“So as far as you could tell the undead had not broken out of the forests yet,” Kendell asked, once the story reached the part where they had returned to Fort Coral.
“I don’t think so,” RC answered. “There is a huge swath of open plains between the West Woods and any copses of trees around Fort Coral. We covered that ground very quickly. Moving at an undead pace, it would take a lot more than one night to find sun cover. The dead seemed pretty mindless. I think each time the sun rises in the east in front of them, they would turn around and shuffle back to the shadows they came from. I guess with a cloudy morning they could make it but we don’t usually get morning rains this time of year.”
“That’s a pretty slim taffrail to lean on,” Myllo added. Having been around sea vessels for the last month Joe knew that reference was the railing that ran around the deck of a ship. “How many adventurers could we call on if we issued a full muster, Kenda?”
“At the moment it would be slim pickings. Pretty much everyone is out trying to wrap up jobs before the holiday. We’ve got us. Yuk is hammering kobolds past the Drenreebee farmstead. We could get him. Edror turned in a bounty a couple of days ago but I think he is still around. Isais was still moaning this morning about that gearbox you never finished fixing.”
“Not Isais. I’m not working with her again. Not after Shelty Falls.”
“Ok. That is about it though. At least until after Founders Day. Then we could get Naragash’s team for sure.”
The short man sighed. “All right. That will work. We use this time now to figure things out. Then we have Naragash’s Hellions clear the forest while we form a team to scout the valley. So we have eleven days to get our answers.” Myllo gave his beard a fierce scratch before continuing. “OK, Joe. Your turn. Why do you think the undead valley is Margen’s Mourn?”
“It just fits. It is a valley at the foot of Mount Serebuk. It clearly is filled with something dangerous that has been walled away until recently.”
Earcellwen mused next to Joe. “I always pictured Margen’s Mourn as someplace far away. But you’re right, the stories even mention Mount Serebuk. I’m not sure why I always thought he was lost in some far off land.”
“But Margen was lost in a cave,” Vexor interjected from a neighboring table, where he had the four rubbings laid out. “Tintze even says it in the Founders Day pageant. ‘In the dark depths, I lost my brother.’ We were always taught that meant Margen died underground.”
Joe thought for a second before suggesting, “The ziggurat. In the center of the valley is a huge ziggurat. There would be tunnels in or under the pyramid. Could that be your dark depths?”
“That tracks,” Myllo stated, packing the bowl of his pipe for the third time before putting it away under Kendell’s scowls. She had to keep reminding the artificer about the no smoking in the library rule. “The site clearly has a dissembling. It explains why we have never tried to settle into it or ever given it much thought.”
Earcellewen leaned close to Joe and whispered. “Dissemblings are glamors that misdirect people’s thoughts. We and the fey use them a lot.”
Joe nodded a thanks to her as the korrigan continued speaking. “This also fits Joe’s theory. A very old strong dissembling could be the very thing Tintze and Margen were investigating. So our first priority has to be sewing up the break in the wards around the valley. What have you figured out there, Vex.”
“Ok. I want to remind you all that wards are not my specialty. Cause I must be reading these wrong.” the cambion stated sweeping a hand over the four sheets. “While ‘yes’ these glyphs could form a ward, it would be the crappiest ward I have ever seen. These might keep out a swarm of bugs but nothing much more than that. There is no way that these would hold back a surge of undead, even if like you say there was a whole line … of … them. Wait a minute.” Vexor started swapping the pages around. In a distracted voice, he asked, “You said they circled the whole valley? The whole thing? One big circle?”
“Yeah,” Joe and Earcellwen answered in concert.
“Oh. Ok. Do you know what side of the menhir each of these were on?”
Joe looked over and saw the one he first etched. “The one under your right hand was facing us, so it was …”
“South,” The elf supplied. “The one above that is the one I did which was facing east, away from the valley.”
Joe moved closer and pointed. “So that one was facing into the valley and that one was facing north toward the next menhir in line.”
“Ok. Ok. Ok.” the mage stammered excitedly. “I think I know what this is then. It’s a Braided Ward. Really old-school fey magic. I mean Lord and Lady level magic. Maybe even Kings and Queens tiered fey shit. I’d have to see it for sure. Or better yet a real warder should. Still, I think this is right. Did you see anything cross where the ward was broken?”
