Riches to Rags

The sun, high in the sky, was bearing down on the parched, dry ground of the High Road. Save for a single wagon slowly making its way north, the road was empty. Its wheels, kicking up dust, bounced along the heavily rutted road. The occupants within the back ignored their surroundings, too engrossed in the story being told by a female halfling.

Sitting with her hands in her lap, Flande was talking non-stop to Quito sitting to her left, while Manda sat scowling at the rear of the wagon. From time to time he would interject a comment, only to be hushed by the female. She was just finishing another story when the halfling male turned his back to her.

"Whose bright idea was it to invite her along?" he grumbled.

His sister smiled at him for just a moment before turning her attention back to the youth.

"And so, he bounced down the tree, hitting every limb on the way down; the final branch managed to snag his britches. He hung there upside down, yelling for help, as the two bear cubs below him reached up, batting at him. Each time they did, he would wiggle a bit and something would fall out of his pack. If it was food, they would eat it immediately, if it wasn't, it was left on the ground. There seemed to be plenty of things in his pack and the cubs were having way too much fun."

"I hate this story," grumbled Manda.

"Oh hush, grumpy butt. You should be thankful that mother's mending was as strong as it was, otherwise you would've been a tasty little desert for those cubs."

"What happened next?" asked the boy excitedly.

"Oh, I managed to scare them off eventually. It was probably from laughing so hard at poor Manda. Other than a few scratches, he was fine, though his voice was an octave or two higher," she winked at the boy.

Manda crossed his arms and scowled, "Are you through telling stories?"

"Maybe. I haven't gotten to my favorite one, yet," she teased.

"Which one is that?" the boy asked enthusiastically.

"The one about his last day with us at the family farm. The day he decided to leave us to find his fortune and fame. He promised us that when he returned, he would be richer than kings, smarter than wizards and wiser than the most holy of men."

"And?" the boy prompted.

"Well," she said motioning towards her brother, "what you see is what you get."

The boy frowned, "He leaves much to be desired."

Flande burst into laughter.

Turning red in the face, the halfling male clenched his fists, his whole body shaking.

"You do realize that he hasn't returned home yet. There's still plenty of time for him to find what he's looking for," she managed to gasp out as she laughed harder when she caught a glimpse of her brother.

Trying to control his temper, Manda settled for muttering to himself.

Flande leaned over to the boy and whispered, "I don't understand a word he's saying. He must be casting one of those wizardly spells, using some arcane language."

"I'm not thinking it's 'arcane', but something much fouler," Quito said matter-of-factly.

Flande clutched her sides and fell over, laughing hysterically.

Aziath poked her head into the wagon, hushing everyone.

"Keep it down, we have company," she said ominously.

The wagon came to a sudden stop. They could hear Delman addressing someone in the Mulhorandi tongue.

"Why did you leave your family, Manda?" the boy asked innocently.

The halfling huffed for a moment, then blowing out a long breath, he looked first at Flande, then at Quito.

"Have you ever heard the story of Thorak, the Raging Patriarch?" he asked quietly.

Quito shook his head, his blonde locks bouncing across his forehead.

"Who was that?" Flande asked.

"He was a dwarven prince who was set to inherit his father's kingdom but instead, wanted to venture forth and make a name for himself. He had all the wealth and power he would ever need, but he felt like something was missing. He didn't want anything handed to him; he wanted to earn it instead, a very noble sentiment. To prove himself worthy, he set out in search of fame and fortune.

From deep beneath a mountain in the northern lands, he left his home and braved the depths of Undermountian beneath the great port city of Waterdeep. Though he gained much wealth, he was never satisfied. It's said that he spent years in the dungeon beneath the mountain.

He always claimed that fortune and fame had eluded him but many thought this was just an excuse to continue his dungeon adventures. It was widely speculated that he was trying to avoid his royal responsibilities back home. I would argue that he was afraid his life back home would be boring and unexciting."

"Did he ever return to his kingdom to claim his birthright?" asked Flande.

"No," growled Manda, "He abdicated his throne to his cousin after developing an addiction to cheap wines, chick-peas and trashy goblin women."

Both Quito and Flande sat looking at Manda with a look of horror, their mouths agape.

"Yup. He now runs a brothel in Skullport."

"A brothel? Oh, how the mighty have fallen," Flande said aghast.

"You have no idea," grinned Manda.

"You knew him?" she asked, surprised.

"Who do you think introduced him to cheap wine?" he replied proudly.

The noise outside began to rise, it sounded like several voices yelling. Manda reached for his crossbow and peered out from under the canvas covering. He signaled to Quito to get ready.

"Looks like a fight. Delman has drawn his steel and Aziath has her daggers out. I count at least seven armored riders."

