Chapter 3.4 – Motivations

The group eventually found their way back to Phandalin, where they split up. Mialee went to Town Hall to get the reward for dealing with the orc menace, but found the place closed for the day. Alatar, Nala and Droop returned to the inn for dinner. The Dragonborn was uncharacteristically quiet for the whole evening, staring into her mug of ale. Angelica and Telyn, however, had other plans…

'Tell me again what we're doing here.'

'Easy!' Angelica said, guiding Telyn by the shoulder. 'I heard you performing last night. I saw the tips you got. I think we can expand on that.'

The two were standing in front of the tavern. Not the usual one with Toblen – no, Angelica and Telyn were standing right outside of the Sleeping Giant inn. The one that was rumoured to be the gathering place of the Redbrand gang. Not that there was a gang to gather anymore. The group had thoroughly seen to that. Still, this was the exact place that Telyn had been kidnapped from the first time around. Being here again did not bring back good memories. At all.

'You want me to perform in here?'

'Of course! You need to spread out to reach a bigger audience, right?' Angelica said with a bright smile. For a moment, her eyes flashed in a different colour. The next second her form shifted, and Telyn was staring at a younger version of herself. Wait, not quite like herself. The disguise looked as if she could be Telyn's younger sister. The eyes were different, and her nose was a bit longer.

'Pretty good, right?' the Tiefling winked. 'Nothing suspicious about a couple of bards performing for a living. Trust me, it'll be fun.'

Telyn had some serious doubts about that. Still, she was a bard. And she did perform for a living. Maybe this would end up to be not so terrible, after all. So she nodded, and followed Angelica inside.

It was a sad scene to walk into. The place was rough-looking. Not just badly cared for, but literally roughed up. Chairs with legs that were broken and patched-together, dents in the wooden beams of the structure, a bar with seemingly broken shelves. A fireplace with a large crack in it. Cobwebs in the corners. Oh, and the place was deserted. Completely empty, save for a single dwarf woman behind the bar. She looked at the new arrivals with a very bored expression on her face. The barwoman didn't welcome them in, or give any kind of greeting whatsoever. Just stared at them.

'Hello!' Angelica said, taking the lead. She walked right up to the counter and leaned down. The wood creaked eerily. Angelica quickly stepped back, afraid to break the thing.

'We, uh, we're traveling musicians! I see that you've got a pretty empty place, here. What do you say to us making it a bit more lively?'

'And?'

The Tiefling was visibly taken aback by her response. Or lack of it. Telyn joined her at the counter, taking over the conversation.

'I'm pretty good with a flute. I could perform for you, draw some people in. Not completely for free, of course.'

'Feh! Won't work, anyway,' the dwarf woman snorted. Angelica seemed slightly annoyed by her attitude. She quickly masked it with another broad smile.

'What's your name, madam?'

'Christa,' the dwarf woman huffed.

'Well, Christa, how were you expecting to draw in customers otherwise?'

'Not. All of my regulars are dead.'

Oh. Right. The Redbrands. It dawned on Telyn that by clearing the mansion of bandits, they had probably also deprived this woman of her daily earnings. And with its reputation of being a bandit bar, nobody else in town was going to visit this tavern. Telyn felt strangely guilty, for a moment. Then she remembered being kidnapped by them before. Her guilt vanished.

'My… condolences for that,' Angelica replied, trying to smile remorsefully. 'Maybe it's time to try something new, then?'

'Like?'
'Like letting someone perform for a while to draw people in,' she explained, again. Telyn felt for her. Man, this woman was dense. Not much of a talker, too. Christa the barwoman just stared at them. Angelica stared back for a few seconds. An awkward silence sat between the three of them. Then, almost a full minute later, the dwarf woman seemed to come to some sort of conclusion.

'Fine.'

The two interpreted it as some form of permission. Telyn immediately walked over to a free spot in the tavern and took out her flute. As Angelica threw open the doors to the building, the pink-haired girl decided on a tune. A happy, inviting melody would be best. She began to play. The notes bounced off the walls of the tavern. It had surprisingly good acoustics. For a hovel, at least.

