SILVERYMOON
Chapter 8
They had agreed to make camp on the edge of Neverwinter Woods and get closer to the city in the morning, provided the entire woods wasn't on fire. They did see smoke rising in the distance, but they weren't sure whether it was the forest or the city.
As always, they rode part of the way, walked their horses others, and even stopped to let them eat some grass. Since it wasn't a full day's trip, they had time to stop and tend to the horses, giving one of them the feedbag while they made camp. They risked a small fire to roast some meat and heat some soup. Kate already had blood from when they were at the carts.
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Come morning, they left the horses in the grass far outside the city and flew in. If anyone was watching, it was indeed a strange sight. There were two people with large wings and a tail on either side of a swarm of bats.
The only real problem with that was that Kate couldn't talk while she was a swarm of bats. So while she saw using her sonar and her bat eyes, she couldn't say anything. But Rick and Alexis could.
"HOLY CRAP, DAD!" What Alexis saw looked like near-total devastation. The river that went right through the middle of it, much like Silverymoon had, was swollen and full of debris. The city had a wall all the way around it. Or at least it used to.
There were still a few fires here and there inside the city. Though what remained was a mess.
"Head for Castle Never," Rick told her. "If there's any leadership here, that should be the place."
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Kate had to follow since she couldn't speak and landed next to Castle. She looked over where they were. "Why here?"
"According to the map, this is Castle Never. Or it was Castle Never," Rick replied.
All Kate saw was rubble. "Now what?" She didn't see anything left to search.
Rick pointed, "Bluelake District." He pointed again, "Shard of Night, Tower District." Then he turned in the opposite direction. "Protectors Enclave. The rest is housing." It was hard to see that since not much was standing.
"How did those guys find anything to loot?" Alexis asked, given that they had three full carts.
"The walls are down, so getting in was easy enough. One hundred to maybe two hundred, and they spread out. Maybe," Kate put forward.
"We came here to survey, so what do we survey?" Alexis questioned. "Most of this city is gone. Not all, but a lot."
"MEOW!"
They saw Patches take off into the remains of the Castle, and Alexis ran after him. And, of course, Rick and Kate followed her.
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Kate checked for a pulse. "He's alive, but he's in bad shape." Alexis pulled out one of their wands and looked at her. "Go ahead." It had fifty charges. Even if Alexis used a few, it was still of use, and they needed answers. "Wait! Only after you two put up your illusions." Both Alexis and her dad looked like Demons.
Three charges later and the male woke up. He groaned from the pain and allowed Kate to help him to a sitting position. "How do you feel?" Yes, it was a stupid question, but Kate couldn't help herself.
"Thank you," he said gratefully. But he ignored the female's question and asked one of his own. "Who are you?" They didn't look familiar.
"We came from Silverymoon to see if you needed help," Kate responded while not giving him their names intentionally.
The color drained from his face. "Volcano of Mount Hotenow. Help me up, please." He raised his arms, and the human male helped lift him.
He was up and steady enough to stand alone. "All dead, I presume?" The Castle was gone, and he had no idea why he wasn't dead.
"We only just got here. Unfortunately, the damage is extensive. You have a name?" Kate queried.
"I am the Wizard Airdan Elnan. I'm an advisor or at least I was." His city was mostly gone. "We need to find survivors." He needed to find a way to help.
"Most everyone is on the road to Waterdeep," Rick told him.
"Waterdeep." Airdan nodded while he thought about it. That was the place to go from here. "I need to see if I can help them." It was his job.
"There's an army of about two hundred south of here," Rick advised him.
Kate described them. "Stooped postures, piggish faces, and prominent teeth resembling tusks."
Airdan frowned. "Orcs. They are weak, though not all them are. Worse if there are great numbers of them. They hide in caves in the Sword Mountains south of here. We don't have good numbers on how many. Two hundred, you say? Unarmed, our people stand no chance. I need to reach them."
"They're a day away from here on horseback," Rick warned him.
"For you perhaps. I thank you for your help. If you are in Waterdeep come find me. I will thank you formally. For now, I need to help my people." They watched him say a few words, make a couple of brief gestures, and he was gone in an instant.
"Wow!" Rick had never seen anything like that before.
"What he did was teleport, if my master is correct and whether I understood the spell properly. Assuming that you know where to go, you can literally get anywhere instantly," Alexis explained. "I'm a long way from being able to do that."
"Well, at least we saved one, so where next?" Kate looked around, unsure just where to go.
Alexis spoke up. "The river destroyed so much, and that volcano has destroyed a lot too. As strange as it sounds, I suggest north. It looks to be in better shape."
