The walk back, on empty stomachs was saved by pure luck. They had found a rabbit and Paul zapped it with a [Ray of Frost]. Roast unseasoned rabbit wasn’t the tastiest of meals out there, but hunger is a spice all its own.
When they finally got out of the forest they saw a most welcome sight. The walls of West Green.
There wasn’t any smoke coming off of the wooden structure, thankfully. Burn marks were there. Long black streaks seemingly painted up the sides near the gate. The ground directly around the gate a clear brown muck. Any snow for a hundred feet had been trampled and removed under hundreds of bony feet. Those hundreds of feet had also done their own number on the wood as well. Any bark from the palisade had been stripped away in thousands of finger wide grooves.
Tired, hungry, exhausted, but mostly thankful it was over, the four of them approached the gate.
“What are you going to do first when we get back?” Paul asked the air as they stalked across the open field.
“Food.” Mark growled.
“Bath.” Francis took a step. “But yeah hot food would be good to.”
“I’m going to check on anyone who’s hurt.” Tim’s feet made a thudding squelch in the mud.
“Yeah.” Paul had the good sense to feel slightly ashamed. “Yeah you’re good to do that.”
“Think you’d be saying the same thing if you hadn’t eaten my knife earlier?” Francis shot Tim a look.
Tim returned the look. “Yes.”
They stared at each other for a few steps.
“Well, you’re a better man...”
“Dwarf”
“Dwarf than I am.” Francis conceded.
Upon reaching the gates, Paul called up. “Hey! Let us in!”
There was a silence so he tried again. “Hey! LET US IN!”
This time, the familiar sound of a ladder thunking against wood came to bear. Followed by a clatter as someone climbed on up. Popping only their head over the lip was Tom.
“You’re not skeletons are you?” Tom said with full head shake and bobbing adams apple.
“No Tom. We’re not skeletons.” Paul put an arm out to lean against the wood wall. “It’s all over and done with. Let us in, please.”
“How can I be sure you’re not skeletons in disguise?”
“With your EYES!” Francis cupped his hands around his mouth to shout. “LOOK at us!”
“You could be skeletons wearing the skin of those guys!”
“I mean... we are. Kinda.” Paul muttered under his breath.
Ignoring Paul, Francis tried another tack. “If you don’t let us in, I’m going to get Mark here to throw me up there again. You won’t be happy if I have to do that a SECOND time to you.”
“OK, OK! A skeleton wouldn’t know about that.” Tom clambered down the ladder once again.
The gate creaked open, obviously worse for wear. The hinges barely functioning and screaming their objections at moving. The wood of the door itself dragging a furrow through the muddy ground as it was pushed open just barely wide enough for a person to get through.
The four of them squeezed through the gap and entered the town proper. What greeted their eyes was an interesting scene.
There were racks of weaponry, spears, clubs, crossbows, arrows, lining the nearby street. Piles of large and heavy looking rocks within easy reach of the wall. Numerous ladders were laid up nearby. And a number of townsfolk stood by looking ready for anything.
“Tom.” Paul looked over at the gangly guard as he continued to walk into town. “Go let everyone know we’re back.” He looked over at the other three. “We’re heading for the Cup and Crow.”
“I wouldn’t go there, that’s where everyone who got hurt went.” Tom kept up.
“All the better.”
-------------
The Guildmaster, Julia, and Tom caught up with our four heroes half way through a bowl of stew. They burst through the front door, letting it slam hard into the wall.
“Where are they?” The Guildmaster shouted into the room.
Mark and Francis were seated at a table, spoons on their way to open mouths. Paul was pouring a bucket of steaming hot water into a larger tub. Tim was applying a [Cure Wounds] to someone who was nursing a bandaged arm.
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“Right here sir!” Tom reached an arm over the Guildmasters shoulder to point at the four of them.
“I can see that Tom. Thank you.” The Guildmaster shrugged off Tom’s arm and stalked into the room. He came to a stop at the Table with Mark and Francis. “Report.”
“Problems solved.” Francis spoke first, allowing Mark to keep eating. “We went out there, found the... dungeon core?” He turned his head towards Paul who nodded. “The dungeon core. Got it off it’s tower and dragged it back to it’s dungeon. Bish bash bosh, it’s all good now.”
The Guildmaster’s eye started to twitch. “Say I believed you. You four.” He pointed to each of them in turn. “Walked out of here, through a forest infested with skeletons, found a roving dungeon core, and decided to return it rather than keep it?” He leaned forward and gripped the edge of the table.
Julia gasped in shock.
“It was summoning skeletons, constantly!” Francis thumped his fist on the table. “If we didn’t put it back it would have kept at it.” He brushed off his shoulders and inspected a fingernail. “Wouldn’t be environmentally friendly if we didn’t.”
The Guildmasters knuckles were white from how hard he was gripping.
Paul spoke up. “Make this bucket of water hot with [Prestigitation]!” The bucket started to steam. “The core itself basically demanded to be returned.”
Head snapping to the side to stare at Paul. “What?” The Guildmaster stiffened and froze in place.
“I cast [Identify] on it, and it was not happy about being outside.” Paul poured out the freshly hot water into the tub. It was half full.
