Remote Locations

Jakobsen had awoken early to prepare himself mentally for the journey ahead. He was a physically fit man, leader of his king’s royal guard for many years after proving his worth working up through the ranks of the military. As a man who was past his prime to fight on the front lines, he was in no way unable to defend his king or himself if the need arises. What concerned him the most was the fact his latest mission took him away from his king and kingdom in search of a weapon powerful enough to end the war with the kingdom’s greatest enemy. At a time when the war was at its most fierce in recent history, he did not feel comfortable leaving his king’s side if even for one hour, let alone several days that he was expecting this journey would take.

Jakobsen was in the common area of the kings royal park, kneeling down in silent prayer as he held in his hand a fistful of soil from the ground before him, mentally preparing himself for what was ahead of him. He heard the quiet footsteps coming up behind him, a stride that neither portrayed haste or cunning, telling him exactly who it was before he even heard the voice.

“Are you ready for this old man?” the young woman asked. His travel companion was none other than the daughter of one of his oldest friends.

“Ala'aina, I could ask you the same thing.” Jakobsen had argued that this should be a one man mission to avoid taking needed assets away from the kingdom at a time when it needed every body available to defend it. His king countered that one extra person would not jeopardize the safety of his kingdom, and declared that his decision was final. So here they were, only moments away from a journey that could provide the necessary end to an ugly war.

“So I figured we should probably start at the old abandoned fortress at the end of the forest. There’s no way we are the first ones to look for this artifact” Ala’aina said.

“I disagree, the caves below the Vandahie mountains is where the artifact is rumored to have been created and is the closer of the three locations where it may be found according to the seer” Jakobsen said.

“I took the same readings as the seer, and although she is right, the most powerful of the three readings came from the abandoned fortress” Ala’aina said with a little more force in her voice.

“I understand, but the caves are a shorter journey and should be searched first. I have been tasked with leading this expedition and this is my desicion” said Jakobsen. Ala’aina gave him a scowl but didn’t argue with him any further. Ala’aina was a talented sorcerous for her age and had proven herself time and again to her king to the point that he didn’t hesitate to task her with locating the talisman once they got to their destination as well as looking after himself should the need arise.

Jakobsen stood up and collected his things as he walked towards Ala’aina.

“Hope you brought your traveling shoes, because the caves are a good day's walk from here.” Jakobsen said as he handed her a small pack before continuing on past her.

*****

The long summer days and the relatively easy terrain made it so that they were able to make it to the mountains of Vandahie a good couple of hours before sunset, giving them the opportunity to explore the caves before nightfall. Having Ala’aina along did prove to be useful once they entered the caves. The multiple tunnels inside would have taken him a couple of days to search through all the different options before finding the correct one, assuming he would have known how to even locate the talisman. Ala’aina just smiled as they moved their way through the tunnels, knowing full well that he would not be this far without her as well. The talisman Ala’aina brought with her, which she referred to as a flameless torch, helped them navigate through the tunnels without the need of oil dipped torch’s which would have added more weight to their packs. They quickly made it to a dead end in the tunnel that looked as if it had been dug out by man to make a small room, complete with three small pedestals towards the back. As they made their way back to the pedestals, they discovered that only one of them had anything on it, which was a hard case of some sort, made of materials not known to either of them. Jakobsen reached out to pick up the object, only to have Ala’aina to pull his arm away.

“Hold on, something doesn’t seem right” Ala’aina said as she carefully moved closer to examine the object.

“What do you mean? Is this not the artifact we are looking for?”

“Well, it is an ancient artifact, but I do not believe this is the one we are looking for” said Ala’aina.

“Well we did come all this way, maybe we should take it with us anyway” Jakobsen said as he reached for it once again, only to have his hand smacked away.

“Doesn’t it seem odd to you that the other two pedestals are empty while this artifact remains? There must be a reason.”

“Do you think it’s a trap?” Jakobsen asked.

“I’m not sure.”

“There’s only one way to find out” Jakobsen said as he quickly reached out and grabbed the small rectangular object. Ala’aina tried to stop him, but when she failed, she quickly dived back away from the pedestals. Nothing happened.

They both picked themselves up off the floor just in time to experience what felt like the bottom of the mountain falling as the walls of the tunnels started to shake, causing dirt and debris to fall all around them. Jakobsen quickly grabbed Ala'ainas arm and pulled her back down the tunnels towards the entrance of the cave.They narrowly avoided the rocks and debris that was falling all around them as they desperately tried to follow the crude markings they made on the walls to guide them back out. Jakobsen was nearly thrown off balance when a decent sized rock clipped the side of his head, causing him to temporarily lose his footing and go down on one knee. Being the warrior he was, he didn’t stay down long but rather instinctively got back up and kept running even though his vision was still a bit blurred, for he knew that if he stayed down for more than a moment, they would be as good as dead. They made it out of the cave just as the entrance started collapsing on itself.

After the adrenaline wore off and the sore bones started in, the two companions checked themselves to see if they had any new injuries before heading back to their camp. With just a few minor scrapes and bruises from falling debris, they decided to set up camp where they were and head out in the morning. After the fire cooled down to a soft warm glow, its heat used for the preparation of their supper done, Jakobsen and Ala’aina decided to take a closer look at what they had just about traded their lives to obtain. Ala’aina glanced over the object for several long minutes, taking close looks at the two twisting contraptions on the one side before handing it over to Jakobsen. The object had an unlikely lightnes to it, being made of a solid material that was neither wood nor stone. It was light black in color and fairly flexible yet solid and had two rotating wheels on one side with some sort of thin material wound around them inside the case. Jakobsen noticed the unfamiliar writing on the other side, followed by the inscription ‘VHS’.

“Do you have any idea what this could be?” Jakobsen asked Ala’aina as he handed back the mysterious object back to her.

