New Developments from the Past

NOTE: THIS STORY IS BASED OFF OF THE PATHFINDER RPG. SOME COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEEN USED UNDER THE OPEN GAMING LICENSE RULES.

Storyline by Justin Groby 

Compiled by Amber Manuel 

Last time on Dice vs. DMs...

The party managed to get back to Yenmass in one piece. With their mine hiring, they had time to relax a little, and work on honing skills or learning new ones. Talia took up residence in the Temple of Saranrae and remained behind while the rest of the group headed to Mahito to find better value for certain items they intended to sell.

They stopped for their stay just inside Mahito, and discovered one of their companions was not whom she seemed to be.

“Who are these people staring at us?” the bard holding Firro/Filayne asked in Elven.

“These are my new companions,” Firro told him. “My business partners. I’ll introduce you.”

“Great! I’d introduce you to my companions, but I’m afraid they’re not here at the moment. That’s why I didn’t show up in Yenmass – I’ve been waiting for them. I haven’t seen my gnome friend in a couple weeks, actually.”

Firro stiffened. “Gnome? What was his name?”

“Uh, his name? It slips my mind right now… He usually travels with a big guy.”

Firro caught sight of Osamu’s hand twitching towards his starknife and stepped in front of Kyaer as she introduced her partners to her husband.

“Husband. Really? Huh.” Celestine began scribbling in a tome.

“You said you traveled with a gnome?” Lilianna asked Kyaer sharply. She scowled at Firro, whose eyes were blue. She could have sworn they were red just a moment ago.

“Yes,” Kyaer replied. “Though I haven’t seen him or the half-orc for some time. They also worked with a druid in the area.”

“What kind of druid?” Firro asked with a sinking feeling in her gut.

“The sand kind?” he quipped.

She didn’t smile at his joke. “I believe we knew them.”

“I think we did more than know them,” Lilianna corrected.

“Perhaps we should speak in private,” Firro suggested.

“But this big guy—” Lilianna started.

“In private,” Firro insisted.

Lilianna stared at her for a moment before nodding. “Do you have a room?” Lili asked Kyaer.

“Y-Yeah, come on up.”

The party tromped up the steps behind Kyaer. Firro hadn’t seen him in so long all she wanted to do was catch up, but she was worried that their news might put a damper on that. Speaking softly to him in undercommon, a language she was fairly certain none of her partners knew, she told him, “I’m afraid it’s not good news.”

The language rolled off his tongue easily. “I think I can handle it,” he replied with a small smile as he stopped in front of a door. “I handled losing you for a long time, after all.” His gaze met hers and they shared a moment.

He reached for the door knob. The moment his fingers touched it, a loud blast nearly knocked them over. Firro put her hands up in front of her face as the door burst into splinters. When she lowered them, Kyaer was impaled on a short sword. He slumped over backwards, hitting the floor bonelessly, his gaze vacantly staring.

Shocked, Firro looked up to find a man wearing an outfit similar to Osamu’s standing just inside the room. She didn’t even have a chance to draw a weapon before he disappeared into thin air.

Osamu, having recognized his house colors, threw a bag of glittering dust into the room. Lilianna reached down and touched Kyaer’s chest. He drew in a deep, ragged breath and began coughing as the cleric pulled him back away from the door. “Saranrae’s given you a second chance,” she told him. She looked at Firro, catching her gaze. “Don’t make me regret doing that.”

Gerard cast a spell that caused glittering dust to coat every surface in the room. Just in the open window they could make out a man crouching on the sill, studying them.

Relieved and enraged, Firro cast a quick spell to make herself invisible, ran forward as she drew her weapons and reappeared as she stabbed the form crouching in the window. Bleeding, he fell backward. Dropping her scimitar, she grabbed for him and barely managed to catch his foot. He kicked upwards with his other foot, catching her in the chin with enough force to make her see stars. She held on by force of will, determined to not allow the killer to get away.

Osamu appeared beside her at the window and tried to grab their attacker past her. The man she was holding kicked at Osamu as well, keeping him from getting a firm hold.

Lilianna’s voice filled the space behind them as she chanted. “Do not move!” she finished in common. The man Firro was holding was suddenly still.

Someone touched Firro’s shoulder. She glanced back as Gerard chanted, and suddenly felt as if she could pick up an entire house. She hefted their attacker easily back into the room.

Alondra appeared in the doorway and cast a spell, the effect of which was not immediately noticeable.

Suddenly there was five of him on the ground. Firro’s eyes widened as she realized that where she was holding his leg was the one central point between all of the five. A dart hit her in the chest and she let out a curse. That could only mean one thing: poison.

Osamu attacked one of the images with his fists, and all five were suddenly bloodied. He punched again and one of the images disappeared.  

Lilianna hit the man and all but one of the images wisped away on the breeze coming through the window. Blood began to bubble up in the mouth of the only one remaining.

Firro let go of his foot and pulled the dart out of her chest. She tried to get up to go to Kyaer, but everything was suddenly cloudy. Her brain felt sluggish, as if she were trying to think through a fog. She put the dart back into her chest. It belonged there, after all. 

Osamu put a knife to the attacker’s neck and cut his face mask off. Then he picked the prone form up, slamming him against the wall. “Who are you?” he yelled. He shook the other man, his eyes filled with fury. Everyone looked at him, knowing danger when they saw it manifest in another’s eyes.

“Calm down, Osamu,” Lilianna said in a soothing tone. She walked up to Firro, took the dart out of her and dodged a punch when the smaller elf lashed out. She looked at the dart for a moment, cast a spell and knew that the poison on the dart was incredibly dangerous. Made from the tears of the dying, the poison would kill Filayne…Firro…if she didn’t get help quick.

Moving quickly, she picked Firro up as the elf began to claw at her face. For some reason, there was no effect despite that blood began to drip to the floor. Gerard chanted quickly and Firro slumped, unconscious.

Lilianna tossed Firro over her shoulder and bolted out the door. “Out of my way!” she yelled at Kyaer as struggled to his feet. He staggered after her as she ran out of the bar and into the nearest temple. The god, Abadla, was one of justice, law, and cities.

Inside, Lilianna called out. “She’s been poisoned!” she told two clerics who approached. “The poison’s called Tears of Death. I did a spell that told me what it was but I don’t have any way to stop the spread of the poison! She’ll die!” 

The two clerics took Firro’s unconscious form, put her on a stretcher and quickly brought her to the back, where they began praying over her.

Back at the tavern, Osamu was barely in control. “Who are you?” he demanded again. The man was wearing the colors of his clan but he wasn’t from his clan. He couldn’t be!

The stranger spit blood into Osamu’s face. “A message from an old friend,” he rasped. He reached into one of his sword wounds, grimacing as he pulled his own organs out. As he died, Osamu lost his careful grip on control. He threw the body at a wall to the the sound of bones snapping. He punched the wall, putting a hole in it.
Gerard and Alondra watched in stunned silence. Alondra hadn’t known Osamu for long, but Gerard had never suspected his “insurance policy” was capable of going into such a fury.

Osamu bent and began ripping the clothes off the body. “How dare he wear these colors!” he snarled and stopped as a tattoo on the other’s back became visible. It was a dragon’s head on a serpent’s body with a red hand gripping the serpent. Osamu took out a dagger and carefully cut the tattoo off the form before he finished shredding anything to do with his clan. Then he punched the dead man in the face. “You don’t deserve to wear these colors!” he shouted.

Gerard began searching the items Osamu tossed aside. Alondra swallowed hard, knowing that this wasn’t a random attack. This was something very, very personal… She backed away. “I’m going to go find the others,” she said. Gerard nodded distractedly. Osamu ignored her completely. She left quickly.

“What the hell are you doing?” Gerard asked as Osamu continued ripping the colors to shreds.

“How dare he wear those colors?” Osamu snapped cryptically. He kicked the body again, and faced Gerard, holding the colors aloft. The lower half of his face was covered, but his eyes were wild with rage. “He is not worthy of these!” he snarled.  

“O-okay,” Gerard said, holding his hands up to placate the man. He stooped to finish searching the remains while Osamu paced. He found two more darts identical to the one that hit Firro. They appeared to be coated with the same poison, and didn’t require any sort of blow gun or cross bow to shoot. He carefully pocketed them.

Osamu took the blanket off the bed and began to wrap up the body.

“There’s no gold on him, but look at this,” Gerard said, holding up a medallion.

Osamu took the medallion and stared at the same markings that were the tattoo he had just cut out of the man’s back. On flip side was strange glyph, but one that he recognized. “I know symbol,” Osamu said with more of his regular tones. “That’s family Ty-ota. I no know what happened to them but they should be dead, burned down with the rest of our clan.”

He stood, scowling at the body. “We need to regroup, plan our next step. You found everything you could off the body?”

“Yes,” Gerard said simply.

Osamu took the assassin’s wakizashi and looked at it. On the blade was engraved the symbol of the red hand gripping the serpent with the dragon’s head.

“What was that racket?” someone down the hallway said. “Did you see the people run out of here earlier? Carrying that other one? Mark my words, something’s going on!”

Gerard and Osamu looked at each other. Their time had just run out. Osamu bent and picked up the body.

“Do you see the door?” one voice said. “I’m not going in there! Go get Jim!”

Osamu stepped into the hallway with the body as footsteps retreated.

“What are you doing with that body?” a man demanded.

Osamu calmly pulled out twenty gold and handed it over. “I sorry for the damage. He was…assassin and tried to kill me.”

The man blinked at the shining gold in his hand. “Oh. Oh, well done! We’ll get you a new door. Oh, and go this way, it’s a back door. Service entry by the stables.”

“Still have horse and carriage?” Osamu asked Gerard as they headed down the back stairs.

“Yes.”

“We are going to need that.”

While they were hitching the horses back up to the carriage, Celestine approached them. “Lilianna sent me to tell you that we’re at the church of Abadla. What are y’all doing?”

“We’re tying up loose ends,” Gerard said. “We’ll be back.”

She peeked beneath the tarp that was covering the body. “Hm. Okay.” She hopped up into the carriage, whipped out a book and began writing down what they were doing.

Osamu straightened the tarp over the body. Then they rode out about an hour outside the town. The once again quiet man tumbled the body out of the blanket, letting it fall haphazardly. Taking the man’s wakizashi, he shoved it into the dead body as far down as he could, impaling him to the ground. That done, they began to head back.

