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“Well, that went well,” Dunco said as we walked out of the Guard Captain's office from our unsuccessful meeting, “And might I add that I’m quite interested as what that dark, winged creature is.”
“We are too,” Bal Vyr lied.
“We’ll keep you updated,” Abu added.
“And I would expect you’ll do the same in whatever you might find on the Orcus cult,” Bal Vyr said to Dunco. It was briefly discussed that Dunco could do some research on the cult to see what he could find about it.
“Indeed I shall,” the wizard replied.
The men then discussed with Dunco if he was able to scry. He confirmed he had the capabilities but he had a hefty price for it: 500 gold pieces. He added that if we were trying to locate the demon, that we’d need something of the creature’s for him to scry with, like a body part, hair, or an item.
Once Dunco left, we discussed among ourselves about going to the graveyard to see if we could locate anything of Lash’s. Then it was the discussion of if we did find something, where were we going to get the money for the scrying? I suggested perhaps the scrolls could be of value. The guys agreed and suggested we go back to mine and Cloudbreaker’s room to examine them before handing them over to Dunco.
In the back of my head I thought that perhaps the Inn wasn’t the best of places. What if one of them was cursed and something bad happened? Then again I knew there really wasn’t an opportune place for us to examine them. So I hoped for the best in the privacy the Inn’s room.
I pulled the scrolls out and presented them in front of Bal Vyr. Abu hovered close behind him. I also retrieved this journal and took notes. It was immediately made clear by Bal Vyr that the scrolls were written in blood and by someone quite wicked. We discovered that the first three were scrolls of Summon Undead III, Clutch of Orcus, and Suspend Disease.
Then Bal Vyr opened the 4th scroll and sure enough, our luck ran out. A fireball erupted from the scroll as the Drow unrolled it. For a moment we were completely engulfed in fire and thrown against the walls. The sound of glass shattering and the smell of wood, clothes, and flesh burning filled my nose. We all looked around at the destruction and a sick feeling formed in my stomach.
Where was Hubert when I needed him...?
I barely had a moment to examine myself, and those standing about, when footsteps thundered up the stairs. My tunic was hanging on me in scorched pieces, the leotard charred and blistered over my arms and legs while my chain shirt felt uncomfortably warm against the leotard that was underneath it. I noted the patches of blistered and blackened skin, the pain seeping in. The others were in a similar form of disarray. Of the magical items in the room, only one scroll was destroyed.
The door to the room busted open as Dale came barging in. The look on his face matched the guilt I already felt for what had just transpired.
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY INN!?” he thundered in disbelief. I hung my head like a shamed child.
“Well,” Bal Vyr immediately responded, ”I came up here to read a letter from my aunt... and clearly that was not from my aunt-”
“You’re going to have to pay for this!” Dale declared as he continued to look about the room in horror. He placed his hands on his bald head and squeezed as though his head were about to explode itself.
“Yes we will,” I quickly stated. There was nothing more I wanted to do right then. I wanted to fix what we had done immediately. Dale began to shake his head. I had to wonder if he had heard anything that we had said. He then looked down at Bal Vyr’s feet and his face contorted in anger.
“Why would you read scrolls in my Inn!?” He demanded while gesturing to the parchment.
“We read a letter,” Bal Vyr responded without missing a beat, ”Those are scroll, but this,” he shook the minuet piece of paper left in his hand, “was a letter!”
Dale pursed his lips before looking at me and Cloudbreaker. Though his eyes were still hard, his mouth softened a bit.
“You’re very fortunately that I like you,” he said.
“We are very sorry Dale-” Cloudbreaker apologized before Dale put a hand up to stop him. He then fished in his vest and pulled out a key.
“Here’s another key for room 14.”
“Could we help clean up?” I offered.
“No!” Dale clipped out, before more softly responding, “No, don’t worry about it. Just don’t read any more scrolls in my Inn!” He then turned on his heels and stormed back down the stairs.
