Session Four, Part Four: Homecoming
"Tell Papa that I've come home," Dru said in a small voice, as she stood on the front porch getting soaked by the rain. She had her bag of arcane books, along with her clothes, under one arm, and the jade statue of Yig under the other. She saw her old protector's eyes widen somewhat, but he stepped aside and let her into the familiar foyer.
"I knew that you would make the right decision." Papa's voice, coming from further down the hall. He moved towards her, taking in her appearance with a tiny smile. "Set your things down. We have some things to discuss," he said.
Dru complied, flashing Kennic a smile as she followed along in Papa's wake, moving towards his office. He stopped at another door before he got there, however, and knocked.
There was a brief moment of silence, no doubt as whoever it was pulled himself out of a meditative trance. The door swung open, and a male elf with dark brown hair stood there, blinking into the light. He drew in his breath sharply when he saw who it was that was standing there. "Sir?"
"Ellerand," said Papa. "My daughter has decided to return to us." He gestured towards Dru, standing beside him.
Ellerand met her eyes, and nodded respectfully to her before turning back to Papa, raising an eyebrow inquiringly.
"She will need a bodyguard." Papa looked Ellerand over for a moment, and then smiled thinly. "I trust that you will not let me down...as I have been in the past."
"Sir, I will do my best. It is an honor," the younger elf said.
Papa nodded. "Very well. Now let the three of us retire to my office." As the trio walked, he glanced at Dru. "Your intended is out, doing other things for the Organization, so will not be able to join us. I'm sure that he will be quite disappointed. Ellerand came over from the mainland with him, incidentally."
Dru looked over at Ellerand, curiously. "I see," she said, as she moved into Papa's familiar office.
Behind them, Kennic pulled the younger elf aside. "If you're going to be watching after Drusilia..." He hesitated, then pulled a delicate silver ring from his finger. "Here. Tensin gave it to me when I first became her protector. When you call upon its power, you will be able to take wounds for her."
Ellerand took the ring and slid it onto his hand. "Thank you."
"May you never need it," Kennic replied. "But I fear you will."
"Daughter, I have a job for you," Papa said, sitting down behind his desk, and gesturing at extra chairs. "You must meet my informant in the Watch and take his report." He pulled a bag of coins out of his desk, and slid them across to Dru. "His payment."
Dru swallowed. She'd always known that Papa had someone in the Watch on his payroll, and soon she was going to find out who it was. "Please don't let it be Captain Donnach," she thought to herself. Aloud, she said, "When and where should I do this?"
The morning was still very young, so Dru went out into the garden where she had spent so much of her childhood. Ellerand followed her, looking ill at ease.
Dru turned and smiled at him. "You do realize that I'm not a mewling kitten, that cannot defend myself, yes?"
Ellerand hesitated a moment, and then nodded.
"Alright. So long as you know. Still.. it will be good to have someone at my back." Dru sat down on a bench, enjoying one of the rare moments where it was only misting rain and not pouring rain.
She spent the next hour or so talking with Ellerand about some of the things that she'd done in the past, and about some of the things that were currently going on. "How's Alust?"
Ellerand frowned, and said stiffly, "I do not wish to offend, but I do not care that much for Alust."
Dru grinned. "I like you already." She saw the look of relief mingled with amusement in Ellerand's eyes, before she detected motion out of the corner of her eye. She glanced over to one of the windows, and saw a half-elf looking out the window at her.
So that's who Garto was talking about... Dru had known that Papa had a female half-elf working for him, so that wasn't what she found surprising. What held her transfixed, though, was seeing her father's elven features blended the larger, clumsier features of a human. The half elf turned away, looking very displeased at what she saw.
"Who was that?"
Ellerand glanced up at the window. "Oh. That was Amalyth."
"She looks just like Papa."
"I hadn't noticed," said Ellerand, clearly lying.
Dru went to the appointed meeting place early, so that she could get a good vantage point. It was a small courtyard within the borders of the kesir, shielded from the eyes of those on the main road by a narrow alley. She stepped back into the shadows, making herself nearly invisible to any casual observer. She watched the entrance to the courtyard with anticipation.