Lilianna stared at Kyaer. The elf was staring down at his wife, holding her hand in both of his. “Is there a reason that when she was clawing her face nothing happened?” Lilianna asked him.

He glanced up at her, irritation in his gaze. “I don’t know,” he replied.

“Why wouldn’t you know?” Lilianna asked suspiciously.

“It’s been years,” he replied. “Almost a decade now. For all I know, she could have trained to be a wizard in that time.”

Firro stirred, blinking rapidly. Her gaze fixed on Kyaer’s and she reached up, cupping his cheek. He let out a breath as if he had been holding it for hours.

“How are you feeling?” Lilianna as Firro opened her mouth to speak.

Firro looked over at her. “I’m all right.” She sat up with Kyaer’s help. “What happened? That dart?”

Lilianna explained about the poison and what it did, tacking on how much it cost to heal Firro as well.

Firro could tell by the half-elf’s body language that she wasn’t happy with her. She swallowed hard. “I owe you an explanation,” she said.

“That would be nice,” Lilianna quipped shortly. 

Firro reached over and took Kyaer’s hand. “Do you know what this is?” She pointed to a clip in her hair.

“Not exactly, but it does have some illusionary effects.”

Firro slipped it out of her hair. As she did, it became a hat. She handed it to Lilianna. “A hat of disguise,” Lilianna said, staring at it. She looked up at the other and frowned. Where the whites of her eyes should have been was pink and the pupils were completely red.

But Firro’s skin was extremely pale. The two didn’t match up. With the eyes, Firro had to be Drow. But why was her skin so pale? Some sort of spell?  

“I am...Drow,” Firro admitted reluctantly. “Albino Drow. I grew up Elven.”

“Hence Kyaer,” Lilianna said, looking at him.

Firro nodded.

“I’ll go get you something to drink,” Kyaer said. He caught Firro’s gaze and she smiled at him as she nodded. After a quick embrace, he moved out of the room.

“I grew up in Absalom,” Firro continued. “I was told that I was kidnapped at a very young age by the Drow. I managed to escape after many years. To make a long story short, I later found out that story was a lie.”

“That was shocking, I can imagine.”

“Indeed. Imagine being trained to hate Drow, to fight and kill them ruthlessly, only to find out you are the very thing you’ve hunted all your life. You are the very thing you hate.” She held out her hand for the hat.

Lilianna’s gaze softened as she turned it over. “That could make you lose your faith,” she said.

“Yes,” she said as she put the hat back on. Her skin took on its normal tone and her eyes were once again blue. “That is why I am no longer a paladin. Immodae would not accept my doubts and I could not continue as I had been.”

After a moment of silence, Lilianna sighed. “You have been a faithful companion despite lying—”
“Not revealing one’s past isn’t the same as lying,” Firro countered.
She ignored that. “Is there anything else you need to tell me?” Lilianna asked.

Firro nodded and pulled out a journal, handing it over. “I found this on the druid we fought. It details his plans for the desert, which aren’t of any import since he’s dead. But—”

“It’s gone!” Kyaer yelled as he ran back into the room.

“What’s gone?” Firro asked.

“My lyre! My lyre is gone!”

“Calm down!” she told him. “Where was it last you had it?”

“I never took it off!” he said frantically.

“What’s the specialty of this lyre?” Lilianna interjected.

“It—it’s complicated. Hold on.” He pulled his pack off and took out a large, thick tome. It slammed on the table beside Firro, its weight alone making the table shake.

“When I was traveling with the half orc and the gnome,” he said, “we came across a vault. It led us up to a lyre that was sitting on the book – this book. I read the book and kept it and the lyre. They laughed at me, but they were too stupid to be able to read what it was talking about. I knew it was important. It talks about a locked up power and seals you need to get to release the power. There’s a lot of other stuff but I couldn’t understand because the dialect is very old.”
Firro kept her expression carefully neutral, but she knew Kyaer was holding something back. 

“It’s in celestial,” Lilianna said, her gaze on the tome. “May I?” She opened the tome without waiting for a response and began to flip through it.

Firro looked up at Kyaer and knew she had to tell him the truth of his friends. “Kyaer…I’m afraid your half-orc friend Rock is dead.”

“What?” he snapped. “What happened?”

“We met up with him. He and Zarzuket attacked us. Rock fell in the battle. Zarzuket was taken by a bounty hunter, a gnome named Majet.”

He stared at her, his expression bewildered. “Majet?”

“He had apparently made some rather wealthy people very angry,” Lilianna said even as she continued flipping through the tome. “I had his life spared.”

Kyaer shook his head. “But—” He cut off, shaking his head again.

“Did you know the druid?” Lilianna asked him, her gaze focused on him.

“No,” he denied. “I never met him. I had business elsewhere while they went to do that.”

“The druid was a Drow,” she told him. “We met up with him as well.”

“I wonder if they had anything to do with Theris?”

“Theris?” Firro repeated. “Did you know him? Do you know what he looks like?”

“No. Again, I had business elsewhere while they were doing that.”

Firro caught his gaze and knew he wanted to talk to her about something later. He glanced at the cleric and back away. She could understand somewhat how he felt. Everything he knew was turned upside-down.

“I’m trusting you with the information we’ve shared with you because you’re Firro’s husband,” Lilianna told him sternly. “Don’t share the info.” Her gaze shifted to Firro. “And is there anything else you need to tell me? It would be best if you come forward with any other revelations now.”

Firro shook her head and looked at Kyaer. “Do you know where Theris is?”

He shook his head. “Only that he’s in town somewhere. I don’t know what he looks like and I wasn’t privy to what they discussed with him.”

“You should use your skills to go look for Theris,” Lilianna told Firro. “But later. We should go look for the lyre now.” She looked over Firro’s shoulder. “Alondra? Where’s Gerard and Osamu?”

The human spoke for a moment in Lilianna’s ear, too quietly for the other two to hear. Lilianna nodded. “We need to find a lyre.” She described the instrument for the human’s benefit. They retraced their steps back to the inn with no sign of the lyre.

Inside, they met up with the others. “Did you find anything out?” Lilianna asked.

“Not exactly. We did find something, though.” Gerard pulled out the medallion he had found earlier and showed both sides to them.

“Do you remember the lyre he had?”

They shook their heads. While Lilianna questioned them about the lyre, Firro and Kyaer checked upstairs. His room had a new door, but other than that they didn’t find anything.

“Perhaps the guy who attacked us dropped it out the window?” she said. She looked out but couldn’t see anything. “Let’s go down.” When they were out in the alleyway, she looked up at him. “What is it?”

He raised his eyebrows. “What?”

“What did you want to talk to me about?”

He sighed. “I wasn’t completely honest with your friend,” he admitted.

“I know,” she told him.  

He searched her gaze for a moment. “I do know where we can go where we can go to get the seals. There’s one in a mountain past Yenmass and then there’s another close to Dwarven mines where the desert turns into more lush landscape.”

“One has been found,” she told him.  

“Which one?”

“The one past Yenmass in the mountain.”

“We should go for the other one, then.”

“I agree,” she replied, and cast a spell that would allow her to find hidden magical auras. She moved into the stables with him not far behind.

Back in the tavern, Lilianna was getting no where speaking to the barkeep. She ordered a drink and shot it back quick. Osamu stepped outside the front door and looked over the dusk-lit city. There was a sound of something passing quickly through the air and then a kukri was sticking out of the wall beside his head. He looked around quickly and spotted a figure across the street on the third floor balcony, its robes streaming out beside it in the breeze. He narrowed his gaze at it and took a step towards it. It seemed to acknowledge him and then disappeared into the building.

When he was certain the figure wasn’t going to make another appearance, he pulled the weapon out of the wall and took the parchment off its hilt, reading it quickly. Then he crumpled it in his fist and jammed the blade as hard as he could back into the wall.

Firro wouldn’t have noticed Osamu when he stalked into the stables since he made absolutely no noise, except that she was looking straight at the entrance when he walked through. She moved towards him as he began to saddle a horse.

“Where are you going?” she asked.

He handed her a crumpled note. She opened it and read.

I know what you’re looking for and I have it. Meet me in the desert east of town. Ride hard until you see three rocks stacked next to each other.

“What’s this symbol?” she asked, pointing to the symbol at the bottom of the parchment.

“The Ty-ota family mark,” he replied. “I’m going now.”

“I’m going with you, then. Kyaer, get the others, will you?” While he ran for the tavern, she began saddling her horse. “What’s all this about?” she asked Osamu.

“How dare they wear the colors!” he snapped. “You all should stay. This is dangerous.”

“I’m not letting you go out into the desert all by yourself,” she returned.

He whirled on her, getting in her face. “They are out for blood and so am I!” he shouted. His eyes were flashing with vengeance. “They were obviously trying to kill you! You stay!”

“That’s unlikely,” Lilianna said from the entrance to the stables. “Celestine’s staying behind, but the rest of us are going with you.”

He shook his head and finished saddling his horse with sharp, jerky movements. They mounted and rode in silence. Gerard spoke to his raven and it flew up overhead.

Nearly two hours later they finally saw the rocks. As they slowed down, the raven swooped down and cawed at Gerard. “Someone’s behind the rocks,” Gerard translated. Not a moment later a figure emerged. He was wearing the same clothes as the previous man. Firro put her hand on her sword.

“I think I have something that you want,” the figure said, looking at all of them. He pulled out something wrapped in sackcloth and tossed it. Lilianna dismounted at the same time Kyaer did and they both ran toward the bundle.

The cleric reached it first. “It’s the lyre,” Lilianna said when she unwrapped it. “What do you want in return from this?” she demanded.  

“Continue on your quest,” the figure said.  

“What quest?”

“Earlier someone said something when they handed you that book,” he replied.

There was complete silence as the group digested that. Firro nudged the horse closer to the pair standing on the sand.

“He had to be in the room with us when we were talking,” Firro murmured to them.

“Who do you work for?” Lilianna demanded.

“For myself,” he replied.

“Who are you?” Osamu shouted.

“Ty-ota.”

“Liar!” Osamu growled.

“I am the last of them as you are of yours, Osamu Mitsubi.”

Osamu hesitated. “If you want us to continue then why attack us? You know the rules!”

The figure scoffed. “You’re losing your edge, Osamu,” he said. He backed up and threw something at the ground. It exploded and when the smoke cleared, he was gone.

