Chapter 35: Back To Square One?

With the arrival of daybreak the party set off from the brokers house back towards where this journey first started for them Ehccihster. The problem was is that they knew how to get back to the forest that the Owlin village was located in but beyond that they had no idea which way to go to get back to Ehccihster, but for now that was a distant problem as the party headed back towards Seolford to ask for the coachman’s assistance in getting them at least part way back to Ehccihster. As they had done the day before they managed to get back to the city by the time the sun was hitting the horizon, so they decided to go and seek out the coachman to make arrangements for travel to Ehccihster beginning the next morning. But like their knowledge gap on how to get to Ehccihster after they got to the forest they had no idea where the coachman lived or stabled his horse and coach, so like they always had when they had run into a lack of information they split up trying to find the coachman or at least his coach so that way they could ask the person in charge of that building where they might find the coachman. It took until darkness had taken hold of the sky for them to locate the coachman and ask him to take them as close to Ehccihster as he could if he couldn’t take them the entire way, to which the coachman told the party that he could take them right up to the point where the city gate became visible on the horizon, but from there they would have to travel alone and on foot. With the majority of the distance agreed to be covered by the coachman starting at dawn the party returned to their house in the city to prepare their gear for the long journey and to put all of the perishables in their bags to take with them to use while on the road. At the first traces of dawn the party leave their house to meet the coachman who would be waiting for them at the south gate to Seolford.

“Hello adventurers, you all look ready for this journey. Let us be on our way as soon as you load up.”
“Thank you again for taking us as far as you can, it’ll save us a load of time as we could probably navigate our way back to the forest but beyond that we’d have been lost.”
“Well I will use the road that used to be full of traffic connecting the two cities, it hasn’t been used in quite some time though so the ride might be a bit rougher than when I took out to the lake and back.”
“We can’t complain about comfort all too much when you aren’t charging us for this and you agreed to help with only one night’s notice.”
“Alright then, let us be off adventurers.”

Two days later

After two days of travel the coachman pulled up the reigns and brought the coach to a stop.

“We’re here, this is as far as I can take you. You can see the city walls on the horizon. Good luck inside the city adventurers I await the next time you require my services.”

With that the party disembark and the coachman begins his lone journey back to Seolford while the party forge on ahead as they close in on a return to Ehccihster. When the party parted ways with the coachman the sun was just beyond it’s midday height by the time the party had reached the city walls it was kissing the top of the horizon, at the gate the party showed their adventurer cards to the guardsman and were let inside without much of a fuss considering what had happened the last time they were here. Once inside the party got to finding Ehccihster’s adventurer’s guild again so they could use it to room for the night before trying to find a way into the castle to speak once more with the crown, this time about why they summoned the Dark King and if there is a way to kill them or banish them once again. After some aimless walking around the party find the adventurer’s guild and secure a set of rooms for the night, with the first part of the plan secure they gather to discuss how they are going to get an audience with the crown again and how they’ll get the answers they seek out of the crown who last time seemed very indifferent to their existence. However the party needed not worry about how they were going to face the crown again as when they awoke in the morning they were once more treated to the sight of the city guard at the doors to their rooms each one ready to escort the party to the castle to face the crown’s judgement for returning to the city that they had been banished from. After taking the brisk walk from the adventurer’s guild up the hill to the castle and into the grand hall where they were forced onto the ground in front of that platform that only showed the crown itself and not the person sitting below it the detached voice spoke.

“Why have you foul vermin returned here, the punishment for breaking the terms of exile are death.”
“Well we came back because we need to know why you summoned the Dark King and if there is a way to kill them or banish them again, as we’re the party that have been given that task by Lord Connor Leon Seolfor the Fourth, current head of Seolford. So are you going to help us or are we going to have to resort to alternative methods to get that information?”
“If it is a fight you are after then it is a fight you will get.”

As the voice below the crown finishes their sentence a bolt of energy drops close to the party’s faces, they scramble to their feet and assume their combat formation. Lexa deciding that this cannot drag on casts the binding plant spell first allowing the rest of the party to get up to where the body below the crown would be, with the party and crown now on the same level as each other they can being to fight properly. But before anyone can attack Lexa notices something about the movements of the person below the crown, it was almost like they had become a puppet.

“Everyone attack the actual crown not the person, I feel like there has to be some curse or other such magic occurring here as that person is not moving like a person would normally move.”
“Right, attack the crown. Got it.”

With that Arano launched into a sprint toward the figure, just before he launched his attack he jumped to be on the same level as the floating crown and slashed at it. The attack resulted in nothing happening but Arano being launched backwards because of the impact with some magical boundary, so Lexa floated forth and launched a barrage of healing spells directed at the crown itself to try and break the curse set upon it. And after draining nearly all of her mana the crown finally shatters and the person that seemed to be a puppet collapses to the ground before sitting up with the party looming over them.

“Hello strangers, I assume you broke the Kitsune’s curse over the crown. And I heard your questions I was bored and lonely so I wanted to summon a friend little did I think I would end up summoning a demon, and there is indeed a way to seal the Dark King again but I cannot remember how as the Kitsune seems to have stolen my memories of how to defeat their master. For now I must ask you to leave, I will send for you when I regain myself fully.”