Thє hoʊɾ wᴀs ɭᴀᴛє whєn ᴛhє ᴛєɭɭᴛᴀɭє bʊzz of ᴀ wıɭɭ-o-wısp's ʊndєɾɭyınᵹ mᴀᵹıc ᴀppɾoᴀchєd my бɾıᴀɾ.

Thıs ıs noᴛ ᴛo sʊᵹᵹєsᴛ sʊch ᴀn occʊɾɾєncє wᴀs oʊᴛ of ᴛhє oɾdınᴀɾy, oɾ ᴛhᴀᴛ ᴛhє ᴛımє of ᴛhє vısıᴛ wᴀs ʊnʊsʊᴀɭ. Ƿɾıncє Toɾ's Բᴀє ᴀɾє moɾє comfoɾᴛᴀbɭє ᴀnd єvєn ɭєss wıɭd ʊndєɾ ᴛhє ɭıᵹhᴛ of ᴛhє sᴛᴀɾs ᴀnd moon, ᴀnd ın ᴀddıᴛıon ᴛo Ƿɾıncє Toɾ's own vısıᴛs ᴀnd ᴛhosє of hıs єmıssᴀɾıєs foɾ dєɭıvєɾınᵹ offıcıᴀɭ mєssᴀᵹєs, ᴛhє wıɭɭ-o-wısps ın pᴀɾᴛıcʊɭᴀɾ hᴀvє ᴀ fᴀscınᴀᴛıon wıᴛh mє ᴛhᴀᴛ I cᴀnnoᴛ qʊıᴛє єxpɭᴀın. Ƿєɾhᴀps ıᴛ ıs ᴛhєıɾ wondєɾ ᴀnd mᴀybє єvєn ᴀmʊsєmєnᴛ ᴛhᴀᴛ ᴀ dɾyᴀd so ınvєsᴛєd ın ɭıfє woʊɭd hᴀvє ᴀn ᴀmıcᴀbɭє ᴀccoɾd wıᴛh ᴛhєıɾ ɭєᴀdєɾ who wᴀs so ınvєsᴛєd ın dєᴀᴛh. Thєy cᴀɭɭ mє "Nєw Բɾıєnd" ᴀnd єnjoy bɾınᵹınᵹ mє ᴛıdınᵹs boᴛh ᵹood ᴀnd bᴀd, ᴀnd I hᴀvє ɭєᴀɾnєd ᴛo ᵹɭєᴀn ɾoʊᵹhɭy whєn ᴛhєy ᴀɾє jʊsᴛ ᴛᴀɭkınᵹ ᴀs opposєd ᴛo ᵹıvınᵹ mє ᴛɾʊє ınfoɾmᴀᴛıon.

If ᴀnyᴛhınᵹ wᴀs oʊᴛ of ᴛhє oɾdınᴀɾy, ıᴛ wᴀs ᴛhᴀᴛ ᴀ fᴀıɾ cɾowd of non-Բᴀє wᴀs ᴀccompᴀnyınᵹ ᴛhє wısp. And noᴛ chᴀsınᵹ ıᴛ ᴛo hʊnᴛ ıᴛ down oɾ kıɭɭ ıᴛ, ᴀs fᴀɾ ᴀs I coʊɭd ᴛєɭɭ wıᴛhoʊᴛ ɭᴀyınᵹ my own єyєs on ᴛhє ᵹɾoʊp. I ᴛoʊchєd ᴛhє Cɾᴀnn бєᴀᵹ ᴀɾoʊnd my nєck ᴀnd chᴀnnєɭєd my nєwfoʊnd mᴀᵹıc ᴛo pᴀɾᴛ ᴛhє бɾıᴀɾ whєɾє ᴛhє wısp wᴀs sᴛᴀᴛıonєd, ᴀnd ᵹᴀvє ᴀ cᴀʊᴛıoʊs, nєʊᴛɾᴀɭ wєɭcomє, "Wєɭcomє ᴛo ᴛhє Һєᴀɾᴛwood бɾıᴀɾ. I ᴀm ᴛhє Gɾovє Mᴀsᴛєɾ hєɾє; whᴀᴛ cᴀn I do foɾ yoʊ?" бʊᴛ ᴛhє ɭᴀsᴛ of my woɾds ᴀɭmosᴛ fᴀɭᴛєɾєd comınᵹ oʊᴛ of my moʊᴛh whєn I sᴀw somє of ᴛhє fᴀcєs ᴛhᴀᴛ wєɾє ᴛhєɾє.

Anyᴀ, ᴛhє yoʊnᵹ єɭf ᴛhᴀᴛ hᴀd vısıᴛєd mє ɾєcєnᴛɭy. Nommєɾıc. Kᴀıɭısᴀ. And... Dʊchєss Sqʊıɾє Sᴀɾo.

Thosє ᴛhᴀᴛ knєw mє (wıᴛh ᴛhє єxcєpᴛıon of Anyᴀ) sєєmєd єqʊᴀɭɭy ᴀs sʊɾpɾısєd ᴛo sєє mє. Dʊchєss Sqʊıɾє Sᴀɾo's єyєs bєᵹᴀn ᴛєᴀɾınᵹ ʊp ᴀs shє qʊıєᴛɭy confıɾmєd, "...Gɾın?"

"Һєɭɭo, Dʊchєss Sqʊıɾє Sᴀɾo. Iᴛ's ᵹood ᴛo sєє yoʊ ᴀᵹᴀın." And ᴛhє sᴛᴀᴛєmєnᴛ wᴀs mosᴛɭy ᴛɾʊє, ın spıᴛє of ᴛhє concєɾnınᵹ nєws ᴛhᴀᴛ I hᴀd hєᴀɾd ın ᴛhє ɭᴀsᴛ fєw monᴛhs (ᴛo bє fᴀıɾ, fɾom ᴛhє wısps). Thєɾє wєɾє ɾʊmoʊɾs ᴛhᴀᴛ ᴛhє kınᵹdom of Roєfıєɭd ᴀnd ᴛhє Єɭoɾıᴀn Єmpıɾє wєɾє ᴀᴛ odds wıᴛh onє ᴀnoᴛhєɾ, ᴀ ᴛhɾєᴀᴛ of cɭᴀıms of ındєpєndєncє ᴀnd єmpıɾıcᴀɭ cıvıɭ wᴀɾ ᴛhᴀᴛ woʊɭd dısʊpᴛ ᴛhє sᴛᴀbıɭıᴛy of ᴛhє Shᴀᴛᴛєɾєd Lᴀnds. Thєɾє wєɾє fʊɾᴛhєɾmoɾє ᴛᴀɭєs of ᴀdvєnᴛʊɾєɾs hʊnᴛınᵹ down Բᴀє wıᴛh ᴀ ɾᴀᵹє ᴀnd ᴀ ᴛhıɾsᴛ foɾ bɭood. Whıɭє mosᴛ of ᴛhєsє ᴀdvєnᴛʊɾєɾs woɾє ᴛhє sıᵹn of ᴛhє Oɾdєɾ of ᴛhє Єmєɾᴀɭd Բɭᴀmє, oᴛhєɾ ᴀdvєnᴛʊɾєɾs wєɾє sᴀıd ᴛo hᴀvє bєєn joınınᵹ ᴛhє hʊnᴛ. Incɭʊdınᵹ ᴀ pᴀɾᴛıcʊɭᴀɾ shє-єɭf wıᴛh ᴀ dısᴛıncᴛıvє hᴀᴛ.

My concєɾns on ᴛhıs fɾonᴛ fᴀɭᴛєɾєd yєᴛ ᴀᵹᴀın ᴀs I wᴀs bɾoʊᵹhᴛ ınᴛo ᴀn ᴀbɾʊpᴛ hʊᵹ by Dʊchєss Sqʊıɾє Sᴀɾo. Obvıoʊsɭy shє hᴀd mıssєd mє, ᴀnd ın ᴛɾʊᴛh ıᴛ bɾınᵹs mє no shᴀmє ᴛo sᴀy I hᴀd mıssєd hєɾ ᴀs wєɭɭ. In ᴛhє bᴀckᵹɾoʊnd I hєᴀɾd oᴛhєɾ pєopɭє, pɾєsʊmᴀbɭy ᴀdvєnᴛʊɾєɾs I wᴀs noᴛ yєᴛ ᴀcqʊᴀınᴛєd wıᴛh, ᴀskınᵹ ᴀboʊᴛ my ıdєnᴛıᴛy ᴀnd why Dʊchєss Sqʊıɾє Sᴀɾo wᴀs hʊᵹᵹınᵹ mє, ᴀnd Nommєɾıc ᴀnd Kᴀıɭısᴀ єxpɭᴀınınᵹ my ıdєnᴛıᴛy ᴀnd somє of oʊɾ pᴀsᴛ shᴀɾєd єxpєɾıєncєs. Dʊchєss Sqʊıɾє Sᴀɾo fınᴀɭɭy ɾєɭєᴀsєd mє, pєɾhᴀps ın ɾєsponsє ᴛo my fᴀıɭʊɾє ᴛo ɾєcıpɾocᴀᴛє ᴛhє hʊᵹ dʊє ᴛo shock, ᴀnd sᴛɾʊᵹᵹɭєd ᴛo sᴀy, "Yoʊ ɭook ɭıkє yoʊ'ɾє doınᵹ wєɭɭ."

