Hello, Everyone!

This is it! The end of the fourth arc of Mary Windfiddle's story! 188 000 words, almost 2 years , and so much fun :)

After this chapter I'm going to take a little break (a short rest, if you will 😁). This time, due to life reasons, I haven't planned any interludes, but we (our DM and I, maybe the other players as well) will have a Q&A soon, so please add your questions to the comments below!

But anyway, without any further ado, here's the next part of the Mary Windfiddle story. Last time, Bruno managed to cure Mary's sewer fever and they continued on their way, joined by the Ekobian boys that wanted to become their Guard, as well as the mysterious tabaxi Agatha. Mary tried to learn more about her but she was evasive and really suspicious.

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"I sent a couple of messages," Bruno said when they gathered around a campfire some time later. "The first was to our ’friend’ Jared. He says he wasn't afraid of us, can you imagine?"

"Oh, I wish we had the time to go find him and make him afraid," Aurum said.

"Who's that Jared guy?" Agatha said. "You mentioned him before, too."

"Oh, just a sleazeball of a person," Bruno and Aurum said in unison. They looked at each other and snickered.

"We used to work with him and then he stole Mary's book," Aurum added

"Stole?"

"Yes," Mary said. "The book we were talking about, 'Mary Windfiddle's Grand Adventure', it's not exactly mine."

They told Agatha about the sudden appearance of the book on the market and the subsequent hunt for 'Flamingo'.

"The worst part is that the story is not correct," Mary grumbled. "There are a lot of exaggerated parts, mainly to do with me. I don't know why Jared would want to make me seem braver and more capable than I actually was."

"Maybe he likes you," Agatha suggested.

"Who, Jared?" Bruno laughed. "No way!"

Mary stared at the tabaxi. That thought had never occurred to her. Agatha shrugged.

“You said ‘messages’?” Aurum said. “What were the others?”

“Only one more,” Bruno said. “I asked Tesaya for an update on the elves’ movements.” He looked at Mary with concern. “She said they were sending their army towards Frinkeltong's border.”

Mary gasped. She felt all of her blood freeze in her veins.

“No!” she cried out. “We have to warn them! They need to know! We have to… Have to…”

“I can send a message to whoever we decide, but the way Ord’s magic works, I have to know them personally, or at least to have seen them,” Bruno said. “Whom do we know in Frinkeltong?”

Mary couldn’t think straight. Whom did they know? Lilly and Bramble? What could they do with a warning like this? They weren’t influential people, they couldn’t warn anybody else. They were just… Lilly and Bramble. The only thing they could do was run away from the city.

Then, what about Bruno’s friends? His boss? Was there anyone important enough among them?

“We’ve seen Bartemius Finesse!” she gasped. “The President! You can send him a message, can’t you?”

“What?” Bruno said. “Where have I seen the President of Frinkeltong?!”

“On that painting,” Mary said. “In Nurvureem’s lair. Remember? The one from the Pamagos Agreement. Wait, I have a smaller version somewhere in my books…”

She rummaged through her Bag of Holding.

“Wait,” Bruno said. “What would I tell him? ‘Hello, Sir, you don’t know who we are but you should send your army at the border with Myth Adofhaer because the elves are assholes?’ He doesn’t know us! He wouldn’t believe us!”

“T-then…” Mary whined. “Whom do we call out to? G-grandma Mona? She has… she works at the bank, I think she knows people.”

They tried. Bruno sat on the ground and mouthed the warning. After receiving the reply, he frowned.

“She didn’t seem to know what to do either,” he said. “I think I woke her up, she was really confused. Said she’ll see whom she can warn.”

Mary sat down and put her hand over her mouth. She felt so helpless, being so far away from her family! How could she help them? What could she do? Except…

Stay on course?

If they were able to reach Pamagos in time, they were going to speak with Mr. Perres and make him do something… Pamagos was in the middle of Eastern Erathos – from there, they could go to Myth Adofhaer to investigate, or to Frinkeltong to help out…

It was not hopeless. There was still chance to make things right!

Finally, after a few more days of travel, Mary, her friends, their Guard and Agatha reached Pamagos’ gates. There was still some movement in and out of the city but it was way more sparse than before.

A few Ekobian boys bid them their goodbyes. They knew how to read and write and said they were going to remain in the city, hoping to get a job and make ends meet. The rest insisted to stay with the trio and in the end, their Guard numbered thirty-four young men. While the adventurers were going to check with Dynatos Perres, they were going to stay in ‘The Maimed Lion’.

“We’ll pay for their stay,” Bruno said. “And then we’ll get our money back from Dynatos. After all, if it weren’t for us, they’d be part of the Ekobian army.”

“You’ll make a good politician,” Agatha said.

She seemed impressed that Mary and her friends knew Pamagos’ ruler and wished to come see him with her own eyes. Mary felt a tinge of suspicion but reassured herself that if the tabaxi was a threat, they could take her down. Plus, there was Elaria, Mr. Perres’ own bodyguard. After the thing with the assassins, she was sure to be more vigilant and not let anything bad happen to him.

They went on towards the man’s office. While passing by a random house, Mary heard her name.

“Mary! You should sleep!”

“No, Bruno! I can’t! I have nightmares!”

“Let me help you!”

“No! I’m fine! Leave me alone!”

There, on a bench across the street, two children were playing with dolls. Mary stared at them and heard Bruno and Aurum gasp behind her.

The girl-doll had some long reddish-brown yarn for hair and a piece of wire shaped like eyeglasses. The boy-doll was all white and smaller. It had a long yarn beard braided with some colourful beads.

Mary crossed eyes with Bruno who looked just as dumbfounded as her.

“Hey, you two!” Aurum said, approaching the kids. “Where’s the Aurum doll?”

“It's home, mom only let us take the two,” they said.

“Where…” Mary cleared her throat. “Where do you have these dolls from?”

“Our mom and dad gave them to us.”

“Yeah? Where did they get them from?” Bruno asked.

“The ssstooooreee?” one of the kids said, looking unsure.

Of course they didn’t know where their toys came from. They were just children! If anybody would have asked child-Mary where her rocking horse or her wooden constructor came from, she wouldn’t have known either.

But someone had to have these toys ordered and made, and sold. Mary's mind She shared an awkward look with her friends and they continued on their way.

Then, they reached the building Dynatos Perres worked in, and were in for an unpleasant surprise.

Hundreds of angry people had flooded the premises. Some were shouting, others were chanting, many were holding signs or pamphlets.

No. 1 Freedom Street was under siege.

Oh, how I hope that someone would make fanart of the doll-Mary, Bruno and Aurum! :) This concept is sooooo cuuuute! <3

Anyway, that's the end of this arc. As I mentioned above, I'll take a short break from posting. When I'm back, this link will lead to the next chapter, and this one - to the upcoming Q&A.

See you! Take care and be well!

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Episodes of Mary Windfiddle's story come out every Monday and Thursday.
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossary and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)

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^{An important disclaimer: These are my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.}