After a Blackwold raid on Combe, guards from the nearby town of Bree arrive to calm the chaos and tend to the wounded. With danger pressing against the borders of Bree-land on all sides, bandit raids have become the least of the law's concerns- there are far fouler things which skirt through the shadows in this age. Thus, when Ellie Cutleaf, a retired brigand herself and current dog breeder, demands that revenge be wrought on the Blackwold's, the guards are reluctant to go chasing after souls who have almost certainly left this earth.
Distraught, the woman resigns herself to the local Combe and Waddle Inn, with her protege having been kidnapped along with others during the raid, the woman finds little solace. Until that is, she stumbles upon two odd folk- one full of youthful vigor and strength and the other with a firm yet restless frame.
The two introduced themselves as Ekkil and Onef.
Wandering blacksmiths, the two men took pity on the drunk and incapacitated woman who slured her words as she described the tradgedy that had fallen upon Combe. The younger man known as Ekkil initially attempted to shove the woman's problem's aside, they held no sway over a free soul such as him- yet Onef, a former member of the Rohirim, forced his nephew to action. The old man guaranteed that if the law would not help then the two of them would have to be an adequate substitute.
Drunk and still not quite understanding what was happening, Ellie agreed to help them sneak into the Blackwold hideout deep within the Chetwood to try and free those that had been taken prisoner. Ekkil, still not happy about the turn of events, begrudgingly agrreed- the two of them had originally come to do buisness with the local blacksmith, yet now they were being thrown head-first into a misadventure of monumental porportions.
After a few hours of walking through the moonlit forest, the three arrived at the hideout- the sounds of wolves and laughing men greeting them as they approached from the shadows. Only as they came close and manuvered past the sentries, did the atmosphere change. The air grew heavy, the sounds of the drunken bachanal grew louder, and the taste of wine and blood could be sensed in the very air.
Peering inwards, the three realized they had stumbled onto something darker than mere bandits. The bonfires lighting the ruins gave matter to method, the brigands had foolishly decided to throw some form of party- the reason for which was unkown. The highlight of the night it seemed was letting some of their prisoners fight each other to death, the winner would be set free.
Disguising themselves, Onef and Ekkil slipped into the Blackwold ranks, not receiving any trouble from the drunk bandits as they watched the carnage in the pit below. Further and further they went, sights of death, greed, and unleashed lust were common- Ekkil was tempted to draw his sword right then and there, if not for the calming hold that his uncle had over him. It was a good thing too, for the further they went into the crowded ruins, the more that uneasy sense of dread crept into the two men's hearts.
Finally, they reached the back of the old rubble hideout. Still in disguise, the two men saw with shocked eyes how Jagger Jack, the leader of the present force, slit the throat of a captive in front of two red-robed men. The blood congealed on the floor and seemed to seep into the earth, a single skeletal hand springing out from the ground shortly after and handing a parchment to the bandit leader. The very sight of the inhuman force was enough to make Ekkil's knees buckle somewhat, it was not of this realm, whatever it was.
The motion seemed to have been enough to warrant an inspection as a sober brigand approached the two men and questioned them, to which Ekkil promptly shook off his paranoia and impaled the man in the chest with a steel greatsword. A shout of alarm went up throughout the camp, Onef swore under his breath but made no objections to his nephew's actions, the two men were going to have to fight their way out it seemed.
Before the chaos could begin however, the two men ambushed the red-robed strangers and turned their ire to Jagger Jack, although the man held the two off long enough for his drunken guards to arrive. Knowing that time was of the essence, the two men cleaved their way through the drunk horde or brigands and fought their way back out to the slave pits. Onef held the bandits off while Ekkil freed those that were captured, rallying them in a manner which Onef took note of. The younger man led the charge into the group, cleaving a path and injuring Jack in the process, nabbing the scroll he had received from earlier. With wolf and man falling to the small force left and right, the freed villagers scrambled into the dark forest and promptly ran for their life.
Onef and Ekkil managed to find the still somewhat drunk Ellie, reuniting her with her protege, but then resumed running for their lives until the broke through the Combe treeline and found themselves back in the comfort of the Combe and Waddle Inn.
A misadventure, a scroll, and a new enemy- all souvenirs for a buisness trip gone wrong.
