Hello, Everyone!
How have you been?
Last time our trio went into Ekoba city and got in 'Rory's Inn' where they were met with the most amazing view! All the furniture was animated and the counter was able to talk by itself. It was like it was enchanted and Mary
went and asked a bunch of inappropriate questions before Bruno was able to stop her.
Aurum, however, didn't spend too much time with the counter. Instead, he went to talk with the locals around the inn, to get more information about their mission.
“Sooo, that guy was fun!” Aurum said when he came back to Mary and Bruno. “He smelled of fish and told me I was too pretty to die. He also might have told me where we can find what we’re looking for.” He gestured to his belt where Mosrael lay still in its casing.
They finished their drinks and went out to walk and talk in the neighbourhood, hoping that there’d be less ears to overhear them there. The moment they went through the door of the tavern and into the darkened street, the unnatural pressure of Ekoba’s air weighed on them once again. They agreed not to stray too far from 'Rory's'.
According to what the sailor had told Aurum, in the harbour there was a Red Quay pointing in the direction of a reef about two miles into the sea. A seemingly eternal mist covered the water and many ships and boats had been lost in it, especially near that reef. Nobody had come back alive from there. The rumors were that there were unspeakable horrors and giant sea monsters prowling the stormy waves for their foolish prey.
“Yeah?” Bruno said. “If nobody has ever come back from the place, how do they know what’s out there?”
“Nevermind that!” Aurum said. “Remember what the elves said about the bells? They are guarded by a terrible monster! Where else can we find one, other than this place that everybody disappears in?”
His logic was solid. Mary just worried that looking for a legendary monster on purpose wasn't the smartest thing in the world. Plus, what were they going to do with all their stuff? They couldn't just leave it lying around for any low thief to find, and they couldn't take it with them underwater.
She tried to voice her concerns but somehow ended up arguing with Bruno about whether they were going to use a rope to go in the deep or not. Somewhere along the way, this conversation had turned out into a squabble.
"I'm sorry," Mary said. "I think the air here's getting on my nerves."
She turned away, only to feel the pressure on her chest increase. She had the feeling that someone was watching her.
Someone was.
From an adjacent alleyway, a small fairy peeked its head and waved at her. Then laughed soundlessly and jumped back into the shadows.
Mary hurried after it. Was that a sign from Gillean?
When she reached the alleyway, there was no trace of the creature.
"Mary?" Bruno's voice boomed after her. "What are you doing? Don't split up!"
"Sorry, I just… thought I saw something," she said.
"Funny you should say that," Aurum said, squinting at the roof of the opposite building.
The trio went back to Rory’s soon after, not wanting to risk prompting the city’s criminals to try and attack them on the streets.
They said their ‘good nights’ with the animated furniture and went upstairs to rest for the night. All of the second floor was at their disposal. It seemed that the inn hadn’t had guests for a long time. Despite that and despite all the rooms having just two beds each, Mary had insisted they got into a single one. She wasn’t going to sleep anyway.
She hadn’t slept ever since they stepped on Ekoba’s territory. She just couldn’t. It felt like they were in too much danger. Like, if they got their guard down for just a moment, they’d get themselves robbed or killed.
Even though to Mary’s Eldritch Sight the room didn’t have any of the magic glow of the tavern below, the trio spent the evening talking either cryptically or via Messages. Bruno sat in a prayer for a long time and the two humans took care of the other preparatory stuff. Mary tried out one of her new spells and it turned out they wouldn’t need a compass after all. An arcane hand hung in the air and pointed in the direction of the sunken ‘New Hope’. They’d use that for sure the next day.
One by one, Mary’s companions nodded off and she was the only one left awake in the middle of the night. She didn’t need to sleep and she didn’t need light to see, so she just sat criss-crossed on an armchair and read through one of her books.
Then she heard a knock on the window.
A small fairy--was it the same? She couldn’t tell--stood on the windowsill and waved. It grinned and pointed at the opposite window, then disappeared in a small puff of smoke.
Mary looked at the appointed direction. The window was… fogged over, like someone had breathed on it.
She approached.
Reached out for the handle.
And opened it.
It was like the night air slammed at her with all its sickening strength. Mary felt her heart jump into her throat and choke her, and mechanically stepped back. Her feet were trembling. Her head was getting lighter by the second.
She scrambled back to the window.
Slammed it shut.
And breathed.
Oh-uh! What are those fairies doing here? Have they been sent by someone to spy on our heroes? And are they nice or, on the contrary, bad?
See, I promised you ominous things! :)
Can't wait for the next episode
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossary and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
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 and Bruno) 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.