I ᴀnswєɾєd ın ᴛhє ᴀffıɾmᴀᴛıvє, ᴀnd ɾєsoɭvєd hєɾ ʊnspokєn qʊєsᴛıon ᴛo vєɾıfy ᴛhᴀᴛ I hᴀd, ındєєd, ᴀscєndєd ᴛo ᴛhє posıᴛıon of Gɾovє Mᴀsᴛєɾ. "A Gɾovє of no Chıɭdɾєn of Aʊᴛʊmn," I ᴀdmıᴛᴛєd, "bʊᴛ ᴀ Gɾovє ᴛhᴀᴛ ıs my ɾєsponsıbıɭıᴛy nєvєɾᴛhєɭєss."

"Sєє? I bɾınᵹ yoʊ ᴛo Nєw Բɾıєnd! Nєw Բɾıєnd ɭıvєs hєɾє now! Nєw Բɾıєnd hᴀs ɭoᴛs of fʊn wıᴛh ʊs," ᴛhє wısp chıɾɾʊpєd vıcᴛoɾıoʊsɭy, pɭєᴀsєd wıᴛh ᴛhє ɾєʊnıon ıᴛ hᴀd ʊnwıᴛᴛınᵹɭy cᴀʊsєd.

I smıɭєd ᴀᴛ ᴛhє wısp ᴀnd ᴛhᴀnkєd ıᴛ foɾ bɾınᵹınᵹ my foɾmєɾ comɾᴀdєs hєɾє, bʊᴛ ᴛhєn fɾownєd ᴀnd ᴛʊɾnєd bᴀck ᴛo Dʊchєss Sqʊıɾє Sᴀɾo. I hᴀd ᴛo confɾonᴛ hєɾ wıᴛh ᴛhє sᴛoɾıєs I hᴀd hєᴀɾd, ᴀnd ᴀsk why shє wᴀs hʊnᴛınᵹ down Բᴀє... fɾom ᴛhє soʊnds of ıᴛ, hʊnᴛınᵹ ᴛhє Dɾєᴀd Coʊɾᴛ spєcıfıcᴀɭɭy. "Afᴛєɾ ᴀɭɭ, ıᴛ wᴀs yoʊ who convıncєd mє ᴛo ᵹıvє Ƿɾıncє Toɾ ᴀ chᴀncє, ᴛo woɾk wıᴛh hım. Iᴛ wᴀs Ƿɾıncє Toɾ who ᵹᴀvє yoʊ ᴛhє Nıᵹhᴛfᴀɭɭ."

Dʊchєss Sqʊıɾє Sᴀɾo hᴀd єnoʊᵹh pɾopɾıєᴛy ᴛo ɭook ᴀbᴀshєd, bʊᴛ sᴛıɭɭ (ᴀnd nᴀᴛʊɾᴀɭɭy) ᴀssʊɾєd mє ᴛhᴀᴛ  shє ᴀᴛᴛєmpᴛєd ᴛo dєᴛєɾ ᴛhє Oɾdєɾ of ᴛhє Єmєɾᴀɭd Բɭᴀmє fɾom pʊɾsʊınᵹ ᴛhє Dɾєᴀd Coʊɾᴛ ıᴛsєɭf. Oᴛhєɾ ᴛhᴀn ɾʊnnınᵹ ınᴛo somє of ᴛhє Unᴛᴀmєd ᴀs ıs common dʊɾınᵹ ᴛhє dᴀy ın ᴛhє mᴀɾshy sıdє of ᴛhє Һєᴀɾᴛwood, ᴛhє onɭy Բᴀє oɾ Բᴀє-ᴀdjᴀcєnᴛ ᴛhᴀᴛ ᴛhєy ᴀcᴛıvєɭy soʊᵹhᴛ ᴛo dєsᴛɾoy wєɾє bᴀɭɭıwoᵹs on ᴛhє єdᵹє of ᴛhє foɾєsᴛ cɭosєsᴛ ᴛo popʊɭᴀᴛєd fᴀɾmɭᴀnds, whıch wєɾє bєınᵹ ᴀ nʊısᴀncє. I sʊpposєd ᴛhᴀᴛ wᴀs fᴀıɾ bʊᴛ I dıdn'ᴛ ᵹo so fᴀɾ ᴀs ᴛo ᴛhᴀnk ᴀny of ᴛhє ᴀdvєnᴛʊɾєɾs.

Insᴛєᴀd I ınqʊıɾєd whᴀᴛ bɾoʊᵹhᴛ ᴛhєm ᴛo ᴛhє Һєᴀɾᴛwood бɾıᴀɾ, bєɭᴀᴛєdɭy ɾєᴀɭısınᵹ ᴛhєy obvıoʊsɭy wєɾєn'ᴛ sєєkınᵹ mє sıncє nonє bʊᴛ Anyᴀ hᴀd єxpєcᴛєd mє ᴛo bє ᴛhєɾє. My ᴀdvєnᴛʊɾınᵹ fɾıєnds ɾєmєmbєɾєd ᴛhєıɾ єɾɾᴀnd ᴀɭmosᴛ sımʊɭᴛᴀnєoʊsɭy ᴀnd sᴀıd ᴛhᴀᴛ ᴛhєy hᴀd ᴛhoʊᵹhᴛ ᴛhє wısp wᴀs ɭєᴀdınᵹ ᴛhєm ᴛo Ƿɾıncє Toɾ so ᴛhᴀᴛ hє coʊɭd pєɾhᴀps ᴀnswєɾ foɾ somє ɾᴀmpᴀnᴛ pɭᴀnᴛ ᵹɾowᴛh ᴛhᴀᴛ hᴀd spᴀwnєd ᴀᵹᵹɾєssıvє vınoıds ın Aɾdıc ᴀnd єɭsєwhєɾє. Nommєɾıc ᴀskєd ıf pєɾhᴀps, ınsᴛєᴀd, I hᴀd cᴀʊsєd ıᴛ. I shook my hєᴀd no, pᴀʊsєd ᴛo ɾєfɭєcᴛ on ᴛhє ᴛhɾown-ᴛoᵹєᴛhєɾ ɾıᴛʊᴀɭs my ʊnєdʊcᴀᴛєd sєɭf hᴀd bєєn woɾkınᵹ on ᴛhє vєɾdᴀnᴛ pᴀɾᴛ of ᴛhє Һєᴀɾᴛwood, ᴀnd confıɾmєd ᴛhᴀᴛ noᴛhınᵹ my mᴀᵹıc hᴀd ᴛoʊchєd hᴀd ᵹonє bєyond ᴛhє boɾdєɾs of my foɾєsᴛ. I ᴀɭso ᴀskєd ᴛhє wısp ıf ıᴛ ᴛhoʊᵹhᴛ Ƿɾıncє Toɾ mıᵹhᴛ hᴀvє ᴀccıdєnᴛᴀɭɭy ɾєɭєᴀsєd somєᴛhınᵹ, bʊᴛ ᴛhє wısp confʊsєdɭy ɾєspondєd, "Why woʊɭd Ƿɾıncє Toɾ mᴀkє ᴛhınᵹs ᵹɾow? Wє ɭıkє dєcᴀy!" ᴀnd I hᴀd ᴛo concєdє ıᴛ hᴀd ᴀ vєɾy ᵹood poınᴛ.

