After their party naming celebration, everyone registered with the guild under the name Loudest Actions. Risa assisted Rosa where needed with quest details and such and Arrya was handed a piece of parchment with the request details. The parchment read the following.
“A man by the name Dariel left for work at Luchorion’s Emporium of Fine Crafts, at sunrise, and never returned home. When questioned, Luchorion Valdmarch reported that Dariel never arrived for his shift. Upon further investigation, there have been more reports made, by his mother, Lucinda, who expected him for tea that same day, as well as his room mate, and brother, City Guard Captain Wilhelm Orsen, reporting he never returned home that night. No leads have turned into anything useful.”
Arrya hands the paper to Ivo and Cole, and looks to Orsen. “Your first name is Wilhelm!?” Orsen looked at Arrya, then the rest of the party, a tad confused.”We go by last name in the military. I thought you guys just called me Orsen because you had gotten used to doing so.”
The rest of the party is looking at Orsen a bit confused and a little disappointed in themselves. “Ummm.” Arrya couldn’t find the words and chuckles a little, clearly uncomfortable. The entire party first met Orsen 6 years ago. They all originally had been total strangers, did a few quests together, except Ivo, after meeting in The Shade Lounge, and parted ways a few months later. Arrya, Cole and Tezzeret stayed in contact via letters and teleportation magic. At the time, Ivo had been in Hyalfstan, living a shut-in life.
6 Years Prior
The group had met Wilhelm the first time they ventured to the city of Fort Ymin. He wasn’t Guard Captain yet, and had stopped them, and told them that unless they had official business, they were not allowed in. The Rose Quartz Golem did not exist at the time. Arrya attempted and failed to woo Orsen, and had actually insulted his mother, unintentionally. She has since gotten better at wordplay, but at the time, was terrible at it. The three of them, after being turned away, decided to sneak into the city. Their goal was to find a magical artifact, the Fae King’s Crown, rumored to be inside a safe at a shop. At nightfall they stalked their way to the southern gate, crept past the guards stationed there and succeeded in infiltrating the city perimeter. Upon finding and picking the lock to Luchorion’s Emporium of Fine Crafts and entering, they were met by the man himself, naked, looking for a mug to drink ale from. Shocked by their presence, but impressed they made it all the way in, Luchorion was silent. Mug in his right hand, bagel in his left he smiled slightly. His bright white teeth complimented his full lips and glorious mustache. Like Tom Selleck. His yellow skin bathed in magic light, glistened, as he had just gotten out of the bath, grabbed a bagel and went to find a mug. After covering their eyes, and apologizing, Arrya asked if they could just leave and forget this happened.
“Why of course not sweetheart, I doubt you would ever forget this visage.” Luchorion laughed, flamboyantly, and quickly found a robe to cover himself with. His shop contained all manner of clothing, rough weather gear and furniture. The walls to the left housed shelves of arcane potion ingredients and crystals, tucked away in square and rectangular baskets. Jars and bottles hung from the wall, some containing salts and powders, and other smaller ingredients. The middle of the shop had shorter shelving units which contained skulls from different beasts, though none too large, as well as larger crystals, rocks, bones, jewelry and rings, though no magic could be sensed from them. The right side of the store, and the wall had large shelves of different colors and materials, and on some of them sat leather satchels and backpacks. In the right hand back corner of the shop was one clothing rack. Dark wood with multiple arms with little knobs on them. Each spot on the rack was filled with robes of many different colors. Vibrant greens to dark reds and blues. Some of them had golden trims and some had silver. Some had hoods while others didn’t. The counter that Luchorion stood behind was a faded teal color. Arrya recognized it as Reachwood. A species of wood from the Underdark. Some of the furniture in the store was also made of Reachwood. Luchorion stood there eating his bagel, waiting for the three miscreants to finish looking around before he spoke.
“So, can I help you three with something? There’s a reason you are here right?” Arrya spoke first. “We came looking for the Fae King’s Crown.” Arrya stated bluntly, before slapping her hand over her mouth, wide eyed. “Oh that, why didn’t you just knock?” Luchorion took another bite of his bagel before motioning the group to follow him. He led the group upstairs and into a small study room. Tezz hit his horns multiple times walking through the multitude of doors in the shop/ apartment. Luchorion leaned down to a small stack of books in the corner, picked them up and placed them on the writing desk. Luchorion began fiddling with a floor safe door lock, and after a few attempts at remembering the code, opened the safe, reached in and grabbed what appeared to be a small wreath. Arrya, Cole and Tezz all had the thought of grabbing it and running but Luchorion held it for a moment, before handing it to Arrya. Bewildered, Arrya didn’t register the pop up in her view and turned to Luchorion as he sat in his Greatoak wooden chair.
