Ghosts of Gauntcliff: Chapter Six

[ewancummins]

JUERGIN'S ROOM

The young lad swallows hard."Well, here goes nothing" he says to himself.

"Gruz and Smezel. Gruz and Smezel. Come, come meet my friend Dorgio. He has more gold for you and will not hurt you, I promise. Please, he is nicer than the fat one Benn as you call him. Come out. And he knows about the magic clothes I wear." He looks at Dorgio and shrugs, unsure what his little friends mean about that then grins sheepishly at the priest.

He gets off the bed and stands in between Dorgio and the bed. He talks back to Dorgio "They are very shy and afraid of anyone except for me and Benn, I think. Just be patient, Dorgio. Maybe you can help me with them. They mean well but I will not let anyone harm them or do them bad deeds."

Something rattles and scarpes under the bed, and presently two dirty, ugly little humanoids creep out. Their monocular eyes blink and squint in the light. They smile at Dorgio with rubbery mouths full of candy-corn teeth.


One of the creatures speaks in a high-pitched voice-
''We friends.''

[steveflam]

Juergin smiles at the little creatures reassuringly. He moves to stand in between them, placing each hand on one of their shoulders in reassurance.

"Dorgio, meet Gruz and Smezel, my friends."

[Brock Marsh Runoff]

Dorgio finds himself having to fight back an initial feeling of revulsion when he sees the creatures. In his time he'd met elves, dwarves, even an odd halfing or gnome, but never had he see living creatures as strange as these two. But still, he gave his friendliest smile and knelt down to address them.

"Gruz, Smezel, it is good to be meeting you. I am Dorgio. My friend Juergin says you helped him escape. You are having my thanks for that. You may be keeping that coin for your trouble."

"Now, maybe you can help me as well. We've been tracking a terrible monster, something that gives people horrid dreams and steals them. I watched the monster pull my friends into another...well, I am not sure what it was, but it is beyond my knowledge. Please, can you be telling me anything about the world you come from, and whether you've heard of a creature called The Dusklord?"

[steveflam]

Juergin smiles at Dorgio, relieved! Once the two have responded he will add "Maybe the Chief or an elder might know of this Dusklord, Gruz or Smezel? Say, Smezel, Dorgio is not only a very nice friend but he does Divine magic. Dorgio, I think Smezel casts some type of Divine magic, though maybe not as um advanced as yours?"

[ewancummins]

One of the two humanoids, who wears dirty cloak made from the pelts of rodents, answers with a question,
"Dust-lord? What's that?"

The other creature , dressed as a ragamuffin jester, screeches and jabbers in some alien tongue. Dorgio makes out one repeating word-- Dodds.

The robed mannikin goes on,
''We come from town. Always dark there, always nice."

[ewancummins]

THOM

Thom spots a sailing ship coming out of a patch of fog a few miles distant, to the northeast. It looks about the same size as the ship that brought him to Gauntcliff.

[ewancummins]

The Terrace
Denys bows to his guests. “Gentlemen, I pray you excuse me; other matters require my attention. I will look through my collection. If I find any information or any weapons that might be of use to you, I will have those things sent to you immediately. “He looks at Everline, a hint of sadness in his broad face framed by reddish sideburns. “And you, young lady, be careful. Stay safe” With that, the merchant departs the upper terrace, leaving Everline, Primeiro, and Eustace to finish the last bits of their morning meal.

A short time later, as the servants clear away empty plates and cups, Primeiro sees a chance to do a little subtle interrogation of his own…


Jürgen’s Room

The creatures seem to be as stupid as they are ugly. After a long, confused conversation, Dorgio has gleaned this much:

• The creatures had lately worked for an entity called ‘Dodds’; now they work for Jürgen.
• They describe the Dodds as “very bad, the-Dark-that-Eats-Dreams”
• Their former master “ hates the pretty man.” They repeat that several times, but when pressed seem to have no idea who the ‘’pretty man’’ might be, or why Dodds hates him.

Everything else is nonsensical, semi-hysterical gibberish, much of it not in any language Dorgio knows.



Benn’s Room

A serving-man brings word that Benn should begin packing. “The ship will be here soon, Master Gehrman. Lookouts have spotted it.”

Charlotte gets started on the bags. “I feel better packing myself. I’m not used to having servants wait on me.” She sighs. “Life was simpler when it was the other way round. I think we could-- Oh, I’m bleeding again!”
Benn’s wife holds her right hand up to the light of the window, staring at the red-stained linen wrapped round her thumb and index finger.
“I must have pressed too hard…”

[Rock of the Fraternity]

"Well," Everline says as soon as Sancerre and the servants have left, and she steeples her fingers. "Dare I assume we are of one mind in that the shadow-beast must be killed?"

Some people may find it disturbing that her voice remains calm and civil while discussing killing.

[Ail]

"We are, Everline. But I'm not ready yet. I need to wait for noon to pray to Belenus, but I'll be ready to go immediately after. The sooner we go there the better!"

[Ail]

Eustace then retires to his room and begins working on all the components he needs for his spells.

[Adam]

Benn stands, examining her bleeding fingers. "Here, perhaps this will help."

He chants a brief healing invocation and observes the results.

[Ken of Ghastria]

"Well," Everline says as soon as Sancerre and the servants have left, and she steeples her fingers. "Dare I assume we are of one mind in that the shadow-beast must be killed?"

Primeiro says, "You assume correctly." He nods as Eustace says he needs some time to prepare spells, then he says softly, glancing at the servants, "I have some preparation to do as well. Please excuse me. The three of us -- and hopefully the others -- will meet at Eustace's room shortly after 12 noon. Yes?"

With that, Primeiro goes to the railing, leans against it casually, and begins making small talk with one of the serving maids.

At noon:

Primeiro, fully equipped for a fight, heads over to Eustace's room. After greeting those assembled, he says matter-of-factly, "What do we know about Elliana? Her background, why she's here?"

[ewancummins]

Benn's room

Benn stands, examining her bleeding fingers. "Here, perhaps this will help."

He chants a brief healing invocation and observes the results.

Charlotte's fingers heal quickly, pink skin covering the torn and bloody spots.

''Oh, that's better!"


......


(midday, after the packing is finished)

Someone knocks at the door.

Jonas wakes up and begins to cry.

[steveflam]

Juergin whispers to Dark One Dark One, ask them if they know anything about this shadow beast and how to defeat it. They seem afraid of you for some reason, almost comparing you to ........ the Dodds?

The youth frowns, unsure, but he thinks his realization is important for some reason.

[ewancummins]

Juergin whispers to Dark One Dark One, ask them if they know anything about this shadow beast and how to defeat it. They seem afraid of you for some reason, almost comparing you to ........ the Dodds?

The youth frowns, unsure, but he thinks his realization is important for some reason.

Dark One answers in a soft whisper,

''Alright."

He glides over to the two little goons and whispers to them for a while. They shift uncomfortably in the shadow-thing's presence, looking toward Jürgen as if for reassurance.

Dark One returns to the boy's side.

''They know nothing, or else they are holding back."