by Drew Hayes
Who was that adventurer that had slipped in here ahead of them, and where had he vanished off to?
* * *
“While it pains me to say it, I’m afraid that now is not the time to go to Baltmur.” Thistle’s voice was heavy—tired, really—as he sat on the bed. Everyone else was gathered around him in the small room; Mr. Peppers had to be held in Timuscor’s arms, as there wasn’t enough space for him to stand. The Hall of Adventurers offered safety and modest comfort in their rooms, not space to spare.
“Come on, this isn’t that bad. I did fine in sunlight, so we know I’m not a vampire, and I haven’t craved any flesh, blood, or brains so far. Those are all good signs,” Gabrielle pointed out. “Plus, I feel better than before: stronger, hardier, I haven’t noticed even a bit of fatigue, even after the day we had.”
“Happy as I am that you aren’t yet feeling inclined to eat us, I’m afraid we’ve little assurance that such will continue to be the case,” Thistle said. “But it’s not just you, Gabrielle. We have many questions that need answering: the properties of your axe, the nature of your undead status, and, above all else, we have to understand exactly what it is that we are carrying.”
Thistle’s eyes darted to the backpack where Eric had stowed the piece of the Bridge. It had done as promised and showed Grumph a way to temporarily break the wards, even if the half-orc had been hit with a tremendous headache afterward. Still, there was no sense taking any chances after Eric’s... incident. The crystalline object was stashed out of sight, and, more importantly, out of reach.
“We could bury this one too, like we did with the last,” Eric suggested. Thistle wasn’t sure if the offer came out of a true desire to be rid of it or simply wanting to appear that way. Not that it mattered.
“No, I think the fact that we have now stumbled across three pieces of this artifact speaks to the possibility that some sort of force is drawing us to it. Perhaps the gods, perhaps the artifact itself, perhaps some unknown factor we’ve yet to encounter. Regardless, while distance and ignorance were adequate shields the first time, now I fear that if we don’t gain an understanding of what we’re dealing with, we’ll only endanger ourselves more.”
“If not Baltmur, then where do we go?” Timuscor asked.
Thistle hesitated for a moment, locking eyes briefly with Grumph. “Lumal, the City of Magic. Countless mages of all disciplines live there, as well as priests and paladins said to have communed directly with the gods themselves.”
“So what? Almost half of us have done that. If you want mages, we just need to head to the nearest town with a guild outpost,” Gabrielle said.
“Lumal is a place of ancient wisdom, power, and history. It is where mages shut themselves away to learn more about the world than they can anywhere else.” Grumph winced slightly from the effort of speech; the pain in his head still obviously present. “For you, the guild would suffice. For our artifact, Lumal is the best chance we have to find answers.”
“Forgive me, but as I recall, Lumal is closed to outsiders,” Timuscor said. “At least according to legends I’ve heard.”
Thistle nodded. “Aye, you’ve heard right. Because so much power lives there, any kingdom would seek to control or pillage it if given the chance. That is why the entrances are spread out and guarded carefully. But Grumph and I know of a route to get there, north of here, running through Urthos.”
“You want us to plunge into the wild lands?” Eric said. His eyes darted momentarily to his pack, a fleeting gesture that Thistle hoped most of the others had missed. “Isn’t that dangerous?”
“Not much more than the road to Baltmur, and we won’t be in Urthos for long,” Thistle assured him. “The entrance is close to Alcatham’s border. Getting there will be, hopefully, a minor task. Getting through might prove to be more difficult; however, we have little else in terms of options right now.”
“Thistle and I didn’t leave Lumal on the best of terms,” Grumph added.
Eric crossed his arms and stared at the two of them. “One of these days, I would really love a full record of all the adventures you two went on before Maplebark.”
