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ratkingdnd · 6 years ago

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Chapter Thirty Nine - And now you have seen me

The heroes look around at each other, covered in rotting sticks and branches from the blight beasts. "Well, what do you want to do next then?" Buffalo says to the group, Dolgan turns around to talk to the forest court "What do we d...they're gone" he says. "What?" says Scaly turning around as well, to see that all of the people that stood in the court were gone, just like that. "I still want to find Partum" says Buffalo, "Lets get this air elemental/goblin ship thing going, then we can get back to Wolfspine". The group agrees and they start walking, "Partum was supposed to be near where we got trapped" says Buff, "Yeah...I think he built the trap" says Ned. The heroes arrive shortly at the pit trap and see the leftovers of their fight, trampled ground, blood and the pit with a burnt dead wood woad in it. There were also pieces of scrap metal lying around the ground too. "Hello?" yells out Buffalo, but only hears the echo respond, "It doesn't look like he's here. I've been looking at the tracks on the way here and it seems they only leave here, none come back. Let's head back to the courts and we can see where they go from there".

The heroes make their way back to the forest court and stand in a group behind the judge's tree stump. "This is the last place there are any gnome like tracks" Buffalo says kneeling on the ground, touching it with his hands. The heroes hadn't noticed yet but a face was slowly appearing out of the tree next to them, so much so that the by the time the heroes even see anything the entire torso of a woman was leaning out of the tree, still covered in bark with an orange hue. It was the Dryad that had spoke out against them in court, she was also the dryad that fought them near the cemetery mound. "Mankoi naa lle sinome?" she says, her mouth slightly opening, splitting the wood that covered her face. Raissh looks at the heroes "She said - "Why are you here?", "We're looking for Partum" says Buffalo to the Dryad, Raissh translates it for her "Lye're lookien ten' partum". The dryad shakes her head "Ro sane ho pay. Ro's hyarya", "She said he's left and took his payment" says Raissh. "Where did he go?" asks Buffalo, "Manke ume ro auta?" says Raissh to the Dryad. "Wanwa" says the dryad, slowly merging back into the wood. "She said he's gone. That's it". "I see another two tracks on the ground here, but they're not a gnomes. Well at least, they don't look like a gnomes prints" says Buffalo "What if he got carried away by a couple of cronies and that's how he left?", "Better than nothing" says Ned, "Let's follow them".

The heroes follow the two sets of footprints with Buffalo leading the charge. They walk for a little while until they come across an familiar location. They were at Elmdew Pond. Breaking through the hedges that line the tranquil area they see Yan swimming around in the pond, having chats with the other animals. "Ahhhh Con Clavi, how are we?" he says swimming to the shore to greet them. "Yeah good" says Buffalo "Have you seen a gnome come here at any point recently?", "No, nothing other than those two things over there" Yan says pointing just behind the heroes. The heroes turn around, seeing two hunks of steel laying on the grass. "Are they dead?" asks Scaly, "No idea' says Yan, "They came through the hedges, spoke in a weird language, came into the pond, seemed to have a small seizure and fell onto the grass after walking out of the pond". Buffalo walks over and gives one of them a kick. It rolls over to one side, but didn't move other than that. The rest of the heroes walk up and have a look. "I have never seen anything like this before" says Dolgan leaning down and poking it's side. It was a square metal box on top two legs, the back of it had two steel wings and it had two small arms out of it's side as well. Lastly it had a couple of eyes on the front but they looked like they were made from some type of glass. "Yeah this thing is weird" says Scaly trying to open it's mouth "It doesn't seem to have any proper insides". Buffalo pulls an arrow from his quiver and raises it above the metal monster in two hands, "Hey, hey, hey...what are you doing?" says Yan, "I'm about to open this thing up and find out how it works" responds Buffalo. "Not in here you're not" says Yan, "This is an animal sanctuary, no harm can be done to anything here. Not on my watch anyway". Buffalo pops the arrow back in his quiver, 'Sorry" he says.

"What if we tried heating them up?" says Dolgan, still staring closely at the alien machines, "I could do that. We wouldn't be hurting them Yan" says Scaly looking at the fish. "That's fine" says Yan and Scaly starts to light a small flame just under the metal contraptions. "Clllnnkkkk.....aaannnk" the metal starts to slowly heat up and expands. "Pfffshhhh, Pfffshhh" steam starts to pump out the top of the square body. They both get up and look at each other "Jeng jong fruh naru" one of them says and they start walking out of Elmdew. "Hey!" yells Buffalo following behind, "We just saved you, where are you going?", they continue to walk forward a little more briskly. "HEY!" yells Buffalo continuing to follow them, the rest of the heroes now following too. The metal monsters break out into a gallop, "Heeeeey!" Buffalo continues to chase them before they break out into a run. The small machines continue to pick up speed as their wings start flapping, "Fwoo, fwoo, fwoo, fwoo, fwoo" they legs start to raise off of the ground as their wings pick up the slack, rising up into the air. "HEEEEEEYYYYY!" Buffalo yells, stopping and leaning over whilst panting. "Fuck!" he says as the rest of the heroes catch up, "They're gone...".