With a wordless growl, Osamu threw the star knife into the smoke. It returned without resistance to his hand.

“Calm yourself!” Lilianna told him when he slid off his horse and began to pace.

“How can I be calm when I’m within a hand’s grasp of catching the monster who single-handedly killed my people?” he shouted at her.

She frowned at him. Handing the lyre to Kyaer, she kept one hand on it as she pulled out a parchment and some charcoal. “What are you talking about?” she asked Osamu. She set the parchment over the lyre and used the charcoal to make an impression of the symbol there.

“To further understand the clan you must understand me,” Osamu said. “My village – not assassins. But taught early to fight. I never liked fighting. I liked peace and left for a time. When I came back, I found the burned bodies of my family and friends…desecrated! Horribly! The surrounding villages had tales. One man – no beast! – was responsible. My quest is to find the vermin responsible!

“For him to know me – not many do! And he wears our colors! How dare he disgrace my clan! That bastard!!”

“Who’s Ty-ota?” Firro asked as Kyaer mounted behind her.

Osamu shook his head. “I am not sure who exactly of the Ty-otas he is, but it has to be someone from my clan. There’s a problem with that. They all should have died!”

“We should all watch our words,” Lilianna said into the immediate silence. “We’re being watched and people are listening in on private conversations.”

“Tell her,” Firro said to Kyaer.

He frowned down at his wife, but told Lilianna that he knew where to find the last disk. “I didn’t mention it earlier because I wasn’t certain I could trust you,” he added.

“Does anyone else have anything they need to tell me?” Lilianna snapped, not looking at anyone in particular. “This would be much easier if everyone would just be honest with each other!”

“We all have things in our pasts we do not wish to reveal,” Osamu said. “I’m not one for killing but blood is blood. I stand on my clan’s principles.”

The cleric took a deep breath and mounted again. “I’m heading for the Temple of Saranrae. I’m taking the book and the lyre to study.”

“Not the lyre,” Kyaer contradicted.

“Then you’re coming with me,” she said with finality.

He glared at her, but didn’t protest. As one, the group turned and headed back towards the town.

TO BE CONTINUED…

And Now a Brief Intermission

NOTE: THIS STORY IS BASED OFF OF THE PATHFINDER RPG. SOME COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEEN USED UNDER THE OPEN GAMING LICENSE RULES.
Storyline by Justin Groby
Compiled by Amber Manuel 

 When her companions began to stir, Filayne put the Drow’s journal away and feigned sleep. As they began to get up she did as well, stretching as if she had just woken and going about the morning’s chores quietly.

Most of the journal could be dismissed since it contained plans which would never come to fruition. But the last couple entries pertained to meeting with a man in a town on the edge of the desert. This was the man who had requested the Drow follow her party. This was the man who had written the note and who was powerful enough to cause the downfall of Yenmass. But who was he? The Drow never specifically said.

And there was an odd word in his journal when he described the contract. His end of the deal was to make certain that “szarkai” went smoothly. Filayne wasn’t entirely certain what “szarkai” meant. She knew it was something that was important in past times to the elves, and that it had to do with the nobility somehow. Other than that, she couldn’t be certain.

She was left with more questions than answers. How did szarkai pertain to her party? Did this nameless man have to meet up with the Drow in that city, of all places?

She wondered briefly if he was still there.

Her thoughts kept her preoccupied through the morning’s trip to the trade post. Once there, she dismounted to give her mare a chance to rest and something to drink. She noted that Osamu appeared to be selling the rest of the snake steaks, showing them to a merchant from the back of the wagon. That was fine by her. She didn’t mind steak, but they were going to get tired of eating it after a while.

She sought out Vahn, the dwarf she had helped previously, and noted his new tent as he greeted her enthusiastically.

“I overheard the Saranrae priestess that you’re traveling with talking about bringing people back from Yenmass to the mountain,” he said when the pleasantries were over. “I could get any materials that you need when you ferry them through.”

Filayne shrugged. “Yeah, you’ll want to talk to the boss. Boss!” She waved Gerard over and introduced him to Vahn, introducing Lilianna as well when the cleric came as well.

“I could get all the supplies you need to get the mine started,” Vahn offered. “Food for workers—”

“Isn’t Khar supposed to be doing that?” Filayne asked.

“No, he’s getting the buyers and the workers together,” Lilianna replied. “Perhaps we should take a moment to discuss this—”

“Oh, are you all part owners of the mine?” Vahn quickly asked.

The group exchanged a quick glance. “Gerard’s the one who put this venture together…” Filayne shrugged. She didn’t mind letting other people make the decisions when it came to the mine’s activities. She knew next to nothing about them.

“Yes,” Lilianna answered. “We are. That is what we previously discussed, after all.”

“Okay,” Vahn said, taking it in stride. “Well, I could get you anything you needed. Tents to house the workers, picks, hammers, fresh food and water… You name it, I can get it!”

“Lodgings would be appropriate closer to the mine,” Filayne suggested. “It wouldn’t be very efficient if one set of workers had to travel half a day just to get to the mine.”

“Then we’d have a couple sets,” Lilianna said. “That way we could keep it running all day and all night. It’ll take about…one hundred fifty to two hundred workers to keep the mine producing, I should think.”

And that kind of business thinking was exactly why she didn’t mind the others making the decisions. “How much is it going to cost to get all this together?” Filayne wondered.

“I’ll give you guys a few minutes to discuss,” Vahn said, apparently taking cue. He walked back into his tent, maybe fifteen feet away from where they stood.

“He’s eavesdropping,” Filayne said with a grin.

Osamu joined them. “The snake steak provided thirty-six gold coins,” he said softly, tying a new coin purse to his belt.

“Not bad. Hey, we could sell the clay golem tome to help us get started,” Gerard said. “It should fetch a good price in Yenmass.”

“It would fetch an even better one in a bigger city,” Filayne said, her mind speeding ahead. “Say, in Mahito? It’s only a two or three day journey outside of Yenmass.” 

 “It’ll take us some time to get things together, to get all the people,” Gerard said. “Vahn could surely get all we need together during that time.”

“How long are we talking? Two tendays?” Filayne asked.

“Or three,” Lilianna replied. “There’s a lot of preparations to be made.”

“I think Vahn could be a very useful resource,” said Osamu.

“Let’s see how much he’s thinking of charging us first,” Lilianna said, and called for the dwarf.

He appeared immediately and listened politely as she posed her question despite that he had obviously overheard their words. He hemmed and hawed for a moment, but finally settled on a price of fifteen percent off normal selling price of the goods. “And my brother could make an outpost outside the mine’s entrance to house the workers.”

“That would be favorable,” Lilianna intoned.

“I’ll just write him a quick note. Don’t go anywhere.” He turned and walked back into his tent. Filayne looked over and could clearly see that he was writing to someone named Zahn, who he named his brother. The contents of the letter pertained only to the business they had just discussed. She looked away as he signed and sealed it.

“My brother’s shop is on this side of Yenmass, on the outskirts,” Vahn said as he came back out. “Can’t miss it. Give this to him and he’ll take care of what you need.”

Lilianna took the scroll and offered him Saranrae’s blessing. “We should go now. There’s no sand storm on the horizon and it would be foolish to waste the rest of the day.”

As they mounted up, Lilianna took a deep breath. “I hope my companions are in Yenmass when we arrive.”

“You’re expecting to meet someone?” Filayne inquired as she settled her shaded goggles more firmly over her eyes. The glaring sun was giving her a headache.

“I left them in the last town taking care of some business,” she said from atop her horse. “One of them is very talented with the lute. I’m sure she’d make a wonderful accompaniment to your dancing.”

“Oh, you have a bard accompanying you?”

“One of the best!”

“I’d be honored,” Filayne replied as they started into the dunes.

Aside from some strange creatures making whooping noises during one evening, the rest of the party’s trip was uneventful. They finally saw Yenmass in the distance at the end of the third day. Night was falling, and they wearily passed the shops on the outskirts to head straight to the Elephant’s Tusk. Inside, Khar pounced on Gerard.

“Itsgreattoseeyouhowsthemine?” he said quickly.

“In a decent state,” Gerard began after a moment of inner translation.

Filayne left them to their discussion, securing for herself a room and paying to have someone bring her chest up. Back at the table where her companions had gathered, she tuned back into the discussion.

“I can get the workers for you as well as the buyers,” Khar was saying. “How many workers do you need? It’s going to take at least two to three weeks to gather the workers.”

“We spoke to Vahn out at the trade post,” Lilianna said, earning a frown from the gnome. “He’s for supplies and his brother is to help keep the workers in shelter.”

“But not the buyers. I want a monopoly on providing the buyers,” he said.

“Agreed,” Gerard said.

“Good. I’ll have some paperwork drawn up. Do you have any samples of the ore by any chance?”

“I think Filayne is carrying those,” Lilianna said.

Filayne dug in a pouch on her belt and pulled out the samples – garnet, gold and silver – to hand them over. Khar looked over them for a moment before waving his hand. A moment later a man brought over a masterfully crafted chest lined, she saw when it was set on the table and opened, with satin pillows inside. Khar put the stones inside. “I’ll keep those to show potential buyers. That is okay, correct?”

The weary party didn’t dissent.

The man took the chest and retreated at a wave of Khar’s hand. “Is there anyone who would be able to meet me tomorrow to discuss additional matters?” he asked.  

“What time?” Filayne asked, wondering if the bards would show up that evening. If they were playing, she would dance, and if she danced most of the night she would more than likely sleep through early morning.

“Would a lunchtime meeting would be acceptable?”

“I can be here if you need someone,” Lilianna offered.

He nodded. “Until tomorrow, then!” He climbed down off the chair, pushed it in and waved as he turned away.

Filayne watched as he walked out of the tavern. As he exited, a pair of females walked in, a gnome and a human who were bickering like an old married couple.

“She said she’d be here so she’ll be here,” the taller one said.

“Over there!” the gnome practically shouted. They started straight for the party’s table.

“Ah, Alondra and Celestine!” Lilianna said, getting up to greet the two. “I’m glad you’re here. Let me introduce you to my partners.”

Alondra was of average height for her race with black hair. She was also extremely pretty. Prettier than she should have been, it almost seemed. Celestine was a gnome, as short as Khar but with green hair and a short attention span. 

“I’ve heard about you,” Filayne said when the gnome was introduced.

“Oh, she’s been talking about me?” she said with a laugh.

