Martyn Caember went as soon as he received the summons. The Captain of the Guard wished to perform a patrol of the dangerous caverns of Covetous and Martyn, along with the newest Guardsman, Deathshot were to accompany him. With his iron ringmail bernie fastened, spear, shield, and warfork at the ready, Martyn saddled his horse at the Ocllo stables and set off to meet his Captain. Upon arriving at the rallying point, Martyn greeted Sir Martius with a salute. A friend and ally, Raven, was present whilst Martyn and Sir Martius awaited Deathshot's arrival. She expressed her interest in joining Sir Martius' patrol, but alas did not have the time to see it to completion and thus had to bow out. After several moments of waiting, Deathshot arrived, primed with his heavy crossbow. Sir Martius led the trio to the Ocllo moongate, where it ultimately took them to Minoc. After a short ride by horse southwest, Martyn found himself at the mountains which were home to the fiendish Covetous. Final preparations were made - Deathshot imbued Martyn and the Captain with Nightsight and magical strength, and then the three stepped inside. Traps! Martyn's horse was spooked by the flames that erupted all around him, sending Martyn far closer to the heat than he cared for, particularly whilst wearing iron. Sir Martius and Deathshot's steeds were more swift and capable, and deftly maneuvered around the infernos. Turning around the bend, the Guardsmen encountered their second danger: a nest of harpies! These foul creatures were repugnant, with oily feathers and soiled wings; one harpy's dirt-impacted claws scraped and scratched at Martyn's shield as he plunged his warfork into its neck. Sir Martius made short work of the harpy, dropping the heft of his warhammer upon its head, its skull emitting a splintering, wet crunch. Martyn quickly got to work with a dagger, removing the feathers from the dead foe. Deathshot and Sir Martius moved ahead. Deathshot's bolts found one target after another, riddling the flighty fiends with gaping punctures. Sir Martius swung his warhammer with seemingly little effort, crushing the ribcage of one harpy, the spine of another. Martyn found himself somewhat behind as he carved the feathers from the bodies. Before too long, harpy bodies littered the ground, the stench of their foul blood mixed with the stale cavern air and filth of the beasts themselves. The harpies were overcome and the Guardsmen of the Great Council continued forth. The system of tunnels was dizzying, and soon the group came to a dead end. Wanting to backtrack back to the main tunnel, Martyn could only watch as his Captain seemed to take an invested interest in what appeared to be a makeshift shrine with a candle upon it. Sir Martius spent several moments investigating it thoroughly, but little aside from the candle was revealed. The three continued onward, deeper into the cavern. Without much warning, some large and green slapped the ground in front of Martyn. At first thought it seemed to be a giant hand, but he quickly realized it was in fact a vine-like tentacle! At once he saw more of them nearby - corpsers. Their long, viney appendages waved and undulated in the air, snapping and whipping at anything that moved close enough. Martyn, Deathshot, and Sir Martius steered their steeds close to the opposite cavern wall and made their way quickly past, lest they find themselves becoming plant food. But a short distance further the three could see daylight once again. Emerging into the light, Martyn squinted and shielded his eyes with a gloved hand. The use of the Night Sight spell had made his eyes far more sensitive to the low-light environment of the cave, that the sudden burst of natural light all but blinded him. Upon recovering some semblance of vision, Sir Martius led the way through the mountain pass. After a moment, it became clear that there were friendly faces in the pass in the form of wandering healers. Their presence eased Martyn's anxieties of what the next cavern might hold. Though he did wonder about how they survive in the mountain pass. No doubt they must kill and eat the creatures of the dungeon to sustain themselves. After a moment of further riding and searching, the dark maw of the next length of the cavern was discovered and the Guardsmen entered. The trio were greeted with a mystery. A pair of blood-red pants on the ground near the entrance, and they offered more confusion, more questions than answers. The three pondered the pants for more moments than would be considered prudent, and then spurred by Sir Martius' leadership they continued forth into the cave. A menacing clicking sound emanated from somewhere above them. At once, a dark, bulbous shape dropped from its hidden, shadowy space on the cavern ceiling! Deathshot, quick with his crossbow, launched a bolt into the dread spider's abdomen, while Martyn plunged his war fork deep into its thorax. Sir Martius landed a devastating and mortal blow to the foul creature's face, leaving behind a large goo smear. Sir Martius lauded the Guardsmen for