Hello, Everyone!
How have you been doing? I’ve been pretty great these days. My writing pace is smoothing out and I have so much more to present you with! So happy to still be posting our dear Mary Windfiddle’s story!
Last time when we saw each other, Mary, Bruno and Aurum had just finished their mission and had their reward started – a statue in their honour in the middle of the Elven city. They had a good talk with Dorina Dwendel about her part in the now finished investigation, as well as about her special map which showed Erathos like no other map did.
Now, there are a few more things our heroes want to do before they moved out of Myth Adofhaer, and so we’re about to follow them all the way through.
In the days after the talk with Endoras about her parents, Mary found herself constantly angry and on edge. One morning, Tesaya was saying something about elven children and Mary snapped at her.
“What, are they ’of’ Myth Adofhaer, too? Are they also not allowed to leave? Or is it just human orphans that this applies to?”
Tesaya took a long look at her.
“Why don’t we talk about something more pleasant?” she suggested calmly.
“Oh, yeah, right. Nobody can call out your people’s unfairness, is that so?”
The corners of Tesaya’s mouth clenched.
“Look, Mary,” she said sharply. “I have nothing to do with my people’s politics. Nobody cares about my personal opinion. And I’d appreciate it if you stopped taking your anger out on me!”
Mary flinched as if she had been struck. She pressed her lips and stared at the floor. It was unfair, she realized, talking to their hostess like that.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly.
“It’s ok.”
Mary didn’t know what to do about her frustration. But there was another thing, too. She was convinced that there was more to Halas’ death than Balaine Endoras had told them. What if he was hiding what really happened? What if it wasn’t an accident, but he was instead murdered?
“I want to speak to Halas’ spirit,” she said one afternoon when they were sitting in the sun outside of Tesaya’s home.
Her friends looked at her, surprised.
“I don’t think I can trust anyone here about what actually happened to him,” she said. “They could have been involved in his ‘accident’ and could be hiding the truth. So I want to learn it from the actual source.”
“But didn’t the elves try that already?” Aurum said. “He didn’t want to speak with them. Why do you think it will be different this time?”
“I don’t,” she admitted. “Maybe back then the people who tried to talk to him were his murderers? Maybe he’d talk to me? I have so many things to tell him!”
“Mary, I’m sorry,” Bruno interrupted. “The spell doesn’t work like that. We'd be able to ask only a certain number of questions. And it wouldn’t be Halas' spirit that’d answer them, but an imprint of his consciousness from the moment of his death. He wouldn’t be able to comprehend anything that we tell him unless it was something that he knew when he was alive. He might not even recognize who you are! And whatever we tell him, it’d be lost the moment the spell ends.”
Mary felt like the ground had just disappeared from under her feet. For as long as she knew about Halas, she’d been imagining talking to his spirit. There was so much she wanted to say to him! That she was sorry about his death and thankful that he’d saved her. That Gillean had turned out to be a caring and well-meaning guardian. That he’d taken her to good people and she’d had a good life. That she’d grown up to be an adventurer, that she was free. That she’d found Dalia’s murderer and had made him pay.
But now she wouldn’t be able to tell him anything.
“I still want to learn the truth,” she said after a long pause. “Would you speak to him for me?”
Bruno nodded.
In order not to get Tesaya into more trouble (she had just finished her two days of community service for their previous stunts), Bruno convinced Mary to ask for entrance to the mausoleum the right way. Balaine Endoras greeted them with a smile when they entered his office.
"What can I do for you?" he asked.
"We want a key to Falka's mausoleum," Mary said plainly.
"Is that so?" the Elder grinned and his eyes twinkled playfully. "And who exactly needs the key?"
He was looking straight at Mary. She rolled her eyes. Did he intend to play that game again? Make her admit her identity through sneaky means?
"We do," she said defiantly. "The people who saved your city from the Undead."
"Well, I'm so sorry," Endoras said, "but the only people I can give a key to would be Falka's family."
Mary huffed.
"Very well," she said, turned around and left the office.
Her friends followed her, their faces bewildered by her attitude. But she didn't care. She wouldn't give the elf the pleasure of playing his game.
They heard him chuckle through the door.
Mary is being a little bit unreasonable, don’t you think? Or do you think that she had the right to question the Elder’s involvement in her father’s death? I hope we get to know more about that! And I secretly hope that Balaine Endoras won’t be a part of that. He’s kinda growing on me.
See you next time when we’re going to speak with the dead.
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.