DRAGON'S INC: CAMPAIGN

...Coming back through the brush toward the camp, Tegra stops where she saw Aegis fall as the first lightening bolt struck him. Moving over to where he landed at the second lightening bolt, she notices by the tracks left that he must have been carried off. Sifting her fingers through the dirt and crushed grass, she studies the tale there. I have never seen him leave the party, she realizes, and her stomach tightens in knots. He must have been hurt badly for drow to have accomplished it.

Seeing what Tegra is up to, Ryloth bends down next to her, tracing the trail with his one good eye, the other hidden behind it's customary black patch. His Druidic abilities take over and the sense that Aegis is severely hurt overwhelmes him. Abruptly standing up before he accidently conveys it to Tegra, he surveys the charring left by the blasts, noticing in an abstract way where a tree has been blasted by a lightening bolt.

"We must leave immediately!" Ryloth barks at the others, "While our blood is hot as the trail, and blood will spill tonight for this outrage!"

"But Shandassar is badly wounded, as are some others. We can go while the others heal, and they will follow as soon as they can." Tegra tells him, pointing to encompass the camp.

The camp, which just a few hours ago consisted of a simple circle of stones surrounded by a clearing in the wood, now resembles a hurricane site. The adventuring group had been sitting around the fire that evening, resting up for the next day's journey. They were on their way to the town of Waterdeep, and from there by ship to the Moonshae Isles. Though they had all just met a week ago, friendships easily form in combat, and this was the second ambush they had encountered. Brought together by a summons in the night, each had chosen to accept the quest put before them, though others had slunk away under the cover of darkness. It's difficult to accept an adventure when you're guaranteed that the majority of you will die.

Tegra looks at the others of her party, thinking to herself what a strange but somehow well-matched group they are. Shandassar, with his shock of white hair and plain, grey priestly robes. He is one of the rare humans who excudes civility with his very presence, always walking about with his parchment and quill, ready to write down and sketch anything unusual. She shakes her head and grins to herself. He would fit in perfectly in the libraries of any god's temple, yet he finds himself in the middle of the forest, using his slingshot and spells to defend himself and his friends.

Her gaze falls on Arcaban, their newest member. What an introduction you got! she thinks to herself. Brought here by Sir Talon, a paladin knight of renown fame in the area, he barely got to introduce himself before they were attacked. He seems the quiet type, yet his monk's robes and obvious human compassion shine through his face. Though now that she thinks about it, there wasn't much compassion showing when he took the last drow's head off.

Next to him stands Sir Richard, the paladin human of their little group. She cocks her head for a moment, studying him. He is conversing with the group of 50 knights who came riding in to meet Sir Talon. Thank the gods they had arrived when they did, or they'd still be fighting all those drow. But something doesn't hit her right about Sir Richard, though it may just be her nerves. Still, she isn't comfortable with him, so she'll just wait and see on that one.

She gazes affectionately at Ryloth. Most of her people would be aghast that she was even traveling with him, let alone developing an affection for him. Elven blood is never tolerated when it has been halved with human. She watches him while he walks about the camp, organizing what their next course of action will be. He is a foot taller than her, lean muscle covering a well-built frame. His shoulder length black hair whips about as he paces, giving him the look of a pirate until you notice the elven ears he inherited from his mother.

Boy, what an impression we must be making right now, she thinks to herself. Shandassar is standing there with his mouth agape, awed by the obviously powerful lightening bolts, the fact that there are suddenly THREE clerics there, and from seeing the way she just raged at Sir Talon. She blushes, thinking of the tirade she let loose on the knight. Sir Richard is doing the same thing because he's just been overrun by 50 knights in plate mail and war horses, and obviously is not understanding why Talon is not taking the disappearance of Aegis more seriously. You can tell from Arcaban's expression that he doesn't have one idea in hell about what's going on. Ryloth is pacing about like a madman, and she's standing there with a slight grin on her face in the most serious of circumstances.

The priests that came in with Sir Talon start suddenly performing spells, and everyone realizes that their wounds are gone. The priest of Azuth, which is the same temple that Shandassar hails from, walks among the crowd, handing out extra healing potions.

