We set out the next morning on the road from Goblin Mountain, with an escort of goblins, lead by Bertuck.  Regdar had forged an agreement with Grothuck where the Goblin King had promised to send men to aid the Captain in times of need (this of course was reciprocal).  Regdar remarked to Grothuck that his time of need would probably be sooner rather than later.

 

I had briefly considered trying to talk to Tessia, Begdemagus’ drow friend (I had heard that she dealt in jewels,  so I figured there was a good chance she would have run across Padrius, the gold merchant), but she was riding  on Regdar’s elephant, and I never got the chance.  This soon became a moot point however, as we started encountering regiments of Regdar’s men patrolling the Old Forrest Road.

 

They had been receiving reports that the village of Winterhaven had disappeared.

 

“Disappeared?”  Regdar looked at the soldier skeptically.

 

“Yes Sir.”

 

“How do you mean that?”

 

“Well Sir, where the village once stood, there’s nothing but bare forest and clearing.”

 

“How can that be?”  The Captain turned in my direction.  “Revlis do you think this could be the work of your Kordian statue?”

 

“I don’t see how.  In the old days when Numbilung had it, it only had the power to make our hideout seem vacant…Unless he’s found some way to augment its power.”

 

“What if they have another orb?”  Said Begdemagus.  Like the one we found in the chapel at the forge complex.”

 

“That’s a distinct possibility.”  Agreed Regdar.

 

“Speaking of the forge complex.”  Continued Begdemagus, and he looked around to make sure Bertuck was out of earshot.  The bugbear and his men were making small talk with some of Regdar’s men, across the clearing.  “Won’t it put the kybosh on your new agreement with Grothuck, if he discovers the empty armory we left him?”  

 

“But they were under Fraudrick’s enchantment at the time.”  I pointed out..  “They probably don’t remember making those weapons.”

 

“Good point.”  Said Regdar.

 

Well then, they might wonder what happened to a year’s worth of ore.  Or how about that cache of weapons that Terrance is probably still loading as we speak?”  Asked Begdemagus.

 

“Again, those are two excellent points.”  And the Captain turned to the soldier who was still standing with us.  “What’s you’re name Son?”

 

“Malador, Sir.”

 

“Malador?  Wasn’t your father a great sea Captain?”

 

“Oh, yes Sir, I’m so proud to carry his name.”

 

“Malador, I need you to take a few men and go back the way we just came toward Goblin Mountain.  Find Terrance, he’s in the field where the smoke dragons attacked us last week, and tell him to abandon any weapons he has not yet secured and bring the rest back to Luftkin as soon as possible.  Hopefully, you can find him before any of Grothuck’s patrols do.”

 

Bertuck told us he and his men would be leaving us when we reached The Old Forrest Bridge.  Apemantus ran up and embraced the bugbear.

 

“I’m going to miss you so much.  I know you probably don’t remember me, but I feel I’ve gotten so close to you.”  Said Apemantus.

 

“I do remember something of what you did for me, and I am honored to have made you and your mentor’s acquaintance.  Don’t worry Son, I’m sure we shall meet again and possibly soon.”

 

And Apemantus walked off and stood alone with his thoughts, while Bertuck and his party started the long journey back to Goblin Mountain

 

Instead of crossing the bridge we headed west along the river until we came to the Old Kingdom Bridge.  I started to recognize landmarks that Apemantus and I had seen on our first day here in Lufkin.  Like the mill and the spire.

 

From the bridge, the road curved back to the Northwest and again I remembered this is where we first caught sight of Regdar’s men that first day.  People started coming up to us and every single one of them seemed to have a question for Regdar.  Was there going to be war?  How many of their kin would have to die?  How would he handle this and how would he handle that?  We crossed the drawbridge and went through the main gate and still there were more people in the courtyard with just as many questions. 

 

A woman dressed as a bard came up to us and I realized this must be Min, Lufkin’s city manager.  I knew her by reputation.  All of the Bloody Blades held her in high regard and had spoken of her often.  She started to tactfully push the crowd away, making room for us to get to the front door of the common building.  As soon as we were all inside, she shut the door and turned around with an exasperated look on her face.

 

“Well you’ve all been busy little bees now haven’t you?  I don’t know how you expect me to continue to clean up your little messes.”

 

“And yet somehow you always find a way.”  Said Regdar playfully.

 

“Oh, don’t you flatter me Sir.”

 

“I wouldn’t think of it.”

 

“And you.”  She turned to Begdemagus.  “Your master is here.”

 

“Yes, we got word on the road that he was arriving today.”

 

“I’ve set him up in an interview room down the hall you can approach him anytime you like.”

 

 Begdemagus and Tessia left immediately.

 

“And you two must be the new recruits.  Revlis and Apemantus is it?”

 

“That’s right.”  We both said in unison.

 

“My name is Min and I am the Lufkin City Manager.  I have prepared rooms for the both of you to freshen up from your journey, and then you can come back.  I understand Begdemagus has a basket that can produce a feast of anything the barer wishes.  That should be something to see.”

 

In the hallway we passed the room where Begdemagus and Tessia were meeting with the master, the mage was down on one knee.  The master was holding the hugest rolly polly rat I had ever seen and feeding it pieces of battle boar from a bowl on the table.  I had to pull Apemantus away from the door before they noticed us.  His jaw was on the ground.

 

Regdar knocked on my door about 15 minutes later.

 

“I need for you to come to the infirmary with me.”

 

The city doctor had told Regdar that the victims of the smoke dragons were not healing properly.  They were awake but not exactly coherent and they had very little energy.  Their faces appeared gaunt and they all had the same vacant stare.  The doctor had consulted several Paladins, but they had not been able to help.  The doctor’s biggest fear was that the victims would turn undead.  Become zombies and attack.

 

“I have a technique that I learned at the Temple, but it will take me at least 4 hours per patient.”

 

“Can you teach it to the other Paladins?”

 

“I think so.”

 

“Good, that should save some time, and while you do that the rest of us are heading down to the docks.  Do you think Apemantus would like to come with us?”

 

“Yes I think he would enjoy that.”

 

There were six Paladins available to help so by the time the party had returned from the docks, we had healed every victim of the smoke dragons. 

 

Apemantus told me that he had been able to talk to Regdar’s man at the docks privately, and they both agreed that the silk smuggling operation sounded more like something either Mongo the Giant or Theon the Black Knight would try to pull off.  It had all their earmarks.  This made me wonder for the first time why Gerard had been so sure it was Sempronious.  I had come to suspect that Gerard and Sempronious shared some kind of history, but would Gerard really blame this on him, just to hold a grudge?  I realized that for all intents and purposes my mission for Gerard was over.  I needed to send him a raven, telling him what we had been able to find out.  I decided to send two for good measure;one to Raven’s Ruin and one to Melinir.

 

All of us were finally able to sit down to the feast the basket had provided.  The city astronomer dominated the dinner conversation, talking about how the stars pertained to the Bloody Blades mission.  I decided I should learn as much as possible about what my new companions were really involved with and soon.

 

By mid morning the next day we were on the outskirts of what had been the village of Winterhaven.

 

“I don’t understand why they would make the entire village disappear.” Said Dani. “I mean its not like we don’t remember where it was.”

 

“Maybe it was unintentional.”  I told her.  “They probably just wanted to make the village seem deserted but the orb combined with the power of the statue, made it vanish completely.”  She seemed to accept this.

 

Using the method they had employed to find the orb at the chapel, we were able to discern four guards keeping watch at the city gates, and we soon made mincemeat of them.  But someone had started to ring the village alarum, so we were far from out of the woods.