Their trek through the forest was done in silence. Leaf guided them, shifting branches and vegetation as best he could to cover their tracks. He left small marks near the roots of some trees, sometimes a simple scratch, other times an arrow or a different shape. At times the half elf would venture off on his own, leaving marks on trees off of their path in branching patterns. His bow never left his grip, and when he was not busy navigating the woods his free hand was never too far from his quiver.

Jahora stood in the middle of their formation, her small size barely disturbing the forest floor as she walked. A journal was in her hand, scribbling down the marks that Leaf had made, but only the ones that would guide them back to their camp. Even as she did this Helbram could feel the familiar buzz of Aether gathered around her, ready to be unleashed at a moment’s notice.

Helbram took up the rear, keeping his attention to their surroundings with his Ether-enhanced hearing. He proved to have the most difficulty navigating the forest due to his larger stature, and while his armor did not make much noise with his practiced movements his footsteps still left too deep an impression on the forest floor. A few branches snagged on his plate as they walked, which earned him a glare and some mutterings from Leaf as the half elf tried to hide evidence of their travels. His shield never left his hand.

When they reached the main road, they elected to stay within the trees, keeping the road at the edge of their sight to guide them to Goldshire. Shortly after they set on their new course, Leaf stopped and held up hand.

“I see movement in the distance, we’d best hide,” he said.

Helbram and Jahora agreed, and took cover along with Leaf against some trees as a group of four bandits walked into clear view on the main road. They marched with an orc at the head of their formation, weapons resting in their hands but posture relaxed. Only the orc was armored, adorned in leather that covered his chest and arms. He kept a watchful eye to the trees, but the rest of his group walked in at a relaxed pace. The smallest of a group, a dwarf, wielded a crossbow as his weapon of choice and the orc wielded a larger battle axe while the two men with them were only armed with short swords. Sounds of conversation echoed into the forest from their position.

“What’s the point of this anyways?” one of the men spat, “With the bloody barrier up no one’s around to mess with us.”

“So you think,” the orc said, “but the commander wants to make sure. A few managed to slip away last night.”

“So what? Do you think they can make any difference? Most of the ‘adventurers’ last night pissed themselves the moment we screamed in their faces,” the bandit snickered.

“And some took quite a few men to bring down. Has the commander led us awry so far?”

“You are right there, I certainly appreciate having some more hands to help us with the mines.”

The rest of their conversation became unintelligible as they disappeared into the distance.

“Commander? Bit of an odd title to assign a gang leader…” Helbram mused.

“Well whoever they are, they’re enough to keep the cutthroats in line at least,” Leaf said.

“And they’re using those that were captured last night for work in the mines. If only we knew for what…” Jahora tapped her chin, “Bah, best not to overthink it until we know more.”

“Agreed, let us proceed, shall we?”

Multiple patrols dotted the main road. Some continued on as the ones before, but others wandered off into the forest. To their fortune, none ever walked in their direction, and in time the group managed to reach Goldshire undetected.

Unlike the open perimeter of Silverglen, the first thing to greet them upon reaching Goldshire was the walls around its border. Most of it was comprised of wood; logs that had been long chopped from the surrounding forest, but there were bits and pieces of the wall that had been replaced with a sturdier build, one fashioned out of stone and pieces of metal. This was most evident in the town’s gate, an arch of stone over a large door made from wood and metal that was manned by multiple guards. The terrain had begun to rise as they approached the town, the forest canopy thinning enough to reveal the heights of the Golden Peak, a solitary mountain that reached far into the sky. Goldshire was nestled against the mountain, and while its wall offered protection it was easy to see clear over it from the hills that surrounded the town.

Most of the town’s buildings were made of wood but reinforced with stone, with flat roofs that were easy to add additional floors to, which appeared to be common practice as many of the buildings were at least 2 stories tall. The skeletons of buildings had begun to sprout along the cliff face in the distance, presumably where the mine was located. A column of light rose up into the sky near this area, though its source remained obscured.

“Shite, can’t see much from this distance,” Leaf pulled a spyglass from his satchel and peered through it, “Too much cover, but the streets are mostly empty as far as I can see.”

