The early morning sounds of nature came trickling into Malrik’s ears, a small crick with lightly flowing water, and in the distance, the hammer on metal clangs as the blacksmith was working on their craft. After speaking to Zaryth the day before, the maiden gave him access to a room to stay in until he was fully rested, which evidently didn’t take long. Upon receiving his new enchanted armor, he noticed that his vision in the darkness had become advanced. So, Malrik decided that he was going to leave the temple after a few hours of sleep, entering the forest during the night.
Now, he found himself within the homestretch of the northern gates to Veingard with the doors in sight. The aroma of nature gave off the invigorating scent of pine needles and the air cool and crisp with damp earthy tones from the morning dew. It was rich and grounding, a comforting smell that evokes a sense of peace within Malrik. Wood smoke was becoming more noticeable with each step towards the town and soon he could see the smoke exiting the chimneys of the many homes and buildings in Veingard.
After a few minutes of walking, he found himself on the familiar cobble roads from the day before. Passing by children, they looked at him in awe with his new armor and greatsword, he was a larger and much more imposing figure now. Malrik strode with confidence that he hadn’t found in his past, he felt stronger and more alive with a renewed sense of purpose. This purpose was naturally guiding him into the town center, where the quest boards were.
Malrik used to stare at the board as a child, dreaming about the day that he could review the quests and take action. But today, that dream would become a reality that would forge his future. The board was divided into three sections, Whisperbound quests, Nightweaver quests, and Void Herald quests. Ignoring the Nightweaver and Void Herald quests, his eyes were fixated to the Whisperbound quests. There were fewer here than the other two, and not for a bad reason as it meant that either other Whisperbound were actively doing their jobs, or the areas outside of the towns were safe.
“Back so soon are you?” Malrik turned and it was Uncle Faro. “My nephew, I knew you could do it, but I didn’t think you’d be back so quickly.”
“Yes uncle, I’ve been completely invigorated, so much so that I could only sleep a few hours. Plus, this new armor helps me see in the darkness so I had no trouble returning here to Veingard.” Malrik replied.
Uncle Faro placed his hand on Malrik’s shoulder, “how was it meeting Zaryth? It’s been quite some time since I’ve seen him myself, I should take an honorary trip up there soon.”
“It was nothing like I imagined. From seeing the spirits that took care of the temple, to meeting the temple maiden, being challenged with the trials and then seeing a god face to face. He looked so powerful and his arcane ability triumphs anybody that I’ve met. He tasked me to become stronger and make a visit to the Shrine of Mei. It is believed that an ex-shadecaller turned traitor named Kazik infiltrated the shrine and is cutting communications across Catadros. Speaking of, a bit before I made it to the temple, Kazik approached me and essentially threatened me before disappearing.”
Uncle Faro looked into the eyes of Malrik, his expression worrisome. “Malrik, Kazik is an evil man. I’ve always reckoned that he played a vital role in the death of your parents, assisting the Radiant Creed with an easy entrance to a base full of Duskwardens and other Shadecallers. Since that battle, nobody could find him. I was and still am merely a Void Herald, but I was in Critwald’s barracks when the report came in. If you’re going to face him, you need to do everything you can to subdue his powers,” Uncle Faro was shaking but took a deep breath to calm himself, “okay my boy, I will leave you to it. I must remain here, you have a quest to fulfill, choose wisely. Also we must wait until we both have some downtime to speak to your parents, it’s not as simple as most are led to believe. Zay’thum.”
Before Malrik could say his goodbye, his uncle had already turned around walking away with his head down. He was sure that the events that transpired that day still haunt him, which would explain his reaction. “I got this uncle, I promise.” Malrik whispered.
There were six quest envelopes posted to the board for Whisperbound. Malrik would randomly select an envelope.
Side Quest Added: A Missing Relic - Recover the Shadowstone Amulet
(A sacred artifact of the Umbral Covenant, the Shadowstone Amulet, has been stolen by a rival faith’s spies. Your task is to locate their hidden base within the outskirts of Veingard, recover the amulet, and return it to the temple. Reports have said mysterious figures have been seen across the river near the mountain to the east.
Reward: 25 GP + 50 Covenant Reputation (0/1000) + 25 XP
Stolen novel; please report.
The envelope dissipated and went into his inventory for the meantime. To his knowledge, Malrik saw a lightly walked trail that led towards the eastern river when he was coming back into Veingard, so he would begin to walk that way. Passing by the same children who stared at him in amazement, he gave them a polite wave, acknowledging them. They ran up in front of him, stopping him in his path.
