Hello, Everyone!
Last time, after spending the night in Bytopia, we arrived in Erathos, splashed around in Lake Dunlain’s waters and went to Pritley. Far in the West, the forest of Myth Adofhaer was burning as a result of Trax’rion’s wrath, but he was not of our heroes’ immediate concern. They intendedto go back to Pamagos and fight Nurvureem, but after a brief chat with Francesca Findabair, Mary started to hesitate.
The choice that stood before them was a difficult one.
On the one hand, there was Nurvureem, wreaking havoc in Pamagos. Judging by what Mr. Perres had told Bruno, she'd made the city her current dwelling. There had already been deaths, and many more would probably get tortured or killed before she was neutralized.
But on the other hand… Racox was already on his journey towards the North. If they let him continue, he'd reach the White Queen undisturbed, and would probably manage to convince her to invade Erathos. And then… who knew how many people would lose their lives and homes to the eternal winter of that Ancient dragon!
Nurvureem was where Mary’s whole being pulled towards, but maybe she had to listen to reason instead. The place where Mundus had dropped the group off--midway towards the North--made it very easy to imagine going after Racox. After all, with Aurum’s teleportation they had the means to go to Pamagos anytime and from anywhere. But if they missed the current opportunity, finding the Dry Hand later could prove almost impossible.
They had to prioritize.
“We need to check where Racox is right now,” Aurum said. “See how far he is from us and whether we have an actual chance of catching up with him.”
Since Bruno’s previous Scrying hadn’t been successful, it was up to Mary this time. She took out a special potion they’d bought in Bytopia and wrinkled her nose at the eye swimming inside. When she removed the cork of the vial, the organ dissolved in the liquid, giving it a nasty brown colour and an even nastier smell.
Mary groaned but closed her eyes and downed the potion in her throat.
When she opened her eyes again, the scene had changed. It was almost like when she was looking through the eyes of her familiars. Only, this time she couldn't move at will and was able to see only her target and his immediate surroundings.
There was Racox, sitting cross-legged by a small campfire. Something was roasting on a skewer before him. He was holding his Tiamat symbol in one hand and seemed to be deep in a prayer. His scalp was bare, and now that Mary could see it up close, she realized that he wasn't just bald. He was missing every hair on his head, eyebrows and eyelashes included. It was such a bizarre sight! Half of his face was wrinkled and dried out, like a weird piece of jerky, and so was the hand that held his Symbol.
Mary tore her eyes away from the man and looked around, to try and discern where he could be. There was a light snow cover on the ground. Further behind Racox, small city lights were blinking. The same Mary’d seen while falling towards Lake Dunlain, only from a different angle and a bit farther away.
So, he was close.
Something on the edge of the Scrying radius attracted Mary's attention. It was big and yellow, and oddly flat, like a carpet or a blanket. Was it Racox’ bedroll? No, it was way bigger than that. And Mary could swear it moved. She wished that the spell would allow her to focus on it.
*The Dry Hand finished his prayer and raised his eyes. For a moment, Mary thought that he was looking at her, but he seemed to focus a little to her left and further in the distance. Judging from his position, it was at the burning Myth Adofhaer.
He grinned.*
So, Racox was somewhere on the road, several miles from the other side of Frinkeltong. It wasn't impossibly far, but it wasn't really close, either. And, since neither them, not the villagers, had any fast horses, they had to fly.
“I have strength for only two or three hours of eagle-time,” Aurum said. “I think that’ll get us to Frinkeltong, but then I’d have to gather my strength again, if we’re going to fight the Dry Hand.”
Before they went on, Bruno sent a message to Dynatos Perres, informing him that they weren’t going to be able to deal with Nurvureem right away. The ruler of Pamagos replied that in that case he was going to try and do something about her instead.
Mary felt a prick of fear in her heart. Nurvureem was too strong for the guards in Pamagos to deal with. She’d been too strong for the four of them. What if people died because Mr. Perres ordered them to face her?
But, then again, what if people died because he didn’t?
There was no way to win in this situation. The only thing they could hope--and it was a slight hope--was that the damage done by Nurvureem was going to be less than what Racox was going to do in the long run.
So, the choice has been made. We’re going hunting for a bald man in the North XD Do you think Mary and her friends made the right decision? What would you have chosen instead?
See you next time!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossaries (Part 1 and Part 2)
and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: Mary Windfiddle's story is my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum, Bruno and Agatha) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.