Joe and Earcellwen looked at each other before they both shook their heads. “No,” the elf stated out loud. “I could feel the corruption flowing from roughly that area but we did not see anything actually cross over that spot. But keep in mind we were only watching for a few minutes.”
“I’m pretty sure you could have watched for hours and nothing would have passed the ward. Braided Wards are insanely difficult to make.” Vexor began to pace. He used his arm to emphasize his words as he moved. “The only reason anyone would craft one is for a ward they never wanted broken but were not maintaining. Something they could forge and forget about. The advantage they would gain from that level of complexity is that if one strand of the ward has a problem it doesn’t bring the whole barrier down. I think that fallen stone is enough to leak some of the corruption but most of the ward is still intact holding back whatever is in that valley.”
“Then the obvious question is what is in that valley?” Kendell spoke the words they all were thinking. “Obviously it has something necromantic about it but that does not narrow the problem at all. If the peril is not demonic then necromancy is usually the next likely option.”
“Ears, Joe, do you still have the quest?” Myloo asked. “The one that offered bonuses for finding out why the apes were displaced?”
Joe looked at his quest log and saw that the ape quest had changed.
[PLUG THE LEAK] (Rare)
You have discovered the reason the badboon troops moved from their territory was due to an influx of dark magic and restless dead. By bringing this information to Fort Coral, you have initiated the efforts to seal the break in the Glen Cumha wards. Will you aid the efforts to stem the corruption’s spread across the Hornlands?
+50 Reputation with the Adventurers Guild
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
Quest completion reward: 900 exp.
“Sort of,” Joe replied. “It’s now a new quest. One that uses the name ‘Glen Cumha’. That is the name the textbook originally called the valley Margen was lost in. So at least we know that for sure now.”
“Same here,” Earcellwen added. “I now have a rare quest called [Plug the Leak].”
“Good. That means we have the blessing of the One Above for this. You guys keep hitting the books. Look to see if there are any more references. I think with the dissembling on the valley it will be slim pickings but who knows, Joe found a clue in plain sight. Maybe there are more. I’m going to inform our illustrious leader, letting him know what you guys found.”
Myllo’s last words were spoken with a heavy note of dislike. As he turned to leave, Joe looked to Kendell and Earcellwen.
“What was behind that last bit?” he asked. They both started speaking at once but Kenda let the elf go first.
“Septimus Silver runs the Adventurer’s Guild in Fort Coral but he really doesn’t do anything for the guild. Being the leader of the guild gives him a seat on the city council which is really all he cares about. Every once in a while he will come out with some ridiculous directive or initiative that he’ll want the guild members to drop everything and focus on. The projects rarely ever go anywhere but we have to at least make the attempt to work on them.”
“Myllo has been number three in the guild forever,” Kendell added. “Most of us wish he would be number one. Number two is Edror, but Edror is an old-school hunter. He would never give that up for a desk. The thing is the council selects the leader of the guild, not the guild itself. As long as Septimus stays a vital member of the council we are stuck with a sub-par guild leader.”
“It’s not as though he hurts the guild,” Vexor added, stepping closer to the group. Joe noted the friendly half-fiend carefully stayed just a bit closer to the radiant candle. Joe gave the mage a grateful nod and received a wink back. “He just doesn’t do anything much to help the organization,” Vexor continued. “Other than make sure we are well-funded, he just seems to do his own thing and assumes the rest of the guild will take care of the actual business of dealing with threats and monsters.”
“Funding is important,” Joe offered.
“True but we really could use some new blood. The guild is half the size it was ten years ago because a lot of our equipment and materials are out of date. I mean Cazmaloq has bronze golems training newbies. The only thing we have are the constructs Myllo creates.”
“Cazmaloq?” Joe asked.
“Island nation east of here,” the horned caster offered. “Very wealthy and powerful.”
“We can bemoan our leadership but it will not change what we need to do today,” RC observed. “My father always says ‘A cub may weep but the bear forages on’. Let’s do as Myllo asked and see if we can find any more clues.”
----------------------------------------
After a few hours of searching, Joe found nothing more to help the group. They had not had much better luck either. The only fact they knew for sure is that Glen Cumha predated the founding of Fort Coral. After that last hour where they barely could find even a reference to the valley, the quartet decided to take a break.