“Indeed.” She eyed the instrument that hung on the gnome’s back. “She said you can play the lute.”

“Oh, that.”

“Go play something!” Lilianna instructed.

With a nod, the gnome moved towards the center of the tavern to the area cleared out for bards. She pulled her lute around and began to play an upbeat tune that made Filayne want to tap her foot. The music was some of the best that she had ever heard.

“I think I’ll go change when I’m done eating and dance some,” Filayne said as Lilianna ordered. “She’s really good.”

The cleric grinned. “She is, isn’t she?”  

When Filayne came back down from changing, she saw two of the bards from before heading towards Celestine. She walked over to them with a smile and as they began to play, made certain they were all in agreement and began to dance. As she danced by her partners’ table, she overheard a snippet of conversation.

“Hey, Gerard,” Lilianna said. “Would you bring this note that Vahn wrote to his brother tomorrow? I need to check on a few things with the orphanage and at the Temple of Saranrae and I’m not sure how long it’ll take.”

“Sure, I’ll take care of it.”

Another bard that Filayne recognized came in. She waved to him and he beckoned to her. She danced over to him and kept dancing as he talked.

“That bard you asked me about?” he said, and she nodded. “He’s still in Mahito.”

She stopped dancing abruptly, searching his expression for any sign of deceit. “You spoke to him yourself?”

“Yeah. I gave him your message and he said something about making a trip out here.”

She eyed him critically, but all she got was that he was comfortably relaying information that he thought she could use. “He’s coming here?” she said dumbly.

“Yeah.”

Stunned, she stammered, “Th-thank you. I-I really appreciate it.” He moved off to play and slowly she began to dance again.

“A room for three,” Lilianna was saying to a serving wench as Filayne danced past. “And bring up a bath!”

At the end of the night she collected her earnings and went up to her room, setting up a noise-making booby trap that would go off if someone so much as rattled the door knob. Or jiggled the window, for that matter. She stared at the ceiling for a while before she got back up, dressed with a couple daggers hidden about her person, and went back downstairs. Maybe a drink would help her sleep.

At the bar sat a familiar blond. Talia. Filayne felt a twinge of guilt. The woman had been so quiet that she had completely forgotten about her.

“How’re you doing?” she asked, taking the seat beside the new oracle.

She barely spared Filayne a glance. “Okay.”

When that was all, Filayne tried another tactic. “Aren’t you tired?”

“I haven’t secured a room yet,” Talia said, her words coming out with less than her normal poise.

“You can stay in mine if you want,” she offered. “We can get a cot, can’t we?” she added to the barkeep.

Talia glanced over. “Thanks. That would be good.” She turned around and stared out over the nearly deserted tavern. “I’m sorry,” she told Filayne. “I’m just—I’m not used to all…this.” She swept her hand over the room and stood, swaying slightly. “The fighting, the…stuff with the…other stuff.” She stumbled and caught herself on the railing beside the stairs.

Filayne hovered behind the sorcerer, ready to catch her should she begin to fall as they ascended the stairs.

“I’m going to go to the Temple of Saranrae tomorrow,” Talia said when they were inside the room and the cot was delivered. “I think they may be able to answer some of my questions.”

“I’ll go with you if you would like,” the elf offered. Now that she was thinking about it, she noted that Talia hadn’t spoken much at all over the past several days.

Talia nodded and curled up on the cot. “That would be agreeable.”

“I’m trapping the door and window so we’ll be warned if anyone tries to come in,” she said as she fixed the trap on the door. “If you need to leave before I’m up, let me know.”

The woman nodded as her breathing became deep and even. Filayne walked over to the window and stared out into the night, wondering when Kyaer would be in Yenmass.

Filayne waited for Talia to wake before she went down the next morning. They met Lilianna downstairs, and she agreed to go with them to the temple when she learned of Talia’s intention. The woman herself was quiet through breakfast, and quiet as they walked through the streets. Only when they were inside the walls of the Temple of Saranrae did she seem to relax some.

The clerics readily agreed to have her stay with them. There were details to be worked out as she wouldn’t simply be a tenant, but by choice Filayne wasn’t privy to the information. She stood in the shade of the temple’s doorway, watching people go by while the cleric and the oracle worked things out with the priests.

“I’ll be back this afternoon,” Lilianna said as she and Talia walked back toward the exit. Filayne hadn’t felt comfortable to go too far inside since Saranrae wasn’t her goddess.

She turned to Talia when Lilianna was gone. “So?” she prompted.

“I was just thinking of my loved ones,” Talia said quietly. Filayne noted that she was standing in the shadow of the doors, and moved closer. As she did, Talia moved deeper into the shadows.

“It’s very disconcerting to have this…connection with the temple out there,” she said softly. “I feel more connected, more attached to it than I do my own family, and we’re a very close family.”

“I understand how it feels to have your whole life turned upside-down,” Filayne said honestly.

“I think you really mean that,” Talia said after a searching moment. “I know things now that I never would have dreamed of knowing,” she added quietly. “That I never would have dreamed existed, even! Like, there’s a second part of the disc. I don’t know where, but I know it’s not complete.”

“Perhaps it’ll come to you in time,” Filayne suggested, letting her gaze roam over the crowds walking down the street outside the temple. “Sometimes it takes a while to make sense of everything after something so big affecting you as it has.”

“You’re speaking from experience.”

Filayne looked at the oracle and found that she was being studied.

After a moment, Talia smiled gently. “You should trust Lilianna,” she said.

“What do you mean?” Filayne asked with forced lightness. “I’m in business with her, aren’t I?”

Talia smiled in a way that made Filayne uncomfortable. “She is trustworthy. That’s all I’m saying.”

Filayne nodded after a moment. “Well, I have some items I need to procure,” she said. “See you at the Tusk,” she said, and waved as she walked away.

The days began to blur together. Talia was staying at the Temple, and seemed happy when Filayne and Lilianna visited her. Filayne knew that Lilianna was visiting the temple more often than she, and she had seen the cleric visit the orphanage, which seemed to be under some sort of renovations, as well.

After delivering the note, Gerard wasn’t seen during the daylight hours. He left before dawn and stayed out until after dark. Training, he said. Filayne noted he was taking on a tan from the sun.

She visited the treasury and pulled her share of the money needed up front to start the mining operation. The start-up fees were a little mind-blowing, but she knew that to make money she had to spend it. She would probably make more than her money’s worth within a couple months of the mine being fully operational.

Zahn was doing what was necessary to have the outpost just outside the mine entrance ready by the time the mine was operational. She and Osamu kept in close touch with him on that project, and things were going well.

She spent the evenings laughing with her partners – her friends – in the tavern at their normal table and dancing when the bards came in. She wanted the practice, and found that she could sometimes make a person so fascinated with her dance that they wouldn’t notice if someone picked their pocket. Not that she would allow that to happen, but it was still possible.

During the day she prowled the city, checking with the other taverns and inns to make certain Kyaer hadn’t shown up there. After two tendays with no sign and no word, she made up her mind.

“I’m going to travel some,” she told her companions on the first morning of the third tenday. “I have some business elsewhere that requires my attention.”

“Where were you planning on going?” Lilianna asked.

There was no reason to dance about the subject. “Mahito. It’s only a two or three day ride from here. I should be able to get there and get back before the mine is operational, even if I hire on with a traveling merchant.”

“Well, we never actually finished discussing whether we would sell that tome,” Gerard said.

When did he show up? “It would fetch a better price in Mahito,” Filayne mentioned again, dismissing the halfling’s sudden appearance.

“There’s some other items that we’re not exactly using that we could sell as well,” Lilianna said. “I think it’s a wise trip to make.”

When there were nods all around the table, Lilianna turned to Alondra. “Get our horses and cart ready. It’s still early; we should leave today.” She looked around the table for assent, and only found one person who wasn’t giving it.

“I’ll think I’ll stay behind,” Talia said. “I feel more comfortable staying at the Temple and feel that if I go with you, I may call unwanted attention to myself.”

“We understand your position,” Lilianna said, and motioned to a man gambling not too far away. He stood, revealing that he was clad in plate armor with the symbol of Saranrae on it. When he was just behind Lilianna’s shoulder, the cleric introduced him. “This is Gallahad. He is a Paladin of Saranrae and will keep you safe while we are gone.” She took them both to the side and began speaking with them in tones too low to hear.

Filayne scraped her chair back and walked over to the bartender, asking him to relay a message for the bards that had come by most evenings since they had gotten back. She hadn’t thought they would all go with her, and that meant a longer trip. She checked out of her room as well, stowing her gear in the back of the wagon and helping Alondra hitch the draft horses to it.

Alondra and Lilianna guided them through the desert towards Mahito. After two days of travel they came upon a wide river with a fast current that looked rather deep. There was no ferry, so the group headed up the river towards the more traveled route to find the normal crossing point.

The next day everyone was moving slower. One of the wheels on the wagon broke. Despite that Alondra mended it quickly, it still set them back some.

The weather was holding, though, and eventually they could see in the distance a walled city that was set halfway into the forest and half out. It seemed to have grooved itself into the forest while the rest sat in the desert area.

Mahito, named after the family who ran it, was a large, bustling city known for its—

“Dwarven metals,” Lilianna said. “You get the best ones here. It’s the mines that run beneath the city. They’re full of very, very good metals.” 

There were merchants traveling into and out of the city and a market set up outside the first wall. Gerard pointed out a tower that he figured was a Tower of Learning hovering in the back of the city towards the forested area. “We can probably sell the tome there,” he added.  

There was a keep behind the secondary city wall which was of a height with some of the trees. “Mahito Keep. It’s a family name,” Filayne said. The Mahito family was a good ruler, as was evidenced by the prospering city. The law was fair, despite that the sheriff could be paid off. And there no slavery, no strange laws that could land a person in the stocks for innocent remarks or the like.

The Mahito family had been trying to sink their teeth into the mining operations beneath the city, Filayne knew. The dwarves monopolized the mines, each clan controlling one shaft of the single mine. With eleven shafts producing excellent metals, no wonder the town was trying to get some profit from it.

Perhaps a dwarf approached the Drow about their mine? It would make sense if one of the shafts made a connection with the Dark Lands…

“Let’s find a place to stay,” Lilianna said, interrupting Filayne’s musings. They didn’t have far to go. The Sandy Forest was a nice inn with a large mural on the wall outside of forest and desert seemingly coexisting in harmony.

