Session 42 - Ticking Clocks
General Summary
38 Amberspell
Shortly after midnight, the Tiny Hut vanished with a soft pop. While the interior of the Hut had been reasonably warm, the night had gotten chilly. A few of the party members stirred and came awake, but realizing that it was still the middle of the night, decided to sleep longer after the trials of the previous day. Janora pulled out their ritual book and quickly cast Tiny Hut once more as Jilken wrapped herself in a cloak and stepped out into the darkness.Thin wisps of scattered clouds raced high overhead, but it was otherwise a clear night. Moving away from the party, the elven warrior peered into the surrounding darkness, the light of Arini's waxing shape lending a soft-bluish outline to the trees. Walking as silently as she could, Jilken made a circuit of the lake but stopped when she neared the spot where the rift had been. It seemed Tear of Midnight Sorrow had had a busy afternoon. A long pile of wood and kindling had been fashioned into a platform and the two dozen bodies had been laid out and stacked atop the pyre.
The rest of the night passed quietly and peacefully and as the sun began to crest over the horizon birdsong began drifting down from nearby trees. That was enough to wake up most of the party and as they all sat up in their bedrolls, Janora asked, "So should we get moving or wait till the sun is properly up?"
Ell flopped back into his blankets with a dramatic sigh, "I would very much prefer to sleep longer."
Ell's voice woke Tear of Midnight Sorrow and the small goblin sat up and in Goblin asked, "Boss better? No hurt? Strong magic?"
From under the blanket, Ell's muffled voice sounded grumpy as he replied in kind, "Are you talking to me? Oh, you probably are...Boss is fine, boss just wants to sleep."
Looking somewhat dejected, Tear nodded solemnly and said, "Okay, Boss sleep and make fire later."
Catching the look, Vellikar leaned forward and laid a hand on the goblin's shoulder before asking in Common, "How are you Tear of Midnight Sorrow? That was a hard fight yesterday, you doing okay?"
As he listened to the druid, Tear of Midnight Sorrow's face scrunched up in a look of concentration. It was another moment or two before he replied, in very broken Common, "OT-AY, sad, Tol chief, come back. Freinds stronk, ole cosed."
Realizing that with Ell sleeping, the goblin would have a hard time communicating with anyone, Denye pulled out her spellbook and ritually cast Comprehend Languages. Turning to Tear of Midnight Sorrow, she said, "I have a spell, it will allow me to understand you..for a while at least. And I can recast it if need, so if you want to talk and speak slowly, I am happy to listen."
The goblin warrior looked up at Denye with wide eyes and in goblin said, "You can understand me?"
"I have magic," explained Denye, "that will give me the meaning of your words. I can't do it all the time and I can't speak in your tongue. I'd like to learn though, if you are willing to teach me. This should do for a start and I'm pretty good with languages."
Tear of Midnight Sorrow nodded excitedly, "I can learn too. I understand more words than I speak, we help each other." Thinking for a moment, he said something else in a different language, this one a fast chittering language with the occasional pop. Denye's spell translated it as, "I can also speak Gnomish."
Denye shook her head and in Common said, "I can understand that too with the spell, but I don't speak it. But if you are willing to teach, or if you just want someone to talk to, I'm willing to listen."
In halting words, the small goblin told Denye of the home and lives of the goblins that had been destroyed by this great evil. How the goblin who had been with the demon was Bud of Maiden's Hope, the granddaughter of Chief Dream of the Bullfrog...and his betrothed. He grieved at her death and suspected she had something to do with calling this evil down on the clan. He was also very, very grateful to the party for driving off the threat and saving the clan's home.
As the light of dawn filled the sky, Vellikar went out to examine the lake now that the rift was closed. While there were no more flies, the water itself was dark, murky and almost thick somehow. Shuddering, the druid suddenly looked inspired and began rummaging through several pouches. Pulling out a small glass vial of sparkling powder, he held it so it caught the light and calling on the elemental powers to renew and restore the cycle sprinkled the unicorn horn dust over the water. As the dust settled, the water began to sparkle more and more until suddenly the lake was as clear as glass. Tear of Midnight Sorrow was overjoyed at this and could not express thanks enough.