“So, what do you think?” He asked. “ Not nearly as impressive as everyone thinks huh?” He smirked as she looked back at it.
Fae King’s Crown
+1 to Intelligence.
PLUS 1! It’s only a plus fucking one? “WHAT THE FUCK!?” Arrya looked angry, but also severely disappointed. “Let me see it” Cole said as he snatched it from her, and after seeing the same thing” You have got the be FUCKING ME!” He shouted as he threw it at Tezzeret. Tezzeret, seeing his friends’ faces, was perplexed and looked at it too. After seeing the status of the Crown, put it on his head. Arrya and Cole looked at him, confused. “My Intelligence could use a boost.” Tezz stated matter of fact.”Well, I don’t think one point will do you much good sweetheart, but it’s only value to me is sentimental, old boyfriend, but honestly…” Luchorion hesitated.” You can have it.” Tezzeret smiled ear to ear. “Thank you, kind man, '' Tezz said with a chipper tone.”Anytime. Ya know, you are quite a good looking man.” Luchorion said, putting the last bite of his bagel to his mouth.” I wouldn’t mind it if you came around more often.” At this point he was trying to flirt, but as to lighten the soured mood of disappointment than actual flirting. Tezzeret said very confidently” Probably.” and walked out of the office space, down the stairs and into the main shop, before realizing his friends didn’t follow him, and waited for them in a nearby alleyway, outside. Luchorion, Arrya and Cole stood there stunned for a moment before Luchorion continued. “ I wouldn’t mind you both coming by either. You seem like trustworthy people.” He stared at Cole for a moment, before laughing so hard his robe parted slightly. He motioned for them to leave and followed them to the door.” But for real though, you guys are welcome, I honestly could use the business.” He waved and smiled as they left. As the door closed behind them, Arrya and Cole could hear the door lock.
“We got what we came for. Let’s get moving” Cole stated, still disappointed about the entire ordeal. Tezzeret waved them over to him and motioned at the guard patrol. Arrya, Cole and Tezzeret moved deeper into the alleyway, away from the street. As they stopped, they found a few boxes to sit on.” So, we need to get out of the city, but do we have things to do here?”Cole asked, looking to Arrya then Tezzeret. “Well, maybe, we could see if we can get a few more things from that shop maybe in the morning or in a few days but if we are found, we might be arrested.” Arrya said, fiddling with a twig she picked up. “I for one think we should just leave, and go to Hyalfstan, there’s supposed to be a mage there looking for a party to adventure with, and we could use a healer. Another mage is odd, but Arrya, you don’t know any healing magic do you?” Tezz asked, smiling, fidgeting with his headband.”Sadly, you do have a point Tezz, it would be good, plus we could stop by and say hi to Merna on the way.” Arrya smiled, knowing what reaction mentioning Merna would elicit. In tandem Cole and Tezzeret shouted “MERNA”, and wide smiles erupted onto their faces. The elderly lady Merna, a swamp witch with a heart of gold. Literally. Her heart was forged by dwarves centuries ago, to allow her to live indefinitely, due to her amazing kindness for them. She saved an entire City from a dragon attack and then refused payment, stating” Through kindness we are all equal, through charity we are all rich at heart” She was then diagnosed with a rare magic disease that attacked her heart. If not for the replacement she would have died three hundred years ago, long before the group ever met her.
Tezzeret found a more comfortable box to sit on and plopped down. Unfortunately for him, the box was not sturdy enough and broke moments later. The box now out of the way, mostly, revealed an opening in the wall behind them. After crawling through the hole. Cole returned with a bag of mysterious green sludge. Arrya recognized it from her exposure to drugs at a young age. Slime Paste. Nothing too fancy, but it buffs a user's magic power for a short time, and makes them feel numb. The effect basically makes mages feel invincible. Attracted by sound of shouting and the box crashing open, a patrol unit of City Guards, approaches, and detains the group. One of the guards sees the hole, points it out to the squad leader then climbs in. After a moment, he shouts,” Sir, you’ll want to see this.” Exasperated, the squad leader climbs in also. “Holy Fucking Shit.” Both men climb out of the hole and the squad leader speaks. “Is this what you're doing?” Looking at Cole.”Sir, we found it just a moment ago, and tried to call for the guards.” Arrya interjects first.”We can’t stand to see this filth on the street, harming and killing our young people” she continued. “Yeah, we really hate this kind of thing. Overdosing is a pandemic.” Cole adds, one hundred percent trying to hide his baggy of Myrtle.
