Missing Scout

*Without a tavern to call home Hardy has been looking for a new base of operations. His best scout has gotten lost and Hardy needs a group of adventurers to find him. How will our party find an invisible person? Especially when they can't open the door.*

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## Missing Scout

###### ***Locations:***

Hardy Town (Eternity), The Forge (Eternity), Nythl Alor'ah (Reality), a Cave outside Nythl Alor'ah (Reality), The Forge (Eternity)

###### ***Notable Moments:***

Hardy giving Puss In Boots eyes, The door that will not open, Meeting Piptrick, Lenny's magic amulet, Pip on Lenny's shoulder, "When the ideas are lacking, the Orcs start whacking"

###### ***Episode Synopsis:***

In this first episode of the second wave of adventures, we find a quieter Hardy Town. People are settling in to their normal routine. After receiving a private summons, Frosty and Rantar headed from their Helping Hands Healing Clinic to meet Hardy at the Forge. Along the way, Frosty cautions Rantar to let her handle the negotiations for payment for whatever this next scheme turns out to be...they still haven't gotten paid from their trip to Grandview University! Rantar gently reminds Frosty that they trust Hardy, he's a friend, and besides, Hardy has never had any financial problems...*(cough, cough!)* Lenny, having gotten the same summons, has been stealthily following them, listening in, and chuckles softly at Rantar's comment. She still has the chest of gold that Hardy Credits are supposed to based on...in the corner of her room with blankets piled on top. Rantar knows that Frosty and Hardy are friends, he trusts Frosty, so she can handle the finances. Oog'ba has also received a summons, so he also heads to Forge. He was just plucked from the Tavern in Reality when Brainz retook it; since then he has been looking for a way to fit in and looking for another adventure. Oog'ba runs in to Frosty and Rantar, they all notice Lenny, and realize that they have all received the same summons. They also realize that Hardy is not great with names... As they get to know each other, Frosty asks Lenny what she does, to which Lenny responds not much. Frosty offers the job of "potion tester" to Lenny, as currently only Rantar has tested them. He's survived so far... As they approach the inactive Forge, they hear clanging and banging, followed by a little voice saying "Ouch!"

They find Hardy sitting top of an anvil trying to hit a sword with a hammer, and not succeeding. The sword falls on the ground, and Hardy greets the crew. These are the folks Hardy trusts; the ones he could do pinky promises with...if he had pinkies. He shares the current issues of Brainz retaking the tavern in Topaz Bay, Denis/Dumak losing the gold that Hardy Credits was going to be based on, etc. He needs another outpost in the Kingdom of QuelDoras for his operations, and had sent out a friend to scout out location...but now he is lost. This group needs to find his friend and bring him back.

The group starts questioning Hardy about the friend, as they as all well aware that Hardy's "briefings" tend to have large holes in them. His name is Piptrick, or Pip for short; he wears a big hat with a feather in it, he is etherial, so sometimes he's just a voice, sometimes he's transparent...he's perhaps an inch or two tall, depending on how close or how far you are to him... Hardy sent him to the far north location of Nythl Alor'ah, where it is covered in snow this time of year. The population usually clears out, so it should be abandoned. Except for the Snowlums, a frozen creature with big jagged frosty teeth. Maybe as big as Hardy...maybe as big as Oog'ba. Frosty is reticent, until Hardy gives Puss In Boots eyes. Rantar asks how can Frosty turn that down? Frosty will go just to make sure Rantar comes back safely, because she is not running the clinic by herself! Without any warning, he opens the portal right underneath everyone, who immediately plunge through...into snow. They have arrived right outside of Nythl Alor'ah, covered in light snow. Oog'ba starts off toward the town, tossing the half-forged sword over his shoulder. Rantar picks it up and looks at it: no strange jewel that if fed blood, could steal your soul, so he pockets it. While Rantar and Oog'ba start for the town, Lenny asks Frosty if she could look at her amulet she found on the pirate ship. Unsure if she can trust Frosty, but knowing she shouldn't trust Hardy, she holds it out for Frosty to look at, but not touch. Frosty can tell the amulet has magical properties, but they are nearly exhausted. They catch up with the guys, and enter the town. The town is calm, peaceful, but no tracks, no lights, and no smoke rising from the chimneys. How to search for Piptrick? Meanwhile, Oog'ba has found blacksmith shop, and wants new shiny things. The door is locked, but since when did that matter? Unfortunately his first attempt dislodges all the snow on the roof, right on top of him. Rantar digs him out, and then tries the door again. He fails as well, so Lenny tries to hit the window with the butt of her dagger...and barely makes a crack. Frosty suggests trying to find a back door, a side door, a garbage shoot...when a little voice pipes up: "You guys are funny!" They all look around, but finally Oog'ba sees a little mouse sitting in the snow. Rantar holds out his massive hand to shake the mouse's paw...and goes right through it. They have found Piptrick! Lenny invites him to join the group, to return to Hardy, but Pip says the job is not done. Job?! Scouting a new location. The town is boring, but Pip found a great cave! But the cave has something scary in it... The group will help clear the cave, bring Pip back, and Oog'ba hopes to get a bonus! But first, weapons. There is indeed a back door, so the two gents head around to to see if they can bust that one open, together...as only two Orcs can do! Rantar actually crashes through the door, leaving a Rantar-shaped void. Oog'ba reaches in, unlocks the door, and heads inside. They forget about about the other folks for a second, blinded by all the new shiny things. After Lenny pounds on the front door, they remember the others and everyone gets outfitted. Off to the cave! One problem, Pip doesn't quite remember which of the two large mountains holds the cave, and because he's etherial, there are no tracks to follow. Frosty asks Lenny to try something on a whim...hold her amulet up to each mountain to see if she feels any "wiggle shakey thingie" from either place. While she doesn't feel any zingers, she does see thru the blue stone. She holds it up to her eye, and perceives magic! She sees little tracks all over the town, and sees Pip's tracks all over, leading to one mountain. She passes over Pip, but now sees a little boy, wearing nice clothes, standing there looking back. She shows Frosty, who is confused as well...but sees the tracks, too. Rantar asks to look, and is so enamored with the tracks that he doesn't even look at Pip. Pip asks to see, too...but sees nothing. Rantar lifts Pip's spirits by promising much more fun things to see and do. The group heads off, with Lenny making sure they take the right path.

