Hello, Everyone!
We have a whole new adventure ahead of us!
My dear Mary Windfiddle and her companions just finished the previous chapter of their adventure, having ended their employment with lord Dwendel, when Bruno received some letters from home urging him to go back. Mary and Aurum decided to come along and this is where they are now – on the road towards the dwarf mines of Belfast.
A couple of nights ago Mary and Aurum had a little detour fulfilling a quick mission from Mary's Patron. Bruno is going to be grumpy about that for weeks (or perhaps for life); but what can you do? When your Patron says "leave the dwarf", you leave the dwarf.
In this part we’re going to have a little flashback of something that happened about a week before Mary’s Trial but I didn’t tell you about since it didn’t have anything to do with anything yet. Now it’s important and you get to learn about it! :)
Lord Dwendel's wagons were creaking on the road towards Raxtrad. The luggage cart was freshly fixed after the Carrion crawler’s attack and the adventurers had already used up their "ride in the nice wagon" reward and so they were, again, on horseback.
Mary's horse was clopping along the front of the procession when another group approached from an adjacent road and was soon going to cross their path. The gold-and-green banners suggested that they were from Zerakas tol, the coastal kingdom from the far north-east. Mary used to be very curious about them--after all, they were only a mountain away from Frinkeltong and the only kingdom ruled by a female wizard--but then she got lost in her own warlock research and her wizard interest faded away.
Lord Dwendel didn’t order a change of pace or direction and so, in a short while, the two groups reached one another.
A large figure separated from the main Zerakas tol party. It was a silver dragonborn in full plate armour, taller and broader than any person Mary had ever seen in her life. His scales were glinting in the sunlight and when he opened his mouth to talk, the look of his long fangs made her shudder.
"Heading to the elves, I see" he spat out, following their path with eyes full of contempt. "You should have come to Zerakas tol instead! That half-elven bitch doesn’t deserve any of the credibility that you give her."
"I don't think we're doing anything wrong," lord Dwendel said calmly. "If you don't mind, we would like to go on our way. There're a lot of miles ahead of us.”
The dragonborn growled but turned around and headed back to his group. They continued down the road, much quicker than lord Dwendel's wagons could, and soon got lost in a cloud of dust.
"What was that about?" Bruno had caught up with Mary’s horse.
“I think he meant the late Emperor’s wife,” she said. “But that was a very rude way to speak of her.”
“Well, no wonder he spoke like that,” Aurum joined in from the other side of the wagon. “Zerakastolians hate Cremena Bright and the elves that are harboring her with burning passion.”
“Do they really think that she killed the Emperor?” Bruno asked.
“They say she did,” Mary said, “but I haven’t read of any actual proof.”
They kept on riding for a few minutes before anyone talked again.
“Where do you think they’re going?” Mary asked.
Bruno followed their trajectory on the road ahead.
"Judging by how they're heading around Raxtrad but still down south, I'd say Meraket." he said.
“What’s in Meraket?” Mary frowned.
“Didn't you check the adventurer's boards in Pamagos before we left?" he said. "Meraket's been looking for wizards to help them with their drought for a while now."
"Oh."
Mary probably saw the ads but didn't pay them any attention because they were looking for wizards and not warlocks. Plus, fighting a drought didn't sound as exciting as fighting, well, anything else.
The wagons kept going. The company could see, in the far distance, the silhouette of Raxtrad – the trading center everyone had heard about. They were hoping to visit the town and marvel at its market places, but who knew what the Fates had planned for them?
We do! We know what's going to happen! And that's because that's how flashbacks usually work 😁
So, this was the part of the story you were missing. I hope you liked it and that you’re going to stay for the next! I really enjoy writing about the silver dragonborn, he’s so delightfully rude!
See you next time!
Thank you for reading!
Take care and be well!