Rather dangerous, don’t ya think?” he joked as he shook the smith’s hand. “Aye, your plate’s good, not a ding in sight!” John replied, admiring his handiwork and presenting it to Alarei. “Very nice, friend,” the fighter beamed “Would you mind…?” he motioned to the straps on the plate as he began to fit it back on, the blacksmith obliged, tightening the straps accordingly.

Having paid in advance of the work, Alarei concluded business with the blacksmith and walked back into the busy streets of Titania. He pondered what to do next, he didn’t have a schedule to keep and he was already outfitted and supplied for the Goblin raid. The fighter finally decided to take it easy, using what remained of the afternoon to relax and unwind, as he rarely had the chance to do just that.

Alarei arrived at the gates ahead of everyone else, a few saddled horses being sold caught his attention and he approached. “Good man, how much for one of your stallions?” The merchant smiled a toothy smile as he raised his hand in front of Alarei’s face, four fingers outstretched. “Four gold coins?” the fighter smoothed his face with his gloved hand, pondering for a moment as he stared at a sheer black horse, with strong hind legs.

“Perhaps we could do barter, friend. What say you?” Alarei offered a gentle smile.

“Feeeck off, four gold or nothing!” the merchant hollered, closing his fist and shaking it. Alarei shook his head and began to thumb the coins into the merchant’s hands. “You drive a hard bargain; this horse had better be worth it.”

Unhitching the horse and mounting his supplies upon its back, he began leading the horse by bridle back to the city gate, and awaited the rest of the party. He stroked the beast’s mane; the horse whinnied moving its face closer to his hand. “I should find a name for you, ‘Horse’ just won’t do.”

During the time between getting her horse and venturing over to the gate Iris stopped to tell a story to anyone who would listen. She set a small bowl she had picked up somewhere on the ground and began her tale.

"Long ago, when humans lived near the Lake of King Myz, there was a hunter. This hunter supplied meat to the butcher in his town, and cherished his visits to the surly man, for the butcher had a lovely daughter whom the hunter had fallen for. Her hair and skin were fair, and her eyes a rich blue. He often saw her reading quietly when she was not working for her father. She was quiet, though, and seemed to prefer solitude, and he never really got a chance to speak with her. For years he admired her from afar.

"One day, he finally got up the courage to tell her how he felt. She was flustered, and nearly dropped the water jug she had been carrying.

"'For years I have watched you. You seem so sweet, so intelligent, so gentle. Would you permit me to court you, my dear?' the hunter inquired, taking the jug from her, setting it down, and cupping her hands in his. 'It would be an honor to be allowed to love you.'

"She pondered his proposition for a moment before replying, 'The next time I see you, the next time you deliver meat to my father, I shall be there, and I shall give you my answer.'

"With that he smiled, gleeful, and bowed. 'Thank you, my dear. I shall await your answer.'

"The next day, the hunter crept around the trees on the shore of the lake, his bow at the ready. He had been hunting a deer for a while and had been waiting for the perfect shot, but had lost the stag not moments before. Suddenly, he heard a snap of a twig, and without even looking, loosed his arrow in the direction of the noise. A cry erupted, and promptly died. There, upon the ground, lay the butcher's daughter, with her favorite book in hand, and an arrow in her throat.

"He held her as she died, and the corpse he delivered to the butcher that day was not one to be cut and sold, but one to be mourned."

The crowd applauded and Iris bowed as they threw silver pieces into the dish. She counted them up as she headed towards the gate. In total she had gotten 1 gold and 10 silver pieces. A nice profit for a grim story.

The group was all at the gate when she arrived. "Oops, sorry for being the last one to the party, guys," Iris chuckled, "Was having a little too much fun telling a story. Shall we go now?"

With that the group began their journey on to the palace.

Geckle was small and quick enough to duck through the traffic along the wide roads that led to the gate, carrying his book in a bag along with his other equipment, excluding the spear on his shoulder, of course. The bustle of the city was not what he wanted to be travelling through, however, especially with the lack of shade as the sun grew higher and his increasing self-consciousness of his weapon. Would it waste time to find another route? ...Well, there are goblins on the move. But I don't like this, not now. The halfling shook his head slightly and wondered. The markets are covered, but they're an even busier detour. Between the houses it is, then. He side-stepped a heavy cart blocking his way and hurried into another street, always taking the emptiest route that was on his way.

