The city of Silvar--at least, that is what Thairl had called it, but as they neared the gates, Jynx thought that it was barely more than an average size town, at least compared to the places she had seen on the surface. Then again, she reflected, maybe this was one of the larger places around Avernum. Two guards stood at the gates, armed with crossbows and short swords, their armor similar to that worn by Acacia back in Fort Avernum.
"Welcome to Silvar," said one, "you planning on staying long?"
"Haven't really decided," replied Ansel. "Just got here a couple days ago."
"I can tell," said the second guard, with a pointed look at their skin, which still held the ruddy color from exposure to the sun, and then back to his, which was near chalk-white, with a lattice of blue veins visible in places.
"How long does it take?" asked Jynx, taking in the guard's look.
"Few months, to the most, and you'll look like an old-timer," said the second guard with a mirthless laugh. "Well, go on, youse. Fer down here, Silvar's a nice place."
"Thanks," said Ansel, and he led the way into the city.
At the center of Silvar, visible in the distance from the gates, was a park which consisted of a pool, several statues, and cavewood trees. Streets led away from this wide central avenue, and a few signs could be seen hanging from above the doors, suggesting that these were shops, rather than homes of fellow doomed folk of Avernum.
"Any idea what we're going to do, now that we're here?" asked Jynx.
"Let's go that way," said Ansel, pointing left, at a shop which depicted a loaf of bread and some sort of meat.
Dutifully following after Ansel, the group made their way down to this shop. A smell of manure hit them as they drew near a pen where several extremely thin cows were grazing on mushrooms.
"They sure don't look that good," commented Rudel, with a gesture toward the cows.
"No," said Duncan, "but it's probably because they're having to live off of mushrooms."
By this time, they had reached the shop door, and stepped inside. An almost appetizing odor wafted through the air as they opened the door, finding inside a woman whose skin bore the paleness of those who had lived some time in Avernum.
"And a good day to you," she said, her voice trying to be cheerful, though a nervous quaver came through. "I'm Carol. Welcome to my shop."
"Hi," said Ansel, "we heard that this was the best place to come for some food--I mean, more than the arrival allotment."
"Just out of curiosity," said Jynx, "how did you get the cows?"
"Some time back," replied Carol, "the Empire had a fit of generosity, and sent a few cows through the portal. Most of them died, and the ones we've got--well, you get used to it in time."
"Guess you have to make do with what you can get," replied Jynx.
"Now, I can get you some bread, and I've got cheese and some dried beef," said Carol. "Enough for the lot of you for ten days, for only ten gold." As she spoke, she kept glancing at the rear wall of her shop.
"You seem pretty nervous," said Brynja. "What's the matter?"
"Oh, it's nothing, really," she said, "just that I sometimes hear these noises and stuff behind the shop."
"Noises?" said Rudel. "Like what?"
"Oh, just clunks and such," said Carol. "Makes me nervous." Looking at her jittery movements, that was a definite understatement.
"We could take a look back there, see what the problem is," said Ansel.
"Well, I suppose I might . . ." she said, looking like she wasn't sure whether to be more nervous or relieved. "Just don't bother the cows, mind."
She unlocked the door, and the six newcomers to Avernum stepped into the cow pasture. Carol closed the door behind them--evidently not wanting to have cows trooping into her shop, and Brynja moved to the back wall.
"Look at this," she announced, "a secret door, and it seems to lead right . . ." She seemed to find the catch, and the door opened, revealing a narrow bank along the river that ran on the southern side of Silvar.
They had no more stepped through the door when Ansel cried out in pain, and in the dim fungal light, they saw three of the feline-like creatures.
"Cat heads!" said Duncan, and he started forward behind Ansel, who was most definitely looking for revenge.
Brynja fingered her darts, trying for a position on the narrow bank that wouldn't put the others in jeopardy.
"All right?" asked Rudel, concerned about Ansel.
Ansel merely growled in response, and then the battle was joined.
