*Veldrin carefully dipped the quill tip in a small vat of ink, then brushed it against the rim of the bottle, letting the excess ink run off. She paused for a moment, looking down at the parchment. Write a report of the hunt, he said. The drow narrowed her eyes.
Very well, she mused, bringing the quill over the paper.
Whatever you want. A smirk appeared on her dark lips as eerie, spidery lettering began to soak itself into the parchment.*
The frosty air of the icy cavern bit at my skin past my armor, sending a series of chills through my body, which had already began to adapt to the warm air of the surface world. Junior Grenadier Ahmed Al Maktoum and Recruit Vince Valentine ambled along beside me, both of them visibly uncomfortable with the temperature of the air. Clenching my teeth to keep them from chattering, I looked ahead, admiring the ice-covered cavern walls. Our goal, the object of our hunt, resided within this cavern. An Arctic Ogre Lord, as Ahmed had referred to it. I could only assume that the ogre in question had once been a powerful ogre lord, who had withdrawn into the ice caverns and adapted to the icy environment, as I had never seen nor heard of an arctic ogre.
A haunting mix between a rat's squeal and a human-like gurgle scattered my thoughts. A repulsive beast, which I had learned to be called a ratman (quite creative), approached us, readying spells for his attack. The cold that so inflicted the three of us was quickly forgotten, and we spurred into action. Moments later, the ratman crumbled to the cavern floor, choking on its own blood.
Many other strange creatures joined the first, glacial snakes, freezing slimes, and giant arachnids.
They reminded me so much of home. *The words here are roughly scratched out, almost beyond coherency.* But it was not long before our target was in sight. Blue skin shimmering like fresh fallen snow, the ogre lord towered above the three of us, its fatty bulk sloshing with every movement. Vince and I held back a moment, to gaze upon the beast and wait for an order.
"ENGAGE!" Ahmed cried, running forward with his warfork drawn. With a nod, and an involuntary smile, I fired my spells at the creature. Vince, who appeared to be an adept archer, began flinging arrows to pair with my magic.
The recruit had at first had a little trouble watching out for Ahmed and I, and his healing wasn't quite as swift as it could have been. I admit that I myself had forgotten to pay attention to the other two and neglected a few times to mend their wounds with my arcane abilities. How exactly was one to concentrate on the well being of one's allies while several hundred stones of power was clobbering your way? Ahmed barked a bit of guidance to us, recognizing our sub-par performance. Somehow managing to multitask, we picked up. The recruit even surprised me with his use of paladin enchantments.
Eventually our battle drew to a close, and victory was ours. Before leaving the ice cavern, we searched the ogre lord's residence, finding a large store of gold. We decided to separate it between ourselves, and as we dug into the frost-covered pile, I soon remembered how numb my hands had become from the chill in the air. However we managed, the threeof us returned triumphantly back to the barracks, piling all of our gold into a heap before Junior Ahmed.
"Do we donate it to the coffers or keep it for ourselves?" Ahmed asked, watching the both of us closely. I wasn't sure whether he was offering it or testing us. But I remembered that I had a quota to fill. And my share was over seven thousand gold crowns.
"I will give my share to the coffers," I stated, nodding firmly. Vince beside me said the same, and Ahmed's scrutinous expression turned pleased.
"Good." Gathering up the gold, he heaved it up the steps and dragged it to gold store. Vince sat himself on a stool and rested. I myself took to my favorite corner of the room and pulled out a quill...
Report written by:
Veldrin Ni'Harel
Author