In my mind, I walk back through the exchange as I saw it. Though distracted by the mercer, his behavior at the door before entering certainly fits with what I was expecting. I saw him talking with Rakatha. I didn’t see them exchange anything, but who else would stop in to a bar for less than five minutes to talk… Read more →
I reach my hands around his throat and rise to my feet so that I am bent over him, pressing him into the dirt with my choke hold. I unfetter the channel between myself and Ner Ngal and begin drawing his life energy through me and into the End of All Things. His eyes go wide and he grabs at… Read more →
I head up the street a safe distance away from the dark-haired man. He’s not rushing or acting suspicious, just walking casually. He goes along the main streets, appearing to be headed toward the West Gate, and I follow. He stops briefly to talk to a woman who very quickly dismisses his advances, and then moves on to the gate.… Read more →
There are no other customers in the shop, so the proprietor comes out to greet me, assuming I am one. I see him approach out of the corner of my eye as I peer through the racks into the street beyond. He stops for a moment when he sees me, perhaps deciding what to make of me. Unlike most shop… Read more →
The group is dismissed and we exit the building, past the bored-looking patrol that is waiting to give a report. Sure enough, Pil is standing awkwardly outside the Corps building with a sack that looks like it is concealing a sawhorse. It seems no one thought to bundle the swords so that they wouldn’t go every which way. “Come on,… Read more →
“When we got back, the tower was empty,” reveals Vong, sounding disappointed. “It actually went down quite a ways, maybe six levels. It could probably be built back up since the foundation seemed really good.” I interpret this as simply “the tower was empty upon their return”. “It smelled like shit,” adds Rakatha. If goblins had been using it, this… Read more →
The Adventurer Corps building is bustling when I arrive to check in just after midday. Vong and the other members of the party are due to arrive back today but knowing the way Vong tends to meander, and without me there to keep them even remotely on task, I will not be surprised when Corporal Level tells me they have… Read more →
“So be it,” I respond, finally. “Fantastic!” Corporal Level extends his hand to me and I shake it. Afterward, he picks up a paper from the stack on his left and says, “Vong, Rakatha, Twitch, Ralith, and Anes—the one I got to replace you for this patrol—are due back in a week’s time. I’m afraid I don’t have anything around… Read more →
“The War Chief is biding his time,” I say. “I would offer warning that the valley’s food stores are in danger on multiple fronts. First, planting came late since many farms had to rebuild. This means crops will be smaller than usual. Second, the weather is threatening to turn and the region may find itself in an early winter without… Read more →
The hours pass invisibly and it is only when I keep finding myself struggling to see what I am doing that I peel myself back from the intensely focused work and discover that I am sitting in my darkened room without a lamp lit, concentrating to the point of headache to try to see each brush stroke. I am nearly… Read more →