Journey Home

My eyes widen in surprise at the elf's outburst before Wug lays a hand on my shoulder.

"Noor I like the small one and the green one. The taller small one is quiet so he's ok but this thing one is kind of...…annoying. Can we just leave her here for whoever comes back to find?" Wug says while glaring at Elia with thinly concealed disgust and rage.

"Wug does have a point master. The elf has so far shown no signs of being civil, is disrespectful, and honestly nobody likes elves due to their holier than thou attitude. Although I did hear once from a cyclops that they taste good but I'm strictly vegetarian." Says Mog while nodding towards the elf, her face turning bright red with rage as the muscles in her arms tighten.

"Moggy go help heal who you can they need our help and your best suited for the job. Wug go help Sheer salvage what you can from this place, if we're to go ahead with my plan we'll need all the gear and materials we can get our grubby hands on. As for you Mrs. Elia, My name is Noortain. I am the leader of this group of friends who decided to come to this hellhole and rescue your ungrateful ass. And I really don't care who you are or who you think you are if this is how we're treated for letting you survive you can stay in this pit of a camp and wait for the next asshole to sell your dainty ass. Now if you'll excuse me and my friends here, there's a lot of monsters that need are help and they're much better company than you." I say in my most sarcastic voice possible while trying to mix anger into it as well. After the last word passes my lips i motion for everyone to follow me out and get on with their jobs, but I'm surprised to find the orc woman following behind us while struggling to carry the dwarf. As I look at her questioningly she smiles and with a shrug starts to explain.

"I never liked the bitch honestly but she was designated as our leader for this expedition. Plus you guys seem pretty alright. Plus the big guy is pretty cute not gonna lie and with arms that thick I'd be surprised if he can't turn a boulder to dust which is what I'm lacking in my life." Tugta say with a chuckle and another blue blush while glancing at the approaching form of Wug. As she looks up at him, he leans over and gently picks the dwarf up and cradles him in his arms like a toddler before walking towards a medical area that Harold the gnome and Mog have set up shop with a few other creatures with healing abilities.

As we approach the area a large blue body bumps into me almost knocking me over before a four fingered hand steadies me and sets me on my feet. As I look towards the hands owner I see the gently smiling face of the river troll we saw marked earlier, Most of the mark already fading away allowing the troll to break free from its control.

"Thanks for freeing those of us they marked little one. It was truly terrifying to be trapped within ones mind but not be able to control ones body at the same time. We all owe you a debt and if you have any way for myself to repay it ask and I will try my best to help." The troll says gently its voice smooth as a flowing streambed as its eyes shine with new vigor and happiness. After thinking for a few minutes I remember what the inspect description told me about trolls and I know exactly what I want to ask.

"We live a few days travel to the west in a forested area. We wish to create a community there for anyone who wish to live freely away from the terror of other monsters and adventurers who would hunt them. But we are not established yet and could use strong hands to help us protect this place and build it. Would you be willing to help us?" I ask in hope as a look of intrigue appears in the trolls eyes as it goes quiet in thought.

"Will there be water for me to live within? Or somewhere equally moist?" It asks curiously as I frown and reply that there isn't currently but maybe we can make something as we get larger.

"If you can give me a home I shall come to assist. They call me Bubbles and it will be a pleasure to assist you gremlin." The troll says and I can barely contain my giggle at his name.

After Bubbles walks away and starts speaking with the fish person that i saw during battle I walk towards Mog whos excitedly speaking to the gnome Harold. As we get within a few feet I realize that Mog is laughing happily as a golden glow emanates from his staff. As the glow reaches a nearby wounded Satyr its wounds begin to seal quickly until fresh pale flesh has replaced the jagged wounds.

"Master! Sir Harold has taught me a new healing spell called holy light! Its much faster than my own spells and I can even use it against creatures of darkness to hurt them he says isn't this wonderful!" Mog says excitedly while Harold smiles happily behind him while mending the paw of a hellhound, ignoring its growls of annoyance.

"That's great Moggy fantastic actually! So how are they looking and do you see any recruits that show promise?" I ask as Mog stops and rubs his stemmy chin. He slowly motions for me to follow him to a small tent that's been loaded with various goods before explaining.

"Master I believe that there are a few diamonds in this batch of captives and also that Sir Harold would be willing to follow us back to our home, he seems interested in how we live and he was amazed at my healing spells which is why he taught me one of his own. But i don't believe we should bring the elf with us she seems hostile and very aggressive. The orc tribes have always been peaceful with our kind as long as we leave them be so i think Tugta should be alright and the dwarf is still being affected by the gnoll magic. The merling that was with the troll turns out to be a skilled weapons trainer so he could be a huge help in teaching us combat techniques and a few of the intelligent beasts have already decided to make their homes near us just as a safety in numbers scenario. Other than them the hobgoblin from earlier would be a huge boon to us as well as this one borask that seems to be a skilled carpenter if his boasting is to be believed. We also found some better quality weapons, metals, building materials, and loads of gold and silver it seems." Mog lists slowly and ends with a hint of pride as I realize the spoils we've gotten from the gnolls is extremly high. After seeing the loot I tell Mog to let everyone who's interested know that we're moving out in an hour and by all means to make sure the elf is left on her own.

One hour later we begin our march towards home, several large beasts are weighed down with our loot including the hellhound from earlier. Bubbles and his friend the merling named Wake are on either side of our group watching the tree line warily their hands hovering over their newly given weapons in preparation of a fight. Harold stands towards the front of our group spattering us with questions about our home and how we all met and seems interested in how Mog learned magic and where I came from. Tugta is walking beside the dwarf, Ogis, who after a little more time finally broke from the gnolls spell and revealed an extremly quiet personality. Ogis also turns out to be a mute and speaks in a strange form of sign language that Harold explains is used by dwarven miners who have lost their lungs to the deep mining of their people. Jeff acts as a forward scout bringing Sheer with him and teaching her tracking skills as well as saying he'd whip her into shape as a real rouge which just made me smile. Finally the strangest of our new recruits is the borask named Fey. When inspecting him I was amazed as he was an extremly strange creature to begin with and also seemed to be excessively powerful for a carpenter.

(Borask Mason Level 23 Boss)

The Borask were mistakes made by magic put plain and simple. By combining the bodies of a kraken, ent, dragon, and werewolf these creatures are terrifyingly powerful from birth and are usually extremly violent due to the mixing of such bloodlines. with their four tentacled limbs and scaled bodies almost impervious to attack they can heal themselves using nature magic and can shift their bodies slightly between any of their bloodlines. How the species learned to procreate is still a mystery but this Boss creature seems to have mastered its innate madness and become centered in the process of creation.

After talking to Fey I soon learn that his story is very simple. After escaping a wizards lab to the wilds he fought for long periods until he finally overcame his violent nature and with that mastery he realized that he'd rather create something than destroy everything. After having scared various forest creatures to near death he found an old elf hermit who taught him to build and create before passing. He promised his old master that unless it was to protect something he had built himself and felt needed defending he would never raise his hand to another again. I can appreciate such an amount of respect that Fey had for his master and as we finally enter the grasslands that separate the gnolls area and our forest I smile before glancing to the back of Pearl at our last member, a tied up gnoll who has stopped struggling but still looks miserable to be along for the ride.