“Well, if you think about it, it’s the cleanest room in the Inn minus the soot,” Bal Vyr stated, “Only the Gods know what’s happened in the bed alone,” I heard him mutter. My cheeks flushed as I pursed my lips. My ears couldn’t believe that he had implied Cloudbreaker and I were having romantic escapades there. I made no retort to the Drow’s comment only because when I thought about it, I was sharing a room with another man. How often did men and women share rooms on innocent terms?
Abu healed all of us with our wand of healing. I went about changing into my new clothes and washing the soot off my hands and face. The men had managed to fix their outfits appropriately as well.
We then directed our attention to the graveyard since we needed to see if we could locate anything of Lash’s. While there we examined the last two scrolls with no consequences. The last two were scrolls of Love’s Pain and Quickened Expeditious Retreat.
Bal Vyr went about digging up the graveyard in his search for our fallen friend’s items. At least that’s what I assumed he was doing when he pulled out his shovel. The rest of us wandered about the graves before I suggested that we ask the gravekeeper if he found any of Lash’s things.
Abu and Cloudbreaker followed me over to the hut. I warned Abu of the huts smell as we approached. I then knocked on door and from within, a familiar, stammering voice answered, “Oh I-I-I’m not falling for that one again! Y-you stay away from me!”
“We only have a few questions to ask, that’s all,” I said as warmly as I could.
The sound of furniture being moved from the door was heard. After a few minutes, Cloudbreaker tried to kick the door open.
“I-I knew it! You meant t-t-to trick me!” the gravekeeper cried out.
“Cloudbreaker!” I snapped at the Goliath for thwarting our efforts, “We need him to give us answers and scaring the guy will send him into a babbling fit!”
“I have no patience for that man!”
“Then go take a walk!” I ordered. Cloudbreaker eyed me while taking some deep breathes. Thankfully he only moved a few feet away while Abu and I attempted to assure the gravekeeper that we weren’t there to hurt him.
It was infuriating how little he trusted us. I walked over to the window of his home and peered in. Sure enough the gravekeeper was cowering behind the furniture he assembled in front of his door. I rapped on the window and waved to the the man once he met my eyes. He was clearly surprised that I could see him. He began to move his bookshelf over to the window.
Feeling strongly that he could help us, I teleported into the home. Entering uninvited was wrong, but I had figured my submissive and peaceful approach would prove to the man that I was friendly. How wrong I was.
The gravekeeper squealed in surprise to my sudden presence in his home.
“I’m sorry to intrude,” I stated, holding my hands up in surrender, “but I have a few questions I need answers to.”
It was understandable for the man to attack me. I had just entered his home unannounced. However after knocking me to the floor, without any resistance from me, and climbing on top to bite me, I finally retaliated. I pushed the man off of me and stood up. With a flick of my hand, I pulled my halberd in front of me and stated again, “I only have a few questions. Please! Hear me out and I will leave!”
The gravekeeper either wasn't litening or was in too much of a rage to think clearly since he continued to attack. So I knocked him in the face with the pole of my weapon. His nose began to bleed after a sickening crunch was heard. My stomach knotted up as guilt set in. I didn’t want to hurt him!
“Please,” I tried once more, “I just need a few answers. I don’t want to hurt you! Please stop fighting me!” I pleaded. I dodged a few attacks and tried to fatigue the man, but to no avail.
“Fine!” I shouted, “I’ll leave!” I then turned and marched over to the door. As I moved some of the furniture from the exit, I felt the gravekeeper bite me once more. I jerked my shoulder back to push the man off me before swinging the pole of my halberd around and hitting my attacker in the face again.
Finally the gravekeeper gave up the fight as he fell to the floor unconscious. For a moment I looked at him in disbelief. Had I killed a mentally unstable, old man? My anger however justified what I had done. I had defended myself. He was the one who attacked me! I might have entered his home, but he could have asked me to leave since I made it clear I meant no harm before he started attacking.
I quickly returned my attention to getting out the front door. As I finally squeezed through, Abu stood there with a worried look on his face.
“Are you alright?” he asked.
