The Willowsbrook Chronicles - Chapter 6: Victory by...innebriation?
Welcome everyone, to another chapter of the Willowsbrook Chronicles.
In the last chapter, Gunther and his companions, hid away on a ship that had brought Barga meat to Ansolar.
The big cook and his friends slipped off the ship, and fled into a cavern at an unknown location. The y discovered the Barga meat shipments were being sent by agents of Yatusk, a country Velstand is at war with. Worse Bruno Vladivostov, a top man for the Warlock Masters of Yatusk is running things. The enemy warriors were also herding Goblins and Orcs for some reason.
The plan was to replace Ansolar's populace with Orcs and Goblins. In return, the conspirators would open Velstand to attacks from the Warlock Masters.
The group disocvered the Warlock Masters bear a special malice towards Gunther. It also seems they have a good idea of who freed Gunther the others and why.
What’s next? Find out as The WIllowsbrook Chronicles continue.
The four made their way back to the storage room they’d come from. All the time, Gunther was looking over his shoulder more so than ever. The revelations that he’d overheard had struck him square on.
Rier, Earl Helfgin, and now Bruno Vladivostov and the Warlock Masters were after him! If this was a joke, the Gods had a cruel sense of humor.
“Gunther, Gunther,” Naomi hissed as she shook the sleeve of his shirt.
He yelped as he leaped to his feet and looked around. “Easy, easy.” Nate coaxed him. “You look a right bit like you just seen a ghost.”
“Can you blame me, Nate?” He growled.
“Bad enough that Earl Helfgin, and my former boss are after my life, but now the Warlock Masters want my head too! I never wanted any of this. All I ever wanted was a nice quiet Inn out in the country, where I and my friends could serve travelers and live in peace.”
Quigsley looked up. “Hey, hang on, hang on, you never said anything like that before.” The Illusionist chimed in genuine surprise.
“You’re a good illusionist Quigsley,” The barmaid told the Illusionist as she smirked . “But sometimes things slip by you. I’ve known about Gunther’s dream for several years.
"And my offer still stands, if you start your own Inn, I’ll be happy to come work as a cook and chief barmaid.”
the wizard thought for a moment. “After everything that’s happened in Ansolar, if we get out of this, I’d be up for joining ya’.”
“Right now,” Gunther moaned. “I’m more concerned with getting out of this alive. Now more than ever, people are trying to kill me and I’m scared.”
“There’s nothing wrong with fear,” their guide pointed out. “Only a fool isn’t scared in a situation like this. What matters is how we handle the fear.
"I’ve learned, over the years, that we can either hide away and let fear control us, or turn it into action, and control it.”
“Makes good sense, but what can we do? Besides the Yatuskians, Rier, and Helfgin, there will be more Orcs and Goblins. And I’ll bet any amount of copper that many them aren’t peasants.” Gunther pointed out.
“On that count mate, you’re righter than you think.” Nate told them his face turning grim.
“Aye?” The illusionist inquired.
“Before I found you,” the blonde explained. “I did a bit of searching around. I found some barracks with Goblin and Orc soldiers and shamans in there. They’re planning to disguise themselves as peasants.
"Once in Ansolar disguised as peasants they could raid the countryside. Meanwhile the Shamans will remove Velstand’s protective Anti magic barrier.”
“Bloody Hell!” Quigsley whispered his face going deathly pale.
“That’s horrible!” Naomi added.
“And all this has been going on right under Duke Brekkin’s nose. Gods, this keeps getting worse.” The large man growled in disgust.
The former cook felt like the weight of the world was crushing him, as the implications of Nate’s words fell on him. “Wait a second!” the woman chimed.
The men looked at the chubby brunette lady, her blue eyes alive with an idea. “Gunther, you and I both know how to make that slop called Goblin Grog right.”
Spellcaster and cook’s faces wrinkled in disgust, while they stuck out their tongues.
“How could I forget,” He grimaced. “Even mixing up that foul drink made me feel ill. I don’t know how some people or even Goblins and Orcs can stomach that stuff, it tastes disgusting.”
“With all due respect,” She pointed out in mock sweetness. “I could say the same thing about that swill we tasted a short time ago.”
“Hey show some respect,” Quigsley protested. “Yatuskian Rum is high quality drink!”
Gunther decided to end this debate. “Naomi,” he put in, “what exactly are you getting at?”
“Well, they must have a kitchen where they cook food for the warriors and shamans,” she pointed out.
“They must be bringing in supplies from Ramgam, so, they must be importing Goblin Grog for them to drink. As I recall this swill/Yatuskian Rum, especially the Grade A stuff, has enough alcoholic kick to knock out an ox. So, how much of this rum would it take to knock out the Shamans and Warriors for the Goblins and Orcs?”
Gunther’s eyes widened as the ramifications of what Naomi had in mind struck home. “If the Yatuskian rum mixed with the Goblin Grog and its low alcohol content…”
“It would knock those bastards colder than a wet trout!” The Illusionist snickered.
Then he took off his pointy hat in the fashion of someone at a funeral. “Still, tis a real waste of good drink it is.”
Nate chuckled in amusement, “But the sacrifice would be in a good cause. Naomi, that’s brilliant!”
“Yes, but who’s going to carry the keg?” The big man asked.
Nate pointed at himself and former cook. “You and I, will do that.”
“To cover the noise and any sign of us,” Naomi pointed out. “The cloaks would cover us but not the barrel. Quigsley, you’re an illusionist. You have spells that can render us invisible, and muffle any noise we make, right?”
His eyes widened in understanding. “Ooh yeah right, right I do! Last a right good long time they can.”
“I can lead you to the kitchen and supply room where the Goblin Grog is.” Their mysterious ally explained.