"Lead the way," Kate told them and watched them shift and drop their illusion as they jumped into the air and began flying. Kate turned into a swarm of bats and followed.
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They had been up and down the north side of the river all day. They were here to survey, not search each and every building for survivors. Besides, what could they do with survivors? So far, there was no getting across the river. Every bridge this city had was gone, so where did they take them?
However, now they were back with the horses and setting up their tent. Alexis looked around then asked Kate, "Where's Dad?"
"Hunting for firewood. He wants to cook something. What's up?" Kate was betting she had a question.
Alexis began to explain it to her. "Two things, actually. First, I'm a Succubus, and you know I need Cum to live."
"Didn't you find someone before we came here?" Kate thought she could last two weeks, and it wasn't that long yet.
"I'm close, so if we stay here long enough, I'll need to find someone, but this leads me to my big question. I know you're teasing me, saying that he's my boyfriend when he isn't. Yes, he kissed me, and we've been on just one date.
Alexis worried her lower lip. "I'm a Demon and supposedly Evil. He's half Celestial, which is all Good. How is this going to work? Dad has you, and I'm happy for both of you, but I'm a Demon."
"You actually do like him, don't you?" Kate thought what she was hearing was that Alexis was falling for him. However, Alexis was right. Here in this land, she was an Evil Demon. Kate also believed she heard that Alexis was getting tired of the meaningless sex with strangers that would never remember her or care for her.
Kate was silent for a few moments. "I'm not sure I'm the right person you should be asking. I suck at relationships, Alexis. I keep waiting to screw things up with Castle and lose everything. But thinking about this for a second, have you considered to keep dating him? Let him fall in love with you. Maybe he'll overlook the Demon part of you. Prove to him that you aren't Evil, that you're every bit as good and nice as he is."
"Lie to him?" Alexis didn't care for lying at all. Her dad had taught her to tell the truth no matter how much it hurt. But if she told him she was a Demon, he would rat her out; her life there would be ruined.
"As I said, I might not be the right person to be asking about it. I lie a lot. I lie to protect myself, to hide my heart from heartache. Call it omission of the truth. If he loves you, he can overlook what you are and love you for you."
Kate didn't believe she had anything else she could offer the redhead. "That's about all I have for you."
"I suppose." Alexis would think about it.
"But, I have a favor to ask of you." Kate had her own issue she wanted to talk to Alexis about. "We all sleep in the same tent, and Castle needs Cum, so I want to ask…"
Alexis finished that thought for her. "You want me and Patches to stay outside for a while." Alexis was no fool. Kate was talking about wanting to make love to her dad so he could get her Cum. Alexis watched as Kate began to blush.
"I can do that." Alexis let her blush become full face before she let her relax and lose it.
"Thank you." It wasn't because Castle needed her Cum. Instead, it was because she needed him to make love to her. He was so good at making love to her. He even occasionally fucked her nice and hard, and sometimes she needed that as well.
Alexis teased her straight-faced. "But don't take half the night. I'd like to get some sleep tonight."
"I make no promises." With Castle being an Incubus, he was more than capable of wearing her out. He could keep going and she was done in. That was a first for Kate, and it made her like Castle even more. Kate smiled back at Alexis.
Somehow talking to Alexis about sex proved so much easier than she thought. Talking to girlfriends about sex was one thing, but she was talking to Castle's daughter!
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Come morning, Kate woke, and yes, she was naked and in her own sleeping bag after making love to Rick last night. Turning her head, she saw Alexis in her sleeping bag, sleeping soundly. But what she didn't see was Patches, so she assumed he was outside keeping watch.
That allowed her to get out of her bag naked, then dress, and not have Alexis watch her. Stepping outside once fully clothed, she noticed Patches easily enough. He was on fire, so how hard was that to miss?
"Hi, Patches, I presume we didn't have any unwanted company?" Kate reached down to pet him knowing that he wouldn't burn her.
"MEOW."
"I'll take that as a no. We have to go back into the city today and keep looking around, find out what's left and what's destroyed and just how many people have decided to try and stay. It's terrible that it's a destroyed city." Kate looked that way, and even from here, she could see the holes in the wall.
"MEOW."
"I'm glad you agree. You can go wake Alexis, I'll keep watch." Kate was a little amazed when he actually walked to the tent and went inside.
Moments later, she saw Alexis come out already dressed and head for a tree out of sight. Being a Vampire had its benefits. She didn't pee, nor did she poop. She didn't drink, and she didn't eat, so what was there to rid from her body? What she wasn't sure about was if she could get pregnant. Even if she could, were Vampire eggs and Demon semen even compatible? Seeing that damn near half everything here was, she thought it might well be possible. Still, she had no thought about ceasing making love to Castle. She loved him.
