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A bead of sweat trickles down Garduk’s face. Could I possibly hate this heat any more than I do? Whatever made me think I would want to live someplace that is warm all the time? Why does everything here have to smell of sweat or excrement or rot? Is that the jungle or just this gods-forsaken village?
Could it be that the fighters and warriors have the right idea? Why, if I can bend arcane forces to serve my will, call creatures from both heaven and hell, do I find myself crammed into a tiny, smelly room in the back of a gladiatorial arena readying myself to knock someone - a fellow student of the arcane arts, no less, and one as far from tradition as I am myself! - on the head with an unadorned hunk of wood? Is this how these adventures always end? And in the name of the Eye, can I just bash in her skull and be done with it?
Another line of sweat makes its way down Garduk's face. He lets it be.
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Oret moves from behind and slowly walks towards Lura, drawing his Morningstar as he does. He speaks slowly and in a calm manner.
"That is disappointing to hear. I, for one, am a man of peace, but shall seek justice when justice needs to be. You offered that man a cure for his poor boy, and you shall fulfil it. Fully cure the boy or you shall meet the swift justice of Adabar at my hands."
By the end of his speech, Lura finds herself face to face with the pointed end of the Morningstar as he reaches out his arms as if using the Morningstar to point to his face.
"Do we understand each other?"
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Garduk nods, but doesn't loosen the gag. "Let's get the cure and get it back to Senzer." He pauses for a moment, then turns bag to Lura. "Do you understand that the alchemist and his family are friends of ours? And that we would take it very badly if anything unpleasant - or even slightly inconvenient - should happen to them? And that while you may not see us, we will be watching?"
He turns his back on her without waiting for a response. "Now I'm ready."
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Kulga gets healed up, while providing Lura some life advice. Garduk adds to the threat, before searching Lura and finding a potion of cure light wounds on her; and also a chain shirt and masterwork morningstar.
Heading back into the common room all eyes are on you, but the crowd is largely silent. Everyone looks on as you move from the backroom to behind the bar. An eerie silence covers the once ruckus location. The bartender asks in a hushed tone. Is she dead or just tied up back there?
You find the cabinet and are able to discern the potion you need from other expensive liquors and high-end narcotics stored there.
Stonegrin urges you to move on quickly.
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Garduk draws himself up to his full height. "I wonder, which answer are you more afraid of? She lives, though I should wait some time before releasing her, were I in your shoes and inclined to do so. Lura seemed quite angry when we left her, and might decide to vent that anger on those who allowed us to defeat her. Does she own this --" he waves a hand to encompass the bar, fighting pit, and back rooms "-- place? Or is that someone else here? One of my colleagues," Garduk gestures to Kamda, "had a question about the combatants."
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In response to Stonegrin's comment, Garduk catches the bartender's eye, holds a hand out and tips it from side to side, as if to say that the the dwarf's assurances might not be completely accurate as to the entire party.
On the walk back to Widow's Walk and the alchemist's shop, Garduk keeps looking behind them and to the sides, glaring at anyone who seems too interested. Unfortunately, a group of three dwarves, an oread, a tengu, and a half-orc will garner some looks even in the most sophisticated metropolis.
Bloodcove is not the most sophisticated metropolis, but its residents have learned that safety depends on keeping their heads down and minding their own business.
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Garduk does his best to keep out of sight as you return to Rulkep Tonics, he doesn't feel you are being followed.
Senzer is pleased to see you and even more pleased when he sees the potion. He administers it to his son and the boy's fever instantly breaks, and his color begins to return. While it may take him some time to fully recover, the disease has been cured.
Am I safe to stay in the city, what happened over at The Sanguine Pit? Senzer asks.
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After we tell him what happened at the Sanguine Pit, Garduk says,
"You will need to make your own decision, of course. Lura is still alive, but the people at the Pit did not seem inclined to assist her. You know this town better than we do - is it possible that as word gets around about how thoroughly we defeated her, she looses whatever influence she had? But if you decide that the safest course for your family is to leave Bloodcove, have you considered working with the Society in a more direct role? I have not been an agent long, but I think you would fit in well. I would be happy to discuss this with you further over a beer."
Garduk hesitates a moment, but thinks, In for a copper, in for a gold. "I could bring my spellbook, if you are interested in looking through it for anything that would assist you in refining your own formulae."
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If you decide to stay in this.. place, don't tell the people we are your friends. Make them understand that you would find help like us against any who trouble you. If you want to leave, so be it. The Society will miss your service here, Mr. Senzer. We will guard you if you depart with us, but decide soon. Duty pulls us onward.
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Oh, I see, I had hoped for a more permanent solution. But I understand and appreciate that the people I work with don't simply murder folks. Senzer pauses then adds.
