Cayzle's Wemic Site
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Doings in Detrit, the Iron City
After the strange visit last night from an old man called Maestro, they prepare themselves to take the road again on the most dangerous part of their travel: The Storm Mountains. The road cut through this hostile looking environment and the party travels cautiously, the tension heavy in the cold moist air. The wagon goes slowly on the road, the sound of the wheels against rock, as well as any other sound, echoing high up to the mountains and making they feel like awakening all the big monsters dwelling in the rocky heights. Fortunately, that wasn't the case and their journey is a very safe one.
They pass the High Horns fortress on the second day and are advised by the Cormyrean soldiers to be very careful, since they are not going to be under the protection of the Purple Dragon army anymore. Now, they are on their own. . .
Itīs their third day since they met Maestro and they plan to get to the Eagle Peak by night. Itīs strange how things happen. In those almost two weeks the weather has always been pleasant, with the exceptions of some chilly nights. Today, the party woke up in the rain. A rain that became a huge storm hours latter. The sky darkened above them, and the strong rain and wind punished them, daring them to go any further. The dark gray clouds thundered over the mountains and the party imagined seeing the shadows of giants looking down at them. No other sounds could be heard but the powerful combination of rain, wind and thunder. It was almost impossible to even talk between themselves.
They looked for any kind of shelter, like a cave, but found nothing. They could barely see fifteen feet ahead of them. They were sneezing and coughing and almost hopeless of reaching Eagle Peak that day. The horses were almost stopping too with no strength left in their bodies and the party was beginning to feel the same. They thought about stopping but something urged them forward and they advanced less and less by the minute.
But then, when they were about to think that they were doomed, they hear the sweetest sound. Someone was playing a flute. The incredible was that such music could be heard in the loud storm, but that really didn't matter at the time. It was really a beautiful song and they felt compelled to follow it. It touched their minds and heart and gave them strength to move on. One hour latter they spotted and old wooden sign by the road. On it they read: "Detrit, the Iron City, 2 miles ahead!".
No plans had to be made and there was no need to discuss anything. They just moved on, loosing track of time as they followed the music. The wagon and the horses were left far behind. . . The music then stopped and it was as if they were waking up from a dream. Suddenly they were standing in the middle of an old town. It was a couple of hours before midnight and all the dark wooden houses were shut, with some faint orange lights visible through their dirty glass windows. Right in front of them, there was an important three-story building, made of bricks and wood, and above the door there was a suspended wooden sign written: "The Iron Man Inn".
The party enters the Inn, and once the door closes behind the last of them, the loud sound of the storm becomes muffled and they find themselves in a deadly quiet tap room, with just a few patrons sitting alone, scattered in the dark corners of the room. A hearth burns low in the left side of the room, but no soul sits near it, no one seeks its warmth. On the right wall there is a bar and a tall man, a little fat, is cleaning a few mugs with a clean white piece of cloth. It seems he is just killing time. Just doing something to keep his mind busy. He sees the party coming in and greets them, though itīs not the warm greeting they are used to, "Hi travelers. How can I help you?" his voice is grave and low. Maybe itīs the storm but itīs very clear that the mood is not very good in this place.
"Ah" even with the bad weather and all, the dwarf feels at home. It is the first time Cronis has been to the mountains since he left home. He thinks back, remembering the fond memories of his youth. The next thing he realizes is that he is standing in an inn, and doesn't remember how he got there. "Hmmmm, got to be watchn me daydreamn. Miss a few things I have. " With that Cronis orders an ale, and grabs a seat.
Owyth is a little more than somewhat turmoiled by the amazing recent events. Frankly, he needs to sit down, so he steps to one side (out of traffic) and sits. The Wemic waits quietly to see what develops. "If these folk are unfriendly, it stands to reason that they'll be even unfriendlier to one of my race, " he thinks.
Shivering, Sculg is not too happy about the storm, and the gully dwarf promptly proceeds to remove his cloak (the blanket) and wring it, the water dripping to the floor of the inn. Sculg ignores any withering glances or shouts from the barkeep, simply shaking his wooden ladle at the man and yelling. "Me important person. Do what I want. And have bodyguards too. " Gesturing at the rest of the group, Sculg then walks over to the barkeep and holds his hand out in greeting. "Me Sculg. You unimportant. But me thank you, make good music. For that me cook you good meal. You have food? I go to kitchen, Make some. Or maybe learn more cooking, watch humans make food. Okay with you?" Dismissing the mans answer, whether it is negative or not, the little man goes off in search of the kitchen.
