Belladonna rode her war-pony out of Gobwatch with her troops. They were on the lookout of suspicious goblin activity in the region. One of the afflicted kender under her command had warned them that there had been reports of goblins in the area. Sure, the “other” kender said they were friendly. Merely traders, but Belladonna knew different. They were spies and assassins, the lot of them. She wasn’t about to allow the dirty beasts anywhere near the border of Kenderhome.
One of the outriders came running back out of breath. Something had been spotted moving along a high ridge. Belladonna instructed her soldiers to dismount and the ponies were left with two old afflicted kender while the rest followed the scouts lead. They separated and made their way from tree to tree traveling up a ridge. Belladonna instructed them all to fan out and search.
The kender leader lost site of her troops and withdrew her short sword. She found a curious outcropping of rock and went to investigate. The rocks formed a crude mound and a large crevice lead deeper into the ground. The kender looked around and then slipped into the opening. She dropped into a small cave. Something was down here. She could hear it, but she couldn’t see it. She held her sword at the ready.
“My preeeeeecioussssssss. I’ve lost you…” Chills went up Belladonna’s spine. A form crawled from the darkness and into the sunlight filtering from the opening above. “I wants my precioussss.” It growled. “Gives it to us. NOW!” The creature lunged forward. Belladonna brandished her weapon before her to defend herself.
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