Hello, Everyone!
This is a very special, one-of-a-kind post that's very different from the rest of Mary’s story. That's because, for the second time ever, it's told from someone else's point of view!
You remember that last time our friend Aurum returned from a three-month-long 'mission' that he went on without telling anyone?
Well, that's the story of this mission.
It was written by our DM and the player who actually plays Aurum! The only thing I did was edit a couple of commas.
I really hope you enjoy this peek into Aurum's brain and his shenanigans in the great city of Zerakas tol!
Aurum sat back on the sofa in Mary's grandma's house and let out a happy sigh. It was good to have an audience again.
“So," he began. "Ya know, I packed my stuff and got going. But I wasn't going to travel there like a pleb, so I decided to take a carriage. And--lucky me!--a luxurious caravan was just heading out of Frinkeltong that morning.”
At the word "luxurious" Bruno grumbled heavily. Aurum ignored him and continued.
“However, my wonderful day was only getting started. I just so happened to be slotted with a nice chick. Or maybe more than that. She turned out to be a fine lady named Reina.”
Aurum went silent for a moment. Reina’s face came to his mind so vividly, almost like she was right in front of him again.
“Took us one whole week to get to Zerakas tol. We didn't waste a moment of it though. Got to know each other reeeal well.”
The bard wiggled his eyebrows, grinning. To his surprise Mary suddenly erupted:
“Can we skip to the next part already?!”
He made a face, but continued.
“There we were, by the week's end, reaching the eastern shore. The wind was howling and the snowfall was constant. We got to the very edge of the continent and in front of us there was a wide chasm with three huge stone bridges across it. I couldn't see all the way down, but Reina told me it was about half a mile drop. They say Francesca did that. Cut the peninsula with her magic. Never heard of magic that strong.”
Aurum noticed that this last bit seemed to have piqued his audience’s interest. Mary was now looking at him rather excitedly.
“The bridge lead us towards the city. A huge wall was surrounding the entire cliff. A set of gigantic doors were open to let people in and out. It was really cool."
While talking, Aurum could see the whole thing again so clearly. He had to admit, the city was very impressive. He continued.
“Some creepy guards were eyeing my stuff at the entrance, but seeing as I was with Reina, they let me in easy. Turns out she's nobility. But anyway, entering the city is when the fun started. Ya see, the inside is nothing like the outside. The countryside was a terrible, nasty experience, but the city is constantly in springtime. Pamagos got nothing on it. Wealth, parks, nice food and cultured people are all around you. They say the city numbers one million people and I can surely believe it. Oh! And I got to ride a griffon! And talk to… it? Her?”
Aurum paused. His companions seemed to be hanging on his every word.
“Griffons, it turns out, are greats mounts. If they aren't wild murderous beast, that is. Everyone seemed to take that for granted. Renting it for almost three months wasn't cheap, but when you're in Zerakas tol, you must present yourself properly.”
Bruno interrupted him by taking a deep breath. Aurum was starting to wonder what his problem was.
“Reina found me a nice place to stay,” he continued. "’The Pillows’ is a high-end spot to enjoy a good, long vacation… I mean mission. Got me a nice apartment there with view of the castle. Oh My Gods, you guys! The castle! It floats in the clouds! A huge, gold-domed, crystal-windowed, red-carpeted freaking castle simply hovers on a cloud, like, two thousand feet above the city. And I got to go there. Yeah. Humble-old Aurum got to rub shoulders with the high life!" he coughed in his hand to hide the more obvious part of his excitement and continued. "As planned, of course. It was my mission. Turns out the young emperor-to-be had a birthday on the 10th of August. There was a banquet in his name and I got me an invite.”
Aurum looked around at his companions’ incredulous faces. Now that he thought about it, it really would seem unbelievable from their perspective. But it had happened and it was so cool!
“We arrived a little late, as you should, and went in to scout the wines and the nobles. The hall was all marble, gold and dark wood. The tables heavy with delicacies and the guests gleaming with jewelry. I took Reina's hand and started conquering the hearts of the other guests, but Edmund Bright was the main dish. He is a strange kid, wise for his age. He was there with everyone else, with just a dragonborn knight at his side. That guy was huge, though! Kinda intimidating. Anyway. I told the kid some of our stories and he seemed to like them, especially the part about Nurvureem. He was quite interested in her, asked me a bunch of questions while stuffing his face with food. He had quite the appetite. Oh! Right! I got to ask him a good question. Asked him which side he thinks we should fight on - his or Cremena's.”
“Now that sounds like a bad question to ask a monarch,” Bruno interjected.
Aurum rolled his eyes and continued his story.
"’Fight on your own side’,” he said in a high-pitched voice, trying to imitate Edmund, “‘Help yourselves and your families. Help your friends and loved ones. Don't bother with this senseless conflict.’” He rolled his eyes. “Little wise-ass kid, giving me the noble talk…”
He was still very disappointed that he couldn’t get anything meaningful out of that kid. If it wasn’t for the grand experience, he would’ve considered his trip pointless.
“And then I got to speak with Francesca, too.”
Mary spilled her tea. Aurum looked at her with his eyebrows raised.
“Don't get all hot and bothered,” he said. “She was super stale. Kinda boring, really. Underwhelming even. Middle-aged human woman with dark hair and a fancy robe. No flames, no jewelry, no nothing. Asked her why she cares who's emperor. Said she owed it to Ignas to help his heir. Something something, the power of friendship. But then I asked her about her beliefs. Now, that question got to her. She said she had her beliefs and preferences, like all others, but unlike most, hers were backed by an army.”
All three of them were silent for a while, lost in thought.
“I guess that's pretty much it,” Aurum said, finishing rather lamely. “Several days passed, I saw Mary’s book, Bruno called. Now I'm here.
His companions looked at him and he smiled widely.
"Sooo," he turned to Mary. “You wrote a book about us?”
Oh, I can’t believe Aurum had this whole awesome adventure without Mary and Bruno! They must be so mad at him! And I’m not quite sure he understands why.
Anyway. A little behind-the-scenes on this part of our D&D game: when we finished the Belfast arc, our DM promised us some down-time where nobody would try and kill us for a few in-game months. He told us that we should think about what we wanted our characters to do with that time and mentioned that we didn't have to play everything together on our table. Some things could remain a secret.
Aurum's player took advantage of that offer. She had a separate session and then told us in-character about what happened. It was really cool and we fully enjoyed the mystery of the bard's disappearance and the subsequent unreliable narration on his part. To this day, we're not quite sure if everything Aurum told us was true 😅
I guess we'll see, if we ever visit Zerakas tol.
I really hope you enjoyed this chapter! I think the two people who wrote it did an amazing job!
In addition to this, I also wrote about Aurum's story, but from Mary's point of view. I'm hesitant whether I should post it after how cool the story above turned out :) Please tell me in the comments what you think. Should I post it? Or keep it to myself?
Either way,
See you next time when, after their reunion, the trio heads out on a new adventure.
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)