She was even admitting it to herself now. She was in love!
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It was the south end of the city this time. The southeast end was all housing, and almost of it was ruined. Most of it was because of the river overflowing and flooding everything. Just about all of this area seemed to be made of wood, so it appeared to be destroyed.
The section over from it turned out to be a graveyard of all things. Why it was inside the city escaped all of them. They also flew over it and didn't go down. Since Kate couldn't talk, she was happy to follow and skip this area.
The following section was just about all stone, so it was in much better shape. Even the outer wall here was in better condition. The double gate allowing entrance was undamaged, but it was also wide open with no guards.
"Maybe they left with all the people to protect them?" Rick wondered out loud since it was possible.
"Perhaps, or that Orc Army killed all of them," Kate countered. "Back to flying, please. Being on the ground bothers me." She couldn't explain why walking through this mess was getting to her, but she felt safer flying.
It wasn't long before they all landed and started looking around. "There was a fight here and a big one," Alexis noted as she looked over a dead Orc. He wasn't alone. There were other dead Orcs and dead humans everywhere.
"Orc army. This might be where they got those cartloads of stuff," Kate suggested. It also had her looking everywhere. They saw the Orc army but was that the only army that came here?
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They flew over the far west wall and landed in the dock area. It was a mess there as well. Only little rowboats seemed to have survived. A lot of them were beached, but not all of them were. All of the other ships were either gone or sunk where they sat. Surprisingly the docks themselves were a mix of damaged and intact. There was even a bridge that was still intact, so they walked it to reach the island.
There was a stunning mansion on the island. They decided to venture inside after Alexis went first in Ethereal form to check it out.
The mansion turned out to be an inn, and a fine one at that. It was a five-story building. The first floor was the dining room, lit by an enormous hearth and lanterns hanging from the sides of the grand staircase. The next three floors had the oddity of soundproofing, thanks to the magic cast while the inn was being built. Those floors were set aside, with the luxurious rooms rented to select travelers and regular patrons. The fifth floor served as the feast hall. The roof had a landing platform for winged steeds and flying ships.
As grand as it was, none of them even considered taking anything. Besides, the Portable Hole they had was already full. All they had left were their backpacks that barely fit between their wings.
"Listen to this." Rick had found something on the first floor on their way out. "A room for a night had a price of 16 gold pieces, including stabling services and as much food and drink as desired, while a single dinner had a cost of 10 gold pieces. If a client wanted the company of a staff lady, the bill was added to by 45 gold pieces.
Wine of good quality cost 6 gold pieces, firewine 9 gold pieces, and elverquisst 20 gold pieces. A mug of ale or cider had a cost of 4 copper pieces.
Fine fey wine and strong dwarf liquor were on the menu. A glass cost 10 gold pieces, while a bottle cost 50 gold pieces.
Something called spider egg souffle was served as a decadent treat at the inn for mere 50 gold pieces." Rick put the list back down.
"Does Silverymoon even have something like this place?" Kate asked. From what she knew, that place was expensive.
"We have money if you want to try and find some of that," Alexis offered. "Just leave the money behind."
They found a case of Fine Fey Wine and left behind enough gold to cover the cost. It got split up into all three backpacks, so in case the bottles broke, they didn't lose it all. They now had twelve bottles of Fine Fey Wine.
"What about Dwarf Liquor? We could sell it in our place. Get the Dwarves to come to our place?" Alexis asked since they were trying to start a business. So now they had twelve bottles of Dwarf Liquor and left behind still more gold to pay for it.
"MEOW?"
"Yes, we're leaving now. I think we've overflown everything, and we can go home tomorrow." Alexis looked at her dad and Kate, waiting for their response.
"Survey complete?" Rick looked at Kate, and she nodded.
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They spent the night in their tent back on the edge of the forest and made sure their horses got to graze and were watered.
"I need to stop at Triboar, Dad. I need Cum." It was the best city for her to find someone.
"While it's not entirely destroyed it is heavily damaged," Kate noted as they rode toward Triboar the next morning.
"It'll cost a fortune, and who would want to come back to this?" Rick asked.
"We rebuild after hurricanes. Usually, we don't even build better. We rebuild and let it be destroyed yet again," Alexis commented. That had both of them silent while they thought about it.
"They'll be back. Waterdeep can't hold hundreds of refugees. Can it?" Kate queried. "We still need to avoid that Orc army. We're far too close to them."
That had them skirting Neverwinter Woods until they had to go east, where they ran across the main road south to Triboar. The rest of the trip was pretty much just like the trip out.