“I’m not sure, but I recognise these inscriptions as being an old world language. Perhaps it is of some value, even if it is not what we are looking for.” Jakobsen remembered how the lead seer described the talisman they were looking for. It was said to be thin and flat, about the length of a dagger with strange symbols and buttons on one of the long flat surfaces. This artifact was clearly not it, but as Ala’aina had said, could prove to be valuable.

“Looks like we should have gone to the abandoned fortress after all old man” Ala’aina said as jakobsen threw the last log on the fire. Jakobsen paid no mind to her comment, not wanting to give her the satisfaction. Instead he laid down close to the fire, pulled his pack underneath his head and settled in for the night.

“You’d be wise to get to sleep quickly, we’ve got a good day and a half walk ahead of us tomorrow.” Jakobsen said.

*****

Once again, the summer day’s proved to be their ally in travels east through the grasslands, allowing them to make good time on their journey. They pushed hard and took a couple of sheep herder's trails to make it to the outskirts of the abandoned fortress a little past sundown. They decided to set up camp for the night and plan their search of the lone building left standing of an ancient kingdom from the old world in the morning. What once was a large wall surrounding the kingdom was reduced to a mere foot tall block obstacle, reminding any who may pass just how expansive this kingdom once was. Even though there were no signs of activity, Jakobsen was not about to rule out the chance that something else may be calling this place home.

“We go in quick and we stay together. It's a rather large building, but we should be able to search it much faster that the cave”Jakobsen said.

“Are you worried about what might be up there?”

“I’ll be less worried about it in the daytime.” They decided to forgo the fire as to not attract any more attention to themselves than they were ready to deal with and ate quick cold supper before quickly going to sleep.

Morning came early for the pair as they picked up camp and started their ascent into the fortress. It was eerily quiet as they made their way up the hill. No birds chirping, no rodents scurrying in the nearby trees, even the bugs seemed to stay away from this place. They made their way up to the old block building, gaping holes in the side and windows long since blown out while the thick front doors swayed ever so slowly in the breeze. Upon entering the building, they noticed signs that someone or something had called this place home recently, and upon further inspection, Jakobsen had a good idea as to what it was.

“Careful here, there have been gnomes here recently” Jakobsen whispered to Ala’aina as they slowly made their way down a main hallway. If Ala’aina heard him, she didn’t show it, too buried in her spells to heed his warning.

“This way” Ala’aina said as she steered him left down a narrow hallway with numerous doorways on either side. Jakobsen was starting to get the feeling that they were not alone in here, hearing the small clicks for nails scratching the bars of the small rooms behind them, the quick shift in the shadows all around, and the strong scent of gnome as they made their way further into the building. a stench they had not picked up on the outside but one that Jakobsen was all to familiar with.

“We need to find this talisman quick and get out of here” Jakobsen whispered his warning once again. There was little light that penetrated the depth of the hallway and the further they went, the more movement Jakobsen seen in the shadows of the rooms left open.

“This is the one” Ala’aina said as she stopped in front of a door on the left side of the hallway. Jakobsen reached for the handle only to find it locked. Then they heard a large collective hissing sound that seemed to rise from the bowels of the building. Something about this room must have angered the gnomes far more than they already were, and they were not about to let them invade their home any longer.

“Let me try” Ala’aina said as she quickly started a spell to try and open the door. The gnomes were massing in the hallway, appearing out of just about every room on either side of them and slowly closing in on them. Jakobsen knew their time was short as Ala’aina continued to fight the door lock with her spell. The gnomes were close enough now that Jakobsen to see the look of hunger in their eyes and smell the stench of their breath in the air.

“We are out of time” Jakobsen said as he drew his sword, pushed Ala’aina behind him and struck the door knob as hard as he could with the pummel of his sword, busting it completely off. The gnomes reacted about as well as Jakobsen had imagined they would, blindingly rushing the pair, crawling and climbing over one another to get at them. Jakobsen kicked the door in and pulled Ala’aina in just after she managed to get off a blinding light spell, halting the advancing gnomes long enough for them to get in and close the door.

“That won’t hold them long” Ala’aina said. Jakobsen noticed a large metal cupboard next to the door and quickly got underneath the bottom side and knocked it over, blocking the door and sending all sorts of strange items flying across the floor.

“This won’t hold them long” Jakobsen said. They could hear the clawing and pounding of the gnomes as they tried to open the door and claw through the walls of the adjacent rooms.

“Look over there,” Ala’aina said, pointing to one of the objects that flew out of the cupboard that Jakobsen knocked over, “doesn’t that look like the talisman described by the seer.” It was thin and flat, about the length of a dagger, and strange symbols and buttons on one of the long flat surfaces, all of the things the seer said it would be. Ala’aina picked it up and examined it, probing it with her magic as she moved it from hand to hand.

“This is definitely the talisman we have been searching for” Ala’aina said as she passed it to Jakobsen. The gnomes were just about through one of the walls and had pushed the door open far enough that they could poke their tiny heads, screeching little heads through. Jakobsen went to the one and only window, covered in grime so bad it let very little light past, and broke out the glass with his sword, causing the gnomes who had finally opened the door enough to climb through to shriek and retreat back into the hallway. The two adventurers jumped out the window and ran down the hill back to where they had camped, afraid that the gnomes might brave the light and chase them from their home. With their mission complete, the pair started the short journey home.

A week after returning home with the legendary talisman in hand, their rival kingdom and its people, the kingdom of Ihmbored, surrendered the war upon hearing that they now had possession of the legendary weapon of Rea’mote and peace was once again restored to the lands.

What actually happened: My children are notorious for losing the remote control for the TV, and watching them tear apart our living room looking for it inspired me to write this adventure.