Y1105: Stranded [GALLAVANT]

The ships avoided the collision and the fight as it became clear that the oncoming ship sported Novaro's banners. Next to their vessel full of paladins clad in gleaming steel, they looked like a poor cousin from the village. Ship's sides were scratched, dented and, in places, ripped through. Signs of recent fight were still visible, in the form of the now-dry blood, the disgusting Kraken slime or occasional feather here and there.
After some maneuvers, Bartholomew stepped on their deck and demanded to speak with the captain. Lilinoe standing with the rest of the crew, looked at Aeron and nodded.
"That would be me, errr, sire" Greyjell tipped his head a little "I am commanding this ship and all it's..." he turned around, looked at his crew, counted them "And all it's ten crewmembers. Oh, sorry, there's a goblin. Eleven, then. And this young one leads our expedition on behalf of house Kohola'uhane"
Not wanting the captain to be the one talking, Lilinoe stepped forward. She looked at Bartholomew whose whole image screamed "imperial knighthood". She tried to remember the necessary steps in such a situation but couldn't recall any lessons from the past. She decided to improvise on spot.
"Sir, I can see the banners of House Novaro. I am Lilinoe Kohola'uhane, the youngest daughter of Wikolia" she bowed a little "Forgive me as I am not well educated in the whos and whats of our houses politics. I only know that we are united under one lord, Lord Gallavant. And I also suppose that we are here on these waters after the same goal."

At first, when Bartholomew came to their ship, Lilinoe felt for a moment like she was eight years old at the "court" of her mother. Some lords from other houses, old and young would come there to discuss trade or, at times, meet the Kohola'uhane sisters and try arranging the marriage.
But, this was not their island and she was not eight.
"That is a mighty-looking ship, Divine. I'm sure captain Aeron would appreciate it most..." she looked around, not seeing Greyjell anywhere. Then, she saw him, discussing something terribly important with other crewmembers.
"As I was saying, thank you for your hospitality. As you can see, we've been through some trouble lately".
The second person from the family was Margaret, who appeared from somewhere, as if trying to save her from the awkward dialogue.
"Please forgive my brother, he is a creature of focus. We've heard a lot about the Children of the Sea, our brother, Gareth, spoke very highly of your people," said Margaret.
"Yes, I've heard of Gareth, though I'm not sure if I've met him. There was a talk of him marrying my older sister at one point" laughed Lilinoe, herself surprised by this sudden feat of honesty. She was still talking, when Margaret stepped in some grey goo and exclaimed loudly "Oh my, what is that?".
Lilinoe didn't notice that fact before, but there were some places where the deck was covered in glueish, slimy residue. It was hard to decide the origins of the substance. Lilinoe thought it came from kraken's enormous tentacles but she wasn't sure. It might have been as well parts of the undead smeared on the wood. Looking at it now, she didn't feel anything - no talking from the dead, no whispers, like they were swept away with the kraken's attack. Or, like it just left. She was full aware though of the watchful and not-very-friendly staring eyes of the paladins. Actually, as she looked at them, she felt a little revolted and angered, as if they were a threat.

The rest of the not very long journey was spent in rather pleasant if, somewhat reserved way. After the initial small-talk, Lilinoe found that she didn't have much to discuss neither with Bartholomew nor Margaret. Not that they weren't nice or hospitable - she just felt a little out of place in their company. That's probably what spending more than a few years in seclusion with your wizard master and one friend does with people.

Once on the solid ground again, the Novaro's scouts dispersed quickly while other soldiers set up a temporary camp. As Lilinoe was pondering the astronomy (she has always found it boring and right now wished she payed more attention), Margaret showed up and informed her of a small settlement a little to the north.
Not heeding to any rules of courtesy, Sogmeath materialised from nowhere and started talking "Lilinoe lady I think I was here and no town here before. Other town in the south, maybe, but not here, too far. This town new I think, I go and look, good?"
Lilinoe thanked him and smiled at his poor language. But, she had to admit, his eagerness was refreshing and the goblin have proven useful. "Sure, Sogo, take a few people and go take a look".
The goblin didn't seem very happy about that, probably thought that people would just slow him down (and he wasn't wrong about that) - but Lilinoe didn't want to sneak up on another city and start some useless conflict. And, if it came to that, there were always Novaro's troops...
Finally, Sogo rocking on his feet back and forth, balancing his knife on the palm of his hand, said "Yes, I go with people. I take the old man, he really want to go and I take three other. But just living, not dead. Dead make me feel vomit" he said and, seeing how Lilinoe's face turned red from anger, suddenly disappeared as suddenly as he had appeared before.
When they were left alone with Margaret, they spent a few moments in uncomfortable silence. Lilinoe wasn't stupid - she knew that paladins and all this holy-and-mighty warparty treated any notion of the undead or death magic as a heresy waiting to be purified. To be honest, she didn't know how these people might react to all the traditional Uhana lore, to the spirit guidance. She wanted to keep such things as a mystery, not seeing any sense in discussing that publicly. Well, that ship has sailed, thanks to Sogo.
"He is a good scout though" she joked, as if that made any sense on that point.

