In Tachyros and Narcell’us seems to be feeling better today. She was awake with the party and tending to our accounts, chatting with Carnation. The Bird Girl had a new buckle – a shiny thing – that they were excited to chat about. How are these two friends? Laughing and joking at the bottom of a hole in the ground with flotsam and jetsam in the drinking water? Been thinking about that, especially after what happened with the caravan. Got some old memories splashing around in my noggin. Reminds me of last summer.

--

It was warm in the Grimweld. A sticky haze like the kind that comes from boiled stew was all around. It was a warm blanket that not all of us were fine with having around. The dark-skinned elf was with us, sticking to the ground like a wet mop.

I didn’t like this cleric traveling with us. She had the manner of one that can’t see in front of her nose – wrapped up in her own thoughts and schemes. Sargent saw that – I could tell from the way he twiddled his fingers as he assembled this team. Good chance to greet some hags. Called ourselves a heavily armed group. A H.A.G. Narcell’us loved that as least from the wide grin she had. She kept it for a wee bit on the long side, though. Smiling for hours is a bit strange.

Bird Girl was the scout, but the brush was thick as wool. Smelled like wet wool, by the by. The traveling on foot scheme was dreary stuff – glad even now I brought some netting to twirl around as we go adventuring. We were meeting a local magician or mystic, didn’t quite get the gist of his ability. Only knew of Wizards by the Coast then and don’t have very much patience for them. Now it’s all war wizards and witches and witch hunters and Gods throwing around powers to men – so hard to keep track of. Always getting poor folk into trouble. But this one was meant to be able to help with this hag problem. So we tried to find him.

We found a bear first – big as a house he was! Well, a bear with some other bodies around. Ever see a fishmonger empty scraps at the end of a day? Well, that was the smell before we came upon this clearing? When that fishmonger goes off with another man’s wife for a week-long romp and forgets to empty the scraps – that was the smell in this clearing. The bear was covered in green and black splotches. Like tar but on an animal. Never seen anything like that. Poor beast. I checked on it and it was still alive. Took it out of its misery – but took two hacks. Inside was a latrine sitting under the noon Sun – a green stench that sent me in a bit of a fit. It oozed not like anything I’d seen – figured we ought to collect some of it for the mystic. Bird Girl reached in and a slimy worm latched right onto her talon! We screamed and I was about ready to hack off the poor girl’s leg but Narcell’us just set it ablaze. Goodness! Good to have a fire-maker here.

And then just as soon as we could pause to keep on going, one of those rangers came behind us asking for help. He was hacked up and barely together, his meat turning green and oily. Asked Narcell’us to do pray to some Gods – get some healing. Don’t think her Gods listen to those prayers. He lurched and broke into something fierce, bone and slurping flesh spinning all around. We screamed again and hacked at it a fair bit. Thing even latched on to me – worm trying to get into my face and suck out all the stuff inside. Tore the thing clean in half and got all that muck everywhere. I screamed once more and just wanted to take a bath. Didn’t help – we had these black splotches where we were touched. Bird girl on her leg. Me on my face too. We doubled the pace and ran straight to where the mystic was.

Made our way there by night. Forest is unnatural all around but by this one hill it’s all roses and daisies. Well at least grass and no more oily scabs everywhere. Bird Girl hovered above and played with the wind chimes and made some nice sounds – sounds that are meant to be. There are some sounds that aren’t meant to be – and we heard plenty of those around us until this point.

A thing shaped like a bug shambled out of the hill and poked its head out. Under there was a man – old stringy type that would have wild eyes. Type that slinks at the end of the bar looking to brush his hand against some young barmaid’s bottom. Well this man didn’t have seeing eyes – they were filled with milk but he still looked at us all the same.

He tells us why we were there before we say so. Lots of magic in those words. Name was Todd. Todd invited us into his house and it seemed like a nice gesture. Sized up the hill and home and hole and they seemed a bit small for myself. Seemed rude to say no though so I said yes. We can trust the man in the bomb ass robe. Narcell’us let me know that we’d be just fine outside, thank you. That worked too.

