In which Sali and Gunnar become embroiled in the street life of Altdorf in an attempt to track down a pattern killer and discover why someone is so keen that Reikland Army is sent away from the city.
In which Moli desecrates the shrine of an elven god but becomes a heroine in the process. The Brandysnap family attends a party at The Drakenhof, Moli becomes rich and gives it all away. Amris manages to avoid the Imperial bounty hunters by the skin of his elven teeth and moves into temporary accommodation. Waynn meets a really exciting female elf. Eilwyn gets really angry with him yet again. Moli discovers she has a secret admirer despite kicking him in the nuts and the Brandysnaps head for The Moot. Meanwhile, Amris' cousin has the worst day of his life and the Goldcrests are forced to consider Plan C.
In which Else and Ferdinand finally arrive at Castle Drakenburg and learn more of their future destiny in the drama about to unfold. Ferdinand also discovers the truth about his past and Else discovers she is a much better shot than the Duke.
In which Moli manages to negotiate a deal for her unique services with Amris and then scouts out the lie of the land inside the Goldcrest Manse to see if it's feasible to recover the item he wants. Meanwhile, Amris recruit Ehrmann Praunhiem the boatman as a general sidekick and tasks him with keeping an eye on the halfling. Eilwyn and Waynn appear at The Drakenhof with urgent news for Amris from Illyruis Starsight the Emberfells counselor. It appears that the Goldcrests may be about to swoop on The Drakenhof.
The Crooked Hammer' is a slightly seedy, rough-looking tavern in the Teubrucke District of Ubersreik. It's a dark dimly lit place even during daylight and at night the taproom is only lit by a few cheap rushlights and the hearth behind the bar. Gunnar is sat at a corner table with his back to the wall watching the events across the bar when a Sali walks in. Sali orders two double shots and two tankards of ale and downs the two shots immediately before Gunnar gets her attention and she decides to join him sitting facing him across the table with her back to the room. They exchange greeting of a sort and then Gunnar asks "So then..... watcha 'ere fer?"
Most of the village of Herzhald turned out to watch Else and Ferdinand depart. The witch hunter and the unlicensed magic-user are accompanying the draymen from the village to Bogenhafen from where they then plan to head for Weissbruck so that Ferdinand can be reunited with his family.
After and frantic chase through the woods Else and Ferdinand have met in a small clearing surrounded in darkness and not alone. The first drops of the rain predicted by the strange voice from the darkness earlier has begun to patter on the leaves overhead and the air is still chill.
There was a commotion in the stairwell outside and suddenly the door burst open and Poppy fell into the room in an excited jabbering heap having tripped over hyacinths legs in her haste to be first with the news. “Come quick!” She screamed “Come and see what’s outside.” She scrabbled back to her feet waving excitedly and pointing urgently at the door “Quick! Quick! Before the others get it all. It’s so shiny you won’t believe it.“ Molrella frowned she was warm and cosy and enjoying her lie in. “This had better be worth it.” She moaned. But Poppy was already back out the door and Molrella could hear her small hairy feet pounding back down the stairs of the tenement towards the street. The rest of the flower girls, Hyacinth, Buttercup and Dandelion were already fighting to be next through the door to follow her. Molrella pushed her twin sister Halamina away and got to her feet. “Come on! Mi-Mi we’d better go check this shiny thing out before someone else gets their hands on it.” Moli and Mi-Mi made their way quickly down the stairs and into the street emerging into a scene of total pandemonium. There right in the middle of the road was a really tall shiny elf. Moli's was transfixed, she had never seen anything like it. It towered above the mass of children and assorted halflings like a tall slim shiny beacon. Its hair shone like liquid gold, its clothes glistened like burnished silver everything about it was shiny. Moli’s mouth dropped open ‘What on earth was it doing here?’. Even as she gawked at it she saw one of the Burdock boys nip in and reach for its coin purse. But it was fast witted this one and easily brushed the halfling thief’s hand aside without any apparent effort. Moli watched it fascinated as it strode down the street its eyes and head darting left and right missing nothing and full of nervous agitation. It was like a big shiny bird all nervous energy and colourful plumage. It seemed so calm and serene and yet never seemed to miss anything. Moli nudged her twin sister ‘Come on Mimi we’d better get in there before one of those Burdocks get lucky.”
Since his rescue by Salundra von Drakenburg a few weeks earlier Amris has been in hiding at the families Altdorf Town House. The Duke, Salundra's father, has been more than hospitable to Amris and gone out of his way to make him feel comfortable, but with both of them now away dealing with their own affairs back in the Duchy of Drakenburg, Amris is finding life in hiding very boring. The worse time is the night when all the human servants go to bed and the house sits in darkness leaving Amris with only the cats for company. At one point he did venture out onto the street against the stern advice of the elderly human watchman guarding the front gate and soon discovered that humans don't like strange elves wandering around in the dark and after a few hostile confrontations he quickly retreated back to the Drakenhof being treated with a stern 'I told you so.' look from the watchman upon his return. During the daylight hours, things were more interesting and Amris was able to wander around the city with reasonable freedom taking in the sights, sounds and disgusting smells of what humans called civilisation. However, he had been careful to avoid the docks and merchant houses of the city just in case he was recognised by one of his stepfather's associates. As far as Armis knew his stepfather Alantha Goldcrest, a ruthless Sea Elf Merchant Prince from one of the minor kindreds of Cothique had no idea he was in Altdorf. There had been reports of strange questions being asked in the Duchy of Drakenburg, which was partly why Salundra and her father had decided to leave him in Altdorf and travel there to investigate. His stepfather knew that Salundra had helped him to escape from the Goldcrest Compound in 'Sith Rionnasc'namishathir', Marienburg. So, it made sense that the search for him would begin in Drakenburg. It also seemed logical that eventually, he would find out that the Drakenburg family had other residences and broaden that search. It was just a matter of time. It was just after sunrise on the 31st day of what the humans call 'Plough-Tide' when Amris was disturbed by one of the house servants reporting that a really tall elf was at the door asking to see him. Amris put down the brush he was using to prepare his hair and wondered if this was it.
