Fantasy Hunter’s Inn || Holes

[Genii]

Holes​

Location: A farm just outside of Colby
Type: Extermination
Quest Contact: Farmer Giles
Payment: 5gc (and a bag of turnips)

Description: Something has been digging great big ruddy holes in a farmer’s turnip field nearby, and he’s had enough! He’s asked the Hunter’s guild to investigate and get rid of whatever is causing them. You’ll find Giles just outside of the city gates.

Party members: Ramirez (H), Ivan (R), Percival (R), Saen (R), Meg (R).

Gwenymoo DualDragons redraider
Lost Echo


Despite the early hour, the city of Colby was wide awake and buzzing with activity. Locals and merchants were going about their business, and the guards posted at the gates were unbolting and shoving the heavy wooden doors open to officially start the day.

Visitors and pedlars began to trundle their way in, including a horse drawn wagon that had seen better days. Written on the side of it, in flaking white paint, were the words ‘Giles & Son’.

Its driver, an elderly coif wearing farmer chewing on a stick of rye grass, steered his cart to the side of the road and stopped his horse with a, “Whoah ‘dere Bessie!” There he waited patiently (/nodded off) for the Hunters Guild to arrive.

 

[Lost Echo]

Colby waking up was one of her favorite things. Especially with the extra shine from last night’s rain. It was rare that she could leave, instead of helping inside. She got the few stares that were normal, returned a few nods, and mostly enjoyed the walk to the gate. She still made sure to step in each puddle, her heel splashing.

It didn’t surprise her to recognize the farmer, vaguely. He’d likely occasionally delivered his products, but his hand would more often. Or his son, she realized once she puzzled out the sign. Still, it was nice to see a normal face after the guild hall. She held back, letting the bulk of Ramirez lead to greet him first. There was likely a protocol, something to confirm terms. She’d watch and learn. There was so much she didn’t know.

Genii (Percival & Giles)
Gwenymoo (Ramirez)

 

[Genii]

Colby reminded Percival of the poorer districts back in Renton, although it was cleaner here and the people seemed happier.

He carefully led his horse (Sam) through the city’s crisscross of streets. If he were alone he surely would have gotten lost, but Ramirez and Meg seemed to know where they were going.

As they strolled along towards the city gates, Percival couldn’t help but notice Meg’s unusual ears. He tried his best to be discreet as he looked, but he’d never seen anything quite like them.

Percival (& Sam)
Location: on route to the city gates

Gwenymoo Lost Echo

 

[Gwenymoo]

Ramirez had taken Thunder out of her stall and lead the way through Colby, the early morning air and the sounds of the city slowly stirring to life was always invigorating.

The land dragon pausing now and them to nip at weeds or to curiously sniff Meg, she hadn't met this new hunter before. Maybe they carried treats?

Ramirez waved and greated Giles warmly. "Mornin sir, we're here ta help ya with your holes problem. This is Percival and Meg." he offered a hand to shake. "Can you elaborate on the situation for us? Don't want any more of Colby's best turnips ta go astray now."

Location: on route to the city gates
Lost Echo Genii

 

[Lost Echo]

Once outside the gates, it was much more difficult to discreetly move out of the way of the literal monster Ramirez was guiding. Was the guild called Monster Hunters because they did so with monsters? How was that beast trained? It was huge! Was it to scare off anything else from attacking them from the city? They were supposed to fill holes! Holes, not pits. So whatever was making them could only be so big…unless they were footprints. She considered maybe the minotaur was better, before realizing, the other group might have a bigger lizard. She’d been hoping the stables would become a refuge again, but with those…

Meg stepped around Percival, keeping his horse between her and the lizard. It was likely a better meal anyway. She waved at her name, trying to look relaxed. Focus on the holes. Maybe the lizard is a vegetarian? Great, then it'd just kill for fun. Holes. Turnips were roots, right? Were they just dug up by something? Quietly and quickly, she supposed was the monster hunter part.

 

[Genii]

Percival’s horse fussed the top of Meg’s hair as the Hunters stood to greet their contact.

The elderly Farmer snorted awake as Ramirez’s spoke. He had a deeply wrinkled face, possibly from being out in the fields all of his life, and thick white eyebrows that he had to raise up in order to see the group better.

“Ah, Mornin’ Lads… n’ Lassie.” The Farmer said with a slight whistle. He didn’t appear to have many teeth. “Aye! Finest turnips you’ll find this far North… ‘least they were - till summat dug ‘em all up… [hard to make out cursing].”