The heroes make their way back to Elmdew, defeated by the run and the lost monsters. "Back so soon?" says Yan, "Yeah, we lost track of those machines" says Ned as the group hops into the pond to mend their wounds from the fight at the forest courts. "Mind if we stay here tonight" asks Dolgan to Yan, "Of course! Be my guest!" says Yan. The heroes grab a bite to eat, set up a small fire with their bed rolls and fall asleep fast.

The heroes wake in the morning feeling amazing, as it always did with their Elmdew rests. "Where to today boys?" asks Yan, "We're off home, back to Wolfspine!" says Scale, "Ahhh yes I forgot you were all originally from there, we've seen you so many times at Elmdew it's hard to remember you're not actually from the forest!" responds Yan. "Yeah it'll be nice to go back, we've been gone so long" says Scaly, "Well, don't forget about us! The living forest is not that far away from Wolfspine, so don't forget to come and visit!" says Yan swimming off to welcome some new animals into the Elmdew sanctuary. The heroes make their way to the forest's exit, the last thing passing them by being the alchemists keep they had cleared out a few days earlier. "Let's pop in and see Gurvash before we leave" says Ned making a quick turn into the keep. "Gurvash!" says Ned walking through the gate and seeing the huge tree in the middle of the keep. "Hellllloooooo" says the giant tree, it's voice straining and slow as it rumbles through the heroes bones. "We're heading into Wolfspine for a bit, so we thought we'd come and say goodbye for now" says Scaly, "Gooodddbbyyyeee" says Gurvash, not really paying attention. "Actually" says Dolgan, "Do you know anything about the Gulthias tree?", "Why yessssss, it's a treeeeeee in the feywild, booooorn of a vampires deeaattth" says Gurvash. "Yeah, do you know how we get to the Feywild though" says Dolgan, "Foooouuur small statues, placed at the oooooooffering plates at the Feywild statues will open a pooooortal" responds Gurvash. "These statues?" Ned says holding up the statues he had gotten from the bottom of the murky water pond. The giant tree nods slowly, a few twigs and branches falling out of it's canopy.

The heroes continue on their journey to Wolfspine. Arriving on the city outskirts about a 30 minute walk later. "Why are there so many graves?" says Scaly as they walk down the well trodden road, "Where did these all come from?". "Yeah...I don't know" says Dolgan, a worrying look on his face. The heroes walk on, past the freshly dug graves looking at all the flowers put on them, "Something's happened" says Buffalo.

Getting to the south gates of Wolfspine, the heroes see 2 guards standing duty, particularly armoured. "Pass" says one of the guards in a monotonous tone, "Ohhh I...we..left ours in the city" says Ned, the guards cross their pikes blocking the entrance "Sorry, you know the rules then, no pass no entry" they say. "But we can't get our passes because they're in the city" says Ned, a little irate. "NO pass, NO entry" responds the guard. At that moment, "psssst" a mysterious whisper comes from Scaly's left. Scaly turns his head and see's Ragus standing about 100 feet away next to the city walls, Scaly taps Ned's arm discreetly. "What?!" says Ned annoyed with the guards and looking angrily at Ned. Scaly shakes his head and pulls Ned aside walking out of hearing distance from the guards. "Ragus is over there" says Scaly, "The wizard/magician guy?" asks Ned, Scaly nods. Ned walks over to the rest of the group still near the guards "Hey uhhhh, sorry guys" he says looking at the guards, "Looks like we've really stuffed up here, but we'll go and sort our passes out and come back through, thanks!", the confused looks on Buffalo, Dolgan and Raissh's faces told Ned they had no idea what was going on. He grabbed Dolgan and Buffalo by the arms and starts walking backwards, "Just come with me" he says under his breath. The guards don't seem to care much and pull back their pikes as the heroes move away from them.

Once the whole group is out of earshot, Scaly tells the group that Ragus was trying to get his attention. They walk into the shrubbery around them, off of the path and emerge close to where Scaly said Ragus was. Ragus was waiting, leaning against the wall playing with his hair. "Oh my god, guys!" he says in a whisper, "Where have you been?! Actually, tell me later, let's just get you in first" as he turns around and mutters something under his breath, bricks start moving out of the wall, circling Ragus hands. "Go through" he says motioning with his head towards the man sized hole he had created in the wall. The heroes walk through, Ned and Scaly having to bend a little, their larger stature making it difficult to fit easily through the hole. Once on the other side, Ragus walks through and replaces the bricks with whatever magic he was using. "Come with me" he says, scaling the walls of a dark alley, I'll get you somewhere safe and then we can talk.