We showed what happened to us in the Grimweld. He did some of his crazy hedge magic – spat into my waterskin and made me wash my face with it. Scabs came clean off, though. Did some other things with dirt and smoke and fire, but I didn’t pay too much mind. Helped everyone out in their own way, and that was good enough for me.

After that he helps us out some more. There was a thing in the forest doing all of this unnatural business. Name was Kai. Narcell’us wanted us to take that and go back. But that thing was still out causing trouble and killing things. I said my peace about that and she scoffed and said things about money or prestige or something else I didn’t pay too much mind toward. Then Todd said Kai was a demon. Narcell’us changed – not in the normal face to smiling face kind of way, but something more hard to see and easier to feel. So she said yes, we will kill Kai and restore the forest, but that we would set camp first.

At night I thought that I saw a ghost. Pale figure, white as bone skin, with black as pitch robes. Little black ribbons branched through his arms – veins that bulged out and didn’t seem right. He didn’t cross into Todd’s space, but circled around and smiled at me kind of how Narcell’us smiled at the Sargent. Shook my bones. Didn’t tell H.A.G. this part – too much for my poor head.

So we woke up in the morning without much sleep, at least on my part. I led the way because the ghost from last night was leading me in a direction. Had to follow the thing – seemed dangerous. I was afeared as a mum sending her little one on her maiden voyage, butterflies flying around in my insides. But I think the way they looked at me they look up to me a bit. I was meant to be the one going into the action – always have been. Not an easy thing to do – looking at the old pale thing with the black cloak and sickle that invites you down to sleep forever in the sea. You breathe deep and you move forward.

We came across another gruesome thing – men and women maimed and nailed to dead trees. There were a dozen of them – leading us toward another clearing in these damned woods. All dead and without tongues – Narcell’us let me know that it was about the magic they could use before they expired. Unnatural way to die.

A girl’s call rang through the forest – a young thing in distress but slipping. I called back but the drow and Bird Girl whispered about tactics or something. I went in anyway, at least to see what was happening. Poor elven girl was chained to the rock – eyes were gouged out but looked like it was from a while ago. Her name was Taja. Had bruises everywhere and long enough so that some healed. That wasn’t right. I reefed and broke the chain to free her, but helping people wasn’t that easy. I wanted to go back to Todd so he could keep her safe, but there was a disagreement about that.

Been a late day. Good to recover and assess the situation. All of that stuff.

Eventually I said yes and Taja stayed in the middle of the circle with me around. We were going to get some rest and make our way forward. But there were a bunch of whispers around. “They’re using her as bait.” It said. “You don’t trust them.” It said. It said a lot of things. I yelled something unpleasant back and I saw the ghost from the night before, but it was also the demon Kai.

He had this manner about him that was hard to pin – blinking in and out between space. I tried to cut him with my anchor and cut through air instead and he laughed something fierce about that. Made me mad. Then he hurt the girl again.

There are stories about the sea – as many as there are people. Those people do all manner of things on her, and sometimes she doesn’t take so kindly to those things. No one knows why for sure, but everyone knows what happens. A column rises – water above towers – and rolls through everything in its path. It’s an unstoppable thing - tsunami. Less people know that this happens inside people too sometimes. One of them is me.

I gripped my anchor and cut all of the Kai’s. They crashed down and stopped smiling for a bit – being opened up by my weapon. The demon writhed and staggered, but it wasn’t a mortal cut. I continued my pursuit. He did some magic things and summoned something from the ground . The wave was still crashing.

I cut hard and furiously and caught air a lot of the time. He slashed with his razor fingers and caught nothing back – the wave rolled further. He fled to higher ground but you can’t escape from the rolling tide.

He leapt onto one of stone circles in his own way, and I leapt up and held my blade high. I cut directly and downward, driving metal into bone and ending the demon. It finally crumpled and we were free. But the crumpled thing said something, “I will live forever. And my master will find you.”

--

The gruel in the Wet Cat spirals upward now in Tachyros. I’m back with Just the T.I.P. No longer weary from time on the open road and well-rested, if not well-fed. Elaine smiles shyly while Dorian jokes about the fineries that they simply must see in Malkara. And Narcell’us and Carnation pack their things, both looking to me every so often.