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[Talon Lord Othrim]

[spoiler=Starting Map]
[/spoiler]

In the mid-morning, you come upon a picturesque village of Lakoras. Low cottages with stone walls line the road and fat cattle move slowly in the fields. Atop a manor house on the edge of town, you see a flag flying a boar's head on a green field signaling that the Lord is in residence.
Voices carry from the manor, and you hear the sounds of an agruement. Near the manor stables, you see a peasant holding the reins of a warhorse. Next to the horse, an old man with gray hair, wearing light armour, is struggling with the saddle. Although his hands seem practiced, he is having a hard time lifting it onto the back of the tall horse.
Behind him, a young man dressed in fine clothing of green and gold is yelling to get the old man's attention.
"Father, Father!" He pauses, struggling for the right words, "My Lord!"
The old man stops and looks at him grimly. "Father please there are other men worthy of this task."
"Aye, perhaps, but this bear is a killer, its killed before and will again. It is 'my'' right, and 'my' duty."
"Please father," the young man asks again, "Let me at least find you a huntsman."
"There is no time," the old man says with resolve. "Now where is my damn spear?"
With that the old man walks into the stable. The young noble stands there for a moment deep in thought. He looks up when he hears the sound of your approach, and you notice his eyes passing over your arms and equipment.

His eyes brighten, and he shouts out to you. "You there, hold! I would like a word with you." He hurries out to the road to great you.

[spoiler=Note] The rest of this story is yours to unravel....[/spoiler]

[dx144]

Lorundil turned to face the younger man and started walking towards him then said to him "Yes I overheard your argument with your elder. Do you require my help?" With a friendly smile on his face.

[Talon Lord Othrim]

"I am Sir Harold Algen and Lord Algen is my father. A bear has been attacking the woodsmen and although my father was an acomplished hunter in his youth, I fear this hunt will be his last. You have the look of a forrester and your elven lineage is clear. I would hire you to assist my father kill the bear and make sure no harm befalls him if you feel you can. You will be well rewarded on your return. What say you?"

[dx144]

"Forgive my mistake of you and your father's lineage. I would be more than happy to assist. I have experience with hunting and fighting from years with an Elven war party and I will make sure no injury happens to your father. Where is this bear located?"

[Talon Lord Othrim]

"The bear has been spotted in the Kharnos Forest. You will have to track it with my father. He's comming now."
The old man returns with an ancient but well-kept spear and grabs the reigns of his horse. With noticeable effort he swings himself into the saddle. Sir Harold stands before him, motioning for you to come forward.
"My Lord, this noble elf has volunteered to help you track the beast, Will you have him?"

Lord Algen scowls at his son, and then looks at you, staring you in the eye for some time. "A Tracker, aye? Well he looks capable enough." He kicks his horse into motion. "Let's be off, there's a bear to catch."

As Lord Algen rides, Sir Harold looks to you. "My appologies. I will make sure you are well rewarded on your return provided the bear is dead and my father unharmed."

[dx144]

"No problem we should return soon." Spoke Lorundil as he went to catch up with Lord Algen.

After catching up with Lord Algen Lorundil speaks "I am happy to be of assistance in killing this creature good sir. I am skilled with weapons of choice. My bow and sword. I will make sure that you do not suffer any injuries while we hunt."

[Talon Lord Othrim]

"I do not require a bady sitter master elf! I am an acomplished hunter and you had better not slow me down.

[dx144]

"I am not calling into question your ability but you have grown old and are not as capable as you once were. I am a precaution. If things get too much then I will step in to assist." Said Lorundil with an annoyed look on his face of a lesser race speaking in such a tone.

"And if anyone is going to need to be slowing down it is me when I need to help you track this bear." Spoke Lorundil with a grin on his face.

[Talon Lord Othrim]

Lord Algen turns in hid saddle to look at you his face stern. He then smiles slightly "Ha" he laughs and continues. For half the day you travel untill you reach the edge of the forrest. "Well then I can't well be calling you Elf every time. Do you hsve a name?"

[dx144]

"Ah sorry forgive me sir. I am Lorundil." spoke Lorundil

[Talon Lord Othrim]

"Lorundil," He seems to commit it to memory, "soon we will reach the hunting trail. It branches at many sections bepending on where one wishes to hunt. There is a woodsmans hut good for If night falls and shelter is needed. An anchient stone circle and a section of the forrest that blew over due to high winds we had oh some twenty years back. Which do you think we should make for first?" He asks clearly testing his new companion.

[dx144]

"I think that the Ancient Stone Circle would be a good place to start. The bear might be drawn to that location. If that fails then I think we should go to the old woodsmen's hut. There we should rest for the night. If the hut is in a stable condition. If we haven't found the bear by then I think we should search the blown over forest. Then we will retrace our steps till this forest is cleared." Spoke Lorundil as he gave his opinion.

"What do you think we should do?" Smiled Lorundil.

[Talon Lord Othrim]

Lord Algen grunts his approval. As they reach the tree line Lord Algen stops and gets down off his horse. Removing his pack and spear the then slaps the horse and it canters off. He watches it go then turns and walks into the forest.

[dx144]

"Any idea of how long it should take us to get to the Ancient Stone Circle?" Questioned Lorundil.

Lorundil just seeing the spear once again and wondering how old it really was. "Where did you get that spear. I haven't seen one like that before." Asked Lorundil still with a friendly expression on his face.

[Talon Lord Othrim]

Lord Algen bends down and touches the ground as if looking for something. "An hour maybe two," his tone distracted. "Tell me Lorundil, what to you make of this?" He stands back and points to some marks on the ground.

[spoiler=Tracking] Roll a tracking skill please. Your score must exceed 45.[/spoiler]

[dx144]

[spoiler=Tracking]1d100 rolled for a total of: 33 (33)[/spoiler]

[Talon Lord Othrim]

Lorundil does not see anything strange about the marks in the mud. Lord Algen humph's "Must be just my age. Nevermind, lets keep going."
He continues to make his way along the hunting trail.

[dx144]

Lorundil continued walking down the path with his mind still wondering if he had missed something about the ground but then just forgets it as it would be pointless to turn around now.

Lorundil looks around to see his surrounding area and if there are any clues to the Bear's location.

[spoiler=awareness]1d100 rolled for a total of: 49 (49)[/spoiler]

[Talon Lord Othrim]

At last Lorundil marks the trail of a great bear. It's paw print almost as large as his hand span. It's trail seems quite old but it leads west off the hunting trail and deeper into the forrest.

[dx144]

Lorundil alerts Lord Algen to the trail he had just seen.

"Lord Algen. I think I may have found the bear's trail. Should we follow it?" Asked Lorundil with a joyous look on his face of be one step closer to stopping the bear.