Eabha and Thrysp awake at around six to the sound of someone screaming. The nimble Monk is on her feet first. Eabha stumbles from bed, still fully clothed from the night before. She gropes for one of her axes, and by the time she is upright and ready, the door has burst open. A'mal and Gilthain enter, armed. The innkeeper, George, follows moments later.
In the dim light of morning, they see Morihana still in bed. She appears to be sleeping, though far from fitfully. Her face is damp with sweat. She does not respond to their voices or a vigorous shake from Eabha. Gil grabs a pitcher of water from the nightstand and tosses the contents onto the unconscious Druid.
Morihana wakes with a start, shocked to find herself surrounded by her companions. Wiping wet strands of hair from her face, she sits up and swings her legs over the side of the bed. She feels awful, completely exhausted. The details of the dream she has had dangle just out of reach. But it was horrible.
"What happened?" A'mal asks.
Morihana looks at Eabha. "I think he's gone." There is resignation in her voice.
"Gone?" her friend asks. "What do you mean gone?"
Morihana shrugs. "I can't quite recall what happened, but I feel it. Everything is different now. He's gone."
She explains to the rest that she thinks she was dreaming of her twin brother, Dwiss, whom she came to Cockermouth to find. But only Eabha comes close to understanding the devastation and emptiness she feels.
George, annoyed and no doubt concerned about his other guests, announces that he is returning to work on breakfast.
"What do you remember?" A'mal asks Morihana once the Paladin has left the room.
She concentrates for a moment. "Everything was blue."
"What kind of blue?"
"All kinds. And I remember blue snowflakes. Maybe they're connected to the ercs and the snowflakes they use to mark their victims?"
A'mal agrees that this might be the case.
Thrysp yawns. They realize it is still early, especially considering their late night. They decide to go back to bed. Later in the morning they can meet to discuss the dream and share any other relevant information. It is time to set priorities and start dealing with some of the mysteries they have encountered recently, A'mal says. He and Gilthain head back to their room.
Eabha is worried about her friend, but the effects of the alcohol of the night before have yet to wear off, and her head is spinning. This time she manages to remove her boots before falling into bed.
Only Morihana has any difficulty falling back to sleep. She cannot shake the feelings of sadness, and lies awake.
Cendra, Flo and Flo's mother are missing, and have been for the last few days. Mingus is dead, killed by an erc death squad, A'mal figures. Have the others met a similar fate? And what of Morihana's brother? If he's been eating food laced with the spice, it might be too late for him, as the Druid's dream would seem to indicate.
Dwiss's trail is worth following, though, as A'mal, Thrysp and Gilthain are being paid by the count to track down the source of the spice. And one of the more important pieces of information gleaned at the party was that the merchant Ben Gaul has been transporting the stuff into Cockermouth from Ravensglass in the south. Rumour has it the spice, called Emessgee, comes from the orient.
They also know that another local merchant, the gnome Snefire, might have some involvement and is certainly envious of Gaul. And Snefire is currently after another local businessman, Dobins of Dobins Haulage, after a fire destroyed a shipment belonging to Snefire. He's looking for 5,000 gold pieces in compensation. How these two figure into things is still unknown, but the group agrees that it would be a good idea to visit Dobins, at the very least.
Much lower on the list of problems to solve is Ragest, the rat catcher. A'mal no longer believes he plays a part in the recent disappearances but thinks he poses a public health threat and needs to be taken care of before they leave town. But no one else seems to relish the notion of heading into the sewers.
Finally, there is the problem of Gil's village, Ennerdale. As this town lies to the south of Cockermouth, the group might be able to kill two birds with one stone.
"How do you know there's an erc death squad running around town?" Eabha asks A'mal once he's finished laying things out.
He opens up a leather-bound journal bursting with bits of paper and shares with her a message he intercepted from a mysterious figure named Shamoof. It is addressed to "Friends of Oscerous."
Oscerous, it is explained, was an erc who was recently captured and killed in town. Eabha recalls the rumour overheard in the bar of The Green Dragon the night she and Morihana arrived.
The letter seems to indicate that A'mal and his friends now have prices on their heads.
"And there's never just one of these creatures," Gilthain explains. "They always travel in packs of four. Don't let them surround you or you're done for."
Eabha nods in acknowledgement.
Morihana has been silent for most of breakfast but suddenly interrupts by saying that she remembers more of her dream.
She tells them she remembers a wagon leaving by the back gate and taking the road south, lending credence to the idea that Dwiss somehow got caught up in the spice trade.
"The dream started with me getting back from a night of drinking. The room was blue, the bedding, everything. Then I was in a wagon at the back gate. The guard was blue, the horse, the town walls, the sun. And there was a man, his eyes were blue, and he said something that sounded like 'yuuughharuujjtoooannhffyveel.' Blue hills and houses, and then I see a blue square tower, blue orcs dancing around, and blue snowflakes. "
Morihana grows agitated as she recalls these details.
A'mal and Gilthain talk. They wonder if the tower she has seen could be in Ennerdale.
"And there was a gate," the Druid adds.
"A gate?" asks A'mal. "Like an archway? Triangular?"
Morihana nods.
Apparently, A'mal, Thrysp and Gilthain are familiar with such "gates."
"The good news is," Gil explains, "that your brother might not be dead, just on another plane, or in another time. These gates are portals."
"Time travel?" asks Eabha.
A'mal nods. "It seems likely."
At this point, there is a knock at the door. It is Wassup telling them that they are going to miss all the festivities if they stay inside.
