Season 1 - Episode 3: Into the Coastwood
Posted: Sun Jan 23, 2011 9:59 am
You spend a quiet and restful night at Northridge Farm. The following morning you rise, breakfast (several times in the case of Paladin), gather your belongs, collect Jumbles, and assemble outside the farmhouse. Grenewell, Scathias and the farmhands are there to see you off and, with their wishes of good luck, you begin the next stage of your adventure.
After two days of warm sunshine, today the weather is not so good. Whilst it’s still mild and dry, a thick layer of cloud keeps the sun at bay. Hiker starts by leading you to the location of the goblin attack four days ago, and from there you strike north in the general direction that the kidnappers headed.
Once beyond the boundaries of the farm, you find yourself in gently rolling, open countryside. You make reasonable progress, although the going is somewhat slower than the road north of Marketstone. Hiker proves to be an able guide, but you quickly realise there’s no real trail to follow, at least with your meagre tracking skills. You search a couple of the larger copses of trees that you come across for signs of the goblins, but without success. Ultimately, your only option is to keep pressing north in the hope of finding some sort of clue as to their passage.
After several hours of steady walking, your ultimate destination becomes clear. Ahead of you looms a great forest, The Coastwood, stretching as far as the eye can see from west to east. You’ve all heard of The Coastwood, but none of you have ever ventured inside. Indeed, The Coastwood isn’t generally a place that anyone frequents. For a start, it doesn’t lead anywhere except to a rocky and treacherous coastline. The lack of human presence also makes it an ideal habitat for wildlife, some of it dangerous; wolves, bears and boars are all known to live amongst its trees. Apart from the odd bandit group seeking refuge from the militia, The Coastwood is generally considered to be an untamed wilderness that only the foolhardy or desperate would enter.
As you approach the edge of the forest, and with still no sign of an obvious trail to follow, you begin to wonder how on earth you're going to find the goblins if indeed they are hiding somewhere amongst the trees. But then, as you top the last small hill before the forest boundary, you spot a plume of smoke rising above the treetops about a mile into the wood. It looks like someone, or something, has a fire going.
5 pm, 26th day of Harvestide
After two days of warm sunshine, today the weather is not so good. Whilst it’s still mild and dry, a thick layer of cloud keeps the sun at bay. Hiker starts by leading you to the location of the goblin attack four days ago, and from there you strike north in the general direction that the kidnappers headed.
Once beyond the boundaries of the farm, you find yourself in gently rolling, open countryside. You make reasonable progress, although the going is somewhat slower than the road north of Marketstone. Hiker proves to be an able guide, but you quickly realise there’s no real trail to follow, at least with your meagre tracking skills. You search a couple of the larger copses of trees that you come across for signs of the goblins, but without success. Ultimately, your only option is to keep pressing north in the hope of finding some sort of clue as to their passage.
After several hours of steady walking, your ultimate destination becomes clear. Ahead of you looms a great forest, The Coastwood, stretching as far as the eye can see from west to east. You’ve all heard of The Coastwood, but none of you have ever ventured inside. Indeed, The Coastwood isn’t generally a place that anyone frequents. For a start, it doesn’t lead anywhere except to a rocky and treacherous coastline. The lack of human presence also makes it an ideal habitat for wildlife, some of it dangerous; wolves, bears and boars are all known to live amongst its trees. Apart from the odd bandit group seeking refuge from the militia, The Coastwood is generally considered to be an untamed wilderness that only the foolhardy or desperate would enter.
As you approach the edge of the forest, and with still no sign of an obvious trail to follow, you begin to wonder how on earth you're going to find the goblins if indeed they are hiding somewhere amongst the trees. But then, as you top the last small hill before the forest boundary, you spot a plume of smoke rising above the treetops about a mile into the wood. It looks like someone, or something, has a fire going.
5 pm, 26th day of Harvestide