Journal Entry 27.00 The Many Errands of Graykar

Graykar runs several errands for personal reasons and for the party, coordinating events in preparation for future adventures

With Urik off on his own agenda visiting some of the local orc villages and Aja following up on the what little information Graykar had found out about Rockspit, Graykar thought it was a good time to visit Morvion and go over some of his thoughts about how Morvion might succeed in his quest to regain the remains of his loved ones.
Approaching the tower Morvion was constructing miles outside the city walls of Chrailis, Graykar shook his head in amusement. “You have to be the oddest elf I’ve ever met,” he muttered to himself.
“Morvion,” he called out to the tower, hoping the elf was inside. It was a few hours past dusk, a time Morvion seemed to prefer to be active.
After a few moments, Morvion hailed Graykar in return from deeper in the forest. “Out here. What brings you out to my new dwelling?” Morvion was approaching carrying a brace of small animals, one a squirrel and another being some type of burrowing animal. Graykar thought to himself Is Morvion actually bragging by directly mentioning his ‘new’ home?
“An impressive stone tower. I wanted to see it after hearing you talk about it. And I wanted to stop and say hi, see how you are doing, all that stuff,” Graykar responded. “I see you caught some food for me,” pointing at the animals Morvion was carrying.
“I can share. Come inside.”
Entering the tower, Graykar could see that it was little more than a round wall around a large tree. The tower was only about thirty feet tall right now, but Graykar knew it was a work in progress. Morvion was adding to it daily.
He suppressed a chuckle as he thought about Aja’s threat to animate the tree and have it climb out one day, once the tower was finished, replanting itself just outside the wall. True enough, Morvion had described it accurately when he had outlined his plan on how he was going to build his tower. “I will find a large tree where no one claims to own the land and then I will summon several walls of stone, tightening them in a circle until I have built a protective wall around my tree.”
The entrance hole still needed a good door. Graykar assumed that Morvion had a plan for making it happen, but none was apparent as of yet.
Climbing the tree, both of them ascended to a wooden platform about fifty feet off the ground toward the top of the tree. Built into the wooden floor was a tiny stone fire pit with old coals still giving off a hint of smoke.
As Morvion began preparing the animals to be cooked, Graykar decided to jump right into what he was thinking. “As you know, I’m aware of the quest the Coterie gave with regards to finding your wife and children. Have you given it much thought? I know we joked about it, but I mean, have you really given it much thought.”
“Yes,” is all Morvion said.
“And, have you determined what elven priestess might work? Where you will find said priestess?” This was the part which had Graykar concerned. He didn’t think that Morvion would actually conspire to kill a good priestess, especially an elven one, but really wanted to make certain. Of late, his trust of Morvion was suspect.
“I’ve given it thought. They didn’t say what priestess needed to be killed, only that she was elvish. And we have that belt of gender-swapping.”
Graykar was a little relieved; if Morvion was already thinking the same thing, then maybe his idea wasn’t that crazy of a plan. “I was thinking along the same lines. But capturing a priest of Majalacturis will be difficult right now. Going in for a smash and grab will be dangerous and probably not worth the risk until we are closer to defeating Majalacturis altogether.”
Morvion looked up at Gryakar intently. “I wasn’t thinking that. My plan is simpler.”
“Simpler?” Now he was worried again. If not a priest turned priestess of Majalacturis, then that didn’t leave many options that would sit well with the rest of the group.
“Yes, I asked around. The boons required by the Coterie can sometimes be very literal. The priestess doesn’t have to stay dead. Aja can bring her back.”
“That still sounds, I don’t know, um, rather evil. Killing someone with the intent of bringing them back is probably tantamount to other serious crimes of personal invasion. Like rape or something.”
Morvion, completely serious, looks hard at Graykar for a few moments. “Only if the priestess is unwilling. If willing, then it is not a crime.”
Graykar nods. “True, but where are you going to find a willing priestess. One who is willing to allow themselves to be killed and then trust Aja to bring them back. From what I know, resurrections are not guaranteed.”
“There is a priest at this very campfire,” Morvion said without any emotion.
“You? Since when are you a priest, and of whom? Surely you don’t think you qualify as a priest of Majalacturis just because he named you his chosen one.” Then again, Graykar thought, maybe it did.
“I am a priest. Of whom you need not worry, but it is for real. I perform sacraments daily. Urik suspects, and for the good of the group, I ask you don’t share this knowledge.”
“So your plan is to find a lizard, turn yourself into a girl, and help that lizard kill yourself? And then you meet the Coterie’s conditions? So what, then we haul you back before Aja and she brings you back.”
“It does seem simple, doesn’t it?” Morvion asked.
“I’d never call switching my gender something simple. Much less dying. Definitely not dying. I’d still feel them out first, the Coterie that is, and make a trip into Chrailis and just ask if this will work. I hear different stories about their required boons, it's not all for their benefit, it is putting you in the right place at the right time. A shortcut like you speak of might not work.”
Graykar adds some dried branches to the fire pit and began stoking it back to life.
Morvion remained quiet for several minutes as he finished spitting up the two mammals for the fire. Once done he finally said, “Tomorrow, I will do as you suggest.”