By the time they got home they never wanted to ride a horse again. Next came a meeting with Corimin, Alexis's boyfriend, as Kate kept teasing her.
But first came a meeting with Mitala, Lady Alustriel Silverhand, and the rest of her staff. What they did with what they told them was up to them. They, in turn, took their horses back and agreed to pay for one year of training for one of them as payment.
Next came going across the invisible bridge to the other side of the river where all the magic-user stores and colleges were. They did this three times a day as it was, so it didn't get to them any longer. It did, however, cost them 100 gold for each item to be identified and determine if they wanted to keep it or sell it.
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Wand Bracelet – Store and retrieve up to four items of no more than 3 pounds each – 11,000 gold if sold. (They sold it)
Robe of the Inferno – +4 armor bonus to AC; create fiery orbs that can be thrown – 35,000 gold if sold. (Alexis kept it)
Dragon Mask – 2/day see invisibility for 5 minutes – 3,000 gold if sold. (They sold it)
Boots of the Mountain King – Ignore some movement-based penalties and skill checks – 1,000 gold if sold. (They sold it)
Slippers of Spider Climbing – Walk on walls or ceiling with speed 20 feet – 4,000 gold if sold. (They sold it)
Riding Boots – +5 on Ride during combat, other mounted combat bonuses – 11,000 gold if sold. (They kept it for now. Who knows, they might need it in the future)
Gloves of Eldritch Admixture – 3 charges/day, bonus energy damage with eldritch blasts – 2,000 gold if sold. (Rick got these)
Gloves of Endless Javelins – Create temporary +1 javelins (array of the manticore) – 6,000 gold if sold. (They kept it for now but weren't sure if they would keep it long term)
Ring of Water Breathing – Breathe freely underwater – 5,000 gold if sold. (They kept it. Kate got it for now)
Ring of Invisibility – Invisibility at will – 18,000 gold if sold. (Kate got this one)
Cloak of Charisma +4 – +4 enhancement bonus to Cha – 14,000 gold if sold. (Kate got this one)
War Wizard Cloak –Continuous endure elements, feather fall; 1/day dimension door, mage armor, protection from arrows, sending – 14,000 gold if sold. (Alexis kept it and had to eventually decide just what she wanted to wear)
Rogue's Vest – Various rogue-themed bonuses and effects – 16,000 gold if sold. (Kate got this one)
Monk's Belt – AC and unarmed damage as monk of five levels higher, extra uses of stunning attack – 11,000 gold if sold. (Rick got this one)
Folding Boat – Becomes a boat or ship on command – 6,000 gold if sold. (They kept it even if they didn't know what to do with it just yet)
Golem Manuel, Flesh – Contains information and spells necessary to create a flesh Golem – 7,000 gold if sold. (Rick kept this one. He might even put it to use one day. IT WAS A BOOK!)
Figurine of Wondrous Power, Serpentine Owl – 1/day becomes a normal-sized horned owl or giant owl for 8 hours – 8,000 gold if sold. (They kept it)
Figurine of Wondrous Power, Bronze Griffon – 2/week becomes a griffon for 6 hours – 9,000 gold if sold. (They kept it)
Metamagic Rod, Maximize, lesser – 3/day cast a spell of up to 3rd level as though affected by Maximize Spell – 12,000 gold if sold. (Alexis got this one)
Staff of Charming – Create various charm effects – 15,000 gold if sold. (They kept it for now but might sell it in the future after they thought about it)
Figurine of Wondrous Power, Obsidian Steed – 1/week becomes a heavy warhorse for 24 hours – 27,000 gold if sold. (They kept it)
Golem Manual, Greater Stone – Contains information and spells necessary to create a greater stone Golem – 42,000 gold if sold. (Rick got this one. IT WAS A BOOK!)
Tome of Leadership and Influence +3 – +3 inherent permanent bonus to Charisma – 80,000 gold if sold. (Kate got this one to read)
Five bolts of silk satin weave cloth, a set of china for 8 (several pieces of which were broken), Carved Harp made of exotic woods (700 gold if sold), Gold and Topaz bottle stopper Cork (1,050 gold if sold), Masterwork Painting (1,400 gold if sold) – (They kept all of it and would use it all to decorate their home or use it for sewing objects to sell)
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What had suffered a little during their time gone was all of their plants hanging from their balcony and the plants in pots out front. Alexis talked Kate into spending money to hire a Druid to try and save them. They had a lot more money now and they needed these plants to support their business. Who was going to buy from them when they couldn't even keep their plants alive?
Very next day all three of them head for Joobs to get a free haircut and Alexis went upstairs with Patches to talk to Mops. She needed her help sewing. Mops was basically her employee.