“The town is most likely under some sort of martial law, and I can’t imagine many would want to be wandering the streets with bandits in charge,” Helbram said, “We should move along the border, see if we can’t get a better view of the mines.”

“Aye, and stick to the trees, sentries man the walls.”

The group followed Leaf’s advice, eyes and ears searching for any sign of movement around them or within the town’s walls.

“It does make you wonder,” Jahora said, “The bandits can’t have a force that large, couldn’t the townspeople just rise up and overwhelm them with numbers?”

“I’d imagine that most townspeople aren’t too keen on dying,” Leaf said.

“Indeed; they’re most likely hoping that the bandits just take care of their business and leave,” Helbram said, “An instinct that may pay off, depending on what we find.”

The three managed to maintain their elevated position as they coasted around to the east side of the village, giving them a clear view of the mine’s entrance, which roared with activity. Leaf peered from around the trees, spyglass raised.

“Well, that’s definitely where they’ve holed themselves up. Gods, there are so many of them.”

He tossed the spyglass to Helbram, “Take a look for yourself.”

Helbram raised his visor and peered into the telescope, confirming the half elf’s words. He’d expected the bandits to be in some form of celebration, gorging themselves upon spoils ripped straight from the town’s coffers. He was half right; many of the bandits were helping themselves to the town’s food, but not in the raucous manner that he’d predicted. They ate in what appeared to be relative silence from what his ears could pick up, and some of those that were not eating were sparring with one another, displaying practiced movements beyond that of the typical brigand. Those that were not eating or sparring gathered around the mine’s entrance, standing guard over the steady line of people that moved in and out of the mine. Most wore the simple garb of villagers, but he’d recognized a few of the fledgling adventurers from the caravan as well, the fresh fear in their eyes noticeable amongst the crowd of jaded faces. 

“That is certainly a lot.”

“Aye, I don’t know that we’re going to do much against that number.”

“They’re moving so many rocks out… whatever it is that they’re digging for must be valuable if they're going at it with such haste.”

“Do you mind if I look?” The purple in Jahora’s eyes glowed in the forest shade as she asked.

Helbram handed her the spyglass and let her peer towards the mine.

“That’s strange… they look just like normal rocks but they’re practically bleeding Aether… hold on.”

She took off, moving along the perimeter, tripping a few times as she kept the spyglass fixed to her eye. Leaf scratched his head but followed, already settling into a routine of hiding the gnome’s tracks. She finally stopped, her vision directed towards a building right in front of the mine. It had no roof, allowing the pillar of light to reach to the sky unimpeded

“Gods it's almost blinding to look at,” Jahora said, squinting as she peered forwards, “There is only one thing that could be channeling that much Aether…”

“And that would be?” Leaf asked.

“A Ruhian artifact. Would make the most sense if they’re making a barrier this big.”

“I can only assume they know how to use it thanks to the Thaumaturge on their side,” Helbram surmised, “While that explains that, there is hardly anything we can do about it at the moment. Is there anything else you can discern from the rocks they’re moving?”

“From what I can tell, the Aether coming from the artifact and the rocks appears to be the same. Also, the amount that is radiating from the stone would only be possible if it were saturated in Aether for a long period of time…”

“Well, they’ve been sitting next to a bleeding magical artifact for Gods knows how long,” Leaf said, “That would probably do the trick.”

“True, and if they’re continuing to mine then that means…”

“There is more to uncover,” Helbram concluded.

As he did, a flash of light burst from the mine, spewing smoke and stone from its depths. Both miners and bandits near the entrance were knocked from their feet by the wave of force that followed, rumbling the pieces of rock that lay in their carts. Silence followed, blanketing the forest just like the night before. Helbram moved to say something, but as he opened his mouth another flash interrupted him

Even without the spyglass, he could see the minecarts in the distance flaring with a pale blue light, shaking as the rocks trembled violently within them. They began to burst soon after, at first individually, creating loud cracks like thunder as they splintered and scattered over the men around them. Then, they started to explode all together, releasing torrents of Aether that shattered the carts, blasting the men around them off of their feet and back. Screams erupted soon after, cries of pain and panic from bandit and miner alike as those unaffected from the blast only ran further from it’s source. Jahora stumbled back, her eyes now fixed to the mountain itself as shock washe across her face.