They have arrived at the cave, but Lenny is cautious. Looking through the amulet, she sees Pip's tracks but nothing more. The two Orcs take point, ready to meet the big toothy things should they appear. The cave is large, rocky, and so far, silent. Rantar looks for signs of teeth or claws, and he sees scratches on the walls. He tells the crew, and Pip immediately hops on Lenny's shoulder, pulling his hat over his eyes. Pip is scared! Lenny comforts him while Rantar carefully steps further in, illuminating more of the cave with every step. Suddenly, a snowball flies out of the darkness, striking Rantar right in the face! As he wipes the snow from his eyes, all he can see is a giant, teeth-filled snowball charging at him. "Oh no!" cries Pip, "A Snowlum!" Oog'ba charges the Snowlum and bellows his war cry, attracting the its attention. Its attack is nothing to Oog'ba. Lenny throws her blinding ashes, with the cinders melting the face away. It roars, scaring Pip more. Rantar, hating that Pip is scared, takes a giant swing and cleaves the creature..."Don't mess with my friends!" Frosty, hanging back, throws her assist to Rantar. Oog'ba, not knowing what else to do, attacks again. "When the ideas are lacking, the Orcs start whacking." The blow is a mighty one. However, the Snowlum opens his mouth in a roar, and some snow sucks back onto it. It is slowly restoring itself! Lenny, wanting to keep Pip safe, stays back and shoots her hand cross bow...and hits the Snowlum right in its head. Rantar uses his sword again, trying to slice the mouth off so it can't restore itself. As all warriors bravely fought so well, they have achieved Synergy and created even more damage! The creature melts onto Rantar's sword, disintegrating...and refreezes in a puddle. Rantar pokes it to make sure...it is indeed dead. Lenny encourages Pip to come out from under his hat, and he is delighted that everyone survived. He thinks they survived, at least...because his little paw just passes into Lenny's cheek...but everyone assures him they are well and good. And the cave is definitely a cool place for a new base! Slides could go over there, they could have snowball fights every day...Rantar and his newest friend Pip have all sorts of ideas! Lenny and Rantar check out the back of the cave, and see a trove of stuff...cloaks, books, random stuff...but also a chest filled with gold. Lenny scans the cave, looking through her amulet, looking for anything magical. While the cave holds nothing special, she spies something glowing orange outside the cave. She walks back out, catching Frosty's and Oog'ba's attention. As they poke their heads out of the cave, who do they see but Hardy trying step through the snow. "I'm freaking freezing! Tell me you have a fire in there!" While Hardy makes his usual commotion, Rantar pockets 30 pieces of gold (that's for the clinic, right Rantar?!) and shouts, "This cave is awesome, Hardy!" It echos, and all of the stalagmites and stalactites start shaking...the group departs the cave quickly. Oog'ba picks up Hardy as he runs, and is surrounded by a green aura, and \*poof\* disappears. Everyone decides they need to quickly follow in order to not be left behind, but Rantar does manage to snag the gold-filled chest before hopping back to Eternity, and Pip remains on Lenny's shoulder. They have arrived back in the Forge, but Hardy decides the cold is not for him. He's glad Pip is back, but wants to find somewhere else for a base...and he's still trying to get Hardy Credits going, so no payments yet. Hardy says they are all number one in his book, for sure! Frosty says "I'll let you know who is number two in my book..that would be you, Hardy." Rantar agrees...a big number two. Perhaps the biggest.