---

Graykar left Morvion’s summoned tower and ran back to Chrailis. With his divine enhanced speed, covering a few miles now only took minutes. It was well into the dark of night and the perfect time for Graykar to follow up on the dreams he had been having for the past month.
The dreams of a particular chimney had been reoccurring for some time. He was now getting used to figuring when his dreams were just that, dreams, and when they were figments of history from previous lives. A reoccurring image almost had to be a figment of remembered history. And this chimney he kept seeing he felt certain was, or at least, had been in Chrailis.
As he ran, he wondered if remembering previous lives was part something he had done in previous lives. And to that, he couldn’t remember having happened before. Something was different this time around.
During the previous month during the downtimes between visiting the temples of Perlachio, he had been exploring the city hoping to find the chimney. A city of over a million inhabitants takes time, and when looking for such a distinctive landmark, he knew it would probably take luck.
In his dream, it was in a part of the city he wasn’t familiar with, and from those scraps, he couldn’t know when he might have seen it. The chimney could have been centuries old by now. Then the night before last, while searching for a new favorite tavern, he had seen the landmark which lined up with what he had been dreaming – a double chimney on a single building. The building was too small to require two chimneys. Chimneys were never about heating the home, not in a jungle city like Chrailis. They were for cooking and manufacture only.
The double chimney had previously had the top half of one side broken off and then been repaired with a red stone. About the only stone color available in Chrailis was white marble. Red stone was unusual, meaning it was likely some type of brick. Even then, there was little red clay to even make a red brick here in the city. Such a distinctive chimney was unlikely to be repeated anywhere else in the city.
That night when he had first seen it, he scouted around the building to get the lay of the land then went on to find his new favorite tavern. Graykar’s rule – whatever tavern he was in was his new favorite tavern. He had meant to leave early enough so that he would have time to come back to the building while still in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, Graykar had a way of losing time in any drinking establishment, just too many new friends to meet, and on this night or revel didn’t leave until sometime after sun up.
But tonight, the journey to Morvion’s and the subsequent late meal had brought him back to the chimney at the perfect time. Being the middle of the night, he snuck into the building. Expecting it to be possibly inhabited, he found it wasn’t. It was the office for a nearby foundry. The double chimney was used for was making test molds.
Nothing seemed familiar until he neared the fireplace. Graykar knew that this fireplace had played a role in his repeated dreams. Working on this, he began exploring the fireplace and then continued by reaching up into the flue to feel around. The smaller fireplace hadn’t been used in years despite its obvious intent for cooking. The flue to that chimney was small. On the other side of the flue valve, he felt a small switch. Pulling the switch, a single brick clicked and slid out a few inches near his right elbow.
Checking for traps again, he then slid the brick out and found a deteriorated leather bag in it. Inside the bag, he found a white mask with black highlights.
Replacing the brick where it belonged and hearing it click in place, he took the old bag and mask and then departed. As he walked back, he tried to remember what he could about the mask, wondering at how long ago it was that this mask was hid. While uncertain as to how long it had been, he was certain that he was the one that hid it. And as to why he hid it, he couldn’t recall except for a gnawing hunch that he was hiding it from someone. Someone powerful, someone who if they ever found out he took it, would exact a terrible revenge.
Well, that was a different Graykar, he thought as he smiled. Now he rather looked forward to meeting someone powerful enough to attempt said revenge. It might even make for an interesting story.

---

The next morning while nibbling on his second still-warm pastry from the inn he had crashed at late last night, he received a Sending from Aja. Please before your next trip out to Imokan’s estate obtain and bring a copy of sewer schematics relevant to the southern 4th tier.
Graykar responded he would do so and would likely be out later that same day. He made his way toward the center of Chrailis and found a city planning office, one that might have such maps. While not cheap, he was able to get several of the clerks busy tracking down the necessary maps. He then went and found a mapmaker who could copy the maps and paid another small sum of gold to make a priority of copying of anything the clerks found. He told the mapmaker he would be back two bells past noon.
That done, he decided to run down to Urik’s school. While his speed was a blessing and running was something he enjoyed, he noticed it had started to obligate him toward several messenger tasks.
After ten minutes of running, he arrived. The school was busy, several new buildings were being constructed. Most of the builders were orcs, many of those being students of Urik’s school. It was also obvious that many of the master craftsmen were human. An entire team of humans and elves were working on one building in particular.
Approaching the building, Graykar found Caladanis talking with one of the foremen. Once they were done, Graykar pulled Caladanis aside, “Greetings. Urik had asked if I could stop by to see how things were going, to see if you were needing any extra help while he was gone.”
Urik had departed three days earlier. With an increase in orcish refugees heading toward Chrailis from the upsurge of Gore Reaver activities, Urik had felt the need to travel up the coast of First Dawn Lake to make sure and try to establish a means of peaceful transition for all the displaced orcs heading toward the city. Most of the coastal orcs would behave, it was more the orcs fleeing from the pirate clans he was worried about. He had stated it was his goal to make sure all the villages knew about his school and would pass the information along to any orc listening.
“All’s going well. This will be the main administration building once done, two floors.” Caladanis indicated, looking more at the half-built building rather than turning toward Graykar.
“I hate to ask this, but shouldn’t this building be primarily built by orcs. Instilling pride and ownership?” Graykar asked.
“Urik said the same thing, however, it's just hard to find orcs with the skills necessary for larger buildings requiring a lot of stonework. It’s another one of the things we need to begin teaching. In fact, the crew working on this building will be selecting orcs to help finish it and then we will proceed to stage two of Urik’s design.”
“There’s a stage two?” Graykar asked.
“Yep, once this is done, he is having a temple of Josca built. The humans will largely lead that effort also, but at the same time, they will begin constructing general barracks but the idea is that the orcs will mostly oversee that. They will help them build the first one, then the orcs are to build three more.”
Graykar nodded. “Ambitious. I didn’t know Urik was expecting that many students.”
“He wasn’t, but this school is taking on a life of its own as the refugees start to increase in number. Already to the south there,” Caladanis pointed toward the river, “Several families have already started building crude huts in anticipation of staying closer to the students. The barracks are something I am spearheading for now. I ran it by Urik and told him the need with all the new orcs coming in, he said to ‘go with it.’”
“Urik never even mentioned this,” Graykar stated, calculating the odds that this many orcs in close proximity to Chrailis would remain peaceful. Well, obviously it will remain peaceful with Si’Nassa’s presence. I just hope it is a good peaceful which the orcs aren’t coerced into.
Caladanis reached into a side pouch and pulled out a piece of jerky which he started chewing on. “Urik wasn’t planning for that either. He saw it when he stopped by a few days back and grunted. I think that was his way of saying he would think about it.”
After a pause to swallow, Caladanis turned and looked at Graykar, “You are here to help, correct?”
“I’m here to check-in and see if I can help. As in help in a way only I can do, not general labor.”
“Great. With Urik gone I was hoping you could do something for me, or the school that is. Part of my parole is that I can’t leave these grounds. Talking to the human construction crew, we need to get a small forge built here and a few blacksmiths. Two of the orcs are metalsmiths and can create crude forges, but I was hoping for something a little more modern. Would you be able to ask around in Chrailis, maybe see if some journeyman blacksmith might be willing to come this way for a few months to help us get set up properly?”
Graykar nodded cheerfully, hiding his true thoughts. “I would be happy to help, in fact, I will get started on that today.” Graykar growing more concerned with the idea of that many orcs near Chrailis. He didn’t have anything against orcs, but it did seem foolish to expect them to change their basic aggressive tendency. Add to that a temple to Josca, a war goddess, being planned and now trying to set the orcs up with modern manufacture of metal items could have dubious outcomes. Just how in control was Urik in what was happening here?