their work, but it was quickly cut short as the three discovered what was around them. Thick spun webs clung to the walls, and within those silky threads were large man-shaped cocoons. The poor souls, thought Martyn. A second dread spider emerged from the depths of its web and sprung upon the Guardsmen! Bolt, war fork, and warhammer made short work of the venomous menace. Upon its death, Martyn discovered a treasure map, no doubt left behind by one of the poor souls now stuck to the cavern wall. He passed it to Sir Martius. Martyn knew little to nothing of the business of treasure hunting. Escaping from the nefarious webs of the dread spiders, the three very soon found themselves in a narrow corridor that lead to an opening which contained a small pool of ground-water. A respite would be welcome, but that notion was dashed upon a most unearthly, ethereal sound. Emerging from the darkness, Martyn saw a large eye blink into existence. A second later, the large eye was joined by many smaller eyes. At once, Martyn doubled in pain, his stomach, ribs, and lungs tightened in cramps as a magical poison flowed through him. Sir Martius and Deathshot quickly sprung into action and the three engaged the elder gazer. The battle was an extremely difficult one. A gazer does not live to be a ripe old age unless it knows how to survive, and this one certainly did. The three flanked the beast, puncturing it with bolts and war fork piercings, crushing its eye-stalks with hammer blows. As the trio were landing the finishing blows, numerous new eyes appeared in the dark. A horrendous flurry of magic cascaded upon the Guardsmen and they were forced to retreat into the narrow tunnel to regroup. Sir Martius reared his horse and led the charge into the fray against the three new fiends. Martyn tried his best to support his Captain, but the overwhelming magical devastation wrought by these creatures was too much. With spells and bolts passing in the chaos, Sir Martius fell. The foul beasts (and an opportunistic cave snake) set upon the fallen Captain's horse. Martyn attempted to dissuade them, but his own injuries incurred in the melee prevented him from effectiveness. Deathshot, attempting to keep range on the hostile foes, succumbed to his own wounds. Much like the Captain's, the terrible beasts set upon Athalas, Deathshot's companion. Martyn was forced into a hasty retreat down the narrow tunnels. After a brief moment, Martyn regrouped with the spirits of his Captain and Deathshot. After a brief respite, the three would need to go back and retrieve the armaments left behind. A harpy and gazer blocked the path back to the fallen bodies. Martyn spurred his horse into action and, having donned his spear, charged ahead. He thrust his spear with as much strength as he could muster into the central eye of the gazer as his friends ran past, taking opportunity of the distraction Martyn afforded. Whilst finishing the gazer and turning his attention to the encroaching harpy, Martyn heard yells from his fellow Guardsmen in the tunnels ahead, along with voices which certainly did not belong to them. Screams were heard. Sir Martius, yelled down the tunnel for Martyn to run. He yelled repeatedly until it was silenced. Martyn only caught a glimpse before heading his Captain's command. It was no beast that set upon the weakened and unarmed Sir Martius and Deathshot, but villainous brigands. Martyn jerked the reigns on his horse and ran back to the mountain pass. Martyn waited a moment and listened with strained ear. He did not detect any signs of pursuit. Perhaps the brigands did not see him? He waited a moment longer and then slowly, and as quietly as he could, he made his way back into the cavern. He came upon Deathshot's body. It was liberated of its reagents, but little else. Martyn slung Deathshot's crossbow over his shoulder, and packed away his bolts and leather armor. There were two town runes which Martyn tucked away in a belt pouch. Making his way further, Martyn found the body of the Captain of the Guard. The splendid gold armor and fine purple silk adornments were still intact. The brigands did not liberate the Captain's body of his possessions. The Captain had too much on him, it was more than Martyn could physically carry. As quickly and quietly as he could, he unfastened the straps of the gold chain tunic and systematically removed the rest of the armor, shoving what he could into his saddle bags. He rescued the warhammer, along with the treasure map found earlier. Suddenly, a figure stepped from the shadow. It was a man, but it was neither Sir Martius or Deathshot. The man had but one action in mind, and that was murder. Martyn was ill-prepared. He himself did not think to bring a recall rune, nor a recall scroll and being completely untrained in the arts of magic, there was little he could do. Or was there? He had the town runes from Deathshot's body. Left behind due to lack of room on the Captain's body were recall scrolls. Martyn grabbed a scroll and began reciting the incantation the best he could having exactly