Sıncє I wᴀs ʊnᴀbɭє ᴛo pɾovıdє ᴛhєm wıᴛh ᴀny oᴛhєɾ ınfoɾmᴀᴛıon, ᴛhє ᴀdvєnᴛʊɾєɾs ᴛhᴀᴛ I wᴀs noᴛ yєᴛ ᴀcqʊᴀınᴛєd wıᴛh wєɾє ᴀnxıoʊs ᴛo ᵹєᴛ bᴀck ᴛo Aɾdıc. I ᴛʊɾnєd ᴛo Anyᴀ bɾıєfɭy ᴀnd ᴀskєd ıf shє wᴀs ᴀbɭє ᴛo fınd Gɾovє Mᴀıdєn Ashєɾ wıᴛh my ınsᴛɾʊcᴛıons, ᴀnd shє ᵹɾᴀᴛєfʊɭɭy confıɾmєd shє hᴀd foʊnd my coʊnᴛєɾpᴀɾᴛ ın ᴛhє Ashdown Woods, bʊᴛ noᴛ ᴛhє Mıɭıᴛᴀnᴛs. Thєıɾ ᴛɾᴀcks hᴀd bєєn covєɾєd by ᴛhє ɾєcєnᴛ ɾᴀın, bʊᴛ sєvєɾᴀɭ of ᴛhєm (boᴛh Anyᴀ ᴀnd my oɭdєɾ fɾıєnds) sᴛᴀᴛєd ᴛhєıɾ ınᴛєnᴛ ᴛo soɭvє ᴛhє pɾobɭєm oncє ᴀnd foɾ ᴀɭɭ whıɭє ᴛhєy wєɾє ᵹᴀᴛhєɾєd ᴛoᵹєᴛhєɾ ᴛhıs mᴀɾkєᴛ. Dʊchєss Sqʊıɾє Sᴀɾo ᴛʊɾnєd ᴛo mє onє ɭᴀsᴛ ᴛımє ᴀnd ᴀskєd, ɾᴀᴛhєɾ sᴀdɭy, "Aɾє yoʊ ᵹoınᵹ ᴛo comє bᴀck wıᴛh ʊs?"

I smıɭєd ᴀs ᵹєnᴛɭy ᴀs I coʊɭd bʊᴛ I'm sʊɾє sımıɭᴀɾ sᴀdnєss showєd ın my єyєs. "I ᴀm ᴀn ᴀdvєnᴛʊɾєɾ no ɭonᵹєɾ, Dʊchєss Sqʊıɾє Sᴀɾo. My chᴀɾᵹє ıs my dᴀʊᵹhᴛєɾ ᴀnd ᴛhıs foɾєsᴛ. I hᴀvє hᴀɾdɭy ɭєfᴛ ᴛhє бɾıᴀɾ sıncє ᴛhıs spɾınᵹ, ᴀnd nєvєɾ ɭєfᴛ ᴛhє Һєᴀɾᴛwood. I mʊsᴛ ɾєmᴀın hєɾє."

Thєn, on ᴀ whım, I ᴛook ᴛhє Cɾᴀnn бєᴀᵹ off of my nєck ᴀnd hєɭd ıᴛ oʊᴛ ᴛo my єɭvєn fɾıєnd. Thє pᴀɭє nєckɭᴀcє єnᵹɾᴀvєd wıᴛh ᴛhє ɭıᴛᴛɭє ᴛɾєє foɾ whıch ıᴛ wᴀs nᴀmєd ᵹɭowєd vєɾy fᴀınᴛɭy ın ᴛhє spᴀcє bєᴛwєєn ʊs. "Tᴀkє ᴛhıs wıᴛh yoʊ, Dʊchєss Sqʊıɾє Sᴀɾo. If yoʊ єvєɾ nєєd oɾ wᴀnᴛ ᴛo comє sєє mє ᴀᵹᴀın, ᴛhє Cɾᴀnn бєᴀᵹ wıɭɭ opєn ᴛhє бɾıᴀɾ foɾ yoʊ, oɾ ɭєᴛ mє sєnsє ᴛhᴀᴛ yoʊ ᴀɾє comınᵹ."

Shє noddєd bɾᴀvєɭy ᴀnd ᵹᴀvє mє ᴀnoᴛhєɾ hʊᵹ, ᴀnd ᴛhıs ᴛımє I ɾєᴛʊɾnєd ıᴛ, bєfoɾє sᴛєppınᵹ bᴀck ınᴛo ᴛhє бɾıᴀɾ ᴀnd ɭєᴛᴛınᵹ ıᴛ cɭosє bєhınd mє. And I wᴀıᴛєd ʊnᴛıɭ ᴛhє hєɭpfʊɭ wısp hᴀd ᴛᴀkєn ᴛhєm fᴀɾ ᴀwᴀy bᴀck ᴛowᴀɾd ᴛhє Mısᴛ ɭınє ᴛhᴀᴛ woʊɭd ɭєᴛ ᴛhєm pᴀss bᴀck ınᴛo Aɾdıc. Onɭy ᴛhєn dıd I ɭєᴛ my own ᴛєᴀɾs fᴀɭɭ.

👾 Tales of the NPCs, April 2019 (Part 2 of 2)

Atticus and Arathor

"Oh, do you smell that? Actual meat!"

Atticus took a deep breath as they emerged from the Mist and smelled exactly what his sister was talking about. The farming life was wonderful and peaceful, and all they had ever known, but the smell of wild animal flesh being cooked was a rare delicacy and one they hadn't savoured in a long time.

Ever the pragmatist, however, he had to caution Arathor, "We can smell for free, but we have no coin to pay for anything to eat." Their winter crops had not fetched as much money as they hoped, and most of the coppers they had would need to go to the Souest tax collector for the spring.

Arathor was, by contrast, an optimist. "The worst thing they can do is say no. And maybe we can promise them future crops as payment." By now the sizzle of breakfast sausage and other delicacies had weakened Atticus' resolve, not that he'd really wanted to turn away in the first place. Nodding heartily in agreement at Arathor, the siblings made their way into the tavern building of whatever town the Mists had deposited them in.

Once they entered the main dining room however, Atticus was taken aback. There were so many people here of so many races, and most of them carried impressive weaponry of some kind. "These are the adventurers!" he whispered in awe to his younger sister, but while she acknowledged the comment, she was more concerned about the scents wafting from the kitchen. She was already walking into its open doorway, showering the sylvanborn cook with praise. The growl of his stomach made him more than happy to follow her and echo her sentiments, but when the green-clad cook so freely offered them to grab a plate, even Arathor looked guilty and disheartened. Atticus sadly said, "We really couldn't, we really don't have any money," but the sylvanborn just smirked and answered, "I couldn't turn away hungry travellers. This one's on me."

They gratefully followed his directions and began loading up plates with a much-appreciated meal after yesterday's long journey. Both Arathor and Atticus saw one particular dish at the same time -- "POTATOES!" they cried in unison, and then laughed. "It's the one crop we can never grow," Arathor went on to explain to the somewhat surprised cook, who took it all in stride and handed them eating utensils. Then Atticus and his sister exited the kitchen, uncertain where to sit at first, but settled on a nearby mostly-empty table only occupied by a woman with a remarkably fancy hat. She was also passing through and was a haberdasher, and introduced herself as Penelope.

The three of them chatted in between scarfing down food, and were shortly joined by the cook (recently relieved by another culinary adventurer) and another of his companions, an elf. They asked about what brought the three travellers there, and Arathor and Atticus were happy to share about their late mother's small farm that they successfully tended, growing bountiful crops of all kinds (except potatoes). The game-changer came when the two adventurers glanced at each other and then made the farmer siblings an offer they honestly couldn't refuse.

"I've recently acquired some land up in New Eloria, by Lord Sunseeker's lands," the sylvanborn said slowly. "I'm trying to get it settled and fortified, and we'd obviously need to establish a food supply and some infrastructure. Would you two be interested in farming a larger tract of land, growing bigger crops? You'd be compensated, of course." Atticus' eyes went wide. Their farm was bountiful but the size of their acreage was limited. The other adventurer offered some of his own farm in the same area as well, and both of them added that additional farm workers could be brought on to assist if needed, with the adventurers paying the cost of their salary.

Fortune had smiled on them in bringing them to the adventurer's town! This was their chance to finally have some steady income for the first time since their mother passed. Exchanging a quick but informative glance with Arathor, Atticus replied, "If we could transport some of the soil from our own farm up there, I think that would be a wonderful idea. We'd be honoured to accept." Satisfied, the sylvanborn and the elf thanked them and said they'd be in touch, and left the visitors to finish their meals.

Yet even then fortune had more to give to the children of Shreya. Before they left, a duchess from Roefield who was also one of the adventurers pulled them aside, having heard part of their conversation earlier. "I recently converted some ratkin in my land to farming and they are trying to grow onions, but they're having a difficult time making them grow. I understand you are talented farmers; could I impose on you to help them get their crops going? You'd be paid of course."

"Of course!" Atticus replied, after checking with Arathor. "We'd be more than happy to give them some tips."

"Great," the Duchess said, reaching into her purse. "A gold in advance, and another if you come back next month and tell me they're making progress." She held out a beautiful gold coin - neither Atticus nor Arathor had ever actually seen one; the most they or their mother held at one time was a few silver.

