The Best Deceptions

Right about the time Audric and I got to the grove, Rowan and Grumble arrived as well. Heading in, we set about finding who among us had had any success with their missions. Turns out all of us were pretty much unsuccessful. At least I managed to secure us a safe place to hide if need be.
As we stood around taking in the view of the grove, Audric poked me and began gesturing towards Grumble. Apparently he was leaving it to me to tell him about our thoughts on Glorwynn after all. I stammered through my explanation of why Glorwynn might not be who she appeared, barely able to meet Grumble's eyes. No one wants to hear that their beloved family member might be hiding something dark and dangerous. The others began to chime in with their misgivings as well, but he couldn't be swayed. I can't say I blame him.
The next order of business was to find out what kind of information we could get from that dead sorceress. Audric cautioned we would have to be very specific in our questioning and we tried, but mostly failed. Stupid dead people and their dead logic. All we got was a clue to possibly what race the Speaker in Dreams is, and we decided to take our knowledge to Kartharine. If anyone in town could make sense of things, it would be her.
Arriving at the Library, we discovered it to be more like a mausoleum. All of the students had gone, and Kartharine was nowhere to be found. Right before I was ready to give up, she appeared with a mug of something hot and ushered us into the library. We told her what we had gleaned from the charred corpse and she suggested that our Speaker in Dreams may be an Illithid. Something that lives underground and has a bad case of tentacle mouth, and likes to eat brains like the rest of us like steak.
Feeling only slightly more enlightened, we decided to visit Glorwynn along with Grumble, just in case. On our way, Nialia stoped suddenly, saying she could smell something following us. We all turned to see nothing, but Audric stared intently for a moment, and told us something was there as well, and it was hunting us. Everyone grabbed for their weapons as Audric cried out, stepping in front of me.
Grumble cried out as he was pulled back and bleeding gashes began to appear on him. Rowan and I ran up and took a side, as best we could tell, and tried to stab the invisible foe without hitting Grumble. Whatever it was bit my arm as I tried to swipe at it. Nialia managed to cast faerie fire on it, and a huge wild cat appeared before us. Rowan, Grumble and I managed to take it down, and we all rushed to flee the scene before trouble could befall us from the new town militia.
We arrived at the warehouse shortly after. Of course Grumble knocked as an afterthought as he barged through the door shouting greetings. The rest of us wandered in after, finding Glorwynn alone playing cards, the rest of the caravan nowhere to be seen. She greeted us and said it seemed her companions had either cut town while they could, or gone to console themselves with drinks.
As she packed up her cards, Grumble hesitantly mentioned our doubts about her. Glorwynn began to play dumb. Too dumb, actually. I know what I heard, and I heard her say House of Bel. As Grumble pressed her for a family secret only she and he would know, she stopped and spoke to Audric, who had been sneaking around behind her. She called him "shapeshifter" and my heart hit my feet. How could she know what he was? Audric froze as Glorwynn admitted she had been reading his mind, and asked if he wasn't frustrated that he couldn't seem to read hers. The others eyed Audric with shock as Glorwynn explained to them what Audric had told me the other night about shapeshifters and mindreading.
I began to panic inwardly as Glorwynn continued to attack Audric, calling him by all of his previous names, and "murderer" as well. She asked if he really thought our love would change him. Would I die by his hands, or would he leave me to rot somewhere? Stepping in front of Audric, tears filling my eyes I screamed "ENOUGH!" Glorwynn had the cruelest look in her eyes, and I glanced behind me to see Audric shaking, eyes wide.
At this point Rowan stepped up, echoing my command to stop. Glorwynn turned to her and sneered "Big words for someone who's daddy's not here to help." Then she turned to Grumble and told him she knew of his family, and not just what she had pulled from his head. "Poor Mordi," she laughed. "I bet you still think it's all your fault." At this, she turned into what I could only describe as an elf, though I have never seen one so evil in all my life. Rowan and Grumble grabbed for their weapons from the bag of holding, and the elf turned to Rowan once more and asked what we had in the bag. We all made a move to take her out, but she snapped her fingers and we all froze completely, barely even able to breathe.
Terrified, I stared at the elf. She told us she had wanted to see the creatures who had thwarted her brother's plans. Apparently, we hadn't managed to impress her. Thankfully, because this was Rhanna, of the House of Bel. She informed us she had read all our minds, except for Nialia's, strangely enough. She was no longer interested in us, but told us to leave the city and pray our paths never crossed again. Then, to the dismay of all of us, she reached into the bag of holding, pulled out the chest that held the book of Vile Darkness, and disappeared, taking the book with her.
The spell broke immediately, and we were able to move again. Grumble in his anger and despair began to smash everything around him, while the rest of us tried to figure out what to do next. When Grumble had finished his tirade, I crept up behind him and put my arms around him. He shrugged me off, and I stood there staring at his back for a moment in silence, wishing there was some way I could comfort him. Of course there was nothing I could do, so I turned and went to rejoin the group.
We left the warehouse and headed back to the library as fast as possible. Kartharine demanded we tell her everything, down to the last forgettable detail, as everything might be important. While disturbed by what we told her, she seemed to calm herself quickly. Being a loremaster, I'm sure she must know something we don't. Hopefully we told her something she would find useful. Even that thought didn't seem to make me feel better, though, as we walked towards the nearest inn for dinner before I headed out for some recon work at the temple of Pelor.
On our way there, the evil looking tall thing from the balcony earlier was walking towards us down the road, accompanied by profusely sweating guards. Even though I hid myself, as he passed it seemed he looked right at me with a chilling grin. I have no idea what that thing is, or what business it has here in Brindinsford, but it most certainly can't be part of the solution.
When we got to the inn, I ordered food, but just pushed it around on my plate. My appetite was long gone. I kept snatching quick sideways glances at Audric, who didn't seem to be feeling any better than I. I wanted to tell him things were going to be fine, and that I didn't believe a word of what Rhanna had said. I wanted to hold him close and drown out whatever was running through his head, but it wasn't the time or place. I have a job ahead of me that I can't fail. Something is going on in the temple of Pelor, and it is my job to find out what, so I have to focus. I have to do my best so no one worries about me too much. I just hope I'm up to the challenge. I don't think I could forgive myself if I was discovered and captured, or killed. Please, oh please could my terrible luck not follow me this once?

