5. Planning For Peril

A little connective tissue.

Excerpt from The Hero’s Guild Manual 586^th Edition, edited by Guild Master Grigor Mason

 

ADVANCE PLANNING

The success or failure with any quest lies largely in the advance planning. After choosing a team whose skills match those needed to achieve the goals of the venture, it is left to discern the route from where the team is located to where the quest must take place.

 

Most Guild missions are assigned in the Guildhall closest to where the Guild members must go to achieve their quest. Rarely is portal travel approved for any Guild mission; not only is it expensive and perilous in it’s own right, the shortage of mages who have the talent and the knowledge to create portals makes it nearly impossible as most of the portal mages are generally located in large cities for the use of important personages whose responsibilities take them throughout the Realm on a regular basis.

 

Choosing a route will employ many different factors for consideration. Sometimes, speed is of the essence; in that case, a direct route is preferable. However, the pitfalls of a direct route are that often, there are dangers that would normally be avoided that now must be encountered. This can lead to a greater loss of life within the Guild team attempting the mission, and planners should accordingly plan a slightly larger party with duplicate skills so that those who are killed may have their skills replaced.

 

In other instances, stealth is a greater consideration. Avoiding small towns, wilderness outposts and well-traveled paths, not to mention highways and roads, become the means to achieve this. Difficulties with this type of planning means that there will be little chance to replenish stores, or reach medical help should one of the party be seriously injured. Also, getting lost can be a real issue, as straying from established paths can confuse even the most experienced guides in the wilderness.

 

In most cases, experienced Guild planners will keep you to established paths, trails and roads through outposts, villages and towns where rest and replenishment may be obtained. Usually, there are excellent sources of information regarding local conditions, beasts that may be wandering the lands, or sightings of unfriendly agents of Ur Bathog. Such information can save lives in the wilderness. It is up to the party leader to determine what course is best for the mission.

 

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            That evening, Tristan joined Jordan, Ayren, Connor and Aquilan researching the Westmarch, Kerland Rodo and the route they’d be taking. The great library in the Guildhall had a formidable selection of tomes, scrolls and Guild reports that yielded up a great deal of information, although little of it was useful or in some cases, understandable. There was nothing, Aquilan told him, on the Orb in the library. Jordan confirmed this.

            Jordan had taken Porrin’s glowing evaluation of Tristan’s thieving skills with a certain amount of dispassion. Connor, on the other hand, was fairly beaming with pride. “Why, that’s grand boyo” he grinned, lapsing into the brogue that appeared and disappeared from his speech with remarkable frequency. “I knew ye had a bit o’ the Shadowdweller in ye. Stick with Porrin; he’ll make a right skulker out of ye before tae lung.” He smacked the novice on the shoulder, sending Tristan forward two paces with the force of the blow, causing the ranger to laugh even harder. Tristan gave him a sour look for a moment before giving in, joining Connor in his laughter. At least the ranger would keep things lighthearted.

            They joined the rest of the group at the large oak table where Ayren had laid out some maps of the Westmarch. There was another old parchment which Tristan figured was the map to the caverns from Aquilan’s grandfather. “The drought of the last two years have made animals far more aggressive in defending their territory and acquiring food even more than normal. Tristan’s experiences on the caravan confirm this.” said Ayren, squinting at the magically enhanced map of the Westmarch which showed the topography of the route down to the last tree. Tristan imagined he could see the wind whistling through them. Realizing that Ayren was waiting for him to respond, he nodded quickly, feeling a bit flustered. He certainly wasn’t used to a room full of high personages in the Guild looking for his opinion.

            Ayren smiled at his discomfiture and continued. “Based on the route map that Aquilan brought us,” she said indicating the ancient parchment Tristan had noticed earlier, “I’ve drawn a preliminary route for us to take to the Caverns.” She gestured at the Westmarch map and a glowing red line appeared on it, beginning at the city of Safehaven and ending at a point on the River Tranquodius. The line, to Tristan’s surprise, wasn’t a straight one but rather curved through the wilderness, sometimes doubling back on itself. Tristan, curious, drew closer to the map and noticed to his surprise that Safehaven was almost perfectly drawn building to building. In fact, the line led from the representation of the Guildhall. To his amazement, Tristan suddenly noticed tiny little figures moving in the city. Those are people. Are they real representations, or mere decoration?

