Lore/Story Province's Journey - Gavel Province Collection

As stated in my original thread, I have decided to create this separate thread for the Gavel Province quests / chapters for my grand Quest Story-line.
If this is your first time ever seeing me before, and frankly I won't blame you!, then Hello!!!
My name's Katoshii, a Wynncrafter who is trying to improve his writings skills while at the same time write content that will hopefully appeal to readers!
This is going to be the Sister / Side Story-line of my original thread which you can find...
Here!
Along with that, I will post Ocean quests for a separate thread (Stay Tune!!)
But, Welcome to the first Chapter of A Province's Journey!
(The thread posted also has a Key for the color coding and what each color means - also detectable / assumed!)
With that, please enjoy Quest 1, A Pirate's Trove!
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Act I - Mysterious Beginnings

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"Text" = Dialogue

"Text" = Secondary Dialogue / Separation For Easier Reading

"Text" = Action Dialogue

"Text" = Secondary Action Dialogue / Separation For Easier Reading

"Text" = Quest Titles / End Of Chapter Notes

"Text" = Author Notes

"Text" = Secondary Author Notes / Other Information

Gavel Province - Quest 1 - Pirate’s Trove

*Off in another land away from the Wynn Province, was the Gavel Province, where recently they had allowed adventurers to cross into their territory. The villagers were more concerned with the arrival of these people; they detected something off and unnatural about them. Whatever drove this, it was kept well hidden away from them as they began to assist the needs of the villagers. Off the Llevigar Port, Llevigar being the “White Gem” of the Province, another batch of adventurers were deposited onto the shores of the Gate, a massive wooden and stone door that is said to only open to adventurers with a pure heart. This batch of adventurers, however, have more than heart, but something more...authentic.*


*A Knight gave a thundering war-cry as he chased several orc thieves across the port, his helm glistening in the sunlight as three other adventurers followed in pursuit. One of them quickly scaled up the cliff-side, where he fired an arrow at the thieves, sending one of them into the sand as the other jumped over the fence and towards the Gate. As one of the adventurers slipped towards the shadows, the other ignited her hands with a dark magic and attempted to blast the magic at the thief. As she almost finished her incantation, the adventurer from before shoved the orc thief down onto the sand, her hands clutched a pair of shurikens as she her gaze fixed onto the orc as if she could light it on fire. The thief quickly threw the satchel in his hand in the air and rolled away from the woman, running back to the port as his friend followed.*


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“Drato, I told you not to pick fights with anyone here! Now look at what happened!”


*Drato gave a grunt and continued to rummage through his satchel, making sure not a single emerald was taken by those pesky thieves. The Dark Magician crossed her arms as the Rogue and Hunter approached them. They all stood before the Gate, not noticing a villager that looked to be one of the sailors of the ship that they sailed in approaching them.*


“Orine, it’s fine. Drato still has his satchel and we made it to Llevigar, you should be happy!”


*Orine huffed a sigh and dusted off red and yellow sand from her black robes, already slightly disgusted with the heat of this Province. She had rather preferred Fruma, where the climate could be to what her heart wanted.*


“You’re right Apria, I just want to make sure we’ll be alright here. This is our new home, after all…”


*The Hunter gave a smirk and turned to Orine, offering Orine a small piece of cloth from his satchel. She gave a smile in return and patted her forehead; the sunlight seems to never rest at the port.*


“Thanks, Kolt.”


“No problem Or-”


*The sailor crunched along in the sand and the group of adventurers turned to face him, eyeing him with suspicion yet curiosity. He gave a curt nod and smiled, several teeth were gone and one of them was even a color of gold.*


“Adventurers, Damiral Trinlo, sailor of the Glistening Quartz. Say, have you heard the tales of Captain Hastor?”


*Drato gave a “huh?” while Orine, Apria, and Kolt shook their heads at Damiral. The sailor gave a hoot of laughter and shook his head, stepping towards the Gate. The adventurers, weary of their travels, decided to follow him.*


“A legend speaks of Captain Hastor hiding away a secret treasure somewhere in the capital Llevigar, but when he died, the only clue he left was a verse written on a piece of parchment.”


*Damiral took out the piece of parchment and unrolled it, speaking the writing with a crystal clear audible tone.*


“Toward the sunset, among the northern flowers shaded by quartz...”


*Damiral placed the parchment back in his pocket and stood before the adventurers with the Gate to his back. He gave a smile as the sound of stone began to rumble all around them. The adventures looked around wildly, slightly frightened of the events that are being unfolded to them.*


“Good Luck. Perhaps you should split some of the treasure...if you do manage to find it. Remember, look for the Black Stones.”