“Our mother wanted to give this to you, for helping with keeping our home safe!” The other kid who was too shy to speak handed Malrik a cream puff. He knew this cream puff, it was from the bakery on the other side of town. “Mother saw you leave for your first quest, apparently you became the talk of the town. Did you know you are the first Dark Paladin to come from Veingard?”
“Why thank you young man,” Malrik responded, “and no, I didn’t know that. I knew this class was rare but I didn’t realize it was that extreme. Speaking of quests, I have another I have to get to, tell your mother I said thank you and I will continue to keep you guys safe.” Malrik placed his hands on their heads and gave a little shake. They ran back into their home with joy, giggling and excited.
#
An hour had passed of Malrik following the path through the forest, it remained dense with foliage and trees, but the sound of the river was nearing. As it came into view, the environment was beautiful. The river was wide and shimmering turquoise hues. On either side were small pebbles coating the ground which made for a soft crunching sound when walked on. Upstream was a family of deer drinking from the water in the distance and large hawks hovered the forest trees beyond. There were two paths, Malrik could try and hop some large stones that were scattered to avoid walking through the water, or he could just simply walk in a shallow part of the water which seemed to be the more common option, which is what he chose.
Malrik was halfway across the river when he looked to his right toward the rocks that people jumped, just in time he found himself locking eyes with a river serpent and it was making its way to Malrik, tongue out and all. Malrik unsheathed his greatsword and prepared himself.
*Roll a d20 for initiation*
Malrik: 7
Water Serpent: 19
The serpent used the water to its advantage to move quickly, when it got close to Malrik, it leaped from the water and attempted biting into his arm. It succeeded with a 17 roll to hit, piercing into Malrik’s wrist with its teeth and attempting to wrap itself around his arm then fell back into the water in front of him.
Malrik’s HP: 22 > 16
“Nonpoisonous, that’s good, let's see how you like this, snake.” Malrik went for a more diagonal swing, trying to ensure that he hits it. He succeeded with a 15 roll to hit, slicing into the midsection of the serpent's body. Blood could be seen spewing into the river water and washing away.
Serpent’s HP: 22 > 12
The serpent contained itself instead of squirming around and went for a bite into Malrik’s ankle. It failed with a 6 roll to hit, missing Malrik’s ankle because a fish from the river interrupted its path.
“Enough of this.” Malrik simply stated. He would attempt to grab the snake by the base of its head and behead the creature. With a roll to hit of 13, he succeeded in doing so, holding his greatsword in one hand, balancing it on his other arm’s wrist, Malrik cleanly sliced the head of the serpent off, letting it flow away in the river and sheathing his sword.
Serpent’s HP: 22 > 12
XP Gained: 25 (575 XP NEEDED FOR LvL 3)
+1 Snakeskin
Malrik thought to himself, I don’t have time for rest to heal, I’ll drink one of the potions that uncle gave me. He selected the health potion from his inventory and it was placed in his hand. The red potion had a slight glow to it, bubbles running up the inside of the glass.
-1 Health Potion
Malrik’s HP: 16 > 22
The potion went down in a single gulp, the fiery liquid igniting his throat. A jolt of energy, raw and potent surged through him, mending the serpent bite that he had received. He savored the taste and sent the empty potion bottle into his inventory.
+1 Empty Potion Bottle
Malrik returned to the journey and task at hand, finding this base that was full of potential threats to Veingard. He considered how they would’ve gotten the missing relic in the first place, but anything was possible when it came to it happening out of sight of the public. This made him question many things, such as potential inside traitors who put on an act, or actual Radiant Creed members infiltrating and disguising themselves as Umbral Covenant members.
It sickened Malrik to believe that the world has gotten to such a boiling point. He too wanted peace and serenity deep down, but the scripture shows where the beginning of problems started and that would be Lioris’ fault. Naturally, Malrik’s people had to be the center focus of the Radiant Creed’s attacks and war efforts. This also made him consider the thought of where the Umbral Covenant was in terms of favor for the other three religions and if a potential alliance could be brought together.
But this was a thought for another time, he fixed his thoughts to the task at hand, and doing so led him to a clue. After getting to the other side of the river, he scouted around and found another faintly traversed trail, and it happened to lead straight to the mountain.
Who were these people and why did they come this way? Regardless, he would press on, the mountain wasn’t too far.