Pleased with his progress, the druid slowed down in a lonely space behind two rows of older, taller buildings. Moss grew between the bricks, and the back doors all seemed to be locked and ignored. It was calming. Geckle relaxed into an easy walk until a sudden, harsh noise scratched at his skull, and he turned with a yelp. What's this close? A thin, but large dog with no collar barked desparately behind him, scrabbling on the cobbles. Its voice was hungry enough to try and take a bite from a stranger. Running was the first instinct, thinking the second, and the idea of standing his ground with a weapon did not occur to Geckle. My Tongue won't get any respect here, not from him... Agh! Before he could return to the safety of the road, an unfortunately loose stone tripped his run, and he made a short crash into a wall with his left shoulder. No, no, not yet, there's still time to run, I can just... He still had enough distance to stay away, and safely, if startled, he made it back to the sunlit main road- Within sight of the gate, no less. The desperate dog followed briefly, but the noise and multitude of people made it scurry back into its place.

Cowardly thing... Like me. Geckle examined his shoulder, seeing the spear, admitting to himself with some shame that the stray would have been a pushover if he'd thought to act aggressively. ...Goblins next, or whatever we find on the path. This is a problem, Geckle. Just learn your lesson and use the thing! Promising himself to show some guts (Ugh, vile expression) next time, the halfling made it out of the gate and leaned on the wall, trying to see if he'd dropped anything, perhaps, or taken any noticable hurt, waiting for the rest of the group. A bruise on my wrong arm, I think... I can still move. I'm ready. Ready he waited for a while before he began the walk with his companions.

Alexander thanked his god for his gifts, and then thanked the priest for the room as he walked out.

He began to ponder his religious teaching to try to figure out if goblins are evil. The teachings were unclear, however he promised to slay goblins who wished only destruction, but goblins are defensive creatures and could just be overly protective of there lands. It might angry his god if he went on genocidal rage merely on the wives tales of commoners.

When Alexander reached his group at the gate, he said, "Friends, I think we should try to speak with the goblins before attacking. While speaking with them, I have the ability to detect evil, If they are close, I would be able to tell if any of them are truly malicious. However, it would be safe to presume if they are evil or not, they are aggressive. And if they are evil, I will hesitant to cut them down like the weeds they are. And before you all comment, my god has granted me the ability to speak with them if they prove to not be evil, and I also have immunity to their fires if they are." he finished.

"If you want to parlay with the goblins, be my guest," Gwenaël said, "but just because some of the onion isn't bad doesn't mean it isn't rotten. A good soldier does as he's told, even if the orders are bad." He continued, "But speaking with them and trying to learn their intentions if a good idea, if you can do it without becoming a pile of cinders first, as you say your god allows."

The ranger looked up towards the sun, squinting, "Regardless, we should strike out. The more time we waste, the more likely we are to miss out opportunity to stop whatever trouble is brewing. Is everyone ready?" He checked his sword and his quiver at his belt, and then fingered the bow slung across his shoulders, making sure he had everything he'd need. His bird, a handsome, white creature, sat perched atop a nearby pole, staring at the party quizzically. Gwenaël gave a sharp whistle to the bird and it floated down from its vantage to rest on the boiled leather jerkin he wore as armor. He was ready.

Would that I had the coin for a horse, Gwenaël thought while eyeing the two mounted companions, I'll have to see about getting one before this is over. He waited for the others to depart, anxious to return to the wilds.

Alarei pulled the reigns of his horse to the right, turning to face the Paladin describing his strategy. The Hunter then chimed in afterwards. “We are likeminded, Hunter. Goblins aren’t ones to be reasoned with – and even if we were to speak to them, they instigated this raid” Alarei paused before continuing, “They sealed their fate.” He turned his horse back towards the city gate and began rummaging through his equipment, making sure that he had everything he needed. The Warrior retrieved his sword from its scabbard, examining the blade delicately, pushing two fingers upon base and front side of the blade and then dragging them to the tip of the blade. Satisfied with his steel, he brought it back into its sheath. The last part of his equipment was the newly gifted shield; it was rather weighty, bulky but made from strong steel. The inside had a leather strap to fit his arm, and around the front of the kite-shield it was gilded with a trim of black, whilst the design upon the shield was a wingspread Raven upon a grey field. Alarei tugged at his armor, and nodded with prideful confidence.

“Aye, I’m ready to move.”