“Should see the state o’ my fields.” He continued, getting rather flustered. “Ruddy great ‘oles everywhere… don’t know what ter make of it. Probably best if I show yer.”

Percival
Location: City gates

Gwenymoo Lost Echo

 

[Gwenymoo]

Thunder let out a disappointed huff as Meg retreated, guess she had to fuss Percival instead. Her soft pink snout mussed the young hunters hair.

"Hmmm maybe its theives??" Ramirez suggested as he listened to the farmer. "But aye best ya show us, hopefully something a few traps might be able ta fix."

Genii Lost Echo

 

[Lost Echo]

Okay. If she was doing this, then she was doing it right. She focused her attention, forcing the information flow around her--Lizard has not tried to kill us; maybe that’ll continue. Is hair edible? For lizards? My foot itches. I wonder what the horse’s name is, maybe the lizard is named too.--to the back of her mind. Turnips. Why just turnips?

“Then let’s head out.” She stepped forward, putting one foot on the wagon, “Since these two have mounts, how about I ride with you and you can tell me some more.” With his permission, she pulled herself up to sit on the bench with him. Her staff she carefully put in the wagon behind. “How long ago did this start?”

Colby Gates,
Genii (Giles, Percival)
Gwenymoo (Ramirez)

 

[Genii]

Percival couldn’t hold back a giggle as Thunder’s warm breath tickled his head. He reached up to pet her neck, whilst trying to listen in to what Ramirez and the Farmer were saying.

“You’re the experts.“ Giles said to Ramirez as he reached for his cart horse’s reins. “Tis a bit of a trek, but I see yer brought ‘orses. Come on… I’ll show yer the way.”

The Old Man began to turn his wagon in preparation to leave the city. He scooted over a little to make more room for Meg. “Yer very welcome Miss.”

“Hmm… ‘bout a month now I reckon. Took a while ter save the coin fer a bounty, else we’d’ve asked fer ‘elp a lot sooner.” From the state of the man’s clothes, cart and the measly quest reward, it was pretty clear Farmer Giles wasn’t well-off.

Percival put his foot into a stirrup and climbed up into Samira’s saddle. He seemed a very confident and careful rider as he followed along behind the turnip cart.

Percival
Location: on route to Giles’ Farm

Gwenymoo Lost Echo

 

[Gwenymoo]

Ramirez got up onto Thunder’s saddle and she gurgled a happy greeting before being tapped to escort the cart. The dragon easily kept pace with the old cart. “Perhaps when this is all sorted I can put in a word with the chef and see if they’ll take in orders for your turnips sir.”

 

[Lost Echo]

Seated beside him, Meg nodded easily, recognizing the challenge. She’d certainly not have been able to easily come up with 5g in a month. Not without incurring debts that’d take her many more to pay off. Without turnips to sell, she hoped Giles didn’t risk too much.

“Oh that’ll be a treat,” Meg says, hearing Ramirez’s suggestion. To be honest, Meg hated turnips. She’d eat them, not able to waste food, but they tasted like dirt to her, no matter how hard she scrubbed them. But politeness eases any way.

Still she worked to stay on topic, “Have any of your other crops been affected?” Even if he only sold turnips-which Meg could not remember-he’d have a garden for the family right? If you had no coin to spend, growing food was the obvious choice. She doubted an animal would care for the difference.

The ride was bumpier than she expected, but it was a treat to not have to walk. She wanted to look around, watch the road pass, but she couldn’t have acted younger than Percival was.

 

[Genii]

The farmer choked out a laugh, surprised by Ramirez’s offer. “Thank ye young man. That’d be most appreciated.”

“Aye! Whatever it is ‘as pretty much tore up the ‘ole farm. It’s not eatin’ nothin’… although we are missin’ a few goats… scared off by the rumblin’ most likely...”

The journey to Giles’ farm was pretty quiet, other than the rattling cart and the thumping of hooves on the dirt track road. The landscape surrounding Colby was flat agricultural land, dotted with the occasional farmhouse or barn. It was bordered by woodland in the distance and beyond that Baylin’s wall could occasionally be seen, for it was taller than most of the trees.

 

[DualDragons]

(came here from the og thread)

"Thanks." Ivan said to Barry before speedwalking out of the guild hall. He looks for the city gates.
(are they still at the city gates? Or did they leave?)

 

[Genii]

((Don’t worry, they only just went out the gates.