            Aquilan, noticing the boy’s fascination with the map, said in his clipped tone “The enchantment of the map shows representations of actual movement in the area in question, Tristan. Please focus on the task at hand. Ayren, if you would continue.” Ayren smiled at the novice, whose reddening face would reflected his discomfort to having his inexperience pointed out. I’m sure the others work with these sorts of enchantments all the time. Gods try and act like you belong here! Her voice brought him out of his reverie. “While this isn’t the route Kerland Rodo would have taken, there have been some changes since his time that make these differences prudent.”

            She gestured at the map and several buildings in the wilderness began to glow red. “I am arranging for us to stop at four wilderness outposts of the Realmsguard. They will be able to give us accurate information on the movement and location of monsters and potential adversaries that are far more accurate even than what is on this map. It adds a day or two to our journey, but it is worth the additional time if we can avoid unnecessary encounters with dangerous creatures, or those who would align with Ur Bathog. Are there any objections to this?”

            Jordan and Connor nodded agreement. Aquilan remained aloof as always. Tristan, not sure of whether this was a good idea or ill, kept his unformed opinion to himself. Ayren nodded. “That is settled then. This will be the way we take, although I will check with incoming caravans arriving from the area that are due into Safehaven in the next day or two. Barring information to the contrary, this is the best possible route. It is not well-traveled and it avoids some of the more dangerous parts of the Westmarch, although unfortunately we’ll have to pass through some pretty dicey places in order to get where we’re going. It is, unfortunately, unavoidable. Let us review the route.”

            She gestured again at the map and the area that contained the glowing red line was magnified. Now the features of the Westmarch were very clear and Tristan noticed that the trees in fact were moving in the wind. Ayren gestured at the first portion of the route leading out of the city. “Initially we will pass through farmland. We will try to avoid settlements as much as possible �" the fewer people who know we are traveling through the Westmarch, the better. However, there is at least one farm we will stop at to enhance our supplies.” A smile lit up Connor’s face. “Xembro’s,” he said, not as a question but as a statement. Ayren nodded, also smiling. “Aye,” he said and the expression on his face was one of contentment. “What’s Xembro’s?” asked Tristan, feeling every bit the novice.

            Jordan was the one who answered him. “Not all Guild members work out of Guildhalls, Tristan. Xembro is an invaluable asset to us. He is a farmer in the Westmarch who acts as an agent for us. He collects information, supplies our teams and allows us the use of his farm as a way station for outgoing parties.

            “The truth of it lad is that Xembro was a journeyman, like Ayren here. He fell in love with a farmer’s daughter in the ‘March and married, inheriting the farm of her father. He retired to it and took to the ways of the farm folk, but kept his ties to the Guild. Few know of those ties and we prefer to keep it that way. He and his wife are much loved by those of the Guild who walk the Westmarch frequently and we give him what support we can, although he does live in a less dangerous part of the wilderness.” Jordan gestured at the map. “In any case, you’ll find out more about him en route. Ayren, please continue with your briefing.”

            Ayren nodded at her father and went on, “While we are, as I say, avoiding settlements, there are at least two that we will need to visit. The first is Dwarrow Hill, and that will certainly warm the heart of Fant Eld.” Connor chuckled at that but Tristan noticed a line furrow across the impassive face of the Elf. Tristan was aware, like all who lived in the Realm, of the enmity between the Dwarrow and the Elven. The Elven were generally polite about their feelings �" and Tristan had been assured many times that Elven did have feelings, even if they didn’t express them �" but Tristan saw an expression on Aquilan that could only be described as distaste.

            Ayren continued, indicating two other settlements which as she gestured at them also glowed a soft reddish color. “We will also pass near Woodbridge, a Keth settlement but will only venture in if we need to re-supply. However, this other one is a Goblin camp called Xantave. Normally we would avoid a Goblin camp, but with Blag the Axe as part of our company, it would behoove us to get some intelligence from the Goblins which may well be better than our own.” Tristan found himself nodding in agreement at that.

            She straightened up and looked at each person in turn, her gaze coming to rest on Tristan. “I’ve done my best to minimize the danger, but that doesn’t mean we won’t be passing through places where we will need to be on our guard. Unfortunately, there are no completely safe routes through the Westmarch, and the safest route would take us this way.” She made another gesture and a green line that meandered all over the map and looked to be about three times the distance of the red line appeared. “That would be safer, but there is a danger there as well.” It was Jordan who interrupted. “The longer you’re out in the wilderness, the more likely it becomes that a spy of the Spider Queen will find you out. Part of our success will depend on how fast you can get to the Caverns from Safehaven. Therefore, you will need to pass through some very dangerous places.”