They dismounted so that the stable boy could take their tired mounts and Filayne stretched as they headed towards the door. She scanned the crowd as she walked in and did a double-take. Not twenty feet away and coming closer was the elf she was looking for, heading towards her, calling her name.

Osamu’s quarterstaff didn’t hold her back. She knocked it away and darted towards the elf, not stopping until she was in his arms.

Behind her, Gerard, Osamu, Lilianna and her two companions all exchanged glances.

“I thought her name was Filayne?” Alondra said with a confused look.

Lilianna shook her head. “Me, too.”

“Then why’d she respond to Firro?” Gerard countered.

“She seems to know him,” Celestine observed, then added, “knows him very well!”

Osamu huffed. “It would seem our friend is not exactly whom she seems to be.”

TO BE CONTINUED…

Around the Mountain

NOTE: THIS STORY IS BASED OFF OF THE PATHFINDER RPG. SOME COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEEN USED UNDER THE OPEN GAMING LICENSE RULES.
Storyline by Justin Groby
Compiled by Amber Manuel 

“Now that that’s done,” Lilianna said as she surveyed their new magical items, “I think we should head back to Yenmass in the morning. There’s plenty to do, workers to hire, buyers to find…”

“Gerard already has someone doing that,” Filayne mentioned. “A gnome is finding merchants who are interested in the profits of the mine. For a fee, of course.”

“Well, there’s still workers to round up and whatnot,” she said as she stood. “I’ll get everything packed and ready, but I think we should start back in the morning.

“Hey, here’s an idea: why don’t you use those slippers of yours to get some more examples of what we have to sell?”

Filayne nodded and stood before moving away for a pick and hammer. While she was rummaging around for the items, she saw Gerard and Osamu just outside the cave.

“We found some game tracks,” Gerard called. “We’re going to follow them and see if we can get lunch.”

“Good idea!” Lilianna called back as she began unsaddling her horse. Off to the side, Talia was sitting and leaning back against the cavern wall, completely at ease.

Filayne moved into the secondary tunnel to find some precious metals. She could hear Lilianna and Talia chatting a little, their voices echoing down the mine shaft. After finding some samples in that tunnel, she bypassed the third since it held the temple, and moved on to the fourth. As she chipped at the stone around a large piece of gold, she frowned. It was quiet in the tunnels, even moreso since the cleric and oracle had stopped speaking. Shouldn’t there be some noise aside from the echoes of her pick and hammer working against the stone? Talia had said that she could tell that there was nothing around, no monsters and such.

But if there was nothing around, then why was there game tracks?

Filayne mulled over the thought as she finished chipping the piece of gold out. Back in the main cavern, she posed the thought to Lilianna and Talia. The two exchanged a glance.

“That is a good point,” Lilianna said slowly. “We should go after them.” She began bridling her horse again.

Filayne followed suit, saddling her mare. “You can ride with me, Talia,” she said to the oracle. “I know you don’t want to be left here alone.” Talia nodded and mounted behind Filayne as soon as she could.

About a mile away and only a quarter of the way around the mountain, Osamu and Gerard were still following the tracks.

Finally, Gerard sighed. “I think we should turn back,” he said, coming to a stop. “If we were going to find the game, I think we would have already.”

“If you feel we should turn back, then perhaps it is so.”

As the two turned, the sand beside them exploded upwards. They threw up their hands until the rain of dirt was over, only to find themselves face-to-snout with a massive snake.

“It’s a baskabitch!” Gerard shouted.

“A what?”

“You know! A baskabitch? A.K.A. basilisk?”

“Where I come from, we call it huge-ass snake!” Osamu returned as he moved forward and drew his new star knife and his sword. The star knife's blades swung through the air with their points flaming and struck the snake’s belly, drawing blood.

Gerard cast quickly, and the beast blinked, shaking its massive triangular head. Then Gerard commanded his raven Poe to fly up behind the huge monster and hover behind it.

Osamu struck again, drawing more blood and lighting a part of the snake’s scales on fire. Immediately Gerard cast another spell. Out of Poe’s talons came bolts of lightening. The electricity struck the basilisk, which screeched in anger.

Suddenly three salamanders surrounded the pair, their fiery, snake-like bodies crackling like molten lava. Knowing that salamanders couldn’t just appear and disappear, Gerard quickly cast about. Up on the mountain above them on a narrow outcropping stood a dark figure, its skin black and hair silvery white.

Drow.
Hated by all of the races that lived underground, the Dark Lands dwellers were feared by surface dwellers for their evil natures and vile acts that they so delighted in. To see one on the surface was cause for fear that more of the hated creatures weren't far behind. 

Gerard turned back to the fight in time to see one of the salamanders strike out at Osamu. Hit by one of their new opponents, Osamu dropped his sword and disappeared from sight.

Gerard began another spell when suddenly all around him a flaming sphere appeared. He would have been engulfed in it, but his reflexes were so awesome that he jumped out of the way before it could harm him and managed somehow to continue his spell.

At that time, Lilianna, Talia and Filayne appeared around the corner of the mountain. Filayne immediately spotted the Drow high up on the cliff. But what was it doing here, so far away from the Dark Lands? She looked for a way up but didn’t see an easy one.

Osamu reappeared suddenly, caught in the baskabitch’s jaws. The snake held him firm and wrapped its coils around him. He struggled as it lifted him off the ground.

Gerard’s spell went off and the ground began to move as rock and sand formed into two bipedal forms. The Earth elementals grew as they took solid form, and started towards the salamanders. Gerard stepped back from the still-flaming sphere and cast again. Poe’s talons glowed with electricity as he grabbed one of the salamanders. The beast barely had time to scream before it fell to the ground, dead. At the same time, one of the Earth elemental attacked another salamander, clubbing it with his fist. The other elemental attacked the other salamander, clubbing it as well.

Reining in, Lilianna slid off her horse and immediately began casting. The moment she opened her mouth, the fire sphere started towards her.

The Drow looked directly at Filayne and shouted, “You’ll die!”

She frowned at the language. It wasn’t one normally heard, though she had managed to learn it in past years. It was Aklo, an evil Fey language.

The air began to crackle around her. Talia yelled and jumped off the back of the horse. Filayne followed suit and got a mouthful of sand. She rolled in time to see her horse hit with lightening, a couple bolts of which arched off and landed on Filayne. The mare screamed and bolted away as Filayne recovered from the electric shock.

Back in the primary battle, one of the salamanders struck towards Osamu and accidentally hit the snake while the other hit the man where he was still captured in the snake’s jaws.

Tumbling up, Filayne moved into the dervish dancer’s battle dance and danced up the side of the cliff with her useful slippers. At the top she flipped up to land beside the Drow and pulled her weapons out to attack.

Below, the snake began to constrict Osamu. Having had enough of being held, Osamu hit the beast once on the head and felt its forehead cave in. Its coils loosened and he slumped with it to the ground. He immediately disappeared as one Earth elemental moved up and swung at one of the remaining salamanders, putting it out of commission. The final Earth elemental moved up and hit the other salamander, which also fell to the ground. Gerard’s words changed and his moving hands switched patterns.

Beside Filayne and the Drow, two white celestial spiders appeared on the side of the cliff. Behind the Drow that now faced Filayne appeared a celestial air elemental. The spiders threw webs at the Drow, which also meant the webbing was thrown at Filayne. She managed to dodge the sticky strands, but the Drow became entangled.

Seeing that her summons worked, Lilianna ran across the now-quiet battle field and placed her hands on Osamu, casting a healing spell.

His body healed and pleasantly warm, Osamu nodded to the cleric. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” she replied. “May the light of Saranrae protect you.”

Beside Filayne, the Drow turned into a falcon and, freed from the sticky webs, started to fly away. She swung, but missed the fleeing falcon.

“Come back here you coward!” she yelled in undercommon, a language she knew that he knew. He hesitated, but continued fleeing. “Coward!” she screamed after him.

Using the boots, she ran twenty feet down the cliff face and jumped the last 15 to tumble down. Coming up to her feet, she hopped up on the remaining horse and galloped after the fleeing falcon. The horse was quicker, and she turned around to face the falcon as it came.

Suddenly Findeladlara granted Filayne with her voice. “You have your weapon drawn still, right?”

“Yeah,” she replied, wondering why her deity was asking.

“Which one?” the goddess asked.

“The long one!” she said with a scoff, as if to say, duh!

Gerard finished casting and five celestial eagles surrounded the Drow/falcon. They all began attacking the Drow, pecking at it with their beaks and ripping with their talons as feathers flew. Poe flew over and joined in the bird melee. Gerard moved closer and then cast one last spell. The falcon fell, turning back into the Drow right after it hit the ground.

Filayne rode back to the fallen Drow and could tell it was dead. She quickly dismounted and began rummaging through his items, pocketing what looked like a journal written in Aklo. She found an ashy-colored wand and set it out beside the body.

“I did find dinner!” Osamu called, his voice easily carrying across the sand. He began to cut up the snake.

Filayne looked up towards Osamu and laughed. Gerard walked up and knelt beside the Drow to help rifle through his things. He pulled a bedroll off the Drow and unfurled it to find it wasn’t a bedroll but a rug, approximately five feet squared with adornments of black and white feathers and some clouds.

“That’s definitely magic,” Lilianna said as she caught up. She bent and pulled a ring off the Drow’s finger. It was finely adorned with flames around the band that almost appeared to be moving. She moved his cloak and pulled out another wand, this one with a diamond on the base.

“This is a magic flying carpet!” Gerard said. “I’m not quite sure about the word to get it to take off, though…”

“What about the wands?” Lilianna asked.

Gerard looked them over carefully. “This wand,” he said, holding the ashy wand up, “is for healing.” Lilianna beamed as she took it.

“The one with the diamond is for daylight.”  

“Here’s a scroll,” Lilianna said, pulling it off the fallen Drow.

Gerard unfurled it. “Looks like protection from energy. Either you or I could use it,” he added, looking at Lilianna.

While they were busy identifying what magical properties the procured items had, Filayne found a small rolled scroll. Unfurling it, she found it was written in undercommon. She frowned and read over it quickly.

Druid,

Follow the group going towards the mine. Should my first hired help fail, take action. If you do this, I will make sure the city of Yenmass is destroyed and leveled to allow you to nurture the land back to its natural state.