---

Running back to Chrailis, Graykar decided that tackling Urik’s problem first might be the best option while it was fresh in his mind.
He first located a carpenter’s guildhall, and from there got directions to one of the main metalworking guildhalls. From there, once he started flashing some gold, he found that several were interested in such a venture. The hard part, it turned out, wasn’t finding the skilled journeymen, or even a master smith, willing to do it. It was the lack of metal. Chrailis was a city built with minimal metal, and as such, the need for skilled artisans was considerably below the number trained for the task.
If Urik was willing to pay for the metal for them to practice their craft, they would gladly help him set up a fully functioning forge at his school. One of the masters even offered to stay on and teach the orcs the craft, himself seeming to have a genuine soft spot for the orcs due to some childhood event which Graykar really didn’t follow as the middle-aged man rattled on about his past.
Graykar left it at he would take their names, that they were welcome to travel to visit the school and ask for Caladanis (only one of the master smiths recognized the name, indicated by his scowl), and that they should mostly just expect that once Urik got back, he would be in touch in the next week or so with firmer plans in place and able to offer a contract at that time.
That done, it was almost the third bell by the time Graykar arrived back at the city planning building. The mapmaker was there waiting, impatient at having been waiting for almost a full bell.
Graykar huffed back at his complaints, “Your getting paid well for this rush job. You make all the relevant copies?”
“Of course, I am a professional,” the snooty mapmaker replied. “I employ only the best coping spells and used the highest grade of papyrus. They are even waxed sealed, so they should last for years.” He handed Graykar several rolled maps.
Graykar paid for them and then began inserting them into his satchel one by one.
“You even going to check them?” the map maker asked, the voice sounding indignant.
Graykar paused a second as he was grabbing the next map, then continued to feed them into his satchel. Without looking up, he mildly said, “Like you, I only employ the best. I employ the best servants, and thus don’t need to double-check of the help.”
With a sniff, the map-maker turned and left muttering, “Fine.”
The young clerk broke out laughing as he departed. She then looked at Graykar, “Thank you, sir. He is good, but most insufferable at times. Might I have your name, possibly just to rub it in next time he makes it by?”
Graykar took off his hat and bowed low. “M’lady, Graykar is the name.”

---

With maps in hand, he made it out to see Aja. While running to Dame Imokan’s countryside estate, he thought to himself, We can’t keep calling it Dame Imokan’s countryside estate, or even estate now that she no longer owns the winery. Surely it has a name.
When he arrived, he was directed to the library. He had been in several libraries before, this one was massive. Consisting of almost three rooms, there had to be at least a hundred thick books in these rooms. Aja had taken over the table in the middle of the third room, several large papers scattered all over it.
“Greetings little lady,” Graykar said as he walked into the room.
She looked up, “You able to bring the maps?”
“I got copies of what they could find. So, what are you thinking?”
“Well, I was told to find the burial urn of Rockspit. And you told me Rockspit was a dwarven general from before Coalescence, one named General Ragimerik, who died before Coalescence. And according to legend, the local dwarves were descended from his clan. So with your help, I was able to inquire further and find out that yes, they still revere him, however sometime after the coming of Si’Nassa to these lands, they lost his burial site.”
“More or less what I know,” Graykar agreed.
“Following this reasoning, we know that the dwarves lived here before Chrailis was Chrailis, living and mining in the hill. So it stands to reason, his urn is somewhere under Chrailis,” she said.
“That is reasonable.”
“And it stands to reason, there is no way to explore the entire depths of the city in a lifetime, the sewers and any mines or catacombs which might be beneath them would be endless. I’ve heard tell that the labyrinth under the city extends down multiple layers, some say as many as ten layers of tunnels and mines can be found.”
This surprised Graykar, “I’ve heard there are many levels, but never heard that many.”
“Well, that is from dwarves. And dwarves are not known as a race which embellishes. If they say ten, it might be twenty. But, I decided to try and narrow the focus of my search. You guys up for a good sewer crawl?”
“Nope, never,” Graykar joked. He would help, as would the others. But it wasn’t something he looked forward to. “I assume you will have some sort of sewage shield for all of us?”
Ignoring that, Aja continued, “So to narrow my search, I thought, why have me find the urn? It must be something I can do, or possibly it is something relevant to the winery. So I thought, I will focus on the tunnels beneath the winery.”
“Inspired,” was all that Graykar could say. It did make a strange sort of sense. The Coterie wouldn’t give an impossible task.
“Yes, so once I get these maps sorted and memorized – the maps in your satchel?” she asked. Graykar started pulling them out, one by one. “Once I get these memorized, we can start exploring.”
“Happy to help, Aja. I think Morvion and I have something to take care of first, might take several days, but once we are back, we can help.”
Aja’s head perked up from staring at the table, she was not one who liked to be left behind. “We have another adventure?”
“It’s a small trip, I am thinking right now. A recon, so to speak. I am meeting with Morvion tonight and we will decide there.”
“Well, I need to stay and study these maps anyway. I am still working on a new spell anyway,” she said, pointing to an empty corner of the library with several chalk marks on the floor. Graykar could see that Gigi was sleeping in a small nest of torn-up paper shreds.
“I thought he usually slept hanging upside down,” Graykar observed.
“Oh, he does. He’s just resting. I have been writing down several ideas, which he has been eating. He’s just full right now and digesting all the ink.”
She said it so nonchalantly, saying it in such a way that it was a simple matter, Graykar could only reply, “Oh, I see,” to cover his confusion.
He then reached into his satchel for the second to last map, and it didn't retrieve as it should. He reached again, nothing. He reached for the last map, and it also refused to appear.
“Still having problems with your satchel?”
“Yeah, the problem is getting worse. I’ll try and get the maps out in a few hours, usually, this glitch fixes itself.”
“Any ideas what’s causing it,” she asked.
“I have a few. I think the sorry state of the village in the water world is related.”
Aja agreed and said as much, “We are going to have to return, and help them sooner rather than later.”
As he was leaving, he remembered his initial thought upon arriving. “By the way, what is the name of this place? It can’t be Dame Imokan’s Countryside Estate.”
Aja, already deeply back in work, gave a distracted response, “It is Shimmering Orchards, it has something to do with all the lirsa vines in the trees. In the morning dew, with a light breeze, the fruit trees take on an ethereal appearance. ”

---

Graykar went to one of his favorite plazas for dinner and to think. His backpack had been acting up more and more. Considering the problem, and the villagers' consternation about Garkon no longer being a part of their life, he needed to dwell upon whether it might not be better to return Garkon to his previous duties.
It was eerily similar to the conversation he had just had with Morvion about killing someone and bringing them back. For the villagers, they seemed to wish for that actual routine to once again be part of their lives. He was concerned about the moral implications. He needed to discuss it with someone. Morvion was out. Morvion would view it as a simple case of need devoid of consideration for what’s right. Aja could go either way. She would follow the practical route and focus more on what the villagers would want, making their free will to decide their fate the determining factor. She would more or less mirror his thoughts.
Urik might be his best choice. With Urik, he wouldn’t get a compassionate answer but would get an answer that focused on the long term morality. Urik would give him a viewpoint different than what he was already seeing.
As he was finishing up, he ordered another bottle of wine to take with him. He then decided to ask Garkon. He had rarely spoken with the dragon. Maybe the dragon would have some insight. Resting his hand on his satchel, he closed his eyes and established a mental link with Garkon, the current inhabitant of the satchel’s stasis chamber.

