Hello, Everyone!
I’m happy that you’re here! I really appreciate those of you who read Mary’s story and especially the ones leaving comments. I love reading your thoughts on our campaign!
Last time, Mary had just recovered from her Patron-sent dream. She found out she’d been gifted darkvision and then shared her mission with her party. They didn’t seem very stoked by the idea of going in a dragon’s lair but they said they’d think about it. Mary wrote a letter for her parents and gave it to the two loggers they’d previously saved. They were going to bring it to the surface and send it away if she didn’t return.
And so, with that 'cheerful' thought, we continue our journey.
Before they headed to the duergar city, Paulina raised her index finger in the universal "Waitasecond" gesture and started rummaging through her backpack. After a minute or so, she exclaimed triumphantly and pulled out an old, dried-out piece of carrot. While the rest looked at her in confusion, she drove it near her mouth and started talking to it.
Mary’s eyes widened with excitement. The dwarf girl was doing magic!
Paulina held up the carrot towards Aurum.
“Eat up,” she said.
“Whaaa?” he frowned. “What’s that?”
“Just eat it, ok?”
The bard took it with disgust and turned it over a few times.
“I’ll eat it if you don’t,” Mary proposed. She didn’t want Paulina’s magic to go to waste.
“It’s not for you,” the dwarf girl scoffed. “You don’t need it, he does.”
Finally, after some hesitation, Aurum swallowed the carrot. He blinked and grinned.
“Oooh! That’s neat!” he said. “Is that what dark vision feels like? Although, I wish you’d done that yesterday.”
“I didn’t have it prepared yesterday,” Paulina grunted. “And if you keep whining about it, I won’t prepare it tomorrow either.”
Aurum raised his arms as a sign of peace.
They travelled to Gracklstugh without any interruptions or encounters and reached it in just a few hours. Paulina found an alcove a safe distance away from the city and they hid in it.
Before they took any decisive actions inside the duergar city, they had to do some reconnaissance. Aurum proposed to make himself invisible and go scout ahead, Paulina said she could transform into a rat and do it herself. They started to argue but meanwhile Mary had another idea.
She had a magic spell she’d attempted a few times before, but it’d never worked. However, she had the feeling that the darkvision wasn’t the only gift her Patron had bestowed upon her.
She took out her notebook and tore off three pages. With a few words and some precise motions, the paper started folding itself up and, soon, three small figures stood before her.
“There’s no need for any of you to risk going in,” she said proudly, interrupting the now heated argument between the bard and the dwarf girl. “We can use my familiars instead! They’re not alive so if anything happens to them, they won’t, um… you know, die…”
“Wait, aren’t these…” Aurum squinted at the origami. “I knew it! It’s the Fearsome Threesome! From ‘The Fairy And Her Friends’!"
“The who from the what now?” Paulina said, deeply confused.
“It’s a book series I read when I was little,” Mary explained. “I didn’t know anyone else knew about it!”
“Are you kidding me?” Aurum said. “It was my favorite bedtime story! Atti, Aingels and Rudhol were the best!”
“Don’t worry,” Mary turned to the two dwarves. “You probably didn’t have the books when you were growing up. I can tell you all about it if you want…”
“I don’t really do books,” Bruno said. “And, besides, we have more important things to get to.”
“Yes, right!” Mary said.
She introduced her familiars to the group. Atti was an owl and she seemed the only normal-looking of the three. The others were like straight out of a fairy tale. Aingels was a tressym, a cat with beautiful white wings, and Rudhol, the almiraj, was a bunny with a sharp spiral horn on his forehead.
"And I'm supposed to be able to see through their eyes and hear through their ears," Mary kept on explaining. "So, they'll be the perfect scouts…"
“Oh. That's great. That's nice," Paulina grumbled. “Should I be on my way home, then? Since that's kinda what my thing was.”
"But… but… if they go, there won’t be any risk of someone catching or hurting you!” Mary exclaimed.
The dwarf girl glared at her. Mary didn't understand Paulina's reaction. Who wouldn't take the opportunity not to be killed?!
"Anyway," Bruno said. "Just send them off."
I adore Mary’s new spell! Flock of Familiars is such a wonder! And did you know? You could make almost any sort of small animal to be one of your familiars! It’s amazing!
Anyway :) I hope you liked this chapter. I’ll see you in the next, where we’re going to see what the familiars discover.
Until then,
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the chapter guide. You're welcome!)