A Long Voyage Ahead?
I should have trusted that the Lady wouldn't let us suffer.
The morning following Percy's horrible experience, I woke to a feeling of such joy that I can scarecely describe it. Colors seemed brighter, scents more intense, sound clearer. It was as though a veil had been drawn away from my senses that I hadn't known I wore. I realized at once that I was feeling some small measure of the divine pleasure the Lady must be experiencing at that moment, though I didn't then know why.
The Ice Fangs didn't feel what we Silver Claws experienced, but even they were more cheerful and boisterous that morning. Suffused with good feeling, we packed up our sad little camp and set off for Milvarune to make our report to Dragonsreach. Our steps were light as we strolled along the path. Even learning of Hedrin's strange experience in the forest with a halfling woman named Rose couldn't dampen our elevated mood.
This Rose, it seems, is some associate of Lerner's, though she may be cooperating with him under duress. She offered Hedrin some information regarding Lerner's activities, and gave him a token to find and meet her in Milvarune. We hoped whatever she told us would aid us in opposing his activities.
As we made our way along the path to the town, we came upon a caravan. Not wanting to startle them by coming upon them from behind, I went forward to warn them and assure them of our friendly intentions. Roland endowed me with the
longstrider ability so that I could catch them up quickly.
The caravan turned out to made up of halflings. Though their wagons were gaily colored, the halflings themselves seemed rather too regimented to be simply a wandering troup of entertainers or traders. As soon as I spoke with them they halted. They insisted that we must meet with someone they referred to as Mother. When the rest of our party caught up, the Silver Claws were invited into the largest wagon.
It was the largest wagon, but by that token it shouldn't have been as large as it was within. By some enchantment the interior was larger than the exterior! It was one of the most colorful and exotic places I've ever seen. Hedrin kept looking around him and sniffing the air like a dog who's scented hidden squirrels.
We were guided to an impressively large chamber and introduced to a wizened old halfling woman. She demanded a token, but none of us knew what she meant. At last Hedrin searched his pockets and discovered that apparently Rose had secreted the token on his person, much to Mother's mingled amusement and annoyance.
Mother invited us to continue our journey in company with the caravan. Rose is her daughter and she was concerned about Rose's activities with Lerner, though she didn't know any more than we did at that time. But Mother did seem to fear that some danger threatened on the road, and she believed that we would be safer in company with her family.
I spent the remainder of our journey chatting with the halflings, learning as many stories and as much of their lore as I could, as well as picking up a few words and phrases of their native tongue. I can't think why I haven't learned Halfling before now. Oddly, I discovered that they refer to their patron goddess as the Lady, although by that they don't mean the Lady I revere. They give their allegiance to a halfling goddess of good fortune.
We arrived in Milvarune at mid-evening, far sooner than we'd expected. As we parted ways with Mother's caravan she asked one of her sons, Windsor, to accompany us so that he could make contact with Rose and report back to Mother on her condition. Windsor seems to have the same sort of arcane power as Hedrin, although his ability is of course not influenced by the Lady.
We made our way first to the Lady's temple to notify the priests of our arrival and arrange to use the scrying bowl to contact Dragonsreach. The priests hadn't expected us so soon, and the spell could not be cast until the following morning. So we turned our attention to contacting the mysterious Rose.
Rose was found at the Green Spoon, a quality inn and gambling house. After taking rooms we sought her out in the gambling rooms at the back of the establishment. Roland and Hedrin spent most of the night at cards with her. I chose not to get involved in that activity; games of chance have never seemed very appealing to me. I'm afraid that I missed out on most of their discussion. It was all carried out in a very roundabout manner, with many innuendoes and implications that I couldn't catch when distracted by all the other activity in the room. I had to wait until the following morning at the temple to learn what they'd uncovered.
When we contacted Father Merrick and Father Borabyl at home, I learned that the Blessing Percy had absorbed from the child had left him. That was the source of the good feeling we'd experienced all during the previous day - the infant's spirit had returned to the Lady. Poor Percy now knew just a little of what Father Merrick's brother had experienced with the loss of the Lady's Blessing*, but he was also relieved not to have a Blessing with such unpleasant associations.
We explained to the fathers all that we had learned - or should I say, all that Roland had learned - of Lerner's activities in Calimshan. Rose had also advised him that Lerner's people meant to travel next to Chult, as they'd learned of an entire village of Blessed there. They are sadly getting much more efficient at stealing Blessings - it was quite unlikely that three of us would have absorbed the Blessings they intended for themselves. The Lady must have had some hand in that.
Now the priests must decide if we should continue our mission to seek the drow, or prepare to travel to distant Chult. While I must confess it would be exciting to visit that far-away land, my fear of Lerner outweighs any pleasure I have from the thought of the journey.
I doubt that we have sufficient skills to stand up to that horrid man and his misguided companions at present. I can only hope that we have an ally in Rose. And I trust to the Lady to aid us in our time of need.
*Father Merrick's brother is a sage at Candlekeep. He was once one of the Blessed but somehow lost his Blessing during an experiment to find a way to transfer such abilities. He was responsible for creating the ritual that Lerner Provol is using to steal Blessings, though it wasn't his intention to use his ritual that way.
Sadly that portion of our adventures is one of the missing areas that I haven't yet been able to restore.
Quips & Quotes:
sniffles: "Who uses a stool?"
Devo: "Depends."
Zora: "They're magebred. Mage raisin bread."
Zora: "The halfling wagon is made for halflings, but it's strong enough for a human."