*Damiral walked back to the port as Orine, Drato, Apria, and Kolt stared at the Gate. The barrier began to crumble inside of the Earth and lowered itself slowly, dust scuttling down around the group. As it rested, it gave a ringing thud and displayed a grand stone hallway that arched high into the air. Pillars with flames and crystals of light dotted throughout the passage and the adventurers stepped through the passageway, the Gate sealing back behind them...and their adventure opening up to them.*


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*The group of adventurers gasped in awe at the stunning beauty of Llevigar’s quartz design. A large plaza stood in front of them and villagers bustled around, some wearing simple clothes while others were gowned in regal fashion. Several villagers even stared at the cluster of adventurers, displeased that their beloved capital was to be a home for these nuisances. Orine ignored the stares and looked around the plaza.*


“Northern Flowers...Hmm.”


*She faced to her right and saw that there was indeed a patch of flowers located beside a fountain. Orine gave a grin and turned around, only to frown at Drato’s and Kolt’s retreating figures. Kolt rolled his eyes and pointed at Drato who was rushing up ahead despite his plump features.*


“I’ll take him around, you two could continue on without us. Who knows, maybe that’ll help?”


“Fine...just, please be careful!!”


*Kolt grinned and ran after Drato while Apria followed Orine through the small garden. Lilacs encircled the fountain and there was an odd black stone that laid several feet to the right of the fountain itself. Apria approached the stone and blew away some of the leaves that clung to it, reading off the writing.*


“In a place of identity, above the leaves and between the glass.”


*Both of them scratched their heads, wondering what that verse meant to them. Meanwhile, Kolt and Drato were touring Llevigar at an...unusual pace.*


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*Drato rushed past the shops that offered them foreign gear and weapons, pondering how that could wait a while. When he stood in front of a specific building, he gave a squeal of joy which made Kolt groan with discontent and regret.*


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*The Bank was barren, let alone the several clerks that stood at the counters. Drato looked around at the tables that were filled with books and other papers and documents. Finding them a bore, he decided to look at the tree that grew inside of the Bank. He saw it as he rushed around the secondary tier of Llevigar and thought it looked mildly interesting. Looking up, he squinted and thought he saw a small black pedestal on top of the tree. Drato began to ascend up the tree while Kolt began to collect some emeralds from the clerk. As Kolt looked up, he dropped the sack of emeralds in shock as he saw through the branches and leaves Drato standing at the top of the tree.*


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*Orine and Apria rushed towards the Bank when they saw Drato through the glass window. Oddly enough, the shape of the window resembled the shape of the tree. When the duo barged inside and stood beside Kolt, they saw Drato climb back down the tree and stood before them...Orine looked as if she was about to ignite in a blaze of fire and rage.*


“Goodness Drato!! What in the world was that about?!”


“What?! There was some black thi-”


“Wait...what did it say?!?”


“Um..something like…In an emerald fountain, surrounded by the wealth of the villagers..or something.”


*The group all slowly turned around and faced the fountain that stood in front of the bank. The maiden statue stood in the middle and on top of her, glistening in the sun, was a black gem that sat in the middle of her crown.*


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*Apria and Drato stood at the base of the fountain as Orine and Kolt climbed up themselves. Several villagers stood with a shocked expression at the disgrace these humans were doing and quickly went on with their business. When Kolt reached the top of the statue, Orine descended back down as Kolt spoke the slightly scratched words on the gem.*


“Beneath the cowl of the eastern titan...keeping watch over our heads.”


*As Kolt descended back down, Drato, Orine, and Apria pondered what the message meant. Something seemed off about this one; this description wasn’t as obvious as the previous ones before it. Drato growled and sat down on the fountain while Orine rubbed her forehead, feeling the heat of the capital coming back to her again. Kolt sighed and looked down at the plaza from the height of the second tier of Llevigar.*


“Titans? And watching us?! Where would someone..”


*Kolt looked to his left and saw one of the stone guardians that greeted them when they all entered Llevigar. He turned to his right and saw the other one. Kolt’s mind suddenly clicked and he smiled wide to himself.*


“Of course...Not bad, Captain Hastor.”


*Apria and Orine creased their brows while Drato seemed to have drifted to a nap. Kolt then began to run towards the cliff-side of the second tier of the cliff. Apria shrieked his name but Kolt took up his bow and muttered a few words - he flew through the air and landed on one of the titans. He dropped and crouched down on the shoulder of the titan and grinned when he saw an entrance into the titan’s head.*


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*When Kolt entered the titan’s head, his smile went from small to grand in a matter of moments. The wall on the opposite side of him had a chest leaning against it, the lock seemed to have fallen off from age. Kolt rushed forward and opened the trunk; emerald cubes glistened at him and he had to force himself to suppress a victorious laugh. He collected the emeralds and came back out of the titan’s head, muttering the same incantation to fly across the gap between him and his friends. As he landed, he held up his satchel and Orine clapped happily as Apria gave him a wide smile. Drato, however, still slept beside the fountain and was shaken awake by one of the villagers who scolded him for the rude behavior he is doing to their “fair capital”.*


*As the group of adventurers descended down one of the two colossus stairwells that connected the upper and lower portion of Llevigar, they spotted Damiral at one of the small buildings that was used as a makeshift tavern. He gave the adventurers a nod and nearly spat out his wine when he saw the satchel Kolt was folding being dumped of its emerald contents.*


“Well, color me surprise, I didn’t expect you all to find the treasure. Great job.”


