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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Wicht" data-source="post: 474336" data-attributes="member: 221">Chapter 19 TerfiindelTilliana divided up the treasure with the boys the next morning and sent them back to Geanavue while she stayed behind to look through the old cleric's stuff.Jozz and Kall were excited as they headed back home.  Jozz in particular thought his magic ring was the greatest thing ever.  Though Tilliana had told him that she thought it was a ring of protection, he was convinced that it could do other things as well.  “Turn me invisible!” he commanded it, “Fire!  Lightning!”But none of his attempts worked and eventually he gave up.It was late afternoon when they reached their house and their mother was glad to see them again.  “You’re almost men,” grunted their father when he heard their tale, “But you will do better when you realize that hard work and honest labor are better than all the adventure in the world.  Still, I must admit that you brought home a good bit of money.  Doesn’t seem quite honest.  But its yours and you can do with it as you will.  An early birthday present.”The two boys spent the next few days shopping.  Their fifteenth birthday was swift approaching and they yearned to be after adventure.  Kall traded in his huge club for a masterfully made axe of immense proportions.  He also sold the full suit of plate mail he had retrieved from Dareen’s tower and bought something a little lighter.  Jozz bought a wagon and two horses.  Then the two boys proceeded to load it down with chests, poles, a ladder and other paraphernalia they thought might be useful.  “You’ll end up like your grandfather,” their father warned them, but he did not stop them.  Tilliana buried Dareen behind his tower and conducted a solitary service consecrating his grave.  She spent the next few days exploring the contents of  Dareen’s tower.  She found the old priest’s journal, along with several other books she thought might tell her more about the stone she had unearthed, and what she read therein made her a bit nervous.  She eventually decided to take the stone with her.  For that she would need something to haul it in.  She guessed its weight at about two hundred pounds.  Far more then she wanted to force her horse to carry.  Giving it some thought she remembered the small wagon that had been by the woodcutters house.  Retrieving the wagon was a simple matter.  Prancer, not used to pulling a wagon fought for a bit but she eventually coaxed him into the job.  After that there were no problems.  Loading the stone onto the wagon herself was a bit more of a challenge but she managed it.  Then, afterwards she loaded up the books she wanted to keep from the tower and some of the more costly statues of Naemae.  In particular she took the gold statue out of the chapel and placed it on the wagon next to the stone.  Then, with the keys she had found, she locked the tower door and set back out to Geanavue.*****************************Their birthday had arrived with much celebration on the part of Jozz and Kall.  It was the third day of Declerations and the two boys had just finished their shopping and were going home for a grand dinner their mother had promised them.  “You see that?” said Jozz to Kall as they walked the crowded street.“See what?”“That man over there, holding something under his arm like he’s trying to hide something.  Look how he looks around like he’s afraid.”Kall watched and saw that Jozz was right.The man ducked out of the street and into a side street.“Want to follow him?” said the curious Jozz.The two boys drifted over to the mouth of the alley wondering whether or not they should stick their noses in when they heard a scream from out of the alley.  With scarcely a thought both boys took off into the alley.  The man they had noticed was lying on the ground dead in a pool of blood.  Footsteps echoed from the end of the alley and both boys saw a cloaked figure running away and around the corner out of sight.“Let’s catch him,” said Jozz and took off running.  Kall pulled ahead of Jozz and was out of the small alley just in time to see a door of a nearby house shut.  The murderer however was not in sight.“I think he may have gone in there,” said Kall pointing to the house.“Come on,” said Jozz, running towards the house.  Jozz knocked quickly on the door and then decided just to open it. Inside he saw a man in the act of taking off a heavy cloak.