eris404
Explorer
Dante must cajole and coax Utresh all the way to the office of the Mayor. He seems to Dante a little taken aback at this visit, but agrees to talk to the students and the wise woman. Reluctantly, she tells the Mayor about the visions and the dreams she has suffered; his face falls from good-natured indulgence to disappointment and worry.
“This is most extraordinary,” he admits. “And to think I was going to come to you for help.” Dante exchanges a look of curiosity with Serai, then bids him to continue. “I was hoping to ask you to discreetly look for the adventurers I sent to find the children missing from the town. Now that’s the least of our worries.”
“We’d be happy to help,” Dante interjects. He glances about at his companions for their agreement, then notices with a thrill of alarm that George isn’t with them. A glance out the window reveals the tall lad stooped by the door of the bell tower. To Dante’s horror, he realizes George is trying the lock. Dante quickly continues to cover his agitation. “And I suspect that the missing children, the adventures and the strange visions and dreams are all connected.”
The Mayor nods, absent in his own unhappy thoughts. “I fear as much, though I dread bringing more outsiders into our misery. There’s been too much death and unhappiness – I had hoped we had left those days behind us for good.” He looks Dante in the eye. “We can’t spare much, but I promise you one hundred gold each, should you be able to help us.”
Dante meets his gaze with a dead-eye wizard’s stare that unnerves the Mayor and sends a shiver down his spine. “We will take your offer, but I do ask only for one other thing: the deed to that mine.” The Mayor protests, but Dante is firm. “It is doing none of you any good as it is and it will be our problem to protect and work it.”
The Mayor sees the wisdom in this, or perhaps ever the merchant, he sees a way to profit from this agreement. Either way, he promises the mine shall be theirs.
Through the window, Dante sees that George is not quite finished with the tower’s door, so he stalls the Mayor with questions. “That bell tower – I understand the bell was made from copper from Copperdeath’s mine. May I ask if it has any unusual purpose or power?”
The Mayor smiles. “Nowadays, its only purpose is to ring the time of day – we’ve two men, Harley and Malcolm, who volunteer to do this. It has no magic of its own, though it does bring bad memories for some.”
George has given up on the lock, just in time for Dante, Serai, Jade, Ishii and Utresh to leave the Mayor’s office. As promised, the students take Utresh to stay on Othic’s farm, though they decline to impose on his hospitality another night. Instead, they return to rooms at the inn, where over smoked sausages the students take turns reading from the journal of Thrommel Redstone, a dwarfish priest of Darvos. Though it is a thrilling tale about the slaying of the Dragon, no one can gleam any new clues to the present situation. Exhausted, the students say good night and crawl into their beds…
“This is most extraordinary,” he admits. “And to think I was going to come to you for help.” Dante exchanges a look of curiosity with Serai, then bids him to continue. “I was hoping to ask you to discreetly look for the adventurers I sent to find the children missing from the town. Now that’s the least of our worries.”
“We’d be happy to help,” Dante interjects. He glances about at his companions for their agreement, then notices with a thrill of alarm that George isn’t with them. A glance out the window reveals the tall lad stooped by the door of the bell tower. To Dante’s horror, he realizes George is trying the lock. Dante quickly continues to cover his agitation. “And I suspect that the missing children, the adventures and the strange visions and dreams are all connected.”
The Mayor nods, absent in his own unhappy thoughts. “I fear as much, though I dread bringing more outsiders into our misery. There’s been too much death and unhappiness – I had hoped we had left those days behind us for good.” He looks Dante in the eye. “We can’t spare much, but I promise you one hundred gold each, should you be able to help us.”
Dante meets his gaze with a dead-eye wizard’s stare that unnerves the Mayor and sends a shiver down his spine. “We will take your offer, but I do ask only for one other thing: the deed to that mine.” The Mayor protests, but Dante is firm. “It is doing none of you any good as it is and it will be our problem to protect and work it.”
The Mayor sees the wisdom in this, or perhaps ever the merchant, he sees a way to profit from this agreement. Either way, he promises the mine shall be theirs.
Through the window, Dante sees that George is not quite finished with the tower’s door, so he stalls the Mayor with questions. “That bell tower – I understand the bell was made from copper from Copperdeath’s mine. May I ask if it has any unusual purpose or power?”
The Mayor smiles. “Nowadays, its only purpose is to ring the time of day – we’ve two men, Harley and Malcolm, who volunteer to do this. It has no magic of its own, though it does bring bad memories for some.”
George has given up on the lock, just in time for Dante, Serai, Jade, Ishii and Utresh to leave the Mayor’s office. As promised, the students take Utresh to stay on Othic’s farm, though they decline to impose on his hospitality another night. Instead, they return to rooms at the inn, where over smoked sausages the students take turns reading from the journal of Thrommel Redstone, a dwarfish priest of Darvos. Though it is a thrilling tale about the slaying of the Dragon, no one can gleam any new clues to the present situation. Exhausted, the students say good night and crawl into their beds…