Soon, a hooded and cloaked figure appeared. He flashed some sort of sign at Ellerand, who nodded, and let him walk past. He stopped in the center of the courtyard, looking around.
Dru sighed, and stepped out of the shadows, approaching him.
"Well, well," rasped a familiar voice from under the hood. "If it isn't the high and mighty Dru Naïlo." The hood fell back, and Jaffar stood there, grinning at her. "And here we was all thinking that you couldn't be bought."
Dru narrowed her eyes at him, but only shrugged. "I didn't work for my father when I was on the Watch. I do now," she said.
Jaffar chuckled. "You expect me ta believe that?"
With a shrug of her shoulders, Dru said, "You can believe what you want. Regardless... it's good to see you, Jaffar."
The Watchman shook his head. "Things aren't good for you and yours now," he said. "Captain Donnach called the entire day shift in to inform us of your decision to leave... and also that he'd been called into a meeting with the Captain's Council. Any criminal can be arrested now, if they're doing anything or not. They're trying to get them all off the street."
Dru stared. "That's insane!"
Jaffar nodded. "Yeah. I'd lay low if I was you."
Dru nodded, slowly, and then pulled the bag of coins out of her cloak. She raised an eyebrow at Jaffar, and then held it out to him.
The Watchman took the bag with a flourish, and then grinned at her. "It was a pleasure doing business with you."
"Right," said Dru. She stood there and watched Jaffar walk out of the courtyard.
Dru and Ellerand walked down the streets of the
Kesir, keeping a watchful eye on the place. Papa took the protection of the elves in his area of the city very seriously, so Dru had made up her might to be extra vigilant.
It didn't take long before the pair could see the figures, standing down the street. Three humans, standing outside of one of a candle shop. They did not appear to be there to buy candles or wax. Dru sighed, and then began walking purposefully towards them. She bit her tongue to keep from saying, "You are under arrest!"
One of them looked over at the approaching elves, and then pointed. "Look! It's her!" All three of them turned to look at her, and then one began to approach, drawing his sword.
Dru pulled her own blade, and watched as Ellerand pulled twin throwing axes from his belt. And then the battle was met.
She heard the harsh sound of a spell being cast from the one in back, and then Ellerand's axe was arcing above the first two to bury itself in the caster's shoulder. With a cry he fell back - and Dru charged, slamming her blade into the nearest - a shaven-headed man with peculiar amber eyes.
Meanwhile, the third - a burly man who looked like he'd be far more at home in the company of dock workers that wizards - stepped back, drawing his blade. He raised his other hand, and called out, "
Throden sthyr!" As Dru watched, he stepped to the side - while remaining where he was. And then both of him did it again.
Behind Dru, Ellerand dove forward. A third throwing axe had been drawn, and he buried it in the bald man's stomach, folding him like a letter. He began to step over the fallen foe, but the third member of the trio reached out with a wand - and the bald man's wounds began to heal.
Dru gritted her teeth. "Even four of you won't help," she spat, and lunged forward, thrusting at first one of the images, and then another. The first winked out as her blade touched it, while the second twisted out of the way at the last minute.
Her opponent smiled three identical smiles, and uttered another word, causing a blue glow to coalesce around the hand that wasn't weilding his sword. He moved forward, and Dru stepped back. She didn't know what the spell was, but she didn't want to be touched by it.
Then Ellerand was beside her, axe flashing - and missing not only their opponent, but all of the duplicates as well. Dru searched the images, trying to discern the real one, but finally she lunged forward, sweeping her blade through an unresisting image...and was that fear in the wizard's eyes as the blade came so close to another image? She brought her blade back in close and then thrust, her weight behind the blade - slamming it home in the real caster's chest. He staggered backward, his image merging and resplitting.
Ellerand's hiss of pain drew her attention. The bald man had finally managed a spell, and Dru could see the viscous green bolt eating its way into Ellerand's side. She started to turn to the caster, but a flash of steel caught her eye - too late.