The farmer is leading them to his farm in a horse and cart. Meg is sat in the passenger seat, but there’s plenty of room in the wagon. Percival & Ramirez are riding alongside on their mounts.))

 

[Genii]

“Over here!” Percival spotted Ivan’s familiar purple horns amongst the crowd at the gates. He turned in Samira’s saddle and waved the man over as they slowly started to move out. The farmer’s old mare walked at an extremely slow pace, so Ivan could walk or get a lift from his companions.

The Turnip farm appeared to be the farthest holding from the city and reached right up to the forest.

Long before Giles steered them off the main road, it soon became apparent that these ‘holes’ he spoke of weren’t exactly small or confined to his farm.

A large deep crater (about ten foot wide) blocked the road at one point, but pedestrians and carts were simply skirting around it. There were a lot more, of a similar size, dotted all over the fields on either side.

Percival
Farmer Giles

Gwenymoo Lost Echo DualDragons

 

[Lost Echo]

“Rumbling? When do you hear it? At night?” Presumably he’d see the creature if it was during the day. As they continued on, Meg had grown used to the steady rhythm of the wagon, allowing her mind to filter through what she knew. So much so that when Percival yelled, she jumped, bumping into Giles. She almost turned to apologize, before she saw a monster standing out in the crowd. She turned to look at the farmer, trying to find someone to commiserate with. Maybe he would reject the…creature--it had wings.

They continued on, with the monster--what was wrong with these people?--and soon the ‘holes’ became apparent. Yet they were far from the turnip farm. When one was in the road, people calmly moved around it, as if it had been there long enough to be normal. “Why didn’t the other farmers pitch in for the reward?” Surely they were just as negatively affected. “Did these happen after yours?” Why hadn’t she heard of it at the taverns? It was just the type of thing people would--reasonably in this case--complain about. Admittedly it was near the opposite gate, but still. Why hadn’t this been more urgent? Sure, the farmer’s understatement surely made it appear boring--she remembered Percival’s complaint--but why was Giles the only one to bring it up?

 

[Gwenymoo]

Ramirez let Ivan up onto his mount, there was plenty of room on tte large drft dragon and Meg seemed too uncomfortable for him to join her on the cart.

He followed the farmers lead face darkening when they came upon one of the said "holes" a mighty bit bigger than expected... a wyrm perhaps? Or maybe a kind of large mole? How did this poor man even have a field left if this was the size of the holes?!? Cearly this was a more urgent quest with how this must be affecting others???

Genii DualDragons Lost Echo

 

[DualDragons]

"Thanks." Ivan says to Ramirez as he climbed up the back of Ramirez' mount. His facial expression changed a bit to scowling once he sees he was sat on a dragon.
However, that goes away once Ivan sees the giant holes before them.

Gwenymoo

 

[Genii]

The Farmer was beginning to look nervous and guilty as Meg asked her questions. Clearly the old man had downplayed the severity of his ‘little’ holes problem. Most likely because he didn’t have much money for the reward.

“All hours o’ the day… but more so in the evenin’s.” He answered. “Started out on my land, but it’s been spreadin’ these past few days…”

“Me n’ some o’ the neighbors informed the city guard… said anythin’ outside’r the city ain’t their concern. S’why I came ter the Hunters Guild.”

“Whoah.” Giles said to his old cart horse as they neared their destination.

Giles’ land was just a little ways from the main road. The farm house was a typical lime-washed wattle and daub hut with a straw thatched roof. It had a dilapidated barn attached to one side (a corner of which had sank into one of the gaping holes), and a stone brick well out front.

Percival brought Sam to a stop and tied her to the farm’s weather-worn picket fence. After praising the horse, he stepped up to the edge of the nearest crater-like holes and peered down into it.


Percival
Location: Giles Farm

Gwenymoo DualDragons Lost Echo

 

[Gwenymoo]

Ramirez whistled seeing the cratering of holes, climbing off of Thunder he offered Ivan a hand down before leaving the dragon un-hitched to anything as she casually nibbled on some of the greenery.

"Well ya know they don't care a'out nutthin if its outside the walls." He patted the farmers back "Big or small the guild is at ya call!" He anounced proudly as if he'd been rehersing that line for a while now.

He strode over to where Percy was peering in, "pretty darn deep, think I have some rope in the pack, soooo we could absail down there, maybe try finding the source of dis mess?" He looked back up and moved to inspect the well.

Location Giles Farm
Genii DualDragons Lost Echo

 

[Genii]

“Aye. Soft Southerners, the lot of ‘em.” The hunched Farmer said, in reference to Colby’s city guard. The elderly man was on the skinny side and he leaned heavily on a cane once he got down from the cart.

