Hello, Everyone!
Last time, after Aurum promised that Bruno was going to resurrect all of Pamagos, a crowd gathered outside ‘The Maimed Lion’ in the hopes of getting their loved ones brought back.
Or heroes had a pretty emotional argument about it
(Mary had some issues, most of which weren't even connected to the current events... but that's Mary for ya – sometimes her own insecurities take the better of her and she forgets to think about other people's feelings)
and in the middle of it, the ruler of Pamagos himself dropped by, along with his bodyguard-slash-aerial-travel-buddy Elaria.
Dynatos Perres put up a hand.
"It's a noble cause you've taken upon yourselves," he said. "Tell me how I can help."
"I don’t want to have to deal with organizational details," Bruno said, looking tired. "I just want to bring people back. Can you take on the administrative part of the process? Who gets their turn and when, that sort of thing."
"Of course. There will be a station for registration and a list that you'll work with. I'll take care of that. Oh, and Elaria?" He nodded to his companion. "We must begin buying off all the diamonds in Pamagos' jewelleries. I don't want there to be any speculations."
"What do you mean?" Agatha said.
"As far as I'm familiar, diamonds are used as components for the resurrection ritual. We don't want someone buying them off the market and then trying to sell them to the grieving for ten times their worth."
Agatha nodded in agreement.
"For now, that’s all we can do," he said. "By this evening, we must already have the list."
"Thank you."
Mary and the others went into the local temple of Ord. It wouldn't hurt if Bruno was closer to his God for the big task ahead. The place was huge, and as old as can be. Tall marble columns rose high in the air, and granite staircases led into a spacious chamber with pews on the side where people could sit to pray.
The altar of Ord was a wonder in its own right. It was an enormous anvil, the size of a full-grown ox. Mary's eyes widened. It wasn't just for decoration, it looked like it had been used at one point. What could possibly hammer on this thing?!
They were welcomed by the head priest Torin. The older dwarf wore his white beard in a complicated braid and had a metal spoulder on his right shoulder. He greeted them ceremoniously and led them to a smaller confessional chamber in a more secluded corner of the temple.
Mary planted her wand there, in the pot she was carrying into her Bag of Holding. Soon, the confessional was enveloped by the branches and leaves of the Orange tree.
Although the tree was big enough for the four of them, this time it felt a bit claustrophobic. Mary felt embarrassed by her outburst earlier, and she made sure to avoid Aurum as much as possible, which meant that she was sitting at the very end of the tree's radius, opposite of him. She didn't want to talk to him, and, as a matter of fact, she didn't feel like talking to the others either. Somehow, the way she'd objected to the bard's idea clashed with the way the others had accepted it and she felt ashamed.
She, too, had wanted to help out lessening the paramagical effect, but her way was so small and stupid compared to what Aurum had--and what Bruno was going to do.
Or was it? The idea which she'd started the day with kept on prodding her brain. Maybe it wasn't as good as resurrecting people, but it was something Mary could do on her own. She promised herself that she was going to try it out.
In the meantime, she sat in her remote place and wrote. She hadn't had the chance to do much of that in the last several days, and there were so many things that had happened!
There was the Eye of the Storm, and the dragon that waited there, as well as their fallout with Tesaya. The teleportation circle to Zerakas tol was next, and Reina, and Francesca Findabair and the Dragon Emperor. There was their quick teleportation to Pamagos, and Nurvureem's ambush.
She'd almost died there.
Then, there was Bytopia, and Frinkeltong, and the fight with Racox. The appearance of ',The Hut' and Granny telling their fortunes. The news about Paulina. Their rush towards Pamagos, and the final fight with Nurvureem.
All of that had happened in only five days!
Mary was tired and desperate. Everything seemed so hopeless! She looked at the others lying around the tree. She sighed. Even though she had slept during the night, something told her that it would be good to do it again.
She fell asleep as soon as her head touched the ground.
Poor exhausted Mary! I hope everything works out all right for her. Do you really think she was in the wrong, trying to oppose Aurum's outlandish idea?
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.