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Shackled City Epic: "Vengeance" (story concluded)
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<blockquote data-quote="Lazybones" data-source="post: 1811859" data-attributes="member: 143"><p>Chapter 245</p><p></p><p>The sky was an ochre tapestry quickly darkening toward black when Zenna spotted the familiar gables of “The Drunken Morkoth” come into view around the bend in the avenue ahead. There were still a good number of people in the street, but the activity was muted, the citizens of the town exuding that generalized sense of anxiety and evasion that Zenna had felt like a palpable wave since she’d returned to the city. </p><p></p><p>“Patrol,” Dannel said quietly, beside her. </p><p></p><p>Zenna saw them coming, and also noted the way that the commoners moved quickly to get out of the way of the heavily armed band of the Watch as it made its way down the avenue. Zenna felt a momentary flashback of memory at the sight of the armored half-orc mercenaries that made up the bulk of the patrol; they were a bit too reminiscent of the orcs they had battled in the northern Alamirs for comfort. At least this wasn’t one of the “special” patrols; she remembered vividly how Arun had nearly had a fit when they’d seen an ogre serving in the Watch. </p><p></p><p>Yes, things had changed in Cauldron. </p><p></p><p>But as they reached the Morkoth, and entered the expansive common room through the wide double doors, some of the oppressiveness they’d felt out in the street slipped away. To be sure, the crowd was somewhat more muted than it had once been, but here was warmth, and conversation, and even the music of a fiddler in a back corner that was all but drowned out by the general din of the place. There were maybe fifty people here now, but as Zenna scanned the room, she didn’t see Mole or the dwarves.</p><p></p><p>“They’re probably in the back room,” Dannel said, leading her past the bar toward the low archway that opened onto the quieter chamber in the back of the inn. </p><p></p><p>Zenna and Mole had once let a room in the loft above the adjacent secondary building behind the Morkoth, but the owner had understandably rented it out to someone else in the months of their absence. The adventurers had since found rooms elsewhere in the city. It hadn’t been hard; a good number of people were leaving Cauldron, and with the obvious tension here Zenna expected to see more of an exodus with the end of summer. </p><p></p><p>The situation with Alek and Maavu had blown over, but the overall level of stress was still high in the city. While some of the tax increases that had spawned the riots had been eased, they’d been replaced by a series of smaller levies that had been implemented gradually. All of it was supposedly to support “security”, in the form of the mercenaries that had largely taken over the duties of the existing Watch. There was a big camp of them outside the city, Zenna had learned, and from what she’d heard it seemed to get a little bigger with each passing tenday. </p><p></p><p>Jenya had briefed them on the situation in the city, their first day back. Things had been mostly quiet in Cauldron, although there was a fair amount of grumbling, and occasional outbreaks of violence that were put down ruthlessly by the new Watch. At least monsters had stopped appearing in the city, although rumors continued to weave tales of terrible creatures that moved around in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. </p><p></p><p>It had been three days now, and they were starting to get a feel for the city again. Or rather, Mole and Dannel were; they reported to the others what they found when they gathered for supper each night at the Morkoth. Arun and Hodge spent much of their time at a dwarven tavern on Obsidian Avenue, although Mole had told Zenna that she’d heard that the dwarves were also helping out at the Lantern Street Orphanage, and doing some other small jobs of building repair in some of the poorer neighborhoods of the city. Zenna managed to establish a relationship with Vortimax Weer, an arcanist who ran Weer’s Elixirs, a small potion shop on Ash Avenue. In exchange for a few spells, and one of the scrolls she’d found in Vaprak’s Voice, the mage had agreed to lend her the use of his laboratory, to pursue some of the projects she’d been tossing around in her head of late. She’d already managed one successful creation, a vial filled with a silvery gel that could temporarily infuse a weapon with the properties of alchemical silver. The stuff would be very useful if they encountered another monstrosity like Tongueater, the were-baboon who’d taken over the Lucky Monkey soon after their arrival in Cauldron. She’d given the <em>silversheen</em> to Dannel, and was toying with a few ideas for some elixirs that could help Mole. Assuming she had the time to work on them; for some reason she’d felt a sense of anticipation building since she’d gotten up this morning, as if something important was coming, something that she couldn’t quite yet identify. </p><p></p><p>She frowned, and thought back to the words of the <em>divination</em> that she and Jenya had performed together yesterday evening. The two of them had combined their powers in an attempt to pierce the veil that Zenna was convinced concealed something that linked all of the recent events together... the abductions and the beholder, the attack on the Lucky Monkey, the cult of Triel Eldurast, the umber hulk rampage, and the troubles with Alek Tercival and the Chisel. Nidrama had spoken of great forces of evil and chaos, and Alek had warned them not to return to Cauldron, before his death. It was all part of a puzzle, and it confounded Zenna that she could not solve it. </p><p></p><p>Their <em>divination</em> had revealed the following verse, in response to Zenna’s question, “Who or what is behind the troubles facing Cauldron?”</p><p></p><p><em>Cages above and bones below</em></p><p><em>Death the door and magic the key</em></p><p><em>Knives but dust and souls the prize</em></p><p></p><p>“Ah, there they are,” Dannel said, drawing her out of her thoughts, gesturing toward a booth in one of the curtained alcoves that lined the back room of the inn. </p><p></p><p>But even as Zenna turned in that direction, someone bumped into her, and as she turned to apologize she found herself looking at Annah Taskerhill.