Cayzle's Wemic Site
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Morning and the Mines
The cold from the mist and the dark corridor walls is gone and in its place Owyth feels the warmth coming from the intense light and has the sensation of being wrapped in something very soft and comforting. He finds himself with his eyes closed, enjoying a rare moment of rest, and feels the light all over him, getting warmer by the minute. He rolls over and feels the light burning his eyelids and forcing his eyes open and waking him up from his what seems like a deep sleep. Covering his eyes with his right hand he finds himself staring at a wide open window, the sun shinning brightly outside over the far away mountains. The light blue sky is clear of clouds, and the horizon is tinged with orange and pink colors. It's indeed a beautiful morning.
Scratching his head and looking around, Owyth sees he is alone in a room. There is no sign of Cosmos or any of the others. Was all that just a dream? It seemed so real and he was so aware of everything, just like he is right now. If that was a dream, how can be sure he is not dreaming right now? No. He is awake. He must be. Getting up and taking off the soft sheets wrapped around him, he moves to the table where there is a basin filled with water and washes his face. He must meet the others and see what's going on, he thinks. Though he tries to use his dream reading ability first, but, as he suspected he could find no clue of what just happened. Maybe it's because, inside his mind he doesn't even know for sure if that was actually a dream. . .
The party meets downstairs, at the tap room, where they have a morning meal together. They find out they all had the same dream and that they have the same weird sensation that everything that happened was very real. As they eat and drink they begin to notice a few things that may have something to do with last night, but instead of clearing things up, it only makes it more confusing.
First of all, there is Cosmos, who keeps complaining about his headache and about having the worst hangover, ever. He does not remember any shadow creatures and claim to have passed out over one of the tables, while going to his room.
Then, there is Bernard, who looks very tired as if he hadn't had any sleep last night. When asked what's going on, he answered his little daughter had a strange nightmare last night. It seems her fever got worse and she almost died. She kept screaming that she was in pain and calling for him, but he could do nothing but watch and cry over his child, praying for the gods to give her a chance. That made Solana worry about her cat, Mink, who is still feverish, and if Bernard is right, might be under the same curse as his daughter.
Urameshi also claimed that everything that happened last night was real. He said he could still feel the icy grip of the shadow in his heart. After sharing what he remembers he thanks Owyth once more for helping him.
So, did it happen or not? All the tables and chairs are intact and there is no sign of blood, broken windows or any other trace of the zombies.
The party gathers all those informations and tries to reach a conclusion, but it seems impossible. Then, the door opens and a man enters the inn. They all look little surprised when they notice it's the same patron who died last night. . . or, in their dreams.
The Wemic expresses concern for the innkeeper's daughter. Then he asks Bernard if his daughter, who he has not met, looked like the girl in his dream. If the descriptions match, it may mean something.
Owyth thinks of a possible clue. He frowns and ponders. Musing aloud at the table, he says quietly, "If it werre a drream, I will not have cast any spells. If I did cast the spells, then it was rreal. " The Wemic considers within himself -- does he still have a Light spell, a Bless spell, and a Curing spell in his head? Or will he have to pray for new spells?
Bernard looks surprised as Owyth describes his daughter, since the wemic never met her. The barkeep would ask him later how he knows that. Right now, he must take the orders from the new customers entering the inn. Excusing himself from the conversation, Bernard goes to the patron sitting alone in the center of the room.
And Owyth still has his spells.
Owyth ponders the mysteries of magic. "I still have the spells in my head that I thought I cast in the drream. But I know a girrl I have neverr met. " The Wemic shakes his head, and the beads in his mane click together as they are shaken.
