The Next Adventure Begins

Using a combination of sneaking, flying and running away, our group managed to escape the post-concert chaos without being caught by the guards. Even though it seemed they wanted nothing more than to reward us for our hard work, the last thing I wanted was to run the risk of being found out. And what would have normally needed at least some minor combative discussion about why we weren't taking the credit and reward for a job well done, thanks to my recent 'Honesty, TM,' required very little convincing of my companions.

By the next morning, with the festival officially drawing to a close, we had packed our things and prepared to depart Fearnemyst early. As I checked us out of the hotel, and Sharzin disappeared to find us a ride, I overheard a group of whispering bystanders discussing a rumour. Tales had begun to spread about town guards looking for a heroic group of four adventurers. Apparently, the group had not only taken down the giant statue assaulting the main stages but also saved someone of importance. With the knowledge that I had been one of the people who had saved the day and that the hunt was on to find our group, fleeing Fearnemyst now seemed to be of the utmost importance.

"I wonder who the important person was that we saved?" I pondered aloud from my spot on the lobby couch where I waited for Sharzin. "It couldn't have been that kid, could it?"

"Izzz," Aesandoral groaned from beside me, her body lying flush with the lounge. "Use your spell."

Glancing over at her, I revealed a slight, disapproving glare. After the concert, we had been up most of the evening celebrating our victory and enjoying the last night of bottomless booze at the Gonquin. Because of this, both Aesandoral and Rionriv were exceptionally hungover this particular morning. With the archer groggily groaning on one side and the sorceress currently passed out on the other, her hangover exponentially worse than the nearly inebriation-immune elf, I sat in the middle as sober chaperone.

"No," I replied to her, looking towards the entrance, eagerly awaiting Sharzin's return. "This is your punishment."

"It-it wasn't meeeee. That was Riiii—"

"You could have stopped her."

Currently, I was laying it on thick for the pair after the trick they had played on me towards the end of the night. After drinking our fair share, one thing had led to another, and we had decided to play a game of truth or dare. I had laid out a well-placed truth that put Rionriv on the spot to divulge her kinks to me, which she didn't. This, of course, led to my needing to complete a dare of stepping out from our suite in the common hallway in the nude. Thanks to some liquid courage, I did so, only to have Rionriv lock me out.

After needing to scale the building in my birthday suit to let myself back into the suite, I was not particularly fond of playing nice for the rest of the night and morning.

"I-I-I—huuurrgh!" Leaning over, Aesandoral hurled the bacon and egg breakfast scramble across the marble floors of the Gonquin lobby.

"Ah, crap." I sighed, looking around to see if anyone had witnessed the display. "Well, at least everyone else appears to be in a similar state. Maybe if we—"

"Excuse me," I picked up on a man's voice from behind as he spoke to the front desk. "We're looking for someone by the name of Ishara. Has he checked in here?"

Quickly turning around and glancing at the front desk that I had been at just an hour before, I saw them. There, a pair of armoured guards, dressed in bluish-green fineries with vibrant hints of reds and purples, were talking with the receptionist who had helped me. As they did, I watched as the woman's head began to pivot and scan the lobby. Being a Kalish with white hair and ruby eyes, I stuck out like a sore thumb, so before her gaze could reach mine, I threw myself down over Aesandoral.

"Ack—ouffa!" The archer grumbled against my weight as I hugged her body tightly. "Izzzz—"

"He was here..." I heard the woman at the desk explain. "At least a little while ago. Unfortunately, he and his party have already checked out, sorry. But feel free to look around. They may still be on the premises."

"Ah, thank you." The guards replied before I heard the sound of metal clanging against marble with each step the figures took in their patrol around the space. "The Sutin'zaid wants him found. Split up and search the common areas."

Sutin'zaid! Was that kid the Sutin'zaid? No, no, that couldn't be—Shit. Shit. Shit. I cursed myself as I continued my stare towards the exit. Godsdamn it. Fine!

Reaching a hand up, I gently caressed Aesandoral's face as I released a burst of detoxifying magic into her. Immediately, the body I rested atop became rigid as the hangover disappeared from the elf, and she rejoined the land of the living.

"Thank you," Aesandoral said with a pleased gasp. "I'm sorry that Ri—"

"Hey, it's fine, listen," I replied quickly. "Guards are coming, I'm going to need you to help me carry Ri out of here."

"What?"

It was in that moment that I saw Sharzin appear at the entrance. The rogue looked our way, locking eyes with me and then glancing up to something over my shoulder. I watched as she drew a sigil in the air and pointed it in my direction.

"Hey, you've got guards walking your way." She spoke into the back of my mind. "You've gotta get out of there."

"No shit, Sharzin!" I hissed her way before silently mouthing. "Distract them!"

With a nod, I watched as the rogue pointed once more, this time throwing her voice to someone I couldn't see. A moment later, I heard the guard who had been approaching our lounge shift on his feet as his body turned.

"What?" He growled. "Who said that? Show yourself!"

"Run!"

"Aes, run!" I ordered as I rolled from her before quickly picking up Rionriv and tossing her over my shoulder. "To Sharzin!"

Escaping the lobby and distracted guard, I rounded a corner in pursuit of the groundling. There, much to my surprise, I discover a small herd of impeccably well-groomed horses. Examining the steeds, I eyed the strange chestnut blanket pattern of their coats and the star markings at the center of their heads. Narrowing my gaze in on Sharzin, who had returned to us with fine-looking steeds when previously none had been available for purchase or hire from the stables, I smacked my lips.

"Sharzin—" I began, only to have her cut me off.

"Iz, do we have time for this?"