---

That night, back out at Morvion’s tower, Morvion told him of his earlier visit with the Coterie. “I did as suggested and sought them out, more or less relating my plan.”
Graykar asked, “Did they give you the go-ahead?”
“Not really. They just said it’s a plan. Then they said that the effort is what matters, that what effort I put in will determine the result. So now I think we need to do a little recon first.”
“I would agree with that. I don’t like the idea of us heading into Majalacturis’s lands, at least not at full strength.”
“We do have that wand,” Morvion countered.
“Of which, Aja is still trying to figure out what it does. That reminds me, I need to go pick it up come dawn. Kinsi said the Coterie would be finished examining it by then.”
“True. I guess until we know what it does, it won’t help much.”
“So what kind of recon you thinking, Morvion?”
“I want Aja to teleport me, us, to Kerlostra. From there, I want to see what I can find. The lizards there, as I recall, were on a more friendly basis with the elves. If I can find them, maybe I can find a lizard that already has a plan. Rather than manufacture a scenario, I find the scenario in place which matches.”
“Reasonable.”
“When you return the wand to Aja, can you ask her to be ready to teleport me to Kerlostra tomorrow at dusk? I would like both of you to come along.”
“I think she’s busy. I’d be happy to, however. I have two errands tomorrow then I will be ready to go tomorrow night.”

---

The next morning, Graykar made his way down to Urik’s school and handed off the list of those interested in starting a forge. Caladanis assured him that Urik would get the list as soon as he returned.
Graykar then made for the west side of Chrailis for some morning tea with Gordan. This was a prearranged meet for Borkjä business.
Gordan greeted Graykar, “Some Morning Mist? It’s a lovely flavor, I think they added spiced orange peel in the brew?”
“Thank you. What news do you have for me.”
Gordan then related several random pieces of local gossip and trivia over the course of the two cups of tea Graykar enjoyed. All the conversation was informational but also designed to encode various pieces of information for Graykar so that any prying ears wouldn’t be any wiser.
They then left for a stroll through the Bridge District where the actual mission would be related. Graykar was asked to escort a halfling by the name of Sanjulis from the northern edge of Chrailis tomorrow night to a safe house down near the docks. It would be dangerous for anyone to travel alone at nightfall, with bands of roving thugs moving around. Part of the mission wasn’t just for safe passage, but also that no one would know of the passage.
Graykar agreed to take the mission. Morvion would just have to wait.
As they stood on a narrow marble bridge overlooking one of the many canals of the city, Graykar made a request, sliding along the bridge rail the old leather bag he had found in the chimney. “I need to know what this is. My people are busy, can you have it checked out?”
Gordan reached out and slightly opened the bag to reveal the black and white mask. “Hmm, pretty. It magical?”
“Yes. And I think it belonged to someone dangerous and powerful. Please be careful.”
“I’ll be discrete, as always. Tea in three?”
Graykar agreed then left the tea house. He would meet Gordan in three days and hopefully know more about the mask then.
He then made his way to the city center. Not fully trusting the Borkjä, though he trusted Gordan, he made several other stops and took a lengthy route to get there, just in case he was being trailed. As he did this, he remembered that he had seen that pink-haired half-elf again near Morvion’s tower. She had become so commonplace that he hadn't given it a second thought. He figured she was Morvion’s business at this point. If Morvion didn’t consider her a threat, then he wouldn’t either. Maybe Morvion had a girlfriend he was keeping from everyone else.
His meeting with Kinsi took forever once he arrived. They made him wait until well after noon. On the fourth bell, she finally came out to the entrance hall where he waited and greeted him. Unlike how she acted around Aja, Kinsi was all serious and business with Graykar.
Handing him the amber rod which they had retrieved in the death temple, she spoke in his mind This rod is a wand capable of summoning a great creature, known in other lands as a solar titan. They are beings of immense power and represent pure destruction, weapons of war. This rod will manifest at least one titan. We believe it will also allow you to have minimal control over it. So point it in the direction you want the titan to attack. Note the rod can be damaged or broken. If that happens, the magic to control the titan will be lost. This wand carries a signature similar to what we have seen of Majalacturis, and similar to the divinity you first gained when the sun goddess was slain, so it resonates with each of you. As such, we have determined it probably came from Majalacturis’s world and was probably created to combat him and his forces. Use it wisely.
Thanking Kinsi, who was already turning to leave without any further comment, Graykar returned to the Shimmering Orchards to hand off the wand and relay Morvion’s message. As he ran, he reflected on the relationship between the Coterie and all other mortals, in particular to Kinsi and the party. The Coterie sees us not even as servants, more as tools or ants. At least that is how they treat us. What is so special about Kinsi’s relationship to Aja. It is a friendship for certain. As he ran, he considered ways this might someday be exploited. Though he wasn’t fully on board with the Borkjä’s mission statement, after all without Si’Nassa’s protection how many threats would have already overrun Chraiils, he did want to see some serious social reform within Chrailis. The rampant indebted servitude of the lower echelons of the society reeked of slavery.
Arriving back at the Shimmering Orchards, he once again found Aja deep in study. Gigi was now hanging on the ceiling, the nest of paper pieces gone. “Spell research done?”
“Yep, finished it late last night.” He could see the question in her eyes, why are you asking this, and then she followed his eyes to where the nest had been. She nodded in understanding.
He handed her the amber rod, relating Kinsi’s words. “I have some buried memories on this also. A figment, more than anything. It’s of a city, surrounded by sand. No trees in sight.” As he said this, he noticed Aja’s eyes look up slightly, she was trying to imagine such a city.
“Anyway, approaching this city are three large golem-like constructs, hundreds of feet tall. And the city was afraid, fearful that when the golems arrived, the city would be destroyed. I think that these were the Solar Titans I remember.”
“Possibly relevant. Please keep trying to remember more. If this is the weapon we will use to defeat Majalacturis, we need no surprises when we use it. It sounds like a one-use type of weapon.”
Graykar agreed. “Those are my thoughts. I definitely don’t want to fight both Majalacturis and one of those titans at the same time.”
He then related Morvion’s request about the teleportation. To which, she exclaimed, “What, am I at his beck and call. I have things to do myself, and don’t have time to memorize travel spells on such short notice.”
Trying to mollify her, he said, “Wait wait, I misspoke, I was to ask you nicely if you could help, not demand your presence tonight. And it’s Morvion, he’s rather short on diplomacy. ANNDD,” stretching it out for emphasis, “it is for his wife and children.”
“I suppose,” Aja agreed. “Tonight?”
Graykar shrugged and started to put both hands up, in a manner saying he was sorry, “Actually, not tonight, but tomorrow night would be better. I have something I need to do tonight.”
Aja considered. “Actually, I’ll go and teleport him tonight, then once you are done tomorrow meet up and I will teleport you out tomorrow. I need to talk to Morvion anyway about something I have discovered in my research. I need another set of magically trained eyes on this. I’ll coordinate with him tonight, meet with you tomorrow, then we can go from there. Once both of you are back, the sewers, yes?”
“Yes, of course. We sewer dive once we return. Looking forward to it.” The last sentence carried far too much sarcasm in his voice to be misunderstood as truth.

