Hello, Everyone!
Last time, after sleeping off quite the interesting day--full of prison visits, talks with higher elven officials, a disgraceful desertion, a chase, an afternoon nap and, finally, some midnight reading in the Archives--our heroes had a peaceful morning. They had Elven toasts, joked around, and found out that Tesaya had gotten a punishment for their--mainly Aurum and Mary’s--reckless behaviour.
Tesaya rolled up the official reprimand and put it away in a dresser drawer. She came back to the breakfast table and started clearing the used dishes.
“Well, anyway," Aurum said. “At least you’re not a traitor.”
“What?”
“Yeah, I thought you were a traitor waiting to sell us to that Clement guy. Considering he recommended you as our guide…”
“I don’t even know why he did that," Tesaya protested.
She clattered the empty plates into the basin and huffed, as if the answer had just appeared before her. "Well, I do, actually. Because he’s an asshole.”
She shook her head and went out to soak the dishes with the water from the well. She returned promptly and sat down beside the trio.
“Why do people treat you this way?” Mary asked. “They’re so rude and unfriendly!”
“Not everyone is.”
“Yes, we've seen that you have friends you can reach out to,” Mary said. “But the others? They all treat you like you’re lesser than them!”
“Well, you know that I haven’t made progress as a Paladin for a long time.”
“Yes, for fourty two years. But why? What happened 42 years ago?”
“I… think I lost my faith,” Tesaya said. “It was shortly after my father’s passing. He died in battle beyond the Teeth and it made me question… everything. And, you know, a Paladin with questions… Let’s say it’s not the best combination.”
“What kind of questions?”
“My faith is to Nature in all its forms,” Tesaya explained. “One of Nature’s laws is that the strong… survive. But, my father was strong and he still got killed.”
"There might have been something… stronger than him," Mary objected.
"There always is," Tesaya said. "But that doesn't make it any better."
“Didn’t he reincarnate?” Bruno asked.
“He did. But it wasn’t the same.”
Tesaya proceeded to tell them more about her Paladin Oath. It was what she called ‘the Law of Nature’ and it was at odds with ‘the Law of Civilisation’. In nature, she said, the weak don't have a say in the matters of their fate. The rabbit didn't get to vote on laws which protect it. But in society, it was different. There everyone decided together and protected the weak.
"That doesn't sound so bad," Mary chimed in.
"But I'm a Paladin, and for a Paladin, if you start to question your Oath…" She pointed at herself. "You've seen the result."
They decided to head out to the home of Olivia Enry's husband. It was far from Tesaya's and they had to walk quite a bit to get there.
"So," Bruno said while they moved. "Has there ever been a dwarf living in Myth Adophaer?"
Tesaya laughed. "No, of course not! That would be like something out of a book of fiction. Why? Are there elves in Belfast?"
"There are that lady we saved, and her child," Aurum said.
"That's temporary, you said they were going to head to Meraket next."
"Anyway," Bruno said. "If there was ever an elf inhabiting Belfast, they are sure to be recorded in the Archives."
"You have Archives?" Mary gasped. "Why haven't I ever heard of them"
"Well, we didn't have an incentive to go look up things."
"But I'd love to go check them out! What's in them?"
"Mainly ledgers of mining and trading information. Receipts, contracts, statements… that kind of things."
"Oh." Mary made a face. "Boring stuff."
"Who says that's boring?”
"Me. I'm saying it. Everything that doesn't have a story is boring to me. Look at the elven Archives – we learned so much about people's fates there! But what story can your ledgers tell? There were so-and-so pounds of coal this year, it was two pounds less than last year, we sold it to so-and-so…"
"That's far from boring, if you ask me," Bruno said. "But whatever, I can't change your mind."
This is a short episode, sorry about that. I just wanted to finish the walk-and-talk (and eat-and-talk) before we get to our destination and the next clue of the investigation. Hope you liked the calm and friendly atmosphere here, I really liked experiencing it on the table and writing about it after that! <3
See you in the next part!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary 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.