Tegra throws up her hands in exasperation and walks back toward everyone. Calling out to Ryloth, she says, "Thanks for understanding, hold up a second since everyone is apparently now healed up, and we can get organized. Everyone here has a valid point, and I have the feeling that since Ice definately expects us to follow, we're going to need everyone's abilities. It would also be exactly like the sneaky coward to pick us off one at a time."

Tegra looks over at Shandassar. "I really wish you had let me know how badly hurt you were! Next time let me know, maybe I can help more." She stares at the blood staining his robes, wincing at the fact she hadn't noticed before with all of the commotion. Tegra walks back over to her horse and begins checking her supplies and weapons. To everyone in general, she states, "You don't have to worry about my blood losing it's boil. That doesn't generally happen until I've killed someone. Don't take this the wrong way and I don't want anyone to be offended, but I do demand one thing of all of you. NO ONE gets in front of myself or Ryloth when we head out. We are the trackers of the group, let us do what we do best.

Sir Richard is the first to respond. It figures! she thinks to herself, but stops and listens to what he has to say. Sir Richard looks around at everyone. "No problem. Thank you for seeing things my way. I was not trying to boss anybody around, it had just occurred to me that it would be easier to pick us off one by one if we ran off half-cocked. Let's get everyone healed up and make sure that we are not forgetting anything here from the battle. I've checked the area of the dead drow and seen if he had any emblems or amulets, which he doesn't." Sir Richard then walks over to his war horse, Spaz, and double-checks all of his equipment, preparing to track Aegis.

"Good," Sir Talon announces, seeing that everyone is heading out to look for their missing comrade, "I must stay here and see to my command. By the gods, bring that boy back! He is one of only three people that can stop this holy war. May the gods be with you, and safe journey." He turns back to his knights and begins preparation for his journey. He had been on his way to a nearby city being overrun by drow when they had stumbled upon him and stopped to share a campsite. Aegis and he went back a long way, and the evening had been filled with old stories and camraderie until the drow attacked. As Sir Talon is preparing to leave, he turns back toward everyone and informs them of his other news. "I was instructed to tell you that the Moonshae's are definately in deep trouble, and you need to get there as quickly as possible. Our contacts there have been unable to reach us with news, and the last we got was a report of a black dragon attacking the druids. We're extremely worried about the moonwells, because as you know, if they have been compromised, the druids will have no defense."

Ryloth scoffs at this announcement. "The druids are smarter than that, and I'll bet they're just fine. Why, they're just probably keeping to secrecy, like they taught me, to keep the element of surprise on their side. How good is your source on the island anyway? They may be over-reacting."

Talon looks at him with cold eyes. "I am worried about them. And my source is someone I literally trust with my life." he responds. "The source that has suddenly disappeared is my wife." Talon's horse wheels away and is gone at a gallop.

...As the party heads out, Ryloth and Tegra move parallel with the trail, leading off into a lightly forested area of the woods. They discover an empty vial about 300 yards out where more tracks intercept the tracks they've been following. A few hundred yards further, another vial is spotted, also empty. "Well, at least we know at this point that Aegis was concious, since these look like his vials of healing potion he always carries." Tegra tells everyone as they continue on. Just as the forest becomes thicker, everyone is startled by two cracks of lightening off in the distance. Tegra and Ryloth pick up speed with everyone following closely behind. Ryloth comes to a halt suddenly, pointing at two drow lying dead with small darts coming out of their sides. He points again a little further up at another Drow, cut to shreds, it's companion, cut with a slash across his chest, and a third Drow, decapitated. Out of the forest a female voice screams in agony, shattering the stillness. Tegra finds the trail again, a lone person, staggering through the woods.

A third crack of lightening splits the air, causing static to envelope everyone. At the closeness of the blast, Tegra sprints ahead, knowing this one was much closer.

"Blast it!" she whispers vehemently, almost stepping on two more downed drow, their bodies still smoking. Her senses are singing, telling her of the danger here, but she ignores it, searching for another clue. She finds it, her hands shaking as she points to the base of a large tree. "I know what those are, she's tried to kill me with them before." she says quietly. Ryloth bends down closer, jumping back for a moment until he realizes that they're not moving. Two severed heads, resembling those of a pit viper, lay at the base of the tree.

While Ryloth is examining the snake heads, Tegra gasps. She's found Aegis. In the tree above their heads, Aegis is hanging in a crucifix position. Severe slashes from a whip cross his chest and abdomen, his clothes and chainmail torn to shreds....