'Wonder how they got here,' Jynx mused as she rifled through her mental list of spells. At least, she had never heard of the cat-men liking water any more than the usual cat, so she didn't think they would have swum in, and . . . Such thoughts would have to wait until later.
Ansel's thoughts of revenge seemed to impair his ability to dodge as he hurried headlong toward the felinoids, and one of them ripped a gaping gash in his arm, the blood dripping to the cave floor, while the other one's aim was somewhat off, saving Ansel from further injury--for the moment. But the moment was over all too soon as the one feline-like creature snapped out with a bit of divine magic, wracking Ansel with pain once again, while Brother Theo's own appeal to the divine sent pain to twinge the spell-slinging cat.
Finding her position, Brynja threw two of the darts that she had acquired in their "arrival allotment" at the opposing spell-slinger--both of them struck home, and a grim smile came across her face--she wasn't going to leave her friend's injury unavenged. Ansel recovered himself, and struck out at the cat creature that had given him visible wounds, and struck a neat slice across a furry leg, while Rudel's arcane flames arced across the field to catch the fur of the spellslinger. Side-by-side with Ansel now, Duncan struck out at one of the cat creatures, but to no effect other than perhaps drawing their attention away from the focus on Ansel. Pushing aside the thoughts about how the creatures had gotten there, Jynx collected herself to send her own arcane flames to engulf the opposing spellslinger, who at last fell to the ground.
There was only a small moment to celebrate, but there were still two more dangerous cat creatures, and Jynx gathered her wits to send another jet of arcane flame at the Nephil who had wounded Ansel. Brynja's darts followed an eye-blink later, but this time they flew off-course, vanishing into the water. Brother Theo, still chanting, though he seemed to be moving up to try to tend to Ansel, called upon the divine to wrack the other Nephil with pain--a howl from the beast verifying that his prayer had been answered. While the one whose attention was on Ansel now had a spoiled aim due to the effort to douse the flames, the other Nephil turned to Duncan with ferocious accuracy, slicing his thigh open nearly from hip to knee. Ansel managed to get in a ferocious strike of his own, the dead Nephil sliding from his blade to the cave floor, while Duncan soldiered through the pain to manage a gruesome slice of furry man. Rudel then summoned a bit of arcane flame which, with a final howl of pain, finished the remaining Nephil.
"Thank the gods," said Brother Theo as he moved up to the side of the two wounded men. "Let me see what I can do, now that there's no one about to open more bleeding gashes."
"Thanks, Brother," said Ansel, his voice coming out as more of a grunt of pain.
While Brother Theo tended to his two injured companions, Brynja darted forward, and began rummaging through the satchels the Nephilim carried, finding nothing but a bit of food which Nephilim must find edible, but was disgusting for humankind, and she pitched it into the water, her nose wrinkled with distaste.
"Lux," muttered Jynx, and a small ball of light appeared in her hand, and she made her way to the end of the ledge, where she found the body of a human, recently garroted. "Nice sword and boots," she said. "Pity he didn't seem able to use them."
Brother Theo had finished his task of tending the wounded, and Ansel came over, and said, "Guess we should take his body back when we go--dunno what people do with the dead down here, but it seems that it's pretty easy to end up thataway."
Taking the sword, Duncan said, "Of course, the living would find a better use for this."
"True," said Jynx, "and why don't you try the boots?"
Taking the meager equipment, the six recent arrivals then made their way, burdened with the corpse of the human, through the secret door and back into the food shop, where Carol screamed at the sight.
"Uh, we found out the reason for those noises," said Ansel. "Bunch of cat heads out back."
"But we took care of them," said Jynx, meaning to be reassuring. "They won't bother you any more."
"But they might come back!" exclaimed Carol, as two of the city guard arrived at the door, alerted by the scream.
"What's going on?" said the one guard.
"We found this fellow out back--already dead when we got there, and three of the cat heads--which are still out back," said Brother Theo.
"Like to see that," said the second guard.
"This way," said Brynja, gesturing to the door. The second guard followed her, and after they had entered the cows' enclosure, Brynja said, "The lady in there said she kept hearing noises, so we went to check on it for her."