“What do you want!” demanded the man.“Did you kill that man?” demanded Jozz bluntly and undiplomatically.“What man?”“The man carrying a package!”At the mention of the package, the man’s eyes blazed and his hand went to the hilt of a shortsword at his waist.  “You have seen too much my boy,” said the man as he drew his sword.“Kall!” yelled Jozz, drawing his own dagger out and lunging at the man.  His dagger, newly acquired, slid easily into the man’s side.  Yanking it back out, Jozz ducked under the man’s wild swing.“I’m here!” yelled Kall as he sped past his twin brother.  His new great axe swung in a vicious arc and cleaved into the man attacking his brother.  The man died instantly from the blow.An moment later, the watch were at the door, weapons at the ready.  “Drop your weapons!” demanded the lead officer to the boys.“He was a bad guy!” declared Kall, but he obligingly dropped his axe.Jozz toyed with the idea of fighting for a minute, but then he too lowered his dagger.“I’ll go with you but don’t you know that he killed him.”“Killed who?”“The man in the alley over there.”“We will see, In the meantime we are going to have to place you under arrest.  Please come with us.”The boys spent the rest of their birthday in a lock up.  They were released the next morning.“Your story seems true,” said the man who released them, “My name is Latoor Soi.  You two seem to have stumbled onto something rather evil and you no doubt did the city a favor by ridding us of that vile man you killed yesterday.  I would however like to ask you a few questions before I let you go.”Latoor questioned them for a good while, even more so when he learned they knew Tilliana.  He seemed especially interested in her and pumped them for everything they could tell him about her.  Finally when he was done he told them they could go. “You know of any big monsters around here we could fight,” asked Kall of Latoor as they left the lock up with him.“Hah!” said Latoor, “You two ought to try and stay out of trouble.  The watch can handle anything in Geanavue.”***************************************“Good Morning Tilliana” said Latoor as he met her in the lobby of Muratuur’s Welcome.  She had just returned the night before to find that Kinshag, Niccolo and Alairic had already left Geanavue.  Their note said that they would meet her, as planned, in a little place called Terfiindel, about a day’s ride north of Geanavue.“Good morning sir,” said Tilliana, “What can I do for you?”“Some friends of yours have told me that you are soon to head to Terfiindel and as you are going that way I thought maybe you could help me with something.”He pulled a piece of parchment from his tunic and handed it to her.“Yesterday a black market ring of the foulest sort was uncovered in our city and it would seem that there are connections between it and Terfiindel.  I am authorized to pay you 100 golden glints if you can find out a little more for us.”Tilliana read the parchement.  It was a letter.To Nelo, Grand Master of Destruction and servant of Heartrot, the Lord of Foulness,Greetings exalted one.  The last shipment from Terfiindel was late.  Perhaps Sawtooth should be spoken to.  I don’t know why you put up with that egotistical savage.We lost a batch of the worms in a shipwreck.  It shall be interesting to see what that causes but in the meantime our customer in Zoa still wants some.  There is another order from Pekal for mummified zombie tongues, the breath of skeletons and that glowing moss.May the world turn to ash so growth may begin again,Firndish“In the same house that we found that letter, we also uncovered horrendous items that I will not even begin to try to describe to you.  But we think something very evil is going on and there is a connection in Terfiindel.”“Who told you I was going to Terfiindel?”“Two young friends of yours, Jozz and Kall, we arrested them yesterday and let them go today.  They were part of the reason we uncovered what we did.  You might want to warn them so they stay out of trouble.”“I will speak to them,” said Tilliana, “And I will look around Terfiindel for you.”“Thank you,” said Latoor Soi, “I greatly appreciate it.  Terfiindel is just outside of our furthest patrols north.  The land starts becoming very wild up there.”“Can I keep that letter?”“I suppose,” said Latoor as he handed it over.Tilliana, having already given the matter some thought, hunted up Jozz and Kall’s house.  There she spoke to them and their parents about hiring the boys to accompany her as squires.  