Rushing outside you see a nice, grassy field with a dirt road leading from the tavern to the west. However, marching down the road you see several legionaries advancing toward you.
With them is what looks like a legionary, but he is not wearing a helmet; instead, he is wearing a red hood and instead of a sword, he carries a staff.
You would guess the screams come from villagers who are yelling and fleeing from their advance.
The man with the red hood seems to be commanding the troops and when he sees you, Ravia and Pratap he points at you three.
"Advance and destroy them," he commands.
"Come, Pratap! Let us do what we can stop these villains," she cries out
"Ignis, you have said you are skilled as a Wizard; it seems you have the chance to prove your might," she adds, hoping that inspires Ignis to act.
Ignis moves forward but stays at a safe distance, waiting for the enemy to approach her first.
Her fire fox runs over to Pratap, clearly willing to bond with him while fighting the legionaries, since their companions were likely to become close friends.
Ignis yells over to Ravia, “Lets take out the soldiers first, then we can focus on their leader! He’ll be weaker without his reinforcements, so stay away from him until then!”
Ignis yells over to Ravia, “Lets take out the soldiers first, then we can focus on their leader! He’ll be weaker without his reinforcements, so stay away from him until then!”
The robed man seems to grin at this comment, clearly now knowing Ignis's plans....
"Advance," the leader calls out.
The legionaries move to re-adjust their ranks to form something which now looks like a wide wall stretching across line 6.
The leader than moves to R:4 and begins casting.
"Adhibete parva animalia igne!"
Summon Fire Beast... Small...
At this time it's now your move.
Ravia also seems to understand the language and calls out to Ignis.
"Be careful!" she says with a worried voice.
She and Pratap move up to line 12, but they are still too far to do much damage at range and so they must wait for the enemy to come to them.
Even so, it seems clear that the leader can cast Wizard spells.
Who knows what nefarious plans he will use next?
Ignis looks perplexed, as this probably means that he is a fire wizard.
“Another fire wizard? What do I do now? Acuizard! Help!”she cries, hoping her friend will come to her aid. She then does the only thing she can think of. “Fulmen Ignem!”
Language of magic-
Ignis looks perplexed, as this probably means that he is a fire wizard.
“Fulmen Ignem!”
Razia looks at Ignis.
"We must be careful - if that foul wizard is summoning a Fire Elemental then he could do some real damage," she calls out.
Razia moves forward to W:9 and lifts her Hand Crossbow and shoots an arrow -
The Legionary cries out in pain and the robed figure looks at Ignis - clearly marking her for his next attack...
Ignis looks at the soldier curiously, then decides to finish him off... and the others. Since cannot waste any more mana, she looks at her fire fox to help her. "Augue!"she tells her familiar, knowing he will understand.
Language of Magic:
The fox barks and sends a ball of fire towards the hurt legionary.
Three of the legionaries are now defeated in your foxes flaming fireball...
The red wizard is clearly hurt, but - surprisingly - he is not defeated.
It is almost as if he has some sort of resistance to fire.
Meanwhile, at this time his Elemental appears on W:8 to aid him.
It lets out a bolt of fire at your little fire fox!
Legionary 4 moves to attack Ravia -
Your fire fox was hurt, but - luckily - not too badly as he is able to resist a bit of fire damage.
However, Ravia was stabbed by the Legionary and cries out in pain!
Finally, the Legionary wizard moves to S:7 and looks at you.
"So, you do not seem to mind fire, eh? Perhaps your friends will!" he cries out.
He then lets his own fireball off and it explodes at U:9, harming Ravia and Pratap but clearly missing the legionary.
Pratap cries out and it seems he has fallen!
Ravia certainly has been hurt again, and with the combined damage she is now down to only 4 Health...
"Pratap, no!" she cries out.
Ravia, realizing that Ignis is in trouble, too, and realizing that the Red Wizard is likely a Fire Wizard, moves to U:11 and raises her hand -
"Fulgur percutiens," she calls out.
A Lightning Bolt rushes from her finger to strike the target.
The Red Wizard cries out then falls to the ground.
The Small Fire Elemental laughs a very sulfuric laugh. Now that the wizard can no longer control him he is free to return to where he was summoned.
He vanishes in a puff of smoke.
Ravia turns to Ignis.
"I only have a short time to help Pratap and I am already badly wounded - please; finish off that last Legionary!" she calls to Ignis.
"flamma percutiens,"she says, smiling at the idea of her old enemy being defeated at last.
