TOPIC: Tyranny of Dragons: Continues Rot 3 2020

at the rate I get through advantage dice, I probably need a write up, tee shirt, sweatshirt, jockstrap and hanky...

good read Baney...

It was, Maria reflected, quite astonishing that the group had arrived at Waterdeep intact.

Between Flint’s obvious bloodlust to start carving up cultists that ‘eyeballed’ him, and Izzy’s spectacular interrogation of the harper agent on the road, not to mention, providing as much intelligence as possible to a self-confessed Zentarim agent! Maria wondered quite how the Band of Dave had survived the 2month journey to Waterdeep at all! And her comrades thought HER reckless! The only redeeming feature was that they were alive… despite the Zentarim agents attempts to start an all-out bloodbath, and the obvious distrust of the cult, the only thing that failed to make sense was that most of the group appeared trust the Zentarim agent simply because she wasn’t a member of the cult.

Bizarre…

And on top of that Waterdeep loomed like a wreaking cesspool of humanity ahead. Maria braced herself and started to feel nauseous at the thought of entering the largest city on Faerun. Fortunately Maria had other things on her mind. Not least of which was checking to make sure the female gnome was actually telling the truth! But of even more importance was her growing awareness of nature’s patterns, and the power that they hold.
The past weeks on the trail with relative peace, had given her the chance to reflect on a lot of things. The encounter with the stag and the receipt of Natures Gift were only the outwards signs of changes within her. Maria heard the voices in the grasses of the plains, and the rustle of the wind in the trees. It was time.

The next phase of the “Quith’a’lar” (time of testing) was upon her, and she knew that she must seek out another place of power. Feeling a little guilt at her desertion, but confident that the threat from the cult was non-existent, Maria finished her surveillance of the Zentarim Gnome agent, and quickly shifted into her lupine form.

The feel of grass under her paws, and the freedom of running under the moonlight calmed her nerves. She found her way to a place of tranquillity. A waterfall set in the cleft between two hills almost hidden from view pulsed with the raw energy of natures of power. She sensed the others present almost immediately, they were gathered in a loose ring. There were five. All naked in the moonlight and still wet from the recent immersion in the stream. She overheard one speak to the others

“She comes…”,
Shifting into her Elven form, Maria approached. The five, looked towards her and bowed. They stood facing each other. Seconds…. a minute, two… No one spoke. The others looked at her, with varying degrees of patience as the tension built.
“Well?” Dave sounded impatient.
Not entirely surprised Maria answered the crow silently, “Well what?”
“Well, are you going to keep them waiting?”
“Waiting for what?”

Dave flapped his wings with irritation, and then remembered that he hadn’t mentioned this little outing to Maria, and that made him more irritated. Dave’s recent experience was still causing him flashbacks and a great deal of emotional scarring. He’d been spending the last month sorting out another portable worm summoning device, one of the members of the caravan had a small forge and the bird had been working hard trying to convince the smith, a dour upright human thing, that making a short piece of iron to specification was far better than repairing wheels and shoeing horses. The man was unfortunately denser than the downright Jebido, and far less easy to manipulate, and apparently went by the name DingWallop according to a local youngling. In the end the crow had imposed his will on the Smith only to find himself trapped in the Uprights body, moreover the crow had to admit he had absolutely NO idea how to fix a wheel or shoe a horse… Dave had to learn...

Over the next few weeks, the crow managed to learn some basic metallurgy, and develop some skill pummelling metal. The shapes were variable, and some of the horses walked a bit funny afterwards, but Dave was relieved to note that his body appeared to know what to do, even if the crow didn’t. Despite a few strange looks as Dave the Upright went searching for worms with a shovel (he’d had to make one as they apparently didn’t exist in the caravan), Dave the Upright appeared not to desire worms at all. Instead he found that his desire for worms had been superseded by a desire for roasted mutton, and something called stew. He also had other desires which his upright form appeared to covet, but the crow felt were best left unfulfilled.

Dave managed to see the Band (as he now referred to the Band of Dave), frequently, he noted that they appeared on edge. Dave really didn’t know why and couldn’t ask but suspected it was probably down to Maria. She was the only one who looked happy to be there, the others were gloomy, depressed and appeared to be increasingly anxious. The crow resisted attempts to contact the Band, or Maria, recognising that they were freaked enough talking to spirits and crows, without added sweaty bald headed uprights to the equation.

