18th Letter Home: A Death.

General Summary

Mother.
I hope to deliver this letter to your hands.
To place it in your hands as I kneel before you and beg forgiveness.
I failed you.
And Aarik is dead.
My brother. Your son.
He was here; I found his locket.
He must have come for me.
It's been so long, and you worried I had fallen, or failed.
I have failed.
I tried mother, I truly did.
But I failed.
And my brother died.
Aarik is dead.
I tried to avenge him, but I failed at that too.
It didn't start that way.
After rescuing the Dwarves we traveled at night, which took longer, but was worth it because we avoided any notice. There were still Sylvan patrols, and somebody, patrols or no, will eventually either find the remains of the convoy or miss its arrival.
As we approached the safe house drop-off for the freed prisoners, the door opened and a Dwarf approached us with a nod. Nobody spoke. The former prisoners silently walked away with their new escort, closing the door behind them.
I looked around at our group, but nobody reacted.
We headed back to our inn and got some very necessary rest.
In the morning we went down for breakfast. Other guests sat in the dining room, eating and talking. They had not just ambushed a convoy, freed prisoners, and discovered that their people were working with their enemy. They were simply breaking the night's fast. As we meandered over to a table a man intercepted us and bade us follow him. He led us to a secret meeting room, where we met with Olden.
Olden was very pleased with our rescue, but had heard of the epic battle and wanted to know all about it. I interjected when needed, but mostly I let Baermak handle the discussion. His embellished descriptions put mine to shame. As Baermak and Olden chatted, they realized that the convoy was actually a trap. Right from the beginning. The fake prisoners indicated that they fully expected the prisoner convoy to be attacked. The entire time the fake prisoners were  treated like prisoners so that even the real prisoners wouldn’t know.
It wasn't a trap for us, necessarily. They didn’t know that we were coming, specifically, but they certainly knew that somebody was coming. It was a trap for the Dwarves.
I asked Olden about people helping the Sylvans. He was as surprised as I, because he had heard tales of the conflicts between the Sylvans and the people. I was hoping he might have more information than I had already gleaned, but he had none. I did not tell him what I knew.
Baermak also asked about the Dwarves perhaps creating a diversion to draw guards and attention away from our next mission. But more importantly, Baermak asked about the layout and design of the sewer system I spied. Unfortunately the Dwarves didn't have maps or any direct knowledge, but, being Dwarves, they could at least educate us on what to expect when we were underground.
A key tidbit of information he did have was that nobody he’s sent into the sewers has ever returned, not even as corpses. Nothing. Which either means some kind of infestation (consuming any visitors) or it means a sophisticated system of traps. Or it means actual patrols.
Scouting. It means scouting.
Olden agreed to transport us to the sewers, and also to escort us out when we return. And when that happens we will surely need to lay low. Our plan is to enter the sewers, clear out whatever we find, rest, and then raid the mansion.
So off we went!
The huge sewer entrance was blocked by metal grates. I had seen them earlier, so we knew what to expect.
Vessyr used some red powder to dissolve the bars on the sewer entrance, and we snuck inside.
It.
Smelled.
Horrible!
I went from being locked in a tiny, stuffy room to being locked in a large tube of brick filled with sewage. It was nearly overwhelming. I had to pause several times to consciously force myself to ignore the smell, just to keep from vomiting. I longed for the fresh air of the jungle, the trees, foliage and flowers. Or even of the city above us. Even that! Anything.
Rats skittered past us, and Ingoria saw several extremely large specimens. And a corpse. Floating by.
Dwarves being Dwarves, they had absolutely overbuilt this sewer. Which was a benefit! It was far too big, which meant that it wasn't full of...effluent. And they had walkways running along the passage, above the flow. The walkways crossed the intersections, so at no time did we need to actually step in the sewage; just to smell it.
And as much as I prefer fine carpentry, the Dwarven brickwork was impressive. Every available bit of brickwork was so finely crafted...they made patterns in the angles of the bricks, shapes with different colors of bricks, textures with different sizes of bricks. The mortar was smooth, even, and regular. If I had to be surrounded by bricks, these would be the bricks.
