A deadly picnic

Part one:
While we were hunting

A simple orc hunt quickly evolved into an expedition into unfamiliar settings and a lethal encounter with a goblin king.

By Albertus Strong - August 20, 2001

Hunting orcs

This peaceful surroundings made us wish we had brought a picnic with us and we laughed at the silly thought.

Albertus Strong, my character, was invited yesterday by James Arhy, the Ruler of the archers, to join him in a friendly orc hunt in the vicinity of Lighthaven. He was looking for studded leather garments and these monsters were known to drop such items at their death. I agreed without hesitation since I was eager to gain experience as I had just reached level 15 and had a long way to go before the next one. I knew that the next level up would bring me the points I needed to finally be able to wear studded armor and equip a powerful axe, instead of a pitiful rusted long sword.

Experience heaven!

Our haphazard hunt had brought us into an unfamiliar region at the north of the city. It was surprising that we didn't know of it as it was so close, but there it was. The road was circling a great expanse of grass that in turn was surrounding a small grove. This peaceful surroundings made us wish we had brought a picnic with us and we laughed at the silly thought.

Barely a few steps into this strange place, we stumbled upon an unusual concentration of goblin warriors and goblin scouts. "EXP. HEAVEN!" shouted repeatedly James Arhy as he danced around the goblin warriors, spitting his deadly arrows at the monsters. Indeed, our experience points were suddenly increasing at a refreshing speed. This was surely a spot to remember! At last, an alternative to the long trek to Windhowl to find monsters with a substantial xp reward.

In our killing frenzy, we barely noticed the sound of fire darts being thrown in a fight near us and the increasing number of goblins assailing us. In the heat of the fight, James and I lost sight of ourselves and we quickly got overwhelmed by the goblins. It is at this moment that I noticed fire darts being fired toward where James was fighting for his life. As I tried t reach James to heal him and give assistance, I heard the sound of poor James teleported back to his sanctuary by his destiny gem. At the same moment, to my great surprise, a yellow goblin appeared began shooting his deadly darts of fire towards me. I tried to fight, but my health was falling and I quickly reached the end of my supply of potions. So I chose the better part of valor and ran as fast as I could towards the city.

Confusion

As I ran away, I heard James shouting from the temple in one of his famous rage "ALBERTUS YOU SHOT ME!!!" I will forgo here some of the words that escaped his mouth in his anguish as there may be ladies reading this sad chronicle. I explained that the fire spells that caused his death came from a yellow goblin, and that since we handn't reached level 25 we couldn't fight each other anyway. This seemed to calm his righteous anger and I went on my way.

In my shame and confusion, I got lost and finally found my way to the city through the west bridge. Once I reached the potion shop and restocked my supplies, I swore to gather a new hunting party and get that mysterious yellow goblin!

A Deadly Picnic, Part 2 :: Hunt for the yellow goblin