Wildrunner Story One: Special Mission

[Dungeon Master]

Wildrunner
Story One
Chapter One: Special Mission
Hythanas Ambrodel Created by Paul B. Thompson and Tonya C. Cook

Characters in this tale
Qualinesti/Silvanesti culture and identity has so intertwined by this point during the long exile. but for purposes of identifying Characters-

Captain Hythanas Ambrodel-Young, brave, Qualinesti, wildrunner. light hair

Falael Wildrunner male, solid commando of Silvanesti, dark hair

Saida Wildrunner female -All elves are archers; she is one of the best. From Silvanesti - dark hair




Eastern Ansalon

Tamon Busuk Region

Within 50 Miles of Neraka


The Windriders drop the wildrunners, under the cover of darkness, at their landing point on the side of a mountain and depart to head to extraction zone many miles away. On the watch for Dragons.

The Wildrunners are now alone, deep in enemy territory. Nowhere is safe. The Elves are draped in elven cloaks. They move with assured and steady quickness. They know they have until the sun comes up to reach the extraction point, so they move with a purpose. Not a part on their elven armor rattles, everything has been sound proofed with material, tying down anything that might make an unwanted noise. They each have a firebane shields on their backs. Armed with knives, and a elven long sword and their bow and an extra capacity quiver of arrows that is fitted to not rattle around.

Their mission is to get the Giants mad enough to give chase, and lead them into the Dark Knight army that is camping.


They make good time to their destination, careful to not make any sound.


They reach their targets. A group of six Giants that has claimed this section against ogres and Dark Knights.

The Elves observe the Giants are arguing which of them are taller.

The Elves line up their shots with their bows and nock their arrows. They aim and Captain Hythanas Ambrodel tells them in a quiet elvish voice- “good luck, fire.”

[Dungeon Master]

Wildrunner
Story One
Chapter Two: Move

Eastern Ansalon


Tamon Busuk Region



Within 50 Miles of Neraka




The arrows hit their marks.

All three arrows hit the calf area in the back of the legs. They fire again at the other three, moments later an arrow without an arrowhead strikes the tallest one in the face.
Not many things can pierce a Giant’s tough hide, but these do, and they hurt. They look for the culprits and don’t see anything. More arrows strike their hands. And that is it. The Giants come running in the direction the arrows are coming from.

“Move!” Hythanas says.

The three run back over the ridge and continue firing to make sure they continue up the ridge.

The Giants are running now. One was struck in the eye and he is yelling and running faster than all of them. The elves start running all out. They run toward the Knights Camp.

The Giants are lost when they top the rise.

One of the archers shoots a fire arrow to catch their attention.

The Giants stumble down the rocky slope. They can see three figures now. Running towards campfires.

The Giants start running.

The Elves full-on run toward the Dark Knight lines.

The elves stop and shoot the Dark Knight sentries closest to them before the Dark Knights can react.

It doesn’t matter now anyway. The footfalls of the giants wake up everyone in the camp.
The Elves run parallel to the camp and onto the next rise

Behind them, they hear the Giants catching up.

Horns begin blowing from the camp to get the Dark Knights into formation.

It catches everyone’s attention and elves hide in their cloaks when they see the Giants have turned towards the Sounds of the Horns.

The Elves see the Giants and Dark Knights enter combat.

The elves run up the next rise and disappear.

[Dungeon Master]

Wildrunner
Story One

Chapter Three: Extrac-

Eastern Ansalon

Tamon Busuk Region

Within 50 Miles of Neraka


The three weary wildrunners arrive at their extraction point fourteen minutes later, out of breath and hoping that their extraction is coming.

They hear horns in the distance, then a strangled horn sound. The distant footfalls tell them the giants are still alive.

There is a sound of flight and a griffon lands above the elves, on the side of the hill.

Falafel climbs aboard.


The elves hear a different sound in the wind.


A uncontrollable fear grips them.



Saida and Captain Hythanas Ambrodel barely have time to move out of the way of the Red Dragon that soars in and half bites, half rakes with front claws, and rips the first extraction Griffon and riders apart.



Dragonfear washes over the area-



The two surviving wildrunners run for their lives and try to hide.

[Dungeon Master]

Wildrunner
Story One
Chapter Four Hide

Falael and the first extraction Windrider and Griffon team are dead.

Captain Hythanas Ambrodel and Saida are hiding under their elven cloaks and behind Firebane shields.