There was no signature and no date on either side of the parchment. Filayne looked down at the dead Drow and figured he hadn’t delivered the letter, but had been the recipient, which made him a druid. But who had been the first hired help? Could the Theris who had asked Zarzuk to bring back the holy artifact have orchestrated this as well?

“Oh, look at this,” Gerard said, holding up a small tome. “It’s a manual on how to create a clay golem! It has all the spells, all the preparations, everything!”

Filayne looked up at the two and knew she couldn’t keep this new knowledge to herself. She doubted either of them knew how to speak, let alone read, undercommon, especially since no one had confronted her for shouting at the Drow in it. It wasn’t a very common language on the surface, and those who knew it often came under suspicion. She glanced around and saw Star off in the distance, sitting in the sand. Tucking the scroll into her belt, she stood.

“Cleric, might I have your assistance? I see my injured mare about fifty yards off and we’ll need her should we wish to bring back all the snake steak Osamu is preparing.”

“Of course,” Lilianna said promptly.

Filayne waited until after Lilianna had begun healing Star to say anything.

“I need to speak with you in confidence,” she said quietly so that her voice wouldn’t carry. “This must be held in strictest confidence because what I am about to tell you may change the way you view me.”

Lilianna lifted an eyebrow but shrugged. “Well, you’ve been a great comrade in our battles. Your resilience has proven your dedication.”

Taking that for acquiescence, Filayne took a deep breath and held out the scroll. “Can you read this?” she asked.

Lilianna frowned at it and shook her head.

Filayne nodded. “You may or may not have heard me mention this before, but I was once a paladin residing in an elven city. We – myself and other paladins – were sent down to fight the Drow in the Dark Lands. During that time, I learned to both speak and read undercommon.”

“That makes sense,” Lilianna agreed.

“Well, that’s what this scroll is written in.” She read the contents of the scroll aloud for Lilianna’s benefit. “I believe it’s safe to assume this Drow was the druid.”

“Agreed. But who would be able to guarantee something like this? The kind of power needed to level a city…”

“I don’t know,” Filayne replied.

“Neither do I,” she said with a frown.

After a moment of silence, Filayne was compelled to ask, “Will you keep my history to yourself? I’m not entirely ready to reveal it to everyone.”

“I don’t entirely understand why you would want that hidden, but we each follow our own gods. What is said in confidence is held in confidence,” she promised.

“Thank you.” Then, “Have you seen Talia?”

“Not since she ate dirt when we first arrived here.”

With a grin, Filayne took Star’s reins. “Let’s go check on her. Would you like a ride back?”

The cleric climbed up behind her and they made quick tracks back to the battle scene. Talia was just coming around, having hit her head on a rock hidden beneath the sand when she jumped off of Star. Other than a bump on her head, she was uninjured.

While they loaded up steak, Filayne shoved sand over the dead druid. Then the adventurers headed back to the mine.

Upon arrival, the horses were stripped of their tack again and sleeping pallets were set out while Osamu began cooking the steaks. Everyone was quiet, speaking little and going to bed early.

Needing barely half of what the rest of the group needed to sleep, Filayne woke up in the middle of the night, completely refreshed. Glancing around to make certain everyone was asleep, she then pulled out the small tome she had taken off the druid and slid into her pocket. As she read the evil fey language, her heart dropped in her chest.

TO BE CONTINUED…

 HELP, HELP!! I'M BEIN' OPPRESSED!!

Should've Done Background Checks...

NOTE: THIS STORY IS BASED OFF OF THE PATHFINDER RPG. SOME COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HAS BEEN USED UNDER THE OPEN GAMING LICENSE RULES.
Storyline by Justin Groby
Compiled by Amber Manuel 

Gerard was already downstairs with the wagon when Filayne went down the next day. Osamu was with him, helping him pack the wagon. Seeing Rock, Filayne asked him to help her carry the chest she had acquired the night before. He grunted, which she took for assent, and she had him follow her back to her room. He took it from her completely and carted it outside. She didn’t worry about him opening it. If he tried, a dart would stick his finger and the poison on it would put him to sleep.

“That’s a lot of gear,” Filayne observed when she was back at the wagon.

Gerard nodded. “Yeah, well, Khar sent down enough food and water for six people for a ten day, not to mention pitons, hammers, and other gear we can use in the mines.” He held up a small cage in which a tiny bird was ensconsed. “This little guy will warn us if there’s no breathable air in a shaft.”

She nodded. She honestly knew pretty much nothing about mines, and hadn’t realized there was a possibility of no air in some spots.

“Are we ready?” Talia asked in her studious voice. “Do we have everything we need?” She began looking at the items in the back of the wagon.

“Just about ready,” Gerard said and turned back to Filayne. “Where’d you get those goggles?”

She pulled the shaded goggles down over her eyes and smiled. “In a shop a little ways from here,” she replied, and gave him directions. “Just don’t tell him I sent you,” she tacked on.

Gerard laughed and walked away. Filayne moved into the stables to collect her mare and its tack. By the time she had the animal ready, Gerard was back. He and Talia got on the wagon’s seat and Filayne mounted, settling the goggles firmly over her eyes. Lilianna rode up on her own horse.

“Where’s Willham?” Filayne asked.

“I convinced him to go learn all he can at the Temple of the Dawn Flower,” she said, “with the promise that he would be able to come with us when he was done with his studies.”

Filayne smiled at Lilianna, not that she could see it since Filayne already had her head scarf on. She liked that the half-elf seemed to truly have everyone’s best interests in mind. It reminded Filayne of better days.

The first two days of travel went by without a hitch. On the third, the wind picked up. Filayne overheard Lilianna tell Gerard that they would need to batten down at the upcoming trade post because a storm was coming.

Sand storm. Filayne grimaced, hoping they would get to the trade post before the storm came.

To her surprise, they made it without a hitch to the trade post. It wasn’t anything close to Yanmass, being comprised of a well and about twelve tents. Lilianna immediately dismounted and began strapping down the gear in the wagon as well as securing the wagon so that it wouldn’t blow over.

Filayne dismounted and took everything off Star, stowing it in the wagon as well. Lilianna took Star and hitched her with the other horses.

Free of anything to do, Filayne explored the tiny trade post while she still had time. There were a few merchants, gnomes being the most present. They were selling water at the well, and had a tent nearby that advertised sanctuary from sand storms, also for a price.

“Storm’s coming,” one said. “Need a place to stay?”

Filayne shook her head and moved back towards her group. They had gathered inside a tent beside the wagon. The wind began to pick up, and Filayne looked out over the desert as she climbed into the tent. It looked like a wall of sand was headed their way. She closed the flaps behind her and listened as the wind howled outside.

“How long should this last?” she called over the noise of the wind.

“It varies,” Lilianna called back.

Filayne grimaced and settled down in one corner.

There was the sound of horses screaming and Lilianna darted out the tent. Talia peeked out but all Filayne could see from her vantage point was sand. She shoved her goggles up to her forehead and glanced around. Rock was holding one corner of the tent down and Gerard and Talia were keeping their own in their corners. Filayne lounged in her corner and took a deep breath to go into her trance-like sleep.

She dozed, managing a few hours of sleep during the twelve hours the storm raged. When it finally subsided, it was gone midnight. Filayne stepped out of the tent and stretched, glad to find Lilianna and the horses were okay. She should have tried to help, but she wasn’t any good with animals and wasn’t very strong, either. She doubted she could have done anything but get into trouble herself.

Walking down the line of tents, she found one missing. The owner was coughing haggardly and muttering about merchandise blowing away. Filayne approached him and offered her help.

“Anything you can pick up would be great,” he agreed, coughing again.

Inclining her head, Filayne moved about the quiet area, picking up items as she went. She returned everything she found to the merchant.

“Didn’t find the tent, huh?” he muttered.

She shook her head. “I looked, but I didn’t see it anywhere.”

He shrugged and coughed some more. “Here’s something for your trouble, anyway,” he said, offering her a few gems. She stowed them in her coin purse and went back to her party’s tent.

Everyone was asleep inside, and she joined them. She woke again in about an hour, feeling fully refreshed. Moving quietly through the night, she looked around. Her eyesight was actually more acute in the darkness, and she spotted someone out about one hundred feet off. A small shadow was walking around a hump that could have been a camel. Filayne started in that direction, moving as silently as her profession had taught her to move.

About forty feet out, the shadow called out, “Don’t move a muscle!”

Filayne wondered how the tiny form had heard or seen her. She knew she had moved in absolute silence. She could see a firearm pointed towards her in the darkness and wondered what this person was about.

“What are you doing out here?” the small form demanded.

“I saw movement, so I came to investigate,” she replied honestly, holding her hands out to her sides. “I thought perhaps you were someone who got lost in the earlier storm.”

The form observed her for a moment. “You’re one of those who’s working with the Halfling.”

“Yes. Perhaps I could come closer so we could speak quieter?” Filayne suggested. “Voices do tend to carry well over the desert.”

The weapon lowered slowly but wasn’t put up. “Come on, then, but not too close.”

Filayne approached cautiously. “I am working for Gerard,” she replied. “Are you following him?”

“Him?” she snapped, and let out a short chuckle. “Hardly. No, I have my eye on Rock.”

Up close, Filayne could see that the speaker was a female gnome. “Rock? What’s he done?” 

“Have you talked to Rock?” she asked sharply.

She shrugged. “General introductions as well as tavern talk. He likes music,” she added.

The gnome eyed her for a long moment before continuing. “It’s not him so much as the gnomish bastard he works for named Zarzu’ket.”

Another one? Filayne filed that bit of information away for future use. “I haven’t seen another gnome aside from the one who agreed to help out Gerard, and he stayed behind.”

“That’s not the one,” she snapped. “But if Rock’s around, Zarzu’ket isn’t far behind.” She paused. “What’s your name?”

“What’s yours?” Filayne countered.

“Majet,” she replied.

“I’m Firro.”

“All right, Firro, I’m not going to interfere with your group. I’m just interested in the orc and his guy. They’re almost always together.

“Now, I’ll help you if Rock betrays you in the mine, but I’m staying out of it otherwise.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Filayne agreed.

“I’ll give you a reward if you help me apprehend Zarzu’ket.”

“That’s right up my alley,” Filayne replied with a smile.

Majet grunted. “You’d better get back. I’m going to fall back since you were able to see me. Remember what I said.”

“I’ll keep an eye out,” she agreed.

