The End of Life in Waterdeep

by Arkadius Farcleaver-Hogg

“Jornos…” Arkadius quietly pleaded, hoping his husband would hear and understand the hidden meaning in the plea as he reached out to stop him. His paranoia that had been bubbling quietly under the surface was now in full stream, clouding every move and action, every signal in Arkadius’ brain, and he fully believed no good would come of anybody stepping foot into the hallway, let alone opening the door to the house. It was obvious that Jornos either didn’t hear Arkadius, or had ignored his quiet plea, as the half-elf stepped out of the office and down the hallway, out of sight, trying to peer out of the window in the front door.

Before Arkadius could take a step towards the hallway, the air was punctured with an extremely loud crash, shortly followed by another. Arkadius reacted without hesitation and without any thought or care, his instincts kicking in immediately. He rushed into the hallway, his primary goals to find out what was going on and, above all else, protect his loved one. As he rushed through the doorway and turned to face Jornos, there was a flurry of movement behind him, and everything went dark.

Arkadius awoke slowly, his vision blurry and dark. It was difficult to concentrate, but his vision was slowly returning. He risked opening his eyes, and he was grateful to see his office. He was not however grateful to see Jornos, his husband and former mentor tied to a chair. He attempted to call out and stand up to reach out for him, however he found himself also tied up to a chair and gagged. No amount of struggling was freeing him, he discovered, shuffling to try and escape. It was no use, whoever had done this had done an excellent job of trapping him.

A male voice came from behind his ear, a mere inch away, slow and calm. ”She is displeased, our mutual friend. She is very displeased, but not with you, little one. She does not believe you had any part in your disappearing act. She is displeased with this,” the figure spat in Jornos’ direction, ”traitor that you call a husband. He was meant to be a mentor, but now She is amused that he has misled you this much.”

Arkadius remained utterly still, tears running down his face. Nightmarish images floating through his head were a constant reminder that the idyllic life that he was complaining about an unknown but not too long a period of time ago, given it was still night outside, had no chance of being recovered. Other images of possible escape plans were forming too, but they were mostly put aside by panic, fear and sadness. His heart was calling out constantly, and his gaze was firmly on his husband, who was still unconscious, slumped over in the chair, only kept upright by the bindings.

The figure who had been standing directly behind Arkadius, talking into his ear stepped in front of him, blocking Arkadius’ line of sight of Jornos. He could now see his assailant, a kobold wearing black robes. ”We’ve been watching for a number of days, after you disappeared from Her view for… how long has it been, four years?” the kobold smirked, ”She asked us to find you, and it really wasn’t difficult to follow your… tracks. When the trail went cold in this city, we feared the worst. But then, chance would have it… we found you. And now… you have a choice, granted at Her mercy. You can either return to your destined path, regain Her favour and be on your merry way, or… you can both die here, in a tragic accident. I would say choose quickly, because I lack the… patience that She displays.”

The kobold raised his weapon, pointing it at Arkadius in a threatening manner. Arkadius couldn’t quite work out what the weapon was through the blind panic enveloping his mind, but it really didn’t matter for too long. He snapped to attention when the kobold cried out in pain and hit the ground following a candlestick smacking the side of his head loudly with great gusto. Jornos had awoken and broken free of his bindings while the kobold was distracted with Arkadius, and used the opportunity gracefully.

When the kobold had fallen, Jornos rushed to Arkadius’ side, ripping the bindings from his arms to free him from the chair first, allowing him to remove the gag himself. ”Arkadius my love, are you alright? Are you hurt?” he asked, hugging Arkadius tightly again. ”I… will be fine. We can’t stay here, we need to inform the Watch that-“

Arkadius was interrupted by Jornos scoffing loudly. ”If She knows we’re here, and She’s after us, then there’s nothing the Watch can do now.” “Then what do you propose? We’ve been here four years, we’re settled now. We can’t just leave!” ”We have no other option, Arkadius. But we have to go now, there was two of them, we aren’t all-” Jornos stopped talking, a look of surprise on his face as an arrow planted squarely into his back.

The arrow had met its target, and the remaining kobold in the hallway was notching another arrow into his bow. Arkadius could see this, his partner now falling to the ground in front of him, revealing him as a target. He knew what he had to do in this situation, all the training that Jornos had given him previously, when they were growing closer… he raised a hand at the kobold, he barely had to concentrate before his hand was wreathed in the flames.

”You have one chance to get out of my house before I do something I will more than likely not regret,” Arkadius said, the voice coming out of his mouth however wasn’t his own. It was… deeper, calmer and much, much louder than normal. Half the street must have heard it, surely. It was enough to give the kobold archer the creeps, who turned and fled out of the house door in the blink of an eye. Arkadius relaxed the fire, and knelt on the floor, pulling Jornos into his arms.

”Ark, listen to me,” Jornos begged, his breathing threads and slow. ”You… need to go to Kantas. You need to… Fulfil your destiny. Free yourself from… Her chains. Play your music, and… never... forget me.” Jornos managed to get his final words out slowly, before passing into the night.

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The Incident: Part 1 of 4
25th of Tarsakh, 1483

The Incident: Part 2 of 4
26th of Tarsakh, 1483

The Incident: Part 3 of 4
27th of Tarsakh, 1483

The Incident: Part 4 of 4... for now
28th of Tarsakh, 1483

Bidding Farewell to Fallford
30th of Flamerule, 1484

What's an R between F(r)iends?
Midsummer, 1484

The First Sign of Power
16th of Eleint, 1484

The Path to Waterdeep
Various dates

Five Years of Waterdeep
Greengrass, 1492

The End of Life in Waterdeep
Greengrass, 1492

Return to Kundar
3rd of Flamerule, 1496

In the Shadow of Kundar
15th of Flamerule, 1496

Golden Hour
17th of Flamerule, 1496

A Simple Job
22nd of Flamerule, 1496

Reminiscing
13th of Elesias, 1496

The Old Temple
16th of Eleint, 1946

Case of the Still Missing Person
25th of Eleint, 1496

The Naming of the Weasel
28th of Uktar, 1496

Revisiting The Incident
30th of Uktar, 1496

Help Us Hope
1st of Nightal, 1496

The Reappearance of Alocasia Zebrina
14th of Nightal, 1496

Amorphophallus Titanium
8th of Hammer, 1497

Losing a Friend
9th of Hammer, 1497

Return of the Prince
30th of Hammer, 1497

Aerial Delving
3rd of Alturiak, 1497

What's in a Name?
10th of Alturiak, 1497

Hunting for Trouble
25th of Alturiak, 1497

Doing the Right Thing
14th of Ches, 1497

Here and Back Again
15th of Ches, 1497

The Sharp End
22nd of Ches, 1497

Triumph of the Vanguard
7th of Tarsahk, 1497

Pre-Birthday Shenanigans
30thnif Tarsakh, 1497

The End of Life in Waterdeep

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