I think that paying such attention to the details around me made me even more aware of my surroundings: crossing a causeway, I spied sudden movement and a huge sword-wielding rat spun out of a spillway, acrobatically twirling up onto the walkway. I immediately focused in on him, loosing three arrows in quick succession. All hit. He simply continued on his twirl, limply spinning into the water below.
That’s when huge rats began appearing all around us, all carrying weapons. One appeared behind me and struck me with a large staff. Another appeared from the same spot where the first one jumped out, shooting me with a crossbow.
Alyona leapt across the causeway to my side, appearing behind the rat with the staff, pummeling him repeatedly with her own.
Another rat leapt from the water, grabbing Vessyr and dragging him under. Vessyr struggled mightily, but the rat was young and strong, while Vessyr is old and sometimes has a hard time walking. Honestly mother, his age is often difficult to grasp. His spider, though, is strong! It jumped into the water, wrapping its legs around the rat and breaking Vessyr free!
Baermak chanted toward the one behind me as I turned to face it. I slung my bow and drew my sword, slashing the vermin across the chest as I drew. The damned thing was not dissuaded as it spun a bit to my left, leaned in, and bit me on the wing. As I pulled back from the disgusting creature I felt a bolt hit me from behind.
When I woke, the rat with the staff was gone, Vessyr, covered in dripping filth, stood on the walkway ahead of me; he had apparently gotten free. Ingoria traded blows with another rat, and Vessyr's spider was nowhere to be seen. Baermak was casting spells, but I'm not sure what. I can just tell when he's doing that. The rat next to him scraped its huge, glistening claws down his shoulder and arm, tearing off fur and skin as Baermak roared in pain.
And there, down across the causeway, was the rat with the crossbow.
I shot immediately, solidly hitting him with the first arrow, but completely missing with the second! I missed! He had seen me spin around to face him, and had moved quickly, knowing I would shoot. These rats were extremely fast, ducking and dodging. I was fast enough to hit with the first, but had already loosed the second before I could adjust for his movement.
Alyona leapt back across the causeway to engage the rat next to Baermak. She smacked it hard, twice, and backed away, out of range of the claws and teeth.
Vessyr, splashing as he moved, ran forward and used a magic to start a fire under the crossbow rat. It shrieked, and the sewer filled with the smell of burning fur.
That I could smell the burning fur above the rancid odors already overwhelming my senses tells you how bad that smell was. Because it wasn't just the fur that was burning...it was also the rancid filth embedded in that fur.
The rat near Baermak sped away, suddenly shrank to the size of a normal (though large) rat, and dove into the water, heading back the way we came. Baermak sped after it, casting spells ineffectively. So Alyona chased it, bringing her staff down upon its head. It went limp and transformed into a Human, lifelessly floating downstream.
A Human! Huge rat, rat rat, Human. What were these creatures?
The one fighting Ingoria sped away, Vessyr chasing it.
Crossbow rat shot a bolt at me and fled. That was a mistake. The bolt skittered off the brickwork beside me and fell into the sewage below. He should simply have run. I shot back at him, and I don't miss so easily. He rolled into the water, dead.
Ingoria sped over and shot a rat that I hadn't noticed, who also limply floated…right into a huge cube of gelatin! This monstrous creature lay just below the surface and I would never have known it was there if the rat hadn't been stopped by it. I could just make out the outlines of the monster as the water and detritus flowed around it. Well, what it didn't "catch", at least. It sat there, consuming whatever floated within reach. And inside of it I could see Vessyr’s smashed up spider!
The battle had ended. Vessyr was unable to catch the last rat, which might be for the better anyway, as he would warn any remaining companions to steer clear of us.
Cleaning up, I realized that I no longer had my sword. When I fell I had inadvertently dropped it into the muck below. Going back to the exact spot where I fell, I looked below me and saw the glint of its hilt. I asked Vessyr if he might be willing to go in for it, as he was already covered from head to toe, but he declined. He is angry with me for some reason. Or perhaps he’s just angry.
Saturated with sewage, he had reason to be.
So I took careful note of exactly where the blade lay and dove in. I dared not open my eyes, but I quickly found it with my hands and rocketed back to the surface. As I climbed out of the muck I could see the gelatinous monster moving toward me; it had heard my splash.