---

That night he made his way to the northeastern corner of Chrailis, where he was to meet his travel companion. He arrived at the agreed destination and was handed a map. The courier said, “Follow the map, the meet up has been moved.”
And so Graykar did. It had him going further out of the city than he liked, a little too close for comfort to the Quirk Woods, nearly a two hours walk for a normal human. Once there, it was already the middle of the night. He waited in a small grove indicated on the map when a small halfling stepped from around a tree. “Graykar?” she whispered.
“Yes, and you would be Sanjulis?” he responded, also whispering, figuring she had a reason to be quiet.
She nodded in affirmation. She was shorter than most halflings and more slender. In fact, she looked like a miniature human, except for the humped cloak she was wearing. While the cloak was covering a large backpack, it did make it appear like she had a large hump on her back.
Without much conversation, they began their trek toward Chrailis, with Graykar explaining as they went his plan to secret her through the city.
He modified it now that he had met her. Once they neared the city, they stepped off the road so he could work on a disguise for her. A little dirt and maybe a heavier robe, she might pass for an older child. As he helped her make up her new costume, he caught a glimpse of the hump under her cloak. It wasn’t a backpack as he had suspected, but two blue wings, batlike or draconian in nature, folded up tightly. She wasn’t a halfling, that was certain. What she might be, Graykar couldn’t say.
He didn’t say anything, not his business, not right now anyway. He had a job and planned on getting it done. If those wings are draconian, then the secrecy is even more important. If any Coterie finds out about this, I’m screwed.
As they neared Chrailis, he further refined his plan. He had picked up an invisibility potion earlier in the day from the alchemist Gregory for the halfling to drink on the last leg of the journey. But that was risky, he figured. If anything would make her stick out to the Coterie, it might be the presence of an active invisibility cloak. He hadn’t planned on needing to hide her from their eyes. Now he needed to go as mundane and basic as possible so he didn’t draw any attention. He even considered paying someone else to escort her, as his mere presence might be enough to garner attention.
He needed her not walking either. As such, once he got to the edge of town, he looked for a farm with a cart near it. “Are you ok arriving a little later than expected, say mid-morning?”
She considered it for a long time, then said, “Not perfect, but acceptable. I would need to get word ahead.”
“You stay here, I will be back in about twenty minutes. I’ll make sure they know to expect you later.”
He then took off running at full speed through Chrailis. Once he entered the city, he used his Vanish ability and as hard as he could to the destination, dropping the Vanish only as he neared it. Scouting it out for a few minutes, he went inside. He didn’t see anyone at first, then saw a trapdoor in the floor. Moving forward silently, he tapped on the door, “I hope you can hear me, we will be delayed till mid-morning.”
He waited, no answer. He tapped again. This time a muffled voice whispered up, “Ok.”
Running his path back in reverse, he met Sanjulis again. “All set. At first light as soon as the farmers are up, I am going to get us a horse and cart, full of hay and maybe a few other provisions. You will lay in the back, in plain sight. I want to be disguised as an old farmer and I will tell any who ask that you are my lame daughter. We are heading to the docks for supplies. If any try to talk to you, we’ll pretend you are also sleeping, so don’t respond. ”
True to his plan, at first light, he started approaching farmers that he saw with suitable horses and carts. The first said absolutely not, but the second he convinced to allow him to borrow the cart and horse for the day. Graykar left 10 gold as down payment, with a promise of getting five of it back once he returned the cart and horse.
The delivery went smoothly from there. They did encounter one group of ruffians who tried to give them a hard time, making crude comments about his daughter already being in the hay. Using all of his charm, Graykar was able to talk his way out of the situation without further incident. The Borkjä had hired him for his stealth, not knowing that he was just as able at fast-talking when needed.
Once she was delivered, he returned the cart and horse. But first, he stopped by Gregory, asking once again for a special potion, one that could be mixed with alcohol.
Gregory agreed, however he had a favor to ask in return, “While I fix this up, would you be so kind as to head to the docks and look for a merchant by the name of Stevian. He won’t admit to it at first, but he sells yellow-spotted leeches, drapnias is what I think he calls them.”
“Sure, out of curiosity, why do you need them? That does seem odd.” Graykar asked.
“To counter a potential love spell. A father thinks his son is the victim of such magic. In my experience, that rarely happens, so I employ the leeches. I get blood from specific chakra points in the so-called victim and mix that with the potion. If there is a magic charm at play, it will counter it. If not, it doesn’t create an aversion to the love interest. Most alchemists will just sell an aversion potion and call it done, I don’t work like that. Anyway – get them, I need six mind you, and I will knock 10% off the price for this memory absentia potion.”
Graykar respected Gregory for his ethics and made haste in acquiring the leeches for the alchemist.
Potion in hand, and a quick stop by a distillery, he then made his way back to the farmer and settled up late in the day, allowing the farmer to keep all 10 gold. He even gave him a bottle of local whiskey. The farmer eyed this suspiciously but agreed to take a drink with Graykar in celebration of their arrangement. The farmer had already told his wife of their good fortune despite Graykar insisting no one know.
As the farmer took the drink, Graykar only mimed taking the drink. As the farmer swallowed, his eyes glassed over. Graykar then said, “Keep one gold out for your wife, hide the rest. Tell your wife you lied about where you got the gold, that you got it gambling, risking more than you should have. In a few months, remember where you hid the gold. Make up a story you will believe about how you inherited it, understand?”
The vacant-eyed farmer nodded, “I understand.”
“Good, now go and return to your wife. Remember, you are sorry you lied, as you risked way too much to win that gold.”
As the farmer departed, Graykar smiled. Gregory did good work, hopefully, this suggestion aspect of the potion worked exactly as required. The good news is that the potion in the whiskey was now attuned to the farmer, so as he drank it over the nights to come, it would only reinforce what was already suggested.

