✨ Not Home Yet (Part 1 of 2)

The caravan arrived in valbrough exceedingly late, probably well into the 55th ghurry, but even then after i took my leave of the caravan with gratitude i could not find aunt cyn at the healing house. Typically this means she is entertaining or being entertained at the hall of heroes, so after making sure my šerogada was properly covering my wounds i made my way across the city to the tavern. The moonless nights happened to be in energetic discussion outside of the tavern and when they recognised me they seemed delighted that i had returned safely - since, like most of the adventurers, they had not seen me since before the vornae attack (and in the case of a new selunari member named asher, had never met me before) - but saro, ever the quick one, could see that something was wrong with me. I waved it off, and the arrival of robert distracted the gang from asking more questions. 

Peeking inside the tavern i did not immediately see aunt cyn or any of her elaborate gowns, so i stepped back aside and asked the permission of arai, who was lounging at the corner of the building, if i could meditate in the shade of the trees near him and the tavern. He said it would not disturb him, and i took a seat on the ground a few stânjens off the side of the tavern and began meditating. While i could still "read" the all-fauna connexion, or at least hear it, i still have not regained the arcane charming that i had not that long ago. Nor did i expect to regain it quickly; i intended to repeat the slow following of my path from the beginning as i had done the first time, in the hopes of finding and this time keeping the talent.

After quite a while i watched a wolf pass through an outer part of the town, somewhat absent-mindedly, and observed it until it went behind another building out of my line of sight. Arai asked quietly if i had seen it, and i also quietly confirmed it, then he drew me attention in the other direction where a similarly behaving bear was approaching. I confess to my shame i could not bring myself to attack it when it came near and got somewhat hostile, and arai had to dispose of it. I did, however, deal with the wolf when it was attracted by the din and came back around the side of the tavern. A number of these animals, and snakes as well, were crawling throughout the wilderness and strangely venturing into the town. I went into the tavern as a courtesy to let everyone assembled there know, though we were all safe within since none of the creatures could open the doors, and since we realised that was the case i decided i might as well stay inside.

The throng merrily gathered inside the hall of heroes this evening were decidedly unconcerned about the wild animals aside, focused as they were on various parchments and oddments. On closer examination they appeared to be copies of puzzles and riddles, and there was an abundant number of them. I wasn't sure what occasioned this unofficial contest of the mind, so as i looked around i spotted mathis, whom i've come to rely on as a very knowledgeable man. In answer to my question he said it was simply a part of the dragonfall festival, and almost in the same breath he realised that this was the first year i'd been in dragonreach for the festival, and took a few minutes to explain to me about how nobles and knights would all offer riddles to everyone who came to the festival, and by solving these riddles or participating in other games or contests, visitors to valbrough could earn «chits» that could then be spent on special goods or favours donated on behalf of the dragonfall festival.

Trying to enter into the spirit of the event, i welcomed a new adventurer, kantor, and agreed to his request to try and help him reason out one of the riddles - mathis' own invention, in fact. Not only was it a riddle, but the words of the riddle had been encoded in an alphabetical cipher of some kind with absolutely no hint towards its translation. Kailisa joined us and also tried to help us out, after mathis mentioned to all three of us that we could all jointly turn in what we believed to be the solution and all of us would earn chits. 

While we worked on the riddle, the celestine elf that had been in the hall of heroes since i had arrived came over and told us about the vault labyrinth being held as one of the dragonfall events - an old abandoned treasure vault comprised of multiple rooms with random doorways, puzzles, various guardian creatures, and magic traps, which the celestine guild was offering as an adventurers' challenge. It sounded interesting but i wasn't sure if i was ready to commit to joining a team yet.

