Campaign Log: Confessions of a Forked Tongue

[coronatiger]

28th of Azura, year 412

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

“Bleh!” This was not a good morning. I had bled through the bandage and stained the bed with red. “I hate the full moon! Why does it have to afflict us so badly!?” Yana wrapped her arms around me and I clutched her right back. “I want to stab someone,” I grumbled. Yana stiffened, so I added that she wouldn’t have to watch.

The ever-practical Yana, once she had calmed down from my offensive statement, suggested we cleaned up and put on a fresh bedsheet. “Then we’ll feel much better,” she predicted, “and I’ll prepare breakfast while you meditate. I know you’re running low on venom.” I felt a little less gross and a lot more confident when I knelt on the floor, with a new bandage between my legs and my knives strapped to my thighs.

An hour later, the others had also begun to wake, so Yana and I took our food downstairs to eat with our friends. Xipil blurted out that Hakart had been kidnapped by the Moon Shadows. The grim smile on my face made Yana flinch, especially since she also noticed that I was caressing my knives. “How can you know that?” I asked Xipil.

The loud celebration last night that had kept Yana and me awake was similar enough to Miramara’s song and dance that the dream sorceress had been able to find and invade our friends’ dreams. Miramara informed them that five black-clad agents had entered her territory and taken Hakart with them. Why they had done that was anyone’s guess, but if they got Hakart to talk, he would reveal our names, and Yana and I would be in peril.

Wolfram proposed that we attacked their quarters before the five riders returned. Yana and I volunteered to locate and monitor the place, and to draw a map for Wolfram since he asked so nicely. Xipil wanted to come along, but he wondered if there would be many people around. I expected there would be quite a few, as we would be going to a marketplace, but Xipil decided to be brave and join us anyway.

We agreed to pick up a disguise for Xipil along the road, something to make him appear like a local. Yana and I went up to our room to prepare our own disguises, and Yana made pockets for my dress, so I could reach my knives. Yana applied makeup to make herself look younger, and I asked Hope to bite me so I could take on the appearance of someone older, and with darker skin. With a few wrinkles around my eyes, I could now be taken for Yana’s mother. Our matching dresses would seal the deal.

Half an hour later, we joined Xipil and the others downstairs. Xipil asked if it was all right if he put on an illusion disguise. My death threats, should he frighten Yana, were thinly veiled. Yana, on the other hand, agreed to let him try. She thought it wouldn’t be so bad if she knew in advance what he was going to do. I held her tight while Xipil did his magic. Yana clutched me so hard it hurt. “It’s still Xipil, but something’s terribly wrong with him,” she whispered. My own eyes saw a catfolk where Xipil once stood. Yana struggled to release her death grip on my hand, but she eventually let go and cleared her throat. “I think I can stand seeing him like that, maybe even for the rest of the day. It’s probably good to be exposed to this,” she said. Her fear of snakes had lessened considerably with her willingness to try to overcome it, but this was magic affecting her, so I wasn’t so sure. I would do my best to support her, though.

Xipil, Yana and I headed for the center of the city, and we soon came through a street with multiple clothing stores. I let Yana and Xipil take the lead, and we had a new disguise for Xipil in short order. He put it on and seamlessly canceled his illusion disguise; I wouldn’t have known he had canceled the spell if I hadn’t seen Yana relax.

We skirted around the palace grounds and continued towards the south-eastern part of the city without seeing any of the doomsday prophets we had heard about. The Market of Beds was almost as far to the south-east as one could get while still remaining inside the city, and it was aptly named. Most shops that didn’t sell beds sold pillows or bedsheets or other things one might need if one owned a bed, but the first trader to contact us was a monkey seller. He was annoying and right up in our faces, but he went away when I told him firmly that we weren’t interested.

We searched the marketplace looking for clues to the Moon Shadows’ whereabouts while pretending to be ordinary shoppers. After a few minutes, I spotted a peculiar shop. The Soft Pillow had decorations on its sign like tiny moon crescents. The curtains were closed and the place looked unwelcoming. If they were open for business, they weren’t trying to attract new customers. I pointed out the sign to Yana and Xipil, and Yana agreed that this had to be the right place. Some of her Amrosh relatives had made that sign, she said. I offered that the shop was closed because the staff was out, kidnapping refugees.

There was a small café nearby which afforded a decent view of the Soft Pillow. While Xipil went around the block to scout out the rear of the Moon Shadow quarters, Yana and I went to the café. Our server had us examine several cushions before we could sit down on them and have our tea. I guess the café cooperated with merchants selling pillows and cushions.

Xipil joined us after maybe half an hour, and Yana and I could quickly report that we had seen no activity at the Soft Pillow. Xipil had found a rear entrance to the shop and possibly an adjoining Kabal garden. Xipil drew the map Wolfram had requested.

The server returned and offered a water pipe, but I told him I’d rather have another cup of tea. It tasted differently from what I was used to having back home, but it was still good. Grogg would absolutely have chosen the water pipe, but he’s not very choosy about what he puts into his body. Lunari had been a good friend to Grogg – to everyone, really, and it saddened me to be reminded of his untimely demise – but he was a bad influence when it came to drugs and partying.

I was brought out of my reveries when a man entered the Soft Pillow. Apparently, they were open for business after all. The man looked well off, and he had a bodyguard with him who followed him inside. They didn’t spend long in there, and brought out what was obviously a wrapped-up pillow. Xipil asked if he should follow them. I replied that he could if he wanted to, but I didn’t think we could learn much from it. Xipil, overcome with curiosity, hurried after them.

Not many minutes later, two young men went inside the shop. I thought they were about my age. They didn’t stay long either and came out with several small parcels. They walked a lot faster now, and Yana and I shared a glance, a question of whether we should follow them, but we decided to remain where we were.

Xipil returned shortly after, and we exchanged information again. Xipil thought the bodyguard had been exceptionally observant, but he assured us he hadn’t been spotted. Since the Soft Pillow was actually open, I suggested going inside to have a look. Yana didn’t like that idea very much, and she asked how long she and Xipil should wait before they should worry. I patted her hand and said if I wasn’t back in ten minutes, they should fetch Grogg and Wolfram and bash down the door. Yana and Xipil walked towards another pillow shop while I went straight for the Soft Pillow. I thought they might be able to hear if I screamed.

When the door closed behind me, some mechanism made a clay bird hoot like an owl. There was nobody in the shop initially, but a woman quickly appeared from behind a curtain. Around thirty years of age, she was clearly local, so I didn’t think she might be the best source of information about the Moon Shadows. Had she been from the north, I might have kidnapped her to see what she knew. She probably only managed the shop, which was clearly a front for the other operations. There were no more than ten pillows and cushions in sight.

The building itself was made of stone, but the inner walls were wood. It should burn well, if we decided to take that route, and hopefully not spread to many other buildings. A fire here should certainly alert Sok and the others at the fort that we had upheld our part of the bargain. If we just killed everyone quietly, it could take weeks or months before anyone noticed.

I made a show of inspecting the few pillows on display and finding them not to my liking. In an attempt to see more of the building, I demanded loudly and with my hands on my hips to see what the woman was hiding from me in their store rooms. Obviously, the woman had strict instructions not to let anyone behind the curtains, so I demanded to see her manager.

The woman went back where she had come from, presumably to get help with this nightmarish customer, and I seized the chance to peek behind the other curtain, but I saw nothing of interest, just a short hallway with a few doors.

The woman returned quickly and with an obvious Moon Shadow in tow. I asked him if he was her manager, but he just told me they would have no business with me. I stated that the woman clearly had learned her bad customer skills from him, and then I stomped off.

Yana was visibly relieved when I reemerged on the marketplace. She must have heard my raised voice, but perhaps not what was said. Not wanting to be seen in her and Xipil’s company, I signed that they should meet me out of sight from the shop. I related what happened inside when we walked back to the Nightflower, where we would sit down with Grogg and Wolfram and plan our next step. We slipped through an empty alley on the way, so Hope could bite me and I could regain my own appearance.

[coronatiger]

Hylda was out when we got back, but since she wouldn’t take part in any raids anyway, her absence was no hindrance. I explained what we had learned and Xipil showed the map he had drawn. I suggested that if we were to do this, we could simply walk into the shop and lock the door behind us. Someone should go around back and prevent anyone from fleeing that way. I thought Xipil and I could be able to go through the place quietly and deal with anyone we found without raising the alarm.