Long Lost

I once heard someone tell me that sometimes, the more you want something to happen, the less likely it is to occur. In our case, the more we want to sleep, the more things crawl from the woodwork and keep us from it.
We decided to walk back from the party, what with it being a nice night and all. On our way, a tall mysterious woman called out to us, blowing a kiss in the general direction of Audric and Grumble. I was just getting angry when it turned out to be a cold spell! I tried to dodge, and did a pretty good job considering how utterly smashed I probably was, what with all the drinking I'd done throughout the day. When I recovered, I took off after the woman, who was laughing in the most annoying manner. I thought I heard Audric behind me calling for me to stop, but it didn't matter. I just wanted to shut her up and teach her a lesson for antagonizing us.
As it turns out, it was an ambush. I should have guessed. At least we got out all right. Audric and I were able to take out the sharpshooters on the walls above the alley, and Grumble and Rowan made sure that mysterious lady would never bother us again.
After the fight, we managed to make it back to the inn for some sleep. Sort of. Audric wanted to visit the temple of Pelor to get a few things for us, so he took off. I went upstairs and face-planted into the bed. I was so looking forward to some rest. Instead, I had a nightmare. I was wandering through fog towards the ruins of Brindinsford. As I crossed the bridge, the only thing that stood before me was the town gate. It opened and a terrible sight met my eyes, along with an evil voice saying something about doom befalling the city. I awoke to Audric shaking me, looking concerned. I tried to tell him about my dream, but I couldn't really make sense of it I was still so groggy. Audric slipped into bed with me and told me he was unable to enter the temple. Apparently it was closed and the city guard turned him away. I didn't like the sound of that, but it was far too late to figure anything out. I pulled Audric closer to me and drifted back to sleep.
After what felt like only seconds later, I was jolted out of sleep by the sound of trumpets and shouting. When the noise didn't stop, Audric tumbled out of bed and threw open the shutters shouting out the window at the perpetrators of the noise. There was a town crier below, announcing that the baron was to make a speech today. We decided to attend and see what had to be said.
The area around the tower was packed with folks from town, and the weather seemed to have turned for the worse. The darkening clouds above seemed to foreshadow things to come as the baron stepped out onto the balcony. What he said came as a big surprise to all who heard it. Effective as of noon, the city would be closing its gates to the people inside and out, weapons banned, and the temple of Pelor was closed with all its priests under arrest. I was a little concerned for Audric looking like a cleric of Pelor but he didn't seem concerned, so I put it out of my mind.
As the baron left the balcony, a very tall and frightening figure made his way to the rail and looked out over the crowd. He must have been about 9 feet tall, skin and bones, and scary as anything in my most horrible dreams. He seemed to be enjoying the reaction the crowd was having to the news. He drank it all in for a moment, and then made his way back into the tower, the baron's bodyguards turning pale as he passed.
From behind us, we heard a woman speaking in dwarf. She seemed to be just as disappointed by the news as everyone else. Audric, Grumble and I turned to speak with her for a while, while the elves decided to make disparaging comments about the dwarven language. To my surprise, the dwarf woman turned and responded to Nialia in Common! Oh, dwarves and elves! So amusing! This mystery woman invited us back to our inn for drinks, and how could we resist?
We got back to the inn and talked with her for a while, until she said something that seemed to upset Grumble and he asked her to leave. She got up and walked for the door saying "See you around, Mordi." At this, Grumble froze. He stood up and called after her. "How do you know that name?" He demanded. The woman turned around and removed her hood. What met my eyes was the face of a beautiful dwarf woman who looked unmistakably like Grumble. I was speechless.
Sitting back down with the woman, Grumble told us her name was Glorwyn, and she was his sister. Then, the troubled past I had always wondered about came spilling from Grumble's lips. How he had failed in his duties on an important mission, how his sister had been killed, how he had been banished from his clan. It was so hard not to cry listening to such a sad story. I wanted to put my arms around him, but I figured it would only embarrass him in front of the elves.
Grumble began relating to her what we had all been up to, to the apparent dismay of Rowan and Nialia. Eventually, they sent Glorwyn away so they could discuss things without her, but I followed her off to a different table. Glorwyn told me some about Grumble before I had known him, and asked about how he was now. It was nice to hear about Grumble's past, since he never feels moved to tell me anything. Glorwyn seemed very friendly, though a little distant, but Grumble gets distant as well, so I didn't think much about it.
After a while, Audric came over and got me and after bidding farewell to Glorwyn, we all headed out on our own errands. Audric filled me in on our mission, which was to head to the Gold Tabard Trading Company and see if we couldn't use my Thieves' Guild connections to try and acquire cloaks of concealment, and maybe a place to lay low.
On our way, Audric asked what Glorwyn and I had been talking about. I told him "girl stuff," but as we walked on I felt something in the back of my mind waving its arms frantically and begging to be remembered. What was it about her? It was...something...she said? Something about... And then I remembered. She had said "Especially when you have the House of Bel after you." I stopped cold. Audric turned to see what was wrong, and I told him. I had never mentioned the House of Bell, nor had Grumble. We decided that whoever Glorwyn was, there was something wrong with her, at the very least, and someone had to tell Grumble. Neither of us wanted the job, so we rock-paper-scissors'd it and I won. Audric looked a little pale, so I promised him we could find some way to tell Grumble together.
Arriving at the Trading company, I discovered I wasn't very good at getting what I wanted from the woman up front. I didn't want to let too much on in case she wasn't in on certain things, but I was having trouble convincing her Arch would want to speak with me despite not having an appointment, or apparent good reason. Still, she went and got him anyhow, and I told him our troubles. Sadly, he wasn't sure he could come up with the cloaks we were looking for. At least he was able to give us the location and password to a place we could go to hide out so I didn't have to feel like the trip was a complete failure.
Feeling a little downcast, and nervously turning over ways to break the bad news about his sister to Grumble, Audric and I headed for the grove where Nialia had gone to ask Amrauthlen if we could stay. He had apparently said yes, and welcomed us to the grove as the gates swung open. Hopefully the grove will provide us all with a little peace and safety, if only for a while. It sure would be nice to not feel the constant press of evil for five minutes...

