After recalling the Ratkin Pass, Cyclone suddenly had an intuition. She took out the map and watched how a new symbol appeared. It consisted of a few jagged lines which could be interpreted as a bonfire with a lot of imagination.
"Perhaps I was overthinking it…"
Cyclone pouted slightly but Liam shook his head:
"No, your idea was not wrong. We can indeed take a ratkin path from here."
"Really? Eh… I mean… I knew it!"
Everyone chuckled as Cyclone proudly stuck out her chest. At that point Liam took the lead. He had a good guess where the map was guiding them and if they didn't take the ratkin path they would either have to cross a mountain or take a long detour. Well, it wouldn't be a problem if everyone had their flying mounts. Perhaps that was the reason why the treasure map recommended a level of 63.
However, before they left Icehaven Liam brought his friends towards a prominent tavern close to the centre of the city to buy a few barrels of Sorov Brew. There was no other reason than that it genuinely tasted amazing, like liquified honey but with a hint of sharpness. The friends usually carried the food made by the guild's chefs with them, snacking occasionally, but none of them were specialised in drinks. When they tasted Sorov Brew they realized the difference. Quickstep even stated that she never had something better to drink and got the idea of recreating it in real life.
After this short break Liam brought his friends to the east of the city. There was a long, rather flat building built against the mountain. This was a popular gathering spot of ratkin where they would often eat together and spend their evenings. Even now there were a few children playing in front. As the friends arrived the children ran around them, curious and playful. Their mothers only watched with smiles, not showing much fear towards the party.
Liam and his friends only interacted with the kids briefly before entering the building. They ignored the somewhat strong smell and walked through a door leading towards the back. Taking the stairs downwards they entered another tunnel system. Compared to the tunnels built by dwarves, the ratkin tunnels were much smaller and less sophisticated, but because of that ratkin were much faster to almost hollow out entire mountains.
When the friends entered the tunnel, they were stopped by two ratkin guards. But after showing their passes they were allowed to go ahead. One of the guards even generously handed them a map. The complicated network of paths made everyone dizzy just from looking at it. Even Liam could only guarantee not to get lost as long as they stayed on the few main paths.
The tunnels were damp and uncomfortable. Even the widest paths were at most enough for three people to walk next to each other. At least no one had to lower their heads. The friends walked quickly, not even talking much. There were no enemy attacks on the way and soon they reached an exit.
In front of the friends was a hilly area. The closest mountain was some distance away. Snow covered the land and some monsters roamed around. It was hard to say if they would be able to find any prey. Perhaps they were waiting for some unsuspecting players but with Liam and his friends they had clearly chosen the wrong targets. The party bulldozed through a bunch of black-and-white furred wolves and approached the top of a hill. But before they could make it there, they felt the ground beneath their feet quiver, and muffled booms reached their ears.
"What is this?"
The question had just left Cyclone's mouth when she got her answer. A head suddenly popped up behind the hill. The head alone was almost the size of a person. It had braided, black hair and a greyish, stony skin. Its big, blue eyes stared curiously at the party.
"Huh, you are no wolves. Who are you?"
The voice sounded slightly excited, tearing on everyone's clothes. The friends were stunned for a moment but after inspecting the other, they relaxed. It turned out the other was a war troll and his name was green. He posed no danger. Cyclone craned her neck to talk to the troll:
"Of course we are no wolves. We are brave adventurers out on a mission. Big guy, is this place troll territory?"
"Mom said I'm not allowed to talk to strangers…"
The friends were taken aback. So that big troll was just a child?
"But you just started a conversation with us, right?"
"Yeah…"
"So can you answer my question?"
"Nope!"
Cyclone rolled her eyes. She glanced at her friends, signalling them to just ignore the troll and go. But Liam took a step forward, trying his luck:
"Look, Derrax, we are searching for the Eternal Flame tribe. Could you maybe bring us there?"
"Oh, you are guests? Why not say so right from the beginning? Of course I can show you our home!"
Staring at the troll's excited smile Cyclone couldn't help but curse inwardly. This troll was definitely discriminating players with low charisma. Thinking about it, since when had Liam's charisma improved so much? Actually, everyone's charisma seemed to be improving slightly. At least there were almost no instances where they would be outright rejected by NPCs.
While Cyclone was pondering, the friends walked up the rest of the hill, arriving in front of the war troll's face. Derrax was not even fully grown and yet stood at more than 30 meters tall. Even if the party all stood on top of each other, they wouldn't rival the troll's height. And yet his clothes were made from beast fur, seemingly from a single beast, indicating the dangerous monsters roaming the depths of the Eastern Mountains.
Seeing the adventurers in front of him, Derrax was amazed at how small they were. Obviously, he hadn't seen much of the world as he asked the friends all kinds of question while leading them towards the Eternal Flame tribe. However, on the way he turned around from time to time, confused as to why the adventurers were so slow.
Everyone's eyes twitched as they couldn't keep up with the troll even on their basilisks. This only further stoked their desire for flying mounts.
The ten players and one troll were hurrying through snow-capped hills, crossing large distances. On the way Cyclone asked Liam what the Eternal Flame tribe was. Liam explained that this was a tribe of war trolls centred around a massive bonfire which was never allowed to go out. Looking ahead they could already see the black fumes rising to the sky not far away.
As they were getting closer to the tribe, the earth suddenly trembled. A roar shook the skies, blowing the snow away:
"Derrax!"
"Oh, no! It's mom…"
Derrax suddenly began to panic. He looked left and right, looking for a hiding spot. There was a forest not far away with towering trees reaching towards his chest. But to him this was still too small. While the young troll was unable to decide, the trembling grew increasingly more intense. Booming noises could be heard. Finally, the players spotted a moving giant in the distance, quickly coming closer.
"Hurry, we need to leave!"
"Derrax! Don't you dare take another step! If you run away now you don't ever need to come back!"
This threat was obviously effective. Derrax froze in place before lowering his head with a defeated expression. A minute later another war troll arrived in front of the party. This one was a massive giant, almost seven times the height of Derrax. Muscles like dragons moved below her greyish skin. She had long, red hair and a crude broadsword made from simple iron lay in her right hand. But although the weapon was crude, with a height of almost one hundred metres its weight alone was enough to crush everything.
The friends stood in the troll's shadow and gulped. If this troll attacked them, it was uncertain if they could muster any resistance. Luckily the mother troll didn't seem aggressive. She pulled Derrax's ear and berated him for a while before looking down on the adventurers.
"And who did you bring here, Derrax?"
"Mom, these are my new friends! They are adentres from outside. They said they have some business with our tribe."
"It's adventurers… And you thought it was a good idea to bring strangers to our home?"
The friends realised that the mother troll didn't sound pleased at all. Liam hastily took a step forward to explain:
"Miss, look, we are following a treasure map given by Old Man Meyhran and it led us to your tribe. I am certain that this wouldn't be possible without the agreement of your chief. So, please, if you would just let us talk to your chief…"
"You are friends of Old Man Meyhran? Haha, you should have said that from the start. Friends of Meyhran are naturally also friends of our tribe. Come, I will lead you."
The friends were all relieved as the troll's attitude changed greatly. She pulled Derrax by the hand and walked towards the black smoke in the distance, with the friends following behind.