Xipil said he would make daylight stones for everyone, in case the Moon Shadows cast magical darkness over the place. His hands moved like he was tying a knot around a pebble with invisible cord, and suddenly light burst from the pebble. He handed it to me and said the light would last for eight days. Hope found the brightness uncomfortable, so Yana quickly provided wrapping for the pebble so I could keep it in my pouch, readily available.

Since Xipil needed a short rest between castings, I told everyone I would take an hour to meditate before we would leave. I asked Yana to procure a new dress for me. I was obviously going to wear another face during the raid than the one the people at the Soft Pillow had seen, but they might spot my dress a long way off.

Hope coiled up around my venom vial when I placed it on the floor in front of me after emptying my glands and spitting into it. I smiled at her, patted her on the head and closed my eyes, beginning my meditation.

Even with my eyes closed, I noticed when it suddenly became dark around me. “Thank whoever shut off the light,” Hylda declared, so even though Grogg and Wolfram clearly went into defense mode, I didn’t panic. If this was the Moon Shadows come to attack us, Yana was away, and I had my knives ready with venom from before. I continued my meditation, hoping to be able to restore my venom glands before I needed them.

Yana’s scream when she returned from her shopping shattered my concentration and had me running for the stairs. Blessedly, You were with me in the dark and guided my feet so I didn’t take a tumble. “Wolfram, what’s happening?” Yana asked, voice trembling. When he didn’t reply, she started screaming again. I ran towards the noise and suddenly found myself in daylight in the alley behind the building.

“Thank goodness you got out all right! Something’s terribly wrong inside,” Yana sobbed against my chest. I stroked her back and turned us around slowly so I could have a look myself. I saw nothing special. Grogg and Wolfram were standing just inside the door, weapons at the ready, but there was no sign of the darkness. Except… Our big friends didn’t look like they could see very much.

I let go of Yana, just for a few seconds, to poke my head inside the door. Everything went dark. I pulled back out and hugged Yana again. Since her dark vision was unhampered by the full moon, I coaxed Yana to help me retrieve a few things. She clutched my hand and guided me up to our room, where we gathered up Hope and my vial and put them in my pouch. Then we took our backpacks and went back downstairs and out. I told Wolfram we were leaving for a few hours and hoped Xipil would have sorted out his mess by then. Yana’s reaction to the darkness made clear who had created it. It was one of Xipil’s illusions.

Yana picked up the things she had dropped in the alley and showed me the dress she had bought. It was dark green, with big, blue flowers printed on it. “I love it,” I said as we walked off, “and I love you for knowing exactly what I want!” We stopped behind some bushes and kissed.

We went to the chapel under the Black Cellar, but we stopped by a food stall to have lunch. Yana had calmed down considerably, so I thought she could handle some responsibility. “We’re not going back until my vial is as full as Ashtar allows. Can you please see to it that I’m not disturbed while I meditate?” Yana smiled and gave me a hug. I knelt among the snakes before the altar. Yana settled down near the entrance.

The snakes sensed when I finished my meditation, so by the time I had stoppered my vial and put it in my pouch, they had all slithered off me and down to the floor. All except Hope, who remained on my shoulder, head raised like a queen looking down on her subjects. “Thank you,” I hissed in Shamara, meeting each snake’s eyes in turn.

“Should we go back to the Nightflower?” I asked Yana. She wasn’t keen on the idea, so we decided to go out for dinner and then return to the chapel to stay the night. Before we left, I stuffed our backpacks into a side passage where they wouldn’t be seen from the chapel. Yana informed me that the only person to arrive while I meditated was the chapel’s caretaker, who had come about half an hour earlier. With a finger across her lips, Yana had signed that she should be quiet, and the caretaker had nodded and sat down to pray for a few minutes before she left again.

A nearby restaurant had a crowd surrounding its outdoor serving area, and Yana and I wondered what the commotion was all about. “It’s New Year’s Eve,” one spectator explained, “and it’s soon time for the annual death eater contest.” The name piqued my interest, so I got him to elaborate. In Anabel, some of the restaurants that were known for serving spicy food had this tradition of making exceptionally hot food on the last day of the year, and customers could sign up for a contest of stamina. At this restaurant, whoever could eat the most of some dish called ghost pies would win the prize. The prize varied from restaurant to restaurant and from year to year, usually food or wine, but occasionally one could win a few coins gold. Someone in the crowd informed us that here, today, the winner would receive a three-course dinner for two.

I asked Yana she was up to the challenge. I couldn’t recall the last time I had a really spicy meal, or if I ever had one. With me not used to it at all, I could be up for an interesting experience. It probably wouldn’t be dangerous, and I reasoned that any pain brought on by the ghost pies could hardly be worse than what already troubled my lower abdomen. Yana smiled encouragingly, but the spectator informed us we should have signed up a week ago, if we truly wanted to try our luck. He wouldn’t have recommended it, though. Even people who usually enjoyed spicy food were surprised by the potency of the ghost pies.

The long table currently seated fourteen people, and I saw that there were two empty seats on either side of a wealthy-looking man on our side of the table, so I grabbed Yana’s hand and pulled her through the crowd. “Excuse me!” I raised my voice to get the attention of the nearest server. “Excuse me! Are those seats taken?” The server summoned his supervisor, who consulted his papers and concluded that since the signed-up contestants had failed to appear, and the contest was about to start, we might as well take their places. We gave our names as Miri and Mara, which got the supervisor to raise his eyebrows at us, but he only said to hurry up and sit down.

A gong sounded and the crowd quieted down. The supervisor welcomed the contestants and the spectators and reminded everyone about the rules. “Each round, the contestants will be provided with one ghost pie and one small cup of water. When the gong sounds, the contestants must eat their ghost pie. One minute later, when the gong sounds twice, anyone who hasn’t finished their pie loses. You do not have to eat the entire crust, but the center filling of the pie must be consumed. Anyone who spits out, throws up or otherwise ejects any part of the pie loses. Anyone who drinks any of the extra water from the middle of the table – which is there for your safety – loses. Trash talking is forbidden, but you may try to psyche out your competitors with gestures or body language. Anyone may of course concede at any time. Stand up to indicate concession, and the staff will take you inside and provide rest and if necessary first aid. Any questions?” There were none. “The prize is a dinner for two, here at the Hot Stuffing Restaurant, to be taken tonight or any time next year. Good luck, everyone!”

Servers quickly lined up plates in front of the contestants, as well as that small cup of water. The ghost pies were light brown and surprisingly tiny. If I put my thumbs together and held them over my pie, I completely concealed it.

The gong rang to announce that the first round had begun. I picked up my pie and nibbled carefully at the crust. Looking to my left, I saw Yana do the same. The wealthy man between us had another strategy. He plopped the entire thing into his mouth and swallowed without taking a bite. I figured he wanted to avoid burning his mouth, but I thought to myself that I could never follow his plan. My instinct was to taste the food so I could spit it out if it was bad. Yana leaned forward and smiled at me. “This isn’t so bad,” she said. I agreed. The crust, at least, tasted just like any other pie crust I’d ever eaten.

Yana bit into the pie, chewed for about two seconds, and then spat it all out before frantically rinsing her mouth. This brought laughter from the crowd, and the soldier-like fellow across from her smiled smugly. The sweat breaking out on his forehead spoiled the effect slightly. I hesitated for a few seconds. Should I concede now, while I had my dignity? No, I couldn’t give up before I even tried. I lifted the pie to my mouth and took a decent bite out of it. An explosion of flavors burst from the pie, but the words hot, spicy or strong did not come to mind. There were just so many flavors, I couldn’t identify half of them. Realizing that time was about to run out, I chucked in the last of my pie, chewed once, and swallowed.

[coronatiger]

Whatever ingredient provided the hotness was clearly missing from my pie. The saucy stuffing was chunky, and I guessed none of my chunks were of the spicy variety. The two contestants at the far left of the table were disqualified, as both had some remaining pie on their plate. They were clearly uncomfortable, but not so bad as Yana, who needed help to get inside. Her hand seemed to spasm as she was carried through the door, which brought another round of laughter from the spectators, but I recognized our sign for “I’m good.”

As the servers prepared for the second round, one walked around refilling our cups of water. He started pouring for me without really looking at my already full cup, so the water overflowed and caused him to startle. He looked at me and asked if I was all right. I just smiled confidently, and the server came to his senses and wiped up the spill.

