I am reasonably certain that my life is cursed. We didn\u2019t make it five minutes into the Call for Heroes before someone literally tried to burn the building down. While I was still inside it.<\/span><\/p>\n But I\u2019m getting ahead of myself.<\/span><\/p>\n As the norns predicted, I met others carrying Harrow cards, and all six of them seemed just as confused about why they were sent here as I was. Of the seven of us, four received their cards from a fortune teller, one got his from a rat \u201cthat was probably sent by a dead goblin\u201d, another one had his literally drop in the lap when he took up the family\u2019s ancestral sword, and, of course, I was visited by towering fey beings of fate.<\/span><\/p>\n We are a rather colorful group.<\/span><\/p>\n The first person I met was Gath. This actually happened a couple of days ago, and I am pretty sure that Iskaryn set it up, because causing a scene in the middle of the Magdh-damned street in the middle of the Magdh-damned day is exactly the kind of shit she would pull when she thinks I need a nudge. He describes himself as a hunter and tracker of sorts, but the real kicker is that he speaks Sylvan, despite the fact that he\u2019s a human that was raised by goblins. And, no, I am not making that up. He\u2019s the one whose card was given to him by the rat.<\/span><\/p>\n Shortly after that, we both met Trip, full name Qantrip, who is a goblin woman and witch that refers to herself in the third person: \u201cA witch is glad to meet you\u201d and \u201cA witch has pickled ears.\u201d And, yes, she was glad to meet us. And yes, she had pickled ears. She offered me some. I politely declined.<\/span><\/p>\n This morning, the three of us met the other four.<\/span><\/p>\n Tarsius, another human man, is some kind of warrior priest of Nethys, and is \u201ctrained in weapon arts\u201d. Which seems a sensible qualification for a warrior priest. He\u2019s the one with the ancestral sword. When it was given to him, he unwrapped the cloths it was kept inside, and the Harrow card fell out.<\/span><\/p>\n Liberte is a half-orc gentleman\u2014and yes, that is a deliberate word choice\u2014and scholar\u2014again, I swear, I am not making this up\u2014that is researching Hellknights. There\u2019s an abandoned Hellknight fortress, Citadel Altaerein, about a mile from town, hence why he\u2019s here. His standout line was, \u201cI do this and that. I can usually find a solution other than hitting someone with a morningstar, but there are times when that\u2019s what works best.\u201d Which was kind of an odd way to answer the question, \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d, but it got the message across.<\/span><\/p>\n Marcus, our third human man, is what you might call a mystic or miracle worker. A person marked by the gods, both blessed and cursed. He says he speaks a strange tongue when his blood heats up, whether that be a fight or just a great deal of stress. He\u2019s been living here a while, working as a lumberjack. Because I guess there\u2019s a call for mystic lumberjacks in a town founded by amnesiacs.<\/span><\/p>\n Last was Kyira, a half-elven woman from Kyonin, who somehow ended up smuggling refugees out of Galt, a country that seems to be in a state of perpetual revolution. She\u2019s a second mark Firebrand and champion of Milani, which is even more extraordinary for someone who grew up where she did. I imagine her life choices are not especially popular with her elven ancestors.<\/span><\/p>\n And then there was me: \u201cI sing and play music.\u201d I have never felt so fucking out of place.<\/span><\/p>\n The day started in the Wizard\u2019s Grace, because <\/span>of course<\/span><\/i> the tradition is for the \u201cheroes\u201d to gather there ahead of the call so they can all eat a hearty bowl of boar stew and lentils, which I could not really afford. There\u2019s something about a tradition where you are expected to pay <\/span>before<\/span><\/i> you have earned anything that really rubs me the wrong way. (The server actually said to me, \u201cAnd perhaps afterwards, you can come here and buy a grand meal, when fame and fortune are yours.\u201d Nine Hells. I feel like I\u2019m back in Druma.)<\/span><\/p>\n While we\u2019re sitting at this table, looking at each other\u2019s cards, I saw a flash of blue and looked up just in time to see Iskaryn land in the middle of everything. How did she get inside? I have no idea. But she\u2019s never cared about rules before, and there\u2019s no reason for her to start now.<\/span><\/p>\n She was studying the cards, so I asked, \u201cWhat do you see?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s hardly a coincidence,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI didn\u2019t think it would be. We knew to expect this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She looked like she was going to say something, but then she saw the server heading over with a broom, clearly intent on chasing her off, and she took the hint.<\/span><\/p>\n The others found this curious, and it\u2019s not like it wasn\u2019t going to come out later, anyway, so I hastily explained that she was my familiar. Then the obvious question came.<\/span><\/p>\n Tarsius, the warrior priest, asked me, \u201cSo you\u2019re a wizard then, too?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo.\u201d He didn\u2019t look convinced. \u201cI don\u2019t really understand it, either.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThe bird seems tame.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n If only<\/span><\/i>. \u201cYou keep thinking that. Go ahead and tell her that and see how it goes.