Dave gained some inkling of what was going on when one of the guards approached him. The guard pointed out the Band and quickly asked for the Blacksmith upright’s help. Apparently the man was concerned out the Band. He wanted them watched, and if anything happened, he wanted support in the event that it was needed. The man offered him a deal, and asked what he wanted. Without thinking the Crow asked for a bucket of worms. The man starred at him, and turned away disgusted, muttering something about madmen.

The following morning Dave was woken by the sound of shouting. A group had formed around one of the vans. Men were shouting, accusing someone of murder. Reaching the scene, Dave saw, the Band defending themselves as the accusations flew. Other traders waded in accusing the Band of the foul crime. Only mention of searching the Cultist caravans for evidence seemed to abate the problem. A red robed man moved forward to calm things down and quickly the crowd dispersed. Dave witnessed Maria, engage in an argument with a female downright, apparently accusing her of stabbing the murdered man, and of being something called a thief and an assassin. Not quite sure what she meant, Dave was pleased when the group broke up. It was then that Nar-Ator arrived.

“So there you are, I’ve been looking for you for weeks!”
“How do you mean?”
“Well you disappeared and the notes didn’t say where… I only spotted this a few minutes ago. You need to get back and help!”
“I’d love too but I’m stuck!”, Dave’s voice was so sad that event the Narrator was filled with empathy for the crow.
“Tell you what Dave, how about I help you out, and you promise to be a bit nicer to Maria and the others?” the Narrator knew he was pushing his luck but hey, the crow seemed desperate!
Dave quickly agreed. And the Narrator explained in detail how to return to himself.
It took Dave all afternoon and evening, mainly because the bulky blacksmith didn’t seem all that flexible, and that triple lotus position was more than a bit challenging! Finally the crow succeeded.
Oh the joy of wings, feathers, FLIGHT!

An overjoyed Dave circled the camp in time to see the Blacksmith roll out of his caravan and come crashing to the floor the very epitome of pain and suffering. He was helped up by a man in robes bearing a staff, who started lecturing the poor smith on proper alignment of chakras, and delicate energy fields and managing the dance of the butterflies… Dave left them to it. It was then he had spied Maria heading off in Lupine form through the trees…

“So what am I supposed to do?” Maria’s mental voice was now vexed.
“what err, well instruct them. These are the neophytes; they are just taking the first steps into the order, if they prove worthy. You have to set them their test.”
“Oh, right, well what is the test?”
“Well what did you do?” Dave was at a loss, only half an hour ago he’d been DingWallop.

Maria thought about it, aware that Dave had gone for the time being. Her own test had been traumatic and had only really completed when she met her spirit guide…
Looking at the neophytes, Maria’s thoughts flashed back to Stillclaw, and her own neophyte testing day. Drawing strength and inspiration from it, she gestured to the neophytes to follow, and walked into the mist of the falls. Feeling at one with the power of nature, her thoughts cleared and she spoke;

“Rest and meditate in this place of power”, Maria waited as the group silently sat and bowed their heads. “The path is one of endless toil, protecting what we love. You must each search for that one thing which truly inspires you, and hold tight to it. Once you have that you will feel the time will be right to select your path and be drawn to the place of power and take your final vow. You must accept the circle and it must accept you.
For each of you, the first animal you see will be your guide, listen to it, argue with it if you must (Maria cast a sidelong glance at Dave), but understand it. Each of you will complete the task that is in your heart, be guided by it, and your spirit guide and you will not fail”.

Maria felt the power of the grove swell in her, and she shifted into the form of a salmon, entering the water smoothly and without a sound, leaving the neophytes wondering if she had ever been there. She remembered her own Quith’a’lar and smiled, Stillclaw had done something very similar to her that day, and it remained to seen if he had granted her a boon or a bane.

Returning to the camp, Maria was surprised to see the female Gnome again, and feel the hostility of the group. Maria had followed the Gnome on the previous night and attempted to covertly spy on her to ensure that she wasn’t actually a double agent working for the cult. The Gnome accused Maria once again of murder, pointing at the short sword she had strapped to her belt, before declaring she would not speak to someone so offensive.
The others of the Band seemed inclined to trust the Gnome until Maria pointed out the reasons for her actions, and heatedly pointed out that her actions were solely to safeguard the Band. Tempers abated a little, with Izzy looking very thoughtful and quite obviously as concerned as Maria, but still concerned over the Thayan man in red robes. Light seemed to be dawning on Flint, and his brother as well. Only the Dragonborne and Jebido seemed less convinced.