While Ell slept on, the others began to gather and pack their gear and so by the time the magical dome vanished a second time everyone was just about ready to leave. Denye sighed and shook Ell awake. He sat up, groggy and dazed but muttered, "What, what, I'm awake. Is it time to leave?" At the wizard's nod, Ell got up and began to gather his gear...most of which had already been shoved into his bags by Tear of Midnight Sorrow.
Ranunkel asked, "Where are we headed again?"
"Haven," chirped Denye.
"Well first we need to get to the forest so I can cast the travel spell," said Janora, "that what where we were headed when we ran into the goblins."
Tear of Midnight Sorrow spoke up and asked, in Common, "You want forest?" At Janora's nod, he added, "Less than hour, I take." Dropping back into Goblin he looked at Ell and asked, "Boss better? Make fires now?"
Ell was confused for a moment, but when the goblin pointed to the prepared pyre, the young man grimaced for a moment before hiding it and laying a hand on Tear's shoulder, led him over and cast Create Bonfire a couple of times. The wood caught quickly and in the heat the bodies themselves began burning away. As they watched, Tear of Midnight Sorrow pulled out a small gourd ocarina and began playing a mournful and somewhat haunting tune. After 5-10 minutes of playing, he dropped the instrument and began to sing the Chant of Tears. When the last of the bodies had been reduced to bone, he gave himself a little shake before turning to look up at Ell and saying, "Thank you, boss man. Now let's go to the Forest."
Mounting up, Tear of Midnight Sorrow led them due west and true to his word, in less than an hour the team was standing on the shore of the Windy Beck. Looking at the tall trees, Vellikar got a pang of homesickness, made worse knowing that home was so close, but that his path did not lead there.
Not noticing, Janora turned to the others and said, "We'll need to get into the trees for a bit before I can cast the travel spell, but when I do, stay with me. I'm fairly certain that not all of you have traveled this way before, but stay within sight of me and don't leave the path and you'll be fine."
Ranunkel looked down at the rushing water and asked, "How are we getting across this river?"
Vellikar rode up next to the dwarven druid and looked at the far bank, "It's not too far, maybe we Wildshape to ferry people across."
Looking up and down the river, the witch asked, "Weren't we aiming for a town or something so we could just book passage across or find a bridge?"
Vellikar pointed south, "By my reckoning, Wyldcoast is about half a day that way. We came mostly north to get to the goblin cave."
"So if we don't want to waste half a day, we should cross here," sighed Janora. As a thought struck the witch they added, "Wait a moment, I have Water Walk. I can just cast it on the mounts and we can just ride across." Matching thought to action, Janora cast the spell over the party and said, "That should do it, we can more forward now." The large dog stepped carefully out on to the water, which gave slightly but supported his weight, and with a happy yip bounced across.
It took a bit of doing to get all the horses to cross, but eventually the party found themselves amongst the beech and oak of the Pelagris, the trees aflame with colors as the seasons changed. As the party moved deeper into the forest, the lush underbrush began to thin as the dense canopy above blocked much of the light. Eventually, Janora found a game trail and called the party to a halt once more. Warning everyone to stay inside the circle, the witch began to carve runes into the earth surrounding the party. Taking their place at the front, they began to mutter in a strange tongue and push against the air before them. The already quiet forest went still and there was a sense of pressure as if everything around leaned inward to listen. With a final shout Janora pulled their hands apart as if opening a curtain and with an almost audible pop the sense of listening vanished. Mounting the mastiff, Janora flashed a smile to the others and cautioned, "Let's go, but don't forget stay on the path. And don't get too far away from me."
For several minutes the forest looked unchanged, but then the occasional blue-green conifers began to appear among the trees as well. A few minutes after that the sun vanished in the blink of an eye as the party moved into a large cavern underground, the path winding among the tall blue-green pines. In the lightless cavern the path showed itself as a tunnel of fainting glowing motes of green and copper light.
Tear of Midnight Sorrow was amazed by this and asked excitedly, "Where are we? This cavern looks deep, how do trees grow with no sunlight?"
Ell could only shrug and mutter, "It's a magic forest I guess."
A few minutes later, the occasional maple or mulberry tree could be seen among the pines and Janora relaxed slightly, knowing that they were almost there. Which was of course when the tunnel shook and lurched to the side...without actually moving. All of the ponies started and shied at the effect and Vellikar slid off the back of his mount, landing in the dirt.