"Arathor, you'd better take it," Atticus suggested. "She's better at keeping track of our money than me," he sheepishly added to the Duchess, who chuckled and handed the coin to his younger sister before bidding them farewell and going back to a group of the other adventurers in the dining hall.

"This is it, brother," Arathor half-whispered as they headed back to the Mist line, "our fortunes are finally changing!"

---

The Wylderkin Bandits

The roadside robberies had been going well and they had amassed some bit of wealth plus some random trinkets and combat items. The Monkey King would be pleased with their progress. But the real profit lay in the tributes people gave them to not get robbed. And one of them was late.

Crevan was hidden in a shack with one of his foxkin brethren and a badgerkin, in case the people came back with fighters or tried any other tricks. He didn't really know or care who the people were; one tribute payer was much like any other. The gifts and the wealth made their lives more comfortable and easier, when he had been used to the natural hardship of living in the Kardashi Jungle.

Their warrior-leader's plan to hide the three of them away had been a good one. The tributary brought fighters with them, or at least people with weapons. They didn't have them out right now though, and they actually brought some cookies! Crevan wanted to either have one, or sneak up and rob them of all their shinies and their expensive weapons. "Not yet," Sinopa whispered though, and Crevan backed up out of the doorframe before anyone saw him.

They kept listening to see what would happen, and it was a lot of talking and Crevan was getting bored and was just about to sit down on an old crate when the first metallic ting went off. Crevan's eyes met Ylva's and Sinopa's, and they drew their weapons and ran as quietly but quickly as they could to the backs of the fighters. Their sneak ploy was successful and only one of the fighters saw them, too late to warn the rest.

The fight wasn't easy, but they had the advantage of all the loot they had already gotten from other roadside travellers and tributaries. Crevan grabbed one of the gas globes that Goryoun had shoved into his hands before he sent them to hide in the shack, and threw it at the back of a woman with a sword and shield in her hands. She turned around, and he noticed the black tattoos around her eyes before he noticed her eyes turn red and she rushed at him screaming. Oh, that was a berserking gas. They hadn't been labelled.

He dodged, barely, from her angry primal attack, and then got himself out of sight behind a tree and one of her companions, and her attention turned to him. In fact while Crevan hacked the knees of one who tried to run away, the berserk lady ended up slaying two of the other warriors before Ylva shot her in the back and finally brought her down, and that was the last of the warriors. The pod of wylderkin fighters cheered and then they started looting the dead. Ylva had first dibs on the berserk lady but she didn't want anything so she let Crevan have his pick, and he took the fur capelet the lady had been wearing. It seemed like justice since it obviously came from an animal, their less-evolved cousins. He also looted a bow from the runner and practised a few times with it.

If they'd been smart they would have returned to the Monkey King right away with their haul, but Goryoun wanted to stick around and try to rob some more people to make it even better. For an hour or so everything was fine - no travellers, but the weather was warming up and it was nice out to relax while they kept a lookout. It was a little bit later when a very large force showed up even though half of them weren't armed at all. On closer inspection... it was the group of fighters from before! They must have had strong spirits and resurrected. So now they were coming back for their things? Crevan gave the formerly-berserk lady a cheeky grin as he hefted his new bow against his fur capelet and got some arrows nocked.

He wondered if Goryoun would tell them to kill the unarmed returners first to get them out of the way, or ignore them because they weren't a threat and take care of the new armed warriors. But the entire group charged the wylderkin before Goryoun could give them direction, so Crevan just started shooting. Some of his arrows hit and some didn't, but he had only looted about ten of them so he had to throw the bow away and grab his war axe again. Someone shot him with an arrow and he dodged with natural foxlike nimbleness around a few attackers to try and hack the archer's knees (it was his favourite thing to target), but just before he got there a big werebear stepped in front of him and raised a massive warhammer up to strike.

Thwunk.

---

Master Jorkahaath

Sitting on a bench outside of the Bru na Boinne, the scorpionkin's eyes lit up at the sight of four young men who were obviously adventurers. "So, so glad you could make it!" he spoke in his percussive, genial hiss. "My name is Master Jorkahaath, purveyor of fine poisons, and I'm delighted you took up my call for an escort."

"I'm not sure that we are prepared enough--" a selunari started to tell him.

"No, no, I am absolutely certain that the four of you are more than enough to get me safely to Eloria City," he waved off what he assumed was an objection, even as he noted that the selunari was smart enough to realise there was a good reason he had needed to even hire an escort in the first place. "There are definitely things you need to be made aware of," he admitted, "but let's leave this place and start our trek before it gets even darker, and I'll explain as we go, shall we?"

He didn't really give them much time to object, picking up his hefty satchel and hoisting it over his shoulder plates, but as they hurried out to follow him the selunari did insist, "At least stay in the middle of us, sir.  Aragon, Ekii, you two in the front, Kunzio and I in the back."

Nodding approval, off they went down the road, and it was only a few seconds before Jorkahaath began, "So you obviously are aware that I am expecting trouble. Let me give you a little background." His companions either nodded acceptance or kept silently walking, so he launched into his tale. "I have been selling my poisons around the world and I'd enjoyed a healthy trading relationship with the Quub'rakaal -- you know the Quub'rakaal?" Seeing looks of either total confusion or only partial recollection on their faces, he added, "The lizard folk in the desert through the Mist? No matter, the important part here is that there is a feral group of the lizard folk, the Visarjinci. It's a Quub'rakaali word that means 'forsaken' or 'cursed' because they lived outside of the old king's magic and took the desert curse into themselves."

"What desert curse is that?" one of the adventurers asked, but before Jorkahaath could answer, the elf Aragon said, "Something ahead of us!"

"Yep, that would be them." Jorkahaath casually slid his hand into a pocket of his satchel and pulled out a number of gas globes just in case, but the adventurers seemed to have things well in hand as the Visarjinci came close enough to get a good look at them -- lizardfolk like the rest of the Quub'rakaal, but with a sickly, sandy texture to their scales and skin, wielding wicked, sharp, unkept claws on both their hands. The quartet dispatched this first group of three Visarjinci with ease and Jorkahaath relaxed, returning his own "weaponry" to his bag.

He attempted to resume his story as they continued walking toward the Eloria City Mist barrier, but had hardly gotten four more words out when another group of Visarjinci assassins tried to pinch them from either side. In the process one of the young men suffered a small wound when a claw swipe or two got through his armour.

"So what is this curse?" the tigerkin asked anxiously after the assassins were killed, obviously feeling some throbbing pain around the wound that Jorkahaath recognised as the first stage of the curse.

"Well it's the same thing that the desert winds itself does -- slowly puts you in more and more pain, slows you down and weakens your muscles, and eventually petrifies you. All the other Quub'rakaal are vulnerable to it, but the Visarjinci evolved in it and---- oh," he trailed off as he realised the tigerkin was getting more and more wide-eyed. Hastily he added, "Nothing that can't be purified out of your body at this point, young man," and was about to search another pocket for a Purify elixir when one of his companions channeled a magical purification aura through his weapon. "Handy, that," Jorkahaath said admiringly. "Shall we continue?" The adventurers returned to their protective positions in front of and behind the alchemist, and Jorkahaath went on with his story.

"These Visarjinci wanted to acquire poisons and elixirs from me, same as every other client I have, but they wanted exclusive access. Under threat of forcefulness, no less," he added meaningfully, looking around to see if his audience understood, but it was quite dark by this point and they had no lights among them. Oh well. "Anyway, I declined graciously, and had to make a somewhat unprofessional escape. Shortly after that I learned of the Mist granting access to these lands here, and thought to make some new business connexions, but the Visarjinci found out as well and sent some of their assassins to follow me and bring me back, or kill me I suppose." Glancing ahead and seeing a few odd-shaped trees, he added, "Like these fine gentlemen right here."

The last, largest group of Visarjinci leapt out in an attempt at surprise, but his sufficiently-warned adventurer guards were already set and met the assassins with the ferocity that came with being better informed. Nevertheless Jorkahaath assisted with a few well-placed Paralysis globes, and although two more of his companions were marred by curse-carrying claw cuts, another channeled purify and one of his elixirs fixed his guardians right up after the last of the foul lizardmen had been eliminated.

A cautious quiet punctuated by occasional random conversation filled the short remainder of the trip to the Mist line and through it, where the adventurers led Master Jorkahaath right to the city gates. "I cannot thank you enough, young men," he hissed happily. He drew some gold out of a hidden pocket under another of his plates and dispersed it among them, adding, "I'm sure you'll see me around in the weeks to come, and I promise you if ever you need any poisons or elixirs, you will have a discount from me!" Then he turned to the nearest guard and said, "Point me in the direction of the nearest inn, my fine friend, I am in need of some refreshment and some sleep!"

