Hello, Everyone!
Here’s another episode of Mary Windfiddle’s story for you! Last time, our heroes went to the elven prison and met Maquiel Prouvier – the person who, up until recently, was believed to be guilty of kidnapping all the elven maidens. The prisoner was in his cell, half-swallowed by a tree. That was, apparently, how the elves restrained their more aggressive prisoners. It turned out that, about two weeks ago, Prouvier started lashing out. He was hurting himself, screaming that he was innocent, and was asking about his family.
Mary managed to cast Calm Emotions on him and he settled down.
Maquiel Prouvier was breathing shallowly. His eyes were scanning his cell, tired and worried, as if he was living through what he was about to tell them. His memories seemed scattered and fractured, and so were his words.
“I wasn’t myself,” he began. “For a long time I wasn’t... I didn’t have my voice. Last thing I remember.., I was… w-walking with my friends home. We parted ways. Then I don’t… It was dark and cold, it smelled of wet soil. I h-heard a… voice, yes, a man’s voice, hoarse and snide. He was talking, making fun of… I, yes, I r-remember being tied up. There was a woman’s voice, too. Not elf, no. She was yelling, screaming insults. I heard… I heard more people but they weren’t people, they s-sounded like mon-monsters. I remember the name Olivia. He… he… he DID SOMETHING TO ME.”
Maquiel’s eyes widened in fear and repulse. His hand darted behind his head and he started frantically scratching his neck.
"Stop, Maquiel, don't, it's all right!" Mary said and cast her spell again.
The man dropped his hands and stared at the opposite wall. Bruno stepped in and inspected the nape of his neck.
“There’s a scar there,” he said, “a small cut made a long time ago. It’s so precise and well-made, it’s almost surgical in nature.”
"What happened next, Maquiel?" Mary asked the prisoner. "Do you remember the abductions? Tell us about the girls, tell us about Dorina."
He was confused. He didn't remember anyone named Dorina. No blonde women either, no teleportation spells, nothing. However, when Mary showed him Dorina's portrait, his eyes filled with recognition.
"Yes, she was there," he said. "I remember the face. We went back from that place together and came here."
"Here? Here where?"
"Here." He gestured to his cell.
Mary frowned. Was it possible that he was talking about the moments right before he was imprisoned? Were the yelling people part of his judges or interrogators? She tried to ask him about the timing or order of events but he didn't know and that made him anxious to the point of starting to scratch his arms and face with his long chipped nails. She used another of her spells to calm him down and went to the guard.
“Have you heard him speak of anything else that we can use in our investigation?” she asked. “It’d be really useful to know more…”
The guard shook his head.
“He’s never spoken like this before, Miss,” he said. “Until today, all he did was scream and lash out. He would start a fit and we’d have to restrain him by force to stop him from hurting himself. It was awful. You and your magic have done wonders for his state! We haven’t seen him this well for weeks!”
“Was there anyone else that was there when he got arrested?” Mary asked. “Like, who was the woman Dorina Dwendel used as bait?”
“Lyria Thei?” the guard said. “She’s still around, she’s a guard.”
“Yes, I know her,” Tesaya said. “I’ll get you to her.”
“All right, we’ll go see her next.” Mary looked at Maquiel once again and her heart tightened. “I’m really worried about him, though. He seems really tired, I wish we could help him fully rest.”
“He hasn’t slept well since his fits began. He’s always tossing and turning, and he wakes up with a scream,” the guard said. “We can try putting him to bed now, he looks much more responsive. But the best way to help him would be to prove his innocence. Only then could we really take care of him.”
Aurum approached them.
“He’s asking about his family again,” he said quietly. “Where are they? Can we get them to him?”
The guard shook his head. Prouvier’s family was long gone, he said. They left Myth Adofhaer shortly after his trial was over and nobody had heard of them since. Meraket seemed like a good guess about their whereabouts, but nobody could be sure.
“Also, we think that he might be in danger,” Aurum continued. “If he’s not guilty--and we think he’s not--then whoever framed him could try and get rid of him as a witness. We’d recommend increasing his protection.”
The guard said he’d do everything in his power to take care of his safety. The bard nodded and then headed back to Maquiel.
“... in Meraket,” Mary heard him say. “If you’re patient, after we prove your innocence, we’ll help you find them. Do you have anyone else you’d like to see now? We can try and bring you a visitor or two.”
Maquiel shook his head.
“If nobody came to see me in all these years, then I don’t have anyone to ask for,” he said bitterly.
Oh, my! Maquiel breaks my heart! I hope he’s really innocent! And I hope our heroes find the people responsible for his state!
What are your theories so far? Do you have any guesses about what happened?
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.