"Huh, what happened?" Meshidawg said sleepily as exiting the tavern.
Meshidawg sees the red wizard on the ground. "How did you do that." He sees a healing potion in the wizard's pocket and hands it to Ravia.
Ignis rolls her eyes, clearly annoyed."If you were here you would know that the red wizard is finally defeated. Razia was a hero today."
Razia groans in pain while trying to revive Pratap."Ravia!"she cries, and does first aid on her friend.
After she is done, she starts searching the bodies for potions.
"flamma percutiens,"she says, smiling at the idea of her old enemy being defeated at last.
With a hideous shriek he collapses; defeated!
At this point Ravia is so distraught she says nothing, instead, she rushes over to stand by Pratap and casts a spell -
"Exáplosi tis epoúlosis," she cries out.
The burst allows Pratap's little eyes to flutter open and she quickly holds him tight, then looks up at Ignis.
"Many thanks, my friend," she says to you.
At that point Meshidawg exits the tavern.
"Huh, what happened?" Meshidawg said sleepily as exiting the tavern.
Ravia looks at him.
"My friend Ignis and I defeated some enemies while you were sleeping inside," she says with a terse voice, then she moves to search the bodies of the legionaries.
Meshidawg sees the red wizard on the ground. "How did you do that." He sees a healing potion in the wizard's pocket and hands it to Ravia.
Ravia glances at Meshidawg from her place on the ground by one of the legionaries as she pulls a coin pouch from the body and slips it into her satchel, then, she pulls out a dagger and studies it - frowns - and tosses it into the grass.
"I don't know " said cede walking out [b]"I was reading a spell book while you were fighting."
"I shall let Ignis explain it," she says.
Ignis rolls her eyes, clearly annoyed."If you were here you would know that the red wizard is finally defeated. Razia was a hero today."
Ravia groans in pain while trying to revive Pratap."Ravia!"she cries, and does first aid on her friend.
"Many thanks, my friend," she says in response to Ignis's help.
"Here, I found these on the bodies of the soldiers, this your half for your help," she says and hands Ignis what she finds.
1. One pouch with 47 Gold Pieces
2. One pouch with 53 Gold Pieces
3. A small bag with some snacks in it.
4. One healing potion which can do 1d4+1 healing
After she is done, she starts searching the bodies for potions.
"The soldiers do not have any more on them; I already checked, but let us look at this wizard," she says and beckons to Meshidawg and Cede.
Moving close to the body, Ignis, Meshidawg and Cede realize with disappointment that the wizard is not the Red Wizard you had seen before. However, you find some interesting things.
First, he is wearing gear that suggests that he is dressed like a legionary might be; specifically, you wonder if he is a formal officer with the Legion and if the Legion is now hiring out to go with the Centurions some sort of formally trained magic user...
Rummaging through his satchel Ravia pulls out a singed scroll and unfurls it, reading it quickly.
"Ah ha - as I thought; this man was a Veillatio," she says to you all.
She frowns.
"It seems that the legion we have been dealing with is now hiring out military specialists for specific strike forces. This man would be like a centurion, except that he is commanding a small team used for some specific purpose... My guess is that he came here to determine the condition of the tavern and then try to take it over and use so that his troops could visit it later."
She then stands up and hands the satchel to Ignis.
You find a spellbook with Wizard Spells leading to Level 4. You also find a small sketch of a map that outlines the ruins near Master Thorn's tavern.
Finally, you find a pouch with 200 gold pieces and 2 Red Gems inside.
Ravia looks at Meshidawg and Cede and rubs her chin thoughtfully.
"If you two came with us, we would have a warrior good for fighting in the wild," she says with a nod at Meshidawg "As well as a healer," she says nodding to Cede "And we'd obviously have you as a wizard," she adds with a nod to Ignis herself.
"This leads to me - I am not as skilled as any of you personally in one type of skill set, but I am a good back-up for any of your skills."
"I think we should explore those ruins now. If we do, there could be knowledge, treasure and other interesting things there which we do not know about."
"Do you wish to travel with us?" she asks Meshidawg and Himesh, confident that Ignis already wants to travel with her at this time.
"Yes, I would love to join you on any quest you ask, but might I ask, what is the quest, and where are we going." Meshidawg smiles.
"Yes, I would love to join you on any quest you ask, but might I ask, what is the quest, and where are we going." Meshidawg smiles.
