A/N: And here's the next chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas.
Chapter 80: Hell Comes A' Glittering
The next morning, we headed out for our meeting with the High Alchemist. We headed over to his lab, and were granted entry after a short wait. The High Alchemist was old human, and the way he carried himself showed just how highly he through of himself.
"Ah yes, I heard you desired to partake of my considerable knowledge," said the alchemist.
"I'm certain you've heard about the troubles that have been occurring in Dryvale recently," said Narcrath.
"Of course, but I have nothing to do with what's been going on, and it's not my business. The mayor can solve this just fine," said the Alchemist.
"It sounds to the like there's some bad blood between you and the mayor," I said, "but there's someone out there killing the people of the city. I'm not going to stand idly by and let it happen. So, please if you know anything that might help, tell us".
The high alchemist looked me over for a moment, and smiled.
"You've got quite the silver tounge, dragon," said the high alchemist, "very well. I've looked into some of the reports, and the composition of the crystallized portions of the victims' bodies appears to be a form of kyanite".
"I can't say I know much about that mineral," said Uxarix.
"Not surprising, it is a rather rare mineral, known for its purity and capacity for storing energy," said the alchemist, "any enery stored in kyanite would be pristinely preserved. It you wish to know more, I wuld recommend speaking with Argus, over at the Gemcutters Guild Hall".
"Thank you for your time," said Krisyra.
We left the alchemist to his work, and started making our way across town to the Gemcutters guild. The journey was uneventful, and as we went inside, we were swiftly directed to meet with Argus, who turned out to be an elven man.
"Greetings what can the guild do for you today?"
"We've been assisting the mayor in investigating these unusual murders around the town. We spoke the the High Alchemist, and he directed us to you to see if you could further our investigation," Said Krisyra, "what can you tell us about kyanite?"
"As you probably already learned, it is reknown for its purity, but it is also very difficult to work with," said Argus, "it would chip and shatter in all but the most skilled of hands. I know of two craftsmen here in Dryvale that could potentially work with it. Speak with Anni and the Emerald Dove, and proprietor of Kendrin's Fine Works, they're some of the only people in town that could work with that particual stone".
"Thank you," said Charles, "we'll speak with them".
We left the guild hall, and headed to the Emerald Dove. The shop was in a nicer section of the city, and seemed well maintained. The owner, a half-elven woman, stepped out briefly to speak with us.
"What can I do for you today?" asked Anni.
"I'm certain you've heard about the killings troughout the city?" asked Lydratir.
"Yes, how horrid," said Anni, 'but I don't know how I can help?"
"Are you familiar with kyanite?" asked Lydratir.
"In name only, I've never worked with it myself," said Anni.
"What are your thoughts on Kendrin?" asked Lydratir.
"It the past, we were noting more that friendly rivals," said Anni, "you know how it is, continually competeing agaist each other to show off our skills. However, that changed after Kendrin took that Gnome, Jelfi as an assistant. Jelfi is more talk than skill, more than that, I suspect Jelfi stole an old lapidary guide from me".
"Thsnk you for you time, ma'am," sid Lydratir, "It sounds like we should track down Jelfi".
We headed back across town, locating Kendrin's Fine Works. We tried to go in, the the door was locked. We tried knocking, but there was no response.
"What do you think, bust downt the door?" I asked.
"Go for it," said Charles, "we've got to see if Jelfi is here".
I placed the end of my tail agais the door, and gave it a good, solid hit. Immediately, the door gave way, allowing us access. The store front of this workshop was dark. A few ornate displays sat empty near the back of the room. A single door led to the back of the building. The room smelled of decaying flesh. Dried bloodstains marked to floor. I was immediately on guard, and move intot he room slowly. I caught an new odor, this one of a gnome.
"Come out Jelfi," I said, "we just want to ask you some questions".
The response wasn't what I expected.
"No, no, no!" I was promised unsurpassed skills! I'll no be taken!" said Jelfi leaping from their hiding place.
"You were promised?" said Uxarix, "by whom? If you tell us, we might consider leiniency".
"The devil lairing in the basement." Said Jelfi, "It promised to help make me great, but it lied! Now, just let me go!"