👾 Tales of the NPCs, April 2019 (Part 1 of 2)

For the 2019 season, I will not be playing Grianadhmad in the Traverse City chapter as a PC, only writing out occasional journal entries. Instead I have joined the Plot Team as an "intern" (my little joke), and will also be a full-time NPC, or Non-Player Character. NPC actors and actresses fill the roles of opponents in combat mods, as well as non-adventurer townspeople, merchants, dignitaries, and other personages that don't live with and work amongst the adventuring community.

To avoid any spoilers regarding this season's Traverse City plots, the stories I share here will be almost entirely narrative and objective. Very little information before and almost nothing after each mod will be written about. This will be a new experience for me as well as a new writing challenge, so I hope you all enjoy it as much as I plan to.

The Mystic Foxes

Summoned across the planes, he appeared in an unknown place. The sky was dark and the air was cold, but the smell of scary men and women still wafted through the trees and across the fields. Humans, elves, a dwarf, several wylderkin. The blue vulpen creature didn't have a den here but he still wanted to avoid them. But they would chase him, he knew, especially since they had put this token around his neck. A game, the tender had called it, like how kits chase each around in their youth to build up their stamina and speed. The people were to catch them, take their tokens, and then return them to the Order of the Thorn. So off he ran, seeing some of his other littermates, flashes of blue fur and twinkling tokens going off in different directions -- and all of them catching the attention of the men and women in the tavern and on the porches. The hunt was on.

He bolted into the woods towards some empty looking tents and cabins. There was a hill behind it with thick brush; he was quick and agile and would lose most of them up there. So only the best and strongest would follow him and catch him. Sure enough, of the five or six that had initially followed him, three gave up right away, two stayed at the base of the hill, and one tried to circle around to find an easy path up where he was. Must try harder than that, human, he thought. He scurried further up the hill between two close-growing trees and over a rotting log, then dove down the hill the other side and skirted around the ones still staring up at the wrong part of the hill to try and make a break for it on the other side of the big tavern building.

One of the humans was so fast! What an impressive champion! The fox turned up his own speed to force the man to give chase, clattering up a hill while the human ran alongside him up a wooden staircase. Then at the top, the man struck once but the agile fox dodged, slipping underneath his reach and following a winding path toward the lake shore. Then he felt impact and his back leg buckled a bit. The man was very fast! He'd catch the fox any moment and remove the token from his neck. At least then the fox could be returned back to his tender.

But the man hit him again, and again, very quick hits. Why was he hurting the fox? This wasn't a game! I am in danger! the fox tried to yelp to his littermates, but he took a hit to his side and the wind was knocked out of him. Then in a flash the man reached down with both hands - one hand to take the token, the other hand bringing the polearm down on its head.

---

Steve and Clyde

"This is the most boring post ever! Why did we get assigned out here?"

Sitting by the campfire, Steve rolled his eyes at his longtime Contract Apocalypse partner, Clyde, pacing back and forth between the hastily constructed shelters. "For the last time, just because it is boring doesn't mean it will be boring. We have our orders, we have to guard this skin changey guy. Which means sooner or later someone's probably going to come looking for him before our higher-ups have a safer place to put him."

"Well it's still the most boring job at the moment."

Steve agreed, but his complaint came from elsewhere. "I just don't want to get too near to him. He smells like toe fungus." Instantly he regretted his choice of words, because he was sure Clyde was going to---

"Oh yeah, did you ever get your toe fungus infection cleared up?"

"Yes I did, shut up. My point is, you don't hear me complaining about the guy or the job. Let's just do what we're paid to do."

"But why are we the ones that got chosen to do it?"

"Presumably they still haven't forgiven you for the noodles incident."

"Hey! HEY! You swore you wouldn't bring that up again!"

"Well YOU swore you wouldn't bring up my INFECTION!"

Clyde looked appropriately apologetic. "Okay you're right, you're right, I'm sorry." He sighed, and Steve turned his attention back to the fire. There was blissful silence for a few seconds before Clyde said, "Hey I'm gonna go take a piss. Don't let the guy go anywhere." Steve grunted in reply and Clyde walked off into the woods.

On the far side of one of the other shelters, Steve heard Tyra snigger. "They're never going to forgive him for the noodles incident."

"Yeah I know but I still try not to torture him with it," Steve said, then stood up and stretched. Technically he was the ranking officer in the group so he wanted to make sure their defences were tight enough. "Hey Tyra, since you're the closest to Fartblossom here," he stuck a thumb toward their captive guest even though Tyra couldn't actually see him, "make sure you keep your eyes on him. I'll have the other sentinels keep their eyes woodward."

"Yes sir." There was another pause, during which Steve wondered which way it was likely anyone would be coming for their guest, and who it might be, friend or foe, and when. Then Tyra piped up again, "You guys did pick up the first half of the payment already, right?"

"Uh yeah, Clyde was supposed to be taking care of that... ugh," Steve groaned. "Clyde?" he called out into the woods where his partner was taking the longest pee ever. "Hey Clyde!" No answer.

For the first time the skinchanger spoke up. "Maybe he ran off with the money."

Steve spun around and pointed at the man with his mace. "You, shut up. Tyra, keep your gaze on him." He turned back around and headed into the woods in the direction Clyde had taken. He really didn't believe Clyde would take the money and run; but also something seemed really wrong because he hadn't come back yet. "Hey Clyde, you drink a whole river or what? Did you pick up the payment?"

Dark had been falling for a few minutes so he had to pick his way carefully across the marshy, unkempt forest landscape between their ramshackle one-man cabins, hoisted up on stilt foundations. As he was watching his steps carefully, he saw a dark blotch on the ground up ahead. Oh shit, he thought, only half-convinced of who it might be until he got closer. "Clyde? What the hell! Clyde! Where are my sentries?!?"

Only the quietest of rustles caught Steve's ear and he absent-mindedly turned to his left to see two dark-clothed figures - adventurers, no less - crawling out from under one of the raised cabins. "Oh, I see how it is. Ambush a man while he's taking a whiz? So brave!" he growled, brandishing his mace and raising his shield. But then there was another sound behind him - under the cabin to the right - and he spun around to see two or three more of the bastards.

Before he could shout out a warning to Tyra or the underlings, one of the first adventurers with dragonscales on her face starting whipping at his limbs with her sword. He turned and tried to block and parry as much as possible but he was overwhelmed by the number of stealthy invaders and knocked down quickly. His last sight before he succumbed to death was of the dragoness dragging his bleeding-out body under one of the cabins where nobody would see him and have their suspicions raised.

---

The Fungus

It was dark, and wet, and unkept. It was comfortable here. A good place to thrive. It climbed the walls and thickened on the floors.
The human was too alarmed at the mold's progression by the time he came down to the basement to investigate the source of the smell.
He fled. He did not return again.
But others came. Two wylder kyns. A dog and a tiger. They were not scared, they did not flee. They did not leave. They needed to be made to leave.
The fungus formed a mass of similar size and shape to them from the walls. It slowly swung its flimsy tendrils to beat down the kyns, to weaken them, to scare them away.
Something was wrong, they did not scare away. They had a shield. They knocked the mass apart.
The fungus was a spore mind. It was not killed, but it had lost part of itself. And it was upset.
It formed another mass from another wall and came at them from behind.
The kyns knocked this one apart as well.
The fungus was getting angry. Its smell grew worse to indicate its displeasure. It formed another mass.
It slapped at the kyns. It hit the tiger kyn a few times. But the dog kyn was behind it. They knocked the mass apart.
They needed to ʟᴇᴀᴠᴇ. They were undoing all of its work. It was not thriving anymore.
The smell grew stronger yet. The last of the mold came together. It focused itself, it thickened, it would drive them ᴀᴡᴀʏ.
The kyns were surprised by its resolve. But they still fought.
They struck the mass.
The mass began to fall apart.
Not wet anymore.
Not dark anymore...

