We pass beyond a stone marker, covered in dwarven runes, and like a bubble-popping we pass the barrier and suddenly hear the chatter of locals. Some smiling faces wave at us as we pass. Hush is known to be a friendly village. It is around 11pm for us as we arrive in the village of Hush. A tiny cute village, with lively music from the tavern at the centre of town, called “:)” (smiley face).
We need to find the Whitefire Arcanist, to deliver the package.
You can practically see the whole village from the entrance, it’s so small. There seems to be somewhere to park up near the tavern, for carriages and such. Garrick leads the horses into the parking area, securing them and the wagon.
Marlowe suggests we acquire rooms in the Tavern, and looks at Garrick pointedly. Garrick enters the tavern without looking back, and Marlowe looks around for somewhere that looks like an important person might live there. There are houses and cottages, and everything seems to be centred on the Tavern. It’s hip and happenin’, it’s the place to be.
A kid (Fidget) is running around looking at us curiously, and catches sight of Khari, “WOAH, YOU’RE HUGE!”
Khari asks why she’s running around so late, but it’s because her parents are in the tavern. She asks what we’re doing here. Marlowe sasses the kid. The kid doesn’t know where the Arcanist is, so Marlowe loses interest. Khari presses on in the conversation and learns that Lausa knows about it though, one of Fidget’s friends who brings her food and stuff, not a kid. Then Fidget runs off.
Garrick is inside the Tavern to get a room.
Visitors have to hang their shoes on a clothesline that runs through the Tavern, and by the time they leave, the shoes are cleaned and sometimes have little trinkets in them. Garrick sees the sign and looks down at his nasty stinky boots, and hangs em up. Calloused Hobbit feet.
He looks around and finds it odd that the tavern is so lively for such a late time of night. Lots of dancing and music and commotion. It seems pretty safe though! He strides up to the bar to speak to someone about rooms. Three rooms, and some ALE. Garrick introduces himself as Garrick (nice), and the Bartender is Kez.
He drinks two ales just negotiating the rooms, two rooms. One giant-sized, hopefully. Marlowe will be paying!
He finds out it’s the First Moss festival! Which is why it’s so crazy.
Marlowe enters, but Khari and Varian stay outside with the carriage, to protect the package. Khari calls after her to look for a LICE PERSON, misremembering the name Lausa. She examines the floor when she sees the shoe sign, but it seems pretty clean and sacrifices her shoes.
She tries to recall information about the Whitefire Arcanist (success 15 hope) a faerie, not necessarily wearing any specific uniform or attire, just dressed as a normal resident of Hush.
She approaches Garrick, and checks in, and says she’ll pay for the rooms and also his drinks since he fought so valiantly. He tells her it’s the First Moss Festival, and asks Marlowe if she knows about it. (4 fear) she whiffs it and makes up some shit about it being about moss and stuff, if you don’t KNOW Garrick, it’s your fault for being ignorant. Then she starts to leave to find the Whitefire Arcanist.
Garrick asks Kez what it is, and the barkeep tells him it’s the start of spring basically (a fertility festival??). Kez is so flirty omg. Garrick asks about a faerie, and where he could find one. And Marlowe stops to eavesdrop. Then inserts herself back into the conversation again. Marlowe starts to sass Kez now, but he says Lausa probably knows, and Marlowe connects the dots because she speaks Khari (Lice, Lausa!)
Lausa comes out of the kitchen with a barrell of ale on her shoulders when summoned by Kez. A wildborne dwarf, an older woman with a thicc beard (MILF MILF MILF). MEANWHILE, Marlowe feels someone touches her shoulder. (Garrick peaces out, since Marlowe seems to have it covered.) A younger human lady, with a friendly smile touches Marlowe’s shoulder. “My kid saw you outside with your travel-mates, I think there are some that stayed in the Carriage, you don’t need to worry about your belongings, they can also come in and enjoy the festivities.”