---

He stopped by and left a message for Gordan, “The flowers didn’t wilt.” This meant the package was delivered safely, though late, and Sanjulis was where she needed to be.
Now he went to find Aja.
True to her word, she had teleported with Morvion to Kerlostra the previous evening. “The village was abandoned, parts of it destroyed, but mostly intact, especially the higher reaches. They must have vacated before Majalacturis’s forces could arrive.”
“That’s sad, it was a cool place,” Graykar responded.
“Morvion’s searching around, he said he would return right after nightfall, so I will teleport you out then. Then I am to wait three days and cast a Sending to see if you two are ready to return.”
Graykar nodded. “Ok. I hate to ask this, but in those three days, can you have one of your raise dead spells handy?”
“You expect to be that successful in finding the remains of Morvion’s family?”
“No – but just in case. Things might go sideways.”
“I’ll have it memmed.”

---

After waiting in Kerlostra, hiding in a low branch of a tree for several hours after dusk, Graykar saw Morvion sneaking into the village, heading toward the tree he was hiding in. It was the second closest tree to where Aja had teleported them in.
“Sorry, I was detained. I have found some interesting things here. Worrisome things,” Morvion hissed under his breath.
“Oh?” Graykar asked.
“Majalacturis has cleared all these lands of sentients for several miles south of here, that is as far as I got yesterday. I kept going hoping to find something, anything. I finally did after nightfall, I found a tribe of red lizardfolk to the southwest of here. Or at least a scouting party. It took some convincing, and fortunately, I remembered the greetings we got from those other red lizards we met last time we trekked down south.”
“That good or bad?” Graykar asked.
“Good, I think. We need to get going, they are going to meet with me again tomorrow just before dusk. I’ll explain what I’ve learned along the way. I need you to talk to them, you are better with the languages than I. Their actual clan lands are two full days away from where we are to meet them.”
As they traveled, Morvion caught him up. Majalacturis had indeed cleared out the lands south of the Zygarosse river but seemed to not be interested in going too far south. Once he had seen most of the elves and other species had fled, he consolidated back north of the river. The red lizards were from much farther to the southwest, in fact, they hadn’t encountered any of Majalacturis’s forces. The lizards were out scouting more to try and figure out where everyone else had gone as one neared the river.
As they traveled, Graykar relayed another thought he had about Morvion’s initial plan of being the sacrifice. “You know, if you do that, you might actually meet and be with them. Not in this world, but in the next.”
Morvion grunted, “I had considered that. Almost looked fondly toward that ideal, only one problem.”
Graykar said nothing, so Morvion continued, “Elves don’t have an afterlife like you humans, we are reborn to a new cycle. It may take years, but eventually, we come back to experience a new facet of life. That life may not be in this world, and often it may not be with previous loved ones if they were tragically separated. The best of us come back as the great trees. Hence the burial ritual, when allowed, of merging the body with a fully grown tree, so the spirit knows where to return.”
Thinking to himself, Graykar didn’t pursue the matter. The way Morvion described coming back for a new cycle sounded eerily too familiar for Graykar. Not the tree part, but the coming back part. Surely I would remember being a tree, he frowned
The next day, a few hours before sunset, they met the scouting party of twelve red lizards. Graykar made introductions and found out these were some of the same lizards, or at least from the same clan, as the lizards which had visited Kerlostra during the feast of the banshee spider. They were coming north to inquire why their latest delegation to Kerlostra had never returned.
Graykar informed them of Majalacturis. Which he again repeated the four days later when they got to the main tribe. “I think you misunderstood the distance. We are much further out than expected.” Aja agreed to keep in contact with them every two days from here on out after she reached out to them initially.
Talking to the clan elders, they learned that large a gathering of elves was encroaching on their lands from the east. They didn’t know where these elves had come from, but they were evil and using powerful magics. At first, both Morvion and Graykar assumed that this tribe of elves was with Majalacturis, but as the lizards continued to describe the elves and their practices, Morvion became certain it was not true.
“I have a fear I know. We need to scout them out. They are using ice magic and that means one of two things,” Morvion said, clearly distracted by his thoughts.
“Ice magic, isn’t that Aja’s realm?”
“Not this time, I fear.”
“I hope you are not planning a full assault on them,” Graykar said. “I kind of like having Urik and Aja in for support when things go wrong.”
“Just a quick scout.”
So they headed out and it only took them another two days to find the elven village. What they saw made Graykar’s skin crawl. “That’s not, um, right.”
Morvion agreed, “Yes, killing lizards by freezing body parts off and then cooking those parts to eat them is horrific. Elves should never degrade themselves like that?”
Graykar looked over at Morvion, “That’s what’s bad? I was referring more to the induced orgies and congress they were having with the lizards before the freezing of the body parts.”
Morvion shrugged, “Yeah, that too.”
Graykar looked long and hard at Morvion. Surely he is joking. People with such a little sense of humor can be so annoying when they finally make a joke. “I didn’t even know lizards, could, um, copulate like mammals.”
As Graykar watched the village from their hidden vantage high in the trees, he then saw some holy increments near one of the elves who seemed to be a leader, “The items she is wearing, those look familiar.”
“The white knife, the one she is using to cut the parts of their bodies off, is known as a Lethalis. It’s a prime holy symbol of Letheria. The dark-haired elf there is a chief priestess. Pain Maiden is the preferred term.”
Graykar accepted this knowledge. “And the ritual involved? I mean look at those lizards. They are still gyrating and dancing, despite having several parts of their anatomy removed.”
“Not sure, I will have to do more research. I don’t think it is some dark copulation ritual meant for breeding, I think it is more about taking the power of the lizards for themselves. Letheria is fond of blood magic.”
“Kind of like how you take the spells of your enemies by drinking some of their blood,” Graykar asked, somewhat sardonically.
Not taking the bait, Morvion simply replied, “Exactly. Though I don’t have to engage in sex with the victim, I only need their blood.”
Graykar couldn’t resist asking, “What if you could gain more – by say, doing more?”
Morvion only said one word. “Interesting.”
They made their way back to the lizards with almost no conversation. Graykar didn’t want to talk to Morvion, he was too creeped out. Morvion was lost in thought.
When they got back, Morvion said to the leader, “We will help you. It may take a while.” Then after a pause, “In the meantime, I need to do some searching and praying. And we need to bring some friends back, but we will return, and we will help you. You have a priestess you need to kill and I am going to help you do it.”
When Aja finally teleported in to pick them up, her first words were, “How did it go.”
“Ask Morvion. He knows far more than I do.”
Aja didn’t press, she could tell that Graykar wasn’t happy about something. So she changed the subject.
“I got word that Urik returned yesterday afternoon. He’s at his school.”
“I’ll head that way and be there before dawn. I need to find a deep dark bar and have a few drinks tonight. I find myself in need of washing my eyeballs from the inside out with some of the city’s finest brandy.”