Vessyr needed to retrieve his broken spider from the cube in order to repair it. So we took our time and wore the monster down, shooting and hacking at it, finally destroying it so that he could jump in to gather up the partially digested parts.
We moved a bit away to gather together and rest. And try to clean. I was badly beaten up, crossbow bolts in my back and bruises on my head. Vessyr rebuilt his spider. He's gotten very good at that.
As we rested, arrows and bolts appeared in the air, embedding themselves in Vessyr and Boris the spider. Vessyr fell immediately.
Four of them.
Four rats had appeared, firing at us as they charged.
I didn’t recognize the one that had escaped us, whose visage I had imprinted in my mind, so I shot at another, landing two arrows solidly in his torso. Baermak healed Vessyr, keeping him from death, while Alyona sprinted forward and attacked the closest rat-thing.
The rats closed in, and then more appeared, running to the battle. Vessyr stood and made it dark between us and the charging rats. Alyona and the spider stood just outside the darkness, and try as I might, I could barely make out the rat I had been so deeply concentrating on.
The one rat standing outside of the darkness struck Vessyr and he dropped immediately back to the ground, the darkness fading as his consciousness likewise faded. Baermak healed Vessyr (again).
I shot the rat I was concentrating on, who had conveniently appeared out of the darkness, but he didn’t fall, so I shot him again. This time square in the chest, and he fell back onto the walkway, limp. I turned my focus to the rat behind Alyona as she dropped the one in front of her and turned to also face the one behind.
That’s when Alyona fell, crossbow bolt in her back.
Two of them attacked the newly rebuilt Boris, and I tracked the rat leaping over Alyona’s body to scratch at Ingoria, and I shot it mid-leap! It tumbled forward, into the sewage. I turned my attention to the rat farthest away, who seemed to be directing the action. I hit him, but didn’t seem to do as much damage as I should have, with him twisting slightly out of the way.
Baermak healed Alyona and she got up, clubbing the one next to her. Ingoria joined in, using her special claw bracelet, carving open its throat! It tumbled back, eyes wide in shock.
The two remaining rats turned tail and fled. Vessyr cast fire under the leader rat, and again the corridor smelled of burning hair and whatever was in it.
Charging ahead after them, we unloaded, launching spells and arrows as fast as we could. I leapt into the air, sending arrows into the receding rats’ backs. Alyona also chased, but was unable to get close enough to strike (they were as fast as she).
Baermak cast a spell and the leader dropped. I shot the remaining rat. The first arrow hit him, but he dodged a bit. By now, though, I knew they dodged, and I knew how they dodged. So even as I sent the first arrow I adjusted and sent the second arrow right to where I knew the rat would be. Before the first even hit, the second was arcing to its mark, which was empty space. The rat-thing dutifully dodged, thinking it was outsmarting me. The arrow landed directly in the center of his back.
He reeled, stumbled a bit, tried to reach back for the arrow, and then gave up and kept going. But his stumble allowed Boris to close with him, and Boris tripped him and climbed onto him, stabbing him repeatedly with metal claws.
Again, the battle was done. Maybe?
I created my little rope trick this time, instead of letting us camp in the open, and the team climbed in to rest. Which we sorely needed!
Rested up, we headed farther down the sewers toward the mansion, and we found two rooms as the causeway ended. And in one of the rooms was a Human, reading a book!
He said he was simply a cook for the rat people and asked if we were here to free him. My instinct was to free him, but then it struck me that he might be the one that escaped. We knew the rats were also Humans. But was this Human also a rat? I couldn’t tell, but Vessyr had an idea: these must be were-rats, and were-creatures are immune to regular weapons; they must be struck with silver or magical weaponry. So Vessyr slyly cut him with a dagger as he passed by, and the Human did not bleed! He was a were-rat!
Caught, he immediately confessed. We grilled him and learned that the rats were guards for the sewer entrance…to the mansion! There is a secret entrance right here! There are guards on the other side of the door, of course, but we know where the door is!
Our plan was coming together!
