Chapter 29: Good Ol' Uncle Mayvin

Rose yawned as she started to prop herself up.

"Hey." She said to a Sorey staring at the ceiling.

"Hey." He groaned. She then turned to a Dezel with his face down.

"Mornin'." She said before looking again. "Dezel?!"

"What?!" Sorey exclaimed trying to scramble out of bed but instead he fell out and landed flat on his face.

"Dezel!" Rose shouted. "Oh my god he turned human! His annoyance with me actually turned him human!" She heard a snort in her head. "Gah!"

"Wait … you heard that?" She heard Mikleo say.

"Wait … Mikleo? Edna are you guys here too?" Rose asked. The other two seraphim materialized infront of her just when Sorey was getting back up. "Where the hell have you guys been?"

"Well we've been in the hideout dicking off but otherwise very close by, if not right by you." Said Edna.

"That's weird what happened to us?" Sorey asked.

"We don't know, and from the looks of it Muse doesn't know either." Said Mikleo.

"My guess is that Kitty Beard's domain is so powerful that it completely overshadowed Rose's and ended up blocking her resonance temporarily." Said Edna.

"How the hell does a domain do that?" Rose asked. Edna gave her a blank stare. "What?" She then sighed.

"Have you ever considered what happens when two domains clash?" Edna asked.

"… No …?" Said Rose.

"Well when that happens the stronger of the domains overtake the weaker domains which ends up masking the effects of other domains. Since Kitty Beard's domain was more powerful than yours it ends up cutting off your resonance and your shepherd's powers which under normal circumstances you and your squires should be able to do in your domain." Edna explained. "Long story short Kitty Beard has such a strong malevolent domain that it can block off all your Shepherdy stuff."

"Oh." Said Rose then looking over to the still sleeping Dezel. "Should we pretend that we can't see seraphim when he wakes up?" Sorey stares at her with disgust.

"You're terrible." He said.

"Oh come on, it'll be funny." Said Rose.

"No." Said Sorey.

"It'll only be for an hour and who knows it might even throw off your boss." Said Rose.

"If his boss wasn't standing here watching the whole thing." They heard Muse say. They turned to Muse in the door way.

"B-boss!" Sorey exclaimed.

"Well you seem pretty energetic Sorey. You doing better?" She goes up to him and touches his forehead to hers like she did the previous night.

"Hm … that fever is still around but it's not as bad …" She muttered. "Maybe you should stay in bed for at least an extra day."

"Aaaaw… really?" Sorey moaned.

"Yes really. Anyway it's good to know that your resonance is back though it puts a bit of a damper on my plans." Muse shrugged.

"What plans?" Rose asked.

"Well plans primarily having to do with trying to convince Zenrus to electrocute you." Said Muse. "Chances are you might die but …"

"Please don't finish that sentence boss." Sorey interrupted.

"Ugh … be quiet …" They heard Dezel groan.

"Get up sleepy head." Said Rose.

"Shut it Rose." He groaned. Everyone was silent for a moment before his eyes shot open and she bolted straight up. "Rose?!" He exclaimed.

"Hey." Said Rose.

"You-how-what the-WHAT?!" He stammered.

"Apparently I just needed a good night's sleep." Rose shrugged. He jumped out of bed and hugged her. "Wha- Dezel! You doing all right?" He then immediately let go.

"Uh … yeah." Said Dezel then clearing his throat. "It was just a bit rough."

"Well at least I can see you again for all its worth." Said Rose, her stomach then started growling. She laughed nervously.

"Don't worry I saved some breakfast for you two, get going before it gets even colder!" Said Muse, Rose rushed out of the kitchen

"You're not gonna make me stay in bed?" Sorey questioned.

"Your fever's not that bad, and you need to stretch your legs sometime." Said Muse. "Believe me if it was any worse you'd be in bed. Now go on! Get there before Rose eats your share!" In the kitchen Rose was stuffing her face while Sorey picked at his food.

"Hey boss, do you know what happened after the battle after me and Rose left?" Sorey asked.

"Oh ya!" Rose said with her mouth full then swallowing. "What did happen after I made a real mess of things and the Lord of Calamity showing up causing us to book it?"

"Well … I got an informant telling me that the fighting has stopped due to Rolance being in too much of a dysfunctional mess thanks to you Shepherd and one of Hyland's generals dying on the battle field causing them to back off." Said Muse. "So I don't think the war will continue any time soon."

"Shit." Rose muttered immediately thinking about purification not working on Landon.

"Maybe he got trampled." Said Edna.

"Oh okay." Said Rose.

"No I'm pretty sure he was stabbed multiple times and found with a sword sticking out of his chest." Said Muse.