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n We continued talking, trying to get to know one another, and it was going as well as you\u2019d expect, which is to say, awkwardly, when Marcus tosses out this gem:<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo, did any of the rest of you have visions of this town burning?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Um, no? But he\u2019s a mystic, and well, maybe that\u2019s the sort of thing we should pay attention to. Especially when he added \u201cAt the hands of Dahak.\u201d The god of all the vile, ill-tempered dragons of the world.<\/span><\/p>\n So definitely not an agriculture problem, then.<\/span><\/p>\n When the Call time arrived, we headed to the town hall where there was a crowd of townsfolk waiting outside for the doors to open, because people actually <\/span>attend<\/span><\/i> town hall meetings here. And that\u2019s where we met Warbal, a goblin woman wearing a white dress and what I swear was a mortarboard\u2014by Magdh this town is weird\u2014with silver jewelry, including a butterfly necklace very much in the style of Desna. She was pacing back and forth in fits of worry, almost to the point of outright panic.<\/span><\/p>\n We talked to her, and learned she\u2019s the ambassador to a local goblin tribe named the Bumblebrashers (all goblin tribes have names like that), who get along pretty well with the town. They live in the old citadel on Hellknight Hill, because no one else does. The last time Warbal went to meet with them, they didn\u2019t show. So she went all the way out to the citadel herself, and saw red smoke rising from the battlements and interpreted it as a distress signal.<\/span><\/p>\n It didn\u2019t take long to figure out that Warbal was at the Call to ask for someone to check on the Bumblebrashers. Especially after she told us as much.<\/span><\/p>\n The doors to the town hall opened, and everyone filed in, including Iskaryn because rules don\u2019t apply to her, and when the meeting started, that is exactly what Warbal did. Except she didn\u2019t get a chance to finish, or hardly even get started, because a guard burst into the hall from a side door and yelled, \u201cFire!\u201d, and flames erupted into the room from behind him. Then panic set in.<\/span><\/p>\n Lots of people froze. And I understand that. I\u2019ve been in a situation I\u2019d rather not remember, and I froze, too. The best thing you can do for people who freeze up like that is what was done for me, then: tell them what to do.<\/span><\/p>\n So I stood and yelled, \u201cEverybody out the main hall door!\u201d And I even cast a spell to light up the exit, because it solves the problem of people looking around in a panic, and because panic makes even obvious exits hard to see, especially once the smoke sets in.<\/span><\/p>\n Then a fiery elemental creature came in through the open doorway, and then a door from the back of the hall opened up and a <\/span>second<\/span><\/i> one came in, and they were spreading flames everywhere they moved. And then the <\/span>real<\/span><\/i> panic set in.<\/span><\/p>\n Our newly formed group of fated heroes, or whatever you want to call us, split into two. Half of us helped get people out of the building before they died from smoke inhalation (and directed them to form a bucket brigade), and the other half went to confront both the fire and the elementals that were spreading it. The first went well. The second? Did not.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Fortunately, the fire creatures were the result of a summoning, because weapons and spells weren\u2019t really accomplishing much. They disappeared, and the water buckets were able to extinguish the fires before the whole building went up.<\/span><\/p>\n Outside the hall, in the aftermath of all this chaos, someone\u2014I think it was a town guard\u2014identified a halfling named Calmont as the arsonist, and said he ran off towards the citadel. Which is enough of a coincidence to raise questions. We were deputized on the spot, given a paltry sum of money that might last me another week if I forwent luxuries like food, and tasked with bringing Calmont back alive for questioning and, I assume, a trial.<\/span><\/p>\n Who is Calmont? An excellent question, since we didn\u2019t really know many people in town. Prior to his career in arson, he was an assistant to the local book seller, Voz Lirayne. We all agreed we should pay her a visit before heading out to Hellknight Hill.<\/span><\/p>\n I like to multitask, by which I mean, I like to use Iskaryn for something other than giving me a hard time. So I asked her if she would be willing to scout the citadel for us. And, naturally, because there was an audience, she gave me a hard time.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDo you think these are things that are going to shoot at me?\u201d she asked.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou look like every other bird, right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI might look like dinner.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n I decided to call her bluff and said, \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s what you\u2019re saying, then?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYeah.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou take a lot of risks with me,\u201d she said in her best, disapproving tone. \u201cSure. I’ll go scout the dangerous castle for you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n When she gets like this, it\u2019s best to just be polite. \u201cI appreciate it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t pay me enough for this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n And then I lost my temper. \u201cI don\u2019t pay you <\/span>at all<\/span><\/i>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s my point!