They don’t know if Extraction Two is alive or dead, left the area, and are in hiding for their lives somewhere.

They know of Dragon Magic; they wonder if they are already detected. A couple more hours and the sun will be up. Dark Knights and worse may comb this area for intruders.



High above, the Red Dragon known as Firestrike, flies above the area. He is sure he saw the elves go in this direction. The Red lives and lords over this region.



The Wildrunners escaped with their lives. Now they are deep behind enemy lines, with little hope of reaching the fallback extraction point with the Red circling above. So, they wait. Wondering if they can find a window to escape.

[Dungeon Master]

Wildrunner
Story One
Chapter Five: Red Dragon

Eastern Ansalon

Tamon Busuk Region

Within 50 (or so) miles of Neraka




Nerve-wracking.



That has been the feeling all day.


They are not sure when they heard the last footfalls of the Giants, but they have either fallen or retreated. The Wildruners don’t know how successful their mission was as they have been pinned down under their Cloaks of Elven-kind. The ever-present threat of the Red Dragon that took out one of the Griffons and their team member still haunts them. They watched the Red use his fire breath weapon on a few passes where the Dragon thought they were.


They wait for darkness to try to slip away.



Just then the Red Dragon lands seventy feet away and is looking around. It begins sniffing the air.

[Dungeon Master]

Wildrunner
Story One
Chapter Six: Sacrifice

Eastern Ansalon
Tamon Busuk Region
Within 50 (or so) miles of Neraka





Wildrunners

Captain Hythanas Ambrodel

Saida









The Red Dragon Flamestrike is just seventy feet away.



The Good news. Flamestrike cannot use his breath weapon for a while. The Bad news is he has his senses and he thinks he is on to something.




Scenarios race through elves’ heads of what the next play is. Their lives only have minutes left unless they can pull off a miracle. They are not entirely hopeful about their chances. Seconds tick by measured by…………






The Sun is at midday.






Tension mounts.






Both elves know now that either one of them has to sacrifice, to draw the Dragon away so that at least one of them might escape and live.





Saida thinks it over. Captain Hythanas Ambrodel will offer, he always does. But he is important to the cause and the Nation. I’m just good with a bow and arrow. The blood of a great house must be preserved.




While Hythanas is praying to some good god, any one of them to watch over his wife and child, and his sisters. He’s ready to commit to sacrificing himself, but he’s not ready to die. His beloved wife, his baby boy. He’s caught between the need to live for them and the duty that tells him to give it all up for the cause. He hesitates.




He sees her get up and run as far and as fast as she can, all while nocking an arrow to her beautiful elven bow. An award won at the spring Dawn festival, back in the good days. She was Fifty-One, the youngest contestant. She beat them all. All of them. She was one of the best.



At first, the Dragon doesn’t react, it's surprised as hell that the elf appeared out of nowhere. He wonders how more there are. He curses that he wasted his Flame attacks on shadows and rocks before. The Red Dragon thinks of different spells he could cast as he watches the elf run. She has chosen a route that has put boulders and rock formations in the way of a full-frontal attack. He sees the Bow and Arrow and wonders if it would do anything to him.



Flamestrike starts to plot his attack. He sees gaps in the boulders, it seems this one is playing a game.

[Dungeon Master]

Wildrunner
Story One
Chapter Seven: Saida

Eastern Ansalon


Tamon Busuk Region



Within 50 (or so) miles of Neraka




The Red Dragon Flamestrike has lost the elf.




She may be behind that outcropping there. He starts moving toward the land formation. They are not there, but they were.



He looks around and for a moment, in his left eye he sees movement where there wasn't before but that made no sense unless



He hears the Bowstring release




Saida's shot is true, the last thing Flamestrike's right eye saw was the arrow that punctured it.



He waves his great head in pain and agony and anger.



The moment he tries seeing with his left eye, a second later, an arrow pierces that one as well. A shot from Hythanas.




Flamestrike is enraged. He begins lashing out everywhere. He tries to fly but fears it will crash into the mountains. He lands and roars in anger.





The Wildrunners run from the area.

[Dungeon Master]

Wildrunner
Story One

Chapter Seven The End of Flamestrike

They run. They hear the Red curse them. They then hear it running for them. Its is still back there, but he must have their scent. The ground shifts and the wildrunners run and jump as a Tylor rises from under the ground.

A Giant wingless Dragon, a descendant of a mated Dragon and Hatori)

The Red is coming into its territory. Never mind the Elves, it goes for the Red. They clash with one another and the fight is on.

