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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Haraash Saan" data-source="post: 3495613" data-attributes="member: 46615">Chapter 6 -  Horrid little RodentsI woke from my unconsciousness to find myself laying atop my bed in the Witches Brew. My left arm ached, but that was not my main concern. I was still dressed, and filthy!My companions were not there, although Kuruul lay asleep in a corner, so I called a serving boy to organise a bath. In the time it took to arrive I managed to brush off most of the dirt from my clothing and retrieve a fresh clean set from my pack. The bath was terrible. Frightfully cold and with none of the oils to which I am accustomed, however, it did allow me to wash myself thoroughly. Dressed in my spare set of clean travelling clothes I felt much better, even my arm was less painful. I headed to the common room to get some much needed nourishment. I was famished.It was there, well after the sun had passed noon and during my third glass of wine for the day, that my comrades eventually found me. Each had been off on various personal businesses. Once all had returned we retired to our room to discuss the events of the previous day.I was surprised to hear that the fight had continued after I bravely fell. I had been sure that my strike was deep and would have caused Grisha to fall,  however, it was not the lethal blow I had assumed. The rather tall dwarf managed to down Kuruul and a defenceless Argonne. The shaft of his huge axe had split apart from a wayward blow. In the end it was Mortec who killed Grisha, apparently by draining his life from him. Morgan, who had not been shy with his archery during the combat told me that Mortec’s hands blazed with white light the moment they touched the dwarf’s calf (a Gnome does not have a great reach) and that Grisha rapidly emaciated until he became a withered husk! Normally I would have laughed off Morgan’s words as a tall tale, but I did not take him for a liar and had seen too many strange things since journeying from Halfast.When I questioned Mortec about the incident he simply responded with “It was the will of Todesmagie.” and left it at that. Todesmagie seemed to be a curiously vicious god considering that knowledge was his province. Unless of course he could somehow learn from the soul that his power had claimed.After bandaging the fallen the others searched the cottage on the bluff and discovered several things, most importantly a note that read;“Grisha,The last dispatch you sent was detailed. I trust that they were accurate and complete. The Arcanists are more advanced and numerous than we supposed. Keep them squabbling!Our master is missing one of his children.”The next sentence began with an indecipherable name.“was supposed to be our agent of destabilization in Halfast. He has not been heard from, nor does his Gem respond.Find him. He has local knowledge. Memorise the sketch then burn it.If you require further resources feel free to find them yourself. Kill someone. I care not.Do not fail or you will be my next cat skin hat!Hurak”The note gave us the one thing we sought, another lead, and Mortec had already followed up on it. He visited his friends in the Tower of Navrod and they informed him that Hurak was a general for Strav and Kuruul’s nemesis, Rorlock the Transmuter. After all of our efforts with pirates, oversized dwarfs, Tritons and even bureaucratic port officials we finally had an insight into the those responsible on the attack on Yorathton; the Dominion. Armed with that information Mortec clasped the gem around his neck and communed with Baron Yorath. I heard his reply.It was only a brief conversation, the end result of which was that we were commanded to return to Yorathton.In short time we had settled our debt at the Witches Brew and set sail in the Swift.After many hours at sea, fighting a swirling and unpredictable wind, we found ourselves once more pulling oars through a calm ocean. We knew not where we were as the winds had turned us about several times before dissipating entirely. The general consensus was that we were lost. Argonne denied it, and whilst his facial covering could mask any look of worry or concern, his voice betrayed him.“We’re fine. No problems at all. Just waiting for the wind to pick up before we head, er, that way.” Argonne said waving a finger nervously in an arbitrary direction. Excellent to have at your side in a sortie, but I maintain he has no real comprehension of boats nor the art of sailing them. You may recall that we had a dolphin, Maron Devlis’s animal friend, Elwing, to accompany us and act as our guide. He left us shortly after we embarked on our return voyage, another animal demonstrating way too much knowledge of the human tongue, after a drug addled taunting by Moxadder.“Come ‘ere little fishy.” Moxadder had commanded. “I wonder if ya’re a tasty little fishy. I could eat ya all up. I’m starving.”With an angry flip of its tail the dolphin had disappeared from sight, apparently unhappy at the lack of respect it thought it deserved. I still do not understand. It is a bloody fish! Undoubtedly an oversized and impressive one but a fish nonetheless. How it could come close to understanding our idiotic companion is beyond me.The crew, everyone bar Argonne, was getting restless. The tightly knit unit we had become was fraying rapidly. Abuse was hurled by all at all, although Argonne seemed to be on the receiving end of most of it.Frustrated and annoyed at the ceaseless bickering and whining I withdrew from my comrades and pulled out one of two books Mortec had found in Grisha’s cabin and began to scan through it.It was the dwarf’s book of magic. Within the leather-bound tome were instructions and recipes for such things as; The Pounce of a Lion, Ariso’s Spell of Many Faces and The Vanishing Word. They were written or described as incantations of some sort and sounded most intriguing. Whilst my companions continued to cast blame I became more enthralled with Grisha’s spells. I followed the instructions for Morice’s Majestic Muscles, gesturing with fingers and sounding out unfamiliar words yet I found that my muscles remained as elusive as ever. Somewhat deflated I stashed the book away.The second book proved to be much more interesting.</blockquote>

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