Soon the song drifted out through the doors and windows and towards the rest of the town. It sounded pretty good. Hopefully good enough to draw in some customers. Telyn glanced at Christa from the corner of her eyes, to see her reaction to the performance. Her face was cold as stone, unchanged from the moment that they had come in. No change in expression whatsoever. Then her gaze drifted down. One of Christa's feet was tapping rhythmically on the tavern floor. Tap. Tap. Tap. That was her only reaction – her face was still expressionless.

Weird woman.

After a few minutes of playing, the two heard footsteps outside. With a big smile on her face, Angelica ran towards the door.

'Welcome, welcome! Head right in for the best one-woman performance you've ever see- …oh.'

It was Mialee. The elf had wandered over from the Town Hall when she'd heard the music. There was nobody following her. Slightly deflated, Angelica walked back inside. The brown-haired elf followed suit. She took one look around the room before blurting out:

'Isn't this the place where those Redbrands used to go? Why would you play in a place like this?'

'Gotta try everything!' Angelica winked. Mialee wasn't impressed.

'The place is trashed. It looks terrible.'

That earned her a very long glare from the barmaid. Mialee glanced back, apparently unaware of the awkward vibe in the air. Telyn shook her head and just kept playing. She didn't want any part of that conversation.

'Ale, please,' the brown-haired elf said to Christa. The dwarf woman nodded, slamming a dusty, cracked mug down in front of her.

'Five gold.'

'What?!'

That had come from three directions at once. Angelica, Mialee and Telyn all yelled out in shock at the outrageous price. The pink-haired girl abruptly stopped playing, ending on a very false note. Christa looked at them all with a stone cold expression on her face. A few seconds of awkward silence went by.

'Okay, ten silver.'

A sigh went through the room. Telyn resumed playing, casting the occasional glance at the bar. Christa had just finished pouring a drink for Mialee and Angelica. The two looked down on their mugs with unsure expressions on their faces. It was ale- or at least, it was supposed to be. The grey, thick liquid in those mugs did not even vaguely resemble ale, however. Mialee pushed the drink away from her in disgust.

'Forget it. Let's just leave.'

That earned her another glare from Christa. The air in the tavern was turning more chilly by the second. Angelica was still hesitant, however.

'We haven't finished playing yet,' she protested.

'Nobody is going to come in here. This business is a lost cause.'

If looks could kill, Mialee would have been a smoking pile of ash by now. With venom resounding in her voice, Christa responded:

'You're a lost cause.'

'What?' Mialee said, surprised.

'I don't like you.'

'O-kay! I think we're done here,' Angelica yelled, a mechanic smile on her face. 'Thank you for the hospitality, we wish you a very nice evening- goodbye!'

As she said that, she grabbed Mialee and Telyn and started pushing them out of the tavern. She quickly closed the door behind them, shutting the chilly atmosphere out. Or in. Angelica turned towards Telyn with an awkward expression on her face.

'Good flutework. Shame it didn't go according to plan.'

'Oh, please,' Mialee countered. 'They had terrible service.'

She hadn't uttered those words yet or the face of Christa appeared right behind the tavern window, inches from where they were standing. That pushed them over the edge. The three took off, determined to put as much distance between them and the Sleeping Giant inn as possible.

Eventually, Telyn and Angelica found themselves back on the road to Toblen's tavern.

'Well, that was a disaster,' Angelica sighed, turning back into her normal form. 'Not because of your playing though, mind you. You're a great performer.'

'Thank you,' Telyn smiled.

'Really, though, Mialee- you really need to work on reading people. You couldn't have been more rude to that woman if you tried!'

She looked behind her, wondering if the brown-haired elf was listening. Her gaze was met with empty air. No Mialee. Anywhere. The Tiefling cursed under her breath, putting out her arm to stop Telyn.

'Crap. Where'd she go?'