In truth I'm overjoyed, I can face what will come now that I know my boy will live. I'll resume my regular business and making potions for the society as well. He smiles.
I hope your right about Lura. I'm going to stay for now, my boy is still too weak to travel. When you get back to your Grand Lodge, let the powers that be know, I'll be ready for that move away from Bloodcove, sooner than later, and that I said please.
He pulls Garduk aside for a few moments,
Yes, I like what you are saying, when I make it to Absalom, I'll look into the Dark Archive and take you up on that beer.
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Garduk grunts in surprise at the unexpected success. "That's ... that's excellent news! I am confident you and the Archive will both find an association beneficial. And I look forward to that beer." Garduk shakes the alchemist's hand enthusiastically.
Returning to the group, Garduk says, "Perhaps it's time to return to the Wandering Way, to check on Raimondo and his horses?" He stifles a yawn. "And maybe to get some rest. I'm exhausted, and with any luck, we have a long ride ahead of us tomorrow."
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Maybe Bloodcove is rubbing off on me, but this doesn't smell right. Was he colluding with Elanzo? Did we get cheated by them both?
"Good to see you up and about, Raimondo. You were indisposed when we left you."
I guess he just recovered quickly. He seems perfectly legitimate to me!
"I believe our supplies will be ready early in the morning."
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Garduk stares at the bowl before him, filled with a milky broth, pieces of turnip and potato, and a few lumps of what the barmaid called "the catch of the day."
She didn't say which day, did she?
He manages to eat most of it, then staggers up to his room, sits on the straw filled bedding to pull off his boots. He falls asleep with one boot still in his hand.
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Garduk wakes in confusion, and lies still on the rough bedding until he remembers where he is and why.
Bloodcove. Gods, please let us not be delayed leaving this pit of a town.
The windowless room is completely dark, and the unmoving air is so laden with moisture that his sweat does not evaporate. His orcish heritage allows him to see in shades of gray, but he prefers to read at least by candlelight, so he puts on his boots, hoists his pack - already showing signs of wear after less than a full day in service - and makes his way down to the common room.
The early glow of pre-dawn light filters through the shutters over the small windows, with a few guttering candles on the tables providing the only other light. Garduk spots Oret sitting at one table alone, apparently in silent prayer.* Noises from the back suggest that the kitchen staff have arrived and are preparing another day's worth of "the catch of the day."
The half-orc picks a table near Oret but not so close as to interrupt the cleric. He pulls a blood-stained book out of his pack, and lays it open on the table in front of him. Several of the first pages have been torn out, and many of the rest are charred at the edges, as though the boom had been put into a fire and quickly retrieved. Of the remaining pages, less than half have been filled, but those have writing on both sides - anyone looking through the book would see that the spell written in a crabbed, painstaking script on the front of each page has been duplicated on the reverse in a crude, blocky print. The copying is perfectly accurate, except that in several places a portion of the spell has been crossed out, and margin notes in the same thick writing point out improvements - ways to simplify the casting or strengthen the effect. There are no such notes on the originals.
Garduk begins to read the backs of each leaf, ignoring the front pages altogether. After 15 minutes or so, he pauses to cast Prestidigitation several times to clean himself up, then returns to his studies.
Not as good as a bath, but it should keep me from being so offensive that the rest of the group leaves me behind.
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Kulga's morning ritual is fairly simple; she splashes some water anwhere that smells particularly ripe, gives her axe and armor some oil and attention, and then spends most of her time laboriously cleaning whatever stains her threadbare outfit has picked up as gently as she can. She does this all in as much solitude as she can find before descending for a hunk of breakfast.
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The night is quiet and you wake the morning to your various morning routines. You meet up and set out with Raimondo. At House Carteghen you collect your supplies, load up, and thankfully leave Bloodcove. Making your way north out of the Vanji River basin and into the Terwa Uplands.
If anything, the blistering heat of the Garund plains grows more intense away from the coast. The trade routes cut through winding switchbacks, avoiding the marshiest ground and occasionally crossing a shallow river gorge.
As the caravan crests a hill on the edge of a large river gorge, sudden activity silences the ambient jungle noise. Armed guards pile out of the foliage. An ebon-skinned woman strides out alongside them, brushing back her tresses and grinning from ear to ear.
Let’s not mince words, Pathfinders. Give me the key you carry, and I shall let you continue on your way. Refuse, and my men will toss you in the river and you can swim to your destination.
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Kulga turns to talk to the party, I told you it was a death sentence for Ms. Ichon to confront us and lose. Well, there was no reasoning with that woman. She turns back to the leader, Are you a reasonable woman? No one's watching, you can still walk away, Kulga grins, but I hope you won't.