Tanith tightens his hold.
Eben can't sprint out the door fast enough, once given 'permission' to open it. Once safely away from the possibility of being turned into a hamster, he slows his pace a bit and admires his new bracers while headed back towards the inn.
Tanith ultimately triumphs in the match. The guard disentangles himself, rubbing his neck. "Good Pelor, man...you oughta be in the Champion's Games with moves like that."
Admiring his fighting spirit, Tanith embraces the young guard tightly, squeezing him as a symbol of friendship and camaraderie.
"That's the plan, Kord willing. I plan to sign up for the games soon - there's just a few things I have to help my friends with first. Keep training and may the Brawler spot you."
Astraden stands behind the table and begins praying. She finishes as the sun, creeping towards its zenith, comes over the roof of the Crooked House. Suddenly, the table is covered by loaves of thick-crusted bread, a large pot of stew, and several baskets of cherries. Underneath the table is now a great vat of clear water.
The priestess waves to some passers-by. "Hey! Free food here!" She pulls out her dagger and cuts one of the loaves in two, scoops out the inside, and pours some stew in, then makes a show of eating. "It's not delicious, but it's free. And safe!"
People eye Astraden a little oddly. A few children stop by and take some cherries. A pair of young joggers pause to each grab a slice of bread, thanking the priestess.
A chinless, toothless hag slowly approaches. She takes some bread, dips it in the stew several times, and starts sucking on it. She stares at Astraden through cataract-encrusted eyes.
"Yo." Astraden stares back.
Astraden sips her ale. "I think we should go look in the southern hills. Maybe we can clean out wherever those giant worms are coming from. Or yeah, maybe Nogweir was right, and there's something big coming up." She leans back in her chair. "Either way, there's probably some treasure stashed away somewhere down there."
"I wonder if Kullen's gotten back yet. Whose side do you think he'd take?"
"In the fight against the worm things? I think he'd take whatever side benefited him the most. He might be a dick, but he didn't seem evil for evil's sake to me." Cuetzpalli takes a few sips from his own drink (a fruity cocktail usually served to the ladies) before responding, "With the amount of times you have saved Spiny and my lives since we met, I'm basically willing to follow you anywhere at this point. Money sounds good too," Cutezpalli jokes.
While Tanith busies himself with wrestling another of Kord's faithful, Carina approaches Yenaver.
"Hello again, Yenaver." She gives him a bow and hands him the money. "I'd like to contact Alessia Viera."
Yenaver sits down. "Isn't that the priestess of Fharlanghn? We've seen her around. Give me the message."
Once Carina's given it to him, he begins quietly singing a nonsense psalm under his breath. The psalm takes ten minutes to complete, and as it builds in volume, his eyes and mouth begin to emit a bright fiery light.
The old woman pauses to hack and cough on the bread, spitting up copious flem. She scowls, wiping some of it off, and moves to dip it in the stew again.
"From Carina Viera: Hi mom! Left Diamond Lake, hanging out in Greyhawk. Wanted to see how you're doing. Please call back soon. I miss you."
Yenaver seems to listen a moment after delivering the message. He turns to Carina. "Message from your mother: Doing well! Found no undead yet. Frustrating, but maybe for the best. Met some lizardfolk, but they don't like humans. Miss you too. Love you!"
Carina practically jumps for joy once she receives Alessia's message. "Oh, thank Fharlanghn she's okay..." She pulls Yenaver into a hug. "And thank you very much for this."
Astraden's hand shoots out and grips the old woman's wrist. "Just get a new trencher, friend." She demonstrates pouring several ladlefuls of stew into a hollowed-out crust. "See? Now you don't gotta keep dipping."
The old woman shoots Astraden an angry glare. "I know how to chalgak'ste eat my food, a%~&@@@!"
But she follows the priestess's advice, taking the makeshift ladle from her. She sits down, slurping messily.
When the crust is empty, she looks at Astraden. "I used to be rich as f*$+, you little brat. Then my damn ariokl brother screwed us all over. You think I'm a damn joke, don't you?
Carina practically jumps for joy once she receives Alessia's message. "Oh, thank Fharlanghn she's okay..." She pulls Yenaver into a hug. "And thank you very much for this."
Yenaver reaches up in the hug and pats Carina on the shoulder, beaming. "I just do my job. Literally. I am paid for it, eh?"
"Everyone's life has something funny about it, I think. But there's nothing inherently funny about you." She gnaws on a cherry. "Who's your brother?"
"Just some lazy bastard who made a bad investment." The woman fills a new slice. "Family's dead. It's just me now. He sees me as just another senile old windbag, but I see right through that heretical ariokl. Lunatic's b!+&*$%@ting us, am I right?"
"Uh . . . probably."
The rest of the day passes uneventfully.
Very early the next morning—a bit before Tanith and Cuetzpalli begin their morning exercises—Farrukh is jolted awake by a voice in his head. It sounds like Valkus Dun.
"Izenfen left Monastery to speak with me. Meet me at Lambere. Bring your weapons and bug repellant. Apologies for short notice. Will explain soon. Allustan."