The gong rang for the second round, and I ate my pie quickly, but cautiously. I felt no ill effects from this one either, and I spent the remainder of the minute trying to identify flavors. I quickly sorted out the few I could name. The other flavors were entirely unknown to me, but I liked them. There was only one flavor that gave me pause. I felt like I should know it. I had tasted something like it before, although not quite the same, and it was the single flavor that I decided I didn’t enjoy. Fortunately, the flavor nearly drowned among all the others. If it had been more prominent, I would have described it as a razor blade hidden in an apple, but as it were, I only noticed it because I searched for it.

The gong rang twice, and a voice whispered in my ear that I really should drink some water before the next round. The worry in the server’s voice had me taking a sip instinctively, but since I didn’t actually feel thirsty, I put the cup back down. The water tasted dull anyway.

Only one contestant was out this round, and he was really annoyed with himself. An uncontrollable cough had sprayed pie over the table and as the contestant made his way inside, he waved off the staff who rushed to help him. The soldier still had his smug grin, but he wiped his neck and forehead regularly now. The woman right across from me, the only woman in the contest except for Yana and me, looked comfortable at first glance, but her eyes were too wide, and her hand twitched towards the array of cups between us several times before she could stop herself. The full moon concealed the rank smell of discomfort that I was sure pervaded the table. I couldn’t get a good look at the rich man to my left without appearing rude, but he seemed to have hit upon a valid strategy.

The third round knocked out five more contestants. One only looked at his third piece of pie before he stood up and was ushered inside. Two consumed far more water than was allowed, and two failed to eat their whole pie, small as it was. The sweating and discomfort were visible on all my competitors now, except for the rich man, and I figured out why the ghost pies were so deadly. The razor blade flavor was a nerve agent, a poison that was clearly part of the foodstuff that made the pies so hot. I was about to stand up to protest, but You blessed me with the insight that all spicy food must contain poison. It was just like alcohol; people imbibe that, sometimes to excess, despite it being a toxin. How strange we humans are, to willingly expose ourselves to harm.

With Your gift of poison immunity, I felt like I was cheating, but I justified my entering the competition with the fact that I didn’t know in advance that I had an unfair advantage. I wouldn’t be entering any other competitions like this, though.

Since fewer than half of the starting contestants were still in it, the supervisor asked us all to stand up and take new seats. All of us should face the spectators, he said. Even the three people already seated on the other side of the table had to get up, and I quickly learned why. The rich man started to vomit the second he straightened up, and another contestant simply fainted outright. Servers were close at hand to catch him as he fell.

Only five contestants remained when the fourth round started, and two hadn’t finished their pie by the end of the round. That left the woman, the soldier, and me. The woman begged off before the fifth round could commence, and she threw up while two servers helped her get inside. The soldier watched her and his face took on a sickly green tinge. He swallowed a couple of times, trying to settle his stomach, but I knew I had him now. He put on a brave face and stared challenge into my eyes, and I met his glare while the servers prepared the fifth round. One small cup of water, and one tiny pie.

I glanced down at my pie, summoned my best acting skills, looked back up at the soldier, all confidence drained from my blanched face. Then I bent over the table and began making retching sounds, like I was dry heaving. I felt perfectly fine, of course, so nothing came up. The sound and sight of me proved too much for the brave soldier, and just as the gong announced the start of the fifth round, he emptied his stomach all over the table. Someone in the crowd, sounding like a colleague of his, mocked him for losing to a little girl. I looked up and blew a kiss in that direction.

I was brought inside so I could get a check-up to verify that I wasn’t about to have an episode, and I caught up with Yana. She said her mouth was still burning, but she could do with that meal I’d just won. There was a lounge upstairs where regular customers had regular meals, and we could either go there, or wait for the downstairs areas to be cleaned up after the competition. We said we’d rather not wait, but the supervisor insisted I greeted the spectators and had a short ceremony first. Since the physician said I was fine (apart from the menstrual cramps that he had learned about in private and didn’t mention to anyone), I could have the ceremony right away. The crowds were used to having to wait while the champion purged themselves and regained their composure, and they were surprised to see me reappear so quickly, but they cheered even harder for it.

Dinner was pleasant, but I could tell Yana wasn’t entirely relaxed after her terrible fright. The contest hadn’t made her forget about it at all. Since we weren’t planning to return to the Nightflower until morning, we took our time with the meal. If there was a Meet at the chapel tonight, we would miss it, but I didn’t think it very likely to be two Meets on subsequent nights, not at a small chapel like this.

When we got back to the chapel, there was a dark mound in one corner, which Yana signed was Xipil. He was asleep. I signed back that we weren’t the only ones who fled the Nightflower, and that we should pray silently so as not to disturb him. After our prayer, I retrieved our things and we lay down on the opposite side from Xipil. I don’t think we woke him.

O Ashtar! We surrender our lives to Your coils. Take us while we sleep, or grant us another day in Your service, as You will.

[coronatiger]

1st of Mitra’s First Month, year 413

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

Happy New Year, dear Mother! As You know, I am of two minds about this first day of year. On the one hand, I celebrate the death of another year, in Your honor, and I count myself one year older than I was yesterday, although I’m outgrowing the child-like excitement of getting older. I’m twenty, now, I think, and no longer a teenager. On the other hand, not knowing what date I was born, or even the exact year fills me with sadness; why did my family abandon me?

I still feel awfully immature compared to Yana, with her vast experience and worldliness. I ask myself yet again why she would team up with someone like me, dangerous and violent. The heart works in mysterious ways, I guess. I’ve also heard said that opposites attract. Maybe there’s something to it. All I know for a fact is that I love her and she loves me. I see it in her beautiful green-gold eyes. I hear it in her alluring voice. I feel it in her touch, so soft and gentle. Her very being fills me with an effervescent warmth.

Yana ages at the same speed as me, one day at a time, but I feel like the age gap between us is shrinking. I’m glad we met when we did. Had we met a few years ago, like when she was twenty, I would have thought she was an old woman, and while she may have found me cute, she would probably have preferred adult company.

One thing we have in common, which stopped us from enjoying the morning in each other’s arms, was the bloody full moon. We were running low on clean bandages, but Yana offered to do some laundry once it was safe to return to the Nightflower. I said I would help her, and I feel really bad for breaking my word, but today’s events took the matter out of my control.

Xipil was still asleep, so Yana and I communicated mostly with our hands. I said I wanted to pray for a while. Yana opted to go upstairs and fix us breakfast. I knelt by the altar while Yana ascended the stairs. The sound of breaking glass almost had me running after her, but by the tone of the muffled voices from above, it was an accident.

In my prayer, after I had invoked the New Year blessing, I asked permission to go to the Soft Pillow and kill everyone there. It felt like an eternity since I had last heard Your voice, so I almost wept with joy when You gave me Your instructions. “Those there who would lay their hands upon my beloved daughter, those I shall welcome through Death’s Door,” You said, but as it is with divine speech, there is also an unheard dimension to the message. Fortunately, You imprinted upon me how to understand. Anyone who attacked me or someone I brought to the Soft Pillow were fair game. No, that wasn’t precise enough. Using the phrase “fair game” would indicate that I could choose not to kill. If Wolfram wanted prisoners to interrogate, he would be disappointed.

Hope and the chapel’s snakes sensed Your presence in my head, and they were crawling all over me when I opened my eyes, which gave me one last burst of ecstasy before I returned to the world. Xipil was staring at me. He probably sensed something too.

“Happy New Year, Xipil!” I declared, but he frowned at my unexpected statement. Lizard folk don’t follow the same calendar as us, and they clearly don’t celebrate New Year in the apeoid way. I explained that yesterday was a day of feasting, while today was a day for attending processions or services according to one’s faith. Xipil asked about Ashtarite traditions. I told him that we have a special prayer to mark the occasion, and I intoned the New Year blessing so he could hear it, but contrary to what he might think, we don’t consider today – or yesterday – a holy day. There would almost certainly be a Meet tonight, and I would attend if I could, but I wouldn’t require his presence.

There are three days during the year that we Ashtarites consider holy. The 3rd of Anati is Egg-Laying Day. Anati’s month is commonly held to be a good time to conceive children, but Ashtarites believe children born on Egg-Laying Day are especially blessed. Chapels hold ceremonies on this day where the female snakes are placed upon the altar, and if You will it, they lay their eggs.

