Hello, Everyone!
This part of the adventure is going to be a bit different than the previous ones. We were in extremely low numbers for this game session – only the DM, Aurum's player and me. So, if Bruno was your favourite character I'll have to disappoint you (but if he is indeed your favourite, then do tell me – his player will be so happy to know that!)
Anyway!
Last time on Mary Windfiddle's adventures:
Mary and her companions finally finished their first mission – they got lord Dwendel and his household to the elven lands of Myth Adofhaer, got paid and said their goodbyes (including to their fellow adventurer Jared who stayed behind in the elves' employment). Then, a Bearer (one of this land's messengers) brought Bruno some letters which prompted him to come back home. Mary and Aurum joined him on his quest and they rode off towards the sunset.
Mary was having a dream with the scent of oranges.
She stood up and left the campsite. She went off into the forest, on a winding path which got her to a cliff. She climbed the cliff and went into the cave on the top. Then she saw a wide cavern filled with blue light. Green grass and trees grew inside, brightness and magic shone everywhere.
In her dream, Mary saw herself taking an orange seed from her pocket and planting it into the greenery of the cavern. She heard her Patron's voice.
"Take the bard with you. Leave the dwarf behind."
When she woke up, there was an orange seed in her closed palm.
Her heart was fluttering. So this was it! This was her chance to prove her Patron that she was worthy! The only thing she had to do was plant a little seed? Easy!
She eagerly joined Aurum on his watch. The bard saw her and his face widened in a smile. His eyes were glinting the way they did when he had been well into his flask. He was often like this after they’d left Raxtrad.
“I have a *mission,” Mary said proudly.
“O-kay?” Aurum said.
“My Patron gave it to me via a dream. Look!” she showed him the orange seed. “I need to plant that in a specific place. It was in my dream, in a cave which was alight and there was a forest there and it was this way,” she pointed towards the darkness of the forest.
Mary was starting to realize that she might be sounding like a lunatic and prepared for a strong defence with a bunch of logical arguments and evidence. But Aurum just shrugged and stood up.
“Ok, I’m going to wake up Bruno.”
“Nnno!” Mary grabbed him by the cloak to stop him. “My Patron said he can’t come!”
Aurum frowned.
“Oh, so we just go ahead and leave him here alone?”
It was Mary’s turn to frown. She closed her eyes and concentrated.
“Can you help us protect Bruno while we are away?” she inquired soundlessly, hoping that her Patron was listening.
When she opened her eyes again, a little pixie was fluttering in front of her. His hair was short and pointy and he was glowering at her with all the displeasure in the world.
“Oh! Hello” Mary said. “Are you here for Bruno?”
The pixie nodded, all grumpy-like.
“Are you going to protect him? Wake him up if someone comes near?”
Another nod, even sulkier.
“Thank you so much!” Mary turned to Aurum. “See? My Patron has taken care of everything! We can go now.”
Aurum squinted doubtfully at the fairy but then smiled his cheerful smile (“Let’s go then!”) and tried to put his arm around Mary’s shoulders. She masterfully evaded it.
The pixie took out a sword the size of a toothpick and sat on Bruno’s chest, watching them gather their stuff and leave the campsite.
The path was dark and winding but with the help of Aurum’s Light spell and Mary’s dream directions they were soon able to reach the cliff from her vision. She was actually pretty nervous about climbing it because she wasn’t very strong or dexterous and she could easily imagine herself falling and breaking her neck. But with the bard’s assistance and his Light she actually managed to climb pretty well.
On the top there was the opening of the cave from her dream. She was ecstatic and, as a result, talked a lot.
“See? It’s all true! The path, the cliff, and now the cave!” she spoke while she was walking in, “My Patron has given me the best directions! He knows every step of the way, you see? Now we just need to enter and then find the gar– “
She stopped and looked around, puzzled.
“– den.”
There wasn’t a garden inside the cave. There was, actually, nothing inside the cave. It was about ten feet deep and ended with a wall. It was a solid wall, there were no strange symbols, no ancient drawings, no peculiar stones which you could move to reveal a hidden path to a different level.
There was nothing.
Oh, hey! This is where I'll leave you but I'll be back in a few days with more.
What do you think Mary and Aurum are going to do now? Are they just going to go back? What about the Trial? And is Bruno going to be alright?
You’ll have to wait and see :)
I hope you liked reading the story so far. There is much more to come!
Take care and be well!