Hello, Everyone!
We've finally 'gotten there'! To the end of this chapter, I mean. I hope you've enjoyed it, even though not much has happened in means of action.
Last time, our heroes teleported to Orswald and had a pleasant surprise - the fortress was bustling with people, some of which the group had already encountered during their journeys. The most joyous of these reunions, at least for Mary, was with Moira and Dalia, the elven mother and child from all the way back in Arc 1. Moira had turned out to have been Mary's mother's best friend, and Mary had the chance of asking her about the parents she'd never known.
Mary had a wonderful time. She stayed and talked to Moira as much as she could. After a while, a few familiar faces joined them – all the dwarves saved from the tunnels under Belfast had taken jobs in the fortress. Even Fennec was there! Although his face was--understandably--still disfigured, he sounded much better than they’d left him all those months ago. Seemed like the care and mastery of Belfast’s druids had done wonders for his mind.
Mary found herself in the middle of all that excitement, talking and laughing with everyone else. She noticed Bruno on another table with his brother Georgo, showing him some of the technical sketches he’d been working on. Even Agatha had found some company to chat with.
However, as soon as the occupants of the castle finished their meals, they started walking away. That’d been the end of their afternoon break and they were going back to work. That reminded Mary that they were on a tight schedule, too. She excused herself and went to join her friends.
Agatha and Bruno were talking to Ambrister in the other end of the table and, approaching them, Mary was able to hear parts of their conversation.
“... some kind of a magical barrier, too,” Agatha was just saying. “That teleportation circle allowed us to walk right into your castle, and if we were enemies, you wouldn’t have even realized it until we started killing!”
“Only Lady Mary knows the coordinates of that circle,” the butler argued. “We need to prioritize. For now we’ll concentrate on Lord Brunost’s requests for ballistas with net projectiles to protect us from a possible aerial attack.”
He didn’t say ‘dragon’ but Mary was sure that he was filled in on Nurvureem’s proximity. She heard Bruno mention underground shelters and pit in her stomach eased up a little.
She beckoned to Agatha and Bruno, and they went out searching for the rest of their party. Bruno was pretty cheerful while they walked. Ambrister and Georgo had obviously lifted his mood.
“Everything in Orswald is going smoothly,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “Ever since the discovery of the mythril mine, Belfast has been sending more money and hands to work on the fortress. They’ve strengthened the outer wall, built ballistas and catapults, added a second, smaller wall around the adjoining village… The castle hunter and the cook are making sure they have enough supplies to wait out a siege if necessary. And they have already started building the barracks for the Ekobian boys.”
They went out and found Aurum and Tesaya in the quickly darkening courtyard, sitting on a bench facing the mountains.
“So nice of you to join us,” Aurum said. “We were just calculating how long it’ll take us to cross the mountain in my Giant Eagle form.”
“If we don’t get slowed down or detained, it should be about two hours,” Tesaya said. “Let’s hope we won’t happen upon Ice Giants on the way.
“Yeah,” Agatha said. “But how are we going to fit on the eagle? Last time we saw Aurum turn into it, it didn’t seem like it could carry four people at once.”
“Yeah, that’s a conundrum,” Tesaya said.
Bruno looked up and gave out a long hum. Mary had seen this expression on his face before. He was working on a solution.
It had turned out that Bruno had a very resourceful mind. Ever since Frinkeltong, whenever they were not in mortal danger--or running from one--he was always drawing schematics of different toys and contraptions. At first Mary thought it was from purely materialistic reasons – after all, the market for these kinds of mechanical wonders was vast and well-paying. However, recently she was beginning to think that this was just how he enjoyed spending his free time. The same that it was for her and her books and journals. Everybody needed a hobby.
Bruno asked for a piece of paper and started drawing. Combined, the five of them had a lot of rope, and so he devised a complicated system of knots, slings and loops, that was going to not only secure them all on Aurum’s eagle form, but it was also going to be comfortable for the bird itself.
Mary and Agatha were going to be in the eagle’s claws, and Bruno and Tesaya – on its back, without their armour as not to attract any lightnings. Initially, they had protested that last part, but ultimately had agreed that two hours of unarmoured flight were better than electrocution. They removed their armour and put it inside the two Bags of Holding.
The group decided to make their way over the mountain during the night. It wasn’t the best conditions for Aurum’s sight, but it was going to be relatively safer. Tesaya said that the Ice Giants that were inhabiting these parts were probably asleep after sundown. ‘Probably asleep’ was better than ‘for sure being able to see their flight and hurl something towards them’.
Catching the last rays of sunshine, the five of them prepared to set off. Aurum took out a small cocoon from his bag and started humming to it softly. His form began changing and morphing, it grew larger and larger, and where his shoulders had been, beautiful golden wings sprouted.
The Giant Eagle puffed his feathers and let Bruno and Tesaya put the harness around its chest. Everybody tied themselves in their places and Mary conjured a Guiding Hand to determine the exact direction of the dragon symbol on the map.
Then, the Eagle crouched and pushed itself off of the ground.
We! Are! Off!
The Swamp of Agony is waiting for us!
Hope to see you there, in the next chapter of our story!
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.