Party Name: The Knights of the Silver Dawn.
Character Perspective: Celeste, Seuloise Wizard 3~
We rode into Westwatch on the Kalinstren Drafts that Elric had been so kind to gift us. The heat of the day was far more bearable with my Breeze spell moving the air for us and Nava’s Prestidigitation keeping us cleaner and cooler. Travel like this I really wasn’t accustomed to, but in time I surely would become so.
We didn’t take long to spot the Dagger & Rose inn, so we made our way there and saw to the stabling of the horses. I never imagined I would meet someone who didn’t appreciate a Kalinstren Draft, but Garek seemed of the opinion that horses were unpleasant. I suppose that’s not too surprising from a Dwarf.
Stepping inside was something I wasn’t entirely prepared for. No one rushed to greet us or swept off their hats in flourished bows to me, but the barkeep did bellow a welcome our way and bid us make ourselves at home. I followed Garek and Ahvrania to a table, but my attention was stolen by the fairly steady thunk of metal falling against wood. Three men sat around the next table over, one with his hand splayed over the wood, another with his hand on top of that man’s. They had a knife in hand and were stabbing it into the wooden table top between their spread fingers.
I’d never seen such a game in the Blackstar Inn back at Redoubt, but that likely related to the fact that they usually knew if I was going to be stopping in before I’d been sent to Bigby to learn from him. They were making wagers if the modest sum of coins on the other side of the table was something to guess by. When the knife blade came to a halt I watched as the man whose hand had been on top and the man who’d not a hand below the knife tipped a glass back and drank a shot. When they set their glasses back to the table top I spoke to the one nearest me, “Excuse me, Sir, what is that game you’re playing?”
The man smiled at me, likely a bit more than he would have if he hadn’t been drinking, “You’ve never seen Peg-the-Tom, Little Miss?”
“No, I don’t think I have. What are the rules?”
He laughed, as did his companions. “Simple enough rules for this game, just don’t cut yer hand or the hand on top of it. If you make it, we buy you a drink. If you miss, well, you get a little nick somewhere and you buy us a drink.”
“Oh. How interesting. Can I try?” I asked, figuring I’d do pretty well at a game so simple.
The man looked at me closer then, and blinked, “You’re a tad young for such a game, Missy.”
I felt a bit crestfallen, but nodded. It was only sensible.
“I’m not though!” Garek said, “I’ll have a go at it.”
The man raised a brow at my Dwarven companion, “You sure, Dwarf?”
“Aye, I’m sure.”
“Alright then, come on over and give us your name.” The men shuffled around the table a bit to make room for Garek.
“Name’s Garek Highhammer. What’s yours, Human?” Garek was grinning as he asked. Must have been odd for the man to be called human though, for he looked like he wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“Name’s Harin. Pleasure to meet you. What will you be wagering on this?” Harin asked.
“Mm. Five silvers that I can do five in ten,” Garek responded, clearly knowing the game at least a bit better than I.
“Five in ten. Stiff order for a Dwarf, but suit yourself. We have no problem taking your coin or giving you ours in a fair match.” Harin tapped the table and Garek laid his hand on it. The human put his hand over Garek’s much as he had placed it over the man before Garek, and I watched as my companion lifted the knife.
The first set was easy enough, Garek moved the blade relatively slowly, touching it to the wood between his fingers. The second set, of course, was slightly faster. Then the third. Halfway through the fourth set Garek hissed and Harin gave a hearty chuckle.
I heard another hiss from over my shoulder, Ahvrania. She’d apparently moved to my side for a better view of our neighboring table. “Alright,” the paladin said as they tipped their glasses, “My turn.”
“That wouldn’t be fair,” Harin said simply, “You’re an Elf.”
Ahvrania shrugged her shoulders a little and said, “Suit yourself. Come on Garek, I’ve a wager that I can outdo you.” She grinned at Garek and they returned to our table, drawing their own knife for their round of the game.