They piled out of the library, with Vexor holding a cleverly crafted lantern Myllo had dropped off. The [Candle of Sacred Flame] was placed inside a smoked glass chimney. This still allowed it access to the air to scrub away the Vexor haze of brimstone but it cut the painfully bright light so that the four of them could stop blinding themselves every time they looked the wrong way by accident.
As they entered the lobby Joe was stunned to see Hah’roo standing at the desk talking with Tezeno Rhal. It was clear they had finished whatever business Joe’s friend had come for and they moved on to discussing local monsters. Joe heard Tezeno speak the word ‘Leoniathan’ which caused Hah’roo’s eyes to grow wide with excitement.
“I have always wanted to see one of the greater sea-lions,” she stated, waving a greeting to Joe. “I may have to sign on to one of those deep ocean ships.”
“They are true terrors, ma’am. Not many would choose to face one.”
“Then those that do not will not have the experience of meeting such a beast. I think that would be a shame,” she breathed. “Well, thank you for your time, Tezeno. I can see now where my wayward companion has chosen to hide himself. Among a pair of lovely young ladies and a rakish mage as well. Leaving me all on my lonesome with only the sea breezes for company.”
“Don’t even,” Joe jabbered back at her, trying not to laugh at her sorrowful performance. He knew she was trying to embarrass him, but after spending the last couple of hours with the three of them in easy camaraderie, Joe found he was immune to her attempt. “You ditched me for that sunny swath of sand the moment we arrived.”
“True. But I did think we would have reconnected by now. Or at least you would have introduced me to your new friends.”
“Sorry. Hah’roo, this is Kendell, Earcellwen, and Vexor. Guys, this is Hah’roo. She saved my life …”
“No you don’t!” the galeling huffed, sending a puff of air into Joe’s face to interrupt his words. “Mine was the life saved. I’ll not have you change that truth to whet your modesty.”
Before Joe could object, Kendell stepped up and proffered her hand, which the white-skinned ranger clasped. “Joe has told me so much about you. I was hoping we would meet soon.”
“It is very nice to meet you as well, Kendell. I have heard good things about this guild while in town and they often come with your name attached.”
“Why thank you. Have you been to Fort Coral before?” the trainer asked.
“Only briefly. I am looking forward to a more extended stay this time.”
Just as Kenda was about to speak again a painful gurgle erupted from Vexor’s gut. The devil’s tail actually curled into a corkscrew shape and the mage placed a red hand on his stomach. “Umm. OK, sorry about that. I have not eaten since a quick early breakfast. I gotta go find food. It was nice to meet you Hah’roo. You too Joe. We’ll talk.”
RC gripped the cambion’s well-tailored coat. “Mind if I join you? Some of us did not sleep in this morning,” giving Joe a pointed look.
“You too,” Joe countered. “Why am I suddenly the butt of the jokes.”
“Because you make it easy,” the dancer supplied. “If you are done might we not also seek out a bite to eat and talk? Unless you have plans for this afternoon?”
“I was going to look for a place to stay. The Glass is nice but I think I’d like something more permanent.”
“Funnily enough I had come to that conclusion as well. With the festivities on the horizon, it would be best to find less transient quarters. Would you mind company?”
“Not at all,” Joe exclaimed. Looking at boardinghouses with Hah’roo sounded like a great deal more fun than just doing it alone. Joe knew he was likely to just take the first place he found if he was on his own. With Hah’roo’s discerning mind there as well, he was far more likely to find something special.
“What about you Kendell? You know the city better than both of us. Would you care to join us?” the wind-walker breathed.
Kenda looked obviously torn. “Really would but I have to work today.” She dropped her voice before adding, “Tezeno is already going to burst a barrel about how much I have not gotten done yet. But at least I’ll have Myllo’s orders to cover that time. If I sneak out now I’ll never hear the end of it.”
“Very well then. I will take this distraction off your hands and send him back to you this evening with where to find us.”
“Us?” Joe asked confused.
“No Joe. We are not to share accommodations. But I think it is quite likely that we might find a place we both like and so will share a building.”
“That makes way more sense,” he replied.
Kenda waved once more as Joe and Hah’roo left. She looked like she would much rather join them than work on whatever tasks she had waiting for her. Joe felt sorry that Kendell was stuck at her job but he was also excited to go find himself a place of his own in this seaside city he was becoming very attached to.