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Blog Post 54: The Adventure Shop: Part 21

1/13/24

Aster felt like he was going to fall asleep where he was standing. They had traveled from town to town, seemingly finding nothing but rumors of ‘a woman in yellow’ causing mischief and mayhem. And this information came from the least reliable sources.

He looked at the small group around him and wondered how the others were fairing. 

After hearing the news of the soldiers, and sending the letter to the Mother Tree with Aster’s new little pet, he and the others had traveled through five towns and had since split up to cover more lands. Now he adventured with those he usually found himself traveling with on other adventures. The others lay and sat about the room in various positions, while they waited for Riskar and Aislin to return. Pertanix lay snoring in a corner, while Caridad and Borg played a game Aster had neither the capacity, the time, nor the desire to learn. Hazel seemed to be studying a book while Aster watched out the window. They had learned coming through various towns that Caridad, Borg, and Pertanix often drew far too much attention with their intimidating forms, so it was often best to only send a few out to scout.

“We found her!” Aislin shouted, coming up through the floorboards. Pertanix screamed and cursed as he startled awake. Caridad shook her head, and she moved a piece and smiled slyly at Borg. “Your move.” Borg turned his attention back to the game as Aster shook sleep from his mind to ask Aislin what they found.

A knock on the door made him pause as Riskar came in a moment later. “That is the last time you send me out alone with her. I am too new at all of this to get lost as much as I do because she kept going through homes and shops. Someone asked me if I wanted to go out to sea. I think they were going to take me,” Riskar said as Aislin interrupted.

“I came back and scared them off. And you are right. They were the type of pirates who capture folk and take them away on adventures. You never get a choice with those kinds,” Aislin whisply replied, seeming to miss the point entirely as Riskar sat down at a loss for words.

“Well, spit it out, child! We don’t have all the time to wait to let any leverage we have dissolve while we sit here,” Hazel commanded from her corner of the room.

“Oh, yes! She was staying with a friend, but left this morning. We think there might be things in the house that could help us track her to the next place she goes.” Aislin floated over to Pertanix and started making his hair fly about, as Aster rubbed the spot between his nose and forehead. How he became in charge of this lot, he was not sure. Younger adventurers were less ruly then them. Although it could have been the fear that comes with first time adventurers. They usually listened to him because they did not know what to do. Where this lot knew all too well and seemed to all have different meanings of the word “haste”.

Aster calmly asked, “How do you think we will be able to find an object that is hers, if we don’t even know if she left one?” Pertanix swatted Aislin’s wispy form away from his hair as she turned to Aster. “Why did she leave one? Did I not say that?”

“You saw her leave something behind?” Borg asked, standing and forgetting his game with Caridad.

“Yes, it looked like a tiny music box. It played beautiful music. But the Woman in Yellow warned her friend to not listen too often, otherwise she would not want to eat or sleep.”

“That sounds like an enchanted Siren’s music box. They are useful for heists and gaining control over others, but some people use them for pain. It creates momentary euphoria. It can be quite destructive if used continuously,” Aster summarized, remembering his discussion with Dahlia on the subject. 

Dahlia never wanted to stock those items, mainly because she did not make them herself, and also because of their addictive qualities. She never wanted to send out something that could have the potential to harm the user. Her main goal was to equip others to protect themselves and develop new skills. Aster shook himself from his thoughts and worries of her, as the others made plans of what to do next.

“We are not going to break into the house.” Aster stopped that conversation right then. “None of us are thieves and they would spot you three and have the guards on us before we left the room.” A knock on the door made him pause, and Borg made his way to the door with his axe, as Caridad ready her hand on the hilt of her weapon.

Borg looked to the right and left in the empty hallway and then looked down. Bending over he picked up a card. “Meet in the Elves’ Tree Tavern after the evening rush. Signed A Friend Who Can Help For A Price,” Borg read aloud, as he twisted the card over in his hand. He handed it over to Aster, who in turn let it go around the room. As it came to Hazel, she noted, “This is Djinn magic, but it was delivered by something else,”  as she turned the card in her hand. She ripped it as protests rang out into the room. “Shush, all of you,” she chided, as a plume of smoke raised from the cloud and formed in the visage of a human-looking creature.

“Hello, friends. I assume all of you will be watching. My name is Enlazenious. I do not want you to attempt that, so you can call me Laz, like all my other friends.” A pale man spoke. He seemed to be in his late thirties. “I am reaching out for my boss as he likes to perform the magic, but not so much the face man. That is why he lets me!” The pale man smiled charmingly, showing a set of fangs. 

“It is also because you literally do nothing else to help us, Laz,” a woman’s voice called.