“Blackwing, what happened?” Cloudbreaker prodded as well. Bal Vyr was beginning to walk our way as I looked about wondering how to explain what had happened.
“I teleported into the man’s home hoping to get some answers,” I began, hating every word that spilled from my mouth, “Once in, he began to attack me. I don’t blame him for I did enter uninvited. However,” I then folded my arms protectively in front of me while shifting my weight, “after telling him I only had a few questions, the man continued to bite and hit me, I hit him with the pole of my weapon. Even when I said I was leaving he kept attacking me! So in my frustration I hit him again and now I can only hope that he’s not dead...”
It would have been truly troubling if it turned out that the gravekeeper was dead. The guilt continued to seep in while my anger relentlessly justified my actions. All the men gawked at me and I knew I was a fool to have ever tried to talk to the gravekeeper.
“He started biting you?” Cloudbreaker questioned.
“And punching me.”
Without another word, the Goliath stormed off into the gravekeeper’s home, Abu and Bal Vyr close behind him. The two watched from the doorway as the sound of the house being trashed ensued.
Once silence fell upon the home, I barely caught word of Bal Vyr asking if the Goliath was finished as he and Abu entered the home. I clenched my fist together as my angry toward the gravekeeper continued. Many minutes passed before Cloudbreaker stomped out of the home and sat down next to me.
“I honestly can’t believe I did that,” I spoke as the Goliath sat down.
“That man deserved nothing less,” Cloudbreaker retorted.
“No, it’s that kind of stupidity that I catch myself doing that makes me question my morals. It’s no wonder why people hate me... why I hate me...” I paused for a moment partly suspecting the Goliath would respond, but instead he stood up and began to pace. “Heaven’s I must sound angsty,“ I muttered under my breath.
“I did find Lash’s journal,” Cloudbreaker finally said. I gave a nod to show I heard. That was definitely good. Now to figure out what we’d use in the form of payment to get Dunco to scry for us.
Abu and Bal Vyr finally come out of the gravekeeper’s home, closing the door behind them.
“He’s definitely heard the screeching before-” the Drow began to say when Cloudbreaker cut him off. I latched on to the notion that the gravekeeper was alive and felt relieved that I hadn’t murdered him.
“What are we even doing here any more Bal Vyr!?” Cloudbreaker demanded.
“What do you mean?”
“This town! These humans! With all their problems that aren’t our own! We didn’t come here to stay! We came here to get out! And now we’re dealing with cannibals, blackmailers, and kidnappers!”
Bal Vyr squinted his eyes as he appraised the Goliath’s statement.
“Here’s how I’ve thought about it: If we’re wanting to leave, we have to deal with the Elves. If we do what the they want us to do, then we’ll probably have to deal with people from this town chasing after us because when it comes to assassinations, typically you don’t just get away with it,” the Drow explained.
“Well fortunately for you, you have a disguise on your side,” I mentioned hinting that he technically could get away with murder.
“Yes, I do, but you know who can’t disguise? A Goliath and a winged woman!” Bal Vyr snapped at me.
“We don’t need to do the killing,” Cloudbreaker mentioned. The Drow gave him an unconvinced look. “What I’m saying is, we can help the Elves do the killing.”
“So slaughter a town?”
“Who were you planning to kill?” Abu asked. All of us were reminded right quick that Abu hadn’t been with us during the encounter with the Wood Elves. Bal Vyr took a moment to explain how the Elves want us to kill the Mayor, leader of the Sylphsbane Clade, and the manager at the lumber mill.
“But we’ve pretty much ignored that promise,” the Drow stated.
“Yes, and now the humans are blackmailing us by forcing us to work for them!” the Goliath fumed.
“Cloudbreaker! We’re not being forced to do anything! We can go back and tell the Guard Captain to shove it where the sun don’t shine and go about doing our own things,” Bal Vyr stated.
“If only we didn’t need the money,” I muttered.
“We could open a tavern if we wanted to. Honestly, I’d like to not do anything and let the Town Guard sweat it out. Eventually people are going to learn about the crime scene.”