---

Before heading to the school, Graykar had left notice for Gordan that he was back in town and wished to meet.
Arriving at the school just about an hour after dawn, Graykar found Urik leading several of the students in a war chant dedicated to Josca.
Once done, Urik recapped his recent adventures to Graykar.
“My initial plan was to only be gone for a few days, but as I made my way up the coast, it became apparent that the refugee problem might be better addressed out at sea. I gained information that a gathering of Flayed Serpents was just four days out of Jawbone Hollow with good winds.”
He continued to explain that after a few days, he was able to meet out at sea at a gathering of six ships tied together, four of the Flayed Serpents and two visiting dignitary ships from the Crimson Blades.
“I didn’t get to address any of the captains, but I talked to several of the crews of the ships as they traded supplies. The Gore Reavers are continuing to push into the Flayed Serpent Domain. They are leaving the Crimson Blades alone for now, however, from what I gathered, the Crimson Blades aren’t fooled by this, knowing the Gore Reavers are just trying to keep to a single front.”
Graykar asked a few more questions, to which Urik commented, “Not sure if I did much good, at least I got the word out that that there is possible refuge in Chrailis. Before I left out initially from Chrailis, I spoke with some of the Coterie from House Tar Isovral. It seems that Si’Nassa wants to be seen as a refuge for orcs. As long as they behave, they are welcome to the lands east of Chrailis, between the Zygarosse and the Quirk Woods.”
“That would require changing their society to give up the water,” Graykar pointed out. And to himself, he thought Again, that feeling that this is more than it seems.
“I know, and that disturbs me. But also means that my school may be more important than ever.”
As they continued to talk, Graykar brought up the topic about returning Garkon to his duties of destroying the water world village every few days so it would renew.
Urik thought about it. “I think it is just. They want it, and it is a renewal. And from experience, little to no displeasure is involved, the death is instant. The morality is an abstract thought which doesn’t apply in this case. I don’t think so anyway.”
Graykar countered, “Yeah, but it is still murder. I can’t help but feel that they might be losing something each time. Some part of themselves.”
Urik pondered it as they walked around the school, then finally came up with a conclusion he seemed happy with. “What if you don’t do it, how moral is leaving them to continue to deteriorate as they are. Standing by and doing nothing is often more immoral than action misplaced.”
“Wise words, I suppose.” Doesn’t that run counter to the wisdom that road to ruin begins with good intentions. Then Graykar said, “But there are other options.” He was considering relocating the villagers outside of his satchel and bringing them to Chrailis. Of course, he knew it might break his backpack altogether, destroying the intricate balance of magic required to make it work. He proffered a different idea, instead. “One idea is helping the village to reach a state where it can grow into a city on its own. They are in an ideal situation, no natural enemies around them.”
They talked for several more minutes, finally agreeing that releasing Garkon would be a good stopgap measure for now.
As they were getting reading to part for the day, Urik braced Graykar by the arm, “By the way, thanks for giving me that list of blacksmiths willing to come down to the school. I may need to look into other such help before the year is out if the refugees start increasing as I fear they might. And I need to start securing some more sources of metal.”
Graykar mulled over this some more. “I don’t think you will see as many as you might expect. Orcs are stubborn – many will choose death on the waters over fleeing.”
“That’s true, and many that come this way might be branded as cowards. However, they will come, and that confidence in themselves will be just one more task I will need to achieve. As a divine vessel of Josca’s might, I am already seeing avenues of success. Following a human goddess was difficult for them, following a demi-god in Josca’s service who is an orc will come easier.”
Gryakar left Urik behind. It still bothered him, or rather, he still had difficulty believing that in just a few short months, because of the events put in motion by Perlachio, that some members of his party might already count as minor divinities. While he wasn’t sure, a few month's experience bolstered by a lot of power just seemed wrong as a qualifier for attracting followers.
Then again, I remember stories, maybe even met the men, of human generals who were leaders of nations before the age of 30 just by force of their sheer audacity.

---

That evening, before heading out to look for some musical entertainment, he found a secluded rooftop and contacted Garkon again.
I want to release you back into the world with the village of Thistlezorn and have you resume your duties razing the village ever three days Graykar thought toward Garkon.
I can do this, was the reply.
Are you sure, do you think it will work? The last thing I want to happen is the village won’t reset and you’ve just killed them all, permanently. Graykar said, still in doubt about the plan.
I have considered this since we last spoke. It will work, I know this. It was one of the tasks for which I was created.
You were created, I just assumed you were modified.
We are all created, as were you. My progenitor weren’t parents as were yours, but was an acquaintance of Perlacio, though I don’t know his name or remember him. I only know this is so. It’s been millennia for me, my memory of the early days of my existence have faded.
Graykar thought about Garkon’s appearance. The dragon had a manufactured look, but a biologic aspect also. I really think you might be mistaken, dragon. I think you were modified at some point in time, parts of you were fabricated.
There was a long silence. The dragon was done talking. With no answer, Graykar decides it was now or never. He focused on retrieving Garkon from his stasis cage and pulled him out of the satchel. He pulled out the large ruby carving of a dragon, nearly two feet in length, the compact aspect of Garkon.
“Ok, here goes.” He then inserted the carving back into the satchel, but this time, with the intention of it going into the general storage. I wonder if I can know if this works? Will he revert to his true form?
Then, to his surprise, Garkon spoke to him via their psychic link I am free and back in service of my primary function. Heading toward the village now.
Good luck, and let me know if it doesn’t work.
Sure thing, Boss. Oh, and just an observation, you’ve been modified as well. Our mental link is stronger than you realize now that you are fully attuned to the satchel. Do you remember ever having parents? Do you think your returning to a new existence after every death is a complete chance? I sense things through our link. The rejuvenation magic of the villagers has a strong similarity with the aura that surrounds you, though I don’t think it’s connected. Something else doesn’t want you to remain dead.
This stunned Graykar who continued to sit on the roof for almost an hour. Garkon had gone completely silent, leaving Graykar alone with his thoughts. In all his past lives, he couldn’t remember once having parents. What the hell?