He kicked the stirrups against the hide of his horse and it responded with a canter, the guards let him pass through the city gate, and the walls of the city of Titania opened up into a rich and verdant landscape. He was taken aback that that some of the party didn’t own a horse…which was quite unfortunate. He circled back and made the horse trot alongside his companions. “As there are three of you without a horse, I recommend that the Bard and I scout ahead, make sure that we avoid any danger upon the road until we reach the Amalthea forest.. “

Alarei looked beyond the horizon towards the direction of the Amalthea forest, shielding his hand upon his eyebrows to avoid the glare of the sun. "It should take us about four days on foot to get there, we'll have to make camp in between." He rubbed the sweat from his brow, "We should keep an eye out for somewhere reasonably safe to camp...and then we can divide up our watch routines."

And so our Heroes marched onwards to the palace. The road on their journey was quiet, and as they walked only the slight clip-clops of hooves, and crunch of dirt was heard. Nary a merchant, monk, or traveler was seen besides the group and the eery stillness stretched on for days. They couldn't hear distant animals, and only the blowing of the wind was enough to break their stillness. The march was hard as they tried to cover as much ground as quickly as possible. When they finally reached both the palace and the forest, there was the smell of sulfur in the air, and the clouds seemed to billow from the forest, thick and red.

A Dragon was seen flying overhead, an ill Omen for those who recognized such signs, it disappeared beneath the clouds into where it presumably lived. The palace, was of course beautiful (as most palaces are) it seemed to be magicked from pearls into shape, and there was a thin iridescent bubble surrounding it. An enchantment to ward off evil. Guards lined the road, and soon the dirt and grass was replaced by brick and gold.

The Guards wore Red armor that seemed to have black dragons scorched into their chests, as a sigil. and on the tips of their pikes flew flags of red silk, with black dragon patches sewn in, with gold embroidery.

As you got close to the front gate, a Guard with thicker armor, and a foot and a half taller then the rest stopped you. "Halt, who goes there?" She asked, eyeing the adventurers, "What business have you here?" Her voice was oddly formal, and had an accent that sounded like it came from a far away place. The eyes of her helmet glowed with blue fire.

Iris looked at the guard from atop her horse, "We have traveled from Titania. We discovered that goblins plan to raid the palace, and from the look of that red smoke we don't have very long to prepare. The goblins will soon be here and we must alert someone to their advance. Please, permit us to enter."

The guard nodded and called to the gatekeeper. "Let them in! And send someone to go tell Cerys she has a visitor!" The guard's voice was distinctly feminine.

"Righty-o!" called the gatekeeper and the palace gate slowly lowered to allow them passage. By the time the gate was down a woman dressed all in black, with a red cape with a dragon insignia stood in the middle of the courtyard. Her hair was a reddish brown and her eyes were a startling blue with hourglass-shaped irises, indicating she was an incredibly powerful mage.

Riding forward, Iris stopped her horse in front of the woman. "I take it you're Cerys?"

"I am she. My name is Vivian Cerys, Captain of the Guard for the Palace of Queen Lysithe. Who might you be?" she glowered up at Iris, and then gazed at the rest of the party who still stood at the gate.

The road was indeed just as shiny as expected, and Geckle's hooves clicked on the neatly aligned bricks. Alone on the path with nothing to frighten him, his transformation had gone well that day. From the hairy brown pony's eyes he admired the building's size, wondering what the goblins would attempt when they arrived. It's well defended, I would think. Tall guards and strong magic. I wonder if there's anything they didn't cover... Waiting for the gate to lower, Geckle took a thorough look at what he could see of the palace exterior, but he was too close to examine much more than the gate anymore, which seemed flawless. Should've tried earlier. Look sharp, Geckle.

Addressed by the Captain, Geckle raised his head and followed the voice immediately in a rather un-horse-like reaction. Oh... Oh! She'll be able to tell I'm no pony, won't she? Oh, oh my, mustn't forget manners... With a short grunt, Geckle's body suddenly shrivelled up and shrunk away into his usual collection of robes and warts. The party's packs he had been carrying dropped suddenly on the floor around him, and he hurriedly looked around to see if he'd damaged anything before responding to the mage, whom he rightfully found intimidating. "Er, Geckle, C-captain. Geckle, druid from the northern wetlands. I travel with my companions. Many apologies for my, er, rudeness." The halfling made a short bow. In his natural form he suddenly felt conscious of his appearance amidst all the approaching gold and armour. Too late for fanciness now, but rising up, he made a good effort to stand tall before her sharp gaze.