Cosmos joins Cronis and tells the barkeep to bring him an ale too. "Let's see what kind of ale they have here. Itīs probably not what attracts people to this place. " he whispers to the dwarf as he looks around. Urameshi joins them at the table but as Owyth he only watches and wait.
The big barkeeper is a middle-aged man, his face tired but it doesn't look like itīs from work. He is wearing a white wool blouse, folded before the elbows, and a brown leather apron, that covers a good part of the blouse as well as his black trousers. He leaves the counter and brings the two mugs of ale to Cronis and Cosmos, resuming then back to his place behind the bar.
As Sculg comes and greets him the man tells him that he only has some breads, corn and rice, but the gully dwarf wasn't paying attention to him anymore, his small legs moving him all around the room as he searched for the kitchen, unsuccessfully.
"And what can I bring you?" he turns his attention to Solana, but before she can answer a female voice shouts from a room behind the bar. The barkeep half-opens the door near him and shouts back "What is it?", and the desperate female voice shouts in return. "Bernard!! Itīs Gaby!! She's getting worse!!", with that the barkeep quickly opens the door, slamming it behind him. His heavy foot steps can be heard as he runs on the old wooden floor. Then the party hears no more.
They ponder about what's going on, and a couple of minutes later they notice one of the patrons getting up and dropping a few copper coins over the table. The man is wearing a ragged brown cloak, which he wears tightly closed around his body to protect him from the cold. He walks slowly, with a hunch, towards Solana and looks deep inside her eyes, shaking his white head. "You are doomed! Leave Detrit soon!! It will come to you if you stay!! Leave!!". The man is very thin, the skin on his face and neck extremely wrinkled, his eyes yellow around the pupil. He covers his face with the hood, ignoring any questions and comments, and leaves the inn.
Owyth knocks on the door and offers help. One minute later, footsteps can be heard coming back to the room. A few seconds later, the door is opened and the barkeep appears, carrying a pile of blankets. He looks to the wemic as he enters the room and shakes his head. "You are very kind, but there is nothing you or anyone could do but wait. " he moves to the table where the others are seated and drops the folded blankets in an empty chair.
"Here, if I were you I would wrap myself in those blankets. If you get the fever you will be cursed, like many in this town. I would also advise to sit near the hearth to dry your clothes faster. " he then goes back to Solana, "Sorry about that, uh, so, can I get you anything?".
Solana gives an audible sigh at the weird old man's proclamation and the innkeeper's apology, shaking her head, but already with an curious expression in her eyes. "Who was that person? And exactly *what* is going on here?" She then turns to her companions. "Maybe you should explain a bit more. What about those dreams? Exactly what are we looking for? And do you have any idea where this fits in?" Turning back to the innkeeper, she continues her questions, although on a lighter subject. "Do you have some fruit juice? Unfermented, if possible?"
Urameshi looks to Owyth and back to Solana. "As I said, I am lookin for a child that will have its heart wickened by Lord Gurimuīs soul. On my way to this land, in search for this child, I had a duhream with a lion man, and found Owyth here. Then we met Cuhronissuh and you Sorana. We all shared the duhream about the towah. I don't know what this towah has to do with everything but I believe itīs very imporuhtant that we go there. But I see no connecuhssions with this puhrace and the duhreamus and I aguhree with you that something is wrong with this town. "
"Yes, indeed. " the barkeep says. While the ninja was explaining the dreams again, he went back to the bar and brought Solana a glass of water. Giving the glass to her he apologizes, "I am sorry, but the few fruits we have we use to feed our children. I have only water and ale to offer. " taking a seat infront of them the big man sighs, looking down to the floor, his hands resting over his knees.
"I see you are a little lost with what's happening here and maybe I should tell you the whole story. It all started ninety years ago. . . My great grandfather, Kenth Dominus, was a powerful arch magician, or so my father told me, who lived only to test his limits. He walked side by side with death, the only enemy he knew that he could never defeat. Though he stopped risking himself after he faced another power, stronger than his and maybe as strong as death.
