26 Apr 2019

The Elf's Prisoner - Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Previously:
A lurker in the neighbourhood.
Inn of the Foxes, Silver Trailings, outside the Realm Below the Mountain
Morning's first light fell on Kazimier.  He offered quiet prayers to the Lightbringer in thanks for the new day.  His sunbeam amulet caught the light, spreading it through the room in a rainbow of colour.  Kazimier knelt on the floor, making sure the amulet remained in the sun's light.  He chanted, a song of praise to the Lightbringer asking for wisdom and clarity.  The kaleidoscope of colour on the walls coalesced, coming together to form the image of a wriggling serpent with scales of red, blue, and yellow.  The image crawled along the wall.  A bright flash of white light struck the snake.  When the light cleared, the serpent had two heads.  The snake reared to strike, then the image dissolved back to the rainbow of colours.

Kazimier lowered his head.  "I understand."  He kissed his sunbeam amulet, then let it go.  The elf got to his feet, straightening his clothes.  A knock came from the door.  Kazimier answered it, opening the door to see Nyssa and Leomund waiting in the hall.  The squire had a hand shielding his eyes from the light.  "Good morning," Kazimier greeted.

"Good to see someone wide awake this morning," Nyssa said.  "Need to break your fast yet?"

"Not just yet."

"Think the lasses are awake?"

Kazimier stepped out of his room, closing the door behind him.  "Only one way to find out."  He led the way down to Jyslyn and Wren's room.  The elf pounded on the door.  Leomund pressed a hand to the side of his head.

The door opened.  Jyslyn stood behind it, hiding everything except her head with the door.  "Not so loud."  The dark elf pointed at Wren; the young elf sat curled up on her bed, clutching her head with her hands.  "She's feeling the effects of yesterday's binge."  Jyslyn opened the door fully to let everyone in.  Kazimier noted her clothing; the dark elf wore a forest green tunic and a pair of brown leather trousers, leaving her arms and hands uncovered.

Leomund sat down beside Wren, mimicking her posture.  Nyssa closed the door with a slam, eleciting groans from the younger pair.  "Good morning!" the knight said with exaggerated brightness.  "Time to go over today's plans."

"Do they include dying?" Wren croaked.

"Not yet."  Nyssa sat on a stool.  "Right now, we're waiting for answers from the Niceans and the dwarves.  Kazimier and I will meet with them.  You three should go explore the town.  Keep to the safer areas, and come back here for lunch and dinner."

Leomund nodded, then regretted the movement.  "Yes, ma'am."

"Can we start by exploring the inn?" Wren asked.  "I'm not feeling good."

"That's six mugs of spirits talking," Kazimier said.  "I'll have breakfast sent up here for you and Leomund.  That should help you both be functional."

Jyslyn sat on her bed.  "Maybe we should go to the market," the dark elf suggested.  "That's where people mingle and talk.  We might hear something that way."

"You have something in mind, lass?" Nyssa asked.

"Just that Silver Trailings is a trade town.  Merchants come and go, and they bring news with them."  Jyslyn shrugged.  "Even the rumours could help us."

"Do you think you three can handle the crowds?"

"I can only speak for me right now, but I can.  I'll be fully covered, so I may attract some attention, but I have been in busy marketplaces filled with people willing to knife someone for being in the wrong place."

Nyssa looked over at her squire and the young blonde elf.  "What do you two say?"

"If I need to, ma'am, I will," Leomund said.

"If I don't die before I get there, yes," Wren added.

Nyssa smiled.  "Try not to die."  She crossed her legs.  "If we do get a message, we - Kazimier and myself - may have to leave immediately.  Leo, I'll need my plate armour ready if that's the case."

"Yes, ma'am," Leomund said.

"After breakfast.  I think that's everything I need to say."

Kazimier cleared his throat.  "I cast a divination this morning to get an insight of who is behind the machinations."  He sat down beside Jyslyn.  "It's the Corruptor."

Nyssa traced a ward in the air in front of her.  "Everything makes sense now."

"The Corruptor?"  Jyslyn looked around the room to the rest of the group, puzzled.  "I am not familiar with the name."

"You might know the god by a different name," Kazimier explained.  "The Defiler, maybe?"

Jyslyn's eyes went wide.  "That name, I know.  Even my people avoid his followers."

"How do we stop a god?" Wren asked.

"We don't," Kazimier answered.  "We stop the god's followers.  We disrupt what ever plans are afoot and make sure that the followers don't get a second chance to try again."

"Without counting on help from anyone else," Nyssa added.  "The tension in Silver Trailings is building.  The Niceans must be blaming the Realm Below the Mountain for the loss of their ambassador, and the dwarves are putting pressure on the mercenaries hired to guard the town.  You three should be fine in the market today.  Galan's Shields should be out in force to make sure that no trouble breaks out."

Jyslyn glanced out the window.  "A town this size should have thieves, yes?"

"I'm not sure I follow, lass, but, yes.  Theives are a plague to trade towns like Silver Trailings."

"And where there are thieves, there's a thieves' guild, making sure that merchants who pay to not be robbed aren't."

Nyssa nodded as she caught on to Jyslyn's idea.  "And the thieves' guild may be seeing crackdowns from the town guard because of the chaos, or may have seen something like we have."

"The guild may even have beggars on the street who have seen what's happening.  I think we need to send someone to the guild."

"Lass, it's a good idea, but look at us."  Nyssa spread her arms to indicate the rest of the group.  "Do any of us look like we're thieves?"

"One of us does."  Jyslyn hooked a thumb at herself.  "Me."

"Jyslyn, no!" Wren cried.  "It's too dangerous!  They'll backstab you and leave you for dead!"

"No, Jyslyn," Kazimier said.  "Not alone."

Nyssa held up her hands to restore the peace in the room.  "Jyslyn, lass, it is a good idea, but you stand out too much here.  Even cloaked, you'll be obvious.  With the town guard trying to make up for letting a kidnapped ambassador slip past them, there's just too many ways contacting the thieves' guild can go wrong."

Leomund snapped his fingers.  "What about the merchants themselves?" he asked.  "I've seen merchant guilds back home.  They keep track of comings and goings, if only to see who they can gouge."

Kazimier looked over to Jyslyn.  "That would be safer, and you will be in the market today anyway."

"I can ask the shopkeepers, yes," the dark elf said.

"Thanks," Kazimier said.  "We can keep the thieves' guild in mind if we don't get an audience from the dwarves."

"Or if the audience leads nowhere."  Nyssa got to her feet.  "Is there anything else we need to cover?"

Wren fell back on her bed.  "My head?  It's too bright today."

Nyssa gave the young elf a reassuring smile.  "You'll feel better after breakfast.  Leo, stay here with Wren.  I'll have yours sent here, too."  The knight got to her feet.  "Don't forget to get my plate armour ready.  We need to be impressive here."

"Yes, ma'am.  Thank you, ma'am."

Jyslyn stood to grab her cloak.  "Breakfast sounds good to me."  She smiled at Kazimier.  "Care to join me?"

"I'd love to."  Kazimier got up.  He crooked his arm, offering it to the dark elf.

Jyslyn adjusted her cloak, making sure her skin was hidden.  She walked to the door.  "Wren, Leomund, we'll head out to the market after lunch.  That should give your heads time to stop pounding."


Next Week:
The marketplace.

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