"I can't allow that," said Uxarix, "you still comiited these crimes, and mist answer for them. Please come along quietly",
"No! You're lying!" said Jelfi, "the moment I trust one of your kind you'll feed me to your pet over there!"
"I am no one's pet," I said, "I travel with these people by choice".
"Well, you won't take me!" said Jelfi"
Jelfi took the large emerald she'd been holding, and threw it to the floor, where it turned into a vaguely humanoid creature coated in gemstones. The fiendish creature smirked at us, and readied for battle.
Krisyra reacted first lauching a blast for icy magic at the crystalline devil, striking it full force. I moved up, slashing at the feind with my claws, and doing some damage. The devil snarled and swung its arms forwards, sending out a spray of crystal shards, leaving Uxarix, Charles, and I to dodge this attack. Lydratir drew back his bow and fired two carefully aimed arrows, both sinking deep and cracking some of the crystal on this devil's hide. Narcrath pointed at Jelfi and spoke an incantation, causing the Gnome to quickly fall asleep. Charles stepped in, and slashed at the devil with is greatsword. It was in bad shape, strange greenish ichor leaking for its wounds and turning to crystal as it hit the floor. Uxarix positioned himself in range and struck out with his rapier, which stuck the crystalline devil with a bust of light. As the light cleared, the only sign of this feinds presenc was its ichor on floor.
"Come my companions," said Uxarix, "I feel that the root of this problem lies deeper".
"Let's tie up Jelfi first so she dosen't escape", said Charles.
We did so, and checked the room, finding a book with Anni's name on it. We took it with us, and headed into the back of the shop. There, we found a set of stair leding down to the basement. There we saw it. A tall, bronze-complexioned humanoid figure with abnormally long limbs, cloven feet, and clad in armor seemingly make of stained and battered coins. Its wiry frame was festooned eith mismatched bracelets, rings, and necklaces, each gaudier than the last. It wore and easy smile on a face cold with envy, It was lounging on one of the work tables, clearly expecting us.
"Welcome, all of you to my humble abode," said the fiendish creature, "my apologies for the smell, Jalfi's not particularly good and cleaning up her messes".
"Oh?" I said, "And what exactly has she been doing?"
"She struck a bargain with me, of course," said the gilded devil, "I provided her unparalleled skill in her craft, and in return, she would provide payment in the form of crystallized mortal hearts. I showed her how to perform the necessary ritual to transform the victims' hearts, and then carve the stone into a properly beautiful shape for me. Kendrin over there was her first victim".
"It seems your deal has come to a close," I said.
"Yes, that seems to be correct, dragon," said the gilded devil, "to be honest, even with my boons, Jalfi was still a not that skilled. Tell you what, I'll hand over what remains of the gems here, and you let me go. Is that fair?"
"No deal," I said, "we cannot let you go".
"How about I sweeten the deal a bit?" said the gilded devil, "you seem like a creature of good sense and taste, one who enjoys the finer things in life. How about this, you get the remaining gems, and once you're ready to settle down, I'll visit you and I can help you… expand you hoard a bit. How dose that sound?"
"No means no," I snarled, "I'm not interested in the sevices of a fiend like you!"
"Very well, been a while since I've had a good fight, anyway," said the gilded devil.
The gilded devil pointed at me and smirked, but I shook off whatever magic it was using, though for a moment an image of my necklace turning into sharp spikes flashed across my mind. Uxarix was the swiftest on the draw, charging in and striking the gilded devil with his rapier, resulting in a blinding flash, quite literally in the devil's case. Krisyra morphed into an earth elemental and then slammed the devil with her stony fists. Already, this fiend was looking to be in pretty bad shape, and was no longer looking so confident. Narcrath summoned up an orb of lighting and fired at the gilded devil, and it seemed to just be barely holding on. Lydratir stepped in with his rapier, and with one deft stab, sent the gilded devil back to the pits from whence it came.
The room fell silent as the dust settled.
"Well, what should we do now?" asked Narcrath, "what do we tell the mayor?"
"We tell the truth," I said, "that Jelfi was tricked by the words of a fiend, and was behind these attacks. It probably won't end well for Jelfi, but at least we know we tried".
We set out again, collecting Jelfi and heading to speak with the Mayor about what's occurred.
A/N: And so the mystery is solved, and the culprit is in custody. What will happen for our heroes next? Only time will tell.