Satisfied that her points had been made, Maria packed ready to enter the city of Waterdeep. Her ill feeling about the place returning but the power of nature more robustly infused her and she felt ready to take on the world’s biggest cesspool after all.

“What we gotta do again Paul?” asked Sean.

“Look it’s a simple job we have to guard these wagons till we get where they need to be!”

“But where is that?”

“You ain’t never been out of Bulder so whats it matter” Paul looked at his friends crestfallen face and continued “I know we’re going to Waterdeep, but from there, who knows?”

“So how far is it to Waterdeep?” asked Sean

“About seven hundred miles” replied Paul

“How far is a mile?” enquired Sean

“I don’t know, you know, err, you know if you walk from Mr Tallards Wonder Emporium to Loose Sally’s”

“Yeah!”

“That’s about a mile” said Paul with a final nod of his head. “Right I’ll see you bright and early about ten, okay Sean?”

“Yeah Paul see you at ten”.

Paul was dressed to impress, his last night out on the town and he was wearing his clean trousers, shirt only worn twice and his new shoes, although they hurt his feet they did finish his ensemble rather well. Tonight was Betsy May’s lucky night. Sean on the other hand when his friend left looked for something to do, not being the most imaginative of people decided on a good night’s rest and went to find some straw to sleep in.
Sean awoke to the sound of his name being called.

“You in that straw Sean? I’m gonna stick my pitchfork in, on three, SEAN. One, Two”

“I’m here!!” shouted Sean.

“How many times have I told you not to sleep in the hay? Huh how many?”

“I won’t do it again Mr Tully” said Sean.

“You’ve said that about a million times”

“This time it’s true, Mr Tully. I got me a job” Sean sounded very pleased with himself.

“Have you now? And what would that be?” asked Mr Tully

“I’m a guard, Mr Tully, with Paul”

“Must be my lucky day, you and Paul got jobs. So where are you working”

“On a wagon”

“A wagon, so you and Paul are leaving Bulder’s Gate then?”

“Yeah, and we are going seven hundred times from Mr Tallards Wonder Emporium to Loose Sally’s”

This statement confused Mr Tully for a moment, but years of dealing with Sean he worked it out.

“Right, right a good distance then. Be safe and good luck” and Mr Tully ran off to tell the good news to anybody who would listen.

Sean waited at the place where Paul said he would meet him at.

“What time is it lady?” Sean asked a passing woman

“Seven” she replied

“Not ten then?”

“No, that’s three hours from now” she said looking at him incredulously. Good thought Sean, I haven’t missed him. For three hours he stood not moving waiting for Paul to turn up. Sometime later he Saw Paul walking towards him, back in his normal clothes.

“Good Morning Paul” said Sean.

“The morning is not as good as last night” and Paul laughed. Sean didn’t see what was funny about that but he never really got jokes anyway so he laughed along.

“C’mon then let’s get to work” Paul said whilst still chuckling, and they set off for the caravan.

There were about thirty traders, with forty wagons all heading the same way, some would leave the caravan en route others would keep going, others would join. Paul was looking for Englebert, he had hired him and he really hoped that he would like Sean. He saw him just tightening the straps on one of the wagons. Englebert waved at him and Paul nudged Sean and they sauntered over.

“Don’t say anything let me do all the talking” said Paul, no reply from Sean.

“I said, don’t say anything let me do all the talking” Paul repeated. Still no reply.

“SEAN! I said, don’t say anything let me do all the talking”

“I know” replied Sean “I heard you the first time, I was not saying anything like you said”

“I didn’t mean then” said Paul

“When did you mean then?” asked Sean

“I meant don’t say anything, if Englebert talks to us. I will do all the talking” Paul exasperated

“So if Englebert asks something I don’t say anything?” Sean reasoned aloud

“Yeah”

“Who’s Englebert?” asked Sean.

“Right. Don’t say anything for the next five minutes, Okay?” Said Paul. Nothing. “You can say okay and then five minutes start”.

“Okay”

They approached the wagon and Englebert finished tying his knot and clambered over the top of the wagon to talk to them.

“Hail brother” said Englebert jovially. Ever since they met Englebert insisted on calling Paul brother. Paul did not remember when they first met he was too drunk, just waking up in a stable with a hussy and Englebert and a sore shoulder.

“Hail brother” replied Paul.