With a grumble, I chose to ignore the obvious theft of property as I tossed Rionriv atop one of the four quality steeds. As I did, I smacked the sorceress's hip, infusing the blow with a sobering blast of magic before following it up and striking the rear of the horse.

"Ow!" Rionriv cried out, her tail sticking straight up. "Izzz-aaaahhhh!"

Rionriv's horse took off, and moments later, the rest of us were in close pursuit, chasing down the runaway steed. Racing away from the Gonquin, the sound of metal armour clanked in our wake as the guards had found their way outside to see our fleeing forms.

"Wait!" One of them called out to us. "Come back!"

But, looking to avoid additional contact and alter the timeline of this world even more, I refused to turn back or even glance their way. Departing Fearnemyst, the sun began its trek across the sky, where it would rest high above as we made our way to Ter'aquit and the nearest Magosdrome.

—ooo—

The trek back to Ter’aquit only took two days on the procured magical horses, their speed seemingly enhanced by arcane means. As we moved, looking to pass the time, I shared my vision of us travelling to Bucharion’s Pass next, months ahead of their Magosdrome's grand opening. When asked why, I explained how I had always dreamt of seeing the dwarven mountain city that I had set into the towering canyons. With its massive dam powering various mills, cranes and tunnels that dug deep into the ground, it was an Esserian marvel of the current age. 

But, there was, of course, more to this proposed trip than sightseeing. So, in the interest of transparency, I cut to the chase and explained that not only would DJ Demilich be arriving within the next two months, but her group would be setting up a gemstone mine of their own. Looking for another way to fund Tahvinstead's development, I was interested in proposing a union between our groups. It would be a mutually beneficial venture in which both parties would help in setting up the mine and thus enjoy an equal share of future profits.

Surprisingly, both Aesandoral and Rionriv appeared to be on board with the idea of financial gain. But as I pressed the topic, I noticed Sharzin grew increasingly displeased with the idea. Even though I asked her to voice her opinion multiple times, she refused to go into any details on the matter, merely shrugging it off and agreeing to go with the flow of the group. Something that didn't settle well with me over the final day of our journey.

Finally reaching the end of our return trek, we arrived at a set of stables that Sharzin had been particularly keen on doing business with. After dismounting our horses, I watched as she entered the quaint-looking house attached to the barn before exiting moments later with the owner.

"What is she doing?" I whispered to myself, watching as the stable owner handed over a bag full of coins, half of which she returned before whispering something to him.

Well, that seems shady. The thought crossed my mind, watching as she inspected the coins on her march back towards us.

“Sharzin,” I asked the moment she rejoined us, the questions finally bubbling up to the surface of my conscious thought. “What did you whisper to the stable master? Whose horses were those?”

“Huh?” She replied, pocketing the rest of the money. “What a curious question to ask after we’re done with them. Let’s go—”

“What a curious deflection.” I continued, cutting her off and taking her gently by the wrist. “Sharzin?”

“Ishara.”

“Whose horses did you steal?”

“Steal is a—I liberated a handful of steeds from their harnesses, that’s all.”

“Zin…”

“What, the Sutinzaid’s—”

“You stole the Sutin—” I yelled out, quickly looking around before quieting my voice. “Zin! You stole the Sutin’zaid’s horses? Th-that’s super illegal. Like the death penalty.”

“Yeah, if they find out. The only people who know are us, the gods, and that stable master. And he won’t say anything, he’s Shatter.”

“How do you know that, exactly?” I asked, looking back at the man, dumbfounded by her sudden leap in logic.

"Oh, you mean you don't know?" She replied with a smirk. "I thought you knew everything, author."

"Okay, can we stop calling me author?"

"You prefer Oracle?"

"Actually, yeah."

Staring me down, Sharzin released a sigh before freeing herself from my grip. With that, the rogue turned back to the stables and extended her hand, pointing out the three things on the site that gave it away as a Shatter safehouse. Directing my attention towards the wall of stable tools, she had me loosen my gaze, revealing the first clue. There, in the negative space between the objects, a subtle star with a lightning bolt through it revealed itself to me. Immediately, I recognized the symbol of resistance against Anak’hati rule. Next, she moved my gaze toward the window of the stable master's office, where a dozen bobbles and trinkets hung from the framework, jingling in the wind. There, a single broken feather carved of sandstone dangled from the sixth slot, a symbol of Shatter’s rule over the Broken Shard Sea. Finally, she pointed to the various flowering bushes on the property, having me pay extra close attention to the three densely flowered, hot pink bougainvillea. While not rare in this part of the world, the plant primarily grew all over Fearnemyst, a resistance hotspot.

Individually, all of the things she presented were innocuous enough. But when put together, even I remembered that they were canonically markers of a Shatter Safehouse.

"Sh-Sharzin, that's amazing," I remarked, looking her way with a dumbfounded expression. "And you put that all together yourself?"

"Obviously." She shrugged, beginning to walk away from me. "It wasn't that hard. I picked up on it when we stopped by that one guy's place. He had all the same things on his property. You know the one. The pastry guy."

I was impressed that Sharzin had picked up on the Shatter calling cards after only meeting with the group briefly half a year ago. But the more I thought about it, processing how she used her magic in the tunnels under Tahvinstead and her keen awareness now, I had started to understand the groundling. In fact, I was beginning to get the feeling that there was something about this rogue that I had missed in my initial assessment.

Choosing not to press her knowledge any more than I already had, I decided to trust her judgment and move past the issue. After all, if we were going to be on the road to Bucharion's Pass in the coming days, I'd have plenty of time to ask questions. So, instead, I moved through the streets on foot, listening to the triops banter, until reaching the Ter’aquit Magosdrome. After flashing our badges, we found ourselves instantly back at Phyllis’ Shop in Dwindlefyre, where our next adventure was already set to begin.