"The penguin stored its valuables in its pouch? ", asked a shocked Fyrisvellir.
"Well, they normally put their young in it, but I guess it didn't have any babies or it recently ate them .", shrugged Svikki.
"This is crazy, penguins are suppose to be small cute flightless birds that waddle and look like they wear suits. That thing was 12 feet tall ! The acid was weird enough , but it descended from the ceiling on a rope or something ! ", Fyris said still confused.
"Penguins can't use rope...don't be silly. It was web from its spinneret.", replied Svikki annoyed at the paladin's questions!
"Impossible! I mean , I guess magic could have warped it, but that's so bizarre ! It mean ,...I don't even know what to say!", Fyris said while shaking her head.
Svikki stared at the shocked knight. Was this the first time she ever saw a penguin or something? " I agree, that was kind of weird. That was the first albino penguin I've ever seen."
Agni nodded his head in agreement. He missed most of the discussion between the sage and the paladin. The scroll before him was much more intriguing.
"This is amazing...", whispered the Magus., " This scroll ...its an ancient record of the first crusade into Grom. It details the sacking of Grom City, and something they found in the mountains. "
Sasha motioned for the others to be quiet. They were back at the inn, and at a private table in the corner. Despite business being slow, the bar was still noisy. Sasha thought it would have been better to discuss their last mission in an inn room, but Tank protested that they didn't have room service.
Agni waited till he got the full attention of his group. " I've only deciphered some of it, but it details the knights and their commanders that discovered an ancient city in the mountains. What's more important is it provides rough maps of the area. I've examined our own maps and it seems much of it overlaps. Ours lead to the pyramid of Dow Mow , this leads to something called the Chamber of Keys. "
"So our destination is already plundered?", asked a disappointed Svikki. "We're late by 800 year or so?"
Agni shook his head," No ...the knights were superstitious, they clearly stated that they feared some evil in there and they sealed it. Which isn't that surprising. The ancient knights had a habit of sealing anything they feared or couldn't understand. "
Tank nodded in agreement, " Yeah the Order of the Crab once sealed a merchant in his cart when he was trying to sell them some whacky substance called deodorant. He was in the cart for like a week. Let me tell you, he sure reeked when we let him out, seemed that snake oil he was peddling didn't help."
The rest of the table stared at Tank after his statement.
"What? We're a brutal , primitive and superstitious people! At least we didn't throw him in a cooking pot or something", he said with a smile.
"I think its best if we examine this area first. Its on the edge of the mountains and it might provide insight into the layout of the pyramid. Maybe even a key!", laughed the magus.
"Anyways...it seems the medallion we recovered is a cipher of some sort. I'm not sure if it allows us to pass barriers or guardians, or if it even still works after all this time. It seems our side trip for Markus wasn't a complete waste after all.", Agni said while motioning for Sasha to continue.
"Yes, I've talked to Commander Markus. It seems the white demons that plagued us earlier had abandoned their attempts to take the keep. They seem to be attacking caravans for now. The towns in the surrounding area have been warned to equip cold iron weapons when traveling through this area, but I guess some groups haven't heard yet. The goblins which were raiding the pass, had broken up. Whatever force that kept them together had released them. There are reports that some have migrated to the Slay Plains, some have gone further south into the mountains. ", Sasha reported.
"They were hungry.", interrupted Bloodshadow," You can tell when looking at them, most hadn't eaten in awhile. They probably banded to raid fort Karl. Afterwards, when they realized there were no supplies there, they most likely fought amongst themselves and went their separate ways. Similar to the goblins we met in the plains. They have no food."
"Good thing I was too lazy to unpack! ", chuckled Tank.
"An interesting observation, an it fits what we know. Goblins and giants normally intensify their raids and attacks when there is a drought or famine. However, I've talked to the locals and they claim it was a good harvest this year. I have no proof , but I think they were driven out from their homes, possibly by the demons or whatever is controlling the demons.", stated Sasha.
The group had no real evidence to support or refute her hypothesis and sat uneasily at their table. Their ultimate goal was in the mountains. The prospect of fighting more demons casted doubt on their success.