On the 10th of Anati, one week later, we have the Day of Ashtar’s Blessing. This is a day of gift-giving. Ashtarite parents often present their children with toys or clothes in the evening, and friends and lovers exchange trinkets. Esteemed members are sent to visit nearby chapels, bringing with them gifts of snake eggs. A part of the ceremony, which I used to find exciting when I was younger, involves passing around three lumps of clay or dirt while a priest prays silently before the altar. When the prayer is finished and the priest holds up their hands, the people holding the lumps get to break them and take the prize that is hidden inside. There is one copper coin, one silver coin, and one gold coin hidden in the lumps.

Our third holiday is one month later, on the 11th of Varatga. This is the Passing of the Unknown, at least it’s called that in Arland. I celebrated it in the Prince’s Cities last year, just before I met Lunari, Grogg and Xipil and agreed to be their guide on their journey through my home country, but the locals called it the Day of Death. The name was all that differed, though. Ashtarites obviously revere the death days of family and friends, but those are scattered throughout the year. On the Passing of the Unknown, we honor the deaths of those we didn’t know, and those greatly outnumber the few funerals we attended during the last year. The Passing is a day of fasting. No food may be consumed between sunrise and sunset, and only water may be had. I know allowances are made for the young, the sick and the elderly, but personally, I wouldn’t eat the tiniest bread crumb to save my life.

Explanation done, I asked Xipil if we should go upstairs and have breakfast. Xipil staggered when he stood, so I rushed over to support him. He was famished, but I sensed that wasn’t all, so I asked if he had imbibed something he shouldn’t have. It turned out he had poisoned himself with some herb Hylda had bought for the water pipe. I expected Grogg and Hylda had partaken of the herb too, and possibly Wolfram as well, but they were all much larger than Xipil, so they were hopefully not so badly affected.

Xipil hissed that everything was well in the chapel. Surprised, I replied to ask when he learned to speak Shamara, but he didn’t understand what I said, and in fact he hadn’t understood what he said himself either. It was clear You had spoken through him. Combined with the way You had spoken to me earlier, I was starting to suspect that You had forgiven my sin. I decided to pray on this later.

As I helped Xipil up the stairs, he asked if my pebble still glowed. The ones he had prepared prior to summoning the magical darkness had all lost their light in the magical mishap, mine included.

The Black Cellar was a mess after last night’s celebrations. The tables were filled with empty mugs, glasses and bottles, and several drunkards lay sprawled about, sleeping it off. Yana had cleared and washed a table for us, and a simple yet delicious-looking meal waited. I thanked Yana for her efforts to make breakfast, and I joked that it had to be because she didn’t want leftovers from yesterday. The mere mention of the ten ghost pies lying in a small cloth bag in my backpack had Yana make a face and say no thank you.

Xipil was so hungry he all but poured whole fruits down his throat. Yana and I ate at a more sedate pace, which gave us the opportunity to talk. I told her we might be forgiven, but we should pray on it to find out for sure. Yana informed me the broken glass was caused by a drunkard bumping into it on his way to the restroom.

Suddenly, Xipil pointed out the window at the people passing by on the street. “That was Grogg, Wolfram and Hylda,” he exclaimed. I bounced up from my seat and ran to intercept them. “Happy New Year, everyone! Would you like to join Xipil, Yana and me for breakfast?” I asked, gesturing towards the Black Cellar.

Wolfram explained that he was on an errand, which he wanted to complete before breaking the fast. Since this errand undoubtedly would put him in close proximity to strangers, I asked if there was anything I could do to help, but he said he had it covered. I asked the big trio if they wanted us to wait for them at the Black Cellar, but Wolfram said the landlord at the Nightflower had come asking for me, and would come back later, so I should return to our lodgings when I finished eating.

Wolfram hadn’t given me the impression that it was very urgent to seek out the landlord, so we took our time eating. After gobbling down what seemed like a whole day’s worth of food, Xipil looked much better. Alcohol could be diluted by a full stomach, and it seemed whatever poison was in the so-called Queen’s Unguent had similar properties. Either that, or the effect of the poison had been exacerbated by Xipil’s hunger.

[coronatiger]

We were about to get up and go when Hylda’s penetrating voice announced the imminent return of our friends. Sure enough, the orc, the troll and the giant walked inside soon after. Since Yana seemed to be on good terms with the kitchen staff, I sent her to get more food.

Hylda urged Wolfram to tell us about the deal he had just made, so he regaled us with the story about their encounter with a dwarven master smith. Wolfram had entered the smithy seeking to buy an even bigger helmet than the one he already had, and obviously without the gaping hole at the top which adorned the helmet he had worn to battle the sickness demon. The smith had demanded an exorbitant price for the new helmet, which Wolfram had been disinclined to pay. He had managed to get the smith to lower the price slightly, but nowhere near what Wolfram was comfortable (or able) to pay. It wasn’t until he brought out the bottle of dwarven liquor that Miramara had gifted us that he secured a deal. Wolfram didn’t say it right out, but I read between the lines that when the smith got his hands on the bottle, he was so excited that Wolfram worried he had forgotten about the payment for the helmet, and when Wolfram asked about the payment, the smith gave him thirty gold pieces and promised to have the helmet ready in a day or two. I guess it was lucky that there was grass where I tossed the bottle, for I certainly considered it worthless.

Talking about money reminded me that I still owed Grogg a decent sum, if not nearly as much as the amount Wolfram didn’t have to pay for the helmet. I counted it out from my pouch and discreetly handed it over. The few drunkards that remained in the room appeared to be asleep still, but the glint of gold might attract unwanted attention.

Wolfram asked if anyone had heard from Keri or Pak. Everyone shook their head or said no, so I offered to go to the Cup and the Chest to find out if they had arrived in Anabel yet. I had originally intended to go yesterday, but things happened that I felt were more important. When we first went to the Cup and the Chest, I got a strong sensation that we were the first northerners to arrive in quite a while, so I didn’t think it likely that Keri and Pak had arrived yet, but I didn’t think checking would take more than half an hour, so we’d still have plenty of time to plan and execute the raid on the Soft Pillow today.

I looked around to ascertain that nobody was watching us, and then I let Hope bite my hand. Hylda flinched when my appearance began to change, and Grogg, Wolfram and Xipil watched intently. Yana had seen it several times before, and she gave no outward signs of discomfort with my writhing skin, but I was glad for my lingering weakness, that I couldn’t smell her emotions.

Ten seconds later, I had taken on an appearance similar to the shopgirl at the Soft Pillow. In a city Anabel’s size, I didn’t expect to encounter anyone who knew the woman, and certainly not the shopgirl herself, but since I wasn’t intending to impersonate her, I felt it wisest to alter a few things, just in case.

Shortly after, my friends headed for the Nightflower, but I went in the opposite direction. There were four people in the common room when I entered the door. In the corner, a customer was eating by himself. Two men leaned over another table, half asleep. I went to the bar, where the bartender distractedly rubbed a cloth over a mug. His smile, when he took in my appearance, wasn’t very welcoming.

Nevertheless, I launched into a spiel about expecting an acquaintance to arrive from the north, and that he had said I might find him at the Cup and the Chest. The bartender wasn’t partial to local people, especially not when they came asking questions. He still listened to my description of Keri, but he told me to go look elsewhere. I didn’t get the impression that he recognized Keri from the physical description I had given, but I couldn’t wait for the full moon to end so I could have Your gifts back.

As I was finishing my description, the man from the corner came over to the bar. I politely told him to go ahead with his business as he shouldn’t have to wait for me to finish my discussion with the bartender. The man ordered a cup of tea and a glass of wine, and he sat down a few seats away along the bar. If he was interested in what I was saying, he was clearly within hearing distance now.

The bartender asked me to describe my dwarf acquaintance again, which I found a little strange. Had some unseen signal passed between him and the man sitting nearby? The man pretended not to pay much attention to us, but he sipped his drinks quietly, and something told me his mish-mash of northern and local clothes was a disguise.

He didn’t say it straight out, but I could read on the bartender after I repeated Keri’s description that he probably knew him. If that was right, the bartender had to know that Keri wouldn’t know someone looking like me, even though I said that my acquaintance had been to Anabel before.

Since I didn’t think Keri had arrived yet, at least not to the bartender’s knowledge, the disguised customer was more intriguing. I ordered a cup of tea and asked the disguised man if the seat next to him was available. He muttered something sounding like “Dena,” which was not a word I knew in Arani. I sat down anyway.