Before we entered I gave Vessyr Laarii’s signet ring. If I don’t make it through this battle, mother, get that ring from Vessyr. It proves that the Stormriders at least, and perhaps even the Cloud Eyrie, are working with the Sylvans.
We discussed our plan and readied for the attack. The team gave me our special necklace with two little glass globes containing fire balls.
We easily located the secret door, and then found a little rock that worked as a button to unlock the door. There was some rosin on the underside, which probably meant that there was a poison needle or something hidden in the rock. Ingoria worked at it with her tools, slowly and methodically disarming the trap. As she finished, the door nudged open, silently. Alyona made sure we could all pass quietly and I used a location spell to find the treasure we were after; it was above us, in the direction of the tower.
The small room behind the door contained a wardrobe and a ladder. No guards! In the wardrobe we found a backpack containing some magic items. We simply threw the backpack in our bag and headed to the ladder.
Ingoria and Alyona went up the ladder and the rest of us waited, silently. Finally Ingoria peeked over, at the top of the ladder, signaling us to proceed. I climbed without hesitation and at the top lay a corridor. Alyona, Ingoria, and I headed forward, while Baermak, Boris, and Vessyr lagged behind, waiting. They were noisy.
The small corridor opened into a square room with a statue in each corner. They were the same featureless design as the ones we found in the transporter room. The same except for the open mouths.
The statues all looked, with their mouths agape, to the center of the room, which was completely filled with a square pool of acid. Vessyr checked, and the acid only dissolved organic matter. The heads of the statues glowed with magic.
There were no switches or triggers we could find to disable anything; even though the were-rat said that the Sylvans fairly regularly traveled through the sewers, so there must be a way to avoid what was obviously a trap.
Ingoria climbed up the wall and crossed the room on the ceiling -- but half way across the room the statues shot fire from their mouths, filling the room with fire!
And filling my nostrils again with the smell of burning hair.
Singed but safely across, she looked for a switch on the other side but found none. Nothing on either side. We needed a better plan. After a bit of discussion, we came up with one: Vessyr built a lever and was able to tumble one of the statues into the pit of acid!
Not organic, it simply lay in the pool.
He then worked on the other one, also toppling it. 2 down! He was able to aim it more or less, so that it fell on its cousin, forming a nice, acid-free island of statues.
Now we needed to get to the other two. And by “we”, of course, I mean “Vessyr”. So Vessyr stepped back, prepped, and sprinted into the room. Now, Vessyr is old. Very old. I can sometimes hear his joints creak when he moves. But mother, he sprinted in, leapt up onto the fallen statue, which sensed him and spurted fire into the acid as he bounced back up and over to the other side, flying through the wall of fire spurting from the remaining two statues, and landing on his feet!
For such an old man, it was a stunning sight to see!
As magnificent as his crossing was, it was for naught: Vessyr was unable to topple the other statues. So we all, in turn, simply crossed the acid, taking the fire as we did. With half of the statues face-down in the pool, the fire wasn’t very bad, only causing a slight singe.
We continued forward, heading up into a pantry.
Through the well-stocked pantry we entered the nicely appointed kitchen.
Being so late at night, nobody was awake. We quietly moved through the house, Ingoria and Alyona in front with me close behind. As they moved forward I stayed behind, keeping them in sight. As they turned a corner they would stop, and I would move forward, signaling Baermak and Vessyr to move up to my spot as I moved forward.
Alyona recognized the area we occupied, having peeked through the window when we scouted the other day. We avoided the room she looked in, which looked like servant’s quarters, and headed into the dining room. Avoiding contact was our goal. If we could get in, grab the treasure, and get out undetected, we would be extremely pleased.
From the dining room we could see down a long hall to the front door.
We turned toward the tower, ignoring the main entrance and the other rooms around us. Hearing nothing and finding the corridor leading to the tower, we headed west, toward the tower and our treasure. As we reached the corner Ingoria noticed a Night Shade across from us on the balcony above, watching the front door. He hadn't noticed her. But there was likely another one directly above our heads.
We quietly debated our best course of action. And we decided.
Ingoria and Alyona silently headed around the corner, into the tower. The Night Shade did not sense them in any way. Baermak was in magical communication with them, so the rest of us waited, motionless. I had my bow, arrow drawn, waiting to peek around the corner and take that Night Shade out, should anything go wrong.
