What an exhausting couple of days.
On our way back from Crowhaven my companions regaled me with further details of their journey thus far, and their encounters with both the Abyssal fissures and the followers of the Trinity. In particular, they explained that just before they met me they went down into the sewers of Ravenwhick with a Bloodhound, Rain, and during their escapade they fought and killed a group of Trinity knights, as well as a foul demon creature. They also lost a companion down there, an elf called Spoon. From what they’ve told me of him, I am disappointed that I was never able to meet him. He sounds fascinating.
We reached Ravenwhick without issue, arriving late in the day and staying at the Hungry Hill Giant, a charming inn run by the lovely Delsin. She fed us shepherd’s pies and we shared a bottle of Golden Dew (the good dwarven stuff). Gad, it turns out, cannot hold his drink. We stayed in the city two days, during which we made several brief stops to sell treasures, buy supplies, and pick up Hector’s much-awaited axe, an impressively fearsome weapon with a wicked blade to match its wicked heart. At one point, a peasant couple, soon revealed to us to be a disguised Vixen and Brimscythe, tried to persuade us to leave their business alone; I fear our stubborn refusal only served to escalate the enmity between us (I was also pleasantly surprised that none of my companions attacked them for worry that the myriad innocents nearby might be hurt – I regret I had not been giving their collective morality the credit it deserved). We also visited the Kennels, where we met an older man, Cedric Longclaw – I’m sure I met him once before, when he was some thirty or forty years younger – who complained an awful lot about his legs, though if he didn’t spend all day sitting in a chair perhaps he’d have less of an issue; my companions’ friend Rain, a water Genasi; and Barber, a strange lady with a particularly dark styling – a dark mirror to my own, if you will – who seems to be the expert on the issue of the fissures. They informed us that in Vixen’s ledger were not only infernal cities, but also nefarious groups of unscrupulous individuals, such as necromancers and suspect mages. They also told us that the town of Bluebell to the southwest, home of the ale of the same name, had recently stopped communicating with the outside world shortly after reporting signs of a spreading sickness.
We decided to investigate Bluebell, our plan being to leave at dawn the following day. Slightly before dawn, Delsin informed us that there was a group of Trinity agents outside the inn, asking for my companions. She had mentioned that they were being sought – I suspect someone informed the Trinity of their whereabouts. I volunteered to speak to the agents as a distraction, since I wasn’t known to them, while my companions slipped out safely. We were to meet at the southern gate and make our way to Bluebell from there.
That was the plan, at least. I stepped outside to speak to the agents, and the leader, a bald, scarred Inquisitor called Kane, cast a spell, compelling me to tell the truth. Still, I felt confident in my ability to answer truthfully yet not betray my companions, but Kane turned out to be a sly one, asking many shrewd questions, particularly about the event in the sewers. Eventually, I agreed to lead them to where I had agreed to meet my friends, but due to my poor knowledge of geography, I ended up leading them randomly around the city before we ended up at the western gate. At the same time, I sent Luna to the southern gate to try to lead my companions away from the city, rather than leaving them to wait for me.
This was all working fairly well. The Inquisitor was getting impatient, as were the knight and priest accompanying him, but I felt confident my ruse was still working. Until Leo appeared as if from nowhere, beckoning the trio toward him. They approached, but the knight stayed with me, not allowing me to slip away. I refused to go with him, but he manhandled me along. Furious, I startled him with a kiss before teleporting closer to the others. I briefly explained that, from one holy agent to another, this kind of sexual harassment was unacceptable, and fled.
Chased by the knight and priest, I fled through the early morning crowds and out of the city. Somewhere along the bridge leading to the south gate, the priest gave up, but the knight relentlessly pursued me. After running past the point of exhaustion, I pulled two mastiffs and a rat from my bag, throwing them at the knight. The distraction they caused gave me the chance I needed to escape and regroup with my companions. It was a very tiring event, yet at the same time, exhilarating.
