TB9 Chapter 4

Jan 15 continued: After setting up camp, Brandyn attempted to study however he was interrupted by movement in the bushes, and hushed voices speaking. It had appeared two men were hiding in wait, preparing to ambush them. Brandyn tried to reason with the men and convince them to reveal themselves and talk but they immediately made plans to attack, one moving left around Brandyn while the other counted to ten. Brandyn grabbed his bow and unleashed a warning shot into the bushes before the men revealed themselves. Dressed poorly one was skinny and holding a wicked knife and the other stood tall and built. The skinny one tried to convince Brandyn that they were only there for the stranger and they would leave him alone. Brandyn was having none of this and quickly dispatched of the two, but not before the one threw his knife into the stranger. Brandyn speedily covered and dressed the wound but saw a dark ring around it, indicative of a poison or magic of some sort. The two bandits horses arrived and made themselves comfortable with Brandyn's horse. Worried that more bandits would show up Brandyn decided the best move would be to ride to the nearest mine in the dark and left immediately, the bandit's horses in tow.

He arrived at where the mine should be but was greeted by what appeared to be an abandoned town, the church empty Brandyn thought it best to search the inn for a comfortable place to sleep, however the door was trapped and Brandyn fell into a pit full of spikes. Luckily he discovered a collapsible panel in the hole and with his years of spelunking managed to easily crawl through the tight tunnel into the inn's kitchen, where he discovered another trapped door leading outside. He managed to avoid it though and made his way behind the inn to set up camp, study and finally sleep.

Jan 16: Before the sun had rose Brandyn was rudely awoken by his alarm spell and the sound of two arguing voices outside his tent. Bursting through the flap he was greeted by what appeared to be two more bandits with weapons out. Brandyn immediately pierced one through the skull before chasing the other down the hill and tripping him. The bandit was elusive while questioned only mentioning his boss and that they were guarding a warehouse. Brandyn knocked him unconscious and began dragging him up the hill before noticing another group of men stealthily following him. Brandyn decided to cut his losses, rush up the hill, grab the stranger and flee. Leaving his tent behind Brandyn trekked up towards the main road and the towards the next mine.

At some point in the late morning Brandyn decided he had put enough space between him and the bandits and stopped for breakfast. It was during this time the stranger awoke, he said something in a strange language before painfully asking for his bag of sticks back so he could heal himself. Skeptical Brandyn gave them back before the man activated the rune stick and healed himself fully. Brandyn convinced him to use it to heal him too all the while questioning him as to how it worked. They spent a while talking and sharing information, Brandyn learned the man was Thylas Gold, a mentor Sage from the Royal Museum and his strange appearance and accent was explained by him being the descendant of the Gallenteans and Nubenons and the language he spoke being the ancient tongue of the first people, the Ursinicans. He then mentioned he would disappear for a bit to fetch his things while Brandyn studied. When he returned he revealed he had managed to travel so far, so fast by flying. And showed Brandyn how to do so to, finding a feather from the deepest part of a bird nest and feeding it to Brandyn allowed him too to grow wings and fly. Thylas then tried to convince Brandyn to travel with him to the coast and go on a voyage together, where he would teach him all about runic magic and more. Brandyn however felt he needed to finish his current mission and agreed to meet Thylas in Forbeck in two weeks.