Hello, Everyone!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! Have a wonderful time and don't let the dragons get you down! :)
Did you see the art post I made a couple of days ago? It's of Nurvureem's human form and I think it's pretty great :)
Anyway, last time, in an attempt to help their friend Nymphadora who’d been beaten up, our heroes followed her and her brother to a shady tavern. Aurum went in, disguised as the half-dragon man Kalien, but found out that Kalien was already there, with his Mistress Nurvureem in human form. Before anyone could react, the bard ran out, followed by the Dark Lady herself. She spoke to Mary, threatening Aurum’s life and demanding that the girl visited her lair to write a new book about her, and Mary was forced to agree.
Happy with the answer, Nurvureem went back into the tavern, saying that she was going to ‘take care’ of Nymphadora.
“Why?!” Mary cried out. “Why did you have to mention Nymphadora?!”
“Why not?” Agatha said. “The lady said she was going to take care of her, I thought maybe she’d shoo her brother and his goons away.”
“You don’t know her! Her ‘taking care’ means ’acid torture’!”
“Oh.”
Agatha’s ears flicked down. She fell silent for a moment and then said she'd sneak in and be the group’s eyes while they thought of something to do. She darted towards the door, entering just before several of the tavern’s patrons hurriedly left the establishment. The tavern keeper came out, looked at the piece of wood Nurvureem had broken off, and shook her head tiredly. She dragged it back to its frame and barred the exit behind herself.
Mary opened her connection to Agatha and listened to her words.
“The woman is talking to the mercenaries. She made them sit down in their booth just by uttering a few words. They look horrified. She’s… she’s gesturing towards the girl now. Makes her stand up… She' goes to her… Sits in her lap. The dragon lady is talking in her ear now, she’s shaking.”
“What is Jared doing?” Mary asked. Maybe he was going to try and save his sister. “How does he look?”
“Like he’s shitting his pants. But doesn’t seem too concerned about the girl, only about himself.”
Anger moved into Mary’s heart and joined the fear inside. That bastard!
“Let’s move,” Bruno said. “Mary, Aurum, get off of the doorway and come to the side. We’ll devise a plan.”
He led the way. The trio bypassed the tavern door and went along the left wall of the building. All the while they were walking, Mary’s mind buzzed with fear and desperation. She couldn’t just leave Nymphadora! This situation was their fault!
She tried to contact Nurvureem, pointing her spell through the wall to where the dragon was supposed to be.
“Oh, dark and horrible Lady!” she mouthed, trying to sound flattering. “Can we have our personal meeting right now?”
“Mary Windfiddle,” she heard Nurvureem’s purr inside her head. “I’ll meet you where and when we previously agreed.”
“But I… I’m free today. We can have f-fun together!”
This time Nurvureem sounded irritated. “I’m already having fun,” she hissed in Mary’s head. “Leave me to it.”
Mary’s feet buckled from under her and she slid down onto the tavern wall, shaking. Tears of helplessness ran down her cheeks. She heard her friends talking but she couldn’t make herself listen to them. Her head was spinning with the guilt and desperation that she’d be responsible for another one of Nurvureem’s victims.
If only she had the power to switch places with her!
Mary was desperate. The longer Nymphadora spent in Nurvureem's clutches, the worse her state would be when (if!) they got her out. Mary remembered what Fennec--a trained warrior--had turned into after Nurvureem’s torture, and she desperately wished to save Nymphadora as much of this experience as she could.
She wasn't strong enough to do something like that but… she knew who was.
She glanced at her friends. Bruno and Aurum were still suggesting plan after plan, unable to take an unanimous decision. If she shared what she was thinking, would they argue or hesitate? Would they try and stop her, saying it was too dangerous? What if Nurvureem got bored while they discussed and, instead of just talking to Nymphadora, proceded to hurt her instead?
There was no time for that. Mary had to act. Without a word, she went to Aurum and took the ruby amulet off of his neck.
"Granny Gretel," she whispered into it. "We need you."
A few moments passed. Then, there was tapping on the cobblestone. Mary turned, and there was Granny, her hunched figure leaning over a walking stick.
“Hello, children!” she croaked.
“What can you do about a dragon?” Mary said, quick to get to the point.
“A dragon? What dragon?”
“She’s got a girl that we know and we want to save her.”
“I’m not sure what you're asking of me. What do you need, exactly?”
Bruno and Aurum started describing the situation and Mary gave out an exasperated grunt. While they were talking, Nurvureem could have begun her torture. She looked at the hag and Messaged her, as covertly as she could.
“Can you switch us?”
“Switch you?” she heard in her head.
“Me and Nymphadora. Get her out of there, as quickly as possible.”
The hag raised her eyes to the sky, as if considering her options.
“Yes,” she finally spoke, only to Mary. “But just your souls, not your bodies.”
“That’s ok.”
Granny grinned and started making a motion.
“Wait!” Mary stopped her. “What’s the price?”
“No price, dear. It’s for my own pleasure.”
The old woman crouched down and took a handful of dirt from the ground. She walked to Mary and reached out her arm.
“Maaary?” Aurum said. “What’s going ooon?”
She didn’t answer. The hag’s hand smeared the dust over her face and she was gone.
Oh, no! Mary, what are you doing?!
Do you think she’ll manage to get Nymphadora out in time? But then, what happens when Mary is the one in Nurvureem’s claws? This doesn’t look good either way!
Stay tuned for the next part which is going to go out on the 4th of January! Have a wonderful beginning of the new year!
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, 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.