“Who is this” asked Englebert.

“This is Sean, I told you about him, good man very strong, good fighter makes a perfect guard” said Paul.

“Is he in the brotherhood?”

“Er, no I don’t think so” replied Paul.

“Then how can we trust him, the Dragon looks after its own remember” Englebert raised his eyebrows in a all-knowing wiggle.

“Yeah, course it does, but he is like a brother to me, and I trust him” said Paul wondering what this Dragon thing meant.

“If you vouchsafe for him that’s good enough for me, but he won’t get the pension benefits unless he joins” said Englebert.

This totally lost Paul but he knew enough to say.“Yeah I will vouchsafe him” and like that they were hired.

“Right Paul, sorry I can’t go with you but I have the Dragon’s work to carry out here” Englebert continued and tapped the side of his nose. “No one not even you looks under the covers, got it” they nodded “Right watch yourselves but I don’t expect much trouble. You got these three wagons and the other brothers are Tim, Mike, Richard, Dillon, Peter and Nobby”

“Hey Nobby this is the guy I was telling you about. Yeah the one I was drinking with, yeah the one who signed up for twenty years just like that in the brotherhood. I know who would do twenty years. Yeah got the shoulder tattoo and everything that very night. That, that’s Sean his friend he hasn’t signed up yet” Paul broke out in a cold sweat, what had he done, he didn’t remember a thing. Oh gods!! He thought and ran off to find a mirror. Droping his collar and looking in a mirror there he saw a large dragon tattoo, right where the dancing girl who was bent over used to be. Underneath the picture was the number 20 followed by the year date. Paul racked his brain Dragon, Dragon, oh gods no! No, no, no no. He was a bloody cultist. The Cult of The Dragon, why had he taken the drinking challenge.

The caravan set off with Sean Paul and Nobby looking after one cart. Paul was lost in his own thoughts. How on earth could he get out of this? Not knowing what else to do he thought he would talk to Nobby about the cult. It was a very illuminating discussion, it turns out the longer you signed up for the larger the annual bursary was paid at the end of each year and the final pension pot was good too. The only downside was you were an evil cultist, but Nobby didn’t seem evil, in fact he was quite the opposite quite a jovial man. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad. When Paul discovered they were travelling with a beer wagon, well that was just the cherry on the cake.

The guards hired for that particular wagon, seemed a bit eclectic, a Dwarf,a Gnome, a Dragonborn, a Tiefling, an Elf and half Elf. The Tiefling and the Elf were female and if you got past the horns the Tiefling was definitely the looker of the two.

Everybody in the caravan seemed nice, and things were going smoothly, this was an easy gig and Paul was starting to think that the Dragon’s had got a bad rep for no good reason. Sure he had heard the rumours that they were destroying villages and looting, but that must be a few bad eggs. These were a great bunch of lads and the stories Nobby could tell. Sean seemed to like the open road, and although he was never very talkative, he was quieter than usual. Paul spoke to him but Sean was taking in the marvel of the world. Nothing happened until the guards on the beer wagon started pointing to the sky and got agitated quickly. These creatures swooped down and they sprang together like trained mercenaries. Everyone knew there place and there job, the Elf he was called Maria seemed enraged and brought one down to the ground for a pummelling. No one else got a look in, it was over in a matter of seconds. Paul became suspicious of this group.

The beer guards seemed friendly and spoke to everyone, but they always tried to get to close to the wagons. Once again this raised Paul’s suspicions.

It had been raining for days and then one morning the weather turned and it was lovely and warm, Paul was taking in the stunning scenery when he saw a stag with the most beautiful pelt, he pointed it out and a hunting party quickly gathered and set off to hunt it down. The beer guard were not happy about this as both the Maria and Issy (the Tiefling) tried to stop them, only the half elf joined enthusiastically in the hunt. Their quarry escaped and they returned back empty handed.

Once again they travelled for days until they came across a body buried in the road. The beer guard once again took issue and set the man free. Paul noticed that they discuss things, and taking measured action, they seemed like a group but why would they pretend not to be??

Paul found Sean laughing to himself one day.

“What’s so funny Sean” asked Paul.

Wiping the tears away Sean chuckled “I was taking a dump and I heard the half elf and the dwarf talking. They were calling each other brother. I mean they couldn’t be brothers cause the ones so small and fat and the other so tall and skinny.” Paul processed this information.