The heroes follow Ragus in to a small alley that they hadn't been to before. "The chest, pick up the chest" Ragus says, "You can't have the chest walking around willy nilly, you'll be picked up for that. Actually, Scaly you need a hood - nothing other than humans and and things closely related to humans in Wolfspine anymore. Ned, get yourself a coat, no public indecency. Wolfspine has changed since you left and we need to fall in line otherwise we'll be locked up or even worse". "What the hell has happened here?" asks Dolgan, "I will tell you when we get to the Closed Eye, but for now, just listen to me and follow my lead" responds Ragus. The heroes listen and make the changes requested by Ragus, Ned goes into the chest and fishes out a few bits and bobs of clothing making sure him and Scaly are all covered up, Ned then picks the chest up carrying it against his own chest. "Okay, lets go" says Ragus pointing out ahead of him at a street, "Act natural, don't skulk around" he says, "Act like you live here".

Ragus walks out first, chest up high as if he was not harbouring a bunch of people not allowed in Wolfspine. Ned, Buffalo, Scaly and finally Dolgan followed in the rear. They crossed from one side of the road to the other, hitting up another dark alley way. The alleys smelled like piss and stale water, their feet creating ripples in the small puddles that peppered the pock holes of the alley. They crossed another street in the same fashion and then another after that. The rain that was always so present at Wolfspine started, a slow drizzle falling between the houses onto the heroes clothes, not enough to brush off but too much to not be annoying. After walking for four to five minutes, keeping their appearance discreet and making sure they were quiet but not oddly quiet Ragus says "Okay, just this last street, then down another alley and we're there", the heroes nod and start making their way across the street in the same order once more. Ragus walks out of the alley way and turns around quickly looking at the group, eyes wide. Something was wrong. Ragus turns around so fast that his robes fly up around him as he starts walking again. Ned follows quickly behind, looking left and right as he moves across the street. Directly to his right he see's four guards walking up the street directly towards them. Ned puts his head down and crosses the street, followed by Buffalo, Scaly and finally Dolgan. Ragus turns around to see the heroes cross the street, Dolgan coming up last, but he was too slow. "Oi!" yells out a guard, Ragus see's the guard looking at Dolgan and waves his hand out to Dolgan, motioning for him to run to him, but Dolgan stops whilst the guards catch up to him.

"Pass" says one of the guards, holding his hand out. "Ummmmm" Dolgan stumbles around pretending to be drunk, "Itsss at home". "Shit, shit, shit!" says Ragus, himself and the other heroes hiding in the darkness of the alley, "Let's go out and kill these guards" says Buffalo but Ragus places an arm across his chest. "It would be easier to let him get caught and break him out of jail then fight these guards right now". "Give me your pass" says the guard once more, this time with a little more demand in his voice. "I toooold you, I don't have it, itsss at home" says Dolgan. One of the other guards behind grabs the the guards shoulder from behind "I know this guy, he's a resident of Wolfspine. He's always around here, mostly at the Black Barrel Inn". The guard looks at Dolgan and pushes him to the ground "You're lucky John is willing to vouch for you, otherwise you'd be going straight to the church" he says as he walks away. Dolgan stays on the ground for another thirty seconds or so, pretending to not be able to get up. As soon as the guards turn the corner, Dolgan jumps onto his feet and runs to the alley where the rest of the group was waiting for him. "Phew!" says Dolgan as they start walking again.

Another minute or so walk and the heroes walk down a small staircase, the rain had pooled water at the bottom of it, so they stood directly on the staircase instead of actually going down to the last platform. Ragus stands at the bottom step and seems to be saying something under his breath, "Ah that's it!" he says as he knocks on the door with an odd, but rhythmic pattern. A little hatch across the door opens and a pair of eyes appear, looking side to side at the group. The hatch closes and the door opens, a waft of warm air flies out of the tavern along with laughter and the smell of alcohol and food. "Welcome to The Closed Eye" says the man holding open the door as the heroes make their way in. The tavern had a lot of different people in there, from dragon borns to tieflings, they all seemed to congregate under the one roof. Buffalo walks forward, finding a table and sits down. Ned, Ragus, Dolgan, Scaly and Raissh follow suit with the chest walking it's way over at Ned's legs. Ned sit's down and knocks twice on the lid of the chest, the lid lifts slowly revealing Buggy staring cautiously out "It's all good to come out" says Ned, Buggy jumps out and looks around, "Back in Wolfspine!" he exclaims as he takes a seat next to Ragus. Kalgrin follows after Buggy, but staring around much more intently, "Where the hell are we in Wolfspine?" he asks. "The Closed Eye" answers Buff, "Some place for outcasts I think", "Hmm" Kalgrin says to himself, finally sitting down. A waiter comes along, "Ale or wine?" she says with an odd accent the heroes couldn't place, "I'll take a wine" says Buff, "Me too" says Dolgan, "Me three" says Scaly. "An ale for me" says Ned, "And me" says Raissh, "And me" says Buggy with a smile on his face, "Actually order me one too Buggy" says Ragus, Buggy obliges "And another one for my friend here please!" pointing at Ragus. The waiter gives Buggy a weird look and notes the groups drink order. He looks to Kalgrin but Kalgrin waves him off. "Right, be right back" says the waiter walking away.

