Hello, Everyone!
I’m so excited about this chapter! After last time’s preparation, we’re about to talk to Halas’ spirit!
Well, not exactly his spirit, and only Bruno will be the one to talk… but you get my gist. o you think he’s going to tell us about The Great Elven Conspiracy Involving His Murder?
Let’s see!
The graveyard was bustling with activity. There were people all around, fixing the broken gravestones and re-burying the bodies that Kloth had risen. It was probably not an easy task, finding each person's own resting place and putting them there, but they did it with utmost care and attention.
That's one thing the elves were good at – taking care of their dead.
The trio and Tesaya reached Falka's mausoleum without anybody stopping them. It was just as imposing as the last time they'd been there, white stone shining in the afternoon sun. The stained glass windows reflected the surrounding light and left colourful imprints on the ground.
Mary marched towards the door.
"Ok, let's not actually break in," Bruno stopped her. "Let me try out something else first."
He asked for Mary's sapphire and she gave it to him, a bit puzzled.
“Maybe it's a key,” he said and reached the brooch towards the door.
It didn't do anything, but then Bruno gave out a stunned “Huh!” and pointed at a key on a string, hanging from his belt.
“How did that get here?” he said.
Mary frowned. This was yet another unexplained thing about this mausoleum. First, the way it had unlocked itself last night, then the vase which filled itself with water… There was something happening here!
But she didn’t have time to ponder. The key clicked in the mausoleum door and soon they were inside.
Walking in, Mary held her breath, expecting to see the disarray they’d left during their frantic search for Kloth’s laboratory. That moment was all a blur, she couldn’t even remember whether they’d put the lids back on the sarcophagi.
But it was like nothing had happened. The sarcophagi--now four instead of three--were standing, closed, at the far end. The floor was squeaky clean and the small tables and benches were in their original places. There were even newly picked flowers in the vase by Falka’s side; and the prismatic crystal was once again on the lid of Halas’ sarcophagus.
Mary wondered who might have known where to put it and then remembered about Tesaya’s community service. It wasn’t unthinkable that the elves would make their hostess clean up after them. They had--once again--inconvenienced her.
The elf woman stopped at the entrance of the mausoleum, hesitant to move on. Mary did so, too. She turned to Bruno.
“Can you…” she said through her dry throat, “can you speak to Halas by yourself? I’m not sure I want to see him like this.”
The dwarf nodded. Mary stood back with Tesaya, leaning on the door and pressing her forehead to the coolness of the wood. She heard the scrape of the stone lid opening and smelled the incense Bruno lit to cast his spell.
There was some shuffling of cloth and the cleric cleared his throat.
“Hello,” he said. “My name is Bruno, I know your daughter. She’d like to ask you, what did you find in the Archives that upset you?”
There was no answer.
“Mary?” Bruno said. “Can you come closer? He might not want to talk if he doesn’t see you.”
She stepped in, eyes locked on the floor. When she reached the back of the room, Bruno repeated his question.
She felt a shiver down her spine, as if suddenly someone was staring at her back. A dry, lifeless voice spoke out.
“I found out whose son I was, mother.” it said.
So he’d been able to read Falka’s file, or, more probably, his own. Mary wondered about the last word of the answer. Did he think he was talking to his mother? Did she look like Falka?
“Why did you run away?” Bruno asked for the second question.
The voice gave out a tired sigh.
“Dalia is gone now. I don’t want to raise Mary among liаrs.”
“Who pursued you?”
“Elves in black. They wanted to take me back.”
“Why?” Mary stepped in. “Why did they want you back?”
She finally looked at her father’s remains. He was lying on the burial cloth of the sarcophagus, hands folded on his chest. His head was turned towards her and his eyes were open. She met his empty gaze and shuddered. “Remember,” she told herself. “This isn’t him, it’s just an imprint.”
He didn’t say anything.
“I’m sorry, Mary. I must be the one to ask the question,” Bruno said. “Are you sure you want to know this? It wasn’t one of the questions we agreed on.”
“I’m sure.”
Bruno repeated her question.
”Because I don’t have the right to walk away. Because I’m theirs.”
Mary felt a sudden sadness wash over her. So he hadn’t learned a terrible secret or been pursued because of an evil plot. He’d really died… pointlessly.
“Why did you call upon Gillean to come save Mary?” Bruno asked the last of the pre-prepared questions.
“I called upon anyone who’d listen,” Halas’ imprint said. “He was the only one who answered.”
So, even that hadn’t been deliberate. Mary felt a lump in her throat. She wasn’t special, it wasn’t fate that’d left her where she was now.
It was just… an accident.
Accidents are supposed to happen in life, but why did they have to happen to Mary’s family? That’s so unfair!
Do you think there’s still something fishy about all this? Or are you satisfied with Halas’ answers? Maybe there isn’t an evil plot after all…
Anyway, see you in the next episode when we’re about to learn some things each and every way we can.
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.