46: Back to the Latrine

Wellentag 22^nd Sommerzeit

You agreed to head west in pursuit of Flosse and her entourage with Mellori the elf who promised you one hundred crowns if you would help him retrieve the Glass of Anyasrya. He said you were the least untrustworthy of all the factions involved. You worked out that they would be about two hours ahead of you but you thought it wouldn’t be hard to follow them as you knew where they were heading, and you thought that they would have to follow the coast for fear of missing their ship that was due to come the other way.

As you went you had a long discussion about books you may have read if you can read. After a while Mellori went ahead of you and returned to report that they were only a couple of miles ahead. And you wondered whether the elf could have been spotted, because you had spotted him several times when he had been following you, but he insisted he hadn’t.

And towards evening Balden and Max recognised the bit of coast you were on and agreed that around the next corner was the goblin cave you had explored earlier. Completely ignoring this fact you wandered around the headland, and Balden was spotted by two marines who were standing guard outside the cave. They called for Flosse and she asked Balden what treachery he was doing.

Balden said that he had just lost his friends, and when she asked why he had come this way he was rude to Flosse and implied she shouldn’t be so angry and so she ordered one of her men to shoot him. The shot missed and Balden ran off back to the rest of you on the next beach. When congratulated on his masterpiece of diplomacy Balden said that at least you now knew that they were all in the cave.

After a long discussion about what to do next, and some confusion over where the various caves were and where the various canoes were, you decided to head inland, behind the cave and back up the river to the lake and enter the cave system there. You decided that you would be able to crawl back through the latrine and surprise the marines that way.

So you canoed back up to the lake. When you got there you decided that all six of you on that one canoe had been a bit of a stretch so Max repaired another one, so that if you needed to escape across the lake, you could. You entered the cave system and Max still had the map that he had made, and it was surprisingly accurate, and after less than an hour you managed to find the other end of the latrine.

Aubentag 23^rd Sommerzeit

So you all crawled through the gap behind the latrine, but Mellori said there was no way he would do that. He had said he would go to the ends of the earth to find the Glass of Anyasrya, but he wouldn’t get shit on his cloak. But after you had all crawled through he had no choice but to follow you.

Berta sneaked towards the main cave and spotted six sleeping figures. She recognised Flosse and Gustav and there were two empty bed rolls, and she guessed that that meant two of the marines were on guard outside the cave.

You discussed the idea of using magic, but in the end Berta crept into the cave and reached Flosse and had a rummage around to find the glass, but Flosse began to stir. So Balden quickly sneaked in and cast a spell to make her sleep, and also cast it upon Gustav and the nearest marine. And he was able to find the glass and cut its pouch from Flosse’s necklace.

But as the two of them were sneaking away one of the other guards woke and looked at them. But Balden was able to cast another sleep spell and put him to sleep and you made off with the treasure. You discussed kidnapping Gustav as this was your original plan, but you decided it might be too difficult, and that as Flosse had already seen Balden she would suspect you all anyway.

You went back through the caves the way you had come and by the time you had reached the other end of the system it was early in the morning and you were all feeling a bit tired. But you felt you didn’t have time to rest so you canoed across the lake, and then headed for Gart’s Farm where you had stayed before.

On the way, at the crack of dawn, Balden had the urge to check the glass and he held it up to the rising sun, and it was very beautiful. But it looked like inside the glass he could see a fine elven city with tall towers, but the towers fell into the sea. And Balden felt like he knew in exactly what direction they could be found.

Then he felt like he wanted to go in that direction and find the ruin, and he certainly didn’t want to give the glass away, especially to Mellori. But after a few moments, he managed to overcome that feeling, and he put the glass away.

On the way you discussed the chances of getting a boat from Leihafen, and you said that if you couldn’t get one there you’d be stuck in the middle of nowhere. But you decided that that was better than heading for Wulfhaven where the people were said to be wreckers who didn’t like outsiders. Mellori said he would head for Tor Lithanel in Laurelorn where he’d be able to get an elf ship back to Marienburg. And he suggested you might be able to go with him.

You reached Gart’s Farm just before midday and went for a much needed sleep in the barn.