Foremost among the monks is Izenfen the Occluded, a peerless masked combatant thought to be one of the wisest figures in the hills. Travelers frequently seek her council, but most leave Diamond Lake without ever having gained access to the Twilight Monastery, for Izenfen deigns to speak with only a handful of pilgrims foretold to her via the agency of the night sky and an immense mirrored lens called the Censer of Symmetry.
"So I got a message from someone last night. Sounded like Valkus, though I think it was Allustan's message." he swallows loudly.
"These eggs are good. Anyway, he says to meet him at Lambere, apparently Izenfen actually left the Monastery to come talk to him, so it must be important. Think it has anything to do with this Age of Worms we've been hearing about?"
Tanith enjoys an excellent workout, beating his own personal record for the overhead press and proudly praising Cuetzpalli’s incredible gains in only a handful of days. ”Kord truly favors you friend!”
Having worked up a good sweat, Tanith and the olman return to the tavern to find Farrukh describing something important. ”A message from Valkus? It must be important. We should leave right away.”
Carina quietly listens, biting her lip at the mention of Valkus.
"I hope not... but odds are, it is." She finishes her breakfast.
Eben pauses, a spoonful of well-sweetened porridge halfway to his mouth. "What." The word is flatly pronounced and somehow both a question and a statement. Nevertheless, he goes on. "But we just got here. We've spent less time in the city than we spent walking here, and now we're supposed to turn around and head even further back in the direction we came from?" He sighs dejectedly, and mumbles. "Stupid worms..."
"Man, this Allustan guy . . ." Astraden plucks the yolk out of her hard-boiled egg, then pops it into her mouth. "Cuetzpalli, do you want me to try repairing that barding before we leave?"
Carina polishes off the last of her toast and starts wiping her mouth with a napkin.
"Well, I wouldn't mind a trip, really." She points to the symbol of Fharlanghn on her haversack. "I've got a lot of wandering to do to make up for being stuck in that s**t-pile of a town."
Tanith chuckles and claps Ebon on the back roughly.
”Besides, the exercise is good for you. Too much rich food and sitting around and you’ll start looking like Smenk!”
"Man, this Allustan guy . . ." Astraden plucks the yolk out of her hard-boiled egg, then pops it into her mouth. "Cuetzpalli, do you want me to try repairing that barding before we leave?"
"Yes, please."
He turns to address the others. "I like walking. So does Spiny. Only lazy people don't like walking." Cuetzpalli takes a sip of his tea. "Kord says so."
Tanith beams proudly. "He's a quick learner!"
"Well, actually I was thinking of getting a horse. I just can't keep up with all of you with my gear and mail."
After breakfast, Astraden prays over the barding for ten minutes, slowly rebuilding the tattered leather and restoring the feathers to brilliant color.
Eben smirks. "Yeah, and there's the main reason Kord's never been on my go-to list of gods to ask for favors." He turns to Astraden. "I'm hitting the livery stables before we leave town, myself. If I'm making this trip, I'm at least doing it on a saddle."
After breakfast, Eben helps Astraden with Spiny's barding, casting his own mending spell at the same time she does hers, helping to cut the total repair time in half.
Cuetzpalli thanks his companions for their aid, and then dresses Spiny up in his new armor. The dinosaur looks even more formidable than usual, but his movement is hindered by the suit, which slows him down considerably.
Once things are done around the inn, Eben heads up to his room to re-apply his disguise. Maybe it's for the best we're leaving already. This wig itches. Still, even with that small bit of rationalization, he's still grumbling about the abrupt change in plans as he heads out to do some quick errands. First up he stops back at the Ph’xeris' residence to pick up his freshly-enchanted armor. After that, he finds a general store and resupplies himself with dried rations for the road. A city full of every kind of freshly prepared cuisine you can imagine and I'll be gnawing on dried beef for at least a week. Again. Blah.
And from there he goes on to his last location of the morning. An hour or so later, clopping hoofbeats are heard coming up the street towards the Crooked House . Eben comes into view, slightly awkwardly riding a dapple grey gelding. "New party member. His name is Grifter!" He hops down, ties the horse up out front, and runs upstairs to pack.
Cuetzpalli thanks his companions for their aid, and then dresses Spiny up in his new armor. The dinosaur looks even more formidable than usual, but his movement is hindered by the suit, which slows him down considerably.
After breakfast, Eben helps Astraden with Spiny's barding, casting his own mending spell at the same time she does hers, helping to cut the total repair time in half.
After helping with the spell, Astraden heads to the stables and purchases a roan mare, a bridle, and a pack saddle. When she returns to the Crooked House, she busies herself packing assorted items into "Lynwerd"'s bags.
The group—perhaps a bit reluctantly—sets out, leaving the Free City to once again walk the road of adventure.
The road of adventure is quite mild for the first eighteen miles, and the first day passes in peace. The second day is equally tranquil. Aside from a group of silver-clad and extremely asocial elves on their way to the Free City, nothing out of the ordinary occurs. Astraden is able to finish fixing the barding, with Eben's help.
The third day, however...
...is also quiet.
At this point, the party turns off the main road and begins heading south, walking through hilly grasslands along a country path. That night, they make camp.
Farrukh munches on some jerky, and goes to bed soon afterward, saying a short prayer to Norebo before going to sleep.
"Please don't let my luck run out when I'm fighting some horrible monster. Thanks. Amen."