Their father, though not thrilled with the idea of his sons seeking adventure, nevertheless agreed to it.  The next morning when Tilliana went back to fetch them for the trip, the boys already had Jozz’s wagon loaded and ready to go.  Tilliana had hitched Firebolt to her small wagon with Prancer alongside.  The two wagons were driven north through Geanavue to the northern gate.“Stay out of trouble and don’t get killed,” grumbled the boy’s father at them as he escorted them through the gate.  “We won’t” said Jozz, “My magic ring will protect me.”His father grunted, showing skepticism.“Don’t worry,” said Tilliana, “I will protect them.  Be brave and they will return to you.”The drive northward was uneventful.  Farms and country estates soon gave way to a more desolate hilly land.  It took them about eight hours of steady driving to finally reach the town of Terfiindel.  It did not look like much.  Many of the building seemed to stand empty and there was a dirty and lonely feeling to the town.  Most of the people they saw looked like farmers and that was likely the case.  They soon spied a tavern, standing next to an inn, the town general store across the dusty street.“Shall we go in the store?” asked Jozz as he pulled his wagon up alongside Tilliana’s.“Let’s try the tavern first,” replied Tilliana, “Maybe we can get some information in there about this Sawtooth.The tavern was dimly lit but not empty.  Small groups of men sat around the front room, drinking and talking.  As they listened they heard several of the men grumbling about the town’s young people heading further south, closer to Geanavue to find work.  “See what you can overhear,” whispered Tilliana to the boys and then she walked over to stand next to some men and listen to them.  They were complaining about the poor weather and the closed mines.  “Are there mines around here?” asked Tilliana breaking into the conversation with a smile.  The men glanced at her, taking in both her armor and sword and her pretty face.One of the men answered her, “There were some mines northwest of town, but the miners said they were played out a couple of years back and since then the town has been slowly dying.”Meanwhile Kall was listening in on another group.“It’s demons and death they worship,” said one man, “They will bring no good to us I tell you.”“But what can we do?” asked another.One of the men, glancing over at Kall and seeing that he was eavesdropping nodded his head in the direction of the boy.  The men looked over and stopped talking.  Instead they stared silently at their beers.“Why did you stop talking?’ demanded Kall.“Who are you?” asked one of the men.  Tilliana, from where she was, seeing the exchange started across the room in case Kall needed support.“I am Kall.”“And that means?”“I am a hero,” said Kall simply.“Are you afraid of something?” asked Tilliana of the men.  They shot her strange and dark looks.“Do you know a Sawtooth?” Tilliana asked them.  The men gave her no answer but stared back at their drinks.  Jozz, from his vantage point, however noticed another group of men move silently but swiftly out of the tavern.  He also noticed the dark, evil glances they shot at Tilliana at the mention of Sawtooth.Not knowing quite what to do he went over and quietly mentioned them to Tilliana.“Follow them if you can,” said Tilliana and went back to where she had been standing at the bar, taking Kall with her.Jozz obediently went out of the tavern to see where the men went.  When he walked out onto the street and stood by his wagon he could not see them.  They had apparently already gone in somewhere.  A flicker in a window of a house across the street drew his attention and he thought he saw someone looking out of one of the second floor windows.  Then the curtain moved and the face disappeared.  He went back in and reported to Tilliana.  Jozz was of the opinion they should break into the house and question the inhabitants.  Tilliana dissuaded him and so instead they went to the inn to find rooms.  The inkeeper was a pleasant man with a cheerful smile.  He informed Tilliana that nobody answering to the names or descriptions of Kinshag, Alairic, and Niccolo had arrived yet.  The cost of the rooms was a glint a person, an extra glint for the horses.  Tilliana paid, the Innkeeper promising her a private room and giving Jozz and Kall a room together.“So what are you doing in our dying town,” he asked them cheerfully as he signed their names into his log book.“We are heroes,” said Jozz enthusiastically.