Owyth turns to Solana as she speaks to him. "I do not rrememberr much about Mink in the drream. And I do not know what to think. But it seems to me that if we can help end the currse that afflicts this place and this girrl, then we will help Mink too. "
"Well, " the Wemic concludes, "in the end, the apprroprriate action is clearr, rregarrdless of whether we had a drream or not. We must go to this foul pit and attack the abomination we will find therre. "
Cosmos frowns at every word he hears, having no clue about what the others are talking about. Holding a wet folded shirt over his aching head, he says, "I think this place is gonna drive us mad, that's what I think. We better do something fast or we´re gonna end up like all these freaks. "
Urameshi nods at Cosmos, "I aguhree wiz' Cosuhmuhssuh. We bedah do somessin fast. The puhrobuhremuh seemuhssuh to be insiduh the mine. If we are to help this people there is where we shoulduh begin. "
While the others discuss this matter, little Sculg, who's been looking for his dead rat, finds out it´s hanging on his belt. The gully dwarf could swear he threw it at the dead patron 'last night', and now, for reasons unknown, the rat is back at his belt.
The barkeep was just returning from a table near the hearth, where two patrons are having a quiet conversation, as he hears the party talking about going to the mine. He leaves his tray, with a couple of empty plates, over an empty table and walks towards the party.
"I can see you are still thinking about going to that damned mine!" he says, sighing in the end, "Well, since I can't change your minds about going there, the best thing I can do is help you out. Once you are ready to go, just call me and I´ll take you to the mines. " He takes a quick look at all of them, "I hope you know what you´re doing. "
That said, Bernard takes the tray in the near table and resumes his way to the bar.
Once they are all ready and gather all they think they will need to go to the mines, they call Bernard and ask him to take them to the mines. The barkeep nods and asks the party to follow him.
The last night, when they arrived at Detrit, not only it was dark but the rain was so strong they could barely see fifteen feet ahead of them and because of that they didn't take a good look at the town. Only now, in the lukewarm morning, as they follow Bernard along the stone paved main street, they notice how old and badly weathered are the houses. Nearer the Inn are the oldest looking ones, made of dark gray bricks and with extremely rusty iron signs hanging over the doors, on which the names of their proprietors are barely visible. As they get farther and farther from the inn the quality and size of the houses diminishes, some still made by woods and bricks though most are just made by woods and look like they could collapse at any time.
"This is so sad!" Bernard says with a low tired voice, sighing as he looks around, "You see no kids playing on the streets since all of them are ill. Lucky are the ones who left Detrit in time not to be cursed with the fever. Now, just a few of us are still healthy. I am one of those, but for obvious reasons, I can't feel good about it. I´d give my life to save my child. " he remains quiet for the most part of the walk, looking to the skinny men and women, dressed in their old and tattered clothes, as they move for another day of work, mostly to keep their minds busy and away from the sadness of their reality.
The main street becomes a muddy trail as they leave the main part of the town and head towards the mountains to the north. For half a mile no buildings can be seen till they reach what Bernard calls 'the miner's village'. The houses look in worst condition than any at the town, with broken windows and doors and some even with big holes in their walls and roofs. A soft wind blows some of the windows, raising a creepy creak sound in this once deadly silent place.
"Those who came to Detrit to work on the mines, raised their houses near the mountains, so they wouldn't have to walk a long way to work. We called this the miner's village but now it just looks like a haunted village. No one lives here anymore but there are stories about ghosts or some other kind of restless souls that still wander around here and still go to work on the mines. " he slows his pace and looks over his shoulder at them, "Though those are only stories. " he turns his head facing north again and points to a dark entrance in the base of the mountain, some four hundred yards away.
"There! That's the entrance to the mines!" he pauses for a while, staring at it and resting his hands inside his pockets, then slowly turns around to look at the party and meets Urameshi´s gaze. The ninja nods at him and Bernard understands they are going all the way. He sighs and turns around once more, staring for a few more seconds at the dark entrance before resuming his way to the mine.
Bold and old wooden beans support the entrance to the mine in the middle of a huge dark gray wall. "Well! Here you are! I hope you brought some lanterns or torches 'cause it´s very dark inside. And I also hope you prayed to all your gods. Just in case you don't remember, the mine has three levels and at the end of the third there is a hole in the ground leading to a lower level. You be careful there 'cause none of those who went down that hole ever came back again!"