*Orine gave a nod to Apria who gave a smile to Kolt who gave a scowl to Drato who rolled his eyes and shoved a portion of the treasure to Damiral. Damiral’s expression filled with content and he shook their hands.*


“My eternal thanks, adventurers! Please, enjoy your time at Gavel, you still have so much more to see!!”


*Indeed, this group of adventurers still had much more to do for the people of the Province of Gavel...but they supposed a quick drink with Damiral could be made first.*


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I will also post a word count for EACH chapter in this thread for those curious.
Words : 1,934
(Not a bad start!)
With that, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter!! I'd love to hear what all of you think of this so far, and whether I should continue or not!
(Also - Poll on whether I should try and come up with some Art with a friend of mine. Completely optional, I just want opinions!!)
Thank You once more!!
From an Aspiring Author,
~Katoshii​

 

I realized that I haven't posted another chapter of A Province's Journey...so here we are!
Apologies for my absence of this forum, I have been busy with A Province's Tale & my newest Ocean collection.
But now, enjoy Quest 2 of A Province's Journey, Heart Of Llevigar!
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Gavel Province - Quest 2 - Heart Of Llevigar

*A large explosion could be heard from a building across the plaza of the bank. The party of adventurers rushed over to where smoke was rising from the windows and saw a man fanning awake the smoke with his hands, the heat of the machinery being prominent and ruthless to the other engineers who scrambled outside. As the smoke began to die down, the group entered the building and saw a lone man wiping his brow with a spotted rag, a small cut visible across the left side of his cheek. Apria stepped forward while rummaging in her bag for a potion but the old man waved her away, offering a brilliant white smile and sighed softly as he faced the machine.*

“Blasted thing. What in the world was that Head Engineer thought on making this monstrosity!?...Ah! Adventurers? Already in Gavel? Well, perhaps you could assist me! Zenam, the pleasure is mine, although pardon my..mess, I suppose.”


*Zenam gave a sheepish grin at the awkwardness of the situation, not realizing that adventurers were already driven to explore the province. Orine and Apria gave soft smiles while Kolt attempted to keep Drato away from the shiny metal that glowed in the sunlight. The man creased his brow in a mixed expression of confusion and pity, but continued to speak to Orine and Apria.*


“You see, there’s a Head Engineer that works in the sewers for this Plant here. The system for this machinery was made years ago, and now the old scarab works in the sewers to make sure it runs fine. Now, it seems as if-”


*The machine began to grind its gears and steam began to rise from the pipes; a panel on the side of the machine lit up and read, POWER LEVEL : 55%. Zenam gasped and turned around, grabbing a wrench and attempting to screw back on some nuts and bolts that fell to the ground.*


“-we’re running out of time! Please, you’ll find our Head Engineer in the sewers. There’s a switch near the cliffside of the plaza that’ll lead you to him. Go!!”


*Apria and Orine gave a nod to Zenam and rushed out of the building, Kolt trailing after them with Drato in his arms; Drato’s relentless urge to identify the mystical shininess of the metal only made Kolt more angered at the man’s ridiculous behavior.*


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*The group approached the small cliff-side terrace that overlooked the first tier of Llevigar. In the middle of a patch of flowers and grass held a platform embedded into the grass and an emerald-spruced panel that held a stone button as the lone component. As Kolt, Apria, and Orine looked down at the panel with perplexity, Drato gave a shrug and slammed his fist on the button.*


*The panel gave away and the group of adventurers fell down towards the first tier of the capital. They screamed in terror as suddenly a panel within the first tier floor gave away and the quartz coverings molded away to form another opening for them to fall through. As they fell through the second panel, the quartz coverings formed back to their initial pattern and the adventurers fell blindly down into the sewers, where the splashes of them hitting water echoed through the calm yet buzzing tunnels.*


*As Drato swam over to a side of the sewers, Kolt gave him a cold stare while Orine was attempting to ignite one of the extinguished torches with her Dark Magic. Apria gave Drato only one glance and growled at him as Orine held out a torch in front of them, the crackles of fire sparking around them as Kolt followed Orine through the tunnels.*


“Next time...tell us when you’re doing something.”


*Drato gave a simple nod and grumbled as himself and Apria followed behind; the tunnels eventually led them to a large room that held multiple floors of machinery and platforms. A villager was bustling around a wall of panels and controls, several of the lights blinking rapidly while he cranked switches in various positions. As the group approached him, he turned around and gave a cry of both gratitude and terror.*


“Finally! They sent in some people to help me!”