✨ All Lost Souls (Part 3 of 3)

Our troup from dragonreach congregated once more in the store-turned-tavern for a lunch prepared and served by mathis ⸴ and we were joined by more than a few stragglers from outlying homesteads who had heard that the adventurers were trying to pacify steepfall · Among the visitors was a man who asked if he could join the table i was at (with some of the pride members and some of the newer adventurers) ⸴ and after we graciously told him he was welcome ⸴ he sat and introduced himself as a member of the planar knights ·

The pride gave polite greetings ⸴ the newer adventurers had no idea what he was talking about ⸴ and as for myself ፧ I could not help myself and was staring accusingly at him · With my one remaining good eye · He took very clear note of this and acknowledged my attitude ⸴ and said to our confused tablemates ⸴ «let me tell you why he's glaring at me like that ·» though he insisted his organisation was not «the bad guys» ⸴ he willingly confessed that they were responsible for starting the current elemental war ·

The planar knight went into animated discussions about his group's plan for rearranging the planar cosmology ⸴ and i listened as long as i could before i finally had to leave the building to avoid snapping at him · Instead i happened to find blue and zorian and lun and velnaeus outside ⸴ and ended up venting to them instead · Zorian and lun in particular ⸴ being new to our company ⸴ did not know that the planar knights artificially instigating the elemental war early ⸴ was the reason why my whispering with the bear that fateful harvest afternoon went awry and i gained my scars while losing my sight · When they had graciously allowed me to get all of my frustration out ⸴ i did admit that i still preferred the planar knights plan ⸴ which would only sacrifice a relatively few amount of people now ⸴ as opposed to the current status of the cosmology ⸴ which would result in the continuous deaths of more people over more time ·

While we were still outside ⸴ a man came running up sobbing about orcs that killed his father ⸴ and his mother and sisters were hiding in their farmhouse three ghurries' run away · We responded right away · Jote (who had joined us outside) and i got the man to a seat and simultaneously calmed him down while getting him to recall details that would give us more information ፥ meanwhile dustie went into the tavern to marshal people to assist us · We had all ⸴ i think ⸴ made the assumption that these were the same orcs zorian ⸴ lun ⸴ jote ⸴ and others had encountered earlier ⸴ simply passing through the land looking for their missing shaman · But the farmer boy told us that rumours about orcs roaming the region and attacking farmsteads had been going on for weeks · Until this attack ⸴ he had thought they were just that - rumours ·

Once we had enough people and enough information ⸴ the farmer boy was ushered into the tavern to be fed and better inspected for his own wounds ⸴ while our group made a quick march in the direction he had indicated his mother's farmstead was · Nothing of significance happened on the march there ⸴ including any relevant conversation ፥ i will therefore skip ahead to our first view of the farmstead ⸴ with scattered orc raiders clearly in view ⸴ green against the dry brown and budding gold of the wild spring ·

Whether by accident or design i ended up taking one of the commanding roles of our rescue ⸴ possibly because i had been the first one gathering the information · In any case i could not have asked for better compatriots ⸴ because everyone understood instinctively what to do · We stayed in a close formation ⸴ occasionally reining in someone stepping forward alone too far ⸴ and annihilating the orcs who came in wildly and usually only one at a time · We forged a path into the actual house ⸴ found the mother and her young daughters hiding ⸴ and protected them while our scholars and archers held the orcs off on the basement stairs ·

Before long we all realised we had to get out of where we had garrisoned ourselves to prevent our fatigue from allowing the orcs through ⸴ so the other swordswingers and myself began a heavy trudge back outside ⸴ assisted by the mages and some of my own meagre spellcraft · The power to magically rip an opponent's weapon or shield from their hands was something i thoroughly enjoyed practising ⸴ and gave us more openings so that everyone could get out of the house ·

By the time that was accomplished ⸴ the raiders were all but a few killed ⸴ and we made short work of the rest · One solitary orc growled some sort of threat i couldn't hear over the wind before jogging off ⸴ and when velnaeus turned to me and asked if he should go eliminate him ⸴ i at first said no before realising we did not want the survivor bringing back a second army to threaten these farmers · I told velnaeus to fly ⸴ and he sprinted immediately across the field and into the brush where his elemental prowess was more than enough to extinguish the last orc's life ·

The mother was markedly but understandably grateful ⸴ and before we departed back to steepfall she mentioned something about the «curse of the sarr ghost» which quite obviously drew our attention - ghosts ⸴ undead ⸴ there was probably a connexion there · And sure enough ⸴ she answered our inquiries with a woeful tale about a family of sarr who had been persecuted and then the father was killed after trying to avenge his children · To top it all off ⸴ the sarr had been hanged from a tree in what is now steepfall ⸴ and his family's only heirlooms ⸴ a set of cutlery ⸴ had been reported stolen that very night and were never recovered · Remarkably a curious partial set of cutlery had been unearthed by some of our fellow adventurers earlier in the day · We set back out to the steepfall storefront with this news and a clearer sense of direction ·

By this point i was growing fatigued and needed to unwind for a while ⸴ and emric provided some relaxation in the form of gambling · Dragon poker had been the only game i had known but he taught me and velnaeus a few other games ⸴ which we won and lost gold over ⸴ before i decided to pull tight my pursestrings and step outside to stretch my limbs · When i stepped outside ⸴ however ⸴ who should i find but taios in deep disagreement discussion with a member of the guild of the gifted - the opposing party of the planar knights · Taios was trying to convince him to help us help the planar knights ⸴ and asked to explain to the guild's leadership in person why the adventurers were now siding with the latter party · The guild representative said all he could do was ask about the audience ⸴ not necessarily promise that it would be granted ⸴ but it's a step forward ·

I rehashed some of the conversation i had missed with taios and ardos before heading back in to the tavern to watch other people try their hand at emric's games · While i sat there ⸴ velnaeus and taios were asked to meet mathis and trellis in one of the less damaged buildings where they were going to set up celestial and earth guild permanent circles of power ⸴ per lycergis' request · They departed and were gone for quite some time ⸴ until i heard taios cackling with laughter as he approached the storefront again · He gleefully shared upon our inquiries that mathis' ritual had experienced a minor backlash ⸴ and our esteemed elven knight was operating under the assertion that he was actually a high ogre · Barring that complication mathis successfully completed his circle ritual ⸴ and trellis' own circle ritual was completed with no incidents at all ·

While all of these things had been going on ⸴ brighter minds than mine had been labouring over the new clues about the sarr ghost and the silverware that the farmwife had provided us · This information and other clues gathered from around the area led us all to believe that the fork ⸴ hopefully the last piece of the cutlery set ⸴ had been secured in a second tower a middling distance away · If we could unite the silverware set and return it to the sarr's grave ⸴ we might eliminate or else drive away the undead forces before the dark of night could set over steepfall (and us) once again ·

A group of us swiftly gathered and set out for the tower ⸴ though the distance was a bit greater than we had believed and the sky grew dark earlier than we expected in the midst of this cursed woodland · By the time we arrived ⸴ we could tell some creatures were occupying the tower but not necessarily what they were · Directed by mathis (still mentally convinced of his ogre-ness and likewise more blunt than his normal florid and cultured elven speech) we fought our way through the little horde ⸴ room-by-room ⸴ searching as best we could in the dimness for the missing piece of cutlery ·

At some point some of us abruptly realised that the creatures that were throwing poisons at us were myconids · I battled with myself internally between the cautious fear i've had for the fungus creatures ever since they caused me to first resurrect a year ago ⸴ and a rage that wanted to leap forward and recklessly beat down every last one of them · Wisdom won out over emotion ⸴ with the aid of the fact that i was hemmed in by the front lines and was responsible for protecting our healers · And then suddenly mathis yelled out for us to make our way back to the exterior ⸴ presumably because we had found the fork (plus a few boxes of treasure the myconids had stockpiled in a musty closet we came across) ·

We made our way out ⸴ noting as we emerged into the open sky (though near-dark by this point) that many of our number had been infected with the green spores that the myconids' poisons carried · Healers and potion carriers became very appreciated very quickly ⸴ but velnaeus in particular seemed to be having a terrible reaction to his infection · He said he believed that he had something back in valbrough that would help to cure his body and ease his aches · We did not think he would be well enough to easily get there on his own ⸴ so i volunteered to accompany him back to valbrough ⸴ after making sure someone else would keep an eye on blue now that i would be gone ·

So set on our course ⸴ my elven friend and i slowly made our way to the old waystone we had first arrived in less than sixty ghurries prior ⸴ and let the waymaker network take us back to our more familiar city · Over velnaeus' objections i escorted him all the way to his point of lodging ⸴ and saw him inside ⸴ then crossed the village green to the healing house and checked the ledger of patients ⸴ healers ⸴ and guardians on call · Mercifully there had been only minor check-ins that day ⸴ and nobody at the moment ⸴ so i used one of the patients' cots as a place to rest my own weary bones as i have done before · The last thing i did before closing my eyes was stare up at the stars through the smoke hole atop the yurt ⸴ and ask them to keep watch over my friends in steepfall that night as well ·