"On a lighter note. ", Tank said merrily " The penguin had about 3 grand in gems and gold, the bars of silver are actually a rare distilled mithral. An ancient technique that knights used to manufacture magical weapons without a cleric or wizard handy . They don't use it anymore they use raw mithral instead , but its still very valuable. I gave a bar each to Erin , Bill, and Will...they earned it. Markus actually gave us a bonus for surviving . Guess he didn't want to cross a band of bad asses that survived that siege and escaped through undead filled catacombs. Oh , I sold that penguin head for 100 gold to a local merchant. So that's around 620 gold plus 1 bar of quasi valuable mithral a piece. 2 bars to the treasury. Agni can hold amulet for now, and since the skelly ghost handed me the sword, I'll hold onto the sword."
Agni smiled, it wasn't how he expected the patrol to go, but they had survived and even came up ahead. "I think we can afford a few days of rest and recuperation before we venture deeper into the mountains. Good work everyone."
Fyris waited in her room. She had used part of her funds to get her own private room instead of sharing one with Svikki and Sasha. She didn't mind those 2, but she valued her privacy. Well most nights she did, tonight she waited eagerly for Tank.
She didn't know why, but the knight had stirred feelings in her that were more intense then she ever felt . Longing, lust, passion, desire, bliss, infatuation and of course love. She felt light headed, like the first time a boy had kissed her. Years of war and battle, of death and murder, of hardship and suffering, had muted her feelings. For years she only felt emptiness and loneliness. For some reason the knight's disarming charm and honest words sent her heart racing. She hungered for his embrace once again.
A knock on the door , sent a smile to Fyris's lips. She laid on her bed wearing the red nightdress she recently bought , and stretched like a lioness. Earlier she had a hot bath , and paid for rare soaps and oils . An impossible luxury where she was from. She even paid a young woman to comb and braid her hair. She looked as beautiful as she felt.
Tank entered the room, and stared at the beautiful nymph in front of him. He gave a deep sigh as he looked at the beckoning beauty on the bed . He shook his head and sat down beside her.
Fyris frowned, this was not reaction she expected. Had she over did it ? She expected a witty comment or an attempt at a witty comment, before they started exploring each others bodies. Instead of over joyed, Tank looked regretful.
The warrior ran his eyes across the smooth skin of Fyris . Then Tank took her hand and took a deep breath. "We have to talk...I don't think this is going to work."
Fyris had not expected this. She tried to speak, but could not think of what to say.
Tank could sense her confusion and frustration. He gripped her hand tighter and looked into her amber eyes." Look Fyris, I can see you went to a lot of effort tonight, and I'm flattered...Really flattered. You're the type of girl I can only dream of, the rare gem of a woman I would do anything for. But...its not gonna work out between us. If you were anyone else, I would sit back and enjoy the ride.", he emphasized the word ride while staring at her long lean body...", but you deserve better. You're that rare breed of woman that would never betray the ones you love, regardless of threat of death or failure. ...It's just gonna end up badly between us. If we continue this, both of us are going to get hurt really bad, and I don't want to see you get hurt. "
Tank sounded sincere, but Fyris was confused. She still didn't understand . She thought they understood each other, but now he was speaking nonsense.
"I don't understand. " , was all she could say.
"Look...it took me awhile to figure you out. I'm not even sure you know, but there were hints and discrepancies to your story. The fictional battles you swore you participated in, your mentor Brita, who happened to be our leaders mother, the 20 odd year difference between the Victory of the Great Host, even my role at the siege of McDunnalds. They told me you were either insane, a liar, ...or your from another dimension. A parallel universe or something. I discreetly asked Svikki about it, and she said there were quite a few mock worlds. Worlds similar to ours with some glaring differences...", explained Tank.
Fyris nodded and thought over his words, "I had my theories too, part of me thought I was severely confused or crazy , but what makes you think I'm from another dimension instead of say...insane? "
Tank shook his head, "...err the Penguin...even insane people know the dangers of a cave penguin. You obviously heard of them, but wasn't aware of how dangerous they are. I'm sure you could find a sheltered noble woman somewhere that feels the same way, but you're a hardened warrior. A 10 year veteran of the Knights of the Snow Lion, surely you've come across a penguin before. Svikki told me that most mock worlds, the gods interfere with them. They do stuff to experiment and break all sorts of natural laws . I can think of no better proof of your gods interference then making one of nature's most lethal predators into a harmless bird. "
Fyris wasn't sure where this was leading, but listened numbly.
Tank knew he was off topic , he was worse then his brothers for doing that, he took a deep breath and continued." I'm trying to say , ... well we did pretty good this week. Those mithral bars are most likely worth 2 to 3k each. A good start, but we haven't even made the real money yet... I know you need money, and I'm not even sure how much you need exactly, but I'm guessing you are roughly 1/3 or 1/2 way. After you gathered your cash then ..."
