Hello, Everyone!
How are you? I’m so excited to finally have the last Myth Adofhaer chapter! Soon, we’ll be off to another adventure, and it’ll be so good!
After this episode is out, I’m going to take a small break and you’ll have the opportunity to look at a few Interludes. Read the end of this post for more information on those!
But first, if you want to read the previous part, here it is. And now, let’s read our last moments in the Elven city.
Before they got to Ekoba, Mary and her friends had to visit Pamagos.
“I hope they give us our due payment as Agents!” Bruno said. “A statue may tickle Aurum’s fancy, but you can’t eat marble. Gold is the real deal!”
Mary thought that you can't eat gold, either, but kept it to herself. She had to admit that getting some money would be nice. After a small trip to the Bearers' office the other day, she was already counting her last coins. Who'd thought that a parcel to an unknown address would be so expensive?
But she had to send it. The recipient was Damaya Bliss – the wife of the elven scientist Sylvanas. Mary’d carefully wrapped the man’s journal in wax paper and had written a note telling Damaya that her husband had passed, and that they'd taken care of his remains. However sad it would be, the woman needed to know what had happened.
While in the Bearers' office, Mary sent three more letters. One of them was for her Frinkeltongian family, the other for Paulina (hoping she was in Pamagos to receive it), and the third was for a special person in Meraket.
Dear Moira, it said,
It's Mary, from the tunnels. I hope you've settled in Meraket and that both you and Dalia are doing well.
I'm writing this letter because I just found out some things about myself that seem to connect me to you. It has to do with a friend of yours, hopefully a very close one, whom you lost years ago.
I'm not at liberty to tell you all about it in written form but I really need to talk to you when I have a chance.
Yours,
Meridia
When she came back from the Bearers' office, Bruno greeted her with a parcel of his own.
"I saw you throw away your clothes the other day," he said.
"Yeah.” Mary shrugged. “There was no point in keeping them around.”
She’d tried out the local clothing shops but she just couldn’t understand the elves’ fashion sense. All those long sleeves and robes would tangle around her body, the moment she tried to fight or cast a spell!
“I’ll have to go buy a new outfit when we get to Pamagos,” she sighed. “It’s a shame, I really liked my old stuff.”
“Well, that’s good,” Bruno said. “Because I made it anew.”
He handed her the parcel and Mary started to unwrap it.
“You seemed really bummed out,” Bruno said, “so I asked Ord for enlightenment and he gave me this new spell...”
Mary gasped. Out of the wrapping paper, she took out a new set of clothes. They were different in color and details but, all in all, the make and silhouette were almost identical to her old outfit.
“Bruno, what?” she gasped. “How?!”
“I scavenged your old clothes from the trash to take the patterns,” the dwarf said, “and had to convince Tesaya to take me fabric-shopping. The materials are all local, so, sorry that they’re elven.”
“Are you kidding me?” Mary said. “That doesn’t matter at all! The clothes are amazing!”
She rushed to hug Bruno but he waved her off and went to the kitchen to help Tesaya make lunch.
As the days passed, Mary was getting more and more tired of the elves and their superiority complex. Balaine Endoras had said that they were going to be happy that ‘Meridia’ had come back, but she couldn’t see why she had to be happy as well. Halas and Dalia hadn’t had family or friends in this city, and neither would she. Except for Tesaya, of course.
Tesaya was cool.
“Tesaya, you’re cool!” Aurum said on the morning before they were about to head out.
They were sitting around the breakfast table which was now sporting some egg-and-cheese sandwiches. Tesaya raised her head and looked at the bard with a curious smile.
“Do you want to come with us to Pamagos?” he said.
Mary blinked in surprise. She was about to ask the same thing! They all knew that Tesaya had almost never left Myth Adofhaer. Was she forbidden, like Halas had been?
“That sounds very tempting,” Tesaya said. “But I prefer to stay here, really. And also,” she leaned forward, her eyes suddenly serious, “the recent events have made me suspicious that there might be something… fishy within Myth Adofhaer’s higher circles.”
“Yeah, duh!” Aurum said. “I’ve been saying it for forever – they’re all rotten from the inside!”
Earlier this morning, they had received a note from Endoras saying that Clement had disappeared from Myth Adofhaer. It was too much of a coinsidence - that happened right after they had divulged the man’s connection to the Underdark.
“Well,” Aurum grinned at their hostess, “if you change your mind, you know where to find us.”
“I do,” Tesaya said. “Thank you.”
And just like that, they prepared to leave the elven city. Tesaya sent them off all the way to the wall of trees, where the Mythalar ended and the outside world began. The forest beyond the barrier was quickly turning yellow and the northern wind could be felt even here. Winter was approaching fast.
“Thank you again, Agents,” Balaine Endoras said. He was waiting for them at the passage between the trees. “You’ve done a great deed, and I’m sure many more await you.”
“Did you think about that wife thing?” Aurum said, wiggling his eyebrows.
The Elder hung his head, barely hiding his grin.
“Maybe in another life,” he said. “But, anyway, thank you, especially, for the sense of humour.”
The trio said their goodbyes to Noanar, too, who was on post at the wall. He was the least awful elf--apart from Tesaya--that they’d met, and Mary had a feeling that he liked them.
After all that was done, they were finally on their way to adventure. First, there was going to be the open road, then – Pamagos, after that – Ekoba.
And then – who knew where?
Yaaaay! We’re finally going away! So happy!
And Bruno is so niiiice! And Tesaya is so cooool! And everything is suddenly bright and sunny, despite the coming winter!
As I said at the beginning of this post, I’ll take a small break. There’ll be a couple of Interludes in the meantime – a Q&A (by the way, if you have questions about it, feel free to ask them in the comments) and a map + a guide to everything we know about on Eastern Erathos. If you don’t want to read any of them, this link will lead you to the next chapter (although it won’t be active until I get to it). See you!
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.