✨ All Lost Souls (Part 2 of 3)

I had a dream that gaffeldin the great ⸴ a human scholar that had accompanied us to steepfall ⸴ had been murdered by a pantherghast swiftly ⸴ and there had been no other humans in the cabin at the time · When i awoke at sun's first light my first feeling was relief ⸴ especially upon seeing gaffeldin's obviously sleeping form in the makeshift bunk above me · This was swiftly replaced by horror ⸴ however ⸴ as i noted the remains of an actual fight not two feet from where my head had been laying · It would come out later in the day that after the pantherghast attack which actually did occur ⸴ gaffeldin's spirit had been required to travel to fort aegis almost thirty-one verstas away ⸴ and sir simon had escorted him all the way back (via waystone ⸴ but still) in the night ·

This sorrow aside ⸴ the morning brought a degree of peace ⸴ as at first we saw no undead nor celestial summons · A slight chill was not enough to keep me from my morning meditations though i did cut the first round of my whispering practise short to get warm again in the former general store ⸴ which we adventurers had already slated as being the tavern and central meeting place for the new adventuring post · A few slow shambling undead did occasionally wander into our midst but they were far easier to deal with than the previous night when we were practically overrun ·

Even the late morning was slow and somewhat relaxed as we all took advantage of the sunlight that deterred most undead ⸴ taking time to finish patching up wounds from the previous evening and to carefully scout more of our immediate surroundings · During a particularly quiet lull ⸴ fayedra and i went outside to have a practise duel and keep our limbs and blades ready for any surprises · The duel was to five strikes with the flat ⸴ and i warned her that i was still growing accustomed to my longsword but it was all to the good against her single blade · We actually went evenly matched and even hit each other the fifth strike at the exact same moment ⸴ and we were still chuckling about it as we went back inside to join the rest of our troupe ·

Thinking that perhaps a literal bird's-eye-view might provide some more information about this forsaken place ⸴ i mentioned to lun (who i was breakfasting with) that i wanted to untertake a whispering - my first real in-depth one since the incident with the bear late last summer · Lun was of course unfamiliar with the unusual skill i was learning ⸴ but after i explained it he excitedly told me of a perfect spot he had found for it · We ventured to a semi-clearing behind the «cabins» we had all slept in ⸴ and found a very large stump apparently logged recently by a braver forester than most · I agreed it was perfect and ⸴ beaming with pride ⸴ lun offered to stand guard over me while i went into the mild trance i used to communicate across the all-fauna connexion ·

In fact the whispering was almost a failure · Not because i could not perform it ⸴ but because there were so few animals of any kind ⸴ including birds ⸴ that were close enough for me to reach out to · When I finally did manage to catch the attention of a crow ⸴ the nervous creature had very little it could tell me in answer to my questions · It told me that birds generally stayed away from this place because they could feel something other and supernatural ⸴ as well as wanting to stay away from people such as myself (the sense i got was that it meant «adventurers» not «selunari») · Still ⸴ it was better than nothing ⸴ and i thanked the crow and emerged from my trance to see lun sinking a final arrow into one rogue undead ·

My kinsman and i returned to the tavern yet again but i did not remain long ⸴ since blue had mentioned her interest in taking sketches of the strange gravemarker-like stones we had noted the previous night ⸴ and which were much more obvious now during the day · The flat black monuments each had some bluish glowing runes of an unfamiliar glyph system carved into them ⸴ but also each monument was either eroded or someone had purposely removed chunks from their faces ·

While blue used her high artistry to reproduce the glyphs and missing pieces ⸴ we guarded her - red ⸴ dustie ⸴ naomi ⸴ a human named val ⸴ and myself · And it was well that we did ⸴ because something about even our mild disturbance of the graves attracted more pantherghasts · Between us all we kept each other safe ⸴ for they mostly targeted the kin and the elves ⸴ and just when one targeted me ⸴ lun made a re-appearance and helped me destroy it · Still ⸴ when blue announced that she was finally finished ⸴ none of us dawdled in leaving the immediate area of the grave markers ·

I had also promised pebbles prior to our group's arrival in steepfall that i would help her investigate an incursion of mineral elementals · Likely one of her contacts had asked her to look into it after hearing that the adventurers would be in this region · In fact several of us had offered to accompany her so she led her well-armed group to the site of the rift · She quickly deduced after spotting an obelisk that the trinket her contact had given her would drain the obelisk's power ⸴ eliminating the passage by which the elementals had been rifting onto the prime plane ·

As she also later explained ⸴ it was fortunate that it was mineral elementals we were dealing with · I'm still not familiar with all the many elemental planes ⸴ besides the four primary elements and life and death · But mineral elementals are like the «children» of life and stone ⸴ which means they preserve life and keep balance · This is why I woke up prisoned and being dragged out of the way by my friends after I got knocked out halfway through the skirmish ፥ the elementals had magically healed us to ensure we did not bleed out ⸴ and then cast a celestial prison on our bodies to prevent us from interfering further · Our aim was still accomplished however ⸴ and cressida and i (the only ones still prisoned) had been pulled well out of the way before the obelisk gave a minor explosion and disintegrated ·

By the time we returned once more the steepfall storefront ⸴ sir simon had been and gone with contracts hastily requested by the sparse occupants of the region · Blue and i headed up the pursuit of one such contract ⸴ from a man who hadn't heard from his brother in a while and was concerned about forest fires in the area · We discovered quite sadly that we were too late ፥ the house in question was already cinders and there were fire elementals all over the place ·

Though it was too late for the contract holder's brother and the heat was oppressive ⸴ we decided almost unanimously to at least eliminate the elementals and put out the fire · Cressida had accompanied us on this as well due her connexion to fire and its plane ⸴ and consumed the essence of most of the elementals we destroyed · Velnaeus ⸴ zorian ⸴ lun ⸴ and val also came with us ⸴ and zorian enhanced val's axe with ice while i enhanced çerhêni the same way ⸴ making our job infinitely easier · We steadfastly persisted until all of the elementals were eliminated and the remaining cinders burnt completely out ⸴ before returning to steepfall · The sad news would have to be relayed to sir simon when he returned that evening ⸴ and it would be that honest knight who had the unfortunate task of delivering it to the contract holder himself ·

✨ All Lost Souls (Part 1 of 3)

As the evening approached tonight i chose to walk rather than waystone the relatively short distance to valbrough · Two errands required my attention ⸴ and i needed to retrieve the result of the first before i felt comfortable proceeding with the second · Sure enough ⸴ i found rock at his forge ⸴ and he had just recently finished crafting my silvered longsword · The shape of course did not match that of my caravan blades ⸴ but i found it had an expert edge as well as a fine shaped point on the end ⸴ should i choose to stab rather than swing · Most importantly ⸴ as i had requested ⸴ rock had copied my deorsa inscription onto both sides of the blade · This weapon was now rupratyi ⸴ the most fitting name i could think of ·

With rupratyi added to my arsenal ⸴ and my taming bag and my sleeping sack packed with clothes ⸴ i proceeded to the valbrough waystone where many of my friends were already waiting in response to lycergis' request · Dusk had fallen when i arrived ⸴ and i heard velnaeus instructing us to pair off for protection · Seeing blue near me and unpaired ⸴ i offered to be her battle partner since she is a healer and i am a guardian ⸴ and she was pleased to accept · I cautioned her that she would have to be my seeing eye as darkness continued to cover the sky ⸴ but she had no problem with that · «So if there's an enemy ፧» she asked ⸴ and i replied ⸴ «turn me to face it ⸴ and push me forward» ·

We queued up to rift through the waystone to steepfall ⸴ about two-thirds of the way through the line of adventurers · By the time we reached the stone and initiated our own passage through the waymaker network ⸴ combat was already in progress as we had expected · Steepfall was said to be haunted and plagued with both spectral and reanimated undead; i can wholeheartedly verify that is accurate ·

Some of the undead had ice in their claws ⸴ and some of the more solid looking ones ignored most of the adventurers ⸴ seemingly only attacking random specific people · This strange behaviour set my mind racing as i tried to recall something ⸴ but i had little time to act on it as blue was both leading me onward and directing my attention to those undead that were about to attack me/us · As we progressed from the waystone to the old town propre ⸴ velnaeus kept us in a mostly tight formation and led us to the largest building he could find in the dark ⸴ which the sign out front indicated was an old general store before steepfall was abandoned ·