“Silence, Ainia. You are making me look like a fool.” Laz’s little form stomped his foot. “I demand we restart this. I will not look like a fool in front of new people.”

“No. Keep going,” A deep voice said. “I am not using up more of my magic to fix your mistake.”

“But, Jubair, we will lose the air of mystery and any captivating brilliance when they see us. How are we supposed to have the upper hand if we look like a group of idiots?” the pale man with fangs, Laz, seemingly whined.

“Can he shut up? I have a headache, and he is making it worse,” another woman’s voice rang out.

“Laz, Valentina is right. Get to the point, and do not make me waste more of my magic on your fool’s speech,” the voice of Jubair spoke again.

“Fine, but none of you have the flair I have, and it will be obvious when they see your inferior appearance compared to mine,” he said, as he refocused whatever it was that made it seem like he was speaking directly to Aster and the others. “Well, friends, we eagerly await your presence. We will be at a back table. We have heard of your predicament and have an offer that you will most certainly refuse.”

“Laz,” Jubair said, his voice seemingly annoyed.

“What?” Laz turned to the side.

“You said certainly refuse, you half-wit,” another woman’s voice spoke and sounded exasperated.

“Oh, yes.” Turning back to the room he said, “You most certainly will not refuse!” He turned around, looking at what Aster thought might have been the others in the place where this magic message was recorded. 

“Are you sure we shouldn’t send something else? This makes us look…” the voice of the woman, Valentina, spoke up.

“I don’t have enough magic after the first fifty tries this cretin made me record first, maybe if we have…” The message cut off, as Aster looked out at the setting sun and his companions. “Well, who is for eating out tonight?” 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Aster sat with his favorite beverage of choice at a table in the corner, as the others had spread out at various places in the tavern to not draw all the attention to one place. 

They had arrived probably three hours before they needed to, but to Aster, he would rather have been early than late. After all, being late meant that he would not have the upper hand of knowing the place and the general feel of the goers that seemed to frequent this particular establishment. And there wasn’t much else to do in the room. His mind would not let him rest, and the others seemed to be getting cabin fever from the frequent stays in inn’s and boarding homes. They all seemed to miss tents and the freedom of the woods and wildness that came with it. 

He heard a thump under the table, and he looked down to see a tiny being placing something around his ankle. It locked on and Aster felt his magic freeze. As if he could no longer expel it out or bring it in. As if it was dammed. He tried to catch the little creature as he leaned underneath the table and hit his head as someone chuckled up above. 

“Do not mind Lothar. He did as I asked, as I was not sure if we could trust you yet. And after our,” the voice ahem-ed as he said, “introduction…you seemed to have the upper hand.” Aster stopped looking for the tiny creature and sat up to see the man across from him. He was quite broad, but not as broad as Borg, but still quite a large man. His dark skin was framed by a neatly trimmed beard and dark hair that sat slightly curly on the top of his head. Aster continued to assess his chances as the man was dressed like a merchant in bright oranges and golds, but the muscles he bore looked as if he could hold his own against any of Aster’s own people.

Aster wondered why he hadn’t taken Borg up more on his training with an ax. He was not out of shape, but without his magic, well, this did not seem like a fair situation.

“Ah, so you are the observant thinker. I was wondering what sort you would be,” the man across from him spoke. “I am Jubair. As you could probably tell from my voice in the message.” He pointed around the tables as Aster noted his companions each had a new ‘friend’ at their tables. 

Aster shook his head, as Aislin seemed distracted with a tiny Brownie that kept running around the table as she tried to trap him. She giggled, and the Brownie smiled up smugly. It seemed like a game between them.

“Apparently my Wraith likes your Brownie,” Aster noted.

“I was about to say the same thing.” Jubair shook his head. “Lothar, the Brownie as you can see, is always up for mischief and fun. Even as tiny as he is, he can be hard to wrangle.”

“If you have problems with that, you should try to control a Wraith. I swear I often lose my own point trying to recover hers,” Aster said, as Aislin immediately glared. Aster and Jubair both shivered as they felt an icy wind whip past their table. “And she has the most excellent hearing,” Aster noted as he took a drink.

“Noted. Now, as the others get to know one another—” He looked around as Aster noticed a Centaur woman with Riskar. Riskar was laughing and blushing as Aster rolled his eyes. His people seemed to slowly be losing any edge he ever attributed to them. He focused back on Jubair after waving for one of the servers to bring two more drinks their way.

Jubair finished his thought with a smirk. “I truly now see we have the same predicament in leadership.” He paused and sympathetically nodded to the others. “I swear I am most often cleaning messes up as compared to causing them.”