“Yes yes,” Cloudbreaker responded. He shook his head as he continued to restrain his anger, “I’m just frustrated Bal Vyr!”
“You don’t say.”
“Everything we’ve done just hasn’t gone exactly as planned.” Welcome to my life, I thought to myself.
“Let alone the fact we’ve lost three party members; one who’s probably on a murderous rampage while the others we’ve barely gone searching for,” Bal Vyr added, ”one of them quite possibly is still alive! Very frustrating indeed!”
“If you’re referring to finding Grendel, I could careless about that man!”
“And I don’t care what you think of him because when it comes down to it, he’s marked just like you! We need more on our side!”
“Hey! We were able to make our way out of the crypts just fine!”
“Yeah, but what if he’s in trouble? What if a vampire or werewolf got to him?”
“And you think that’ll make me care?”
“You were all for going after Araja!” My stomach churned as Bal Vyr glared at the two of us. He scoffed as he eyed us up and down, “You two really are joined at the hip aren’t you!? Do you even care about anyone else in this damned party?”
“I care about you,” Cloudbreaker said softly, if not too quickly. However I had to agree with Bal Vyr about the crusader. What ever feelings I had toward Grendel, he was one of us. He, too, needed saving from whatever predicament he was in.
“Fine... let’s go find Grendel,” I muttered right as the Goliath spoke again.
“Listen, I’m very frustrated as you can see Bal Vyr. When I’m angry I don’t see clearly.” Cloudbreaker explained. Bal Vyr, who still looked irritated with the Goliath, let out a sigh and relaxed his poster a bit.
“Okay, then here’s our options as to what we can do,” the Drow began holding up a finger for each point he made, “1, we attack the town. 2, we take off out of town and hope we survive against the Elves. We don’t know where we’re going though. So maybe we could hire a ferry.”
“But if we leave, the town will have to deal with Lash and whatever Trickfoot or Grendel have become.” I stated.
“Yeah, so option 3 is look for Grendel, Trickfoot, and the killer and continue to earn money while figuring out our escape from this place.”
“Or we can try and end the war with the Elves” Abu added.
“This war seems heavily entrenched.” Cloudbreaker responded.
“Very much so. Wouldn’t be surprised if the Elves already have spies in the Sylphsbane Clade. They’re crafty like that. But sure, why not. Option 4, we work to bring peace. I doubt anything will come of it seeing we are quite amateur adventurers.”
“Well, I think we owe it to Lash to hunt her down,” Cloudbreaker said. I nodded in agreement. If we destroyed the monster she became, maybe she’ll get a second chance like Bal Vyr had.
“Okay, then it’s settled. Let’s solve this murder mystery and try to find Grendel and Trickfoot,” the Drow said, “Also,” he added quickly, “while we do this, let’s reign in our opinions so as to not have the whole town against us. I’m a stranger in this land too and have numerous people I’d like to kill already, but I’m sucking it up and need you both to do so too!”
Once more I gave a nod of my head. Cloudbreaker slowly nodded though his eyes seemed troubled.
“Bal Vyr,” the Goliath spoke, “I want you to know that I trust you. Considering all we’ve been through these past few days, you’ve earned my trust.”
“I would hope so!”
“Just do me a favor,” Cloudbreaker added, “if I start loosing my temper and there’s nothing around that you want me to swing my sword at, get me out of there!”
“Will do.”
“So what now?” I asked, “we still need to come up with the money to have Dunco scry for us.”
“Well, the gravekeeper did make it seem that Lash comes back to the graveyard. I suggest we have a stake out before we scry for her location. And lets do it tomorrow night when we are well rested and prepared for a night fight,” the Drow suggested.
As we left the graveyard behind us, Bal Vyr mused over the idea of revealing the Guard Captain’s corruption and how we, in a few years time, could become the leaders of Lake Town. Cloudbreaker refused to do such a thing. I had to agree with him, but not in the sense of being exhausted by the people of this town. I just don’t want to be a leader ever again.
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