Hello, Everyone!
How are you doing? I’ve been perpetually tired and uninspired lately, but @grocko’s spot light on the Schollar And Scribe community made me happy :) Thanks to everyone there for the nice words and the encouragement!
If you’re coming from that post – welcome, friend! This is the story of one Mary Windfiddle, a bookworm-turned-warlock who’s having adventures with her friends, the human bard Aurum and the dwarven cleric Bruno (and, most recently, the mysterious tabaxi Agatha). The most recent situation they got themselves into included a tavern, a hostage, some body-switching and (just last time) a wall of fire which resulted in one very angry Black dragon. Some houses got crushed, people died. It wasn’t pretty.
Now, our heroes are going to have to report to the ruler of the city. Let’s see how it goes.
(This whole thing is my recollection of a D&D game my friends and me are playing, and the awesome @marydm is DM-ing. If you want to catch the story from the beginning, here’s a link. And if you just want to start from the most recent adventure, here’s another.)
Good luck!
After they made sure that the newly arrived guards had things under control, Bruno and Mary finally rejoined the rest of their group in one of the nearby alleyways. Nymphadora was sitting on the ground, still shaken by what had just happened to her. Agatha was just handing her a flask, the same one she’d shared with Mary after their encounter with Nurvureem on the plateau. Nymphadora took a couple of big gulps and almost choked on the alcohol.
“Careful, it’s strong,” the tabaxi said and patted her back.
The moment the girl saw Mary and Bruno appear, she stood up and went towards them. She didn’t say anything but looked at the dwarf in complete awe. Mary frowned.
“We should go to Perres now,” Bruno said.
“After what happened back at the tavern, he might come to us,” Aurum said jokingly. He’d taken out his pipe and a thin line of smoke came out of his mouth along with his words.
Nymphadora quietly asked for a smoke and he gave it to her. Bruno glared at them.
“If you take it from the positive side,” Aurum insisted, “we actually did some good. Who knows what nefarious plans Nurvureem and Kalien had, that we thwarted!”
Bruno didn’t say it, but Mary heard it in his silence. They hadn’t done good. People had died. She couldn’t look him in the eyes. She couldn’t look anyone in the eyes. She felt guilty that she’d worried her friends, she felt incredibly responsible for Nymphadora’s pain and for the lives of the people in and around ‘The Leaky Sink’… but at the same time she couldn’t stop thinking that she hadn’t done anything… bad. All she’d wanted was to save a person’s life--or sanity. Why would that be considered wrong? Why would Bruno be so angry?
They arrived at their destination a few minutes later. The Perres Residence stood before them, a three-storey castle-like structure, with a wall and an inner yard full of decorative bushes, as well as some neat cobblestone pathways.
About a dozen guards stood along the wall. The moment the group approached, lanterns were raised and almost blinded them. Just as quickly, they were lowered.
“You are expected. Follow us.”
Four guards led them through the heavy wooden doors and into a rich foyer with a big two-sided staircase filling its far end. A portrait of Dynatos and Anabelle Perres hung above it. The guards agreed to take care of Nymphadora while the group spoke to Mr. Perres and soon, they were brought into his cabinet where they were met with… a birdsong.
A huge cage adorned the opposite wall, spanning from the floor to the ceiling of the room. In it, seven yellow canaries fluttered and sang their hearts out. That was so unusual that Mary had to do a double take. Wasn’t it too late outside for songbirds to be awake?
She glanced around and saw Mr. Perres, in a simple monochromatic getup, leaning over a big desk with several open journals spread across its surface. He greeted them with a tired smile, then frowned at Agatha.
“I… trust your judgement in bringing an outsider to our meeting,” he said and pulled up a fourth chair so they’d all be able to sit.
“Yes,” Aurum said. “We think Agatha has some valuable information for you to hear.”
Pamagos’ ruler nodded and gestured for them to settle around the table. Mary took a look at the journals on the desk. She remembered seeing one such notebook in Mr. Perres’ office the last time they'd been there. They were something like a ‘to do’ list, and judging by the dates on the pages, they were from the last several years, all opened on mid-September.
Mr. Perres rubbed his temples.
“Turns out that you three weren’t the first group I’ve sent towards Ekoba,” he said gravely. “There were others before you.”
Why was he talking about Ekoba all of a sudden? Wasn’t he going to ask them about Nurvureem?
“Apparently, Dorina had had a partner named Sebastian Kräut. After her disappearance I seem to have sent him off to Ekoba,” he continued, unaware of the group’s puzzlement. “The next year, I’ve sent out another group with the same mission. The year after that, too."
One by one, he picked up the journals and turned them so that the group could see the notes inside. He shook his head.
"That explains why I had the feeling that I’d done that briefing before. The Hydra that you defeated must have erased all those people from my memories.”
He rubbed his temples again and raised his head to face Mary and her companions.
“Ekoba hasn't been trading less,” he said. “It has been shrinking.”
He sighed and straightened his back.
“So, what have you been up to after that encounter?”
The four of them shared an uncomfortable look. Was it possible that he hadn't heard yet? They told him about their misadventure in ‘The Leaky Sink’, about Nurvureem and Kalien, the graphite blade and the Dry Hand’s involvement with the riot on Freedom Street. Bruno made a point of informing him about the Ekobian boys and what they intended to do for them. Aurum mentioned Nymphadora and asked if she could get some protection from her brother and his goons.
“And of course, there’s the Gold dragon’s corpse we found in Ekoba,” Aurum said.
“The what?” Mr. Perres gasped.
“Yeah. It was flayed and all its limbs were missing,” Mary said. “Some kind of ritual, perhaps? Or something for the black market?”
Perres didn’t answer. His brows furrowed and he turned his head slightly to the right.
“Diohastos is dead,” he said.
“Yes,” a female voice replied. “We need to check on the others.”
Just like that, Elaria appeared in their field of vision, sitting comfortably in an armchair in one of the darker corners of the room. Mary could swear the space had been empty up until a second ago! The fiery-haired half-elf stood up and saluted, then disappeared through an open window near the canary cage.
They heard her steps outside, followed by a whooshing sound and the beating of wings. She had departed on her pseudodragon.
So, our friends didn’t get chewed-up for being responsible for a whole block’s destruction? That’s nice XD Although… how did Dynatos Perres know about Diohastos? And who are ‘the others’?
So many mysteries!
Let’s find out together next time!
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, Bruno and Agatha) 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.