The two immediately turned around to look for her. They backtracked all the way to the Sleeping Giant, searching the muddy road for footprints. After a good ten minutes, they finally found her. Mialee had broken off from the group almost right away, walking back towards the Town Hall. She arrived there just as Angelica and Telyn found her. The Tiefling called out to the elf, anger resounding in her voice.

'Hey- Mialee! Tell us when you vanish, damn it! People get kidnapped around here!'

She turned around to face them. Mialee actually seemed surprised.

'Oh, right. Sorry,' she said sheepishly. 'I'm not used to telling people where I go.'

'I can see that,' Angelica huffed.

'There was nobody to say it to.'

That said a lot. Once again Telyn found herself wondering where her companions had been up until now. Was she the only one with an actual parent to answer to?

'Let's just… go back to the inn, all right?' Angelica finally said. 'It's been a long day. We've all deserved a night of rest.'

'All right.'

They once again set off towards the tavern – this time with Mialee in tow. It proved to be a short journey.

Back at the Stonehill Inn, most people had turned in for the night. Only Nala was still there, gazing absent-mindedly into a mug of ale. As soon as she saw the three of them come in, the Dragonborn excused herself and went upstairs.

'Someone's moody,' Angelica joked.

'Well, as you said, we've all had a long day.'

'True. I think I'll get a drink and hit the hay, too.'

She walked over to the bar, winked at Toblen and ordered a drink. Telyn was left alone with Mialee.

'Droop had long day too.'

They looked down. He was almost invisible when he wanted to be, that one. Or perhaps it was just harder to spot him in a place where you did not expect goblins, with everyone looking around at eye-height. Droop was standing right next to them, looking up with a curious expression. The claw from before was now tied to his waist with a strip of cloth from somewhere. Runt or no, the little guy was resourceful.

Mialee looked down at the goblin with a frown on her face.

'Did you say you can't read?'

'Yes. Droop never learn.'

'Do you want to?'

'Want to what?'

'Learn to read. It might come in handy in the future.'

The goblin took a few seconds to think that over. Then he looked up at Mialee again.

'You teach Droop?'

'I teach Droop how to read Goblin,' the brown-haired elf nodded. 'If you want to, of course.'

'Yes. You teach. Droop learn from elf lady.'

That last word seemed out of place. It wasn't like his normal speech pattern. He seemed to be using it deliberately, Telyn thought. Perhaps that was his way of showing gratitude. He was a strange creature.

'Mind if I join in?' Telyn asked the two. 'I'd like to learn a few words of Goblin as well. You never know when it'll come in handy.'

The brown-haired elf smiled.

'Of course.'

She gestured to the right, inviting the two of them over to the nearest table. It didn't take long for them to find some paper and a quill. Soon, the three of them started on the first of what would be a series of lessons in Goblin.

It proved to be a fun lesson, for all of them.

Far away, on the other side of town, a single white, glowing owl landed between the trees of Edermath Orchard. Its form flickered before shaping back into that of a pale half-elf. Yorda glanced around briefly, checking to make sure nobody was there. Then she lay herself to rest underneath the trees. With tired eyes, she looked up at the moonlit sky.

It had been a long day.

The next morning...

Nala

The gold-scaled paladin awoke to the chirping of birds. It was a pleasant change from her normal awakenings. Usually it involved hangovers. Or monsters. Or both. She definitely preferred this. Much less stressful.

With a weary sigh, the Dragonborn dragged herself out of bed. Yesterday had not been pleasant. Nala had had trouble falling asleep, which came back to bite her today in the form of heavy limbs. Her paladin symbol, the emblem of the Order of the Gauntlet, lay gleaming on her nightstand. For a moment she gazed at it, lost in thought. Then the Dragonborn shook her head. It was time to continue the search. The rest of the group was probably already downstairs.

Nala was proven right in that aspect. Three of her companions were already there, wolfing down what seemed to be a decently made breakfast. Mialee, Alatar and Angelica were all armoured up, weapons already strapped to their bodies.

