Ben was enjoying a dream in which two lovely women had stolen his hat and were tossing it back and forth as he chased them. Sadly, the dream ended with the women leaving, his hat being worn by both of them. Then he was alone in a meadow with just an amused Beatrice rolling her eyes at him.

He awoke to the sound of voices and the smell of food.

The camp was a beehive of activity. The destroyed wagons were fueling a cooking fire, the rest of the parts piled off to the side of the road. Supplies were being split into makeshift packs that each paladin could carry on foot. The only animals left were two of the draft horses, now heavily laden, Mudfoot and Sir Gabriel's warhorse.

Harmony noticed he was awake and tossed him a loaf of flatbread that had been cooking on a rock next to the fire. "Eat up, sleepy-head, almost time to move out. We decided that anyone crazy enough to try and distract a wolf by riding it needed some extra rest time. "

Ben was amazed he had slept that long. Considering each hour counted as three and the sun's position, he had just slept for the equivalent of 15 hours. Then again, he'd exhausted his mana and stamina and been down much of his health. All considered, he was lucky to be waking up here and not in Sedgewick with death penalties.

Diego and a knight joined him and Harmony around the fire. The knight offered his hand. "We didn't have time for greetings last night. I am Sir Gabriel Ironheart of the Order of Paladins of the Light. Good to make your acquaintance, Courier Benjamin. That was quite an entrance last night, I must say."

Ben took the proffered hand. "I never so well understood the phrase 'He must needs go that the devil drives.' until this day. "

Gabriel agreed. "And that certainly was a devil that we faced. That spirit has been around for a long time but never this powerful."

"Yes, if that was the same damned wolf my friends and I killed near Sedgewick, he's gotten much worse. He was using zombie bunnies to attack us. I think Ozzy killed him with a caber." Ben finished his bread and immediately grabbed another loaf. Seeing his hunger, Diego reached into his pocket for a chunk of cheese wrapped in cloth and handed it to him. Then, the inquisitor raised an eyebrow as he thought about what Ben had just said. "A... caber? Isn't that a large log? I saw crazy drunken men competing to throw them a few feet once at a festival. Can someone actually use them as a weapon?"

Ben nodded his thanks for the cheese, which followed the second loaf of bread into his belly. "Well, Ozzy can. He's large and terrifyingly strong. I once watched him wrestle with a daemon while the building burned around them. Any more loaves of bread? Ah, there's one. Excuse me." Ben grabbed the last loaf of bread from across the fire, to the disappointment of a slower-moving Paladin. Seeing the young man's sad face, Ben divided the loaf and tossed him half.

Diego turned to Gabriel, shaking his head and smiling. "Only a Franklin could speak of wrestling Daemons like that in such a casual way. If there was any doubt about what family he was part of, that settles the matter."

Harmony agreed. "Yes, we certainly lay claim to him. But now that he is up and we are nearly ready to take our leaves, I want to investigate this golden chest."

"Right, so what is the plan besides looting interesting chests?" Ben had actually forgotten about that part of the message from last night. He'd not been thinking well after the beast went down.

Gabriel politely glanced at Diego and Harmony before speaking. "I will be leading the Order to the village of Thunderhead to resupply and then report to one of our nearby monasteries. As we lack mounts, this will be a slow trek. But good for all of us. As Saint Jubal reminds us in his writings, 'He who relies too much upon four legs will soon lose the usefulness of his own.' Some wisdom there that all of us will ponder as we march along this road."

"I have offered my mount to Courier Harmony, but she insists she will reach the capital quicker by running until she can requisition another mount at a Courier station. So, my mount will go to Inquisitor Diego. It will aid him on his journey to Rowan Keep. I believe you will be heading that way as well. I have dispatches for the keep and would like you to carry them."

Ben sighed inwardly. He'd really wanted more time with Harmony. Partly to gain more information...and partly just to spend time with her. But, of course, she had her own Courier duties. "Glad to help. And it will be nice to have a companion on the ride back." And Ben thought, hopefully, Diego could answer his questions about what the hell went on last night.

"Then let us load up, and pay a visit to a treasure chest, and be on our way." Harmony began walking into the woods. The eager junior paladins followed. It had been torturing for the players, but they had held off opening the chest after finding it.

Soon, amid much rejoicing and comparing of items, the group of warriors was much better outfitted. Each received an item that varied from enchanted swords or shields, to sparkling breast plates or other armor pieces. Both Reeves and Gabriel were sporting fine wolf fur cloaks. Harmony and Ben went last.