Sean surprisingly was right they couldn’t be brothers, so if they called each other brother were they in the Cult of the Dragon too. If they were why hadn’t they introduced themselves? Were they here to keep an eye on them, did they have different mission, or was it something more insidious. Paul determined to keep a closer eye on the half elf called Elias and the dwarf called Flint. Elias proved too elusive to watch as he moved quickly and silently, he was there one second and gone in the blink of an eye. So Paul watched Flint.

They stopped in a town where one of the traders was leaving the caravan and they picked up a couple of travellers. A man from Thay, which set everyone on edge, until he came over to the Cultists and announced himself as their friend, and another gnome who was wearing a dress and so Paul assumed she was a female. The man from Thay did not know if they were cultists or not so did not help settle Paul’s concerns.
Paul was sure Flint had caught him watching him a couple of times and saw Flint talking to the others in his group pointing him out. So they were a group then.

Paul spoke to others in the caravan, and they didn’t know them or seemed too bothered about them, but when Paul pointed out his evidence they were a group trying to pretend not to be this aroused everyone’s suspicions.

A particularly surly man called Barry, protected a spice wagon. Flint had been watching Paul, who had been watching Flint. Paul went over to talk to Barry.

“Listen Barry, I don’t have a good feeling about those guards on the beer wagon.”

“Yeah, I know never get a full pint of them, too much head!”

“What?”

“They are serving us short”

“That’s not what I meant” and Paul laid out all his musings on the group.

“Yeah, that does seem shady” agreed Barry.

“I just need to know if they set about us, that we can rely on one another, because they seem tasty in a fight” Paul reasoned.

“Yeah, I got yours, and you got mine” and they both cast a glance at the beer guard.

This got Issy’s attention and later that night, she was asking Barry probing questions.

“Yeah, well why you serving us short, too much head on this beer” asked Barry “No the beer has too much head, I don’t. OH now I get you, er yeah, course, let’s go somewhere quieter”

About five minutes later. Barry marches out of the glade shouting. “You’re a bloody tease, and I would have been doing you a favour!”

Later that night poor Barry went for a late night ablution and was followed into the trees by the Oz the dragon born.

“Get away from me you weirdos! I’m trying to have a poo in piece and now I can’t. If I end it constipated I am holding you responsible!!” shouted Barry.

Everyone had noticed that the gnome was talking to the male gnome guard Jebado, maybe not so unusual but still a concern for Paul.

Then it was Paul and Sean’s night to guard the three wagons for the night, when at about two in the morning Sean was caught short.

“Paul, I need to go”

“Sshh Sean, you wake everybody. You should have gone before we started”

“I didn’t need to go then, Paul please” implored Sean.

“Two at all times remember.”

“But Paul” Paul looked at his friend dancing on the spot.

“Oh go on then” Paul said quietly.

Paul stood guarding wondering about the beer guard, he could see them all strange, he thought to himself, I really can’t work them out. Suddenly a quiet voice broke the silence of the night.

“Sorry about this Paul. It’s not personal, I think you are an okay kinda guy, but you have them suspicious of you and everyone knows you are suspicious of them, and I gotta see what’s in those wagons.” Paul felt a sharp pain in his back and collapsed onto the floor, blood pooling in his lungs.

I never got those pension benefits, or my year end bursary, or paid for the job. Who will look after Sean? He watched the female gnome clamber up the side of one of the wagons as he drowned in his own blood…………….

Paul was floating in nowhere.

“Hi Paul said a voice”

“Er hello” replied Paul

“What do you want to be this time?” The memories of hundreds of lives filled Paul’s mind

“I gotta keep doing this till”

“You’re no longer a scumbag”

“Harsh” said Paul

“Fair” said the voice.

I think you will all be very surprised when you find out who the real perpetrator is...

Not as surprised as the gnome when she admits it.

After forty three long days they arrived in Waterdeep, the largest city on the sword coast. Not too dissimilar to Baldur’s Gate, in its structure, variety of races, and the disparity between rich and poor. Where it did have Baldur’s Gate beat hands down was its vices, anything could be bought for the right price.

It had been raining for ten days straight.

Dave sought refuge from the eternal rain in the highest tower in Waterdeep. It was an unwritten rule that uprights build tall structures for no apparent reason other than they can, then uprights hardly ever visit the place making it a good place for the avian species to nest.