For Whom the Bell Tolls

Seconds before Toreal burst every blood vessel in her head, Grumble and Audric arrived. Grumble was brandishing his brand new axe, and Audric had a funny hitch in his step for whatever reason. I didn't have much time to contemplate it before we headed off to the Reality Wrinkle.
When we got there, we decided that neither Toreal nor Grumble looked like crazy sorcerer material and would give us away from the start. They agreed to wait outside until we could send them a signal, and Audric, Rowan, Nialia and I headed inside. Upon entering, I found I was suddenly wishing I had just forgotten about breakfast this morning. The feeling of sick swimming vertigo we had experienced before the fight outside the university was there, but tenfold. I tried to shake it off as the shopkeep poked his head inside the front room, and began speaking with us. He seemed as if he had forgotten to pack his brain in with him that day. After a few moments of wondering where to begin our search for Alaine, Audric agreed to help create a distraction so I could head behind the curtain and search the back areas of the shop.
Slipping behind the curtain, I saw a staircase leading both up and down. I was flipping a coin in my head to see which I should try first when I heard Audric shout "They have him downstairs!" He must have pulled it from the shopkeep's head, as I doubt he had the power in him to divulge anything through his mouth. I darted downstairs and the strengthened feeling of vertigo hit me like the blunt side of Grumble's axe. It was getting a lot harder to deal with, and now that I was downstairs I could hear disturbing gibbering in languages I couldn't have made out if I had wanted to. It was like listening to every conversation in an ant colony all at once. It didn't assist me in feeling any less like rescinding my choice of breakfast. However, I did notice a large locked door, and forced myself to stagger forward and try to unlock it. Alaine had to be back there. Unfortunately, all the vertigo and voices were nearly impossible to shut out, and I kept slipping up in one way or another. On my third try, I finally got it, and behind me came the rush of my comrades down the stairs.
Practically shoving me aside, they charged through the door into what could only be considered a room on the grounds that it wasn't outside. Everything about that "room" was off and wrong. The sick feelings and jabbering voices seemed to all be concentrated here, and the walls and ceiling seemed put together in a drunken haze. Nothing seemed to connect to anything else, nor make any sense in space. On the floor was what looked to me like a large transmutation circle, and in it stood two sorcerers and a writhing mass of eyes and mouths, all speaking at once in foreign tongues. Also, Alaine was there, huddled on the floor, looking like a terrified child. I managed not to vomit, but only just.
The fight that ensued was long and confusing. At one point, I became so terrified by that strange mass I lost myself and ran upstairs as fast as I could. Luckily I came to my senses before I was all the way out the door, and ran back downstairs to rejoin the fray. When it was all over, and the mass was dead, we brought Alaine back upstairs. Neither he nor Toreal were in any condition to help us fight whatever was left in the book store, so we left them downstairs as guards.
Upstairs was less awful than downstairs. Things were slightly more normal. Up one more floor was a door, which turned out to have a gross living eye on it that perked up when we entered the stairway. Yuck! It could move around and disappear and such. At the top floor, there was a room filled with fog(again with the fog!). We stood at the edge of it trying to figure out what to do, when Grumble went charging into the fog, and was snatched up by something horrid. I couldn't make it out in the fog, but it seemed somehow familiar. A few moments later, a fireball came blazing through the fog, though I was the last one to notice, and got singed. Thankfully, the fireball cleared a patch in the fog, and gave us a guess as to the location of our assailants. What had grabbed Grumble turned out to be another one of those creepy worm things from outside the university. He and Audric took it down, and I managed to finally take out that creepy eye. Man, that thing was so disgusting! I was relieved to see it die.
Shortly after that, the fog dissipated, and we saw three sorcerers standing behind a table at one end of the room. One of them was the most insane looking woman I have seen in my entire life. Audric cast a spell at her, and then she cast a spell at him which burned his flesh and he cried out in pain. Furious, I slid under the table and slashed her legs. Together, we took all three of them out. Unfortunately, with them died a lot of our answers. Dead men tell no tales, as they say. We tried to search the room for answers, and found a false wall hiding a small corner of the room. Inside were a few things, including neat slippers that let you walk up walls and on ceilings!! I took those, as I have always wanted to be able to do stuff like that. No real answers, however, just strange books. Audric suggested that we take the sorceress's corpse and stuff it in the bag of holding. He said he would be able to cast a spell on her that would allow him to speak with her, but couldn't do it until tomorrow.
Leaving the Reality Wrinkle, we made our way to the university to give Kartherine the books we'd found. On our way, someone stepped out in our path, looking cooly at Audric.
"Mother wants to talk to you," he said. Audric told the man that "he was out," but he didn't seem to care. "Mother wants to talk to you," he said again. I was frightened a little, but I know better than to get in the way of something like this. Audric is(was?) Shadowspawn, and I imagine that is a hard thing to just disavow. He placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder, and then he walked away. Reluctantly, I followed the others to the university. When we were done there, Grumble went off somewhere, and Nialia and Rowan went to tell Lieutenant Shella about the Reality Wrinkle. I headed back to the inn to wait for Audric.
I sat alone for quite some time, back to the wall, drinking, hoping wherever Audric was he wasn't in trouble. I couldn't drown out the sick feeling of helplessness knowing I could do nothing but wait. After a while, a not at all unhandsome young man sat down next to me wanting to buy me a drink. I thought for a second and agreed. He was a little too tall to be my type, but who can resist free drinks? Not me, certainly! He seemed disappointed when he found out I was waiting for someone, and I felt a little guilty for taking his drink. I tried to at least be friendly, and listened to him talk for a while. My head was starting to swim a little, but then again, I had been drinking for a while so I tried to shrug it off. We continued talking for a while longer, and then he suddenly made a gesture at the door: "Isn't that your friend?" I turned excitedly to greet Audric and was met instead by a knife. I managed to dodge the worst of it, but his blade still found my skin. Great, I love being ambushed when I've already got a lot on my mind.
I drew my short sword and stuck him, but he laughed it off turning into a wererat! My heart sank a little, but I dropped my shortsword and reached for the silver rapier Audric had bought me. Inn patrons scattered as the two of us fought it out. Drunk as I was, I was still able to hold my own. My silver weapon was giving me a fair shot at winning, and I think my opponent knew it. He started to run for the door, but was met by a large man who punched him back to where I could reach him. I ran the rat through, and thanked the mysteriously familiar man at the door. In response, he began to shrink and change, and then I knew who he was. Relief flooded through me as I jumped into Audric's arms and hugged him close. He had apparently been away at the Assassin's Guild. There had been some questions concerning his abandonment of his assignment to kill Grumble and me, though Audric assured me that now everything was settled, and no one from the Assassin's Guild would be making any attempts on my life.
Shortly after, the rest of the party filtered back into the inn and informed us they too had all met with wererat would-be assassins. Looks like the word got out we were looking to storm the bell tower. After a little consideration we decided to settle Brindinsford's rat problem once and for all without any further delay. We headed out to the bell tower to see what awaited us, after first agreeing NOT to kill the head wererat so we could maybe get some answers this time.
Arriving at the bell tower, we decided to try just knocking. An old man greeted us, denying the rat problem, and telling us to come back some other time if we were so interested in seeing the tower. He closed the door, and we were back to where we started. Never the ones to take "no" for an answer, we decided to just let ourselves in. Seeing us charging in, the old man turned into a dire rat and started to run squeaking for the top of the tower. Fearing our cover would be blown, we downed the rat. No tirade of wererats came plunging from the rafters, however, so we headed upstairs. Despite my warnings to Grumble to let me go first to check for traps, he pushed past and set off a trap. Luckily, it only affected him, but I was still mad. I don't know why he can't let me go first! It's my job to protect him from things like that, and I can't do it peering around his wide back.
Each floor provided us with more were and dire rats to kill, like going through appetizers before dinner. By the time we hit the top we were ready for a real fight. Entering the bell room, we saw several large wererats waiting in the rafters. This gave me a chance to try out my excellent new slippers! I have to say, I don't know how I ever lived without being able to walk up walls. By the time the fight was through, we were all proud of ourselves. We kicked butt, and managed to not kill the boss-man. That's a first.
Audric had the awful and brilliant idea to string the head wererat up from the bell ropes so we could interrogate him better. He told us what he could, and we turned him over to Lieutenant Shella and the city guard. The Baron's own sister came to tell us the city was having a big party in our honor. I love parties in our honor! We were also able to head back to the inn and clean up in time for Bruge's play, which was a nice surprise. I don't think I've seen any plays since leaving home, and it's always nice to get dressed up and go out with Audric and NOT have to fight for my life.
After the play, we went by carriage to the party. Everyone important in town was there. I had a chance to apologize to Toreal one more time for breaking into her stuff, and Audric and I talked to the Baron's sister. She confessed to us that ever since the Baron changed advisors, he's been a changed man. While she feels like the advisor is a good one, she is concerned that her brother has become so withdrawn. It all makes so much sense! I have GOT to get myself into the Baron's chambers and do some spying. I know Audric won't be happy about it, but I don't care. I am the sneakiest of the group by far, and when I work alone, I get things done without incident. I am careful and quiet, and by gods I want some answers! Brindinsford is a city of questions, and it is driving me mad. I don't want to leave this city until we set things right. Hopefully tomorrow we can make some headway with the Baron. Until then, I'm going to curl up next to Audric in bed and get some much needed rest. Today has been far too long.