“Heroes are you,” said the innkeeper with a smile, “well you all will be wanting to explore Brightstone Keep then won’t you.  Its northwest of town, just by the old mines, but lately folks say that there is something evil happening out there.  Folks disapearing and not returning and strange things in town.”  He said this with a mixed air of humor and seriousness, as if he was ribbing them about something that was actually bothering him.“Do you know a Sawtooth?” asked Tilliana“Where did you hear that name?” he asked, all humor draining from his face.“So you know of him?”“Funny things happen to people in this town who asks too many questions.  The sheriff is out of town today, but he’s a good man, one you can trust.  Ask him tomorrow when you see him.”He showed them to their rooms and helped them carry up their packs and chests but he would say no more about the mines, the keep or Sawtooth.Jozz went to Tilliana’s room after he had arranged his belongings.“Should we go check out that house?” he asked her, “I think that’s where those men went.”“I think we should get some sleep,” answered Tilliana, ‘Something tells me we may have visitors tonight.”Jozz taking Tilliana’s suspicions to heart retrieved some bells from his pack along with some twine.  Each of the rooms had a patio door-window which opened out onto a small balcony outside the room.  He tied one bell on each of the patio doors and then placed a bell on each of the doors leading from their rooms to the hall.  Then he went to talk to the innkeeper about the doors downstairs being locked.“Don’t worry,” the innkeeper assured him, “I always lock the doors before going to bed.Tilliana, not sure about efficiency of the bells advised the boys they should have one person awake at all times.  Jozz volunteered for the first watch.  Tilliana was tired from her travels and was soon sound asleep.  In the room right next to hers Jozz sat silently in a chair in the corner, listening to his brother snore.  The hours ticked by slowly and though he tried to fight it Jozz also fell asleep.A bell softly ringing woke both Jozz and Kall.  The lock on the door to their balcony was being picked.  The room was mostly dark,  but the moon Pelselond was full and a faint amount of moonlight spilled in through the window.  Silently Jozz drew his dagger, fighting an impulse to scare away the intruders.  Lying in his bed Kall reached over the side and gripped the handle of his ax.  “Let’s surprise them,” whispered Jozz very softly.  Kall said nothing.The lock clicked and a man opened the glass door slowly, trying hard not to ring the bell.  Two men crept into the room, one heading towards Jozz and the other towards Kall.Next door Tilliana was also awakened by the clumsy sound of someone trying to open the lock on her balcony door.  She reached over and gripped the hilt of her sword and waited.  The bell on the door handle rang softly once and the incompetent burglar/assassin tried again.  Silently Tilliana waited.Jozz, as the man stepped softly towards him, lunged suddenly out of his chair and plunged his dagger into the man’s side.  Kall shouted and jumping up swung his ax viciously at the other man.  “I’ll kill you dead,” snarled Jozz and pulling out his dagger he plunged it once more into the man who collapsed to the ground.  Kall snarled and swung again, killing the other.  Two more men rushed into the room, these brandishing long swords and wearing chain shirts that glimmered in the moonlight.  Kall tried to swing at one of them as he charged towards Jozz.  The swing missed but so too did the charge as Jozz’s armor turned the weakly thrust sword.  The other swordsmen swung at Kall who fell backwards under the stroke and then bounced up again using the spring of the bed.  Tilliana could hear the sounds of battle in the room next to her and considered what to do.  She had intended to wait till the man picked the lock to the door and then attack him, but he seemed a very poor lockpick.  Finally the lock clicked and the man, no doubt prompted by the nearby sound of battle rushed through the door and into the room.“About time,” said Tilliana, swinging viciously, her sword cleaving effortlessly into him.  She pulled her bloody sword out of the dead burglar and rushed at the man on her balcony.  A single stroke ended his life.Meanwhile Jozz was holding his own, having wounded his new assailant.  Kall was not doing as well.  He had swung at the attacker Jozz had injured, missed and subsequently was struck by the blade of the other swordsmen.  