Godsday, 11th of Harvester
“I’m taking Nanny home.”
The others looked up from the table they were sitting around. Kizzlorn was standing before them with her pack over one shoulder. Orthos put down his mug of morning brew (a milder
kind of Dyversian ale) and looked at her with a concerned eye. “Why, Kizz? What’s wrong?”
“I don’t like how he’s not holding up anymore. Our adventures are getting deadlier, and he’s less and less able to take care of himself. He doesn’t progress in skill as we do, with time, and I fear he almost was lost to the rust pit in that temple. I don’t want to risk disassembling him.” In their beginning days, Nanny’s might and hardy metal frame had gotten them out of many a jam. Creatures like werewolves and orcs held no dangers for them while Nanny was around… but as adventuring parties ascend the ladder of success and fame, the trials and enemies become more testing. Nanny was very slowly becoming obsolete.
“It’s probably a good idea,” Vek said coldly. “He’s incredibly loud when he walks. We’d be better off without all the noise.”
Lem asked “Why not wait, and we can all go back together?”
Kizz shook her head. “I’ll be away for a few weeks. We don’t have any leads on where to take the quest. I want you guys to keep probing for an answer, and I’ll catch up after I’ve dropped him off at the Keep.”
They bade her farewell, and she walked out the door with Nanny tromping behind her. She’d only told a half-truth. Part of the reason she was leaving for a while was to clear her head. What with Vek’s lichdom, Dartan’s hard sense of justice, and Jamison’s reckless inability to refrain from touching anything that might kill them, she had a lot of thinking to do. Lately, she’d been asking herself questions. Why am I traveling with these people? I could take Orthos and Lem to join another, better group, couldn’t I?
These were hard questions, but Kizz couldn’t deny that the three morally questionable adventurers were great assets. She would need to weigh everything over her time away, and find the best answer.
She and her shield guardian set off through the woods to the north.
Earthday, 13th of Harvester
The shadows settled around the village and the last yellow light of the sun glinted off the sea. Up on a hill overlooking the town, two people were speaking in hushed voices, though no one was around to hear them.
The man gave a quick count to the gold pieces in the chest he was given. They looked to easily number one thousand. He closed it with a satisfied smile and said “You want him dead?”
“Yes. Dead, beyond any shadow of doubt. At that point I’ll give you three more chests just like that.”
“What about the rest of the group? Won’t they try to protect him?”
“Probably. That’s why I’m paying you so much. It’s risky. If you’re clever enough, try to make it a quick in-out job, and not a straight-out fight.”
The man placed the chest in his carriage. “I’ll try. Assasination isn’t really my business, you know?”
“Make it your business. Remember, if you’re caught, you never met me.”
“What if they torture me to get the answer?”
“Well, with this crowd, it’s not unlikely. However, should you begin to talk, I’ll see that a fail-safe ensures that you won’t reveal me.”
The man’s face went blank. “How?”
“I’ll kill you myself.”