Those Who Wait

After getting some night air, Audric and I landed back on the wall and snuck back to the inn. As we entered, I noticed there were a few people still up in the common room. Two men, and a halfling. I was just dismissing them in my mind when I realized that I knew that halfling from somewhere. A moment's thought and a glance at Audric confirmed my suspicion: She was the halfling that picked my pocket the other day! What could she possibly be thinking, sitting there in plain sight, as Audric nearly knocked her senseless the last time we met.
As Audric and I made our way towards the stairs to head up to bed, it became clear that the three of them wanted to speak with us about something. I was much more interested in heading to bed with Audric than I was in finding out what they could possibly want with us at this hour, but they were kind of in the way of us getting to bed in the first place. Begrudgingly, I sat down with them to hear them out.
Apparently my public take-down of that gnomish lock has given me a bit of a reputation in town. One of the men informed me that they ran a Trading Company, as he idly traced the Thieves' Guild symbol in some spilled ale on the table. They were appreciative of the way Audric and I had handled my would-be pickpocket, and wanted to let me know that if I ever needed any information, or assistance while in town, I could always come to them at the... Trading Company.
Somehow they had also found out about our interest in the bell tower. They had already sent associates to investigate the situation, and, big surprise here in Brindinsford I know, they were never heard from again! According to the man, the tower has not previously been a source of trouble for the city. It has been run by a nice family that is known in town. I refrained from asking if the family name happened to be "Ratcliffe" or "Rattagan" or something equally hilarious to probably only me. I instead tried to assure them that we could handle whatever was lurking in that bell tower, and thanked them for their offer.
As Audric and I got up to go, our guests made their way to the door, but not before the female halfling smacked Audric on the ass! I was so mad! Words cannot describe how many evil thoughts tried to cram through the door of my mind at once! Thankfully(I suppose) they all just ended up getting stuck in the doorway, and I did nothing but fume. I hope she enjoyed that, because the next time she does anything of the sort, she is going to learn the virtues of one-handed lockpicking. Incensed, I crawled into bed and fell asleep thinking of all the things I should have done to that little trollop.
I awoke the next morning, still a little mad, and headed down for breakfast. The others joined us soon, and we explained Toreal's presence to Nialia, along with what our guesses were about the trouble at the book store called "The Reality Wrinkle." It was decided that we should all meet at Toreal's place, then head over there to investigate. Hopefully, we would find Alaine there, and maybe our evil sorceress as well.
Grumble seemed to be more somber than usual this morning. He tried to hide it, badly, and wandered out the door on some errands without saying anything about it. I know the two of us were never close in the way I am close to my family, but I have always thought of Grumble as an extra brother, albeit a quiet one. I also know that since Audric and I have grown closer, Grumble and I have drifted apart a little, and I feel guilty for that. Still, I would like to believe that if he was truly troubled by something, he could feel able to talk with me about it. Not like he would ever take me up on that. He has never even told me what happened to him before the two of us met. Just that "something bad happened." Maybe one of these days I'll get to find out. I can't help wondering what could be so bad that he would lose both name and beard, and have drunk himself to the bottom of a very tall glass...
With that in mind, it was decided that if Grumble wasn't back in time to go meet Toreal, Nialia, Rowan and I would head out to the shrine to meet her, while Audric stayed behind to meet Grumble and catch up with us after. We waited, and waited, and when it was time to go, Grumble was nowhere to be seen. Us three ladies headed off in the direction of Toreal's shrine to let her know the plan. I hoped Grumble would be along soon, as I figured Toreal would be chomping at the bit to get Alaine back, and she doesn't strike me as the type of person to handle delays with grace.

