Chapter 24 And For My Next Trick....

After the vision of the armor shop, I managed to get back to sleep only to have visions of a more terrifying nature. Screams of innocent lives in burning towns haunted me, ending in the deaths of the children. Those same haunting images that occupy my dreams continue to plague me, with fresh gore supplied by the earlier carnage. It seems blunted somehow, but the pain is still there, enough to wake me up. Luckily I was able to get back to sleep. I guess the rest of the party was not that lucky.
We woke in the morning, Body still there, but some of the others seemed to have a rougher night than I. Aurane, for one, is dragging his heels. Nightmares were had all around, and I guess the frequency of mine allowed me to get a normal nights rest. Not a great thought, but at least I can function normally.
When we finally did get back in to town we knew we were going to need a place to keep the body secure while we tried to figure out what to do with it. We all agreed that the best place for it was going to be the outpost for the Sanctum here in town. But if we were going to bring something this big into town, we should let the Clerics and the Mayor know. Melfina and Marda are going to head over to the outpost to get started on research, the rest of us will go over to check on the mounts, and let the officials know.
Meeting with High priest Impartial and Mayor Morston we explain that we have found the source of the blight slowly claiming the land. The problem is that with the death of the culprit, it did not solve the problem, and further investigations are needed. With the desire to quarantine any possible spread, the rest of the party has taken the body of the individual to the Sanctum outpost. Telling both Impartial and the Mayor about the shard, and that we don't know what it is, or how it works, they both agree that, while they would have liked to study it themselves, taking proper safety precautions are probably for the best. They wish us luck, and we head over to the sanctum. On the way, I stop to get some coal from the local smithy for a little project I may need.
As Rorin, Aurane and I walk up to the Outpost, there doesn't really appear to be anyone here. About to knock on the door, we hear some laughter coming from behind the building. Wandering around, we find Lenny Pots, local Sanctum official, sitting in the yard, looking at a small shack a ways from the outpost building and chuckling to himself. The shack in question looked rather ramshackle, with a single door, no windows, and there wasn't anything overly impressive about it what so ever. Except for the single fact that it was emanating a brilliant glow that died out as we came fully around the corner. The three of us share a look, and the unspoken, “do we want to know”?
Aurane apparently didn't read the look properly, as he promptly asked Lenny exactly that. Lenny helpfully tells us that the shack is responding to the magic inside, and that both Melfina and Marda are inside. I, having absolutely no wish to get closer to the possible horrible magic that could be emanating from a incredibly deadly body, not to mention the corpse, decide to stay out here with Lenny. Aurane, back to his old self, walks up to the now still shack and knocks on the door. Loudly.
As the door opens, diminutive Marda appears. In her hands she carries a couple books, and a bottle of Wine in a very, distinct, bottle. I'm not sure what it is about humans that have the need to show off certain parts of their bodies, but I doubt that bottle was molded from any actual man living. The books she has seem to be a book in probably Dwarvish, and there was a smaller book, almost like a pocket journal filled with scribblings and shorthand. Not being able to make heads or tails of the writing, Aurane and I set our heads together, and both cast spells to understand any language. While we had to take time to cast the spell, Rorin just had to open his book.
The book in dwarvish was a book on Geology, with various examples of rocks and what letter they start with. Seems like a book for those in very early stages of learning dwarvish. Or learning anything for that matter. The smaller book was first hand accounts of time spent in something called the shadowfell. Judging from the way the writer speaks, and the previous journal we had found, the author of these stories must have also been Mr Corbin. Right about now I have some questions for him.
Besides the fact I am not entirely sure where he is, I would also never want to waste his time. Possibly the one being I respect most in this world, I have seen him angry only once, and I thank every deity there will ever be that it wasn't directed at me. He also helped Max and I finance our shop, and stood in as a father figure when Mine stopped talking to me. IF I could think of a way to talk to him quickly, I will have to take the chance. But it must be delivered delicately.
Before I can think of any way to do so, Melfina comes briskly out of the shack. Storming out of it would be too aggressive, but it was a near thing. Without saying a word, she swiftly moved into the outpost building, a determined look on her face, Spike looking like, well spike. Not wanting to disrupt her, I keep reading the stories with Aurane who tells me that Shadowfell is a theorized world, where quite a lot of unpleasantness happens. Mostly death, decay and rot. I'm not really sure why we would need a whole other world of that, there seems to be enough of that just inside yonder forest. Sounds like a good fire would solve some of this Shadowfells problems.
A commotion inside brings our heads up out of the books, and Melfina comes running out of the outpost. Something is wrong, and as we follow the direction she is heading, we see what. The shack is starting to glow bright pink. Melfina rushes in, and as we ask Lenny what is going on, pure bedlam ensues. We make out that the shack is going into a safe mode of some sort, whatever that is. We are all on our feet as Melfina is backing out of the shack, seemingly grabbing onto something, trying to drag it out. But her hand isn't really grasped on anything. Not sure what we can even do, Lenny seems almost excited, and the shack grows brighter and brighter. Then, the whole light show is gone, Melfina is laying on the ground, and we are all arrayed in a staggered line towards the shack.
All speaking at once, incoherence is spewed from our mouth. Marda rushes in to the shack, only to come right back out saying something about them being gone. We Finally get from Lenny that in case of dangerous magics, the purpose of the shack is to transport anything to the nearest major Sanctum base, the closest one being the one in Cherwood. Apparently it will seal the item in question in special box that will stop anything, magical or otherwise from getting out. Lenny had told the ladies about the wards, but not what they did. Marda says something about sending a message to the Sanctum using some Tube she found, and While I try to yell at Lenny for leaving out a huge part of the rules of the shack. He doesn't really seem to care what I think, and instead of yelling at no one but myself, I check on Melfina. She is looking rather troubled, and holding Spike. Oh. Spike.