"He fell in love, with a beautiful lady called Alyssia. As a consequence he saw no meaning in risking his life anymore. All he wanted was to live with his beloved woman. Thus he retired and together they traveled around the world looking for the perfect place to build their house and raise their family. This, " he waves his arms around, showing the tap room, "is the place. It started as just a house, but then they decided to make it an inn. They called it 'The Magic Place'. With time, Kenth made some good friends who decided to retire as well and raised their houses near the inn, and with the years what was once just an Inn became a growing village. They named it Detrit, though nobody knows what it means or after what or whom it was named. "
"But anyway, the years flew and Kenth died, though he had a son, my grand father Carlos Dominus. He had no interests in magic, preferring to hunt on the mountains. One of those days, while hunting wolves, he was spotted by a couple of ogres. He ran as hell away from those monsters and luckily found a crack in the face of the mountain, large enough for him to pass, but too narrow for the ogres. Afraid they would be waiting for him outside he searched for another way out. The story gets confusing in this part but it seems that, somehow, grandfather found ore in those caves. Iron ore. It didn't take long for the cave to become a mine and with that lots of people came to Detrit to work as miners and the small village grew fast into a big town. "
"My father continued grandpa's work on the mines and once he died the mine was left for me and my brother Raphael to take care. Raphael cared nothing about the mines. All he cared about was his magical studies and to find his great grandfather's spell books. As for myself, I turned out to be a great businessman and excavated two other levels in the mine. I was known as the Iron Man and that's where the name of the Inn comes from. . . and. . . then. . . " he pauses, his lips trembling and his hands shaking over his knees. He sniffs a couple of times and gets up, excusing himself and going back to the bar.
There he fills himself a mug of ale and downs it in a couple of gulps. Re-filling the mug he sighs, and continues the story from where he stopped. "And then, because of my greed, because of the excessive excavations in the mine, Detrit was doomed! We found a hole in the ground on the lower level of the mine. We tested its deepness and found out we could easily send some men down there. I ordered a few of them to go check the possibilities of mining there but they never returned. So I sent a few more men, and nothing. . . something was happening down there and it was killing those men.
"Most of us saw there was no reason to risk any more lives, so we blocked that area with an improvised wooden wall. " he finishes his second mug and leaves it empty over the bar. "But it seems that whatever killed those men was killing now everyone inside the mines. We had no alternative but to close the mines. "
"But whatever was inside there, spread death through out the land. Our cattle died, we can barely grow enough food to feed ourselves and we are hit by storms everyday. A lot of people died and another lot left Detrit. The only ones staying are the ones with cursed relatives. Look at me for example. My child, Gabrielle, is only eight years old and dying from the cursed fever. The man who left this room some minutes ago, Fred, lost his wife to the fever last year and now his three children are suffering from the same curse. That's why I'm warning you to cover yourselves with those blankets and sit by the fire, otherwise you are risking to get the fever. " he fills his mug with more ale and rolls the mug over the bar, staring at it as his mind travels for a while. Outside the storm is still raging, the muffled sound of the rain melting with the crackling of the fire in the hearth. Then, suddenly a sneeze is heard. It seems Mink's got a little cold. . .
The party discusses why they were brought here, and Owyth and Urameshi say they think they are here for a reason. They discuss whether or not they should help, if they can. As they talk, it is clear that Mink, Sollana's cat, is sick indeed.
Owyth takes the little cat from Solanaīs hands, letting it rest on the table infront of him, and examines it for a while, looking at his eyes, mouth and ears, and feeling the weakening heartbeats under its hot furry chest. Itīs obvious the kitten is feverish but it seems that the fever is just a consequence of something worst. Something the Owyth can not fathom. Even then, the wemic decides to cast a couple of spells on Mink, to help it recover, but once it begins to concentrate, Sculg appears, worry showing on his face. He raises his hand, holding a dead lizard and shaking it as near the cat as he can reach, claiming he can cure it. Urameshi calmly calls for the gully dwarf and asks him to not disturb Owyth and let him concentrate. It seems that, like it happened to his cooking, the others don't trust on the little dirty manīs healing skills. Once Sculg steps aside, the wemic priest concentrates once more on his spells, casting them on the cat, but unfortunately, noticing afterwards no apparent improvement.
The barkeep reaches the table with a full mug of ale to Cosmos, replacing it for the empty one. He was observing Owyth trying to cure the cat and shakes his head, his voice said as he speaks, "Let's hope I'm wrong, but I think your cat's got the accursed fever. If that's true, then itīs doomed, like most of us. Let's hope I am wrong. " instead of going back to the bar the man stays there, waiting to see if they need anything.