“Release them, they are free to go. I believe the Lieutenant will want to have words. Go and inform him.” The leader motions for a young elfish man to carry the message to the barracks. “ Thank you, I assume you three will be rewarded for your efforts. Good work.” With that, the guards escort the group to the Lieutenant's office. After hearing the report, they are awarded with honorary member badges and granted access to the city, under the pretense they behave like the upstanding citizens he thinks they are.
Present day
“So, you just never thought to ask my name, after 6 years.” Orsen continued. The revelation had turned awkward and then into an argument, as the group returned to The Shade Lounge.
“I’m sorry. We’re sorry. It just never crossed our minds, I guess. We were always so busy back then, and all of us didn’t interact a lot. I mean you didn’t even know my name until last year, right?” Arrya asked, holding the door for him and the rest of her party to enter the tavern.”I actually learned your names the day the Lieutenant gave you all honorary badges. It was a pretty big deal.Come on, a Demon and a Light Elf, becoming essentially city guards, in one day, after breaking up a drug ring? Of course I learned your names.” Orsen said a bit heartbroken. Orsen, for all intents and purposes, considered the entire party, even Ivo, to be his close friends.
“Well, again, we are really sorry, and to make it up to you, because you have the rest of the day off, we will pay for your meal, and drinks tonight. Sorry Orsen.” Arrya smiles warmly, before reaching up and giving Orsen a kiss on the cheek. Orsen’s face becomes warm, as the group sit at the bar, and are greeted by the scent of freshly cooked steaks and potatoes.
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“Hello everyone. Orsen, what a nice surprise.” Meredith wipes her hands with a towel as she approaches the bar from the kitchen. “ Same as usual? Orsen, what would you like?” She begins jotting down everyone’s orders on her small magic tablet. A magic tablet is a device created and manufactured by the Mages Guild. Used for note taking as well as spell casting, it’s a small thin stone, 4 inches wide by 7 inches tall and about an inch thick. Some can range larger towards the size of a closed or open book. Ivo owns a magic tablet that, when placed on top of his writing desk, hangs over about half an inch on each side.
With their orders taken, waiting, the party chat amongst themselves about different things. Arrya and Orsen talk about his missing brother, and a few ideas on where to start. Orsen tells her that Dariel used to be friends with a lady named Amelia, a half wood elf, who would invite Dariel to parties at her house. Amelia was apparently living off of ‘Mommy and Daddy’s money’, and lived on the middle level of the GreatOak Canopy. She and some of her friends had been arrested in the past for drug use. The guards had been alerted to the partying and drugs and raided her home. They found Slime Paste as well as other tinctures, potions, and elixirs that were either illegal, or of high value, and dangerous. They all spent the last few years locked in the dungeons in the capital city of Whitefall. Orsen had assumed she was still locked away, but would find out for sure.
Meredith arrived with everyone's orders, dished them out and sat chatting with Orsen and Arrya for a moment before taking the orders of some customers that had just walked in. Tezzeret and Cole were stuffing their faces, while talking between mouthfuls. They had decided that no matter what, they would be going to Luchorion’s shop after lunch.
Having been the first of the party to finish his lunch,Cole spoke up, stating that he and Tezzeret were going to go to Luchorion’s Emporium.Cole grabbed Tezz by his bicep and pulled him along. Tezz struggled to get the last bite in his mouth before following behind Cole. As they walked through the town, Cole and Tezz smiled and waved at a few passing citizens, who had recognized them, and smiled and waved back. A human boy, barely 5 years of age, with blonde hair, ran up to them, screaming” Uncle Tezzy.” Tezz picked up the young boy with one arm and threw him onto his hip, the same way he had seen many mothers do for their offspring. “ Hello little man.” Tezz said in delight, but the boy scowled at him. “No, that’s not right.” the boy said, crossing his arms. “Oh. ‘ello, ello, ello.” Tezz conjured up a cockney accent, which caused the boy to immediately giggle. “‘Ello my li’l Olivanda’. ‘Ows ya mum?” Tezz tickled Olivander, Oli, as he continued, setting him on the ground again.. “ Hi Oli.” Cole said, shaking the boy's hand. “ Hello Cole.” Oli said, shaking his hand. “My mom is alright, she’s over there, doing laundry” he pointed to a human woman with long blonde hair, hanging some clothes on a line next to their brick home. It was pretty standard, nothing fancy by any means, and typical for the city. The streets were cobblestone, while the houses were made of stone brick. The most common colors being brown and gray.