I tried to make small-talk, to find out more about this man. Even under the full moon, I felt confident I should spot most lies, and I might glean the truth from them. The man, however, started questioning me. It begun innocently enough, with him asking what I knew about Arland. I said I’d never been there myself, but I obliged him with a few anecdotes, some true and some not. All the claims I made were something a woman from Anabel might believe about that far-away land.

The man said I reminded him of someone, a girl his friend had been seeing, and he asked if I had a sister. I confirmed that I did, but when the man grew insistent on me telling him my sister’s name and my coquettish reply that I hadn’t come to the Cup and the Chest to discuss my sister’s love life didn’t avail me, I eventually reneged on my claim and denied I ever said I had a sister. This man clearly knew the shopgirl at the Soft Pillow, and perhaps he had thought I was her in disguise in the beginning. Maybe her name was Dena.

The man seemingly bought my denial, but he quickly turned hostile. He pushed a gold coin towards the bartender and tapped his hand when he picked it up, which clearly was a signal. He ordered more fruit and tea, but it wasn’t long before he had the bartender lock the door, and he placed a dagger on the bar. I recognized it as one capable of holding poison in its elaborate carvings, but it was clean now. He said I wasn’t leaving until I had answered what my sister’s name was.

The two other customers woke up and sensed the tension, and they retreated quickly to their room. I made a show of scrutinizing the dagger, but I cast enough glances at the disguised man to identify that he might be wearing a concealed cloth or leather armor, and possibly more weapons, but probably not larger than the dagger. His throat was bare, though, and I considered briefly if I should show him what a real knife looked like and what it could do. My knives didn’t have the same carvings as his dagger, for I could get in trouble during my travels if I was found to have an assassin’s weapons. Unlike his dagger, though, my knives were coated with venom, or at least my melee blades were.

Just in case I was about to make a grievous mistake, I made one last attempt to say I had no sister, and I brought my hands into the gesture. The man scrutinized my movement, but he clearly didn’t recognize Your sign, which made me relax. I wasn’t about to kill one of my brothers.

The man was also very interested in the identity of my dwarf acquaintance, and he pestered me until I made up a name for my alleged sister and said the dwarf was named Krupik, which was the name of Grogg’s and Xipil’s former traveling companion.

I eventually convinced the man that I was innocent of whatever he suspected. During our conversation, he had let slip that his family was in trouble, so I asked if there was anything I could do to help. The fact that I had displayed curiosity rather than fear when he commandeered the room and drew a weapon to intimidate me should indicate some capability on my part. He asked if I knew who Miramara was, and I said I knew the name. The man wanted me to go to her land to find out something for him, presumably related to the threat to his family, but he would give no details, saying only that I would learn on the way. He said it like there was no possibility of learning before I was gone from Anabel. He said he would pay twice what the dwarf had offered me, and I told him I would think about it. I promised to come back tomorrow to let him know, and he informed me he’d be present from sunrise to sunset.

[coronatiger]

Back out on the marketplace, I quickly procured a new dress and slipped it over the old one behind a curtain after telling Hope to bite me again so I could change my face. Then I kept the Cup and the Chest under surveillance, waiting for the disguised man to leave so I could follow to see where he went.

I had stayed the inn far longer than I had intended, and I expected someone to come from the Nightflower to look for me, so I kept an eye out for any of my friends. It took several hours before they showed up, but when they did, they came ready. Yana was there, obviously, worried and in love. Xipil had come, for if anyone could track me down, it would be him. And then we had Grogg and Wolfram, to get me out of whatever trouble I was in.

None of my friends recognized me, of course, not in my new disguise, but Wolfram caught me observing the Cup and the Chest, which he found doubly troubling when I suddenly marched straight for them. I held my hand over my breast and displayed the secret sign for “love,” and Yana noticed it when I’d halved the distance. She met my eyes and signed “follow” and quickly pulled our friends away.

They waited around a corner, out of sight of the Cup and the Chest. I stopped where I could still keep an eye on the door while talking to them. I explained about the mysterious man. He had to be acquainted with the Moon Shadows, most likely an unwilling ally from the story he had presented to me, and so I was loath to let him slip away. Wolfram in particular was annoyed that I had failed to return from my foray to look for Keri and Pak, but everyone agreed that we needed to follow up this lead.

My first suggestion was to return to the Cup and the Chest and force the truth out of the disguised man. This prompted Yana to declare that she was going back to Hylda at the Nightflower, where they would lock the door. I agreed that might be wise and gave her a hug. Before she left, she urged me to show restraint. Using sign language, I promised to think before I acted.

Watching her retreating backside, I told my friends maybe I could go inside and take the man up on his offer. I would tell him I needed more information before I could commit to anything, though. We decided not to go with this option either.

Instead, we sent Xipil back to the Nightflower, where he would prepare daylight stones. It wasn’t long until sunset, and since the man hadn’t left yet, it was likely he would go around that time, based on when he said he’d be there tomorrow. When he left, I would follow him, and Grogg and Wolfram would follow me, hopefully far enough back that the man wouldn’t spot them. If he was associated with the Moon Shadows, he might go to the Soft Pillow, and we could have our raid.

Xipil’s magical mishap had scared Yana out of her mind, so I instructed him to warn her what he was about to do. I didn’t think it likely to happen again so soon, but if he messed up again and frightened Yana, she should seek refuge in the chapel, and I would find her there.

Two men entered the Cup and the Chest just before sunset, one dressed like a local and one like an Arlander. They could be taking over the mysterious man’s watch, or they could have nothing to do with him at all. I got a growing suspicion that the Moon Shadows were looking for us.

When the disguised man failed to appear on the market, Grogg, Wolfram and I considered the possibility that he had slipped out the back, like Yana and me a couple of days ago. The windows were too high up on the wall for me to easily see through, so I sent Wolfram to peek inside. He came back saying that there was only one person inside, but he completely failed to give even the faintest description of whoever it was. I had to go myself.

The door was locked, so I had to stoop to jumping up to get a look in the windows. I drew on all my acting skills to make my movements seem inconspicuous. I spotted the bartender and one of the new arrivals only, but when I got back to Grogg and Wolfram, the door opened and the disguised man came out, turning south.

I reminded Grogg and Wolfram to keep their distance, and then the chase was on. My quarry clearly took precautions against being followed, but I didn’t rouse his suspicions. Xipil is obviously the best of us at following someone unseen, but it wasn’t as if I was new to this. As a bounty hunter, I had honed my skills so I could follow my target to a suitable location to strike.

A few times, Grogg and Wolfram lost track of me, and I had to wait for the disguised man to round a corner so I could jump up and wave at my friends. Eventually, we neared the vast palace gardens in the center of town. The streets before hadn’t been so crowded Wolfram couldn’t find a safe path, but the throng of people just now finishing the religious processions at the gardens would make a barrier he couldn’t pass. I turned and waved for them to go around, hoping we might bump into each other on the south side, but Wolfram signaled that they were going back to the Nightflower. I nodded and hurried into the throng before I lost track of my prey.

The man seemed to go with the flow, or at least one of them, and we ended up at the Azura temple, where the ceremony was about to begin. The temple was packed, but we found spaces near a corner. We might not see much from there, but I felt no loss at that. I cared nothing for Azura or her teachings.

Towards the end of the ceremony, the congregation began to move in some intricate pattern, and my prey took the opportunity to slip outside. I followed, only to find that he was just outside, watching the door. Thinking quickly, I gave a small nod, vaguely in his direction, and passed without giving away that I had any interest in him. As soon as I was out of sight, I hid in the shadows. I spotted the man again, leaving with a group of other congregants.

The group split up as I followed it out of the palace gardens, and my quarry continued south-east, towards the Market of Beds. An hour past sunset, the marketplace was nearly empty, so I changed directions. While the disguised man went straight for the Soft Pillow, I continued along the northern edge of the marketplace. When he went inside, I found a place to hide and watch.

The man might just be making a stop at the Soft Pillow, so I told myself I would wait an hour to see if he reappeared. After half an hour, I changed my mind. If Grogg and Wolfram had returned to the Nightflower only to fetch Xipil, they would have been at the Market of Beds by now, so they might be waiting for me to come back with information. When they had left me, it was far from certain that I’d end up where I was.

I brought Hope out of her pouch and instructed her to keep an eye on the Soft Pillow. She had never seen the disguised man, but I told her to count the people coming or going through that door. Also, if Xipil and the others appeared before I returned, she should show herself to the lizard man. I had to promise to come back as quickly as I could, for Hope wasn’t entirely comfortable to be left alone in an unfamiliar environment. I joked that I should find a glass of water for her to wait in, but she didn’t understand my humor and said that a glass would be too small for comfort. I gave her a pat on the head and hurried off.

