Session #5 as told by Inez
Dear Diary,
My doubts about me being fit for adventuring, I daresay, I’ve left behind after today. However, all the more doubt about me being capable of leading the two halflings, and myself for that matter. Let me try to explain.
This morning I awoke from an unnatural deep, deep sleep. Visibly the sun had already set, the inside of my tent was brightly lit while I laboriously opened my eyes. The idol was staring at me from under the ravaged stocking, that had landed on top of it. The sight of the sock made me remember where I was and the reason why I felt dreadful. And why I was only wearing a stocking on my right leg. “But I still have a moonstone, you monster.”; I hissed to the idol. And dear diary, I swear it smirked back. Not with it's mouth, but with the tilt of its terrible silence.
A mixture of noises came from outside: The strange marching songs could be heard again in the distance, as if armies were parading. Closer by, the sound of munching and rustling of the owl bear cubs around our tents signaled that something odd was going on. As my mind was still trying to catch up, I carefully lowered the zipper of my tent door. Peeking outside, I saw my companions walking around, so I followed suit and left my tent. The sun was shining brightly, still shreds of mist were lying low around us, covering the field and blocking sight to what the Owl Bears were doing.
Surprisingly, especially since it took quite some bit to wake and get up, I felt refreshed! Despite all yesterday's maltreatment, my body did not ache and when I checked my left leg discreetly, lifting my dress to look for spider bites and hairs, there were no disturbing marks to be found.
Luckily the halfling men had not noticed my checkup, as they both had different affairs on their mind. Jonathan was lying on his back in the grass absentmindedly, like a debutante fainted halfway through her curtsy (No not something that happened to me, dear diary!). Finn on the other hand, materialized from out of the mist, confronting me: “That the cubs were all mine, and my problem alone, and I should deal with them, and he was going for a piss!” Walking past me to the nearby row of trees, to fulfill his statement where I could actually hear and see him performing the act (Luckily only the resulting ‘outcome’, dear diary!). Appalled and angry, (What is it with these halfing men, dear diary?) I decided to look at what ‘my’ critters actually were undertaking.
After a few steps in the direction of their gratified grunts, I caught sight with the cubs. All bloodied and gore, crawling over and diving into the carcass of a huge animal! Even at the festivities and banquets of the upper Gnome families I had never seen a carcass this size! No doubt it was, or better, used to be, a giant elk. At least three times my size it laid, or more precisely, half of it, on the ground, as the animal had been split cleanly down its length! Who or what had managed to do that? The Owl Bear Cubs certainly not, but they were very grateful to who or what ever had done it, tearing into the intestines of the dead creature.”Cervus maximus gigantii”; I had to keep repeating for myself by thinking back to the lessons of Doctor Vexora, just to prevent throwing up or fainting at the sight of the carnage taken place.
With my hands covering my mouth I stood there for a while, baffled by this spectacle. Only then I noticed the trail of blood and gore, stretching from the corpse into the woods. Following this for a bit, I walked into Jonathan and Finn. The two halflings were debating about what to do next; continuing to Magki, heading back to Nook, just get away as fast as we can..? As I suggested investigating the trail of blood leading into the forest, to find out how this carcass came here, the two men turned on me, stating that the best course of action would be to get as fast as far away from the cadaver as possible, before the perpetrator would come back.
Both halflings were seemingly agitated after the events of the last days, even hinting that it were my ideas that led them into trouble! Finally, we agreed to break up camp first, so we would be prepared for a hasty retreat if necessary. My plea for a further descent into the round room to find more moonstones also did not impress the men either. Jonathan even made fun of me, comparing me to his mad grandfather! Dear diary, those two representatives of the Grand Guild of Male Advisors once more succeeded in annoying me!
Deciding to take matters in my own hands, I strolled off to the black monolith. Approaching the giant stone, the shrill noise of the scraping of stone on stone welcomed me. I sped up, only to spot a figure, more or less my size, dressed in a black cloak retreating to the forest. “Hey, wait, come back!” I shouted, then back to the halflings: “Hey, there’s someone here, near the monolith!”. To their credits, and my relief, both men sprung into action. Jonathan spurted towards me, while Finn took up position with his sling between me and the tree edge where the figure had vanished. We waited for a while, but the being did not return.
