Campaign Log: Confessions of a Forked Tongue

[coronatiger]

24th of Varatga, year 412 (continued)

The soldiers escorting us had gone off duty, and sat in the common room, relaxing. One of them openly leered at me; he had been more circumspect earlier. I didn’t care for it, and asked Baldrian if he knew a chapel in this village. We talked in codes, so his answer was ambiguous, but I got the impression that I might want to visit the other side of the village.

I borrowed the room key from Lunari and went upstairs to change. I removed the belt with my knives and rolled them up in the cloak. I went back downstairs and stuffed the cloak into my backpack. Baldrian said he’d keep an eye on my gear and bring it up to his room if he retired before I returned. He wouldn’t lock the door, so I could get my stuff back without waking him.

Soup had arrived, so I hurriedly emptied a bowl and stuffed some bread into my pouch, so I could eat it outside. I didn’t want to remain here any longer than I was necessary. Lunari decided to accompany me, for my protection, but he wanted to talk privately first, and brought Xipil, Grogg and me back up to our room.

Lunari asked if we were on board with “buying” Baldrian’s weapons shipment when we reached Badahan. Then we could “sell” it back to him, so he could bring in to a more profitable market. I wasn’t keen on the idea of provoking the law unnecessarily. We agreed to delay a decision until we could assess the risks more thoroughly.

Xipil and Grogg tagged along when Lunari and I left the inn. Outside, we passed two men in Amrosh uniforms, tying up their horses. I noticed the quality of the horses, although the men looked rather ordinary. They seemed absorbed in conversation, and paid us no heed as we passed.

After a short walk through the village, I spotted a hidden Ashtar sign on a general store. I told the others I wanted to enter alone, so they remained outside. I identified myself as an Ashtarite to the shopkeeper and asked if there would be a Meet tonight. He returned the gesture and apologized. I asked if he minded me going downstairs to pray for a while. Of course not. That’s what the chapel is for. He showed me the hatch in the floor and I descended.

The shopkeeper closed the shop and came downstairs. I didn’t care if Lunari and the others got tired of waiting for me, so I had undressed for a complete wash. The shopkeeper tried not to stare as he hurried through the ritual cleansing of his feet and hands. He was obviously the chapel’s caretaker, for he did some tidying up before sitting down to pray. I reveled in the presence of the holy snakes and prayed, too. Another man entered while we were making small talk. He prayed out loud, unlike the shopkeeper and me, who had been mostly silent. For some reason, spoken prayers always make me think the supplicant is a newcomer to the faith, even though I know that for most, it’s a matter of personal preference, and it has nothing to do with experience or the lack thereof.

He left when he finished praying, and the shopkeeper and I left as well. Lunari and Grogg had found something better to do, but Xipil must have waited, for he caught up with me when I set off back towards the inn. He must have concluded that I had done something related to my faith, for he started talking about how there are great snakes in the jungle of his homeland. I was fascinated to learn more about these snakes, and he told me some of his people considered them holy. They seemed like sensible people, even if they’d never heard of You.

At the inn, Lunari was teaching Grogg rude gestures in the common room. Baldrian hadn’t retired for the night, yet, so my backpack was still there. I picked it up and got the room key from Lunari again, and I noticed the Amrosh people were glaring at us. Maybe they thought Lunari and Grogg were making the gestures at them. I asked my companions if there was anything they wanted of me before I retired. Grogg asked for beer, but the others wished me a good night.

I locked the door so Lunari wouldn’t walk in on me while I brushed my teeth. Once I was satisfied with my dental care, I packed everything inside my sack and knelt down on the floor to pray. I didn’t want to go to sleep before I had made certain arrangements with Lunari.

He knocked on the door a little while later, and I opened it for him. Lunari entered and started to undress. I hurriedly grabbed a blanket from the bed and lay down on the other side of the room, but Lunari insisted that I should get the bed. I thanked him and moved over to the bed, turning my back so he could finish undressing. I put a hand on the floor and said my evening prayer:

O Ashtar! I surrender my life to Your coils. Take me while I sleep, or grant me another day in Your service, as You will.