“I don’t mind carrying that thing,” The big man added, “though it’ll be good to get some help.”
Former tavern cook and Guide lifted the barrel.
“Okay Quigsley, hop to it.” Naomi told the spell caster.
The illusionist smiled and chanted, “Oridantes Nikatcho Zzenchi!”
Gunther and the rest of the group as they started to fade out of existence… Yet didn’t feel any different. “Right then,” Quigsley added before he spoke the arcane words. “Zenopatchi Jenolacry Zensha!”
A light blue barrier flashed into existence around the group, then faded away. “Right,” Quigsley explained. “We can hear ourselves, but the rest of the world can’t, as long as the spell is still up.”
“In that case, let’s get moving.” Nate told them. “We have a plot to stop, and our enemies aren’t going to be standing around.”
The foursome crept their way through the maze of caverns. Several times, they had to stop to avoid their pursuers finding them. Each time the they looked more disgruntled.
It was obvious their search was not going well, and they were becoming agitated. On the one hand that was good, but that made them more dangerous. And desperate and dangerous men are capable of anything, Gunther noted.
Somehow, by some stroke of luck, they made it to the mess hall of the Goblins and Orcs. Gunther knew they had found it when he sniffed the air. “Ooh, that scent,” he whispered. “This is why so many have noted Orc and Goblin food can make even a rodent sick.”
The group passed the rows of tables and benches that looked like they had seen better days.
It was well known that Orcs and Goblins were not the tidiest of creatures.
They snuck to a set of double doors at the far end. They pushed them open, and stepped into a reeking kitchen that looked like it had seen use quite often. “Ugh,” Naomi commented in open disgust. “If this were my kitchen, I’d have had this place cleaned and organized a long time ago.”
“Likewise,” Gunther added.
The
They spotted a couple doors near the bloodied and messy cooking area.
The doors opened to a shabby looking pantry full of foul-smelling vegetation and carcasses.
Out of all the foul smells in the room, it wasn’t all that hard to find the containers of Goblin Grog. n, Quigsley released the spell as Gunther and Nate set the keg down.
Everyone faded back into view. The spellcaster was panting and sweating . “That took. More out of me. Than I thought. Guess I ain’t as practiced. As I thought.” The illusionist sputtered.
Nate gave him a sympathetic nod. “Catch your breath, we may have to do some running if things go wrong.”
Quigsley left the room while Gunther opened the containers of Grog. Nate uncorked their keg. The big cook poured the Yatuskian rum into the barrels of foul-smelling yellow drink.
As soon as the rum keg was empty he set it behind some boxes. Nate put the lid back on the Goblin Grog. “Now, all we have to do is get out of here, and wait for the fun to begin.” The Foamy Mug cook thought out loud.
“I hope these horrible Goblins and Orcs like this,” Naomi quipped. “Because they’re about to get more than they asked for!”
They snuck back into the kitchen, where they found Quigsley looking out the exit. “Can you cast your spells again yet?” Gunther asked the spellcaster.
He shook his head. “Nope, me mana hasn’t recharged yet.”
“Then we’ll have to use our cloaks, and pray we’re not spotted.” The big cook noted.
Magical attire donned the group of intruders crept through the empty Mess Hall and to the exit.
Outside, they sighed, relieved to be out of that stench. They then turned their attention to looking around for some concealment. This group needs to stay out of the way until the surprise we put in their Grog takes effect. The large cook thought.
The group searched around. “Over there,” Nate whispered pointing to a nearby iron door.
The foursome made their way to it where Gunther tried the knob, and found it locked. “Leave this one to me.” Nate assured.
It didn’t take long for the mysterious blonde man to unlock the access. The four scampered in, Nate taking time to make sure the door looked meddled with. Inside, they found themselves facing boxes and racks full of weapons of various kinds.
“It’s all right,” Nate reassured them. “We should be safe here for a while.”
“There’s a couple major problems here Nate,” Gunther pointed out. “We need to get proof of what’s going on, and then there’s the matter of getting out of here alive.”
Nate flashed the three an enigmatic smirk. “Don’t worry about a thing. Help is coming, and it’ll be here sooner than you realize.
"As for proof, I’ve already begun taking care of that matter too. You lot get some rest; we’ll need to be ready to run once the Hordlings are out cold.”
Gunther sighed and sat down. He didn’t know why but he sat back against a crate of weapons and closed his eyes. It wasn’t long before the big barkeep faded off into sleep, his friends soon following.
There’s the latest chapter of The Willowsbrook Chronicles. Things are coming to a head for Gunther and his friends.
This adventure may be almost done, but Gunther’s story is far from complete. Get ready for the exciting conclusion of this story arc of The Willowsbrook Chronicles, with Chapter 7 – The Grey Cloaks strike is next time.
If you enjoyed this story please Like, and remind this story on to your Minds timeline.
Please share this on Facebook and/or Twitter. You can also copy and paste the link for this on to any other social platform you can think of. Spread the word about Minds.com and this channel.
While at it, please subscribe to my channel and follow me on Gab for more of this and other great content. I’ll leave links at the bottom. I’ll also leave links to the previous chapter if you’re new.
If like this channel enough to take your support further you can do so in one of the following:
1. A generous donation of Minds tokens or it's monetary equal helps encourage my efforts.
2. You can also support me with a generous financial donation to the Friendly Hands Inn Tip Jar (My PayPal account) to support my ongoing Internet activities.
3. You can also become one of my monthly patrons on Minds or Subscribestar.
Links:
Previous: The Willowsbrook Chronicles – Chaptert 5: Into the Viper’s nest!
Next: The Willowsbrook Chronicles - Chapter 7: The Grey Cloaks strike!