*Orine attempted to tell the engineer that they weren’t experienced with machinery, but the man ignored her as he began to scribble down some coordinates and directions on a piece of charred paper. He gave a final nod and placed the paper in her hand.*


“Here! This is where I need you to head first. Please, make hast-”


*The panel of machinery gave out a low rumble and a simulated voice played on the overhead speakers*


“POWER LEVEL. FIFTY TWO POINT FIVE PERCENT.”


*The Head Engineer yelled and continued to flick switches and press buttons on the panel. Meanwhile, the adventurers huddled around Orine as she led the way through the room. Kolt lifted Drato up onto an overhang of wood while Apria took several steps back and dashed towards a ledge, landing with a soft thud against the quartz platform. Apria looked up and noticed a similar passage above them that looked similar to what the man’s description was. She gripped onto several stone bricks that were skewed from the wall and climbed up to the entrance, Kolt and Drato following her movements while Apria traversed the aerial platforms above the main panel. As the adventurers walked through the entrance-way, a low rumble sounded behind them and stone bricks crumbled at the entrance-way, causing them to be boxed within a room filled with odd and broken pieces of machinery and a panel filled with gold and iron stones with colorful obelisks that held wooden buttons on them.*


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*On the floor in front of them laid a pattern of the gold and iron stones alternating from each other. Orine glanced around the room at the hazardous environment while Kolt gingerly pressed the red obelisk’s button. The machinery whirred to life and a piston shot up an iron block to the slot above it. He gave a victorious smirk and turned to the group.*


“Well, this’ll be interesting. I suppose you all know how to work buttons?”


*Apria scoffed in surprise while Drato stepped forward to the green obelisk. He pressed the button and the same sound echoed around the room, this time the pistons not appearing.*


“What?! This machine is broken too!”


“No you dunce! It didn’t work because it had nowhere to go. Here, let’s see if we can work out this pattern…”


*The party of adventurers each took an obelisk and communicated with one another who should press their button at a given time. Several moments later, they began to function as their own machine and worked the iron and gold stones around the panel in front of them. As Orine pressed her button, the group approached an emerald obelisk that held a stone button. Kolt pressed it with force and the panel of lights above them sparked to life and the rubble of stone suddenly fell down as a panel on the floor opened.*


*The group jumped down one after another and fell into a water-works system that spitted them out into another room. Several rats squeaked at them and Apria chased after them with her shurikens, leading the group through what seemed to be another meltdown of machinery; fire was scattered across the floor and walls and a pipe lead out to another dark corridor, a pit of lava seeming to be under it. Kolt muttered a few words to his bow and flew into the air, spinning around several times before landing at the entrance of the pipe. Orine took up her staff and twirled in the air, disappearing in a dark mist and reappearing beside Kolt as Apria hitched herself up the ladder, Drato following behind. As the party took their first few steps down the corridor, the floor sloped downwards in an instant and the party shrieked as they slid into darkness.*


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*As the group collapsed against another stone floor, the buzz of electricity whirred around them as the group stepped up to a large quartz square that took up the whole room, similar to the one in Llevigar. Above them, four colored lines of electricity, red, blue, green, and yellow, drew themselves towards the center of the room where another chasm led down. Curious, Drato stepped onto the quartz plaza and Orine screamed in shock as...nothing happened to him. The group looked up and noticed that Drato was under the blue electricity line. Orine quickly casted an orb of Dark Magic at another area of the room and a crack of electricity sparked the orb, turning it to ash. With their eyes wide, the group traversed under the guide of the electrical line and jumped down the chasm. This time, it was a small fall and they both peered down to where laid a small pool of water. When Drato attempted to jump first, the quartz pipeline the adventurers stood on creaked loudly and snapped in half, causing the adventurers to free fall into the water.*


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*The Head Engineer heard the splash and came running to them, his clothing spotted with oil and smelt of scorched cloth. He took up from a pocket another set of scribbled writing and pointed above him.*


“The blasted buzz! That’s where I need you all to head next! This system passed construction, but the chances of this happening was unrealistic to us, hence why we built it. But I never thought this will happen! There’s another entrance up the stairwell besides the panel-”


“POWER LEVEL. TWENTY PERCENT.”


*With that, the engineer sprinted back to his panel as the group ascended up the stairwell, gripping onto the wooden post as a safety caution. As they stepped into the room, the buzz noise grew much louder and they all had to cover their ears from the noise of circuitry and gears spinning against one another.*


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*The room was plain quartz with each corner having two colored sections of wire. The middle held an unfinished pattern of wire tracings leading from one color end to another. It seemed as if the user abandoned their work just in time before a machine exploded near the panel. Kolt creased his brow to read the sign across the room.*


“OPEN THE HATCH BY CONNECTING THE CIRCUIT.”