“So,” I said to Harin, “What do you know of the raids going on?”
“The raids? Ah, they’re not that bad. Mayor’s overreacting sending for adventurers.” He spun the knife to the other two men at the table as he turned to regard me.
“Not that bad?”
“Naw, a couple orcs one time, a few goblins the next. We only seen around three in a given raid. Still, they been going on for a few weeks now. Mayor sent word over to Redoubt, but the Baron never saw fit to respond. Guess that makes sense, what with his passing and all.” Harin rubbed his chin as he spoke.
I bristled a bit at that, my father would have responded if he’d been in his right mind during those last weeks. “And you heard nothing back from Lord-Regent Elric?”
“Nope, not a thing. What are you folk doing here anyway?”
“We’re here to tend to the problem.” I caught sight of Nava sitting at the bar on the other side of the room. I couldn’t remember when she’d gone over there, but it seemed a quieter part of the establishment than the actual tables were proving to be.
“And what does someone as young as you care about the welfare of Westwatch for?” He looked a bit perplexed and it occurred to me he must have been wondering at my part in our adventuring band.
“I’m Lady Celeste Kalinstren, and my friends and I are here because we were concerned when we heard reports of the raiding.” My eyes were on him again.
He was taken aback by this revelation and I saw his eyes swivel to the signet ring on my finger. “My Lady! I, what, shouldn’t you be safe in Redoubt?”
I chuckled at that, a smile stealing across my lips, “I suppose it would be safe in Redoubt, but I’d be little good to you or anyone else there. I’m too young to inherit as yet.” There was more to that thought than I said aloud, for my inheritance was blocked unless I managed to somehow slay the Old One.
“Still, it’s dangerous on the road, and you’re the only heir.”
“That I am, Harin, but my friends will keep me safe.” He nodded slowly at my words and I went on, hoping to change the subject, “So what is it you do for a living here?”
“I’m a trapper. Been making my way off the game of the Vesve Forest for years, little Lady.” He took a drink from a large mug of what was likely a weak ale now.
“The Vesve Forest? And don’t you find that to be dangerous work?” Most of what I knew about the Vesve was, of course, that it was bordered by the Raising Line and the lands of Iuz, neither made for friendly circumstances.
“It can be I suppose, but mostly I’m dealing with a wolf now and then, maybe a bear or stag. Strange thing though, something happening in the Defiled Glade. I’ve run into five diseased beasts in the surrounding forest now, each heading outward.” He rubbed his chin again.
“You don’t say? We’d heard rumors of activities in the Glade. Whereabouts did you encounter them?” I heard some noise outside, but discounted it as I awaited his answer. Diseased beasts coming from the glade posed a threat to many in the lands of Kalinstren if we didn’t discover the source of them quickly.
Harin went about explaining his encounters with the beasts, giving me rough directions. In the end he had described a semicircle starting from south of the glade and going west. The semicircle he’d encountered ended in the northwest, and the times seemed to suggest these creatures might have been released intentionally at increments as an experiment. Disturbing revelations indeed.
No sooner than I had opened my mouth to ask my next question than we heard a scream from the outside. Shattering glass and a plume of flame erupted in the back corner of the seating, right in front of the common room door. Harin drew a weapon and I got to my feet, before I could even turn around Ahvrania and Garek were moving toward the door with weapons in hand.
The doors burst open and what I knew as Sornkar orcs from Master Bigby’s tutelage soon rushed to meet Ahvrania’s greataxe. Time seemed to slow down and my lessons flooded my mind. There was fire in the corner of the room, and most of the inn’s inhabitants were fleeing through a back door, but there might have been people in the common room or up the stairs.
I had no time to worry about them though, with the savage host of orcs wielding wicked curved blades. My fingers dipped into my spell component pouch as I moved to the base of the stairs. Best to keep a calm mind and be certain my spells fell favorably in my first real combat.
