Battle Preparations: The Erina - Val's Write Up - 5th Sept

Moments ago the warehouse that held contruction supplies for Baxter Construction was calm as the afternoon sun shone through the windows on the south side of the building. Now raised voices filled the wooden, two story building.
“You’re not going to build it?”
“Are you deaf Val. No. No I am not. And I am finished with this conversation.” Jerald Baxter, Val’s foreman, turned toward the stairs that lead to the top floor of the warehouse. Val grabbed Jerald’s arm before he could take a step, swiftly turning the short plump man.
“They’re paying good money -”
“Get-get off me at once! How dare you.” Jerald’s face was now as bright red as the birthmark on his cheek. He slapped Val’s hand away as hard as he dare.
“Jerald.” Val took a breath, trying to calm his employer.
“Get out. You’re no longer needed here.” When Val didn’t move, Jerald repeated himself, this time louder, “You are fired Val.” Beads of sweat dotted Jerald’s head.
“I’m trying to help Jerald.” Val towered over the foreman.
“Didn’t you hear him.” A voice came from the top floor of the warehouse. A familiar voice, with a harsh city accent. Then the sound of boots on the wooden steps, as a skinny man in a leather jacket appeared. It was the man Val knew as Porky Pie. Behind him, two more figures walked down the stairs, one as tall as Val, if not taller, the other the pale skinned, beautiful woman Val had seen twice before in Daring Heights. Her long black hair swayed as she came down the steps.
“Mr Baxter asked you to leave, Val.” Porky savoured the sound of Val’s name.
Val looked Porky in the eye. This was the third time they had met. Why Porky was in the warehouse, or what he had to do with Jerald Val didn’t know. Porky once again held Val’s stare, smiling as he did, revealing several brown teeth on his lower jaw. From behind Porky the tall man’s hand moved to his side. A bead of sweat ran down Jerald’s chubby jawline. The woman with dark hair folded her arms and simply watched both Porky and Val in the silent stand off.
“Sure.” Val broke the silence, turned and made for the exit.
“Cheerio. Now Mr Baxter, where were we?” Val heard Porky say, in a merry tone behind him. He could still feel the man’s eyes piercing into the back of his head as he left the warehouse.

Two days later, on a warm morning Val stood at the western edge of town, with Anton, a fellow builder he had worked with many times.
“So how small are these hedgehogs?”
“Erina. Like I said, you’ll see.” Val’s eyes were fixed on the horizon, toward the forest.
Anton nodded, then tilted his head to one side, causing a quiet click in his neck. Soon, in the distance Anton saw movement. Four figures walked towards them. They were a similar size to halflings, maybe a little taller. Their small frames were muscular, covered in brown fur. A mane of thick spikes appeared instead of hair, and worked their way from their heads, all the way down their backs. Despite the spikes, they still wore clothes, cloaks and leather armour. As they got closer, Anton saw that their faces did strongly resembled a hedgehog, as Val has described. Dark black eyes, and a small pointed nose. Anton nodded again, this time smiling.
“Morning Val” The tallest of the Erina called out, a hand raised as they approached.
“Tarbin.” Val smiled and the two shook hands.
“Are we ready to start building our embassy?” Tarbin looked up at Val.
“We are. Let me show you the plot and our plans.”
Anton followed behind Val, Tarbin and the rest of the Erina, excited by the prospect of his first job with Val as his boss, “More interesting than fixing roofs,” he smiled to himself, as he watched the group of Erina enter the town, much to the interest of each of the inhabitants they passed.

The following morning Anton looked at the plans Val has laid out, then at the pitch of empty land in front of them. He picked up a set of small wooden stakes and string, before he began mapping out the perimeter. Val arrived with two shovels.
“Where do they live now?” Anton tried to hold back the excitement in his voice. He had gone to bed with so many questions in his head last night, he didn’t know what to ask first.
Val thought back to when he had first made his way to the Erina, “Deep in the forest.”