*The party divided themselves to each corner of the room and began to collect their colored wires. They decided to scrap the work already done by the person and start fresh; Kolt already began tracing an orange circuitry line while Apria tapped her foot, pondering on where the red circuit should lead. Meanwhile, Drato and Apria shifted plans and worked around other circuits, creating a more simpler pattern than what the original circuitry was. Suddenly, steam began to shoot out of several open crevices in the roof and heat began to swarm around them. The group worked diligently and when Orine placed her final piece of circuitry against the magenta circuit, the panel began to glow with the colors and the latch against the metal door came undone. Kolt and Apria dashed inside of the room while Orine grabbed Drato and lead him outside of the circuitry room, the heat causing Drato to sweat profoundly. Kolt flipped several switches from a control panel and Orine pressed a button; the steam stopped and the room began to cool off again, leaving Kolt and Apria to rush through the circuit room again. The party traced their steps back down the stairwell and were greeted by an overly excited engineer.*


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“Ah! You have done it! Who would’ve thought you humans could work a machine! Let’s hope that won’t happen again, presumably when I’m around!! Speak to Zenam again, the boy will give you a reward for your help.”


*The Head Engineer went back to the control paneled wall; lights were constantly at green and the power level read a confident 92.4%. He pointed to a wall across the room and a doorway was the lone thing that the wall showed. Interested, the group went to the door, waving a farewell to the engineer, and opened the door.*


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*Several crates collapsed to the ground as Apria opened the door. Kolt peered above her and saw how this seemed to be a makeshift storage closet. He groaned, shoved several boxes against a wall, and attempted to avoid stomping on shattered glass from the light bulbs that fell from the crates Apria knocked over. As Drato and Orine made their way to the door with Kolt and Apria, Zenam opened the door himself and yelled in surprise, tripping on himself and collapsed backwards. He hissed in pain and stood back up, rubbing the back of his head.*


“Goodness, did I really deserve that?! Hmph, whatever, I’m glad you helped us however. Now the capital won’t erupt in a fiery glory from the machinery! Here, this is something I’ve managed to scramble from a jeweler selling arcana trinkets.”


*Zenam took out a box from this apron and unclasped the locks on it. Opening the box, four blood colored necklaces held rubies in several sockets, the necklaces themselves were traced with silver trimming and felt as if they were a heat source of themselves. Drato wrinkled his nose at the thought of such a commodity while Apria and Orine gawked at how beautiful the trinkets were. Kolt shrugged and smiled at Zenam, taking the necklace from the box and clipping it around his throat. Drato groaned and took the last necklace, wrapping it around his neck along with the others and rolled his shoulders back, now feeling the rigor the challenges of running and jumping were.*


*The adventurers gave a final wave to Zenam as he went back to monitoring his own control panel of switches and screens. Drato offered that a rest would do them good when he saw from the other gate of Llevigar a hooded figure rushing across the plain. Interested, he began to make his way over to the gate, Kolt, Apria, and Orine following him with uncertainty as to what Drato was doing.*


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Word Count : 2360 Words
Thank You For Reading This Writing, I Hope You Enjoyed It!
I will usually post writings on the weekends, it just works out for everything I suppose.
With that, happy adventuring!
From an Aspiring Author,
~Katoshii​

 

This isn't the end of my surprise writings, almost there though, don't worry ;)
Here is Quest 3, Star Thief!
Enjoy the Chapter and feel free to leave any responses or tips for me! I'd love to hear them!!

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Gavel Province - Quest 3 - Star Thief

*Drato’s iron feet crunched along the gravel and cobbled path as he exited Llevigar through one of the main gates. The field opened to him was a lush green with several cottages and camps scattered before him. He looked around, but couldn’t find where that strange man went when he first saw him, causing a slight feeling of frustration to Drato.*

*Kolt, Apria, and Orine caught up to Drato, slightly baffled by the beautiful landscape surrounding Llevigar. Orine smiled softly as several birds flew above them, feeling as if this Province wasn’t as harsh as what her other acolytes told her. Apria and Kolt tried to understand what Drato’s intentions were when the wail of a villager caused them all to jump in shock. Looking up, the group saw a villager rushing behind a hooded figure that ran with an unnatural grace and speed. The hooded figure entered a cave and the villager stomped his foot, walking back to his cottage with a stride of sadness. Curious, the group approached the villager in hope of finding out what happened.*


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“That pesky thief! Again, he stole from my cottage...I am a simple man! What have I done to deserve this?!”


*The villager pounded his fist against the wall and sighed softly, his blonde hair decorated with several strands of leaves and gems that glistened at the group. He turned and faced the adventurers, feeling slightly hopeful for help and worried about the man coming back. He cleared his throat and gave a small smile, dusting off his simple cloth shirt and pants and approached the group,*


“A pleasure, adventurers! I suppose you saw that exchange between that thief and I...he has been ransacking my cottage for the past week and stole my goods of gems and trinkets! Perhaps you can teach that fool a lesson?”


