Barkseal

We awoke in our tent with the bellowing of Robbis that announcing breakfast was ready. Elle and I ate with the group, exchanging small talk. We packed our tents and camping equipment to travel the rest of the way to Barkseal. If our navigations were correct, we would make it to the town before nightfall.

The journey was uneventful as hiked through open fields and wooded areas. The town of Barkseal came into view. Its architecture looked as though druids had constructed it. The walls surrounding it were made of strong oak wood, vines crept up the sides to reach to the top.

We had found a location one mile west of Barkseal that we would use to camp again for the night. Instead of lugging our equipment around town, we set up camp and Karl would stay behind. He still healing from his broken arm from the fight with the orc, it was better for him to rest in camp and maintain it best he could.

Upon our arrival into town, Elle and I registered ourselves at the adventurer’s guild. We scanned the contracts on the notice board applicable to our status. The ones that gained our interest the most were contracts for destroying a giant wasp nest and spectre sightings in the graveyard on the outskirts of town. We took them from the board to activate the quests. The giant wasps would be easy to kill and dispatch off, the spectre sighting was something we would have to wait for nightfall to achieve.

Robbis, Mistle and Blitz scoured the local tavern and barracks to see if any of their services could be used.

Elle and I went to find the jewellers to see their expertise and to evaluate the blood red diamond we had in our possession. We found a building with a sign above it that indicates what it was with images of precious stones. Entering inside we found an old man reading a book near the front desk. We gained his attention and he welcomed us. With some hesitation we presented the diamond an he expected it with a small spyglass.

“Hmm, interesting.” He muttered. “ what you have here is something very valuable. At least, in the right hands.”

“How valuable are we talking?” I asked.

“Oh I’m not talking of value of coin. But value of its use.”

Elle and I furrowed our brows at this.

“What do you mean?” Questioned Elle.

“This diamond isn’t a jewel for some gaudy lord to flash around. Its use is more for high level necromancers.” He saw the look of confusion on us and explained more. “This jewel is called a hoard soul stone. It can trap the souls of hundred’s inside, and be used for nefarious deeds for the necromancer.”

“What kind of deeds?”

“That’s something I don’t look into, all I know is that you shouldn’t give this to a necromancer. They don’t do anything good for live people. As their titles imply, they use the dead. It’s unnatural.”

The old held up the jewel. “Your best bet is to take this to the capital. The court sorcerer may reward you for it.” He handed it back to us.

The capital, called Highgate, was the metropolis of the Jarrin kingdom that we currently resided in. It would take us roughly ten miles to travel there. We agreed that this would be our next destination. But, we may as well enjoy Barkseal, and complete the contracts we had taken for the guild to earn some extra coin. The jewel was in our possession, and Highgate wasn’t going anywhere.

Just out of town was the giant wasp nest. The creatures were far larger than the common variety wasp. Huge striped bodies of black and yellow, big bug eyes, and the noisy beat of their wings. We avoided their large pointy stingers, wasp venom could be very painful when injected into the bloodstream. We kept our distance, using bombs that were given to us by Blitz. I needed to thank the little guy later. We used a fire bomb to properly destroy the nest, and returned to the guild as the sun started to sink low. With the new coin received, we met with the others near the barracks.

They managed to find work, guarding a convoy of goods that was coming in from Highgate. They would be disposed of their company for tonight. We thought that we may as well complete the other contract we took from the guild board. The spectre sightings in the graveyard.