Hello, Everyone!
Last time, our dear heroes spent a lovely morning in Rabajorhax' orphanage, made some jokes with the host and ate pancakes. Now, they're leaving and going on their merry way.
Let's hope nothing else detains them from their journey!
After breakfast, the trio was finally ready to head out to Pamagos. They said their goodbyes to Papa and the children, and rode off. Some of the smaller kids ran after them until they got to the first hill, and then stayed back, waving and cheering them on.
Because of Perjurio's death, Mary and Aurum had to share a horse. Mary let the bard sit in front and was holding on to his back. It took her a while to find the best spot to place her hands so she wouldn't interfere with his riding, but she had to squeeze every time the horse did an unexpected movement. The bard was strangely comfortable to hold on to. He smelled of leather and sandalwood.
It was distracting.
When they dismantled to have some rest and a snack, Mary was quick to sit as far away from him as possible. She smiled apologetically and opened her bag.
"Should we tell her?" Bruno said.
"Naah," Aurum said. "It's funny."
"Tell me what?" Mary asked. "What's funny?"
Aurum rolled his eyes and took out his pocket mirror. Mary opened it and stared at her face in bewilderment.
"Wh…?! Since when…"
"This morning," Bruno said.
"This mor…"
Mary remembered her friends' reaction when she came down the stairs. No wonder that the kids were laughing, too! Her face was covered with black scribbles. Thin curled moustaches adorned her upper lip. Across her forehead, a second pair of eyebrows stood, giving her a permanent evil frown.
Now, the stares and the snickers of people they passed on the road made so much more sense! She thought they'd been amused by her riding behind Aurum… but in fact…
"Why… why didn't you tell me sooner?!" she cried out.
Aurum snorted a laugh.
“I told you this Jojororax was bad news!” he said. “But you were like ‘oh, no, he’s just a nice guy’. Well, there!” He pointed to her face.
"Sorry, Mary," Bruno said. "Won't happen again."
Mary pouted and started wiping the marks from her face with a piece of cloth. She scrawled at Aurum who took out his weed pouch with the blissful expression of someone who'd do his second favourite thing in the world.
P f f f f f f f f f t !
The bard gasped. He turned the pouch upside down and shook it. Nothing fell out. The only thing it had contained was a juicy fart.
Rabajorhax' image was drawn on the leather.
"That BASTARD!" Aurum yelled. "Where did he put my stuff?!"
Mary snickered.
“You deserved that,” she said.
“Pssst! Mary!”
Mary mumbled in her sleep. Was it morning already?
“Mary! It’s happened again!”
She shot her eyes open. Aurum was bent over her with a concerned look on his face.
“What?” she jumped up. “What’s wrong?!”
She looked around. They were still under the dome of the orange tree. Low sunlight was twinkling through the branches.
“See for yourself,” Aurum said.
He handed her the pocket mirror. She looked and all the blood drained from her face. They were back--the markings were back! Once again, she had thin villainous moustaches and a second pair of eyebrows!
“Oh, no!” she whispered, frantically wiping them off. “Why…? How…? Does this mean this is permanent?!"
“I think it’s a curse,” Aurum said. “I’ve heard of this kind, they repeat every morning.”
“Oh, no!” Mary gasped. “Can you… can you remove it?”
“Of course! What are friends for?”
Aurum waved his hand in the magical gesture that could dispel magic.
“I didn’t feel anything!” Mary said. “Did it work?”
“We’ll see tomorrow morning,” the bard said with a shrug.
Bruno started coughing on the other side of the tree trunk. He seemed somehow amused. Mary thought it was a bad taste to laugh at her misfortune.
That same day, just before noon, the trio finally made their way to Pamagos. The rural lands and farms fell behind and were replaced with the bigger houses and paved streets of the city.
When they entered through the Western road, there was a Bearer waiting for them. Almost by habit, Mary looked at his face to see if she recognized him. A small part of her wondered if she’d ever see her old friend again.
There was acknowledgement in the Bearer’s eyes when they approached. He handed them a scroll, then took off back towards the city.
“What’s it say?” Bruno asked.
“It’s from Dynatos Perres,” Mary said, reading through the message. “He wants to see us in his office and then have dinner together.”
“How long has that guy just stood here, like, waiting for us?” Aurum said, looking at the direction the Bearer had headed in. “And if we hadn’t come this way or decided to take our sweet time getting here, would he still be waiting in the street until we came?”
The other two shrugged.
“Bruno?” Mary said sheepeshly. “Can you, um, send a message to Paulina to check if she’s in Pamagos, too?”
The dwarf stood still for a couple of seconds and then nodded.
“She is,” he said. “They’re hanging in the ‘The Maimed Lion’, as usual.”
“‘Toto there?” Aurum asked.
“How should I know? We’ll see when we get there.”
“Well, let’s go see them before we get to Mr. Perres,” Mary suggested. “It’ll be wonderful to catch up!”
And so they went.
The Moustache Curse is upon us, people! Can you guess what really is going on? Hint: it's not what it seems :)
See you next time when we're finally getting to 'The Maimed Lion' and meeting Paulina and company! I can't wait!
Until then,
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.