--

When their small party got close to Yorkford, they were greeted by the centaur guards. Two guards, a male and a female looked at them almost bored, without any visible intent of harm."So, you finally had enough?" asked the woman "Did the asshole promise you some money and then used his magical tricks to kick you out?"
Greyjell looked at Sogo, then at one of the younger sailors - they just shrugged their shoulders.
"Not really, comrades. We have just landed here, our ship is in no condition to sail. We are looking for a place for a few nights, some food and maybe some information. We can pay, of course" he added that last part, even though he wasn't sure of that. He himself had taken a few shiny things from Hilltown, but did Lilinoe had any funds? The girl wasn't a kind of person who would think of something so trivial. He added that to the mental list of the things to discuss with her.
"Sure, come on in and ask around. There may be some folks who can help you with the repairs. Just keep in mind that we live here by very easy and strict rules: you touch a thing that is not yours, you die. You behave, we behave." centaur invited them in, to their surprise.
"Very well, that is fair" said Aeron "Good thing we don't steal" he added that looking directly at Sogmeath, who was grinning in response.


The settlement - because it was to small to deserve the name of a town - consisted of some fifty huts in the middle of the forest, not far from the coast. Walking on the path leading to the center, their group saw a few centaurs of different ages and sizes, most of them working on cutting trees or tending farms. From time to time, they could hear a minotaur's roar somewhere (it could be interpreted as laughter) and once, they even caught a glimpse of a tail belonging to some big creature, maybe even a hydra. Nobody attacked them but nobody welcomed them either. Only when they stood in the middle of the settlement and looked around, were they able to talk to someone. A gargoyle sat below the roof of the highest building, keeping an eye on everything. He hissed at them and started talking. When they related everything, he flew away and came back with some folks, minotaurs and centaurs. They offered various services for some gold and showed them a place where the forest was recently cleared, telling that they could stay there if necessary. After thanks were exchanged, everyone agreed that Sogmeath would take someone from the village back with him to take a look at the ship. Aeron wasn't very eager to go back as he did his best to avoid Novaros altogether. He prepared the campfire and asked around about the food and wine, promising the locals finest golden cups they have ever seen. In return, they shared their settlement's story with him. Their settlement called Yorkford which was rather new, just as the goblin had said...

You have to give her that, Margaret tried to be delicate when she finally confronted Lilinoe about her observations. On one hand, the apprentice understood her concerns, but on the other – she didn´t really feel the gravity of the situation. Talking to the dead was part of her heritage as an Uhane and as one of the Children of the Sea and she wouldn´t let any princess from the mainland tell her otherwise. That´s why she only told her that she didn´t have anything to worry about. Lilinoe didn´t think the Novaro´s could do anything to her or to her people as they were, at least legally, on the same level. And they didn´t strike her as a kind of people who would break the law in pursuit of their own vision of justice.

She couldn´t contact the being that have attacked her a few nights before. She tried to, meditating before the dusk or early in the morning - but nothing would happen. The feeling of being torn apart by the spirit and violated by it in the deepest part of her mind and soul still lingered. Since then she felt strange, as if she was being watched all the time by some entity. All of this wasn´t completely new to her because of her Uhana status, but she had not encountered spirits that were able to take control over Uhana, who themselves were able to avoid her. The other thing was the maleficient characeter of this spirit. It was exactly in the middle of this terryfying and physically painful dream. She felt as if a molten lead was being poured into the deepest parts of her being, like thousands small silver knives piercing her heart. The spirit was ominously talking to her about the time flowing or being the key, it sounded like a threat of something to come.
"Something wicked this way comes", she recounted an old saying and before she could answer the spirit, it showed her it's face - her own face. In that same moment everything started disappearing, someone was shaking her awake. She opened her eyes and saw a familiar face standing above her.
- Solmyr – she whispered, and fainted.She came around some time later and quickly found Solmyr. They hugged and laughed, then started recounting the last events. Solmyr told her that he had been imprisoned in some cave, his legs chained to the floor, magically blinded and gagged. He said he heard harpies in the same cage but they never attacked him. A man would come from time to time and bring him some scraps to it and ask the usual questions: where he was from, who he was and all that. He was able to convince the man that he was just an apprentice hired by some traders to ward of monsters. Not that it was far from the truth, he was an apprentice. Day after day ("You know, it's hard to say how much time had passed, it was dark all the tim"e said Solmyr) he felt weaker and weaker until he finally couldn't even stand up on his own. Then, one day he was just dragged out of the cave and left on the nearby beach. Feeling magical powers flowing through him, Solmyr undid the spells making him blind and mute. That was when he felt their connection, like an invisible line pulling him towards her. He felt that she was in danger and started running. Even more, he could hear a faint voice whispering to not be late because "Time is key". That was how he found her, lying on her side, trembling with little seizures.