The Wildrunners take their bearings and go by what they know of the area, There are ogres, Hill Giants, Dak Knights, Dragons, Tylors, and whatever else that’s out here.

One thing at a time. They check how many arrows they have left. They have 24 between them. They will conserve unless they have no choice.

“Thank you,” Hythanas says to his fellow Wildrunner. “I know you were going to sacrifice yourself. I’m sorry.

Saida says “Don’t be, one of us had to do something. We just ended up changing the dynamic. If you hadn’t tried to get closer, it wouldn’t have worked. What were you doing, going to use your sword?

He flushes a bit; “I was trying to make up for my cowardness. I didn’t even think about changing the angles. It turned out perfectly, I thought we were goners.”


Well, we are not out of this yet, as you say, there are still ogres, hill giants, and who knows what else. Saida replies. What do you think? Lowlands or Highlands?”
Lowlands and use the Highlands left open as an option.

And so they go

[Dungeon Master]

The Wildrunner
Story One
Chapter Eight: Ogres

Eastern Ansalon
Tamon Busuk Region




In the shadows, the Wildrunners observe a group of Six Ogres. It is an Ogre hunting party, looking for food.
They are sniffing around.
The elves try to find a way around. But they run into a scout. Saida is kicked backwards and Hythanas slices his leg at the knee. The Ogre falls but punches at the elf, but Hythanas sidesteps and cuts his arm off. Above the elbow and puts a dagger into his throat. Hythanas checks on Saida. She’s holding her chest, she says may have some fractured or broken ribs.

The Elves move around the Ogres as silently as they can. Every once in a while, the winds shift and they catch a whiff of elf, but they see nothing.



Meanwhile, North of the Wildrunners,
several miles behind them, a group of Skull Knights has been sent into the hinterlands to track down possible elven agents in the Neraka region. If they were involved with the giants, as the arrows seem to indicate, they may have something to do with the Red Dragon that was killed near here.

They confirm the Red Dragon was shot with elven arrows through the eyes of the Red Dragon, The Tylor ate a lot of the rest of the Dragon.

They begin traveling the route that would take to the Elven Refuge. Hoping the elves are just ahead of them.

[Dungeon Master]

The Wildrunner
Story One
Chapter Nine Unexpected Diversion

Eastern Ansalon
Tamon Busuk Region



The Wildrunners are nearly out of the area until the Ogres find the dead scout.

They are immediately on edge and on guard. Not seeing anything, their senses rush into overtime. Sniff-sniff-Elves- and Human Knights.

This confuses the Ogres; the leader sends two ogres in each direction.

The Elves use some tricks of the trade to confuse trackers, but senses of smell are going to be difficult to beat unless they figure something out soon.

The Skull Knights had been trying to catch up with the Elves but were now hiding from the Ogres that were advancing toward them.
One Ogre heading toward them suddenly falls to the ground, with no apparent mark on his body. The Ogre calls out to his tribe mates.

One of the Skull Knights overloaded the Ogre's thoughts with his mental abilities. A fight ensues between the remaining Ogre the two Skull knights.


The Wildrunners ambush the Ogres nearest to them.


Leaving the Two that left in the camp.


The Wildrunners depart the area.

[Dungeon Master]

The Wildrunner
Story One
Chapter Ten: Danger Ahead

Eastern Ansalon
Tamon Busuk Region
Northern Khur borderland


The WIldrunner Elves Captain Hythanas and Saida get out of the areas and they can hear the demise of the Dark Knights that had been sent to hunt them. They believe they are clear of the Ogres, but are weary of running into anything else. They go on to try to make some distance between them and the ogres just in case.

They leave the Kalkist Mountains and enter dangerous territory. The sand Hatori, dreaded sandcreatures, poisonous snakes, the deadly jumping venomous spider of Northern Khur. One bite and you scream for your comrade to end your life.

There still might be ogres out here, Barbarians from the Jumping Spider Tribe. Goblins, Sligs. A lot could still be out here, including more Dragons.

Hythanas believes there are Griffons up there somewhere, trying to find us. They wonder if they should go back to the mountains and climb or try to make it across this infested landscape. After talking it over they agree to trek ahead towards one of the solitary smaller Mountains that dot the way forward.

They move ahead, with more trepidation than they were in the mountains. The snakes and spiders are very much a threat. If they make it through this, it will be a miracle. They move ahead.