"So, Ragus, what the hell has happened here" says Dolgan, "Well, since you left almost a year ago, the entire Pale Hand has taken over Wolfspine, smiting sinners and wrongdoers by fire. That's what". "That cannot be right Ragus" says Buffalo, "We've been gone maybe 3 weeks in total". "The last time I saw you" says Ragus as the waiter plops down the drinks in front of the heroes, "Was when I saw you at Wolfspine Manor. Ned had something wrong with his head, all the cactus kids were singing that song, and you went to the mausoleum to get it sorted with Kalgrin. Then, you disappeared for the good part of a year". "We absolutely did go to Kalgrin's, but then we went to the Shadowfell for a few..." Ragus cuts off Buffalo half way, "Ahhh, then that explains it. Time works differently in the Shadowfell. A few days can easily be a few months in the material plane", "Oh well, there you go then" says Buffalo a little defeated. "Whilst you were gone then" Ragus continues to explain. "The Pale Hand took over, I think before you left, they just had a small church. Their followers grew in numbers and their hold over the leading faction became very apparent. A lot of Wolfspine residents have been killed for acts against the church, and they can be almost for anything. If you're a magic user, or even look like one, they can burn you alive, creatures of non human origins or that don't look like humans, drunks, adulterers, prostitutes. Even if you harbour people of this ilk, you can be burnt. Wolfspine locales have been burnt to the ground, the Red Coq, Octavious' shop even the Endless gaze...all gone". At this point Kalgrin gets up and starts walking away, "Hey! Where are you going?!" says Dolgan, "I'm out" says Kalgrin, "I'm going home, my mausoleums not far from here, I miss Bob and you guys are fucking crazy. So I'm out. Call me if you ever need anything hee hee hee" he says as he opens the door to and waves as he leaves. "Well that was abrupt" says Buffalo as the heroes return their attention to Ragus. "Eventide and Salvador have changed their stores into less magical places, focusing on books and juices instead. Which reminds me, you need to go see Scriba, one of their brothers, at Scriba's Superb Scribblings. He can draw you up a fake pass for now" The heroes nod. Ragus gets up, finishing his beer, "By the way Buffalo, your friend Ryland seems to be back in town too. He disappeared around the same time as you guys, but returned a couple of months or so back, he's got some new arm thing, looks like a bunch of twigs and branches with a light on the end of it. If you see him, you should let him know that, that is a dangerous thing to be waving around in Wolfspine these days". Ragus walks towards the door, grabbing a robe off of the stand, "Stay safe Con Clavi, you're going to need it" as he exits.

"Well shit" Buffalo says stirring his wine with his index finger, "I never would've thought that Ryland would be the one to be impersonating me. He's an old friend, one of my oldest friends. How could he do that?". "It is weird isn't it" says Ned, finishing the rest of his wine. A smelly man sits heavily on the chair next to them at their table, "Well, well, well, look who we have here" he says, the alcohol on his breath so strong it could be detected form a mile away. "What happened to you guys? You said you'd protect my place if I gave you lodgings and then you disappeared!" said the hairy person. "Hang on" said Scaly looking closer at the man, attempting to gaze under the unkempt hair covering the top half of his face, "Carver?!", "TIS ME!" he yells, sloshing his drink across the table. "I thought you had died after the Red Coq burnt down", "Nup, got out, live on the streets now. Or here if they let me". "We're sorry" says Buffalo, "We didn't mean to go for so long, we were stuck in the Shadowfell, but look, we're staying here tonight. You can stay with us and we'll sort you out a new tavern". "Okay" says Carver, looking down into his drink, he didn't seem like he understood what Buffalo just said. Buffalo calls for a waiter and says "We need two rooms for tonight", we can get that organised says the waiter as he walks away back to the bar.

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