After a quick examination of the narrow ledge, the guard and Brynja returned, and the guard said, "Story checks. We'll take the deceased, and send someone to burn the cat heads' bodies."
With that, the two guards left with the dead man, and Carol, still jittery, sold some more food to the group, but seemed extraordinarily happy to see them head out. Walking down the street, they came across a shop announcing "Anastasia's Armor".
"Hey, wasn't that one lady looking for an Anastasia?" said Jynx. "Wouldn't it be funny if she were this close all the time?"
"You're right," said Rudel. "Might as well ask her if the other gal's name means anything to her."
"Only one way to find out," said Ansel, and he led the way into the shop.
Inside this shop, a woman sat behind a counter, with several sets of armor--mostly leather tunics, set about the room. "Good day," she said, "and what can I do for you?"
"Well, we're interested in checking out the armor you have for sale," said Ansel, "but we were also wondering--your name's Anastasia? We met someone in Fort Avernum looking for a sister named Anastasia--Warrick?"
"Warrick is here?" cried Anastasia, "Oh, that's terrible . . . I thought . . . I thought it would be enough if they just threw me down here. You see--we objected to the Empire's policies on the nephilim. I just thought if they treated them more humanely . . ."
Jynx smiled grimly as she thought that perhaps it would be better if they didn't mention that they had just killed three nephilim out on the edge of the river, and said, "I'm afraid we did see her, and she was hoping to find you."
"I'd love to go get her," said Anastasia, "but with bandits and all--I'm sure you've noticed . . . I don't know when it would be safe."
"As it happens," said Ansel, "we might be going that way again--we haven't settled on anywhere just yet. We can ask if she wants to travel with us."
"Would you?" said Anastasia, smiling, though the emotional upheaval was still evident in her eyes. "I'll ask Efrem to give you a good price, too."
"Who's Efrem?" said Duncan.
"My husband--runs the next shop down," replied Anastasia. "He makes weapons, I make armor--together, we're quite the team, you see?"
"Quite so," said Ansel. "Uh, listen--we were given these leather tunics, but mine's already taken some rips. What could I get that might hold up a little better?"
"Well, there is the metal," said Anastasia, showing him to a suit of chain mail--it looked as though it had been recovered from a dead body and beaten back into shape, with some of the rings still a little misshapen. "It's hard to get the heat for working metal properly," she said, her tone apologetic. "So, it's a little expensive."
She named a price, and Ansel whistled--he was quite sure the others would not agree to his taking quite that much of the group's arrival allotment for something only he could use, and he shook his head regretfully, and said, "I guess I'll have to stick to leather for the next bit. Can I get something without a big hole?"
"Sure," said Anastasia, leading him over to the leather tunics. These were quite well-made--apparently the handicaps with metal did not affect much of the production of other goods, and so Ansel exchanged his already battered leather for a new leather tunic.
"Be sure you ask Efrem about Demonslayer when you see him," said Anastasia, her lips curved in a smile that hinted at some sort of joke between married folk.
"Thanks, ma'am," said Ansel, and he led the others back out of the shop. Once they were outside again, he said, "You reckon we should see this Efrem fella before we go?"
"Why not?" replied Jynx. "Not all of us have gotten decent arms off the dead yet."
"OK," said Ansel, with a grin, and he put an arm around Jynx's shoulders, steering her toward the next shop--the neat lettering chiseled in the stone: "Efrem's Arms".
They walked into the shop, and a well-muscled man greeted them.
"Hi," replied Jynx. "Some of us were looking for a few better weapons than what we've got."
"Well, if you want to get up to Fort Draco, you'll find the best there is in Avernum," said Efrem. "Don't get much of their goods down here, but if you're new arrivals, I can find you stuff better than you get in the arrival allotment."
"New arrivals," said Jynx.
"And grateful though I am to have some weapon," added Brother Theo, "I would prefer a mace."