She headed back to the camp quietly and walked the length, listening to the tents to see if anyone was awake. No one was. Everyone required a full eight hour’s rest. Everyone but her, apparently. She moved to the wagon and opened her chest, pulling out parchment and a quill to pen a quick letter home.

She was just sealing her letter with her signet when Gerard emerged from the tent. He looked at her, his gaze flickering to the letter as she put it inside her chest and locked the wooden structure.

“If we push hard we can be there by midday,” he said, and wandered off.

Filayne got her horse ready and helped hitch the others to the wagon. Then they were off, moving at a fast clip towards the mountain in the distance.

Around midday they reached the foot of the mountain. The mine was an obvious opening, about thirty feet across and nearly as tall. Filayne could see that the mine was a cave that had been worked. She nudged her mare out of the harsh glare of the sun and lifted her goggles as she dismounted. There were tracks on the ground that split off into four tunnels in the darkness beyond. She turned to her mare as Lilianna walked to the middle of the mine entrance. A dim light began to glow off of her holy symbol and she began to slowly turn in a circle. She paused as she faced the group, all of which were unpacking. Her gaze narrowed as she eyed them for a moment. Then she gasped, and put a hand to her head. Her holy symbol’s glow vanished.

Filayne watched nonchalantly as the cleric walked straight to Gerard and pulled him outside. From her vantage point, the elf could hear the whole of their conversation.

“I was detecting for any evil presences. I didn’t sense anything from the tunnels, but I did get something from our party,” Lilianna said in a hushed tone.

Something deeply ingrained in Filayne stirred, but she shoved it back down. She wasn’t that person anymore.

“I knew I should have done background checks! Could you tell who?” Gerard asked in the same quiet tone.

“Unfortunately, no. When I concentrated to try to find out, my spell faltered.”

“What would make it do that?”

Lilianna hesitated. “It could be that the evil was so powerful that my spell shut off so I wouldn’t be overloaded. I did get a headache from it.”

“All right. Thanks for the head’s up. I have my suspicions as to who it may be.”

“Lets just be aware and keep our eyes open,” Lilianna suggested.

Filayne concentrated on her horse, brushing her down as the two came back inside the worked cavern.

“All right, everyone,” Gerard said, “Let’s check out the tunnels; make sure there’s nothing here that’ll attack us while we’re working. Get your gear and let’s go.”

Filayne stayed to the middle of the group as they walked down the leftmost tunnel. The corridor was well worked and eventually came to an end. Gerard and Talia, at the front of the group, peered over an edge.

“Those stairs don’t look safe,” Talia observed.

“We’ll just have to turn back,” Gerard agreed.

“I can check it out,” Filayne said. When they looked at her, she walked to the wall and walked up it. She smirked at their expressions. “It’s the boots.”

She walked out on the wall over the steps and down deeper into the mine. The light didn’t quite reach all the way down, but she could see that there weren’t any animal tracks down there. In fact, it didn’t appear that anything had been down there in a long time.

Coming back, she paused at an obvious mineral deposit. There was no way she could get the item out with her fingers, but it felt like maybe gold or silver. She walked back up to the group and reported.

“Nothing dangerous down there. I think this tunnel’s silver or gold deposits.”

Gerard pulled a pick and a hammer off his belt. “You said you wanted to pull something out, right?”

With a shrug, Filayne walked back down the wall. After a few minutes of hacking, she brought her prize back up into the light.

“Garnet,” Gerard observed, taking the large, unworked stone.

Filayne handed him the pick and the hammer back and caught sight of an opening on the side of the corridor. It was dark inside and from her vantage point, she could tell the room was an office at some point in the past. There was a cracked table on the ground, an armoire and a bureau that had seen better days, and a dark chest behind the table. Talia’s light swung around and the chest glinted. Filayne smiled. Metal chest equaled better prizes.

“Hey boss,” she said as she walked along the wall into the room, “looks like there’s a chest in here.”

The rest of the group began to file into the room as Filayne began to check out the chest. Behind her, Osamu cleared his throat.

“It seems our friend is not whom he seems he is,” Osamu said, his accent giving the words an unfamiliar lilt.

“What?” Gerard said.

“Rock is missing,” Osamu clarified.

Filayne strode out into the tunnel where it was darker. She looked both ways, but couldn’t see Rock anywhere. “I don’t see him, either,” she told the group as she walked back inside.

Gerard’s raven began to squawk. He frowned. “My familiar says he was there one moment and then, suddenly, he wasn’t.”

“Does anyone have a crowbar?” Lilianna asked from where she stood in front of the chest.

“I do,” Osamu replied.

“Let me,” Filayne told him. She moved to the chest, checked to see if it had any traps and then jimmied it open. “Boss? Wanna do the honors?”

Gerard came over and lifted the lid, dodging out of the way as a purple haze burst out.

“Don’t inhale that!” Filayne warned the room.  

“There’s a couple vials and a scroll,” Gerard said. “And some gold coin, too.” He took a vial with a symbol of a sun on it and stared at it for a moment. “This oil provides light,” he finally determined. “About three uses in it, too.” The other vial turned out to be a single use of a spell that caused a flame to continue despite having water thrown on it. The scroll contained a spell called Slow. Filayne hadn’t heard of that one, but it sounded annoying.

“All right, listen up,” Filayne said, and glanced both ways down the hallway just in case Rock had decided to turn back up. “Last night after everyone went to bed, I saw movement outside the trade post. When I checked, it was a gnomish bounty hunter called Majet, who’s following Rock because she says there’s another gnome that is usually with the orc. Some guy named Zarzu’ket. I’m not sure what he did, but she seemed legitimate.”

To her surprise, no one questioned her about why she hadn’t said anything before.

“Let’s go look for him,” Lilianna said, and headed back down the tunnel.

The rest of the group followed, and Filayne caught up with Lilianna at the front. Back in the central cavern, she noted tracks where there hadn’t been any before, and pointed them out to Lilianna.

“Let’s get a horse together just in case we find anything useful,” the cleric said.

Filayne offered her mare since the horse was already unsaddled, and a few minutes later they set off following the tracks. Filayne went ahead several feet since her eyes were more accustomed to the darkness. After a few minutes, she could hear the group talking behind her.

“Are you in need of assistance?” Osamu’s voice was concerned.

“No, I’m okay, I think,” Talia replied.

“Are you okay?” Lilianna asked Talia. “You’re breathing really heavy. Let me check you out. Have you ever had breathing troubles before?”

“No. Never,” the woman panted.

A loud thud reverberated off the tunnel walls, making dust and rocks tumble down on the adventurers. Filayne darted ahead, making certain to be quiet as she moved. As she went, she began to see a light coming from the tunnel ahead. She slowed as she came upon the light and peered around a bend to see Rock standing at a set of ornate doors, banging on them with his massive maul. A gnome stood beside him, yelling at him to hurry and open the door. Rock banged harder.

Filayne knew she was better off with her companions beside her, so she glanced back to see if they were coming. Their light was getting closer, illuminating the area better than the light the gnome and orc were using.

“Ah, they’re here,” the gnome snarled, drawing Filayne’s attention. “Go get them, Rock!”

He turned and Filayne frowned at the look in the orc’s eyes. It was as if there was no one home, yet the beast had more focus than before. Dragging the maul, he stalked back towards Filayne’s hiding spot.

She turned back to her companions and yelled, “Weapons ready!”

Turning back towards the approaching orc, she glanced past him through a small hole in the door. Whatever was in there was lit by torches.

Drawing her scimitar, Filayne darted out into the hallway, slashing at the orc, her aim ringing true. His eyes went red and he roared. Swinging the maul, he caught Filayne in the chest. Her armor held, but even so she could feel blood beginning to flow.

Lilianna darted into the fray with the orc, swinging a sword, barely missing Rock as he shifted out of the way.

Behind them, Talia and Gerard were both chanting. Filayne caught sight of something winged flying past towards the gnome.

Then Osamu ran past Filayne and attacked the gnome with a precision strike, making the smaller figure bleed profusely. “You have made a very unwise decision,” Osamu told him.

“And you have made a very bad enemy,” the gnome snarled, pulling something out of his bloodied robes. He drank whatever it was and disappeared. A moment later, Osamu turned and looked back at the group, his eyes containing a glaze similar to Rock’s. Filayne stepped back from the orc and drew a blow gun prepped with a dart. She aimed at Osamu and blew the dart at him. It clattered against the wall as Osamu took a step towards her.

Suddenly his eyes deglazed and he blinked at her. Before she could figure out what happened, a loud blast reverberated through the tunnel. Rock staggered sideways, hitting the wall before slumping to the ground, bleeding from a large hole in his side.

Three earth elementals climbed up through the ground, their rocky forms moving forward to stand beside Osamu, near where the gnome had been. They began attacking the space where the gnome had stood, and a moment later he reappeared, his form unmoving on the ground.

“Are you hurt?” Lilianna asked.

Filayne looked over at her and nodded. “Yeah, I could use some healing if you have some to spare.” As Lilianna began to chant over her, Osamu walked up to the unconscious gnome. Filayne heard two loud cracks and then the gnome began screaming. With a shake of her head, she looked around and saw another gnome standing off to her side.

“Majet?” she said. The female gnome nodded to Filayne, cursing as she observed her shot gun. The metal of the barrel was coiled back, the gun apparently ruined. With a sigh, she stowed the weapon and walked over to put a hood over the male gnome’s head. Then she began to drag him out.

INTERMISSION

We decided to take a break to LARP for a moment with a real-life monster! Alas, the gigantic bug pulled out invisibility potion, drank it and disappeared after successfully evading our attacks. What a coward! We kept our eyes peeled for any sign of the flying beast but apparently it fled back to the fires from whence it came...

And now, back to your seats, ladies and gentlemen as we resume our story!

“Wait. We need to talk to him,” Lilianna said.

Majet didn’t stop dragging the gnome. “I’m taking him for the bounty.”

“Take him then,” Lilianna snapped. “But we need to ask him some questions.”

Osamu walked up to the struggling gnome and sucker punched him, knocking him back out.

“You really don’t like him, do you?” Filayne quipped.

Osamu gave her a look. “He attempted to take over my mind and briefly succeeded. I do not take kindly to those manipulative methods.”

Fair enough, Filayne figured. She turned and went to check on Talia. The human spell caster was on the ground, breathing but not responsive. Filayne tried to pick her up, but she wasn’t strong enough. “Hey, I need some help! Talia’s passed out!”

