Hello, Everyone!
Mary, Bruno and Aurum have been travelling through Ekoba for a few days now. Last time, they reached a plateau where something had died. They deduced that it was a dragon. It was skinned and all its limbs had been cut off. The boys guessed that this might be this 'Diohastos' whom Nurvureem had previously killed, and Mary got worried that Nurvureem might be here in Ekoba, too.
*Sorry, I know this isn't a bell jar, I drew it wrong! But I don't have time to redraw it so that's what we'll get...
The corpse of the dead dragon was far behind them and Ekoba’s capital far ahead, when the trio came upon a familiar sight. A small wooden building was perched on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere, its chimney smoking peacefully and its windows alight from the inside. The sign above the front door said everything that you would probably ever get to know about it.
The door opened invitingly. They could see the interior bathed in candlelight, with Granny Gretel sitting behind the counter with a wide toothless smile.
“We could just… not enter,” Mary said unconvincingly. She hated the idea of not knowing if she could trust the old woman or not.
Yet, despite her own words, she moved forward. A part of her was curious about what they’d get this time. All three of them went through the doorframe, and the door shut behind them.
“Welcome, weeelcome, my dears!” the old woman croaked. “Granny is so happy to see her favourite grandchildren!”
“We also love seeing you, Granny,” Aurum said and Mary couldn’t tell if he was sincere or not.
“I find you, again, in the most interesting of places!” Granny Gretel said. “How has the journey treated you so far, my children?”
“Oh, Granny,” Aurum said, “there was something we saw on our way here that worried us. There was this lizard that was eating a dead dragon and its limbs and head were cut off.”
“And it was skinned,” Mary added. “Do you know of any rituals or spells that use…”
“Hahaha! Skinned!” a voice sounded through the room.
Mary gasped. Above the counter, on one of the many shelves, there was a glass bell jar, and in it, surrounded by a green glow, a strangely familiar skull floated.
“Hush, Jojo, hush,” Granny Gretel said. “You don’t need to take part in this conversation.”
The woman took a piece of cloth and threw it vaguely in the direction of the skull. It flew through the air and, as if on its own, opened up and covered the bell jar completely. The voice of the skull cut off abruptly.
“What was that?” Aurum said.
“The flaming skull we fought in Pritley,” Mary said. “Remember? She took it in the end.” She turned to the woman. “Is it still dangerous? Can it produce flames?”
“Not in the jar it can’t,” Granny said and grinned. “Anyway, children. I have some nice things for you.”
Bruno livened up a little.
“You’ve found a way to quiet down my armour?”
Granny nodded and held out a small black box. Bruno opened it and gave out a disgusted grunt. It contained a slug - slimy, nasty, with a small circular sucker for a mouth.
“You should let it under your armour,” the woman said. “It’ll move around and oil it from the inside. It won’t make it silent but it’ll be way less clanky.”
“What does it… eat?” Bruno said, poking it with a finger.
“Oh, grass, leaves… greens of any kind,” Granny said. “You should feed it regularly. It’ll bite you if it’s hungry, but it’s not too demanding.”
Bruno squinted at the slug, then nodded.
“I’ll call him Jared,” he said and took out his money pouch. “How much?”
While they were exchanging money and goods, Mary blinked into her Eldritch Sight. There was the usual magical glow under the counter of ‘The Hut’ but this time there was an additional light coming from three scrolls on it.
“Oh, I can see that you’ve got a good eye!” Granny Grettel said, looking at her. “I’ve prepared these just for you, my dearest granddaughter!”
I’ve already got a grandmother and it’s not you, thank you very much, Mary thought, kinda annoyed, but aloud she said: “Oh, really? Why? What’s on them?”
The old woman explained the three ritual spells the parchments contained. Mary had to admit that they were good ones. And ever since Gillean had given her the ability to write down ritual spells in her Book of Shadows and use them without exerting her own arcane energy, she’d been itching to get her hands on some new ones.
But this was the creepy old hag. She didn’t trust her.
“What’s the catch?” she asked.
“There’s no catch,” Granny sighed and rolled her eyes. “This is just an offer. The items I give you will cost you money and nothing else.” She grinned. “But here, in ‘The Hut’, Granny’s children get special discounts.”
In the end Mary bought all three scrolls and the magical ink needed to copy them into her book. While putting them into the bag, her hand brushed the sapphire brooch she’d tucked in there and she had a thought.
“Oh, Granny?” she said, trying to imitate Aurum’s voice when he was flattering someone.
“Yes, child?”
“You know how you’re my favourite grandmother?”
She said it so artificially that she didnt’ think anybody could believe her, but Granny didn’t seem to mind.
“Oh, staahp!” she said with a grin.
“But I have another grandmother and I don’t know anything about her,” Mary continued. “It’s so unfair!” She looked up for a reaction and saw delight and expectation, so she continued. “I know that you’re really wise and know everything,” here Granny smiled even wider, ”and so I was wondering if you have any information about her. She was called Falka.”
She stared at the old woman with her heart furiously beating in her chest.
“Falka,” Granny said pensively. “I know the name. It went very hot a long time ago, for a while, but then suddenly disappeared. They covered it all up.”
“Covered what up? And who are ‘they’?”
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I was more interested in the fact that they managed to do a full cover-up, than the actual events themselves.”
“When was that?” Mary asked.
Granny Gretel cocked her head playfully.
“Oh, but if I tell you, you’ll find out how old I am!” she giggled.
“Oh, Granny!” Mary said flatteringly, holding on to the last hope of finding out the truth. “It doesn’t matter how long ago it was because you are eternally young.”
Granny Grettel laughed and told her the year. It sparked Mary’s recognition. It was 1169, the year of Emperor Ignas’ death. When Ekoba split from the Empire and its old king was killed and exchanged for the current ‘president’ Rezemius Briggs.
But it didn’t make any sense for Falka to have been involved in these events. They all took place in the East, and, from what little the elves had told her, Falka’s ‘great feat’ was something she did in the West, beyond The Teeth.
Ohh, this old hag is so darn sketchy! I wish I knew what her whole deal was! Don't you? And do you think she'd be able to find out more about Falka?
Anyway, 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: 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.