Chapter Eighty-one
The Decrepit Village
We found the others wandering around the village. Out on the western horizon was the ocean. The others had made it closer? Really? Why, why had I given up my scroll? What was the point? I didn't quite make it to where I wanted and the magic had harmed me, while the others said they'd been fine.
Tears threatened to escape my eyes. I felt cheated. Jörgen and Sephra said they'd given up a healing potion, Sephra using one Melima had. Ari'yasa gave up a belt that returned any weapons she threw, and Melima gave up the dust of tracelessness. That one made me sad too, but we hadn't used it in a long time. Not since we had spells that did the same thing.
Was it because I'd thought of the Air Ashari at first? But Sephra said she'd thought of her mom first. That could have been a disaster. Who knew what her mom would have done, or what information she'd have pulled out of her?
Jörgen thought of the Water Ashari, Ari'yasa keeping us together and the Water Ashari, and Melima staying with Jörgen and the Water Ashari. Why then? Why had I had so many issues? It had just been Melima and I again, was it because we were elves? We'd probably never know, but it was frustrating, and I was regretting giving up the scroll.
Everything about the village felt run-down and gray. It almost felt like part of it was missing. I realized why as we got farther in, halves of buildings hung over a cliff that led to the ocean.
There was an inn at the center of the village, but that was the only prominent feature. There were a few small houses with bleak gardens, but not much else. A couple of people were wandering around, but largely avoided us. The whole village had an eerie feel, making the hair on my neck stick up straight.
I didn't want to do much without talking to the tavernkeeper and getting some information. Where were the Water Ashari? We'd all wanted to go there. Was the ground around the cliffs stable?
The sign above the tavern didn't have any wording, but looked like a person jumping off of a cliff. What was wrong with this village? Their lives were so bad they wanted to end them? And encouraged it?
The door was slightly ajar, with warm light coming from inside. It was the warmest thing I'd seen since we'd gone through the portal, even with the sunset.
There were four tables in the tavern and a standing bar. One person was at the bar and a couple people were at tables. It did look like there was a staircase that went up to rooms. At least we'd probably have a place to stay, if we dared to stay there.
The tavernkeeper nodded to us as we entered, then continued to wipe down the counter. I couldn't quite tell if he was Human or a half-elf, but he had several tattoos on his arms and hands. Melima walked up to him. "My name is Melima Moonfeather, and we are seeking refuge in this town. Do you have availability or do you have an opening?"
He looked up from wiping the counter. "We've always got rooms."
"Wonderful! Well, we have a number of us odd, adventurous bunch, and I was wondering if you could help us. We're seeking the Water Ashari people."
The tavernkeeper gave an interested hum. Melima continued, "what can you tell me about them in this region, if anything?"
He finished wiping the bar. "Well, what do you want to know?"
Ari'yasa whispered something to her. Melima continued, "can you tell me about the symbolism of your tattoo?"
He looked down at his arms. "Well, which one?"
"My friend here recognizes your Ashari tattoo. Are you affiliated with them?"
He glanced around the room. "Well, if you're looking for them, the only thing I can say is you better go take a flying leap." That wasn't a friendly answer. Were we going to be able to find the Ashari at all?
"I saw that was the symbol on your inn," Melima said. "Is there any significance to that?"
"Well, funny enough, we actually call this place The Dive Bar."
"Oh. What do people dive into when they get here?"
"Well, those who do come in here—if they get drunk enough—wander too close to the edge and end up taking a flying leap."
"How far is that leap? What can you tell us about—"
"Well, why don't you go outside and take a look before it gets dark? You'll see for yourself."
"Okay, but I want to know your name."
Ari'yasa turned and left the tavern, Sephra following. I was too tired and sore to do much of anything else for the evening, nor did I care to look at the cliff right then. The tavernkeeper answered Melima, "My name's Damon."
"Damon? Thank you, Damon, I don't know that that really answers my question though. What kind of affiliations do you guys have in this town?"
He looked around at the other people in the tavern. "Well, if you're willing to spend the night, come see in the morning and then I'll tell you more."
"Well, Damon, if you could assist us, we have quite a few things we need to take to our rooms, we do plan on staying the night tonight. Could you help us bring our equipment up to where we are staying?"
"Well, here it's five copper a night, and the help I can give you is— do you want one, two, three rooms? How many do you need?"
"We all sleep together!" Melima said with a laugh. I shook my head. Five people was a lot for one room.
Damon gave Jörgen a quizzical look. "Whatever suits your fancy."
"Yeah, don't ask too many questions, we don't have very clear answers either. I won't ask you lots of questions if you don't ask us lots of questions. Actually, I take that back. We trade info for info."
"Fair enough. So, how many rooms do you need?"
"Probably two to sleep comfortably," I said.
"I would do two," Melima said. "Someone needs to be in there to babysit Jörgen, and I do not want to be in there with him snoring again."
"Well, two rooms will comfortably sleep four—they each have a double bed in 'em—but if you're fine with that, two rooms it is. That will be one silver for the night."
Melima asked me if that was expensive, which I assured her it was not. I hadn't heard a price for boarding that low in a long while.
Damon pulled out a couple of keys from underneath the bar in exchange for the silver. "Well, here you go."
He handed them over and walked into the back. He came out a few moments later with plates for the other customers in the tavern. Melima seemed annoyed that he wasn't helping us, but I didn't know what help we needed— we all carried our own equipment all the time, other than what we kept in her bag of holding.
She, Jörgen, and I made our way up to the rooms— the other two still not having returned. Melima started analyzing the walls, floors, and furniture. I really didn't care and collapsed onto the bed. My side was hurting pretty bad, and my head was throbbing.
Her poking and prodding at the walls and wardrobe was keeping me from falling asleep. "Melima, if you're really concerned about it, I can cast a spell to find traps."
"That would be good. I'm just like— Why is mister innkeeper Damion being super sketchy about the information he shares about the Ashari when he has a tattoo and he's being all shifty-eyed with the people in the inn..."
"There seems to be something wrong with the area. And if he's guarding what we think he's guarding, at least hoping the Ashari are guarding, I'd be kind of cautious about who I talk to too." The other two tribes we'd visited weren't easy to find either.
Between Melima being paranoid and the weirdness of the area, I did cast my spell, not noticing anything, even in the hallway. I laid back on the bed and dozed off within minutes.
I woke up to Ari'yasa walking into the room, soaking wet. Sephra came rushing in behind her, holding the druid's pack. She wanted to tell us what she'd discovered, but changed into dry clothes first.
We went to the other room, where Jörgen was snoring and muttering. Once he was awake, Ari'yasa told us what she'd seen. Sephra had cast a flying spell on her so she could go off the cliff without getting hurt. The cliff was about forty storeys tall, sheer into the water. She said that it continued straight down even under the water.
She'd cast a spell to detect magic, and the entire cliff face dimly lit up. It didn't give off indications of any school of magic though, more of an old magic. She didn't find anything in the water or on the cliff, so she flew back up to the top.
There was a door in a wall at the top that glowed brightly. The wall didn't connect to anything, it looked like it had been part of a building that had mostly fallen off of the cliff. She tried going through the door, but nothing happened, so she came back to the inn, leaving Sephra to chase her down.
The area we were in sure was strange. What were we going to have to go through to get to the Water Ashari? We opted not to think about it too hard, choosing to wait for morning and going downstairs for some food. For as run-down as the inn looked, the food wasn't bad.