Dave landed,

“What do you want Crow?” asked a hidden voice. Dave looked round, the opposite side to where he landed was open and the air flowed through it. The left and right side were obscured by a wall, but from his flight round the tower Dave knew they were closed, so making an intelligent guess the voice came from one of those sides.

“Just coming in out of the rain” replied Dave. Movement from above caught Dave’s attention and then standing in front of him was an owl.

“Crows are not welcome here” said the owl.

“Er Okay, but I’m not a Crow I’m a Rook.”

“Nice save Dave” said Narr ator, Dave ignored it.

“Common misconception, I don’t hold you responsible for not knowing, but Crows and Rooks look very similar I suppose to the untrained eye.”

“So you’re a Rook are you?” said the Owl

“Yup, Rook from the day I was born, till today actually” Dave was thinking about saying die but Owl’s are Crow’s natural enemies and Dave didn’t want to provoke him any further. “Just thought I’d pop in, get out of the cold and wet, what is a Rook to do in this weather?” and Dave shrugged his wings.

“Arthur!!” Shouted the Owl. A Rook flew the air and landed next to the Owl. Oh dear thought Dave, Rooks and Crows although they do indeed look alike, are not friendly towards one another.

“This has just gone from quite good to very bad, rapidly” said Narr ator.

“Thanks, for pointing out the obvious” Dave said in hushed tones.

“No problem Dave, it is my job after all”

“That, Barnabus is a Crow” said Arthur to the owl.

“Thought you said you were a Rook? As if being a Crow wasn’t bad enough you are also a lying Crow.” said Barnabus.

“What!!” Exclaimed Dave quickly flapping his wings noisily, trying to get purchase on the air to go backwards. Unfortunately for Dave, evolution had not deemed Crows necessary to be able to fly backwards like the Humming bird, an oversight Dave would remonstrate Eva Lution if a) he got out of this alive and b) he could find her. “No, I am a Rook, my dear old Ma, told me so, Rook by name Rook by nature”

Barnabus looked at Arthur. Arthur looked at Dave.

“What is your name?” asked Arthur.

“Er.” Said Dave

“Er! You don’t know your name?” said Barnabus

“I do, just don’t handle pressure very well” said Dave truthfully. “The name is Rocky”

“How imaginative Rocky the Rook” Narr Ator chuckled. Dave didn’t know where to glare at so settled on looking at Arthur, because Barnabus scared him.

“As I said Rook or should I say Rocky by name Rook by nature”

“Hmmm” Barnabus walked round Dave holding his wings behind his back. “I see. Arthur here being a Rook, you would expect him to know what a Rook looks like, and he says you are a Crow. And yet. Yet you say you are a Rook.”

“Whatever did the Crows do to upset you anyway?” asked Dave in a jovial tone, trying to diffuse the situation.

“Oh they only caused the Great Cull, many thousands of our brethren died all because the crows couldn’t manage their numbers.” Barnabus walked round Dave slowly for a second time.

“I see, down with the Crows then” said Dave shaking one wing “Whew glad not to be one of them”

“But you are a Crow Rocky” said Barnabus.

“No I’m not, I’m big boned I’ll grant you, and some of this plumage needs better attention but I have flown North for many days.”

“North why would you fly North in winter Rocky” asked Barnabus

“This should be good” said Narr Ator

“Well.” Started Dave “Me dear Old Mam said listen here Rocky you are a Rook. No more no less, and when you see Crows stay away, in fact fly in the opposite direction if you see them Rocky. Do you hear me, FLY IN THE OPPOSITE DIRECTION” and then she died. So the Crows fly South and I fly North.” Dave was feeling nervous about such a tenuous explanation but it seemed to work as Barnbus stopped passing and said.

“Welcome Rocky, the Rook who is actually a Crow. What a strange world we live in”

“Ruddy Heck Dave. You deserve some kind of reward that people on stage get when they do a good job.” Said Narr Ator. “I nearly had to wipe metaphysical tears”

Meanwhile our pusillanimous, timorous, decrepit, intrepid heroes are following the caravan.

“Right Flint” said Elias when he arrived back at the Bald Bush Inn “The caravan is in a warehouse and the guards swap and then travel to the Red Road Reality and Road Flagging Company. Which appears to be a front for the” Elias continued in very quiet hushed voice “Hult O thA Wagon”

“Who” said Flint

“You know the Kult O thA Wagon” whispered Elias a little louder

“The Walt O lay Flaggon, is that a new ale, I fancy a pint of that” said Flint

“No I said” Said Elais quite normally then in a hushed voice through gritted teeth “Colt E thar Ragon”

“Okay the, the, no don’t tell me I’ll get it. E.coli in the dirty Flagons” said Flint raising an eyebrow and looking at his cup.

