Char’s Recap Charissa rolled up her good clothes, let down
her hair, and fell on her bedroll with disappointment. She’d so been looking
forward to a grand ball. Even one in such a small, backwater bumpkin town , she
thought bitterly. Sure, they’d promised there would be another ball, which
struck Char as odd since they made a point of not wanting her at this one. But she
rode out with her companions the next day fully expecting to never see Strade again. * * * Char wasn’t in town for ten minutes when she heard the
criers. An expedition had returned seeking reinforcements to raid a castle. Anything for gold , Char thought. And killing
goblins is one of the better things I’ve done for it. “We need wizards!” shouted a cleric named Artemis
that Char didn’t know. “I do magic,” she said with a flourish of Prestidigitation
fire and a boom. “But are you a wizard?” asked the cleric. “Well…yeah. I do magic.” “Okay. But do you have a horse?” * * * Char rode out of town with the party in even more of a melancholy
than she’d rode in. Added to her disappointment was that she didn’t know any of
the others, and was even a bit frightened of the massive trollkin brute named Lippy
riding next to her. “Why are horses so damn expensive?” she’d asked the farrier
as she handed over the money she’d been saving for a nice set of armor and a
masterwork instrument. “This is hope, sweetie. Everything’s expensive round here. Except life , Char thought as they set camp for the
night. Life’s seemed pretty cheap out here… And boy, was Char proved right. That first night, a pack of
trolls snuck up on the party. She got out of her tent in time to escape but
hung back to sling a few spells at the attackers. Stupid, stupid, stupid! Char berated herself as they
hid in the marshes after escaping. Why did I risk my life for a bunch of
people I don’t even know? Hanging back had almost proved Char’s demise, except that Lippy
stayed behind as a rearguard and fell to his full-blooded kin. It was a noble sacrifice.
Char almost felt bad about it. * * * Heading back to Hope, Char almost gave up. She’d already
lost enough on one endeavor, and she could always work at the tavern a few
weeks to make up some of the coin she’d lost. But another adventurer named Adalius quickly
asked to join the expedition, and everyone looked at Char like they expected
her to just get on her horse again. She shrugged and obliged. * * * “Looks like we made it to the castle this time,” Char said
with enough snark to get a dirty look from the thief named Teres . “Just shut up and be ready to blast something.” “Oh, I’m ready to blast something. I’ve been waiting since we
ran from the trolls.” They tried to be stealthy, but that didn’t work because the
goblins were expecting trouble. They rained arrows down on us. It was a hard
battle because the goblins had all the advantages. They also had magic and ogres.
Teres climbed the walls and shoot at the goblin archers in the tower. Everyone
else focused on the Ogres trying to cross the broken bridge. Char stayed undercover blasting away until a goblin shaman
summoned a pack of wolves right on top of the wizard Elaria . That
was when Char uncharacteristically ran out to the bridge and used her magic to
incapacitate them. Now at roughly even numbers, the adventurers blasted the
monsters until they’d all fell. * * * After the battle Char followed the other adventurers to a
small stone hut. Inside was the foulest little goblin she’d ever seen sitting
in a hot spring surrounded by a reek that reminded Char of cleaning the chamber
pots at the tavern. “What’s wrong with the water?” asked the dirty goblin asked
with a sarcastic grin. “Aren’t you a snake, lassie?”
This castle better have some good loot , Char thought
as she stepped back from the shitty water. Because I’m already a hundred gold
in the hole on this ‘adventure’.
