"It looks like a hard pinch to me. Did you get it by the standing stones?"
Merry shakes her head. "N-no," she says, sniffling as new tears threaten to fall.
Sel observes the man for a while, trying to see what he is so vigorously washing off.
There doesn't seem to be anything on his hands. The washing appears to be a compulsive behavior.
Joy looks at Merry with concern.
"Was it the Mayor?", she asks.
"What?!? Ew, no!" Merry glances back to the kitchen and lowers her voice. "Mother doesn't like it when I cause trouble."
As Marry and Joy talk, Tabog ushers the two out of the doorway and away from any window.
"Marry, I'm going to tell you a truth and if anyone tells you that it's wrong; they are bad, evil, and trying to harm you.
No one in your entire life has the right to control you, tell you that your feelings are wrong, or hurt you.
That is a truth of life, just ask Joy here. Now tell me, are you living this truth? If you aren't, we are here to help you do so."
Tabog pauses for a moment, letting the emotions of the moment swirl in the air. He leans in slightly and lowers his voice a great deal.
"That red mark, I'm willing to bet that you didn't want that huh? Is your mother letting you live with this truth of life, or is she hurting you? Is she making you do things you don't want to do, controlling you?"
Merry's eyes widen. "Please, I... I don't know. Please, go away. I don't want to talk to you any more!" The girl begins to sob and turns as if to run away!
"Merry, please stop and take a breath. We're trying to help you."
Merry hesitates and wipes at her tears. "Why? Why do you want to help me so badly?"
***
While the others are following up on their own leads, Imedren and Uruuna head to check out the well. The well is ancient, the mortar between the stones forming its upper edge has all but crumbled away. Folded scraps of paper have been stuck in cracks between the stones. Inspecting them reveals short wishes have been written on them.
The newest bit of paper contains the following message: I wish Silas Branson loved me.
Joy gathers herself for just a moment.
"Because you're in pain. And because we've seen dark things attracted to people in pain. Very dark things. And we know bad things are happening here. So please Merry, tell us what is going on? Why are you so sad?"
Merry takes a deep breath. "It's the love of my life. He's up and vanished. He was supposed to meet me at the standing stones two nights ago, but he never showed up. He never misses a rendezvous! I confided in Sister Matilda in the hope of gaining her help, and instead received a lecture about how I should break off the relationship lest I imperil my soul! I don't know what to do!"
"You're right to be upset. We've found missing people before. What is their name? Where do they live and work?"
"His name is Craven. He's... well, he's not entirely human," Merry whispers conspiratorially. "He doesn't live in town, but he visits me often."
Hello there! Sel calls out.
We heard the local healer went missing, and have come to offer our services in helping to find her. Heard you may know something about it.
"Oh!" exclaims Joy, quickly quieting herself.
"One of the reasons we thought there would be trouble in Verge is that Craven missed a meeting with his mentor Reinhold. Like you say, he doesn't miss meetings. Where else might he be? Anyone speak ill of him?"
Silas looks distraught as Selgaer questions him. "Aye, poor Salla is my beloved fiancé. I haven't seen her for three days now! I keep going out to the woods to look for her, but I've uncovered nothing thus far. If anything bad has happened to her... Gods, help me, I love her so much! I don't know what I'll do without her!"
***
"You know him?" Merry exclaims, hope shining in her eyes for the first time. She quiets down again, too. "I don't know. I don't think anybody else knows who he is. Mother certainly doesn't. The only person I confided in was Sister Matilda, and that was just today. I plan to go back to the standing stones tonight to look for him. If he doesn’t appear, I'll head into the Old Wood to seek him out!"
Please. Tell me everything you know. Leave nothing out. When did she disappear? Where was she? Where have you looked and have you found any signs? Tell me everything.
"It was three nights ago. We were here, at my house, and, well... We had had an argument earlier that night. I... I thought we had resolved it and we went to bed, but when I woke up, she was gone. Nobody has seen her since then. I looked all around town, then I've been going into the woods every day to try to find her. I must have searched every tree within a mile of town, but there's been no sign of her!"
Joy looks concerned.
"We know Reinhold, who taught Craven and who's worried about him. It's not safe to go out walking alone around here, judging by the pair of drakes we had to fight earlier."
Joy thinks for a moment.
"How about you stay here tonight? Or at least let us accompany you? We can handle monsters, and if Craven has been hurt we can heal him and bring him back. What do you say, Merry?"
Merry nods enthusiastically. "Okay. Let's go there together, then! We have to find him! He has to be okay!"
"Great! We'll do that when it works for you to head off and when we can get our group together."
"I can meet you just outside the wall after sunset," Merry says.
"See you then.", replies Joy, happier with how this has gone.
Sine Joy was able to calm Marry's frantic state, Tabog thought it'd be best to take a step back and let the two of them talk. He softly hummed while he fiddled with a piece of string he had on him. As the girls talked his humming became more focused on Marry's emotions; he watched her face and changed the tone of the song to reflect whatever feeling she was having at the time.