*Kolt cracked his knuckles with a grin and Apria drew her shurikens out, glad that finally there was some form of combat for them. Orine gave a swift nod and Drato was already walking towards the cave, already wanting this to be over with. The group wandered towards the cave and the man called out to them,*


“Oh, and it’s Trunan! Nice to meet you…”


*Trunan kicked awkwardly at the grass now that he was left alone and went back into his cottage, peering outside the window to see if anymore thieves were going to test him.*


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*Drato lead the way down a path that had red stones and fragments poking out from the Earth. He gave a puzzled look while Orine stared at them with a fascination that was beyond his own desire. Meanwhile, Apria and Kolt stared up at the cave that opened before them, the only emitted was several torches that led further into the darkness. Gritting their teeth, the group entered the cave with Orine leading them with her illuminated hands, the coldness of the cave washing over them.*


*The cave swirled and dipped down into the ground as the group slid down the slopes of the cave. The cave itself was infested with the red crystals that covered the walls, giving off a potent magical essence that made Orine’s illumination shine more brightly. For once, the group could actually make out their own expressions to one another, surprising themselves by how much of a diverse group they all were.*


*The sound of conversations and metal clashing spiked up the adventurer’s attention as they peered into the main room of the cave’s labyrinth. The cave showed half a dozen bandits and thieves around a campfire with crates and barrels laying beside them. On one of the crates, a small gemstone shaped as a star twinkled from the red light of the crystals. The group retreated several feet away from the entrance and whispered of a plan, nodding their heads and grinning mischievously, Orine even smiling despite her distaste with these acts of mischief.*


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“Hey, Dirt Hands!”


*The cluster of bandits and thieves whirled around and widened their eyes as they stared at people who radiated a purple energy around them. One of them threw a dagger at Orine and the dagger stopped several inches away from her chest, dropping to the ground and puffing into a light purple smoke with the swift motion of her hand. Several bandits and thieves began to approach them while others began to creep towards the exit of the cave. Kolt aimed an arrow and fired at one of the retreating thieves, the arrow pinning the man’s cloak as he shrieked in surprise. Apria winked at one of the thieves as she ran towards the campfire and spun around in a full circle, disappearing a flurry of white smoke and reappearing behind the crate the held the star gemstone.

*The thieves and bandits screamed as they began to file out of the cave, their black and hooded figures dotting across the fielded landscape of the plain. Kolt gave a charismatic wink at Orine, earning himself a smack on the shoulder from Apria and both of them began to laugh uncontrollably. Orine took the star gemstone from the crate and dragged Drato away from the crates as he growled in annoyance from the emeralds and accessories that glittered at him.*


“We’ll get the local militia to collect the rest of the stolen goods...Drato...”


*Drato sighed and threw a ring towards the campsite. Kolt took a step towards Drato and Drato launched the sack he held under his arm back at the crates and barrels, grumbling all the way back to Trunan’s cottage about how they could've used the fortune.*


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*Trunan gave a small pouch to each of the adventurers when they returned to him the star gemstone, the cool air of the plains flowed through the cottage as they all sat in nicely furnished chairs around a fireplace. The cottage itself was decorated in banners and paintings along with shelves of books that ranged from newly acquired to their spines having creases in them. Trunan sipped his cup of tea as he breathed in softly, the gemstone hung at his chest with a golden laced chain around his neck, making a makeshift necklace.*


“Thank you again, dear adventurers! It seems you have finally caught those pesky nuisances! My star gemstone is now mine again! All mine!!”


*Trunan began to laugh and grin, earning a surprised look from Apria and Drato while Kolt and Orine continued to sip their tea without any discontent. The sun now shone brilliantly across the fields as the group prepared their leave, feeling rejuvenated from Trunan’s hospitality...for the most part, that is.*


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I'm quite sorry again for the late postings, I took a far longer break than I intended.
I hope these chapter bursts will make up for it? I don't know how much people read these entries, but I still hope they're delightful to read!
Enjoy Quest 4 of my Province's Journey collection, Clearing The Camps!​

Gavel Province - Quest 4 - Clearing The Camps

*As the party of adventurers continued to tour Llevigar, a villager in an immaculate green and white uniform stepped towards them as they walked out of the gate. He shouted at them and the adventurers turned around, Drato already frowning at the idea of being ordered to do something that involved actual work…*


“Adventurers! My my, Province Wynn does indeed provide us with such worthy fighters! Captain Kymer, an honor to meet you all.”


*The Captain gave a bow and Orine returned one, Apria and Kolt confused at the acts they are displaying and Drato simply refusing to acknowledge it. Kymer looked out at the meadows and a grin appeared on his face as he saw the adventurers had their weapons with them...*


“Hmm, would you do Llevigar a favor if you may? There are these orc tribe leaders who plan on rallying their forces together. If they do, the guardsmen will have trouble keeping the defenses of the city intact. Might you go around and teach those tribes a lesson?”