[Dungeon Master]

The Wildrunner
Story One
Chapter Eleven: The Host

Eastern Ansalon
Southern Tamon Busuk Region
Northern Khur


The WIldrunners Captain Hythanas and Saida are running in in the desert, at night.
They are not far from the Road North, having only just set out from the Mountains, but soon they notice a large host moving north. They cannot see the undead very clearly, but they can tell they make up the back half of the host. They see a sight that chills them to their bones. Ogre Titans. What are they doing out way up here, south of Neraka?

They are too close to Inath-Wakenti. The Elves resolve to bring this news back to the speaker.

They run east through the night, trying to cover as much ground as possible before sunrise.

[Dungeon Master]

The Wildrunner
Story One
Chapter Twelve: Ravenous Part One

Eastern Ansalon
Southern Tamon Busuk Region
Northern Khur


Wildrunners, Captain Hythanas and Saida had moved for a time through the foothills and Northern hinterlands. They decided to hide and rest. They have very little water left, having just nursed from it with sips. They were not supposed to be out this long. It was all supposed to be over days ago. Sadia is powering through her broken rib, but the pain shoots through her body at one wrong move. She already knows it is going to be murder to draw the string back on her bow. But she will carry through if she must.
The elves have adapted the eyeshades of the style favored by nomads of the region. It's ingenious and completely necessary.
Though they are North of the Desert, the threat of heat stroke, or “sun death” as the Khurish nomads call it.



A small group of Silgs (Distant cousins of hobgoblins) are looking in their traps, seeing if they have gotten lucky, but alas, nothing. It has been like this for days and they are becoming ravenous. Considering which among them might be the sacrificial meal for the night. A strange scent on the wind draws them closer to the area.

DM Note: Sligs are six-foot-tall humanoids with tough, hairless hides. Reptilian in appearance. These are slightly emaciated,



Queen Kerianseray The Lioness has gone out for nearly two days looking for Captain Hythanas and his team. She does not know if she is on a wild Kender chase, or if they are still out there.
Just when she is about to give up and head home, an Elven fire arrow streaks into the sky and catches her attention. She parks where she first saw the arrow start to rise and heads Eagle Eyes in that direction, all the while looking for any sign of a trap.



Saida caught sight of the Griffon and rider and got Captain Hythanas to fire the last fire arrow they had into the sky near the Griffon, hoping beyond hope that it might find them. They see that the Griffon is coming down near them and Hythanas nocks another arrow.



The Sligs attack before the Griffon lands. The movement startles Hythanas and he aims at the closest enemy and unleashes his arrow into the Slig’s forehead. This angers the Sligs even more as they run into melee.


Saida joins Hythanas in eliminating the next closest, then the next. They draw their elven long swords, and Saida is just able to block the next one’s battle axe. The swing knocks her off balance but she regains her footing and slices him across the midsection. The Slig falls to his knees, gasping... Saida kicks him back and readies herself for the next attacks. Two sligs run at her.

Hythanas's long sword meets the Slig’s bardiche-bladed polearm in a clash of wills. Hythanas sees what he needs to do. These sligs will kill them if he does not end this soon. He sliced the slig's hand off that was holding the weapon The Slig tried to bite his face off, but Hythanas lowered himself down to block the bite, then drove his blade up through the slig's jaw and into hits brain. Venom drips down from the wound, Hythanas kicks the body backwards as another Slig


Kerian sees her Wildruners being nearly overwhelmed and she jumps down into the melee.


Each elf battles the last of the Sligs until they make a run for it. all of the elves get cut and nicked, the sheer brutality of the situation. The moment has passed. the Sligs have lost the momentum, especially when the Eagle Eyes dive bombs and scatters the main group.


The Lioness, Saida, and Hythanas kill any more that come close, but soon the sligs are in retreat.


Saida drops to her knees. The other elves see her stab wound. Saida looks up the the Lioness, then to Hythanas, and she falls over.


Hythanas runs to her and tries to feel a pulse. She's alive, but just barely.


Kerian takes a fire arrow from her own quiver and fires it into the sky.
She calls for her Griffon and it comes in and lands. The Lioness says "Help me get her on the saddle. Hythanas brings Saida over to his General. They tie her into the Saddle and the Lioness tells Eagle Eye to but go to Gilthas. Eagle Eye squaks and then it runs and takes off.




The Lioness look over to her Captain. "We just have to stay alive until help arrives."

End of Part One