"Perhaps, Benjamin, you might get another hat? It's difficult to brag about who has the best hat with an unarmed opponent." She opened the chest and received a set of shiny silver vambraces of an unusual style. Ben could see that the left-hand one had three ridges running its length and was rune inscribed. Harmony identified it and shared it to the sounds of appreciation.

[Spirit Slaying Vambraces

Mitigation: 6

Enchantments: Light, Increased Protection +3, Long Shot, Mana Driven

Forged during the War of the Wolf by the Grandmaster Smith Vulgar Silverhand. These arm pieces provide extra protection and incorporate a multi-shot light crossbow. Runes to increase the range have been inscribed, as well as runes to enable recocking by using mana.]

The junior brothers were particularly impressed.

"Oh, bloody hell! And I thought my Shield +2 was awesome."

"It is awesome, that's just more awesome. That's the best arm slot I think anyone has seen in the game."

"Holy shit, but she barely fought. Didn’t she?"

"Naw, she'd already been in a fight with the boss. Wounded him in the face, and then she put another in his eye at the camp."

Harmony unstrapped her old vambraces and wrist crossbow and donned the new ones. "Light as a feather, and oh so pretty." Turning, she looked up at a tree before firing. A bolt disappeared into the greenery, and a bird the size of a chicken fell to the ground. "There, young ones, I will provide you dinner on your long hike." She retrieved her bolt and tossed the bird to Sundiver, who shrugged and began plucking it. Food was in short supply and he needed the experience for his Cooking skill.

She considered for a second; then, she handed her old gear to Ben. "It seems I am giving you hand-me-downs already, little cousin. This has been in the family for many generations. Grandmother used it for years and got it from her mother before her. Where GreatGran got it, she never would say but insisted it was an heirloom of the house. I hope you make good use of it." She strapped the weapon onto Ben's arm. Then kissed him on his cheek. "Now, let’s see what you get."

Ben opened the chest. It glowed with golden light before disappearing and leaving an object behind. It was a large and heavy book. Ben picked it up and estimated it weighed at least 20 lbs.! Several people gathered around to look at it. At first glance, besides being large, it didn't look like much. It was bound in a course leather that was scuffed and stained. The edges of the pages were rough cut and not trimmed to match. Part of the weight was the iron reinforcements at each corner and along the spine. The book was dusty, and the iron coated in rust. Two heavy leather straps with rusty iron locks held the book shut.

A Catalog of common Beetles, Chiggers, Cutworms, and Flies found in the Southern Provinces

Compiled and assembled with copious illustrations by Professor Damien Franklin

"Well," said Ben, "obviously a long-lost family heirloom of some sort?" He turned to ask Harmony about the book, but she was bent over and trying not to laugh.

"I'm sorry, Benjamin, I should not laugh, but to have one of those turn up pretending to be a treasure is just too much."

Diego looked at the book and exclaimed. "One of those? Do you mean to say there are more of these haunting libraries somewhere?"

"Dozens," Harmony said between giggles, "Great Uncle Damien's propensity to write about his beloved bugs was only matched by how horrible a writer he was. The great joke is that while he locked all of his personal journals to keep them secret, the family is of the opinion the locks were there to protect anyone from reading them."

"Most are kept in a musty basement at Franklin House, but they tend to go missing and follow people home. Family members go to great lengths to try to return them or gift them to libraries. My father had one on bedbugs that kept showing up in his room. He eventually chained it down in the basement and put a Hermetic Circle around it. It seemed to work until his wedding when it showed up under the covers of his marriage bed. He gave up and just gave it a shelf to itself in his library."

One of the junior paladins asked, "Is it a magic book, perhaps?"

Ben turned it over and looked at the book from many angles. "No, I can't detect a bit of magic in the book."

He shrugged. "How can one complain about being welcomed to the family by the gift of such an heirloom?" He laughed and stored the thing in his courier's ring. It took a surprising amount of effort to do so.

Gabriel turned to the paladins, young and old. "Alright, you’ll have time during the long walk to the monastery to admire each other's new gear; let’s get moving."

Diego followed them out of the glade. "I'll await you at the camp, Benjamin. I need some time to get that hayburner saddled, and I assume you two have things to talk about."

Harmony looked at Ben and smiled. "Oh, and don't we have so much we could talk about, along with other enjoyable ways to get to know one another? But no time. I have to get to the capital, and you have to escort the inquisitor to the keep. I wish we had days to talk...and possibly not talk. You need to come to Franklin House when you can. There will be questions you need to ask, and questions asked of you. I will let the family know you have been found. Come when you can."