Silence Must Be Heard

With Nialia sniffing away, we headed off on the trail of the weird blind monsters. Rowan informed us that they were called Grimlocks, and said they "see" with sounds and smell. Audric seemed to perk up at this, and he led us off in the direction of a baker's shop that he and I had visited the other day. Ohhhhh, sweet sweet goodness...
With a little bribery, Audric procured us a bottle of peppermint oil. I had a feeling I knew what was running through his mind. I just hoped it would work. We then resumed tracking the grimlocks. After a little while, we came to some abandoned warehouses. Nialia picked the one she thought it was, and we set about finding a way in. It seems the grimlocks had been going in and out of a broken window, and had carved handholds into the wall. Finally, a chance to get some climbing in! I felt like it had been ages since I had gotten to climb anything at all. The handholds were meant for grimlocks, so the going was a bit slow, but I made it up and had a look around inside through the window. It was awfully hard to see much of anything, but I thought I saw some creatures moving through the shadows.
Oh! I almost forgot to mention! Before proceeding with our tracking, we decided to eliminate the element of sound, and used the strange skull staff we took from the Orc tribe. It's indescribable how strange it was to be so quiet. Unnatural, but fun!
Rowan was up shortly after me, and the rest of the group followed. Once we got in to the warehouse, the light seemed to go out. I could still see it outside, but it was as if it were only painted on the windows, rather than coming through them. I couldn't see anything, and I was getting nervous. I felt a hand grab for mine in the dark, and it felt like Audric's so I took it. In the darkness I heard sounds like a creature coming up the platform we were on, and then a shattering of glass. Suddenly, my nose was burning with the scent of peppermint. I love peppermint and all, but I don't recall too many times where I have been exposed directly to pure peppermint oil. I may never think of peppermint in the same way again.
With both sound and smell foiled for the grimlocks, we were as invisible as they were in the darkness. I heard the sounds of a fight, but I could hardly get a fix on where, or who was doing it. I only knew the scream of pain wasn't any of us.
As I got pulled along through the dark, I started to wonder what we'd gotten ourselves into. I tried to concentrate on holding Audric's hand, rather than wondering where everyone else was. Were there grimlocks waiting in this darkness, and would they figure out where we were? I think it was around this point in time that Grumble broke our silence spell by blurting something out. I guess I should have planned for that. If anyone is good at ruining a quiet moment, Grumble is.
The silence ruined, I heard Audirc mutter an incantation that seemed to roll back the darkness around us. Looking down from our platform, I saw grimlocks below. Nialia and Grumble rushed in to fight, and I figured I'd join them. I surveyed the platform, and figured I could jump it. Oh, it was going to be so impressive! It was, too, until I panicked a little at the last minute and botched my somersault... Ouch. I knew I was rusty, but I didn't think I was embarrassingly so.
The fight went as well as it could have, I suppose. None of us died, and we got the info we wanted out of the head grimlock. She said the grimlocks were being paid to kidnap folks, and were being contacted in their dreams by an evil woman and some strange evil guy. The only real clue we got was that the woman smelled like paper. At least, what we figure must be paper. It's hard to get a description out of someone who can't see.
With the darkness dispelled, we noticed eaten corpses all over the building. It was a horrid sight. They must have belonged to the people who had gone missing during the fair. It made me sick to see, so I tried to ignore them despite the stench of rotting flesh. I couldn't wait to get out of the building.
Leaving, we headed back to the scene of the earlier fight to tell the guards about what we had seen. I think they're getting tired of us saving the city, but if that's the case then maybe they should try it themselves once in a while?
While we were talking to the guards about what we had found, I overheard some folks muttering about someone named "Alain." Upon asking, I discovered that Alain is a local paladin who is usually spot-on about protecting Brindinsford from whatever trouble befalls it. Apparently, he's been getting a little lax. He also has a female apprentice, and when I heard that, I became immediately suspicious. I decided I would make a trip out to Alain's place later that evening to see what I could find. Audric decided to come with me.
Upon arriving at the paladin's home, Audric and I found some lights on, but no one appeared to be home, or answering our knocks on the door. To me, that's just as good as a welcome. With Audric standing guard outside, I went to work searching the place, but I found nothing. Then I spotted a large chest. I picked through the lock without much trouble, but somehow I missed the magical trap that was on it, and narrowly escaped adding "Roasted" to my legion of names. I heard Audric shout, and he rushed inside asking me what the heck had happened. Patting out my singed flesh, I noticed he was smoking from the same place himself, under his armor. "What? What? Did the fireball hit you, too?" I asked.
"No, just...uh....oh ahhhhhhhhh........" He stammered as the smoking from under his armor ceased.
Now, I'm not always the keenest one in the group and I'm not really ashamed to admit that, but I have noticed Audric getting injuries when I haven't noticed him getting hit, and they seemed to be so similar to mine. I've been trying to figure out why for days without success. Tonight, it hits me: The ring, stupid! He said it was so he could cast healing! You both have one! What do you want to bet he's been taking damage for you this whole time? I was so mad!
"It's the ring, isn't it?" I say, trying hard not to just yell. Thus began our first fight since we've been together. I was angry, and refused to wear it anymore, Audric got angry and told me I had no choice in the matter. I told him I didn't want to cause him anymore pain on my behalf. I'm accident-prone, what if something truly awful happened to me? He said that was his point exactly. He could heal himself, I couldn't. We went back and forth for a while, and it basically came down to "I love you. Please just do this for me." So I grudgingly conceded. Then there was someone behind us.
It was the paladin's apprentice. Great. How is it that every time Audric and I go out to do some recon we end up blowing it? The paladin-in-training looked pretty unhappy. Apparently this was the first time she had ever found intruders in her place standing around arguing over who loved who more. Heh.
