Aykas is awoken by a
sharp kick to the lower ribs. He awakes to find his hands bound, eyes
blindfolded and mouth gagged. Underneath and behind him he can feel cold stone
though the rags he is wearing. Through
the darkness he can make groans of Cylus, Einarr and Ren as they too are awoken
in similar manner.
One by one they are
pulled to their feet before pushed forward while being told to
"walk". Unable to see they proceed in the direction that they were
pushed towards. They take several steps, before finding themselves shoved in a
new direction. They continue for several tens of metres before Cylus finds
himself stumbling into a set of stairs. They are told to proceed upwards. After
reaching the top he continues onwards before walking into what feels like a
wooden wall.
Stopping he feels
the others bump into him from behind, before hearing the slamming of a door and
the sound of a bolt being drawn.
Fumbling around in
the dark, the group find themselves locked in a wooden box. After a while it
occurs to them that there is nothing stopping them from removing their
restraints. Doing so, they confirm that they are indeed trapped in a wooden box
with a trickle of light streaming in through a hole in the floor. Slumping down
against the walls the group decide wait to see what fate awaits them.
After half an hour
the box shudders and the group can feel that the box appears to be moving.
Peering down through the hole they can confirm that they appear to be in some
sort of carriage. After several hours of movement, the group feel the room tilt
as it is loaded onto a ship.
After a week
travelling by ship the group, find themselves offloaded who knows where.
Unfortunately the monotonous travel did not end there. However during the
middle of the fourth night after returning to travelling across the land, the
group are awoken to a scream in the night.
Suddenly the door is
swung open, with a slender panic stricken human standing outside. The group
thinking of escape quickly disembark, and find all their gear has been dragged
to the door by the human. As the group quickly attempt to collect their belongings
they spot a pair of encroaching goblins and a wolf, as well as a figure being
dragged out of the clearing from the opposite side. After a desperate struggle
which sees the death of the human who released them, the party take their time
to don the rest of their gear as well as bandage their cuts and bruises.
After this brief
respite, they attempt to track where the goblins have come from. Following the
trail of broken bracken left behind by the dragging on an unconscious man, the
party find themselves standing outside the entrance to a cave in a rock outcropping.