"From what I have heard, a short while ago near to the tavern where Master Thorn had made his home you had discovered what seemed like a small volcano... But this wasn't really a true volcano. Instead, there was some sort of tomb that had a powerful artifact in it that reacted to magic. When some mysterious Red Wizard - who you have not been able to find and defeat, yet... When he came near to that tomb he did something which caused fire and heat to react to the tomb itself until the entire thing burned like a volcano..."
"Well, the thing is, that tomb was very old and part of an ancient city to the north. This city is mostly ruins now and few people go near to it because the ruins are now inhabited by thieves, bandits, monsters and other unsavory things."
She looks at the legionaries.
"It's even possible that some of the soldiers have used those ruins as a camp at one point."
"In any case, if we travel through the hills and wild country a bit we will likely find the ruins and be able to search them and - if we are lucky - we should be able to find some valuable treasure - perhaps even enchanted weapons and armor..."
She smiles at Himesh.
"Does that still seem interesting to you?"
As you talk with Ravia her tiger kitten comes near you and gives you suspicious looks; clearly not trusting you very much.
Pratap now stares suspiciously at Ignis's out of character comment...
Pratap now stares suspiciously at Ignis's out of character comment...
Pratap looks at Meshidawg with wide eyes, his fur ruffling at the loud noise.
He lets out a courageous little mewl then rushes behind Ravia.
He stares at Meshidawg from behind her legs and gives fierce little growls at the barbarian's display.
The mighty Pratap is unimpressed with your bargaining!
However, he is impressed with snacks...
Meanwhile, as Ravia will tolerate your barbaric presence then Pratap shall not destroy you... for now...
As you look around you can see that beyond Master Thorn's tavern is the same hills that you recall the burning grass when the area erupted with flame and you remember the strange item that the nefarious wizard took.
You can see little else, but you suddenly are aware of a bit of a disturbance by the stables.
Ravia seems to notice this too, and she peers at them in confusion.
"Fire and steel!" she cries in alarm "there seems to be some horrible monster with the horses... If my eyes are not cheated by some wizard's spell I would swear I could see a warg in the stables - yet the beast seems to be eating a leg of lamb and is not assailing the horses..."
She shakes her head in confusion.
"Why should there be a such a ferocious animal in the stables?" she asks somewhat rhetorically, confident that no one in your company would know the answer to this question.
She shakes her head.
"I must have been imagining things," she mutters to herself.
She she turns her mind to their new plans.
She looks at Ignis, though she speaks to both Ignis and Meshidawg.
"If you, the barbarian, and your healer would come with me then I think we should leave soon. The enemy sent these men as scouts; at some point they will return to their masters to share what they have seen."
"When they do not return their masters will likely send more scouts. The longer we delay the more likely it will be that they will become suspicious."
She taps her finger on her chin thoughtfully.
"For this journey we could either ride horses or travel on foot. I do not mind riding horses, but if we get to a place that has tunnels to explore then we will have no where for the horses to remain safely when we go inside."
"Should we bring horses, or should we simply leave on foot?" she asks.
"Let's go once Ignis gets here." Meshidawg exclaims while walking towards Wayde the Warg.
As you look around you can see that beyond Master Thorn's tavern is the same hills that you recall the burning grass when the area erupted with flame and you remember the strange item that the nefarious wizard took.
You can see little else, but you suddenly are aware of a bit of a disturbance by the stables.
Ravia seems to notice this too, and she peers at them in confusion.
"Fire and steel!" she cries in alarm "there seems to be some horrible monster with the horses... If my eyes are not cheated by some wizard's spell I would swear I could see a warg in the stables - yet the beast seems to be eating a leg of lamb and is not assailing the horses..."
She shakes her head in confusion.
"Why should there be a such a ferocious animal in the stables?" she asks somewhat rhetorically, confident that no one in your company would know the answer to this question.
She shakes her head.
"I must have been imagining things," she mutters to herself.
She she turns her mind to their new plans.
She looks at Ignis, though she speaks to both Ignis and Meshidawg.
"If you, the barbarian, and your healer would come with me then I think we should leave soon. The enemy sent these men as scouts; at some point they will return to their masters to share what they have seen."
"When they do not return their masters will likely send more scouts. The longer we delay the more likely it will be that they will become suspicious."
She taps her finger on her chin thoughtfully.
"For this journey we could either ride horses or travel on foot. I do not mind riding horses, but if we get to a place that has tunnels to explore then we will have no where for the horses to remain safely when we go inside."