Oli’s mom saw them all standing there and waved, happily looking at Tezz the most.Cole was never one hundred percent sure, but he thought maybe she had a crush on him. The entire party had made friends with a good amount of people in the city, but had also made quite a few enemies. The drug dealers for one. Thieves and bandits didn’t like them one bit. Their involvement in the disbanding of the local drug ring had been made known to a lot of people, and word got back to the dealers.
After saying goodbye to Oli and his mom, Shannon, Tezz and Cole made it to Luchorion’s a few minutes later. The familiar sights, and scents of incense from all over the world, filled Cole and Tezz’s eyes and noses. The light ring of the door bell, the colors of the merchandise, and a light layer of smoke wafting around as the door opens and closes.
“Ah, Welcome, my two favorite customers. Come to look at more things, but not buy them yet huh?” Luchorion joked with them as they approached the counter, holding his ivory white pipe in his right hand. His curly light brown hair, a mess, and his robes and shirt slightly wrinkled. His belt holding a few bottles of arcane ingredients, slanted down to his right.
“So, we heard you had gotten some new, and exotic bags this shipment. Is it true?” Cole asked, leaning on the counter, excitedly. “Yes, sir, yes I did.” Luchorion pointed to the shelves, containing the leather bags. Perusing the bags and seeing the intricate designs and quality of the satchels and backpacks, Cole and Tezz each found a bag that they really liked. Tezz had chosen a dark red leather backpack. It had 4 small pockets on the front with a large pouch on either side. Cole found a satchel bag with green and red, and blue stitched designs. It had gold trim, with a carrying handle and shoulder strap. Approaching the even more faded Reachwood counter, for the first time that Luchorion can remember, with items to buy, Tezz and Cole placed their respective choices on said counter.
“Both excellent choices my friends. Let us see.” Pulling out a hardcover ledger style book, Luchorion checks the prices of the bags.” The backpack will be 12 gold Tezz. and that satchel will be 8.” Luchorion states matter of fact. Tezz and Cole both produce the required gold.” Excellent.” Luchorion says,” You know, you could have haggled a bit. Neither of you ever do.” He says taking a puff of his pipe.” We respect you and your prices.” Tezz said, giving him a smile. “Or, could it be, that you two are a little bit shy and too embarrassed to haggle, being as you saw myself, au naturale?” Luchorion chided, before taking another drag from his pipe. He jokingly blew just a bit of smoke into Cole’s face. Cole waved it away, and said,” Yeah, probably. Anyways, we have a request from the mayor, about Dariel, so we should get going.”
“Dariel? The poor lad, he started working for me a little while ago. He’s a good man. I hope you find him. Good luck darlings.”Luchorion calls to them as Cole and Tezzeret leave his shop, slightly pouting about Dariel.
Making their way back to the Shade Lounge, Cole and Tezz meet Arrya, Ivo and Orsen as they are leaving.
“Yeah, we will let you and the mayor know if we find anything. First thing.” Arrya says to Orsen as they all step out. Orsen waves and departs, heading home for the day. “ There you two are. Did you find what you were looking for?” She notices Tezz and Cole’s return. “Yep, check them out.” Tezz says removing the backpack from his back, and Cole turns to show his satchel
Ivo, previously writing a few notes into his tablet, looks up. He becomes enthralled by the designs on Cole’s new bag, and touches it, feeling the stitching. “Wow, Cole, that’s really cool, and kinda soft too.” Ivo smiles a bit as he pulls his hand away, looking at Cole. “ Yeah, Luchorion sold it to me for 8 gold, so I figured, good price, and good quality. I like it. No regrets.” Cole said, positioning himself a little more so the bag could be seen in the light more.
“Okay guys. So, for today let’s just look around town and ask a few people if they know Dariel and if they know where he might go. Like, hiding places if he is in danger or if he feels like going out is a bad idea. Ivo and I will go speak to some of the guards who patrol around Dariel’s home. Cole and Tezz, maybe go see some of Orsen and Dariel’s friends.” On it, boss lady.” Tezz and Cole say, in almost perfect unison. They turn and bolt, knowing a slap would be swinging for the backs of their heads, if they didn’t leave fast enough. Arrya, standing there with a hand up, lowered it, and spoke.” Come on Ivo, let’s get going.
###
Around nightfall, The party of misfits, all trickle into the Shade Lounge, a few minutes between their arrivals. After everyone was seated at a booth next to the front door, Arrya spoke.
“Did anyone find anything? Like, anything?” She said, half expecting everyone to say the same thing.
