A voice rang out, urgent and foreboding: “We’re under attack!”
Our gallant heroes, roused from their slumberous dreams, scrambled to gather their wits and weapons, rushing outside the inn. There, they were joined by Miros the stalwart innkeeper, Naxene the sagacious mage, and Shalvus the vigilant shepherd. A low mist crept through the quiet gardens to the north and wove between the rows of shadowy longhouses to the south. Around the corner of the nearest longhouse stumbled a clumsy, disheveled halfling, who promptly lost his balance and fell at their feet. Oren Yogilvy, the inebriated bard, dunked his head in a bucket of water and sputtered about a goblinoid raiding party breaching the southeastern wall. The bleary-eyed group was soon bolstered by the arrival of Zi the acolyte and the towering, awakened tree Lifferlas.
As Oren breathlessly recounted the approach of three troops of raiders, the group swiftly divided into two defensive units, each setting out to confront one troop, with plans to regroup and face the third together.
Six brave residents of Goldenfields, hearts steeled and spirits unyielding, charged forth as a unified front against the encroaching darkness. Meanwhile, our illustrious band of heroes set their sights on the nearest troop of raiders—a chaotic mob of goblins, ogres, and bugbears. With arrows raining down like the curses of Lady Doom, the mighty Dru and valiant Lady Syndra plunged into the fray, meeting the advancing horde with unbridled determination. Murk, driven by a rage as wild as Malar’s hunt, leaped at a hulking bugbear, while Zephyr, invoking the grace of Akadi, cast a radiant nimbus upon an ogre. Acid splashed from Eridan’s fingertips, and Tien struck with precision, while Syndra fortified herself with a healing potion.
Murk’s greataxe found no purchase, leading him to cast it aside in frustration. Yet, Zephyr’s Guiding Bolt illuminated an ogre in a blaze of holy radiance, and Eridan’s arrow felled a goblin. Dru, Tien, and Syndra engaged the ogres in fierce combat, with Syndra vanquishing her foe. Tien, beset by goblins, was gravely wounded, but Murk, wielding his twin hand axes with deadly precision, dispatched both ogre and goblin in a single breath. Zephyr’s mace, channeling divine fury, smashed one bugbear’s face, while Dru faced off against another with his battle axe. In the heat of battle, Eridan moved to aid Zephyr. Despite Dru felling his opponent, the barbarian was overcome by goblins. Tien snuck an attack on Murk’s adversary, but was knocked out by the bugbear’s retaliation. Murk swiftly dispatched his foe, then turned to face the remaining goblins. Confronted by Eridan’s deadly accuracy and Zephyr’s radiant magic, the goblins fled in terror.
Victorious, our heroes tended to their fallen comrades, healing their worst injuries with potions and spells, before rushing to aid the embattled residents of Goldenfields.
Meanwhile, the villagers faced a similar raiding party. Led by the audacious Zi, who defiantly shouted in the goblin tongue, they braved a storm of arrows. Shalvus, Miros, and Oren were struck, but the little bard, despite his wounds, sang to inspire Zi. Naxene, realizing their dire straits, unleashed her magic missiles, felling a goblin. As the ogres advanced across the stream, Miros fired his crossbow, and Naxene’s magic took down another ogre. The defenders were hard-pressed, but at that fateful moment, our six valiant heroes arrived.
Tien’s arrow flew true, piercing a goblin’s heart, while Zephyr and Dru charged ahead, undeterred by goblin scimitars. Lifferlas, the awakened tree, crushed a bugbear beneath his mighty branches as Murk, with ferocious intensity, leaped at another. Eridan’s arrow struck an ogre, and Syndra joined Murk in the fray. Naxene’s spells felled a bugbear and a goblin, though Zi fell to an ogre’s blow. Shalvus wounded another bugbear before Tien crossed the stream and struck true against an ogre. Dru’s blade cleaved through another goblin, while Oren quaffed a healing potion to boost his waning strength. Lifferlas smashed an ogre with the weight of centuries, and Miros bullseyed a goblin. Oren was cruelly struck down by a bugbear, but Eridan, Naxene, Syndra, and Shalvus fought with unwavering resolve. Tien, Zephyr, and Dru dispatched more goblins, shattering their morale, while Lifferlas and Murk finished off the last bugbears in a flurry of boughs and blades.
Eridan, Syndra, and Zephyr tended to the wounded, stabilizing Zi and Oren’s injuries. The headstrong acolyte and the halfling bard would sit out the next fight. But now, our six heroes and the four remaining stalwart Goldenfields residents would have to muster all their courage to face the final squad of goblinoid raiders…
chronicles 