An old wagon being pulled by two old chestnut horses is slowly making its way down a neglected road in the far reaches of the Rhyne Duchy. A young man sat on the back, hanging his feet over the edge while looking out over the vast meadows to his left.

The young man was named Leo, he sat there talking with his companions for this mission. A pretty young lady, dressed in a blue robe with dark hair and blue eyes, asked Thomas the coachman if they were close to the goblin cave yet.

“Vara enough” replied Thomas, “you’ve asked me every 15 minutes for the last four hours and I told you this morning, that we had a full day’s travel in front of us, we’ll make camp tonight and attack the goblins at dawn tomorrow.”

Leo laughed as he said, “Vara I’m sure if you ask again, we’ll be just a little bit closer.”

To which Thomas responded with an angry yell, “Leo, shut up, we don’t need you egging this idiot on.”

Leo just shrugged his shoulders and turned to his last companion, a tall middle-aged woman with red hair and a face covered in freckles, and asked Ashley, “does he always get so mad?”

Ashley quietly said, “you guys should be more focused on our surroundings than trying to annoy each other, we’ve been following the edge of this forest for a while now. If you haven’t forgotten the details of the mission, you should be aware that this stretch of road is where the majority of goblin attacks took place. All of you had best focus before we get ambushed.”

The party of four had been hired at random from the Tarvok Adventurer’s guild, 3 days ago to eliminate a band of goblins that has been raiding a few of the small settlements and farms on the border of the duchy’s land. Thomas and Ashley were partners and in charge of the current mission, as both Vara and Leo were hired to assist the pair.

Leo leaned back and looked up at the clouds while thinking, I’m a lot less worried about goblins than I am being this close to the border.  Relations with the empire have been tense of late, the fact that we have been hired for something like a goblin subjugation instead of sending soldiers shows just how nervous the Duchess must be.

He asked, “how long has it been since any of you took a mission outside of a dungeon?”

Thomas responded saying, “Ashley and I, tend to take a break every few months to do something in the world, it helps relieve the stress that builds up in a dungeon. Just being able to relax on the trip is something that we find impossible within a dungeon. How about the dumb mage over there?”

“Who are you calling dumb?” shouted Vara, “I spent the last month clearing dungeon overflows around Tarvok, so I guess, I spend less time in the dungeons than you guys? But with more dungeons constantly appearing, culling all the monsters that escape them is getting harder and harder. So, I also needed a break, and what’s better than a week spent in the countryside, even if I do have to kill a few goblins here and there. Much more relaxing.”

Leo sighed; “I’ve spent the last 6 months working for a dungeon party as their scout. This is honestly my first time taking a non-dungeon-related mission since I became an adventurer.”

Vara looked at Leo with a surprised face and asked “you spent the last 6 months constantly in dungeons? What is wrong with you?”

Thomas and Ashley also looked shocked at the amount of time Leo has spent within the dungeons.

Leo just chuckled and quietly mumbled “I didn’t have much of a choice.”

As the group quieted down, Leo decided to check his status.

I’ve spent 6 months risking my life now and I still have nothing to show for it. Leo sighed as he thought about what to do once they got back to Tarvok. With the pay from this job, I’ll have 8 gold to my name, about enough for the next month, if I rough it. I spend as much as I make trying to clear monsters from dungeons and I’ve never had a party that was remotely capable of clearing one.

At least while we’re out in the middle of nowhere like this I don’t have to worry about trying to afford my lodgings for the night.

As Leo was Lost in thought, the day started to slip by and slowly the party of 4 got closer and closer to their destination.

They could see a large cliff a few hundred meters into the forest on their right. According to the details they got from the guild, the goblins should have made their home in a cave somewhere along that cliff.

Thomas pulled the reins to the left and the two old horses pulled the wagon onto the grass beside the road.
Once the horses came to a stop, Vara jumped off the wagon and stretched as she said.

“Finally, I can move again, 3 days of constant traveling really takes a toll on a girl. So, what’s the plan for tonight?”

Thomas got down off the wagon, to tend to the horses and said “we’ll set up camp here for tonight, but since we are so close to where our target should be living, we won’t be lighting a fire tonight. Set up your bedrolls behind the wagon. We’ll each spend 2 and ½ hours on watch tonight starting with Ashley then Leo then Vara and I’ll take the last shift. Does that work for everyone?”

The other 3 all nodded their heads in agreement as they started to set up their camp for the night. Once the group had their sleeping arrangements set up for the night Vara asked, “Hey, if these goblins are set up in a cave, do you think it could be a dungeon?”

Ashley replied saying “it’s doubtful it’s a dungeon, goblins tend to make their homes in caves, and I’ve also never heard of any dungeons popping up in this area before.”

 Vara thought for a moment before saying “would it be that strange for a dungeon to appear here though? I feel like every time I hear any news, it’s always about new dungeons appearing.”

Thomas had a serious look on his face as he said “that may be true, but it is far more likely to just be a goblin cave. But we should still treat this as seriously as any other mission, dungeon involved or not. It’s not uncommon for parties to be wiped out by goblins. A lot of adventurers let their levels get to their heads and think they are invincible when taking on some of the less dangerous monsters. So don’t look down on them just because they are goblins, I want to return to Tarvok with everyone alive, got that?”

“Yes, Sir” everyone responded.

“Alright, unless anyone else has anything important to say I’m ready to get some sleep.” Said Leo as he crawled into his bedroll. “it’s been a long day and I am beat.”

Thomas was about to respond when an arrow hit him straight in the throat.

Seeing this Ashley panicked as she rushed to his side to try and help him, but it was too late.

Leo and Vara struggled to get out of their bedrolls and make it to the wagon to try and take some cover, but the group was already surrounded.