First post from Corrin Kheldar, at last

The Aeviternal Adventures of Corrin Kheldar
~Chronicled by Biloquy Barnard

Issue Three: early Freyja 894

When last we left our hero, he had not long made his egress to the city of Brindol ere his talents came to the attention of a Lion of the city guard, one Basha, whose aid he in turn enlisted in sundry matters. We find Corrin Kheldar in the wake of a most successful evening, that of the city’s Mead Festival, in which the streets flowed with wealthy merchants and guildmasters, to say nothing of fermented honey, even bigger marks than usual.

It was the following day, as evening fell, that Kheldar arrived at the Laughing Manticore to celebrate the graduation of his new associate, the wizard Arnold Sol, from Brindol Academy. Just as he raised his cup of mead in toast, the doors to the place burst open and in poured a platoon of hobgobins, garbed in the livery of the Red Hand and shouting cries of “Sidroth!” In one smooth motion, our hero drew a dirk sharpened to a razor’s edge, vaulted over the trestle-table, and pitched it through the black of a hobgoblin’s eye, without spilling his mead, and with such force that it sank to the hilt as the foul creature collapsed, its death too swift to permit a cry of pain. His movements too quick to capture, Kheldar first dispatched another goblinoid, then deftly dodged a burst of mage-fire as the enemies fell around him. As thrown torches lit the bar ablaze, he roused a patron, deep in his cups, aiding his escape from the inferno, before returning to the battle to dispatch two more of the invaders.

Moments after finishing this skirmish, Kheldar spotted a new threat: a mighty ogre pulling a cart laden with archers and incendiaries. Valently charging this new foe, and stinging it with his mordant blade Arondight, he accepted its attacks unbowed. As battle raged his potent phrases inspired his comrade Arnold to fight on despite his grievous wounds, a ball of flame setting the ogre’s cart alight and bringing the beast to the ground.

As word of these latest exploits spread, our hero and his new associates were invited to meet with a young member of the Brindol council, Efram Toys, and begged to take on this quest: to retrieve mighty artefacts and frightened hostages taken by those hobgoblins who attacked the South of Brindol while our hero was occupied in the North. Modestly assuring Councilman Toys of his abilities, Kheldar took on this charge, his valiant associates eager to begin.

If the city fathers had any doubts in Kheldar’s abilities, they were laid to rest as he led the interrogation of one of the Hand’s crack operatives, fortuitously found by the city guard and captured at much cost. One glance at the proud creature, battered and besplattered yet defiant nonetheless, told our hero that force alone could never break such an adversary. Only a mixture of force and favour, wisdom and wounds, glory and guile, would serve. First he called the imposing dragonborn warrior Basha to menace the creature. Then, remarking on the heat, and coiffing from a flask he’d bought for the occasion, Kheldar called her off and offered the goblin a drink. Informed by the paladin of the creature’s belief in his vision of conquest, and aided by a beguiling fey-elf, our wily hero, convinced the foe that while Brindol would never set him free, some measure of cooperation could spare his life, leaving him to serve his lord again at the city’s fall. The pact was sealed when the wizard Arnold’s rich knowledge yielded a hobgoblin blood-oath which Kheldar slyly adopted, duping the naïve foe into drawing a map to his master Sidroth’s lair.

This map in hand our hero and his party began their quest. Here the ranger Emtih proved his worth, tracking ever onward, albeit with the help of the map. As Emtih led, the others marched on through the wilderness, Kheldar’s endurance inspiring his comrades (especially Arnold), and his efforts, swimming rivers and scaling cliffs, guiding the way.

As for what took place in this Sidroth’s lair, the catacombs below a ruined castle, we must await the next instalment in the Aeviternal Adventures of Corrin Kheldar.