Chapter 22 - The Clouds Gather

General Summary

Back at Boar's Pit Keep, Reinhard investigates what his comrades uncovered before departing for the Pool of Insight. He creates an arcane light, and summons a magical servitor to descend into the pit with the skeleton. The servitor lifts the bones out one by one, and Reinhard - a skilled doctor, reassembles them on the ground level of the tower. Having done that, he peers at the runes. He cannot read them, but thinks it likely that they are elvish. Transcribing them carefully onto a sheet of paper he brought with him from Mittelheim, he can begin to make out the pattern of signs - meter and rhyme - without knowing the tongue, and is pretty sure he can make out some names.
The scholar's study is interrupted by the sounds of footsteps outside the tower. From a window atop the tower, he observes a person, apparently human, slowly walking around the keep, as if looking for something. Detecting now threat and curious as to what a human might be doing here, Reinhard calls out, and a woman's voice answers. The doctor descends, and finds himself face-to-face with a older, yet hale, woman, who introduces herself as Nit. Her story is that she followed a child (whose description possibly matches that of Alfred) to some standing stones atop a hill. She followed him, thinking he was lost and in need of being rescued, inadvertently touched the stones, and appeared in a maddeningly bizarre forest, wandering aimlessly for at least a day, until she came here. She herself is a trouper who rescues runaway children on the side, and thought she could help the child who ended up leading her here. Conversing with Reinhard, she reveals that she picked up a passable knowledge of the elven language. She stares at the runes on the disinterred skeleton, but as she is unlettered, she cannot read them.

* * *

The rest of the party dejectedly makes its way from the Pool of Insight. Cilly 'Wechselbalg' has again contracted the Plague from inadvisedly staring into the pond, and now, no one wants to be near her, for fear of becoming infected. Klawuhn is still suffering from the effects of being a dark elf in Albenheim, and is too wary for asking for healing from Cilly. On top of that, Alfred has slipped, or been stolen from their grasp, so Franz is no closer to setting his family life aright. Eddi suffered the most from the fish's magic, but must now lead her companions back to the Keep without the aid of aerial guidance. Perhaps because she is exhausted - physically and emotionally, she lets the woods get the better of her, and leads her companions astray, before realizing her error, and trying to adjust. Making their way toward the Keep after darkness has descended, she also realizes that the moon - several times larger here in Albenheim than at home - has been waxing, and is now full, or nearly full. That means the Dietmar may imminently turn, assuming that the energies of the Realm allow this. It might make sense for him to head to the portal, but would that mean leaving his companions, or at least Cilly, in Albenheim by herself?
They finally stagger into the Keep, where the healers attend to the various injuries sustained by Eddi, Klawuhn, and Cilly. Dietmar does pray for her convalescence, though he knows that Gaal has not revealed the cure for the Plague to him. Cilly herself looked for various herbs she needs for her elixir along the way back, but found nothing, and decided not to risk extending their travel time. Now, they converse with the newcomer Nit. If it was Alfred she was after, they tell her, he seems to have been taken by one of the elves - likely Edelweiss herself.
As Klawuhn stuffs himself with more boar meat (and soon eats more than is good for him, until all its therapeutic properties are lost, and he doubles over, retching on the ground), Dietmar looks on to the disinterred bones, and begins scolding Reinhard for taking them out of their resting place. Reinhard insists that he knows what he's doing, and that unlike some of the friar's other companions, he, at any rate, is a Gaalite. What's more, he plans on continuing his researches deep into the night. Eddi gives him Alfred's pearl, which the doctor uses to identify the magic inscribed in the runes. The characters he transcribed earlier suddenly make sense to him, and he gets a knowing look on his face. Dietmar demands to know what Reinhard learned, but the latter declares that he will keep the knowledge to himself. As his companions settle down for the night, Reinhard proceeds to the second stage of his work. He unveils the magical hourglass discovered in the Sacristy of St. Beatus (to Dietmar's further disapproval) and proceeds to invoke the spirit of the departed elf. The spirit's responses originate as whispers and end as shrill screams, so that it wakens everyone at the keep. It tells Reinhard that its name in life was Karl, that it died when humans drove it from Mittelheim with sword, steel, and Divine Light (which it refuses to name), and that its kin includes Gylfi, Gullweg, and Gullin.

* * *

The following morning, the party finds Franz gone. Though they had set up watches, no one saw him leave. Dietmar looks for tracks of intruders, and finds none. Perhaps Franz was also taken by Edelweiss, but it's more likely that he just needs to take care of his family business, his comrades conclude. In any case, they need to figure out what to do as their own problems mount. Dietmar may be on the verge of transforming into a ratman, and several of his companions suggest that he should go back to the portal. But he has been drinking his anti-transformative tonic every day, and in any event, he does not want to leave Cilly behind, as she has taken a turn for the worse during the night. The best course of action seems to be to return to the Temple of Teeth, where the inhabitants might minister to her as she completes her elixir. She will seek what she has started to refer to as the 'elven water of life' there, and along the way, she will once again look for ingredients, aided by her companions.
Initially, fortune smiles on them. They follow Eddi, while Reinhard's disk hovers behind them, bringing back boar flesh and carcasses. Dietmar's purification ritual on the meat ensures that it can no longer sicken anyone. They also manage to locate many of the herbs Cilly seeks - lilies of the valley, comfrey, honeysuckle, and silver bush - the forest surrenders its gifts, as the price of blood, and tears - Nit seems to be able to weep on demand - are paid. Toward the end of the day, they manage to locate a walnut bush. As they move in to harvest the nuts, an elfin shape briefly appears on the other side of the bush. It laughs, and just as quickly, disappears. Then, strange things begin to happen. Several of the companions simply stop moving, as if stuck knee-deep in mud. Klawuhn inexplicably wanders into the bush, cutting himself with thorns in the process. Just as suddenly, he charges out of the bush, and stabs Nit, before dropping his dagger, and, apparently in control of his faculties, throws his arms in the air. The commotion ends, and Reinhard discovers three apparently crushed walnuts in the area. Whether these are gifts is unclear, but the group must press on.
The woods take their toll, and it is harder to get back as it grows darker. Making sure they don't get trapped in the forest at nighttime, the group presses on, trying to make the Temple before the night is out. But exhaustion - or inebriation - takes over - Klawuhn, Reinhard, and especially, Cilly, are in a bad way prior to arriving back at the temple. Fortunately, Carrot carries her on his back for the last two hours.

Rewards Granted

• Herbs for Cilly's elixir
• Bones of deceased elf from Boar's Pit Keep 

Missions/Quests Completed

• Return to the Temple of Teeth 

Character(s) interacted with

• Karl

Report Date

16 Mar 2021

Primary Location

Boar's Pit Keep