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Lazybones, post: 1811859, member: 143"] Chapter 245 The sky was an ochre tapestry quickly darkening toward black when Zenna spotted the familiar gables of “The Drunken Morkoth” come into view around the bend in the avenue ahead. There were still a good number of people in the street, but the activity was muted, the citizens of the town exuding that generalized sense of anxiety and evasion that Zenna had felt like a palpable wave since she’d returned to the city. “Patrol,” Dannel said quietly, beside her. Zenna saw them coming, and also noted the way that the commoners moved quickly to get out of the way of the heavily armed band of the Watch as it made its way down the avenue. Zenna felt a momentary flashback of memory at the sight of the armored half-orc mercenaries that made up the bulk of the patrol; they were a bit too reminiscent of the orcs they had battled in the northern Alamirs for comfort. At least this wasn’t one of the “special” patrols; she remembered vividly how Arun had nearly had a fit when they’d seen an ogre serving in the Watch. Yes, things had changed in Cauldron. But as they reached the Morkoth, and entered the expansive common room through the wide double doors, some of the oppressiveness they’d felt out in the street slipped away. To be sure, the crowd was somewhat more muted than it had once been, but here was warmth, and conversation, and even the music of a fiddler in a back corner that was all but drowned out by the general din of the place. There were maybe fifty people here now, but as Zenna scanned the room, she didn’t see Mole or the dwarves. “They’re probably in the back room,” Dannel said, leading her past the bar toward the low archway that opened onto the quieter chamber in the back of the inn. Zenna and Mole had once let a room in the loft above the adjacent secondary building behind the Morkoth, but the owner had understandably rented it out to someone else in the months of their absence. The adventurers had since found rooms elsewhere in the city. It hadn’t been hard; a good number of people were leaving Cauldron, and with the obvious tension here Zenna expected to see more of an exodus with the end of summer. The situation with Alek and Maavu had blown over, but the overall level of stress was still high in the city. While some of the tax increases that had spawned the riots had been eased, they’d been replaced by a series of smaller levies that had been implemented gradually. All of it was supposedly to support “security”, in the form of the mercenaries that had largely taken over the duties of the existing Watch. There was a big camp of them outside the city, Zenna had learned, and from what she’d heard it seemed to get a little bigger with each passing tenday. Jenya had briefed them on the situation in the city, their first day back. Things had been mostly quiet in Cauldron, although there was a fair amount of grumbling, and occasional outbreaks of violence that were put down ruthlessly by the new Watch. At least monsters had stopped appearing in the city, although rumors continued to weave tales of terrible creatures that moved around in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike. It had been three days now, and they were starting to get a feel for the city again. Or rather, Mole and Dannel were; they reported to the others what they found when they gathered for supper each night at the Morkoth. Arun and Hodge spent much of their time at a dwarven tavern on Obsidian Avenue, although Mole had told Zenna that she’d heard that the dwarves were also helping out at the Lantern Street Orphanage, and doing some other small jobs of building repair in some of the poorer neighborhoods of the city. Zenna managed to establish a relationship with Vortimax Weer, an arcanist who ran Weer’s Elixirs, a small potion shop on Ash Avenue. In exchange for a few spells, and one of the scrolls she’d found in Vaprak’s Voice, the mage had agreed to lend her the use of his laboratory, to pursue some of the projects she’d been tossing around in her head of late. She’d already managed one successful creation, a vial filled with a silvery gel that could temporarily infuse a weapon with the properties of alchemical silver. The stuff would be very useful if they encountered another monstrosity like Tongueater, the were-baboon who’d taken over the Lucky Monkey soon after their arrival in Cauldron. She’d given the [I]silversheen[/I] to Dannel, and was toying with a few ideas for some elixirs that could help Mole. Assuming she had the time to work on them; for some reason she’d felt a sense of anticipation building since she’d gotten up this morning, as if something important was coming, something that she couldn’t quite yet identify. She frowned, and thought back to the words of the [I]divination[/I] that she and Jenya had performed together yesterday evening. The two of them had combined their powers in an attempt to pierce the veil that Zenna was convinced concealed something that linked all of the recent events together... the abductions and the beholder, the attack on the Lucky Monkey, the cult of Triel Eldurast, the umber hulk rampage, and the troubles with Alek Tercival and the Chisel. Nidrama had spoken of great forces of evil and chaos, and Alek had warned them not to return to Cauldron, before his death. It was all part of a puzzle, and it confounded Zenna that she could not solve it. Their [I]divination[/I] had revealed the following verse, in response to Zenna’s question, “Who or what is behind the troubles facing Cauldron?” [I]Cages above and bones below Death the door and magic the key Knives but dust and souls the prize[/I] “Ah, there they are,” Dannel said, drawing her out of her thoughts, gesturing toward a booth in one of the curtained alcoves that lined the back room of the inn. But even as Zenna turned in that direction, someone bumped into her, and as she turned to apologize she found herself looking at Annah Taskerhill. [/QUOTE]
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