The party woke up on Day 2 of the month of Hammer in the year of the Warrior Princess, yup we have a calendar. Each week is 10 days long and each month is 30 days. There are still 12 months in the year though. It was around mid-winter according to the time but this area was sunny and warm like summer. Upon waking, Aleera sent out her sprite to find Malachi and food. Malachi, of course, was sleeping outside the guild walls in a doggy pile with his now giant wolf and the two mastiffs Aleera summoned for him from her Robe of Useful Items. They were inseparable now. Milo left immediately upon waking, without speaking a word to the rest of the party.
After a hearty bowl of breakfast soup, Aleera changed clothes as per her patron’s request. He asked that Aleera always wear a different outfit each day. It is so boring to wear the same thing twice. When they arrived at the guild hall reception desk they were informed that there were still tests to determine the new members’ ranks. Their test required that the 2 teams that they were split into, arrive at the general store first and acquire a box that they must then deliver to a customer deep in the woods north of the guild hall. The contestants prepared to start and took off at the first opportunity.
Milo arrived at the general store and got a hold of the box first! Kariss and Aleera zoomed in second on their brooms with Kaladrax and Malachi running to catch up. With the second team hot on their heels and able to take the box if they could, Aleera had to think quickly. She cast command on Milo and yelled, “SHIT!” Milo began to shit himself uncontrollably. It was so much that it caused a slick that stopped the second team from catching up. Milo had to continually cast Prestidigitation on himself as he ran towards Malachi and handed over the box. Eventually the command stopped and he was able to clean himself for good. While the other team was “busy”, the party asked for directions and got under way to deliver the goods.
The party ran by the other team on the way out of the general store and Milo tried, with disastrous results, to steal their rogue’s daggers. Arriving at the stables, they picked out horses and paid with haste. Kaladrax pulled the little girl in charge of the horses aside and bribed her to make sure the other team was delayed. She let the party know she could delay them by three hours and they left with more confidence in their ability to complete the quest. They also had to deliver the goods by sundown on the second day so they had to hurry. As they exited the guild wall entrance, Milo Warded it to alert the group when the other team left the guild grounds.
They traveled down the road for a few hours at a brisk pace. The party eventually reached a fork in the road. There was a sign stating directions. To the right was The Forest and to the left was Jolly Momo’s. They never found out who that person was because the party took the Forest direction that they were told was correct. They continued on their way, but not before Karris switched the signs to their opposites to throw off the scent. After a while of riding in the right direction, the team had to dismount and continue on foot. They tied up the horses and left them in the care of Malachi’s wolf and dogs. Further down the road they came across a band of orcs and fought them off successfully.
After a few more hours the party reached a clearing in the woods with a giant, ancient tree in the center. There was a quaint little house built around the trunk. They knocked on the door and were met by an old gnome alchemist named Tragrim. He introduced the group to his wife and daughter, Trili and Trina and told them to get comfortable. They waited for an hour while the gnome prepared a potion as payment for the box. The second half of the race was to deliver the payment to the guild hall by sundown on the second day. It was just getting to the end of the first day. As soon as the potion was ready, the party took off back towards the guild hall. They took a shortcut through the woods, off the path, to gain more time. It was just getting to be dusk when the party came across a clearing in their wooded shortcut. The area was silent except for a beautiful lilting melody floating through the air…..
The Adventure Begins: Stories from the Wife of a Dungeon Master 