Tank never finished but Fyris knew. She would seek a wizard to transport her back to her own dimension. Her people, her world, her Brita depended on her, she could not turn her back on them for her own selfish happiness. It would be a one way trip, and even if she failed , the fact she would abandon Tank to attempt to return would be made clear. She would choose Duty over Tank. She slumped her head on his chest and gave a defeated sigh.
Tank didn't expect this reaction from her, he expected some punching or yelling, maybe some arrow shooting, but here she was slumped in agreement. "Like don't get me wrong , I could pretend I didn't care and continue this. I promise it would have been a wild and pleasurable trip for the both of us, but ...like I said you deserve better then that. ", he paused and smelled her perfumed hair, felt her golden oiled skin , and listened to her soft breath...and wondered if he had made the right decision. He doubted he would ever hold a woman like this again.
They sat together on the bed for a painfully long time. Both wondered if they could change their decision. Both yearned for the others embrace.
Tank finally broke their silence and gently got up, " I'm sorry . I'm a weak person inside. I don't think I can stand you leaving me if we took this any further ... We can still work together . We just have to errr stay away from each other I guess , or something. I'll even help pay your way back if your short on cash, but its best if we end what we have now. "
Fyris sat in silence as he watched Tank leave her room. She couldn't argue with his logic. She knew she would attempt to find a way back to her own world. In spite of her feelings for the warrior, devotion to her duty came first. The realization must have been a heavy blow to Tank. She's seen the warrior take spears from goblins, claws from demons , death magic from wraiths, even a beak from a penguin. He shrugged them all off. Her rejection of him however, seemed to shake him to his core. She was deeply saddened that she had hurt him so.
Fyrisvellir lied down on her bed. She felt a familiar feeling of emptiness and loneliness overtaking her once again.
Somewhere in the Great Hall of Rawk. Frank and Hank looked at each other in surprise.
"Errrr did Tank just give up a night , possibly several weeks of hot sex with an uber nymph over some principle or something?", asked Frank in shock.
"NOOOOOO TANK! ...Don't let feelings get in the way!", howled Hank.
Frank shook his head," Wow... he's really disgraced our family by letting that one get away. "
Hank slowly nodded," I think he must be adopted."
Agni had spent the last few days planning the next phase of their expedition. They would march to Fort Maximillian , and set base camp there. To the best of his knowledge it was a heavily fortified keep on the other side of the mountains. It wasn't near any of the main roads so the few raiders harassed them . It was mainly used as a trading post for miners and trappers . The magus hoped this oblique approach would help them avoid the white demons.
He was pleasantly surprised that his group kept out of trouble during their period of inactivity. Sasha used her funds to hire artisans of craftsman to construct a small shrine of Linel. She used her mithral bar to craft a spear . Agni was previously unaware of her skill at weapon smithing, but he hadn't seen her in 20 years. He was sure there would be more surprises from her.
Svikki all but disappeared. Agni at first wondered if she took her meager gains and left . He wouldn't blame her , the dangerous part of their expedition was about to begin. They barely survived their previous encounters, and he would not think less of anyone if they had left . Despite his fears, she was ready to travel at the appointed hour.
Fyris stayed mostly in her room. A bar maid told him that she bought expensive perfumes and oils the previous day. Also the fact she had her own private room made Agni wonder if she had a romantic interest in town. It would not have surprised him, since a woman with her looks should be neck deep with suitors. Agni still didn't "like" her, the fact she claimed his mother was her mentor still gnawed at him. The fact his own sister played along with her game made it more iritating. She was still a good scout and archer though , he conceded. As long as that nut case did her job, he could tolerate her presence.
To no one's surprise , Tank spent the last few days in the bar. Agni expected some bar fights or at least an explanation to Markus why one of his band slew one of the guard . None of that happened however. Tank just drank silently. Either deep in thought, or so drunk he was out of his mind. Agni did not approve , but at least he stayed out of trouble.
The magus was impressed with Erin's combat ability and asked if she would like to accompany them into the mountains. The dwarf refused. Her experiences above and below Fort Karl taught her to rethink her ideas of heroism and fame. Agni understood, and told her to look them up if she ever changed her mind.
When they finally gathered , the group seemed ready for action. There was something odd in the group. A deep uncomfortable silence . Agni couldn't put his finger on it but he suspected they realized that the time for jokes and snide comments were over. Soon they will be at the pyramid of Dow Mow. He needed everyone to be fully focused and ready.