"Well if that's the case I probably was behind some of those stabs but I knocked him out with the back of my knife! Though in all honesty I kind of don't care how it happened I'm just relieved that I didn't accidentally murder him like I did with the guys who were wielding the thing that's next to the bed, which I know you know." Said Rose.

"Yes I am aware of that." Said Muse.

"So is it safe to go back to traveling?" Rose asked.

"Well I'd wait at minimum a couple days for things to cool down before going to the closest town to here, or even back to Hyland." Said Muse.

"Oh! Speaking of which, did you bail out Mary Jane?" Rose asked.

"We did." Said Muse. "We gave her some gald and sent her to Lastonbell. She should be able to find a job with an associate of ours." Rose sighed and slumped back against the wall.

"Oh thank god." She said. After breakfast Sorey was sent back to bed leaving Rose to wander the ruin completely bored out of her skull.

"Uuuuuugh! There's nothing to do here!" She complained.

"Then go outside or something." Said Mikleo.

"Can I do that?" Rose asked.

"I guess, I mean Dezel spent a good chunk of last night outside." Mikleo shrugged.

"Okay let's go." Said Rose.

"What?" Said Mikleo.

"What are you doing?" Dezel sighed.

"I'm not gonna stray too far because I think if I did Muse would send someone to drag me back." Said Rose going towards the ladder entrance.

"What are you doing?" Mikleo asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

"I'm gonna hunt for dinner." Said Rose.

"Oh how cruel Rose you're gonna murder an innocent animal infront of Dezel." Said Edna with her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm not going." Said Dezel before walking off to maybe look for some mice or something.

"Shall we?" Rose asked climbing the ladder and once she got outside she stretched her arms. "Ah fresh air!" She sighed. She then looked over to see the horse still there. "Hi." She said. The horse simply huffed. She then walked near the forest.

"What are you doing?" Edna asked.

"Looking for something edible." Said Rose. Just as she said that an adorable fluffy bunny stopped nearby. "That'll do." She slowly drew out her knives and slowly approached the rabbit. The rabbit looked up at her and she froze. 'C'mon little guy don't run…' She though as she bit the inside of her lip. The rabbit continued to stare at her. Edna went out of her body and rematerialized behind the rabbit.

"BOO!" She shouted startling the rabbit causing it to run.

"Edna- what- UUUUUUGH!" Rose screamed before she sprinted after the rabbit.

"You had to be a little shit hadn't you." Said Mikleo.

"I have no idea what you're talking about Meebo." Said Edna.

"Would you two shut up for a second?! I'm trying to kill a rabbit!" Rose shouted as she chased the rabbit straight into a burrow. She bent down and reached her hand in it she felt something fuzzy then a bite. "Ugh! Fuck! Ow!" She shouted getting her hand out while simultaneously flinging the rabbit into a tree which snapped its spine and crack its skull simultaneously thus having the rabbit die. Rose inhaled sharply "Ow … goddammit." Mikleo got out of her body and healed her hand.

"Why did you think reaching in there was a good idea?" Mikleo sighed. "You have knives."

"Because I'm pretty sure that's not a rabbit burrow so the rabbit would've ran in deeper into the tunnel system if I tried to stab it." Said Rose.

"You can ask us to flood the burrows or cause them to collapse." Said Mikleo.

"What do you take me for? Lazy?" Said Rose. "At that point you're pretty much a slave not a person." She went over and picked up the dead rabbit. "Well we got something. Let's head back." On the way back they bumped into a very spry elderly man in a blue coat with a book strapped on his back and a rather short person that's no taller than Edna. Dressed nicer than the man and carried a case for something.

"Hello there madam." Said the man. "Are you familiar with the ruins near by?" He asked.

"Uuuuuuuh …." Rose said.

"Mayvin!" She heard the Scattered Bone's resident man whore, Mupvet, cheer. He came up to the man and gave him a one armed hug. "How've you been?"

"I'm quite well Mupvet." Said Mayvin. "Found any more illegitimate children and exes that want to kill you?"

"I'll … I'll just tell the boss that you're here …" Said Mupvet walking back slowly then sprinting back to the Scattered Bone's hideout.

"Think he and I are related Uncle?" The other person joked.

"Too tall and doesn't seem to have a knack for performing, no offense Andy." Said Mayvin the other person laughed.

"Are … are you friends of the Scattered Bones?" Rose asked.

"He is, I just happen to be in town as the same time as my Uncle and figure we should spend some time with each other." Said the other person.

"And you are …?" Rose asked.

"Andy Shorthalt." Said Andy taking Rose's hand. "Pleasure to make your acquaintance Shepherd." They brought her hand up to their lips and teased at a kiss but then let go of her hand and gave them a wink. Mayvin laughed.