*Drato cracked his knuckles in satisfaction from the man’s favor. Finally he could put his sword to good use instead of using his brain. Kolt thought the idea wouldn’t hurt them while Apria suggested that this may be a way for them to earn a good reputation within Llevigar. Orine sighed softly and fanned herself with a small cloth and twig item she had purchased from a merchant stall. It worked much more wonders than wiping away the sweat from her brow and she gave a simple nod to Captain Kymer.*


“Excellent! I have a map of the orc tribes - get rid of their leaders and I’ll reward you handsomely.”


*Captain Kymer pulled out from his belt a scroll - unraveling it, the parchment was actually a map of the whole meadow ground. He pointed to several distinctly colored tribe locations and told the adventurers who they had to target. After several minutes of planning, Kolt rolled back up the map and kept it in his cloak while leading the party of adventurers into the meadows, Captain Kymer giving a final salute to them before heading towards his guard post...*


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*The first leader they had to assassinate was Dolg, who Captain Kymer mentioned was one of the main warriors of his tribe. Kymer spoke that he has a hunting party right now patrolling the meadows and that they could intercept them. The party of adventurers traveled across the meadows as the wind whistled all around them. The day was a pleasant one, without a cloud in the sky. Orine remembered such beauty back in Fruma, but quickly dismissed the thought of home. She wasn’t going to feel any remorse for her home, not for a single moment…*


*Kolt suddenly came to a halt and crouched down behind a tree, motioning for everyone else to spread out. Orine and Apria rushed over to a small cluster of bushes while Drato crept over to a boulder, his armor shining brilliantly in the light. A cluster of orcs were roaming around the meadows several dozen feet away from the, one of them having a signified looking mace and robe on them. The orcs gave chase to several deer that ran towards the adventurers, causing Kolt to softly mutter several words that made Orine’s eyes widened…*


“We need to catch them now or else we won’t get this chance again…”


*Kolt aimed an arrow at one of the rocs and let the arrow fly, the wind carrying the arrow all across the landscape. It pierced an orc’s breastplate and the orc fell to the ground, the body turning into black ash. Seeing that the hunting party was being attacked, Dolg gave several ramblings of his mouth and the hunting party charged towards the party of adventurers…*


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*Orine sprinted to the left side of the hunting party and took out her spell-book, chanting out an incantation that sent several orbs of black magic flying towards the orcs. Several of the orcs dodged out of the way while others were toppled down by the collision of her dark magic. Drato charged towards Dolg and slashed his sword at the orc, earning him a cut across the shoulder. Dolg roared in anger and punched Drato away from him. The knight tumbled several feet away from the leader as Kolt readied another arrow and fired it at Dolg’s head. The wind picked up once more as the arrow flew, but the breeze sent the arrow flying in another direction, nearly piercing through Orine’s robes. She shrieked in surprise as the arrow punctured a tree near her but hadn’t realized an orc behind her swung his axe at her. Apria darted towards the orc and sent her shurikens flying, the projectiles slicing across the orc’s back. Orine now realizing the threat behind her turned around and fired a blast of dark magic at the orc, turning into another collection of black ash…*


*Drato barely got up before Dolg charged at him once more. He raised his sword and side-stepped away from the orc, moving his sword into a sudden thrust. Dolg roared again in pain as the sword punctured his chest and Drato yanked the sword out of the orc. As the orc fell, the black ash disintegrated and left only his head on the grass. Apria and Drato grimaced at the display and Orine muttered a few words, sending the head into a collection of black sparkles. When it disappeared, Drato whirled around to face Orine as she fanned herself…*


“Where did the head go!? What did you do to it?”


“Oh calm down, I simply placed it somewhere we can reach. I know what I’m doing, so please, trust me this time?”


*Drato bellowed out a grunt and sheathed back his sword, already displeased with the task. If he wanted to go on a wild goose chase for kills, he would’ve done that much earlier. This Captain Kymer better pay them enough for this hassle - this was going to be much more difficult than he originally thought it would be…*


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*The sun was dipping back down into the horizon when the party of adventurers found the second leader on their list, a tribal leader named Visbe. Captain Kymer spoke of Visbe as being another main fighter of the tribe he leads, so getting him out of the picture would weaken the orcs significantly. As the party of adventurers continued their trek across the meadows, they spotted a blazing campfire in the middle of a field. A cluster of orc archers were surrounding the fire as Visbe looked off into the sunset, his bow readied with an arrow as if the orc were ready for anything. Apria held her shurikens in her hand as she scanned the area the orcs were inhabiting, twirling them every so often as a bad habit of impatience...*


“Well, what’s the plan Kolt?”


