#queue candles pity moths?

[chille-tid-universe]

Welcome to Daggerford

As the party continued down the dusty road, a light breeze drifted through the air. They had come across an increasing number of travelers, from obvious adventurers to merchants to small regiments of guards, and thus they knew they were reaching the next stop in their trek: Daggerford.

As the sun started to fall, the four spied the rising walls of the city. It was larger than any settlement they had seen since Orlane, but the walls showed signs of neglect, and wary guardsmen and women stood stationed atop the parapets, bows strung and with arrows in easy reach. There was a short queue of travelers ahead of the group, each person answering to a gatekeeper before being admitted. Brienne took all this in, eyes sweeping from crumbling stone to fidgety archers to stern gatekeeper, taking in the terse atmosphere around their fellow travelers. Wun Way softly teased a few notes from her pan flute, while Poc stood as far from Nissa as he could.

The gnomes had been frosty since the incident a few days past which had ended with Nissa’s crossbows pointed directly at Poc. The poor cleric had made sure to keep Brienne and Wun Way between himself and Nissa since then, but he still flinched whenever Nissa glanced his way. For her part, Nissa seemed to have moved past the whole ordeal, but during his night watch Poc could have sworn that he caught her eyes staring at him as he paced their campfire. He told himself that he was being silly, that being a member of the group meant they both had buried the hatchet, but she was a Svirfneblin, after all…

Poc was brought back from his musings as the merchant ahead of them was waved through the wooden gates. The gatekeeper raised his free hand as they approached, a tall halberd in his other. “What is your business?” he asked in a gruff tone, only the barest hint of inflection indicating a question. Wun Way stepped forward and flashed a smile to the guard, stating that they were a group of travelers passing through. The guard eyed her, but seemed otherwise unimpressed. When he pressed for how long they intended to stay in Daggerford, Wun Way smiled again and assured him they would be no more than a week. He grunted and raised his hand again, signalling for them to enter.

Before they did, Brienne asked if there was an inn or tavern the gatekeeper might recommend. He gave an almost mechanical answer, as if he had anticipated the question. “River Shining Tavern’s the oldest you’ll find in the city, and better run than most others. They’ll have room for ya.” Brienne thanked him, then lead the party into the city.

As they passed under the wall, Poc noticed that its ramshackle state extended to the buildings it hid. The city was busy, but not particularly well kept, with rotted timber and crumbling arches, especially out in the extremities of the city. As they continued on, however, Castle Daggerford rose before them, and Poc instantly recognized the solid craftsmanship of dwarves in its regal buttresses, in the sure blocks of stone that seemed to proudly stand above these lesser constructions as if to attest to its makers’ long-lasting accomplishment. Poc made a mental note to seek some information as to the construction of the castle.

As they continued down crowded roads, Nissa shook her head. “Last time you were recommended an inn, we almost ended up snake food.”

Brienne glanced at the cityfolk passing by, at the bustle of street vendors and hagglers. “Orlane is a long way off, and these folk seem much more… human.” Nissa shrugged, eyes darting from face to face, and Brienne sighed. “If you can find another suitable location, we can stay there, instead.”

Nissa only nodded, then shot off from the group. Brienne and Wun Way pushed through the throng of people, with Poc hanging from their cloaks, to find Nissa conversing with a halfling by the side of the road. As the group finally made their way to Nissa, the halfling walked away, and a gnomish grin spread on Nissa’s face. “I found a new place to stay!” she exclaimed. “The Happy Cow Inn!”

Brienne frowned. “And you trust this new place over the River Shining Tavern because..?” Nissa jerked a thumb at the receding halfling.

“He’s the size a normal person should be. More trustworthy.” Poc had the grace to look embarrassed for Nissa as Wun Way giggled. Brienne just shrugged and gestured for the svirfneblin to lead the way.

