Ishan fell into step beside him, the two of them following the trail to its stopping point at the base of one of the trees. “Who goes there?” rang out from the closest branch, melodic enough to seem from a song. Saul looked up but was unable to spot the speaker. Nevertheless, he responded, “My friend and I are weary adventurers. We’ve just come from the Dwarven Mountain and we’re looking to explore this land. We mean you no harm!” He looked at Ishan, ‘At least, I think he means no harm. For all I know this guy is some crazy evil wizard. He seems nice, though.’
The voice that had questioned them seemed to take a few moments to consider. A vine fell from the branch, and just a moment later an Elf in light armor slid down, his armor glowing softly in the shade of the trees. He was well equipped, two scimitars hanging from sheaths at his hips. He looked dangerous despite his slender build.
“Well met, friend. My name is Saul and this is Ishan. As I said, we’ve just arrived in the Forest and we were looking to explore for a while. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind telling us a little about this place?” The scout’s face showed an expression of surprise, one eyebrow raised, “You really did just arrive, then. We haven’t had many travelers from the gate yet. I’ve heard there have been rumblings of something dark brewing in the Forest, but we haven’t sent any parties out. We’ve been having our own issues.” At that, Saul bid the elf to continue, ‘Sounds like a quest or two.’
The elf decided to elaborate, “To make things more clear, we’ve heard that many people are being attacked between the gate from the Mountains and our village. We haven’t had the manpower to investigate because we’ve been dealing with raids from the elves of Sylethanas. We’ve had a friendly relationship with them for millennia, but lately there has been something wrong with them. They’ve been acting hostile in negotiations, their leadership seems to have been overtaken by sinister thoughts. We sent a group to negotiate, but we haven’t heard back from them.”
“How horrible!” Saul’s face distorted in concern as he considered their position. He felt like he had to help. ‘Why do I have to be the guy that always makes sure his characters are 100% good in video games?’ He asked himself with a sigh. “Tell me more, I’d like to help if possible.” A glance to his side showed Ishan was somewhat interested as well. Perhaps the man would accompany him to investigate the situation.
The elf turned and began to stride off, calling over his shoulder, “Follow me, I’ll show you the way to Sylethanas.” Saul and Ishan both sprang into motion to catch up, the elf speaking as if they were right behind him, “Historically, our villages have been strong allies. We’ve had small disagreements from time to time, but we have always had a friendly relationship. We’ve combined forces many times to defend our homelands from foreign threats.”
They continued on, reaching the edge of the clearing. “In the past few months, something has been off with their leaders. As I said, they began to grow hostile and distant. Then they ceased communications entirely. After that, the attacks began on our scouting parties. We’ve lost a few scouts, but we’ve been hesitant to escalate things further. That’s caused us to cease almost all patrols.” He paused for a moment, looking to Saul and Ishan, "I won't lie to you. The leadership of Sylethanas has been corrupted. They must be stopped. If you're able to help us, we will reward you very handsomely." He put a great deal of emphasis on 'very'.
'I'm not sure about all of this... I think I'll go take a look for myself.' Saul and Ishan met eyes. Understanding seemed to pass between them. "We'll look into this for you." The elf smiled and pointed off into the distance, indicating the path just past him, “This way leads to Sylethanas. Be careful on your way. The forest is full of aggressive and monstrous beasts. Our patrols usually keep their numbers down, but we haven’t been out in force lately. Good luck!”
With that, the elf faded into shadows before their very eyes. Saul and Ishan shared a look, “Talkative fellow…” Saul finally said, and the two of them shared a laugh. “So, what do you think?” Ishan’s head tilted to the side as if considering before he said, “I think we should check it out. It sounds like a threat worthy of heroic adventurers!” The man’s eyes practically shone as his lips turned up in a quirky grin. ‘Corny. I’d say the same thing, though.’
They set off at a quick pace down the pathway, both of them staying on their toes, wary of any possible attack from the beasts the elf had mentioned. Saul paid close attention to the noise of the forest, figuring if they heard silence it was possible a large predator was nearby. ‘Maybe that’s something I saw on Planet Earth.’ Beside him, Basi padded along quietly, the lizard highly adaptable to all the environments they’d come across so far. ‘Stay alert, bud’ He sent down to the beast.
