The Road Less Travelled

Departing from the subterranean home of the Zamunsol where all of the party was raised (save for Andreas) the group was sent out with the mission of "affecting change", what exactly that will look like, no one rightly knows. Following maps given to them by the Zamunsol, the party took the main road to the West.

As they were traveling, Azariah could feel in his bones that a storm was coming on. The humidity was more intense than even the normal cold, dark, musty atmosphere of Abaden. Traveling on, the weather proved him right as a light mist began to fall. Andreas, concerned about the safety of his primarily metal equipment, wanted to find shelter. Believing he was understanding the weather patterns, Azariah suggested that if perhaps they veered of of their set path by going slightly South, they would be able to skirt the storm and lose less time than if they were to stop moving and take shelter.

So the group changed course and turned Southward, but as they traveled there was something odd about the storm. Though they had only moved a few miles South, they were able to stay dry while watching lightning bathe the sky to the North. Moving forward, the group noticed at a certain point that there seemed to be a source of light other than the lightning off to the North. Just as they were debating heading toward it screams were heard from afar off. Running toward the screams they saw the light of some phosphorescent mushrooms and found two young children who had been tied up. Cutting them free, the child said "They've got my brother, help him!" While Abel stayed behind to protect the children, Noboru, Azariah, and Andreas charged in the direction they heard the scream come from.

Just as the group spotted a dim light source in the distance, a hunting party of Ruk-Shol emerged from the darkness. In the brief battle that ensued, the Ruk-Shol quickly overwhelmed to group knocking Andreas and ultimately Noboru unconscious. Just when it seemed all hope was lost, Abel came to their aid and him and Azariah were able to defeat the already-injured warband.

After dispatching them, the party was able to track down their quarry, another young boy named Jakobah. Heading back to where they had left the other two boys, the party arrived to find them missing. They were able to track the boys footprints away from the site. The party moved as quickly as possible in pursuit of the boys thinking that they could not have gone far in a such a short time. Unfortunately, minutes of tracking became hours quickly and there was no sound of the boys. The tracking was proving too slow so the party broke into an all-out run in the direction they thought the boys fled.

After some time the tracks changed from children's footprints to large, heavy boots. Driven by a sense of duty, the party refused to rest until they found the children. Pushing themselves beyond limits they had known before, the party was ultimately confused and exhausted. Just when they were unsure what to do next, Jakobah spotted something on the ground. Closer inspection showed that it was blood and bits of human flesh. It seemed that it was too late, that the Ruk-Shol had already killed the children they were trying so desperately to rescue.

Andreas felt that despite this evidence, the party should press on and avenge the deaths of the boys. The rest of the party felt it necessary to continue their travel, in his wisdom Noboru explained "There are many people in this world in need of justice, but if we become the agent of each and every victim, surely we will not have the kind of influence on the Kings and Nobles of this world that the Zamunsol have trained us for."

Jakobah mourned bitterly the death of his brother and friend. The next day the group retraced their steps. Conversation along the journey seemed to prove the Jakobah was quite a handful. He refused to listen to reason and go back with the party to town. Instead he insisted that they take him with them to see find out what the light was that they had all seen off in the distance.