Artifact lanterns screwed into the dark weathered wooden walls of Wishful Wanderers illuminated the entire space. Adventuring parties gathered at each table, huddled over a treasure map or a round of drinks. Opposite the clerk desk manned by a single well-dressed dwarf was a bounty board job and faces pinned into it—several scraps of paper cluttered the ground around it from torn postings.
The dwarf cocked his head slightly. “Sorry, could you repeat that?”
“No problem, Simon my friend,” Riven said, leaning over the desk with one arm resting on it. “I am part of an elite, up-and-coming adventuring group known as The Hangmen. We were wondering if you had heard any strange news recently, particularly about anything to do with alchemy.
“Also, we were curious if you had any place we could stay for a few nights. Now at this point, you asked for our names, but I won’t make you ask again. For the listing you can put down: Riven, Cili, Galina, Draxl, Kai, Halvor, and Ace.”
“I meant repeat just the last name you said, not the whole thing,” Simon said.
Riven shrugged. “Eh, it works out anyway.”
“I suppose it does. Anyhow, normally fitting you all into one room wouldn’t be possible, but fortunately the suite room opened up very recently which should be able to accommodate seven people, though it might be a tight fit. There’s also only two beds.”
“I don’t mind sleeping on the floor!” Cili exclaimed from the other side of the room.
“Some of us do,” Riven said. “You got sleeping bags?”
“You can buy from a shop just down the street.”
“Then we’ll take it. How much do I owe you?”
“You wanna pay per night or for the week?” Simon asked
“Let’s go per night.”
“Since it just cleared up I’ll give you a good deal, two gold a night.”
“Honestly, not bad for a suite.” Riven reached into her coin purse and placed two gold pieces on the counter.
“Thank you very much.” Simon scooped the gold coins into his hands. “You were asking if there were any alchemy-related incidents recently is that right?”
“Or anything to do with thieving as well.”
“Sorry, nothing like that I’ve heard of,” Simon said. “Only interesting thing that happened had to do with that thing over there.”
Simon pointed to a large eagle’s head the size of a lion’s head mounted on the wall. Its feathers were a dark purple, and plumed out like a lion’s mane; its beak was jet black.
Cili appeared to be in a staring contest with head.
“Shadow griffin?” Riven asked.
“That’s right,” Simon said. “Thing was terrorizing old Brixton’s land just out in the forest. Tore up all his crops. Messed his farm up so bad nothing’s growing anymore. Feel bad for the old man. We tried to ignore it, but it ended up attacking people and everyone got worried about it entering the city. Heard it put up one hell of a fight before it was taken out.”
“That’s not right!” Cili shouted.
“What did she say?” Simon asked.
Galina, who was standing next to Cili, knelt and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Cili, why don’t we go up to them instead of shouting?”
“Why?” Cili asked.
Galina turned to see everyone in Wishful Wanderers staring at her and Cili. “We don’t want to disturb other people.”
“That’s their fucking problem, not mine.”
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“Do you want me to make it your problem?” Galina asked.
“No,” Cili said, the confrontational tone in her voice vanishing instantly.
“What was that you said?” Simon asked again, as Cili and Galina got closer to the desk.
“Well you said the shadow griffin put up a fight,” Cili said.
“That’s right. Its feathers are purple, not white; it only makes them purple when it’s hostile,” Simon explained.
“Actually, that’s not how that works. Shadow griffins turn their feathers purple when they attack, but also when they want to scare a creature away. The real way to tell the difference is through their eyes.
“If the eyes are red, then it was attacking, if they aren’t then it's just trying to scare off a threat. Look at the eyes, they aren’t red, so it didn’t put up a fight. It was probably just scared when it was killed.”
“It could’ve just got scared at the end after realizing it was going to die, and it’s fighting spirit was gone,” Simon said..
“Oh, maybe! I’ve never heard of that before, but maybe!”
“Cili you mentioned these creatures aren’t very easy to kill, and also aren’t native to Chapter 7. Do you know how this shadow griffin got here, and what party managed to take it out?” Galina asked.
“Can’t say I know how it got here, but I can say who took it out, and it wasn’t a group.”
“An individual did this?” Galina asked.
“That’s right. Artemis of Ambition herself.”
“The Ambition?!” Cili's eyes sparkled with excitement.
“The Ambition,” Simon said. “She stopped by just a few days back, and was willing to help out.”
“Sorry, the name rings a bell, but can you remind me just who Ambition is exactly?” Galina asked.
“Only the most famous adventuring party in all of Fable!” Cili said. “They’re crazy powerful, but what really makes them special is the insane adventures they go on! Some adventurers can be super nasty. Ambition is full of heroes, though.”
A stifled laugh burst out from Riven’s mouth. “Sorry, sorry. You just said that a member of Ambition defeated this shadow griffin?”
“I know it sounds hilarious, but it’s true,” Simon said.
“Cili you mentioned that the shadow griffin must not have fought because of its eye color?” Riven asked.
“Yeah, but I must’ve been wrong. Artemis is like the ranger. She knows way more than I do, so it was probably that she snuck up on it before it even could sense her,” Cili said. “But then it’s feathers wouldn’t have been purple. Maybe an illusion?”
“This tracks so perfectly,” Riven said, repeatedly trying and failing to wipe the smile from her face.
“I take it, you know this group?” Galina asked.
“I’ve been following them for a while, yeah,” Riven said, her smile finally vanishing.
“There’s no way you’re as big of a fan as me,” Cili said. “Willow is their biggest fan, and she told me everything about them, which makes me their second biggest fan. I know about all their adventures. They stole the demon king’s crown; they killed a lich that was controlling the souls of everyone in a town; they vanquished a hundred-headed hydra. I know all their adventures.”
“Guess I got a lot of homework to do,” Riven said. “Any idea where Artemis fought this shadow griffin?”
“I can point it out on a map if you’ve got one.”
Riven produced the map Cally had given them before they left. Simon picked up the quill resting in an inkpot next to him and a patch of land in the forest.
“Should be somewhere around there.”
Riven rolled up the map. “Thanks.”
“I believe that’s all for us. We’ll see you again tonight,” Galina said.
Riven, Cili, and Galina all left Wishful Wanderers waving goodbye to Simon. Once the door shut behind them, Riven spoke up. “Alright let’s go check this out.”
“Shouldn’t we look for Elric?” Galina asked. “I don’t see how this is tied to him.”
“Okay, so here’s what I was thinking. Cili, could there be normal griffins in this forest?” Riven asked.
“Uh, I guess, yeah. Might be unlikely, but migratory paths could put them here for a little bit. Definitely not shadow griffins though.”
“Okay, hear me out, Elric can perform alchemy on living things. What if the reason there’s a shadow griffin all the way out here is that Elric used alchemy to transform a normal griffin into a shadow griffin?”
“Isn’t that a bit of a leap in logic?” Galina said. “Are you sure this is the right move?”
“Well, what else are we gonna do?” Riven asked. “I mean Simon said this shadow griffin appeared around the time we think Elric showed up. Maybe he just wanted to scratch the old alchemy itch?”
“I guess we can check it out. No harm done,” Galina said.
“Oh my god, are we about to go to Artemis’ former hunting grounds?” Cili said, shaking with anticipation. “I wanna think I’ll be able to see her trail, but there’s no way! Maybe she left an arrow! Imagine it was the one she used to pierce one of the demon king’s seven hearts!”
“Alright, then ladies.” Riven unfurled the map for the other two to see the area Simon had marked. “Let’s go hunting.”