"Should we bring horses, or should we simply leave on foot?" she asks.
...
"That ferocious 'creature' is my Warg." Meshidawg says a little angry. "But anyways, let's move on foot, but since my Warg is smaller than a horse, we can bring him."
"I think we should take the horses... No doubt this voyage will lead us to another, an we will soon get tired if we go on foot."Ignis turns to Meshidawg. "And you should reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaly train Wayde. I don't think Master Thorn is going to be very happy with you."
"Wayde, were you eating the horses." Meshidawg says sanguinely.
Wayde shakes his while holding up a lamb bone.
Wayde also unlocks the farm door to let the horses out to ride on.
"I think we should take the horses... No doubt this voyage will lead us to another, an we will soon get tired if we go on foot."Ignis turns to Meshidawg. "And you should reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaly train Wayde. I don't think Master Thorn is going to be very happy with you."
Wayde is trained, he was just hungry and saw some food Meshidawg says. "We should probably start moving now. It's is getting a little late.
Ignis chooses a sleek black horse. Her fire fox jumps onto her eagle and they circle overhead. "What are you waiting for?"she asks her comrades.
"That ferocious 'creature' is my Warg." Meshidawg says a little angry."But anyways, let's move on foot, but since my Warg is smaller than a horse, we can bring him."
Ravia's eyes widen in surprise.
"My apologies," she says.
"Of course I have seen Wargs - but only in the wild - but they were very ferocious indeed," she answers.
"I think we should take the horses... No doubt this voyage will lead us to another, an we will soon get tired if we go on foot."Ignis turns to Meshidawg. "And you should reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaly train Wayde. I don't think Master Thorn is going to be very happy with you."
Ravia looks at Ignis.
"I see you know this "Wayde" as well," she says slowly.
"Well, if you will vouch for him then I am sure he is trustworthy," she adds, then looks again at the horses.
"Wayde, were you eating the horses." Meshidawg says sanguinely.
Wayde shakes his while holding up a lamb bone.
Wayde also unlocks the farm door to let the horses out to ride on.
Wayde is trained, he was just hungry and saw some food Meshidawg says. "We should probably start moving now. It's is getting a little late.
"Oh! I thought that either you or Master Thorn gave him the food," she answers.
"Well, in any case, now what?"
Ignis chooses a sleek black horse. Her fire fox jumps onto her eagle and they circle overhead. "What are you waiting for?"she asks her comrades.
Ravia looks at Ignis in surprise.
"Your fox does not ride with you?" she asks, then sees the eagle overhead.
"That is a very large eagle," she adds, almost to herself as she sees it flying.
Ravia looks at the others.
"I myself came on the ship, I will need to buy a horse. Let me go make the arrangements with Master Thorn," she says, then hurries inside to speak to Master Thorn about buying a horse and some supplies for herself for the journey.
Ignis flips a coin she found in the pockets of one of the soldiers, then hands it and a few more to Meshidawg."Go buy a horse and some potions. I'm going to the top of that hill to see if there's any trouble ahead. Ignis points to a hill that is on the way to the ruins.
Ignis flips a coin she found in the pockets of one of the soldiers, then hands it and a few more to Meshidawg."Go buy a horse and some potions. I'm going to the top of that hill to see if there's any trouble ahead. Ignis points to a hill that is on the way to the ruins.
While you wait for the others to catch up you move to the summit of the hill and peer off into the distance.
It seems a long way; the terrain is mostly grass with a few trees scattered here and there, but it looks fairly open.
To the north and west you see the tall cliffs that you remember finding the giant eagle on several months ago.
Turning your gaze to north and east you can see that the plains are more open but they give way to the coast. It seems that several miles to the north and east you will be able to reach the ocean.
However, when you look due north you observe that there are some heavy forests but poking through them are some rough hills.
You are not sure how far away they are, but you would think that you could reach the forest by about midday. As for the hills that you see jutting from the forest itself, you would guess that is where the ruins are located.
As you and your companions are using horses you think you should arrive at the possible ruins by about an hour before sundown.
Assuming, of course, that there is no trouble in the forest itself.
You turn back and notice that your companions are still loitering about the tavern, but you suspect that they will be leaving very soon.
Or so you hope...
Meshidawg walks inside the tavern. "Master Thorn, will you offer me a horse and a few potions," Meshidawg shows a satchel of 50 coins. Meshidawg see Ravia across the table "Would you like something Ravia,"