Once I turned a corner and was out of sight from the Soft Pillow, I ran the rest of the way. As I slowed down to approach the door, Xipil opened for me. When the door was closed again, he pulled out a daylight stone and gave it to me. I wrapped it up and put it in my pouch.

“Did Grogg and Wolfram make it back, earlier?” I asked. “Yes, they’re sleeping,” Xipil said. “They didn’t know how long you’d be out.” “And you didn’t frighten away Yana with your magic?” “No, she’s here too, presumably also asleep. She wanted you to wake her when you returned. She worried about you.” Xipil’s body language revealed that he didn’t completely understand Yana’s worry.

Just as Wolfram and Grogg had gone to bed, two men had appeared at the door, Xipil reported. Wolfram had initially wanted to stay quiet until they went away, but when they kept hammering on the door and Hylda yelled about it, the gig was up, and Wolfram went to see what the men wanted.

Wolfram thought at first the men were Moon Shadows, but it turned out they lived next door and had heard that someone had taken up residence here. Already inebriated, they wanted to party with us. Wolfram said it wasn’t a good time right now, and told them they could come back in two nights.

Since the Nightflower rented rooms by the hour, it was clear to me what kind of party these two had in mind, even though this clearly had gone straight over everyone else’s heads. Since Moon Shadows had been mentioned before the door was opened, Yana wouldn’t have come out of our room voluntarily. She certainly could have put the puzzle pieces together if Wolfram had bothered to ask, as should Hylda, a former professional of that business. I wasn’t inclined to indulge our neighbors in their offensive request, but it could be interesting to have a chat with them.

For now, we had other business to see to. I asked Xipil to wake Grogg and Wolfram. I needed to talk to Yana before we left again. She would be proud that my knives had stayed in their sheaths the entire day, but I knew she would need a hug before I would be allowed out again. Earlier, there had been a chance that I could resort to violence, but now, it was a certainty.

[coronatiger]

1st of Mitra’s First Month, year 413 (continued)

“Can you occupy Wolfram for at least ten minutes and keep him from bursting through my door?” I asked Xipil as we ascended the stairs. Lately, Wolfram had been more impatient than usual. He must feel it was urgent to deal with the Moon Shadows, and I was surprised he could sleep. More likely, he was pacing his room, waiting for my return so we could go on our raid.

Entering the room where Yana slept, I immediately regretted closing the door behind me. In the dark, I kicked the bed, and I hopped around on one foot, clutching the toes of the other. Yana woke and sat up, and she couldn’t entirely conceal the disappointment in her voice that I wasn’t wearing my own face. I explained that I had left Hope watching the Soft Pillow, so I couldn’t currently change my appearance. Yana offered to fetch my medicine kit, but I told her I hadn’t hurt myself so badly I wouldn’t feel just fine again in a few minutes.

Yana had me sit down on the side of the bed, and I heard the rustle of bedding as she moved to sit next to me. She took my hand and placed it against her chest with instructions to distract myself from the pain in my foot. With my eyes only now beginning to adjust to the darkness, Yana was a vague blur, a dark shape against the black of the room. I longed to see her, but I found it strangely titillating that I could only use my other senses to perceive her. When I expressed that thought, Yana laughed that she could blindfold me when we made love.

Satisfied that my hand was doing what she wanted it to, Yana put an arm around my waist and rested her head on my shoulder. “You still smell like yourself, even though you don’t look it,” she murmured, surprise tingeing her voice. “I never noticed that before.”

We sat in silence for a while before I asked why she had told Xipil I should wake her. “It’s fine – more than fine, actually – to just sit here like this, but I think the others are waiting for me to come with them to the Soft Pillow.” My words made Yana tighten her grip. “I’m so worried about you,” she whispered, her voice failing. “The Moon Shadows are dangerous. Please be careful! The thought of you not returning fills me with more terror than Xipil’s illusions.”

I moved my hand so I could stroke Yana’s hair. “Can you hold on for a little while longer? After tonight, there won’t be any Moon Shadows in Anabel to worry about. Ashtar has given me permission to send them all to her, so long as they attack us first, and believe me: When they see Grogg burst through their door, they will go for their weapons.” For some reason, my reassuring statement only made Yana clutch me harder. I hoped I could keep my promise this time, that none of the Moon Shadows escaped us.

Although it pained me, I had to extract myself from Yana’s embrace. “A kiss before I go?” I asked once I had taken her hands in mine. Yana hesitated. “Not before you put on your own face again,” she decided. “And remember, you can’t die. You promised me a dance.” Her statement made me smile, and I imagined that she was smiling back. I nodded.

“I want the Moon Shadows to know who’s killing them, so I’m going to change my face when I return to Hope. Can you help me into one of the Arland dresses, perhaps the white one with blue embroidery?” Yana was more than happy to help. “I’ll find the dress if you strip for me,” she teased. I obliged her, slipping out of the Anabel dress while she rummaged in my backpack. “Since you can’t currently see my expression or sense my emotions,” Yana said disappointedly, “I’ll let you know that I don’t find you very alluring right now.” “Is it the face, the cloth armor, or the knives?” I asked. “Yes,” Yana replied. “Now put your hands up so I can conceal most of that.” She slid the dress over my raised arms and pulled it down, taking her time to adjust it over my hips. “I see there’s still something about me that you find attractive,” I jested, earning a sharp pinch on the buttocks as I turned to leave.

Grogg, Wolfram and Xipil were in the lounge when I came downstairs. Grogg was staring at nothing while Wolfram and Xipil discussed the possibility of learning something about Queen Makeda from the Moon Shadows. I let them talk and applied venom to my throwing knives while I waited. Even if a Moon Shadow surrendered peacefully, I didn’t think it likely that they’d know much we could use. Xipil and Wolfram seemed to believe that the disguised man I had followed to the Soft Pillow had wanted to recruit me to go to Miramara because of the queen, so I informed them that my impression was that someone in his family was staying with Miramara and wouldn’t come home. More likely, however, was the possibility that he just wanted me out of the way.

For someone impatient to eliminate the Moon Shadow threat, Wolfram was surprisingly eager to talk about unimportant issues. The next topic he and Xipil discussed was the Moon Shadow’s horses. Among the fastest in the world, Moon Shadow horses were intelligent and magically linked with their owners. They could be a threat during the raid.

Yana popped up at the top of the stairs and said those horses had an aversion against built-up areas and were most likely stabled outside the city somewhere. Looking up at her, I tilted my head and signed that I thought she went to bed. “I just wanted to hear your voice,” she signed back. I usually alter my voice when I’m disguised, but I believed at least Grogg and Wolfram were more comfortable around me if they recognized my voice, and it cost me nothing to let them, at least when we were in private.

I hadn’t thought to say much before we were on our way, but since Yana insisted, I spoke up. “There is some kind of alarm on the door at the Soft Pillow, a clay bird that alerts the staff that a customer has arrived,” I said. “I think it winds up when someone opens the door, and when the door closes again, air is released so the bird makes a hooting noise, like an owl. We must remember not to let the door close before we’ve disabled the alarm.” We agreed that Wolfram or Grogg should lift up Xipil or me so we could study the bird and stop it from making noise.

I also mentioned that there were likely some people on the Market of Beds still at this time of night. When I was there earlier tonight, I saw a hawker claiming always to be there, ready to trade at any time, and I saw a guard patrol, four men with big lanterns. There had also been a few other people going about their business, but the hawker and the guards I was pretty sure would be there all through the night. I could make a distraction, if necessary, to draw their attention away from the Soft Pillow.

I waved goodbye to Yana with a smile, but turned serious when I signed for her to lock the door behind us. Grogg, Wolfram, Xipil and I walked through Anabel, and I led the way along the fastest route towards the Soft Pillow. I noticed that most residences we passed had incense burning outside. On my run home not an hour ago, I had failed to register that. I couldn’t wait for the full moon to pass. The significance of the incense was unknown to me, a missing part of my education. It had to be some local tradition, perhaps to mark the beginning of a new year.

The streets were quiet for the most part, with only a few people still out and about, or enjoying a midnight snack or perhaps a mug of ale or wine. Not enough to hinder Wolfram. Light and noise came from the palace garden, so even though it looked clear, I took the safe route around; we didn’t lose much time on that.