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>You<\/span><\/i> cost me <\/span>more\u2014<\/span><\/i>\u201d, I started, then cut myself off as I realized we were getting into an argument in the middle of the Magdh-be-damned street. <\/span>Again<\/span><\/i>. \u201cNever mind.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou know,\u201d she said, \u201cI don\u2019t want to hear about it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Fine. Whatever. <\/span>Just go<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n I turned to the others and said, \u201cIskaryn has agreed to scout out the citadel for us.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Gath said to me, \u201cYou know you two do sound like a married couple, right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s go visit the bookseller.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The Reliant Book Company turned out to be a seller of rare and magical books, and Voz was exactly the sort of pretentious proprietor one expects to find running such a place. Back in Druma, this sort of thing is a familiar sight. I used to think that was the mark of a good merchant. A lot has happened since I left that life behind, though, and now I mostly find it insulting.<\/span><\/p>\n Still, we were here to get information, not adjust her attitude.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cCan I help you?\u201d she asked as we filed in.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHello! My name is Aemi. We were just at the town hall, and a gentleman by the name of Calmont was directly implicated in trying to burn it down. While people were still inside.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She took this news about as well as you would expect.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c<\/span>What?!<\/span><\/i>\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYeah. Including us, by the way. We were inside, too. We’re just hoping to learn a little bit more about Calmont. The city has tasked us with the investigation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMaybe that\u2019s why that little fool didn\u2019t come to work today.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Uh-huh, <\/span>maybe<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n Calmont worked for her doing, as she put it, \u201cmenial tasks\u201d, which included cleaning, rearranging books, and even some simple book repair. He was a relatively new hire. Lately he\u2019d become unreliable, though we never got a good explanation for what that meant. With a little more questioning, and a bit of \u201cencouragement\u201d from Liberte\u2014who implied that he might actually solve this problem with the application of a morningstar, just in not so many words\u2014Voz agreed to let us search the room he was renting from her.<\/span><\/p>\n We didn\u2019t find anything particularly damning, just some scribbles that suggested he was under a great deal of stress, and that his only way out was to \u201cfind the ring\u201d. That sounded like desperation more than a plan.<\/span><\/p>\n And what ring would that be?<\/span><\/p>\n No idea.<\/span><\/p>\n Iskaryn returned not long after with her report on the citadel. There were goblins up on the battlements, cowering in fear of <\/span>something<\/span><\/i>, but she couldn\u2019t see who or what. There were no obvious watchers or guards.<\/span><\/p>\n And I could tell right away that she was still in a mood. We were discussing some logistics, including what we\u2019d want to take with us and who would carry what, when she said, \u201cI\u2019m not carrying anything.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t expect you to. I don\u2019t even want you in there,\u201d I said.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSuits me just fine. I\u2019m just glad I didn\u2019t get shot at.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This again. I rolled my eyes. \u201cYou know, you were a scout for a couple of weeks.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not forgetting that either.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Sometimes she’s just exhausting.<\/p>\n We agreed to meet up in half an hour, which would give us time to gather what we needed for the trek up the hill. I went back to my space at The Dreamhouse and grabbed my armor, being sure to give Iskaryn the stink eye on the way out <\/span>because she deserved it<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n Petty of me? Yes.<\/span><\/p>\n Satisfying? <\/span>Also yes.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Breachill Afternoon I am reasonably certain that my life is cursed. We didn\u2019t make it five minutes into the Call for Heroes before someone literally tried to burn the building down. While I was still inside it. But I\u2019m getting ahead of myself. As the norns predicted, I met others carrying Harrow cards, and all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95],"tags":[88],"class_list":["post-5411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aoa-journal","tag-aemi"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5411"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5411\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5420,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5411\/revisions\/5420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.dungeonetics.com\/gamediary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}