"Wait … how do you know I'm the Shepherd? I don't even have my cloak on me." Rose pointed out.

"I saw you in Lady Lake run off with the sacred blade." Said Andy.

"I got a glimpse of you in Marlind helping out a soldier and I caught word of you messing up Rolance very recently." Said Mayvin. "But I gotta say it's rather unusual to have the Shepherd hang out with a group of assassins."

"Well it's a weird story." Said Rose.

"Then why not tell it on the way?" Said Mayvin. "Shall we?"

"Eh. Sure." Said Rose with a shrug. As they walked back to the ruins Rose told the story about how she convinced some guards that Muse was her mother and the time that they got into a toss up with Sorey. She decided to leave out anything about the Seraphim as she thinks they maight not believe in the Seraphim.

"Ha! Oh man you convinceing a guard that the Scattered Bones' boss is your mother is like an old family story of mine. Actually no … many stories." Laughed Andy.

"How so?" Rose asked.

"Well my Great Great Grandfather once traveled with a Shepherd." Said Andy. "And they snuck into a thieves' guild in Pendrago, which I'm sure doesn't exist now, and they were caught sneaking around and my Great Great Grandfather pulled out this badge to convince the guild that they were from customs and the guild ended up backing off and let them take care of any business they had."

"Huh." Said Rose. "Was this Shepherd rather morally ambiguous?" She then asked remembering one of Sorey's references to previous Shepherds.

"I dunno." Andy shrugged. "I know my Great Great Grandfather wasn't exactly known for being morally outstanding or for being particularly honest for that matter. But hey at least my worst offense is being real damn cute." Rose smirked.

"Yeah keep telling yourself that." Said Rose.

"Oh? What's this? Have I found someone that's not confused and slightly aroused?" Andy mockingly questioned leaning in close to Rose.

"Andy…" Mayvin said sternly.

"Well it's true." Said Andy with a laugh. "Even the married ones are confused and aroused with one look."

"I'm not." Said Edna.

"Well you can't get everyone." Said Rose.

"Truer words have never been spoken." Said Mayvin. About that time they arrived at the ruins and Muse came up. "Oh Milady."

"Hello Mayvin." Said Muse. "What brings you to these parts? And who is this?"

"Hello Miss, I am Andy Shorthalt. Performer extrodinare." Andy introduced themself.

"Are you now?" Said Muse snickering a little.

"Oh come now Miss I'm sure you've seen me at an Inn somewhere. Usually with a motley crew of musicians." Said Andy.

"Hm … now that you mention it … I think I may have seen you in a few towns." Said Muse.

"See? Performer extrodinare!" Andy boasted.

"I think they're stretching it." Said Mikleo.

"Anyway Milady I heard that war broke out close to here and I was hoping if you managed to escape it unharmed." Said Mayvin.

"We're all right." Said Muse. "Though with tensions still being high it's only a matter of time before another battle breaks out. So I think it might be time to abandon this hideout."

"I think that would be the best." Said Mayvin. "By the way, how is Sorey doing?"

"He caught a fever a while back." Said Muse. "Though he's doing better now and I think he'll be happy for the company." Mayvin laughed a little.

"I'm sure he will." He looks to Rose. "He sure does make some unsusal friends."

"Hey! What does that mean?" Rose pouted.

"Yeah. He kind of does." Said Muse. She then looked over to Rose. "It's not just you Rose, trust me on this." The group went into the hide out then the room the guild slept in to find a Sorey reading the Celestial Record along with some other books namely Ashari Customs, Vox Machina: Myths and Facts, and History on relations between the Glennwood Continent and the Kingdom of Northfell. Rose gave Muse a 'shouldn't he be asleep?' look. "It's not a bad fever and the boy gets bored." She defended. Sorey looked up.

"Mayvin!" He gasped putting the book down and nearly jumping out of bed.

"AH!" Muse warned. "Stay there." Sorey groaned. Mayvin gave a light laugh and sat on his bed.

"What have you been doing since the last time I saw you?" Mayvin asked.

"Well aside from getting sick and the boss sending me on missions I've been looking around the Lady Lake Aqueducts. Although there are some things I can't access due to the current regime sealing it off so I would need access to something pertaining to the royal family. However I managed to find an enterence that went underwater and there you can find some pre-Asgardian carvings and structures, which I presume that the current Lady Lake ended up being built upon." Said Sorey, though it was making Rose very bored.

"Pre-Asgardian structures?" Mikleo inquired. Edna came out and jabbed him as if to say 'shut up we're in front of non resonant people!'

