Hello, Everyone!
Last time, our heroes reached the cemetery where they were later going to face Dorina Dwendel. They found Falka’s mausoleum and were let in, almost supernaturally so. Mary got to pay respect to her late family, and it was really sad and somber!
Let’s see what our heroes are going to next!
When Mary turned around to exit the mausoleum, she noticed that Bruno had come after her. He stood about six feet in, too far away to disturb her, but close enough to maybe protect her if there was any danger. She gave him a little smile and he nodded.
While her friends had been waiting for her, Tesaya had made some fresh flowers with her Paladin magic, and was now standing awkwardly on the doorway with a small bouquet in one hand and the vase Aurum had taken out in the other.
"Thank you," Mary said. "I'll put it back where it was."
She went back in and, standing next to Falka's sarcophagus, reached for her waterskin. She frowned. The vase was already full of water. Was it like that when she went in?
“Hey, thanks for filling the vase,” she called to the outside, surprised by her friends’ courtesy.
“We didn’t,” Aurum said. “I thought you’d do that.”
“Did Tesaya?”
“No, I didn’t.”
That’s what she’d thought. It had been empty when she was walking in. That was bizarre, especially combined with the door unlocking by itself earlier. But maybe there was an enchantment in the mausoleum itself. Maybe it was being kind to Falka’s kin.
“All right, I suggest we go, for now,” Tesaya said after Mary’d joined them again. “We have time to get something to eat, then prepare for the confrontation and come back at the appointed time.”
“Yes!” Bruno exclaimed. “Food!”
They headed off. When they were about ten or so feet away from the mausoleum, Mary heard the door close and click. It had locked itself behind them.
They went to a small restaurant nearby and quietly discussed their plan of action. They had to know what each of them could do if a fight broke out. Not that they wanted to fight! They were ready to just talk with Dorina, if she would listen. They were still hoping they’d manage to get to her in some way or another.
After they were done with dinner, Mary went to deal with the bill.
“It’s already payed for,” the owner said.
“What?” Mary frowned. “By whom?”
She looked around with a puzzled expression.
“I’m… not sure,” the person said. “Wasn’t it you?”
“No, it certainly wasn’t!” Mary said. “Didn’t you see who payed it?”
“Honestly, I didn’t even lift my head. Someone said 'table eight', handed me the right sum and it was done.”
“But it wasn’t us!”
“Does it matter? It’s payed for.”
Mary came back to their table.
“Someone has payed our bill.”
“Yes, wasn’t that you?” Tesaya said.
“No, I went and they told me it was already payed!”
“I thought you did it,” the elven woman repeated.
“No, I…” Mary said, confused.
Did she? She checked her money. Every coin was accounted for. This was yet another mystery to think about. After they were done with Dorina.
Mary and the others made their way to the mausoleum about half an hour before midnight. Even here, the forest of Myth Adofhaer was softly lit by the bright starlight and the many, many blinking fireflies. The four of them positioned themselves around the back of the mausoleum, hiding in the shadows of the surrounding trees.
Nothing happened for a while. Then, Mary’s Eldritch sight caught something. Green light--conjuring magic--made a small circle on the ground. A hand protruded from below and waved, almost friendly-like.
“Heads up!” she called out to the others, pointing at it.
But it had disappeared.
Scanning the area, another thing caught her attention. A shadow spilled on the back wall of the mausoleum, where there was nothing casting it. It was as big as the building itself, and much darker than the surrounding night. Even Mary’s darkvision couldn’t peer inside, but with her Eldritch Sight, she recognized strong necromantic energy coming from it.
The shadow moved lazily, and on the topmost part of it, a skull-like face appeared.
“Good evening,” it said with a hoarse voice.
Nobody said anything. Mary decided she had to fill in the silence.
“G-good evening”, she said.
“My name is Kloth,” the entity said, “and I have an offer for you.”
It looked each of them up and down and continued.
"My goal has been reached. She's with me again. I am leaving Myth Adofhaer and I don't want to be searched for, or disturbed. This very evening, you have the opportunity to become heroes.” There was subtle mockery in his voice with that last word. “Find the person 'responsible' for the abductions and destroy 'his' secret laboratory. Save the four elven girls who are still alive. And also…"
A skeletal hand emerged from inside the shadow and made an upwards motion. Two caskets emerged from the ground, rose up, and their lids thudded on the ground.
Peaceful and unmoving, almost like they were asleep, a man and a woman lay inside. Mary had never seen them in person, but in her heart, she knew who they were.
Her parents.
“You can see what I am,” Kloth said, his skeletal hand gesturing towards his shadow form. “You know I can bring them back.”
Dun-dun-duunnn!
Our DM is such a devious person! He gave us all the clues he needed to make this final confrontation as emotionally impactful as it could be! Save the elven girls? Eh. Become heroes? Lame. What about resurrecting your parents, Mary? How ‘bout that? Get back the family you never knew?
Oh, I can’t wait for you to read on!
See you in the next part!
Take care and be well!
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide and the Glossary for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: These are my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum and Bruno) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.