“We could outright attack now, or wait until night sett-”


*Drato was already running across the field towards the campfire, his sword still slightly smudged from the previous encounter. Orine was several strides behind him with her spell-book open and her hands emitting a dull purple glow. Kolt rolled his eyes and jumped over the small boulder, muttering the same verse he used back in their hunt for Llevigar’s secret treasure and flew through the air. Apria took the time to notice how graceful Kolt cut through the air as if he had been doing this his whole life. She shook her head to come back to reality and began to run towards the now growing combat.*


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*Kolt barely stepped into a suitable range to shoot his arrows before Drato and Orine took down Visbe. The orc leader gave a final look at the setting sun and closed his eyes, a ghost of a smile played across his face before he laid there limp beside the campfire. Several of the orcs, realizing that their master and leader has fallen, quickly ran away from the group of adventurers. Drato began to step towards the retreating figures, but Apria called out to him…*


“Drato! Leave them alone.”


“Are you mad?! They’ll tell their other-”


“I mean it!!”


*Drato gave a small gasp as Apria shrieked her remark, slightly taken aback by the woman’s sudden attack in her plea. Kolt looked behind him and noticed that Apria was trying to hold back tears - he had seen her do this several times in their past adventures. She always gripped her shurikens tightly, sometimes to the point where she’ll draw her own blood. Kolt always hated it when Apria despaired like this, but he couldn’t blame her, it’s sometimes hard to do the things that they do.*


*Orine was finishing her incantation on the head as the sun finally slipped underneath the horizon. A cluster of constellations were already visible in the night sky as the heroes began to search for the final orc leader, Elak. Captain Kymer had trouble pinpointing the exact location of this leader - he was always a sneaky fellow. The party of adventurers weren’t afraid of such a detail and continued their search, the moon rising above them.*


*After what seemed like endless amounts of hours, Kolt spotted a lone figure walking along the meadows. With the bulky stature and movements, he assumed it was the final leader himself. Kolt didn’t like that Elak was alone - anything could happen to them. With swift footsteps, he approached the leader while Drato, Orine, and Apria prepared for the case of a sudden ambush.*


*Elak heard a soft thud of footsteps approach him as the winds changed and turned around, facing the human and the bow which he held. The orc didn’t feel any fear nor remorse, but a slight weight of guilt. The human doesn’t know, but Elak could recall all the times he had rampaged the towns of these odd creatures. This wasn’t what a leader was supposed to do - they support the people, not hinder them or any others. With a movement so quick that the human was even caught off guard from, Elak took out a dagger from his belt of weapons and slashed his neck open, falling to the ground as the black ash consumed his body. He felt no regret as the pain burned inside him, but instead, felt as if he regained a little bit of the honor he had tarnished throughout his tribal leadership.*


*For a second, Kolt had assumed that this was a decoy and the real leader would show himself. But as he saw the orc beginning to dissolve, he called out to his friends. Orine was wildly flipping through her spell-book as she ran while Apria and Drato covered her flanks, making sure that no other surprises would catch them. As Orine chanted her spells, Drato took a moment to glance in Kolt’s direction, seeing that the man was sitting on a rock and what looked like to be staring at the stars. Apria took small step towards Kolt, but Drato shook his head at her, letting Kolt the time to clear out his head. Whatever happened to Elak, Drato could only assume must’ve really left Kolt in a manner of shock. He himself was wondering if offering him any aid would benefit, but Drato held his tongue and followed the group as they walked back to Llevigar. Fatigue swept over all of the adventurers as they barely walked into the main plaza before Captain Kymer approached them, still wearing the brilliantly crisp uniform.*


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“Ah, so I take the mission was a success?”


*When no one responded, Captain Kymer gave a mere shrug and tossed a pouch of emeralds to Drato. He barely caught them before the Captain was walking back to his guard tower, glancing back at the adventurers for a brief moment…*


“This won’t lead us to war, but it will keep them at bay. My thanks, adventurers.”


*Kolt offered a simple wave before dragging his feet to the tavern, Apria and Orine barely managing to stand. Drato huffed silently to himself as he looked up at the night sky, noticing that several stars twinkled a little more brightly than the others. He wiped at his face and looking back noticed that they all seemed the same to him. Giving a bemused grunt, he rushed to catch up to the other members of his party, thinking why those stars twinkled so brightly as they did.*


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Word Count : 2078
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed it and more is soon to come!!
I'm glad to start getting back into these quest-lines, they're incredibly fun to do!
Until then,
~Katoshii​

 

So I was like "Hey Kato I love these characters but you could use more detail."

And the response was "I gotchu." And oh boy did you ever. This was a great improvement to the last one! I appreciate the "humanity" in killing orcs; they're living creatures, no longer the simple undead. Still, orcs are a formidable foe and not human nonetheless - in fact most of the time barbaric. Still, can't help but shake the guilt that comes with taking a life.

Also I like the description of how much this mission physically took out of the party. I started feeling sore myself after I finished! XD