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Ben took her hands. "I'll come. If only to see you again. But are we in such a hurry that you don't have a few minutes for a poor hatless cousin?"

Harmony moved closer to him. "I suppose the Emperor can wait another half hour for his mail."

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Diego said nothing as the two couriers showed up sometime later, arm in arm. Harmony said goodbye and ran off down the road at a pace that would put a racehorse to shame. Ben watched her go until she disappeared around a bend. Then he leaped into the saddle and started down the road leading them to Rowan Keep.

Within half an hour, they passed the marching paladins, waved, and moved on. When they reached the village of Thunderhead, Diego claimed that his ancient bones needed a meal, a bath, and a proper bed for the night. There were several inns, and Diego chose the best of them. When Ben went to open his purse, Diego waved him to stop. "If not for me, you'd race through the night and be home in half the time. Since I'm the one delaying you, it's only fair that I pay."

Ben saw that the horses were well cared for by the grooms and joined Diego inside. The Inquisitor waved for him to follow him up the stairs. "I took the liberty of getting us a suite with two sleeping rooms. They will bring up water for baths, and dinner will be laid out in the suite's common room. Join me at your leisure."

Ben had barely entered his room when a large elderly woman, most likely the innkeeper or his wife, invaded the suite. She directed several young men and women to place two large copper tubs and fill them with bucket after bucket of hot water. Towels and robes were also laid out.

"Dinner will be put on the table in half an hour, gentlemen. I have a roasted duck for you, along with a joint of lamb, an assortment of vegetables and fruit, and, of course, plenty of bread and wine. I'll bring more wine and some cheese later. Yell down in the morning, and we'll get breakfast for you, or come to the common room."

The bath was sorely needed and left Ben feeling much better. Dinner with the Inquisitor was interesting, not least because Ben wasn't quite sure what an Inquisitor was. Diego made a bit of small talk, asking Ben about his travels and hometown. Ben answered as he could and noticed that Diego always took the topic back to Sedgewick and the people there. When the cheese and extra bottle of wine showed up, Ben took it as a sign that small talk was over.

He had thought a lot about what to tell Diego. He didn't really have a reason for keeping anything about ACME or Sedgewick a secret. Diego had saved Harmony's life, which counted for a lot to Ben. Diego had believed in him after knowing him for a couple of minutes. Ben's gut told him to trust Diego in return.

“How about this, Diego? Why don't you tell me just what an Inquisitor is and what you do? Then I'll answer all the questions you want about Sedgewick?"

Diego refreshed their wine glasses. "Good, I'm terrible at small talk when I'm interested in something. I get too eager."

"What is an Inquisitor? It's whatever the Emperor needs at the moment. If he needs information on a nobleman, I find it. If something mysterious is happening in a small town, then I wander over, find out the story, and summon what aid is needed. Most of it is terribly mundane and boring. But some of the jobs are dark and terrifying, and I wish I had never become an Inquisitor. But there are always more jobs to do than there are inquisitors, so I keep going."

"Currently, I was sent to investigate the possibility of strange occurrences in the small town of Sedgewick. I was accompanied by that gaggle of holy warriors. Overkill, I thought at the time. Imagine my surprise when we ran into trouble and were nearly all killed before even arriving. And now here I am with the man who saved us by conjuring up a Storm of Renewal and possibly even a divine being."

"And you come from Sedgewick. I'm used to finding Couriers involved in the strangest of places. The gods seem to tangle you into every story and quest they can. And, of course, two showing up is explained by using a spell to summon any and all Couriers. But two from the House of Franklin? The game is well afoot. I only wish I knew what game was being played."

Ben pondered what to say and then simply went with the truth. "You are aware of people that have recently come to this world, and sometimes journey back and forth to another?"

"Aye. Sometimes known as players, visitors, wanderers, or transients. I think everyone is aware of you, although the average person quickly forgets again. Some will join this world and do great things; some will simply vacation here and leave. A few will become villains we must put down time and time again. It's not the first time that we have seen an influx of new souls, but I must say that the number is much higher than in times past. I take it that you are one of them?"

"Yes, I am. One of nearly a hundred now in Sedgewick. Not really the adventurous types. Most of us work at mundane tasks, laboring for our overlords Billy and Vernon. We will be compensated at the end of our service in several years with wealth in the other world."

Diego swirled his wine in his glass. "Mundane tasks? Like wrestling Daemons in burning buildings? Facing Chartok the Wolf and killing him? Becoming an heir to the House of Franklin?"

