*Footsteps are heard coming down the stairs and in walks a young man carrying bow and quiver upon his back and quite out of breath.*
"Greetings..." he manages to say between deep breaths. "Lucius Caro. Ranger..."
"Before anyone asks how a ranger can be out of breath... I've just been chased by those Apsis Consortium rats... I ducked down a side street or two... to lose their decidedly less than intelligent goons..."
*Regaining his composure, he straightens himself up*
"I figured I would be safest in the Grand Lodge so I hopped in through the upstairs window to completely throw them off my trail."
"What's that? Am I tired after a little jog through the streets? My good Dwarf, I ran here from Magnimar. Some debacle after I sketched a map of the secret entrance to the Consortium's headquarters there and some damned neophyte rogue thinks this a good opportunity to loot them for all they're worth (which isn't much) without back up."
*He pours himself a drop of beer and sits down before the fire to remove the cold Autumn chill*
"Somehow... word reached their ears that I had drawn the map and they sought to ensure I didn't draw any more of them. With my business in Magnimar being complete and not desiring to waste an arrow on the wretched fools, I joined a caravan headed for Absalom. Some ways down the road, however, the Consortium's thugs were lying in wait and ambushed the caravan. Under the pretext of looking for me, they saw fit to loot as much of the goods as they saw fit (basically, everything) and killed whoever raised so much as a finger to them."
*He takes a long final draft and stands up to pour himself another only to find the keg has run dry.*
"Pity. Someone should call one of the kitchen staff."
*Remembering his waterskin, he pulls it out and proceeds to quench his thirst, then sits down again.*
"I realised they wouldn't stop until they found me or all the caravan guard were dead, so I stowed myself in one of the goods wagons and waited for the scum to search it. It didn't take long. A particularly ugly looking one climbed up and started rooting through the stock of ale they took a great liking to. While he was bending over to lift a barrel, I crept up behind the brute and cut his throat (I did say that I wouldn't waste an arrow). I let his corpse drop like a stone. I wanted it to. Sure enough, my actions were rewarded when the leader and two of his guards wandered over to check the commotion. I waited for my moment and once they were in position at the back of the wagon, I heaved the stacks of barrels on top of them. I jumped down to further assess the situation then but unfortunately realised the leader had to good sense to stand a good distance back and let his underlings do his dirty work. A beast of a fellow. A giant half-orc in half-plate. I bear no ill-will towards half-orcs but this stout fellow certainly wasn't the type to give his race a good name."
*He takes another draw from his waterskin and continues on...*
"As it happens, the caravan was stopped just beside a small wooded area. I just managed to duck underneath the blow of a massive orcish axe and make a run for it while the leader was screaming to the remainder of his men to get after me. Now I don't need to tell you that a ranger in a forest will never be found, unless he wants to be. This half-orc didn't know that. My gamble paid off when he and the rest of his men followed me into the trees giving the caravan guard a chance to escape. With that taken care of, I was confident enough to simply wait for nightfall and slip away without them ever noticing, but not before creating a little menace in their minds. Payment in kind, I thought. A few snapped twigs here, some crisscrossing tracks there, even some spare cloth caught on a thorny bush. Confusing them but giving them enough of a trail to follow. And follow it they did, right where I wanted them to. On the outside it appeared to be some small, dead-end cave, and that's what I thought it was too, until after 4 hours they hadn't walked out but one or two large bears had..."
*He empties his waterskin and sets about finishing his tale*
"By that time the darkness had well and truly settled and I set about my escape. I looked to procure a mount for myself at the next town but when their mercenaries failed to report in that evening, the Consortium sent messengers to every town on the road with orders for their members to either capture or kill me. That is, what I'm guessing they said, of course. They never got close enough for me to find out. All of which brings us to the events of the past half an hour. I must say thank you for letting me share my tale even if none of you listened. Cheers!"
Hope that wasn't too long for this thread. This wasn't an adventure I played, though it does reference the Rise of the Goblin Guild at the beginning. That said, I might turn it into one now.
