Chronicles of Yvronnè Belladonna

Entry 2 - The Game

I am writing this part many days after these events took place for reasons that will be made clear.

So that man in the hood has power to back up his words. I was sleeping in the temple room like any other day, woke up in a forest clearing with nothing but my gear and my wits. Even my backpack was missing, which had this journal in it, hence the several day delay. Regardless I dusted off my vestments and checked myself. It was then I found a note in my belt pouch detailing instructions from the hooded man. I will copy the note word for word here as it is part ludicrous and part absurd.

"Welcome dear friend. I know this may be quite disorienting for you so allow me to explain. After our conversation I took the liberty of transporting you here, to my forest. I hope you don't mind too much, I obviously couldn't have you knowing where you were going so I also sedated you. Don't worry, the grogginess will pass. Now you're probably wondering why exactly I dropped you in the middle of a forest with nothing but your armor and equipment. That's because you're going to participate in a little game for me. The rules are simple. For everything you kill you earn points. When you earn 50 points you will be teleported out of the forest and to my palace where you will reside until the game ends on the 7th day. All those who make it out will receive one gift from me. All those left in the forest will die. Points can be traded between players but be careful, there aren't enough for everyone. The point values are as follows;

Goblin: 1 point

Zombie: 1 point

Sahuagin: 2 points

Gnoll: 2 points

Hobgoblin: 2 points

Orc: 2 points

Lizardfolk: 2 points

Dryad: 5 points

Goblin Boss: 5 points

Dire Wolf: 5 points

Gnoll Packlord: 10 points

Lizardfolk Shaman: 10 points

Griffon: 10 points

Ogre: 10 points

Werewolf: 12 points

Owlbear: 12 points

Basilisk: 12 points

Banshee: 15 points

Troll: 20 points

Yuan-Ti Abomination - 25 points

Any other participants you kill will reward you with 10 points. Additionally, any points they have acquired will become yours. Good Luck."

I recognized most of the creatures on this list as we provided healing services for adventurers at the temple. So between their stories and my own two year journey I was familiar with most. The Yuan-Ti Abomination at the bottom made me raise an eyebrow as I'd never heard of that before. Regardless, on the back of the note was a basic map, which was a big help. As for food and water, I knew some of the tricks the Old Druid taught me could sustain me and perhaps potential allies should the need arise.

I followed the tree line east when I saw a small cave to the north. Thinking it would either be inhabited and worth a few points or vacant and make a good shelter I made my way to it. I tapped my crook twice (a bit of a habit) and used my Light cantrip to illuminate the tip. I didn't exactly need it, but it might help hide my celestial blood. Lo and behold said cave was actually a tunnel and I heard voices coming from the other end. Hushed whispers in common. I knew they had seen me, so I politely but firmly asked them to come out into the light. Then one of them tried to rush me with a polearm of some kind and promptly caught his foot on a large rock and fell flat. The other guy walked out and I could see they were a human and orc respectively. I introduced myself and the orc introduced himself as Kun while the faceplanted human said his name was Thalion. We then decided it would be wise to travel together after confirming we were here for the same reason and left the way they came.

The tunnel exited on the shore of a lake. Good news if it's fresh water. Rathma forbid it's brackish or tainted. Kun suggested we make our way along the shore northeastward. Thalion and I didn't have a better idea, so off we went. An hour later we happened upon another cave. Kun at this point got a funny look and made his way inside. Thalion just shrugged and followed. I once again tapped my crook and followed, a bit frustrated by the lack of communication from Kun. Stepping over a few goblin bodies we slid down a small embankment to find a dwarf and an individual whose race I didn't recognize. The latter immediately charged some sort of magic in his hand, the nature of which made me wary, and started shouting threats. The dwarf was far more reasonable and introduced himself as the renowned inventor Orin. I'd never heard of him until now, but at least he's smart enough to recognize we aren't goblins. The other guy however shouted that his name was Ace (which actually made me wince a bit) and demanded answers to some frankly belligerent questions.

All the while poor Thalion got ambushed by a goblin. Stabbed right in the behind. Ace flung his magic at it, which solved half the problem. I then used my celestial abilities to seal up the wound. We then decided it might be best to work together to get through the cave. Ace grumbled the whole time. Working our way through the winding tunnels we cleared the goblins and their camp. I did earn 2 points for my efforts here and managed to keep everyone alive. Even found some food and a few coins for my trouble. Ace came up to me after and said that I might be a bit useful after all. Most half-assed apology I'd ever heard, but that effectively ended the first cave.