Appearing hurt once more, Sculg however nods in understanding as he is called back by Urameshi. Tying the lizard back to its place on his belt, Sculg sullenly retreats to his chair. But not before tugging at the barkeeps clothes. "Want something drink. Strong. " Sighing deeply, the gully dwarf stares into nothingness once he is back on his chair. Whether from boredom, misery or sheer helplessness from not being able to help in any way, no one can say. Sniffing slightly, Sculg only shivers slightly from imagined cold. ]
"Cheer up Sculg!!" that comes from Cosmos, "Hey! Barkeep!" he snaps his fingers to the barkeep, calling his attention, "Bring this dirty little fellow some ale, willya?!" he turns back to Sculg. "Now, we are gonna drink a lot till we can't stand up anymore my stinky friend!" he grins to the gully dwarf and gives a gulp at his ale, which he spills over the table as he is startled by Cronis' scream.
"BAH LEAVE ME ALONE, YOU CANT DO THIS TO ME NOW!" Cronis tears at his hair, screaming. After a few moments of this, he realizes that everyone is looking at him. " I be terrible sorry. Sometimes I hear voices in me head. They try to drive me insane, but I am strong, and I fight back. "He hangs his head with embarrassment. "Another ale barkeep, and keep them coming. "
"Damn, I think those voices have accomplished their goal!!" he laughs out loud to the dwarf, raising his mug in a mocking salute to the dwarf and bringing it to his mouth for another gulp.
A couple of minutes latter, the barkeep is back with two full mugs and a full glass jar, which he puts in the center of the table. "I think that shall keep you guys busy for a while!" he forces a faint smile, and turns his attention to Solana and Owyth. "Can I be of any help to you?" he offers with genuine concern.
Oblivious (or pretending to be oblivious) to the chaos around him, Owyth looks hopefully at the barkeeper. "Please, good sirr, tell us whateverr morre that you can about this currse of Detrrit and the feverr you mentioned. Is therre anything that can be done to ease this feverr, orr at least to help the victim last longerr?"
The barkeep shakes his head slightly, closing his eyes and sighing. "All I know I already told you. Once you get this fever there is nothing you can do but wait. You just. . . wait. " he releases another sigh.
The Wemic pauses. "We arre rrude, I see. We haven't even told you ourr names. I am Owyth, and this is Urrameshi, Solana, Crronis, Sculg, and Cosmos. "
"Well, it seems Iīve done the same thing. " he manages a smile and adds, "My name is Bernard. " he gives a quick nod and waits for the wemic to continue.
"It seems clearr to me from yourr historry that yourr prroblems stem frrom the hole you found in the mines. I suggest that we plan tomorrrow to descend to this hole ourrselves, and confrront the currse at its sourrce. " Owyth turns to his comrades. "Let us spend the night herre and rrest. As I said beforre, perrhaps we will find some answerrs in ourr drreams. "
Urameshi nods to the wemic, a serious expression shown in his face.
The barkeep looks from the ninja, back to Owyth, his mouth and eyes wide in disbelief. "It is very risky, sir!!" his voice raises a bit and he begins to speak a little faster and a little shaken emotionally, "Other people have ventured in there and they never returned!! Please, don't go to the mines, sir!! I know that you may love your cat but, sorry for sounding so cold, itīs better just the cat than all of you!!" he pauses for a while, inhaling deeply and looks for an empty chair to sit. He rubbs his nose and holds his forehead while looking down to the floor. His big body moves up and down as he takes a few more deep breaths and then he continues, his voice calmer and lower, and filled with sadness.
