Sometimes one might catch themselves off course when adventuring and quickly correct their path, but not often does one lose the path entirely without good explanation, and sometimes even then their misdirection is inexplicable. Achilles had apparently taken a wrong turn somewhere, and was desperately backtracking, though none of the distant mountain formations seemed to match the map he compared them to. Perhaps he'd been duped out of his coin, but the cartographer he bought it from was licensed by the Adventurer's Guild, they wouldn't sell him a phony map, would they? He sought higher ground to get a lay of the land better, climbing a hill to the east, only to be met with a strange yet beautiful sight.

The woods were expansive and extended in all directions save for the unfamiliar mountain range further east. The best he could do was scribble a crude drawing of what he could see from there, using what his father had taught him about land navigation, only just noticing an interesting break in the trees towards the west. He decided it was worth checking out, seeing as he was completely lost and getting even more turned around wouldn't matter at that point. It took several minutes to reach the break, and he was relieved to see a well worn path extending to the north and south. But now he had to pick which way to go, as he still had no idea where he was and his crude map was only a reference from where he had been minutes before. He thought to flip a coin and decide but the sound of wheels drew his attention southward, to a cart of what looked like a merchant or tradesman. Finally, he'd get some directions, get back on track, and finish his current quest.

His questions weren't completely answered, only leading to more questions, but the merchant was pretty kind to give Achilles directions to the nearest town. Of course the merchant was apprehensive at first, being approached by a lone swordsman on the road asking a million questions wasn't exactly normal unless it was to stall him. But the merchant must have figured he was no threat seeing as he did come off as someone misplaced and confused. Achilles had started with his affiliation to the Adventurer's Guild, getting asked about what the Guild was, only for confused looks between the two as the merchant had never heard of such Guild. Achilles then brought out his papers containing an account of the issuer, a witness statement of the cause for concern, and a vial of an unknown substance he was tasked to recover more samples of for academic minds to examine. Still the confused looks, but then he got a bit to go on about another merchant that had seen something like the substance coming from deep in the woods, causing creatures to become confused and aggressive. His advice was to get help with his adventure, and there might be someone to help him in the town of Faircrest.

Achilles thanked the merchant, having walked the road southbound for a while, pondering to himself about what he might see. He guessed the town was on a hill, as the name seemed to imply a ridge, but he'd never heard of it before. Then again his adventures hadn't taken him more than a day or two's walk away from his own home, so maybe he just didn't know as much as he thought. After a bit more walking the walls of a town came into view, and a feeling of relief washed over him, just a bit closer to some answers he hoped. It was a beautiful town, making him think of home, but he had to break the daydreaming to ask for directions. After several pointers and wrong turns he made it to a shop. Maybe they sold books about odd substances? He knocked on the door for the sake of courtesy and entered after a moment of waiting, preparing himself to explain his situation.

The shop was nice, containing a multitude of oddities on display and trinkets galore, which meant he must be in the right place. He was greeted by the shop owner, or at least the person at the counter, he didn't want to assume too much. He replied in kind, stumbling over his own words to ask about if they knew about an odd ooze or goo in the woods, getting a concerned look back. The owner was a fox, a bit taller than Achilles, with a sort of glow about him and his markings, the look of his face suggested he'd probably either encountered the ooze or was unfamiliar with it. He asked Achilles what more he knew of the ooze, but he didn't really know, only hearing a story from a merchant about it causing confusion and heightened aggression in the wildlife. Though trouble arose when he was asked to point out on a map where he met the merchant, as Achilles pulled out his Guild map, drawing further confused looks from the fox.

Another explanation of his adventure later and Achilles and Takkin, the store owner, who shared the same surname as the town, apparently named for his family's patronage and support, had narrowed down the likely area of the merchant's tale. Near the same area Achilles had first gotten lost in was a cave, though near was relative as that area was heavily wooded, and finding a single cave near those mountains could take a bit. So with a bit of preparation on Takkin's part and a bit of browsing by Achilles, who was certain his coin may not have value here, they were underway on a trek through dense woods. Achilles didn't show it but he was quite excited, only having been on a few adventures in a party, and now he felt like it was an important task as he was in an unknown land. After a bit of pathfinding the two had found a clue.

Small animal tracks puddled with the ooze led further towards the mountains and erratic bird calls surged up a feeling of dread as they cautiously followed the growing number of tracks, varying in size and shape, towards a foreboding cave mouth. It certainly wasn't inviting, but the air was still and the birds had stopped their ruckus, leaving the air heavy with an expectation of danger. Yet no beast surged outward to claw or bite, and the stillness was only broken by a small critter walking into the clearing and making a bee-line for the cave mouth, disappearing into the darkness within. The walls within the rocky expanse looked slick and the light quickly faded as the two inched their way down, hearing a sporadic dripping of liquid, as Takkin's hand started to glow along with his markings, illuminating the cavern they now stood in. Various tracks led further in, with piles of wealth spread along the floor, but with no sign of how they got there. Suddenly a creature called out, and the cave echoed deeply with the distorted sound. Trouble was brewing, and the cave was now alive with the sounds of slopping footsteps of animals taken by the substance. Achilles and Takkin took up positions beside each other, as now they were in too deep to back out now, and leaving trouble for the next person wasn't in the cards.

This wonderful piece was the result of a monthly raffle from   takkin and done by the wonderful artist   cookiemancer ! Both wonderful people you should check out!

Achilles is Mine

Takkin and the world of Faircrest is   takkin
Be sure to check his stuff out!

Posted with permission of the character owner and artist