"That I can get you," said Efrem, bringing out a stout piece of cavewood topped with a bronze head. "Fifteen gold for it."
"And if I add this dagger?" said Brother Theo.
"Sorry--the stone weapons are so common down here," said Efrem, "I can't give you anything off for it."
"I'll take it anyway," said Brother Theo, looking to Ansel who held the purse that Tor had given the group.
Ansel began counting out coins as the others also upgraded their weapons from stone to bronze.
"Yer wife said som'thin' about Demonslayer," said Ansel, as he finished counting the coins while the others took their new weapons and stowed them.
"This here is Demonslayer," said Efrem with a hearty laugh as he patted the sword he wore. "Well--I call it that, but it ain't the real article. But the guys are all jealous of the big sword I got." He gave Brynja a grin that veered into a leer.
"The real Demonslayer?" said Brynja, her tone polite.
"Yeah, that group, the First Expedition, they called it--they had some mighty powerful stuff, and part of it was this sword called Demonslayer. Of course, it got broke to pieces, and no one knows where they all are, so now this here," said Efrem, with another pat on the hilt of his sword, "will do."
"It's nice," said Jynx politely, and then she started toward the door of the shop.
Outside, she said, "Where to, now?"
"Well, after traveling all day, I'm not keen on setting out again," said Ansel. "I say we find the inn and see if they got room."
"Works for me," said Rudel.
Leaving Efrem's shop, they passed the central park--an odd humming, like someone who could not quite carry the tune, but try as they might, no one saw anything other than the statues amidst the cultivated cavewood trees. The inn was one of the largest buildings within the walls of the city of Silvar, a neatly painted sign out front "Adventurers Wanted: Apply at the Castle".
"Hmm, that sounds promising," said Ansel, as they continued past the sign into the inn.
"Castle's a long way away," said Jynx.
"Meaning?" said Ansel.
"Meaning that we might do a bit to make ourselves more worthy of the title of adventurer before we go there," said Jynx, with a grin.
"Thinking of going to the Castle?" said the man tending the bar, as they had just entered the inn, and Jynx's last words spoken as they came through the door.
"Well, we haven't figured anything else to do down here," said Ansel.
"Yeah, you are new, I can tell," replied the bartender, grinning. "What can I get you?"
"Well, start with a round of drinks," said Duncan. "And you got room for us? Thinking about spending the night before we head off--well, wherever we head next."
"Sure, on both counts," said the bartender, "name is Gary, by the way."
"Nice to meet you, Gary," said Ansel. "So, you got any tips on how to get ahead down here?"
"Well, most folk just want to mind their own business," said Gary, "farming, fighting off cat heads and sliths, and such. Then there's the folks that want to do a bit more--make things nicer down here. Like I got a dream, finding a hot spring and opening up a spa."
"Where would we find a hot spring?" said Brynja.
"Heh, if I knew that, now, don't you think I would've already done something about it?" said Gary, with an ironic laugh. "Now, you lot happen to find something like that--well, I might have a few coins set aside to make it worth your while to let me in on it."
"That's right nice," said Jynx. "What's to eat?"
"Lizard steak in mushroom gravy," said Gary, not missing a beat in his wiping of glasses.
"I'd like some of that," said Jynx, stealing a look at Ansel, who was glowering at her after a look in the pouch of coins. "What?"
"Well, I'm not for spending all the money without a thought as how we're getting more," said Ansel. "Still, I guess we gotta eat and all."
"There's plenty of way to get ahead," said Gary, "but you wanting to go to the Castle--you'll need a token to get in. Guards got tired of every lazy roustabout with no talent, so you gotta find a token to get your audience."
"And where do you get a token?" said Rudel.
"Mayors of the cities on council," said Gary, "they decide if someone's worthy of it, and give 'em the token."
Tucking in the food, drink, and information, the six companions by circumstance leaned over the table talking to each other throughout their meal, trying to determine their next course of events--finally settling on the notion that it might be nice to let Warrick know where her sister now lived, and possibly offer to bring her to Silvar.