I tried hard to explain why we were going through her things. I didn't feel like I was doing a convincing job. I explained about the Grimlocks, and how my party had been the ones saving the city these last few days, and told her that people were wondering why her master was doing nothing. The woman told us her master had been missing for a few days. He had responded to a message from a local who had heard a noise outside his house but was too afraid to investigate himself. Alain had never returned. My heart sank as I heard this. I could take a few guesses at what had probably happened to him, and we told his apprentice that she might want to check the Grimlocks' warehouse for his body. I also offered our help in finding out what had happened to him, if she wanted it. We exchanged names, and she said hers was Torriel. She eyed Audric suspiciously as he said his was simply Audric.
Apparently, something about Audric was making her suspicious of him. She wasn't ready to believe he was a cleric of Pelor, and I prepared myself to attack should she make a move to harm Audric. In response to this disbelief, Audric began to emit a strange aura. After a while, it died away, and he told Torriel that was about all the good he had left in him for the day. She seemed convinced for the time being. I apologized for sneaking around and she bid us goodnight, but not before sending me on my way with a smack from the side of her blade. My face went red.
Audric and I began to head back to the inn. He was saying something excitedly when he let slip something about picking thoughts from peoples' heads, and silenced himself abruptly.
I sighed. You'd think, when you ask for some honesty, that you wouldn't then continue to learn strange secrets about your lover. However, I'm fast learning that with Audric, this is not the case.
"Lunavenn, " I coaxed. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
He didn't seem particularly willing, but he told me of how he could enter creatures' minds and see their thoughts. He said that he had been in Grumble's head and seen something which he had later let slip he knew. He managed to convince Grumble he had heard him talking in his sleep. Audric also mentioned he'd been in my head as well, but not since the first night we had met. He attributed that with the reason he couldn't bring himself to kill me. Apparently, things look pretty... um... pretty up there. I was a little mad, but I knew he was telling the truth. Otherwise, how else could I explain how long it had taken him to confess he was in love with me? My feelings for him were obviously up there.
Audric explained a little more about the skill, and I realized I couldn't stay mad at him. I never can seem to. I was starting to wonder what it must look like to go crawling through someone else's head, and just what it was he had seen in Grumble's, when I heard a scream. I turned to see Torriel's place surrounded by fog. Now, if this were any other place, I would have maybe passed it off as nothing, but this is Brindinsford. The place where everything, even the fog, wants to kill you. I drew my sword and started running for the paladin's place. Audric took one side and I took the other, and as I rounded the corner I saw two men hauling a body away into the night. I shouted for Audric and ran after them. One of the men was a magic user, so we had a little trouble, but eventually I slit one's throat and Audric turned the other one inside out(but not before breaking his own nose on his mace).
We stood for a few minutes trying to figure out what to do, and then Audric woke Torriel. She woke startled, and told us everything she remembered, which wasn't much. Then she noticed the levitating pile of guts. I laughed and said "That's what you get for messing with Audric!" As a look of horror washed over her face, I suddenly realized I shouldn't have said that. I bit my fingers, turning red again. Why do I have such a big mouth?
Torriel stammered "B-but, you... you... you're not allowed to..." as she gaped at Audric. I think sometimes I forget that everyone is supposed to believe he's truly a cleric of Pelor, and not Shadowspawn. However, fate must have been smiling on us, because before things could get out of hand, Torriel recognized the body of the other attacker. In life, he apparently worked for a local book store. At which there had recently been a suspicious "accidental" death that Torriel had been investigating. Audric and I decided it wasn't safe for her to stay at her place anymore. We thought quickly of all the places to take her, and finally decided she'd be safest with us at the Shield and Shingle. Rowan has that great big room, after all, and Nialia is almost never there.
Dragging Torriel back to the inn was really difficult. It's not easy supporting a full sized human who has almost no sense of balance with only two little gnomes. At least Audric is strong. We managed to get her back, and explain to the others what was going on. Rowan took Torriel up to bed, and Grumble decided to turn in as well. Audric took me aside and said he had a surprise for me, but we would need to go to the top of the city's walls for it. Intrigued, I grinned and agreed to follow him, and we slipped off.
Slipping through the night like birds through the air, we made it to the top of the city walls with no fuss. Once at our destination, Audric had me look out to the view of the lands outside the city, and he put his arms around me. Then he told me to close my eyes and hang on to his belt. I did so, wondering what he had in mind. There was a sounds like ripping fabric, and the Audric told me to jump. I had to think about it for a second, but I did. My eyes still closed, I felt the wind rushing past my face, and rushing, and rushing, and we never seemed to land. Curious, I opened my eyes, and saw why. We weren't falling, but flying! I felt the breath leave my body as I realized just how high up we were.
"You're not afraid of hights, are you?" Audric asked. Of course I'm not! At least, not any I've ever been to, and this was certainly higher than any of those.
When I adjusted to the concept of being so far away from the ground, I began to really enjoy myself. The land below looked so peaceful, dark and still, dotted with lights here and there. From such a height it would be easy to forget how troubled things were below.
"I just thought you would like this," Audric smiled. "Since you've been so excited by everything else. Out of all the surprises today, I figured I owed you one you would like."
"Tell you what," I grinned up at him. "Kiss me, and all is forgiven."
I can't believe that there has been a more perfect kiss in the history of the world, nor that there ever will be.

