Chapter 21 - Franz's Brother and Eddi's Fish
General Summary
As the party waits for the child taken captive to awaken so they can question him, they search the keep. There are a few odds and ends here and there, perhaps suggesting a hasty departure, but in the tower opposite to the one they inspected first, Dietmar discovers a pile of stones several feet high. The stones might mark a grave or something significant, but the priest's attempt to feel any magical auras is blocked by stone, so Klawuhn tries to nudge it free with his crowbar, and then, slipping a rope under it, he and Carrot the Donkey try to swivel the slab. There is a space beneath it, with an aura of necromancy about it. Some of the companions wonder whether this is the boar pit, but Dietmar drops a lit rock beneath the slab, and soon, the companions are able to see a part of a skeleton, apparently with runes carved into the bones. They are hard to see, and Cilly 'Wechselbalg', who peers down into the darkness, cannot read them, though she is sure they are elvish characters. The inscription likely has necromantic, or perhaps divinatory purpose.
Meanwhile, in the neighboring tower, the child has awoken, and begins to strain at his bonds. Franz der Schwarzhoffen begins to question him. The child reveals that his name is Alfred, and his "people" are the residents of this keep, guarding the approaches to the boar pit. His own main task is descend into Schwarzalbenheim to collect deathcaps. Alfred doesn't know where his people are, but he lists their names (among which is Edelweiss, and says that they told him that the keep was about to come under attack by humans and the 'dark ones' (by which he means dark elves. The party seems to match that description quite precisely. Alfred himself rejects any attempts to convince him that he is human, and to return to his 'true' family, but he is ultimately convinced to accompany the group to the Pool of Insight to use his own magical pearl to glimpse the truth of what Franz is telling him. Reinhard, however, decides to stay behind at the keep - the new find intrigues him.
After several hours' journey, they arrive at the pond, apparently, at a different location that that haunted by The Guy. Despite Dietmar's entreaties, several of his companions wade into the green water, and peer at the surface. Eddi wades in first, followed by Cilly and Klawuhn. Cilly, here to fetch water for her elixir, fails to see anything immediately, and keeps staring, until she sees herself covered in boils. She raises her garments and sees that this has actually happened. Klawuhn, saying that there is gold in the pond, wades in further. Soon, a huge shape is seen moving under the surface. Eddi decides that she really has no choice but to catch the fish, and unfurls her fishing pole, but soon realizes that she would have no chance to reel in a fish that large. A mass of tiny fish with razor-sharp teeth appears near the shore, and proceed to quickly chase Klawuhn out of the water. Eddi nets a few of them, intending to use them for bait. Suddenly, Dietmar and Carrot collapse on the bank of the pond. Cilly, Franz and a retreating Klawuhn attempt to reel in their recalcitrant comrade with ropes before anything even more untoward happens, but a strange mist quickly rolls in from the pond, making it very difficult to see. Eddi's strength begins to drain away and her legs weaken - the pond is speaking to her, she says. Again and again, she pulls toward the water, and even cuts herself loose from the rope her companions are using to try to pull her out. She finally wills herself to walk out, but in all the confusion, Alfred seems to have disappeared. The companions search for him and vain, and one last look into the pool tells Eddi that he has been taken by Edelweiss.
Character(s) interacted with
- Alfred
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