“Most would bore you to tears. Remember, we were only hired or indentured help, not adventurers ourselves—something I’m hoping will actually be to our benefit when we try and enter Lumal.” Thistle managed a smile that he hoped was more confident than he felt. “I’ll admit this isn’t a perfect situation, but we rarely find ourselves in those, anyway. If anyone has a suggestion, I’m certainly open to it. Lumal is simply the only place I know of with a mage outpost, a vast and varied library, and countless historical scrolls. Furthermore, I’d be willing to wager it houses at least one name on Gabrielle’s list.”
“Two names there, actually,” Gabrielle told them. “I’m with Thistle. I was trying to downplay it since I didn’t want to divert our plans just for me, but the truth is I’ll feel a lot more comfortable once I know exactly what this axe did to me.”
“It is a dangerous path,” Grumph said. “But what lies at the end may be invaluable. I too vote we go to Lumal.”
“After what happened in the cave, I’m not against anything that gets me more information on what we’re dealing with.” Eric patted the bag gently, just in case anyone missed his meaning—which they hadn’t. Glowing eyes, mad expression—that was not an image that would fade from their minds anytime soon.
Timuscor was the last, standing silently, holding Mr. Peppers carefully as the boar let out small grunts. His head lowered slightly as he spoke. “I will always follow you to the ends of the world, as I have promised. But I must admit that our last encounter has left me with questions. Questions about who I am, where I came from, and what my life was before meeting you all. And, to be truthful, I have some about my path ahead, as well. I know you can make me no promises, that we are all on this path of discovery together, but tell me honestly: Thistle, do you believe I may find any answers in a place such a Lumal?”
“If there are answers to be found, Lumal would either have them or point us in the direction of one who does,” Thistle replied.
“Then we will follow gladly.” Timuscor lifted his head, and Mr. Peppers let out a grunt slightly louder than his usual snorts.
“Best we head out as soon as possible,” Eric suggested. “Once the matter with Rathgan is settled, this town will be swarming with adventurers again. I’d rather be clear before that happens. Something about having this artifact around so many of them... it feels needlessly dangerous.”
Gabrielle whirled around on Eric, her now red eyes wide as silver coins. “Hold on, you’re not going to hunt Elora down? She stole a piece of the Br—well, you know.”
“And maybe that’s for the best,” Eric replied. “Elora is smart; she won’t be reckless with it. Plus, this puts it out of my reach. Having one piece on hand is risky, but I’ve been able to handle it. Two is clearly more than I can withstand. Better it sit on some trophy shelf of hers or pass on to a collector than be in my grasp where I might be tempted to take it up.”
“Assuming she doesn’t just sell it to a crazy wizard who uses it to start letting more demons through,” Gabrielle countered.
“Elora, for all her many faults, is not outright evil,” Thistle said. “And given your situation, we don’t have time to hang around, searching for her in vain, especially not when the adventurers will be returning. Some of them are bound to have very firm opinions about the undead, intelligent or not.”
Gabrielle’s mouth slowly closed, her next argument bitten back. She knew that if a fight came, her friends would stand with her, even if it meant they fell too. Getting clear of Camnarael was the safest move, not just for her, but for the entire party. She reached down and grabbed her Satchel of Containment, pulling out a few of the many gold coins she’d taken from Rathgan’s hoard.
“I guess there’s nothing left to do but pack and buy some provisions for the road. Anyone know if I need a different kind of healing potion now that I’m undead?”
* * *
“Maybe we should just walk away.” Bert was calmer than he had been before—not that that was a terribly high bar to hit, comparatively.
The group was sitting at the same table in Russell and Cheri’s parents’ dining room where they’d been playing for weeks; however, this time, things were different. There were no dice, books, maps, or any sort of gaming implement present. Alexis had even left her phone, on which she’d installed a dice-roller app, in the kitchen. After getting their characters loaded with gold and off the mountain, they’d gone to the Hall of Adventurers, booked rooms, and declared that everyone went right to bed. There was no more strangeness during the session, not that they’d been hungry for it. What they’d experienced was more than enough for one day.
“Do you mean quit gaming entirely, or just Spells, Swords, and Stealth?” Tim asked.