Percival glanced back as Southerners were mentioned. If the people here took a disliking to people from the South, perhaps he should keep quiet about where he hailed from.

The teen smiled as he overheard Ramirez’s little rhyme. “I get the feeling that whatever this is, isn’t exactly small… and it’s definitely not a mole.” He picked up a small rock and dropped it into the hole, counting how many seconds it took until the pebble reached the bottom with a faint ‘thunk!’

The old well appeared to be full of muddy brown water. If Ramirez looked into it, he might notice that the water’s surface suddenly began to ripple.

Over by the fence, Sam lifted her head in alert and seemed unsettled about something.

Percival
Location: Giles Farm

Gwenymoo DualDragons Lost Echo

 

[DualDragons]

“Aye. Soft Southerners, the lot of ‘em.” The hunched Farmer said, in reference to Colby’s city guard. The elderly man was on the skinny side and he leaned heavily on a cane once he got down from the cart.

Percival glanced back as Southerners were mentioned. If the people here took a disliking to people from the South, perhaps he should keep quiet about where he hailed from.

The teen smiled as he overheard Ramirez’s little rhyme. “I get the feeling that whatever this is, isn’t exactly small… and it’s definitely not a mole.” He picked up a small rock and dropped it into the hole, counting how many seconds it took until the pebble reached the bottom with a faint ‘thunk!’

The old well appeared to be full of muddy brown water. If Ramirez looked into it, he might notice that the water’s surface suddenly began to ripple.

Over by the fence, Sam lifted her head in alert and seemed unsettled about something.

Percival
Location: Giles Farm

Gwenymoo DualDragons Lost Echo

"Bloody hell!" Ivan said as he looks around at the gigantic holes in the ground.

 

[Lost Echo]

Meg was relieved when Ramirez took control of the other monster. He was definitely strong enough to handle both the lizard and the winged…beast. She could see its scowl before quickly turning to the front. Obviously, it was upset it couldn’t try to eat the weak humans. Her eyes flicked over Giles, well, Percival would at least be a decent meal.

The farmer grasped her attention once more with his answers and his expression. Her ears twitched as her mind ran through the information--all day, without being seen? Could it be underground? From the forest? She could see the looming trees--which were bigger than she imagined--they were taller than most buildings! She was glad she wasn’t going in there--Giles was the closest to the forest though if it was from there… Her gaze focused on the farmer again, laying a hand on his forearm. “Don’t worry, I know you’ve done everything you could. It was a good idea to go to the guild.” She squeezed it once, giving him an encouraging smile.

The farm looked quaint? She couldn’t imagine living in such quiet. And so much space. As she climbed down from the wagon, her eyes were darting around trying to absorb everything about this new place. She turned, to help the farmer down, before grabbing her staff and joining the group at the edge of the…yeah, she didn’t know what the right would be, but hole was too small of one.

The veteran spoke of rope and somehow going down there. What does abseil mean? “It rained a lot last night here too,” she lifted her boot, the mud sticking to them already, “I can sense a lot of water down there, a pool at least, though I don’t know how deep.” She looked at the winged monster, not wanting to talk to it, but wanting more to get something done before whatever caused this to come back, “Can you fly? Not just down there, but back up?” The wings looked real enough to her, but maybe they were like chickens, barely able to fly.

 

[Gwenymoo]

Thunder made a concerned whinny noise looking up from her nibbling, the fur along her spine standing up in alert.

Ramirez stepped back from the well. "Get back from the hole!!!" He shouted to the group. Something was coming!

Genii DualDragons Lost Echo

 

[Genii]

“You’re right.” Percival said to Meg, referring to the rainfall yesterday. His metal boots were sliding in the sludge a little. The teen wore a displeased cringe as he wasn’t looking forward to getting dirty. He quickly turned his head in alarm as Ramirez shouted from the well.

Just as the Veteran predicted, the ground beneath the group began to shake, and a low rumbling sound could be heard. Samira and the cart horse were understandably spooked and struggled against their tethers.

Percival made to run away from the hole, but unfortunately slipped onto his backside with a squelch.

If Meg was still inspecting the hole, she might have been able to see movement below, but her view would soon be obstructed. A sudden rush and explosion of muddy water shot out of the large hole like a geyser, eventually showering back down as brown rain and small rocks.

“… that’s new.” Giles commented.

Gwenymoo DualDragons Lost Echo