A'mal shares with the young healer that they have recently discovered that the headless corpse found in the Zig-Zag was their friend, Mingus.
"Oh, I know. Everyone knows. It's in the paper."
A'mal groans. "Anything else of interest in the paper?"
"Yes." Wassup hands a copy of the paper to A'mal. "There's to be jousting in Market Square today!"
Now it is Eabha's turn to groan as she recalls the sharp lances of the Whyte Cloaks the day before.
A'mal looks at the paper.
Saturday July 7, 1981
PUBLIC HOLIDAY
In honour of his daughter's marriage tomorrow, Duke Tostig has declared today a public holiday. There will be a jousting exhibition in the Market Square and you are welcome to come and cheer on your favourite Knight. After the joust, you may partake of a free pork supper at the Hog Roast in Castle Park. These hogs were hunted during the grooms Hog Party. Saturday evening there will be a demonstration of combat skills at the Hexagon. This is open to the public and there are many great prizes available.
Duke Tostig and Duchess Thyri welcome you all in the celebration of the wedding on Sunday of their daughter Lady Gwen to Count Mather this Sunday at 11:00am in the temple of Odin.
Out Town is host to some very important people right now.
Duke Tostig and Duchess Thyri, parents of the Bride; the Duke is brother to King Sigurd, Stoll CLMII.
Their son, Duke Mateuso, and youngest daughter, Lady Annesta.
The Princess Asa and her husband Baron Griffir accompanied by the young Princess Signy.
The Stoll's sister, Princess Atheness, and her husband, Baron Hordvick, have brought their two daughters, Lady Sharlot and Lady Delila.
The Groom, Count Mather, will be attended by Sir Ragnar and Sir Furfis, twin sons of Princess Atheness.
A special guest from the Dwarven Kingdom of Dwain is Prince Hamrag, who recently served in our army here at Cockermouth.
The naked body of the young adult male has been identified. Late last night, our hero A'mal helped the constables identify the body as his former companion, Mingus. The Bard Mingus was with A'mal on his journey through the Wildlands and performed at the The Green Dragoon on the eve of his murder. A'mal and his retinue held a wake for Mingus that ran well into the small hours of the morning. Mingus will be missed. A'mal was consumed with emotion and was unable to comment. It is expected that A'mal will organize the funeral for his friend early next week.
"How is he getting this stuff?" A'mal asks.
"I don't think you know just how famous you are. And, er..." Wassup clears his throat. "I think Caxton is paying kids to collect information on you."
The Sorcerer sighs deeply.
There are some mundane things to take care of before the day's investigations can begin. A'mal, Thrysp and Gilthain are invited to the count's wedding and none of them have appropriate clothing to wear yet. A'mal has a long list of scrolls he wants, and given the attention he's been drawing, is giving serious consideration to some sort of magical disguise.
As they are getting ready to head out, A'mal takes Wassup into his confidence and shares with him some of the group's concerns. He leaves out the part about the Whyte Cloaks, but warns the young healer that things could get dangerous. Wassup, however, is excited by the prospect of joining the group and leaving his studies behind. His internship with Dr. Waring is nearly up and if he continues to stay in Cockermouth, he'll be conscripted. So, when the companions leave town to pursue the spice, he will be with them.
While Morihana chooses to spend a few more hours resting at the inn, the other five spend the early part of the afternoon shopping before joining the throngs at Market Square to watch the jousting. They eagerly place bets and plenty of money changes hands as competitors are eliminated and the field narrowed. And despite the bad memories of her close call with a lance the day before, Eabha actually enjoys the matches and heartily celebrates the win of Sir Angus, a talented jouster who caught her eye early on.
The fun ends there. As Morihana joins them at Market Square, A'mal decides that he wants to talk to the constables about getting into Flo's house to see if there are any clues there.
The authorities seem skeptical even after hearing that the young lady and her mother haven't been seen since Wednesday at least. But they agree to the plan as long as a constable accompanies them.
So, they head off to number 10 Knight Street.
The constable knocks at the front and back doors but there is no answer and they make preparations to go in.
"You two," A'mal says, gesturing to Morihana and Eabha, "take the wolf around back and block the door so no one can sneak out as we go in. It has occured to me that an empty house might make a good base of operation for the ercs."
The Druid and Ranger lead Ashling to the back door and wait.
A'mal goes in first and is immediately overcome by a sickening and familiar stench. He can see flies buzzing about up the stairwell and he knows this will not end well. He reluctantly heads up the steps and finds what he had hoped he wouldn't--a headless corpse--in the front bedroom.
It is the body of Nora, Flo's mother. It looks as though she was killed in her sleep; there is no evidence of a struggle and she is in bed, still wearing her nightgown.
A'mal is joined by Gilthain, Thrysp, Wassup and the constable. They head to the back bedroom, the one belonging to Flo. Here, there are small signs of a recent struggle--a candle on the floor and an over-turned table--but no body.
He wonders if Eabha and Morihana can make anything of the scene, so he calls for them to search the premises.
The two women, along with Ashling, make a thorough search of the area and report that something or someone--perhaps Flo--was carried out the back. There are footsteps leading to the community well behind the row of houses and but they stop there. Perhaps this is how they escaped. There has been no real looting of the home; in fact, Morihana finds a magical amulet belonging to Flo tucked between pieces of clothing in her dresser.
"She's probably still alive," A'mal decides. "Otherwise they'd have left her body here with her mother's. There was a bounty on her head; they would have had to take her alive. But how long will she stay that way?"
1 comment:
This is good. I like it.
Now if the party overlook something I just have to say read chapter 3 or 5 etc.
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