That’s when I found freshly applied scribblings on the monolith. Common characters ordered in rows and columns forming a strange message. Both halfling men looked at me in awe as I managed to decipher the message! Dear diary, I was very proud of myself in succeeding in this. Though also a bit, in fact a lot, remorseful too, as I told my companions only half of the instructions it contained. Explaining the part of some sort of summoning; to find, contest, and fight someone. This made my companions quite jumpy, so like my father, I stated that: “If this were serious, you'd be in a much less comfortable chair.” (My father was very proud of having a set of chairs for every size of customer). And like my father, I didn't succeed in reassuring my clients.
And, dear diary, once more I must admit that the thought of losing my moonstone did influence me conflictingly. Not telling my companions about the second clause; that the challenger could be bought off with two or three moonstones. Indubitably, this all would not have mattered, if there would not have been the sound again of stone rasping on stone, but this time much much louder and all too near! Not only was the monolith grumbling and tremoring, a nearby knoll of stones had seemingly awoken in a veil of dust. Raising up it slowly rearranged itself into the form of a crude, but huge, body. A huge reddish rock where I had just leaned against was now on top of its head. Dear diary, obviously the fact that brightly colored bonnets are definitely out of fashion had not yet reached these parts!
But only when the construct opened its fiery glowing eyes, I realized that one: this was a Golem, as taught by Doctor Vexora and bragged about by High keeper Ironmantle. And two: We were only standing a few metres away from it! And three: We were in trouble deep! The monstrous construct was by then raising one of its arms, aiming its fist for Jonathan and me.
Had it not been for Jonathan, unsuccessfully however, or the cubs, very successfully, my life as the best looking adventurer ever to originate from Nook would have ended here, dear diary! Now I was steamrolled away by three furry balls covered with blood and grume, rolling away just in time from the spot where the giant fist landed. In the nick of time Jonathan also managed to step away, though his cloak was caught and a piece of it ripped off.
Standing at a much safer distance, Finn had stared inquisitively at the construct and our reeling around it, only to conclude that ‘This creature has no weaknesses’ and ‘Discretion is the better part of valor’ and had started running in the direction of the trees. In spite of this, he still responded when I shouted to both halflings to throw their moonstones to the golem. Standing nearby, Jonathan immediately reacted, and threw his moonstone in the creature's direction. Though he missed it and the stone fell on the ground, the golem was magically pulled to it, moving its right arm directly towards the fallen stone.
Now Finn tried to do the same, getting the moonstone out of his backpack while running. This resulted in an awkward manoeuvre, until the rogue somehow rolled over, somersaulted, throwing the gem and landing fluently and synchronously. Dear diary, under duress, halflings apparently channel divine will or sheer dumb luck.
The left hand of the Golem now changed its course from crushing the two dormouses that were Jonathan and me, towards picking up the second stone that just landed in front of it. Giving us the chance of crawling and running away as fast as we could. As the creature reached the stone, its eyes extinguished and it toppled over on its back. (Almost as elegant as Finn’s routine just before, but that is not very grateful of me, dear Diary.)
As abrupt as the creature's arrival, so was its demise! And as abrupt as the creature's demise was the demise of the panic of the halflings! After establishing that the golem was harmless, no more than a new hummock of stones, and that the two moonstones were gone, the two men gathered, patted eachothers shoulders and started improvising breakfast. Which we obviously had missed this morning, was their explanation and feel free to join! As my mother would say: “Where a rat sneaks, a halfling snacks.”
In just moments time, there was a small campfire with two happy halflings sitting next to it. Still confused from the clash that ended minutes ago, I joined them, throwing in the last lunch packages of the Trans Gnomish Pony express, and their discussion. Subjects whirled around in the halfling conversation, from recipes to best places to eat in Nook, and from ‘how we beat a Golem’ to ‘which direction should we follow next?’ As I was afraid of, the question ‘why I had not thrown my moonstone’ was raised as well. Restraining a blush, I argued that thanks to this, we (Emphasis on ‘we’, dear diary) still possessed such a precious stone. Both of them agreed wholeheartedly, showing a blind trust towards me, which further made me almost turn scarlet. The direction of our discourse then changed to our next steps and destination. To my surprise, this time I was not only being taken seriously, but it appeared to me that both priest and rogue were expecting me so set out our course! Dear diary, I was and am still confused about this. And confused about my confusion, as this position is what I longed for at home. For all that, it still feels as scary as standing in front of a golem!