Maybe Hush is as hospitable as we thought??
Lausa steps forward with her Ale, and Kez says the Royal Mage wants to find the Whitefire Arcanist. She is staying 2km south, in that direction, and basically gives us directions/an address.
Does Marlowe trust her? (14 hope) She seems pretty honest, no reason to lie. Marlowe thanks her pointedly, the MOST helpful with the MOST IMPRESSIVE muscles. And she goes to leave, but Lausa calls her back, and asks if Marlowe wants to meet her tonight, if so, we should go right now, because once she moves again, we won’t be able to find her again for a few days.
Garrick finds a handful of gold in his boots and two handmade trinkets made by kids, (star shaped wood with carvings and a hastily made, multiple pieces of torn cloth sewn together with the letter F sewn on them). He steals Marlowe’s shoes.
Marlowe tries to find her shoes. But Kez reveals they were stolen by Garrick and she has to STEP OUTSIDE without them (ew).
Varian tosses Fidget a little handmade puzzle toy (a fidget?!) and introduces themself. Then Marlowe explains they must leave now, and they head off. There is BLUE moss, glowing as we pass.
GM
Making your way past the homes of the village, then through the farmlands of Hush, you see a variety of crops that have begun to cultivate a thin layer of glowing blue moss over the top of their fruits and vegetables. They pulse softly like a heartbeat as you pass.
Among the thriving groves, you notice that the Sablewood trees in this area have hundreds of unique faces carved into all sides, the eyes peering in every direction.
One tree, taller than the rest, bears the Arcanist’s home, like an overripe fruit. It hangs from a braid of rope, as wide around as a giant’s forearm, tied to a massive branch and counter-weighted by a cabin-sized boulder lying at the base of the tree. The stone is marked with a collection of symbols and the cabin windows flash with a soft, yellow-green light.
The feeling of warmth from the village is no longer here, and only the light of the fireflies.
Khari yells “HELLO, ANYONE HOME” at the house. And jump-scares some birds, but there’s no answer.
Varian (16 fear) climbs the tree to get a look into the faerie house. (21 fear) to shimmy along the branch and pull the house up to get a peek in.
Varian feels a sensation of the rope, tree and Varian rumble. The glyph on the boulder are ACTIVATED. YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO BE HERE. Their fur BRISTLES at being lifted. A branch carries them back down to the ground. But the sounds disturb someone in the house, and a window opens, someone peeks their head out.
The Arcanist leaves her house, in slow and jerky motions. Seven foot tall, and a humanoid firefly hybrid kinda thing. Her expressions are difficult to read, but emotions in her voice are clear. She’s old and wry. She recognizes who we must be, and invites us inside. We notice that as we enter the treehouse, it’s surprisingly spacious, like a tavern. It doesn’t look like three ale barrels anymore. The main room is full of potion bottles. TARDIS.
The house moves to the ground and opens like a flower so they can grab the chest and move it inside.
She gets the package, snaps her fingers to close the house, and runs her hand along the safe to open the it. A massive stone with a lion’s face carved into it. The keystone of the capital city, Auremarch. If anyone knew they were unguarded, the city would be attacked quick as hell. So we gotta bring it to the Open Vale, to revitalize the ward.
Everyone gives their names to her, apart from Varian who was raised to never give their name to the fae. She tells them she respects them all the same.
Marlowe (crit)(clear stress, gain hope) recalls everything that’s happened in the past 24 hours. Keystones are an integral part to protecting an area, you can cast wards to protect an area, and increase the radius. Why didn’t the king trust you to tell you this? It’s FINE, Marlowe DOESN’T EVEN MIND /gen
We get in our carriage and The Whitefire Arcanist guides us with Garrick and Varian at the helm (because Garrick has been DRINKING). We pull into a mysterious clearing, the shape of a circle, a crater in the centre where someone has tried to fill it up. The Open Vale.