Every time the tavern door opened i glanced up, both making sure it was not a suddenly intelligent animal (or something worse like an elemental) and also seeing if it was aunt cyn. When she finally did arrive at almost the 58th ghurry, she was probably quite surprised at the great relief with which i greeted her, though she was also delighted to see me safely. Unfortunately i had to pull her aside to a private table and both tell and show her that «safe» was not entirely accurate. I had the foresight to wear a patch  (haphazard and ugly) of plaster over the scarred eyeball itself, but the scars that surrounded it on the left side of my face were clearly visible. Catching sight of the matching wounds on my arm, aunt cyn asked if she could heal me, and i had to explain the truth of what i had done to myself: i had suffered such a crisis of faith when the gift of the whisperers failed me, that i allowed the infection which had set in and raised the scars to touch my spirit as well. 

By my own failure of self my spirit itself was also scarred and my eye was permanently disfigured. Even a restore limb would not suffice because i was effectively «punishing» myself for my own failure. Aunt cyn could not really understand this, though she tried, but at least she comprehended that i was at a very low point and sought some much-needed familiarity. When i mentioned that my old tent had been left behind in the wylds after the night of the vornae attack, she immediately told me to use the patients' cot in the healing house while i was here for the festival. She also, quite randomly but also perfectly normal for anyone who knows her, pulled out a proper cloth eyepatch decorated with numerous gemstones which she said had come from a different selunari caravan. What had prompted her to keep it with her, and have it on her at that exact moment, i will never know, but i accepted it gratefully.

It was fortunate that we had enough time to have this private conversation, for aunt cyn (despite insisting she is not a lady or a noble any longer) is held in high esteem in the community and is often sought out by residents and newcomers alike. So it was that as we were finishing this conversation, we were asked by a dryad and a biata if they might join us, for they were new to the area and had been pointed in aunt cyn's direction. Warmly we welcomed them both (while i quickly raised my šerogada again so as not to alarm them) - the dryad was a maple barkskin named nya treesap, and the biata was called sy quickclaw. This was a moment of minor excitement for me, because in spite of all of my travels, the one race i had not yet encountered was the biata. He seemed a very agreeable fellow, though i could instantly see why other races consider the biata to be very proud.

After a brief conversation between aunt cyn, nya, sy, and myself, saro came over and asked aunt cyn if she might borrow me for several minutes, to which aunt cyn said of course. Saro was having an official meeting of the moonless nights now that nearly everyone had arrived for the dragonfall festival, including mere initiates such as myself. Two questions she had specifically for me were where i had been, and why i hadn't been involved in gang-specific activities as of late. I explained how i had escaped the vornae attack and had been temporarily housed in onothera for the last several nundines, and reminded her that i had always said my duties to the earth guild would have to come first. However, if anything came up while i was in town and off-duty, she did not need to hesitate asking for me to accompany or assist them. This seemed to mollify her, and had the added bonus of being truthful. 

13 made a point to ask me if the biata (sy) had touched me or done anything to me, to which i replied no, not that i was aware of. He then asked if the biata had mentioned the freyguard, to which i also answered no. In answer to my look of confusion, he and several other members of the moonless nights explained that the freyguard, which worked with red-eyed biata (or perhaps vice versa, i was a little confused on the details), had previously enslaved many kin and was the reason most kin were distrustful of the biata in general. The moonless nights also asked about why i was wearing my «scarrf» up instead of taking it down around my neck as i usually did once inside the tavern, and i explained in brief about the bear attack two nundines, though with less detail than i had with aunt cyn. At saro's request i did take my šerogada down, and the gang in general told me it really wasn't that bad and i shouldn't be ashamed about my battle scars.

Conversation then turned to saro herself, when i mentioned that i had heard rumours about her being elevated to a duchess, and she confirmed them. She informed me (and others that had not previously heard) that she now oversaw a duchy which she had named the crimson port, in a mist continent to the north called eloria.

With the moonless nights dismissed and my attention returned to the dragonfall festivities, i tried in vain to rejoin kantor and kai in solving mathis' riddle, but i was getting nowhere fast. So instead to distract myself, and enter a different sort of event, i signed up for a team entering the celestine's vault with nya, sy, ceridwyn, jotai, a deerkin named jane, and a kin named blue - who turned out to be a bunnykin, but due my bad eyesight and her habit of frequently hiding from unfamiliar people and things i thought at first she was a dogkin. Almost immediately after we formed our team (which we all allowed the numerous dryads to name «the saplings»), the celestine sensed that the vault was ready for the next contending team and invited us into the celestial circle, from whence we were rifted into the entry room of the vault itself.