Puzzled Janora looked around to see what had happened, but everything looked the same. The only clue had been the echo of raven calls that the witch swore they heard. Unsettled but unwilling to show it, Janora said, "I'm not sure what that was, nothing like that has every happened before. I think it's safe to move on and we're almost there."
Just as the witch had said, a few minutes later and they were back out in the sun, surrounded by the mulberry and maple of the Wynifrith Wilds. And before long, the party broke out of the forest, but looking around it seemed they weren't quite where Janora had meant to exit.
It took a few moments to identify where they were. The sun was of little help as it was almost directly overhead and the rolling hills that spread out around could have been almost anywhere in Ellebore. Eventually Janora spotted the misty outlines of mountains on the horizon and realized they had come out on the northern side of the Wilds.
Janora grunted in annoyance, "Well we aren't too far off track, this is the right forest, but we're basically on the opposite side of the forest from Haven. The witch pointed eastward, where a wide dirt track ran along the edge of the woods. "That should be the right direction. Everybody keep an eye as well, things seem fine, but I'm still not sure what happened with that spell."
"Will do," nodded Denye seriously.
As if in agreement a loud cawing came from the nearby trees and a raven dropped down to glide down the path for a hundred feet or so before climbing once more for the sky. Janora watched it fly with narrowed, thoughtful eyes but said nothing about it, only urged the mastiff forward along the road.
The ride was peaceful, with the occasional birdsong drifting out of the forest. About an hour or so later, the party came across a T intersection where another path, running north/south, dead-ended into the path thy were on. A weathered sign, shaped like an arrow pointed up this new road. It took a moment to make out the faded words, but it read Enver's Post.
At this point Janora began to get an idea of what was happening and looked around quickly for the raven from before. The which spotted it sitting on a branch 50-60ft down the side path and once they locked eyes on the bird, it gave another caw and flew in the direction of Enver's Post. Sighing, Janora turned to the others and said, "Everyone, I need to take a a little detour here and follow that damn bird. When the world shook in the spell, I heard the sound of raven laughter and beating wings. I wasn't raised as a fool...someone is trying to get my attention and that raven is clearly leading me somewhere. Hopefully this won't take long, but we're so close to Haven, you all should ride on ahead and I'll catch up when I'm done here."
Ell nodded slowly, "Yeah, I should probably get to Haven soon, but you shouldn't go alone either."
"I'm not sure I like the idea of splitting the group," objected Denye.
Jilken nodded, "It's rarely a good idea."
"You said this wasn't likely to take long," said Denye, "we can afford to take a small diversion and at least make sure it is safe."
Ell, less convinced and more just not wanting to keep arguing, waved a hand weakly and said, "Fine, let's go find out what trap we are walking into."
The track northward was easy to follow at first, but as it wound around and between hills, the track became more overgrown. Not a problem for the mounts, but it was clear that no wagons had been through here in quite sometime. About 40 minutes or so after taking the turning the team rode around another low hill and found themselves in the ruins of a town.
The dozen or so buildings that had comprised this small village were burned out husks. A hole, half filled with rubble near the center of the village marked where a well had been collapsed. None of the destruction looked recent, everything was thickly covered in greenery as the land reclaimed this ruined patch of civilization.
Janora extended their death sense as they road into the village. There had been death here, but all of it was old and quiet. Looking around quickly, Janora spotted the raven sitting on a branch on the outskirts of the village. Casting Speak with Animals, the witch rode toward the raven and call, "Do not fly off, I will not follow you until you tell me who sent you. And before you answer, let me be very clear, I'm not big on cryptic."
The crow cawed and trilled, but Janora heard, "Mother wishes to speak. I take you to Mother."
"I see," replied the witch, "And how far is it from here?"
"Not far, not far," called the sable bird.
Janora crossed their arms, "Will this take long? Is it safe?"
The raven bobbed his head up and down, "Not long, not long, no harm to you or friends."
"Can my friends come with me?" asked Janora suspiciously.
That got a puzzled cock of the head before the bird replied, "Maybe...don't know. She said to bring you, Mother didn't say anything about other."
Janora sighed, "And who is your mother?"
"Mother is Mother to all ravens. Your people sometimes called her the Duskmatron."
