The brisk breeze of the mid-morning carried the chill air like a sharp knife to the lungs of the cyclops, emerging finally from the underground lair of the yeti. He shielded his singular electric-blue eye from the bright glare of daylight, the reflecting ice and snow patches that blanketed the area this high up in the mountain, a stark contrast to the time spent below ground.
With the frozen marble steps leading out of the ruined building being the last obstacle to freedom, Grugg was careful with his footing; he did, after all, have worse depth perception than most. The sleet from the day earlier had just left a crust of ice across the patches that weren’t already covered in snow. He would hope that the morning sun would help to melt some of it, else their descent back to his cave could be slightly more treacherous.
“So, uh, what was that?” he hobbled across the open area, using Thud as a walking stick for stability.
[Absolutely no idea. Horrifying. I can’t even imagine the scale of the creature; it would tower over even the tallest of the known giant kind.]
“Made Grugg look tiny, didn’t like that.”
[Probably best we pretend we never saw that. Whatever drove Hakran to try to dig it out can’t have been good; we wouldn’t want to fall to the same madness.]
That seemed like a good plan. There was no telling what digging the giant skull out of the rock would do. Even if there was nothing sinister or magical about it, it would no doubt get the attention of all manner of people. On the other hand, it was probably no coincidence that it was buried so deep in a mountain, and Grugg was happy enough for it to stay there and not cause a commotion where he lived.
As they left the alcove in the mountain’s peak where the temple had been located, the full extent of the day could now be observed. The clouds sped along the skyline, both overcast grays and wispy white intermixed as the cold fall wind swept them over towards the horizon. The midsection of the mountain was blanketed by a light mist, obscuring some of their descent, back to the cave down below. With a heavy sigh, the cyclops began making his way through the harsh landscape.
“So, Bart, is time you told me about important investigation.” It had been fun enough beating up a few yeti and getting an upgrade for Thud, but if he was going to be almost dying, then he should know what the greater purpose was. Plus, having the wizard talk while climbing down the mountain would keep his mind off how much his body still ached.
[You are correct, and you have been quite a good sport in going along with my plans despite the lack of detail. I was a bit brash and combative when we first… met. But I will tell you the story so far.]
[About a month ago, my brother turned up dead in his study. He was a wizard like me, and much to my displeasure, very talented in the arcane arts. Despite being younger than I by five years, even as a child, he quickly surpassed me. Primarily focusing on fire and ice elemental spells, he soon found himself in a world of attention - colleges wanting his attendance, distant towns and cities requesting his aid or council, and perhaps most enviable of all: adventuring parties on quests.]
“Oh, brother could make fireballs.”
[That he could, he had mastery of many of the commonly known fire spells; firebolt, fireball, firewall, and even had some he developed on his own. It’s a bit technical, so I won’t bore you with too much detail, but he had a variation of the Galian Hellchain that was simply a marvel in terms of technical ability and ingenuity. Over the years, he had developed quite the following and amassed plenty of wealth, but an adventuring injury about three years ago set him back. He decided to throw in the towel on the dangerous stuff and have a partial retirement. But, of course, a true wizard never stops wanting to learn or just let go of their power, so he still did the odd task and spent most of his time in his study learning and practising.]
[Just to prove that fate shines a wry smile down upon us, it was around this time too, that I had finally gotten tired of the academic life and started to go out on my own travels, having spent so much time in my brother’s shadow. Nothing major, but I have gone from town to town helping with my enchantments and wards as best I could. It felt good to properly put into practice all those things I had spent my life learning. Until last month, when I received a message stating that my brother had died in a supposed accident. A spell attempt gone awry, overpowering and undoing him.]
“But Hat thinks, probably not accident.”
[Exactly. In fact, I am sure that it is something more sinister. I was only briefly allowed into his study after the fact, and there was something about the residual magical energy there that didn’t sit right. Generally speaking, magic has a slight aura, a signature energy, if you will. Even particularly astute adventuring types can learn to sense if an item has magical properties, given enough experience. And those with a more keen knowledge of this arcane nature, usually spellcasters themselves, can tell the nature or manner of this energy. The spells that lingered in my brother’s study did not ‘feel’ the same way as I had known from my years growing up with him.]
“Sounds like some good… evidence?” Grugg enquired, using the word he had recently learned whilst trying not to slide down a precarious embankment.
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[Unfortunately, it is not something I can tangibly prove - I can’t show anyone how it feels different. But it is certainly good enough cause for me to want to investigate further and find out what really happened. I was meant to be meeting his study hand in the town, but my curiosity got the better of me, and after reading about the Moonchaser Orb in a book at the library there, I just had to have it. Magical items always seemed like the most fun part of adventuring, so now I have my first one. We do, I mean.]