As we agreed, or as they agreed with my proposal, we would travel further to Magki.Our rations were low, we had some narrow escapes, it would be smarter to visit that town and return here later and better prepared. With that in mind, we found that our water supplies were empty. Jonathan volunteered to refresh them by mustering water magically. Once again I was stunned by his arcane power and ease, dear diary.
As I said so, he offered me to learn this spell; showing me the ingredients and steps. So, I attempted to reproduce this, reciting the words, trying to invoke Chislev, failing miserably. To my shock, and to Jonathans too I think, Finn then suggested that Jonathan should hit me: ‘Just a little slap on the cheek, that will make her strive harder.” Being too confused to riposte in time, Finn could add: “Or on someplace else, if that has her preference.” This time I did turn crimson, both out of shame and anger. “That’s how I got schooled ”; Finn added, just before I would have erupted. Instead, I suddenly felt sad for him, dear diary.
After all of this, we finally set off in the direction of Magki. It was almost like strolling through the city park of Nook, no magic monoliths, venomous spiders or stone golems to bother us. Luckily we encountered no other folks until, after half a day of walking, we ventured into a small hamlet, with no more than fifteen houses. Half of these pillboxes were of gnomish, symmetrical and decorated with brass flourishes or some mechanical oddity. The other half was of halfling making, disarranged by design, rounded corners and at least two food caches. And even one or two human houses, sticking out tall and shabby. Spotting some equally mixed inhabitants, I wondered if the people here would know of or have connections with Nook. And if they would know about my fathers solicitors practice or be able to recognize me! Dear diary, I panicked thinking of this possibility! Not only the risk of all kinds of interference, troubles and peril, but my appearance by now was abominable! My dress, although by no means a finery, was after the actions of last days besmirched with dust, mud, blood and gore. My hair was just slightly less sullied, and I had this morning just time to secure it in a ponytail. All of this, topped by showing up in the company of two halfling rascals, even more murky looking than me, would seriously harm our families and companies name, and be the last drop for my reputation.
As I was contemplating this, we reached what you could call with some fabrication, the heart of this small village. There were several halflings and gnomes there, looking at us but minding their businesses, when we were addressed by a very old looking gnome. He was sitting in the remains of an armchair like a king on a throne, guarded by empty bottles: “Good afternoon travelers, what brings you to this place?” In some way I was irked by the aplomb of the grey patriarch and held back a little, letting the halflings do the talking. From what I could pick up, no relatives of Finn nor Jonathan lived here or nearby.
Suddenly I got pulled into the gathering, as the old man was pointing at me: “And may I ask who's the young gnome lady traveling with you?” At that moment I did not have the wits to come up with a made up name, as my dwarven etiquette lessons took over. So I introduced myself formally and with a cordial bow, that would have made my mother proud, and introduced myself. This did not seem to make an impression on the elder and I had to explicitly request his name (and courtesy) in return. “Meyon Hiir is the name, young lady, are you related then to that solicitor up north? I remember being served a very nice wine in that office.” Gobsmacked by his words, I looked to Jonathan and Finn, who were not impressed at all or had already lost interest. “You don’t happen to have any with you?” Asked the grizzled man, pulling at my dress.
By now some more locals had assembled around us, so I decided to act polite and civil, handing him the small flask of “Moonberry Mead” that Jonathan had magically filled with water. “What is this piss!” ; he shrieked, spitting out the gulp he had taken in before, missing me only because I took a step backwards. Eyeing me up and down, he disdainfully asked: “Are you from Nook? I assumed so. So shiny. So polite. So unsorted.” Leaving me standing there like a junior solicitor caught in her nightgown at a tribunal. (Not that this ever happened to me, dear diary.) My mind was wandering around, trying to find anything in my memories about a client or family called Hiir. Meanwhile giving polite answers and nods to the barrage of comments and questions coming my way. Could this gnome be an agent of my father?