They seemed to be gone for hours! I could hear my heart, and I was sure the Night Shade could as well. I breathed through my beak but it was so loud! So I opened my mouth, but that seemed even louder still! I worried that the simple act of opening my mouth would trigger some sort of alarm. I waited, and waited, bow drawn, waiting. My arms shouted in pain and my mind wanted something to happen. Anything!
Ingoria suddenly sped back around the corner and I almost shot her. I slung my bow and she handed me two lockets. One I did not recognize, but one ...
One was Aarik's.
Aarik!
I was stunned.
I stared at the locket, and the group stared at me.
It was Aarik's locket.
I took a very deep, slow breath, and told the group.
"This is the locket of my brother."
They looked at each other and debated what to do, but mother, I could barely contain my rage! I stood perfectly still. Burn everything! They debated. I thought of the Night Shade on the balcony. He would be dead before they even realized I had killed him. They could make whatever plans they wanted. I wanted to burn this entire mansion to the ground, with everybody in it. Starting with the Night-
Alyona then suddenly appeared from around the corner, sprinting past me. As she glanced into the entryway she paused, as if she saw something. But there was nothing there. I don't know what caught her eye, but it gave her great pause. I watched her, quizzically. She stopped, glared at Vessyr, and made a gesture, but I’m not sure what she meant.
She was still.
She looked back at me.
She took a step backwards, standing next to me, and turned slowly, looking directly in my eyes.
"We kill them all," she whispered.
I...I knew. Then I knew. We would get our violence.
Aarik was here somewhere. And we would kill every single person in this place until we found him.
"We kill them all," I agreed.
She turned and sprinted away.
And if we found him before we had killed everyone, we would, well, we would proceed to kill everyone anyway.
I didn't know what she was doing, but I saw her head to the left from the corridor; we came from the right. I knew we would attack, but should I hit that Night Shade? The rest of the group seemed quite unsure. Ingoria headed into the dining room, trying to draw us to the exit. She thought we might be leaving without bloodshed. She didn't know.
I drew an arrow.
Yes, I should hit that Night Shade.
Just as I was about to turn the corner and start, Baermak told me that Alyona was going to ambush the Night Shade from behind. I readied for his signal…
3…
2…
1!
I spun out from around the corner, bow drawn, and loosed three arrows in quick succession. Alyona stood beside the man, staff in hand. He never remotely guessed what was happening. I sent all three arrows directly into his heart and he slumped into Alyona’s arms. She quietly set him on a nearby chair, and I sprinted upstairs to join her, the rest of the team behind me.
We searched the upper floor, finding four empty bedrooms, the privy, and a Human asleep in his bed. Alyona killed him.
We then headed to a set of beautiful stained glass double doors and quietly tried to open them; but they were locked. As Ingoria was picking the lock a needle stabbed her.
Baermak cured her poison, but we were unable to get in to the room. We decided to clear out the rest of the mansion and save that room for last. Breaking the glass would be easy, but noisy.
We went back downstairs to finish exploring and found another privy and an empty room. As Alyona opened the next door I saw her eyes open wide in shock…there was somebody in the room! I charged down the hall, bow drawn, peeking around the corner: a Sylvan sat on the bed, meditating.
I shot him three times, right in the chest, and he fell over on his side without a sound.
The next room, the room that Alyona had peeked into during our earlier reconnaissance, probably had another Sylvan, so we prepared to ambush him. Alyona yanked the door open and I sent three arrows through the opening door almost before I even had a target…
…but I did have a target: another Sylvan, sitting on the bed and meditating.
He slumped to his side.
We found another empty bedroom and some random coinage.
The rooms were cleared.
My heart raced, mother. My anger had me on full alert, all of my senses on fire. I could hear Alyona breathing beside me, slow, methodical, every breath on purpose. I could see the pulses in the blood flowing from the Sylvan on the bed.
I was focused, so focused.
But we were not done yet.
Alyona mentioned that there was a lower story in the tower; a basement. So to the basement we went. Alyona and Ingoria headed down. After a few minutes Alyona whispered for me to join her. I headed down. It was a small circular room with two portcullises. And behind one was a cell.