As they made their way in an arc around the central Castle Daggerford, they wound their way through many streets. Some were in better repair than others, and in one out-of-the-way alley, a shabbily cloaked beggar stumbled into their path. “Spare a coin?” the pitiful voice rasped. Though the other three made to skirt around the beggar, Brienne paused. She glanced around the alley, aware of potential threats, before reaching into the bag of holding and pulling out a couple of coppers. She placed them in the scabrous, outstretched hands, and was rewarded with a brilliant, toothy smile. Brienne smiled back, and caught up with the group. A few minutes later, however, there were two more beggars almost waiting for them around a turn. The other three rolled their eyes and stepped around the ragged forms while Brienne counted out the last few coppers, splitting them between the beggars. As Nissa sneered back at the generosity, Brienne simply shrugged.

Minutes later, the gang ended up before a spacious inn. As they stepped inside, however, Brienne rolled her eyes. “A halfling inn?” she asked Nissa incredulously.

Nissa couldn’t, or wouldn’t, hear Brienne’s tone, however. She nodded excitedly, gesturing at all the “normal sized” fixings of the inn. There was also an area of the room with larger tables, hosting a handful of humans and elves, and one strange figure playing, but the majority of the inn was miniature tables and a crowd of halflings.

Wun Way looked around doubtingly, but Nissa practically hopped to the bar and motioned to the halfling barkeep, a stout halfling woman who introduced herself as Nendy. Her first reaction to Nissa’s ashen features was slight surprise, as if she hadn’t been expecting Nissa, but that soon gave way to an easy joviality that seemed prevalent in the room. Nendy described prices that seemed fair and even offered a “tall folk” room for the two “giants.” While Brienne settled the tab, however, Wun Way had eyes only for the strange being playing in the corner of the “tall folk” section.

She was a brilliantly beautiful asimar, as Wun Way recognized her from tales of her father. With a voice like flowing honey, the woman’s song filled the room, a subtle undertone to the boisterous conversations. Like a moth to flame, Wun Way drifted over to the stage and sat enthralled.

Through her song, the asimar identified herself as Melpomene, an enchanting musician whom Wun Way took a shining to immediately. As Wun Way listened, Poc and Nissa were pulled into the boisterous crowd of halflings. Brienne called for Nendy and inquired about the happenings in the surrounding area. The halfling woman simply shrugged and said that things had been pretty normal around the city recently, other than a few bands of orcs and their “helpers” in the surrounding area. When Brienne pushed, Nendy suggested reaching out to the militia to see how they were faring. Satisfied, Brienne thanked her and settled in to enjoy the music.

The night wore on, and before too long the halflings had tired themselves out. As one, they seemed to decide the day had held enough excitement, and there was an exodus, both to the doors of the inn and to the stairs for those staying the night. Warm farewells were bandied across the room, and in a manner of minutes, the group of four was alone in the inn, apart from Nendy and the exotic Melpomene.

Nendy continued tending to the countless mugs that littered the bar while the party regrouped, and Wun Way began to approach the asimar. As she passed by a table, however, the light from its single candle flickered, then burst into a large flame that rose a foot off the table. With a start, hands went to weapons, and more flames erupted on the other tables. As maniacal cackling began to echo in the room, Nendy threw her hands into the air and retreated with a scream to the side door in the room. Nissa attempted to follow her, but seemed to collide with something in the open door frame. Wide-eyed, she backed into the room, and began brandishing her crossbows in various directions at the air.

Frowning, Brienne quickly reached into the bag of holding to remove the lantern of revealing. “Ready yourselves!” she cried, as she fiddled with the wick, borrowing from a jug of lantern oil behind the bar. As the lantern’s seemingly redundant flame sputtered into life, the winged forms of imps flickered into view, their invisibility dispeled. As the imps realized they could see their comrades, the cackling became shrieks of annoyance, and they swarmed the remaining patrons of the inn.

Wun Way raised her rapier, but the imps were too quick. With a series of opportune strikes, they felled the half-elf, gleeful jabbering filling the air as their tails pierced her. In a heap, she fell to the floor. Brienne, seeing this, cried out and struck at the swarming imps around her, the fell battleaxe cutting easily through a pair of imps in a single blow, the backswing taking another two. The remaining imp near her cackled, but it glanced warily at the fallen bodies on the floor.