“I mean the modules that Russell is using,” Bert replied. “The first time this happened was when you all were playing one of these, right? And the last adventure was fun, but apparently we’ve been carting around some sort of uber-powerful item that can—and I hate myself for saying this out loud— somehow impact the real world. Then all this goes down... and, well, tell me it’s a coincidence that it’s only happening to us, and maybe anyone else playing the rare modules Russell keeps bringing to the table.”
“Sometimes I forget that you’re not all muscle.” Cheri sighed and took a long sip from her can. She’d greatly dialed back her in-game drinking, but this was an afternoon that had left her wanting a cold beer. Really, she was one more bit of weird shit away from offering to buy brews for the whole group. “No, you’re right; it’s almost definitely the modules. Russell and I had to jump through tons of hoops to get this one. Who knows if there’s going to be a fourth, or if we could obtain it. I’ve got a good hunch that if we don’t go looking, it won’t find us.”
“Case closed, then. Russell switches to some regular books, and we all take a vow to never talk about this again.” Bert seemed to relax, his large shoulders lowering several inches. It was a sentiment that lasted only until Tim spoke up.
“With all due respect... I want to keep going.” Tim swallowed hard, his gulp audible as he steeled his nerves to continue. “You all can leave if you want. Russell can stop running these if he’d like to—I would totally understand. But, scary as this was, we just saw something incredible. Inexplicable. This wasn’t my dice glowing and falling apart. This was undeniable. It was magic, pure and simple. I can’t just walk away from that. I want to keep following the trail, playing these modules, seeing where it all leads. Even if I have to do it alone.”
“You won’t. I’m in, too.” For once, it was Alexis’s forceful voice that rang through the room, with no traces of Gelthorn’s dialect. She was still hunched down, hands gripping the table, but it didn’t stop her from speaking. “Sorry, Bert. I know this isn’t your scene, but Tim hit it right on the head. We just experienced the impossible. It was terrifying and exhilarating, and it opens up so much potential about our world. Imagine the rest of your life, trying to pretend the world is normal and rational, but always having this moment in the back of your mind. To me, that’s a lot scarier than anything we saw.”
Bert stared at her for several minutes before shifting his gaze to Cheri. “I assume you’ll want to recklessly charge ahead, as usual?”
“My curiosity is piqued, I’m not going to deny that,” Cheri said. “Then again, I also just watched my sibling get straight-up possessed by a book, so I’m less gung-ho than you might expect. But at the end of the day, this is Russell’s game. I joined for him. If he wants to keep going, even after what he experienced, then I’ll be there to watch his back. And if he wants to light that fucking module on fire and never look back, I won’t let any of you try to talk him out of it. Either way, little brother, I’m with you.”
All eyes turned to Russell, the only uncast vote: two for proceeding, one for quitting, and one that would follow his lead. He was the deciding vote. What’s more, he was the connection to the modules. It had been Russell’s name at that booth with the third module, his address the second book was sent to. If he walked away, Tim and Alexis could give all the chase they wanted—deep down, Russell knew they’d come up empty-handed. Whatever this was had already been set in motion, and as the GM, it was on his shoulders to decide if the group charged ahead or retreated.
Shifting through his memories still filled Russell with discomfort and fear. He recalled the voices that had used his mouth like a speaker, and seeing pieces of a world not his own. Yet, at the same time, it was also exciting. He—they—had scraped the surface of something much bigger than dice and maps. They’d touched the real deal, if only for a moment, brushed against genuine magic. No matter what they decided at this table, that truth would never release them from its grasp.
“Bert is right. What we’re doing is dangerous,” Russell said. “But Tim and Alexis are also right; if we walk away from this now, we’ll spend our entire lives wondering ‘what if.’ I can’t do that. I don’t want to. So I’m going to try and keep chasing this, keep searching for the next module. There’s no guarantee that I’ll even find it. Cheri and I nearly missed this one. Until then, we can play normal content. If I never get another module, then we tried our best. If I do... well, no one who doesn’t want to play should feel like they have to.”
