Hello, Everyone!
Welcome to another part of Mary Windfiddle’s story! Our heroes are still on the case that started out as undead attacks around Eastern Erathos and morphed into a case involving kidnapped elven maidens.
Last time, after trying--and, to Aurum's greatest misfortune, succeeding!--to lure the one responsible for the new wave of abductions, the group faced an unexpected enemy – their first employer’s missing daughter Dorina Dwendel. She had some freakish powers and almost got the better of them, but eventually decided to pull back and hide into the ground. Mary, her friends and their hostess Tesaya went back home and started discussing the fight. Then, the conversation moved to the magical objects they posessed. When Tesaya showed interest in Maheshvara’s bells, Mary remembered another object that they got in the same way.
“There was, um…” Mary hesitated. “There was something else with the Bullet.”
She reached into her bag and took out the sapphire.
Tesaya’s eyes widened. She took it, put it against the light and looked through. She was probably checking for the engraved ‘F’ that looked like a dragon.
“We, um… saw a group of elves outside the walls wearing gems like this,” Mary said, “but we didn’t know what…”
“How did you find it?”
“We didn’t steal it!” Mary insisted. “It was in the Bulette’s stomach. We made the guards cut it open to see whether we could find anything interesting there and… um… oooh…” Seeing their hostess’ face, Mary realized the implication of what she was saying. “Someone probably got eaten. I’m sorry!”
“Nnno, don’t worry,” Tesaya said. “It wasn’t your fault.”
Mary expected that their hostess was going to make them return the brooch. Instead, she just gave it back. Mary took it and kept it in her palm.
“Who were those elves with the sapphires, anyway?” Mary asked. “They seemed like they were doing something important, with that cage and everything…”
“I don’t think I can tell you about this,” Tesaya said cautiously. “It’s kinda… confidential.”
“But you told us about the elven souls and that seemed quite confidential, too!” Mary protested.
“Yes, but it was part of your case. This isn’t.”
That made sense. Mary hung her head in defeat.
“Something else keeps bothering me, though,” she said after a while, absendmindedly stroking the sapphire. “Why do these people need the brooches? I mean, they’re elves, they were probably born here. Why would they need a Key?”
“What?”
“The sapphire is clearly some kind of a spare Key, right?” Mary said. “Like the one they put on when you enter Myth Adofhaer?”
“No, I…” Tesaya furrowed her brows as if Mary’s words made no sense to her. “The sapphire isn’t a Key. The incantation is.”
Mary felt like the floor had just disappeared from under her feet. If the sapphire wasn’t the Key, then how did she already have one? Who put it on her? When? And why? She looked at her hands. They were trembling.
“Tesaya?” she asked carefully, trying not to show her agitation. “Is there, um… something like a-a-a list of people who’d received a Key? With names and dates and everything?”
“Of course there is,” Tesaya said. “They’re keeping full documentation in the Archives. Why?”
“Oh, I was… um…” Mary needed to quickly think of a reason she’d asked that. Tesaya was cool, but she was still an elf under the rule of the Elders. Mary had already put her in enough potential trouble, going for Sylvanas’ file without permission. “I was thinking that, um… Dorina probably had the Key when she was last in Myth Adofhaer and that must be giving her some advantages now.”
“Yes, you’re right,” Tesaya said. “Whoever has the Key can get in and out of the city with no problem. Even by teleporting.”
“And you don’t take these away?” Aurum frowned. “Even after someone is not a friend of the elves anymore?”
“Well, no, we do take the Key away in some cases,” Tesaya said, “but we need the person to be present to remove the Key from them. If you haven’t noticed, right now we don’t have Dorina.”
They continued talking about other stuff but Mary wasn’t listening. Her heart was racing and she was making plans of breaking into the Archives.
She needed to know more about the Key!
Mary wasn’t the only one quiet in the room. Bruno had been silent for a while now. Finally, he looked up and spoke.
“I sent a message to Dorina. I just got a reply.”
Everyone gasped.
“I thought I'd ask her a couple of things,” he said. “Like what she was doing and why. She said that she’d ‘come and tell us everything’ if I told her where we were.”
“Well, that is obviously a trap,” Aurum said.
“I know.” Bruno shrugged. “I just figured I’d try, you know? Nothing to lose if I stopped the communication after the first Sending, right?”
“We should think it over.” Tesaya said. “I don’t want us to put ourselves in any more danger.”
Mary’s eyes wandered around the room and stopped on her wand on the table.
“You know what?” she said. “If we rested for a bit, I’d be able to cast more spells and be more useful for any potential fighting. And we could also use Gillean’s tree. No magic or attack can pass through it, remember?”
“Gillean’s tree?” Tesaya said.
Mary explained all about her Patron and his gift and Tesaya looked impressed. She said it was a pretty good suggestion. They decided to wait until Mary had recovered her spellpower and everyone went on taking care of their own business. Aurum began scrubbing the blood from the inside of his armour, grumbling the whole time.
While they were sitting around, Mary flipped through her copy of “Legends, Myths and the Magic throughout”. The stiletto Dorina was using seemed like a very special weapon. It might have been magical enough to be included in the book.
It was.
‘Through the centuries, the Inevitable Blade has been the weapon of choice for both assassins and secretive individuals alike. Over and over again, it happened that a tyrannical king or an arrogant nobleman has been found dead in their bed one morning, repeatedly pierced by the thin blade, despite all their guards and protections. All the fortress walls of the world cannot stop the one who weilds the Inevitable Blade. According to witnesses, the owner of the weapon can pass through matter and avoid enemy attacks without effort.’
Mary read the description to her friends. Bruno’s brows furrowed.
“Wait, if Gillean’s wand is a magical artefact and the stiletto is one as well, which of them is stronger? What if the weapon is powerful enough to pass through the barrier?”
“Ooh, that’s a good question!” Mary said. “I’ll ask!”
Soo, what do you think about the mystery of the Key? I think it’s very exciting and curious! I can’t wait to tell you how it progresses!
Keep reading :)
See you next time and until then,
Take care and be well!
P. S. Here's a better picture of the dragon-shaped 'F' that is etched inside of the sapphire. I wonder what it means!!!
(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.