" Please sir, just. . . just leave Detrit tomorrow and let me take care of your cat!!" he says still looking down, his both hands now over his knee. "Keep going, very far away from here, sir!! I. . . I just can't handle to see people dying because of me!! I can't be responsible for any more deaths, no sir I can't. . . I can't" he sobs for a while, shaking his head, and repeating the words "I can't" very low, almost inaudibly. Fighting his emotions to stay calmer he breathes deeply once more, between sobs, and begins to relax again. He raises his head, leaning his weight against the back of the chair, his face red with a couple of tears lining down his fat and round cheeks. He wipes the tears off his eyes and lets out a loud and long sigh. "I am sorry. " he apologizes to Owyth and the others. "Itīs just so hard, not just for me but to all of us in Detrit, to see people we love dying and not being able to do anything about it. Now, all there is left to us is to take care of your beloved ones suffering from this accursed fever, and wait for their time to go. We can't even take them to another city, for some high priests to take a look at them. It seems that the more you step away from Detrit, the worst the fever gets. So, as you can see, there is no hope left for us in Detrit. None. "
In the mean time another patron gets up. As the one who just left some minutes before this one is also wearing some ragged old clothes, with a tattered black cloak wrapped around his frail old body. He passes near Bernard and rest a bony hand over the big manīs shoulder. "Itīs not your fault Bernard! Stop blaming yourself, my friend. " the voice is low and faint but warm enough to comfort the barkeep, who looks over his shoulder to the man behind and give him a smile, tapping the hand over his shoulder with his heavy one. The man then walks to the door, and opens it. Outside the storm still rages, and the loud sound of thunder and rain invades the room for a few seconds, till the man steps forward into the cold darkness outside and shuts the door once more.
"I think Bernard is right!" itīs Cosmos speaking, a little loud and sounding a little drunk, his eyes red from the ale. "We should leave this place as soon as possible.
You have a holy mission to accomplish and I have some treasures to find and none of that can be done if we die here!"
Owyth said, "You say we should go, and I know you only mean us well, but therre is one parrt of the puzzle you do not yet know, frriend Berrnarrd. "
The Wemic pauses, as if struggling to make things clear in his own head. Then he speaks in a slightly softer tone. "Perrhaps it was all just a drream, because my mind is clouded with the foggy memorry of it, but I believe we werre sent herre. It was not accident or chance that dirrected us to this place. Maybe it was an old man who called himself "Maestrro, " orr some otherr powerrful agency, that summoned us. But therre is a deterrmination at worrk, that I am loathe to ignorre, and that gives me hope of success wherre therre has prreviously been none. "
Owyth returns his gaze to innkeeper. "In shorrt, do not despairr forr us, Berrnard, because we have come herre borrne by the Will of sonething grreaterr than ourrselves, and that Will did not brring us herre only to face utterr rruin. "
"Yes. Owyth is right!" the ninja nods, "We are here for a reason, and we shall go to the bottom of this myssuhtery! Worry not Beruhnaruhdo, because we are chosen by the Dohragon God and we are ready to fight evil. " he nods once more, reaffirming his words.
"I hope you are right!" the barkeep says, scratching his forehead.
"Me too. " mumbles Cosmos between gulps, not really happy with the decision to go to the mines.
"Iīll give you instructions about how to get to the mine in the morning. I think you should rest now and think hard about this. Whatever you decide Iīll be praying for your souls. " Bernard gets up, straightening his back and looking around the room, seeing that, besides the party, there's only one patron left. "Poor Johnatan. . . " he murmurs, mostly to himself, and turns back to the party. "Now, unless you need anything else Iīll go get the keys to your rooms and go to bed. Itīs too late already. But you feel free to stay here as long as you wish. "
A few moments latter, Bernard returns with their keys, waving them goodnight and leaving the room through the door behind the bar. Only the party and a lone patron are left in the room. Outside, the rain keeps falling, hitting hard against the wall of the inn and growling, defying the structure of the building. Cosmos slowly takes a sip on his ale, his half opened, tired eyes focused on the lone patron sleeping in the dark corner of he room, at the left of the hearth. Then loud thunders boom outside, their bright lights passing through the dirty glass of the windows and flashing the room for a few seconds and radiating the sleeping man.
Cosmos shakes his head and mutters something about the man's eyes. Letting his arm drop, the mug hitting hard against the table, the eye patched man turns to the others, his mouth open wide in disbelief. "Did you see that?" he whispers, sounding a little agitated, "The. . . the eyes. That man. He have some red shining eyes and he was staring at us. " he slowly turns his face to gaze at the sleeping patron once more, the others following his movement. Another thunder booms outside and flashes the man once more, but all they see is the poor soul, in ragged old clothes, sleeping over the table. Cosmos shakes his head and smiles, "Maybe I should stop drinking, right?" with some effort he gets up, pushing the chair backwards with his legs. He grabs one of the keys and bows mockingly at them, almost loosing his balance and falling on the floor. Turning around he tells them good night.