I sighed and rolled over. This was not exactly the adventure that I had in mind when this plan hatched itself in my mind. The winter at Rose Court with Rowan seemed so long ago, now. I find myself trapped in a world where my talents for entertainment seemed to be for naught, gathered with a motley group of individuals that I thought I'd never meet the likes of in my entire lifetime. My frustrations kept me awake for a good while before sleep finally took hold.
The next morning the group gathered to hash out the last details of the plan to lure Hakthla into the killing zone. I watched my colleagues around me as they presented their arguments (or at least tried to). The aforementioned Stark stayed quiet, but I could see intelligence behind those eyes as she considered what was said. Fletcher grabbed hold the reins of command and did not let go. He has a certain quiet forcefulness to him that's only broken when that very dangerous edge to him peaks out. Shen was quiet as always. I'm not sure if he understood everything that was going on, but I had no doubt that he'd volunteer to play a role. Harrison looked bored, Greyson somewhere between that and intrigued, Cecily attentive and forceful of what she wanted to do. She and Fletcher were much alike in that regard. It was decided that Cecily, Shen and I would serve as a lure for the demon while the others followed in their vehicle. We'd try to get Hakthla to the standing stones where we'd attempt to bind them. While I had a binding song in my portfolio, Fletcher bid me annoy the demon with some minor magics. I agreed to his request, practicing the binding song anyways.
The plan, eventually, was fruitless. The demon saw through our plan and would not bite, and as we sat in an eatery filled with garish colors and even more garish foodstuff, I resigned myself to another evening of tormenting demons and pulling splinters out of my hands.
*****
Somewhere along the way it was decided that we would make a pit stop at one of Greyson's hangouts, and so we piled into the "cars" and drove all night. The city was immense -- there was more stone here in these massive structures than in all of the castles in the Realms! Greyson apparently owned the top levels of one the building, and we were left to our own devices for a time exploring the marvels of what Stark called "technology" -- in short, crafted devices which mimicked the effects of magic.
I noticed Shen out on the balcony overlooking the city and sun and sea and skies. He looked so out of place in this strange land, and I don't remember exactly what we talked about, but I do recall thinking that he was a good man, just very innocent. Little did I want to change any of that, but when Greyson offer the chance to check out Reynard (and I never did find out why he was so hot on that) I pitched in, and so did Shen.
What was learned from this trip? Reynard was a master sorceror -- I had to work to dispel enough of the wards for us to get through. One of the more manual traps saw Greyson get clipped by a crossbow bolt, and so I patched him up (apparently not well enough for some of the group, but that's another story entirely). That's when I found the cards.
*****
Greyson was kind enough to try to explain to Shen (and the others) about exactly why we had made our way into one Lucas Reynard's house in the way that we did, while I chose that moment to secret myself into one of the other rooms of the apartment. I sat on an incredibly large bed and pulled the cards out of one of the pockets of my cloak, flipping them one by one out on the blanket in front of me.
First the group of four cards that had the image of tower inscribed on the back. The cards reminded me much of those used by soothsayers back in the Realms -- especially these with the tower image. The first, obviously, was Mister Reynard himself, wearing different clothing; the second was of a dusty wasteland with just the hint of a settlement in shadows on the horizon. It was not familiar to me in the least.
Next, an image that I'd just briefly glimpsed on the drive into this city -- a giant red span crossing the sea. I dismissed that one in a second to look at the last of this group -- Castle Harth, in the Realms. Vespera's home. This whole adventure, the words of Blaise saying that this was all destined to happen, has all taken a dark turn. Indeed, in looking at how we all had come together (and also that some of us did seem to have some relation in common) I had to wonder at who was pulling the strings here, and to what end.
The final three cards differed from the rest in that they had an image of a unicorn on the back instead of the tower image. A close inspection of the artwork showed that the artist was different for these as well. The first of this group was a man who looked very much like Reynard; the second was a face that anyone from the Realms would know -- High King Korbin. The final card held a man who resembled Korbin and his son Merlin; the man was dark-haired with intense green eyes. He looked familiar and yet not familiar.
With a sigh, I collected the cards and returned them to the safety of my cloak. When the time was right, I'd see if I could piece together this puzzle, but I knew that I'd probably need more than a little help.
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