'What's the hurry?' Nala asked curiously.

'Wewe gowin'to zhe mayow,' Mialee mumbled in between bites. Nala raised a single eyebrow, which earned her a chuckle from Angelica.

'She means we're going to see the mayor,' the Tiefling explained. 'Mialee brought an orc head as proof that we completed our bounty. He owes us a hundred gold pieces – and the money that we're still supposed to receive for clearing out Cragmaw Castle, too. We aim to collect.'

'He'd better have it,' Alatar nodded ominously. 'Or else.'

Nala let her gaze travel through the rest of the tavern. It was still relatively quiet. Toblen the bartender was nowhere to be seen, but Elsa was busy cleaning tables on the other side of the room. The Dragonborn saw Telyn and Droop, comfortably perched on one of the benches in the corner. Nala walked towards them, giving the pair a single wave.

'Will you be joining the rest at Town Hall, then?' the young bard asked Nala, as soon as she was within earshot. She gestured at the three, who by now had stood up and were making their way to the front door. Nala shook her head.

'Nah. What about you?'

'No thanks. I have a few errands to take care of, anyway.'

The Dragonborn nodded, already turning around to look for their last group member when she was called back by Telyn.

'Wait.'

'What is it?'

'I just- I never had a chance to thank you before,' the pink-haired woman spoke. Nala raised a single eyebrow again.

'Thank me? For what?'

'For yesterday. You know, during the fight with the orcs. You didn't even hesitate to jump in front of me.'

'Of course not,' the Dragonborn replied. 'They would have landed a couple of nasty hits if they'd gotten to you.'

The young bard chuckled, shaking her head. When she looked up at Nala, her eyes were genuine.

'You're a good person.'

A smile appeared on Nala's face.

'You, too.'

'I'll see you all later,' Telyn nodded. The Dragonborn returned the nod, after which she once again scanned over the contents of the tavern. No glowing elf anywhere.

'Hey, guys- where's Yorda?' Nala yelled at the rest of her group, who were halfway out the door by now. Alatar was the only one who heard her. He shrugged, not slowing his pace down in the slightest.

'No idea.'

'Did you look for her?'

'Eh. She can take care of herself.'

With that, he was out the door. Nala frowned at his reasoning. It wasn't like the pale half-elf to be absent like that. Once again, the Dragonborn remembered everything that had happened yesterday. It had been a bad day for a lot of them. Yesterday's events probably had something to do with her not being here. Nala sighed, grabbing a piece of bread from the nearest table as she, too, moved towards the door.

The rest of the group had gone on ahead, already vanishing around the corner by the time Nala came outside. That was all right. She didn't have a destination, anyway. For the next thirty minutes or so Nala wandered aimlessly, keeping an eye out for a familiar white form.

She shouldn't be that hard to find.

Yorda

Yorda had been awake for quite some time already. A couple of hours, in fact. She didn't care. The pale half-elf kept lying on her back, dirt pressing against her ribs, staring up at the morning sky. She was in a sour mood. Her mind was full of thoughts and doubts from the previous day, and so she ignored it. She kept looking up. Yorda followed the trail of a sparrow with her eyes, sighing deeply.

Then something nudged her foot.

'Excuse me. What are you doing here?'

'I'm wondering that, myself,' the pale half-elf responded, still looking up at the sky. 'When I left, I had no idea that civilization could be so… vile.'

She dug around in her pocket, pulling out one of the bronze coins that she'd folded in half the other day. With a clear look of disdain, Yorda stared at it.

'I mean, it's just a piece of metal. Why are people so obsessed with it? I don't understand.'

There was a short silence, after which the voice answered.

'That… makes two of us. Why are you here, again?'

The pale half-elf grumbled as an answer. Then she finally seemed to realize that she was talking to someone. She tore her gaze away from the sky, scrambling to get into a sitting position.

Above her towered a single man. He was an elf like her, on closer inspection. Although his ears weren't as long as Mialee's. Long, silver hair and a slightly wrinkled face greeted her. His clothes were simple, but well-cared for. She felt no malice coming from him. Even though Yorda was a trespasser, the man merely looked down on her with a curious expression.