zero experience with magic. The villainous brigand summoned forth a mighty, magical energy blast which struck Martyn square in the chest. With a stroke of luck that amazed him, Martyn uttered the last syllable of the incantation upon being struck and instantly found himself in Trinsic with a molten chest wound. The struck area sizzled. The iron rings of his bernie were charred, broken, and impacted inward. The wound needed addressing immediately. Martyn sucked in his breath and with gritted teeth he gave a startling yell as he pulled the ringmail off. The broken rings were pushed through his cotton undershirt and into the flesh. They were not removed easily or painlessly. Uncorking a yellow poultice with his teeth, he took a swig of the sweet ginsing concoction before pouring the rest on the charred, raw wound. He applied a bandage to the best of his ability whilst wincing the whole time. He re-donned his damaged ringmail and set off to the moongate. The moongate brought Martyn back to Ocllo where he met once more with his comrades and returned their belongings to them. Once the belongings were returned, the matter at hand turned to the treasure map that was discovered. No doubt, whatever was at the end of this map would be of great benefit to the King's Treasury. Sir Martius, being still too gravely wounded from his hardships in Covetous, told the two Guardsmen that a trusted friend and ally, Paddy O'Brien would take his stead, for he was an avid hunter of treasure. Martyn bid farewell to his Captain and wished him a speedy recovery. He made his way to the cotton fields of Ocllo where he was told Paddy would meet them. Whilst awaiting for Deathshot to recover, Martyn relayed the events of Covetous to Paddy upon his arrival. The seasoned treasure master laughed easily and knew first hand the dangers of Covetous and the villains that hunt those grounds. Little time was wasted as when Deathshot arrived the group departed for the treasure! Paddy, being the experienced treasure seeker that he was, took lead. The man struck Martyn as a bit eccentric as he laughed to himself while digging into the earth with a shovel. Dark, spindly legs emerged from the earth, followed by a disgusting and disfigured form of a spider. Before any action could be taken, a lich unearthed itself at Martyn's feet, and the ground near Paddy gave way as two hulking ogre lords clawed their way to the surface. Where these monsters were hiding underground was a complete mystery to Martyn. Martyn stuck his war fork into the lich. Paddy, the eccentric, started playing his tamborine. Deathshot unleashed a flurry of bolts into the mass of horrendous beasts. Spells and bolts flew in a seemingly endless stream, and Martyn's war fork thrusts were punctuated by the angry tamborine-playing from Paddy. In the heat of the battle, it would seem that Paddy the eccentric forgot which side he was on, as he engulfed Martyn in a violent explosion which nearly ended his life. With the chaos of battle subsiding, Paddy came to his senses, no longer racked with the bloodlust inspired by his tamborine playing, and the foes were dispatched with finality. Paddy offered an apology for his strange behavior. A metal chest was recovered from the earth. Deftly finessing the locks with specialized picks, Paddy managed to open it. Gold, magical weapons, armor, spell scrolls and more awaited the trio. What good fortune this will be for the King's Treasury! Paddy rubbed his hands together, grinning widely at the bountiful treasure. He was so focused on the shininess of the gold that he did not see a pair of fangs spring out of the ground and strike him in the leg. Another spider unearthed itself and set itself upon the group. Deathshot and Martyn quickly sprung into action whilst Paddy spasmed, inflicted with extremely deadly venom. It took numerous attempts to cure the terrible malady. Once cured, Paddy joined the fray and the three put the dread spider back into the earth. With the foes defeated and the treasure in hand, the three returned to the town of Ocllo. Martyn was pleased to see Raven nearby upon their arrival and regaled her with the story of the ambush in Covetous and the subsequent treasure hunt. After counting the gold, Martyn determined the King's Treasury was 7,500 gold richer after 2,500 gold was paid out to cover the expenses of new steeds and materials lost during the ambush of Covetous. There were also nearly a thousand feathers for the King's Yeoman, and numerous magical weapons and armor yet to be identified, and many spell scrolls. Although the patrol of Covetous itself failed and ended in ambush, the night ended in success.
Covetous Ambush was unlucky for the Council. Yet Sir Martinus and Deathshot shared a lucky dead, their blood flow into each other and strenthgen their brotherhood. Martyn as their resurrector gave his own soul and wisdom to them. Guardsman are more bonded to eachother as they shared death and life... Guardsman will be seen around the places where evil spreads and will with its' hole power defend the innocents.