“The mountain, i-its glowing,” she said.

Helbram and Leaf followed her gaze, but no evidence of light could be found.

Jahora shook her head, “Sorry, it caught me off guard. What I mean to say is that the mountain surged with Aether momentarily, much like the rocks did just now.”

Leaf let out a sigh of relief, “All Father’s balls, you had me thinking the mountain was about to blow.”

Jahora remained silent. Her brow was furrowed, gaze fixed to the ground as she was lost in thought. Helbram took the spyglass from her hands and peered back at the chaos surrounding the mines.

A haze of dust had settled over the mine’s entrance, with people slowly making their way away from the explosion site. Helbram grit his teeth as he saw the bandits helping their own, leaving the injured miners on the ground with bits of metal and rock embedded into their bodies. Some laid completely still, vacant expressions staring off into a distance they could no longer look away from.

A small glint of light appeared from the Mine’s entrance, revealing itself to be a transparent sphere that covered the small frame of a robed halfling. As the sphere dropped Marlin’s gaunt face was in clear display, a look of irritation across his features as he walked by the bodies that lay around him. He was speaking, but even with Helbram’s enhanced hearing he could not make out what the halfling was saying, only that it was being spoken to someone who had yet to emerge from the dust. When they did, the armored man cursed.

“What is it?” Leaf asked.

“Quetali.”

“Ah, Shite.”

The first thing that struck Helbram was the man’s size. Even at a distance Helbram knew the Quetali was at least a head taller than him and the man’s wide frame only emphasized that difference. Two of the Quetali’s four arms were crossed over his torso while the others brushed the dust from his shoulders and the crown of horns that protruded from his head of long white hair. Even covered in dust the man’s dark red skin stood in stark contrast to his surroundings. His chest was bare, but unmarred from the chaos around him. Four swords were strapped to his waist and back, never far from his hands.

The Quetali ignored the halfling before him and cast an unamused glace around his surroundings with his yellow eyes. He started to shout, and while Helbram could not make out what was being said he saw the bandits move to his words immediately.

“It appears he’s their commander.”

Leaf groaned, “As if this couldn’t get any worse… let me see.”

Helbram tossed the half elf the spy glass.

“Alright, let’s… Mellisandra’s tits he’s bloody massive, the hells is one of them doing so far from the Broken Lands?”

“I couldn’t tell you, but we should get out of here.. there’s a lot we need to discuss.”

___

“Ok so let’s take proper stock of the situation,” Leaf said as he paced around their camp. He kept his voice quiet and his steps light, but there was a certain spring to them that told Helbram the man couldn’t sit still, and he couldn’t blame him.

“We have a legion of bandits led by a bloody Quetali of all things occupying a town with fairly rock solid defenses, using our adventuring friends to mine some Ruhian bullshite that is more temperamental than a hog in heat.”

“You have about the right of it,” Helbam said.

“So our plan is to stay put right? Because we’d be pissing against the wind if we tried fighting something like that.”

“I’m not too sure if sitting still is an option either…” Jahora said, her brow still furrowed in thought.

“What do you mean?” Helbram asked.

“As you know, right after that first flash of light… the mountain itself began to radiate with a flood of Aether the likes of which I’ve never seen. It faded soon after, but the glow was very much like the one the rocks had before they exploded. I could just be overthinking things but if that glow persists…”

“Oh come on!” Leaf snapped, “Do you honestly believe that a bloody mountain is going to blow up on us?”

As he finished, the ground began to tremble, shaking the loose leaves from the trees around them and sending any surrounding wildlife fleeing, some running into the barrier in a panic. Even through the canopy they could all see the Golden Peak in the distance suffused with light, its shine dwarfing the pillar that shot into the air next to it. The glow soon vanished, taking the tremors below them with it.

“Well, shite,” Leaf spat.

“Agreed, as hard pressed as I am to admit it, inaction is now the less favorable choice. We need a plan, and quickly, lest we get our arses blown straight to the five hells.”

Leaf sighed, but joined Helbram and Jahora. He was silent with a resigned look on his face, but nodded.

“So, what did you have in mind?”