D&D: HFF: Explore the outskirts of the forest
From Create Your Own Story
The forest feels alive around you. The songs of birds create a unique melody, accompanied by the occasional call of other animals going through their daily life. Your hand is close over the handle of your axe by force of habit, but you feel serene in these woods, taking a moment to close your eyes and absorb everything your other senses can gather. Your movements on the soft grass are almost inaudible to your human ears, the only sounds clearly coming from you being produced by steel clacking on steel, as the assortment of weapons and armor provides a steady rhythm with every step you take.
You make good progress in scouting the outskirts of the forest for any landmarks and places of interest. These will be important in mapping this area and avoid losing any time walking in circles, in case you can’t see the sun and stars over the canopy of the forest. You have done this once before and know the right way to make a mental picture of the sites you have visited and their directions. You start thinking that all these tree-hugging rangers probably oversell their skills in exploration, to make some profit from ignorant city folk that pay for the thrill of adventure. What good is a warrior that only sticks to two kinds of weapons anyway, lazy bastards…?
Your arrogant internal rant is cut short by the distinct sound of running water. It only takes a moment to figure out the direction and after a short jog your stand before a small stream of water, running fast between the trees. After tapping your feet to scare away any snakes, you take a knee and dip your hand in the icy waters, feeling the smoothness of the rocks and pebbles under the surface. It’s fresh and very cold to the touch, possibly coming all the way from the Sword Mountains that now stand hidden behind the dense foliage. The thought of washing your body with handfuls of ice cold water makes you wince, but you can’t bear to spend another day inhaling the foul odors coming up the neckline of your armor. A minute of thought passes as you stand over the stream, gazing into the shiny water. The silence is finally broken by your backpack hitting the ground, soon followed by your arms and armor, boots and finally your clothes, covering the pile of equipment in their vibrant purple colors. For a moment you feel suddenly self aware of your image, wearing only your underwear in the middle of an unfamiliar forest. You brush such thoughts aside and take off the final pieces of fabric covering you.
You stand naked on the soft grass, your feet feeling its wet coolness. The air is still, the rays of the sun pierce the forest canopy, keeping you warm. You enjoy this feeling of freedom for a moment, the only sound around you coming from the running water, with nothing else moving in sight. You kneel by the edge of the stream and sink your hands in, halfway to your elbows, waiting for your body to adjust to the temperature. You take a deep breath and reluctantly bring small handfuls of water to wash your body, rubbing them on your skin to create some heat through the friction. It doesn’t really help, your skin already having goose bumps all over, muscles tensing with the feeling of freezing water on their warm surface. You are determined to get this over with, clenching your teeth you continue the process until every place is touched at least once. Your lips involuntarily shake and your nipples get painfully hard but you soldier on, remembering times that you had to go through worse, rationalizing the situation and trying to downplay your discomfort. It doesn’t take more than a few minutes to get used to the change and you naturally start to relax, finishing your task in a more dignified pace. Your olive skin is reflecting the sunlight; droplets of clear water fall to the soil around you, your shiny black hair sticking on your shoulders and breasts, every muscle visible in its perfect form, with the faded old scars only enhancing the image of a healthy feminine warrior in the best years of her life.
Next are your clothes and undergarments, which you rub for a moment under the water and drop on your shield to dry. It won’t help much with their looks but if it looks good enough for a barracks inspection then it’s good enough for adventuring. Finishing with those, you pull you armor’s chest piece closer to wash the layer of dust properly, when you hear the unmistakable crack of a stick breaking under a foot. Your instinct takes over and without even thinking you grab your axe and a dagger as you turn to face whoever approaches, not wasting any time to stand up or cover your nakedness.
A gang of four goblins is standing only a few steps from you, their wicked grins somewhat dampened as they give nasty looks to the careless one still stepping on the broken twig. They look dirty and ragged, their teeth a gallery of every shade of yellow, contrasting their pale green skin and the earthly colors of the rags they’re wearing. You are familiar with their vile species and you can tell these aren’t really warrior material. Wooden clubs and pointy sticks, weathered deerskin stretched over branches passing off as shields, no pieces of armor made from metal, sunken cheeks and narrow bellies. Still, their beady eyes gleam with evil intent. They might be weak but they seem desperate enough to try anything and you are not exactly in the best attire for a proper fight. They have stopped their sneaky approach and seem to measure you, just as you do the same, waiting for your reaction, weighing their chances against your shiny weapons and aggressive posture, like a cornered cat waiting to pounce. Everything is silent and motionless for a few tense moments, until one of them screams a war cry in their primitive language. It’s time to teach these filthy creatures a lesson…
D&D: HFF: Charge the foolish creatures with all your speed and fury
D&D: HFF: Careful approach, you are not in the best tactical condition