While I was entertaining the elder gnome, Jonathan was just standing there grinning. The old gnome and the priest seem to get along fine, chattering about nothing at all like two headed ettins. Meanwhile Finn had slipped away and found a quiet spot behind some of the houses. There he had tried to open a hatch successfully, only to let slip his loot, sending off a bottle of wine over the ground. (All of this I was told later, much later, dear diary.) This vial rolled past me, ending at the feet of our local sovereign. The old man just took up the bottle, looked at it, declared that it was his, opened it and swallowed more than a mouthful. “So little lady, can I expect a shipment of that splendid wine from your father anytime soon again?” “Surely, “; I tried to lie as best as I could; “within a day of two, three it should be arriving.” Jonathan was looking curiously at me, and the old gnome likewise did not seem to be convinced.
Once more I was saved, more or less, by Finn, who re-entered our chat: “Where can we find a decent tavern around here, old man? We have traveled quite far and could use a good rest.” The gnome replied by starting a long lecture, which opened with the remark that the nearest establishment was six or seven days' travel away, meandered about the road to get there and history of this locality, only to expand for what seemed hours describing the battles fought here between giants and gnomes. It was a nursery rhyme retold as historic facts, in which every stone bigger than a hand is the remains of a slain giant and cheese is made off slain cyclops or gnomes or the other way around. Though I had seen a golem rising from the ground today, these old men's narratives are at its best metaphors or echoes of real events, not real history. And this old man with his never ending stories was working on my nerves. So much for my etiquette lessons, dear diary.
Abruptly the old man poked me on my arm: “So young lady, I trust that you were schooled properly. In that case, you should be able to recall the name of the hero that fought off the giants?” It was like he had placed me under a spell. For years I had to learn those fables by heart, and now, while the two halflings were looking at me expecting nothing but the correct answer, I could not find it. “Ah, you’ve forgotten. Or perhaps it was never taught. That happens in Nook, they polish the silver but lose the family sword. Well all of this happened in the great fields between here and Magki.” “Dear diary, If heroism were measured in blushes, I’d already have a statue. Preferably placed in a very quiet corner of Nook.
So there’s no inn or tavern here where we could spend the night? What about a hayloft or haymow, just for the night?” interrupted Finn, leaving the man giggling: “Traveling together, so many shared burdens. So few separate bedrolls.” ; looking at me anew: ““You left your chaperone at home?” After this taunt and a chuckle, the old gnome seemed satisfied for the day and fell asleep straight away. Ignoring us and the crowd that had gathered and even the consternation.
This commotion was caused by the three Owl Bear cubs. These had followed us during the day, and now, at long last, had decided to enter the hamlet. This spawned quite some disturbance amongst the town folks (with the exception of the old gnome, who probably was dreaming about blushing girls). The critters and us were escorted out of the village and pointed to an open spot nearby, where it would be safe to camp. Well so much for hospitality in the country, dear diary!
At least the directions were correct, and we found a nice spot to set up camp. We combined our last rations into a meal of some sort, by far not enough by halfling standards, by far not exquisite enough for the taste of this gnome city lady. But we learn and adapt, dear diary!
My halfling companions took improvising a bit too far though, as the berries they found turned out to taste a bit sourish according to the priest or were poisonous according to the rogue. I chose not to get involved in that debate nor the fruits, still feeling sour about the strange trial I had failed. My inner thoughts were disrupted by the noise of galloping hooves on the trail nearby.
Though our tents were behind some bushes and would be hard to spot from a rider on the road, I thought it wise to check who or what was traveling here at this hour. So I made my way through the shrubbery only to see a glimpse of the small creature that I had spotted before, near the monolith! This time riding a horse in the direction of Magki. For a short while I stared at the horse and its rider speeding away, wondering what this or even if this had something to do with us.
Eventually I returned to the camp, where I was welcomed by both halflings and cubs like the missing rune in a dwarven contract! Finn and Jonathan had seen, or better: not seen, me vanish in an instant, then returning out of nowhere. The Owl Bear young, well, they’re always happy to see me arrive.
All in all ended the day as curious and astonishing as it started, dear diary! Tomorrow we’ll be off to Magki, and I hope we’ll reach that place soon, as I miss the sophistication of a city. And hopefully we won’t find old Meyon Hiir on our route! And I pray that he is not a spy placed by my father in that village... We’ll just have to trust Azuth and follow the path of law.