---

The next day, he made his way back to Aja to check-in.
“We still up for a sewer crawl?” he asked.
“I didn’t wait, I figured I could make a few minor excursions into the sewers just below the winery. I even found an access door in the basement plans of the winery once I started looking.”
“Did you find the urn that fast?” Graykar asked.
“Not on the first few days, but then I started sensing something, something out of phase. If it wasn’t for the tricks of vision which I learned for the Life Temple, I would have missed it. Possibly never found it. There was an out of phase power radiating from somewhere below the sewer I was in. I spent more trying to figure out how to get to a lower level than finding the urn.” Her tone as she said this had Graykar worried. Something wasn’t right in how she was referring to this.
Before she went on further, Graykar wanted to know, “Why didn’t you mention this last night when you brought us back?”
“There wasn’t time, and you and Morvion seemed concerned with other matters, I figured it could wait.”
“I understand, it was nothing. Morvion is just odd sometimes, and that trip made me realize that his values are different from mine in more than a few subtle ways at times,” Graykar said. As in, what do I do if he really is evil and this journey of his continues? he mentally added.
“I understand, though I disagree. Just a different culture. We all, well maybe not you, seem to have temptations which pull us from our core values.”
Changing back to the topic way from Morvion, “And what of the urn – you found it then?”
“Oh yes. It was another two levels down. Once I got out of the sewers, I had found the tunnels were flooded from the sewers. I won’t go into details, but having to breath sewer water to get where I wanted to go was not an experience I would wish on anyone. I modified a few spells which should have kept the sewage out, but I don’t know. The imagination runs wild. The whole time I was down there, I felt I was breathing sewage particulates in. I still feel I burp up foul smells from time to time or just get strange whiffs which makes me think I have somehow absorbed the accumulated fecal matter of all of Chrailis.”
Gryakar shivered. “Yuck. I won’t say I feel I missed out on your adventure.”
“So, I did find it. It was two levels down. A sealed urn, about three feet tall, round, and about an arms-length in diameter. It was stuck in a wall, slightly out of phase. It could be seen, but because of how it was phased, it was immobile from the wall.”
“Well, at least you found it.”
“I did more than find it, I can sometimes move things into and out of phase if I can perceive them. Exerting my will, I forced it fully onto this plane.” She paused, something was coming Gryakar could tell.
“And?” he prodded, saying the word slowly.
“I broke it open in the process. The top seal cracked and I released something. Not just the general, but an army of dead dwarves. Thousands of them, at least. They swarmed me and then just vanished into the tunnels.”
Gryakar couldn’t help but laugh. “A common theme for us, go and find the big bad and release it to the world.”
Aja gave a rueful smile, “Yep, that’s us. The Releasers.”
Graykar asked, “So how did that help?”
“I have no idea. They vanished. I left up through sewer and met the estate conservator who locked up the winery after me. That was four days ago, I am going back again today to look around. She’s going to meet me there and maybe I’ll find a clue as to how this helped me secure ownership of the property.”
“What of the urn, anything of value in it?”
“Not that I could see. It was just a clay urn with the lid now cracked. I was able to wiggle it out and swim it back out. I had it delivered out here that day. It’s been sitting out back if you wanted to look it over. From what I can discern about it, it no longer has anything of note except the dried-out bones of a dead dwarf. He wasn’t buried with any possessions, which I found odd.”
“That is odd. Dwarves are always buried with a significant number of valuable items. Trust me, this I know. Are you thinking of resurrecting the dwarf?”
“Maybe. I wanted to wait a day or two and see what we could turn up. Once Morvion looks it over just to make sure I didn’t miss something, I sorta planned on notifying the local dwarves to come to pick it up.”
Graykar grinned big, “And of course, a reward would be in order.”
Aja gave a vigorous nod, “Of course, though I can’t feature it being the 300,000 coins I need for the estate.”

---

Graykar made his lunch appointment with Gordan. Before leaving he had looked over the urn and found nothing of note about it, it was just as Aja had described.
As they ate, Gordan said, “Yeah, I don’t know what became of your little project a few nights back. I did inquire, but apparently, the whole matter is to be kept quiet.”
“Typical. Keep every finger in the dark about the neighboring finger. Our symbol is a closed fist, but if you look, it could also be a fingerless hand,” Graykar answered. “You find anything on the mask?”
“Yes, I did. It’s about a century old. The owner, who you are right, was powerful, died nearly fifty years ago. He still has family, though they are so spread out, the wealth and power they had accumulated is of little consequence now. No one is going to come looking for the mask.”
“Great – though I was kind of hoping someone would. Do you know what it does?”
“It is a cool little item. From what we can tell, the mask is designed to help disguise you, giving you an image of whatever person you think of. It will even alter your voice somewhat. I do have a buyer if you are interested.”
“No, not really. I think I will play with it for a while, then we’ll see.”
Gordan reached down to the seat beside him and slid over a small cloth bag, the mask inside. “Well, if you change your mind, I am sure I can find a good buyer. And rest assured, I investigated everything discretely, no one knows you now have the mask. I am not sure anyone even knows I was the one making the inquiries, so there are a few levels of obscurity about who has it.”
“Good. And again thank you.”

---

It was later afternoon. Graykar figured he needed to check in with Morvion. He’d had a day with the others to think things about and now wanted to make sure he and the elf were good.
As he was running out toward Morvion’s tower, already doubled in height from when he first saw it days ago, attesting to Morvion’s continued work on it, he heard and then saw a horse and rider moving quickly across the field. Noting the direction it was coming from, Graykar turned and caught up in short order.
It was Morvion riding hard toward Chrailis on one of his spectral steeds. Running up alongside, Graykar asked, “What’s the hurry?”
“Aja sent a Sending to me, she is requesting immediate help. At Dame Imokan’s Vineyard.”
“Uh oh, she told me she was going back there today.”
While he could have gotten there first, Graykar paced Morvion and his summoned steed. They arrived together to find several people standing outside the closed front courtyard door to the vineyard estate.
When Aja saw them, she ran up to them, out of breath, her hair wild and disheveled, far more so than normal.
“What’s wrong,” Morvion asked, looking her over for signs of actual harm. Besides her hair being wild, some of her clothes were torn and she had a few new bruises around her face and arms.
“Sorry, I panicked a little, you didn’t need to bring Graykar, though I am glad you did?” she said, slowing down as she spoke, obviously calming herself down.
“And – what’s wrong?” Graykar asked.
“The fucken vineyard is what’s wrong,” she said with an agitated voice, getting excited again, “The place is haunted.”
“Haunted?” Morvion asked, intrigued.
“Yes – with dwarves, thousands of them. Thousands of damn dwarf ghosts.”