Warklin Omlette Anyone?
(Crossing, Zoluren: Ka’len 356)
I was quietly conducting some business on Town Green when I heard that the Warklins had begun attacking near the bank. I quickly told my customer that I had pressing business and made my way to aid the defenders. The Warklins turned out to be sentient insect creatures of extreme size and power. The combined strength of the Crossing defenders were able to slay the measely half dozen Warklins that had arrived, but it was not easy.
As things began to go back to normal, a person on the gweth claimed that the Warklins had arrived to seek him out. Various people, including myself, told the individual that he appeared to be suffering from visions of grandeur to think that such creatures would arrive to pester a measely young bard. However, the bard persisted in claiming that he carried an egg of a Warklin that he had found while drunk and wandered into a cave.
I agreed to meet this young bard and found that his claim was genuine. The egg was in fact the Jade Colored egg of a Warklin. A few others had arrived to see the meeting between myself and the bard. We listened as he told the story of how he had been drunk and wandered into Cave Bears where he encountered a Worm of enormous size. The injured worm left the egg and made its way off premusably to find a quiet place to end its days. The Bard took the egg and made his way to the Crossing to visit his cousin. It is at that time that the attacks began.
We decided that the egg should be returned to its rightful place. I promised to protect the young Bard as he reluctantly agreed to return with us to the caves. Upon arriving in cave bears we were accosted by three more Warklins. When we showed them the egg, they stopped attacking and just stared at us. These Armored Warklins appeared to be just drones and we waited for the leader to appear. The Bard set the egg upon the ground and I moved into a position to guard it.
About this time a Bladebacked Warklin appeared. It was obvious that this was the leader we had waited for as no such creature had appeared in the Crossing. We waited for it to make its intentions clear. It stepped toward the egg as I guarded it. We agreed as a group to return the egg to the Warklin and I ceased guarding it and stepped back into the group.
At that moment, the Bladebacked Warklin leaped into the air and came down upon the egg smashing it into unrecognizable goo. From every direction approximately 20 Warklin appeared and attacked my small group of 12 people. I grabbed the Bard to take him to safety and keep my vow.
The others defended our retreat, but the fell to the last man except for Wyloth. Their sacrifice was not in vain as we were able to get the Bard to a place of safety outside the caves. I used the gweth to summon reinforcements and was pleased to see some of the most powerful people in the realms answer the call. Garfaldo, Sadar, Vrulle, and many other names that ring with the sound of legends in their own time arrived to aid the lost party.
It took the better part of an hour to beat back the hoarde of Warklins and rescue those that lay trampled under the insects feet. I took the Bard back to the Crossing and arranged for him to stay in one of our local inns until transportation could be arranged to take him back home to the north.
As we walked, he told me that his family were master crossbow craftsman. He said that someday he may make his way back down to our city and sell some of his wares as it was quite apparent to him that though our province is quite civilized, it has all the dangers of a frontier. I looked at a sample of his crossbows and they are far better than any heavy crossbow I have seen to date. The efficiency with which they were made allows them to be loaded at almost twice the speed of a normal crossbow of its kind. Such efficiency in the hands of a practiced crossbowmen would be invaluable.
He was a good man that just wandered into the wrong place after a bit too much to drink. I can only hope that his experience does not sour him on our city and he arrives with his wares very soon. If another hive of the Warklin arrive, we will need all the help we can get……
by my mind and hand, Joshuah, son of Jorim and Esibo.
Note: The Warklin were some of the toughest creatures I have encountered to date. I Mental Blasted a Bladebacked Warklin and managed to put it to sleep. It took ten of us about two full minutes of hacking on the sleeping creature and casting every spell at our disposal to finally fell the beast. These creatures favorite tactic was to web people, knock them down, and eat them while they are defenseless. If you encounter a Warklin, do not underestimate its prowess…..