The cut bled on Kall’s nightshirt.  As Kall tried to parry another attack, Jozz weaved under a sword stroke and plunged his dagger into the throat of his opponent.  Kall found himself losing his temper.  Ignoring the pain of his cut he hewed down at the swordsman.  His ax blade connected but even as it did the other sliced him again.  There was a sound of someone landing softly on the balcony out the window.  The swordsman looked out and saw Tilliana in her nightgown.  Her sword was clutched in one hand, her hair was a mess and she was in her barefeet.  She had apparently jumped from her balcony to the one she was on.  Jozz, taking advantage of the man’s distraction plunged his dagger into the man’s side.      In the light of Pelselond they could see the man smile as he died.    “Death is beautiful,” he said and then was gone.    Tilliana wasted no time.  She rushed into the room and knelt down besides the man.  Pulling her divine focus out from the neck of her she offered up a prayer and placed her hands on his head.    “He’s dead,” said Jozz not understanding.    “Why is death beautiful?” asked Tilliana.    To the surprise of the boys, the newly made corpse spoke.      “In destruction all will be made new,” said a strange hollow voice.    “Where is Sawtooth?” asked Tilliana.    “Brightstone Keep,” came the reply.      The spell ended and Tilliana rose.  “Search the bodies and collect up their weapons and armor,” said Tilliana.The innkeeper was knocking on the door moments later.  Looking at the six dead bodies spread out over two rooms he shook his head.“I knew these men, I thought they were up to no good.  What is it coming to when guests can’t sleep in their own beds at night?  I will send for the sheriff if he is back.”The gathered up the armor and weapons and searched the bodies for valuables or clues.  One thing they notices was that each of the men had been wearing a black headband with a white skull on it.The innkeeper soon returned with a tall, middle aged man in armor.  He introduced himself as the sheriff and taking stock of the situation he soon acquitted the three companions of any wrongdoing.  “It seems certain,” he said, “that they were trying to break in here, likely to kill you.  There’s dark secrets forming in this town.”“Sheriff,” said Tilliana, “you seem an honest man and so I will show you something.  It is a letter uncovered by the watch in Geanavue.  I was asked to look into it up here.”Tilliana retrieved the letter addressed to Nelo and asked about Sawtooth.“I don’t know names,” said the sheriff as he read the letter, “but someone is living in the old keep near the mines.  I have been too fearful to investigate it on my own but I know this, every Godday a wagon rolls into town from that keep, driven by cloaked men who unload it in an empty warehouse on the south part of the town.  Tomorrow is Godday and I expect the wagon will be on schedule.”“We will head out tomorrow and see who is in the keep,” said Tilliana.“And we will kill Sawtooth,” declared Kall to the sheriff.“They are ambitious,” said Tilliana with a smile.Later when the sheriff was gone and the bodies had been carted off Jozz admitted to Tilliana, “When someone landed on the balcony outside I was scared.  I thought it would be more men, I am glad it was you.”The next morning Tilliana, having determined that she had over two weeks till the next full moon, locked her wagon and the boy’s wagon in the Inn stable and saddling the horses they rode out towards the keep.  The boys were riding bare-backed, having not purchased saddles, but Tilliana had dressed Prancer in both barding and a war-saddle.  The morning was bright and the day was warm.  This made the journey through the rolling country pleasant.  There was an easy trail to follow to the keep and it was possible to make out the wagon wheel marks along the way indicating the trail had seen quite a bit of recent usage.About an hour out of town Jozz spotted a wagon heading towards them.  They stopped and observed it coming their way.  There were two heavily cloaked figures driving the wagon and trotting alongside the wagon was a huge green skinned creature.  It must have stood about nine feet tall and it loped with an easy but ungraceful stride, easily keeping up with the trotting horses.  It carried no weapons and wore no armor but it looked dangerous“I wonder if that is Sawtooth,” said Tilliana as she watched the tall monster bounding closer towards them.