Janora's eyes flared wide at that name, but quickly narrowed once more as they muttered, "So the Lady of Death wishes to speak to me...this ought to be fun." Turning to the others, the witch said, "Apparently this bird needs to take me to meet someone. I think I want to do this alone. I shouldn't be gone long and he says the village is safe."
While Janora went about their business, the rest of the party explored the village. Starting in the largest structure, Denye found a large book. Waterlogged and burnt, it was going to take some work to read anything in it. The front leather cover was still in place and Denye wiped it clean to reveal the words Doomsday Book embossed on it.
Seeing the wizard examining the ruined book, Ell rode over and pulled the slate of delkin out of his bag and handed it to Denye. "This should be able to copy it so you can read it safely," he said.
Thanking Ell, Denye sat the crystal slate on top of the Doomsday Book and triggered the scan. Picking it up she scanned through the entries and found that it was a village ledger, many of the entries were taxes paid to the Crown or notations about births or deaths. Scanning towards the end, the wizard found entries that spoke of a plague that had come upon the village and the final entry spoke of how the sickness had taken everyone in the village and the last survivor's plan to simply burn it all down. All were dated 409 TA.
Vellikar checked all the houses for bodies, but if there had been any in the houses at one time they were gone now, there weren't even bones left. Murmuring prayers of peace and sorrow the druid touched the vines that grew over each structure and large white flowers blossomed throughout. Ell, with Tear of Midnight Sorrow's help, managed to find a few coins, some broken dishes, and scraps of yellow and red striped cloth.
Recognizing the scraps as plague banners, Ell quickly dropped them with a look of disgust before compulsively wiping his hands on his robe. "Those are plague banners," he said, looking around at the burned out shells, "This village must have all gotten sick. You don't think we could catch it, do you?"
Denye looked up from her reading and said, "Unlikely, the entries in this book are 90 years old. That is more than enough time for any illness to die away, especially with no bodies for it to live on."
"True enough," said Janora stepping back into the village, "thank you all for indulging me and making this side trip. I'll...I'll tell you about it later, but we should get back on the road if we want to get to Haven before sunset. Ell looks like he's ready to pass out."
In fact it was more like an hour or two after sunset before the party arrived at the gates of the capitol. As the party were discussing where to find an inn, Ell just shook his head, "Let's just go to my house, the family will all be in Duskcairn."
Ranunkel looked confused, "You have a house here too, how many do you have?"
Ell blushed a little and protested, "They aren't mine...they belong to the family, you'll see."
The young noble led them through the twisting streets of Haven before crossing the Watchtower Bridge and up to the large manor house on the Darnet estate. Less imposing than the country home, this three story building was made of a blue/grey stone with a slate roof. It was still quite impressive with magical lanterns lining the drive and the wall of the palace grounds rising behind it.
Ell took them around to the stable, where he was greeted by the stablemaster. After confirming that none of the family were in residence, he led the party back to the front door and inside, ushering everyone into a suspicious sitting room. The young man pulled a small cord next to the door, but rather than the servant he had expected, it was the housekeeper, Ms. Spinndril, who answered. She was somewhat surprised see the goblin in the group, but quickly arranged to have food brought in while the servents prepared rooms for everyone.
As they ate, Jilken asked, "So Ell, I know you had something to do in town, but was there any other reason for coming to Haven?"
Janora shrugged, "Some shopping probably, there is at least one thing I have in mind, but we'll have to see what I find. I do want to spend some time catching up with the local witches, I haven't been in Haven since late Blooming."
"Isn't there a library in this city?" asked Ranunkel.
Denye nodded vigorously, "A large one."
"Oh," said the dwarf, "I think I need to make a stop there to do some research."
"I need to go there myself," replied Denye, "I need to deliver Eskarina's spike to Wayfinder Brightfinger and pass along her cryptic message. Then I should find some time to talk shop with Aubergine about a couple of my projects. I should also really try to find time with access to a forge."
Jilken brightened, "I'll come with you. I'd like to talk to Aubergine myself. I was hoping he could take a look at the spear. He might even know how to do something with those hellhound hides."
After dinner, most of the party retired to their rooms to tinker or sleep as the mood struck them. Jilken on the other hand, felt restless and headed out to see if she could find a pit fight or bar-brawl to liven up the evening.
