Hello, Everyone!
Last time all our heroes had a really intense talk. After they discussed their upcoming plans, Tesaya pressed Mary about her blunder in the Archives. Remember? She almost compromised their whole mission trying to uncover the truth about an old mystery she and her friends had come upon a while back. She even wanted to find out more about her mysterious father who she thought had lived in Myth Adofhaer. It turned out that Tesaya knew about him but Mary didn’t press the issue, believing that it had nothing to do with their current case.
So, after that thread went nowhere, they headed out to see Balaine Endoras.
Balaine Endoras’ office was in a group of administrative structures all bunched together around the central Council building. A single guard stood--or more accurately, leaned lazily--in front of his door. He said they’d been expected, and showed them in.
Mary had a bad feeling about this. Why were they expected? Had the Archives guards actually seen her look at files she wasn’t supposed to? Or did the Elder think being kind to Maquiel Prouvier was wrong?
The room they entered was a small oval office on the ground floor. It was modestly furnished - a desk, a small wardrobe, a coat hanger and a few chairs for visitors near the door. The only adornment in the otherwise simple space was a bow, standing by itself on a small pedestal. It was dancing as if it was alive, drawing and releasing its own string. It looked strangely familiar.
Balaine Endoras was sitting behind his desk, reading a document through a pair of glasses. Mary chuckled to herself. She’d never seen an elf with glasses before!
“Welcome, agents,” Balaine Endoras said, removing his seeing aid. “You’ve come to elaborate on our last talk, miss Windfiddle?”
Mary froze. Of course that’s why he was expecting them! Receiving a warning with the words ‘traitor among you’ would make a person eager to speak about that.
She stole a look at her friends. They seemed confused. She’d never spoken to Balaine Endoras in front of them and they had to be wondering what the Elder meant. Would they judge her if she told them now? Scold her? Or, worse, be silently disappointed?
Endoras was looking at her expectedly. She opened her mouth and closed it again. If she spoke now, everyone would find out that she’d been lying.
Thankfully, Aurum broke the tense silence.
“Actually, we came here to ask about Dorina Dwendel,” he said, stepping between the Elder and Mary. “We spoke to Lyria Thei and she told us about her interesting abilities.”
Endoras shifted his attention towards the bard.
“Yes,” he said. “Agent Dwendel had a special weapon, close in power to Fen'thras.” He pointed at the twisting bow on the pedestal. “It was an ancient artefact. Allowed her to pass through solid matter and ignore most enemy attacks.”
Mary glanced at her friends. She hoped they wouldn’t speak of their fight with Dorina last night. What if the Elder had something to do with it? Thankfully, instead of that, Bruno and Aurum asked about Maquiel’s interrogations and his trial.
“I have to be honest with you,” the Elder said with a sigh. “It was rushed. We were all so relieved that he was caught, and we didn’t think he could not be at fault. We wanted him to be guilty. We wanted to believe the abductions would finally stop. And they did. So, naturally, we had no reason to doubt it.”
“He’s not guilty,” Aurum said.
“No, I don’t think so. But I wish he was.”
“What happened to his family? We couldn’t find out anything about them.”
“They are gone,” the Elder explained. “Janine, Prouvier’s wife, was a member of the city guards, and all the abductions happened while she was at her post. She was devastated when she found out about her husband’s arrest and the ensuing trial. After it was over, she took her children, Daniel and Rama, and they left.”
“Did Dorina take part in the interrogation or the trial?” Bruno asked.
“No,” Endoras shook his head. “Agent Dwendel did her job and then went home. The Council of Hundred dealt with Prouvier on our own from that point on.”
“What about his teleportation scroll? What happened to it?”
That was Mary. Despite her desire to be left unnoticed right now, she couldn’t not ask about the magical item. After all, her notebook contained three sets of teleportation coordinates and she wanted to make use of them some day.
It turned out that shortly after Maquiel’s verdict, the scroll was given to the Tiriel School of Magic, to use the spell--or dispose of it--at their own discretion. Balaine Endoras said that if they wanted to know more about it, they’d have to talk to Tiriel Elaire.
Mary wasn’t really stoked about that. She was kinda scared of the Elder woman, ever since she’d yelled at them during the Council. She was now beginning to get scared of Balaine Endoras as well. His eyes were burning holes into her forehead, urging her to speak of the traitor she’d Messaged him about. But what if he was in on it, too?
“C-can we see the back of your neck, please?” she blurted.
That appeared to throw him off. Balaine Endoras raised his eyebrows in surprise.
“What Mary is trying to say,” Bruno rushed in, “is that we found a strange scar on Maquiel Prouvier’s neck and thought it might have something to do with whatever had controlled him during his capture.”
The Elder stared at them and the corners of his mouth twitched. Mary could feel his frustration linger in the air. Did he think they were wasting his time? He slowly turned around and pulled his hair aside to show them his neck.
“You’d have to tell Tiriel about this as well,” he said after they’d made sure he didn’t have the same cut at Maquiel. “She’s going to be really interested in what you’ve found.”
“Of course," Bruno said. "Well, we’d better be going now. We don’t want to take up any more of your time."
He gestured towards the door and looked at the rest of the group. Mary felt his eyes linger on her a little bit longer than on the rest.
“Just one more thing before we go,” she said, suddenly remembering Maquiel's rambling in the cell. “Do you know someone named Olivia?”
“I do,” Endoras said. “There’s a member of the Council with that name, but she’s got a… regrettable position on certain matters.”
“What do you mean?”
“Pro-empire and pro-emperor position,” he said flatly.
“Why would they be considered ‘regrettable’?” Mary couldn’t stop herself from saying. “Many people like the idea of the new Empire…”
She realized her mistake almost as soon as she said it. Balaine Endoras stood up and his imposing figure rose high above her head. His eyes narrowed and his voice came out, barely above a whisper but seething with so much anger that Mary had to step back.
“A nation of eight THOUSAND years will NOT be governed by a fourteen-year-old CHILD!” he rumbled.
Oh, Mary! You've done it now! Who could have known that the child-Emperor would be a touchy subject for the elves? It's not like they are known for disliking the idea for the new Empire, right? Oh, wait, that's exactly what they're known for.
Anyway, that's what happens when you talk politics XD
See you next time, when we'll see how Mary's going to get out of this one!
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.