The Blind Watch

Chapter 1

It started, as all good adventures do, in a local tavern. Lightdale Port was right on the North Sundry Sea, a place that was frequented by those coming in and out of the realm of Ellurian. Most of the population was transient, merely on their way through to get to another destination.

This first, fated night was stormy and dark. The Seagull was full of locals and strangers, everyone ready to drink the night away in the warm shelter of the tavern. A cute halfling bard girl strummed her lute for a few eager listeners. A table of rowdy dwarves kept calling out to the barman for refills more often than they probably should. A pair of wood elves with their hoods up sat at a table by themselves, sipping slowly at their tankards and watching everyone warily. A half elf girl sat in a corner, no table, keeping as well hidden in the shadows as she could.

There were tables of humans gambling, gnomes drinking, and halflings singing. There was even a red scaled dragonborn who had joined in a card game at one table, seamlessly fitting in among the misfit crowd in the tavern. It was a loud, happy bunch of people.

But there were also whispers. If you listened carefully, you could hear the locals gossiping about trouble that had been brewing recently. Merchants were going missing on the road into and out of Lightdale at an alarming rate. There was talk of bringing in more Council Guardsman from the capital, or hiring more mercenaries to escort any wagon leaving Lightdale Port, but no definite plans had been made by lawmen yet.

This information peaked a few peoples' interest and the next morning, five souls searching for adventure, for one reason or another, found each other at the notice board outside The Seagull. The dwarf man ripped down the paper they were all looking at with the pretense of looking at it closer.

"Hey," a small, but stubborn voice broke the quiet. "I was reading that." The halfling girl that had been playing the lute last night was staring up at the dwarf with a frown on her face.

The surly dwarf side eyed her before crumpling up the paper and shoving it in his pocket. "It's no concern of yours, little girl. It's just a job posting for adventurers. You wouldn't understand."

She shoved her fists on her hips with a deepening scowl that somehow made her look cuter than before. "Well, sir, I'll have you know that I am an adventurer. So I probably would understand."

The dwarf reached out to pat her head, but after the first pat she ducked away. "I'm also not a child," she pouted in a very childlike manner.

"I think that job will require more than one person to complete it," the male wood elf cut in. "Perhaps we can all be of assistance."

The dwarf squinted at the elf man, taking in his bald head and pointed features. "I don't know that I want to split the bounty with so many of you."

"Then let's see if we can negotiate a higher price," the half elf girl replied, reading a wrinkled piece of paper. It took a second for the others to realize that it was the paper that the dwarf had shoved in his pocket. He patted the area and reached into his pocket to find it empty.

"Theif," he hissed, though his expression gave away that he was impressed.

"I prefer rogue," she tilted her head toward him, shooting him a wry smile. "Either way, let's go see this 'Roland Tress, Chief of the Council Guard.' See how many of us he wants to hire."

The two wood elves exchanged looks, but followed closely on her heels. The dwarf grumbled something unkind about rogues, but followed as well, trailed behind by an almost skipping halfling.

Inside the Council Guard building, the group was led into the Chief's office without much fuss. He explained the situation, confirming that rumors they heard at the Tavern last night were true. Merchants were going missing, and it was getting worse by the day.