This is a place used for strong ritual magic, where she first created the ward pillars that sit at each point of the compass, to keep Hush safe. The ritual almost killed her when she first cast it. Her antennas perk up as she looks around and gets us to stop. Two of us help to move the crate into the central area, and she turns around and looks at us, letting us know she needs an hour to prepare, because we’ll be busy soon. She stands on the crate and starts to glow up.
SHORT REST TIME.
Khari and Varian heal up and repair their armors together.
Garrick approaches Marlowe, “I have something for you.”
“You do?”
“We were good friends once, you and I.”>
“Yes, we were”
[etc] “I wanted you to know what it costs sometimes.” He unhooks a small amulet from around his neck. “When I pulled myself out of that hellpit, I had them extract the memories and the feelings of that fight, and I wanted you to have it, so you could know what it feels like, the cost of those you move around.”
She looks at it for a while, and then takes it from him. When she does, she’s dragged into a memory, and smells the smells but knows it’s an illusion.
Info
She’s in the middle of a burning building, where Garrick is facing off against the person she sent him to fight. Marlowe didn’t know who he was, but through Garrick’s eyes, she recognizes him as someone he fought alongside once. And they both know one of them must die. She sees a battle as they fight through the burning building, swinging swords and exchanging quips (”I trusted you!” “You betrayed us!” “I was at your wedding!”) people who were close, now hacking one another to pieces. One for duty, one for survival. This fight gets worse, as barrels of chemicals explode, and the air chokes with fumes, stinging your skin. Then Garrick grabs the guy and throws him to the flames and with the shark-toothed blade, cuts off his head, then both of them collapse to the ground. Not expecting to leave, with the building burning around him. Weeping over the man he had to kill, but cared for once.
Gathering himself up and what he needed to take, and leaving the building. And then the amulet goes cold, and the memory fades.
Marlowe has some tears running down her face, but her expression is blank. Garrick reaches to take her hand, in a two-people-who-know-each-other way.
“You are someone who orders people to do things, that is you way. And your duty. But you should never forget what it costs those who you order into battle.”
“I never wanted this. Whatever happened in there, I— I didn’t know.”
“You know I would have to kill him. Let us not pretend you were giving an order, you were moving a piece on the chessboard, that is your way.”
“For the king, for the kingdom.”
“Duty, the curse binds so many.”
“One person’s faith, cannot stand above the whole kingdom’s faith, you know that.”
“That is true.”
“At that time there was no other way, that is how we had to deal with what we needed.”
“Then you should have told me. You should have trusted to tell me what I needed to do.” He stands and strides around the fire. “You should have trusted me. I was your friend, But you should have trusted me with the name, I could have prepared. I am always prepared to kill a friend, and an enemy.”
“I didn’t think you would do it if I told me. I thought you would have run.,”
“Then you did not know me as well as you said. If you asked me to help you, then here I am.”
“It’s not the first time you would have run, and I couldn’t be sure. This was too important for the kingdom. You of all people should know that I cannot put my faith or anyone else’s faith above what the mission asks of me.”
“You need to trust PEOPLE more, we’re not just numbers. We’re individuals, with our strengths and weaknesses. The combination of three people here can do so much., but if you do not take the time to get to know them, to let your guard down, to relax, then you are missing a piece of the battle.”
“What has it gained me to trust so far, Garrick. My power bound, ready to be crushed with a single blow of the hand. A friend who turned his back to me, this is what trusting has brought to me. you say it so easily, but I cannot, as I might lose all that I have.”
“Sometimes it is better to lose what we have, and be a complete and noble person, that a rat skulking in the shadows. I was ready to die that day, fate chose something different.”
“But you did not die, and I am happy for that.”
“And I am here for you now, i TRUSTED that you would not have called me without reason. Perhaps you should do the same.”
Shes still holding the amulet, and brings it closer to her chest, and closes her eyes and reminisces. She cannot say any more to you right now. Garrick has also said his piece, and goes to walk the perimeter.