Side Quest 3, Talon [Male Hero Path]

In Mountains_2, DEBUG_HERO had left his companions below in village_4. With a heavy sigh he marched up the thin path being sure to keep his eyes on said path rather than the sheer drop to his side. The others hadn't been eager to let him go alone and complained mightily about the risks. DEBUG_HERO had eventually talked them down. He was not some weakling incapable of of taking care of him and this particular quest required him to come alone.

Talon the Talon, an odd name if DEBUG_HERO had ever heard one, was apparently quite suspicious to the point of paranoia and refused to see any groups. If you wanted to meet with Talon, you came alone or you would never find her. DEBUG_HERO wanted to find her. Talon knew a maps location to a very special ring. A ring that would ward against most weak magical spells and provide some resistance against more powerful ones. Sure, he would have to still deal with very powerful spells another way, but the ability to ignore weaker magic was a great boon in large scale battles. The less DEBUG_HERO had to deal with in combat the better.

Something moved off to his side and DEBUG_HERO glanced up. The tall pale woman was watching him. Again. DEBUG_HERO wasn't sure they would ever get used to that. He chose to ignore her and continue. Just once it would be nice to have a mission in which she wasn't hanging around the periphery. It was unnerving to be constantly watched.

DEBUG_HERO reached the top of the mountain and looked around the large tableau before them. It had plenty of coniferous trees covered in snow and otherwise was unnaturally flat. Just barely noticeable was a house amongst a particularly thick section of trees. DEBUG_HERO adjusted their blade and looked about them for any obvious traps. Talon was a paranoid one, so he would have to be careful as he/she made their way to the house.

Just past the first line of trees, DEBUG_HERO stepped over a carefully concealed tripwire mostly buried in the snow. With a grin of satisfaction, DEBUG_HERO took another step and felt the cold snap of frozen metal bit into his leg. With a flurry of pained cusses, DEBUG_HERO wrestled their leg out of the bear trap. Limping now, he continued their trek more carefully. A huff of exasperation was all DEBUG_HERO gave to getting caught by the trap. He knew they were no slouch when it came to dealing with traps. Growing up with Sara had seen to that. She like to set playful traps for him. And DEBUG_HERO had had plenty of experience finding and avoiding them since then. He would just have to be more alert.

They passed three more traps and were finally getting close to the house. DEBUG_HERO felt a small sense of relief as the building came fully into view.

ZWIIINNNG!

"Damnit," was all DEBUG_HERO managed to groan before a six inch spike leapt unbidden from its hiding spot to pierce through his belly.

This one was more difficult to remove and required a strong potion of healing Anara had given him to keep DEBUG_HERO from keeling over right then and there. With gritted teeth, DEBUG_HERO yanked the spike out and downed a second potion with shaking hands for good measure. His vision swam.

"Poison?" DEBUG_HERO muttered as they fumbled for their catch-all antitoxin. With that downed, eyes became focused and hands shook less.

DEBUG_HERO stepped up to knock on the door. His hand went straight through and the house vanished without a trace. Leaving DEBUG_HERO gaping and stunned.