“No” “No” “Not a damn thing” “Same here, sadly.” Arrya spoke last. “Why the fuck is finding an adult man this fucking hard? He couldn’t have just poofed into thin air. I mean he could, magic and all, but realistically would he?” Arrya began questioning that as a possibility. A man wearing leather armor with a hood chuckled. He had been eavesdropping, while drinking his ale. The chuckle got every party member’s attention and Cole was the first to stand, followed by Arrya. Ivo and Tezz stayed seated but turned a bit to listen.
“Sir. Do you know something about Dariel?” Arrya asked, raising an eyebrow at the man.
“Nope.” was the man’s reply. He gulped his ale, revealing a bit more of his face. His tusked mouth and blue-gray skin revealed him to be an orc.
“See, I don’t believe you.” Arrya stated bluntly. Ivo tugged her sleeve slightly, and shook his head. “ And neither does my Librarian friend.” The man froze. He began to sweat slightly. Had his voice betrayed him? Had the Librarian Mage cast a spell? He had a secret, and if he wanted to keep it, he knew he needed to get away from that Mage.
“I think I’m done here.” The man said, getting up from his seat. He stood a few inches higher than Arrya, and was easily double her weight. Arrya backed away slightly, as to not be shoved and stared daggers at the man. She got a good look at his face, as did Cole and Ivo. The orcish man put a few silver coins on the table, walked out of the tavern, silently, and into the street.
“Guys, we need to follow him now!” Arrya shouted, prompting Ivo and Tezz to leave the table. The party had its first real lead into Dariel’s disappearance, and they weren’t about to let him walk away.
###
“So, what do you think? Should I choose him? I bet it would make Malan mad. I could finally get a rise out of the guy. Maybe he would show some emotion for once.”
On a sofa made of clouds, sitting like a person, was a black goat, with three horns. It was munching on some popcorn like a theater goer, and on another cushion was a painting of The Mona Lisa, but she had a mustache, and sunglasses on.
“I don’t care, dude. I am hung over as fuck.” Mona Lisa snapped.” Do whatever, It’s not like I have any say anyways, We are LITERALLY the same person. Or god, or whatever I call myself. Can we just get back together already?This Fucking sucks.” the painting complained, holding her temples.
“Yeah fine..”the goat said, with its mouth full of popcorn. The painting melted and became a puddle of black ink, before squirming its way onto the goats lap, melting and disappearing. The rest of the realm was mostly cloud floors and far as anyone could ever see. In front of the goat was a glass tv stand with a flat screen tv. On the screen was a man doing a news interview, where the camera is too close to include the reporter.. The man was middle aged and wore a detective's uniform, like the ones in tv dramas. Beige Trench coat, blue suit, black tie. His brown hair was short and kind of messy.Police lights and cars can be seen, as well as Police Tape stretching across the back of the scene. A few cops in uniform walk towards the cars behind the detective. He was discussing the events with the lady reporter, who was not on screen.
"Yeah,so, we received a 911 call from inside the establishment. The Shade Lounge. He had apparently gotten spooked, after being questioned by the investigative team, and left the scene.I’m pretty confident he’s our guy. The Investigators are trying to find him now.” The cop says. In the background the streets of Fort Ymin can be seen, with the Shade Lounge in the foreground.
“Thank you, Detective Martin.” The lady reporter says as the police officer steps away, she steps into view. Long Brown hair compliments her olive skin, and bright brown eyes. She wore a bright red suit and skirt, with a white shirt underneath.
“And that was Detective Randy Martin, coming to you live as this investigation continues. Last seen on Wednesday morning by his brother, Dariel Orsen has been missing for almost 4 days. His mother and his boss both say that they were supposed to meet him that same day, but neither of them heard from-,” The woman touches her ear. And Looks stunned. “We are getting reports, the investigators are leaving now, let’s see if we can get a word in with them before they leave.”
The Loudest Actions party is stepping out into the streets of Ymin, and the reporter and her cameraman rush over towards them, trying to get a scoop. “Excuse me Sir. Sir, can we just have a quick word with you? What happened to Dariel? Do you have any more info you can share with the public at this time?” The lady reporter touches Ivo’s right arm, and Ivo whips his head, and sees nothing.
There is no reporter, no sound other than the city at night. No lights.No camera. No action.
Ivo gets a chill up his spine. He could have sworn someone just touched his arm. Startled, he turned back, and continued following Arrya, with Tezz and Cole right behind him. All of them recede into the night to hunt for Dariel, and the orcish man they met at the bar.