Hello, Everyone!
Happy New Year!
I hope it is filled with inspiration and determination! And a lot of adventures to be had!
Here we are, with another episode of Mary Windfiddle’s story. Our heroes are currently acting as Agents of Pamagos, on their way to investigate the recurring attacks by undead creatures throughout Eastern Erathos.
Last time, in a chat with their hostess and guide Tesaya, Mary, Bruno and Aurum learned quite a lot about the elves, their souls and the protection around their city. It turned out that the undead attacks had happened not two, but three times already, the case 12 years ago having been completely covered up by Myth Adofhaer. About a dozen elven girls--along with two elven investigators--had been lost to the mysterious threat, their souls having never come back to be reincarnated.
The trio decided to start with a visit to the Archives. Before going out, Tesaya changed into a big plated armour which rivalled even Bruno’s. She put a shield on her back and an impressive antlered helmet on her head. She carefully tucked her wooden pendant under the armour, took the necklace from the glass box and hung it in its place.
It was still early afternoon. The city life was going on as slowly as it could be. It looked nothing like Pamagos or Belfast, where every corner was bustling with activities, and was definitely far from the life Mary was used to in Frinkeltong, where the gnomes were always in a hurry to finish the day’s work and go to the evening’s festivities. Here, the elves were gliding through the paved streets as if there were no urgent matters anywhere in the world.
A glistening spot next to the road attracted Mary’s eyes. It was a small pond near a patch of trees. The water was shimmering and small ripples were going through its surface while a beautiful, majestic creature was drinking.
“Yes,” Tesaya said, following Mary’s gaze. “there is a whole blessing of unicorns in our forest. We value and protect them because the magic of the Mythalar is bound to their life force.”
“Oooh! Can we pet her?” Aurum exclaimed and made a few steps towards the unicorn.
The creature lifted her head and drew back.
“She won’t let you come closer. There is only a certain kind of people who can approach a unicorn.”
“Like what?”
Tesaya’s sides flushed.
“Untouched maidens,” she mumbled.
Mary couldn’t tear her eyes away from the beautiful creature in front of them. The unicorn looked so much like the pegasi she hoped to see one day! She touched her copper ring and whispered a Message.
“You’re beautiful! I’m so happy that I got to see you!”
The unicorn hesitated. She half-turned her head towards them and Mary heard a voice in her head. Not like an answer to her Message. It wasn’t the usual whisper. The voice was coming straight into her brain.
“[Do you speak the tongue?]”
The question was in Celestial.
“[Yes!]” Mary Messaged and repeated her previous words.
“[Thank you,]” the voice of the unicorn echoed in her head. “[I’ll see you again.]”
Then she went away and the magic was gone.
Myth Adofhaer’s Archives were, for Mary's surprise, underground. They were in a long, magically-illuminated space, with shelves and shelves of documents, stacking neatly as high as the ceiling.
Two elven guards came in with them and followed their every movement. They begrudgingly gave them the papers they needed – everything they had on Maquiel Prouvier and the attacks (including the ones 12 years ago that the outside world didn’t know about). They even had to go down a dark staircase to bring the folder for the oldest cases. It seemed that the Archives were spreading on multiple levels – the farther back the events went, the lower the information was located.
Good to know.
Eighteen years ago, Mary found out, there had been eleven kidnappings. Next, twelve years ago, twelve elves had disappeared. And six years ago, before they got Prouvier’s confession, the kidnappings had risen to eighteen. So far this year, only eight elves had been reported missing. As Tesaya had already told them, all the victims were young women, but something else sparked Mary's interest – all of them were also blonde. That had to mean something, right?
They found out more about Prouvier's capture, too. Dorina had used an elven woman as a lure and witnessed him trying to abduct her. He confessed to each of the kidnappings. Said that he would follow his victims to a secluded place and teleport them to his home. What happened to them afterwards was unknown: no matter what means they'd used, his interrogators hadn’t been able to make him reveal it.
Aurum asked Mary to check whether Prouvier had a family. He did. They said they didn’t know anything about his part in the kidnappings. His children--4 and 5 years old at the time--even said that he’d been with them on a couple of occasions which coincided with the abductions. Their testimonies were taken into consideration but, ultimately, found insufficient to prove his innocence. The investigators thought that the children were probably too small to remember correctly, and his capture and subsequent confession had weighted the scales to his detriment.
Mary closed the folder. That was, perhaps, all that they could find on this subject down here. But there were so many other things she wanted to know! Every mystery they'd encountered in their journeys could have its answer down here, among all these documents!
Mary looked around, biting her lip. The two guards were still as watchful as they could be. She touched her copper ring and Messaged Aurum.
“I really want to check for some documents,” she said in his head, “Can you do something about the guards?”
He winked at her and then rose from his seat.
“Hey,” he said. “I feel like my bladder is going to burst! Do you have toilets around here?”
One of the guards gave out an exasperated sigh and went with him. There was one more to go. Mary turned to Bruno with the same request.
“Are you crazy?” he replied in her mind. “If we get caught everything will go to shit!”
She frowned. He had a point… but it was as if all these documents were beckoning to her. Plus, it was so much easier to ask for forgiveness than permission!
“What’s the matter, Mary?” Tesaya said suddenly.
She was watching her intently. Mary blushed. Had she been too obvious?
“No-nothing?” she said and smiled, hoping it’ll be convincing enough to alleviate their hostess’ suspicion.
Tesaya squinted at her, then turned to the guard in the room.
“Can I have a look at my file again?” she said. “I think I need to check something there.”
He rolled his eyes but led her towards some shelves in the other end of the room.
That was Mary’s chance! But what was she going to check? Her thoughts were racing, every mystery fighting for her attention. She had so little time, and it was so dangerous! Finally, she settled on Sylvanas. His work had started only thirteen years ago, his file was bound to be on this floor. She stood up--ignoring Bruno furiously shaking his head--and went towards the shelf labelled “S”.
What she hadn’t thought about was that “S” was very close to “T”.
For “Tesaya”.
Uh-oh! Do you think Mary’s going to get caught? What would this mean for their further investigation? Would the elves think that Tiriel Elaire was right? That the humans wanted Myth Adofhaer’s secrets and were ready to use any ways to get to them?
Let’s wait and see in the next episode.
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.