Lilianna came up and picked up the human, carrying her over her shoulder to the top of the mine. Filayne followed and did her best to help Lilianna with Talia, which pretty much meant staying out of the way. She watched as the cleric gently set down the human and then uncapped a small vial, waving it under the spell caster’s nose. Talia blinked and looked around, drawing in a deep breath.

“How’re you feeling?” Lilianna asked.

Talia nodded. “Better.” She sat up on her own and looked to Filayne as if she were breathing normally.

“Good. Why don’t you rest for a little while?”

Talia nodded and didn’t move from her spot.

Behind them, Majet appeared, still dragging the unconscious gnome.

“What’d he do?” Filayne asked her.

“A lot. There’s three or four bounties on this guy,” she replied. “He manipulated the wrong people and they put a bounty on him. He’s some kind of accomplished enchanter.”

“We did incapacitate him,” Lilianna said. “We should be able to interrogate him.”

Majet stopped nearby. “Well, I did promise you something if you helped.”

She waved a hand, and Lilianna moved over to him, using the same vial from before to wake him up. “What were you doing down there?” she asked. He was quiet. “I’ll bet you’ll feel better with a little healing,” she said and cast something over him. “Why don’t you talk to me?” she asked kindly. “I just want to know what you were doing down there.”

“Looking for a holy relic,” he said.

“What kind of relic?”

“Just a holy relic.”

When that seemed to be it, she pressed on. “How’d you get here without our knowledge?”

“It wasn’t too difficult,” he replied smugly.

“And yet here you are, caught,” Lilianna said.

He immediately clammed up, refusing to answer any more questions.

Tired of the game, Filayne grabbed his broken hand and twisted it. “What do you know!” she shouted from barely a foot away.

He cried out. “It’s just a holy relic!”

Filayne twisted harder.

“That’s all I know!” he cried. “I swear!”

“Hey, c’mon,” Lilianna said, putting a hand on Filayne’s shoulder.

She reluctantly let go. “You know something else!” she snapped.

“I don’t!” he sniffled.

She snarled a curse at him and flicked his broken finger. He cried out and Lilianna scoffed her disapproval.

“All I know is a guy named Theris asked me to come get it! That’s all I know!”

“Where?” Filayne demanded.

“In Yenmass!”

Satisfied with the information, Filayne left him alone.

Majet disrobed him, leaving his gear as repayment for their aid. She put a burlap bag over him to protect him from the sun and put him up on her camel. Climbing up, she started off.

“See you in Yenmass,” Filayne called.

Majet waved over her shoulder.

“Maybe we should go back down,” Lilianna suggested. “Osamu and Gerard are still down there and if there is a relic, we need to find it and protect it.”

“Agreed,” Talia said, and began struggling for breath again.

“Go see what they’re doing,” Lilianna snapped as she began to check on Talia.

Filayne, already halfway to the tunnel, began to run. At the bottom, she found Osamu beating on the door. “Stop!” she snapped.

Osamu stopped with the gigantic maul poised in mid-swing and looked at her.

“How long have you been hitting the door?” she asked.

“A couple minutes,” Osamu replied.

A couple minutes were how long Talia had been breathing hard, Filayne thought, and said so.

“Maybe there’s some connection,” Gerard said.

Possibly. “What’s inside?” she asked, seeing that the hole was bigger. She moved towards the hole in the doors, joining Gerard and Osamu as they gazed into the sconce-lit room. Inside were rows of pews and directly ahead was an altar. The holy symbol on the altar was one Filayne recognized, but she couldn’t remember exactly where she remembered it, let alone which god or goddess it symbolized.

“I think we need a cleric for this,” Filayne quipped. “I’ll go get her.” She headed back up only to meet Lilianna on her way down.

“How’s Talia?”

“She’s better. I left her resting in the wagon.”

“When I got down there, Osamu was beating on the door. Do you think there’s a connection?”

“Perhaps,” Lilianna replied, speculation in her gaze. “I couldn’t say. There’s nothing physically wrong with her…”

Filayne told her about the cathedral as they walked back. “I recognize the symbol from my paladin days,” she added, “but I can’t remember exactly what god it belongs to.”

“Perhaps I will,” she said simply. They continued walking in silence and at the doors she looked in, frowning. “I remember the symbol as well, but the name evades me. It’s ancient.”

“From the beginning?” Gerard asked.

She nodded. “It feels serene. Peaceful.” She snapped her fingers. “I know! It has something to do with the creation story.”  

“Where’s Talia?” Gerard asked into the immediate silence.

“Upstairs.”

“Just a theory: Talia was only getting hurt when the door was getting hurt, right? Maybe she’s an extension of the door.”

Filayne sighed. “I’ll go.” She began to run and once she was around the bend, she went into a dance form that allowed her to move quicker. She stopped dancing as she got to the top so that she didn’t look odd coming upon Talia.

“Do you think you could come back downstairs?” she asked.

Talia nodded as she climbed down from the wagon. “I’m feeling fine now.”

Filayne walked back with Talia, keeping an eye on her. When they finally reached the doors, they found Lilianna praying to Saranrae for guidance. She stood in front of the hole in the doors, preventing the man and gnome from going inside.

Osamu threw a rock into the room. Nothing happened.

Seeing Talia, Gerard explained the logic of the connection between her and the door. She shook her head. “I don’t remember anything like that, and I’m pretty certain I’d know.” She walked up to the doors, looked at them for a moment and reached out, pushing the doors open with both hands.

Filayne screamed as bright light filled the area, blinding her. She threw her hands up in front of her, struggling to get her smoked goggles over her eyes. She blinked rapidly to regain her sight and when she could see, she found everyone walking into the room.

The doors were whole again, she saw as she moved to follow her companions. Talia walked behind the altar and another flash of light filled the room. With the goggles on it didn’t blind Filayne, so she was able to see the altar sunder.

Lilianna walked up and reached out to pick something up. A disc floated up past Lilianna and into Talia’s hand. It was a ruby disc with a symbol raised on it. It was the same symbol that was repeated around the room several times: two filled-in circles with a curved line connecting them.

“Talia?” Lilianna said. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she breathed. “I think I know what’s going on.” She was holding her head with her free hand, the disc gripped tightly in the other.

“What’s going on?” Gerard asked.

“Just give me a second. I’ve been assaulted with knowledge…”

“What is it?” Lilianna pressed.

Talia rubbed her forehead and blinked. “Something about desert’s fire.”

“Saranrae?”

“Yes. Yes, it is.”

“What’s desert’s fire?” Filayne asked.

“Desert’s Fire is some kind of relic that was left here in the desert,” Lilianna said. “When Saranrae became a goddess, it was left in her protection.”

Lilianna was frowning at Talia, Filayne noted, her gaze holding on Talia’s shoulder. Filayne squinted and made out what looked like a tattoo of the temple’s symbol on Talia’s shoulder. She wondered if it had been there all along.

“Why don’t you sit down, Talia?” Filayne said.

She nodded and plopped down right there behind the altar. Lilianna moved to her side and gave her some water. Talia drank deep and began to perk up.

Filayne couldn’t take it anymore. She walked out of the room, but not out of earshot. It was simply too bright in there, even with her goggles on.

“Thank you,” Talia said. “I understand what I was told, but I need time to think it over to straighten it out. I’m trusted to protect this relic, but it’s also some sort of key.”

“It seems like it only likes you,” Lilianna quipped.

“It seems like I need to protect it,” Talia agreed.

“Then you can count on me to protect you,” Osamu stepped in. “Is there still anything worth anything here?” he tacked on.

“I’ve got mine,” Talia said bluntly. “Sorry if you haven’t found yours.”

“I think for now perhaps we should seal this entrance,” Lilianna suggested. “So no one gets into here.”  

“I agree,” Osamu and Gerard said at the same time.

“Perhaps you should rest,” Lilianna said. “We’ll go explore the rest of the caves.”

“I don’t want to be alone,” Talia protested. “Besides, there’s nothing else here. It’s safe. I can feel it.”

“Let’s seal this up, then.”

When the doors were closed, the group made their way back up the tunnel. Splitting up, they went down the two unexplored tunnels, finding they were, indeed, free of any dangerous creatures.

There were two additional rooms similar to the first office off the two tunnels and two more chests resembling the first. Bringing the chests back to the central area, Filayne popped the top of the one she found and stood back as she kicked the lid open. Purple haze shot out of it, missing her by a mile. She could see how the mechanism was set up and turned to tell Osamu to wait to open the last chest so that she could salvage the poison. As she turned, he jumped out of the way of the haze.

With a shrug, she turned to the contents of the chest before her. There was another scroll, a potion and a ring. The bottom of the chest was filled with more gold coins.

“Gerard and I can determine if anything has magical properties and what they might be,” Lilianna said. “And we should go through these things that Majet left us as well.”

Filayne sat back and watched as the magic users began determining what was useful and what wasn’t. The scroll turned out to be for an invisible helper, the potion was to provide a holy shield, and the ring allowed the wearer to have no issues while swimming.

From the other chest came a star knife that Osamu seemed to have his eye on. The knife could be thrown and would hit an invisible target if the thrower knew where the target was. Filayne wasn’t sure if the location had to be specific or a general area. The knife also couldn’t be destroyed and caught its victim on fire. Definitely a nice weapon.

Then there was a wand that allowed the user to shape sounds. Filayne knew a few bards who wouldn’t mind getting their hands on that. There was also a necklace of beads and the beads would burst into flame when thrown. Another necklace with an amulet provided magical protection from attacks, then there were gloves that aided the wearer when swimming and climbing and another ring, which, Filayne discerned from their conversation, allowed the wearer a magical attack with a range of thirty or so feet. It also could aid in opening doors. She didn’t know the specifics, but it sounded like a useful item to have.

Finally, the gnome’s spell book disappeared into Gerard’s pack. Filayne smiled at that, and hoped the tome had some useful spells.

TO BE CONTINUED…

*                  *                  *

NEXT WEEK ON DICE vs. DMs

We take a break from playing Pathfinder to give our regular DM a breather and pick up where we left off playing Iron Kingdoms' Witchfire trilogy. The witch Alexia appears to have escaped our heroes in the labyrinthine temple deep in the swamp outside Corvis. Can our heroes catch up to her before she succeeds in her twisted plot?

Find out next time on Dice vs. DMs!