Nissa ducked beneath the stinging tails and fired at the cretins, reaching her blade up to strike at the winged menaces while Melponene revealed a blade from the folds of her cloak and struck out with a beautiful war-cry. Poc, seeing Wun Way fall, darted between the flitting enemies and reached for her fallen form, chanting to his god as life flowed from his fingers into her unconscious body. With a gasp, Wun Way sat up, sheepishly grinning thanks at the gnome.

With Wun Way revived, the party was reinvigorated, and in short order they had regrouped and cut down most of the imps. As they fought, however, the devilish fires spread, and soon tables and chairs joined the conflagration. In less than a minute, the last three imps glanced about the room and flew up to a high window, smashing it. “Oh no you don’t,” Wun Way grunted, then prestidigitated the appearance of the unbroken window back into its frame. This flabbergasted the imps for another second, in which time Brienne’s thrown axe cleaved one of them in two, but when an imp attempted to break the window again, it comically fell through the illusion, sending it drifting like a cloud. With a shriek, the last imp fled after its fellow.

The imps gone, the party’s attention turned to the room. The fire was spreading, and smoke was beginning to gather at the ceiling. Melpomene shouted over the roar, “There’s a barrel of water in the back room, where Nendy ran!”

Brienne nodded and pointed to the door. “Go bring it in here! We need to get everyone out!” At this point, confused patrons from the sleeping quarters had begun peering down the stairs. Wun Way motioned for Nissa and Poc to stand back, then shattered the wall near the burning entrance, leaving a gaping hole to the chilled outside air. With a gesture from Brienne, the halflings began picking their way through the burning tables to the outside, but not before Nissa could dash through the rubble. Brienne darted up the stairs around the halflings and began banging on doors, making sure each room was vacated.

Poc and Wun Way began using the heavy curtains to beat out the flames as Brienne ran back down the stairs. Noticing that Melpomene still had not returned, she darted into the back room. There, she found Nendy curled up in a corner, rocking herself back and forth, while the asimar struggled with a large barrel of water. “Let me help,” Brienne offered, gripping the wide barrel and hefting it over her shoulder. As the two carried it back to the burning room, Wun Way motioned for them to lay the barrel on a table near the middle of the room. With concentration, the half-elf centered another shatter spell in the middle of the barrel, sending bits of wood and gouts of water spreading across half the room.

By this time, a bucket brigade had formed outside the inn, passing buckets of water into the room. Poc placed a protection spell on himself and went to the front of the line, taking the buckets and tossing their contents over the remaining flames before passing them back. The flames were beginning to recede, though it didn’t seem like it would be fast enough, until a lone figure walked out of the night’s darkness, in cowled robe and holding a tattered scroll. He spoke a powerful word and unfurled the scroll, and a sphere of floating water materialized within the room. He gestured and uttered another word, and the water spread, coating the room in a manner of moments. After that, only a few smoldering spots remained, which were contained easily by the volunteers. As the old man turned and walked away without another word, Brienne asked one of the halflings about him. He explained it had been Ol’ Man Ondanbarl, the Wizard of Daggerford.

After the party had found Nissa again, they stood and stared at the scorched inn. “Guess we’ll be going to the River Shining Tavern, after all,” Poc commented, drawing a sharp glance from Nissa. Wun Way glanced over at Melpomene, instrument slung over her shoulder, staring furtively at the blackened husk of an inn. The half-elf walked up and cleared her throat, drawing the asimar’s attention.

“You know… If you’re looking for a new place to stay, we were going to head to the River Shining Tavern. In case you wanted to join us.” The asimar grinned slyly, remembering her last interaction with the Tavern’s owner.

“I suppose I’ll be needing a new hall to play in,” she mused, voice like crystal in the night air. She nodded at the other bard and followed her back to the party. As she approached, Brienne nodded a greeting.

“You fought well, and I appreciate your help with the flames,” the human said. “We’d be honored to travel to the Tavern with you.”

There were thankfully no more burning buildings as the augmented party made their way around the city to the River Shining Tavern, and although the hour was late the innkeeper had been roused by the commotion nearby. They were welcomed to their rooms and tiredly set up watch, the long night catching up to them. As most of the party sunk into sleep, mad cackling could be heard over the rooftops, far across the city.