Over the following three days, as we crossed country to reach Bluebell, a few things of note occurred. The Lady of Dreams came to me and reaffirmed that the nails causing the Abyssal fissures, one of which my companions retrieved from the sewers below Ravenwhick, must be destroyed. Leo claimed to see a reptile flying through the sky (a dragon, perhaps?) and Hector claimed to see a castle in the clouds, something Leo apparently also saw some weeks ago. We helped a farmer, Phil, out from under the rubble of his destroyed home, sending him on his way to Ravenwhick with a bag of gold. But, most assuredly, the most important event en route to Bluebell was our encounter with the giants.
Aelin heard them first, arguing with each other. I scouted with Luna and confirmed that there was a pair of hill giants just beyond a ridge, not far from us at all. Knowing that these creatures, being so unnaturally far south, could cause trouble to the folks in the area (Phil’s shattered house being one such example) we decided to speak to them. Hector, knowing their language, was elected as our representative. I went with him to assist, the others keeping ready to attack should things go poorly. We should have known better.
I know not if Hector or the giants incited the fight first, as what they said I could not understand, but within moments we were being swung at with clubs made of fallen trees. They attacked Hector first, but being the pile of muscles he is, he barely showed the bludgeoning he received. While my allies attacked directly I tried to reposition for a tactical advantage, but as I moved away from Hector he slashed me with his axe. When I looked into his eyes I saw a level of rage and a lack of control that I hadn’t known he possessed.
Over the course of the fight I was knocked unconscious by simultaneous strikes from both giants, my allies caused them massive amounts of damage, Hector cut down and decapitated the first, and finally, Aelin’s killing blow of the second sent his body crashing down upon Hector. When she eventually managed to get him out from under it, the rage I had seen in his eyes was gone. He claimed to have blacked out, and knew of nothing between the first attack from the giants and being pulled out from his blubbery prison. Leo suggested his blackout and his rage may have been caused by his new axe, but when I asked if I might look at the weapon, Hector became aggressively defensive of it. That night, I was able to examine it while he slept, and Leo’s suspicions were confirmed – the weapon is cursed. Whenever he is injured, it tries to push him into a rage greater even than his normal battle frenzy. If he cannot resist he blacks out, and no longer sees friend from foe.
Upon our arrival in Bluebell, we immediately could see that something was wrong. Not a person was in sight, so we split up to search the buildings. In the guardhouse I found three people, all dead, covered in boils and flies. Two were downstairs, one slumped over a desk while the other was in a jail cell, and the third was upstairs. When I opened my awareness, I could sense a fiend on the roof above me. I called to Aelin, whom I had invited into the guardhouse to help me search, but before we could investigate further we heard the sound of fighting.
The fighting was Hector, inside the brewery, the largest building in Bluebell and source of most of the town’s income, being attacked by a trio of fiendish creatures, covered in boils and sores, with heads resembling a goat’s. Aelin responded by leaping out of the window to the street below, while I more conservatively dropped a bear down with her while I made my way back through the building the sensible way.
When I reached the bottom floor I saw two of the goat-creatures in the street outside the door, and sent my bear to attack them. I threw more animals to assist, but the spirits of the bag were obstinate today, and chose the forms of a rat and an owl, who both dissipated instantly from the fell aura surrounding the goat-creatures. I myself attacked, seeing three of the creatures in the streets, with Aelin, Leo, and Gad fighting them. Though I did not contribute much to the fight – besides my bear – we defeated the three creatures. Towards the end of the fight, Hector came charging out of the building, covered in boils and with that uncontrolled fury in his eyes. He charged at Leo, but the latter knocked him down with his arcane skill.
After the fight, I brought Hector back to consciousness. He had regained self-control, and once again claimed to have blacked out while fighting the creatures within. I also called upon the Lunar Lady’s gifts to cast the disease from his body.
And now we rest, preparing ourselves to finish our search of the town. While we appear to have fought all enemies in the vicinity, it would be remiss of us to jump to the conclusion that there is no more danger. I write this now for fear of what we might find in the depths of the brewery. I hope nothing, but only time will tell.
P.S. after the final goat-creature died (by explosion), Aelin, though covered in its gore, turned to me and embraced me. Thinking she was seeking affection, I kissed her, but she responded by slapping me. My cheek still stings. I do not understand this interaction. Was it a human thing, or a female thing? I fear, perhaps, that I understand neither.