Hello, Everyone!
What an evening Mary and her friends had!
First, they got to meet their elven hostess, Tesaya and got accommodated in her home. Then, with Tesaya’s help, they went to Myth Adofhaer’s Archives and got some information on their case. After that, Mary had the bright idea of attracting the kidnapper of elven maidens by using the magically transformed Aurum as bait. It worked, and he got attacked as soon as he got out of the more populated areas in the city. The four of them had a really tough fight with the attacker, who turned out to be Dorina Dwendel – a preson Mary had thought was good, noble and merciful. The woman didn’t show any mercy towards her friends, though, and only Bruno’s quick thinking saved them from suffering heavy losses.
After Dorina dissappeared into the ground, the trio and Tesaya talked about stuff. Finally, in our previous episode, Mary tried to sneak out in the middle of the night on some personal business, but was stopped by Aurum who convinced her to wait until they’ve solved their case.
And now, it’s finally morning, and our heroes are ready for the next part of their investigation.
It was long before sunrise when Tesaya woke up and dressed herself behind the big screen in her bedroom. Mary was trying--and failing--to read Shwarz‘ ‘Battle Strategy’ on her side of the bed, and upon crossing eyes with the elven woman, she gave up completely.
“Good morning,” Mary said. “Where are you going?”
“Coffee,” Tesaya said.
“Oh! Do you have tea?”
“Do I have tea!” Tesaya scoffed. “Of course I have tea! I’m not a savage!”
Mary joined their hostess in the kitchen. They sat down, looked at the rising sun and drank in silence. It was Tesaya who spoke first.
“Why don’t you sleep?”
“Oh, didn't I tell you? It’s a gift from Gillean…”
“No,” she insisted. “I know how you don't sleep. I'm asking why.”
Mary went quiet, blowing the steam over her tea mug.
“I used to have nightmares,” she said finally. “The things that happened to us in the tunnels under Belfast were… I guess… scarier than I could manage, and I… I could see them over and over again in my dreams.”
“I have nightmares, too,” Tesaya said.
“Really? What are they about?”
“My father’s death.”
“Oh,” Mary said. “How did he…”
“He was fighting a battle somewhere west of Kipsos. I don’t know exactly what happened but I dream of it sometimes.”
“I’m sorry!” Mary said.
“No, it’s all right. He came to see me a few years back.”
She chuckled at Mary's confusion.
“His soul got passed along and he reincarnated,” she explained. “It was a lovely meeting! One day this teenage boy came to me and told me he'd been seeing me in his dreams." The elven woman sighed and a warm smile spread over her face. "It's so wonderful to be told that one of your father's happiest memories was holding you in his arms."
Mary felt a prick at her heart. She had no recollection of her father holding her. She had of Bramble, of course, and that was a sweet thing to remember, but Bramble had always been awkward holding her. She had been, after all, a lot bigger than a gnome child would be.
She looked at Tesaya whose eyes were full of tears. Mary allowed hers to fall on her cheeks, pretending she was touched by her hostess’ story. They spent the rest of the early morning in silence, until Bruno and Aurum finally woke up and they all prepared for the day.
They were going to visit Maquiel Prouvier.
The elven prison was right next to the city wall. It was surrounded by a fence of living trees, much like the one around Tesaya’s home. Many guards stood on post along the fence and looked at the trio suspiciously when they approached.
After introducing them as the Agents of Pamagos, Tesaya led Bruno, Mary and Aurum inside. Here, behind the fence, fewer trees rose to the sky. Wider and taller than any other plant Mary had seen, they grew to almost thirty feet in diameter. She realized that, although the trees were gigantic, somehow they weren't visible from outside the fence.
Prouvier’s ‘cell’ was inside of one of those trees. It was in a big hollow carved--or naturally grown, as it usually was the case with elven architecture--at the base of the trunk. When they entered, Mary and her friends were faced with an awful sight.
The prisoner was leaning on the wall, but that wasn’t by his own choice. Both his arms and legs were inside the tree, as if they were swallowed or fused with it. It was like the worst kind of shackles imaginable.
When the party entered, he lifted his head and held his eyes on them.
“You’re not elves. Have you come to hear me out?” he asked with a raspy voice. “It wasn’t me. I’m not guilty. Where is my family?”
Prouvier was thin, his light hair dirty and tangled in knots as if nobody had taken care of it for a while (which was probably the case). He seemed tired and his eyes were reddened.
Bruno came closer to him and subtly cast his spell, which wouldn't allow the prisoner to speak lies. Prouvier scoffed, shook his head and let it hang down, almost lifeless.
“We’ve come to ask you a few questions,” Bruno said.
"Go ahead," the elf sighed. "I don't care anymore."
But Mary cared. She cared very much. Anger rose in her head and made her ears ring. She couldn’t tolerate the way Prouvier was held! Guilty or not, he was a person, and no person deserved that! She whipped around and went outside.
“Why are you keeping him like this?” she almost shouted at the guard. “Don’t you have a heart? This is inhumane!”
The elf frowned.
“Do you think we enjoy keeping him like this?” he scowled. “A few weeks ago he wasn't restricted at all, he was free to walk about his cell. But then one day he began lashing out and screaming, and he tried to injure himself. We had to stop him from moving, so that he wouldn’t do something worse.”
Mary’s anger dissipated immediately, replaced by pity.
“But can't you free him now?” she asked. “He doesn’t seem aggressive. Just… sad and tired.”
“I dont know… he might do something stupid.”
Mary thought for a second.
“I can help him calm down,” she said. “Just please, let me try!”
The guard nodded and he and Mary entered the tree.
"Six years?" Maquiel Prouvier was just saying. "It's been six years?! What happened to my family?"
Mary approached and crouched in front of him. She reached for his shoulder and her heart tightened when the motion made him wince.
“I don’t mean you any harm,” she said carefully. “We want to help.”
And while talking, she cast a spell which allowed her to calm a person's emotions. Maquiel's eyes stopped darting around in their orbits, his breathing slowed down and he let out a long, hard sigh.
“Please, release him now. I think it'll be ok,” she said to the guard.
He stepped in and put his hands on Maquiel's shoulders. Speaking in a language which sounded almost elvish, he lightly pulled the prisoner towards himself. This motion, however gentle, was enough to release his arms from the tree trunk.
“Let’s leave it to that, for now,” the guard said.
He stood back and positioned himself next to the door, on the inside of the tree hollow.
Maquiel looked at his hands, like he was seeing them for the first time. He reached up, smoothed his hair and pressed his palms onto his face. He stood like this for some time.
“Please,” Mary said. “We need you to tell us everything you remember about the events six years ago. We don’t believe you’re guilty but you’re the only one who knows what happened. Anything you remember could help us save someone’s life.”
Poor Prouvier! His fate is so cruel! I hope our heroes manage to prove his innocence and get him out of thie prison! Let’s see what he has to tell us. See you in the next episode!
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.