39 Amberspell
The next morning, the party gathered around the table. Ell still looked pale and tired, but Ranunkel and Vellikar began chatting about seeing the sights of the city. Janora mentioned wanting to begin the day with a bit of gossip, when they recalled a warning that they had received from the Raven Queen. "Before we do anything else, I should warn you that the flies carried some sort of disease. The Raven Queen healed me of it, but said that others in the party were also infected. So we should either go find someone to check you all out or heal each other....I don't think I have any cure disease spells.""That's a little beyond me as well," murmured Denye shaking her head.
Ell lifted his head and shurgged, " We could all just go up to the Healers Collegium. Someone there will be able to check us over, and besides I promised Denye that we would go and make sure I was alright after bumping my head back in Duskcairn."
"I might be able to do something," said Vellikar, thoughtfully, "but if you want to go see these Healer's that works just as well."
So after breakfast, the party made their way around to the gates of the palace complex and after a short interview with the guard were directed to the Infirmary. The building itself was a long two story building with a slate roof, surrounded by lush gardens. The first floor was built of the same stone as the palace, although definitely newer, while the second story used a thick goldenoak frame that was filled in with mud and wattle. At one end of the building stood a large barn and paddock, used for tending to sick animals.
Ell led the team to the main public entrance where they found a youngish, cheerful half-elven woman sitting behind a desk who smiled when they walked in. The pale green of her robes marked her as a healer trainee, and after hearing the story of the flies quickly ushered them into one of the larger exam rooms and promised someone would be with them shortly.
Less than ten minutes a later another healer, this one a full healer by the bright green robes, bustled into the room. The youngish gnome was a little taken aback by Tear of Midnight Sorrow, but relaxed slightly when the goblin said something friendly sounding in Gnomish.
Once more Denye shared the story of the corrupted flies and the concern that some members of the party might be infected. Nodding solemnly, the youngish gnome began to examine each of the party members in turn. In the end it seemed that Jilken, Vellikar, and Ell had all contracted this disease, but it hadn't taken a strong hold on any of them yet and the healer was able to easily use Lesser Restoration to remove all trace of it.
As the healer was washing up, he asked, "Anything else I can do for you today?"
Ell, still looking pale and weak, said, "Actually I am unsure if I am feeling quite well. I have been very tired for the last couple of days and I had a fever before that. I've heard a lot about one of the healers here who's good with odd aliments, Chestward I believe his name was, Belword Chestward. Do you know if he is available to maybe take a look? Not that I don't trust you of course, but I've heard quite a few good things about Chestward."
The gnomish healer looked surprised, but nodded, "Oh of course, everyone loves Belword, such talent. I shall go see if the young man is free."
The party did not have to wait long before another healer in pale green entered. Belword Chestward proved to be a youngish human man with shaggy blondish hair, and flashing a shy smile, said, "I was told you asked about me? How may I be of service?"
Ell held up a hand, "I'm sorry, I don't believe we have actually met but I've heard such good things about you. My friends and I were just treated to some sort of malaise from bug bites, but I don't actually feel all that better. I've been really exhausted for the last couple of days and I'm not sure what's causing it."
"Interesting," murmered Belword, "Frendal said he couldn't find any other traces of disease. Perhaps it's something else. If you would just hold still for a moment." With that the young healer held both hands on the sides of Ell's head. Closing his eyes, Belword began to examine the young noble with magical senses. It was only a moment or two later before he opened his eyes once more and pronounced, "I believe I have found the cause of your aliment. You aren't poisoned or diseased, rather you are cursed."
"Cursed?" spluttered Ell, "How would I be cursed?"
"I could make some guesses," muttered Denye.
"Ahh,' said Belword, pointing at the black obsidian dagger, "I do believe this weapon is the source of the curse."
"It's not the knife," Ell protested, turning so the blade was out of view, "There is nothing wrong with this knife."
Jilken looked at Ell's odd behavior and commented, "You were the one who asked to speak to this healer. It would seem kinda dumb to not listen to what he's telling you."
"We did warn you" said Denye, "not to touch the knife before you picked it up."
Ell waved a hand dismissively, "It was on my family's ship so it's clearly mine. Besides, there is nothing wrong with the knife."
As the warlock began to back into a corner, Denye looked concerned, "Now Ell, this is not normal behavior, something is clearly wrong with you."
As the wizard held Ell's attention, Ranunkel got close and pulled the dagger from the young man's belt. Holding it up, he backed away quickly as Ell dropped to his knees and began pleading for Ranunkel to give him back the blade.