Looking around. I'm not sure who else noticed. I also don't know if the Sanctum knows about the wraith. Lenny, who is trying to keep track on not only Marda, but the rest of us as well doesn't appear top have noticed. In fact he doesn't seem aware of what set off the wards. On the other hand, I have no idea how this shack is even supposed to work, or what it recognizes as magic. I wonder if I had entered the shack, would I have lost my Arm? Questions that I'm not sure if I want to know answers for. I decide right then to make sure I know where I'm stepping when I enter Sanctum areas.
Marda comes out telling us she sent a message to The sanctum in Cherwood telling them of the circumstances, and to avoid contact with the body, and the shard inside it. Deciding that we are going to leave as fast as possible, we all decide on where we need to go to get supplies. Marda and I will go check on the mounts, and make sure they are up for travel, everyone else will go to the docks, check for supplies, and see if we can luck out on a boat. As we depart the outpost, Lenny at a loss for words, is left behind. We agree to stay one night at the Three Rivers Inn, and meet there once we know more.
Once Marda and I visit the mounts at the temple of Kusco, and let them know of our plans to leave early the next day, we head back to the Inn. Reserving two rooms for the group we grab a table to hold for everyone else, while we wait for everyone to show up. Not many other people are here in the Inn with us, and those that are, sit separate from the others. The common room is much more subdued than the last time we were here. While we wait for the others, I think about the dream I had. The tool I picked up in that vision just Felt Right for the instant I had it. I instantly knew the weight of it, the best way to carry it, and I could feel it's very essence. Now I just need to learn how to call it, how to wield it when I need to. Aurane and Melfina come back with news of ships, and Aurane says he found a ship out of Dawn's reach. All looking at Marda, she shows no sign of emotion, good or bad. But Aurane thinks if Marda were to talk to the captain we could maybe get a good rate for the voyage. They leave to go talk to the prospective ships they found, but come back a short time later telling us that the ship from Dawn's reach was in fact conscripting people to fight in a war. Aurane and Marda had to tactfully back out of that.
Entering the Inn with a smile on his face, Rorin sidles up to the table and orders a drink. Making us wait until he has it, he tells us of a ship called The Will of the Stars. An Elvish vessel, it is bound to the west, to stop at Cherwood, leaving at dawn. Seeing as that should work just fine, and we send Rorin back out to confirm the voyage for us. While Rorin is leaving, Melfina smears blood over her lips and speaks out into the air, asking Lenny of if he wants to join us for a drink.
Of course! Melfina can use her magic to talk to anyone. That means she can talk with Mr. Corbin. Asking her if she can, she states that she needs to know him, or at least know of him. Thinking of the best way to describe him, I remember that I can call upon my divine power to show an image of him, and with a flick of my hand, I do so. A powerful Wiry man appears, albeit a tiny version of him. Nothing but muscle and bone, and older than anyone else I know. And he has a look on his face as if he was determined to run his head through a brick wall, and go through it. I gave her a message asking him if he would be able to meet with us, and I insisted that she be respectful. Not really sure how he would get here, I half expected him to walk into the door in response to the message.
A moment of silence and concentration on her face, and turning back to me she tells us he wants to know where we are going to be? I relay that we should be in Cherwood in a fortnight, and would be appreciative if he could meet us there with Max. Thinking to myself, at least Max will be there, to ease any irate feeling he may have at being disturbed. I have also just inconvenienced one of the most powerful beings I have the pleasure of knowing by first name. Great. Oh, and while Melfina was helping me by sending the message, she never did say her name. Just mine.
When Rorin comes back, he lets us know that we are all set with The Will of the Stars. The Crew of the ship, he warns, are not fans of city folk. With all of us looking at Aurane I ask him politely if he will behave while on board the ship. I have no doubt that he will be civil, I just don't want the crew to be angry at us, which would cause an uncomfortable voyage. He promises that he will be civil, and not try to proselytize. With that out of the way, the group starts to head up to sleep. With just myself and Melfina, she turns to me to tell me what happened at the shack.
When she had gone into the outpost building, she of course had taken spike out of the shack with her, but the wraith had been trapped inside. With the wraith inside the shack with the shard, the evil magics had called to the Wraith. That may have been what set off the wards. Thinking about that, I worry out loud if it would be dangerous to bring spike to the Sanctum when we go for further investigations. Sharing the unease, we head up to bed.
In the morning, Rorin is up and out before the rest of us, leaving a note to meet him at the ship. Collecting the horses and the Magical Mystery Murder Kitten, we head down to the docks. Finding the ship, Mittens doesn't really seem all that thrilled to be near more boats, but he should be ok. Once we get permission to board, we start the process. The crew is rather surprised with the assortment of the group, and the Captain approaches to introduce herself. Captain Velma Starmoore gazes at us with an appraising look. Referring to me as “Master Dragon” and approving of Marda and Rorin, she grunted at Melfina, and straight up refuses to say anything to Aurane, just giving him a gross look. She questions where our loyalties lay, and once we have given her adequate answers, she turns to go. Before she can leave, I thank her for the privilege of the voyage, and we prepare to leave. Well, at least this time there won't be any horrible goblins aboard to drive me insane on this trip. I still would have preferred to walk. Maybe this trip will be better.