When they were finished Tabog tried pressing his question one last time.
"We'll be happy to help you find your lost love but that will take time, I'd like to talk about here and now. We've heard things... About how you're being treated by your mother. There was also talk that involved the Mayor; do you know anything about that?... Please, let us help you."
Standing at the edge of the dilapidated well they examined the pieces of paper stuffed into the cracks. "Hmm, what do we have here? Wishes and desires?" Imedren said, examining the newest looking piece of paper with interest. His eyes narrowing in concern as he read, he turned to Uruuna.
"Seems as though someone else wants Silas to notice them. I wonder if they were desperate or frustrated enough to have done something to remove obstacles in their path? It might just be longing after someone but this could also be a clue as to what happened to Salla. Let's take this with us when we leave and then go talk to Silas, see if he might recognize the handwriting."
Imedren took the paper and folded it into his bag.
"I'm going to check a few more of these to see if there's anything else interesting here. Uruuna, use my spotlight lantern to see if there's anything down in the well."
He handed her his bag and faerie medallion before he began checking the next handful of older looking papers.
Merry shakes her head, somehow resisting Tabog's charms again, "Not here. I'll tell you all about it tonight, okay? I have to get back before mother gets angry."
***
Imedren looks through more of the papers, but none of the wishes on them seem relevant to the current situation,
Uruuna peers carefully as she shines the light down the well. After a bit, she calls out. "Got something, Im! Looks like a big crack in the wall about halfway down."
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When Merry is gone, Joy turns to Tabog and quietly says:
"Maybe Tabog, you should consider using better words and not magic. It might get you better results."
She pauses.
"Let's go find the others."
Imedren grunted in frustration as he found nothing more interesting in the older notes crumpling them. But he stood up when Uruuna excitedly told him that she'd noticed the opening.
"Good catch Uruuna!" he said looking over the ledge and back to her. "Now we can tell the others about this and check it out later."
Imedren smiled as he picked her up to hug her and give her a kiss. "Let's get going."
Tabog frowns at Joy, then shrugs as they begin walking back.
"You may be right, Joy, but consider the whole picture and you might find that some people won't like you just because of where they are in their life and what has happened to them. Thank you for coming with, I'm afraid I could have made things worse if you hadn't helped me. People like Kyra are evil and exploit people, even their own children for personal gain and Self-affirmation."
He's quite for a moment, thinking to himself.
"Let's go see what the others are up to!... Didn't someone say something about a well?"
Uruuna can't help but giggle as Imedren lifts her up. She kisses him back, then takes his hand.
As they turn to leave the well, they see Joy and Tabog approaching!
Thank you, Sel says. Although he was highly sceptical of the man's story, he tried not to let it show. Do you mind if I take a look around?
There are no signs of forced entry around Silas's house. His many comings and goings in recent days have obscured the tracks around the house too much for Selgaer to determine anything about who might have come and gone three nights ago.
Dramm was silent for the conversation between Silas and Selgaer. If anything, his face only hardened with Silas's distress and proclamations of love. During their search of the property, Dramm pulls Selgaer aside.
"Dont like this. Tracks are getting us nowhere. I don't know as much as you, but I know enough and I can tell by the way we're walking." Dramm glances back over his shoulder suspiciously and lowers his voice. "The story from Silas... I've heard that one before. It was about a year ago, before you met us. Councilman Dreen hired us to rescue his daughter with the help of her fiance."
Dramm grits his teeth and sneers with contempt.
"The fiance stabbed her and the demon inside crushed his skull like a tomato. They deserved each other." He snorts at the statement and becomes quiet for a while. Eventually he speaks again. "Maybe he killed her. I'm just saying I don't like this and I've heard it before."
He nods to Selgaer and goes back to searching. He makes sure to search for any signs of magic on the premise.
"Joy, TaBog, good timing. We were just about to leave and go see if Silas was at his cabin and then come find you two. Uruuna found an opening in the well about halfway down it. It's not easy to spot and it looks big enough for people to go through." he reaches into his bag and unfolds the note he'd picked up.
"We also found this. It seems to be a forlorn wish regarding Silas. Someone wants him to love them... I'm beginning to think they may have had something to do with Salla's disappearance. I wanted to check with him and see if he perhaps recognized the handwriting." he paused.
"How did your discussion go?"
Joy thinks on Tabog's words then replies.
"Maybe. It's hard to know what's right sometimes. I can't fault you for that. Let's go meet the others."
***************
"Hi Imedren! As it turns out, Merry was meeting Craven regularly. He was very reliable until he stopped showing up at the standing stones. She was going to head out alone tonight to look for him, but she's agreed to let us come along. We meet her outside the wall after sunset."
Selgaer says to Dramm, I agree. It doesn't smell right.
Not finding much around the property, Sel heads back to find the rest of the group.
We talked with Silas. He says that three nights ago he got in a fight with his fiance. They went to bed, and when he woke up she was gone. Yeah, I probably had that same look on my face, too. I don't believe a word of it. Something else is going on here.