Realizing suddenly that he held the blade and hadn't considered the consquences of touching it himself. Turning to Belword he asked, "Should I give this to you? Or possibly put it somewhere?"
Whipping a scarf from around his waist, the young healer took the cursed blade in the cloth and wrapped it quickly. "I will return quite shortly," he said," let me just put this somewhere safe and I will be back to help your friend."
As they waited, Janora muttered, "We need to get this boy some learning so he stops picking up every damn thing he sees."
Denye, who was trying to comfort Ell, replied, "Right now I think a weighted blanket would be better."
"Well," rumbled Ranunkel, "we have rocks."
Denye cocked her head to the side, thinking that over as Ell's cries began hysterical laughter. "I suppose that might work, but it would take a lot of rocks and you would have to be careful about applying them." Turning back to Ell she wiped his forehead and asked, "Ell are you okay?"
The young man managed to regain control of himself and looked Denye in the eyes, "No, I really don't think things are okay at the moment."
"Would you like to talk about it, tell us what's wrong?" asked Denye soothingly.
"Umm," said Ell, "now might not be the best time, later perhaps."
Denye was about to say something else when Belword returned, carrying spell components. Setting up a ritual circle, he began casting Remove Curse on Ell. As soon as the spell released the bond, Ell dropped into silence. Now looking much better, he took a deep breathe and flashed a smile at the healer, "Thank you so much. Other than the obvious remuneration, how may I repay you?"
"Ohh," spluttered the healer, "don't let it trouble you. My joy comes from healing people, everyone seems to think I have quite the talent. I am quite glad to have been able to help you. That was quite the curse, but I believe you should be fine now. Of course if you start to feel any other side effects please come back to the Infirmary and we'll do what we can to help."
"Are you sure there is nothing I can do," asked Ell smoothly, "no trouble or anything that I could potential get you out of? I do sometimes have some influence in things up here on the Hill."
"Oh no," assured Belword, "Everyone here at the collegium has been wonderful. I have quite enjoyed my studies, learning how the bodies of the different races work, how to put them back together, and of course, this new magic that has been developing. I must say it's nothing like I expected, but I've only got another couple of years before I graduate and then I'll be sent off to a house of healing somewhere in the kingdom."
"Well isn't that just charmingly wholesome," growled Ell, "just one more thing, how is that you have come upon this amazing knowledge and skill? Is it safe?"
Belword looked confused, but answered easily enough, "Not a lot to tell. I grew up in a small village and would take care of the animals. Sometimes my friends would come see me when they scrapped a knee or something. Eventually one of the Wayfinders heard about what I had been doing and asked if I would be interesting in coming to the Collegium. My parents were quite proud of me and I've been here for almost three years learning everything I can."
Ell glowered but nodded, "Sounds like you enjoy your word. I'm sorry for taking up so much of your time, but thank you again for your aid."
"Not a problem," reassured Belword, "I'm glad we were able to help all of you, now if you will excuse me?"
Just before the healer stepped through the door, Ell called, "One last question, what's the worst thing that has ever happened to you?" The young man stiffened at the question, but didn't reply as the rest of the party rounded on Ell.
Ranunkel looked appalled and said, "Ell, you can't just ask people that!"
Denye also lodged a protest saying, "Ell, I think it's time we had that talk. Let's go out into the garden." A the party left, Denye continued, "Want to explain what that was all about? That person just helped us, healed you and then you go and interrogate him like that."
"I just wanted..." began Ell before stopping and letting out another sigh. "Can we just talk privately," he said in a small voice, "it's...it's complicated."
"Okay," said Denye warily, "Janora, why don't you take everyone down the shop and introduce them to the Candlewicks. We'll meet up with you at Aubergine's in an hour or so." The witch nodded and began leading the others back down the Hill and into Haven.
Ell looked down at Tear and in goblin asked, "Do you want to go with them?" At the goblins objection, the warlock sighed and said, "Then why don't you go over by that tree. You can keep an eye on me from there."
The pair walked for a bit before Ell finaly spoke, "Denye, do you know what I am? Where my power comes from?"
Denye shook her head, "I can't recall that you have ever really explained it. You don't study the way I do."