'I didn't mean to intrude,' Yorda apologized.

'What's your name?'

'Yorda,' the pale half-elf answered cautiously, looking up at him. Even though they were of the same race, he towered over her. Then again, most people did.

'Nice to meet you, Yorda. My name is Daran Edermath.'

A greeting. Watching Nala and Angelica, she'd realized that it was important to return those. So she imitated the Tiefling, turning her hand to show her palm as she bowed in the traditional greeting.

'Nice to meet you.'

An awkward silence fell after that. Neither person said anything. In fact, he seemed to want her to leave. But Yorda wasn't in the mood to return to the inn. The events of the previous few days still mulled around in her head, making a bitter taste appear in the back of her mouth. Her companions would be there. She really wasn't in the mood to face any of them yet. So Yorda remained silent, merely looking up at the half-elf in front of her.

After a few seconds, Daran let out a sigh. He held out his hand, showing a single, straw basket. There were a few plucked apples in there.

'Would you like to work with me for a while?'

That was unexpected. Yorda nodded. A slight smile appeared on Daran's face, after which he guided her back to the tree that he had been working at. The two started picking apples. Or, Daran started picking apples. Yorda couldn't actually reach the things, and was left jumping up and down fruitlessly.

After a few minutes of that, Daran spoke up again.

'What seems to be troubling you?'

There was something about his tone of voice that reassured Yorda. He seemed… safe. Patient. She hadn't had anyone to talk to about her experiences in a while. Maybe talking would help. So she once again took out the folded coin, holding it up for Daran to see.

'This. These- things. It's absurd. People seem obsessed with it to the point of madness. They value them over the worth of people's lives. I don't understand why. It's not… natural.'

Daran sighed, dropping another apple into the basket.

'I agree- it is absurd. Civilization is greedy. I built this grove to get away from it all.'

'But why?' Yorda asked, turning to face him. 'Why is it like that?'

Her answer seemed to take him by surprise.

'You're… not from around here, are you?'

She shook her head. Daran paused for a second, considering his words carefully.

'Well, I can't speak for everyone. But more often than not, that obsession has some kind of deep underlying reason.'

Yorda cocked her head. She didn't understand. Daran scratched the back of his head, picking up on her ignorance.

'How to explain? In this world, people need money to provide for themselves. And for their families, too. Coin is used as a currency to buy food, water, houses to live in, various services – it's used for everything. We are taught that money is important. We're taught that we need it to survive. Some of us are taught that we need it to become happy.'

'You don't need metal to find food and water, or happiness. You can create it yourself.'

'Maybe you can. But that's not true for everyone else. And that is where the problem lies.'

He set his basket down, grabbing two apples from the ground. One was in good condition, and seemed to be ripe for eating. The other one had a hole in it.

'Imagine these being people. Do you see the left one? That's you. Or, let's say someone like you. This one grew up like you did, not needing money for anything. As a result, they do not give any value to money.'

He dropped the first one in the basket, then held up the one with the hole in it.

'This one – this person – might have lacked something when they were growing up. They might have had a tough childhood, or have been really poor. They might have struggled to find food to survive. They might have been taught that the only way to become happy was through obtaining wealth. It could have been anything. That leaves them with a void inside. Like a hole. And they believe that the only way to fill that hole, is with coin.'

'And that works?' the pale half-elf responded. Daran shook his head sadly.

"It almost never does. But most people don't realize that. It's rather tragic, really. Some people spend their entire lives gathering money, never understanding that wealth isn't what they really want.'

That made sense. A little bit, at least. Yorda frowned, processing the information.

'How do you find out what they're missing?'

The long-haired half-elf sighed, dropping another apple in his basket.

"I can't help you with that, unfortunately. It all depends on the person… and most people don't like to reveal their own weaknesses. You'll have to find those out for yourself."