She twisted away from the blade, feeling it score a thin line across her flesh - and then her attention was taken up by the blue glow of the hand that reached for her.
Ellerand ignored the burning in his side, twirling his axes as he jumped forward to slam one into each of the identical mages. One vanished. The other bled. And a bolt of golden fire slammed into the elf, from the forgotten third foe. He spun and swung, missing the bald man but spoiling his concentration.
The swordsman-mage that Dru faced wasn't wasting his breath on unnecessary banter. He grinned woflishly and pressed forward, his heavier blade battering at her rapier, knocking it aside...she could feel his touch like ice aflame on her skin, and her muscles fought to avoid cramping.
Ellerand's axes tore a shallow wound on the swordsman's chest and a deep gouge on the bald man - and the third member of the team was there, holding a wand and healing the wounds of the blade-weilding mage. Thus revived, he pressed forward, slicing into Dru's leg just above the knee, and forcing Ellerand to dance out of the way of his deadly hand - still surrounded in its cerulean glow.
Dru could hear the chanting of a spell -
No surprise there, she thought bitterly - as the swordsman parried her blow and flung her blade to one side, slicing into Ellerand as he went - and reaching out to touch her again. Her skin pulled tight as frost formed on it at his touch.
Ellerand stepped away, one of his axes falling unheeded to the ground as he pulled a leather bag from his pouch and flung it sidearm into the swordsman, its sticky innards wrapping around him like an octopus made of glue. Dru took advantage of the opening, plying her sword with great vigor and opening a cut on her opponents forehead.
"Dru! Behind you!" her protector called, and she slid to the side just ahead of the foaming jaws of a hellish rat.
One rat? That's all these jokers could manage? But it had done its job - the swordsman stepped across from it, forcing Dru to split her attentions between the two of them. The tactic worked. He grabbed her arm, and Dru could feel the muscles seize up and grow numb, even as he drew the blade along her side, parting the soft leather of her armor and soaking her side with blood.
There was a deafening
crack as Ellerand's thunderstone hit the ground, sending the mages reeling. Blood trickled from the ears of the swordsman, and his elven opponent gave him a feral grin as she advanced.
Dru looked down at the corpse of the wizard that she had just killed, breathing heavily. Gods, that one had not gone down easily! She looked up at the roof, where one of them had escaped to, and then shrugged. The other two were long gone, unfortunately, and this one wasn't going to be able to be taken into custody... She stopped, and then smiled. "We are going to have a cleric interrogate this corpse," she said, repeating a threat that she had used as a Watchman several times. But this time, she meant it.
"Mmm," said Ellerand, looking around worriedly. "Perhaps we'd better get out of sight. I think I hear the Watch coming."
Dru blinked, startled. She hadn't had to run from the Watch before... "Oh, yes. Right," she said, picking up the corpse's feet. "Let's go." She began dragging the corpse behind her through the rain soaked streets, the downpour of rain washing away its blood trail.
Ellerand led her to a building, and the two elves ducked in, dragging the corpse with them. It was the back room of a spice merchant's shop. "It's a safe house that we use," he murmured to Dru.
Dru had the merchant, who was pale at the sight of the battered corpse, write a message to her father, asking permission to go to the temple district for the purposes of interrogating a dead person. She also told him of where the fight had happened, and with what, in case he wanted to send people.
It didn't take long at all for the message to return. It was brief. "Proceed with your plans. Be careful."
Compiler's Note: Today's update features Dru as a guest author. Did you notice? I've taken very few liberties with her text: mostly adding some things the character didn't know...but she also wanted me to write the combat.
As a special bonus today we also have a new magic item:
Guardian Ring: This simple band, while seemingly quite delicate, is made of mithral and is far stronger than it appears. It allows the wearer to cast the
shield other spell once per day. Many of these rings are tied to particular bloodlines, so that only members of a certain family may be targeted with the
shield other effect.
Caster Level: 3rd;
Prerequisites: Forge Ring,
shield other;
Market Price: 2400 gp (for an "unattached" ring), 1200 gp (for one limited to a particular family line)
)
Fortunately I have been getting better.
