Cavalier Cavalry - Khyber Server, DDO
Tangleroot Gorge
By Alesthane Garfield, Bard, Adventurer, and Drinker extraordinaire
Now it is that the representative of House Phiarlan comes up to me and my chums while we're relaxing over our cups at the Golden Wing Inn (Home of the deep fried 'Dragon' wings, which, while good, we all know are really kobald) after taking care of that little problem with the Sharn Syndicate in the rougher quarter of town. He makes a grand show of ordering us a round of drinks, of his houses own private lable of wine, so I don't suspect it much cost him anything, and lays out his proposal: There's a problem with the Hobbos out along the trade routes by Tangleroot Gorge. Mac has the "perfect" idea, saying that since they're just Hobbos, we'll march out and kill them all. Now, this actually disturbs the Elf, and says that the problem isn't with Hobbos, but a particular tribe of Hobbos, that they've split and started fighting one another and that the one with the upper hand in something called "Splinterskull Fortress" (a fine cheerful name) is trying to earn a bit of coin by harrassing, kidnapping, and killing fine honest merchants... just because I've never met one, doesn't mean they don't exist.
Well, Glyndwyr, the particularly crazy cat that only a belief in his own divinity and/or indestructability eats this "noble cause" stuff up like it's happy hour for me down at the Dingy on payday. So there's some negotiation, some back and forth, and then the very next morning, hangover and all, the party's off to the Jungles of Khyber to go muck about in this river valley. Now, we're told this Emeril Quall fellow is the best guide in the area, but once we get to the One Eared Bugbear Inn, he's all up in arms about the Hobbos too, and won't guide us about until we find this particular Hobbo, Ungurz. So off we go. Now, it's a fairly big and winding place, and there's dangers all about, like wolves, troggies, spiders, and a damned Giant in addition to all these hobbos, but eventually we find that particular hobbo just outside of Splinterskull with a couple of his leftenants.
Glyn handle's the negotiations, and it turns out we're going to stage our way into the fortress to kill this Yarkuch. We're going to have to thin the defenses, stage a rescue, capture some plans, deal with a wave of monsters, get to the spy, kill his chief wizard, and then finally we should be able to finally get a head.
We do all of this, dodging traps and hobbo clerics and mages, dealing with indestructable spiders, and for a Hobbo stronghold, it's got ok loot. Nothing special too much in the chests, but the little extras that are about, they seem to do well on the block when one gets home. But despite his gruff demeanor, when you deliver for Ungurz, he delivers for you. There's a quite fine set of items that, while on unusual locations for enhancements, do a fine job of bolstering one's fine motor skills, strength, and general health. Mac, prone to running ahead and getting caught by a second caster he fails to see, picks up a fine visor which can shield him from the more nasty of spells. All in all, a fine adventure, and I can now say there's a Hobbo I can appreciate, because as I suspected, he paid me very well.
- Alesthane Garfield