“I think it more likely it is a demon,” said Jozz.Tilliana began to pray.  She prayed for strength and protection and she prayed that her lance might strike true.  In the meantime both Jozz and Kall had decided to light candles.  That done they each pulled out a flask of oil and prepared them as fire-bombs.  As Tilliana finished her prayers, the creatures pulled close.  The cloaked figures they saw were not humans, they were orc warriors.  The orcs dismounted from their wagon and drew out great-axes.  The tall monster by them roared and charged, covering the distance between the two parties quickly.  Jozz and Kall however were ready and as the creature charged they lit their make-shift bombs and through them.  Jozz missed but Kall’s was on target and striking the tall, warty monster, the oil burst into flames as the vial burst.  The creature roared in anger and adjusted his charge towards Kall.  As the flames licked the green skin the monster reached with a deadly claw and tore into Kall.  Tilliana pulled her horse around and charged at the creature, her lance sinking deep into its gnarled and wrinkled hide.  Meanwhile the orcs moved into charging range and readied their axes.Kall swung his axe at the green giant before him but his swing was off .  The creature bit at him and then turning towards Tilliana, it tried to knock her off her horse.  One of it’s deadly claws swept around her shield and scratched her.  Jozz meanwhile, pulling out his crossbow, took careful aim and fired at one of the orcs.  The bolt sank in and it collapsed to the ground unmoving.  “Yeah!” said JozzThe other orc roared with anger and charged at Jozz, its great ax grazing him.  Jozz dropped his crossbow and drew his dagger.Tilliana locked her knees around Prancer and released her lance and shield.  Drawing her sword and making sure of her balance, she hewed into the giant beside her.  The blow was deep, but even as Tilliana Wrenched the blade back out, she noticed the deep lance wound starting to close.  She also noticed the burn marks on the creature were not healing.Kall, filled with a battle rage and intent on doing as much damage as possible swung again at the green monster.  He swung his ax with all his might and this time it sank deep into the monster’s back.  The giant and Tilliana again exchanged blow for blow as Kall wrenched his as out and swung again.  The monster was more prepared this time and dodged Kall’s swing.    Jozz dodged one blow from the orc and then another and then seeing an opening he feinted and catching the orc unawares he plunged his dagger into its chest.  The orc fell to the ground dead and the young adventurer turned his attention to the battle with the green giant just in time to see Tilliana fall from her horse.  The giant roared in delight, but its celebration was cut short as Kall’s axe once more buried itself in the creature’s back.  The green giant collapsed unmoving to the ground.  But its wounds were still healing and mere seconds after it had collapsed it was struggling to rise again.“Stamp!” Tilliana ordered as she rose to her feet and Prancer, obeying the commanded lifted its legs and brought them crushing down on the green hide.  Tilliana rushed forward and hacked it with her sword.  Once more it collapsed to the ground, but still the wounds were healing.“We need fire!” Tilliana yelled at Jozz, “It’s a troll I think, we must burn it!”Aiming carefully she hewed the head off the monstrosity.  But even that did not stop the wounds from healing.  Kall hacked the arm off.Tilliana watched in fascination.  The arm started to grow a new body even as the body started to grow a new arm.  “Burn it,” Tilliana ordered the boys and then remembering she had some alchemist fire in her saddle bags she rushed to get it.The boys dowsed the body in oil and she threw a flask of the strange flammeable liquid called alchemist fire on it.  As soon as the vial broke open the whole body burst into flames as the oils lit up with a whoosh.“Get wood,” said Tilliana.After the troll’s body had been burnt to a crisp they examined the wagon.  Their stomachs turned as they saw babies floating in strange bottles, human tongues packed in straw and other even more ghastly items.  “We burn it all,” said Tilliana and after throwing the orc bodies on the wagon and the remains of the troll body on as well they lit the whole thing.Tilliana knelt and prayed, offering it as a sacrifice to her god, a token of a battle won.</blockquote>

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