And in that cell was a bed.
On the bed was blood. A great deal of blood.
And on the floor ... and on the bed ... I saw feathers.
One of the people had been here. And probably died here.
Alyona and Ingoria were in the other cell. I could hear rummaging, hinges creaking as they opened, whispers. I do not know what was in the other cell, and I do not care. I simply stood and stared.
Ingoria finally emerged from the other cell and I asked her to let me into this cell, which she did. So much blood.
The bed was completely soaked.
As much blood as would be in a person.
And the feathers.
They were his.
There was also syringes and drug paraphernalia, and a vial of powder, like the powder they used to drug Alyona. I showed it to her, and she took it.
I hoped it would make her happy. So she could fly. Like we can fly. Like I can fly. Like Aarik could fly.
But...but...that meant...if he was here, with those drugs. That meant that they...
I am not sure what happened next.
I know that we crept up to the upper floor and set up around the final unopened room; his bedroom. It was the nicest spot in the entire mansion. It must house the owner. The man who did this. Ingoria and Alyona flung open the doors, revealing Daroth!
I remember being frozen.
I remember Ingoria beside me, still, unblinking.
I watched as Alyona charged in and struck him. But as her staff connected, shining, sparkling slivers of light shot out of his wound, the same way they had shot out of Aleorman when I shot him on the boat. They streamed toward Alyona, slamming into her…and she fell. I remember that.
But I remember it as if it was told to me. As if Baermak sang a story, telling us of a battle we had fought, even though we hadn't actually been there.
I watched as Vessyr charged into the room after his granddaughter, Boris following closely behind him, and Baermak behind Boris.
I remember Daroth appearing beside me as I broke free of his spell. He brought his sword down, hard. I watched it cut into me, staring him in his eyes.
I was laying on the ground.
I was not me.
I was me, but I was not in me. Me was not there.
And then I was there.
At least, I was me.
I looked around, and the spider was grappling with Daroth. Alyona was getting to her feet. Daroth disappeared from Boris’ grasp…and our view.
I had seen Sylvans perform that trick before.
I watched as Alyona sprinted to the entry hall and called out that Daroth was by the front door. Vessyr ran forward and I heard crashing and cursing. I watched me get up and sprint to Alyona’s side. Vessyr was nowhere to be seen, but his spider was next to Daroth, who was through the door, still sprinting.
Vessyr shot at him twice from somewhere below me.
I watched me run after Daroth, shooting him twice. I watched my arrows sail through the night, slamming into him.
I watched him stumble, almost toppling. I watched him create a strange, sizzling portal in front of himself and walk through it.
I watched myself dive forward into the portal, but it was gone.
He was gone.
Aarik was gone.
I knelt on the lawn where Daroth had been while chaos erupted around me.
I hadn't returned, and you sent Aarik to find me, help me. Rescue me.
It's my fault.
I watched as Baermak explained to me that I couldn't follow through the portal.
I watched the team begin to panic. Guards were alerted. They were converging. The entire neighborhood was awake.
I was not panicked. I had more arrows.
I watched as we hurried back through the mansion to the sewers. I simply followed.
As we passed through the entryway, I watched me take a little globe of fireball from my neck and throw it into the tower. I watched flames reach out, up, around. Whatever was happening in that tower, it would burn. All of it would burn.
I watched Baermak pull me along with the team. I wanted to watch the flames. Baermak wanted to leave.
Ingoria grabbed some papers from the study, but she was in such a hurry...papers lay everywhere. I watched me throw another fireball into the study as she left.
Still, Baermak pulled me along. They would come, and I would meet them with arrows and fire.
But Baermak pulled me along.
We passed Vessyr, lighting a fire in the kitchen. I wanted to help.
But Baermak pulled me to the ladder.
I watched us gather in the corridor, collecting ourselves, healing, making sure all was well.
All was not well.
They wanted the lockets. To hide them. So that we could not be located via the lockets.
I watched me set the lockets down.
I remember setting Aarik's locket down.
I remember a boat.
I remember a room.
I remember my brother.

Report Date

24 Sep 2022