Mountain Bandits

After grabbing a bite to eat Zanir activated his pendant. When he concentrated on the pendant it gave him a strange feeling. He could hear a sound like static inside his head.

"Reed, where are you?"

The pendant dimmed after a moment and returned to it's initial stillness. He wondered, for a moment, if he had used it correctly. Just as he was starting to lament the lack of an instruction manual it lit up.

'Chirp chirp chirp'

Upon hearing the notification sound, Zanir chuckled as he realized it was a literal 'tweet'. The moment he touched the flashing pendant it played out the response from Reed.

"Hey kid, it's been like two days, you didn't get captured already did you?"

"No way old man! I've got some cold beer I wanted your opinion on, but you must be busy with work. I won't bother you any further"

"Nonsense, nonsense! Cold beer is my favorite kind of emergency. Head to grove where we met last time. I'll meet you there"

Familiar with the direction he was able to head off right away. Zanir made sure to keep an eye out for any rare plants he could 'take' with him. Unfortunately he wasn't able to find any. This was just a common backwater area.

During his trip he saw a few wolves and even a large bear as reached the nearby forest. Most of them simply ignored him. The exception being the bear and a few of the larger wolf packs. The pendant emitted a pulse of bright green light that seemed to dispel the animals aggression. Afterwards they would just scurry off back into the forest.

Slowing his approach, Zanir crept cautiously as he reached the edge of the clearing. He overheard several men talking loudly. Peering through the foliage he was able to spot several crudely dressed men. They were dirty and wore jumbled piecemeal armor that was a real hodgepodge. There were bits of leather, iron, and copper that had been stitched and tied together.

They had rough, weathered skin. Laughing deeply, they sat around a crude encampment. Boisterous discussions and arguments took place among the men. Continuing to observe the men Zanir noticed that they were all armed. He couldn't help but notice, to his dismay, that each of their weapons looked very well-worn.

Realizing that these appeared to be seasoned mountain bandits, he was glad that he approached cautiously. Haven't stayed low profile he could just retreat quietly. They definitely gave off a veteran vibe and had plenty of scars. These were not slow moving zombies and he was outnumbered. Just as he was about to retreat the amulet lit up.

'Chirp chirp chirp'

Hearing a shrill bird chirp startled several bandits. With practiced reflexes they grabbed onto nearby weapons. Conversations died off as a strange silence permeated the small encampment. One of the men who had been drinking broke the silence.

"Oi, who's going to go check that out!"

There was no response as the men looked around at each other. None of them were quick to step up and volunteer. Finally a reply came from the back of the group from an equally drunken bandit.

"Let it go Fred, you're just being paranoid again"

Hearing this several of the men sitting around couldn't contain a raucous laughter. Zanir had been holding his breath, his heart beating in his chest at what felt like a million miles an hour. He was relieved to see several of the bandits starting to sit back down. The two drunks continued their exchange back and forth.

"What about last time? Hmmm? You swore you heard someone sneaking around the campsite. It was just a rabbit thumping on a hollow log."

"That was an exception!"

"What about the time before that Fred? Swore you saw zombies out by the canyons. We made the trip out there and it was abandoned. You drink too much. Some of the guys are thinking of having an intervention Fred."

Another round of laughter erupted from the rowdy group of men. The noise would give him cover so he chose to leave while they were distracted. Turning around to leave he came face to face with a drunken mountain bandit. The bandit's confusion was evident as their eyes both met and he bellowed out.

"What do we have here?"

The bandit was loud enough to ensure that the others all heard it him. It didn't take long at all for the others to come over. They brought Zanir over into the encampment. Some of the bandits glanced over with disinterested looks and quickly went back to what they were doing. A few of them had come over to look at him and were discussing what to do with him.

"Who is this kid?"

"Beats me, where do ya think he came from?"

"Dunno, should we try to rob him?"

At the last comment a few of the bandits laughed at the one who suggested it.

"Fred, look at his clothes and hands"

"I don't see anything special at all."

Sighing the older bandit asked Zanir to hold his hands palm up. He was confused but complied. The bandit had asked him somewhat politely. Clearing his throat the older bandit begun to instruct the younger bandit. He pointed to the Zanir's palms first.

"Look here Fred, his hands are full of calluses. That only comes from manual labor or farming. People with calluses got a hard life like us."

Continuing on he pointed at his clothes.

"Notice how he's wearing basic clothing. No offense, but it's a little worn with patches sewn on. These kind of people never have much money. He's probably just some farmer who got lost?"

"What about that glowing thing on his neck Mark? It looks magical, maybe we can sell it?"

He felt his heart sink as they noticed the pendant.

"Fred what are you talking about that...that.. that.."

The older bandit froze mid-conversation as soon as he noticed the pendant. He stumbled, falling back onto the ground. His face had turned pale white as the color drained out. Pointing shakily at the pendant, he mumbled out.

"Dr...Druid!"