“This way.” Tarbin gathered the group of adventurers closer as he touched what looked like a moss covered rock. As Tarbin’s paw touched the rock, it was clear this was material, not stone. Behind the camouflage, two Erina with spears peered out.
“We’ve some visitors. Come on through.” Tarbin motioned, and the group followed, past the two guards, and down a moist and narrow tunnel for ten minutes. Dran was the only one of the company who didn’t have to duck as the tunnel ceiling dipped. Moth sighed as he finally managed to squeeze out into the fresh air, “Remind me not to go at the back again,” the Half-Orc muttered.
In front of the group the tunnel opened out to the foot of a gorge. Above them the canopy of the forest. The gorge was populated with a large village. Shops and homes tucked between boulders, dug into the earth, and worked into great tree roots. As they walked through the village they saw Erina selling herbs. Gallen peered into a large hollow where two Erina worked with wood and leather, crafting intricate goods. Dorian eyed an older looking Erina training stouts to wrestle. Each and every Erina they saw smiled at their new visitors. A group of Erina hoglets followed the group for several minutes. One brave hoglet tried to touch Dorian’s tail before being shooed away by Tarbin.
“You will stay here this evening, with me. And tomorrow you can discuss your proposition with the Elders.” Tarbin welcomed the adventures to explore more of the Erina Village.
“What is the name of your village?” Rholor asked a shop owner, has he admired an intricately weaved camouflage cloak.
“The Dell.” The shopkeeper smiled.


With the perimeter mapped out, Val and Anton got to work on shoveling the earth to make space for the foundations.
“We’ve got stone and timber coming tomorrow.” Val wiped the sweat from his head.
Anton drank down a skin full of water, “No time to rest then old man.”
Val shook his head.
“So what did you say to this Elder then?” Anton drove his shovel deep into the earth.
“Elders - there were three of them.”


The company sat in a circular chamber beneath the roots of a great tree. On the other side three older Erina sat, their spikes grey, and their whiskers white. One had milky eyes. Another had a patch of spikes missing on his head. The Elder sitting in the centre, Erkone, had eyes as sharp as a young Erina, and thick arms folded over his belly.
“We are keen to establish trade with the people of your town. However we understand you have come to discuss a proposition with us. Please, speak.” Erkone unfolded his arms, and motioned to Val.
Val looked to his companions before rising. He wiped the sweat from his hands before taking a marrow from Moth and, as per Erina custom, presented it to the Elders. After introducing himself and his company, Val spoke in the chamber of the town of Daring and their fight with the Twilight,
“An evil lives in the forest to the North. We call them The Twilight. Fiends of shadow, who corrupt and turn others into fiends like them. They have hundreds of gnolls, kobolds and hill giants under their control. For now they trapped in a deep gorge unable to escape. But when they do, we fear they will come for Daring Heights like a burst dam.” Val described their fights with the Twilight and of Keladry’s corruption.
“We must stop this menace. We are not alone. The Grungs and Boli’s to the West have joined our cause.”
“And there are Orcs to the North who are also fighting them” Moth called out to Erkone, who hearing the Half-Orc, nodded in his direction.
Rholor added to Val’s case, reiterating the danger faced, “It is an unholy evil we face Master Elder.”
Erkone was silent. He looked at each of the adventurers in turn. A strange collection of races, all joined together in his hall. Not for a long time has this hall seen such visitors. He thought back to the stories of his great grandfather. His deep voice then spoke out, “Yes. Yes this is serious. If your town is destroyed, we too would face peril. We will help you.”


“So they agreed to set up this Embassy to establish trade -” Val rubbed his hands together, easing out the tension.
“And if these Twilight attack?” Anton once again drove his shovel into the hard earth.
“They will be by our side.”
Anton laughed to himself, “Your stories are hard to believe sometimes Val, but I do love them.”
Val looked to the young man working with him. He thought of telling him of the spirits by the sacred tree, of hallucinogenic mushrooms, of stout wrestling, and of a garden of herbs protected by an old Medusa. But he stopped himself, “One day I’ll tell you about the time I saw a Half-Elf ride a Hydra.”
Anton laughed again. Val looked at the work they had achieved in a day, the start of the Embassy, and his first project of his new business. It felt good to work for himself with Anton by his side. As the sunset the two men continued to talk and work.

Nearby, in the shadow of a building the skinny figure of Porky Pie leant against the side of a house, watching the two men work on the new plot. He ran his long fingers over his shaven head, then scratched the side of his neck, revealing the tattoo of a spider. For now Porky had more on his plate than these two. He made for the centre of town, whistling a catchy melody as he went that echoed out into the evening.