Ell shook his head as well, "Not exactly, no. Most of the members of my family have similar powers. The short version is that we have a bond with a powerful entity from another plane who grants us certain powers and abilities in return."
"In return for what?" asked Denye looking worried, "What do you and your family give this being?"
Ell shrugged, "Deference and obedience mostly. But the Voice has never asked me to kill someone who didn't deserve it before it."
At that last statement, Denye stopped walked and looked at Ell appalled, "How many people have you killed, Ell?"
Ell stopped as well, and stared at his feet for a moment before replying, "Only one directly, generally it's more property destruction and the like. But all of those targets deserved it for one reason or another."
In a soft voice, Denye said, "Ell I have some unfortunate news for you. I'm not sure that killing anybody is okay...even the ones who look like they may deserve it"
"You might be right," sighed Ell, "but even trying not to kill folks, we've done a fair bit it lately."
Holding up a claw, Denye protested, "I'm going to stop you right there, we haven't all just killed people."
Ell looked at Denye skeptically, "We've killed goblins together and goliath."
Denye shook her head vigorously, "We have defended ourselves when attacked. And I have been very upset when the team lashes out before we have a chance to attempt to defuse the situation. But that doesn't mean we are just rampantly going around killing people. We don't get to decided who deserves it."
"Well it's not me exactly who is deciding," began Ell, "but I hear you. That's why I don't think I can go through with it."
"And what I'm saying," continued Denye, "is that this other voice shouldn't get to decide either."
"So then what am I supposed to do?" asked Ell plaintively, "I can't go back and chance the past, but I am in crisis now."
"This shouldn't be a crisis," interrupted Denye, "but the fact that you see it as a crisis is in itself a crisis."
Ell shook his head, "No you don't understand. I don't know what will happen if I don't obey, I could die."
"Oh," said Denye, feathers ruffling, "that...that complicates things."
"Exactly," muttered Ell bitterly. "Remember the ship where we found the knife? I'm pretty sure it belonged to a great uncle who didn't do what he was told."
"Well then ," said Denye, "we'll just have to deal with the consequences. We've already gathered a few enemies, why not one more. But you are going to be very brave, because I can't let you kill someone in cold blood."
After several moment of internal turmoil, Ell sighed, "I couldn't do it anyway, he was just too nice. But thank you. I'm not sure what will happen, but I don't really want to tell the others about this yet."
Denye, whose feathers still hadn't settled, sighed and nodded, "I can keep your secret for now." Recognizing that the young man had dropped some of his defenses and wanting to encourage this openness, Denye reached out and pulled Ell into a hug. Releasing the young man, she said, "Now, let's go talk to Aubergine." Gathering Tear of Midnight Sorrow, the trio headed back down into the city.
It was a short walk from the gates of the palace complex over to Thistle do Nicely. Jocyline Candlewick was the only one in the shop, but was quite happy to see Janora and the others again. The witches spent some time catching up while the others looked around. Jocyline was surprised to hear about Janora's experiences with Baba Yaga and shocked to hear that Janora was now a baleful witch. She recovered quickly enough and agreed that Janora and their friends found themselves in enough dangerous situation where that could be useful.
After catching up on all the news Janora asked if there were any new or interesting goods. The city witch, did in fact have several new items. No one seemed particularly interested in the chocolate covered spiders, but Janora did ask the other witch to set aside the granny wax and a candle of warding, promising that they would be back for the items. Before they left the shop, Janora asked about a hat shop and Jocyline recommended Top of the Mind, just around the corner.
The shop was close by and the group soon found it. The owner was a strange elven man with pale skin and wavy orange hair who introduced himself as Jahaan Hatter. Janora explained that they were looking for something that might offer a bit more in the way of protection. After some questioning, the hatter suggested something made from displacer beast leather. This pleased Janora greatly and they soon settled on a design.
Jilken showed the hatter the hellhound skins she had recovered and asked if he thought he could do anything with them. Jahaan confirmed that there should be enough to make into a cloak, but the skins would need to be tanned first. Luckily his wife, Alayce, was a tanner and he knew she would be exited to work on something as rare as hellhound skins.
After stepping out of the shop, Janora asked, "Where should we go next?"
Jilken suggested, "Let's go check out Aubergine's. That's where Denye said to meet and I want to see if he has any fun new toys."
Report Date
11 Feb 2022