The village was like many along the fringes of the Drakwald just a collection of wooden shacks clustered around a central well. A small community trying to scratch a living from the forest and the few fields they had managed to clear for crops or animals. But according to the Duke Konstantin this one was being terrorised by a demon and Else knew that such threats once reported would only get worse. Besides she was glad to get away from the Drakenburg estate. The constant paranoia about elven agents was making her uneasy. Else was not introduced to elven Prince that Salundra had rescued from Marienburg and she wasn't sure whether to be relieved or angry that she had not been included in the reckless adventure.
Ferdinand had stumbled across the empty shack in the forest a few days ago and cold and footsore he decided to take a risk and rest up for a few days. He was skirting a village nestled between the forest and the road to Osburg having managed with some difficulty to cross the River Schilder at Schilderheim. The plan was to skirt the village and then hug the edge of the forest as far as Castle Graurenburg before crossing the Bogen and making his way home. So, far he had avoided even minor settlements and only used the roads when they were empty and quiet. The long walk from Marienburg had made his feet sore but the biggest problem was hunger and that was why he had dallied perhaps longer than prudent at the hut. It was close enough to the village to make nightly trips to the edge of the forest and like most rural villages they left small offerings to the gods along the treeline to placate evil spirits. Even ale sometimes as long as they didn't spoil it by mixing it with the food. He had supplemented the offerings with rabbits and other small animals that were easy to kill with a dart and could be cooked after dark provided he hid the light and smoke of the fire. The woodsmen crowded into the forest during the day felling trees but were easy to avoid. They tended to make a lot of noise, singing and shouting. Nerves perhaps or just a warning to large animals to stay away. So, it wasn't hard to avoid them and though he had been spotted a few times both he and they had run in opposite directions and none had ventured as far as the hut. The worst incident had been a few days ago. The offerings at the shrines had become sparse and Ferdinand had convinced himself that exchange was no robbery and that if he left the villagers a couple of dead rabbits surely they would not begrudge him a few carrots so he could make a proper stew. Anyway, he was running low on horseshoe nails. The few he had found in the cottage were fast being expended and he needed to find some more otherwise even the rabbits would be impossible to catch. It had not gone well. He approached the vegetable garden closest to the forest and dropped the rabbit at his feet to pull a few carrots when the door of the cottage suddenly flew open and an old woman stepped out into the night. He froze, hoping she would be half asleep and not notice him. But that was not to be. The old woman spotted him crouching in her vegetable patch and she froze also. They stared at each other for what seemed like an age neither saying anything. Ferdinand couldn't think of anything to say at the time. He felt like a child caught with his hand in the cookie barrel Eventually, he stood up slowly carrots in one hand and staff in the other gave the woman a slight bow and walked away back to the woods leaving the rabbit behind. It was now late afternoon the sun was setting and there was a chill wind from the south. The carrots were eaten and he was still short of nails.
Salundra von Drakenburg had returned her horse to the livery stable just before dusk after an earlier awkward liaison and had then made her way through the darkening streets of Ubersreik towards the docks where she planned to catch a river barge back to Altdorf. The barge was not ready to leave and was still loading cargo so she decided to grab a quick drink at 'The Crooked Hammer' before boarding. The tavern was one of the seedier establishments in the Teubrucke District of Ubersreik and had a poor reputation. Salundra flung open the door and paused to let her eyes adjust to the dimly lit interior before stepping inside and slamming the door behind her. The taproom was only lit by a few rush-light candles and the faint glow of the fire in the hearth. She made her way over to the bar where the tavern keeper, a rather large battle-scarred individual, eyed her attire suspiciously 'What'll it be Captain." he asked. A slight challenge in his manner.
The Crooked Hammer' was a slightly seedy, rough-looking tavern in the Teubrucke District of Ubersreik. It is a dark dimly lit place even during daylight and at night the taproom is only lit by a few cheap rushlights and the hearth behind the bar. Gunnar is sat at his usual table in the darkest corner of the room nursing a tankard of cheap watery ale. He had chosen this tavern and table because it was so dark and quiet. Nobody usually bothered him here now. He had been lured here by stories of a monster. Tall tales from the river folk along the Teufel of a large river troll lurking around the docks of Ubersreik and preying on unwary boatmen and stevedores. But Gunnar had been here for days now and no monster had shown itself and the trail had eventually gone cold. Now he was running low of cash and this would be his last tankard of ale tonight. Gunnar sat in the dark cupped his tankard and contemplated his fate.