Dear Xeilah,
I’m sorry I haven’t written since I arrived, I wasn’t sure what to say, since I hadn’t made much of myself yet. I think that is starting to change though, I was picked to be part of a mission. Should have been a simple escort mission for a wagon going to the Blood Eye Clan, they are a local Bugbear clan. I was so nervous that I checked my equipment at least five times before leaving……I still managed to forget my crossbow, but I was able to rush back and get it before heading to the meeting place. I was so scared.
At the meeting place I met my soon to be companions, two Githyanki named Zak and Gutten, a Half-Orc named Ogis, a Tiefling named Mesih, and Khora who is a Merfolk. Zak, I had at least ran into a few times around town but we had never really spoken before. Ogis took the mantle of leader and we were ready to set off on our easy escort mission. Well that was until Lorr, the Bugbear we were to escort, asked when were we going to start loading the cart. These crates were at least half my height, already I was feeling like I wasn’t going to be much use. Then I noticed Carr, a young Bugbear that was Lorr’s child. I decided to use my mechanical salamander to entertain him so he wouldn’t get underfoot……it was the least I could do.
After the cart was loaded we set off. For some reason we stopped at a large, at least ten foot, pole with what looked like a flag on it. We thought it could be from some hostile group in the area trying to scare us off, if it was just me it would have worked. The rest of the party though wasn’t going to let that stand. After cutting it down they discovered some sort of skull and a robe with several holes. The skull really angered Mesih for some reason and he smashed it, spewing words I would rather not write down. Satisfied that whatever had placed the flag there would know that they were not afraid, we moved on.
We came upon a cart, which after thorough investigation, I discovered had somehow not left any grooves in the ground from the wheels. It was also full of fruit, just sitting there for the taking. Something was off about this cart and there was much debate over whether we should trust the fruit or not. Ogis tired of waiting, charged forth, placed a gold coin on the wagon, and walked away with both arms full of fruit. He offered it to the party which some of them ate, others were still too suspicious of the fruit and passed.
Night was falling upon us so we set up camp next to this mysterious fruit cart and I was on first watch. I managed to place a trap by the fruit cart but my nerves must have been more shot that I realized. I ended up just staring into the fire until the shift was over. Frustrated with myself I laid down to sleep and began to have a weird dream that Ogis was getting eaten by something. Then suddenly I was awakened by a smashing sound next to my head! There was a this grey skinned, ugly, monster standing over me. I panicked, and my mechanical salamander launched a firebolt that whizzed off into the distance. Not seeing me as a threat it attacked Zak, who was sleeping near me and I used that opportunity to back away. With my wits about me I noticed that one of my companions was severely injured, so I started towards him. On my way to provide aide, one of the Githyanki I will not name, made a critical error. Let’s just put it this way, he learned not to swing downward with too much excess pole-arm below his grip. I felt bad for him but I needed get aide to the Ogis. I pulled out my Feel Better Injector and stabbed him in the leg, much to my relief it actually worked!
I did my best to make sense of the chaos that was unfolding around me. Ogis, Mesih, and Gutten were engaged with another grey skinned monster……..and a chest…..that had a tongue and teeth. They seemed be holding their own. So I looked back to where I had backed away from. There Zak and Khora were locked in combat with another monster and hungry chest. I fired another firebolt from my salamander and hit the monster, my first successful attack in battle. It felt good. The three next to me finished off the monster and bitey chest and advance to aid Zak and Khora, who had downed the other monster. One very hungry and angry chest remained and I noticed Zak was in need of medical attention. With another poke of my Feel Better Injector he looked much better, another field test success. I’ll have to keep my eye on them and make sure no extra appendages or sudden changes in skin color happen. Anyways the party made quick work of the last evil chest. Someone in the party had overexerted themselves and smelled……well less than pleasant, but they were able to….fix the situation. Afterwards I was informed that Lorr and Carr had transformed into the grey skinned monsters called doppelgangers.
The next day we decided that the best thing to do was take the cart to the Blood Eye Clan and see if they were expecting a delivery. After entering one of the guards stopped us and upon inquiry, informed us that they were not expecting anything and that Lorr and Carr had been missing. We offered the crates of fruit to the Blood Eye Clan but decided to keep a chest that contained some gold, a vial of ink and a healing potion. Feeling that we had done all that we could, we decided to head back home.
Along the way we ran across a small pack of Goblins that were skinning a boar, which was still alive. This really angered Mesih and with a flurry of insults he charged the group of goblins. One of the goblins didn’t take us seriously and tried to show off but he and the rest of his party paid the price. Defeat came swift and without mercy, I made my first kill.
The rest of the trip home was uneventful. Once we reached the town we split up the gold and I was able to keep the vial of ink. Things didn’t start out great for me but I feel like I’m starting to figure out where I belong among this town of adventurers.
I love and miss you and promise I’ll write more.
𝒢𝒶𝓋𝑒𝓃 𝑀𝒸𝒯𝒽𝒾𝓈𝓉𝓁𝑒𝒷𝓇𝑜𝑜𝓀