25th of Varatga, year 412

O Ashtar, Mother of Snakes, Keeper of Death’s Door, hear my confession!

This morning, Lunari asked me about the way of life of an Ashtarite. I told him we don’t have many rules, except for being a little secretive. Then Grogg was hammering on the door, and Lunari got up and dressed. I waited for him to leave before following suit.

Over breakfast, Xipil mentioned that my friends had been looking for him last night, before traveling westwards. I had no idea why they would do that, and told Xipil as much. Lunari tried to flirt, but I ignored him, so he went to talk to our escort.

I slipped away and crossed the village. The shop above the chapel was open, so I entered and asked what interest the shopkeeper had of Xipil. He was just as clueless as me. We exchanged pleasantries for a while, and I returned to the inn.

After a couple of hours along the road, we arrived at the site where Lunari and Grogg had beaten the orcs. Lunari told me all about it, and pointed out a stone by the roadside, with the inscription that Gromgar had fallen there. Gromgar was the previous owner of Grogg’s impressive maul. Both Lunari and Grogg wanted to move the inscription to where the orc had actually been killed, near a small copse a short distance away, but they settled for carving an arrow into the stone, pointing the way.

There was some traffic on the road, but most travelers were going in the same direction as us, converging on Badahan for the upcoming sun festival. Our escort led the way to a smaller village, off the main road, and gave us similar instructions as yesterday: Leave the wagon over there and be there at dawn tomorrow.

The tiny inn had only two rooms for let, and the soldiers took one of them, leaving us to decide how to assign the four bunks in the other room. At dinner, we overheard the soldiers talking about the slave uprising. They suspected that it had been coordinated, for there had been revolts on several locations on the same day. It seemed like the slaves had tried to negotiate after taking control over the work sites.

When one of the soldiers talked trash about orcs and trolls, Grogg snapped and kicked the chair out from under him. One of the others drew his sword half-way, and Grogg apologized while stepping on the dwarf, for being a big, stupid and clumsy troll. The four soldiers walked outside and yelled at each other. The dwarf wanted revenge, but the others eventually calmed him down.

Grogg seized one of the abandoned beer mugs, but the innkeeper told him off, and Lunari asked him to come and sit down again. The leader of the escort, another dwarf, poked his head inside and summoned Baldrian. I touched the floor and prayed, asking You for permission to slay the soldiers. It would be easy to slip poison into their beer mugs while they were outside. As I expected, You remained silent, allowing me to exercise my own judgment of the situation. The innkeeper came over and asked us to leave. Baldrian had to bribe the escort with a gold coin and berated Grogg and Lunari.

The innkeeper arranged for us to stay with an elderly woman. She was hard of hearing and squinted when she looked at us. Her small cottage had three beds, and just enough room for Grogg on the floor. She started preparing food for us, and I crossed the room to help her. Grogg took out his sewing kit and made her a potholder.

Lunari showed me a small bottle with an orange-yellow liquid that had a sour smell. He asked if I recognized it, but I didn’t. He explained that it made you happy. Him and his recreational drugs! Definitely not my idea of a good time. I desire nothing but to bask in Your glory. If he wants to ingratiate himself with me, he should discard such mundane pleasures and join Your faith.

I excused myself and turned to the old woman. She seemed tired, so I suggested we all go to bed. That confused her. I asked if it was all right with her that we stayed the night, and she beamed at me that of course, it was all right. Baldrian claimed one of the beds, and thought that I should have the last one. Xipil had already gone outside to sleep or whatever he does outside at night, and Grogg followed him to stand guard, in case a vindictive dwarf showed up. Lunari and Kork bedded down on the floor.

Pretending shyness, I faced the wall while brushing my teeth. I didn’t want to display my fangs. I closed my eyes and said my evening prayer:

O Ashtar! I surrender my life to Your coils. Take me while I sleep, or grant me another day in Your service, as You will.