Letter Home 2

Dear Malick,

Did you get my last letter? I hope it found you all right. I have really been missing you as of late. It seems the farther I head from home, the more it is on my mind. I thought perhaps writing another letter would ease my troubled heart.
Since I wrote you last, it seems like my life has been turned upside-down. Do you remember me telling you about the gnome, Quirky? It turns out that he's been in love with me for some time now, and I didn't know. Consequently, we're um...together now. It also turns out that he was actually an assassin, sent to kill Grumble and me. Apparently, he fell deeply in love with me and just couldn't bring himself to do his job. Do you think it was wrong of me to forgive him for that? It seems like an awful big thing to forgive and put behind me, but in my heart it was the only thing that made sense.
Also, his name isn't Quirky anymore. Now it's Audric. He said he wanted a real name that would be better suited to him, and he asked me to come up with it. I wasn't particularly comfortable doing it, but that is what I came up with. Do you think it's fine? It seems like such an important decision to be left in my hands, you know?
I suppose I'd appreciate it if you kept this to yourself, if you can. I don't expect that Dad would take it well, and I can picture Mom blanching instantly at the thought of her sweet little Ellybelle in love with a disreputable assassin. I'm not really on the track to making them proud of me at all, am I? Was I ever? Some times I wonder.
On a different note, there is a fair going on here. I wandered past some gnomes from Addun'home who claimed to make the best locks anywhere. They had a lock on display that they claimed was unpickable, and were challenging passers by to try their luck. Of course I picked it! They were really shocked, but it was only a reverse lock so what did they expect? You could have done so much better, and made something much more challenging. Still, picking it made me think of you, and all those times back home. I really do miss you. My heart is heavy with the weight of it, and sometimes it feels like it is more than I can bear.
Well, I will keep this short, as I know you are probably busy and don't need to be burdened by my ramblings. I hope life in Addun'home is working out for everyone. I'm sorry you all had to pick up and move there because of me. I hope that things will resolve themselves soon, and you can all return home. Until then, I hope you find fortune where you are.

