When I woke up this morning, I saw everyone was sitting around looking grim. I went about, preparing my breakfast before sitting down with the group.
“I want to go back to Hommlet,” I said. The group looked at me, confused by my request. “I have a handful of notes on me and would like to go back to see if I could get some of my wealth back while donating most of it for the destruction that kind is our fault,” I explained.
“I ought to go back too. I left all my gear there,” Rekka said.
“Well, I think while we’re here we ought to go check on the hidesman down in the ruins,” Cortanna pitched in, “I don’t want to leave without getting that dragon’s hide and making it into a shield.”
“Cortanna, how long do you think it’ll take for the hide to be made into a shield and armor?” I asked. She thought for a moment.
“Probably 2 weeks.”
“Awesome. How about you, and whoever else wants to go down, check on the hidesman. Then you can meets up with Raæin, Rekka and I (and whoever else) back in Hommlet,” I suggested. Nods of approval were all around.
“Again, I assume 2 weeks. I don’t know how long I might be down in the ruins, but I would think Barrok and Billy will be able to whip something up right quick once we got back to Hommlet,” Cortanna noted. I didn’t care if it took a month. The more time I had to assist the town in rebuilding the better. Plus, who knew if Barrok and Billy were still there considering the blacksmith disappeared after making our silvered weapons back in Podunk.
“Before we split up," I began. I wanted us to have a plan of what we're to do after taking care of Cortanna's dragon hide and fixing Hommlet, "another important thing to keep in mind. Do we still want to go to Lupik? I’ve had a thought that maybe we should go to my home lands. We're not strong enough yet to take on a bunch of werewolves in Lupik. Rekka doesn't want to go there either,
"You see, what I was told from the Clerics at my trial," something I forgot to write down, "Malfeiya was buried hundreds of years ago in Threll. They then showed me a map. After pointing out where Threll was, they asked where I was from. The land I claimed to be from, France, was saidto be on a continent that no one had ever laid foot on, or if they had, they never came back. It's wild and untamed, as they put it," Jessica nodded, agreeing with the Clerics.
"I propose we try and go find my home. Along the way we could ask the towns we visit if they know of Lupik. If they do, let us see what their views on him are. Maybe we are the only ones who have an issue. What if the rest of the world thinks he’s great? If we're lucky, we'll uncover evidence of his tyranny and hopefully be better equipped to take him down by then," I concluded. Everyone pondered for a moment. With no objections made, we concluded that we'd set off for France, currently known as the Wetland Jungles, once we regrouped in Hommlet.
Jessica ended up coming with me, Raæin and Rekka back to Hommlet. Gideon, Cortanna, and Isaac stayed behind to check on the hidesman, Rekka turned into a dragon to make quick time back to town. Before Hommlet could come into view, she landed and switched out of her morphed dragon form. I disguised myself as a brunette Elf again before entering the town. That was whom the exchanger saw me as at first and she was the person I wanted to find.
I should have figured I wasn’t about to get any of my wealth back. The town was just in disarray. Buildings blown down. Trees, wood, rocks, furniture, trash and other debris littered and blocked the streets. The exchanger’s building was completely destroyed. People were moving about cleaning the mess up and helping those injured. I ducked behind a building that was unoccupied by a swarm of people and disguised back into my usual disguise. I joined back into the hub-bub of the towns people.
It was heart breaking seeing the people rushing about fixing the mess we had made. Hearing the cries of those mourning over the loss of their loved ones. It mades me wonder if we really did them any good. Sure the temple was destroyed, but at what cost? It just didn’t seem fair. Then a strange thought came to me. If Barrok was still in town... was there possibly something he might have that could undo the destruction?
I looked to the blacksmith shop and was pleased to see it there. In fact it looked as though nothing had effected it in the least. I walked in, looked around to see if I could spot Barrok and was pleased to see him and Billy in there.
“Hello again,” Barrok called out to me, “More questions?” he tagged on jokingly. I was done with receiving riddled answers anyways,
“Nope. I’m here on a more serious note. As I’m sure you know, Hommlet is in disarray and I have a inquiry. By chance do you have anything that could fix the town. Help undo what was done?” I asked. I suppose that was a question... but not the kind of question I assume he was teasing me about. Barrok thought for a moment then moved to the back room. A few moments later he brought me a Lyre. I was slightly perplexed by it.
“Play this for at least an hour and it will help with the rebuilding of Hommlet. The more hours you play it, the stronger the magic becomes, yet the more difficult it becomes to play. Once you are unable to play it any more, you must wait a week before the magic comes back. So good luck.” Barrok said handing the Lyre to me. Though there was some underlying annoyance I had with Barrok, I could help but like him and all the help he had given me and my party. He was generous despite the lack of concrete answers he gave me.
“Thank you Barrok. The town will be grateful I’m sure,” I said. I then ducked out to go find Jessica since she obviously was more musically talented than I.
I spotted Rekka and Jessica sifting through some debris around where the Welcoming Wench kind of stood. I hurried over to them and could see a handful of maps and Rekka looking quite grim.
“Jessica,” I said as I approached, “I have something that’ll help the town,” I show her the Lyre. She looked at it appraisingly, unsure how the instrument would help. I explained what Barrok told me. Then without another word she went and found a spot and got comfortable. While she played I look back to what Rekka was sifting through. It was a lot of her gear; maps, her magical tent, and other things needed for our travels.
“Well, I plan on staying around here until the party catches up. What are you and Jessica thinking you’ll do?” I asked. Rekka looked at me as though I was daft.
“Help obviously,” her snide, adolescent voice informed.
“No need to be rude. I just wasn’t sure what you and Jessica were going to do once you got your stuff back,” I responded. “I’m going to go look for the exchanger and help around, I’ll meet back up with you and Jessica later okay?” Rekka gave me a polite nod while continuing to organize her things.
I wandered for a bit when I noticed by where the exchanger’s building was, was a group of clerics and townsfolk. I hurried over and could see it was Nira. She had a beam stuck in her and everyone was doing their best to carefully get her unstuck. I whipped out my healing belt in case extra healing was needed. We’re able to get the beam out of her and immediately the Cleric’s rushed in. With all the excitement, I knew it would be a few days before I should address her about my wealth, if it was there.
The rest of the day basically consisted of all of us cleaning. Jessica was able to play the Lyre for about 4 hours before she had to stop. There was a noticeable difference in the first day. It as though there many more folk about helping the town assemble back together. Rekka had her tent up to give shelter for those injured and without a home.
And now I conclude. After hours of going about getting the people and town cleaned up, I am leaning up against Raæin, enjoying the moment of relaxation. I suspect the next few weeks will consist of the same things that I did today.
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