Now the group is on the run. They are wanted by the guard for the murder of one of their knights so they must hide out in a lot of unsavory places. Their only hope is to sneak out of the city but that's kinda hard when the entire city is on lock down.
Gram, who uses a disguise self spell to travel the city looking for options, decides to sell some of the loot they got in the sewer and forest tower in order to help pay for an escape. When he tries to sell the ZODIAC scroll, the merchant just laughs and says he doesn't need any of that junk and directs Gram to a wizard by the name of Chadwick who owns a shop in the city.
Chadwick: Tall, stringy, short hair and longish nose. He is busy playing with a fly buzzing around the desk when Gram walks in.
They chat. blah blah blah.
That's when the scroll comes out. And that's when Chadwick gets a face like this:
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| This is what his face looked like. |
He has heard of the zodiac scroll and had actually come to the city in order to find it. He says he is willing to help the group sneak out of the city as long as they take him with them. (Gram is suspicious, but he takes the win.)
This is the plan: Massive disguise spells that will allow the group to join a supply train that's going towards one of the bigger raiding parties for the city. They wait for their chance and then scurry away.
The plan goes well. They get out of the city without much hassle and join a supply train. With them are two knights, an archer, and a guy who just owns the horses they are using.
While riding they talk to their companions and learn that the city is under siege from goblins. Instead of fighting all out against them, the city counsel decided to close the city, and just wait for the horde to leave (they had the supplies so they were fine). They also sent out small raiding parties in order to weaken the goblins just encase a real fight broke out.
The problem is, some of the supply trains (like this one) have been getting hit by goblin raids as well. It is suspected that there is a mole someplace in the city giving out information.
It was about this time that Vaylan (bear man himself) starts to smell... sulfur? Yep, that is totally sulfur. That's weird...Boom. Horse is dead. Hit with a flying arrow right to the neck. Falls over like a drunk frat boy who skips leg days.
And that's when the goblins attack.
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| Goblin |
Now these guys start running up and yell, "Kill the non-beilibers!" (Yes you read that correctly. I am of the opinion that all fans of the beibs are secretly goblins in heavy makeup. Think about it: small, good at forming militia groups, and dumber than a high school freshman trying to convince the world that it's a grown-up now.)
Well, the group sets to work killing ickel-gobbli-kins. (Insert dramatic BOOM CRASH SLASH and ZING here.)
The fight isn't what matters. What matters is while the battle was going on, Chadwick tells Ornack that this was their chance to run. Just abandon the soldiers and slip away during the battle.
Ornack is now feeling the weight of a moral dilemma: Leave and hopefully these people survive or stay and fight, in which case they will probably die.
Ornack thinks... and thinks... and thinks...and thinks... and thinks...and thinks... and thinks... and thinks... and thinks... and so on.
They run. He yells to the rest of the group and they all follow suit, just as they see Worg Riders headed their way.
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| These guys are running into battle. They are Paladins of the Beiber world. |
Later that night, once they have made it to a safe location, Chadwick shares with them the legend of the zodiac rings.
Long long ago, there was an animalistic deity who hated the relentless march of man on nature. He warred against men but their progress would not be stopped. Eventually the deity felt his consciousness waning and decided to split his being into thirteen animal spirits. Each one could be distinguished by the fact that each one was much larger than it's mortal counterparts, was highly intelligent, and each worn a distinctive ring around it's neck.
The animals included 9 minor deities: the hound, the monkey, the ox, the boar, the toad, the frog, the hare, the bear, the tiger, the rat, and the snake. Also 3 major deities that ruled over their domain: the rooster in the heavens, the octopus in the sea, the elephant over all the land.
Once this zodiac was created, the old god faded away. These new gods were also no longer angry with the humans. So they ruled their domains in relative peace, though guarded them viciously if attacked.
At this point came a clan of dwarfs, who saw the chance to take control over those deities. The tracked down and slew three of them: the toad, the hare, and the rooster. Once the gods were killed, their rings shrunk down to be worn by someone new, and each granted them amazing power, each unique to the deity it came from. It wasn't long however until the dwarfs went to war with each other over the rings, and eventually split into three factions, and the whereabouts of the remaining deities was lost.
Until now...
Chadwick went on to explain that the scroll they had found could be used to find the others. He could translate the inscriptions and deciphered that the nearest ring resided in the city of REDWALL to the west.
At this point the group showed doubt. I'm pretty sure it was Vaylan who spoke up, asking how he knew these legends were true.
Chadwick grinned and pulled a long chain from under his shirt. On it was a black ring that was smooth on the inside and rough and bumpy on the outside. It gleamed in the light as he placed it on his finger and immediately thrust his hand into the fire. (the ring makes the wearer completely fire proof).
He then jumped nearly 20 ft from a standing position, disappearing into the dark before launching back again.
"This is the toad ring."
The group nodded in the mutual appreciation of the rings awesome. agreed to find the rat ring, and went to bed.