Grugg stopped for a minute to catch his breath and gave Thud a look over. He felt bad that the Orb now embedded in it had been on the end of his rather rough treatment; had he known it had a bit of sentimental value to the wizard, he would have just carried it in his pouch. It did make Thud look much cooler, though. In a way, it was like the club was his own magical weapon too now.
“Do you think there are more books with places to get more items?”
[There must be, maybe not in the mountain. But the world is full of different artefacts, some lost and ancient, some newer and more common.]
“Grugg thinks, and Thud does too, that if there are any adventures or magic items to find when doing investigation of the murder-crime, be good idea to find them.” He continued setting off, the comfort of his own bed giving him the energy to proceed.
[I’d like that. My brother’s abode is quite far south from here actually, the city of Haustone. It took a good week to track his former study hand all this way; that amount of relocation is undoubtedly worth questioning too. But once we are traveling on the road once more, there may indeed be a fair chance of us getting into some adventures.]
“Questions sounds fun, Grugg looking forward to solving crimes, but am uhh...” Grugg faltered for the right Common word; Giant didn’t really have one for anxiousness. “Thinking about being around town people makes Grugg stomach unhappy.”
[You know, Grugg, I used to be the same way. But now we are in this together; we can help each other where the other lacks.]
“Hat not so bad for being a human. And a hat.” The cyclops reached up with a meaty fist and gently patted the pointed peak of the hat.
[Er, thanks. You have been more than cordial with me, given that I somewhat possessed you. And I have roped you into my family drama, almost getting you killed. All for some magical trinket.]
“Thud, what can orb see?” Grugg waited with club outstretched, the white-blue flash briefly filling his vision and the gentle hum of the Orb in its imperfect metal housing warming his hand. A brief pause as they surveyed the surroundings, mostly barren rocks and graveled slopes, with the odd windswept tree or hardy bush dug into any liveable purchase they could. “Huh, nothing interesting here-”.
[Down there, slightly to your right -no, the other right. Towards the floor more.]
A small glowing outline could be barely seen off one of these slopes, amongst a cluster of gray rocks. Almost camouflaged against the drab coloration of its surroundings. It was small too, but no less enticing despite the fact.
The cyclops trudged down the hill, careful not to slip off the graveled part of the slope. Loose stones bounced and cascaded away from his heavy footsteps, rolling until they lost momentum or found an outcropping to fall off. He made it to the group of rocks supposedly hiding the potential treasure just as the outline started fading away. Ah well, it shouldn’t be too hard to find now, just had to move these rocks. Grunting, he lifted the first and threw it to the side, where it continued down the angled surface. A second one rolled to the side - and then the third and their quarry was located.
[Oh, what is that?]
“Looks like pouch.” He picked up the leathery brown object between two stubby fingers; it was small, like a coin pouch. Some coins would be handy if they were heading into civilisation soon. It had a drawstring which he carefully pried open to take a look at the insides, sitting down on the rocks as he did so. There was a single object inside, but it did not have the gleam of one of the types of coin, especially gold ones. The cyclops tipped it out onto his hand. It was a turquoise gemstone with a rune engraved and filled in white on the flat face, and a faceted cut on the back. “What’s this, doesn’t look tasty”.
[Interesting, that appears to be a Runic Stone. They are used for certain types of spell-casting. I wonder what it was doing all the way up here, discarded or lost.]
Grugg held it up to his eye so that both he and the wizard could get a better look at it. The rune on the stone looked like a little house with a circle in the middle.
[I only have a rough understanding of the use of Runes, and they do not originate from this part of the world, so aren’t as commonly seen.]
“Think Hat could learn rune spell?”
[Perhaps… It would be helpful if we could find a Runesmith along our travels; for now, it is best to keep it safe.]
Grugg nodded, slipped the rune back into the little pouch, and then slid the pouch behind the fabric band of the wizard hat. It makes sense for the wizard to look after it. Maybe the person who misplaced it had something to do with the yeti unease. But, no, he shouldn’t read too much into it. Bart had told him simple reasons are usually the most likely. It had just been dropped by someone visiting the mountain for some reason, and it would be difficult to find it had it been lost here. He trudged off back to his cave, trying to force the further questions out of his mind.
It kept him busy enough that it didn’t take him long before he realized that he had made it back home. The familiar cave system in the rocky outreach, the increase in viable greenery and plant life further down the mountain, and the air felt much more comfortable, not so thin and chill. The mist had mostly cleared now, and he had an almost clear view down to the bottom of the valley where the town lay.
Smiling to himself as he entered his rocky home, he would worry about that after a nice long rest. Maybe a bath too; he deserved one with the amount of dried sweat, crusted blood, and general grime he had accumulated on his recent journey. Oh, and he definitely needed more to eat.
[Grugg, there is someone here.]
The cyclops stopped in his tracks and watched as a figure enshrouded in darkness got up from his bed.