“No brother I said. THE CULT, the word is CULT. OF okay OF THE, and this is the important bit ruddy DRAGON!!”

“Sssh keep your voice down Elias” said Flint in all seriousness.

Our Heroes secure themselves guard jobs on the caravan going further north to the dead marshes.

Five days later our heroes followed by Dave arrive at the outpost.

“This is some kind of new hell they have found” said Dave.

“This is the Dead Marshes, the road to Elderan Never Winter has grown over after years of neglect and lack of use, and they are trying to rebuild it.” Said Narr Ator helpfully filling in the story.

“What do we do now?” asked Maria.

“I’ll get us some rooms” said Jebado

“We’ll poke around and find out what we can” said OZ. It is only a small outpost and it didn’t take very long. The man in charge was a huge Half Orc called Bog Luck. Who shouted at them to get out of his storage area, but not before they spotted a secured door in their where the loot was being placed. They went back upstairs and got some drinks and food and re-grouped.

“So the plan is to let Elias sneak into the room during the night and find out what he can” said Jemna the Murderous Gnome.

“Where did you come from?” asked Elias, in a polite and friendly manner

“What’s it to you Dwelf” she replied with spittle flying all over the floor in a venomous tone.

Okay writer’s embellishment here but sufficient to say she only said two sentences to Elias and both of them derogatory.

Later that night Elias crept out of their room and made down the corridor. In the room closest to the stairs he heard Bog Luck cursing and realised the stairs were not an option because he would hear the squeak of the swelling wood. So Elias leapt of the balcony landing poised for action. He spied a patrolling guard and moved out of the guard’s line of sight, finding solace in the shadows. As the guard moved on his round, so Elias moved up on the door. The latch was on and quietly Elias lifted it silently closing the door behind him. Finding somewhere safe to hid Elias waited until the guard had passed and started his next circuit.

The door to the strong room was locked and Elias attempted to pick the lock, but he was a little rusty and failed, but not one to give up he worked on it for another twenty minutes or so until finally a satisfactory click.

Whilst all this was happening the heroes back in the quarters were listening in on an interesting conversation next door.

“Blah, Blah, Blah, TREASURE, Blah, Blah, Blah, STRONG ROOM, Blah, Blah, Blah SECRET PASSAGE, Blah, Blah, Blah LIZARD MEN, Blah, Blah, Blah, TRANSPORTING TREASURE”

“Well that’s interesting” said Flint. “We could really do with letting Elias know, of the impending danger”

Elias moved into the strong room , the boxes of loot were all marked with a symbol in a language he didn’t understand. Other than the horde there was little of note in here. So he spoke to Flint using his ability.

“Er Huh, and you’re sure you heard secret passage as I cannot find anything, I see. Could be dangerous, mmm, yeah think, sssh someones coming” said Elias panicking about the lizard folk and the guard he froze.

“Dave, Dave, DAVE!!” shouted Narr Ator

“What? I’m trying to get some sleep here”

“One of your uprights, the dwelf is in trouble, you’d better check on him” Dave concentrated and saw through Elias’s eyes. He was standing motionless behind a door. The handle of the door was turning, the door opened slowly and smashed Elias in the face. He stood there immobile.
“What the!” Excalimed the guard drawing his sword. Elias was frozen, Dave did what he had to and took over.

“Thank the gods! I’ve been trapped in here for hours and did anybody care, no sir they did not, I tried shouting banging, nothing. Supposed to be a strong room, no one can get in but you can’t get out if you are locked in it either. Dear Lord and they call themselves guards, just goes to show you really can’t “ said Elias quickly

“You mean to tell me you have been shut in here four a few hours?” said a puzzled guard.

“Yeah that’s what I’m saying” and Elias made for the door to the warehouse.

“But it wasn’t locked? You could have opened the door at anytime.” Stammered the confused guard.

“Yeah, well that’s my error, suppose I should have tried it, but I didn’t so sorry. I’ll just be on my way” and Dave steered Elias all the way back to his quarters.

The following night they all went (including Jemna the gnome) to the strong room through better security , found the secret tunnel, went through came out the other side and are now waiting to follow the lizard men.