"Any theories on when those might be from?" Mayvin asked.

"Well I'm thinking it might be from either the Temperence of Avarost or around the time a certain legend took place according to the Ashari. However I couldn't get a good enough look at the structures since I can't breathe underwater and all." Said Sorey. At this point Rose was only pretending to pay attention and her eyelids were starting to feel heavy.

"Sorey, have you tried figuring out these ruins yet?" Mayvin asked.

"No … no not yet." Said Sorey.

"I recommend you take a look into it." Said Mayvin pulling out his own copy of the Celestial Record. "As this is a ruin that isn't in the Celestial Record."

"Yeah no kidding, and I can't seem to find something like this in any other book, well except for the Ashari Tales but in all honesty there are other ruins scattered across Glennwood that fit the description of what was once known as the Auragrounds." Said Sorey.

"The what now?" Rose aksed.

"An ancient facility that the Ashari utilized for some important ritual that basically dictates leadership among them. Though according to them they got abandoned and then repurposed for darker means." Said Edna.

"Um … s-some ritual … facility um … I think." Said Sorey summing up the first part of Edna's explanation and poorly pretending he didn't. "Though honestly I would like to try to figure this place out. After all you can't know the meaning of legends after you've seen the history yourself."

"Well said!" Said Mayvin. "However Sorey I recommend against staying here for too long, along with you Milady."

"Huh? How come?" Sorey asked.

"The appearance of a Shepherd, new clouds of war, rumors of the resurgence of the Flamestone Firecracker, all lead to something going to happen. The winds of change are approaching fast." Said Mayvin. Sorey looked over to Rose then back at Mayvin. "And with that we'll take our leave."

"Already?" Sorey asked.

"Well I have to get back to Lastonbell with my crew." Said Andy.

"I have other places to be as well." Said Mayvin. "Until we meet again, Sorey, Shepherd, Milady." And the duo left.

"Flamestone Firecracker?" Rose asked. Edna snickered.

"Yeah … that's what we call the thing you brought in." Said Sorey. "It's a weapon that appeared over two hundred years ago and native to Flamestone as the inventor was a Flamestone native and they primarily stayed in Flamestone for some reason."

"Zenrus and I discussed the reason while you and Rose were asleep." Said Edna.

"Well what is it?" Rose asked.

"I don't want to ruin it for our resident nerd." Said Edna.

"Dammit." Said Rose.

"Don't worry Rose, when I find out I'll tell you." Said Sorey. "Anyway around the time Flamestone according to any records on Vox Machina and anything talking about Northfell discuss that around two hundred years ago Flamestone had this thing called Firecracker Alley. Which, according to records, was the place where Flamestone's enlisted military would be trained in using these. So because of that it ended up being called the Flamestone Firecracker."

"You seem to know a lot about two hundred years ago." Said Mikleo.

"Well yeah because it's an interesting time. It felt like a time where the world broke and turned into something rather unusual, well I mean it's the same world but at the same time it's different, all because of a motley group of adventurers." Said Sorey.

"Okay you lost me at the 'broke the world' deal." Said Rose.

"Yeah no kidding." Said Dezel.

"Well what I mean is that everything seemed to change to the contrary." Said Sorey. "I mean according to the Celestial record and other sources that discuss anything before Vox Machina there were unusual plagues, strange weather patterns, Glennwood was Isolated for centuries, the north was declining and splitting up into various separate tribes, and Glennwood lost a lot of its shipbuilding information, and it may have been a time with a lot of malevolence as, for anyone resonant, Lords of Calamity popped up everywhere. The world looked like it was going into decline however Vox Machina pops up and then the north establishes the Kingdom of Northfell with Flamestone as its capital, a few ships got built, even though there weren't many voyages that left the continent and then the ship building information got subsiquently lost, and everything related to the plagues, malevolence, and Lords of Calamity seemed to disappear. Not only that but names like; Shorthalt, Vessar, Trickfoot, and de Rolo, started becoming well known, and people like the Ashari and Heard of Storms became prominent even though many historians thought they died off long before then. It felt like the world had drastically shifted to a different path because of Vox Machina."

"So that's what you meant." Said Rose.

"Yeah, and their actions gave us a lot of questions which I want to find answers to so it can help me with my dream." Said Sorey.

"And what is that? … If you don't mind me asking." Mikleo asked.

"To have Seraphim and Humans coexist."

So yeah with all the D&D monsters popping up and the Critical Role references that range from very blatant to going over everyone's heads this is basically a Critical Role crossover now ... even though most if not all of Vox Machina is dead before the story even started.

And remember kids the difference between attempting to make something work in universe and pulling it out of your ass is how well you can justify it.