We made it inside ⸴ and assured of at least temporary safety ⸴ i immediately went digging through my taming bag for the documents about the undead which i had copied from the library in onothera · My racing mind had been correct -- one of the pages described steel-breaker revenants ⸴ which i relayed to mathis · These spooks retained a lot of their individuality as dead beings ⸴ and sought out those who they perceived as the greatest challenge unless sufficiently provoked from another source · I was able to also relay their weakness to magic ⸴ and also quickly (though stutteringly) provide some other info on what might have been bone-armor revenants · Mathis already knew the information on the liches and lesser spectres but thanked me all the same ·

Meanwhile trellis built a wall of force which kept the revenants out ⸴ but not the spectres when they were incorporeal · At first i was considerably hesitant and belatedly realised my arms were shaking from having not eaten recently ⸴ so i was staying back from everything · But ardos pulled me aside and encouraged me ⸴ reminding me that i was a guardian of the earth guild and that destroying these undead was exactly what i was tasked to do · My resolve strengthened by my cousin's inspiration ⸴ i stayed much more forward ⸴ keeping a close eye on any spectres that passed into our space and ready to strike them down if and when they began phasing into corporeality ·

Between trellis's significant store of walls of force (which had to be renewed at least twice a ghurry) and the number of fighters and spellswords keeping an eye on the spectres ⸴ we could have maintained our position there until close to the dawn ⸴ had nothing changed · But it did ·

A different type of creature suddenly burst into the store on all fours ⸴ seemingly unfazed by trellis' protective lines ⸴ and began ferociously attacking one of our number · My attacks were ineffective ⸴ as were many others ⸴ but randomly other adventurers could successfully do damage to the spectral feline-looking thing · Those of us who could not deal damage ⸴ the creature would occasionally swipe at us with a high-pitched ethereal energy that would cause us to uncontrollably back away and have difficulty approaching again · The senior adventurers among our party began shouting the names of races at the creatures (as more than one made it into the building) ⸴ much to my confusion ·

Finally someone explained to me (and to a gaggle of brand-new adventurers who had answered lycergis' call to reclaim steepfall) that the creatures were called «pantherghasts» ⸴ or «pg's» for short and for superstitious reasons · They were not undead ⸴ but rather summoned celestial beasts that each only sought out members of one race to attack · Likewise members of the targeted race were the only ones that could do actual damage to them · This information came in excellent time since the next pantherghast that ran into the store came after a familia member i had not yet met ⸴ and ardos and i flew forward as others called out «selunari» so the two of us could strike the beast down · The young selunari shakily got to his feet after blue had healed him ⸴ and thanked us ⸴ introducing himself as lun of the silver clan ·

With the rest of us in the storefront now better aware of the pantherghasts ⸴ mathis asked taios ⸴ trellis ⸴ and ardos to go scout the rest of the area · At first i was alarmed until i realised that with the spectres and pantherghasts unfazed by trellis' walls of force ⸴ there was no point in maintaining them · Those of us that remained maintained our temporary bastion for a seemingly interminable amount of time ⸴ protecting those of our number less suited to combat · Finally the scouting trio returned and reported to mathis · I confess that fatigue was already beginning to fall over me and i was devoting more of my energy to helping maintain our security than to listening to the conversation ⸴ but i did catch something about a tower one and a half míla away · After some lengthy discussion mathis decided we were going to march on the tower ⸴ and everyone agreed to go with him since nobody wanted to stay behind alone in the besieged storefront or the haunted town ·

Emerging from the storefront we made note of some tall dark stones ⸴ somewhat resembling grave markers ⸴ which we had not noticed on our arrival (being understandably distracted by the undead offensive) ⸴ and made a note to investigate them in the morning · Thus aside from continuing to fend off undead and pg's on our way ⸴ our whole group trekked along through the dark woods in much the same manner as we had emerged from the waystone ⸴ with blue assisting me by pointing me in the right direction for either walking or fighting ·

Eventually our group reached the tower in question ⸴ a dilapidated monstrosity which certainly was taller at one time but now only had about two and a half stories ⸴ most of it fallen apart and looking far too unsafe to climb up · But naomi noticed a cellar door leading down into a basement ⸴ and that is where they all went · I say «they» because i still was unsure what was the purpose of our being here to begin with ⸴ and mathis had requested that some persons stay outside to ensure nothing snuck up on us (like pantherghasts) ⸴ so i was one of five adventurers that remained topside · Fortunately ⸴ as far as investigations go ⸴ this one seemed to be smooth and successful; nothing came at us from above ⸴ and the goo beings that trellis reported seeing and fighting were not too difficult for our combined forces that descended into the darkness ·

By this point my fatigue had reached a point where i could barely function ⸴ so as we all returned to steepfall proper ⸴ i inquired about the other abandoned buildings in the town and trellis told me the undead were mostly leaving them alone · Blue had already stashed her small bundle of travel belongings in one such building ⸴ so it made sense for me to retrieve my taming bag and sleeping items from the storefront and also take refuge within that building ·

On our way back to steepfall for me to accomplish this ⸴ i also had occasion to talk with cressida and lilith · They mentioned to me that ardos had recently killed a bear ⸴ possibly the same one that maimed my eye and arm ⸴ which made me feel avenged in some strange way · Since lilith was also delving into the mastery of potion-making ⸴ we also talked at length about the possibility of devising a potion that ⸴ unlike everything i had tried so far ⸴ might finally restore my eyesight fully · It is a prospect i would like to detail more with her at a later time ·

✨ The Optical Occupant

It has been a long but fruitful stay in kingsmoore and i was more than ready to return to my relatively comfortable room at the kyngeshead · The waystone travel was no more disorienting than usual (i keep meaning to ask banradi about the vertigo) and i was greeted warmly by the innkeeper ⸴ who had preserved my room for the duration of my absence and assured me that everything would be just as i left it; he had not even entered it himself ⸴ and he and i held the only keys ·

My own key duly unlocked my little cube of personal space and i was quite relieved to see the extra little things i had not taken with me to kingsmoore ⸴ but the thing i was most delighted about was the proper bed · At the shelter I had taken to sleeping on a mat ⸴ or a bed of white pine leaves · So I lazily dropped my taming bag and sack of clothes into a chair ⸴ and settled in to take a nice afternoon nap · 

Or intended to · As i laid down however ⸴ there was a tiny yelp and i instantly jolted back up and drew my dagger (whose belt i had forgotten to take off anyway) · But i could not see anything ··· until the creature in question pulled its cloak down · It was a tiny chameleon wylderkin!

After apologising ⸴ putting my dagger away ⸴ and calming the youngling down ⸴ she was able to start talking to me · The poor girl's name was branch · She apparently had found her way into my room ⸴ having found it unoccupied for quite a few nundines ⸴ and decided it was a safe place to stay without considering that i would eventually come back · When i asked why she was looking for a safe place to begin with ⸴ she looked quite sad and said she did not have a home anymore · I gather that something had happened to her parents quite recently ⸴ rather than something like her being kicked out at such a young age · I would place her as being not quite a lustre old ⸴ perhaps only three or four years ⸴ old enough to articulate herself but not to understand a lot of the cruelty of the world ·

To try and lighten the mood i asked her about how she had hidden from me so well ⸴ and her eyes lit up as she started to explain · She told me that chameleons ⸴ and chameleon kyn ⸴ used camouflauge to hide ⸴ and that to a certain extent she could change her skin scales' colour · These were all things i already knew ⸴ but i let her go on so she would feel more comfortable · She did also mention that she had some cloaks which mimicked certain textures ⸴ and she hid under them when her natural camouflauge was insufficient to keep her from being detected · She had a snow cloak ⸴ a grass cloak ⸴ a bark cloak ⸴ and a rock cloak ⸴ all tucked into a little satchel that she carried with her ·

Amidst all these discussions however my mind was racing · What should i do with this little wylderkin? It would not be safe for her back in the forest all alone at this age ⸴ even in normal circumstances ⸴ much less the bitter cold that this winter has brought · Finding my unoccupied room was the best thing that could have happened to her · I was already too invested in her to take her back to the homeless shelter in kingsmoore ⸴ which was too far away from onothera ··· and then i remembered aunt cyn's orphanage ·

I won't bring it up to aunt cyn or to branch yet ⸴ however · I would rather that the young wylderkin trusted me ⸴ so that she can trust i would not recommend the orphanage unless i thought it was the best option ·

In the meantime ⸴ branch said she did not actually need to sleep right then ⸴ but was simply hiding in the bed because i surprised her by coming into the «unused» room · Still there will come a point when we both need to sleep · I've asked the innkeeper to lend me a cot ⸴ ostensibly so i can adjust to having a real bed after my time sleeping on the floor in kingsmoore ⸴ and i can also use it for some of my animal patients · I will help branch keep her presence a secret for a while ⸴ and then she and i can talk about what she needs to do going forward ·