---

Sogmeath came back from the settlement with the other sailors and a centaur. The centaur galloped towards the ship and after reviewing it's state came back to tell them that he would be able to repair it with his men. He needed four days, maybe a week if something went wrong. Lilinoe accepted the terms and spoke to Sogo. Standing on the side, he showed her a small bag full of golden trinkets.
"It's for pay. For the ship and food". She fist-bumped him (goblin taught them that gesture) and asked about the settlement. Goblin informed her that Aeron stayed there to start preparing the place.
"What do you think about that village?" Lilinoe asked Sogmeath.
"Village small. People big, scary. Horseman and bullman strong but honest. They help. We stay in forest, build huts, warm days now. New man, who are you?" he asked, looking directly at Solmyr.
The young wizard laughed and as he did little blue sparks danced on his shoulders and hair. He was always dabbing with air magic, playing with the electricity. At least he knew his type of magic, unlike Lilinoe who have never had any sign of particular affinity.
"I am Solmyr The Blue, Rider of the storm and conjurer of lightning" he said with a broad smile and everyone fell silent.
Lilinoe didn't want to laugh out loud because she knew that her friend was prone to displays of childish pride. He certainly could be Solmyr the Blue one day but it would be weird calling him that now.
"Aha. You funny and magical. Maybe you better magical than she?" said Sogo, blunt as ever.
"I don't know, friend, we'll have to see. But she always was better at that boring spells, falling asleep, giving rage and messing with your head in general".
Sogo didn't even listen to his words because he was playing with his chalices and other toys hidden in the bag.
In the meantime Lilinoe gathered the rest of her crew - there were so little of them that she could call everyone by name - and went up to Margaret and Bartholomew. She thanked once again for the help and informed them that their group wouldn't take up any more of their resources and would stay for a few days at Yorkford.
"We will take care of ourselves for a few days and later, it would be good to continue on our mission".
She thought that was everything but Sogmeath had other plans again. He showed up next to her and before anyone could go anywhere, said:
"They spy us" he said loudly, looking at Bartholomew "I saw people from they ship. They want to hide but they not scouts, I found them. They looking. Don't know why. You want to kill the centaur village?" - he asked directly "Bad idea".

During their little reunion, Solmyr insisted on finally going north, to Yorkfork. His impatience was visible especially to Lilinoe - after all she had known the man for a long time - so when they were through with talking to Bartholomew, they headed in direction of the village. They deliberately slowed down to let the crew out of the earshot.
"Now, tell me once more, everything that had happened. Your ship had crashed and then you just woke up in a cave" asked him Lilinoe, feeling that there was more to the story.
"Not really" said Solmyr and looked around, as if he was being watched "You know, I saw him, this wizard, this Gwydion. He must have felt my magic in some way, because he came there with his henchmen. There were harpies, as I´ve said before, but not only. He had some a few centaurs with him, a really big minotaur, some gnolls. They were his bodyguards or something like that. I was woken up by someone and they dragged me in front of him. He asked questions."
"What kind of questions?" Lilinoe wanted to know "About your mission, about the Fount?".
Solmyr laughed a little and shook his head.
"He kept asking about who sent me. At first, we spoke normally, then he started shouting, getting furious. This man is not right in the head. When I wouldn´t tell him, he ordered the gnolls to beat me up a little. They dragged through some woods, it was night. I´m sorry I can´t be of much use - I kept waking up and blacking out all the time. They didn´t give me anything to eat or drink. But that wasn´t the worst" he fell silent and Lilinoe didn´t want to push him further. Finally, he managed to put his thoughts into words "He was doing something to my head, using magic on me, trying to control me. I fought him but he is more powerful than me. He searched the answers in my head, blocked me from using my powers. I think that´s why I was kept in the cave, I think - it somehow disables the use of magic."
"But you said you were later fed and kept there and just dragged out" Lilinoe pointed out "why would he just let you go? Was it even him?"
He nodded and started playing with a little blue pendant that hung from his neck. "That is what I was wondering and I came to two conclusions: either these harpies get tired of working with him and just wanted me gone - or he ordered them to let me go".
They walked in silence for a few moments while the news sunk in. If Solmyr was intentionally freed, there was only one good reason to do so.
"Do you think he is watching you, following you?" asked Lilinoe.
"That´s what I think. I´ve been trying to notice anyone suspicious but I think we would see a stray gnoll or a minotaur. To be honest, I don´t know. As I´ve said, it´s all a blur to me, all the questioning and the magical poking around in my head. The only thing I know for sure is that I was left outside the cave later and someone whispered go north. Then I could feel your presence and you already know the rest"