Evolution: A Warlock's Rise To Power

The players with their boundless energy ran through the forest.  They thought it would be quick and easy to get to the pirates, but things weren't that simple.  The forest was filled with creatures and they weren't happy to see the players.  Fortunately, with forty players moving together as a group, a single creature or two weren't able to hold them up for long.

It was over an hour before the players found their first trace of the players.  Super, using his hunter ability was able to find the tracks of the pirates and the players were able to alter their course to catch up to them.

The players trailed behind. The pirates and quietly followed them but the clock was slowly ticking down.  At this point, Lucan needed to be done with the dungeon in two hours.  He started to become a bit concerned.  If Fleet Commander Richard wasn't the final boss then they may be in trouble.  The only reason Lucan continued to follow the pirates and not attack wasn't because of the supposed pirate King's treasure.  It was because he assumed the Commander Richard would lead them to the last boss, if there even was one.

It was because of this that Lucan felt relieved when the commander stopped outside of a cave in the ground.  The players watched as he orders most of the pirates to wait outside as the commander took four pirates down into the cave with him.

The players were ready to attack.  They already outnumber the pirates that Commander Richard left outside of the cave, but Lucan wanted to wait just a little bit longer.

He set down Little Brown on the ground and the mouse began to scurry between the trees as he approached the cave.

The pirates didn't bother with a small mouse that went into the cave.  Maybe if it was a bigger creature, they would of killed it so they could have some fresh roasted meat, but nobody was interested in roasting a mouse.

Little Brown wasn't going into the cave to only trail after the commander.  The first thing he did was get into position as Lucan began to cast spells through him.

A telekinetic wall sealed off the cave.  It would muffle some of the sound.  Then a wall of shadows appeared to quiet things down even more.  At last Lucan added another five telekinetic walls just in case a few pirates tried to run inside.

When everything was in place, Lucan alerted the rest of the players.  They looked at him and nodded.  The players spread out and prepared to act.

The pirates who were waiting around the cave for the Commander to find the treasure were shocked to see several people smiling at them as they walked out of the forest into the clearing. The pirates pulled out their weapons and moved closer together.  They were ready to take out these intruders who showed up out of nowhere.

Just when the pirates were about to charge towards the players, from deeper in the trees, the ranged players unleashed their first wave of ranged attacks.  Then the melee fighters rushed forward to start their attack.

***

Fleet Commander Richard led his first mate and three others into the cave.  The first mate lit a torch and cast light for Richard to make his way down the winding path.  While the torch light danced on the walls, and the pirates snaked down the path, they didn't notice the little brown mouse that was slowly following behind them.

"Commander, are you sure this is the right way?"  Asked the first mate.

"Hmpf, of course this is the right way.  We turned hard left the three-pronged cliff, then walked ten thousand paces to the east.  We then turned north at the only tree that was different.  There was only one evergreen on this island, and we found it.  After that we came straight towards the cave and it was exactly where the map said it would be."

"I am not doubting the directions."  The first mate said.  "I just find it strange that the king of the pirates would leave a detailed map for people to find his treasure.  From the position of a pirate, it seems like an extremely foolish thing to do.  Why would he leave a trail for others to follow?  Isn't that risking his whole treasure being taken."

"I understand your worries.  You think that this might be a huge waste of time for nothing.  We even gave up the East Allied Trading Company score for this.  But the pirate king had enough treasure without even considering his secret stash.  And in his final years his mind was going.  He might have left this treasure map so that he could remember where it was, or maybe he made it so that his memory could live forever while people searched for his treasure.  The only way for us to know for sure is to follow the trail to the end."

The first mate nodded and kept leading the way. 

The pirates and the little mouse kept towards the trail.  After a few moments that cave opened into a large sandy floored cavern.

"Ha, ha, this is a good sign."  Commander Richard said as he took the torch form the first mate and walked towards the edge of the cavern.  There were several torches that were already attached towards the side of the cavern.  It was a sign that people had been here before.

Fleet Commander Richard walked around the edge of the cavern and lit those torches one by one. Light began to fill the large room.  Once they had enough light to see, Commander Richard walked to the third torch from the left and began count the paces as he walked away from it.  Once he counted to twenty.  He marked the spot on the ground with a long line.

Richard then headed to the fourth torch on the right, from the entrance of the cavern and took thirty five paces before he marked the spot with another line.  He then found where the two lines intersected and marked the spot with an 'X'.

"There it is lads."  Richard said towards the three pirates who had come with him and his first mate.

The pirates put down the buckets and pickaxes they were carrying and took up the shovels.  Then they began to dig into the sandy floor.

***

Lucan told the players what he saw as they cleaned up the massacre that had happened outside of the cave.  When the players were rested and back to tip top shape, he took down the telekinetic walls and the the group began to headed down towards the cavern.

The players weren't sure if the treasure existed or not, but each one of them held onto a little bit of hope in their hearts.  Who wouldn't want to find buried pirate treasure.  Regardless of if the pirate king's treasure was real or not, or if it was located hear or not, the players knew that they would probably get some good gear once they took down the Fleet Commander.

Lucan held his hand to tell the players to hold up.  After they went around the next corner, they would be entering the torch lit cavern.