Quito pulled out his sling and several small, smooth stones.

"I'm ready," the boy whispered, "I'm betting I get the first kill."

"Yeah, right. My crossbow will punch holes through their armor, boy," the halfling chuckled.

"Don't be so sure of yourself, shorty," the boy teased.

"Manda's right, his crossbow will score a kill much faster than your sling," Flande said, "So what's the plan?"

"Grab a crossbow. There's a spare beneath the front bench," Manda replied.

"At least I'll score the first hit," the boy grumbled.

"Quit while yer ahead, boy," Manda growled, "I'll jump out and target the closest guard. Flande will follow suit, then you. Once he's down, we'll target the next and so forth and so on. Any questions?".

"Yeah…I don't think so..." the boy began before leaping from the wagon, his sling spinning rapidly over his head, "COME FEEL THE STING OF QUITO!" he yelled before launching the stone at a nearest armored opponent.

Manda rolled his eyes and growled, "I'm gonna kill him," before leaping out behind the boy.

Having deflected the stone flung at him by Quito, the soldier began to lower his shield when Manda's bolt pierced his left eye. He collapsed to the earth before he could warn his fellow warriors.

Flande exited the wagon, aimed at another warrior and let loose her quarrel. The bolt punctured through his leather armor, piercing his heart. Flande let out a whoop while pulling out a pair of daggers.

"He stole my kill!" screeched the boy.

"The hells I did!" the halfling countered, turning to face the boy.

"I forced him to lower his guard, my next shot would've been the killing blow!" Quito screamed back, rising on his tip-toes to make himself taller than the halfling.

"Yeah right, you'd have bounced the stone off his helmet," replied the halfling, drawing himself up and puffing out his chest.

"You always steal my kills!" cried the boy.

"Manda, stop stealing his kills," Flande interjected.

"JUST WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON?" yelled the halfling, turning on his sister.

A hush fell over the battle, as everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to look at the two arguing companions. Delman was slowly shaking his head at them, while Aziath positively seethed in rage, her face turning several shades of red and purple. Quito stepped back, shrugging his shoulders in apology.

Without warning, Aziath turned and plunged her spear into the warrior she had been sparring with, releasing her pent-up rage with a fierce yell. Delman quickly swung his scimitar and removed the head from another of the warriors. Raising his crossbow, Manda looked for another target as the fight resumed.

Two more warriors went down beneath the combined blades of Delman and Flande, leaving one final warrior. Aziath motioned for Delman to move to his flank. She made it clear that she wanted him alive and didn't want him to escape. She pressed her attacks, to keep him focused on her.

Blocking Aziath's attacks, the lone warrior began backing up, acutely aware that he had no place left to go. Realizing that he was surrounded, he was about to put his sword down when a single stone slammed him right between his eyes, bending his nose guard out. Before he could recover, a crossbow bolt plunged into his neck.

"That's my kill!" yelled the boy.

"The hell it was!" the halfling screamed back.

"Enough!" screeched Aziath, "I wanted him alive, you idiots!"

Again, silence settled over the group.

"I…didn't know," said the youth meekly.

Manda shrugged, "Oh well," he whispered under his breath.

Flande sheathed her daggers and looked around at the bodies strewn around the battle site. She bent down and pulled on a chain that was around the neck of one of the bodies. Sliding out from beneath his leather tunic she held it up for all to see

Aziath's eyes flared as she dropped her spear.

"I recognize that symbol. They were part of the Order of the Risen Scepter," she said fearfully.

"What is that?" asked Flande.

"They are paladins of Osiris who hunts down and executes followers of Set. If they are killed by those who they are hunting, Osiris raises them to continue the hunt. Sometimes it happens immediately, especially if they were killed by Set's followers using dishonest means," explained Delman.

"Oh," said Flande solemnly.

One of the bodies began to twitch and spasm.

"It's time to go!" ordered Aziath.

They quickly made their way back to the wagon.

"Why did they stop us?" asked the youth as he climbed into the back of the wagon.

"They claimed they were led to us by an oracle. They seemed to think that we had stumbled upon something of importance to Set's worship. Of course, we denied having anything to do with Set or his worship," answered Delman as he grabbed the reins.

"Somewhere out there is a long-buried temple to Set that is filled with riches beyond description. I haven't spent our entire fortune to find this temple just so we could be hampered by those paladins. If only we had found that Dagger of Set, this would have been so much easier," offered Aziath in explanation.

Quito grasped at his chest, feeling the strange weapon beneath his tunic, concern clearly etched upon his face. Flande noticed this but said nothing as she watched the boy sink into his thoughts.

"Wait a minute?" Manda yelled from the very back of the wagon, "You spent our entire fortune? You sayin' that we're broke!?"