            Ayren continued, “Some we will need to trust to our skills as fighters while others we will need powerful magic to get by. In still others, we will need specialized equipment to transverse safely, some of which will come to us on our journey. We have already made inquiries into acquiring what we need.”

            The elf spoke for the first time in his mellifluous voice. “Even for experienced travelers, the journey through the Hills of Westmarch is no easy task, and the way we take is more perilous still because it is not well-travelled. In Kerland Rodo’s day, his people rarely took the overland route to Safehaven because taking their ship down the Tranquodius was far safer, but there were times it became necessary to go through the Westmarch. My grandfather recorded that forty lives were lost over the years in that journey. Of course, during the Bad Times, monsters roamed more freely in the wilderness than they do today, but it remains a distinct possibility that not all the party will reach the caverns alive.”

            There was a silence at that. Connor held a sardonic grin as he filled it. “Aye, and th’ trip across th’ Hills is th’ easy part, isn’t it. Aquilan’s grandsire spoke of th’ Caverns being protected, by spells and beasties, as well as by mechanical traps. Even in Rodo’s day, there were things living in th’ darkness that took th’ lives of his crew time to time. He chose those caverns precisely f’r that, even an army of Drow an’ Orcs would think twice about entering yon caverns.”

            The elf jumped in. “It wasn’t until the Battle of Hunter’s Point that the Black Knights of the Army of the Glorious Dead took the soul of Rodo’s friend Antonio Fortunato and forced his re-animated corpse to lead the minions of the Spider Queen to the Caverns. We don’t know all the details of what happened next, but there is evidence that the re-animated Fortunato did not recall all of the details of the layout of the Caverns. We have very little information about what is going on inside the Caverns in the present day, but we do know for certain from our few forays into the Caverns that there are descendents of the invading army that are still roaming around the passages of the Caverns. There are no records of what happened to her army beyond what our spies in her court could tell us, but we do know that none returned. She has since made several additional attempts to breach the Caverns but all have ended the same way. Her last attempt was about 75 years ago; it appears she is now content to wait for the Lost Child to retrieve the Orb for her.”

            Jordan interrupted. “There have been three Guild attempts to retrieve the Orb, and all three ended in disaster. I understand the League of Thieves has also made at least one similar attempt. We have not had a Guild-sanctioned attempt to breach the Caverns in more than fifty years. It is not listed in the official Guild rolls as a quest, but if it were it would be listed as the most dangerous that we assign, a level ten �" fatalities inevitable. To our knowledge, nobody that has entered the Caverns since the days of Kerland Rodo has emerged alive.”  There was a silence in the room, punctuated only by the crackling of the wood in the fire. For a time, nobody spoke.

            It was Jordan Armstead who broke the silence. “It also must be said that we’ve never made the attempt before with anyone who met as many of the criteria for being the Lost Child as you do, Tristan. We would even consider sending anyone into the Caverns otherwise �" it’s just too dangerous.”

            Tristan grimaced. “I feel so much better now that you’ve explained it to me, Steward Armstead.” Connor guffawed at that. Jordan and Ayren grinned as well. Aquilan spoke in a surprisingly gentle tone. “Our intent is not to tell you that this task cannot be done novice Scarborough, but to instead inform you of just what kind of danger you are getting yourself into. Your life will be at risk from the moment you leave the gates of Safehaven. Although the team will be the most talented we can find, it is likely that not all of them will survive the journey. The stakes are incredibly high. We must retrieve the Orb! The future of our world �" the very existence of everything we know �" depends on it.”

            Jordan stood up at that, his hands raised in a gesture of placation. Tristan thought that Aquilan seemed almost emotional, something he’d never seen in an elf in his life, had never even heard of it. “Peace, my friend Aquilan. The hour grows late and we are all on edge. Young Tristan must sleep, for tomorrow he will meet Ansurias Laecuna of the Golden Folk.” The Chief Steward turned to the novice with a slight smile. “He will accompany you, Tristan, to the Acadamie Arcanum for your training in the arts of magic, although I expect that he will find little to do in that regard, as Porrin did today.”

            He turned again to the company. “We should all get some rest, in fact. A tired man �" or woman,” he said with a nod to his daughter who nodded back at her father with a smile, “makes for a poor planner. We cannot afford mistakes in planning this venture, or else it is doomed to fail from the very start. Tristan, your carriage awaits without. I bid you all a good night.”

            The group said their farewells and bid each other good night, departing for their own beds, each with their own thoughts. As Tristan boarded the carriage that would return him through the silent, sleeping streets of Safehaven to the welcome Guild dormitory and the even more welcome bed, he wondered, not for the first time, if he was in far above his young head.