Eddie Bear

Episode 2: Eddie Bear

It was a cool, windy night and the smell of freedom was on the air. The gang struggled to sleep while Poisonblade struggled to stop driving the cart into rocks and bumps. She took a moment to frown at a nearby fox. What a trip this had been so far. Morning announced itself with an arrow embedding itself in the side of the cart. Struggling to see where it was coming from, Poison increased the speed as arrows kept coming and the rest of the party peeked out, trying to see who was shooting at them. All they could see was a little bit of movement behind a rock. An arrow embedded itself in the frame of the cart, almost making it inside. A high pitched scream reminded the gang of the guy they had captured the day before and promptly forgot about. John took the strength he had been saving by not being able to get out of his restraints and put it into mashing all the guy's teeth. He stopped screaming so loud and got busy spitting out all his teeth.

Safely out of arrowshot Birb Lad flew straight up to get a view of the land. In the distance a half naked man with striped pants and a bow ran frantically towards them. Birb Lad always struggled to make sense of these mysterious human ways.

In the cart John and Poisonblade huddled over their prisoner. The man refused to talk. John held up his fist and the man immediately told them of his start in a village, the slow descent into crime, the circumstances around the party's kidnappings, who he knew and everything he knew about them. He revealed that the cart they were travelling was immediately suspect as a smuggler's vehicle, since all legitimate traffic  across the long grass plain were carts with sails attached to take advantage of the constant wind. The group was shocked to realize that their blood drenched cart looked suspect.

Peering above, (Kulak? I'm really trying I promise) saw something that didn't fit with the scenery: some oddly shaped grass mounds. He majestically flew back into the cart to report his findings but before much could be discussed, they heard daisy shout from the driver's carriage, "Hey! I just got shot!" Thinking quickly, Poisonblade stuck her head underneath the cart and screamed, "We're not smugglers!" Three men showed themselves, their bows still trained on Daisy. "How coom ye be ridin a smooglers cart then!"

John realized something. He had to stop the cart FAST and daisy was still driving it! He could save the day no problem by wrenching the reins outside of daisy's hands again! Then they would know that he's a real hero! He leaped for the top of the cart and sailed in a magnificent arc backwards into the grass on his back, with the cart coming to a stop anyways a few feet ahead of him.

"Coom oot wi yer wepons dropped if yer not smooglers!" Shouted the tallest, and most needlessly stubbly man. Kulak and Daisy went to speak with the guys as Poisonblade yanked her prisoner a bit farther from the weapons. Gagging him. John ran to catch up with the group. The situation remained terse until Mcstubbles went and verified the evidence of their story. Apologizing for nailing Daisy with an arrow he offered them to come to Teine Barrow, his "huge town" of over 50 people!

They found an old collection of stone and earth hillocks populated by absurd characters. Soft Eddie and his super soft wife tended to daisy's wounds with a suspicious berry, and Hard Bert just stood there. Poisonblade bragged about how cool she was but the villagers didn't understand most of her big foreign words, until Daisy said they were adventurers. Getting excited, the village elder pointed them in the direction of town Shirrif, Brob. Brob sauntered over and they argued with him for a while before agreeing to look into a matter for him in exchange for a huge amount of money. Brob told a dejected Soft Eddie that he wouldn't be able to pay him this week and Soft Eddie & his wife left in tears.

Finally agreeing to help Brob, the party set off towards the well. It turns out the man who shot at them, Bruk Bruk had had an argument with his wife and left to cool off. His wife left for who knows where and two days later still hadn't turned up. Well Charlie hadn't come back from his well in a long time either, so it bore looking into.

Coming up the path the party stumbled across the shrivelled, desiccated corpse of Well Charlie and watched as a hideous plant creature sprang from the shrivelled body of Bruk Bruk's wife.