“As nice as comparing leadership strategies is, I assume you did not stall my magic and call us here for a comparison in parties?” Aster said, as a server brought drinks and food over for the both of them. He spoke his thanks and looked to Jubair who did not seem to mind taking his time eating and drinking, versus getting to the point.

“Yes—to business. Your people and mine seem to be on similar missions. I am proposing we work together. You see we are thieves and quite good at our respective jobs. But as much as I would like to pretend, my people and I are not adventurers. The most fighting we do is with pesky knights. The woman you are seeking is not something I would ever ask my people to attempt to challenge.”

“But you would ask us?”

“You already seek vengeance for something. I didn’t think I needed to ask.” 

“So what would we get out of it?”

“The music box and a lead to where the woman is.”

“And we would give you protection and what?”

“A chance. My people have a select set of skills that will be able to assist you when you challenge her, but we are not warriors in the typical sense.” He held up a hand before Aster could ask. “Yes, I was, but traded that for an easier life—but less legal. And the Cyclops in the corner you heard earlier, that is Kamali. She is a protector, but not someone who I would let fight on her own against someone of the Woman in Yellow’s caliber.”

“You do not know her name either?”

“I do not. I have looked for her for a very long time.”

“Why?” 

“She destroyed the family I was training to serve as a knight. She killed the princess. You could say it is a petty revenge. Why are you going after her?”

“She stole my friend’s lifeforce. We are trying to get it back.”

“You can not get back a stolen life force, unless—” Jubair paused as Aster realized he may have given too much away. 

“Your friend is tied to a moonstone. Who is it?” he asked, looking around at the others.

“She is not here. And yes, she was tied to a moonstone at birth. We are trying to get it back before the woman kills her.”

“So the Woman in Yellow does not know your friend is still alive?” He looked shocked, “Well, that is good, because the moment she does, your friend will be killed in order for her to possess it.”

“Who was your princess?” 

“I was young, only a squire at the age of ten when she was born and being trained as a knight. The princess had a lot of magic. More than had been seen in a very long time and those who cared for her were concerned that her magic would cause harm as she grew. They tied her to a moonstone and then the Woman in Yellow came years later. It seemed she ran out of other victims and found the time to come for the princess. She was a young girl when the woman first came for her. Her family, the king and queen, put her into hiding, but reports came that the Woman in Yellow succeeded and killed the princess. Her parents returned to the throne, and I could not stay.”

“Why, it sounds like you barely were a knight by then?”

“I often would care for the princess, me and a few others. I was still shadowing others—but still. We let the Woman in Yellow get to her. I may be a thief now, but my life’s goal has been to find the Woman in Yellow and destroy her before she destroys any others.” Jubair took a drink and asked, “ Your girl, the shopkeeper, is the one everyone is looking for? Aster spewed his drink and coughed as Jubair smiled. “I thought so. I have heard of her. My people and I actually visited the shop too. She and the shop were well known. I never went. I stayed out with Ainia, but the others were impressed. I am sorry to hear what happened to her.”

“You have heard rumors?”

“Yes, that the shop was destroyed and the shopkeeper was burned alive. You are lucky nothing else has caught wind. Even if some are still looking for her, others think they are mad. You are lucky they do not put your party and her in the same quest.”

“So, what is it that you want then?”

“My team and I will help you track down the Woman in Yellow and give you a fighting chance. You will give us the revenge that we have been wanting.”

“The others want revenge as well?” Aster asked, trying not to give anything else away.

“Yes, they have all lost something to that woman. She likes power. It does not matter whose or what form it takes. We all are looking to stop her from taking more.”

“Alright. Take off that band around my ankle, and let’s start planning.”

“Fine, but we should go somewhere less populated.” Jubair looked around as their table still caught a few curious glances. “I know a pastry shop whose owner is a friend. We can grab a sweet treat and talk there.”

“Will they even be open?” 

“For me? Yes, they were new adventurers until I told them that their pastries were much better than their archery skills. They took my advice, and I helped them set up here. As long as your friends behave, it should be fine.”

“Do you truly think it will be mine alone?” 

“No. Maybe we should go to the woods.”

“I heard we are going to Noam’s? I can’t wait! I just love his twists with the sweet icing!” Aislin said with Lothar sitting on her shoulder.

“Alright, I guess we are getting pastries,” Aster conceded.

“And planning a heist.” Jubair stood waving his people out.

“And planning a heist,” Aster repeated, wondering how this adventure had taken a turn for the illegal. “The things I do for her.” He shook his head as he stood and walked out in the staggered variation that he and the others planned. Night had fallen as the odd party made their way to invade a pastry shop and plan a heist.