A Simple Adventure, Part I

Jacques and Friends Recover the Lost Cargo

It was a particularly busy Autumn day at Baarëver’s Tavern.

Originally the tavern was merely a humble shack attached to the side of the Kiggian chapter of the Trailblazer’s Guild, which belonged to a short¹ man named Baarëver. He was² an older adventurer who decided he wanted to try his hand at brewing beer. He tried, and succeeded, and his shack ended up growing into what constituted the most successful tavern of the province. People from all around make it a point to stop by for the food, drink, and barmaids.

Perhaps it was busy because it was the beginning of the month, and everyone was desperate for work to replenish their beer money and feed their mounts³.

Day 0

At a table in a far off corner– so far off that it seemed spatially detached from the rest of the tavern. Three slightly inebriated men of different heights are leaning over a parchment containing a list of job requests

“How does this one look,” Olech asked, pointing at a particularly high-rank fetch quest.

Recover the Lost Cargo: On 10/01 a caravan carrying luxury goods was attacked by Ogres about 500 li due East of the border of Kiggia 300 stone worth of goods is unaccounted for. To anyone who can secure the missing cargo, we will pay 6,000 gold.

“I’m not sure how I feel about fighting Ogres,” Jacques said, “additionally, isn’t it kind of weird that they’d attack a caravan carrying luxury merchandise rather than one with food or drink?”

There was a moment of contemplative silence before JC began to open his mouth.

“I know what you’re about to say,” protested Jacques. “And you’re right,” he admitted, “there are some really cute Ogres out there. Besides, with 2,000 gold a piece, we could live like kings for a few months. Not to mention handling a commercial request might open some doors for us in the future.”

Olech looked relieved, as usually getting the party to decide on a job took several hours, if not several days. Although he wasn’t pleased about the base reasoning, he was grateful to Ogrekind for having beautiful women. “Gods bless the blue and red-skinned honeys!” he thought.

Olech addressed the party with uncharacteristic enthusiasm, “well then, I guess we should begin making preparations?”

Jacques and JC simultaneously responded with a simple “Aye,” and the three men polished off their drinks before heading for the shops.

Day 1

The following morning– Jacques, JC, and Olech met on the outskirts of town with their gear and tools repaired: their armour patched, their weapons sharpened, their enchantments restored. Jacques proudly boasted about how he managed to secure a wagon⁴ and a couple beasts to pull and defend it

“I suppose if we leave now, it should take about 3-5 days for us to reach the general area of the incident,” Jacques reckoned.

The three men grimaced

“Can’t you just teleport us there with your magic or something, JC?” Olech asked, knowing the answer.

JC squinted, “well, I suppose I could get us to that general area, perhaps in not so many pieces. Assuming we did make it though, I’d be manaburnt for days, and you two would be on your own.”

“The journey of half a thousand li begins with a single step, innit,” Jacques snarked, as he threw his pack into the back of the wagon. The other two followed suit, and they began to ride.

They rode in silence for the first few hours of the day. Jacques found himself admiring the scenery of autumnal Kiggia. The sight from atop the wagon was an ocean of brown, blue, lavender, and grey foliage dominating the view on both sides.

While Jacques continued to admire the scenery, JC was flipping through the latest volumes of some smutty periodicals, occasionally showing pages to Olech who despite his prudish tendencies seemed more than happy to appreciate the artwork.

Although the men were content chewing on jerky and hard biscuits althroughout the day, they still thought it would be nice to have a proper lunch.