"Ah, well, when you say it like that it does sound odd." Ben poured another glass of wine. "How about I start at the beginning and tell you everything because I expect you to figure it out on your own anyway, and I think we're on the same side, more or less?"

Diego's grin was large. "Oh, I like that idea. It's so refreshing to deal with an honest man willing to entertain an old Inquisitor. But indulge me in one question first: Do you know anything of some old ruins in the area of the town?"

"You mean Gadobhra? The old city locked behind the runestones? Yep. Billy and Vern are trying to get inside as we speak. They want to make it their regional headquarters."

Diego finished his wine in one large gulp and carefully set the glass down with a shaking hand. "I take it back, Benjamin. It is terrifying to talk to an honest man. Please start at the beginning, and I shall be patient.”

Ben poured himself more wine; he thought he was going to need it. "So, my three best friends and I were soon to be out of a job..."

----------------------------------------

Eventually, Ben ran out of stories, and Diego ran out of questions—at least until the next day. They each retired to their rooms.

Diego had run the gamut of emotions from amusement to terror as Ben spoke. This was going to take some time to sort out. Too many moving parts. But at least he felt better about his main concern: Gadobhra was still sealed. Siege weapons and pickaxes would not unseal the wards around the city. These men from ACME would be told that and even if they didn't believe, they'd tire of sending their minions to their deaths and find other ways to put coins in their pockets. Lord knows the world had no lack of secrets to explore. He went to bed hopeful and curious about what the future would bring.

----------------------------------------

Ben went to bed tired. He still wasn't recovered from the last few days events and being questioned for a couple of hours by the old inquisitor, even friendly questioning, was exhausting. Still, he couldn't go to bed without spending some time looking at the notifications from the fight and afterward. He'd deliberately waited until he was alone and could focus on the notifications. Just thinking of them brought them tumbling forth.

[A teacher has helped you to invoke the healing skill Minor Lay Hands. Practice with this skill may allow you to learn it and use it without aid.]

[Or you could just cast it again on your own and learn the skill today! Such a quick learner.

Congratulations! You have learned the skill Lay Hands, healed your ally, and cleaned her wounds of dark magics.]

[You have asked for the aid of a Divine Being, and against all odds, the Maid of Orleans has heard your plea. She will ask a price of you in the future.

Her aid brings the miracle of the Rain of Renewal. The blessed waters will drive away antagonistic magics in the area, heal and invigorate your allies, and weaken undead and Daemons caught in the storm's area of effect.}

[You have received 10 Enhancement Points for successfully invoking a Divine Being. But remember, actions have consequences.]

[You have been given the quest: Slay Chartok the Eternal Wolf and all of his minions.

The Maid of Orleans charges you with destroying the evil beasts that prey upon the weak and attack their protectors. They are foul in her sight and she wishes them removed and the land cleansed.

[Horseback riding and driving a cart wasn't enough? Who rides a wolf? (Ok, yes, that is pretty cool.)

You have learned the skill: Wolfback Riding. This is a tertiary skill governed by your agility. Good luck practicing it.]

[You and your allies have slain Chartok the Eternal Wolf, a Level 10 Elite Boss.

You have completed the quest given to you by the Maid of Orleans.

A golden chest has appeared with gifts for each person completing the quest.

You have received 8 Enhancement Points for helping to kill Chartok the Eternal Wolf.]

[The Maid of Orleans heard your call and remembers your valiant service to her long ago. While her story ended as when she was burned at the stake, yours went on. Now, reborn, you meet again. She calls you to her service and grants you the gift of Phoenix Fire.

You have agreed to accept the magical Aspect: Flames of the Phoenix, a complex Aspect that comes from the Aspect of Fire and the Aspect of Healing.

You have gained +3 RAD, the governing stat of your new aspect.

You know the spell: Lay Hands.

You know the spell: Flaming Brand.

Congratulations on accomplishing a Great Deed. You have qualified for the second Tier and may advance when ready and have accumulated enough experience and Enhancements.]

Ben suddenly had a lot more questions for Diego as they traveled. He was pretty sure that ACME didn't mean for any of its workers to get past Tier 1. This was a huge decision and not one to make until he knew more. Entering the next tier might mean new skill options. He'd save his enhancement points for now. He needed to know more about how magic worked and decide on his best course.

Undressing, he stripped off the wrist cross-bow Harmony had given to him. It was well-worn but had been given good care. He was quite familiar with this style of weapon. As he placed it on the table, something caught his eye.

On the back side of the weapon, a drawing of a rooster had been inscribed on the metal, and the letters 'BF3rd.'