Chapter Two: The Hippocampus on the Cracked Lintel

As far as Mordred knows, the Badgerways wouldn't get Zora anywhere past Hazard, but it would make sense as a way to get close to Hazard and avoid detection in the suburbs around the city and the checkpoints around the Milvil Bridge.

Get better, szemely!

Rolley gathers his things, puts on a warm red tunic and black coat, and promises his mother one more time that he'll be back. The party returns to the inn to gather the rest of their companions. Rolley seems a bit surprised to find that three more people will be joining them -- especially the rather intimidating pairing of Zangua and Shamush -- but takes it in stride.

He leads the party out of Grine's Knot, to a house near the riverbank, and wakes up the Sabans, who seem rather nonplussed with his explanations of why he needs to borrow their boat, but agree to it anyway. It's a small rowboat, and getting seven people inside it is a tight fit, but it can be done, and with strong rowers the boat quickly crosses the Ophid.

So you're skipping Beth Rut and proceeding on foot to King's Cradle, correct?

Yes, I think so. The horses aren't going to save us much time, so not worth the expense and additional breadcrumbs for Adan or others to follow.

Agreed. On to King's Cradle!

As you begin to thank Rolley for his help and say your farewells, he takes a deep breath and says: "Let me go with you. Please? I can help! I'm good with a quarterstaff, and I know where Five Stones is." He looks at each of you in turn, expectantly. "Dad won't be happy about it. But that doesn't matter. I'm a grown man! I can do this. Let me help you find the girl."

Rolley wilts at Vad's gentle rejection, but looks appealingly to the other party members.

Dejected, Rolley rows the boat back to the other side of the Ophid. It seems tonight was not the night to begin a life of adventure for him.

The party begins walking southwest. The ground is uneven here, covered in brown grass still soggy from the rains. A few oak trees reach up with their bare, clawlike branches here and there, but there is little cover to be found.

With little to see on this dark and arduous trek, the party's thoughts turn toward their quest and the mysteries underlying it.

Everybody: make one skill check of your choice to try and remember or puzzle out information on any of the matters at hand. The political structure of Hazard, possible symbolic relevance of the hippocampus tile, rumors about the Badgerways, stuff Zora said as a kid back in Greenbower, whatever.

Mordred thinks back. She found you at a guild safehouse, which must have taken some doing, since you'd only just dropped in for a bite and to fence some cheap jewelry. She said she had to make a long trip down south, and asked if she could stay in the safehouse for a few days while she got ready, and if you could help get her out of the city unseen. You already knew the Iron Sphere was missing and there were rumors that Edvers Kells was involved, but she didn't mention any of that, so you didn't ask. You called in a favor, found her a closet to sleep in, and left to go about your daily business and give her some space. But soon the word on the street was that Edvers had been arrested, and when you stopped by later that evening, she said she was ready to leave. Now.

On your way through the sewers, you couldn't help but asking her what was going on, if there was anything else you could do to help. She was uncharacteristically quiet, didn't say much. If you had to read the look on her face, it told of dread and determination, not acute fear. "Dad's innocent," she said a few times, but it felt more like an affirmation for herself than an attempt to convey information to you. You knew better than to ask anything about where she was going.

When you made it to a sewer outlet outside the city walls, she hugged you and said: "Turn back now, Mordred. You can't go with me any further. I don't know when I'll be back, but I'll see you repaid for helping me today, I promise." She hesitated a moment, as if debating something in her head, then picked up a rock and scratched something onto the stone wall: a crescent with six points extending from the convex side. "That symbol? If you ever see it, you're in danger. If you see anyone wearing it...avoid them. At all costs."

Then she squeezed your shoulder, took a deep breath, said goodbye, and started walking away, never looking back.

Zangua has seen the scallop-shell portrait of a younger Zora: brown-haired and dark-eyed, with a serious expression and a somewhat prominent nose.

Despite his best attempts, Zangua isn't able to do much for either food or dryness. The wet grass soaks into the party's boots before they've covered their first mile, and it's nearly impossible to find game in this darkness. There are owls at hunt above you, and even they don't seem to be having much success tonight.