Arriving at the Market of Beds, I found Hope where I left her. I scooped her up and kissed the top of her head. “Are you all right?” I hissed. Even without my gifts, I sensed agitation in her, but it turned out she was just happy to see me. Three humans had crossed her line of sight, but none had gone near the door I told her to watch, Hope reported. I gave her another kiss and had her bite my hand before I settled her in her nest in my pouch. My skin crawled for a few seconds until I had my own appearance back, but that was a small price to pay for the confidence boost I got from feeling like myself again. Now, if only the full moon could pass…

The guard patrol was all the way over on the other side of the market and nobody else was very close either, so there was no need for a distraction. We hid in the darkness between closed-up stalls for a last talk before we approached the Soft Pillow. Xipil had planned to make an illusionary decoy to send first through doors, to soak up the first blows if the Moon Shadows waited in ambush, and he asked if he should make the illusion now, or if he should wait and do it later. I asked if it was taxing to maintain the spell, but he said it wasn’t at all, so I told him to go ahead and make the illusion. We could easily hide it where we were, and if something unexpected happened when we went inside the Soft Pillow, he might not be able to take the time to cast his spell. Xipil wove his hands in the air, again reminding me of knot tying, and the illusion appeared. Xipil made it look like me, but with wild eyes and blood spatter all over.

When he was satisfied with his illusion, Xipil skulked over to the shop’s entrance to pick the lock. He returned immediately to inform us the lock was already open, but something was barring the door from being opened. He cast a spell to gain night vision so he could look through the key hole and hopefully ascertain how to get in.

[coronatiger]

Xipil returned again after only a few seconds at the door, and he said he couldn’t get us in that way. I suggested we cut our way in through a window, although I wasn’t sure how to accomplish that, or through the door. Grogg and Wolfram were strong enough to quickly carve a small hole in the door so Xipil could put his hand inside and remove the bar.

Wolfram, practiced at wood carving, stepped up to get us through the door, but he was concerned he might be spotted. At twice Xipil’s size and without camouflage skin to conceal him, he sent Xipil and me to keep watch so we could alert him if anyone came close.

Wolfram spent five minutes making a hole in the doorframe, and he discovered metal bars inside the door. He could only get to one of the bars through his hole, and he began carving another hole further down.

Xipil climbed up on the roof and discovered that a myriad of magical clay birds stood up there. He came back and informed us of this and then he went to assist Wolfram in opening the door. They maneuvered string through Wolfram’s holes and looped them around the bars. The first bar came out easily, but the second slipped and clanged to the ground inside the door. The sound wasn’t nearly loud enough to alert the guards, but anyone inside must have noticed.

Door open, Xipil slipped inside. “Come on, Grogg,” I urged, and dashed after Xipil. There was nobody in the shop, so I leaped the counter and stood ready near the left curtain. I had seen that both curtains led to short corridors with a number of doors, but we had no idea what lay behind those doors, or indeed whether anyone waited for us in the corridors.

The alarm bird at the door had already hooted, so Wolfram didn’t think it necessary for Xipil to study it, even though the lizard man was begging for a boost. Wolfram just crushed the bird in his hand. Xipil alerted us that it had been magical, but the magic seemed to vanish when Wolfram destroyed the bird.

Xipil claimed to sense other living beings nearby, so I asked him to decide where to go. He darted back and forth between the two curtains before picking the rightmost one. With the door closed, and with heavy curtains covering the windows, I couldn’t see anything anymore. I put my daylight stone inside my mouth. Even with my mouth closed, Xipil’s spell lit up the room enough for everyone to see again. If we needed more light, I could open my mouth, or someone else could reveal their own daylight stones.

We searched the first floor methodically. Xipil picked locks where necessary, and he sent the illusion first whenever we entered a new area. On the right side of the building, there was a barred door without a lock which we decided to leave for a while. We could hear someone sleeping on the other side of the door. This concerned me, but not for our raid’s sake. Whoever slept there feared something, but that something was not us. I found it extremely unlikely anyone would wake by our noise breaking into the shop, bar their bedroom door and return to sleep. I suspected it was the shopgirl, and that she had reason to bar her door from the Moon Shadows.

Directly behind the shop, and with doors leading to both corridors, was a workshop. There was a large table in the middle of the room and several workbenches and shelves along the walls. On one bench, several pillows were cut open to reveal the stuffing, which made me think the Moon Shadows used pillows to pass secret messages around. I felt around inside the pillows but found nothing.

There was a small storage room next to the barred door. It didn’t appear to contain anything of interest, so we didn’t linger there. There was also a small living room off the left corridor, which we also skipped after ascertaining that nobody was there.

More interesting was the office. Located in the left rear corner of the building, it held a huge desk and what initially looked like a bench, but when I entered the room and looked around, I saw that the bench actually was a low, wide cabinet with multiple doors and drawers.

Examining the bench, I emptied it quickly and spotted that there was room for hidden compartments in both ends. I didn’t see immediately how to access them, so I asked Xipil for help, but he was busy picking the locks on the desk drawers. He uncovered several documents and two money pouches. Wolfram stuffed it all into an empty pillowcase.

In the first hidden compartment in the bench there was another pouch and a leather roll. I didn’t even have to open it to guess it held vials of poison. I put my findings into Wolfram’s pillowcase. Xipil discovered a rope ladder and a hatch under the bench on the other side. I studied the bench and found it plausible that someone had gone down and closed the hatch after them, if they knew some trick to make the bench slip into place as they closed the hatch. There was no apparent way to open the hatch, so I fetched a large pair of scissors from the workshop and pried it open.

We all climbed down to the room below. It wasn’t very large, so it felt a little cramped. There was a door without any obvious ways of opening it, but a small closet on the wall revealed two ropes going up and down into the wall. There was also a second hatch above us, presumably leading to the living room. Xipil and Wolfram experimented with the ropes, but while we could hear scratching behind the door, it didn’t open. Someone heard footsteps behind the door, and we considered bursting through, but we decided we’d check out the last door upstairs, first.

Passing through the workshop, Xipil and I both thought we should take a closer look at the big table. Wolfram decided he wanted to bar the front door again, perhaps to prevent the guard patrol from coming inside if they heard noises.

Grogg waited outside the last door while Xipil and I checked out the table. We quickly spotted another hatch under the table, as well as some lifting mechanism hanging under the table, just above the hatch. Opening the hatch, we saw a wooden floor, higher up than the basement floor we’d stood on not long ago. There might be two levels under us. If so, we’d already visited the lower. The shaft here was smaller, so Grogg and Wolfram might not find it easy to get down. I went to retrieve the rope ladder, for the lifting mechanism was clearly meant for goods, and not people.

When I got back, I could see through to the corridor where Grogg was leaning on the barred door. He gave it an extra nudge, and it opened relatively quietly. The creak and crack of the snapping wooden bar didn’t even wake the person sleeping inside.

We all entered what was confirmed to be the shopgirl’s bedroom. There was a small kitchenette on the other side of the room, and I could smell food. I guess the smell was why Grogg couldn’t wait to get in.

Xipil gestured towards the shopgirl. I could tell she was about to wake up. Even while wearing the soft shoes Miramara had given them, Grogg and Wolfram weren’t completely quiet. I surged forward, or at least I meant to, but Wolfram grabbed my shoulder and held me back. I gave him a glare and gestured “what do you think you’re doing?” He didn’t understand, but Grogg whispered to ask why I was annoyed. Was it because Wolfram had stopped me from killing the woman or was there another reason? I hissed angrily that it was because they were making incorrect assumptions about me.

Wolfram let go, so I hurried stealthily towards the bed. I put one hand over the woman’s mouth and held the sharp point of the scissors against her throat. I also maneuvered so she couldn’t see my face when she opened her eyes. At first, she was quite calm, but then the gravity of the situation dawned on her and she began to panic. I whispered that if she closed her eyes and didn’t make a fuss, she wouldn’t come to harm. On my instructions, Wolfram and Xipil blindfolded and gagged her and tied her up so tight she couldn’t move.

[coronatiger]

1st of Mitra’s First Month, year 413 (continued)

Xipil stoppered our captive’s ears with pillow stuffing so she couldn’t overhear. Something told me she didn’t understand Common, but this was a wise precaution.