"People are going missing. We have to put a stop to it.", Joy says firmly.
"Good work you two. We'll meet with her later tonight at the stones.
As Selgaer and Dramm arrived he listened, with a frown to their information. "That is a suspicious story from Silas about Salla disappearing, but take a look at this." He pulls out the note from the well. "It's faint evidence, but it lends itself to the idea that Silas is wanted by someone else. Perhaps they were willing to remove Salla as an obstacle. That and the disappearance lines up well with the start of the troubles.
The burning of the farms seems unrelated but is an ongoing issue. Hopefully the sheriff and her deputies can keep things I'm check at least for the moment.
Uruuna discovered a hidden opening in the well about halfway down. Someone could easily use it to hide. I was planning on asking Silas if he knew whose handwriting this was... but since we might be dealing with time as a survival factor, we should probably check the well first."
That's a good idea. I wanted to check the farms next, but since we're right here, might as well climb down now and check out the farms afterwards. Also, with the rumor of people climbing in the well, we may want to hide out and see if anyone goes in or out tonight.
Affixing rope to the top of the well, you clamber down one by one and squeeze through the crack in the wall. Beyond the crack is a shallow cave, damp with moisture. At first, it appears to be empty, but once you are all inside, suddenly three humanoids suddenly step forward from the shadows that they had been blending into. They wear black leather clothing along with heavy coats, white gloves, top hats, and black lenses over their eyes. They wield thin knives with serrated edges, and they move in a horrid, skittering dance reminiscent of the Patchwork Man you faced long ago in the Moore House!
Sel quickly knocks an arrow and fires!
Joy catches the glint off a serrated blade in the nick of time, and acts fast!
She turns invisible as she sends a ball of witch fire hurtling along with Selgaer's arrows!
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Before descending into the well, Dramm provides some minor healing for Imedren.
"I've got enough for the day. We shouldn't risk anything." He quickly carves a gentle, soothing glow from the air.
Dramm quickly administers his magics, deftly flicking away excess energy as it rushes forth in amber explosions. Wounds close, armor forms, and a force field hums to life. Magical energy suffuses Dramm with a gentle glow. With a final flick upward... nothing happens. Dramm curses under his breath in annoyance.
"So damn fickle. Never the same path twice and always changing in direction." He flicks his hand upward again, but to no avail. "How the hell do you do it, Imedren? I never seem to get a grasp."
He continues to mutter as the group clambers down the rope.
The darkness clings to his eyes inside the small cave. It's only when a patchwork monstrosity looms from the darkness that Dramm's vision finally adjusts.
"No! Anophth killed you!" Dramm scrambles in fear, carving wildly with his knife. "He killed you! HE KILLED YOU!"
His voice rises to a fearful scream. Energy blazes forth as he dashes a tiny, glowing effigy.
Dramms tattoos glow brighter and energy courses through the amber in his arms. Licks of multicolored flames threaten to tear free of his skin, but for now they hold.
Uruuna's resolve is steely as she draws her sword and shield. "I'll hold one off!" she shouts as she charges one of the monsters, but her attack comes up short.
Tabog sees the ghoulish men come from the shadows, before they catch him off guard. He quietly draws an arrow, aims, and looses it as the rest of his team jumps into action.
The odd, shambling creatures were horrifying but Imedren had become inured to such things with his magics and time investigating such occult horrors.
He watched carefully as Uruuna charged forward. Holding out his hand he timed her approach and the enemies response to her.
It doesn't have to move so it will attack.
The spell was a quick one. It pulled the creature away from Uruuna. Throwing it back towards the wall.
Imedren's power folded in on himself, the realization that it was going to unleash forced him to make a decision. So he doubled down. He called on his sorcerous power again and warped further across the way, in between the two figures.
Both Selgaer's and Tabog's arrows hit the nearest monster, and Dramm's spell leaves it bloodied and fatigued. Joy's witch fire misses her target.
As the enemy near Uruuna raises its dagger, Imedren blasts it with magic, teleporting it away from her. Its dagger slices through empty air. The sorcerer follow suit, blasting two of the things with energy.
Undettered, the creature swiftly skitters forward back to Imedren, along with the other one. That one slices into the sorcerer's cheek, trying to elicit tears from the painful wound. The wounded creature dances forward into the midst of the rest of the group, dodging any attempts to stop it. It slices Dramm, his force field absorbing the blow.
Joy gulps as the patchwork killer closes the distance - then resolves herself to stop it. The ball of witch fire begins to return at speed!
"Aaaghh!" Imedren cried out in pain as the knife cut it's way along his left eye. The world went dark on his left side and blurry, bloody, and teary on his right.
"My eye! Aagh!" One hand shot up to protect the sliced area where blood poured freely.
"You'll burn to ashes for that!"
The red energy poured out, Imedren willing it to do so, he unleashed an immediate wave of destruction following the tattered figure.