“I can respect that,” Bert told him. “And I appreciate the out, but I can’t bail on Alexis. We grew up together. If she’s in, then I’m in. Assuming you can find the module, anyway.”
“Easier said than done,” Cheri grumbled. “Broken Bridge is not an easy company to get information on. Russell’s not kidding—fifteen minutes later to that Con, and we’d have ended up empty-handed.”
Tim coughed slightly and sat up a little straighter in his chair. “You’re forgetting something, Cheri. Last time, you and Russell were trying to do all of this by yourselves. Now you’ve got all of us to help, too.”
“Hear, hear,” Alexis said, a smile visible even on her downturned face.
Bert glanced down at the near empty beer bottle in Cheri’s hand. “Can I get one of those when you refill? I’ve got ID if you need to see it.”
“Come on, we’re on a perilous quest to court danger and magic together. I trust you,” Cheri said. “I mean, at this point, I pretty much have to. We’re a party, after all.”
* * *
The whistle was low and delicate as she examined the artifact. A pair of hands moved closer but never quite touched its smooth crystal surface. “This is a strange one. Very abnormal, yet so potent you can almost taste it. Where did you say you found this again?”
“I didn’t,” Elora replied. The room they were in was heavily fortified, hidden deep beneath Camnarael and tucked away behind vastly more impressive security than what she’d made Eric get past. Ordinarily, Elora would have only used this first meeting to discuss terms, and she certainly wouldn’t have brought the goods along with her. But this buyer merited special circumstances; she wasn’t the type to burn a fruitful relationship for one score and would never buy anything without personal inspection. As Elora saw it, this was a chance to turn her acquisition into gold without having to bother hiding the artifact or risking discovery. That didn’t mean she’d forgotten her trade-craft, though. “You know the drill: what I sell is the product. Knowing where it came from isn’t part of the bargain.”
“So long as it doesn’t end up back here after I pay, that’s not an issue,” said the woman. She was tall and lithe, a fellow elf, her form bulky under a bundle of layers and had that ridiculously large bag at her side.
“Hey now, you know I give two-degree protection to all goods I sell. It’s my policy never to steal it from you or the first person you sell it to. Only after it changes hands again does it become fair game,” Elora said.
“Well, there’s little chance of that here. I can think of more than a few collectors that would hide this beauty away for personal e
njoyment. Honestly, Elora, when you sent the message that I should use a scroll of teleportation to meet you, I was expecting to be disappointed. Instead, you’ve wowed me. Very impressive.” She looked the artifact over once more then backed away from it slowly. It seemed a touch overly cautious to Elora, but then again, she wasn’t the one who dealt with magical items all the time. Perhaps that was the correct amount of caution to use around such an object.
“Save the compliments. I much prefer gold. Let’s hear your starting offer.” Elora barely resisted the urge to lick her lips; haggling was one of her favorite parts of these deals.
“Pass,” the buyer replied. “I’ll let you open up the arrangement by telling me how much you want. Just remember: if you name an amount and I agree to it, trying to change it afterward counts as backing out of a deal. You know my policy on that matter.”
Smart. She knew Elora wasn’t certain how much the artifact was worth, so she was trying to force the rogue to low-ball herself. It was a tactic that might have worked on someone less experienced, but Elora knew the depth of the pockets this buyer represented. She had no qualms about naming a ludicrous sum, even if it made her look silly. Pride was a thing to be considered after one had the gold in hand.
“Fine then, let’s open up at... five hundred thousand gold.”
“Done.”
Elora’s mouth hung open, ready to commence the usual arguing and battle that came with these discussions, but her train of thought was entirely halted by the single word. “I’m sorry... did you say ‘done?’”
“Yes. I accept the offer. Five hundred thousand gold in exchange for allowing me to take immediate possession of the artifact. Do you want the sum transferred to the Hall of Adventurers, or would you prefer the coin in hand?” She flipped open the side of her bag, and Elora wondered if the woman had really come with that much money just for this meeting.