I lit up the small stove in the kitchenette. We had considered burning down the building, and even the threat of doing so might smoke out the Moon Shadows from their refuge in the cellar. Xipil suggested we tried to get the Moon Shadows to surrender. I said we could put a burning log outside the cellar door and blow smoke inside to make them think we had set the building on fire. Hopefully, they’d emerge to save valuable papers from the office, and we could ambush them.

The proximity of a Kabal garden indicated to me that the Moon Shadows might be employing spirits, and if they were watching us at this very moment, it was crucial that we learned about it before setting any further plans into action. Since the full moon was blocking my spirit sight, I asked Wolfram if he could check for spirits. He thought the bedroom was a little cramped and went to the hallway outside to transform. Xipil went to follow him around on his search, and I asked the lizard man to get Wolfram to peek outside as well.

I stayed in the bedroom, keeping an eye on the tied-up woman. She struggled to find a comfortable position, and at one point she made sounds that made me think she wanted to speak to me. Before I could do anything about it, a loud crash shook the rear of the building. I rushed out to find my friends. Were the Moon Shadows breaking out to escape?

It would take minutes to get to the rear of the building if we went out the front door and ran around the block. We had to follow through the cellar. Xipil suggested that the Moon Shadows had let loose a golem from the Kabal Garden. Another crash resounded through the building, yet my companions debated what to do. Wolfram wisely transformed back into a human, but I felt it was more so he could join in the argument. When the third crash came, I wouldn’t wait any longer. “Follow me,” I commanded, and we hurried to the office and down the hatch to the cellar.

Xipil began to fumble with the ropes in the small closet on the wall, but they clearly weren’t meant for opening the door, so I asked Grogg and Wolfram to smash us through. Grogg dealt with it. Once there was a hole, Xipil sent the illusion through.

It suddenly went completely dark, so I opened my mouth to let the daylight stone combat the magical darkness. Even that didn’t feel like it was enough, not to fight anyway, and Xipil hurled another stone past Grogg and peeked through the opening.

Wolfram also tossed a daylight stone into what was a corridor leading to the left. I heard the sound of a crossbow firing, and a strange scream emanated from Xipil’s illusion when the bolt passed through it. Another crossbow shot pierced the illusion and struck the wall at the end of the corridor, just outside the door Grogg had finished demolishing. I was so close, I smelled poison on the two bolts. It was the same nerve agent the Moon Shadows had employed before.

Grogg charged towards the shooters, and he threw himself down to the floor to avoid two more bolts. Wolfram ran after him, and I followed, but I stopped to pick up Xipil’s stone. Three more shots came, this time aiming for Wolfram’s unarmored feet, but he stepped quickly and avoided the poisoned bolts. Xipil’s illusion staggered forward, seemingly injured by the two first shots.

Wolfram leaped over Grogg and into the room ahead of us, trying to body slam one of the Moon Shadows there. I threw the stone in my hand into the room to give him light, but his slam missed the agile target. I followed as far as the door, ready to dodge any attacks coming my way, but the three Moon Shadows in the room were all focused on Wolfram. One tried to shoot him in the back, but Wolfram somehow sidestepped the crossbow bolt. The other two thought the giant human was a little too close for comfort and tried to get through the nearest door.

The door was closed and the two Moon Shadows seemingly got in each other’s way, allowing Wolfram to land a powerful blow with his sword on one of them. In the wild attack, Wolfram ignored his defenses so he could overwhelm his opponents. The wounded one collected himself, but the other sliced Wolfram across the foot. I couldn’t let the third attack Wolfram in the back, so I planted my two throwing knives in his throat. The venom brought him to the ground, but he wasn’t completely out.

I thought I had smelled lamp oil, coming through the corridor, and now flames began to burst out of the southern wall. Grogg and Xipil got clear of the flames, and Grogg closed the door while Xipil began to cast a spell.

Wolfram stepped into the corner so the Moon Shadows couldn’t flank him, and he slashed one of them across the chest with his large knife, spattering the wall with blood. I drew my other knives and stepped into the illusion, hoping it would disguise my attack on the second foe. The Moon Shadow saw through my ruse and parried both attacks. His counterattack came so fast I didn’t have time to step aside, and one of his knives cut through my dress, my cloth armor, and my skin, and it sliced across my ribs. I flinched a little from the pain, but more from the thought of having to explain to Yana that I was injured. Fortunately, the poison on his knife was rendered impotent by Your holy gifts.

[coronatiger]

The two Moon Shadows Wolfram had wounded tried to escape through an open door on the right side of the room. Grogg barreled after them, but not before Xipil released his spell, making a bright flash in the doorway which partially blinded me, and probably Grogg and Wolfram as well. Wolfram’s unsteady gait informed me there had been poison on the knives that struck him.

The third Moon Shadow slipped into unconsciousness, and I squatted down beside him, dropping my melee blades and taking hold of the throwing knives in his throat. I twisted the knives and ripped them out, speaking a soft prayer around the daylight stone between my teeth as I sent the Moon Shadow to You. “O Ashtar, open Death’s Door and welcome this soul!”

Wolfram swiped his sword along the floor and struck one of the daylight stones, sending it after Grogg. From the troll’s direction came the sounds of fighting, so Wolfram hurried after him, calling for more light. Xipil summoned a starlight bolt.

I could feel the heat coming through the door from the first corridor, and I didn’t want to leave any of my knives behind, so I returned my throwing knives to their sheaths, which was a little awkward, squatting as I was.

A man spoke in Arani to Grogg and Wolfram, saying that we needed him to get out alive. Xipil shouted that he was surrendering, and Grogg and Wolfram ceased their attack. I called to the man that if he wanted to live, he should end the darkness spell. Light immediately returned to my room, but not to the corridor where Grogg, Wolfram and the last Moon Shadow were. I guess someone else had made darkness there and that the effect would end shortly, with every other enemy unconscious or dead and unable to maintain the spell.

From the other direction came a gruff “Help me!” in Common. Heat radiated from that door too. I ignored the plea and picked up the last daylight stone from the floor, moving towards my friends. Wolfram came running for the last door, but Xipil dashed for the door with the presumably burning man behind.

Grogg’s maul hit the wall, so I picked up the pace. He might have just threatened the surviving Moon Shadow, but if he had tried to attack him, I needed to intervene. I had questions for the Moon Shadow which he couldn’t answer dead. There were two fallen Moon Shadows lying along the corridor, but I didn’t take the time to ascertain whether they were dead or just knocked out.

Just as I reached Grogg, the darkness evaporated, and I saw the Moon Shadow trying to sneak off through a nearby door. Before I could stop him, Grogg swung his maul again and knocked the Moon Shadow off his feet. I ran past Grogg and jumped on the Moon Shadow, straddling his back and telling him not to be stupid; he might still survive this night.

Grogg came past us and regarded the room, a simple bedchamber with no other apparent exits than the one we had come in. I passed my extra daylight stone to Grogg by dropping it into his shoe, just in time before he ran off to answer Xipil’s summons. Xipil needed both Grogg and Wolfram for something urgent, so I figured I had some time to question the Moon Shadow.

I put one of my knives into its sheath while asking what the Moon Shadow had meant by us needing him to escape alive. He was stunned by Grogg’s blow, and he was in poor shape. He might need medical attention if I wanted to keep him from You for a while longer. I realized I hadn’t seen him attack anyone, so I wanted to ask my friends if he had attacked them, but from the rapid flurry of crossbow bolts flying towards us initially, I was pretty sure this man was also part of the ambush.

I took the knife the Moon Shadow had dropped and tossed it further away, and I did the same with the knife in his belt. Then I started searching him for hidden weapons. The search was a little rushed, but I found two more knives that I threw away.

The Moon Shadow roused enough to answer after only a few seconds. He said we had to get up “the shaft,” just as Wolfram shouted that he had found one. I asked who would try to kill us. “The statues,” the Moon Shadow coughed, spraying droplets of blood on the floor.

Switching to Common, I asked if he spoke the language. Even Grogg would have heard the disdain on the man’s voice as he answered, even though he wouldn’t understand the racist reply in Arani. “Do you consider me as one such ‘pale pig?’” I retorted, voice dripping with honey and sarcasm. The Moon Shadow shuffled around to his back so he could look at me, which I could easily have prevented, but I felt I had the upper hand, should he try something. His skin was darker than mine, but not by much, and he surprisingly switched to Common. “What are you doing here? Who are you people?” From the distance came Wolfram’s bellow: “Nuur-Karif! What’s keeping you?” There was no sign of recognition in the Moon Shadow’s face, at all.