Yorda's thoughts trailed off to Alatar and Angelica, and the way that they kept bickering over gold. Maybe Daran was right. Maybe it wasn't a sign of malice, but of misfortune. Perhaps that was why they obsessed over coin so much. Because they were lacking something, but didn't realize what it was. Especially the Tiefling seemed to try very hard to hide herself behind wealth and riches. It was a sad thing to see them needing pieces of metal so badly. What had happened in their past that had made them become like this?

"Yorda!"

That was Nala's voice. It sounded close- right outside of the orchard, actually. Yorda's expression fell. Daran picked up on it instantly, raising a single eyebrow.

"Someone you know?"

"I have to go," the pale half-elf said. She had finally managed to pluck an apple. Yorda threw it into Daran's basket.

"I'm sorry for trespassing on your territory. Thank you for listening."

"You're, uh, welcome. I don't know where you came from, but don't let this world get you down, okay? It's really not that bad. Trust me."

She smiled at him, giving a single nod.

"Okay."

Nala

The Dragonborn had been wandering around Phandalin for a while now. It wasn't until she'd reached the road to the chicken farm that Nala realized that Yorda might not be close to the tavern at all. She followed the path, passing by the farmhouse and traveling up a small hill. At the top of that hill was what looked like an orchard. It was at the very edge of the village, close to the beginning of the forest.

'Yorda!'

Every once in a while, she'd call out. Until finally-

'Yes?'

When she turned around, the pale half-elf was standing right behind her. She didn't actually see her at first- the Dragonborn had to tilt her head and look down, like you would at a child. She frowned at her, a questioning expression on her face.

'Where have you been?'

'Picking apples.'

Nala opened her mouth to answer, then caught herself. That was not the answer she'd expected. It threw her off a little. She had a cheer-up speech prepared and everything. Apparently that was no longer needed. Yorda was back to her usual self, determined to do… something. That reminded Nala.

'Say… correct me if I'm wrong. But you actually seem to want to go to Thundertree. Why is that?'

The pale half-elf looked at her cautiously. A strange look appeared in her eyes and for a split second, Nala could have sworn that the pale half-elf was looking right through her. It was a weird feeling. The next second that look vanished, and Yorda's normal expression returned.

'I… swore an oath. To rid the land of undead. They're a plague. Not natural. And that many of them… Thundertree is not something I can ignore.'

That came as a surprise. It was not the answer that Nala had anticipated. To the contrary. In that moment, the Dragonborn felt a strange sort of kinship with the tiny half-elf in front of her. She was reminded of her own oath, her own vows as a Paladin. They really were quite similar. Nala nodded to herself, deciding right then and there to help Yorda out.

'I'll come with you to Thundertree. We might be forced to go there anyway, if we can't find Gundrin's brothers- but even so, I'll help you do the right thing.'

The taxing expression vanished as a smile broke through on Yorda's face.

'Thank you.'

'Don't thank me. That's what we do,' Nala answered. She turned around to return to the tavern, but the pale half-elf stopped her.

'Wait. If you're going to aid me, then there is something you need to know.'

The gold-skinned Dragonborn turned back around.

'What is it?'

'The druid,' Yorda answered. 'And the number of undead in that town. Those things don't rise up on their own. Someone has to create them. Kill a person, then corrupt the natural flow of energy to make undead monsters. That requires a lot of power.'

Nala nodded, not sure where she was going with this. Yorda seemed uncharacteristically serious.

'I'm worried about the druid as well. Nala, I know my own kind. A druid would never voluntarily stay in a place like that. To do so regardless can only be for three reasons. Either the druid is already dead, they are unable to leave the area… or they have something to do with what's going on.'

'You're saying Reidoth might be involved?' Nala responded, alarmed.

'I don't know. There might be some other reason why he can't leave. And that brings me back to my first point. That large a number of undead is a very bad sign. Either they're being created by a large number of people, or…'

'Or?'

The pale half-elf looked her straight in the eyes.

'Or Thundertree is home to something very, very dangerous.'