Hello, Everyone!
Last time, after a well deserved night's rest, Mary had an early-morning conversation with Tesaya, about the nature of Falka's magic and the events that led to her disappearance and the swamp dragon's capture, as well as the Paladin's cut off arm and different ways to restore it.
Then, they were ready to start their new day.
A couple of hours later, they gathered for breakfast and discussed their next steps.
“I wrote a letter for Lilly and Bramble,” Mary said. “To be sent along with the guards who are going to get them to Zerakas tol. And I was thinking… Having a tattoo like Bruno and Aurum's couldn't hurt. They've been quite stronger since they got theirs."
"Tattoos?!” Tesaya snapped. “Do we even have time for that?!"
Her look was so intense it was almost burning a hole in her head.
"The Order is already on their way!" she continued. "Even if we leave right now, they’ll have more than a week of a head start!"
"Oh, right, you were unconscious for that bit," Aurum said. "We're going to teleport half of the way." He dangled the magical scroll in front of her face. “This baby is going to get us all the way to Orswald.”
"What do you have to do with Orswald?"
"The fortress is ours," Bruno said. "And Mary found a teleportation circle inside."
"Oh!” Tesaya chuckled. "Wow, all riiight. So you do have a castle, Sir Aurum."
"I'm considering 'Lord' now," the bard said with a smirk. “It sounds more sophisticated.”
"Okay then," Tesaya said. "After we get to Orswald, we'll be in the mountains. Have you considered our way from there?"
Mary spread the map on the table. According to Tesaya, the Order was going to go through Kipsos Pass. If they tried doing the same, they’d meet resistance. The Pass was on Myth Adofhaer's territory.
"We could fly over the mountains," Aurum pointed across the Teeth straight to the Swamp. "If I turn into an eagle, it'll take only a few hours."
"Let's not forget that Nurvureem's lair must be somewhere in the vicinity, too," Mary said. "We should be extra careful."
Tesaya seemed much more relaxed now – having a plan seemed to ease her up. “Still, let's not waste too much time on small matters," she said.
"So you don't want a tattoo?" Mary said. "It could help with… um, you know.” She motioned towards her missing arm.
“Oh, I’d have to think before I do something as permanent to my body,” Tesaya said. “Are these tattoos magical?”
“Yes. Driko, the person that makes them, has special inks that give the drawings some magically enhanced properties.”
“Driko?” Tesaya said. “A funny looking gnome with piercings all over?” Mary nodded and Tesaya grinned. “I think I might know him. There was someone like that who studied in Tiriel School.”
“They let other races join, too?” Mary gasped. She’d thought that they allowed only elves to be taught. That’s why she hadn’t even tried going there the last time they were in Myth Adofhaer.
“Yeah, they do,” Tesaya said. “Anyone talented enough could study there, although the really potent stuff or the juiciest secrets are saved for the elves.”
“So Driko has graduated the school.”
“Oh, no, no!" Tesaya chuckled. "He was expelled.”
“Did you study there, too?”
“Yeah, they used to send me all over the place, hoping that something will catch on.”
Right. Mary had forgotten about the elves’ obsession with ‘usefulness’. It still made her blood boil.
“Is there any improvement in your abilities since last time we saw each other?”
The Paladin shook her head.
“Maybe it’s all about how you think about your faith,” Mary suggested. “If you start viewing it differently, it might unlock something in you.”
“I don’t believe so,” Tesaya said. “My faith is what it is.”
“I’m thinking about the Order,” Bruno broke the silence. “If we’re going to fight them, we should know as much as we can. How are they organized? Do they have a leader or do they follow only Tiriel?”
According to Tesaya, the elves of the Order had many different skills. Some of them were mages, others were fighters, and the rest were both. They always went on missions in groups of four. They had their own hierarchy and a leader of their own, but not much was known about his or her identity.
"That's good to know," Bruno said. "If they're not under Tiriel, we can try and convince them to lay off.
"What I can’t understand is, why does she want to free that dragon?” Agatha asked. “Doesn’t she see how dangerous that might be?”
“She’s convinced that she can control it,” Tesaya said.
“I wonder if we can try and reason with her, after all,” Bruno murmured. “If we let her know about the other threats lurking in the South and the North, she might consider stopping her advance into Erathos and helping out; or at least not intervening with our efforts.”
“Woah, woah,” Agatha said. “You’ll tell her everything we know? I don’t think that’s the best thing you can do.”
“If you mention the Swamp dragon, she’ll realize that Tesaya’s with us,” Aurum said. “Nobody else knows about the monster.”
“Ok, then I won’t mention that we know about her plans,” Bruno said. “But maybe she’s going to war because she doesn’t know that there are other threats for Erathos, and if she knew, she might back down.”
“I don’t know that she will,” Mary said pensively. “If she knew that Morgax and the White Queen are threatening Erathos, that may strengthen her resolve to free her own dragon, in order to have some equal grounds with the others.”
“Mary’s got a point,” Tesaya said. “Tiriel is crazy enough to do that.”
“All right,” Bruno sighed and spread out his arms, “I won’t try to talk to her then. I’ll just go give Dynatos Mary’s letter and Lady Kaire’s reply to his message, and see if he needs me to do anything else.”
"There’s something else you should tell your guy," Agatha said. “Last night, when I talked to my informant in the park, he said that there were dragons--plural!--in the city. Said that Tiamat’s Cult were recruiting people under false pretences. They claimed to be emissaries of a good deity--something called ‘the Morning Star’--and they were recruiting people in the poorer districts.”
The five of them looked at each other with concern. The more followers a deity had, the stronger it became. Was that the cultists’ plan? Get as many people as possible to worship Tiamat, to make her powerful enough to break her bounds? Poor people were usually more than the rich, and they were easier to trick.
“I dont think that’s something Dynatos will be too concerned with right now,” Bruno said.
“Why?” Agatha said. “Shouldn’t he care about the most vulnerable people in his city?”
“He probably does,” Bruno said. “But there are bigger things at play at the moment.”
“Small people are important, too!” the tabaxi insisted.
“Yeah? What do you suggest Dynatos should do? Knock door to door to tell them 'don't follow Tiamat'?”
“No, but he can’t just ignore them!”
“I’m sure he’s thinking about them, too,” Mary said. “Mr. Perres is a good person!”
Agatha seemed ready to jump into an argument but Tesaya intervened.
“Sometimes I think that people just aren’t fit to rule other people,” she said slowly. “They’re too self-absorbed to be really capable of such greatness.”
Agatha grumbled. It didn’t seem like those words had calmed her down, but they had at least stopped her from actively arguing.
"If the Cult is spreading propaganda among the poorer districts, so can we," Mary said. "The same way as what the Dry Hand did to feed the protests in front of Mr. Perres’ office. We could go to Mr. and Ms. Steel and ask for some flyers of our own, but against the Cult."
"That sounds like a good idea," Bruno said, "but I think it might belong in the 'small things' category that Dynatos told us to leave to his people."
"Then I'll make a sample flyer, and you’ll give it to him," Mary said and took out her notebook.
Not much happening in this chapter but that's D&D for you :) Planning takes a lot of time. Hope to see you next time!
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: Mary Windfiddle's story is 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.