There was a loud cracking noise. The sound of snapping wood under great pressure filled the air of the Cup and Crow’s common room. The Guildmaster had squeezed so hard his fingers had just ripped their way through the thick table top planks.
“No.” The Guildmaster stood up tall, staring off into the distance. “Don’t tell me another word. Julia, deal with this. Exemplary effort, above and beyond, the whole deal. I’m going to go now and think on this.” With that, he spun on his heel and walked out into the street.
Julia watched as the door shut with a final sounding thud. “Wow, haven’t seen the Guildmaster act like that in... well ever.” She took a seat next to Mark, sparing a glance at the broken pieces of wood that made up the edge of the table now. “So that all really happened?”
“Just as he said.” Mark pointed his spoon at Francis. “Not including four days of walking to and from the dungeon. What happened here?”
“Oh well, yes, I suppose you wouldn’t know.”
“Francis, tubs ready.” Paul gestured back at the bath. He took Francis’ seat as the halfling quickly scrambled to get in.
Julia tilted her head and set about recalling what went on with the town while they were away. “So Everett, Nelly, and Gary got all those folks organized as you know. Lots of gathering supplies and stuff. Ladders, weapons, rocks. They set up shifts to go up the ladders and throw down stuff at the skeleton pile.” She pantomimed climbing a ladder. “I remember my own stint up there. Skeletons as far as the eye could see! I hurled those rocks down as hard as I could and those bones just cracked and dissipated one after another.”
She smoothed out her hair. “Gary’s really the only one with offensive magic in town.” She looked up at Paul. “No offence. So he was up there every time he had mana throwing out those fireballs of his. Nelly and Everett did what they could, mostly picking off any of them that had tried to climb up on their own.”
Julia blew out her breath. “So near the end of the day, we finally saw an end of the skeletons. A lot of them just fell over, mana just sucked out of them essentially. Their bones evaporated and from there it was just cleaning everything up.”
Tim, who had been listening closely, looked back at their patient. “Wait a minute, if no one went outside the walls to fight them directly, how did you get hurt?”
The patient had the good sense to at least look embarrassed. “Fell off a ladder.”
-------------
After they had all eaten, bathed, and looked generally presentable, The Guildmaster summoned them to the adventurers guild.
They were ushered past the front desk by Julia and up the stairs behind. Julia gave a gentle knock on a closed door in the upper hallway. From inside came a grunt and she opened the door for them.
They filtered into the cozy looking office. The walls were lined with bookshelves which were in turn covered in books and various bits of what they assumed were memorabilia. Small shards of stone, a monsters claw, a medal, and a bejewelled knife were the stand out items.
Sitting behind a dominating desk was the Guildmaster. He was currently staring at a piece of paper. “Sit.”
There was a wide couch that everyone except Tim crowded in on. Tim spotted an especially thick legged chair that they took instead.
“So, what do you have to say for yourselves?” The Guildmaster laid the paper down on the table.
“We didn’t do it.” Francis was quick.
“No no no, we did it, we did all of it.” Paul was next.
“What did we do?” Mark asked.
“What do you think we did?” Tim filled in the last possibility.
“You’re the ones I have to thank for saving the town.” The Guildmaster stood up from his desk with a straight back and bent at his waist, bowing to all of them. “From the bottom of my heart it is with great gratitude that I extend my thanks and the thanks of everyone in the town of West Green.” He straightened up once again and cleared his throat. “Now the question remains as to what we do with you all.”
“Honour, riches, and many hot bi...” Paul covered Francis’ mouth.
“Whatever you think is most fair sir.”
“Right, well here’s what’s going to happen.” The Guildmaster started to pace back and forth behind his desk. “First, you get your quest completion. With the above and beyond bonus attached. Second, Since the town wouldn’t continue to exist without your efforts, we’re obligated to give you more, but I don’t think a lifetime supply of wheat grain would be useful to you.”
“Wouldn’t say no to it though.” Mark rubbed his chin. “Good growing around here for it.”
Ignoring Mark’s comment, The Guildmaster continued. “So I’m going to use my authority and a few favours to pull some strings. I can see that all of you are going to be wasted here. With what you’ve done for the town, I’m promoting you to rank two adventurers.”
“Thank you sir!” Paul seemed ecstatic.
“But that comes with it’s own problems.” The Guildmaster shook his head. “We can’t afford, as a city, to pay for a rank two party to do quests out here. Not that we get that many. So those favours and strings I mentioned are going to get you admitted to the Gildmoor Adventuring Academy. When you step out of their walls you’ll be rank three and able to take on the crown quests.”
“When do we leave?” Francis had gotten free of Paul’s covering hand.
“Spring, with Gil’s caravan.” The Guildmaster picked up a few pieces of paper and stuffed them into an envelope. He poured out a bit of sealing wax and closed it up with a ring on his finger. “This letter is an introduction for all of you to the Gildmoor administrators.”
Paul took the sealed letter and tucked it away into his satchel.
“See Julia for the new rank engraving and a few bitcoins. Less than you deserve for sure.” The Guildmaster sat back in his chair. “Word of advice. You’ve got a few months, and a dungeon that produces metal. Get what you can from it. I’ll make sure Smith knows you’ll be needing new equipment.”