In each room of the vault any available doors (north, south, east, and west) were magically closed and locked until the creatures within were defeated, the puzzle within solved, or the trap within triggered (or disabled). At that point certain doors would open, not necessarily predictable ones; i believe it was ceridwen who suggested that we simply always go left until we could no longer, and retrace our steps to proceed. Altogether i believe our group managed to get five rooms into the labyrinth before we were «killed» by a second group of the strange vague darkling creatures. However, the celestine had told us beforehand that his guild had enchanted the vault to rift us out and cast a life spell on us before we had to resurrect if we had been dead within the vault for at least a minute. Thus we all came out of the experience no worse for wear, and with at least a little treasure from a few of the puzzles we had solved.

Around the time that we rifted back into the hall of heroes, another of the barons of the kingdom of dragonsreach entered the tavern to officiate a drinking contest, and i declined to enter as i do not partake of spirits. However, since aunt cyn and nya had both been convinced to contend, and mathis was going to as well, i intended to watch... until i realised that even while actively walking the length of the tavern i was also actively falling asleep. I dutifully informed aunt cyn of the change in plans and wished her luck before heading out to the healing house to go to bed, with her reminder to «be safe» following me out the tavern door. by that late hour of the night even the wild animals from earlier had apparently gone to bed; i reached the guild hall uncontested and settled myself and my meager belongings onto the patients' cot easily, drifting into sleep with very little effort.

In the morning i was faintly woken by the sounds of aunt cyn, apparently fetching a few items from the guild store before heading back to her inn room. I waited until she left before i removed my blanket and put my shirt back on, took several minutes to wake up fully and get around, and then headed for the tavern myself. There only banradi and mathis were around - besides the kitchen staff, who were working frantically in preparation of the evening's feast. i understood most of the pride was assisting, and in fact i caught an occasional glimpse of collette, primarily in charge of the organisation of the feast, dashing back and forth between the dishroom and the ovens. Eventually aunt cyn and jotai joined us at the tavern, and the five of us had a bit of a discussion about an elemental war - i was unaware of - which banradi and mathis were quite sure was responsible for the fluctuations in magics and skills on the prime plane, including the interruption of my whisperers transform.

After a while more of the adventuring community and the laymen of valbrough began to filter in as their days began. In spite of the feast preparations the tavernkeepers had provided a wonderful breakfast of hotcakes, bacon, and beaten eggs. While appreciatively stuffing my face 13 came over to my table with a contract and asked if i might assist. In the spirit of my offer last night to the moonless nights i said of course, though he still kindly provided details to me - we were trying to pursue a red-eyed biata and some men with black sword tattoos on their faces, which i inferred had something to do with the freyguard that his people and many other kin clans had suffered under.

Later, when breakfast was complete and many of us were socialising outside of the tavern, 13 let everyone know he was about to activate the contract magic and we all rifted out, though even with the warning arai and i were slightly delayed for some reason -- probably the interference of the damnable elemental war yet again. In the forest clearing where we ended up, we did not find the biata, but we did find one of the black sword men in a circle of power, surrounded by a number of blank-faced personages. The tattooed man told us at first not to approach him, and then ordered a mind-controlled prisoner to kill herself when we ignored him and kept approaching. This was the signal for us to truly rush him instead of merely walking calmly, and we ended up fighting several of the prisoners themselves before mathis(?) was able to get through and knock out the man in question. At his signal, 13 then quickly ripped the contract up and the contract magic rifted us back to valbrough; however, the man's prone body was not rifted with us. Mathis mournfully reflected that his name had not been on the contract.

Another brief period of chatting and catching up with old friends transpired, but nothing of significant importance i feel the need to write down. So barring further events, after a ghurry or two i chose to go into the woods around valbrough again - possibly to find the remains of my tent if it has not been snatched up or torn apart after all this time, but much more importantly, to do my normal afternoon meditations and continue trying to re-trace the all-fauna.