May the truth find its way to your heart always,
Badger

Fear of The South

I woke up this morning not really feeling any less homesick. I tried to put it behind me as the day began, however. There's no good to be had in thinking about things that can't be helped. After breakfast, Audric, Grumble and I went to Shooma's. She's apparently the best smithy for miles and miles and miles. Audric felt it would be good if we all had some silver weapons, given our most recent brush with lycanthropy. He bought silver weapons for all of us except Grumble, who got his own silver axe. I'm now the proud owner of a silver rapier. It's not nearly so amazing as Rowan's new one, but it ought to do the trick with the wererats.
From Shooma's, we left to head to the library. On the way, we passed a bunch of Gnome run carts. One of them seemed to be having some to-do, and there was a fair sized crowd of folks gathering around it. Upon closer inspection, I found a pair of gnomes boasting an unpickable lock. Not only an unpickable lock, but also boasting that their locks were the best locks around. I may not be locksmith myself, but family pride isn't very particular about those sort of things. The lock they had was impressive, but not any more so than pretty much anything Malick dreamed up on a regular basis. I couldn't let the insult to my family go without a shot, so I composed myself and headed to the cart. The gnome there obviously had no idea who I was, or I think he would have looked a little more nervous when I approached. In fact, as Audric tossed him some coins, I swear he had a "This ought to be good" look on his smirky face. I pretended not to notice as I strode past on my way to the lock.
I've had a lot of experience picking locks since I left home, and I had a lot of experience picking Malick's locks before that, however, I would be lying if I didn't mention that part of me was utterly terrified of failing big time. After all, I have a reputation to uphold, and the thought of blowing it in front of both Audric and Grumble made my stomach swim.
On my first try, I realized how careless I've let myself get since leaving home. I tripped a simple boobytrap and almost got my hand caught. After I pried my tools out and it reset, I took my second shot. There was something about this lock that seemed so familiar, so simple. It took me nearly snapping one of my tools off inside to remember what it was. It was a reverse lock! Feeling a distinct sense of relief, I went in for try number three. Reverse locks are engineered in such a way as to appear locked even after you've unlocked it. Another try will make it appear finally unlocked when in reality it has just been locked back up again. The point is to frustrate a thief until he gives up and goes home. Clever, but not Turen clever. The look on the gnomes' faces when I threw open the chest was reward enough for me, however I actually got something tangible! A gnomish lockpick device, with Silence cast on it! Finally someone realized that silence is more than just figuratively golden when it comes to lockpicking. I know that Dad is furious that I am using family secrets to pick locks with, but I'd like to think even he would be proud of me today. Well, maybe that's just too much to ask, but I know Malick would have been proud, and Audric certainly was. I can live with that for now.
Anyhow, after letting the family name do the explaining to those poor fellows, we were back on our way. We made a quick stop for lunch, and then made it the rest of the way to the library. The library was quite possibly one of the neatest things I have seen since leaving home. Natural Gnome curiosity set in, and I had the feeling I could have stayed there all day without much complaint. There were books and wizards everywhere, and even a huge mechanized model of the planes. I can't really say I know anything about the planes other than they exist in some fashion, but the model was amazing to see. It made me wish I had paid any mind to that part of school.
We headed up to a desk with a very official looking woman behind it. She told us her name was Carthryn, and would be able to help us with whatever we might be looking for, as none of us are wizards. This is apparently a prerequisite for understanding Libraries in this town...
Grumble started us off by asking about his axe. It turns out that it resembles the weapon of a Goldenaxe from a really long time ago. We couldn't get a definite fix on whether it really was or not, but it's looking like Grumble has a very old and important weapon on his hands.
Next we broached the subject of the House of Bel, and I thought for a moment that Carthryn might not be so willing to help us with that. She drew her wand, and all the color slid from her face like liquid pouring from a cup. She ushered us hurriedly into a small study area, and formed an enchanted bubble around us to protect us from prying ears and such. What we heard from her made me feel slightly sick. Apparently, Carthryn is a loremaster, and it's been her job to try and strike the name of Bel from the history, and the face of this earth. The members of the house are two brothers and a sister, though one of the brothers is presumed dead. Apparently they are beings so evil, that generations of families have vowed to send them to their graves. Great. It's nice to know that evil incarnate wants you dead. Carthryn seemed shocked that we had incurred their wrath in the first place, but after telling her our story, seemed to accept that we might be telling her true. We also told her about Baron von Hawkmoor, and she seemed a little troubled by that as well, though reminded me that he is only a man. Ha! A man that seems to feel the need to send Shadowspawn himself to end a dwarf and a gnome! Though I guess I should thank him. I would be a lot lonelier if I had never met Audric. Still, dangerous and crazy folk shouldn't be taken lightly, no matter how "human" they are.
I left the library wondering what the heck I'd gotten myself into. The feeling was made all the worse by a sudden swell of vertigo. When it ended and my mind and sight cleared, I still had to rub my eyes because we were standing in front of a large pool of slime, and a huge, sickening worm thing with nasty tentacles was staring at us. We all knew what had to be done, but I don't think anyone will think less of me when I say I really did NOT want to do it. Grumble and I managed to take some decent chunks out of it before it got a hold of me and started to make me a snack. Audric tried what he could to get it to drop me, but it didn't want to seem to let go. I found myself being pulled into the grossest mouth I have ever been near to, as another creature appeared in close proximity and grabbed Audric. When it finally dropped me, I could hear Audric screaming as he was getting pulled into the other creature's mouth. I was torn between taking out the one in front of me, and trying to rescue Audric. Sadly, I was covered in slime, and not being particularly effective in any capacity. The other creature dropped Audric and grabbed me, and I took what should have been a nasty hit. It felt slightly less so, however, though it still hurt like anything. I thought I could hear Audric's screaming somewhere under my own, but I wasn't sure. When we finally defeated the creatures, the bystanders thought it had all been a show. I guess odd things like this aren't the usual here in Bridinsford.
Shirtly after the battle ended, Nialia and Rowan found us. Apparently they had had a fight out in the woods with a gross beast of their own. This town is really starting to weird me out! Something is obviously not right here. I'm not sure what, but whatever it is seems to be calling out to strange and evil things that don't belong in the city.
Tired and weirded out, we decided to head back to the inn. On our way back, we passed a troupe of street performers putting on what may have been a true theatrical abomination if ever there was one. As I was dismissing it, I saw a huge troll-like thing with no eyes and a giant hammer step out from behind the stage curtain and raise his hammer at the actor. I wasn't sure what I was seeing, but Audric went sprinting past screaming "It's real! Shoot it! Take it down!" Just then, more of those things poured out from behind the curtains and began slaughtering people at will. What is it about this fair that seems to attract ugly things that like to murder innocent folks? Once again we sprang into action, but this time Grumble seemed distracted. He stopped dead as we all raced past and cried out "Glorwynn!!!!" as if he were calling to someone. I have no idea what he was seeing, but I don't think it was what I was seeing. He came to eventually, and we managed to take out the eye-less creatures.
Audric came up to me afterwards, hurt in the same place I was. I don't remember him getting hurt, but he must have, because there was the injury. I tried to ask him about it, but he just leaned in and kissed me. It's almost annoying how that seems to temporarily wipe my mind. I just can't help it, though. He's such a good kisser...
Anyhow, we have a serious problem on our hands now. Those awful things came from somewhere, and we're going to have to find out where so we can attempt to keep this town safe. I just hope Nialia can track them, because I am more than a little tired of evil things ruining everyones' good time!